HOLDEN — In spite of sweltering heat, 13 competitors braved the conditions at the Saturday, July 7 Action Match held at the Earl Ray Tomblin Industrial Park, located behind the regional jail. The three stage 48 round match was open to any handgun of any caliber, and the day saw first-time shooters, youth shooters, and shooters new to the Coalfield Shooters’ Association (CSA). In all, the course was run 21 times.

The course started by crouching next to the driver’s seat of a car (provided by CSA member Daniel Adkins) and shooting through the car’s open passenger window, engaging targets on that side. Next, the shooter performed a mandatory reload and engaged three additional targets at the rear of the car. All targets were to be shot twice each. That was stage one.

Stage two required the shooter stay within a 3’ x 3’ shooter’s box while engaging six additional targets with two shots each.

For stage three, stages one and two were combined. The shooter ran from the car to the shooter’s box while reloading and could only engage the targets from inside the box. “Action shooting is a great way to practice and really learn gun safety and gun handling skills because you practice these habits in a dynamic environment where safety is a priority,” said CSA President Roger Ramey.

In the combined scores, first place overall belonged to Single Stack shooter Roger Ramey. Second overall and top shooter in Production division belonged to Brian Abraham. Fifth overall and top shooter in Revolver division was Jim Morrison. Youth shooters included eight-year-old Walker Light and 10-year-old A.J. Kirk, both of Chapmanville. The match brought out shooters from other disciplines, too, such as Cowboy Action shooter John B. Earles of Chapmanville who participated in the Revolver division. Trying out his first match ever was Dennis McCloud of Verdunville in the Back-Up Gun division with a five shot Smith & Wesson revolver, which, according to club Secretary and Treasurer Morrison, is “…quite a challenge, considering the amount of extra work and reloading the competitor is required to do.” The match even drew a Charleston-area shooter, Ryan McGlothen, to Logan for the day.

The next CSA event will be the Sunday, July 15 Trap match. Ramey says that each round of trap will cost $5 and consist of approximately 20 shots. In addition, there is a $5 one-day fee for non-members good for the family for the whole day.

Combined Scores by division and hit factor:

Roger Ramey, Single Stack, 15.2183

Brian Abraham, Production, 10.8341

Chris Kirk, Production, 10.4058

Joe Carroll, Production, 10.3368

Jim Morrison, Revolver, 10.1710

Arron Messer, Single Stack, 9.7988

Arron Messer, Single Stack, 9.3666

Chris Kirk, Production, 8.9845

Scott Light, Single Stack, 8.3509

Jim Morrison, Revolver, 8.3451

Tim Kirk, Production, 7.5468

Scott Light, Single Stack, 7.5412

Ryan McGlothen, Production, 5.8076

Ryan McGlothen, Production, 5.7830

Tim Kirk, Production, 5.4422

A.J. Kirk, Production, 5.2462 Youth

A.J. Kirk, Production, 3.7634 Youth

John B. Earles, Revolver, 1.9225

Walker Light, Rim Fire, 1.3043, Youth

Walker Light, Rim Fire, 0.4590, Youth

Dennis McCloud, Back-Up Gun, 0.3906