Matt in TN

Thank you sir - I've been awfully tempted to try one of the new Gen2 DPMS rifles, but it's hard to give up my good old FAL.

Leave the powerline cut and run south on Club House Rd. Turn right onto Park Mammoth Rd, run past the pistol bays, and climb over the tire obstacle. Bypassing the obstacle will zero your entire run score. Then begin Stage 5 (0.3 miles). Stage 5: Make The Shot When It Counts Location: Pistol Bays A bad guy is holding your spouse hostage, and only his head is exposed from behind your spouse (a white "no shoot" target). Shoot the bad guy once in the head. Run to the next bay and shoot the plate rack strong-hand only. Run to the next bay and shoot the plate rack weak-hand only. If you hit your spouse you ZERO the stage, but still have to finish the rest of the shooting with that failure on your mind. In real life you cannot stop just because bad things happen. Yes, the penalty for a no shoot is stiff. What would the penalty be if you really shot your spouse??? Leave pistol bays on Park Mammoth Rd, turn right into Lodge parking lot, and finish at the Lodge overhang. (0.3 miles - 3.5 miles in total)

All true - what are you shooting now?

I carry two rifle (one if a short stage) and three pistol (10rd G41) mags. Sometimes I wish for more pistol mags, but I'm out of real estate on my belt with a 33" waist. I've seen some folks use a drop leg rig with two rifle mags on the thigh, which frees up more belt space for pistol mags. I haven't tried that yet, but the little drop leg stuff I've done has moved around too much on me while running. Maybe two mags and nothing else wouldn't be as bad down there?

Time for Stage 4 - this one is deceptively simple...if you can make your hits! Leave cave and run south along gravel road to Stage 4. (0.7 miles) Stage 4: The Rifleman Location: Powerline Cut On the buzzer, get two hits on the 100yd target from standing, two hits on the 200yd target from kneeling or sitting, and two hits on the 300yd target from prone.

My Marine buddy swears by his ACOG, and that is an awesome price. But I do love the flexibility of the 1-4 power. Go with what works for you -

Primarily I didn't like the feel of cycling the action on the Supernova/Nova. I'm sure you'd get used to it, but it's a totally different feel than the 870. The 870 is MUCH smoother/easier. Supposedly the Nova has some design detail that makes it easy to short-stroke too for some reason. Somebody explained it to me once, but I only paid attention long enough to make fun of them for not shooting an 870. ;-) Definitely try both and see what you like best. Until somebody starts mass producing the modded action bars for the 870, the Nova ia probably the "easiest" option to get up to speed.

Good man - .308 is where it's at! I shot a 1-4 scope in Oklahoma and it was fine for everything including the 500yd target (full torso). It should be more than enough for any targets we'll use at Rockcastle. What kind of AR10 do you have, and have you been happy with it?

Exactly! If my mind would just get out of the way I'd be a pretty good shooterr.

Follow-up: I've done two more of these with a simple flux core 110v wire welder. It's far from ideal, but I had an extra fore end and figured I had nothing to lose. All three modified forends have worked great, and seem to be wearing just fine.

I'll be the first to admit I'm an oddball, but I've shot both the Nova and the 870 and I prefer the 870. Here's some more details on the mod pfcchambers mentioned: http://forums.brianenos.com/index.php?/topic/203384-help-me-troubleshoot-my-870/&page=2

Weak hand reloads are easier because the FAL has that nicely designed shelf to lay the mag onto and slide into place. Get the front in place and rock back, and you'll be solid. I agree with using the trigger finger to hit the mag release - I use a stock metric mag release and can do this fine with small hands. I don't have a stock pistol grip, so that may be the difference. I found I'm more reliable (and therefore quicker overall) if I bring the rifle down from my shoulder to reload. Reloading with the rifle in the shoulder is faster, but for me I was more likely to fumble something so I don't do it anymore. Some mags drop free on their own and some don't - but you can easily modify the ones that don't if you want them all to drop free. See here for some technique examples:

