mazzer

Very nice. I wonder how many other home cinema ranges are out there?

I've improved it recently by adding this software: https://lasrapp.com/ along with a small laser pointer attached to barrel of my rifle and pistol, modified to turn on with a switch attached to the trigger. So it's a fully working simulator now and has really helped my live fire speed and strategy.

Where I am it's not easy to set up live fire practise with the correct layouts. So, I've created a basic simulator so I can dry fire at home and at least build up some muscle memory and try different sights, grips, etc. with something approaching the right sight picture. I know there have been banners printed to do the same but I haven't found any I can get hold of easily, so I'm using a video projector which projects the stage layouts onto a 7x4ft screen in a room where I can get about 11feet of throw from the projector. I'd be interested if anyone here with access to a projector (or very large TV!) could take a look at the graphics I've created and tell me if they think the relative sizes of the plates and the perspective looks OK. As an example, here's the Smoke & Hope graphic I've created. If you do want to try this, the centre of the graphic needs to be 5ft from the floor and the front of the 'shooting box' is 5ft from the screen.

Hi Larry, The update is much appreciated. With only 6 weeks to go and having had to book and pay for flights, accomodation, entries, car rental etc. several months ago (as an overseas entry), I was frankly beginning to worry this may not even happen due to the lack of information available! I appreciate there's a lot to organise but there are still important questions which remain unanswered... Having registered originally and paid the $500 and then finding an amateur division was announced, there's still been no communication about whether some of us could move from Pro to Amateur if we feel that's where we should be. The other question is how the prize tables are going to be distributed. Is this random as Patrick suggests?

Like you, this was one event I really HAD to enter! However, I've been concerned from the very first announcement about the lack of information and my gut feeling is that these 'Amateur' and 'Junior' categories have been created because entry numbers so far have been much lower than they expected and they don't want it to fail. Heck, I've invested a significamt amount of money in this myself, so I for one don't want it to fail! I've participated in other sports where there's a 'pro' category and it's often the case that the 'pros' don't do it as a job, but are an established group of experienced participants who are at most events and generally do well. What I'm asking here is can we have the NRA's definition of 'pro' for this event so we can all decide whether we should be in that category or not? I'm not actually decided whether I'd want to change to the amateur category anyway (if I'm allowed to) because it isn't clear enough yet what the differences are in terms of results, prizes, recognition etc. between the categories. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure I'll have a great time regardless of what group I'm in or where I come in the results. I'm at a huge disadvantage in not being able to do any practise with pistols and I completely agree that a certain amount of luck is going to be involved when it comes to gun fit, familiarity and sight settings. I am trying very hard to tone down my competitive nature and tell myself this is just going to be a holiday and a great opportunity to shoot some guns I've never tried before and some simply can't shoot because of the laws I have to comply with in my country. BUT... there's always that part of me which wants to do well and also see fair play, so all I'm asking is for the rules to be clarified and the details of awards, prizes and results to be published for all entry categories so i know what I'm going to be competing for. Is that fair?

It would be helpful if someone could explain the difference between the 'amateur' and 'pro' entries and prizes. All it says in the official information is that amateurs won't be eligible for the match cash prizes and main prize table. Do the amateurs get their own classification in the results? Do they have their own overall awards? What if someone has already entered when this amateur registration wasn't even mentioned and now wants to move from 'pro' to 'amateur'? Who would be classified as an 'amateur' anyway? To me, a professional is anyone who makes a living from their sport. That certainly isn't me and if the amateur registration had been available originally, I might well have registered for it because I'm more likely to be competing with like-minded shooters of similar ability. Because I'm coming from another country, I have had to pay for everything up front (entry, flights, accomodation, car rental) to make sure i can make the event and I only had the one option of paying $500 when I registered in March. I have no misconceptions of winning anything at this match. For me, it's a shooting holiday and a chance to compete alongside shooters I've followed and admired for many years. But I'd rather end up somewhere in the middle of the amateur results than right at the bottom of the pro results!

So I've just received an email from the NRA inviting me to this. It says I have to register and pay the $500 by March 30th or I won't get an entry. This seems quite early to be collecting the money, but I guess they need to be sure they'll get enough entries to make it viable? The wording of the original announcement seemed to suggest that some 'champions' would be getting an invitation but wouldn't have to pay. Am I right thinking this? What does everyone think about paying $500 six months before a match? It still seems pretty good value for us overseas competitors as we won't have the problem of transporting guns and ammo, but just wondered how you U.S. competitors view this match when there are so many other big multi-gun events taking place in your country this year.

Hi from the United Kingdom! I realize some of you might not agree with the concept of the guns and ammo being provided and I'm not sure I'd be completely happy about it myself if it was a match held in my country. However, please consider just how difficult (actually, impossible!) it would be for someone to try and take part in this match if they were travelling from outside the U.S. For years myself and other shooting buddies from the UK have wanted to have a go at the matches like the Chevy Truck Challenge, Second Chance and other multi-gun shoots but the local laws and travel restrictions on firearms and ammo have always ruled it out, or at least made it very hard for us to give it a go. This match is a chance for shooters all over the world to meet and shoot alongside each other on a (fairly) level playing field. Sure, there are bound to be gripes about the equipment, malfunctions, lack of practice and a load of other things we can usually sort out when we enter a local match, but this is something different and a great opportunity to try different types of shooting, watch the best in the world and maybe learn a few things along the way. I think it's a great concept and I hope I can find a way to get an entry, meet you all in person and have 4 days of trigger-pulling fun!