Bullseye

The newest addition is that air conditioner in the upper-left corner. With daily temperatures already over 100 in late May, it’s what you may acknowledge as a necessity here in Phoenix Arizona.

The wife is still on the fence about going downtown today. Yeah, it’s gonna be hot but the light rail is supposed to be punctual so we’ll sit in the car until it’s almost time for it to pick us up at the park ’n ride lot near Christown Mall. Then, it’s $2.50 each for the round trip (day pass same as two rides) to the stop right next to the Convention Center downtown. I have the maps and the schedule right here.

Win some, lose some.

I’ve done my share of the latter shooting against some of the best in the country. Indeed, in the beginning I would go home after the Tuesday evening match at the Phoenix Rod and Gun Club and “brag” that I came in sixth, but conveniently leave out the fact that there were only six shooters.

This was my second visit to the River Bend Gun Club a little bit north of Atlanta.

I have the utmost respect for our law enforcement officers many of whom frequently put their lives on the line – and sometimes lose – on our behalf.

Tony has a provocative idea. In his Harmonic Functions on Manifolds blog, he suggests pulling out your best scores from the record book – you all write down your scores, don’t you? – and tally them up to discover your true potential.

I can see two, maybe three camps of thought on what a spotting scope is for but first I’ll point out that we all probably agree it’s a good tool for getting your sights lined up. But once that’s accomplished, the divergence of opinion begins.

Before

Little things:

• John occasionally brings sweets – donuts, cupcakes, etc. – but won’t touch them himself until the match is over;
• Younger shooters (that’s younger than 50 or so) are more passionate in their frustration and can become borderline reckless if their handguns jam more than once – keep an eye on them;
• Renold usually has a tune going in his head as do I and, passing close to each other on the way out to the targets or back, we hum aloud to compare notes, but adopting his tune doesn’t help me shoot as well as he does;
• Most of the High Masters have a lot of upper-body strength, often from childhood, but there are significant exceptions so it’s not a requirement for that level of performance, just a help;
• Couldn’t see a double on someone’s otherwise excellent target one day, scored it as a miss, didn’t change my story when the shooter pointed out a slightly elongated hole, he challenged it (for a buck), the jury agreed with him, then I re-scored it but possibly gave him too much thereby apparently compounding my faults – like a shot in the five ring, “it happens,” and all you can do is move on;
• The conscious mind can only think one thought at a time but Bullseye requires a skilled coordination of observations and actions – it can be a long road for those who insist on “figuring it out” because that path forces no more than one step at a time;
• I feel an odd tension around Bill – we’re too much alike, perhaps, even though we appear to be quite different;
• Bob will move up and out of Sharpshooter land after today – good, because he’s shooting Master-level scores which sure knocked me out of the run for one of those new pistols, the prizes for this competition;
• I’ll need 90+alibi rounds of wad for the 45 competition today, plus 30+alibi of ball for Service Pistol team and another 30+alibi of ball for the Leg Match;
• I lightly cleaned the wad gun last night so it’s ready; and
• Yes, my shoulder and grip are both tired but no more so than yesterday or the day before – I’m ready.

Let today’s matches begin!

Before

Today and tomorrow are the days in which my concentration – and repetition – need to be at their best. I will do the same things as yesterday but with a more challenging gun.

Before

The Plan

• 6:00AM Up: One cup of regular coffee while surfing the net and reading the newspaper (online).
• 6:30AM Breakfast: oatmeal with a pat of butter, one hard-boiled egg with pepper, a small can of low sodium V-8 juice.
• 7:00AM Shower and dress for cool weather, lined bluejeans same as yesterday, fresh but similar thick cotton shirt, sweater with jacket on top.
• 7:20AM Pack gun box with primary (S&W Model 41) and backup (Ruger Mk III) 22 pistols with their respective ammunitions (CCI Standard Velocity in the plastic box and Federal Gold Medal Match 711B) in sufficient quantity for the 900 and the follow-up team competitions plus enough for alibi strings (120 + 30 rounds). Also take a small can of the low sodium V-8 juice.
• Switch to Northrop Grumman baseball cap for today. (I wore the Bill O’Reilly “No Spin” cap yesterday.)
• 7:30AM Drive to range in rush hour traffic.
• 8:30AM First shot.
• Before the NMC: Drink the V-8.
• Lunch: Probably a nearby Subway with some of the other shooters.
• 1:30PM 22 team competition NMC.
• Approximately 2:30PM Done. Record scores and head home.

After