Stage 3: Tunnel Rat, Sponsored by 300 Below (http://www.300below.com/) Leave Cowboy Town down shooting lane and along old railroad bed. Follow signs and flags along rough trail and parts of road to Stage 3. (0.5 miles) Leave your empty rifle (and ruck, if needed) outside, and enter the cave with only the run clock going (the shooting clock has not begun yet). You will have to climb down, crawl over rocks, and through tight spaces to enter the cave and get to the staging area. You may need a light to navigate parts of this portion, and you cannot draw your pistol until the RO gives you the “Fire” command and you enter the shooting portion of the course. If you only have a weapon-mounted light you must navigate this portion of the cave by feel in some places. DRAWING YOUR WEAPON BEFORE BEING INSTRUCTED TO DO SO WILL RESULT IN AN IMMEDIATE MATCH DQ, as you will end up pointing a loaded pistol at your ROs and possibly fellow competitors. If there are several shooters backed up here, ROs may elect to have a staging area outside as well as inside the cave – but either way your time entering and exiting the cave itself will be a part of your total run time. On the buzzer, move forward and engage ten IPDA targets as you find them. If you shoot so close to the target you blow pasters off, you will be scored based on your two WORST hits. Any hits outside the "-0" zone will add either 1 or 3 seconds to your shoot time, depending on the zone hit. A miss will add 5 seconds to your shoot time. Failing to engage a target will add 10 seconds to your shoot time. If you do not have a light on your person when you arrive you will be given a DNF (Zero score) for the stage and not allowed to shoot. Shooters are NOT allowed to share or borrow lights – you can only use what you carry for the entire course. If your light fails in the middle of the stage and you don’t have a back-up light, the RO will stop you wherever you are, escort you out with his light, and your stage will be scored as-is. Night vision will not be allowed unless you bring enough for the RO too.

In! I need more roof-shooting practice.

Good to hear. I ordered two yesterday just to find out. Glad they work!

I am thrilled to announce that Eddie Gunks from www.bulletguy.com has stepped up to sponsor ALL of the STAFF t-shirts. Please check out his website and give him a big THANK YOU when you see him in March! And to keep my "trickling it out" pattern alive, here's Stage 2: Leave Doe Valley, run back up Park Mammoth Rd, and turn right on Slave Cave Rd. Turn right on the old railroad bed, and climb over the obstacles before returning to Slave Cave Rd. Bypassing the obstacles gives you a ZERO for your entire run time. Turn left onto Cowboy Town Rd, and begin Stage 2. (1.2 miles) Stage 2: Know Your Enemy Location: Cowboy Town This stage starts with a "battlefield pick-up" AK pattern rifle than you "find" on the ground. You have no idea the status of the rifle, how it's zeroed, or how many/what kind of ammo is in the magazine. The AK pattern rifle is the most prolific rifle in the world, and you need to be able to pick it up and make it work, one way or another. The RO can NOT help you in any way, and will only stop you if you are doing something unsafe. On the buzzer, retrieve empty AK from the ground, load and make 5 hits on the 50 yd target. Clear AK, and leave EMPTY AK on ground pointed downrange (RO will not let you proceed until the AK is empty). Drag your “buddy” (150lb dummy) to safety behind cover. Advance to VTAC board, making up any 50yd hits you missed along the way, and put two rounds on the 100yd target through each of four marked ports.

Very nice! I've threatened to do the same thing for awhile now. Yours is very well executed, and it's clear you put a lot of thought into it. For now I just use a v-block with a stop on the end and a magnetic base for my indicator.

And yes, there are ALL KINDS OF THINGS I could/should have done better. I'm working on that. ;-)

Thanks guys! This is one you definitely don't want to miss if you're anywhere in the area. 5 stages, rifle to 220 yds (with VTAC boards and roofs to shoot from), swingers, movers, stars, and anything else you can think of for only $25. Even the bay stages always stay interesting. Stage 3, for example, had a great mix of small and large targets and was supposed to force you to slow down and speed up depending on the target difficulty instead of just blasting away. Me being me, I had to analyze the video and see if I really did slow down and speed up as I'm supposed to: I took an average of 0.92 seconds to take a shot at the large paper rifle targets. 0.85 seconds to take a shot at the small paper targets, and 0.93 seconds to take a shot at a clay. So I have the "slowing down" part down, but it looks like I'm missing the "speeding up" part!My plan for the swinger at the end didn't quite work out like I thought it would, but luckily neither did anyone else's plan for the swinger so it didn't hurt me too badly. Good times!

I've had a similar issue, but it's only a few kernels, and it only happens every once it awhile. I found pausing a beat in the up position got rid of most of it. And I found the measured charge actually IN the case to be within tolerance (±0.1gr) so I stopped caring so much. It's a little messy and annoying, but it's a pretty small amount and doesn't really hurt anything. My guess is static. But I haven't cared enough to go further than guess.

I should also add here - all of the RO slots are full now, and we have a long waiting list if any of those should back out. THANK YOU to everyone who volunteered, whether you made the cut or not. We could not make this happen without your generous gift of time and hard work.

My current stage plan has approximately 40 mandatory rifle hits and 30 mandatory pistol hits, but that's still a bit fluid and could change before next March. I highly recommend carrying AT LEAST double that amount of ammo, as if you run out there's no going back to the car for resupply. I'm trying to strike a good balance between a high enough round count to make the shooting interesting, and a low enough round count to avoid killing anyone who tries to hump 100 lbs of ammo on the course!

I'm going to take that as a compliment - thanks!

