June 19th: There was a another serious storm in Oxford that started in the early evening just after the match shut down Wednesday for the night. There were flood warnings in effect until early morning. However, it cleared again before the shooting started for the day and shooters had a hot, humid day again.

Shooters who shoot on Friday and Saturday do not shoot the match all in one day. They either shoot Friday morning/Saturday afternoon OR Friday afternoon/Saturday morning. So by 12:30 pm today, every shooter had checked in for the match. Of the 346 registered shooters, we had 328 competing.

At the morning shooter’s briefing, Frank asked for a moment of silence for two long time friends/shooters who passed away since the last Cup. After the moment, Frank said, “The world is a sadder place without them. Go shoot.” The two men remembered:

• Bill Shellhammer had attended every major match at The Range until he was too sick to shoot.
• Kelly Howard designed the original scoring system used for matches at The Range.
• In both cases these men had been in involved with The Range for well over 15 years and were valued friends.

More Cup trivia:

• Six countries are represented this year: Finland, Austria, Italy, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Poland (possibly), as well as many U.S. shooters.
• Lunch was a choice of hamburgers and hotdogs.
• One RSO was benched due to the heat. There is an EMT on staff and he ordered a cool down and rest before returning to volunteer duty tomorrow.
• We had at least 4 shooters DQ’d today. In one case the shooter’s ammo didn’t pass the chronograph test. The ammo was underpowered to reduce recoil and was outside the specifications required to shoot IDPA (DQ mean disqualified).

Side Matches

I shot both the Glock and S&W side matches to be entered in the random drawings for a gun. It was the first time I’ve gotten my hand on a Glock 43 (the new 9mm single stack) and I liked it! I told the guy not to bother to run the timer. There were 5 steel targets and 6 rounds. I tried it twice and hit all the steel each time.

Glock Tent / Side Match at the 2015 Carolina Cup

The S&W side match was with a gun (M&P 9mm, I think) using a new green laser. To enforce the use of the laser, the sites were taped over. I’d never shot with a laser so I wanted to give it a try. I hit every target but had a heck of a time getting the laser on the targets. I don’t see the appeal but I was really happy to have the opportunity..

Vendors

There were vendors onsite. The local gun shop, 9 Forward, shut down shop to shoot the match with the volunteers, then be available onsite for shooters during the match.

Gun Shop onsite: 9 Forward from Oxford, NC

And finally: custom ear protection while you wait from EAR Inc.