This past weekend the family and I found ourselves in Wyoming to shoot the state and regional Action Pistol matches. Long, boring, windy story short, I took first in Production Optics in both matches, shooting my trusty LTT P30L. JAG was High Lady in both matches, and the kids helped score and run various stages. I didn’t shoot as well as I would have liked, but the conditions at that particular range are always challenging to shoot in, so you take what you can get.
In addition to the state and regional matches, Steamboat hosts a very strict revolver match. I had been wanting to shoot the match for 2 years now, but I did not have a revolver that met all the rules. No external mods were allowed, no chamfered chambers, etc. Though most of my revolvers are pretty basic, the bigger ones that would have been appropriate for a match were either too big or too modified. I went on a year-long quest to acquire an appropriate revolver and holster and ended up with this amazing piece.
Unfortunately for me, the match director decided to change the rules and allow full-blown ICORE competition revolvers and holsters to compete. The only problem was that he neglected to tell anyone except the people who he let alter the rules of the game. As a competitor, not to mention what I do for a living, I have a real issue with this. Cheating in fights is great. Cheating in competition is not. Since there was nothing I could do about it, I shot the match as I had intended. I came in second to one of the guys referenced above, but beat the others. On one stage, the falling plates, I shot a clean run, 48 plates down. The only clean run of the match. In the video, you can see just how ugly my draw is, trying to pull a 6″ tube out of a full coverage holster. That was not the holster’s fault, nor the revolver’s fault. In fact, both the holster, a G-Code OSH, and the K-38 performed brilliantly the entire time and they did what was asked of them. I’m just a little short to make that work really well.
I have never shot in any organized competition, but have watched for decades, the “rules” have always been the part that I have thought needs some “cleaning” up, many of the rules appear to “favor” a certain sect of the shooting community. You did amazing job of over comimng that mental hit and your plate run is legendary in my observation
Thank you for the kind words.
So impressed with how you shot that beautiful revolver.
🙂
That was a great run there. What loads are you shooting?
Atlanta Arms 158 SWC. Awesome shooting stuff.
Great shooting!!! Those 25 yard plates looked mighty small.
Thanks! The stress really builds as you get closer to a clean run. They seemed tiny to me.
Congratulations on your success and JAG’s wins too. I presume there is some sort of minimum power factor to consistently down the plates. Would 148 wc work or would they be too light?
Thank you. There is a minimum PF, I think it is 125. WC’s might work, but they are a handicap on the reloading stages, so not often seen.
Sincere congratulations to you and Julie for your performances. It’s disappointing when a “local” changes up the rules, but you adapted and overcame! As Cooper once said about another competitor and event, you were the “moral victor” in this one.
Beautiful runs on the plates. As you may know, GSSF has a plate rack stage, but only at 11 yards. Plates are good in training too, I believe .Your distance shooting was a marvel to watch. And copy on the pressure; it gets more pressurized at the end!
Keep up the great shooting!
Thank you sir! I know I need to drop the revo competition thing, but it left me a little salty after all the time and effort I put into it. Been meaning to shoot another GSSF one of these days…
Congratulations to you and Julie!
Impressive plate run!
Thanks!