Tuesday evenings, year round, the DCWC pistol range is the place to be.
Updated June 30, 2005
Although some call
it "competition," don't let that word scare you. Yes, it's organized.
Yes, it's controlled. And yes, it's SAFE. Spend a couple minutes watching, and
you'll have the procedure down pat. After that, it's just plain FUN.
Weather permitting,
try to arrive by 6:00 PM, shooting starts at 6:30 PM and ends somewhere around
8. These fun shoots are open to ALL, including non-members!! Bring your wife.
(It's always fun to see the "little woman" beat hubby at
"his" sport!) Or bring your buddy from work.
Equipment wise, all
you need is your handgun, one or two
spare magazines (or speed loaders), a belt type holster, a good solid belt, and
a box or two of ammo. Don't forget your eye and ear protection!
Most folks roll in
around 6-ish, and help with the set up. For a nominal entry fee, usually $5.00,
scores are placed in a "Lewis System" payout. The scores are sorted,
top to bottom. Paying places are determined by where in the stack up your score
lands. Only the absolute top gun is assured to win; the other paying places
occur by random chance. Folks have been known to miss the target completely, or
eject loaded rounds on the ground, and STILL win a cash prize. Or worse, some
shooters win twice in one evening! You won't get rich participating in our
"competition," but it sure is fun. The cash prizes will just cover
your next entry fee.
Most
Tuesday Nights -- Limited IDPA
Like it's name
suggests, IDPA (International Defensive Pistol Association) is also a defensive
style of shooting competition. Drawing from the holster, the competitor engages
one or more targets in a prescribed "situational" course. There may
be "hostages". There may be a "barricade" to seek cover,
and shoot from behind. The shooter may have to fire (and reload) while
advancing or retreating. Shooters are scored on both accuracy as well as time
through the course. (Hint: Hitting a "hostage" does NOT help your
score!). The "situation" (and course) may change from match to match,
keeping the event challenging, but still fun. Payouts are on the Lewis system,
insuring lots of friendly competition at a near free cost.
Busy
Tuesday Nights, PPC (Practical Police Course).
Some Tuesdays there
are just too many people (15+) showing up to shoot to do justice to an IDPA
match. That is when we put up the wire and shoot PPC.
The Practical
Police Course (PPC) was developed by the FBI in the years following World War
II, and was designed as a training program for federal law enforcement
personnel. Adopted by many agencies, PPC has been taught to thousands of
federal, state, and local law enforcement officers. It differs from precision
shooting on bulls eye type targets, and instead, was designed to develop the
skills necessary for practical (combative) shooting situations. The target used
is a man-sized paper silhouette (NRA B-27 target).
Less concerned with
the finer points of bulls-eye shooting (e.g. breathing control, foot placement,
etc), PPC concentrates of developing skills such as drawing safely from a
holster, firing with both strong and weak hands, and reloading under a
time-limit "pressure."
Police agencies
soon began inter-departmental competitions, and the "sport" of PPC
shooting came to into being. The NRA currently sanctions PPC competition, but
limits participation in their "official competition" to only active
police, military, or industrial security personnel. Many clubs across the
country offer "informal" PPC competition to both law enforcement and
civilian competitors alike.
We at DCWC have
modified the course of fire somewhat to fit our range situation, and relaxed
the rules to allow use of auto-loaders (as well as rim fires), and opened
participation to ALL interested shooters, the public (non-members) included.
The end result,
however, is the same. Shooters who participate in our informal PPC events
quickly develop skill and confidence in drawing, firing with both strong and
weak hands, and reloading under a time limit "pressure."
While we hope NONE
of our participants will ever be placed in a situation where defensive use of a
handgun is necessary, PPC is a time-proven training course designed to develop
such proficiency. It's fun, too!
Rainy
nights? -- Falling Plates
To minimize
splatter and "bounce back," we use Newbold (tm) synthetic targets.
From the bench, shooters are timed to see how long it takes to "clear a
rack" of 6 targets. Now one would think a modern day automatic would be
best suited to the task, however revolvers are still competitive. It all comes
down to the skill of the shooter. Sometimes, we make this a "team"
event, which adds to the excitement and fun. You might be amazed at the time
and number of shots it takes to hit 6 plates at 15 yards!! (This being a timed
event, the element of perceived "pressure" can seriously detract from
one's normal level of skill!) Targets used for center-fire competition are 6
inches in diameter. Targets used for .22 competition are 4-1/2 inches in
diameter.
Note that round
nose bullets -- ONLY -- can be used. Wad-cutters and hollow points will destroy
these Newbold targets, and are not allowed during our Falling Plate
matches.
In
Summary...
Pistol Tuesdays are
the most fun per minute available at Durham County Wildlife Club. Almost any
handgun will do. Revolver or automatic, rim fire or center fire. You don't need
a high dollar, specialized piece of equipment. For the price of a box of ammo,
and a $3 entry fee, you're in-store for a fun filled evening with lots of good
camaraderie.
Come on out and give it a try!!