George

Here is a video from the 2011 BARC following Keith Garcia (Match Winner). The 2nd stage in the video shows the stage where we had six of the steel clay backer targets in use at 37 yards distance.

More usage data on the short range steel clay backer target we use at the Bay Area Rifle Championship. We used ten of these targets at the 2011 BARC, six at 37 yards and four at 42 yards. We had 96 competitors activate these targets almost 1000 total times and had not one failure to properly indicate hit and no re-shoots were needed due to range equipment failure. The new hinged 2x4 support modification worked like a charm and large caliber rifles did not take the top off the stand no matter how many hits splintered the wood below the steel backer. We built 20 hinged 2x4 supports and changed them out as needed (whenever the splintering had removed enough wood under the backer to warrant it). Any hit square on the backer face consistently vaporized the clay and tipped the target over backwards with authority. Edge hits on the clay, or on the edge of the backer itself did not always tip the hinged 2x4 over backwards but the clay vaporized or shattered every single time. Our rule for score is "clay must indicate hit to score" and clay inspection was never needed. We only issue a miss penalty if the clays are still hanging intact at the end of a competitor run. Hits to the 2x4 under the steel backer never once dislodged a clay. High velocity rifle rounds go through the wood like it's Kleenex at short range. You could see wood splinters fly when competitors put hits through the 2x4's but the clay and backer never moved. I am absolutely comfortable using these targets at ranges as close as 35 yards to the competitor. No splatter comes back uprange from the steel backer due to the upward angle on the backer face. NOTE: The backers we use are made of AR-400 steel, nothing softer would suffice! Rubber bands are not needed to hold the clays in place as the backward angle on the backer face holds them perfectly in place. Target reset is so fast it isn't even funny and stage reset with these targets is as simple as pie :-) IMHO, this target is a 100% winner for precision short range rifle use. They are challenging enough to provide even top level competitors a good challenge in fast engagement and provide a very challenging target for everyone else. Visual hit indication from uprange is dramatic to say the least, RO's really like them for ease of hit scoring. The competitors raved about how much fun these were to shoot. I had lots of shooters ask about getting some for use at their home ranges. As far as longevity of the backer itself, we never had to change a single steel backer during the course of the match. They received almost 100 hits apece, mostly Hi-V .223 and they are mostly still good to go for more use. To hold the 2x4 upright we use the GT Targets bases. The hinged 2x4 is 30" high. We cut it at 10" and the shorter end of the hinged 2x4 goes down in the stand, the steel backer clamps on the 20" top section. Here are some images of the clay backers and hinged stands in detail and in use. Closeup of backer face after extensive use. Closeup of the hinged 2x4 Closeup of the steel backer clamped on the hinged 2x4 Closeup of splintered wood. This level of wood damage was not a problem in usage. Frangible steel target in actual usage

2011 BARC - After Action Report I would like to thank all the 2011 Bay Area Rifle Championship competitors for coming out and making his a great match. 96 competitors put over 18,000 rounds downrange on six challenging courses of fire and when all was said and done, Keith Garcia (Tactical) won the whole shooting match. Chris Sechiatano (Open) was 2nd overall and Josheph Austria (Big Bore Open) took 3rd overall. We would like to thank the Richmond Rod & Gun Club and it's officers for enabling us to put this match on. Without the clubs support this match would not happen. Special thanks to my match staff: Tom Frenkel: Rangemaster Vince Sargentini: Stats Officer Ron Gunar: Registration Raymond Moreno: Registration RO's Jim Griffiths Doug Partridge Win Hoblitzelle Steven Sartor Chris Nessinger Michael Souza Howard Holzer Our match sponsors stepped up with a tremendous amount of prize materials for the match. Remember to support those who support the sport. Irvington Arms - Frank Chan Amomaxcom.com - Matt McGinnis BrianEnos.Com - Brian Enos GlockWorx - Ray Wong Grams Engineering - Beven Grams JP Rifles - John Gangl Loki Weapons Systems - Erik Davis & Brett Johnson Solar Tactical - Michael Addis Tabor Shooters Supplies - Frank Tabor Complete results in PDF form can be found here: http://www.3gunrules.com/documents/m...nfo/2011-BARC/ Official division only results can be found at USPSA http://www.uspsa.org/uspsa-display-m....php?indx=2248 Thanks again to all the sponsors, match staff and last but not least, the competitors without whom this match would not be the success it is. See you all next year.

COURSE DESCRIPTION UPDATE Stage 1 (Fully Engaged) has been modified. Paper target count has been reduced by 2 for 20 total. This change was required because EZ-Winscore would not allow score sheets to be printed with more than 20 paper targets on the stage. http://www.3gunrules...info/2011-BARC/ All other stages remain the same. Score sheets have been sent to printer so there will be no more course description changes made.

