Speed, accuracy count in practical shooting

COVINGTON -- In practical shooting, as in many human endeavors, it is not enough to be good; one must also be fast.

“Your score is points divided by time. The shooter who hits the most targets in the least time wins,” said Tom Nichols, president of the Cedar Rapids Area Practical Shooters, a group of handgun enthusiasts who have been perfecting their speed and accuracy for 30 years at a remote range overlooking the Cedar River near Covington.

“We stress ‘get your hits and be safe.' You can't win anything by missing, no matter how fast you miss,” said Nichols, 46, of Anamosa, who competes at regional and national events and also teaches handgun classes.

“I don't even worry about the time. I just try to hit the targets and enjoy myself,” the club's oldest member, Elver Sorensen, 84, of Cedar Rapids,  said.

Among the 40 competitors there Sunday, Jim Bunting, 55, of Shellsburg, a gunslinger who looks more like an accountant, shot as fast and straight as any of them, typically taking well less than a second per shot on a course that simulates self-defense situations in which practical shooters hope never to find themselves.

On the most difficult of Sunday's three stages, for example, Bunting fired 30 rounds into a series of 22 targets in 23.59 seconds. With targets arrayed at varying distances and angles and often in close proximity to “friendly” targets, the stages require competitors to change their vantages and reload their weapons.

Bunting shoots in the open class, which allows optical sights and other high-tech modifications that enhance speed and accuracy.

Rather than having to align both a front and rear sight with the target, he has only to consider the target and a holograph red dot. His souped-up .38 Super semiautomatic also has ports on the top of its barrel to vent gasses created in the rapid combustion of gunpowder.

That gas escaping upward keeps his muzzle from climbing during rapid shooting, which enables him to get on target faster, he said.

Bunting said the competition unleashes a flow of adrenaline that can help shooters if they can control it or hinder them if they can't.

“In some of my best matches, when I get into that Zen area, it seems like I'm in slow motion. I can distinctly remember every target and every shot. But when I'm done, people say, ‘Man, you were really moving,'” Bunting said.

Dick Becker, 74, of Cedar Rapids, one of the club's founders and best shooters, said the sport helps shooters be as proficient as they can be.

“If you own a handgun, and especially if you have a license to carry it concealed, you have a responsibility to know how to use it,” said Becker, a gunsmith who specializes in handguns.

Club president Nichols said the competition teachers shooters to perform under stress.

“In an emergency, you will at best shoot to your level of training,” he said.