Well we have now completed the first round of the second series of the MPL, and the first to be scored under the revised scoring method that makes it much easier to understand and to see what is really happening.

The immediate feed-back is that nocity may well have been right when he argued that +4 bonus points was too much to give to the "kickers" for every card giving a (almost) free of charge 16 point bonus over the 4 cards we shoot in every round.

I am guessing that we have to live with it until June when the second series ends, but first impressions are that even +2 points per card may well be a tad on the generous side ( + 8 points free of charge per 4 cards shot ) but +4 is just too much!

Part of the reason is that several of the top scoring "kickers" have been modified beyond the standard manufacturers specification with re-worked internals and custom fitted anatomical grips that moves them far away from the standard pistol we were considering when these rules were first written.

Maybe we should consider a sub-class of kicker to accommodate these "Super-Kickers"?.......but that starts to get complicated.

I am not in any way against the progress being made by the ingenuity and development of those that have made the effort to improve the basic air pistol to a more thorough-bred species of superb MPL specific "Super-Kickers" - I think it is brilliant - but I also think the rules need to acknowledge and accommodate this progress as the only reason for having the bonus points is to give an "even playing field"- and now it looks like the Super-Kickers have tipped the advantage very much in their favour.

There are also some very good shooters that we have been fortunate enough to have join us in our series using kickers, and their talent is acknowledged - but even they may appreciate some stiffer competition that is not provided with the bonus points we have at the moment?

As somebody suggested last year - we can all go and get a cheap kicker if we want to have the same advantage, so that gives us both sides of the debate to consider.

We have another 5 rounds before June, so lets see if the recoilless MPL shooters can make the same sort of progress as the kickers have made - if they do, then we may not be thinking the 4 point per card bonus is that bad after all come the end of the season!