KRRC Fun Steel 04/11/2009

Wayne and I were a little concerned as the weather didn't look all that good for an outdoor steel match as it was both blowing pretty hard and looking like it could start raining at any time. We decided to take the longer and more expensive route to Silverdale which required two car ferry rides each way, since the car ferry from Whidbey Island to Port Townsend is not very reliable. Fog, rain, wind, whatever, I think they look for reasons to cancel runs sometimes. Granted, the boat they are using is dangerous on that run anyway as it can get very rough crossing the Straits of Juan De Fuca in that area and the boat is rather small.

After two ferry rides and roughly 57 miles on the road, we pulled in to the KRRC grounds. We got there just in time to get signed up and listen to John put on the shooter's meeting. It was great to see so many shooters I've met here and there in my travels. The Gig Harbor club's Bryce and Rob were there, and Paul Bunyan club in Puyallup also had several shooters there, too, including two of the guys I squadded with a couple of weeks ago, James and Scott. We had so much fun shooting together we decided to squad together again, and typical of any squad I'm on, by the end of the day you could hear us laughing and carrying on from just about anywhere on the club grounds. Wayne also squadded with us, and at the last minute Zak joined us to give steel shooting a try for the first time.

The weather mostly cooperated by not raining on us, but the gusting winds lead us to fold up some of the shooting area covers before they blew away.

James on Stage Three (I think....)

Once we got underway it was clear that Scott was having a good day with his iron sight .22. It looked like he didn't even KNOW how to miss a plate! Fast, accurate, and making it look easy. Wayne, even though he hadn't been to a match since late last Summer, shot a good solid match. James and Scott were also shooting revolvers, and even though they were shooting those antiquated old guns so primitive that they don't even have magazines, aren't made of plastic, and don't hold at least 17 rounds of ammo, they still shot very well! (I guess they must be pretty good to shoot that way with such a handicap!!)

Far too soon the day was over, and thanks to several stovepipes at just the wrong times, I was going to be a ways down the list. (Note: it turned out to be an improperly heat-treated extractor that had gotten worn prematurely and wasn't holding on the the casing long enough for the ejector to send it flying. I had replaced the extractor less that 1,000 rounds ago. I re-sharpened it and heat treated it to full hard today, and so far it seems to have ended the problem.)

After the match James, Wayne, Scott, and I retired to a local pub for some food and refreshments. Since we had a fairly long drive and two ferry rides to get home, we headed off shortly thereafter. The drive home was uneventful, just as we like it. We had had a great day, got in some fun shooting, laughed a lot, and generally had a grand time of it.

Next Sunday there's a steel match at Paul Bunyan in Puyallup, and Scott and James are going to be there. I can hardly wait...................

If you are somewhere in the Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, general area, why not come over to the Paul Bunyan club and give steel shooting a try? Here's the Paul Bunyan website, and if you have a question about the match, give William Reece a call at 253-350-4178.

Come give it a try!