Fall Temperatures Arrive Next Week!

Hot? Did someone say it’s hot in Arizona? And at the end of September?

[Phew!]

On the new pistol range clock that shows the time in both analog and digital forms, set by radio, as well as the current temperature, it was 97 degrees for the first shot at 7:00PM last night at the Phoenix Rod and Gun Club’s weekly Nighthawks shoot. And the humidity seemed to be up a bit and, just to make matters worse, there wasn’t a breath of wind.

But we know how to deal with that. We set up the big fan to move some air down the line and it was quite tolerable.

And we had a great time. (In other words, “you missed it!” 🙂

George and I shot Luck Targets at 6:30PM, the coin toss said high score would win and so George won back his dollar.

And then at 7:00PM, we ran an (almost) “by the book” International match to get accustomed to the slightly different rules. Magazines and guns were loaded only after the “Load” command was given and we shot five rounds in five minutes on the Precision Fire targets. But when “all record shots” had been fired, we skipped the remaining time and then fired the next five on the same targets. (In a formal competition, there would have been a target change after each five Precision Fire shots.)

When we got to Rapid (aka Dueling) Fire, a couple of visitors from the action pistol range had stopped by. We invited them to join us for the “action” part of the competition and they agreed. To get the “newbies” (from the action pistol range) familiar with the form, we did two sighter series, one for those who knew the Rapid Fire format, and then again for the newcomers.

(Beginners, even those with experience in other shooting sports, are always welcome!)

I shot a personal best in Rapid Fire, a 94, on my last target! But let me quickly add, I was using an “illegal” gun. Not only was the caliber too large (45 ACP is over the 38 caliber maximum), and I was also using a red dot instead of iron sights.

But even with the (illegal) advantage of a red dot sight, that score still wasn’t good enough.

Bill Poole trounced me by 20 points (553 versus 533) *AND* he shot iron sights and 32 caliber, a legal gun. (“I fought the law and the law won!”)

Bill won the “best score of the evening” prize, a copy of “A Pistol Shooters Treasury” with the admonishion, “if you already have a copy, pass this one to someone deserving.” (Spread the word!)

Earlier this week I swapped emails with a couple of regulars and as we get into October, they will be returning. That’s also when the “Mountain Men” (Show Low summer residents), mid-westerners (from Chicago) and other “snow birds” begin their return to Phoenix. The line will be filling up from here on.

And if you’re visiting Phoenix from out of town, come on by the range (address below) – someone’s bound to have an extra gun and some ammo – we’d be delighted to have you visit!

Also, our beginners from last week have also promised to return. (I think last night’s heat put them off but next week promises to be very nice – much cooler [at last]).

Attendance is ramping up as the heat goes down.

Bill Poole will be calling the line for next week’s Conventional format event. (I’ll be in the Bay area on business as well as paying an evening visit to the Sunnyvale Gun Club to renew friendships and push a few rounds downrange. I’ll be back in Phoenix the week after.)

The weather forecast for Phoenix next Tuesday is down nearly 20 degrees from the highs of this week – it should be really nice. The low next Tuesday is expected to be 71 degrees and at 6:30PM it should be a very nice evening to be out enjoying the stars – and shooting a couple of Xs, a few 10s and 9s and, hopefully, nothing less.

The heat is gone.

That was it; no more summer.

Hello fall in Arizona!