Everybody likes Reese’s peanut butter cups on Halloween. They’re definitely extra special when they are pumpkin shaped and have all the extra peanut butter in them. What I really enjoy around Halloween is the Snub Noir Annual Halloween shoot at the Marshfield Rod & Gun Club.
The MasterMind behind Snub Noir is Michael deBethencourt. He is a crimefighter during the night and a snub connoisseur during the day. He was a former instructor at the Smith & Wesson Academy and at the Sig Sauer Academy. He is one of the top-notch snub experts next to Ed Lovette.
Snub Noir matches are fun, quick, and inexpensive. All you need is a snub and you are in the club! Bring your snub nose revolver, a holster, and 50 rounds of ammo, and deBethencourt provides the rest. He has belt loops, speed strips, speed loaders, and 2x2x2 pouches that everyone can use if you don’t have your own. Here’s the fun part. Every time you reload, you have to use a different reloading device. So when you reload only one round, it’s good to use a belt loop with rounds separated individually. When you need two rounds, the 2x2x2 carrier does the job. When you have to reload five rounds, then the HKS speedloader is the go to.
The scenarios shot at a few different Snub Noir targets. Every stage in the match requires one cylinder worth of ammo then reload various amounts of ammunition. The first round requires you to reload just one round. Round 2 requires two rounds. Round 3, three rounds. Round 4, four rounds. Round 5, five rounds.That’s a total of 40 rounds of ammo.
The shots on target varied between chest shots and head shots. Sometimes there was one bad guy to shoot six times. Another time there was half a target to shoot. As the day progressed, he added just cartoons of evil looking characters who just deserved head shots. By the end, we needed to fire five rounds, reload, fire five more rounds at a total of six characters. Targets were easy to score. It’s either a hit or miss. Either you put a hole in the bad guy or you do not. It was also timed. No one was pushed to go fast, just shoot safely and hit the targets.
Everyone was paired up as a good guy and a bad guy. You had to time your partner’s performance. The scores and the times are going to be tallied for a national leaderboard that all of the Snub Noir members can put in their information and see how they rank nationally at each stage.
Since deBethencourt’s brain never rests, there’s a story behind each of the targets and a method to his madness. He has professional mystery novel writers write the backstory while he provides the information on the number of shots and where shots are to be placed that are needed for each stage. He reads the scenario, explains the drill, then lets us “sic ’em.”
Since this is for Snub Noir, participants are required to wear a tie and encouraged to wear a fedora. Of course, eye and ear protection is required. Everyone also gets some treats to bring home with them. Speed loaders from Tuff. A speed loader and SafeSnap Dry Fire Training Disks from Zeta6. A 2 x 2 x 2 pouch from Galco. Clay pigeon clip hangers from Vermont 3D Printing. Cleaning patches from Otis. And a happy little Halloween goodie bag to carry everything home.
Part of the challenge is that the participants need to learn to use all of the reloading methods and tools. When there was a scenario where you only needed to use five rounds +2 extra rounds, it would not make sense to use the speed loader which holds five rounds and charges loads the cylinder full.
This year, I used a GoPro on the top of my head to get a participant’s view of each of the stages. Please check the video out on YouTube.
You can check out the Snub Noir website. You can join the Facebook group. The swag/perks that came with the match more than exceed the value of a $38 membership dues.
Michael deBethencourt and Snub Noir are based in central Massachusetts. He does workshops all around New England to turn more people on to using the small five or six shot revolvers. deBethencourt also has a forthcoming book titled “Secrets of the Concealed Carry Snub”. It should be out just in time for Christmas 2025. Check the Facebook group and Snub Noir website in the future for details.
