Greetings all, This time of year really does seem a little crazy. No sooner am I back from one trip, that I am packing up for the next. I just returned from the Czech Nationals - and am leaving tomorrow morning for France. Well, can't complain - it is what I love to do. Just wish the drives were not so very long. The Czech Nationals brought us all back to the range in Operany, By Tabor, the venue of the 2004 Europeans. The range was looking a little run down and unkept, but it still offers one of the best venues in Europe for out door shooting. Living in Holland I rarely get to shoot outdoors, besides at the matches. At a first glance the stages looked rather simple and straight forward, and certainly this was not one of the more tactical matches I have seen. but still, a closer look revealed lots of moving targets: swingers, runners, up-down bobbers (shot weak hand) and a fine mix of speed and accuracy. If fact, challengers were in abundance: Parcel targets out at 30+ meters, poppers at almost 50.... and plenty of moving targets to shoot out, all in all - great fun. This match was one of the official matches of the STI Euro Team annual schedule and the team was there in force, missing only the newest member, Emile Obriot. We will meet up with him next week in France. It was great to shoot again on the same squad, with this fine bunch of shooters. To keep us all focused, I suggested a match challenge amongst the team members: Each time you shoot a stage clean - with no extra shots, you get 1 point. he who has most points by the end of the match will win the pot - 10 Euro from each of the 6 team members. not a bad way to pay some of the travel expenses... It was funny to see how we all got excited about this bet, really trying hard not to pick up any extra shots. In the end the challenge was won by Ralf Jensen, who edged me out by one point to win the money and the glory...:) He also went on to win the Standard Class division, and I won Open. I shot many of the match with a hat cam, some of which you can see on teh right below. Enjoy. these were the results
As always I have my sponsors to thank for their support
STI International
Berry's Fmg
Competitive Edge Dynamics (CED)
Rescomp Handgun Technologies
Lapua/Vihtavuori
Aimpoint
MSA Sordin
Until the next time I wish you all excellent shooting.
Saul Kirsch | 
