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FT Blog Spring is in the Air

FT Blog Spring is in the Air

The cold January days will soon be behind us and spring will see all things flourish; that is unless you’re a spring gun shooter. There’re all mad like March hares you know them boingers! Why would you want to shoot a gun that bounces like a dam buster bomb and leaves most owners bemused most of the time?

Consistent approach?

Now don’t get me wrong, I have had a go at this branch of FT shooting with its small dedicated followers and indeed, when I hit something it was a strange feeling. A mix of satisfaction but mostly surprise! It seems to me that the problem for most spring guns is not accuracy, as indeed I easily managed a 5p-sized group with a Walther LGU myself at 45 yards! No; it’s more a case of consistency. You hear some say this is to do with the way the gun is held. I am not so convinced, I think it’s mainly due to the gun itself. Very temperamental these spring guns for something so apparently simple!

As BFTA grading officer I have kept spring gun results separate for a couple of years now and it is interesting reading. Most shooters will hit about 15 – 25% less targets on average than they would if shooting a PCP.

Of course there are a few exceptions and none more so than Nick Murphy. Not only is ‘Murf’ pretty good at tuning his guns, he really can shoot them very well. In the last year he has had several top scores at a Field Target shoot, showing the PCP shooters how it’s done! Speaking to Nick he has said that stock fit is essential with a springer, he got to his third stock with one of the guns before it behaved. Murf magic usually results with the internals of a springer having had surprisingly little alteration, depending on the gun model. This makes sense, as really a lot of tuning is done by owners getting misinformation from various web sources, or worse still, thinking they know what they are doing and then telling others!!

Think you’re hard enough?

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Given it’s usually the cheapest way to buy an accurate gun for FT, with for example a second hand Air Arms TX200 for about £275, its surprising that there are not more regular Spring Gun shooters competing in our discipline? At club level, you see a lot of spring gun users but perhaps it’s the thought of a lower score that stops them competing? Many regular shooters dabble with using a spring gun at some point in either the winter or summer FT championships, but not many use them for 12 months year on year. Perhaps this is the frustration of a springer or just the want to shoot a recoilless gun occasionally. Speaking of which, I got to try in 2016 for the first time an Air Arms SR, which I think stands for Semi Recoilless. This one, however, was totally recoilless! I really think if I used one I would keep my AA grade. Rumour is that the SR, and guns like it, are resented by many spring gun shooters, for being recoilless! Which is kind of strange, as many of them are tuning their guns to make them as kick-free as possible! Told you they were a mad bunch these springophiles!

2017 predictions

Mad as they are, they are also some of the most helpful and nice people I have come across on my FT travels. At the World Field Target Championships, in Portugal, John Farbrother spent a lot of time fixing the guns of other spring gun users from around the world, and this before he had left the zero range on practise day!

So who are the ones to watch in 2017? The Midlands is home to a small pocket of boingers and I challenge anyone to find a nicer guy in FT than Dowry Hill Field Target club member Val Szulz. Easily recognisable in his fisherman’s friend costume of bright yellow water proofs, if you ever get the chance to shoot with him you will have a couple of pleasurable hours with one of the true gentlemen of FT.

We’ve already talked about king of the MFTA springers, Nick Murphy, but we also have Nick Gibney in the region, making and supplying various spring kits and he’s capable of good scores. However, one that could for me be World Champion this year if he makes it to Wales, is John Amos. He is another of the midland spring gun users that can scalp many a PCP shooter. Not to be outdone though the North East’s (NEFTA) Brian Samson, who took the BFTA 2016 GP Spring Gun Championship. I’m sure he would love another World title in 2017 to go with his 2014 win. It’s not all a north thing though. 2015 World Champion, Steve Privet uses the Air Arms FTP 900 in the winter before usually switching back to the Air arms TX200 for the summer and like Samson, will surely be a top contender in 2017.

Whoever it is though, they all really get my admiration for their perseverance and mastery of the springer although I did hit two targets in the same lane, once!

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