By Chris Taylor
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkms/local-wkms-911989.mp3
Boaz, KY – It may be the closest one can get to an Old West-style shootout, short of a time machine. A rural Kentucky gun club hosts monthly single-action shooting competitions using era-specific firearms. To compete, you have to dress the part as well. Participants wear authentic wild western garb, donning cowboy hats, spurred boots, six shooters and all. The events attract many from the region and beyond, who compete to be both quick on the draw and dead-on target. Chris Taylor takes us to the Fort Kentention shooting range near Boaz, Kentucky.
At least six shooting stages line a dirt road offering a variety of Old West scenarios. There's a corral fence, a saloon front, a hangman's gallows, and an old time wooden fort. Each recreates a famous incident or a scene from a spaghetti Western movie. This month's match has a turnout of nearly 50 competitors and onlookers. Organizer Jeff Alexander goes by Mose' down here.
Mose- You're going to have one shooter, you're going to have one guy that's called the range officer running the timer, and your going to have three people spotting.
Shooters say a line to engage the scenario.
Mose- Spotters! I got 1, 2, 3. We got a hot stage!
Shooter 'Do or Die'- I didn't surrender, but they took my horse and made him surrender.
Mose- Stand by!
The spotters Mose refers to count missed shots as the shooter uses 2 pistols, a rifle and a shotgun to shoot at a variety of metal targets. The monthly shooting matches are organized by the Kentucky Regulators Gun Club. The club is part of the Single Action Shooting Society, an international sport created in the early 80's. Every shooter's run is timed as they unleash about 10 pistol slugs, 10 rifle rounds, and at least two shotgun blasts or more.
Mose- Twenty-six ten! Clean!
Misses or other mistakes add a time penalty to a shooter's score. Mose' says two basic styles distinguish shooters.
Mose- A one-handed grip on one pistol: that's called duelist shooting is one hand. Two-handed grip is a traditional style grip.
There's also a variant of duelist called gunfighter, where both guns are fired consecutively from each hand. Mose says this style is the most challenging.
Mose- The other big difference in them is whether or not people are shooting black powder or smokeless powder.
It's not hard to tell when a shooter opts for black powder because plumes of pungent, smoke explode from the gun's barrel. As the smoke drifts by, onlookers and competitors alike watch intently. Some ready their firearms in anticipation of shooting next. With such a concentration of older guns, most of which lack modern safety mechanisms, proper handling and oversight is a huge concern at the event.
Mose- Somebody watches you load your guns. So if you're caught with a loaded gun behind the firing line, it's a match DQ, go home. You stage up, they're counted when you expend them and then when we come to the unloading table you have to show that your weapons are empty on each gun. You have to present the rifle is showed empty and your shotgun is showed empty.
After which, shooters are able to move freely along the range. Mose says there's never been a major accident in the sport's history.
Mose- You know in the right situation, they're just fun in safe. I mean we've got 8-year-old kids out here playing with them and we're totally comfortable with it and really can't understand why other people don't want to do it.
There is one other thing required of shooters, but it's not about the guns.
These are the spurs of 76-year-old Bill Wall who's dressed in full cowboy attire. Wall travels to Boaz from Martin, Tennessee and has been competing for about two years now.
Wall- I'm not that good. My reflexes are not as fast as these young boys and so I'm usually way down pretty low on the list. I shoot okay for me, but I enjoy it. I don't care where I finish. It's something that old people can do.
Wall says dressing the part makes it all the more fun.
Wall- That's one of the major parts of it is getting up here and just dressing up, you know, we've all got a little cowboy in us.
Kirk- Clothes from about the 1860's to the 1890's usually.
That's Benny Kirk or Lone Wolf.'
Kirk- You can just wear a pair of jeans and a straw hat if you want to, but once you get into it a little fancy with the dress. I got my wife shooting. The first thing she did was get the outfit. Clothing was more important than the guns.
Kirk also hails from Tennessee. He shoots at a similar club in Union City.
Kirk- We're the Northwest Tennessee Long Rider Shooters down that way. You shoot in the shade so that's a little draw for us I guess. We welcome anybody down who'd like to come see it. We kind of share some people, shoot both places a lot.
Kirk says many here attend his range's competitions as well. Several shooters come from all over the area and beyond. Some of whom are considered the top cowboy shooters in the world. At least seven of this gun club's members here today competed and placed nationally last month at a competition in New Mexico.
Mose and his wife Bella hope to one day expand the club by incorporating horses into the match for mounted shooting. The couple says the sport appeals to both genders of all ages and hope their club's offering will attract even more western Kentuckians. The cowboy shoots are held the first Saturday of every month and first-time shooters can compete for free.
Check out the Kentucky Regulators' website.