Bullseye Shoot

About a month ago I went into Eugene to a Gun Show. Didn't see much there but in a back corner there were a couple guys at a little table. I went over and met a nice guy named Neal Caloia his daughter and his dad John. Neal was an Olympic shooter at the games in Atlanta. They were at the gun show trying to get some people interested in Bullseye Handgun Shooting aka Conventional Pistol. I knew nothing about it but it sounded fun. Guns+Shooting+Picking up some tips from an Olympic shooter = fun to me. Oh and since I haven't got a .22 pistol (right now) - they said they would have some there = I gave them $10 for the range fee and my phone # and they said they would call me before the weekend.

Got the call and everyone was meeting at a classroom at Emerald Empire Gun Club on Sunday at 9am. I was to bring 200 rounds of ammo - not high velocity. About 20 people showed up and there were about 7 instructor types. We got a general overview of the sport and competition and safety rules. We were going to shoot at only 25 yards for the morning - no 50 yard - they didn't want to scare us off. In practice and competition shooters will fire their handguns one handed with a dueling type stance. Handguns used are .22's, center fire - .32 caliber and up and .45. Some shooters use only two handguns for the competition a .22 and a .45 since the .45 can work for the centerfire stage too. Targets are out at 25 yards and 50 yards. The match has slow, timed and rapid fire stages. For more information go to www.bullseypistol.com

We were chompin at the bit to get at the range next door and finally were let loose. There were just two of us that didn't have a pistol. I would have been happy to just watch....yeah right. A very nice guy named Pete had a shooting box that had two pistols (his current and older competition Ruger Mark II's), parts, tools....and also a spotting scope attached to the lid. Pete let me use his pistol that he didn't use in competition anymore and later when someone had malfunctions with their pistol Pete let them use his current competition pistol - like I said a nice guy! The pistol I shot with was a Ruger Mark II bull barrel with a red dot sight and a contoured wood grip. Yes you can shoot with a red dot scope -no magnification - or you can shoot with open sights. Oh and the pistol had a 2.5 lb trigger pull- so nice. I had picked up some Remington Target .22 cartridges and I was very lucky to find them. The mock competition was a kick. We shot slow fire stages first. After the first magazine we used spotting scopes to check our shots. I was not used to shooting one handed - it felt like the front site was shaking all over the target picture but one of the other instructors yelled over to us and said "Pete he shoots better with your pistol than you do" he was exaggerating some but I did do better than I thought I would. I liked the timed and rapid fire stages the most. Pete also assisted a couple next to me. The husband shot a .22 revolver - looked like a Smith and the wife shot a .22 Colt Target Woodsman - looked like a 6 or 8 inch barrel and it was in prestine condition - wow.

Thanks again Pete.... I owe you. The extra cartridges I left you were not enough. It was a cold but really fun day. I can't imagine shooting at the 50 yard target....well I can imagine it. It's just going to take a lot more practice but that's just icing on the cake. Now I have to really get the money saved for that Browning Buckmark .22 5.5 Field Pistol.