Registered for the 2008 BC ISSF Pistol Championships

I'll be attending the 2008 BC ISSF Pistol Championships at the end of May. I'm waiting to see if my PAL (Possession and Acquisition Licence) gets sent to me in time so I can compete in the 50M Pistol and Standard Pistol events, both events are shot using .22 calibre pistols. Over the next few weeks I'll be making updates about my training for this competition as well as for Nationals in July.

Registration forms for the 2008 BC ISSF Pistol Championships are online now at the BC Target Sports Association website. The event will be held in North Vancouver at Pacific Shooters.

Back from the Island and online again

I checked out of the hotel Sunday morning and headed back out to the shooting range to see the overall results. I finished in 2nd place with a 552/600.

How does scoring work? You have 1 hour and 45 minutes to take 60 shots. The highest point value for each shot is a 10, so 60 shots = 600 maximum score. The ISSF website lists the World Record at 593/600 by Sergei Pyzhianov and the Olympic Record at 591 shot by Mikhail Nestruev.

The number of competitors attending Provincials was definitely lower than what I've seen in the past when I was competing before. It would be nice to see more people out at these events.

Yesterday was fun, some friends of mine were staying at a cabin near Prospect Lake. It's a beautiful area around there. Canoeing. BBQ. Fishing. Nice way to finish up the weekend.

Nationals are in August so there are over 10 weeks of training time before then. I'm going to review my notes from this past weekend and get a training plan developed which I'll write more about later.

552 / 600... my result for my 1st competition back

It was good to be in competition mode again... all the little things I'd run through in my head started coming back to me. It really is almost entirely mental.

The air pistol range at the NSRG is indoors but has some vinyl walls which allow for a certain amount of sunlight and shadows to be cast inside. The changes and lighting as the sun moves behind clouds don't factor too much on the one side of the air range I shot at.


I was shooting in position #5 (That isn't me :))

552/600... I'm pretty happy with this score. 92%. For not having practiced more than 3 times in the last 4 years and shooting with a gun that had just been serviced last week and hasn't yet been tuned for me... it's a good score.

I need to get back into the 560s+ for Nationals in August.

This Provincial event is a 5 gun match where shooters compete in Centre Fire, Standard Pistol, Rapid Fire, Free Pistol, and Air Pistol. The last 3 are Olympic events. I only came to shoot Air Pistol as you need special licenses etc to carry and compete with the other guns. I will need to get my permits etc so I can compete in other events... I'd like to compete in Free Pistol again.

There are a few shooters left to shoot their Air match today so I won't know how I did overall until tomorrow.

Heading back for the BBQ... tomorrow I think I'll go see what's happening in Victoria. There are Titanic artifacts on display at the Museum which would be pretty cool to see.

Feel free to leave any comments on here! :)

2007 BC Provincials Details

I just finished booking a place to stay in Victoria near the Airport. It's a couple kilometers from the shooting range so that's not too bad. It will be nice to be around Sidney, BC and explore the area.

Here is a link to a map of where the shooting range is located.

More event details are available on the BCTSA website:
http://www.bctsa.bc.ca

The PDF registration form is available for download here:
http://www.bctsa.bc.ca/pdf/07BCHGchampsReg.pdf

Photos and other preparation details will be posted over the next few weeks.

Less than four weeks to prepare for Provincials

It has literally been years since I've attended a shooting competition. Normally, I'd be training for a specific amount of time before an event in order to have peak performance at that particular event.

For this upcoming shooting match, it is the only one coming up that doesn't require travelling out of the Province so I'm going to it primarily for fun and to see my fellow shooters from around BC. I'm telling myself it is for fun because I want to ensure I'm setting realistic expectations for this first match... and well, I'm due for a vacation so that's what this is.

That said... I still want to do the best I can given the situation, so here is a short list of tasks I need to complete before going to Victoria next month:

• Victoria travel and accommodations planning and booking
• Air Pistol maintenance, cleaning
• Check grip and make any changes to adjust for any changes in my hand's strength and shape over the last 4 years
• Clean my shooting glasses (and possibly get a new lens made to account for any changes in my vision)
• Weigh my pistol's trigger and make adjustments to ensure I'm within the rules and regulations
  
• Check my air pistol's shooting velocity
• Continue physical / cardio training
• Continue strength training
• Get out to the practice range in Richmond a few times
• Practice where and when I can
• Dry firing
• Final equipment preparation

There are a few place to practice around Vancouver, New Westminster, and Richmond so I'll discuss them as I find out more information. I've also created a practice area back at my parent's house in Gibsons, BC. I'll post up some photos of this... basically I practice by shooting down a hall, past a pool table, and into my Dad's workshop. Like I said... practice 'where and when I can'.

This coming week I will get my accommodations and travel arrangements sorted out and go through some of the basic maintenance of my equipment. I'll post up photos along the way.