Cowboy Action in Hell’s Heat
13 July 2024 07:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dime_novel_heroLast month I didn’t do Cowboy Action. It was just too hot and I wasn’t feeling up to it. This month, however, was nearly as hot (projected to reach over 90) but I was determined to make an appearance.
This did not go according to plan, but not because of the heat. Sure, that was a challenge, but I took my time, dressed lighter (a period undershirt instead of a dress shirt and waistcoat), stayed hydrated, so I was managing that.
The first stage almost went very badly. The stage was to go like this: start with shotgun in hand, hit two targets, move to the second table, put the shotgun down and pick up the rifle, hit 10 targets, load one more round, then hit an 11th target. Put down the rifle, pick up the shotgun again and move to the third table. Put down the shotgun, draw a pistol, hit 5 targets, holster, draw the second pistol, 5 more targets, holster, pick up the shotgun again, move to the last table, load and hit two more targets.
After the rifle part, I forgot the pistol station and was moving on to the last table. When called out for it, I turned to move back to the pistol station, sweeping the muzzle of the shotgun to break the 170 degree zone. There was yelling. It apparently wasn’t so very bad an infraction and I was warned instead of incurring a stage disqualification.
At the unloading table, unloading my empty brass from my pistols, the cylinder jammed. I set the gun down to unload the other pistol and was going to come back to it when another participant started monkeying with it. I didn’t ask him to, he didn’t ask to, and that sort of pissed me off.
It turns out that the cylinder pin had come loose. For those who don’t know, the cylinder pin goes through the center of the cylinder, and the cylinder rotates around it. There is a spring loaded pin on the side of the frame that interacts with a notch in the cylinder pin to hold it in place. I needed to pull the pin, rotate it to line up the notches with the pin latch, and then click it back into place.
I should have paid more attention.
In spite of my mistake and not a great time on the clock, the first was a clean stage. I took my time and had no misses. The seconds stage as well. And the third stage. I was on a roll, taking my time because of the heat meant I was not making mistakes by rushing my shots (excepting that barrel discipline mistake earlier).
After the third stage, a participant came to the unloading table with a gun part he had found at one of the stage stations. Seeing it was a cylinder pin latch, I knew it was mine. I want back to my cart and, sure enough, it was.
The cylinder pin latch is made of three parts; the bolt, a nut, and a spring. I was missing the nut and spring. The earlier issue with the cylinder pin should have clued me in to there being a problem.
And this was not the first time. In 2018, essentially the same thing had happened. In that case, I was only missing the spring. Even so, I went to Brownell's and ordered a replacement kit. In fact, I ordered two so I would have and extra should it ever happen again.
Didn’t help me at the range because the part was in a ziplock back at home in my tool kit instead of with me.
Loctite. The answer is to use Loctite to keep the screws from coming loose ever again.
This did not go according to plan, but not because of the heat. Sure, that was a challenge, but I took my time, dressed lighter (a period undershirt instead of a dress shirt and waistcoat), stayed hydrated, so I was managing that.
The first stage almost went very badly. The stage was to go like this: start with shotgun in hand, hit two targets, move to the second table, put the shotgun down and pick up the rifle, hit 10 targets, load one more round, then hit an 11th target. Put down the rifle, pick up the shotgun again and move to the third table. Put down the shotgun, draw a pistol, hit 5 targets, holster, draw the second pistol, 5 more targets, holster, pick up the shotgun again, move to the last table, load and hit two more targets.
After the rifle part, I forgot the pistol station and was moving on to the last table. When called out for it, I turned to move back to the pistol station, sweeping the muzzle of the shotgun to break the 170 degree zone. There was yelling. It apparently wasn’t so very bad an infraction and I was warned instead of incurring a stage disqualification.
At the unloading table, unloading my empty brass from my pistols, the cylinder jammed. I set the gun down to unload the other pistol and was going to come back to it when another participant started monkeying with it. I didn’t ask him to, he didn’t ask to, and that sort of pissed me off.
It turns out that the cylinder pin had come loose. For those who don’t know, the cylinder pin goes through the center of the cylinder, and the cylinder rotates around it. There is a spring loaded pin on the side of the frame that interacts with a notch in the cylinder pin to hold it in place. I needed to pull the pin, rotate it to line up the notches with the pin latch, and then click it back into place.
I should have paid more attention.
In spite of my mistake and not a great time on the clock, the first was a clean stage. I took my time and had no misses. The seconds stage as well. And the third stage. I was on a roll, taking my time because of the heat meant I was not making mistakes by rushing my shots (excepting that barrel discipline mistake earlier).
After the third stage, a participant came to the unloading table with a gun part he had found at one of the stage stations. Seeing it was a cylinder pin latch, I knew it was mine. I want back to my cart and, sure enough, it was.
The cylinder pin latch is made of three parts; the bolt, a nut, and a spring. I was missing the nut and spring. The earlier issue with the cylinder pin should have clued me in to there being a problem.
And this was not the first time. In 2018, essentially the same thing had happened. In that case, I was only missing the spring. Even so, I went to Brownell's and ordered a replacement kit. In fact, I ordered two so I would have and extra should it ever happen again.
Didn’t help me at the range because the part was in a ziplock back at home in my tool kit instead of with me.
Loctite. The answer is to use Loctite to keep the screws from coming loose ever again.
