-=VILLAMOR=-

I'm still debating that subject with my pillow Stone. Its still a little upset on how much I neglected it that weekend.

It was a valid question Mr. Dudley. It gets asked quite often when a combined division overall scores are posted. Congrats on winning the High Junior Category and taking home that very unique award provided by Nordic Components.

Simple match percentage calculations Mr. Dudley. In combined, the Open shooters often take the top rank and tip the scale of the match percentages as everyone else scored under them. When they are removed and you just calculate the scores from the top rank Tactical shooter, the split between them is not so much and the calculations changed pretty drastically. Your dad and Katie were so close in their total scores that one stage changing calculations can make a big difference. In this case, it did.

Its one of the subjects I'll be discussing with my pillow. I'll let you know what the answer is in a few days.

Wow, I’m so glad this match is over, done, finished. I was so happy to get home, get a quality sit-down home-cooked meal with my family, and finally relax. I was so exhausted that my wife woke me up from my nap in the shower with the water running. I finally had a good quality conversation with my pillow, and I plan to have a couple more. Then I’ll be back at it again to begin preparations for next year’s match. As tiring as this weekend was with all the work that some with running a major match, it was also some of the most fun I’ve had. There are so many people to give big thanks you to. Nordic Components for their continued generous sponsorship and support. They provided so much equipment for both the actual match and the prize table. And thanks to Randy Luth and the Del-Tone/Luth Gun Range for providing us a home and support for this match. Match Director Jay Schmitt. This match would not be possible without the dedication and hard work that Jay has put into it. The amount of time he put into the preparation for this match is unbelievable. The Match Staff. Brian Payne was an excellent choice for our Range Master. His judgment calls on all the issues that came up were fair and just, regardless of whom the shooter was. Our group of Range Officers was specifically hand-picked for their dedication, reputation, and professionalism. They arrive to set up 14 stages two days before, shot a marathon 13 stages the day before, then worked straight throughout the match. All the while never losing their enthusiasm and energy. All of our staff are strong supporters of our sport and the MN 3-Gun Group, and we’re very fortunate to have them as our friends also. A big thank you to my best friend and son Caleb who assisted me with the painstaking task of sorting through and entering approximately 1, 694 individual score sheets. The Match Sponsors. Jay and I wanted so much wanted for everyone who participated to win a prize worth over the amount they paid to get into the match. With all our great sponsors, I was amazed by their generosity and we we’re able to accomplish that and more. They made our prize table look absolutely amazing from the top prize to the last prize. Prize Coordinator Kevin Roesner. From the time we planned this event and Kevin volunteered to be our contact point to all the sponsors, he worked very hard at it all the way through to the match. Between Kevin and Jay, their work paid off and the prize table was a testament to that. Shane Zeppelin for maintaining our match website and providing us with the match booklets and score sheets. Thank you also to his daughter who put together each individual competitor bag with the booklet and score sheets. All the thank you and handshake I received over the weekend seemed to indicate that the match went very well. We had a few hiccups here and there as any match would, but none made for a big issue. We tried to give everyone a little something different from stage to stage. We hope everyone liked the stages, or at least honestly hated it simply because the challenge it presented were more than you can handle. We welcome any feedback anyone may have. One favor I ask of all of you, please take the time to send all the sponsors a thank you note. At the very least, send a simple thank you note to the sponsor who donated the prize you won. These thank you notes go a long way in keeping everyone motivated to keep on going. The final scores are attached. Congratulations to our Champions who won the unique trophies provided by Nordic Components: Tactical Division:James Casanova – Champion Rob Romero – 2nd Place Mark Hanish – 3rd Place Pump Division:Patrick Kelley – Champion Jansen Jones – 2nd Place Ken Anderson – 3rd Place Open Division:Mark Roth – Champion Duke Seibold – 2nd Place Jesse Tischauser – 3rd Place High Lady – Katie Harris (if someone has a video of Katie shooting stage 10 and giggling the entire time, please send it to me) High Senior – Doug Steltzer High Junior – Stone Dudley High Military/Law Enforcement – Nathan Payne Big congratulations to Jaden Roesner, our youngest and smallest participant at the age of 12. Mark Roth generously provided a competition-ready shotgun for a drawing between 3 first time junior shooters and Jaden’s name was drawn. Jaden shot this match with no expectancy to win and he finished 120th Place overall, so it was a gratifying moment to watch Jaden win this generous gift. There it is. So I’m done now again. Time for me to continue that conversation with my pillow. 2013 TSC Final Scores - TACTICAL.pdf 2013 TSC Final Scores - PUMP.pdf 2013 TSC Final Scores - OPEN.pdf 2013 TSC Final Scores - COMBINED DIVISIONS.pdf

Elbow and knee pads will come handy (we have lots of them lovely pallets). A cup will be needed by a select few.

