IRON GUN 2002
match five: Gunpowder Creek Regulators, Lenoir NC
March 16, 2002

T's A GOOD THING MY BACKYARD ISN'T LIKE the one where I shot this match, or I'd be out there all the time. The only reason I'd set foot indoors would be to get more ammunition. The little "town" of Mine Branch is not only very pleasing to the eye, but it's a whole lot of fun to shoot in, too. I believe it's the best place all-around that I've been to for a match so far, and I say this even though we were rained on (again; there have been several comments about changing the name of this CAS marathon from "Iron Gun" to "Rusty Gun"...) for part of the day.

The Gunpowder Creek Regulators' home of Mine Branch butts up against the side of a mountain, a perfect natural berm. There are a bunch of buildings and storefronts and props, and many of the targets are set back in the trees and up on the hillside. Shooting up at a target was a new experience for me, and an enjoyable one at that. The stages were cleverly designed and all incorporated some unique prop or situation that provided an "out-of-the-ordinary" shooting experience.

The day started out nice as could be, but by mid-morning the clouds had rolled in, bringing rain with them. At least it was warm, and by the early afternoon, the sun had returned and the temperature was pushing 80 by the time we finished. Jack B. Nimble offered me a pair of open slots in his umbrella-equipped guncart for the duration of the dampness, which saved me much aggravation in trying to work around the tarp with which I covered my own cart (I've really got to get my own umbrella mounts set up soon!). Pixelwiz kept score for us (again) but because of the rain didn't haul out the "real" camera to take pictures. We definitely need to return when the forecast calls for drier weather — there are some wonderful photographs to be made here!

The Iron Gunners were all grouped in one posse, which was fun (although I didn't get to meet as many of the other folks as I would have liked), and after the safety meeting and a song which set the story for Stage Three, we began on the first scenario.

Stage One
It was raining when we began, but on this stage we were firing from in and around a small "jail" building, so we didn't have raindrops in our eyes (and on our gun grips) while actually shooting. I was stationed at a window on the right side of the "porch" and began by calling out, "Give up, boys -- I gotcha surrounded!"

At the beep, I pulled my left revolver and fired at two pistol targets, beginning with the left one and alternating between them, then holstering the empty gun. I had to run (carefully -- it was wet and slippery!) on the porch to the inside of the jail where I picked up the Winchester and shot 10 rounds uphill at five targets arranged amongst the trees in a "W" pattern. Two sweeps from left-to-right. I set the rifle down and ran back outside where my shotgun was propped in a corner. Of course, when I picked it up, the action partially closed and I had to open it up to load the first pair of the eight shotgun shells the stage called for. Two sweeps of four self-resetting targets. Yowza. After absorbing that punishment, I put the scattergun down, moved to another window on my left and drew my right sixgun to shoot another pair of pistol targets, this time starting with the right-most one and alternating my five shots. I was slow, but clean — and for that I received a 5-second bonus.

Stage Two
This scenario had a twist to it (or rather, a roll); there were six rifle targets downrange, and at the start I rolled a single die. The resulting number indicated which rifle target I began with. I rolled a 4, picked up my Winchester and put three rounds on target number four. I proceeded through a sweep of the other targets (5, 6, 1, 2 and 3) hitting each with one shot.

The shotgun targets were three diamond-shaped swingers placed very closely together in one frame. I had to blast through two sweeps (6 shots) and evidently I had trouble with it, because I was assessed a 10-second procedural penalty. The report was that instead of hitting the right-most target, I hit the middle one again. I guess I can understand how that may have happened, since with the double-barrel, I would have fired the left barrel at the first (left-most) target, then the right barrel at the middle one; reloading a pair of shells, I would have fired the left barrel again at the right-most target, so that barrel may have missed and hit the middle target again... but I wish the spotters would have just hollered out that I missed the target and given me a chance to make up the miss instead of smacking me with a procedural. Oh well.

I moved over to the pistol targets and drew my revolvers to shoot a Nevada sweep with each gun. One target was a circle, which I couldn't hit with either hand, so with the two sixgun misses and the procedural, I tacked an extra 20 seconds onto my already slow time. Ouch! Easily the worst stage of the day for me.

