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The Euro Med Cup 2005

The 2005 Med Cup promised to be a great match. Squad 1, the super squad had all the top French Open shooters, and a couple of top open guests. Not only did this squad have some great competitors, but this year there was an added twist to the match - the French shooters were shooting for a top 4 finish, which would qualify those who made the top 4 with a slot on the French Open team at that WS in Ecuador - which came with an almost full expense paid trip! So there was big money at stake this year, and tension was high.
Although there was much to win and loose, the atmosphere on the squad was super! Everyone was friendly and courteous to one another, and it was a pleasure to shoot on this squad.

Day 1
Had to be one of the toughest shooting days I have ever experienced! We started at 8am - under clear skies, but with unbelievable winds blowing through the range. I was told wind speed reached almost 100 km per hour that day! And it didn't let up for one minute all day long! You cannot imagine what it is like until you experience this relentless wind. Anything that was not pinned down was gone. If you were not sitting in your range chair - it had better have you range bag on it, or you would be looking for it on the far side of the range? My hat's off to the range construction team, who seemed to do the impossible by keeping all the props in place. All barricade were netting, which is what allowed them to survive. If they had been solid walls, nothing would have saved them!

The dust was everywhere, and every part of ones body becomes totally clogged and full of dust. Gun problems were common, and every effort had to be made to keep the gun and mags clean.

Stage 4 was of particular difficulty in these conditions. This stage had 10 full size poppers to shoot, and although they were well set, the wind got behind them, and would prevent them from falling. The range crew had to call for calibration for every second shooter. Then it became a game of luck - if the wind was up when the calibration was done or not. If the wind changed direction or weakened when the calibration was done - down it went, and the shooter lost out big time. All these calibration and reshoots caused huge delays, and the stage was running 2 hours later by the time squad 1 reached it, only our forth stage of the day!

I shot that stage 3 times! The first time I had a center hit on a steel, but it did not go down! I decided not to shoot it again, cause I could see the hit in the middle, as the steel was being painted for each shooter. So I waited anxiously as they called for a calibration gun. Most people so far had lost in this situation. But then, just as the RO was loading his calibration gun, the rouge popper was knocked over by the win! We watches in disbelieve, and the RO had no choice but to call for a reshoot, as he could not longer calibrate! What a break.
The next time I started to shoot, and just as I reach the first popper it was knocked over by the wind. I stopped mid stage and went to load up for another attempt. By this time were were having reshoot after reshoot as the wind was at gale force! I do not envy the range crew on this one! Eventually I shot through without the wind interfering, and had a decent time too.

The day developed into a tight race, with Eric leading, myself in 2nd and Jorge 3rd not far behind. The rest of the French team lead by Eddy came in immediately after. Day two promised to be a real battle. But after 12 hours in the wind, all we were hoping for was better weather!

Day 2
Day 2 did see the weather improve somewhat. The wind did not completely die down, but it did weaken enough to make life more bearable on the range. Since we had shot most of the big stages on day 1, were entered into a long string of 9 rounds stages, with an occasional 16 rounder thrown in.
I usually do not enjoy 9 round stages too much, but I must admit that this year, the stage planners of the med cup did a great job, and many of the 9 round round stages were extremely interesting and challenging.

Of particular interest was stage number 15 which featured a rather unique prop: It was a motorized target, which rotated round and round on a central hinge, appearing and disappearing behind hard cover. And it was really moving. The shooter could only see it in one small corner or it's arc, and it was all but impossible to get 2 hits in that small window. One had to engage it twice, and even then being sure of the hits was not easy. This stage caught many off balance, and there were plenty tears shed here.

Stage 20 was an ultra fast 16 round stage, which had the shooter move between 4 shooting windows, some of which low, and engage close range open targets. Full speed shooting, had the top runners complete this stage in less than 6 seconds, even with the 4 positions. We shot this stage late in the day, and the low sun really caught the dust the previous shots picked up, totally obscuring the last target. What could hardly make it out in the dust, and it became harder as the sun set.

I was pleased with my shooting, and 2nd place finish. I was able to stay close with world champion Grauffel through the 24 stages of the match, even though he shot well and consistent as ever. And certainly there was an impressive lineup of other top European Open shooters in attendance, making this match a real challenge as always.

Top 10 Open ranking:
1 Grauffel Eric                   100,00 %
2 Kirsch Saul                     96,31 %
3 Ballesteros Jorge             93,19 %
4 Testa Eddy                     86,89 %
5 Ballesteros Juan Carlos    82,06 %
6 Schneider Patrik              81,83 %
7 Buticchi Edoardo             80,55 %
8 Obriot Emile                    80,42 %
9 Joly William                     80,31 %
10 Garcia Infantes Antonio   77,98 %

As always I have my sponsors to thank for making this possible.
Drummen Custom Guns
Berry's Fmg
Competitive Edge Dynamics (CED)
Mpro-7
Arredondo accessories
Rescomp Handgun Technologies
Lapua/Vihtavuori
Aimpoint
BUL Transmark

Next up, is the STI Open in Philipsburg Germany, in just a couple of short weeks. I look forward to that one, and will report.

I wish you all great shooting!

Saul Kirsch