For minimum distance rifle use we pretty much consider the steel backers expendables. We get them made cheap enuff to do so and only use them with rifle at our yearly rifle championship where we have the budget to turn them into scrap. I have used them at matches at about 40-45 yards distance safely as that is what a few of our bays only allow depth-wise. if you have bays that are wide enuff you can shoot them diagonally from corner to corner to get 8-10 more yards distance on them. The 7 degree upward angle on the backer face is what keeps the splatter from coming right straight back uprange at the shortest distance. We use the clay because it is what indicates the hit for score. Hanging a clay also is a tad faster than re-painting and the rule we use for scoring even though it's a steel target is "frangible must indicate hit to score". This makes it USPSA legal because the steel was stationary and did not fall in our previous versions. The ones we are using at the 2011 BARC will be hinged and fall over backwards to help keep wear and tear down on the stands and 2x4 uprights, but we are still going to use the clay and the same rule for scoring. In the end I think the best reason for still using the clay over the steel backer is it makes a very nice and satisfying visual display when hit :-)

You would think .308 and other large caliber rounds would impact the steel detrimentally at closer ranges, but not so. All the big calibers do is kick the stands around and break the 2x4 after it has had some hits through the wood below the target head. The Hi V .223 loads are what does the damage to the steel at closer ranges as the kinetic energy vaporizes away a little of the plate at 60 and under. .223 lightly pock marks this stuff at 75-100 yards, puts a noticeable pocket in it at 50-75 and craters quite a bit at under 50 yards. I have used these myself many times in testing at as little as 30 yards and had no splatter come back to me due to the plates upward angle. They won't take more than 30-40 hits at this close before they are pretty chewed up. I would stay at 40+ yards for general match usage though. I am using hinged 2x4's at this years BARC match to allow the targets to fall backwards to help the 2x4's themselves stand the hit oomph of major caliber rifle better. We never had target failure re-shoots because the clay was visibly broken, but changing 2x4 stakes when major rifle took the heads off was slowing shooter turn down. Hope this helps

Recent vintage (90's to now): Homicide The Wire Entourage (Jeremy Piven's Ari Gold character is killer funny) Mad Men Old school (60's thru 80's): The Rifleman Maverick Mission Impossible Star Trek (original) Hawaii Five O (original) The A Team

The frangible steel targets we use at the BARC are exactly what you are describing except they are steel. We have custom made AR-400 steel clay backer target heads. The heads clamp onto a vertical 2x4 (we already have 2x4 stands) and the clay just hangs on them. You get a fantastic target reaction every time, any ammo/caliber. The bullet splatters on the small steel plate and makes the clay explode magnificently. Hits in the 2x4 don't do anything and just pass right through without dropping the clays 99.5% of the time. No part of the hanger clamp hardware on the back is visible around the circular target face so any hit whatsoever on the metal smashes the clay like iit was hit with a hammer. We have had negligible re-shoots in several years of use from these targets compared to other specialty target systems we have employed. The steel backer plate is 1/2" thick and just undersize of the inside of a standard clay. The target face is angled up at about 5-6 degrees so splatter is thrown upwards and not right back at shooters. The clays hang on this upward angle very well without need for rubber bands or clips. We have safely and successfully used these at just about 40 yards and they held up reasonably well with no splatter up-range. The hi velocity .223 fmj took a herder toll on the steel itself at this distance than any other ammo and longevity of the steel backer heads was reduced at this distance compared to just a dozen yards or more downrange. We get the steel clay backers made in bulk cheap and toss them after they get too beat up. Here is a photo of how one reacts when hit.

I just work the trigger slack while acquiring post-it targets on the walls around me. My wife made me stop the "pow-pow" sounds right after I started practicing at home

I practice shooting while moving using a treadmill at home.

WW748 works great under 55-69gr. AA2520 will work fine with 55gr through 77gr. Both are ball powders and meter very well in a progressive.

FYI, I'm pretty sure the max load is 6.8 for people thinking of shooting this through their Glocks! I run 8.6gr HS6 for 9mm major in a Glock, just gotta' know what your doing and do everything just right

Here is an additional shjt-load of printable target images. http://www.3gunrules.com/documents/multi-gun-info/targets/

HS6 is a good choice for 9mm minor or major.

If you are printing one inch at 25 yards, then you are beyond help here LOL Seriously, MOA is an easy thing to understand. One MOA is one inch at 100 yards. This translates to 1/4" at 25 yards, 1/2" at 50 yards, 2" at 200 yards and 3" at 300 yards. If you and your rifle can hold one MOA then these are the group sizes you should be printing at these distances. Most folks have a hard time holding any better than 2.5-3 MOA even if the rifle is capable of better

50 yard close zero = 200-225 yard zero downrange. BUT do not rely on 50 yard zero, always confirm it at the longer distance as little things amplify farther away

COURSE DESCRIPTION UPDATE All of the stage descriptions have now been posted. Stage Descriptions Stage 4 description will be updated soon to reflect the removal of the Cooper Tunnel. Total round count is 188 for the regular Semi-Auto divisions (Limited, Open & Tactical) and 99 for Manual Action and Big Bore divisions.