Stage Three
At the end of the safety meeting, the scenario for this stage was set with a song played on a CD boom box. I don't know what the title was, but I liked it; the chorus referred to the "Ranger with the Big Iron on his hip" who was in town to take in the outlaw Texas Red.

There was a cowboy-shaped target on this stage, painted white with a red stencil of the state of Texas on him; he was "Texas Red," and I began the stage by yelling, "I'm after you, Texas Red!" I drew my right revolver and put five rounds on ol' Red, then picked up my carbine and triple-tapped each of the three rifle targets. I moved to my left to shoot the last part of the stage through a log "tunnel." My shotgun was on a hay bale, and I grabbed it to put four shots onto the two rebounding targets. The final set of pistol targets had two more cowboys and a buzzard, which was odd-shaped and smaller. I had to put five rounds on the three targets, at least one shot onto each, but I could pick the number and order. I hauled out my left revolver and shot each cowboy twice, but missed the dang bird. Deputy Gene was a madman, and announced his intent to shoot each cowboy once and put three shots on the buzzard — and he did it! We gave him an extra "Iron Gun Style Point" for that.

Stage Four
This scenario centered around a letter written to faraway cousin Elmer Keith Johnson in Montana asking what should be done about a stolen hat. Elmer replied with the following letter:

"Dear Cousin, If they don't give yer hat back, shoot em. Yer lovin cousin, Elmer"

So I began with the letter in my hand (and I had to hold it throughout the stage), hollering through a window on the porch, "My cousin told me if you don't give back my hat I's to shoot every egg-suckin' one o' ya!" At the beep, I drew my right-hand pistol to shoot a sweep of five targets. I was surprised to hit all of them, as a few were card-suit shapes, which don't usually allow me a decent margin of error in my shooting. I holstered the pistol and picked up my rifle to fire a Nevada Sweep of nine rounds on three targets placed up in the trees on the hill (two cow butts and a bison). The letter in my hand didn't bother me too much until I had to use my shotgun. I fumbled around badly while trying to load the four shotgun shells, and lost gobs of time in the process. Lastly, I drew my left revolver and attempted a Nevada Sweep on the three rifle targets, missing twice. Oh, well.

Stage Five
A large man-shaped target was the focal point of this stage, which represented Turkey Creek Jack Johnson, drunk and angry at the ribbing he's getting. There were three targets on Jack, one with a hat painted on it, and a pair with painted revolvers to the right and left. There were also a couple of snake-shaped targets at his feet. I said, "Why, Hyatt -- you remember Turkey Creek Jack Johnson!" and then pulled my pistol to shoot the hat target, the two pistols and the two snakes. I repeated that with the second revolver, then grabbed the Winchester to shoot (clockwise!) a series of nine targets arranged in a circle on the slope of the hill. There were four scattergun shots at the end, and I had another clean stage (and the 5 second bonus that went with it)!

Stage Six
I began this stage with a hammer in my right hand and had to clink the hammer on an anvil, which started the timer, then I dropped the hammer into a bucket on the ground. Drawing my left revolver, I fired a Nevada Sweep onto three targets, holstered and shot another Nevada Sweep with my other pistol. The rifle targets were shaped like a train — a caboose, three cars and an engine. I shot a 9-round Nevada Sweep through them, very nearly missing with my first shot, which I let go before I'd gotten a good sight picture. Four shots with the double-barrel and I was done, with a clean stage to boot.

Here are the stage results:

Iron Gunner Sixgun Smith came in first in the Traditional class with 19 Rank Points and a Total Time of 201.38 seconds. The scorecard didn't indicate the Overall Match Winner, but Modern class winner (an Iron Gun guy, too) Four Finger Jon also had 19 Rank Points, and since his Total Time was a shade faster than Sixgun's at 192.57 seconds, I think he gets the honors. The Duelist class winner was another Iron Gun shooter, Harman Hammer, with a Time of 247.23 seconds and 50 Rank Points.

Splinter continues in his Iron Gun leadership, with 118 points, but Big Jake and Sixgun Smith are breathing down his neck with 115 points each, and Deputy Gene is right behind them with 113. The winner will be determined in Statesville, and the Iron Gun trophy is still up for grabs. I picked up 9 more points for my clean stages, but no additional time points so I wallow around near the end of the list with my pitiful total of 38 points. I'm havin' lots of fun, though!