American Handgunner Nov/Dec 1981

SIGHT SETTINGSLUCY CHAMBLISSSOME IMPORTANT THINGSTHAT NEED TO BE SAIDABOUT HANDGUNNERS AND MATCHESIhave attended some nice award dinnersand ceremonies in my shooting career,as well as co-hosting awards banquets formy police department's II consecutivecombat regionals. However, The OutstandingAmerican Handgunner AwardsFoundation dinner in Denver recently is atthe top ofthe list alongside the 40th WorldShooting Championships dinner in 1970.J. D. Jones, his wife, Jane, and their associates,hosted a distinguished dinner, honoringthe 10 nominees. I know it is easy tocompliment those who have honored youby nominating you for this prestigiousaward, but there was more to this dinner. Isaw more people there from the shootingindustry than I have seen at any gatheringin 20 years. There were more celebritiesthere, Joe Foss; the guest speaker, Bill Jordan;and Hank Williams, Jr.; and whodoesn't notice when famous people attenda shooting function! The company ofhostsand other guests, the beautiful commemorativeplaques all nominees received, aswell as a presentation firearm, the honor ofthe whole event makes it one ofthe highesttributes a handgunner can receive. I thankall those again, who made it possible forme.Harry Reeves, a member of the NRABoard ofDirectors for many patient years,was not re-elected in the '81 voting. Hismembership on the board will be missedby all, and by handgunners in particular.Harry was an articulate voice on the boardand on the Executive Committee for us,and was a willing, knowledgeable worker. Inotice that more of Harry's type are notbeing re-elected; in 1980 it was Mike Santanello.Luckily for us, at this writing,Mike is still on the Pistol Committee andHarry is still chairman of the NRA Police(LEA) committee of the NRA. However,we needed them on the board, and unlikemy decision not to run for re-election, theyboth did run and were defeated. These twogentlemen have, and probably still will,perform official duties at any NRA match,year after year, tasks that you cold not getone shooter out of 500 to undertake. Nottwo shooters out of 1,000 have studied therule books for a lifetime, as they have, tomake the necessary decisions from them.Harry and Mike probably will work theNationals, both at Perry. Harry at the PoliceCombat Nationals, or anywhere elsethey are needed. They are still helpinghandgunners, after some strong factionamong the NRA members, in effect, said,"We don't need you anymore." I askedHarry approximately how many days he'dspent away from home in 1980, travelingand working matches and meetings. Hisanswer was 92. It will be interesting to seewhich of the new directors spends thatmuch time working for pistol shooting. Ifwe want people like Harry, willing andable to do everything from plug a shot at aRegional, to wording a new pistol rule at aUIT meeting in Denmark, we'd better reversethis trend toward losing competitiveshooting directors on the NRA board. Ihave embarrassed Harry and Mike bywriting this about them, for they are veryunassuming, dedicated shooters who donot seek glory or recognition, but I thoughtthese things should be said about them. Ifmore NRA priority isn't given to competitiveshooting and its importance realized,what, I wonder, will happen to us?Legislative power and a large membershipare fine, but let's not have tunnel vision,and funds, for those two activities only. Ifhandguns are legal and millions of Americansare NRA members, but the sport ofcompetitive handgunriing is discouragedand even allowed to die, we have still lost.The jury system to replace referees inNRA matches apparently is not working,and is disliked by both officials and competitors.When it can wind its way backthrough the rules maze to be avoided bythe NRA, I predict it will be. As I've alwayssaid, though, you never know until you try.In shopping around, more than ever, forthe best competition at the least expense,the match program becomes increasinglyimportant. I throwaway several a month ,,­that won't tell me what I need to know. A"turkey" program usually means a "turkey"match: save your money for a goodone. I have noticed in shooting in matchesin 16 states, a good match program has'nothing to do with the size town, club, orrange. Big ones write bad ones, little onescan write excellent programs. Along withother valuable information, tellus iftheevent is NRA-approved, registered, or atryout. Ifthe match is none ofthese, whoserules are you going by? Location? Draw anaccurate map. This doesn't have to be toscale, but don't turn visiting shooters rightwhen you mean left. If it's on a militarybase, don't say "the range is in the vicinityof the flower shop." I can just see the MPContinued on page 2922 AMERICAN HANDGUNNER . NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1981