IRON GUN 2002
match three: Piedmont Regulators, Anderson SC
"Raid on Andersonville"
March 9, 2002

OW, ADMITTEDLY I HAVEN'T BEEN PLAYING THIS GAME for very long, but this match was the least fun I've ever had actually shooting at a Cowboy Action event. Not that there was anything at all wrong with the way the match was organized or run — it just wasn't the right kind of event for a shooter like me (read: slow and inaccurate). The stages had great props, the people were all super to be with, lunch was good, and I did enjoy watching some of the fast folks in the shoot-off at the end of the day. If all I'd come for was to be a spectator, I'd have had a fine time. If I'd wanted a fun time actually shooting though, I'd have been better off staying with my usual match in Creedmore with the Carolina Cattlemen.

Heck, I couldn't even win a door prize; they drew all the numbers around mine to several places, but I guess it just wasn't my day in any way.

The match was set up so everyone shot three stages on which nearly every target was a "falling target" that had to go down to count as a hit. Even if the plate was hit by the bullet, if it didn't fall over, the shot was scored as a miss. I wasn't too concerned about not knocking over a target; with the 200-grain bullet in my .44-40 ammo, I knew the target would drop if hit. It was the hitting part that was going to be trouble for me. These targets are usually deployed as shotgun targets: they're small and narrow. I can hit 'em with a shotgun, and even with my rifle without too much difficulty, but I need a fairly generous margin-of-error when I pull out my sixguns. These little targets weren't giving me a bit of that. We weren't allowed to make up any missed targets, either (even on the shotgun targets, which was different).

The fourth stage would qualify the top half of the shooters for the afternoon Shoot Off, where two cowboys (or cowgirls) would go head-to-head in an all-fall elimination match to determine the Top Gunslinger of the match. Interesting concept, and several of the (faster) Iron Gun guys have been wanting to shoot a match like this for a while now. I knew I wouldn't have a prayer in any shoot off (I'm much too slow with my pistols) and I was really reluctant to travel 800 miles round-trip and lay out cash for a hotel, meals, etc. to only shoot four stages. It was the main reason I wasn't going to sign up for the entire Iron Gun event until Pixelwiz talked me into it. Even after signing on for Iron Gun, I seriously considered skipping this match and just going to Creedmore.

It turns out that I'm actually glad we went, since the camaraderie and conversation we shared with several of the other shooters that stayed overnight was worth the trip, and it was fun watching the better and faster shooters hit the knockdowns and run head-to-head. Until I get a whole lot better with my pistols, though, I won't go back to another match like that.

'Wiz thinks I may have psyched myself out (though I prefer to think I'm simply a Man Who Knows His Limitations), since I did manage to shoot one of the stages cleanly. So obviously, she says, I have the ability to do it. Well, maybe. Perhaps I merely was lucky on that stage, since I was making a conscious effort all day long to slow way down and aim carefully and yet I still had two stages that were utter Train Wrecks. I certainly wasn't alone in that situation, and that was somewhat comforting. But it didn't make missing all those targets any more fun.

Anyway, here's how the stages went:

Stage One
Scenario: A Medicine Buffalo has been spotted west of town. Buffalo Bill and you have just arrived to to stock up on supplies for your "White Buffalo" hunt. Another group of hunters are determined that they're going to beat ya'll to him. As you leave the General Store you are waylaid by them and have to shoot your way out of town.

I began standing at the left side of a building front with a package in my hands. At the timer beep, I placed the package on a hay bale (10 second penalty if it falls off the bale, which it didn't) and pulled my first pistol to shoot at five knockdown targets. After hitting all those (a minor miracle), I moved to the doorway, picked up my shotgun and dropped four more knockdowns. Exchanging the scattergun for my rifle, I hit two knockdowns and then put two shots onto each of the three remaining rifle targets. Finally, I moved to the right side of the building, drew my revolver and fired at five more knockdowns. I missed two of 'em, after thinking I had another clean stage. Argh!

Stage Two (The Canteen Controversy)
Scenario: While scouting for the White Buffalo, your party runs short on rations. You send ol' Dan out to search for water. Just as he finds a pool of water, a war party of Indians spots him and he has to make a run for camp.

This is where our posse began the match, and we ended up reshooting it due to the "Great Canteen Controversy." The instructions read: Start standing beside the pool of water with the canteen in both hands. You must keep the canteen with you while you shoot. If you drop it, you will get a 10-second penalty.

Clear enough, no? Well, evidently not. Whereas our posse began with the obvious method of standing with the canteen in front of us holding it in both hands, the following groups put the sling over their head/shoulders, where it dangled behind them. Then, reaching around behind themselves, they touched it with a finger on each hand.

