Guest nmchenry Posted July 26, 2001 Share Posted July 26, 2001 I did a poor job of shooting a popper stage last night and am looking for suggestions on improving. In the center was a paper target and to its left were two poppers pretty much in line with each other and the same thing to the right of the center paper. I noticed my friend shot a front popper and then waited for it to fall rather than going to the popper on the other side or rapidly shooting another shot. I decided to shoot the front popper and then rapidly (for me) shoot another round in the general direction with the hope the first popper would have fallen enough for my shot to go through to the back target. I was not very successful. What is a good strategy on poppers when they are lined up and slow to fall, assuming there are other targets available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriss Grube Posted July 26, 2001 Share Posted July 26, 2001 Shoot the popper then go to another target be it paper or steel then go back and pick up the shot behind the first popper. Otherwise you get to stand there with this really dumb look waiting for it to fall. Time wasted is match points that you give away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted July 26, 2001 Share Posted July 26, 2001 If you shoot minor, poppers take a long time to fall. It's best to go on to another target immediately. For your stage, I would shoot the first popper, then the popper on the other side of the paper, 2 shots into the paper and finish the last two poppers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted July 26, 2001 Share Posted July 26, 2001 Call your shots. Stick and move. Don't wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonedaddy Posted July 26, 2001 Share Posted July 26, 2001 nm, This is where the ability to call your shots is really an advantage. Poppers take an eternity to fall. Find something else to shoot while they move out of the way. Same science with swingers. Some are fast, some are slow. Folks will usually trip them for you on the walk through so you can get an idea. If they aren't where you want them, when you want them there, shoot something else while they are swinging clear. I think your trouble last night began when you decided to shoot another round "in the general direction" of the popper and "hope". You would have probably been more pleased if you had called each shot carefully and shot something else at your leisure while the first popper was falling. How much you can get done while a popper is falling is a real good thing to know. Set up two poppers at 12 and 13 yds, front one obscuring the back one completely. Set up two or three papers on either side of them. Shoot the front popper and see how may papers you can shoot before the back one can be seen. The next time you encounter this in a match you will know what to expect from yourself and it will give you the confidence to shoot your own game! Have fun! --- Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Chevalier Posted July 26, 2001 Share Posted July 26, 2001 On the first stage of a match I set up last night we had nine poppers in three rows and three columns. Some large and some small, but basically unless the front popper was small it was concealing the one behind it. Distance from the shooting box to the front row was about 15m. Usual incredibly dim light. This was fascinating to observe. The M and A shooters basically walked the ring to drive all the poppers down. Where if these were paper plates I'm sure there would be no misses, I think only one shooter shot it clean (wasn't me). The shooters with less experience really do get transfixed by the "watch the popper fall" thing. Times ranged from 6 seconds to 45 seconds with the open shooters being fastest and those with a high number of misses slowest as you would expect. What was really interesting is the way that all the shooters reacted to the presence of poppers instead of paper. There was an almost universal "oh damn, steel" whisper as the shooters came out. Does anyone else run into this? Ross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38supPat Posted July 26, 2001 Share Posted July 26, 2001 I love steel! However there were no *real* M's there The M's listed and the A's for that matter are B class USPSA at best. Unfortunately due to the idiots who own that range its not too likely you'll see me there much anymore. Too bad sounded like a cool course. Pat (Edited by Pat Harrison at 3:29 pm on July 26, 2001) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted July 26, 2001 Share Posted July 26, 2001 For me, when I go into "random blasting mode," I usually shoot like crap. As soon as I start launching hopers, the stage turns to s**t. I always try to make my stragedy to aim. If you absolutely have to wait on a popper, as soon as you shoot, put the sights in the spot where you can see the next popper at the soonest instant. (does that make any sense?) Usually that will be high on the next popper. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik Habicht Posted July 26, 2001 Share Posted July 26, 2001 When I first started shooting IPSC a couple of months ago I hated steel, especially those pesky little plates and miniature poppers. Then a couple of weeks it was really raining when we were setting up the match at a local club ---- so we set up three steel only stages. That was the best thing that could have happened for me ----- by the end of the day I'd pretty much figured out what works and what doesn't. (It really doesn't work to get pissed when you miss a plate or a popper and get into video game mode and start launching a fast barrage of hopers ---- I tried it three times on one stage and all of those plates just laughed at me until I slowed down and called the shot. It also resulted in at least one maybe two extra mag changes....) But at the next match after that the steel didn't phase me ----- and I see it as a challenge now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted July 27, 2001 Share Posted July 27, 2001 Nik, That is a first rate post. I am going to copy it and email it to my girlfriend. Good attitude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Chevalier Posted July 30, 2001 Share Posted July 30, 2001 Pat, Sorry to hear we won't see you, although I understand why. BTW - all my courses are "cool" hahahaha Ross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted July 31, 2001 Share Posted July 31, 2001 Ross, You still haven't told me: Who is Emerson Gnu? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Chevalier Posted July 31, 2001 Share Posted July 31, 2001 Emerson Gnu? NFI my friend, NFI Cheers, Ross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted September 13, 2001 Share Posted September 13, 2001 Well, it took me enough time to answer this one, didn't it? Emerson Gnu is the main character in L. Neil Smith's novel PALLAS. If you like Ayn Rand and guns you'll love this novel. Smith is a famous Libertarian author/philosopher and, like Robert Heinlein, he's capable of writing a novel based on serious ideas without having the serious ideas interfere with the thrilling adventure. Higly recommended. If you read this book, let me know what you think afterwards, please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonedaddy Posted September 14, 2001 Share Posted September 14, 2001 Duane, .....then you have been reading Rand? excellent................(hehe) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Chevalier Posted September 14, 2001 Share Posted September 14, 2001 Thanks Duane. Will go a huntin for the book this weekend Ross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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