Typical Brian to be up there days ahead of everyone else going up to set up. The RV is all loaded up and my finger nails are all trimmed. I'll be on the way in the morning.

Kevin Roesner called the Mills Fleet Farm store in St Cloud and was informed that they have over 30 cases and lots of selections. I stopped by the Brooklyn Park store and the ammo there is plentiful.

Here are the weekend forecast from: Accuweather: http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/saint-cloud-mn/56303/weekend-weather/948 The Weather Channel: http://www.weather.com/weather/weekend/Saint+Cloud+MN+USMN0657:1:US Its going to be a great weekend!

Jesse, bring lots of money as I forgot to mention that Mills Fleet Farm, a Gold Sponsor, is also a good place to get ammo and has a wide selection. They have a store in St Cloud and multiple stores in the Minneapolis/St Paul area, one of which is in Brooklyn Park which is along the way to St Cloud. Their website is http://www.fleetfarm.com/.

AMMO AVAILABILTY UPDATE: For those of you who are planning on purchasing ammo when you arrive in the St Cloud area, please call the store you are planning on visiting ahead of time to make sure they have what you need. I have been informed that the Walmart stores in the area have a shortage and a limit on what you could buy. Scheels in St Cloud is a Silver sponsor for this match and have a selection of ammo available. They do have a limit of the amount you could purchase but we've arranged so that if you mention you are in the Nordic Components Tactical Shotgun Championship, they will allow you to purchase over the limit. The store website is http://www.scheels.com/shop/ScheelsStoreView?langId=-1&storeId=10151&catalogId=10051&storeLoc=SC Gander Mountain also has a good supply of shotgun ammo. They also have a store in St Cloud and the website is http://www.gandermountain.com/. Another option is Cabela's in Rogers which is about 1 hour away but along the way if you're going to St Cloud from the St Paul/Minneapolis area. Their website is http://www.cabelas.com/.

Attached is the updated squad assignments for the upcoming 3rd Annual Nordic Components Tactical Shotgun Championship. All the original squadding requests on the original registration forms were honored. The squadding requests were done in a priority order, with people requesting to be squadded with each other getting first picks, followed by squadding request placed in the order of when the registration forms were received. I had received numerous secondary squadding requests, most were honored, some were not, and none affected the earlier requests. See you all in just a few days! -- Jomar Villamor jomar.mn3gg@gmail.com Minnesota 3-Gun Group www.mn3gungroup.org 2013 TSC Squad Assignments.pdf

There will be two parking lots to be used for this match. One is the main parking lot by the club house where half the stages will be accessible from. The second parking lot is behind the DPMS building where the other half of the stages will be accessible from. This lot is smaller and we would recommend the squads to car pool into this lot from the main parking lot. Most of the stages are a short distance from the lot, some are a little further of a walk but not excessive. If you have a cart, it may be useful but not necessary.

Oh! That stage when you got to whack a dummy prop in the leg. Now who in the right mind would make such a prop? Must be a good story behind it. Maybe our Range Master could share it.

I don't know what you're talking about? What stick? Please explain. I need a good laugh.

Well, just to keep the suspense going... When Tom Knapp chased after that 10 clay record, the rule was 10 clays with 10 shots, 1 shot per clay. During one of his attempts, he got two clays with one shot so it did not count. Have fun!

No charcoal this year, but I can find you some if you want. We've done the charcoal stage our first and second year. It is one of the things are match have become known for. And recently, another match did the same stage. We were actually going to do away with that stage completely for this year, but after the passing of the legendary Tom Knapp, we decided to keep the stage one last year to commemorate one of the greatest exhibition shooter and ambassador to the shooting sports who was also born, raised, and died as a Minnesotan. For this year though, it will be clay birds that the shooters will be throwing up and shooting in the air, just like what Tom used when he got the world record of 10 clay birds in the air. The stage will have a set par time to hit as many birds as you can. Now I know the scoring for a stage like this can be a subject of debate, so I'll explain it now. The stage will be worth 50 points of the 1260 possible points you can get in this match, so it is not a "make it or break it" stage. The points will be given in a percentage basis similar to how all the normal stages are scored, but instead of the fastest time getting 100% of the stage points, it'll be the most hits that will receive 100% of the stage points. 2nd place shooter and below will receive points in a percentage basis from the 1st place. If the 1st place guy gets 24 birds, he gets 50 points. If the 2nd place shooter gets 12 birds, he gets 25 points. This points system based on the percentage is the best way to evenly score a stage like this in our opinion. It's the same scoring method we used last year and we did not have any complaints.

