Great Time at TexasCHLforum Day at PSC !

[joe817]

(please say I have to go buy a rifle!)

depends on what you want to sign up for .
i think most folks just shot a pistola .

you don't have to shoot at all if you don't want to .

Oh gosh USA1, don't you see? He just wants an excuse to buy another gun!

[Kevinf2349]

(please say I have to go buy a rifle!)

depends on what you want to sign up for .
i think most folks just shot a pistola .

you don't have to shoot at all if you don't want to .

Oh gosh USA1, don't you see? He just wants an excuse to buy another gun!

RUMBLED!!!!

Go to a range and not shoot? Isn't that illegal in Texas?

[Lodge2004]

Due to household schedules, I arrived very late but was still able to consume about 200 rounds in 1.5 hours on the Star and the plate rack. Those things are addictive.

Recognized many faces, but didn't get to meet nearly as many people as I wanted. Will definitely need to plan my time better next year so I get to eat lunch and attend some of the classes.

[Skiprr]

I had an absolutely great day. I got there a little after 7:00 (CompVest and SRVA already beat me to it; psst: it's in your inside pocket) and was chatting with G.C. Montgomery as the sun set and the mosquitoes really got their groove going at about 6:30.

Got to see a lot of folks I haven't seen since the 2007 event. But looking at posts here, I now realize, sadly, there are some I've never met who were there, but our paths never crossed.

Charles knows I'm eternally grateful for everything he does for our RKBA, and he also knows I'm never without suggestions. Since our Forum screen names are public, I don't see any issue with disclosing them. Maybe next event we could post in the Blue Building a list, screen names only, of those in attendance. That way, we'd know if we needed to actively seek out old friends.

I think we all know, or can imagine, how much planning and work, behind the scenes, goes into an event like this. It starts many months in advance...in this case, about a year and a half in advance, due to Hurricane Ike.

A standing ovation to Charles, TraCoun, Tom, and the rest of the very small core group of people who made this possible.



I got home a little sunburned, very tired, and grinning from ear-to-ear.

[gwashorn]

Really enjoyed the day and thank all those who put this together. I got a lot out of all the mini-clinics. Thanks to those teaching it. Met people I see here and enjoyed it all. Ed great to meet you. Did not get to try out the Texas Star but think I would do better with a tennis racquet and balls than my gun, but hey it looked great. I agree with the screen name comments too. I know now I will put in more time in training and seek out professionals to help me due to this great event.

Gary Ashorn.

[Liberty]

It was a great time,
]Learned sopme new skills.
Brushed up on some old sklls.
Bet some new friends.
Met up with some old friends.
Shot my Ruger
Ate real well.
Weather was gorgeous
A wonderful day
If there is anything better its got to be illegal or immoral.

Thanks to all who put this thing together.

[Skiprr]

It was great to meet you, too, Gary.

And ya know, I'm trying to resist this, but I can't do it.

As busy as Charles Cotton was today, he took a few minutes to say hello to the Texas Star.

All of you know Charles as our host here, NRA Director, Texas Rifle Association Executive Director, and active political supporter of the Second Amendment. But did you ever wonder if he practices what he preaches?

Unfortunately, I missed his best run at the Star. He only took three attempts, cold: he shot nothing else during the day. But I enjoyed this one because someone said, jokingly (I don't think it was TxD), "You only need six rounds." You can hear the laughter.

The challenge was strong-hand-only, and Charles cleared the five plates in, guess what, six shots. This wasn't at the speed Gordon Carroll and G.C. Montgomery shot, but Charles shows he knows a thing or two about using his Thunder Ranch 1911.

This is a WMV video file and hosted on a non-streaming server, so it may take a moment to load before displaying. If it looks like it isn't loading, give it a minute:

Charles at the Texas Star

[KFP]

I'd like to echo the praise that everyone has given for the event and all of those who help contribute to it. The day was very well organized, ran smoothly, and provided the opportunity for a wide variety of training that will develop our skills. Many thanks to Charles and all of those who volunteered their time to our segment of the shooting community.

It was also great to have a chance to meet many of the people on this forum in person. I was very pleased to meet WillBill who sponsored me for the NRA a few months ago, so that I could thank him in person. I had the chance to talk again with Charles, Keith B, and Crossfire who I had met with prior to the event. I was also able to meet quite a few more like USA1, SIA, Liberty, seamusTX, El Gato, GrillKing, Jeremae and BigDaddy. It was a lot of fun to be able to put faces with names (thankfully nobody compared my looks to my avatar).

I'll go ahead and throw USA1 under the bus for being too scared of the Texas Star - next time I think one run should be required of everyone.

[Kevinf2349]

I'll go ahead and throw USA1 under the bus for being too scared of the Texas Star - next time I think one run should be required of everyone.

