moverfive

And immediately afterwards, we took care of Pat - we provided him a white paster for his chest and white underwear for, well, you can guess. :-)

Holy Cow! The old man wins again. :-)

The squads are currently labeled - "Friday" (which is an all day), "Saturday All Day," and then "Saturday and Sunday." The AM and PM starts on Saturday are currently shown as more of a varied start - with some squads starting at 7:30, 9:30, 10:30, and 11:30. A little unusual, we know. The problem is that the NTPS range is in two halves and in order to try and prevent folks from having to go back and forth, the scheduling has to be tinkered with a bit. (On the attached spreadsheet, the stages listed in light blue are the back half of the range) This particular schedule of having a few squads shoot all day Saturday, combined with the layout of the range, has caused some issues with having true afternoon start times for all applicable squads. Again, I have attached the current proposed squad schedule and once I get confirmation from key folks, I will further update the details on the self-squadding site. Also, if anyone sees something that could be recommended for improvement.......believe me, I am all ears. :-) But for now, hopefully this squad schedule will help some. And yes, we will also have it posted on our section's website. Thanks.....bg TN Squad Schedule.doc

And we will be doing self-squadding. Once the match folks agree on the schedule, I will get it posted and get the USPSA Self-Squadding section created.

For those that haven't seen the Shooting USA show featuring the Charity Match, you should watch it - very good segment and shows a large part of the reason we put this match on. And something else that I cannot remember if we have really advertised a lot of......for the past two years we have been VERY fortunate to get several of the Revolver GM shooters to shoot this match (Jerry Miculek, Matt Griffin, Rich Wolfe, Johnny Brister (Mr 6-time GM), Cliff Walsh (our next Top Shot), John Bagakis, and Elliot Aysen - to name a few). Now why am I name dropping here - because we do not have Super Squads at this match and try to put these GM's on each squad so that folks can not only see a top revolver shooter but actually learn from them. I am a GM Open shooter (when I practice that is) and I still struggled some trying to break down stages and actually shoot a revolver. And these GM's were helping me out considerably. Better said - these guys were WANTING to help everyone in their squad. So if a GM like me can learn something, I am sure C and B-class folks will definitely learn something. And how many times can you say that when you show up to a match that you get the opportunity to shoot with one of the top shooters in the sport? Just something to think about. :-)

Hey everyone, The stages are now posted to the match's website: http://www.tnsection.com/2011state/2011state.htm We are having it in a different format this year. Awarding Plaques + Cash payout, Match fee: $100, $50 for juniors. Shooting format: Friday all day, Saturday all day, Sat am/sun am or Sat pm/sun am. 10 Stages with approx. 300 rounds + chrono.

this video was from the 1993 Nationals.......Lenny Magil's video. .....and to clarify something that was in the video, the reshoot that Robbie got: this occured back in the day when the Super Squad REALLY got some serious breaks, head-scratching breaks in fact. This was the year of the big floods in Missouri and it rained sporadically each day. But when it did rain (typically in the AM), it rained! Well, the Super Squad dodged the 'rain' bullet every day except for one......and they didn't like shooting in the rain. The day AFTER they shot that stage in the video, it was then determined that the rain was excessive and not fair to those that shot in it (i.e. the Super Squad).....again, this decision was made the day AFTER they shot. And to make it more interesting - the Super Squad could decide on an individual basis if they wanted a reshoot or not. My favorite thing about that Nationals was this stage where they ran up the wooden walk way (the one with the moving pair of targets where you see Voight shooting). Earlier in the match one squad asked to clean the mud off the wood so it wouldn't be as slippery. The RO's refused and said that the stage would be shot in its current condition. After this request and just before the Super Squad got to the stage - the RO's were actually sweeping the wood of excess mud/dirt/etc. Someone from the squad that was refused the cleaning filed an arbritration. Of course the arbritration was denied. I don't remember what exactly was said in the write-up......except for a phrase that basically said that a stage cannot be made fair for all competitors in all cases. Like I said, it was back in the day when the Super Squad got head-scratching breaks that no one else got.

