Jump to content
Brian Enos's Forums... Maku mozo!

Not Enough Ammo


WaJim

Recommended Posts

Well a local Range that I frequent had their first USPSA match of the year yesterday. At the IDPA Match on Saturday I was told that the Ranges websight said that the match was on (it sometimes gets flooded) and it was going to be a low round count. I imagined this was possibly due to the amount of rain that was forecast for yesterday...we all know how well tape sticks etc....so it makes sense. I was happy it was on...I need Classifiers.

Well I bring 250rds. I almost loaded my mags before I left my house but I figured I had more than enough. Drove 80 miles to the match.

I show up yesterday morning to find that the match is approximately 80% steel. I'm ok with steel but as far as round count? We all know steel eats ammo.

Aaaaaaaand ...........Stage 2 has a Texas Star at 25 yards and 2 poppers at 27. A friend of mine had a rangefinder.

Well, I made it without running out. My Last stage I had 45 rds left....I had 2 plate racks and 7 paper targets left to shoot.

I got in the car with 13 rds left in a mag.

That will never happen again....Ill be the guy with a hundred more than I think I need.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That stage killed me! I dropped a mag in the beginning of that stage with 6 rounds in it when I transitioned... whoops! For some reason, I couldn't hit one of the poppers at the end (even though it was WAY closer than the 25 yard Texas Star was) and ran out of ammo with 2 poppers left!!! I accidentally swore for my first time in a course of fire, too! hahaha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That stage killed me! I dropped a mag in the beginning of that stage with 6 rounds in it when I transitioned... whoops! For some reason, I couldn't hit one of the poppers at the end (even though it was WAY closer than the 25 yard Texas Star was) and ran out of ammo with 2 poppers left!!! I accidentally swore for my first time in a course of fire, too! hahaha

AlphaCharis. I was next to last on that stage in my squad....I was shooting with a couple of M's and at least one GM. They were not having fun. I saw a couple other guys that are better shot than I stand and dump ammo.

So I took a bit of NickBlasta's advice when we talked about Base Ball Standards last year.

I shot the two poppers and fired 6 rounds at the star so I wouldnt get a FTE and moved on. I left 4 plates on the Star and gladly took the 20 point penalty. Look at my score in Limited....no way I would have done that well on that stage dumping 4 mags at the Star wasting a full minute of time.......I cant shoot that far above my ability. I'd have probably Zeroed the stage.

That and I wouldn't have had enough ammo to finish the match. :D

Edited by WaJim
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I left 4 plates on the Star and gladly took the 20 point penalty. Look at my score in Limited....

You got off easy. Leaving 4 plates should hit you with 40 penalty points for misses. On top of that you give up 20 more points by not getting the 5 per steel. A total swing of 60 points versus the alternative. At some level of time that is worth it, but that's a lot of time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Makes me want to shoot limited or open instead. I carry 7 mags on my belt for single-stack and when there is steel, esp with a texas star, I get a bit nervous :)

I left 4 plates on the Star and gladly took the 20 point penalty. Look at my score in Limited....

You got off easy. Leaving 4 plates should hit you with 40 penalty points for misses. On top of that you give up 20 more points by not getting the 5 per steel. A total swing of 60 points versus the alternative. At some level of time that is worth it, but that's a lot of time.

My HF was 2.22 so I'm sure I got the penaltys.....better than Zeroing the stage.

I'm a High D Shooter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My HF was 2.22 so I'm sure I got the penaltys.....better than Zeroing the stage.

I'm a High D Shooter.

Most definitely better than zeroing the stage or running out of ammo. If you consider not running out of ammo as an issue and in hindsight knowing you got a 2.22 HF you can figure how you came out. You actually could have added 27 seconds to your stage time just to shoot those 4 plates and come out with a better hit factor. So if you think you would've taken more than 27 seconds to hit the four steel you made the right decision, otherwise you would've been better to shoot them.

Plus, you can only truly zero a stage by accruing more penalty points than hit points. Just letting your stage time run out to infinity will get you closer and closer to zeroing a stage but will never actually result in a zero.

Edited by theWacoKid
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My HF was 2.22 so I'm sure I got the penaltys.....better than Zeroing the stage.

I'm a High D Shooter.

Most definitely better than zeroing the stage or running out of ammo. If you consider not running out of ammo as an issue and in hindsight knowing you got a 2.22 HF you can figure how you came out. You actually could have added 27 seconds to your stage time just to shoot those 4 plates and come out with a better hit factor. So if you think you would've taken more than 27 seconds to hit the four steel you made the right decision, otherwise you would've been better to shoot them.

Plus, you can only truly zero a stage by accruing more penalty points than hit points. Just letting your stage time run out to infinity will get you closer and closer to zeroing a stage but will never actually result in a zero.

It would have taken me waaaaaay longer than 27 seconds.....my luck doesn't run that deep.

Remember after I hit the first plate that sucker started moving.

Well, all bets are off on me at 25 yards hitting another plate purposely...it'd be all luck from then on. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Ive done this same thing before except I actually ended up not having the ammo to finish, thankfully the other guys in my squad picked me up. Now I basically double any round count I see and when I step up to the shooting line I put as much ammo on my belt as I can because I've run out on stages before too haha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

I recently was not paying attention and put a partially loaded mag back on my belt. Boy was I surprised when I went dry on the last array of targets.

yep i always try to stuff a used mag in one of my pockets and not in a mag pouch just for that reason.

one worse than that was the guy in front of me at a 3 gun match last year. got thru pistol and then shottie, ran to rifle position and figured out he had NO mags.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recently was not paying attention and put a partially loaded mag back on my belt. Boy was I surprised when I went dry on the last array of targets.

yep i always try to stuff a used mag in one of my pockets and not in a mag pouch just for that reason.

one worse than that was the guy in front of me at a 3 gun match last year. got thru pistol and then shottie, ran to rifle position and figured out he had NO mags.

3gun can eat your lunch with that stuff. Start adding and pulling ammo and carriers from your belt and eventually hilarity for your squad mates will follow.

At a local match I pulled my shotgun ammo off the belt between stages. Later, on a stage including shotgun after reaching my reload spot I discovered that the caddies were at the other end of the bay in my range bag. Thankfully it was just a local match and there were only a couple of shotgun targets not engaged.

Needless to say, my pre stage prep is slightly more thorough now than before!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

I went to do a day-long course with a shooter on the SA national team. Loaded 500 .45 ACP and was ready for serious fun. I took the Glock 17 instead of the Glock 21. He had to give me some 200 rounds of ammo. Not as much fun as I expected. :blush:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

I remember the first time this happened to me. I shot my first 3-gun match with a borrowed (un-bubba'd) SKS. Loaded via clips. One stage had 3 paper targets... so I loaded 3 rounds. Needless to say, each paper only got 1 hit. Sigh....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now, this brings back memories that my friends (?) and I still laugh about. A few years ago when I first got into USPSA, I was shooting at a match and ran out of ammo on a stage. The RO didn't realize it and was trying to help me by yelling, "Keep shooting, keep shooting!" I slowly shook my head and said, "I'm out of ammo". He just gave a look of disbelief. Since that time my alias has been Out of Ammo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...