2011 BARC - Sponsor UpdateWe are pleased to announce the addition of a new sponsor for the 2011 Bay Area Rifle Championship. Solar Tactical is a quality provider of California Compliant AR-15 parts & tactical accessories.

Stage descriptions are being posted as they are completed. Will have all of them posted by the end of May. 2011 BARC Stage Descriptions

Yes. But I would probably reserve this for practice ammo as there is the possibility of light primer strikes and rounds slipping off the extractor and getting stuck in front of it. Basically, the extractor is what is holding the 9x19 round in place for the firing pin hit instead of the case mouth indexing on the chamber like it ought to in the correct chambering for that case length. Quite a few folks get 100% function this way so don't assume you will get occasional malf's until you test and see.

WW748 here. The Hornady bulk FMJBT's shoot MOA for me. Great 55gr bullet!

Listed OAL, schmisted OAL, no difference really. I still shoot 9x21 major, been doing so since the 90's. Use a Glock platform and HAVE to load at same OAL as 9x19 (mag length max in glock is 1.165"). 1.115 on out to 1.165" is typical OAL range for 9x19. you can load 9x19 as long as 1.250 if you use a long bearing surface bullet and it still works fine (used to do this in a 1911 pattern 9mm to get around the old minimum OAL requirement for major 9 USPSA used to have in place). OAL range for 9x21 is exactly the same, 1.115 to 1.165". You can load both cases exactly the same and get exactly the same results. As I said above, you can load longer than 1.165" OAL IF you use a 1911 (or 2011) gun platform as mag length is no longer limiting you to 1.165". If you use a Glock or other wunder-9 platform then mag lengtth will limit OAL to 1.165" max. 9x21 and the 9x19 provide identical case capacity and load data is exactly the same, end of story here my friend! In fact, 9x21 and 9x19 are for all intents and purposes the same cartridge. The only reason the 9x21 exists is because of an old law in Italy preventing use of military pistol ammo by civilians (9mm parabellum). 9x21 was introduced to get around this law and is EXACTLY the same ballistically as 9x19. The only reason we used it over here was to get around the USPSA ruling about loaded length of 9x19 brass used for 9major back in the early 90's I agree with paragraphs 2 & 3, I knew those a long time ago - just as you did. The fact remains, there is 2mm length difference there and forget about all the loading and what you can do/can't do, mags, etc. - the point I was making is the the case is longer and therefore has more capacity/volume, go back and read the original post...that also helps when you have full cases of powder, such as 3n38, and there are issues with "powder sling". Bottom line, physically - the case has more capacity/volume...Thanks Yes, the case is 2mm longer, BUT it does NOT have any more "useable" capacity PERIOD And again, load data (OAL and charge weight) for 9x21 and 9x19 are exactly the same because they are the same cartridge, just different in length for legal reasons, not for ballistic reasons. Sorry, but again, the actual fact of the matter here is that there is no extra capacity to be had in the 9x21 case compared to a 9x19 case. The only actual increase for 9x21 over 9x19 is in case to bullet bearing surface

Ayup, tried to say it better but couldn't

Listed OAL, schmisted OAL, no difference really. I still shoot 9x21 major, been doing so since the 90's. Use a Glock platform and HAVE to load at same OAL as 9x19 (mag length max in glock is 1.165"). 1.115 on out to 1.165" is typical OAL range for 9x19. you can load 9x19 as long as 1.250 if you use a long bearing surface bullet and it still works fine (used to do this in a 1911 pattern 9mm to get around the old minimum OAL requirement for major 9 USPSA used to have in place). OAL range for 9x21 is exactly the same, 1.115 to 1.165". You can load both cases exactly the same and get exactly the same results. As I said above, you can load longer than 1.165" OAL IF you use a 1911 (or 2011) gun platform as mag length is no longer limiting you to 1.165". If you use a Glock or other wunder-9 platform then mag lengtth will limit OAL to 1.165" max. 9x21 and the 9x19 provide identical case capacity and load data is exactly the same, end of story here my friend! In fact, 9x21 and 9x19 are for all intents and purposes the same cartridge. The only reason the 9x21 exists is because of an old law in Italy preventing use of military pistol ammo by civilians (9mm parabellum). 9x21 was introduced to get around this law and is EXACTLY the same ballistically as 9x19. The only reason we used it over here was to get around the USPSA ruling about loaded length of 9x19 brass used for 9major back in the early 90's

Unless you use a 1911 pattern gun you can't load 9x21 any longer than you load 9x19 so the case capacity really is the same for all intents and purposes when you load at the same OAL as 9x19. Load data is also exactly the same for 9x21 as 9x19.