As I just witnessed at A6 - "all" of the error on the shooter may not be an accurate statement in every situation.

No one should consider St. Jude if you are looking for that type of charity as they do not want to be associated with anything firearms related. See the strings related to Sam Keen's Memphis Charity Challenge for the background story. In its place, Le Bonheur Children's Hospital has embraced Sam's efforts and thus should be put on folks consideration list.

This all comes back to previously discussed topics.....sometimes the RO just has to use common sense and make an appropriate call. The rule book cannot (and nor is it intended to) cover each and every scenario/situation. That is why RO's need to make judgement calls when it is the fair and right thing to do for a shooter. In cases like this.....when it becomes obvious that a shooter has hit a popper enough times in the calibration zone AND the popper doesn't fall, you stop them for range equipment malfunction (again the key word here is "obvious.") While the RO may not know exactly what the shooter's ammo will do over the chrono, it has to be assumed they are at least making minor (since we don't allow folks to declare sub-minor in Level II and up (as was the match here). If the chrono proves the shooter wasn't even making minor......who cares! The shooter will not be receiving a score for the match in those cases. So in the end, there is no harm or foul to anyone for the reshoot. However, by not stopping the shooter those obvious cases, the RO is not being fair to the shooter. Plus, there isn't a shooter in the crowd that would gripe or complain if someone got a reshoot due to them properly hitting a popper multiple times and it not fall.....in fact, you would hear a lot of griping about the RO if they didn't offer the reshoot. Sometimes the rule book doesn't cover everything and sometimes the RO has to actually make a judgement call in order to make things right and/or fair to the shooters.

We know.....there just isn't a good weekend for us this year. Wish I could lobby to make the nationals to be slated for October every year. I know this general topic is definitely something that Sam Keen is planning to pursue, if elected of course.

The problem is the Nationals. We always initially schedule this match for September and then await to see if that match is going to sit on top of our match. When we tried pushing this match out after the nationals, we found that many people stop traveling for matches. And so when the Nationals is scheduled for September, it really compresses a lot of match into a short time frame. Our second date after learning of the schedule for the nationals was the first part of September, that date was goofed when both Area 8 and Area 4 were scheduled on that same weekend (which was announced after we picked that weekend). So we were then forced to move the dates back one week.....only to find that several folks in this area were attending a 3-Gun match. Which is why so many of us would love it if majors could simply pick a time frame and keep it the same year after year. When you have Area matches and Nationals constantly bouncing around, Level II matches are typically left paying the price.....and thus why TN's dates have been very volatile the past few years.

Posting for someone that just talked with Matt - his account was hacked and he is actually traveling. And not being a computer guy, he is kind of lost now as to what to do.

Even that statement of fact doesn't really say how much Spam is eaten over there. I would go to people's houses and they would have cans piled up in corners like they were expecting to live in a bomb shelter for a few years.

I don't understand.....we all can easily go to www.brianenos.com, search the forums, and eventually find the appropriate links to everything we had on the old USPSA website. Not sure what everyone's problem is. :-) Seriously though - I can remember when the "quicklinks" was added to the old website (and hailed as an improvement) to make things easier to find that was regularly accessed. Now with an upgraded website, we not only have eliminated this convenient function but we also have made it even more difficult to find and access key areas. I hope that many of the comments/complaints being made here are being considered for some future modifications.

Fitting :-) Yep, it does seem that the majority around here shoot full sized guns. :-)

Tennessee only got two slots.....not four.

