Swiss shooting 2022

[Classic12]

I thought I’d start a new thread rather than revive last year’s one, which is here

https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=608816

Had a busy weekend with four competitions, the first ones this year.

Started Friday afternoon with a 300 m rifle competition (“the friendship shootout”, several regional clubs take turns each year for organising it) with my trusty Stgw 57/03 (i.e. modified).

Beautiful day but quite windy, and I was not particularly happy with my scores, 120/150, 10 shots shot by shot and 5 shots in series (i.e. you only see the scores and the end of the 5 shots string). Only 5 warm up shots allowed.

Pre loaded 3 mags of GP11

Saturday morning was just some leisurely shooting at my club. Amongst others I shot the S&W 48 in . 22 magnum (25 m).

In the afternoon I went to my other club in order to shoot for the qualifying round of the state group 25 meter pistol championship. Group consists of four shooters, there is a qualifying round then the first second and third round and for those who make it, the finals in the fall

The format is 3×5 shots on the precision target in five minutes each time followed by 3×5 shots in the duel mode where the target appears for three seconds and disappears for seven seconds on the speed target

I was super happy with my first pass and then proceeded to botch the second one. Duel result was ok, and 264/300 is acceptable, especially for my first competition shooting one handed and with this new gun. I hope my scores will improve and increase throughout the various rounds over the season

 

[Classic12]

Sunday morning a group of 10 from my club went to another club close to Geneva where they organised their “spring shooting”. I decided to participate in both the pistol 25 and 50 m and the rifle 300 m competition. Not many people do that, they tend to focus exclusively on either pistol or rifle.

There is even occasionally some bad blood between both categories. In the Swiss army, pistols were generally reserved for officers whereas rifle were for grunts obviously. Therefore in the old days the pistol shooting community sometimes tended to look down on the rifle shooters, which is quite stupid.

Anyway we started with the 50 m category, three warmup shots and only five competition shots in five minutes

44/50

Then 25 m. 3×5 shot in 50 seconds each followed by 3×5 shot in 50, 40, 30 seconds respectively on the speed target. 5 warm up shots

My first pass was nice with 4 tens and an eight

And the first pass of the 30 seconds was equally nice

322/350, room for improvement but overall I am quite happy with that, finished second in our club’s group (I don’t have the overall ranking yet)

And then moved on to the 300 meter rifle. 5 warm up shots than six shots shot by shot, six shots in series, blind, and then 12 shots, six shot by shot and six in series again. I need to shoot some more rifle in order to improve but it’s difficult to find the time

To be continued ….

 

[zeke]

nice shooting!

 

[wild cat mccane]

why in heaven's name is the front sight so far backwards when they extended the rear sight with no functional part under it? If radius matter, seemed a quick 1" or greater is gained in changing that design.

Nice day!

 

[Classic12]

Last evening was .22 lr day at my club

Shot my 1949 P49 with the .22lr conversion

And a 1939 Walther PPK in .22 lr

 

[Savvy_Jack]

Are you close to Aarau, Switzerland.....your post just reminded me of my recent post about the 1866 Swiss Trials held there October 6th and 8th, 1866.

I posted it here:
https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=614495

 

[DaleA]

Thank you for posting. It's nice to see something cheerful. Also, nice photography.

 

[Classic12]

Are you close to Aarau, Switzerland.....your post just reminded me of my recent post about the 1866 Swiss Trials held there October 6th and 8th, 1866.

I posted it here:
https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=614495

Not that close, abt 110 miles, which is abt 3/4 across this tiny country

Thanks for mentioning that post, just read it, very interesting

 

[Classic12]

Those classic guns were shot a bit earlier in the season at 25 m

1977 Colt Python .38 WC

1984 Sig P210-1 9 mm

1970 Sig P210-1 7.65 mm

1980 Sig P230 9 mm police

 

[Classic12]

Last weekend my club organised its yearly pistol competition, 50 and 25 meters, open to other clubs on invitation. I mostly acted as a range officer and referee but I also took the time to compete on Thursday.

We started with the 50 m competition, 2 warm up shots and 10 shots in 8 minutes.

I botched that one. 77/100. My earlier practice was more promising :

The 25 m competition was 3 X 5 shots in 50, 40 and 30 seconds on the speed target.

That went a lot better, 140/150. And I was particularly happy that I did not shoot outside the nine ring, even though my second string was 5 nines, really circling around the ten

Now we have a small team of five who benefit from the coaching of a great marksman. We started in February at the 10 m air pistol, and now moved to 25 and 50 m pistol.

