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Crimson Trace Dark House at the NWMGC 2011


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I wanted to open a new topic about the Crimson Trace Dark House so the NWMGC topic didn't drift.

When Scott and I were planning this match I decided to do a dark house because I really like them and most people don't get to shoot in one very often. Iain Harrison from Crimson got wind of it and asked if he could set something up. I told him sure (anything to get this off my plate). Next thing I know he has this whole plan of night vison goggles and SBRs with Infared lasers, I was stunned. For the folks that got to shoot this stage it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to use some very expensive equipment (close to $15,000). Here are the people that made it happen.

Iain Harrison - I can't say enough about this guy. I didn't really know him very well before we started but he is a lot of fun and a great rep for Crimson. He contacted all the parties involved and did all the heavy lifting. He designed and built all the panels off site, brought them in on a flatbed truck and then assembled them on site. He was there for 2 days while the ROs shot and as you can see from the video of my run even ran shooters.

Peter Lesbo - Owns I2 Technologies & Systems Integration. I've shot Ironman with him a couple of times and he is a hoot to hang out with. Number one comment about him from shooters, he's alway happy and excited. If you are feeling down, stand by him for a few minutes, he's a 220 guy in a 110 world. Peter builds night vision equipment and provided some helmets and 2 sets of PVS-15 goggles that run around $12,000 each for a bunch of people he didn't know to play with and then fit each shooter and showed them how they worked before they entered the stage. Not a single person complained they couldn't see very well and that is a testament to the work that Peter did. I told him sponsors often let the Match Director keep the stage props but he gave me a funny look when I asked if I could keep the PVS-15s.

Don Scheer - Next Generation Arms VP. He brought out and babysitted a pair of really cool 11" SBRs for everyone to shoot. I love these things but I live in Washington State, nuf said. Don maintained the guns through thousands of rounds of shooting.

Earl Jull - Range Officer. Earl is a friend of mine and we have shot and worked matches together for several years. He ROed the dark house at the last Multigun Nationals and emailed me to say he was interested in ROing the Crimson Trace Dark House. I can tell you that 4 thousand square feet of black plastic under the bright sun, sealed all the way around does not make for a plesant work environment. The concussion and smoke from an SBR in an enclosed space plus heat was a little rough on the shooters, for Earl it was a solid day and a half of hell. Thanks Buddy, I owe you a cold one or some brown liquer.

Hornady Ammunition - Provided 3000 rounds of free ammo for the shooters to use.

It's pretty timely that we had this stage not too long after our guys got Osama. I don't know for sure but I'm willing to bet that the same technology that we used on this stage was used to ventilate our #1 Most Wanted guy. Its not fair to the guys on the receiving end but as my buddy Scott says, if you're in a fair fight your tactics suck. Incredible technology with devastating effect, so cool that you don't know what to say afterwards except "CAN I DO IT AGAIN?".

My favorite CT Dark House quote so far - "half Call of Duty, half oven; all cool."

I have not talked to Iain about using the wall panels again at our match, but if you are running a match and are interested give him a call at Crimson Trace.

Doug

Me shooting the stage.

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Wall panels on the truck.

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Wall panels up before plastic.

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Iain installing plastic.

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An overview of the house, from front door to the back wall as traveled by the shooter was 68'.

Edited by Doug H.
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Having built props for matches myself, I can appreciate all the work that went into this stage! Thanks to Iain, Earl, Peter & Don for stepping up and making this happen. It's great that we as competitors get the opportunity to play with equipment like this that we'd never get to do otherwise. That was my first time using night vision and hopefully I'll get an opportunity to use it again sometime:)

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Nice! Now you all have me wondering because it looks like Crimson Trace is sponsoring a side match at the AR-15.com/Rockcastle ProAm in Aug. From the blurb on the webpage the side match will use CT's equipment and be held in one of the caves on the match property. Should be fun!

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That stage was awesome. It ran so smooth with the fitting of the helmet and nvg's(the pvs-15 were really cool) to the Next Generation Arms quick train up with the crimson trace light. The only complaint I have is that it was way to quick. Thanks Doug and Scott for a great match.

Ryan L.

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This by far was the coolest stage I have ever shot. I hope to see it at next years match with lots more targets!!

Thanks Doug and Scott for a great match!

Brian :cheers:

Thats pretty big praise from a guy that shoots at Rio Salado! Thanks Brian, glad you and Annette could make the trip.

Doug

Edited by Doug H.
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  • 3 weeks later...

I should have posted this earlier but I'm not much of a poster.

Doug and Scott took this on and may not have realized what they were getting into - it really is a lot of work. Thank you guys for all you have done to pull the match off. I'm reminded of something my Uncle Charlie used to say "Everything worthwhile is difficult before it is easy" - so next year should be easier, right?!

Ian, Pete & Don went way overboard to sponsor this stage. All of you who shot it heard me tell you all they did to make the dark house stage not just one of a kind but likely the best you'll have ever shot.

Yea, it was a little hot in there - 130 F - but I just told myself "it's no hotter than a small house fire so suck it up". But thanks to my son, Terry, resetting it really was an easy stage to RO.

I'm glad you all had a good time and I look forward to the next one. Along those lines, for next year, we should figure out a place to have a big BBQ / hanging out / cigar smoking / keg taping whale of a good time during the match. Is there someone who lives in the Albany area that could look into this?

Thanks to all and see ya soon,

Earl

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