November 2005 Newsletter

Our annual just for fun match. Just for something different, every paper target used X count for time off. In the absence of Ron J who was captured by work, Rich assembled the food, cooked and served, even though he is fighting with a serious hip ailment. It is a tribute to his club dedication that he drove all the way to the match to ensure it went on, then declined to shoot because of his discomfort. Thanks also to Brian who brought tomatoes and onions and to the Gurules who treated us to fine salads. Hot links, burgers and dogs were plentiful and everyone had that Thanksgiving afternoon look when lunch was finished.

The stages: Rube: A Dan Hall original. Both hands on the bowling ball that trips the bear trap and swinger. Release the ball and then make a quick decision whether to try for the little plate before the bear trap popup releases. Then, collect the swinger, dodging the no-shoot that's protecting it. Spare rounds? Dump a few at the "shoot anywhere" targets enroute to the trapdoor release. Dang, another bear trap! Hit the long range popper to start the star spinning and don't forget the two little plates. Then hose down the little poppers and the leftover papers, finishing neatly in the last box with the star. It was still spinning, even for those that delayed until the end! Pete rambled through this one to take the win. Simple: One box, 5 targets arranged in increasingly farther distance. Two shots on each, but it was unlimited, so you could "fix" a bad shot. Some tried in vain to improve the far targets, throwing many rounds downrange with the clock running. Stick with two rounds and take what you get was the winning combo. Rich M took this stage. Fast Bullseye: Two NRA bullseye 25 yard pistol targets. Shot at 10 and 15 to make them easy. Each target a separate string, 6 rounds only. It was a true test of knowing where your revolver was sighted, as that x-ring was about the size of a Gatorade cap. Pete apparently knows and won this stage also. Wally Steel: A tribute to one of our original members Wally Shelton who headed off to Washington earlier this year, escaping to a life with more open space and fewer taxes. Rumor has it he'll get a kitchen pass for the IRC. Basically, just drag out every size and shape of steel from the shed and set them up in an array spread across half of Bay 3. 36 plates of various sizes and shapes, 36 seconds par time and 36 shots limited. Each plate down takes off 1 second. Steel Meister Art duked it out to a dead heat with Rich M, nailing 26 of them in the alloted time. Fast-finger Billy actually had time to shoot an extra round, but most everyone heard the beep well before all shots were fired. After the post-match cleanup, the stage was still set up, so Dan and Cedric challenged Ron and Kevin to a team shootoff, shots unlimited. When all the rounds were fired and the last plate hammered, Team Open prevailed over Team Limited by a scant second. Both teams barely squeaked under 36 seconds total time, even with two shooters firing madly. A count of the moon clips gave the most lead downrange award to Dan and Cedric; between them, 80 rounds were fired!! Daisy: A little early for "A Christmas Story," but that genuine Daisy Red Ryder signature model air rifle put in an appearance on the final stage. Targets were 10 white golf balls neatly arrayed on a row of tees stuck into a 4x4 at a distance of about 10 feet. A yellow ball 5 feet farther downrange and an orange one 5 feet beyond that. A paper "sighter" target at 15 feet so you could zero in. 20 seconds par time, 2 seconds for a white ball, 5 seconds for the yellow and 10 for the orange. Even with the sighter shots, most had no idea where the BBs were going, as the combination of smooth bore, wind, impossible sights and junior-size stock made the path of the shots about as predictable as a Phil Niekro knuckleball. Nelson whined the most about "home field" advantage since Ron freely admitted to shooting some rounds during setup for "testing" the stage. But, when the shooting was done, Nelson had the best score with 2 whites and both colored for a net 1 second time. Because there was concern this fun stage disproportionately affected the match, results were re-calculated with Daisy not included. Virtually the same order of finish resulted, except that Nelson would have dropped from 3rd to 7th and Richard and Billy would have swapped places. Otherwise, no difference. And nobody put their eye out . . .

December Rimfire Match

Rimfire steel will be offered again on December 1. Our standard format with 3 stages of pistol/revolver, then repeat with an extra plate using rifle. Juniors pay only $5 so bring the youngsters. Newbies are $10 as usual.