June 6, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Plate Match Report

15 Guns Entered             Match won by George Flaherty

 

     2nd Place - Hal Hansen

 

     3rd Place - Thor Palm

 

     Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome to a delightful spring evening at Gig Harbor Sporsmans Club.  The skies were lightly overcast, and the temperature at gametime was 70degrees.  It was beautiful and it stayed that way for the entire match. 

 

     Many thanks to our Match Staff for another fine match.  Thanks in particular to our Match Director Mike Blondin, our Scorekeeper and DJ George Flaherty and our setup crew, tonight consisting of Mike, Thor, George and Rolf.  The stage was set up and ready to rock on time and in it's entirety.  And rock it did.  We were priveleged to have two of our young ladies from our clays matches in attendance tonight.  Welcome to plate shooting Mary and Stephanie Stevens, accompanied by their Dad George.  Shooting plate is a great family sport, isn't it folks?  Welcome to our sport also, Dave Anderson.  Dave made his debut into shooting falling plates tonight, and Dave,  welcome to our sport.  Welcome to Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club, one and all, and we hope to see each and every one of you just as often as possible.

 

     Fifteen guns turned out for the match tonight, and by the end of the Sudden Death Finale, the number was down to three;  George Flaherty, Thor Palm and Hal Hansen.  George and Hal each had 4 numbers, and Thor had two.  At this point good and bad fortune arrived for Hal.  It had been a pretty good night of shooting tonight, and Hal had 4 numbers on the board, as did George.  As is often the case in sports, at the finale of a good effort, suddenly the machine quits.  Hal's Kimber just would not go into battery when feeding ammo.  At first a squib was suspected, but upon checking the bore, it was clear.  Dirty but clear.  Later, at home, a case gauge was used, apparently for the first time on a handful of the ammo supply, and ammo was discovered that just wouldn't drop into the gauge.  One can empathize with an Indy Car Driver entering the final few laps, only to blow an engine. 

 

    Now is when good fortune appeared.  Thor Palm had a Glock model 22 that took the same ammo that Hal was using.  It may not have fit into the chamber of Hal's Kimber, but it ran just fine in Thor's Glock.  Thor's Glock ran well, and Hal kept the duels close, but by now it was down to George Flaherty and Hal, and against George, close just isn't close enough.  Hal went down in four, and made a promise to the God's of the Plate Matches to be darn sure of the quality of his ammo next time.  And every time.  The match finished with George Flaherty winning the match, Hal Hansen finishing 2nd, and Thor Palm finishing 3rd.  Not a bad evening.  And an educational one.  As the mantra of many sports events follows:  "There's always next time."

 

     OK Folks, that's it for tonight's match.  We'll see you right back here in two weeks - Monday June 20, 2011 at 6:00PM.  Make sure your gear runs properly, and always remember:

 

"SHOOT FAST!  SHOOT ACCURATELY!! BUT MOST OF ALL, SHOOT SAFELY!!!"

 

Hal