CWSA Bowling Pin Shoot -- 05/19/2007

Back from the pin shoot, and it was quite a day. The weather looked kind of threatening on the way to the match, rain and wind, but as the day progressed it got better and better, and was downright pleasant when we wrapped it all up for the day.

Being a glutton for punishment, I decided to shoot every class, and even entered two guns in rimfire optical class. That ought to keep me busy for the day, and boy, did it ever! I didn't even have time to take any pictures, so you will just have to use your imagination! KeeWee was far more sensible, and only entered the High Standard .22 Sharpshooter in rimfire optical class. To make it even more fun, since we had a fairly small turnout, we decided to make it 3 out of 5, instead of the usual 2 out of 3.

The whole day was a blur, and it went by really quickly.

First class up was centerfire optical, and I ended up facing 'Evil Al' in the first round shooting my Taurus PT92 Econo Race Gun Project gun. (See links on its construction in the sidebar). I'm finally learning to shoot it, and managed to make it past Al into the second round, much to my surprise. Al usually kicks my butt big time! Little did I realize that Al and I were going to meet up several times before the day was over. As I said before, much of the day was a blur, but I do remember that I ended up against Rainy (Mrs. Al) in the final. It was way too close for comfort, but I managed to take the class.

Last week I picked up a used Charles Daly 1911 .45 as a project gun, and got a chance to shoot it for the first time in a match in the iron sight centerfire class. LouG loaned me some ammo and a couple of magazines so I could give it a try. It still needs a little work, but it performed well, and Chris and I had some close tables. Great fun!

Next up was revolver class, and thanks to qualifying times, there was Al again facing me in the first round. Al made mincemeat of me, and I was never even close. I usually figure if I can just make Al sweat a little bit even if he wins, I've done OK. Didn't manage at all........

After revolver we went into big bore revolver. The final boiled down to LouG AKA Mad Gun, shooting a .44 Magnum S&W and I was shooting my Ruger Super Red Hawk .480. I just wasn't having much of a day with the revolvers, as Lou made it look pretty easy. I got him last time, he got me this time, next time???

One comment I heard several times, though ,was just how much fun the big bore revolver class was to shoot. Since you only get six shots for the five pins, accuracy becomes much more important than raw speed and quick reloads, as in the regular revolver class.

Hang in there, only two classes to go! After having just shot a bunch of rounds through the .480, then picking up a .22, it was quite a change. Jim, Phil, and I had some fun tables in rimfire iron sight, and Phil and I swapped back and forth several times taking turns winning a table. It's great fun when the matches are really close like that.

The last match of the day was rimfire optical, and we had a fairly good number of entries. Al and I had the two fastest qualifying times, so here we go again in the first round. Al and his Smith & Wesson Model 41 are REALLY tough in this class, but my High Standard went into "Magic" mode", and it almost seemed like it did all the work by itself. Every time the little red dot was on a pin top the High Standard fired, almost as if it was on automatic pilot or something. We shot several very close tables, but this time I managed to move on to the next round. KeeWee had timed in either third or fourth, so she ended up against Rainy in the first round. The two of them are very evenly matched, but this time KeeWee was retired from the match, and Rainy advanced to the next round.

I sort of lost track of the next rounds, but eventually I ended up in the final against Rainy. We shot several very close tables, and our last table I think we were both out of gas, as neither of us seemed to be able to hit a dang thing! By luck and a lucky roll, more than anything else, I won the deciding table by about a half a pin, which isn't much! Rainy is turning into a really good shooter..........

We all had a great time, and there were lots of really close matches, but by the end of the day I was truly tuckered out. After sweeping up the rimfire brass, we loaded up the van and headed home, at least, that was the plan, but the battery was dead and it wouldn't start. Apparently the rear door wasn't fully down and latched all day and the two cargo lights and the interior lights ran the battery flat. (I need to wire in a cutout switch to keep that from happening again!).

Fortunately it fired right up with a jump, and off we went.

Hope your Saturday was as much fun as ours!