| Publication:Sandusky - Johnson City; | Date:May 7, 2006; | Section:Outdoors; | Page Number:1D |
Shootout at the Longbranch Saloon
Once a month, Greene County Regulators take a trip back to the old West.
Story and Photos by GREGG POWERS
• Press Outdoors Writer
GREENEVILLE — It’s the cowboy way. On a certain Saturday morning, a sharp
turn up the gravel road to TAC2 shooting range in Greene County can transport
you back to the days of the old West, if you have a little bit of imagination
and a couple of good shootin’ irons. The Greene County Regulators host a
cowboy action shoot the third Saturday of every month at the TAC2 Range in
Greeneville. Each match is made up of five shooting stages that are timed and
scored. Each participant shoots two single-action revolvers, a lever-action
rifle chambered in a pistol caliber and a shotgun at steel targets. All
ammunition must be lead bullets and no shotgun pellets larger than 7 shot are
allowed. All shooters need 50 rounds of rifle ammunition, 50 rounds of pistol
ammunition and 25 shotgun shells. All shooters and spectators must wear eye
and ear protection. The firearms used range from Ruger Vaqueros to Colt
Pistols, Marlin and Winchester Rifles and Winchester 97 and double barrel
shotguns. Dressing up like an authentic cowboy, or cowgirl, is required. And a
good cowboy “alias” is always helpful, just in case the sheriff and his posse
are after you. The whole thing started with Mark “Tennessee Deadeye” Duval. “I
had been cowboy shooting since 1999 and the nearest club was on the other side
of Knoxville,” Duval, a Kingsport resident, said. “That was a twohour drive
for me. There were a lot of shooters down there that lived in the Morristown
area and on up this way, so I started looking for a range facility that would
let us shoot.” And the Greene County Regulators were born. “It took me about
three years to locate the TAC2 range,” Duval said. “We started the club up
three years ago this past September.” And it has grown quite a bit since then.
“We started out with about 12 core members and I would say we have about 46 or
48 members in the group now,” Duval said. “We have shooters here from 10 years
old to 80 years old. It’s for the whole family.”
For Duval, being a cowboy action shooter came naturally.
“I’ve always enjoyed the shooting sports and I’ve owned guns since I was
12 or 13 years old,” he said. “I tried skeet shooting, sporting clays and
things like that. It just never was my cup of tea. But, from the time I had my
third or fourth Christmas and woke up with a set of cap guns and holsters, I
was hooked on being a cowboy.”
Rufus “Lil’ Weasel” Hurt has been cowboy action shooting with the Greene
County Regulators for about a year now.
“This is probably only my eighth or ninth match, but I’ve practiced a lot.
I set up a little range at home and that helps.”
And safety is very important.
“Before you shoot each stage, you always go to a loading table and a
loading officer who verifies that you have the right number of rounds in your
gun and everything is loaded properly,” Hurt said shortly before shooting his
first round of the day.
Members of the Greene County Regulators listen to
the shooting scenario before a match.
By George Thwaites
Sports Reporter
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During October, even grownups are known occasionally to
indulge in the costumed make-believe that accompanies this month's
traditional holiday festivities.
If you asked Kingsport's Mark Duval what he plans to be this Halloween, he wouldn't have to think for a moment. Duval - alias "Tennessee Deadeye" - is going to be a cowboy, baby. Duval is president of The Greene County Regulators - a new cowboy action shooting club that's holding Single Action Shooting Society (SASS) target matches the third Saturday of every month at the TAC2 shooting range near Greeneville. The group held its first official shoot at TAC2 on Sept. 21. Prior to that event, the closest regular cowboy action event available to Tri-Cities shooters was in Knoxville. The group's next shoot at TAC2 will be Saturday, with registration beginning at 8:30 a.m. and a mandatory safety meeting at 9:30 a.m. SASS matches are combat-style shooting events, similar to IPSC and IDPA competition in that shooters complete five stages of timed fire against an array of reactive steel targets, usually according to a specified sequence. Both speed and accuracy are taken into account in the calculation of scores. SASS differs significantly from other combat target sports in that competitors shoot single-action revolvers, pistol cartridge lever action rifles and shotguns similar to those that would have been used in the American West from 1870 to around 1900. Another big difference is that competitors are required to compete wearing cowboy costume, replete with hat, boots and western holsters and gunleather accessories. Some SASS folks are obsessed with wearing period-correct costume and gear, the accumulation of which is a hobby in itself. Others might go for Hollywood's idea of cowboy dress, from the outlandish fringe and frippery of Roy Rogers to the minimalistic jeans, boots, shirt and Stetson of Glenn Ford. Shooters also compete under cowboy aliases, like "Iffinida Shotbetter" (a varmint who shoots pretty dadburned good, to tell the truth). "Dead Bob" was my personal alias for the two stages I sampled on Sept. 21. Judging from my frightfully low scores, it may have been the most appropriate alias on the firing line. Although double-action revolvers existed during the cowboy period, competitors are limited to thumb-cocked single-action revolvers. For my shoot, Duval loaned me his double-holster rig with a pair of tuned Ruger Vaquero .357s loaded with light .38 special cowboy loads. I've probably shot more Ruger single actions than any other type of revolver, but I'd never used the traditional SAA-style fixed sights before. Nor can I think of many times I've spat five shots out of a single action as rapidly as I did that day. It was a hoot. For the rifle targets, I shot Duval's replica Winchester 1892 in .357, also loaded with light .38 specials. Having grown up watching Chuck Connors on "The Rifleman" during the 1960s, rapid-firing this very nicely tuned levergun was a slice of nostalgic nirvana. I loved it. Equally engrossing was getting to repeatedly unleash both barrels of Duval's EAA Bounty Hunter, a side-by-side 12-gauge shotgun in short barreled "coach gun" configuration. This was, quite literally, a blast. Did I fail to mention? On each stage, I had to shoot both revolvers, the rifle and the shotgun, quickly moving from one weapon to the other as I completed each assigned series of targets. Cowboy action shooting is nothing if not action-packed. Belying the fast-paced nature of the game is a vigilant insistence on range safety. Eye and ear protection for all shooters is mandatory. The range officer in charge of each stage watches each shooter like a hawk. At any sign of a safety violation - or a squib load or action-jamming short stroke - the action is called to an immediate halt. While most competitors wear holstered handguns throughout the day, it's important to note that the only time they're loaded is at a supervised loading table immediately prior to the individual competitor's time to shoot. After he or she completes the stage, the shooter proceeds to an unloading table where a range official determines that handguns, rifles and shotguns are all completely unloaded. While there was an obvious element of competitiveness at the match, it was subordinate to the overall feeling of camaraderie. While cowboy action shooters like to pretend that they're rough, tough, crusty and even downright dangerous frontier characters - they never forget that they're only pretending. "It's kind of hard to take yourself too seriously when you're dressed like this," said David Fowler of Morristown, whose alias, "C.A. Daver," portrays a gunslinging frontier undertaker. Not surprisingly, the sport offers a very family-friendly shooting environment that appeals to men, women and youngsters of all ages. To obtain more information about The Greene County Regulators and the weekend's scheduled match, call Duval at 349-4924.
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