West Virginia Side by Side Event

[eightbore]

Steve Cambria's comment in the newsletter on the "Three Major Exhibitions East of the Mississippi that Cater to Serious Double Gun Enthusiasts and Offer a Shooting Competition as a Backdrop" fell on deaf ears here in the West Virginia Panhandle. You left out one of the best events of this year. John Allgood and his partner Chuck Brunner put on a more than wonderful side by side exhibition and shoot at Prospect Hall in Charles Town, West Virginia last spring. Maybe Steve forgot the unexpected display of about a half a million dollars worth of Becker Foxes and Parker shotguns carried in by one of our new friends who just happens to be a member of the host club. Come on, Steve, the Vintagers isn't the end all for side by sides.

[eightbore]

I guess we should expect that if some of the big hooters in the Fox and Parker organization missed the West Virginia shoot, the shoot just doesn't exist. We'll see if those fat cats miss this shoot in 2014. By the way, some of the events did not have big purses for the winners, so John and Chuck put some of their own money into the pot to make the winning purses look more impressive. You will enjoy this shoot if you attend in 2014.

[eightbore]

Steve and I both forgot to mention the Fall Southern. That makes five great events east of the Mississippi.

[Big Friend Ten]

I second Eightbore on the West Virginia shoot. It was a nice event with a good course and a large tent filled with some very desirable vintage SxS's for sale.

[eightbore]

Thank you.

[3birddogs]

The WV SXS event was a great time, met alot of great people, and I'll be back next year.

[eightbore]

The date for 2014 is May 15, 16, and 17. My friends John Allgood and Chuck Brunner wisely did what many show and shoot promoters should do. They scheduled Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I am confident they are doing the same this year. The shoot websites wvagunshow.com and doublegun.net are not yet updated for 2014, but the contact phone numbers are correct. I am contacting Chuck today to remind him he is the promoter and has to get busy.

[eightbore]

There is discussion and a load of pictures of the 2013 event on the PGCA forum under "General Discussions" , thread titled Eastern Panhandle Shoot or some such. You may have to use your PGCA forum name and password to access the pictures, but once you sign in, all pictures will show up. It is a pretty great thread.

[Researcher]

Interesting. I've heard there were only 18 shooters, that some of the big dealers that were supposed to be there weren't, and that another big dealer packed up and left after one day. What is the truth?

[Silvers]

I looked at the load of 2013 pictures and there are manually operated traps in many of them. Huh? I haven't seen them used at any of the larger shoots for at least 10 years now. Usually eastern clubs that don't have enough electrics will rent them for the event. That led me to look at the 2013 shoot flyer ..... $1.29/target for the main event and $1.20/target for the subevents was way too much IMO and especially considering the manual traps. Serious sporting clays shooters usually get edgey if the cost at tournaments is > $1.00/target. And that's with all electrics and with certified NSCA scorers at every station. Will this year's Panhandle have electric traps at all the stations?

[eightbore]

Dave, as I replied to your negative comments on the PGCA site, "Lighten Up". If you advertised your first shoot in Homer, Alaska, attendance would be a bit light the first year. It was a great shoot and will be better this year. Read the threads on the PGCA forum for details and last year's pictures. Frank, I don't like expensive targets any more than you do, but I'm sure we won't be driving to West Virginia without reading the program.

[simcgunner]

Prospect Hall is one of the great shooting venues. Very well run, great guns shooting at good targets. This shoot is about enjoying and celebrating the guns and friendly company. Less about Playing Dress-up or NSCA scores

[Sporrns]

Be advised that this event has been cancelled for 2014 by the promoters. Information should be available on their website shortly.