Swingin' and Dingin'

It's been a busy weekend, with lots of launching of small lead projectiles at steel targets, many of which weren't alway cooperative!

Keewee and I are just back from the CWSA Hanging Steel Rimpfire match in Coupeville, WA., and a few other short excursions. The weather was absolutely beautiful, blue sky, shirt sleeve temperatures, the kind of day that makes you want to drag out the BBQ, after a trip to the range, of course!

The usual suspects were present, including "Evil Al", Rainey, LouG, KeeWee, "Terrible Tom", Dean, TomH, and the rest of the locals. We also had a few shooters down from the Custer club, including Megan, who is going to be a real force to contend with if she keeps improving. Good eyesight, good reflexes, good cordination, etc. "Kids ...... Humbug!!!"

Anyhow, the basic rules are simple, 3 shot strings of six shots, from four distances, at four different sizes of steel plates hanging from metal rods. You have to get each shot string off in six seconds or less, and your score is the total number of plates you manage to hit. In short, 72 shots at 72 plates in 72 seconds or less. Sounds easy, right? Not quite!

As soon as you hit one of the plates, the others start swinging around and dancing back and forth. If you wait for them to settle down, the six seconds expires, so you have to sometimes hit them on the move!

Click the first picture for a larger view and you'll see what I mean. Plate #3 has just been hit, but look at what plate #5 is doing! I said it wasn't easy!

Dean shooting, with LouG running the timer.

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"Evil Al" shooting, KeeWee keeping score, Rainey on deck.
LouG's arm holding the clipboard and timer.

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LouG's turn at the shooting station with "Evil Al" running the timer and Rainey keeping score.

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TomH at the line with Al timing, Rainey scoring, and LouG supervising!

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TomH cranks up the "Focus Factor" and blasts away!

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KeeWee shows the plates who's boss, with Al timing and Rainey scoring.

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When the final scores were tallied, in the iron sight class "Terrible Tom" had run away and hid over second place. Tom wasn't even in the same time time zone as I was! I managed a second place, but Tom could have quit half way through the match and nearly still won the class!

The optical sight class was another story, as I managed to avenge my solid thumping by Tom at the last match, and managed to squeak by with just enough plates to put Tom into second place!

WOO HOO, INDEED!

I can guarantee you that it was a moment to savor. We both had a few mechanical problems, but it was still very close. What fun!

Megan was fifth, if I remember correctly, and KeeWee was somewhere around tenth, or thereabouts.

After the match, KeeWee and I headed North to Oak Harbor for a quick run through Wally World, then to Home Depot to cruise through the garden center.

KeeWee is a rabid gardener, and if you've check out her second blog, KeeWee's Garden, you can follow the results.

My philosophy is more along the lines of whatever comes up is exactly what was supposed to come up, regardless of what it might be. I figure the "Big Guy" is in charge of what grows out of the ground, and if He wants it to be a dandylion, who am I to argue, right? Seldom does anything good ever come from arguing with the guy in charge!

After departing the garden center (soaker hoses were on sale), we stopped for dinner, then back to Castle Completely, where I promptly took a nap, with visions of steel plates dancing in my dreams.

What a country...........