TRBPS Event – July 2022 – Inaugural Pistol Match

by John White

We moved our shoot date up one week to July 16th as July each year is one of those incredibly busy months we seem to have every year. End of summer and back to school. We also have moved the shoot up a week due to schedule conflicts. The course of fire description and safety briefing started about 8:50 with the goal of starting the shoot by 9:00am. We got cranked up about 9:15 as we had setup time needed. Good job all.

We had our regular two shooting categories, off hand and bench to compete in classifications for fairness. We do not want to exclude anyone who wants to shoot with us but we will not compete against centerfire or scopes to be fair for example. Many regulars were missing today and to all please note we missed you but understand why you could not make it today.

The day started with a nice gentle breeze, overcast and even a drop of rain I believe. Got to be the end of the first relay, about 10:30am and the breeze went away, the sun came out and it got sticky warm. Everyone stayed hydrated, kept under the cover for shade and just kept on loading and shooting. Only difference I saw was some darker spots on the shirts from sweat coming through. We were gone by 12:45pm today in spite of the chaos, dry-balls, guests seeing what all the fuss is about, broke gear, popped caps and no big bang, new shooters, you name it. Meet was longer by about an hour from the extra relay with handguns. Most left when the rifles were done. 18 shooters came today, 8 shooters stayed to the end with pistol.

We shot two relays, 10 shots each, patch and roundball, any caliber in these two shooting classifications off hand and bench for rifles. The classifications did not compete against each other, just bragging rights. We added an optional relay for handguns.

First Relay:
10 shots at 50 yards, small bowling pins, steel swingers, simple hit or miss for points. They are known as the bulls balls, plus steel reset target plates. So a shot at each type of target at 50 yards and they must be hit in order at 50 yards. We picked this month the smallest targets we have. Two bowling pin tops and a swinging steel plate, 3″, 4″ and 6″ in diameter for the additional challenge to make our shooters aim small to miss small. We had to go cold to turn ’em back around or put ’em back up from the hits today several times. Congratulations, the shooting is getting better.

Second Relay:
10 shots at 25 yards, small target for points. Standard 6 bull with a practice bull. We had our standard oops, I shot the wrong target so look for some added colors or something to help you all keep from doing that next month. Heck we are all old and it’s tough to see the target, let alone our signature on the paper!

Both relays were added together for placement within the appropriate shooting category off hand or benchrest for ranking of results.

Bench:
First: Cayden
Second: Bruce
Third: Dennis

Off Hand:
First: Billy T.
Second: Brad
Third: Jim

Third Relay:
We added a fun third relay with handguns. We had four shooters and all shot single shot although several brought cap and ball as well just in case. Six shots off hand at two bulls at about 13 yards. This relay was optional and was a stand alone score for handguns only.

Results were
First place tie: Bobbie and Erik
Second: Brian
Chris’s hand cannon gets honorable mention, style points, smoothbore and bonus points for noise level!

I announced the winners today and for those attending recall, Bobbie brought his grandson, Cayden. He had the best score off the bench today. 2nd time shooting a flinter. Young eyes. Old farts got beat by a kid. Geez! I nicely laid into them for letting him win. But we also talked about they are the future of our hobby. Several of us have brought our children and grandchildren in the past. We need to keep on bringing them and suck it up losing to them. It does not hurt too bad.

I would like to thank all the helpers that make these shoots possible. Many of us do not shoot the matches but absolutely love the sight, sounds, smell, smiles, shooters of our beloved Black Powder during our matches. Without these gentlemen these shoots would not go smoothly and our new and older shooters would not get the help they need to keep shooting and enjoy the day. Chris walks around shooting videos, helping with gun and equipment needs to keep folks rolling, Barney and Joe who keep us safe with procedures, help with guns and fail-to-fires, help sell our program by describing who and what we are, Mike who helps score, Dennis who helps with facilities, scoring and anything needed. Every shooter who helps another shooter keep shooting.

All the shooters and non shooters who help setup, store the gear, design the shoots, build equipment, shoot the match and the list goes on and on. What is a reality is that it is not a one person program. Everyone contributes and helps in so many different ways and various needs. They just do not realize how important it is to create the environment we have that is making us successful. So to all that come to our monthly shoots, from the Talking Rock BPShooters, a huge thank you! Without you we would not have such a program.

So we look forward to everyone coming and shooting with us Saturday, August 27th by 9:00am. If you have any questions please holler as I am sure we all have ’em.

John White
Program Mgr – Talking Rock BPShooters