American Airguns Blog
The Random Ramblings Of An Airgun Addict

I finally got back from the 05 FT Nationals up in Seattle. I had a great time shooting and vacationing. My wife’s family lives in the Seattle/Tacoma area so we took a few extra days to vacation and visit with them after the match. We had a lot of fun and were on the go the whole weekend, which didn't contribute to good shooting on my part but it didn't matter much since Paul Cray was on his game and I would have had to been on another plane to beat him! The Tacoma club did a great job putting on the Nationals, there were a few target problems but that happens from time to time at big matches but other than them things went pretty smooth. This seemed like the most relaxed nationals that I have ever been to. It didn't seem like a Nationals match to me, everyone seemed so relaxed and their didn't seem to be a buzz in the air like there is at most nationals. That really made it even more enjoyable for me. The weather was about as perfect as it could be, the humidity was low, there was sunshine and it was pretty cool most of the time. The food was good and the friendship was even better. I got corralled into being the auctioneer for the AAFTA auction again. I really didn't feel like doing it since I wasn't feeling too well after the Saturday match (due to a condition I have called Mitral Valve Prolapse, more on that in another blog) but after getting some liquids in me and getting into the auction it was a lot of fun. We sold some good stuff and raised some money for AAFTA. I even bought a couple of things too! I was really happy to get to go out to the Seattle area. I always worry about taking my gun with me on the airplane but my new Plano aluminum case faired very well and kept everything safe. My HW97 in my DaveG stock was shooting great and I finally got the trigger set just right. I shot some incredible groups on Friday and really had the gun dialed in. The biggest mistake I made on Saturday was to shoot a bit too much in the morning and then not eat a substantial lunch. I only dropped four or five shots on my first 10 lanes and shot the majority of my misses on the last 5 lanes or so. I also didn't drink enough fluids and got a tension headache, which persisted overnight and into Sunday. I was also fatigued on Sunday and dropped a bunch of shots. The bottom line was that my gun was shooting great but I wasn't. That's life and there is always next year. I still had a great time shooting with some old friend and some new ones. I still feel very lucky that I was able to go and the 05 Nationals this year.