It all started with Izaak Walton-Wildlife Achievement Chapter (WAC)/DIFTA Every good story has a beginning. You could argue that DIFTA's FT range is the OLDEST FT range in CONTINUOUS use. Per the Club's recorded  , the first formal FT Match was held there in March 1998. Since then, the location has not changed in over 25 years. Sure improvements have been made! there is a dedicated, covered, 55 yards airgun range with a Lexan roof. The airgun range is open every day from dawn till dusk and it is considered an "always hot"/open range (for members of WAC). Targets have also changed over the ..read more

Under the motto: "Afrika Ibiza / Africa is Calling!" The South African Field Target AA convened the FT shooters of the World to go to the foot of the Witwatersberg mountain range and compete for the awards and the places. It has to be said that this was a triumph of perseverance and solid effort. We need to remember that at the closing of the 2019 WFTC's in England , the South African Delegation made the required presentation / invitation under the same motto. As life would have it, CoViD struck and the whole world had to make a "stop". As time passed and things happened, we all wondered what ..read more

This year, the NCC was hosted by the And it was  a VERY NICE match. Perhaps we should start by understanding what is "Piedmont". Piedmont in most romance (derived from Latin) languages will mean the same thing: Foothills (Pied-Foot, Mont-Hill). Why is this important? Because it gives us an understanding of what the "lay of the land" is. In the USA case, the goes from New York, to Central Alabama, and, clearly, North Carolina is well included. Because the Piedmont is formed from the erosion of the Appalachians the lay of the land will be of smooth, undulating hills, with creeks and ravines ..read more

In the way of an Introduction Because Steve is well known to our readers, having spent considerable time creating "The Sled" and then tuning a DIANA 56TH, I will not introduce him again. Those interested in his previous appearance here need to look into the following links: This project began in January of 2022 with email correspondence between Hector Medina and myself. I was seeking advice on caliber choice for optimum accuracy at longer ranges in the D54/56 platform. My current rifles at that time were two Diana 56's, both in .177, and I was questioning the performance of the .22 caliber. He ..read more

Changing caliber of a "Lawrence of Arabia"                DIANA 34 EMS                                                                         © " post, a friend with a LoA DIANA 34 EMS wanted to change calibers. He was not happy with the 0.177" caliber as it seemed to be on the "loose" side and pellets fell when he swung the action closed. So, we sourced a few barrels fro ..read more

Every now and then someone asks why I insist on proper lubing. Another common question is: "¿What IS proper lubing?" Still some others that think that offense is the best defense, ask: "Why do you lube your pellets? I shoot them straight out of the tin!" Fair enough, we all know that each rifle is different but, still, in my years of professional gunsmithing I have found two basic "truths" that apply in airgunning: 1.- Pellets fly best at or below the 875 fps region 2.- PROPER lubing of pellets AND rifles DOES make a difference. Perhaps in some guns the difference is small enough that it is im ..read more

The triumph of Mathematics.- Italy's WFTC's 2022      Part 3 After an early, and light breakfast, we drove over to the Range. Range was about 40 minutes away from the "Villa Tuscolana", and it was somewhat hard to navigate the small roads that made the most direct route, so we found out how to trick the navigation to take us along the main highways, in the end, it took the same time, and it was much safer. Italians think they all drive like "Emerson Fittipaldi" / F1 drivers, and between the cars, the buses, and the scooters, small roads require a lot of concentration and dexteri ..read more

The triumph of Mathematics.- Italy's WFTC's 2022      Part 2 As I wrote before, Team USA had contacted Lazio Airguns with a view to have some "quiet time" to prepare for the WFTC's. We had done the same in Germany, New Zealand, Poland, and England; so we knew it was important. ​When we arrived, we saw a very well setup field. Mostly for HFT, but perfectly adequate to our needs. Targets were out, but strings needed to be run. As you can see they remain spooled at the gates. Here are some more pictures of the excellent Lazio Airguns field: A permanent and well used Podium, clearly ..read more

With this special entry we will close the series about the World's Field Target Championships 2022 in Italy, and I hope you see the reason for this very special entry. I've known this person for a few years. I first took notice when she was a Junior shooter from a faraway country. I've seen her face-up and overcome challenges, change completely her life, and become a person that truly embodies the future of FT. She has made airguns not only her sport, but her livelihood, and she is now embarking on a new phase where she will play a major role in shaping the sport, as she recently accepted an a ..read more

Gun #2.- An attempt at shooting FT under German rules Germans enjoy good engineering, but getting a license to operate an airgun at higher than the Olympic Match power level (5.5 ft-lbs / 7.5 J)  is a long and complicated process (also somewhat expensive). But still, there are enough Germans shooting FT in Classes 4 and 5 that there are actually matches held for those. Class 4 is the "F in Pentagon" (under 7.5 Joules/5.5 Ft-lbs) spring-piston rifles that recoil Class 5 is the "F in Pentagon" (under 7.5 Joules/5.5 Ft-lbs) spring-piston rifles with recoil-less actions These two classes are ..read more