May 4, 2002

HERE's SOMETHING ABOUT ME AND THE RAIN and outdoor activities. I'm beginning to think that I have my own personal rain cloud that follows me around when I want to enjoy an outdoor sport. I first noticed this disturbing phenomenon when I began backpacking, but I blamed it on my brother. I thought the rain cloud was his. Since I've been on hiking trips without him and still got rained on, I guess it really is me. My cowboy shooting pards are going to begin calling me "Chief Dark Cloud" if this keeps up.

It was in the low-50s, temperature-wise, a little windy and raining lightly in Salisbury the morning of this match, but by the time the Old North State Posse began shooting the rain had all but stopped. I thought I might have dodged my cloud this time. I got through three dry stages (shot 'em all clean, too!), then the skies opened up and my revolver shooting went to hell. I don't know if it was just the water, or if there was a little extra Ballistol left on my guns that made things extra-slippery, but I had a tough time keeping decent control of those pistols using only one hand in the cold and rain.

What I did see was a couple of the guys (Marshal Harland Wolff and Stinky Jim) spraying some kind of "stick-um" on their hands — I think I'll have to find a bottle of that stuff to use during the next cloudburst. Might prove to be just the ticket for my slippery sixguns.

This match incorporated a lot of movement, with four of the stages featuring different courses of fire depending on whether the shooter decided to move or not. I always figured it was better to move, since anytime I can get closer to a target I'll take that option. Luckily, most of our running around was done while it wasn't raining.

I was put onto a fast posse, with a lot of good, quick shooters: Island Girl, Oklahoma Charlie, Harland, Stinky and Cajun Kid among them. There were several other quick cowboys on the other posse and I knew I didn't have a prayer at finishing in the upper half at this match!

Stage One
There were only five steel targets on this berm — we were to use them for both rifle and pistol shots. One option was to begin way back at the starting table and shoot everything from back there. Uh-uh. I chose, instead, to grab my rifle and shotgun and run downrange a few yards to another table, where I set the side-by-side down and double-tapped the five targets with the Winchester. Securing the rifle, I drew the left revolver and began with the left target, firing 2-2-1. Holstered that gun, drew the other and shot beginning in the middle, 1-2-2. Returned that pistol to leather, picked up the scattergun and dropped a pair of knockdown targets. I made it through without missing, but because I was working the lever of the poor old Winchester too hard, I stovepiped a round, with another on the carrier. With some coaching from Harland, I was able to get the rifle back in action, but I lost gobs of time.

Stage Two
This was almost the exact same run as the previous stage, with a few minor differences. Rather than shoot everything from way back at the starting table, I said the line ("Gosh, I wish it would rain!"), grabbed both long guns and ran downrange again. Double-tapped each of the five targets with the Winchester, then swept the five targets with each revolver. Hit the two knockdowns with the shotgun and I was done. No misses, but I had a little "bobble" with the rifle when I got a speck of something in my eye (powder residue, maybe?). Still, I didn't miss any and score-wise it was my best stage.

Stage Three
Another movement-option stage, and I was a-movin'. I began with my hands in the air with my back to the targets. At the buzzer, I spun around, picked up the rifle and double-tapped each of the five steel circles. I put down the Winchester and grabbed the shotgun to blast two knockdowns, then scooped up the rifle again to run downrange where I deposited both guns on another table. I drew my left revolver and dumped all five rounds onto a steel IPSC target, holstered, pivoted to the right and repeated with the other sixgun on another IPSC target. No misses, and I was beginning to have high hopes for this match!

Stage Four
Well, the raindrops started falling on our heads here and I discovered that my panama straw hat wasn't quite as waterproof as I would like it to be. I had some water sneak through it and drip down onto my glasses until I tilted the hat back some on my head and let most of the water flow away from my face. After my duties as a spotter and target resetter, I was fairly wet by the time my shooting turn came around. The rain hadn't lightened up any, either.

I began with my hands touching my hat brim and spoke the line "What a lovely day..." to kick off the buzzer. I grabbed the shotgun off the table and hit one knockdown target, pulled the trigger for the next one and all it did was "click." Misfire! I broke the shotgun open and tossed the empty and the bad shell, loaded another pair and hit the 2nd and 3rd knockdown targets. Loaded one more (should have done two, in case I missed) into the scattergun and dropped the final knockdown. I should have known that this stage meant trouble for me then and there.

Grabbing the rifle with the shotgun, I ran downrange (you can sense a theme here, right?), set the side-by-side down and fired a nine-round Nevada Sweep with the '92 at the five targets. I secured the rifle and drew my left-side revolver, which slipped in my by-now-very-wet left hand and went off much sooner than I expected (or meant) it to. The shot went in the general direction of the targets, but I have no idea exactly where it hit. Thank goodness for nice tall berms! I didn't get DQ'd for a safety violation, so I guess it wasn't as bad as it felt to me at the time. It certainly shook me up on a stage where things already hadn't gone my way. I hit the next four shots with that pistol, but missed two others with my right sixgun. At least I didn't have another slip with the pistol, though.

Stage Five
If it hadn't been raining, this stage would have been a lot of fun. The full-sized covered wagon was out here (minus the cover) and in the back of it was a small iron skillet with a wooden disc in it. Before the timer beep, I was supposed to flip the "pancake" in the pan (don't drop it!) and say "Flapjacks are ready!" Well, because of the water in the skillet, the wooden disc was virtually impossible to flip, so I just made the motions and pretended. The timer went off, I set the pan down in the wagon and pulled my left pistol, swept the five pistol targets, holstered and repeated with my right-side gun. I ran to the right side of the berm where I picked up my Winchester and double-tapped each of five rifle targets and then dropped four knockdowns with the shotgun. I missed once with my left sixgun, dammit.

Stage Six
Sometimes it's good to be one of the last shooters on the posse. By the time it was my turn on this stage, the rain had dwindled to a light drizzle. I began at the wagon again, with my rifle at port arms, saying "Get your own flapjacks, Stinky!" I shot 8 rounds, double-tapping each of the four targets that I could see from that vantage point (the lowest, middle rifle target was obscured by the pistol targets). I put the rifle in the wagon and drew my left sixgun, shot twice at the far-left target, twice at the far-right, then once in the middle. Holstered and did almost the same thing with the other pistol, shooting each of the "inside" targets twice and putting the final bullet on the middle one. Someplace in there I missed a shot, but I don't remember which. I ran over and blasted the knockdowns and the match was over for me.

I really hate shooting in the rain; I don't mind getting wet, don't even really mind getting my guns wet. I just don't feel I have the control I would like over the revolvers when shooting Duelist. I certainly hope I can find a bottle of sticky stuff to use on my hands the next time — or I can simply follow Tornado Alli's lead and not shoot in the rain!

Anyway, here are the numbers; you can clearly see when the rain began...

To no one's surprise, Marshal Harland Wolff won the overall match and the Traditional class, with a Total Time of 142.00 seconds and 16 Rank Points. Reverend Will U. Sinmore won the Duelist class and finished 11th overall, with a Time of 193.64 seconds and 65 Rank Points. With all the top talent shooting in this match, I was happy not to have finished last.