GBR-IV Day 4

New connection. Same vision.

7:30am. Leave the Silver Legacy “Silver Baron B” Hospitality room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.

8:15am. Leave for the Virginia City Camel Races Festival and Cowboy Fast Draw Blogger Match.

9:00am – 10:00am. Cowboy Fast Draw Shooting.

The Cowboy Fast Draw shooting is the last scheduled event for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, but many attendees will be staying Sunday night and returning home on Monday. The Camel Races Festival, The Reno Car Museum, the Downtown River Walk, the new Reno Museum, and a number of other things should be considered for the rest of the day on Sunday.

Check out GBR-IV Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3!

It was another pleasant morning in Reno, NV. I made my way out to Virginia City, NV where the Cowboy Fast Draw Shooting event was going to take place as well as the The Camel Races Festival. I’ll have to admit that I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was excited about a new event, but I’ve only seen fast draw events through video online. To be honest, I didn’t think it was much of a spectator sport. The Cowboy Fast Draw Associate was kind enough to host our first annual Gun Blogger Championship competition. Though they emphasize that safety comes first and fun second; I vote that it’s rather difficult to distinguish between the two with folks like Quick Cal.

The Cowboy Fast Draw Association is about “safety first and fun second.” It’s about hand shakes, camaraderie, a man’s word, morality and friendship, fair play and honest competition. Our credo is “The Cowboy Way in action and deed”; it requires no explanation.

With a .45 Long Colt casing stuffed with a wax bullet ahead of no more than six grains of black powder or .45 ACP casing modified to fit shotgun primers, a stock .45 SSA with a minimum barrel length of 4.5″ with no modifications, old school holsters, along with a timer and target; any shooter (or non-shooter) of all types will – without a doubt – will at least find the experience FUN. Cowboy/girl clothing is optional, but encouraged! Quick Cal related to us bloggers, ‘It’s back to the basics.’ The rules are simple and the fun is abundant.

The following individuals participated in the Gun Blogger Championship: US Citizen, Death Wish, The Packing Rat (me!), Jake Harvey (Larry), David of RNS, Mr. Completely, Reunited Native (Our UK friend), Phil of RNS, Kee Wee and Millisecond Molly So who placed?

Women’s Division: 1. Millisecond Molly 2. Kee Wee

Men’s Division: 1. Yours truly 2. Phil of RNS 3. US Citizen

Best time goes to US Citizen at .589 seconds!

I’ve got to say I was surprised about how much fun I had. It was simple, I didn’t have to wear stuffy hearing protection and I loved the rush! Quick Cal gave us a quick and dirty overview of the sport and I think I’ll be hooked one way or another. I’m highly considering looking deeper into this sport with a new .45 Long Colt and a fancy holster. I might even find myself a new costume. I’m even armed with Quick Cal’s Ultimate Cowboy Fast Draw Instructional Video.

Signed to The Packing Rat, "Blogger Champion 2009."

The folks with the Cowboy Fast Draw Association are top notch folks. I was reading the Gunslinger Gazette and found that they share the same sentiment when it comes to the shooting sports. Mississippi Marshal wrote:

Too busy for a stranger? Too busy for a potential club member? Too busy for possibly the next CFDA member? Too busy to make a friend? [...] I believe it is important that we make it a mission to meet and greet every person who comes out to see us. If they feel welcome, they’ll come back..

Getting new shooters into the firearms hobby is a factor that keeps me driven to keep myself informed, social and buy more guns and ammunition (har har). Sure. For most folks, the dress up can get a little funky, but who cares! The CFDA only confirms that we’re all in it for the fun. That’s what counts. If you’re interested, I highly recommend for you to check out the Cowboy Fast Draw Association website. You might even want to find a local club and sign up for a membership.  Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Eilrich and the other volunteers for introducing us to this terrific sport!

Be sure to check out the videos below. It’s broken down into three parts showing most of the matches. Please click on them many times so I feel good about putting them together. =)

After our friendly competition, many of the bloggers were on their way back home. Kee Wee, Mr. Completely and I decided to go exploring. We walked though Virgina City, had a cold sarsaparilla and took a ride the Virginia & Truckee RR Train. It was a narrated, 35-minute round trip train ride between Virginia City and Gold Hill. We got to view the historic mining district from the original 128 year old right of way! It was only a matter of time, but we headed our way back to Silver Legacy. Hanging out at the the hospitality room, we saw Ride Fast. After another pizza dinner thanks to the NSSF we decided to head back to our respective rooms. As Ride Fast had mentioned several days earlier, we put this one to bed. GBR-IV is another great success to record in the books. Thanks again to Mr. Completely and Kee Wee for running another success GBR! I’m looking forward to next years GBR. Will you be there?