Desert Midwinter 2013, Day 4 of 4

The shots have all been fired and the scores tallied. Four Springfield Armory 1911s, one for each category, were awarded to the top shooters over the 3600 (2700 plus the service pistol 900) point competition.

I don’t have the names of the winners nor their scores, sorry, but suffice to say that two of the top prizes went to enlisted personnel and two went to civilian. There was a lot of really good Bullseye going on as well as everyone having a great time.

Temperature was slightly cooler than yesterday but there was a steady breeze all day long. My firing point was right in the center of the line where competitors enter and leave so I was blasted and chilled all day long. (I was wishing for a heavier jacket, scarf and gloves on the rare occasions the sun ducked behind a cloud.)

In a few days I will post a complete set of pictures.

On a personal note, after my dreadful performance in the service pistol team event, I had a hard decision: Should I shoot the EIC “Leg” match today or give it a pass?

The night before, I realized that if were to shoot crappy (cheap) ammo in the EIC leg match, in all likelihood I would not try very hard. After all, I would have nothing at risk – any positive image I might have had was already destroyed by my performance in the service pistol team match.

“I can’t do worse, so this really doesn’t matter,” was the attitude I feared.

On the other hand, if I were to shoot my rare Winchester White Box ball ammo that was manufactured in 1981 – I have only seven boxes and, once shot, they can never be replaced – then I had better damn well knuckle down and do it right so I don’t waste that irreplaceable resource.

Blow it off, or go for it?

I chose the latter.

And it was the right thing to do because with each shot, I knew “this shot” (this bullet) is unique, cannot be replaced and, once the bullet is out of the barrel, it is gone forever.

So each shot got my complete, focused, and “shot planned” release.

And it worked!

While I didn’t earn any leg points, I fired a respectable 241 – forgot the X count – which was far, far better than what I’d shot earlier in the service pistol team match.

Hooray!

Later and with the event needing a couple more shooters for an additional award of Distinguished Revolver leg points, I shot a borrowed and “I wonder where the sights are set” 38 revolver. It took me three Slow Fire shots to figure out the sights were set for the bottom of the repair center but, once known, I then scored a respectable total.

I’m gonna have to get me one of these wheel guns. They’re fun!

All in all, it was a wonderful four days. There were lows, there were highs, there were lots of old friends and many new ones. There was drama, there were challenges but, through it all, there were competitive but always positive and friendly interactions.

Many new friendships got their start.

And now, back at home and relaxing after a hot – very hot – shower and a nice meal, there are many guns to clean and brass to reload for the future so I can do it again.

See you on the line!