So off toward Laredo I go. About an 11.5 hour drive. Somewhere around Houston, it hits me, "IT'S FRIDAY NITE!!!!
So now I'm wonderin', can I actually get out of Laredo and make it up to Dallas by Sunday morning. (We use a first in-first out system down in Laredo, enimently fair... except in dire circumstances, such as these!)
I stop in San Antonio, fuel and do that personal hygiene thing. Rest up and head to Laredo Sat morning. I get there and there're 54 drivers ahead of me. Kiss that plan goodbye! So, Sat. afternoon, I saunter into the Dispatcher's office, obstentially to ask after the kids and Mrs.; and manage to get in the thought: Say, do you think I'll be able to make it to Dallas by 6am?
Senor Dispatcher, being the gentleman that he is, sez, well, Griff, if you just wanna go to Dallas, grab you an empty and I'll pay you up there, as they NEED trucks! Now, that starts the juices flowin'... right until I realize that at BEST its a 7 hour drive, it's 5pm! An hour to get hooked and out the gate, 1am in Dallas, 45 minutes to the house... Oh heck, sleep is over-rated! 'Sides I'm only going to compete! Who needs to be well rested and in tiptop shape for a Cowboy Action Match? Why I can 'member the times I showed up for WORK... oh yea, family atmosphere!
Anyways, traffic was very cooperative, you LEO types musta been lookin' for SERIOUS criminal activity, cause I made it to our yard in Lancaster @ 0020hrs Sunday mornin'! Got to the house and made the most important decision, I loaded the gear and guns up in the P/U BEFORE going to bed! Crawled in next to the Mrs. and she sez, "what time ya want me to wake ya up?" The nutcase I am answered, "0630."Promptly at 0630, (why are they ALWAYS on time at times like this?), the wife sez, "I got ya some donuts." She knows the way to this ex-cop's heart, I'll give 'er that!
So, by 0700 I'm in the p/u, headed for the highway... again! Turn right and immediately realize, THE WALLET!
It's still in the big truck! So, I do what any guy would do, I slow, pull to the right shoulder, and watchin' carefully, make that U-turn. As I complete the U-turn, and look for traffic, I spot... yep, the Highway Patrol trooper on his dutiful rounds just crested the rise as I was making that U-turn and is approaching rapidly. NOW, obeying all traffic regulations, I turn that left turn indicator on, and make the left down our dirt lane, and the Trooper whooshes by with a wave. (I think he recognized the p/u)! Ain't it wonderful to be socially aware and polite? Not to mention contrite!Fetch the wallet, a fresh cup of coffee and another donut; hit the driveway again and am on the road by 0733! 101 miles to the Ranch our shoots are held on, I'll be there in time for the safety meeting @ 0930 with some time to spare for swappin' new tales of valor and... nah, face it, swap lies!
On the highway, I happen to glance down @ the fuel gauge... oh, less than a ¼ tank... modern electronics and all; by punchin a button, it'll calculate the miles remaining! 82 miles. Plenty to get there! No, wait, it's 29 miles back out to the highway, drats, gotta stop & fill up!
Dig thru the wallet for the available cash, and viola, a gas credit card! That wife, she sure takes care of me, even makes sure the cards in my wallet are current! So, there I am, standing at a pump waiting while the mechanical wonders of our time automatically fills the beast with fresh "go-go" juice. Now, mind ya, I'm in the middle of Texas, drivin' a P/U, with farm plates, and a sign on the back that proclaims "Lazy Rockin' G Quarter Horses", I'm wearin' boots, spurs, chaps, neckerchief & a wide-brimmed hat; when the fellar on the other side of the island sez, "you one of them cowboy shooters?" "Why yes," answers I. "You interested?" Long story short I burn about that extra 15minutes tellin' him about the addiction you can find in this game and where to go about gettin' his required "fix."
I arrive at the range and have about enough time to step outta the truck before I'm gettin' hollared at: "GRIFF! Get over here and signed up so we can start!"
So, I get my carcass over to the signup table and peruse the available posse's and pick the shortest one. (Shoulda picked the longest, but that's for later.)
Fetch myself back to the p/u and unlimber the gun cart and equipment. After the Pledge of Alliegence, prayer, announcements and safety meeting, we break up into our posse and head off to shoot!
I signed up in Frontiersman category, gonna shoot my '51 Navies, the '73 and shootsgun all BP! SMOKE and BOOM!
It was a day fraught with difficulties. The '51s were recaltricant to say the least. But... oh did I have fun! I don't think I actually missed a target except one shotgun all day; and shotgun targets are allowed to be picked up, so no misses! Well, except on stage, where I encountered such a problem, that I had to put down on of the revolvers while I hand cranked the other around, a cap got between the frame and cylinder. That has a tendency to distrupt the action!
As I lost where in the target sequence I was when distrupted, I think 2 of the spotters lost their attention and called me for two misses on the pistol targets, while I know they were all hit. (One spotter, the RO and I all agree, but the official score is the majority of Spotters.)Oh well, the rifle worked flawlessly all day, only requiring a couple of squirts of GunScrubber on the lifter to loosen the fouling between a couple of the stages. I used a load of 30grs of Goex Cartridge behind a 225 grain truncated cone, lubed with SPG in my .45 Colt '73 Sporting Rifle a Uberti replica. With bullets seated and crimped in the crimp groove, this is an uncompressed load, but still shoots well. I'll have to group it to see, but... in a very unscientific manner, throwing the front sight on the target and pullin' the trigger drew a satisfying "Klang" each and every time. At these distances, I never worry about that funny rear sight thing!
As ScottT said, with BP, it's all about the "star" of grease left on the muzzle. So here's mine after 60 shots and several hours after the last one, before cleaning! (I know she ain't "Big Nose Kate", but dang it all, she's mine!)
I think I have the '51's problem figure out. The Armi San Marco, may be the near identical of the Colt '51, but... there are a couple of differences. 1st is the shape, depth and location of the grease grooves on the basepin. The ASM has shallower grooves. And, unlike the Colt, are individual grooves, the Colt seem to spiral around the pin. 2ndly, the bearing surface on the Colt ends right at the front edge of the cylinder, whereas the ASM it extends out in front. This allows the small flame cut to be in a position that can interfere with the rotation of the cylinder as fouling accumulates. If I broke the gun down and brushed that area clean, the ASM would run like clockwork. If I didn't, it would hang up after a couple or four shots. 3rd, and lastly, the hand appears to be worn past where it'll rotate the cylinder with the least bit of resistance. So, after I talk to Nate, and I get my Signature Series back from CA, the ASM will be going to visit Nate.
All things considered... it was a great day. it was 75º, very slight breeze (a good thing for us BP shooters), and I finished in SECOND Place in my Category. (Unlike the guy who won, as he was next to last!)
