IRON GUN 2002
match one: Old North State Posse, Salisbury NC
March 2, 2002

HE FIRST MATCH OF THE 2002 IRON GUN SERIES could hardly have been held on a more miserable day. It was cold (mid-forties) and raining (all day long), the same as it was for the first match of last year's Iron Gun. It certainly put us to the test, and we were silly enough to pay for the privilege. Jack B. Nimble said that it was "an intelligence test, and we all failed." To make sure we all earned the "Iron Gun" title, someone (we won't mention any initials, but his name is Buckshot) positioned one of the two stage sets in a berm without a shelter, when there were three perfectly serviceable berms with shelters available. Yes, we were all drenched and frozen by the end of the day.

I'm not fond of shooting in the rain; not only do I (and the guns) get all wet, but things can get mighty slippery. To be safe I force myself to go even slower than my usual snail's pace and that (lack of) speed drops even more when it's cold, too. I won't say this match was the most fun I've ever had at the range, but there's something to be said about a "shared misery" in a group of your pards.

the Smart One - Pixelwiz stays dry while keeping score. — photo by B.B. Gunn

Pixelwiz volunteered (by default, really) to keep score for us, after the first cowboy had finished the stage and the second guy was getting ready to shoot. Nobody had stepped forward to the score sheet, so she picked it up and jotted down the info. She stayed dry at the table under the shelter for the first four stages, but when we moved to the shelterless berm for the next four stages, Wiz told me she wasn't going to keep score if she had to stand in the rain to do it. Fair enough. I said we'd take care of her, and we did. She got a seat in Red Cent's dee-lux-o golf/gun cart, with a blanket and a chemical hand-warming pack and everything, and so we retained our cute scorekeeper for the afternoon. At one point, Stinky Jim sat next to her and asked how she happened to get the scorekeeping job. Wiz replied, "I showed up!" True enough. Thanks, dear!

We shot eight stages in weather that a duck wouldn't venture out in, four stages on two berms. There were four different scenarios, and we shot each one twice.

Stages One & Two
The first four stages were tributes to Josey Wales. In our first scenario, I began standing behind a trough with three packages in my hands. The rifle and shotgun were staged laying across the trough (and there was a large and very un-cowboy-like umbrella held over the guns, the shooter and the Range Officer with the timer, too). To begin the stage I said, "Are you gonna pull them pistols or whistle Dixie?" and the timer began. I dropped the packages and shot a Nevada Sweep on three targets with both revolvers. After returning the sixguns to leather, I grabbed the Winchester for two sweeps of the five rifle targets, finishing with four shotgun knockdowns. The first time through I missed twice with the left-hand pistol. The second go-round, I hit all the pistol targets, but missed once with the rifle. Grrr. I also began what would be a long and painful ordeal for the middle finger on my right hand, as it was battered and bruised by my double-barrel scattergun. Ouch. I need a new shotgun, I think.

Dry Firing (sort of...) I was grateful for the umbrella, but I wouldn't stay dry for long. — photo by Pixelwiz

Stages Three & Four
This stage was supposed to begin with the shooter seated at a table; because of the rain, we remained standing, but staged all the weapons on the tabletop. To begin, I spoke the line: "Dyin' ain't much of a livin', boy." At the beep, I grabbed the first pistol and dumped all five shots into one IPSC-style target, then put five shots on three cowboy targets with the second gun. I had to shoot 9 shots on five rifle targets (any order, at least one shot on each target) and finish with four shotgun blasts (my middle finger says "Yow!"). I managed to miss one round on the big IPSC target each time through the scenario. The targets are never too big or too close to miss...

After the first four stages, we retreated to the heated shelter of the range clubhouse for hotdogs and hamburgers cooked up by the nefarious Buckshot. He earned a measure of forgiveness by having good, hot food (and more importantly, good, hot coffee) for us. After we were sufficiently warmed and fed enough to brave the elements for the afternoon, we headed back out into rain for...

Stages Five & Six
We had no shelter now, and the rain kept coming down while we shot through Buckshot's devious scenarios. It was bad enough shooting in the cold and the rain, but he was going to make us think now, too. The scenario called for plenty of movement and changes in target order. To begin, I yelled out, "I'll get you outta jail, Chuck!" and pulled my first pistol to engage the two targets in front of me. Holstering the revolver, I moved to the rock where my rifle was staged and put eight rounds onto four cowboy targets located behind and around a jail-front prop. Shooting at the targets through the bars in the window was fun, and I didn't miss any shots with the old Winchester. I secured the rifle and engaged the three pistol targets with my left-hand revolver, missing once. There were only two shotgun targets at the end, which helped my sore finger. The second time through the scenario I shot the stage cleanly, but in the cold and the wet, I slipped on the triggers of my shotgun and essentially fired both barrels at once. It really didn't notice much more recoil than normal, though I knew exactly what I did and knew I had to reload to get the second target. I heard the hollers of "Man, you definitely got that first target!" but was also congratulated on the nice recovery as I picked up the last knockdown.

Jail Break - Blasting through the bars with my Winchester to get my partner out of jail. — photo by Pixelwiz

Stages Seven & Eight
This looked like a fun (if somewhat confusing) scenario. We had the chance to pick up a five-second bonus by hitting a clay pigeon tossed up as the first shotgun target went down. Mad Sveinn impressed us by single-loading his '97 and getting the bonus each time — very good shooting! Anyway, to begin the stage I had the scattergun in hand and said "I'm in the jailhouse, Chuck!" At the beep, I put two shells in the shotgun, hit the first knockdown target and catapulted a clay pigeon into the air, which I dusted for the bonus. I put the shotgun down and picked up the rifle to fire six shots at three rifle targets behind the jail-front prop in this order: one on the target in the doorway, one through the bars in the window, two on the target at the outside, one more on the window target and the last shot in the doorway. Confused yet? After the rifle, I drew the first pistol and engaged three targets like so: one round on the middle target, two on the left and two on the right. Holster and with the second gun put two rounds on the left cowboy and three onto the right-side target. Finish off the remaining two shotgun targets. Wow! I shot it cleanly the first time, and just when I thought I had another clean stage the second time through, I missed one with my right-hand revolver. Oh well.

Here are my stage results:

Red Cent, one of the guys in our Iron Gun posse, came in first overall with a Total Time of 196.41 seconds and 21 Rank Points while shooting in the Senior Class. In second place, and the Traditional class winner was Marshal Harland Wolff, with a Time of 199.76 seconds and 28 Rank Points. A miss here or there by either of those two guys could have made all the difference. A miss here or there obviously wouldn't have mattered a bit to me, of course, as the winner in the Duelist class was another Iron Gunner, Harman Hammer with a Time of 291.04 seconds, 105 Rank Points and an Overall Rank of 11. Mad Sveinn actually shot Gunfighter (which was a lot of fun to watch) but was registered in the Duelist class where he finished second. He had a time of 309.72 seconds and 115 Rank Points, finishing 14th Overall.

The big Iron Gun winner for the day was Splinter with 50 points. I'm a danger to nobody, languishing down near the bottom of the list with only 6 (3 pts for each of my two clean stages).