[stellarpod]

Man, what fun! This beats the heck out of poking holes in paper. I shot my first match of cowboy action shooting Sunday at the Oklahoma City Territorial Marshal's monthly shoot. My times were long and I missed more targets than I would have liked to, but I had a really good time. The folks were very supportive and patient of this tenderfoot. One even let me load my guns and ammo on his cart, thereby relieving me of having to carry them from one round to the next.

I managed to clean the first and sixth (last) round. Most of my misses were with the rifle (Marlin 1894 Cowboy in .44 mag). This is a brand new gun and the only chance I'd had to shoot it previously was at an indoor 30-yard range. One of he gents who was spotting my 4th and 5th round mentioned to me that all of my shots, even the ones that hit, were high and left. I lowered the rear sight one notch and, sure enough cleaned that last round - and the rifle targets were much further away on this one than the previous five rounds.

I wasn't sure whether I'd like this style of shooting or not. But, I should have known that with my love of history and firearms that this sport was tailor-made for me. Now to start gathering some proper clothes and a cart.

I still love my autos and my military rifles. But, this is the sport that's going to keep me busy at the reloading table.