Let's get this party started. If you've never been to Rockcastle and don't recognize any of these locations, don't panic - a map will be released well before the match and the course will be marked. However, there will be no flashing neon signs, and "orienteering" (following a simple map - not actual bearings and distances) is part of the challenge. People do miss turns and get off course every single match of this kind I've seen though, sometimes adding miles to their run. Pay attention, follow the map, and follow the signs. Even when you're cold/hot/wet/muddy/frustrated/mad/happy/thrilled/exhausted/elated. That being said, here's Stage 1: Begin at the Lodge Overhang. Run to Doe Valley, go down the hill to the left, through three consecutive mud pits, and climb up inside one of the two corrugated tubes. There will be barbed wire strung over at least one of the mud pits – low enough to force you to submerge most of your gear, but high enough that you COULD hold your rifle above the water/mud if you’re careful. I highly recommend closed bolts and condoms over the muzzle as an added precaution to keep anything from obstructing your bore. Bypassing the obstacle gives you a ZERO for your entire run time. Begin Stage 1. (0.4 miles) Stage 1: Start With The Basics Location: Doe Valley Begin behind the center of the barricade. On the buzzer, load your rifle and hit an AC-zone steel target at 50 yards once from right-handed standing, once from left-handed kneeling, once from right-handed kneeling, and once from left handed standing around the appropriate sides of the barricade. Carry weighted 50 cal ammo can to the next firing position. Make 5 hits on each target from 4 different firing positions with rifle.

I will need 17 total Range Officers to run this match well, and I only have 6 picked out so far. So I'm putting out an open call for volunteers. The biggest benefit to being an RO is you can guarantee you get a slot in the match. The ONLY WAY I can promise you'll get to shoot this match, is if you agree to work for me. Please look at all the requirements and put some thought into this before you volunteer - this will be a hard match to work and a lot will be asked of you. First, the bad: RO's will shoot on Friday, so you need to be there early enough on Friday to shoot as well as run a stage or two for your fellow RO's. You will be stuck on a single stage ALL DAY LONG on Saturday. Lunch will be provided and delivered to you, but bring anything else you might need to last the day in the field (chairs, extra food, binoculars to spot rifle hits, LOTS OF WATER, sunscreen, hat, jacket, etc.). There will be three RO's on each stage, so one of you can rotate off for a short period if you need a bathroom break or something - but keep it a SHORT break as the others will be depending on you. You will have to tell people "NO" and/or "Sorry, I can't help you" frequently. You will need to keep competitors doing NOTHING during their wait time but standing there waiting, exactly as they ran up - they cannot take off or rearrange gear, sit in the shade, drink water or eat, meditate, etc. You will have to keep a close eye on tired people, and may have to physically put hands on them if their muzzle is moving toward an unsafe direction. Verifying everyone's rifle is unloaded as they arrive and leave your stage is YOUR responsibility, and is of the utmost importance. You may have to DQ a competitor if they show up to your stage with a round in their chamber. If a competitor shows up to the stage AFTER yours with a round in their chamber - I'm going to DQ that competitor, and then immediately call YOU to find out how you let a shooter leave your stage with a loaded rifle. You'll need to read a short "script" to each competitor right before they shoot that gives a brief stage description, and point out the targets. If they have questions you can stand there and talk as long as they want, but since the stage description will be part of their run time we need to keep it as short and CONSISTENT from shooter to shooter as much as possible. Now, the good: You will be guaranteed a slot at the match, and will not have to fight in the bloodbath that will occur the minute registration opens! Your registration fee is $0.00. Lunch on Saturday will be provided and delivered to your stage. You will receive a 50% discount on a room at the lodge. Rooms are double-occupancy, so if you want to share a room with another RO you can both stay for free. Or you can have your own room at half-price. You don't need a special "RO Certification" to work this match, but since it will be a tough match to work I'll need folks who are extra squared-away. Preference will be given in the following order: 1. If I know you personally and know I can count on you 2. If you've RO'd a Run N Gun before 3. If you've RO'd at Rockcastle before (or have completed their RO course) 4. If you've RO'd any 3-gun or action pistol/rifle match before If you're interested, please send me an email at mstennett@twlakes.net and tell me a little about yourself and your experience. I will talk it over with some locals if I don't know you personally, make a decision on who will be best suited to work this first match, and then notify both those who are accepted and those who will be put on a waiting list if some of the "first string" have to cancel. If this first match goes as well as I hope it will, we will need even MORE RO's next year when we come back and do this again (but even bigger and better!). Please have patience with me as I figure this out, and PLEASE EMAIL ME IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN ROing. Responses here on Facebook are hard to organize and keep track of, and make for difficult direct contacts. Thank you in advance for your help and understanding in pulling off what is sure to be a herculean task of putting on a match like this!