Hi Guys!!
Before saying anything, I'm still wondering why I have that weird look on my
face on all the pics!! Hmmm.. I think I need surgery!
It was an awesome evening! I cant believe we have such a fun bunch and
haven't done these meets much before!
I like the donation idea. It wont hurt us much but from a group, it'll mean
a lot to the not so lucky ones.
It was a nice warm day and I was too excited to get any sleep. I left work
at around 10 and hit home. Took a nice shower and set out to look for a
light weight bag, hat and a nice strong pair of pants. (I had Rusty's
kneeling position in mind!) Well, I couldnt find any of the stuff! All the
hats I saw came in obnoxious colors and/or fit! Nobody had any pants that'd
meet the requirements! Later I was told that Levi's has a nice collection
in the Sykes line-up. Shopping plan for this weekend!
I called up Pran for directions and contrary to public opinion he gave me a
turn by turn de.scription of the route! I have to agree that he was lost at
one turn, but the moment I mentioned a nice big cow to the right of the
road, he caught up
After that there was no confusion. I got to the place
with minutes to spare, for the 2pm rendezvous.
There was a nice warm welcome from Pran, Ranjit, Inder and Rusty, who were
there already. Rusty grumbled something incoherent, but I took it as a hi!
Just Kidding. Everybody was as friendly as could be. Pran revealed his
huge stash of Instant Noodles and secretely avenged the can-boy notoriety by
trying to feed Rusty uncooked food!
Diskaon arrived shortly and we hung
around till GG showed up. Tenx had a bad turn of luck when his car broke
down.
We set off at 3pm or thereabouts and thanks to Rusty had a nice hot drive!
He wanted to have a sauna effect in the car to burn up some of extra
calories and decided that switching off the AC was the best thing to do. We
did contemplate leaving him along the side of the road, but decided not to.
Taking into account the nice villagers around. Rusty would easily become the
village head and post pics of himself in leaf attire and what not!
So in
the best interest of the human race, we decided to take him along. With the
AC off! I'm banking on senile decay to help Rusty forget all this by the
next meet. Else this is goodbye my brothers!
We reached in about 45 minutes and that gave us about 3 hours of sun for the
event to go smoothly.
A team did the course setup while the others decided on some friendly
plinking. I chose to plink so as to stay out of Rusty's way as much as
possible!
I mean, there's only so much the old fella can take
The
fun had already begun and we knew it was going to be an evening well spent.
Once the course was set we took a quick round to accustom ourselves to the
layout.
After a lengthy attempt at finding the timer option on the camera for the
group pic, we managed to snap a couple of goody's. Then came drawing cards
to decide who'd shoot in what order. We ran thru the rules another time and
decided on the duration.
GG somehow managed to scale a hill nearby and trained his cam for video
capture of the event. Though I personally feel that his chioce was biased by
the fact that the local bathing pond was in clear vision from there! (I'm
jus kidding. So dont get excited. I'm sure guys'd be fighter over the camera
next time around!)
Once that was done, the rounds began!
Inder went first and it was a worthwhile display of his and his Diana
52's ability. Scoring a perfect 10/10 is indeed a feat. Even more so since he
went first! He finished the course in 4min 32secs and was proof enough that
the 5 min limit set was ample. If somebody was planning on relieving him of
that Diana, you may want to act fast as he's getting second thoughts about
the sale
TenX went next and managed to rid 6 targets. Inder was keeping time on his
phone and recieved an ill-timed phone call right after the 6th target. He
did not answer the call in the vain hope that the counter would continue.
But as luck would have it the time was lost. I shout out to the shooting
party to halt the run. We decided to call it an even 3 min and had him
continue the the rest of the course in 2min 20 secs to arrive at the final
time of 5min 20 secs.
TenX was followed by Ranjeet, who propelled 8 targets off their metal a$$es
and did so in 4min 22secs. His run was uneventful and everything went
smoothly.
Then came along Diskaon, reverberating along the vast expanse whenever
somebody called his name..
He put his Diana 25 into good use and bid
goodbye to 3 targets in 4min 51secs. This is a commendable performance as
this gun was never handled by him before, was around 20 years old and not
zeroed in. Once familiar, I'm sure the gun will prove effective in his
hands.
Once Diskaon's round ended, GG trotted by wielding his beautiful TX200. That
gun is a beauty! GG managed to snuff 9 in 4min 20secs. He would have tugged
at Inder's first hadn't he messed up on the 5th round by dispatching target
6. Though I personally feel it was Rusty's tummy which got in the way of his
vision and he couldnt see target 5.
(I've so had it!)
GG resigned to his fate, secretely cursing Rusty's shape and returned to his
position as the official IFG Cameraman. Waiting at the 1st shot position was
our very own can-boy and the sponsor of the range and refreshments. Once I
started the timer, he rocketed off with his National 35 .177 to eliminate 7
targets in (yet agian!) 4min 20 secs! By now there was a silent murmur on
the effectiveness of my stopwatch. But nobody could mess with the
time-keeper or the score-keeper. So by official immunity, we carried on
Then it was my turn to have a go at the cans and I showed these old boys how
its done in speed
I managed to finish the course in a undisputed 3min
57secs. Looking at the pics, this exertion took a huge toll on my face! I
have no idea why my face is so contorted! I mean if that's what I look like
when i concentrate, I pity the guys who had to see me! I only managed to
launch 6 targets, but I was happy. My national 35 .22 had just paid for
itself!
Iceman was teeming with energy and he went next. Wielding Can-Boys National
35 .177, he propelled 8 targets into orbit and did so in 4min 43 secs.
Judging by the fact that he was using a gun that was alien to him, this is
indeed formidable performance! Kudos to you!
Now, for the final showdown was our very own Rusty, AKA Nawab of Richards
Town, AKA The Big Belly Rusty!
Starting off with a nice loud farty snicker from GG, Rusty sped off! You
must note that Rusty had accompanied each of the shooters along the course
and took only a short breather before scorching 9 targets in 4min 59secs
with his super silent Air Arms Prosport. For a big 'ol fart, he's pretty
quick!
Rusty's round ended the formal events for the day. Next came the plinking
try-outs where we poor sods had a go at the mean rifles. I fell in love with
the trigger setup on GG's TX200 and the report of Rusty's Prosport! Only
after reaching home and reminiscing, did I realise that I did not try out
the winning Diana! Maybe Next time, if one of you lucky b@stards dont buy it
off him!
After some nice steaming cups of coffee, we decided to call it a day. I
managed to eat Rusty's head on the way back too. One of the major concerns
for the National was the heay twang. I'm working on his ideas now.
All in all, it was truly a memorable event. Getting to meet and know all of
you personally was a great experience. Not to mention seeing so many good
guns in action. I did have one moment when my heart skipped a beat when I
saw something sticking out of Rusty's tummy and decided it to be hernia!!
I must Thank all of you for making this a huge success! Wish only more of us
could join and make it a bigger success. But there's always a next time and
everybody's welcome!!
I have another idea for the next meet. Why dont we collect some money and
get proper spinner targets. That way can-boy can retire and none of us will
have any excuses to binge on beer.
Three cheers for IFG!