Anyway, the first day was mainly buckshot and slug stages, the buckshot being used on metal fall down targets, pepper poppers and paper, and the slug being used on a variety of paper/card targets. There was one birdshot stage which i messed up filming, turning the camera on when i finished the stage so i got some cracking footage of me putting my gun away(!) :cool2:
By the end of the shooting on the first day i (and everyone else) was soaked to the skin, as was all equipment and guns (this will be come important on Saturday :x ) Unsurprisingly as i had switched to new brands of both buckshot and slug my patterning was everywhere, resulting in 5 mediocre to poor stages for me, but i did shoot the single birdshot stage reasonably well
Second day was 10 stages of birdshot only ammo so far greater speed could be used and i was looking forward to that! Unbelieveably despite sitting on/near a radiator of full blast all night my boots, jacket and gun bag were still wet, fortunately i'd got my gun dry, cleaned and oiled and ready to go, or so i thought . . . . Stupid me didn't take into account that i'd been shoving in countless sopping wet cartridges all Saturday and so the magazine tube and spring had been sitting in water most of the day, and all of the night - big mistake! After shooting a few stages my gun was failing to feed the last, and sometimes second to last cartridge, something that can cost you a match easily, and it did cost me at least 3 positions :evil:
Eventually after speaking with some of the other competitors i was squaded with they suggested my magazine spring may have fatigued and i should give it a stretch for the last few stages. In PSG you win/lose the longer stages on reloading the gun so you chop the mag spring down to give you enough tension to feed but as little as possible resistance for faster loading.
So off to the safety area i went and took the end cap off the mag tube, only to find the tube and spring COVERED in rust, aaarrgghh!! I cleaned it up the best i could in the field but still got one failure to feed on the last stage. Gave it a proper oil bath last night and got all of the surface rust off it but i think its time for a replacement
Anyway i finished 13/24 for my division which i could've improved by at least 3 places had my gun not jammed, and probably another place had my fingers not been so cold i couldn't load properly (esp. stage 12), but thats the fun and games of practical shotgun!
To be honest though, i fine most sports boring if i'm only spectating, i prefer to participate