The third competition for 2008 by MAAC was dedicated entirely to CO2 pistol and Air Soft GBB pistol enthusiasts. In the Malta Allied Airgunners Club – Steel Plate Challenge – the shooter must hit a set up of steel plates at a distances of 5metres to 15 metres with a minimum number of shots in the shortest possible time.
The targets (steel plates) are arranged in a set up which is called a stage. Each stage is shot three times and the average time for the stage is established.
The targets are disks of 10cm or 14cm or a rectangular plate of dimensions 20cmx10cm. The targets have a colour code 4 White and 1 Yellow for each stage. The shooters start on a GO! signal, shooting the White plates and ending on the Yellow Plate. The last shot hitting the Yellow plate stops the time.
Steel Plate is also semi dynamic since the shooter must shoot from shooting boxes, more than one box can be used to push the shooter to tackle the targets from two different locations. In such a moment the R.O. will observe the pistol handling technique which could disqualify a competitor.
The stage has a maximum execution time of 30sec. If one exceeds 30seconds the R.O. will stop you from completing the stage. This factor which is called maximum time is divided by one’s average stage time to produce what is called a hit factor for the stage. The competition involves three stages and the total hit factor from all the stages is added up. The highest hit factor rules the day.
A total of 15 competitors took part in this event, with various types and pistol setups. The competition was open to all TS-B licenced shooters. The day was ruled by Steve Farrugia with an excellent performance on all the three stages (HF 11.58).
Following with a 1.15 hit factor difference (converted to time is more than 30 sec over all), was Jam4es Bugeja the Secretary of MAAC (HF10.43) and Mark Cassar from AACTS (HF 10.14).
Final standings
Competitor Hit Factor
1) Steve Farrugia 11.58
2) James Bugeja 10.43
3) Mark Cassar 10.14
4) David Giardina 9.03
5) David Giardina 8.46
6) Stanley Shaw 8.16
7) Kris Debattista 8.03
8) Wayne Galea 8.00
9) John Cassar 7.80
10) John Attard 7.21
11) Edwin Attard 5.82
12) Rene Scorfna 5.53
13) Stanley Shaw 5.34
14) Raymond Abela 4.10
15) Josef Gatt 3.84
16) Norman Bugeja 3.81
The next Steel Plate Challange is scheduled for Sunday 23 November and is also open for all TS-B licenced shooters. In 2009 MAAC will have three different types of air pistol competitions available. Details will be released in the 2009 activity programme due to be issued by the end of November.