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SOAR Tune-Up Match: The Valley’s Newest Club Opens Its Course
Southern Oregon Air Rifle opened its course for real this Saturday. Six shooters made the first relay of the club’s Tune-Up Match: national champion Wayne Burns, match director Bill Galloway, national champion Randy Ebersole, Matt Swarts, Alain Herriott, and Jeff Collier, with Jerome behind the camera. Complimentary entry, 10 AM start, and a course run to AAFTA format, the shakedown that starts the clock toward sanctioning. Southern Oregon field target continues to grow with the opening of the Southern Oregon Air Rifle course near Medford.
The Course
Bill set 13 lanes across the hillside, 31 targets in all, from a 12.1-yard opener out to a 54.9-yard long shot, with kill zones from a half inch to an inch and a half. Lane 8 shot kneeling, lane 9 standing. The course came in at a 37 Troyer, and it shot like one. This was a genuinely difficult layout, and the wind made it harder: tricky all morning, with few indicators among the oaks to read it by.
Downrange, AirGun Oregon’s new lead-catching field target boxes pulled their first day of match duty, and they earned their keep: easy to level on the hillside, steady through every reset, and every pellet stayed in the box instead of the ground.
Shoot on these targets at home. The same lead-catching boxes that ran this course are available to preorder: AAFTA-compliant kill zone work, adjustable legs, and an optional solar light roof for night shooting. Every pellet stays in the box.
On the Line
Hunter PCP competitors, carts staged behind the line. The course runs mostly downhill, with the wind working left to right and quartering from behind. The targets demanded quality rangefinding and steady holds, and the wind was a genuine challenge from the first lane to the last.
Equipment Notes
Both USFTs wore Athlon Heras scopes on Saturday, the 4-20 and the 6-24. Every rifle on the line fed JSB 10.34 grain .177 pellets at around 900 feet per second, with Alain Herriott running the heavier 13.43 grain JSBs. Both are available at airgunoregon.shop.
Results
Thirty-one targets, 49 possible points, a 37 Troyer, and a tight race up top. Wayne Burns took the first-ever SOAR match with 42, Bill Galloway pushed him to the end at 40 on his own course, and Randy Ebersole landed a point back at 39.
| Place | Shooter | Class | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wayne Burns | Hunter PCP | 42/49 |
| 2 | Bill Galloway | Hunter PCP | 40/49 |
| 3 | Randy Ebersole | Hunter PCP | 39/49 |
| 4 | Matt Swarts | Hunter PCP | 27/49 |
| 5 | Alain Herriott | Hunter PCP | 26/49 |
| 6 | Jeff Collier | Hunter PCP | 12/49 |
Acknowledgments
A first match only happens because a club decides to build one. Southern Oregon Air Rifle opened its course to everyone with complimentary entry, and these are the people who made the day run. Southern Oregon field target is stronger for their work.
- Host Club
- Southern Oregon Air Rifle, on its new Medford course
- Match Director
- Bill Galloway
- Scorekeeping
- Squad scoring by the competitors on the line
- Photography
- Jerome, behind the camera all morning
Helped make this match happen and not named here? Tell us. Ten years from now, these names are the history that matters.
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The Road to September
This match starts SOAR’s clock toward AAFTA sanctioning.