How long does your local USPSA match last?

[tha1000]

I love shooting USPSA, but our local club matches wind up with setup starting at 7am and tear down finishing at 3ish. It just seems like an inordinate amount of time to shoot 150 rounds. So with a 7mo old son, I've been unable to justify getting out to a match with it being an all day affair. I'm really just curious if this is the norm for a 50-80 shooter local match or if this is unique to my range because I've never shot else where.

Edited March 22, 2015 by tha1000

[alma]

Finishing at 2 or 3 is pretty common. Sometimes even later. It's even worse when you add one or two hours of travel time onto the end of that.

I have two young kids at home so it's hard to justify taking off all day too many times in a month.

There is a smaller local club that I have been attending regularly that caps the match at 40 shooters, only shoots 5 stages, and typically gets done around noon. It's also only 30 minutes away so it makes the whole package much easier to sell.

[tha1000]

Cool deal, I figured as much. This is the only current option within a couple hours of me. I've been shooting more icore (still not much) but mainly because the stages are kind of similar and the matches are over before noon.

[open17]

10 years ago we would do a 6 stage match with 40 or so shooters. Start at 7, get done by 5 PM, including teardown. The matches have gotten faster.

Now we have 80-90 shooters, and are done by 2 or so---not including teardown. Simpler but still challenging stages, better shooter participation on

setting and taping, better match management on stage size and flow.

If you are getting done with a 80 shooter match including teardown by 3PM, it's probably faster than a lot of matches.

[Bkreutz]

We start shooting at 10, usually get done around 4PM (with teardown) sometimes longer. I'm about 35 minutes from 2 of the ranges that I shoot. Then there's another one 45 minutes away, and a 4th a bit over an hour. This is my normal "local" match rotation. I do go farther for major matches but those usually are "motel" trips.

[Hi-Power Jack]

Last week, about 40 of us shot a USPSA match (5 stages),

starting around 9:30 and ended up by 12:30.

Efficient stages and lots of volunteers.

And, more than 5 different ranges being used. (edited

after seeing the next posting).

Edited March 22, 2015 by Hi-Power Jack

[seanc]

the number of pits seems to be the biggest factor in determining speed. There is a local match here that started with 3 pits and eventually got to the point where there were 60+ participating, 3 squads of 20+. That match was turning into a 6+ hour affair not including travel. When the club added a fourth pit it cut the match time almost in half.

Another local puts 6 stages in 6 bays and gets the same 60+ and is finished in 3 hours.

[Smitty79]

I like how one local club does it. They have some teenagers they pay to do set up and tear down. I can show up at 8, have an hour to walk through stages and "socialize" and we are still usually done before 2. Though lately attendance is pushing 100, so they went to 7 stages last month and we went until almost 3.

It costs an extra few bucks for the match. Worth if for me. If you show up early and help with final set up, you get a discount on the match fee. Great for people with more money than time or people with more time than money.

The guys who run this match are great!

[rowdyb]

for about 80 shooters. one club starts safety brief at 9am. squads move bay to bay in order. people are paid to build and tear stages down, so last shot of 6 stages normally fired about 230pm. match is one hour drive from my house.

again, about 90 shooters. shooting starts at 8am. squads and bays are open free for all first come first serve. again, no build or tear down by competitors. if in a squad who is good at managing the open system and effecient at running the stage, can be done with 6 stages by noon most often. match is about 2 hours from my house one way.

[mach1soldier]

We start at 10 and finish around 3. That is 15 shooters per squad with 7 stages. Most are field stages with 1 or 2 speed shoots.

When I squad with the regulars, we can finish an hour before everyone else even with 20 instead of 15 on a squad.

The more people per squad and the more new people, the longer it takes in my part of the woods.

[tha1000]

I think paying for setup is a good idea if you find some dependable people to do it.

[CHARLES D]

Local club 30 minutes from the house starts at 9AM. Has safety briefing (?) for 20 minutes and starts shooting at 930ish. 70-80 shooters. Has six squads usually 13 to 17 shooters per squad. Usually done around 2ish. 6 great stages. Then tear down.

