Shiloh Rifle Forums

I looked up weather data for Phoenix in Feb: average temp 55, wind 5.5. That sounds good!
Getting there is a concern from WY, returning a bigger concern. Are the stars aligning?

Short amount of daylight going to be problematic

Don......no problem, I shoot scope
Dennis

They might have to put all the scope shooters on the first relay everyday

Don McDowell wrote: ↑Thu Apr 20, 2023 5:34 pm They might have to put all the scope shooters on the first relay everyday

Most days that would be fine with me!

Yeh but they might have to let the iron sighters fire all their rounds while the sun is up and the scope guys finish up at sunset

Reminding, I/we waited until the iron sight shooters could get a sight picture this year before starting. It only affected the first relay of each day as I recall. Not so much the last relay.

Replying to Mike Herth. Winter officially starts in this desert when the mercury drops below 60F.
So you folks that think 55F is warm will have an advantage over the homies.

desert deuce wrote: ↑Thu Apr 20, 2023 9:19 pm Reminding, I/we waited until the iron sight shooters could get a sight picture this year before starting. It only affected the first relay of each day as I recall. Not so much the last relay.

Sunrise was shortly after 6 shooting didn’t start until almost 9
Sunrise the first week in Feb is 730ish that likely means irons won’t see the targets until almost 10
Sunset is 530
Relay times will likely have to be short sweet and end promptly to get the full slate in

Don, I think it's a little more complicated than that.

The reason we waited until close to 9:00 to start was not due to sun angle above the horizon (or a certain delay after sunrise), but due to the Azimuth, which is a horizontal angle from cardinal north. We waited until the horizontal angle was such that the sun was illuminating the front of the target rather than the back of the target (i.e. the target faces were not in shadow).

On April 1 of this year, at 8:30 am, the azimuth angle of the sun was 103 degrees (a little south of due east). The elevation was 27 degrees above the horizon.

On Feb 1 of this year, at 8:30 am, the azimuth angle of the sun was 119 degrees, which is well south of due east, so there would be no shadows on the target face. Of course, the elevation angle is only 12 degrees above the horizon.

By the way, the Ben Avery Range doesn't face due north, but faces roughly 12 degrees east of due north.
This is why the target faces are in shadow until the sun azimuth is greater than about 103 degrees.

And yes, I used to be employed as a rocket scientist....

I've shot the match in February.
True the sun is to the south further, but as you point out with the ne angle of the range it still has to get up enough to illuminate the targets.
It may help tremendously if the BA would do a couple of things to the range. Chain or blade off the target butts so there's more contrast. Replace all the worn out bolts in the carriers so the targets all stand at a straight up or slight lean back and the same height across the line. Possibly scatter some raw lime on the target butts over the top of the targets and in the pockets between targets.
There's only 10 hours of daylight, during the match period. Sunrise at 730 sunset 530pm

Or tell the Skip to buy some flashlights for the pullers to use on the targets. Make sure they are Wyoming pullers because the AZ guys will be shivering too much to hold the light steady.

Give the locals dressed up in their michelin man costumes those flashing high intensity lights so we can watch the light show until there's enough sunlight to see the targets. LOL

I have a sextant and wouldn't mind loaning it to a volunteer shooter to monitor the sun angle in the mornings.
Don't think it would matter much in the afternoon. Shooting has either completed or it has not.
As for me, I will accept what the spotting scope says about fully illuminated target faces on all firing points.

The suggestion of blading the impact berm is a good one. Blading made a big positive difference at Raton. FWIW: Will pass it on, however, I have been shooting there a long time and the impact berm looked about the same two weeks ago as it did twenty years ago.

Suspecting that instead of having a three minute prep period a multi minute, (however long it takes), prep period for all targets to be fully illuminated before commence fire is given may likely continue in 2024. AND, now I know who is clamoring to be on first relay and I always try to make the shooters happy will take that into consideration when squadding.