Letter to Airgunner Published November Issue

[Aeroman]

A letter published in the August issue of Airgunner magazine (Published at the beginning of July) inspired me to write a reply. To be honest I wasn't expecting it to be published at all as some of the points I made contradicted the editors comments after the letter concerned, but seeing it in print in the November issue three months later I was surprised at the extent of the editing, which meant that the letter as published did not appear to fully communicate the points that I was trying to make in reply to the gentleman's original letter.

For those of you on here who read the comics, here is the original letter (written on the 14th July) so you can compare:



Dear Sir,

In the August issue of Air Gunner magazine, Mr Sam Elliot expressed concern regarding 'Equipment Ability' and cast doubt on HFT as a family sport.

While it is true that in general the top shooters at HFT events will be using relatively high end gear, in which sport is this not the case? These shooters are not at the top so much because of their rifle and scope, rather than due to their commitment to their sport of which only part is the investment they have made in their equipment.

Banning scopes over 12x magnification will acheive nothing. The shallow depth of field in focus at high mag effectively limits the usefulness of a scope with this capability for HFT as you are not allowed to alter the scope settings during the shoot.

Restricting rifles based on price is also unworkable. Do we stop someone who has bought a Daystate Harrier X2 Sports R at the RRP from participating and yet allow someone else with the same rifle bought second hand to compete? How would we police it? I know of at least two competitors who have sold multiple rifles from their respective collections to purchase Daystate Mk3s. Now they have their dream rifles do we exclude them? Of course not.

HFT is a family outing. Samantha (my wife) shot a creditable 55 ex 60 at Quarry, and we bring our daughter Anna to the national and club events as although she is still too young to shoot in the competitions she enjoys playing with all the other children who attend with their families, some of whom shoot and others who merely enjoy the social aspect of the HFT meetings across the country.

The course setters to date have managed to acheive the fine balance between maintaining a safe and challenging shoot yet making each shot attainable. Making the course easier will denigrate the event and the competition is so fierce at the top I have no doubt there will always be a shoot-off among the top five places at any of the UK summer series events.

Yours sincerely,

David Stancomb.

[Geordie]

Hmm - 2 things mate:

1 - could you show us what the edited version looks like, haven't bought a comic for a bit
2 - Just HOW MANY of us are goin out with / married to girls called Samantha?? madness

Dan - my Sammie's nownstairs watchin inane soaps

[gazd2002]

if you wanna make things more competitive grade the shooters and give prizes for best shooters in each grade! that make something achievable for everyone then! mr joe average would struggle to ever get a trophy with the likes of top shots like darren and gary and the others I see at the tops of the leader boards, (sorry if I have not mentioned you, just 2 names that spring to mind!).

[sparky]

if you wanna make things more competitive grade the shooters and give prizes for best shooters in each grade! that make something achievable for everyone then! mr joe average would struggle to ever get a trophy with the likes of top shots like darren and gary and the others I see at the tops of the leader boards, (sorry if I have not mentioned you, just 2 names that spring to mind!).

This is the reason why we raffle the prizes and not give them to the top shots.

Pete

[gazd2002]

i meant trophy type prizes, I know you raffle the guns etc! everyone likes a trophy, but a nice new rifle is better

[DougieH]

If you only enter these competitions to win trophies, then you should practice more. Possibly put in as much practice as David, Pete and the rest.
Failing that why not just try and better your last score? Do that enough times and trophies are sure to follow. Sorry but i dont see the point of loads of trophies, but the raffling of the prizes is a great idea.

As for the other points raised by David - cost of guns, scopes etc, its the same in every sport. Just look at the cost and variety of archery equipment.

Just 2 things to remember in shooting- You are better being lucky than good, the other is- the more you practice, the luckier you get.

Just my tuppence worth.

Doug

[daystateman]

well i came 99th at lea valley (shssss dont spread it about) and i walked away with the top prize on the day. the heat took its toll on me and that was that!!!!

so you see the raffelling of the prizes is a very good idea, it doesnt matter how good a shot you are, it is literally the luck of the draw.

next season i want a trophy

[Darren Petts]

Can we please have an edited version posted. I don't and won't buy the comics but would like to see the edited version.

[gazd2002]

I was trying to make a helpful suggestion, in future maybe I won't bother. As for practising, I do thanks. I shoot FT, started in july, on saturday I got 95.7% on a very windy day!

[Brock]

Here is David's letter from the magazine.