REALLY?!!!!! That is interesting to know

Is the Texas Star available to PSC members to shoot through the year? My wife and I are thinking of joining when we get a chance to go and visit. Everytime we try it either rains or the guy that is going go with us is on the wrong shift

[sskimber]

[quote="Kevinf2349]
Is the Texas Star available to PSC members to shoot through the year? My wife and I are thinking of joining when we get a chance to go and visit. Everytime we try it either rains or the guy that is going go with us is on the wrong shift [/quote]

The Texas Star is not available for general use at PSC, It must be run under controlled circumstances. It does make appearances in the IPSC/USPSA matches (3rd Saturday) occasionally.

If you are looking visit PSC and not shoot send me a PM and we can set it up so you can take a look around. (just an option)

SSKIMBER

[Charles L. Cotton]

I appreciate the kind words and from all of us on the TexasCHLforum Day crew we are glad you had a good time. There is no denying the fact that putting on this event is a lot of work, but you folks make it worthwhile. All of the instructors and the crew have commented that it’s easy to put in the required effort when people appreciate it. As many of you know, our club (PSC Shooting Club) hosted the Texas State IDPA Championship for six years and I can honestly say that in all those years I never saw a group of people have so much fun and show their appreciation like we see every year at the TexasCHLforum Day at PSC. Thank you for the support you have given our crew through your participation in this event and by letting them know their many hours of hard work were well-spent.

I want to add my thanks to the entire volunteer instructor staff including (in the order they appear in the Event Description Page): Steve Vandermolen, Donna Vandermolen, Marc Gentine, Jim Longley, Gregg Garrett, Eric Achord, Jim Duncan, J.P. Guidry, Jason Hall, Ed Williams, Gary Montgomery, Tim Fisher, Tom Estep and Gordon Carroll. These folks developed their own courses and I think their commitment was evident by the comments made by their students.

The Texas Stars were a big hit (and ammo hog) again this year and once again, Dave Eickhoff ran “the stars” the entire day! Thanks Dave and I hope you had as much fun watching people as did I!

Our “ground crew” included Jim Pierce, Eric Achord, Kevin Svetlik, Mark Stavrakis, Jeremy Thompson, Steve Vandermolen, Donna Vandermolen, Dave Eickhoff, Danny Stowers, John Nash and some attendees who came early and jumped in and gave a hand with the setup Saturday morning. We also had a few hardy folks stay after the end of the day and help us put up the props and clean the range. I know there were others who helped that I didn’t see, and I’m sorry for leaving you out of this list of volunteers. Thanks guys and gals!

Marc Gentine handled the sign-in process, along with preparing the name badges and individual schedules. Thanks Marc!

I also want to acknowledge incredible amount of work that went into getting the running target system installed for the 2009 TexasCHLforum Day at PSC. For 10 years I have dreamed of having a running target system at PSC. The project always seemed to get pushed to the back burner because of personal commitments and higher priorities at PSC. Almost years ago, the PSC Board voted to fund the project and Jim Pierce, Marc Stavrakis and I started the planning stage of the project. Jim wound up designing and building the system and put in well over 2,000 hrs. just to get it to the field testing stage! Jim probably knows of others who assisted him. Jim did the tractor work to level and square pistol Bay C so that it would accommodate the new target system. Then grass was laid in about 1/3 of the bay to cover the dirt exposed by the tractor work.

Jim Pierce, Eric Achord and Kevin Svetlik also put in many hours building the protective walls that sit in front of the “runner.” (This was a huge job.) Mark Stavrakis and Kevin Svetlik put in a lot of hours to get the project to the point where it could be installed in time for this year’s TexasCHLforum Day at PSC. This really was crunch time and I didn’t see any way the runners would be ready for this year’s event. But Mark, Kevin and Jim were determined not to have to cancel the running targets mini-clinics and they got the job done. You did an incredible job guys and we all thank you!

I’m sure there were other people who helped on this project when I was not there, so I apologize for leaving them out of this very condensed project review.

The runner used at the TexasCHLforum Day is just a glimpse of the final target system. While both runners were operational, they were “manually” controlled using switches. When the computer controls are installed, both runners will be independently computer-controlled, as will be 10 pneumatic turning targets that will be part of the system. (Jim designed and built the turning targets as well.) Hopefully, the system will be complete in the next several weeks.

We had perfect weather, a dedicated, crew, good food and a great group of folks to make the 2009 TexasCHLforum Day at PSC a success. Thanks again for coming and for letting the crew and instructors know you appreciate their work.

As Jim Pierce said, we need to start working on next year “six months from now.” Remember, the TexasCHLfory Day at PSC is moving to April and in 2010 it will be on April 24th.

Chas.

[USA1]

I'll go ahead and throw USA1 under the bus for being too scared of the Texas Star - next time I think one run should be required of everyone.

i'm not one for showing off .

[KFP]

I'll go ahead and throw USA1 under the bus for being too scared of the Texas Star - next time I think one run should be required of everyone.

i'm not one for showing off .

I anticipated a faster reply...you must have been out practicing!

[USA1]

I'll go ahead and throw USA1 under the bus for being too scared of the Texas Star - next time I think one run should be required of everyone.

i'm not one for showing off .

I anticipated a faster reply...you must have been out practicing!

oh its on now....next year , me and you , one on one ....Texas Star .

[longtooth]

April 16-25 is now scheduled for vacation.