Local club hour and a half from house. No safety briefing. First shot allowed at 8 AM. Done this Saturday at 1115. 6 great stages. Open squading. I personally would rather drive the extra hour each way in order to get done earlier. Of course traffic sucs some times.

[Joe4d]

kinda why I quit shooting., 10-11 hour day to spend about 3 minutes shooting.

[Revo357]

Fairly similar to everyone else on here, match starts at 10am and finishes around 3pm. If you end up being the last squad to shoot, however, it may run until 4pm. Which happened to be the case at last weeks match. It does make for a long day but it's worth it.

Edited March 22, 2015 by Revo357

[Prov1x]

My match starts at 10 and usually done by 1 or 2. We only get about 30 to 35 shooters though.

[Sarge]

I guess I don't particularly care how long a match takes as long as it is moving as efficiently as possible. I care much more how good the match is. I don't drive to a match wishing to be done early.

[ML1911]

I guess I don't particularly care how long a match takes as long as it is moving as efficiently as possible. I care much more how good the match is. I don't drive to a match wishing to be done early.

I agree . Good Classifier match today, by the way , 100 people moved thru as fast as was possible.

[PatriotMRD]

6-7 stages. Setup on Friday afternoon. Start shooting around 9:30 Saturday. Finish between 1:00-2:00. Setup for 3-gun til about 3:00-4:00ish. Start shooting 3-gun about 9:30 Sunday finish tearing down by about 2:30-3:00.

[gng4life]

We normally do 6 stages, about 110 rounds, start at 10:00, finish around 1:30, tear down and usually everyone out around 2:15-2:30. This is 50-80 shooters.

[mjl]

We have 7 stages, including 2 classifiers. Past Saturday 57 shooters, 6 squads, first shot about 10:15, last shot about 2:30, bays cleared and scores done about 3:10,

[Corey]

We start at 10, usually on the road home by 2-3 (after tearing down all the stages and putting stuff away). Not bad by any stretch

[sundevil827]

How long does it last? Until it ends.....

In IL, we'd run a bi-weekly Wednesday night match during the fall/winter seasons, and it was a 7pm first shot, usually ending around 10 or 10:30, but that was 2 bays, with a stage reset in the middle, and only 35-40 shooters. In season matches outdoors started about 9am, and ran until 2-3 pm, 5 stages 80-90 shooters.

Since I've moved, it's been a different experience, 5-6 stages starting a 10am, and getting done by 1:30 (30-50 shooters), the "home" match is a little slower, but more shooters (50-80).

I think the biggest issue that seems to start matches late, is the lack of people who are willing to work on set-up.

[PatriotMRD]

6-7 stages. Setup on Friday afternoon. Start shooting around 9:30 Saturday. Finish between 1:00-2:00. Setup for 3-gun til about 3:00-4:00ish. Start shooting 3-gun about 9:30 Sunday finish tearing down by about 2:30-3:00.

We have 60-80 shooters for USPSA and 30-40 for 3-gun depending on weather and what major matches are going on at the time.

[bikerburgess]

As a match Director my match lasts from Friday afternoon till tear down is done Saturday night. for the shooters it runs from registration at 8:00 walk through and shooting as close to 9:00 as we can and awards around 3:00 we went from 6 stages to 7 recently I think it added a few minutes to the overall length of the match but at least you got one extra stage to shoot for being there all day.

PS if anyone knows how to get 90+ shooters through quickly without fixed stage RO's let me know.

[mpolans]

I love shooting USPSA, but our local club matches wind up with setup starting at 7am and tear down finishing at 3ish. It just seems like an inordinate amount of time to shoot 150 rounds. So with a 7mo old son, I've been unable to justify getting out to a match with it being an all day affair. I'm really just curious if this is the norm for a 50-80 shooter local match or if this is unique to my range because I've never shot else where.

That's about the norm, maybe even a little fast, which is why my USPSA match attendance is greatly reduced. I've got a 3 year old and a 3 month old and can't afford the time (until I can get at least one of them shooting :-) ). I've started shooting trap and skeet instead, since I can shoot a couple rounds in about 30 min or so...shoot and scoot.