kimel

Oct 5, in 1969 was the very first airing of Monty Python. It's not dead yet!

IMHO a stage with only one solution is boring. A stage with multiple solutions is much more fun. Finding a solution no one else thought of (including the designer), priceless.

Thanks everyone! This forum would not be nearly what it is if the people that come here weren't of such high quality. I landed here because of Vol. 3 of Matt Burkett's videos (the interview with Brian). Figured I'd drop in, read everything and then leave. Boy was I wrong! This is truly a very special place and unlike just about every other online community I have ever been involved in, I am proud to say I am a member here.

You are lucky that you caught it for yourself. Generally it takes someone on the outside looking in to see it. Good job Leam! And know that you are far from the only member here who has dealt with that stuff before. Mind sharing the link for the stress test you mentioned in your first post? I know a couple people who need to take that, myself included probably.

Wow...that hasn't made it out here yet and I hope it doesn't.

Tri-Cities is doing their multi-gun match in about two weeks. There's an announcement in the three gun match announcement section of the forums by Busyhawk (Scott Hawkins). Pre-registration (but not payment) is required. I'm trying to get a kitchen pass but as I just got back from being gone 11 days for handgun nats and will leave in a couple weeks for MG nats I kinda doubt I'll get to go. As far as I know, no one stepped up to do an Area 1 MG this year. I am sure Chuck will be beating the bushes to get one going for 2010.

If we can get in to the range we shoot year round. We cancelled a record number of matches last year due to 6 foot+ drifts on the range road.

As an EMT...nope. Just doesn't fit. In most places EMT/FFs are not issued side arms so all the provisions re: duty rigs just don't fit. They also do not fit under 5.2.8.

Oh...just noticed your map must be for the Lapwai rifle range. Current directions are at www.lewistonpistol.org.

We haven't shot 2nd week in several years. USPSA is 1st weekend (next weekend) and Steel is 4th weekend (today). Next weekend is a multi-stage classifier special plus a field course. Setup is at 09:00 and first shot is around 10:00. Match fee is $10 Holler if you have additional questions.

There was a flier in my po box (I live in a small, rural town) about a year ago explaining that USPS is now a designated "Last Mile" delivery agent for UPS, FedEx and others. I've had it happen a couple times. I am not really in favor of it though. The UPS depot is about 1 mile from my office and open until 6 PM whereas my post office is 15 miles from my office, doesn't open until 8:30, closes during the lunch hour and closes for the day at 4:30 meaning I have to take time off work, drive home to hit the PO and so on. It's a pain.

Hard cover barrels are a pain in the butt. Unless they start the match in pristine condition you have to spend a bunch of time taping them. Then the tape may or may not represent the original conformation of the barrel and it becomes harder to determine full vs. partial diameter hits on the tape. Like Nik said...scoring nightmare. Been down that path and won't willingly go down it again as a CRO/RM. Hard to make clearance times when you are waiting for the RM to come make a call every third or fourth shooter. And as those bullets whiz around inside the barrel I always find my pulse racing a bit...especially for a well shot up barrel.

I think you may have missed the point. There are multiple briefings that occur at a well run match. There is generally the match briefing which covers various administrivia like squadding, lunch, tear down, stage turnover (if that is happening) and so on. Then there is the safety briefing which generally is only for new shooters or, for some clubs, new to that club shooters. And then there is the Walk-Thru aka: Written Stage Briefing (WSB). This discussion was, I believe, about the safety briefing. I personally find it disturbing that at many matches shooters are not paying attention (or do not attend) the match/shooters briefing. This puts a bigger load on the RO staff because they have to constantly repeat things that were covered during the match briefing. Of course since these same folks almost never pay attention during the WSB the ROs get to repeat all that info again too. But that particular rant is for a different place.

I started wearing glasses 42 years ago...when I was 5. I started bi-focals shortly thereafter. You get used to it, or at least I did. On the positive side: When you wear glasses full-time you always have something between your eyes and the various flying crap that wants to get in them. While not all glasses are actually approved safety glasses they will all stop the smaller bits.

It was great to see you in Vegas too big guy! Keep fighting to good fight...there are a whole bunch of us out here pulling for you!

Mostly costs and logistics get a lot messier with them split over two venues. Back-to-Back: Staff that work both matches (the majority do) get reimbursed for 1 round-trip travel expense. Split locations: Staff get reimbursed for 2 round-trip travel expenses and since the staff carry this debt from whenever they make the travel arrangements until after the match is finished (we have to do paperwork after the match and about a week later our checks come) we are placing an additional financial burden on the staff. The hotel/convention venue generally gives better rates over a single 10 day period than one would get for two venues over two 5 day periods. The entire match must be set up in two locations rather than doing a lot of the setup for match 1 then doing some change over for match 2. Yes, this leads to repetitive stages but from a logistics standpoint it makes far more sense to do it this way. Setup for Nationals this year took something like 4 days (not unusual) and change over took a half day. For a split venue it would be two 4 day setups. Each day of setup costs money for staff hotel rooms, meals, etc. And everyone burns more vacation to go to two separate matches because you have four travel days rather than just 2.

I'll be there as staff. Hoping it will be a bit cooler than what we had last week for handgun nats. Mid-80s would be fine with me.

The "permit" is a permit from the county. The area around the range is being developed (or was until the economy tanked). The permit was not something USPSA did or got. At least that is what I got from my discussions with USPSA folk.

My stage (3) at Nats was 22 rounds. I saw a fair number of 22 round mags loaded as 22+1 and their times were no better or worse than the folks running 19/20/21 round mags. As long as there is movement involved the reload really doesn't cost you any significant time (assuming you practice reloading to the point where the disaster factor is diminished). I also saw a bunch of those 22 round mags puke big time and a bunch of folks loading 21+1 or more run dry due to make-up shots, have to do a standing reload and finish out that last round or two while the seconds sped by. I can't say with absolute certainty but I do not recall any of the Super Squads using 22 round mags (other than Open where big sticks ruled). Seems like all of them opted for the reload.

Not really something I learned new but re-learned...shooters are the nicest folks on the planet. I got to meet a lot of new folks and renew acquaintances with a whole lot more as everyone came through my stage (Stage 3 - Crossover Finish). It's always fun to put faces to names and aliases here on the forum. I also learned that 1 L of water an hour isn't too much in that heat. In fact, it was just about right. One of the advantages of working as match staff is that you get to watch a whole lot of folks plan and execute through the same stage. I saw some C/D shooters with moments of brilliance and I saw some GMs suffer from buzzer induced plan self-destruction. Overall it was a very fun time and once we got the "beat the heat" thing figured out it was a pretty good gig. Sure beat being chained to my desk 8 hours a day. See some of you back in the Vegas area for the MG Nats!

Right. She was wearing a shirt with the other name on it for at least part of the match.

No palms this year. The afternoon squads mostly were done by 1400 and stats was cranking as fast as they could go. Jojo changed squads to shoot with his daughter Claudia who impressed everyone with her shooting and VERY safe gun handling. I predict she will be Ladies Super Squad material very soon! Jojo was beaming from ear to ear when they were on my stage yesterday. And she was shooting major loads...Jojo said same ammo as he was shooting! Looking forward to L/L10/R tomorrow

There will be iced water on every stage. I hear that shuttle vans will be used to some extent but not entirely sure how. There are shade tents on every stage.

If you stay out of movement areas I'll generally be fine with downrange cameras.

For those doing the media thing at Nats...Please check in with the CRO prior to starting. They will tell you what they will allow. With so many doing the media thing now the potential for a problem is a lot higher. Thanks!!!