“Period Clothing” was encouraged, but not required –- but they didn’t mention “which period”. So... I went as a Civil War veteran, as it’s more akin to my interests in history and firearms, even though I do like stories of the mountain men and all. That’s my late father’s original 1864 Ames cavalry sword that I’m carrying on a handmade sword belt. The wool Union kepi came from an army surplus store (not bad quality at all for just $8 bucks, "Made in China" too), and the replica wool Federal Vest (with gold eagle buttons) came from ebay (was hand sewn to my size -- in Pakistan of all places), as did the Sergeant's chevrons (those were US-made at least). The black cloth shooting pouch came from the army surplus store too, but I turned it inside out so the Velcro pockets sewn on the outside wouldn’t be seen for this event. The medium blue shirt, while not authentic, contrasted well with the navy blue vest and kepi and that came from the Salvation Army store for just $3 bucks –- so at least I had something "official Army” on me!
I had originally planned to hand the old sword off to my wife just before my run started, but I got a lot of comments and complements about it and it just “felt right” to have a part of my dad along with me. The starter was very surprised that I would dare take an antique sword out into the woods, but I showed him it wasn’t in pristine condition anyway. Plus, I mentioned this run would be “a lot tamer” than what it was probably involved about in 148 years ago, and he couldn’t argue with that logic! Turns out, I was the very first Civil War shooter they'd had at this event. The rest were mountain men or some other primitive clothing, along with a healthy mix of wool plaids or camo hunting gear. So there I was, all ready to run –- on antique rawhide snowshoes too! Luckily, I had laced some steel "ice grippers" under the ball of my foot, and those helped on a few icy patches. And they couldn't be seen when my boot was tied into the leather harness.The host club did a great job at running this annual event, and I was very impressed with their facility, as it was my first time there. The infamous “Dalton Gang” of Dalton NH (about 1 hour north of North Conway, up past Whitefield) had a great cowboy action street setup for different shooting scenarios, complete with swinging steel targets. We plan to go back and watch one of their events later this year, as it looks great. We used one of those venues to take a few practice shots before we started. I was pretty pumped, as I hit every mark on the back berm (50 yards out maybe?) that I was aiming to hit. Here’s my twin brother, dressed as a mid-1700’s Frenchie, taking a practice shot with his .60-caliber smoothbore "Club Butt" Fowler. He calls this one “Butt Ugly” and that seems very appropriate, but man, he and that thing will shoot!!!
Maybe it’s the loooooooooong 48” barrel (that's longer than my entire rifle!), but he does much better without a rear sight -– or any rifling or percussion caps -– than most of the rifle shooters do, myself included! Maybe that's because he’s about two feet closer to the targets than I was! He really shoots that ugly old gun very well.
I missed a few targets I shoot have hit, but I blame that on being out of breath, despite all my training and running over the last many months… I took right off at the start and charged up the hill! (Not swinging the sword -- although that would have looked cool!) I basically wiped myself out on the first half of the course -- as it was all uphill… I should have paced myself much better and saved some energy reserves, as the last half of the course was all downhill. I originally called that a “tactical error” on my part, as I’d never run the course before, until afterwards when my twin brother admitted “Oh yeah bro, I forgot to tell you about that…”. So gee, turns out he won the bet we had -– this year! Next year, I’ll train even harder on hills and know just what to expect. Here’s the sneaky ba*tard on the way to his winning our bet, making his way along the bottom of the course, where my wife was waiting to take some pix of us.
These digital cameras don’t like to focus on the object of your attention, when something up close catches "their" attention. This one is out of focus, sorry, but shows you how 1 or 2 scorers were at each shooting station to mark your scores and keep the line safe.
As my twin’s been doing this for a number of years with some buddies, you’ll see he’s even gone to the trouble of getting “period correct” eyeglasses. Very interesting... As I though “dorks” were a fairly recent invention… 
Here is yours truly coming around the mountain out of breath, but still moving…
I got really excited at the last shooting station when I hit the first of the small 3”x6” steel swingers set out at 50 yards –- nice! -- so then I went and missed the next two. Oh well, I will try harder next year!
In a mad dash to the finish line, you can see the determination on my face... That, or the cold... Here you can see the gold “US” belt buckle that I added to the shooting pouch, it was heavy, but actually helped to stabilize the light cloth bag, as that held only 20 paper tubes with powder, some extra patches and some tools (nipple wrench, patch worm and ball screw). The 3 pockets on the vest were helpful, as I kept cleaning patches and a "T" short starter in one lower pocket, the ball board (preloaded with 10 patched round balls) and a palm saver were in the other lower pocket. Then I kept a capper, with nipple pick and an extended cleaning jag in the upper chest pocket. I had black cords tied on those tools, but I didn't drop anything despite the pressure of being "on the clock". Note the blue poly glove liners and fingerless wool gloves, plus the poly neck wrap keeping my ears warm. It was about 20 degrees out with c-c-c-cold 20mph winds, so it was pretty challenging conditions. Lots of fun though!
Finally, here we are together after we’d both run the course. We’re both smiling, so I guess that means something! My rifle is a .45 caliber T/C Cherokee, with a hunting tang sight on the rear. Slings were for "carrying" only, not as a shooting aid, but I didn't use mine for that. I ran with one hand holding the rifle, and after getting the sword caught between my legs on one funky turn of the course, I ended up holding the sword in the other hand too. It's funny how two identical twins born only 14 minutes apart and 45 days early (he was 3.5 pounds and I was only 2.5) would end up with two “personas” that are 100+ years apart… But I guess that’s cause we are alike in so many ways, that we strive to be different from the other when we can. One thing's for sure, we both agree that we had a great time and will do it again!
All in all, it was a great day and a successful venture at dressing in period clothing while not making a total fool of myself. Sure, I wish I’d shot better and posted a faster time, but now I have something to aim for next year. ("Aim small, miss small") The health benefits of all the exercise and weight loss over the last seven months are pretty cool too, and my wife and I have now set new goals to lose yet another five pounds each and get in better shape for the beach days that lie ahead (soon we hope!). And then when it finally is beach/boating time, I can look ahead to winter 2013 and I will train and prepare even harder to whoop my twin’s butt this time -– "Butt Ugly" and all!Thanks for looking!
Old No7