When we learned of this, we argued that those folks should get a "Spirit of the Game" penalty, since it was clear to us that wasn't the way the stage was intended to be run. Instead, we were given the option of reshooting the stage using the "gamey" method of canteen carrying. I think almost every one of us decided to take the reshoot — I certainly was, since not only did I have 4 missed shots with my pistols the first time, but I knew it was going to be the last chance I had all day to shoot. My afternoon would be spent watching other (faster) shooters who made it into the Shoot Off.

So: once I had my "canteen strategy" figured out, at the beep I pulled a revolver and shot at five knockdown targets, reholstering when done. I then moved to a hay bale at the center of the stage to grab and fire my shotgun at six targets. Moving to the far right, I picked up the Winchester from another hay bale and engaged four rifle targets with ten rounds in a Nevada Sweep. Drawing and firing my second pistol at five more knockdown targets completed the stage.

The first time through this stage gave me an indication of just what was in store for me the rest of the day: I missed one target with my left hand revolver and three with the right. Yow! I just couldn't hit those narrow little knockdowns. I think I was pulling my shots to the left, which is usual for me.

The second run was better, since I had a slightly (1 second) faster time, but only two misses: one with my right hand, and one with my rifle, when I had an empty case hang up on ejection and I tossed a live round trying to clear it. I also fumbled some with the shotgun after my first pair of shots. As I was ejecting the empties, I heard Jack B. Nimble say something about how I was pretty good with my shotgun and that, of course, jinxed me for loading up the next shots. I need better earplugs, I guess.

Stage Three
Scenario: After several weeks with no luck in finding the "White Buffalo," you decide to give up the hunt. After setting up camp, you spot him in a meadow. You move in close, but just as you're ready to shoot, he attacks. It takes all of your skill with your trusty rifle to bring him down.

This was the only stage on which my "skill" bothered to show up all day. I began standing next to the little tent on the left side of the stage and at the beep drew my first handgun and shot the five knockdown targets. I then moved to a hay bale at center stage to pick up the scattergun and drop two of the four shotgun targets. Exchanging the double-barrel for the rifle, I engaged the four rifle targets like so: one round on the 1st target, two rounds on the 2nd, three on the 3rd and four rounds on the 4th target. Replacing the Winchester on the hay bale, I grabbed the side-by-side again to hit the other two shotgun knockdowns. After that, I drew my right pistol and shot the last five knockdown pistol targets. Shooting this stage clean felt good. I was smooth (if slow) and everything fell into place. At least I had one stage like that on the day...

Stage Four (Shoot Off Qualifying)
Scenario: The Indians have discovered your camp and found out that you killed their "Sacred White Buffalo." They want your scalp. They have you pinned down in a buffalo wallow with little between you and the Happy Hunting Grounds. Not known for giving up, you defend your precarious position.

This was where the wheels really came off the wagon for me; a real Train Wreck of a stage. I'd felt good coming into this stage, having just cleaned the last one, and it looked like a fun one. The little pistol knockdown targets were all shaped like coffins, and with the black stuffed crows perched on a fence, the place looked like a spooky graveyard. Very neat.

Unfortunately, my shooting wasn't neat at all. The only stage directions were that we had to "shoot a pistol first and last, rifle and shotgun your choice in between pistols." There were ten pistol knockdowns (the little coffins), four shotgun and six rifle knockdowns.

I began by drawing my left-side revolver, usually (and oddly enough, since I'm a righty) the pistol I shoot best, and proceeded to miss four (count them, 4) of the coffins! I couldn't believe it! I hit all the shotgun and rifle targets and then pulled my right revolver. I missed two more of the pistol knockdowns with that gun, for a total of six misses, all with my pistols. I don't know what happened, but I hope it never happens again!

I was joined in the Train Wreck on this stage by Sixgun Smith, who had seven missed shots, but he at least had a good excuse: he'd loaded his rifle with his pistol rounds and his revolvers with much more powerful rifle rounds, and it really surprised him. He missed quick enough, though, to make the Shoot Off, whereas my misses were accompanied by a slow time and I didn't qualify. Not that I was too disappointed in that — I wouldn't have made it through the first round — but I was horrified by my (lack of) pistol shooting.

Here are my gruesome stage results:

There were 68 shooters in the match, and I don't know where I placed (except it wasn't in the top 50%). The big Iron Gun winners for the day were Splinter and Red Cent, who won 1st & 2nd place Seniors, Four Finger Jon and Jack B. Nimble, who won 1st & 2nd place Modern, and Mad Sveinn, (who shot a clean match!!) and Harman Hammer: they got 1st & 2nd place Duelist, respectively.

It was enjoyable seeing Red Cent and Jack B. Nimble go head-to-head in the Shoot Off (Jack won). Sixgun Smith and Four Finger Jon also went at it (Sixgun won that match) and it was great to see Tornado Alli in the Shoot Off, too. If I go to another "All Fall/Shoot-Off" match again, I hope I'm a lot better with my revolvers by then. Even then, I'll probably just end up cheering for Pixelwiz, who has aspirations of being a fast CAS competitor. Me, I just want to have fun.