HFT - India.

[Rustam Bana]

After months of pestering by BBS member, Akshay, we finally got round to trying HFT over here.

With only four blokes present at the inaugural shoot it was a small start but it was fun.

Let me introduce the participants.

First up is pint size Sharan. All of eleven years old and has the makings of a good shot just like his old man. If only he would stop chattering like a monkey when he's out in the field... Sharan's trusty old Diana 27 is having some piston washer problems but he did not bat an eyelid when he was offered a monster of a HW80K - well for him anyway.

Next up is Sharan's gallon sized mate, Shreyas. More interested in something called Game Boy, whatever the hell that is. He will be entering his teens this December and makes sure that you know it by punctuating every sentence with, "AWWWSOME!" Shreyas has a National air-rifle but somehow managed to convince his elder brother, Akshay, that he too should be allowed to use that nice new HW77K. Well done Shreyas! Next time make sure you drench it a little more in the rain.

Following Shreyas is his brother Akshay who is just exiting his teens and follows the fortunes of McLaren. Poor sod! Akshay, as you now know, has a new HW77K topped with a 3-9x40 scope.

Bringing up the rear, was yours truly.

The location for the first shoot was Sharan's dad's farm which is just bordering a wildlife reserve and made an ideal site away from the concrete jungle.

The weather was quite benign to start with and so after a few practice shots the comp was underway.

We faithfully stuck to all the HFT rules except for muzzle energy and the muzzle down rule. Rest assured, safety was never compromised though.

Putting those pegs in awkward positions was great fun except when it was my turn to shoot.

For some reasons we Indians must be averse to any position besides standing. I tried a prone and two kneelers and Akshay tried a couple of kneelers but that I think was it.

I personally think that both the young lads shot very well, considering they were using a strange rifle which is far too big and heavy for either. When you see their scores, bear the above in mind and the fact that they took all shots standing with a recoiling rifle. Well done lads!

After the first twenty shots we retired for lunch, which in retrospect wasn't a good idea. All I wanted to do after that huge meal was lie down on the bench near the pond and catch some shut eye. It also allowed the afternoon tropical shower to drench us just after the start of the second session.

At first it was a very mild drizzle but I decided to ignore it and soon after even the mango tree we took shelter under couldn't prevent us from getting drenched. Mercifully, one of the farm hands had the presence of mind to drive the Landy over to the tree and we were spared a further drenching. Lightning is always something to be wary off and only last month a farmer on one of our shoots was struck down. So the sight of that Landrover Discovery was a very welcome one.

We managed to finish the comp from the vicinity of the farm house lest it start raining again and had to take the last three targets from under the tractor shed.

Akshay, the jammy sod that he is, pipped me to the post by one point on the last shot. Pity, because we wanted to prolong the shoot with a tie break and then 'sudden death'. My fault really as I was last.

So to end with, here are the scores:
Sharan: 27/60
Shreyas: 30/60
Akshay: 42/60
Rustam: 41/60

We hope to have the second round towards the end of next month and it would be safe to say that we are all looking forward to it.