HFT OPEN Sunday 28 th March 2009.

Yesterday a group of MAAC Shooters participated in the HFT open at the Victoria Shooters range in Handaq. During HFT the shooters must be able to estimate the Targets distance which is some place between 7 and 41 meters and calculate the trajectory of their shot to knock down the targets.The target diameters can range between 15mm to 40mm in diameter. Targets in HFT must be shot according to the HFT rules i.e. Standing, kneeling or prone and in some cases there can be also supported shots assigned to particular targets.

In HFT the target zone can even be partially hidden up to 50%. The shooters in HFT are not allowed to utilize their scopes to range find or to dial in on the estimated range of their target hence is all matter of knowing the air rifle capabilities and calculating the correct distance and matching this to the pellet trajectory. During the HFT Open shot MAAC organize for two different classes of air rifles. The Standard Low Power HFT ( for sub 12ftlbs air rifles) and the High Power HFT ( for air rifles above 15ftlbs). The Day was excellent but with a very strong NW wind that swept along the range making some locations very difficult to hit even at medium ranges. Both classes had a 30 shot course that can score a maximum of 60 points.

In the Low Power HFT Class Nazzareno Scorfna with his HW100, despite the wind conditions and sub 12 ftlbs showed that he was in the right mood and made an impressive score of 56/60.The 2nd and 3rd Place had to be decided in a shoot off between David Gairdina and Wayne Galea. The shoot off was concluded on a knock down target with a diameter of 10mm at around 12 meters in standing unsupported shot in a zone that the wind rocked the shooter trying to hold an aimed shot at such a small target. Both David and Wayne followed each other during this sudden death struggle for the second place. Wayne Galea sealed his second place.

The top 5 ranking in the Low Power HFT Class are as follows.
1st Nazzareno Scorfna 56/60
2nd Wayne Galea 54/60 (shoot off)
3rd David Giardina 54/60 (shoot off)
4th Gordon Gouder 53/60
5th Kris Debattista 50/60

In the High Power HFT Class Dr.Mario Spiteri scored 54/60 to take over the 1st position. Whist again David Giardina had to fight for the 2nd or the 3rd position with Nazzareno Scorfna. David now was able to take over the second place in the High Power HFT class from Nazzareno more easily. The top 5 rankings in the High Power HFT Class are as follows.


1st Dr. Mario Spiteri 54/60
2nd David Giardina 53/60 (Shoot off)
3rd Nazzareno Scorfna 53/60 ( Shoot off)
4th Wayne Galea 51/60
5th Edwin Attard 49/50

The Medal for the BEST EFFORT was presented to Edwin Attard for his nice score and his merited improvement.