Oklahoma Shooting Skills

10/27/2026

See this pic? That's ME, early 90's. Notice the pink bandanna. It gave the other shooters something besides shooting to think about. Might have been a competitive advantage, surely was the source of much conversation on the range. Notice the Ernie Hill leather belt rig. Notice the single stack 1911, launching 230 grain bullets. Those were the days!

This same pistol is in both pics, and that pistol is the story I want to tell.

This was my first ever dedicated USPSA pistol. I bought a used Springfield Armory 1911 in 1991 or 1992. It was a plain 1943 spec 1911A1, plus better iron sights. I “built” it into a match gun of the era. Beavertail grip safety, extended thumb safety, Smith and Alexander mainspring housing and magwell, and better sights. I shot this gun a lot.

I took it to the first state championship match I ever shot in 1993. On the first day of that 2 day match, the feet peeled off the barrel. I finished the match with my carry pistol. This one was dead-lined. After that match, it got a second barrel, and continued it's life as a match gun. In the coming years, I wore this pistol out. So I rebuilt it, replacing the hammer, sear, and disconnect. A full set of springs, and another replacement barrel. It went back in service, and shot matches with me in Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas and Louisiana. Yeah, I wore it out again. I rebuilt it again. Use continued.

The next time I wore it out, I estimated there were 150,000 rounds of .45 ACP through it. I already had the “new, improved” match gun in the build process. I did the minimum amount of repair to make this worn out, used up, high mileage SA .45 safe, and announced it was for sale. And that's when Robert asked me, “How much is it?” Against my advice, Robert bought it. He did a full rebuild on it and ran it as a daily concealed carry pistol for years.

The last time I saw Robert was at the hospital. He was dying. He mentioned in passing that he still had “that .45 I bought from you.” “Your logo is on it, it can't go anywhere else.” I didn't understand exactly what that meant, and I wasn't going to question him given the situation.

Today, the pistol was delivered to me. Sure enough, the Oklahoma Shooting Skills logo is engraved on the slide. I never did that. Robert did. Makes me wonder exactly how long he's been planning this. As I examine it, I've noticed the barrel in it currently is not a barrel I ever bought. He re-barreled at least once. When it left me, the frame and slide were parkerized. Now it's in some form of contemporary spray on coating, mostly holster worn off. It's been cut for Bomar sights. It was a fixed sight gun when I sold it. As I hold it in my hands, I remember using a Dremel tool to make that high cut under the trigger guard. See that front strap stippling? Ken Hallock did that for me. I see all the modifications, minor and major, done by me, by Robert, and a famous pistol smith.

This pistol is history. It is an artifact of a 40 year friendship. It's an artifact of long forgotten pistol matches across the middle of America. It's an artifact of concealed carry for 2 decades. It is priceless. One of my most precious possessions.

10/24/2026

It's SO close. Scattergat on the 31st at Meadhall Range. Drop me a note to enroll

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10/03/2026

Pumpkin spice is suddenly everywhere. I see Halloween decorations. Notice that recent weather change? They all mean the same thing. It's time for our traditional Halloween sh***un class. We will be at Meadhall Range at 10 AM on October 31. We'll be done in time for you to get home, shower, put on a costume, and attend the party, no worries. You'll even be home in time to man the front door, and hand out those Snickers bars if you're not attending the party this year. It's a win all the way around

09/21/2026

09/11/2026

We're getting close. Defensive Handgun class Sept 19, Meadhall Range. Drop me a note to enroll

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08/26/2026

I made a post earlier this week regarding the passing of Vince O'Neill. I left it vague, because at that point, I didn't have a clue how to express my thoughts and emotions. Honestly, I still don't.

My Facebook feed is full of words about Vince. "Mentor," "biggest influence," "toughest man I've ever known" are phrases seen repeatedly, and all written by men I admire greatly. Vince was the guy admired by the guys I admire. A force of nature. Vince was the storehouse of all the information the rest of us want and need. And, more importantly, he had the ability to express and communicate that in a way that us mere mortals could absorb and understand. We are all truly less without him.

