JT Brewer and the Mixed Targets
Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2025 2:17 pm
The heat wave that descended upon us the last few weeks has had me wishing for cooler temps and reminiscing about shoots that took place when it was down right cold
On January 10, 2004 Rockingham County Gun Club hosted a typical 300 target program. It had snowed recently and the temperature was in the low/mid 20s. A light breeze accompanied the sub freezing temps making it feel even colder.
RCGC had a typical 300 target program scheduled and there were a few of us that decided to go ahead have some fun with winter targets.
Now, I might have had a bit of advantage by growing up in NW Penna and actually shooting in sub zero conditions along with occasional lake effect snow storms. The key to the whole thing is layers, and, a tidbit I’ll reveal later.
The ride from Lexington to Rockingham was quite unremarkable. The best way to travel…….. I pulled into the RCGC parking lot and found that I wasn’t the only loony that showed up. There were enough of us to fill a squad and thus meet the minimum number of participants to register the event
JT Brewer was Range Master that day and he had opened trap 2 for the occasion. We took the line and began shooting.
Though it was chilly, the sun had come out and it was very bright. Any that have shot over snow cover will know that sunlight reflecting off of the snow can make things “interesting”. As it was, even though the snow covered the ground, the direct sunshine had eliminated it from the mostly trees background. This was prior to the cutting down of the trees that at one time marched much closer to the trap line and very few targets got into the sky making them quite visible that day.
Since there were only a few of us, there was little need to rush. We would shoot 25 then go into the building, warm up, then go back out and continue. All of this was pretty much standard stuff until we went out to start the 3rd box.
At that time JT informed us that we would see a change of targets. When asked what he meant, he told us we would continue with the Remington dome targets at first then transition to all orange Winchester AAs somewhere during the round.
We told him that we didn’t believe this was quite legal. JT told us that there were more of the Remington targets in Trap 3, but, he wasn’t gonna walk through the snow to unlock 3 and drag/carry the targets back to Trap 2. So we continued.
I believe I had started on Post 1. We were all watching the targets intently as we suspected that the physical dynamics of the difference between the two manufacturers could/would affect the flight characteristics of the targets. As it was, I got the first of the changeover targets on the first one out on Post 4. It was a right angle and it was noticeably higher than any of the previous targets had been. Fortunately I was able to stay down on the gun and break it.
We then finished the Singles event and continued on to complete the Caps and Doubles without any additional “surprises”
The tidbit. I had shot the entire program barehanded. A few of the others commented on that and asked how I was able to do so without any apparent discomfort. Hot Hands. My layers were a set of long handles, a henley shirt and a sweatshirt with a pouch front with Hot Hands inside…
At the end of the day, this is just a game. A good time was had by all.
JT Brewer was another piece of NC Trapshooting history. He enjoyed trap and was also an avid small bore shooter. JT was always willing to help with anything that needed done. He would load traps, keep score, clean up, burn boxes, in short he was continually one of those behind the scenes guys that seldom got the deserved recognition
See you next time wherever it is. Travel Safe. Dan
PS- I will probably not be posting a story next week as I will be out of town hopefully experiencing the foundation for more stories to be shared in the near future
On January 10, 2004 Rockingham County Gun Club hosted a typical 300 target program. It had snowed recently and the temperature was in the low/mid 20s. A light breeze accompanied the sub freezing temps making it feel even colder.
RCGC had a typical 300 target program scheduled and there were a few of us that decided to go ahead have some fun with winter targets.
Now, I might have had a bit of advantage by growing up in NW Penna and actually shooting in sub zero conditions along with occasional lake effect snow storms. The key to the whole thing is layers, and, a tidbit I’ll reveal later.
The ride from Lexington to Rockingham was quite unremarkable. The best way to travel…….. I pulled into the RCGC parking lot and found that I wasn’t the only loony that showed up. There were enough of us to fill a squad and thus meet the minimum number of participants to register the event
JT Brewer was Range Master that day and he had opened trap 2 for the occasion. We took the line and began shooting.
Though it was chilly, the sun had come out and it was very bright. Any that have shot over snow cover will know that sunlight reflecting off of the snow can make things “interesting”. As it was, even though the snow covered the ground, the direct sunshine had eliminated it from the mostly trees background. This was prior to the cutting down of the trees that at one time marched much closer to the trap line and very few targets got into the sky making them quite visible that day.
Since there were only a few of us, there was little need to rush. We would shoot 25 then go into the building, warm up, then go back out and continue. All of this was pretty much standard stuff until we went out to start the 3rd box.
At that time JT informed us that we would see a change of targets. When asked what he meant, he told us we would continue with the Remington dome targets at first then transition to all orange Winchester AAs somewhere during the round.
We told him that we didn’t believe this was quite legal. JT told us that there were more of the Remington targets in Trap 3, but, he wasn’t gonna walk through the snow to unlock 3 and drag/carry the targets back to Trap 2. So we continued.
I believe I had started on Post 1. We were all watching the targets intently as we suspected that the physical dynamics of the difference between the two manufacturers could/would affect the flight characteristics of the targets. As it was, I got the first of the changeover targets on the first one out on Post 4. It was a right angle and it was noticeably higher than any of the previous targets had been. Fortunately I was able to stay down on the gun and break it.
We then finished the Singles event and continued on to complete the Caps and Doubles without any additional “surprises”
The tidbit. I had shot the entire program barehanded. A few of the others commented on that and asked how I was able to do so without any apparent discomfort. Hot Hands. My layers were a set of long handles, a henley shirt and a sweatshirt with a pouch front with Hot Hands inside…
At the end of the day, this is just a game. A good time was had by all.
JT Brewer was another piece of NC Trapshooting history. He enjoyed trap and was also an avid small bore shooter. JT was always willing to help with anything that needed done. He would load traps, keep score, clean up, burn boxes, in short he was continually one of those behind the scenes guys that seldom got the deserved recognition
See you next time wherever it is. Travel Safe. Dan
PS- I will probably not be posting a story next week as I will be out of town hopefully experiencing the foundation for more stories to be shared in the near future