MATCH UPDATES: Attached are the squad assignments for the upcoming 3rd Annual Nordic Components Tactical Shotgun Championship. All the original squadding requests on the original registration forms were honored. The squadding requests were done in a priority order, with people requesting to be squadded with each other getting first picks, followed by squadding request placed in the order of when the registration forms were received. I have received numerous secondary squadding requests and some of those were honored if it did not affect the earlier requests. The match will have 14 stages and the MINIMUM round count is 275 birdshots. Reminder that the largest size of birdshot allowed is 7.5 shot and that we will not be shooting any buckshot or slugs this year. The squad schedule is designed so that squads will start at alternating stages and will have an open stage in between. We believe that this will make the match flow smoother and will avoid back-ups. Our stages are designed for easy resetting, and with the size of the squad and only having to clear one gun after the course of fire, resetting the stage will be quick. Squads will be able to easily finish a stage and move on to the next stage. All of our match staff are experienced shooters and RO's. Our Range Master is Brian Payne who has a very extensive match experience and is known for his passion for our sport and for his professionalism and fairness. We've also increased the number of staff that we have and did away with the imbedded RO method. Each stage will have a designated SRO that will make sure that the stages are run consistently for each and every shooter. On that note, please review and get familiar with our match rules. We want this match to be an enjoyable experience for everyone, competitors and staff alike. Extended weather forecast for the match weekend is looking sunny with the high temps at under 80. But this is Minnesota so bring your rain gear just in case, and maybe we could use them to play a little reverse psychology on Murphy's Law. Don't forget to bring bug spray as the mosquitoes are trying to take over as our official state bird. Water will be available at each stage/area, and there will be a food shack available at the range both days for attendees to purchase lunch. Shooter check-in will begin at the Del-Tone/Luth Range on Friday (July 26th) from 3PM to 7 PM and again on Saturday (July 27th) from 6:30AM to 7:15 AM. The range will be closed until 3PM on Friday except for the match staff who are shooting the match that day. Competitors will not be allowed to walk the stages until after 3PM and after they have checked-in. This will be a busy day for our staff as we will be adjusting the stages and shooting the match all in one day. The Opening Ceremony and Shooters' Meeting will begin at 7:15AM on Saturday. Shooting will begin promptly at 8AM both days. Shooting should wrap up on Sunday afternoon and the awards ceremony will begin shortly after. We anticipate the conclusion of the event to be late afternoon to early evening. We’re very excited for this match and the opportunity for us to present our stages. We got at least one stage with a theme that has become quite famous, another to commemorate one of our greatest legends. We got at least one stage where targets that can be shot in different order depending on which the shooter believe is faster and better for them. Another will test your fast decision making and memory skills, and we have another that may make some people realize that they are claustrophobic after all. We got some stages and things planned that will challenge you in a way we don't believe or have seen or done before. Our impressive line-up of sponsors already has a reflection on how impressive the prize table will be. The website links to our sponsors can be found at our match website at http://tacticalshotgunchampionship.com/sponsors-2013/. Make sure to patronize and thank the sponsors as they have provided so much to make the match worthwhile to every competitor despite how well they finish. We’re looking forward to seeing you all very soon. 2013 TSC Squad Assignments.pdf Nordic Components Tactical Shotgun Championship - Match Rules.pdf

We're using the standard straight time plus penalties scoring method for all the stages except the Tom Knapp Memorial Stage. Each stage will have a point value with first place receiving the the highest point value and second place and below will receive points on a percentage basis from the first plate. The actual program I use is one I designed for and used at last year's match. It held together well and we had no complaints on the scoring.

We're proud to announce that we picked up a few more sponsors to include Joe Bob Outfitters, Crucible Arms, XS Sight Systems, and Scheels. We also had a few sponsors that upped their level of sponsorships. Those include AP Customs USA, Mill Fleet Farm, and TACCOM. Our list of sponsors continue to grow even as we are just less than two weeks away from the match. The website links to our sponsors can be found at our match website at http://tacticalshotgunchampionship.com/sponsors-2013/. Make sure to thank the sponsors as they are the ones who are making our prize table very impressive and worthwhile to every competitor despite how well they finish at the match.

In our continuing effort to make this match fair and eliminate as much confusion that will cause arbitrary arguments, we've updated our match rules to include: 8. Stage Procedures 8.1 Each stage or course of fire will have a written description on the stage procedure. 8.2 Unless otherwise stated in the stage description, all start positions will be standing on the designated start point, facing down range with both hands on the shotgun loaded (round chambered) to division capacity which is to be pointed down range at the low ready. 8.2.3 “Low Ready” is defined as the stock of the shotgun against the competitors shoulder with the muzzle pointed down range and downward at a 45 degree angle or at a designated physical point. 8.3 Unless otherwise stated in the stage description, no ammo shall be held in the competitors hand at the starting position or pre-staged anywhere in the stage.