I’d like to take issue with Sam Elliott’s complaint about some shooters doing better in Hunter Ft because they can afford the better equipment (Shoot us a line, August issue) – and the editor’s supporting comment!

Tell me, in what sport is it not the case that high-end gear is used by top shooters? Sam’s suggestion of banning scopes over 12x magnification will achieve nothing as the shallow depth-of-field suffered by such scopes renders high-mag optics a hindrance in HFT.

Restricting rifles on price is also unworkable – how, for instance, would you calculate the value of a second-hand rifle?

The editor’s suggestion to make courses easier would denigrate the event and with the competition already so fierce at the top, I have no doubt that there will always be a shoot-off for the top places, thus giving spectators an exciting end to the day.

And contrary to what the editor thinks, I understand that the HFT governing body has stated it will not be introducing a .22 class – and I’m in full agreement. At the end of the day, it’s down to knowing how your gun shoots, so the question of calibre is irrelevant.

Sam may think that HFT is losing out on the chance to be a “family sport”, but I totally disagree. My daughter comes with my wife and I... and thoroughly enjoys meeting her friends from around the country who also attend the shoots with their parents.

[Darren Petts]

A fair old amount of both editting and adding has gone on there!

[Smudgegs]

There is an easy way to restrict those who want to spend silly money on equipment to gain a small advantage... it has been used successfully in some motorsports (despite the howls of protest which some greeted it with on its introduction )

The organisers pick a limit which an average outfit (eg rifle complete including scope and any items fixed to it, excluding gunbag, pellets etc) and nominate a value which should not be exceeded, say for example £600 (purely for example, please don't get excited about the figure chosen, not at this stage anyway!!).

The rule is then implemented, and must be agreed by competitors when they sign on, that the winners rifle may be bought by any other competitor for the stated figure, (in this case £600). If the winners rifle is worth £1000+ then unlucky, she/he knew the risk when he/she entered, if it is worth £200, then they either keep it or make a healthy profit.

Works in other sports....

[Aeroman]

Edited version as follows:

I'd like to take issue with Sam Elliot's complaint about some shooters doing better in Hunter FT because they can afford the better equipment (Shoot Us A Line, August issue) - and the editor's supporting comment!
Tell me, in what sport is it not the case that high end gear is used by top shooter? Sam's suggestion of banning scopes over 12x magnification will acheive nothing as the shallow depth-of-field suffered by such scopes renders high-mag optics a hindrance in HFT.
Restricting rifles on price is also unworkable - how, for instance, would you calculate the value of a second hand rifle?
The editor's suggestion to make courses easier would denigrate the event and with the competition already so fierce at the top, I have no doubt that there will always be a shoot-off for the top places, thus giving spectators an exciting end to the day.
And contrary to what the editor thinks, I understand that the HFT governing body has stated it will not be introducing a .22 class - and I'm in full agreement. At the end of the day, It's down to knowing how your gun shoots so the question of calibre is irrelevant.
Sam may think that HFT is losing out on the chance to be a 'family sport', but I totally disagree. My daughter comes with my wife and I ... and thoroughly enjoys meeting her friends from around the country who also attend the shoots with their parents.


Well the basic points are there, but the qualifying/satirical statements to back them up have been altered so as (IMO) not do the job they were there for, so what we have left in print is largely unsubstantiated opinion.

As far as I know there IS currently going to be a .22 class next year although I don't believe it had been contemplated back as far as July, but we will wait for Sparky to announce the full rules and agenda for the UKAHFT events next year after they have been finalised by the organisers.

Thanks for typing it out Brock.

Oh well. Never mind - it's not as if the mainstream papers don't get edited, I've had my moan so I'll now live with it and move on.

David

[Darren Petts]

You are working on a false assumption.
Spending money in motorsport will net you an advantage with more power / better brakes etc. Doing the same at HFT will not. An S200 and Bushnell Banner will cost under £300 secondhand and will do just as well as a MK3. The sole reason Mk3s are prevalent at the top of the leader board is that those at the top are serious about their sport and as such wish to buy the best kit they can afford. It doesn't confer any gain in terms of points though.

[andyiow]

Having a really expensive gun does not make you shoot better as there are to many other factors involved. There are some shooters who can use any rifle combo and still shoot just as well.

As just about all rifles shoot virtually more accurately than us, it is down to the individual who can read the wind and range most accurately and pul the trigger at the right time .