Shootout at the OK Corral

16 Jan

I don't have to tell anyone that the Americans are really into Guns but we were treated to something  different. An American friend who is into the "old Muzzle Loaded"  guns suggest that we might like to  watch  a target shooting competitions. At first I thought " not really" as it sounded as if  watching  the rinse cycle in the washing machine may have been more interesting.  I original thought there would be a few Senior Men  shooting at a target and that would be it. How wrong I was; it was very interesting especial for us Canadians who do not think or care much about guns.

I'll set the stage:
First we drove to the range area and were surprised to see that there were at least 200 vehicles, possible more, and many were RV's and  Motor Homes that means they must be camping at the range area. There were venders all set up with  food, guns and related equipt and " Annie Oakley" type cowgirl dress shops,  etc.
Then were heard bullets bouncing off a metal target some we meandered over to one of the several ( about 5 ) shooting ranges.
The shooters  form or belong to a "Posse" of about 25 shooters and it includes men and women ( mostly couples ). It is an individual sport but you are seeded to your ability. Each shooter has to shoot with 4 different  weapons at four different targets. First they have to unholster a  ( Wyatt Earp type )  pistol  and fire 4 shots, then change to another pistol and shoot 1 shot at two different targets, then move to another "window " and fire 4 shots with  a pump rifle, then move to another "window" and fire 4 more shots with a Pump shot gun. The winner did this "shoot" in 11.9 seconds which was amazing.  Most shooter were between  18 and 30 seconds.  The oldest lady shooting was 82 years old and she was good.
One couple realized we were Canadians so they came over to us and explain what was going to happen so we would have a better understanding. They explained that the weapons had to be of the 1879 era or replicas of those weapons. We ask the price of the 4 guns that each shooter was using and they said you don't want to know but it is in the thousands of dollars but it is their hobby and they love it. One shooter showed us his lever action rifle and he said it cost 400.00 to have it modified so he could fire it quicker that the original model.
I wish I had taken a camera because they treated their guns like a family heirloom. Every shooter has a cart to move the guns from point A to point B and they cover their guns with a protective sleeve once the shoot is over.  I ask about the cost of bullets and they said if you did not reload your own shells you could not afford to be in this sport , which was a surprise to me. Incidentally, all shooters have a alias related to the era ie ( Jesse James ) .
Although this is not a spectator sport we really enjoyed watching this demonstrations as I never considered there was any such Hobby. It was well worth the time spent at the range.

In the afternoon we visited friends from Ontario that I grew with. It's always nice to catch up news from home and about the people I grew up with , even thought I left in 1962. Cheers