February 28th, 2010 Gig Harbor Sportsman's Club Clays Match Report

18 Guns entered

 

     5 in Open Class  -  Class won by Hal Hansen with a score of 48

          2nd Open won by Ken Bagley Sr. with a score of 40

          3rd Open won by Mathew Reid with a score of 39

 

    13 in Limited Class  -  Class won by Loren DeShon with a score of 47

           2nd Limited won by Steve Tinner with a score of 43

           3rd Limited won by Chuck Treat with a score of 39

 

     Folks; We have a new game in town.  It's still the Gig Harbor Sportsman's Club Clays Match, and affectionately known hereafter as THE GREAT EQUALIZER!!  Here's the plan.  Due to the vast improvement in the shooting skills of .22 Rimfire Shooters, and the perceived unfairness for Centerfire Shooters, we will try to level the playing field a bit so that Center Fire handgun competitors can compete with more hope of success.  The object of the game is to generate the desire to shoot CenterFire handguns, including personal Carry Guns, with the objective being to challenge the Open Class Shooters. 

     In the Open Class, shot with handguns having Optics, Lasers, Compensators, and other exotica, the targets will be the 2" Micro Clays on the screen, in whatever array configuration is presented.  All CenterFire handguns with Optics, likewise will engage the 2" micro clays. 

     All Limited handguns, equipped with iron sights, no compensators, or lasers, will henceforth engage the 4" Standard Sized Clays, again in whatever array configuation is presented.  The Limited Class guns have the option of engagign the 2" Micros if that seems more challenging and desireable. 

     On this last day of February 2010, the clays shooters were gifted with a beautiful blue sky, cool air, but not enough to justify lighting the propane heaters.  As if a harbinger of Spring, even the black micros in the middle were hung with no white dot in the middle, and there was (barely) enough light to be able to see them clearly.  Coming up in March, Daylight Saving Time will allow our Clays Match to be shot in it's entirety in bright daylight. But I digress

     Many thanks to our Match Staff for coming up with this new format, and further challenging our long-suffering shooters.  Chuck Nicodemus, thanks for hosting and directing our match.  Many thanks to Doug Mclean, our Scorekeeper and Disc Jockey, for running the match and cooking the books so effectively.  And a special thanks to our Arrays Impressario, Chuck Treat for creating the new format, and presenting us with Series 1, of the original 2, of "The Great Equalizer" Series.  Today we saw the first array, and next week we will see the second.  After that, I believe we can expect to see some new arrays regularly,  with target arrays befitting the type of guns directed at them.

     

Round 1

      Two rows of clays on each side of the screen.  The Top Row, specifically for Open Class Guns, was comprised of 4 orange micros.  For the Limited Guns, the bottom row consisted of 4 Green Clays.  Whether Open or Limited, engage your respective row of clays, and if successful in breaking them all, engage the black micro in the middle.  And on to 

 

Round 2

     Round two is an exact duplicate of Round 1.  If you liked Round 1, here is another chance.  Now for a change, it's....

 

Round 3

     On the top row, we start out with 3 orange micros for the Open guns, but the 4th Clays is a Green Standard for the Limiteds.   On the 2nd row, we start out with 3 Green Standards for the Limited guns, but then have 1 orange micro for the

Open Guns.  A little bit of bouncing around is required in round 3, and the requirement is to seek out your 4 respective clays, break them, and then engage the black micro in the middle. 

 

Round 4

     Round 4 is a carbon copy of Round 3, designed to give all the clays shooters a false sense of security, and a feeling of complacency.  But we all know better, don't we?

 

Round 5

     The top row of this array, as well as the bottom row, will be shared equally between Open & Limited Guns.  The top row starts out with a Green Standard, then sees 2 orange micros, and then another Green Standard.  Conversely, the bottom row starts with an orange micro, followed by 2 Green Standards, and ends with an orange micro.  If the shooter is successful in engaging and breaking all of their respective targets, they are then to engage and attempt to break the black micro in the middle.

 

     At the end of regulation play we have a couple of winners.  In the Open Class, this reporter, Hal Hansen has emerged victorious with a score of 48.  2nd Open is claimed by Ken Bagley Sr. with a score of 40, followed immediately by Mathew Reid with a score of 39. 

     In the Limited Class, Loren DeShon continued his winning ways with a score of 47.  2nd Limited was won by Steve Tinner with a score of 43.  Our Arrays Impressario, Chuck Treat, took 3rd Limited with a score of 39. 

 

     Next week we'll see Series 2 of "THE GREAT EQUALIZER" .   In addition to the requirement for accuracy and speed, you'll find the need to bounce around a bit from high to low, and back again.  This GREAT EQUALIZER series is going to be

FUN!!  At this point, no one, including our Arrays Impressario, knows where this is headed.  The only guarantee is the ongoing need for accuracy, trigger control, patience, and maybe just a little luck.  So bring a handgun fitting the class of your choice, and see how long it takes us to outgrow this challenge.  In the meantime, always remember,

 

"IT'S ALL ABOUT SIGHT ALIGNMENT AND TRIGGER CONTROL.  ALL THE REST IS JUST THERE TO CONFUSE YOU".

 

Hal