I will share a single personal memory of Vince. Many of us had gathered for dinner. Imagine all the tables in the back half of a restaurant pushed together, and filled with gunmen from all over the country. John Farnam was holding court. Vince was sitting across from me, and he had moved to the new CLEET campus in Ada. Trying to make conversation, I asked, "So, Vince, what do you think of the new CLEET campus?" He looked directly at me, a little too hard. His eyes narrowed. And he said, in a quiet voice, "The administration building is beautiful." I was absolutely stunned. In one sentence he told me that training facility failed to meet his expectations. AND if I were to quote him, he said something positive about it. WOW! Very few of the action heroes around that table have that level of communication skill combined with social grace. He could say exactly what he meant in a way that could never be used against him. Bravo, Vince. I miss you already. See you on the other side, Brother.

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08/24/2026

It's been said that when an old man dies, a library burns. Vince O'Neill passed this morning. If you knew Vince, you understand the loss we have all suffered. If you didn't know Vince, watch this page. Once I regain my composure I will attempt to describe him appropriately. At the moment I'm too emotional to give him, or you my readers a fair eulogy.

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08/21/2026

We're a month out!

On September 19, 10 AM start, we will be at the excellent Meadhall Range doing a defensive handgun class. It will consist of a Pistol Skills 2, 3, and as much of Pistol Skills 4 as we have time to cover in a day. We will doing a deep dive into details of technique that we rarely have time to cover in the shorter indoor versions of these classes.

Drop me a note to get enrolled. It will be a good time!

07/13/2026

So I do some CLEET annual handgun qualifications. I get many of these people, trying to re-qualify with their handgun after training and original qualification, who act like they've never seen a real gun before. They have no clue how to grip a pistol. They act like they've never been introduced to sights on a pistol. I see them miss the 2 foot by 3 foot paper the target is printed on as close as 7 yards. And they expect me to believe they did this stuff a year ago.

Am I to assume they forgot simply EVERYTHING in a year? Or am I to assume the academy who did their original training and qualification "fudged" the paperwork by approximately 100%?

I have noticed that the bulk of them all mention the same academy.....

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06/29/2026

Just back from the last ever Pin Shoot by Richard Davis and his family and crew. It was just as much fun as last year, with a twinge of sadness that this decades old tradition is coming to an end.

I'm sure many of you are curious about my match performance. Let's just say I functioned at approximately my expectation. My equipment, however, wasn't so cooperative. My PCC spontaneously converted itself into a new variant with a 2 piece firing pin. On the rare occasion if actually fires, it resolutely refuses to feed ammo from the magazine. There may have been some harsh language involved.

As I was shooting the concealed carry main event, I was hitting the pins as expected. My pistol functioned flawlessly. Everything was great, EXCEPT, I wasn't getting the action on the pins I expected. The pins got hit, they tipped over, and a high percentage of them required a second hit to take them off the table. I was thinking I got a bad batch of ammo, as this load worked great at home. After the shooting was over, I picked up 2 pins from the tables. One new one, and a pin that had been shot off the last table of the last run of the Pin Shoot. I weighed them both. The "well experienced" pin is 1 pound, 4 ounces and a few tenths heavier than the new one. My ammo was fine. I had heavy pins to contend with.

In short, my match scores aren't great. I don't care. I grew up reading about Richard Davis's Pin Shoot. I watched all the documentaries filmed about them. This was more pilgrimage than match for me. It's an amazing gathering of "old guys" like me.

I'm absolutely grateful I was able to attend and experience the culture. I'm grateful that I had opportunity to trade sarcasms with Richard Davis. It was a great experience, AND I got to shoot a few rounds!

Special thank you to Lacy Stonebraker for going with me, and encouraging my shooting and travel habits.