CWSA Steel Challenge - 11/05/06

We just managed to sneak our match in between wind storms and rain squalls, but we managed to finish up just before it started raining. Perfect timing! With the iffy weather a lot of shooters stayed home, probably figuring they didn't really want to shoot in the rain.

It was another good day for "Evil Al", who managed to win every class he entered, which was most of them. There were no real surprises in the final results, with everyone finishing about where they usually finish. I managed a second place behind Al in Open Rimfire and a second place, again behind Al, in Open Centerfire. In Open Revolver I was third, behind Al and LouG. Considering I was getting penalized 10 seconds for not using a holster (don't have one!) that's not too bad a placing.

The penalty pretty much guarantees that no matter how well you shoot, you can't win. For example, on the Smoke and Hope stage I would have had to get within roughly a half a second of the world record four times in a row to move into second place on that stage. To win the stage would have required world record times!

The whole idea of the penalty is not to make it a level playing field, but to encourage shooters to get holsters. A couple of good speed holsters and a belt runs about $300, so I'm going to have to think hard about that. Since I just shoot these matches for the fun of it anyway, I'm not sure if it's worth $300 to me to move up the standings a spot or so.

The closest match of the day was in Rimfire Limited class, where JimP and Mountain Man Phil were within a few tenths of a second of each other.

Once the match was completed, we all lent a hand getting the plates and stands and other equipment loaded up and stowed back in the storage shed before the rain started.

We all had a good time, and owe a big "Thanks" to Al, Lou, and Rainy for putting it on!