Tag: Handgun

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Sept. 24, 2023 – PPC Provincials

Firsts and Firsts -  Part 2

Warm guns back in their cases after a great evening practice: Sitting around the campfire, cooking, talking to friends, laughing. I imagine that’s the future, the founders of the Nova Scotia Rifle Association had hoped for way back in 1860; they wouldn’t be disappointed.
 
That’s exactly how Metro started the PPC Provincials.  Joe, Andy, Terry, Jack and Stephanie, Gary, and myself were grilling steaks, potatoes, chanterelles picked earlier in the day, now drenched in butter, on hot maple coals. We laughed and poked fun at each other about missed shots and other screw-ups we had under the pressure of practice. And Gary, who looked like 50 Cent with all the bling; 2 precision rifle medals around his neck from the afternoon shoot! Silver in the open and Bronze in the Mountford-Twinning match. Ohhh Metro just rocks the Mainland eh!
 
When the campfire weened so did we, into tents right on the range that night. It was a great evening, a cheap relaxing way to prepare for the Provincials the next day. 
 
As the first flickers of sunlight pierced through the trees, you could feel anticipation in the air!  Everyone was up rarin’ to go!  PPC Provincials attract a mishmash of talent from all the shooting sports, all striving for excellence. PPC is the culmination, the mixed martial arts so to speak, of the pistol shooter world. All the sports think they will dominate because of their speed or accuracy; However all the sports get reminded of Mike Tyson’s immortal words “no plan survives the first shot!”
 
Free Pistol champions, like NSRA’s own Bullseye Bob Selig, thinking accuracy will be the key to winning the match… but will it…
The IPSC Shooter‘s, like Hnatiuk’s own Fast Felix (Chris) think their speed will dominate… will that prove true…
Newbies like Cracker Jack McCarron, his Stephanie cheerleading in the background, believe sheer tenacity will guide him towards victory; but the outcome is far from determined, it’s fragile really!
 
The leaders during the match were in a constant state of flux with scores bouncing up and down faster than a hospital elevator on a full moon Friday night!  In the end, Terry took Bronze, Joe Silver, and I took the Gold.  All our scores were close, it could have been any of us that took that Gold!

Age and experience turned out to be of the most valued asset; combined, our competitive shooting experience is starting to get close to a century!  Andy missed the podium by but a handful of points, and took 4th, Gary took 7th overall with newbie Jack on his heels is now ranked 8th in Nova Scotia!  Again, Metro shined bright taking 6 of the top 8 spots in the 2023 PPC Provincial Championship!  We are the dominant shooting club in Atlantic Canada!  What a great wrap to a summer shooting season!

A great big thanks goes out to Daniel Zaenker at the NSRA for hosting this match!  It was AWESOME Daniel!!!
 

Regards 

Mike

PPC 2023 Provincials Match Results
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NSRA Gammell + Sirtonski Matches – Sept. 9, 2023

Fast, and Furious Firsts

The older I get the more I take joy in the simple pleasures of life, like attending events, spending time with friends, shooting.  Metro R&P recently received an invitation from the Nova Scotia Rifle Association (NSRA).  The NSRA Handgun Section Chair Daniel Zaenker put on the Nova Scotia Provincials (Gammell Memorial) for the Olympic Sport of Rapid Fire Pistol, on Saturday morning past and also another match, the Sirtonski Cup in the afternoon. My self and Joe MacHoll went as ambassadors for Metro. Joe journeying up from the Cape Friday and camped right on the range, I drove to Halifax in the wee morning hours. 

At Sunup, Joe started a fire, then put on a pot of coffee and breakfast.  As the sun climbed higher competitors started to trickle in, their first sight being ‘Quick Draw Joe’ with a coffee sitting by a fire as he slowly drawled, “Mornin”; Man it was a scene out of a Western. 