Actually, you want to go with the lightest spring you can to reduce muzzle rise. And to put things into perspective, I too have a couple of Benny's guns and I knew they could shoot faster but I wasn't getting the results I had expected. Originally I was running a 12# variable and the gun just took too long to settle back down....in the end, I am running a 9# and I now equate the gun to a 1st generation open gun in its ability to track the front sight and speed. I would recommend a 10# at first.....but if you run a stronger spring, the gun will rise more and stay up longer. Titegroup is a good powder but if you read around you will see that N320 is more heavily favored powder. Due to the price/avialability of N320, shoot Titegroup for practice/local stuff and use N320 in real matches. And one other comment - "softest shooting" doesn't always mean that the gun is performing at its best. Sometimes the load that feels "snappy" is the one that returns to the original point of the aim the quickest while being able to track the sight. That is why you have to shoot a different configuration (powder/bullet weight/spring/etc) in a local match in order to really see how everything is performing. Taking a gun out for basic drills and etc. doesn't always give you a complete representation of the performance.

I asked this question previously to Pro-Ears - and their response was that they are not 'water proof,' but they said they are designed to resist normal rain/weather we would shoot in. So I only have to take the IPod off if it rains.

.....something else I wanted to throw out there that makes this match so different from others: so many of the RO's working the match didn't even shoot. They drove for hours just to RO (some getting up 2AM - 3AM to drive in by 7AM) and then driving home that same evening as soon as the match was over. How many matches have you ever heard where so many RO's drove 6 - 7 hours in a single day JUST TO RO? And then you combine that fact with how many folks came from all points of the country to shoot the match. There is definitely a great opportunity for this match to become something even more special.

Without going into my opinions on the topic of random draw tables - Sam did announce in the original match announcement as to how the prize table would be handled. Because Sam isn't available at the moment to comment - I will repeat some of the highlights I took away in our original conversations when this match began. Sam's long term vision for this match was to create a legitimate opportunity for everyone to compete with a revolver in a match similar to a nationals. Meaning when USPSA's nationals combines revolver with limited, many talented revolver shooters (or the potential thereof) will shoot limited obviously. Therefore, he wanted the MCC to provide that opportunity for everyone to compete with a revolver in order to see/show the level of talent out there in the division......and thus have a de facto revolver nationals, similar to what single stack has. Again, that was his long-term vision when he created this match. However, the purpose of this match today is to provide a fun and competitive revolver match in order to raise money for a deserving charity....and continue to grow it in order to meet Sam's long-term vision. As for the prize table and how it was distributed.....all I can tell you that we do everything possible to ensure every dime goes to LeBohneur, and the prize table is no exception. That is why we didn't even have enough for everyone to walk away with something - the prize table was all based on sponsors and donations, and I think many know how tough that area is these days. Should the distribution format have been based 100% on performance - throw your comments on that topic to Sam directly and he can modify if necessary next year. I think that his idea for the alternating random draw format was an attempt to allow everyone a shot at what was available on the prize table. I just wanted to make those comments as this match is different from any match I have been associated with - we are trying to make a large profit off the shooters! :-) So the volume and quality of the prize table really is a distant second to creating a fun, challenging match so we can make a large donation to a deserving charity. And if things continue to go well, revolver division will also have a premier match where ALL revolver shooters can compete against each other.

Thanks! Yeah, I am going to have to give them a shout and get everything established/approved AGAIN! :-)

Sam and I were on the phone tonight going over all of the money that is about to be deposited, coming to us, and etc. After all expenses and bills paid - we are thinking we should have at little over $4,000. We should be able to announce an "official" number here soon. Yeah, this amount is a little down from last year, but given the economy and everything that goes with it - I would dare say that this was a good amount. And more importantly - it is going to an organization that is not only worthy of our donations, but also one that WANTS our donations and appreciates the efforts to raise the funds. Please keep that in mind when establishing charitable contributions going forward. More to come on the final numbers......thanks again for everyone showing up and making it a good, fun match.

If you use Bolen basepads, along with their springs and followers, you have a good chance to get 29 rounds with Super.....28 at the very least. I have two mags that easily hold 29 rounds - one is a tuned mag from Brazos (and is all Grams) and one is just an over-the-count tube with a Bolen basepad. But 29 rounds in a super magazine isn't all that hard to get/make.

In looking at my ability to upload for TN01, I only have options for "local matches" and not "major matches." And to make matters more frustrating, I was already setup to upload the results for this match. Anyway, so glad we made the process simpler and more streamlined.