TargetTalk

Any Free Pistol shooters on TT located in the Upstate region of the Palmetto State? I recently joined the Belton Gun Club, and am going to pull the old Free Pistol out of the safe to dust it off, and begin informal shooting practice on a regular basis. BGC has a covered firing line with the 50m distance required, and nice facilities in general. I'm going to start with a course of two ten-shot strings (10 shots per target) for the time being.

Any other local Free Pistol owners out there?

Is Doc Sexton's range/club in Newberry still going?

Hi Prowling,

I'm pretty close by, in Clinton, SC.
There's not much of anything going on.
I'm a member at the club John mentioned. But, that's basically just for range access.
We used to be fairly active, but the place is over-run by the "spray & pray" crowd.

I've been a member there for about 20 years, and am thinking about getting involved with the leadership, just to see if I can redirect things a bit. We need a change.

If you go onto the shooters lounge and dig, you might be able to find my old post about saving my club from itself.

Feel free to PM me.

Best Regards,
Jim

Hey again Jim,

We had a quick correspondence about this same thing a couple of years ago, but since then my wife and I bought another house and renovated it ... So I am literally at EXACTLY the same position as I was then!

Anywho, I think I am going to try to float the idea of an informal, non-sanctioned "Vintage Free Pistol" match at BGC coming up. The pistols wouldn't need to be vintage, but the logistics of the match would be. As I mentioned in my post back in '16:

"... one needs only target frames, a 100 yard range, and some wind flags. Run in six 10 shot strings, and using the old X-count scoring method of tie breaking, with no finals ..."

BGC has a nice, covered, 10 point, 100 yard range. I am pretty sure that they would OK it being blocked for a couple of hours, and I bet I could get at least a few of the old bullseye shooters that are members there to come out and shoot with only one round in the mags of their old Smith 41s and High Standard "spaceguns" ... Worth a try at least, right?

Maybe you'd be interested in making the trek over for some such foolishness?

Regards,

Patrick

Hi Patrick,

Yes,I remember our previous conversations, but wasn't 100% sure....
Lots of things have happened around here.

The match sounds like fun. Please let me know what develops, and feel free to mention to the club that you have at least one outside interested shooter.
I'll try to think of some people I could dig up, too.

Best Regards,
Jim

PS: I seem to recall looking at the BSC website. Looked great!

I am up in Greenville and belong to the Greenville Gun Club. If you all have any interest in 10 meter air pistol tournaments I am interested in joining in. I have a single lane regulation AP range in my woodworking shop in my back yard.

I would definitely be into trying to set up an informal 10m match or two over the winter here ... If a proper "range" can be found. I have a couple of pellet traps, but an indoor spot I don't. Though, with all of the massive storage facilities and such hereabouts one would think finding a proper space would be a breeze ...

So, I've been out to the Belton range a few times now, and it is a great place to shoot. I've got the preliminary OK from the Club Prez to hold an informal match there, with the 2nd Multiplex reserved for a few hours on a Saturday or Sunday morning.

If anyone is in the Greenville SC area, shoots Free Pistol, and wants to get together for an informal match, let me know via PM.

Thanks!