March/April 1983 - American Handgunner

::r:::.. ,. . .fl" • ~-;:.. '. 'u A. " '.,National champion Mickey Fowler, winner of J982 Bianchi Cup,shows how to shoot through a barrel in Superman stage.- '.Mike Plaxco goes over the wall in the Cooper assault stage.The IPSC match places great emphasis on speed and accuracy.held in Milan, Illinois September 22-25.Milan is a small community near Moline,where Rock Island Arsenal andSpringfield Armory are located. Therange, one of the prettiest in the country,covers more than 120 acres of rolling hillsideand tall trees. It looks more like aSouthern plantation than the Milan GunClub Ran,ge.There were 320 entries, including membersof the South African and Canadianteams, making it the largest turnout in thehistory of U.S. combat shooting.Six courses offire were spread over threedays ofcompetition. Out of65 targets usedin the match, 33 were no-shoot targets. Ifyou shot a no-shoot target it was scored aminus 10 points, plus another minus 10points ifyou missed your shoot target. Allbut one course was Comstock count, whichmeans you divided the time taken to completea course into the point score on thetargets, minus any penalty points. Thepenalties proved fatal to many shooters,including myself.When the smoke cleared, Plaxco was declaredthe 1982 IPSC National Champion.He had a great year, having won the 1982Steel Challenge Match held in March atCanyon Country, California, and finishedsecond at the 1982 Second Chance match inMichigan. His membership on the U.S.Gold Team proves he was not just lucky;rather, his skill, equipment and right mentalattitude predominated and placed himin the winner's circle.GALS SHOT, TOOSixteen women shooters were entered inthe match. Top woman scorer was LeeCole, of Fayetteville, Arkansas; shefinished in 166th place with a score of58.69(compared with Plaxco's 92.60).Top honors do not always go to theshooter who is just fast, accurate, and usesAMERICAN HANDGUNNER· MARCH/APRIL 1983·TOPI6the best equipment. There are many shooterswho have the same skills on the practicerange, but match winners conditionthemselves by putting everything togetherwhen it really counts: when the scores aretallied, for record.One drawback is a gun that malfunctions.One can be super-sharp in shootingskills, super-calm in demeanor and have asuper-attack plan drawn up in his mind,but ifhis gun fails to work in the match, heis out of luck. There are no alibis. If yourgu n malfunctions, you lose preciousseconds-and points.Nineteen of the top 20 shooters firedsome type of a pin gun, invented by JamesE. Clark of Keithville, Louisiana. Theoriginal pin gun was used to control heavyloads in the .45 auto, while shooting bowlingpins at three feet off tables in matchessuch as the Second Chance.There are three popular models of thepin gun: the Plaxco Compensator (25 percent),Bill Wilson's Accu-comp (30 percent)and Clark's (12 percent). The percentagesrepresent use at Milan. Only one pingun was fired in the 1980 IPSC nationals,and only one in the 1980 Steel ChallengeContinued on page 91IPSC LEATHERHere's a rundown on holsters used atthe 1983 IPSC nationals:Rogers: . 44 percent of all shootersBlocker: 25 -do-Davis: 18 -do-Milt Sparks: 6 -do-Bianchi: 6 -do-Score %---Name Gun State Holster92.60 Mike Plaxco Plaxco Ark. Rogers SSF91.41 Ross Seyfried Pachmayr Col. Milt Sparks SSH87.83 . John Sayle Plaxco Ohio Rogers CD86.06 Tom Campbell S&W Mass. Rogers SSF85.44 Gavin Carson Unknown S. Afr. Rogers SSH84.04 Mark Lonsdale Clark Cal. Davis CD84.00 Mike Dalton Clark Cal. Blocker CD83.71 Craig Gifford Plaxco Cal. Blocker CD83.65 Ross Carter Wilson Ark. Davis CD83.33 Mickey Fowler PIaxco Cal. Blocker CD83.27 Jim Swain Wilson Tenn. Rogers SSH83.13 Raul Walters Wilson Missouri Bianchi SSF82.19 Mike Fichman Boland Cal. Blocker CD81.57 Bill Wilson Wilson Ark. Rogers CD81.10 Brian Enos Wilson Ariz. Davis SSH81.06 Peter Slack Unknown S. Afr. Rogers SSHSSH-Strong side/hip SSF -Strong side/front CD -Cross-draw35