First Bullseye Match

Do you
remember your first BE match? I know I
will remember mind. The fine folks at
the Oklahoma City Gun Club (OKGC) offered a day of BE training on Saturday. Saturday morning I was packed and out of the
house at 5:15 a.m. for my three hour drive to the range in OK. I believe it was our 65^th day of
over 100 degree temperatures. I took
plenty of water jugs, cooler, lunch, and ice.
I showed up a little early with my freshly purchased 22 and a long list
of items the fellows told me to bring. I
was paired up with a very experienced BE shooter.



After having my pistol for a week and a half
I was thrilled to be able to learn about BE shooting. Up to this point I had live fired my pistol
at four training sessions at 25yds outdoors.
Most of that time was spent on a blank target. I spent time getting used to the pistol,
sight picture, recoil, and the sight picture recovery after recoil. I spent enough time to find a zero for 25yds. For the rapid I ran a two shot drill on blank
face to acquire a rhythm. I also had
spent four and a half hours of dry fire up close against a blank wall. We began at 9 and finished at 2. Various drills were run. We began with firing at a blank target. We progressed through 2 shots at target face
in 10 secs, 3 shots in 10 secs, 4 shots in 10 secs, 5 shots in 10 secs, 6 shots
in 10 secs (with only a 5 shot magazine I had to chamber one and then reload
the magazine), 10 shots slow fire in 10 mins., 10 shots timed fire in 20 secs.,
and 10 shots rapid in 10 secs. We ran
through these drills several times. All
of this was accomplished at 25yds. They
did not turn the targets during the timed and rapid drills. Up to this point I had never fired my pistol
at 50yds or experienced the target turning.
We wisely stopped our training at 2 pm.
The humidity was low, however, the temperature of 102 felt like we were
standing in an oven. Years ago Johnny
Carson commented to someone from Phoenix who was talking about 117 degrees and claimed
it was not bad as it was a “dry heat”. Johnny replied, “So is a blow torch!” I smelled like a Billy goat.





On Sunday
the OKGC held a Club Match. The greatest
news of the day was the arrival of a cold front pushing out the high pressure
that has kept us with no rain and high heat for so long. At 8 am it felt like snow would fall. The temp was 68 degrees! No rain but temps below 100 felt great! I arrived after several other shooters had
already set up. It looked like everyone
brought a tennis racket with them and they all had them standing upright on the
shooting bench. I learned that the brass
catcher may be another item to add to my list of “things”. I was paired up again with my experienced
shooter from Saturday’s training. He was
extremely helpful. Who would have
thought to use a magic marker to mark the last 10-15 staples in your stapler so
you would be alerted to when you need to replace them? I had never seen a bullet template until
that day. He showed me how to use it. (I
assumed it was so I would call his shots correctly) I mentioned that I have done all my shooting
at 25yds up to this point. I had chosen
to use center aim. I asked my
experienced shooter if I would have to change my sight setting if I shot 50yds
with a sub-6 hold. I shoot Int’l AP and
Free Pistol with a sub-6 hold (my international friends talked me into my new
pistol. I knew that BE would be
excellent training for me) and just assumed I would do the same at 50yds. He suggested I shoot it without a sight
change and to use my center hold. I shot
the matches using a center hold and did not need a sight change. I had several performance goals for this
match. They were: run my mental program before each
shot/series, trust my shot plan, learn, and have fun. I had one outcome goal of shooting 80%. The group allowed me to shoot the CF and 45 matches
with my 22. I learned quite a bit! I am used to int’l where we are finished in
two hours or less time. Shooting and
staying concentrated from 9-3 was quite a workout. I was thankful the heat was gone for the day. I learned that you use a lot of staples. I learned that I was not completely
comfortable shooting center hold at 50yds but I gave it an honest try all
day. I learned that when you move your
target from 50yds to 25yds that you had better make sure that if you need to
paste your target face you do it before moving, setting it up at 25, and
returning to the shooting line. I made
that mistake not once but twice. I
learned and did not repeat it during the third match. We went down once and my mentor asked me why
I shot 12 shots. I laughed and thought
he was joking since my magazine only holds five. It did not dawn on us as to how the magic occurred
until it happened again with 11 shots during the CF match after moving from 50
to 25 again. I was on top of it during
the 45 match and did not get caught on that one again. Another learning experience occurred during
the CF match-first RF string. I did not
have my magazine properly loaded. I
racked the slide and did not know that a cartridge was not loaded. In the heat of the moment I instantly checked
the magazine and dropped it out. No
alibi allowed. I had read and re-read
the rules about six times or more. It is
one of the contingencies that I will have to train on not to touch
anything. It was a great lesson! There
were several learning moments and I am so glad and thankful to have gone
through my first match day with BE. The
wind picked up quite a bit with the frontal passage. It picked up throughout the day. Slow fire was not a serious problem with the
wind since you could let down. I was
surprised to see most finish in less than five minutes in slow fire. I let down several times with the wind
gusting. It was amazing how the shot
director arranged for the strongest wind during two RF series. I was surprised that I shot well during them,
however, if I had any choice I would have never shot during the wind we had at
that moment. I realized that you do not
have a choice in the matter. During the matches I got to experience the target turning for the first times. It was not any problem.





I was very grateful
for the warm welcome the club gave me along with all their help and
encouragement. I met all of my goals and
have already changed one of them for my next match. After my three hour drive home I had a little
trouble walking. It had been a mentally
and physically challenged weekend of standing on the concrete. I am going to buy a tennis racket to bring to
the next match.

How was your score? Did you meet your goal?

Good Story!

I remember my first real match. I had only shot in local indoor leagues where we shoot 300's for 9 weeks for a total of 2700. I shot my first "real" match in the state indoor championships. My goal was to put them all in the black...I didn't do too bad--The range had repainted the backstop and I only started to shake bad for the last 3 magazines and my backstop only had 3 or 4 impacts that weren't touching the rest. Shot pretty well...Don't think I shot 80% but I was happy with my performance. That left me 35th out of 50...not bad! My competitors were very good!

"How was your score? Did you meet your goal?"

I bet that you were glad to have jumped in and shot the State Championship as your first match. I have heard so many shooters talking about not being "good enough" to compete. I feel lucky that I can still stand on my own two feet, see the sights, and pull the trigger. I enjoy the challenge.

I was able to shoot 85.7% in the 22 match. I shot 78.6% during the CF match (using my 22) This is the match where I lost 5 shots due to my not making sure the magazine was installed fully and the first round chambered. I shot 83% on the 45 match (using my 22). 82.5% for the total score.

I can't emphasize enough how helpful everyone was. I sure learned quite a bit. I will participate in their OK State Championship this weekend.

Glad you had a great time! I've always enjoyed how well the OKCGC Bullseye division welcomes new shooters.

I'll see you at the state match.


Brad Wells

I believe that you shood shoot in as many matches as you can.

I haven't shot in an OUTDOOR match yet. Everytime one comes up I either can't attend or have an injury. I'm looking forward to it. Besides, those outdoor targets are HUGE!

Rob Kovach wrote:I believe that you shood shoot in as many matches as you can.

I haven't shot in an OUTDOOR match yet. Everytime one comes up I either can't attend or have an injury. I'm looking forward to it. Besides, those outdoor targets are HUGE!

Let us know how you do at your first outdoor match.

My first BE match is a vague memory. But I do have this.

I do recall I used Col Miller's High Standard.