Norris wins seniors SASS shooting world championship

Red Oak’s James Norris, a gun collector, hunter, and experienced target shooter, can add “World Champion” to his list of accomplishments.
Norris, under the name of his alter ego, “Captain Jim Midnight,” won the seniors division of Single Action Shooting Society’s World Championship of Cowboy Action and Wild Bunch Shooting in Phoenix, Ariz., which took place Feb. 27 through March 5. Norris also finished in 15th place overall among a total of 688 shooters.
Norris said he’s enjoyed target shooting for as long as he can remember, but it took a while to get the gun he wanted for a target pistol.
“I begged my dad for a, at the time, $100 .22 caliber Colt Peacemaker. At Christmas time, I did get a pistol, but it turned out to be a $36 .22 caliber RG pistol with a 90-day warranty. Within a month, it was broken. I tried for the Colt again, supplementing the cost with money from my savings account, but he declined, and I got a replacement RG pistol,” explained Norris. “Around 30 days later, the second gun was broken. This time, when I asked him if I could use the money in my savings account to buy that .22 Colt, he finally said yes because he was tired of taking me to the store. And I still have that Colt in my collection.”
Norris, who joined the SASS around 30 years ago, credits Lynn Adams as the one who helped get him involved in the organization.
“He gave me a VHS tape, and he told me ‘This is your thing, and you need to do this.’ Of course I didn’t for two years, but then I eventually watched the tape and realized that would be kind of fun,” said Norris. “I always had an interest in cowboy stuff, and I’ve amassed a pretty nice collection of original cowboy guns, although I shoot reproduction guns in the matches. So Lynn Adams is the one I give credit to for starting me out.”
As for his Captain Jim Midnight persona, Norris said he was pondering a name for quite a while before he chose a name based off of the dog he had as a child.
“His name was Captain Midnight. I had him until I was about 16. No matter where I went in the woods with my rifle, shotgun, or Colt pistol, that dog was always with me. So I chose Captain Midnight and chose the shorter first name of Jim,” commented Norris.
Norris has a local gun range, and estimates he shoots somewhere around 30,000 rounds annually Around the country, and participates in around 20 annual match shooting competitions and numerous monthly matches around the area.
Norris said that while he wasn’t the overall world champion, he was pleased with his final result of 15th place overall.
“Based on the results, there’s no one older than me that beat me in the overalls. Also, the top seven seniors I competed against in my class finished in the top 35 of the overall rankings. To give you an idea of how close it was, I beat the second place shooter in my division by about three and a half seconds, and the third place competitor by about four seconds. In total, there were probably between 30 and 40 shooters in my class,” commented Norris.
Unlike other championships, shooters are not required to qualify in a state or district competition prior to competing in the world championship. Also, Norris said he cannot compete against older shooters.
“The next age division is Silver Seniors, which are 65 to 70 year olds. I can’t shoot in that division, as it would be unfair to them, but I can compete in categories against shooters that are younger than I am. I love the sport, because it’s massively intense for about 20 seconds. I’m shooting about four rounds a second from my riffle when the targets are close, faster targets, it’s about 10 shots in two and a half seconds. In most big shoots like the world championship, we usually shoot 12 separate stages, each stage usually includes 10 rifle, 10 pistol, and four shotgun shots,” advised Norris.
Norris said the competition requires massive focus and attention to transition, and you can’t afford to make a mistake.
“Willie Mescal was third place in my class this year, and won the national championship in the senior class in Oklahoma last year.  At the world championship in Phoenix, we shot four stages a day for three days, and going into the last day, I knew he was ahead of me by a second or two. I went to the practice range before the match, and in the competition itself, he had a bobble, and I was up about a second on him, Then in the second stage, he had another which put me up about four seconds or so. Still, I had to go into the last two stages and shoot perfectly and smoothly, and I did.”
Norris credits some of his success to practice and following the advice of wrestler Dan Gabel, who said in every competition, he went through a three, two, one count.
“I go through a similar count because of Gabel. First, I make sure everything is the way it needs to be. My guns are all loaded, and my extra ammo is there. Second, I go over the course over and over, because if you shoot it wrong, you get a 10 second procedural penalty. Third is the mental self talk, smooth, focus, faith in my abilities, shoot like a champion,” Norris said.
After all these years of competitive shooting, Norris said it was a great feeling to bring home the championship trophy this year.
“It was fun, and I kind of felt sorry for second place, honestly. Everything came together and it worked. Another thing I love about it is that it’s friendly competition. Willie Mescal, who finished third, is a good friend of mine and we shot together through the whole match in a “posse” group of about 20 people,” Norris commented. “It’s not a dog-eat-dog competition. I like shooting among the best and being among the best. If I can shoot a good match and get beat, I’m okay with that. I was very pleased at how I shot when I was done, and I got lucky enough to win.”
Norris said competing in the matches takes a lot out of him, due to the mental focus and practice required, but still, Norris said it’s worth it.
“Nothing you want to do that is challenging is going to come easy, so you’d better enjoy the challenge and have fun,” stated Norris.
Norris said he plans to keep attending the big shooting competitions and will defend his world championship title at the next competition. Norris said if any youth in the area are interested in learning more about target shooting or joining the SASS, he’d be welcome to help them learn safe target shooting.
“Education and knowledge are the two most important things. Anyone I’ve ever taught, I tell them, never solve a problem with a gun. I enjoy shooting, but I hate the misuse of firearms. For a young person that wants to do something like this, they can contact me or someone else, but make sure it’s someone that will teach them safely. Something like this sport is a good way to teach gun safety, proficiency with guns, and bring out their inner cowboy.”
Norris said he can be reached at 712-621-5726. An open house celebrating Norris’ win will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Montgomery County History Center on April 15. A short program is scheduled at 1:30 p.m.