We have 14 stages this year. And that includes a stage that you wanted that will test a shooter's reload speed with which ever shell holder system they may have. We have at least one stage where targets that can be shot in different order, depending on which the shooter believe is faster and better for them. We have a stage that will test your fast decision making and memory skills, and we have a stage that may make some people realize that they are cluster phobic after all. We got some things planned that will challenge you in a way we don't believe or have seen done before.

We are excited for this match and we know you are too. Everything is progressing well in our preparation for this match. The match is currently full with 20 hopefulls in waiting list. We are proud of how this match has grown and we promise you another great match for this year. More and more sponsors are coming on board as well. Some of our bigger sponsors include: Carbon Arms, DPMS, X-Rail, Lancer, MFR Targets, Ergo Grips, Freedom Munitions, Brownells, FNH, AP Customs, TACCOM, Mills Fleet Farm, and Cheaper Than Dirt. Registration Check-In will be at the range on Friday July 26th from 3:00PM-7:00PM and on Saturday July 27th from 6:30AM to 7:15AM. The opening ceremony will be a 7:15AM. Shooting starts at 8:00AM both days. Competitors will be allowed to walk the stages on Friday after they had checked in, but please bear in mind that the match staff will be shooting the match on that day. There will be a food shack at the range for competitors to buy lunch. Currently, the round count we have is at 275 birdshots MINIMUM. Largest size of birdshot allowed is 7.5 shot. Due to the restriction imposed on the Del-Tone/Luth Range (same restriction that caused the shutdown of the legendary and old-time favorite DPMS Tri-Gun Challenge), we will not be using slugs or buckshot at this match. The imposed restriction, which requires “no open sky” on any type of ammo besides birdshots, makes it difficult to design a good stage. So we made the decision to forgo the slugs and buckshot in exchange for more fun and challenging stages. Don’t be fooled with the no slugs or buckshot decision. Rest assured that we are going to make some of the shots very challenging. Know your shotgun’s bird shot patterning with your chokes. There’ll be some longer distance shots mixed in with short distance shots, and definitely some tight shots in between or next to no-shoots or hard covers. As a reminder, if any registered shooters need to cancel out of the match, they will need to do so by the June 27th deadline for a full refund. After the June 27th deadline, refunds on any cancellations will only be given if a replacement shooter from the waiting list is able to take their place. Thanks for your understanding. As we get closer to the match date, more information regarding the match will be sent via email and the TSC website http://tacticalshotgunchampionship.com/. If you have any questions, please contact me or Jay. We look forward to seeing you at the match. Jay Schmitt – Match Director jay@mn3gungroup.org Jomar Villamor – Registrations & Co-Match Director jomar-mn3gg@gmail.com

We recently got an influx of sponsorships. DPMS And X-Rail has come onboard as Gold Sponsors and Cheaper Than Dirt has come onboard as a Silver Sponsor. We also got an array of Bronze Sponsors to include TACCOM, The Shooter’s Source, and Adam Arms. Thanks to these great sponsors, our prize tables are going to be awesome. Registrations continue to come in even after we announced we have reached our maximum capacity. Our standby list is continually growing. Though we are proud of the good reputation this match has gotten over the past two years, and that this match far exceeded the size it was the past two years, we are saddened that we cannot accommodate everyone who wants to participate. Even after we expanded to the maximum we could hold with our resources and space, we still cannot accommodate everyone in the standby list. At this point, we have 14 stages planned with a round count close to 300 rounds. The stages will not just challenge your shooting skills, but also your endurance, strategy planning, and decision making skills. We will make sure this match lives up to the reputation it has earned.

At this time, we have reached our maximum capacity of participants for the 2013 Nordic Components Tactical Shotgun Championship. The maximum capacity is based on our ability to provide a quality match in the day and a half format. We have started a standby list with the order based on the postmark of when the registration was mailed. If any registered shooters need to cancel out of the match, they will need to do so by June 27th for a full refund. After the June 27th deadline, refunds on any cancellations will only be given if a replacement shooter from the standby list is able to take their place. As we get closer to the match date, more information regarding the match will be sent via email and the TSC website http://tacticalshotgunchampionship.com/. Please note that we have recently updated the match rules. Everything is progressing well in our preparation for this match and we've had numerous more sponsors step up. We're very excited to be able to give you a very worthwhile match.