Last weekend was the Area 1 Pistol Championship. Level II matches are renowned for tight shots, stages with a high disaster factor (i.e. lots of no-shoots and standards exercises, and more or less being the equivalent of a pool full of sharks). That being said, I asked our friendly match director to make today somewhat of a hose-fest. Fresh off my C Open Victory at Area 1, and giving up the dot-driven compensated blaster I used to Rob for some upgrades, I was going to shoot Limited, and wanted to have some fun with the iron-sighted safe-queen I own. What we had was some strong-hand, weak-hand Virginia count stage, a standing, kneeling, prone Timed Fire standards stage, and a stage with some steel and paper at appreciably not-so-close distances. It was a remarkably fun match. I'm rather thankful that Jeff Bures didn't shoot this well last weekend, or he would have won C Open.

Kevin Hodson was the Overall Match and Open Division winner. Mark Kruger won Limited, Tim Holm won Limited 10, and David Siria won Production. Nathan Swan was Top Junior, Ray Hill was Top Super Senior, Tom Angell was Top Senior, and Shirley Angell was Top Lady.

Chad McDonald was the 2008 ABC House Champion. Overall, I would say Aaron Davis made out better than anyone else due to his overwhelming luck during the raffle. We had some great prizes, great shooting, and awesome food. I hope we raised a ton of money for the ABC House.

Match Results:
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Rob Shepherd was the Overall Match and Open Division winner by less than 3 points over Chad McDonald. Chuck Anderson was Production winner, Trevor Ott was Limited 10 winner, Mark Kruger was the Limited Division winner, and Gene Temple was the Single Stack Division winner. Tim Bentley was Top Senior, Caryn Shepherd was Top Lady, Ray Hill was Top Super Senior, and Tyler Roberts was Top Junior.

The weather held off, and it was a bit cool, and overcast, but a great day for shooting. Just like yesterday, lunches were ordered in from the Shedd Market. Also like yesterday, we gave away some guns at the end of the match. We finished up and most folks were gone by 3PM (2 hours quicker than yesterday).

Tom Kettells was Top Open, Top Senior, and the Overall Match winner, Patrick Kelley was Top Limited, Bill Garland Jr. was Top Production as well as Top Law Enforcement, and Rick Breneman was Top Limited 10. Ryan Leonard was Top Junior, Tom Allen was Top Super Senior, and Nancy Marrs was Top Lady.

All of that really doesn't matter, because we were there to throw lead downrange at paper and steel, and wait around to see who would win one of the 3 Springfield Armory GI .45's in stainless we were giving away, in addition to some .45 bushing barrels from Schuemann, gift certificate from Major Nyne Guns, a knife from Blade-Tech, and a bunch of shirts, hats and assorted other items.

We had 8 very fun stages today, and started shooting close to 10 AM and most folks were on their way home by 5 after we got done with awards. Keith Tyler was the 12th Annual Oregon Single-Stack Champion (Limited 10). I think this is the 4th time he has won. Everett Mastrich won the Single-Stack Division, and Chuck Anderson was the best of all us non-1911 shooters (we had 2 Open Revolver shooters getting ready for ICORE).

I did double-duty as stats-guy and B Limited (with a Glock) shooter today. We got started shooting after 9 and the range was pretty much empty shortly after 3. I thought it went pretty well despite the large crowd.

You'll want to look at the results, because there are some serious "go-fast" guys giving Rob a run for his money, and Chad McDonald was the "go-fastest" today. He took Open and Overall Match honors by less than 4 points over Rob. Ray Hill won Limited, Kevin Hodsdon won Limited 10, Bill Garland, Jr. won Production, Tim Holm won Single Stack, and Walt Scholl won Revolver (when are some of you guys with a round-gun gonna play with Walt?). Nathan Swan was Top Junior, Bill Marrs was Top Senior, Ray Hill was Top Super Senior, and Caryn Shepherd was Top Lady.

Anyways, here is a pic of Nathan (on the right, using my ProEars and Glock 34). Somehow he managed to make it malfunction in a way its never malfunctioned before (limp wristing), where a spent shell fell back into the breech, primer-end first into the chamber. It was his first time shooting a handgun, so he did pretty good.

After taking them apart, we discovered that one of the circuit boards had failed. I called ProEars, and without a proof of purchase, I was looking at laying out some serious cash for new electronic hearing protection. According to the serial number, the muffs were manufactured in late 2002, and this being 2008, was outside the 5 year warranty period ProEars extends to their products.

I searched through my old email looking for something to prove that I bought them within the 5 year warranty period and found nothing. So I called Brownells, and while on the phone with them, looking through my order history I found the proof of purchase, I was 6 days short of 5 years! Sweet, I thought, I can send them in for warranty service and have my gear back before the next match.

While on the phone with Brownells customer service folks, they said that I could send them back to Brownells for replacement since I purchased them from Brownells, instead of sending them in (along with thirty-some-odd dollars) to ProEars for repair. Double Sweet! Brownells sent me a brand-spanking new pair of ProEags Mag Plus electronic hearing protectors, and all I was out was return postage.

I called the usual suspects and told them I would be there today, and it was a good thing I didn't specify a time, because I forgot to set my alarm. In my haste to make it to the range I had a chance to stop for either coffee or food. Coffee won. I gotta thank Al Suh for sharing his snacks, I was getting pretty hungry at that time. Though it probably wouldn't hurt me to miss a meal or twelve.

There were 81 shooters today including a whole lot of new faces (to me at least, I haven't been around much). We got started around 9ish (9:30) and were done and gone by 3. Another thing I forgot this morning was my USB memory stick, so I have to wait for Mike to email me the match database.

Rob Shepherd was the Overall Match and Open winner, Trevor Ott won Limited 10, Ray Hill won Limited, Bill Garland Sr. won Production (less than 1 point separated the top 3 Production shooters), Vern Myers won SingleStack, and Walt Scholl won Revolver (though Gene Morin shot an Open Revolver at Minor PF for 13th Overall). Nathan Swan was 1st Junior, Ray Hill was 1st Super Senior, Bill Marrs was 1st Senior, and Caryn Shepherd was 1st Lady.