It’s the simple things, like watching the loss of all hope in the eyes of the mainlanders upon seeing Joe. It’s the simple things, like overhearing whispers, “The Capers showed… lost another one…”. Yes it’s the simple things that I find pleasure in as I age. 🤣

As always, Metro R&P put on a great showing, we were in the Metals for the sport of Olympic rapid fire pistol. Shooting 5 targets, a third of a football field away, in 4 seconds, from the draw is something let me tell ya! Especially when athletes that compete on the National Circuit arrive, like Glenn from Pictou and René from Quebec! That puts tension on the competitors! How did it pan out? Well, we actually won the event, keeping a provincial record score intact and taking home the Cup… again…

The Sirtonski Cup was a new experience for Joe and I as neither of us had shot it before or even knew the complicated course of fire. It went from very precise headshots behind hostage targets to smokin’ hot-speed shooting requiring multiple targets while changing magazines, to man-against-man shoot-offs. That separates the ‘wheat from the chaff’ man let me tell ya! Shooting a shot with an audience behind you hootin’, knowing full well if you miss you are out; shooting until only one person is left! Bob Selig, a legend at the Bull Meadow Range won that round by a quarter of an inch! Whoo!

Since we weren’t really sure about the match and the different stages we just shot all ‘bulls-eye’s’ (almost). Needless to say… We medaled. Actually, we won that trophy and, coincidentally, set the Provincial record score for the event as well. Yes as I age, I find solace in the simple things in life…

Regards 

Mike

Click on photo to enlarge

NSRA Open Handgun Matches

NSRA will be hosting two Open Handgun matches.

When: Saturday, September 9th, 2023
Where: Bull Meadow Range Complex, B-Range

Range Set Up: 8:00 am
Registration: 8:30 am (for the morning match)

Match 1
Gammell Memorial – ISSF 25m Rapid Fire

Match begins at 9:00 am.
Shot with a pistol or revolver in caliber 22LR.
Shot one-handed.

4 times 5 shots in 8 seconds.
4 times 5 shots in 6 seconds.
4 times 5 shots in 4 seconds.

A total of 60 rounds on target + sighters

(There will be no alibis. Try to bring a gun that is clean enough to function reliably and combine it with quality ammo)

There is a a BBQ planned for around noon.

Match 2
Sirtonski Memorial – Centerfire Pistol

Match begins at 1:00 pm.

Shot with a centerfire pistol or revolver at distances between 5m and 35m.

100 rounds should be sufficient.

Please bring:

  • a holster
  • 2 magazines if you are shooting a semi-auto
  • at least 1 speed loader if you are shooting a revolver
  • a shooting mat if you need one (there will be some shooting prone, kneeling, sitting from the range floor)

Infos at: https://www.nsrifle.org/handgun-match-descriptions

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NSRA OPEN HANDGUN MATCHES July 16, 2022

History repeats itself!  

The ‘dead shots’, AKA ‘The Metro Rifle & Pistol Team’, headed off to the Provincial Championships held at Bull Meadow Range, and once against emerge victorious!  
 
The MacDonald Challenge, an ISSF Standard Pistol Match held at the Nova Scotia Rifle Association since the 1960’s is the regional championship for Standard Pistol Shooting. The Metro R&P Club has won the match more times in the last quarter century than any other club in Atlantic Canada. This year we won it again. Joe MacHoll and Andy Maxwell started the match on fire, shooting ’bulls’ so often they made it look easy!  Mike Kelly narrowly squeezed past Joe MacHoll in the final Rapid Fire event taking first place leaving Joe with the silver and Andy in the top 5 in Atlantic Canada. 
 
 
The Selig Free Pistol Match, an ISSF- 50m Match is the regional Championship held by the Nova Scotia Rifle Association and Metro won that cup as well. The Selig Free Pistol Match is named after volunteer Bob Selig to commemorate his long-time commitment to the shooting sports in Atlantic Canada.
Again it was Andy, Joe, and Mike neck and neck kicking mainlander ass all the way 😆, and when the final scores were tallied the Metro Rifle & Pistol Club reined supreme. Mike taking gold, Joe taking silver, and Andy missing bronze because of one errant shot.
That Day the Metro Rifle & Pistol Club tasted again from the cup of Victory!
 
At the end of the day, all the shooters present, no matter their individual placing, had a fabulous day. The weather was perfect, Bob’s burgers and dessert were exemplary, and all had loads of laughter and fun!
Impressions (click on a photo to open the gallery)

©2024 Metro Rifle & Pistol Club