Published: June 29, 2009 11:53 pm      

Pistol range national competition

Shooters expected from around the world

CUMBERLAND — The new action pistol range, completed this past autumn at the Fort Hill Rifle and Pistol Club, will see some serious competition Aug. 15-16 when it hosts the 2009 Western Maryland Regional NRA Action Pistol Championship with shooters coming from as far away as Italy.

“There are only a handful of these kind of ranges in the country,” said club spokesman Tom Langley as he explained the layout of the range Monday. “We know, as of now, that shooters are coming here from Virginia, New York and Pennsylvania as well as locally. The Virginia shooters are serious competitors.”

The club Web site, www.fhrpc.org, includes an entry form for interested shooters and outlines the times when the public can use the range. Questions about the range or the championship may be asked of John Dowell at (301) 724-5866. Spectators are welcome at the August tournament, though eye and ear protection are required.

“We’re looking at $60,000,” Langley said of the cost to construct the range to National Rifle Association specifications. “That includes excavation of the hillside.” A grant from the NRA helped ease the financial outlay for the club.

The action pistol range has four lanes. The scores are based upon a combination of speed and accuracy, with shooters first drawing their handguns and then discharging them.

• Practical target — The shooter simply fires at a bull’s-eye from four distances within a limited time frame — twice in three seconds from 10 yards, for example.

• Barricade target — Shooting from behind both sides of barricades, competitors fire at the bull’s-eye on tombstone-shaped targets.

• Moving target — A target supported by a cable travels right to left and left to right, moving 60 feet each way in six seconds.

• Falling plate target — Metal plates fall over when struck by the bullets.

Langley demonstrated the range, firing from a .38 Super caliber handgun fitted with a telescopic sight. The first lane, the Practical Target, actually requires the shooter to fire from the 10-yard line with his weak hand.

“That can get tough,” Langley said.

“I just returned from the nationals in Missouri at the end of May and you can expect 200 to 300 spectators on the last day of competition,” Langley explained. Forty shooters will fill the card in the upcoming local match.

The wooden walls between the four shooting lanes at the local range at the end of Morningside Drive are filled with gravel.

“That eliminates the chance that a round will be shot through the walls,” Langley said.

At the August event, there will be 1,920 total points.

“There are a dozen or so shooters in the country capable of shooting a perfect score and we know that two of them will be here in August,” Langley said.

Contact Michael A. Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com.