He is the friend and colleague of one of our member, a policeman. He won 27 national titles, several top tens in world championship and world cups, he was also 10 years on the local SWAT team (called DARD, Détachement d'action rapide et de dissuasion).

We naturally invited him and he honoured us by his presence on Saturday.

He wasn’t too happy with his 50 m performance, maybe he was a bit rushed, didn’t like his body position and shot 93/100. Three tens and seven nines. Great grouping though, but a tad to the right.

Then came the 25 m. Hat trick, 3 X 50

We finished with a nice lunch on Sunday, pork roast, with some local wine.

 

[Classic12]

The target portal on my club’s pistol range was dead on Saturday, no electricity. Maybe a rodent chew an electric cable.

So I went across to the 300 m rifle range instead .

Windy day with changing light conditions, from sunny to overcast. Our best sharpshooters complained about the changing luminosity; didn’t bother me, guess I’m not good enough

I had the K31 in the trunk of the car.

I added 2 inches to the butt, the length of pull was designed for soldiers with 5’3” height. I’m 6’3”

Bullseye !!

Not very good results but steady [emoji16]

Then I quickly picked up my Stgw 57/03 from home (1/2 mile away)

View from the tunnel

 

[Classic12]

Shot 87 twice, then 91, with an amazing (for me) five shot string (3-7) in the ten ring (10 cm, 4”). (Forgot to set up the program with printout).

Room for improvement, but I had a ton of fun.

 

[Classic12]

I remembered that my S&W Third Model Single Shot (Perfected Target Pistol) turned 100 this year so I took it to the 50 meter range

We shot 90/100, not bad at all

Vintage Swiss match ammo was used

 

[Classic12]

And shot a 105 years old pistol today, 1917 DWM Luger artillerie

It shoots a bit high but what a grouping offhand at 25 m

 

[JohnKSa]

I remembered that my S&W Third Model Single Shot (Perfected Target Pistol) turned 100 this year so I took it to the 50 meter range.

Very interesting. I had no inkling that such a gun even existed. A top-break single shot S&W...

 

[Classic12]

Glorious day at the outdoor range in canton Valais

Started at 25m with my new HK Mk23

Unsuppressed

Suppressed

S&W 610 10MM with the new Culina grips

 

[Classic12]

Tried the HK 93, worked flawlessly

The range officer was unwell so we had to cut the session short

I had some .45 ACP left so I fired some more rounds with my 1943 type II Remington Rand 1911 A1 before leaving

Feeling a little frustrated, I headed to another range nearby. It’s a military style one so calibers are restricted to ordnance (which means 9 mm or less here). I only had one, an HK P8

A great day in the end

 

[Classic12]

End June a dozen members of my shooting club participated in the canton (state) Vaud shooting. Each of the 26 Swiss canton organises a state shooting competition every five or six years or so. Distances are 25 and 50 m for pistol (300 meter for rifles).

There are typically four categories for pistols, Rimfire, Ordinance, centrefire, free pistol. There are various discipline, Precision, Speed, duel etc. Targets used are precision and speed targets ISSF

The 25 meters range

I used the Pardini Rimfire and a SIG P210–6 ordnance pistol. Trigger pull is checked and a sticker is applied to the gun when it passes. 1000 grams for rimfire, 1360 gr for (old) ordnance pistols (1500 for newer ones)

48

The 50 m range

One of our lady member, a good shot and tough competitor

Results. There is a threshold to reach, which varies with weapon used and age group, to obtain a distinction. That distinction then gives you a medal or a voucher

 

[Classic12]

Out of the ten disciplines I chose, I obtained seven distinctions and missed two by one point. The medals are different depending on how many distinctions you’ve got. I ask why it’s only written five distinction on my printout result sheet, they answered that this is the highest you can get

 

[Classic12]

I went back on Sunday to try and obtain the 25 m grand mastery in the ordnance category

This consists of 60 shots, 30 precision and 30 duel speed, meaning the target appears three seconds and disappears seven seconds

Precision

Duel

The threshold to obtain the grand mastery in the ordnance pistol category is 505 points. If you mess up you’ll have to wait another five or six years to try again. Also you can only obtain it once per state. A few of the senior shooters have managed all 26 probably over a 30 years period

LP stands for Liberté et Patrie, Freedom and homeland, the Canton Vaud motto