MBaneACP Posted May 15, 2004 Share Posted May 15, 2004 Probably still a little early for a formal announcement, but I thought I give this forum a little head's up...after a year and a half of work, I'm FINALLY pretty close to a nationally televised pistol championship in mid-2005 on The Outdoor Channel. Rough outlines of the match are as I've described before...all reactive targets; time = score, but with "bonus" targets that can subtract time; shots from muzzle distance out to 100 yards; as of right now, production guns only (ruleset to be determined, but probably no optics/comps/weights; some sort of handicapping system for various guns isn't out of the question), with mandatory examination of guns/holsters/ammo, a la NASCAR, before the match; 12 stages shot over 2 days. We're looking at Raahages Range in Norco to host the first event. The planning at this point is for an invitational match with 16 men and 8 women shooters. A portion of the slots will be "protected," that is guaranteed to an individual or organization. The plan is to give at least a few of the invitations to various shooting sports organizations to award to whomever they think is best suited or as "wild cards." This will be a serious money match, with cash awards escrowed prior to the event (can you spell "Masters?"). My goal is the biggest purse ever in our sport, and at the end of this match we'll have two people--one man; one woman--we can point at and say those are the best shooters inthe U.S. Actual match design will be by the Usual Suspects--myself, Dave Arnold, Chris Edwards, and other names you'll immediately recognize. Rules will be straightfoward and nothing you haven't seen before. The concepts we're bouncing around call for a seriously HARD match with a level of athleticism involved. Course designs will NOT be published prior to the match, and no shooters will be allowed on the range during set-up. Still a long way to go, but there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Of course, it could be a train... Michael B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted May 16, 2004 Share Posted May 16, 2004 100 yard steel with iron sights? Production pistol? Day-umm, and I thought Outer Limits was tough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBaneACP Posted May 16, 2004 Author Share Posted May 16, 2004 Eric; I figure if you do a match and say that the winner is the best pistol shot in the United States, you oughta make 'em work for it! Right now, we tend to design courses within a fairly narrow range of demand (which changes depending on which faction of the sport you're in). I have a pretty cool advantage in that I'm out in the field A LOT, and I see not just the sport shooting stuff, but what the military and the police are doing with their training. Seriously, nothing is written in stone yet (I have meeting Mon & Tue evenings after we finish filming the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation Shoot-Out in the D.C. area (that'll be a SHOOTING GALLERY special event, outside of our usual 13 shows...ditto foe the Sportsmen's Team Challenge). I really want to incorporate some sort of "option plates"--shoot 'em and it's seconds off your time--into the concepts. I'd also like to see a more physical match than we've seen in recent years (remember, this is MADE FOR TELEBISSION!)...not running a marathon or anything, but enough of a physical challenge to make the competitors sweat a bit (for all the same reasons we used to do the same thing when we were training SWAT guys to shoot). Plus, since attending Bill Roger's hellish school, I've become enamored with reactive targets that appear and disappear in quarter-second intervals...the edges of human reaction time. We'll see how much that little trick costs! Ideally,later this spring I'll be able to pull together a sort of "match directors' summit" to collect everybody's ideas and get stuff down on paper. Plus, they'll tell me if I'm more full of BS than usual! All I gotta do is nail down the bucks! Michael B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmshtr Posted May 16, 2004 Share Posted May 16, 2004 Hi Michael, This sounds like a cool idea. When you're talking about this kind of money, the most important thing is confidentiality. Totally blind stages where NO competitor knows the format. That is, if you want to find the best shooter, not the best technician. It would fine to give hints as to what to practice, but it really doesn't test a shooter's true ability if they know what to expect. On the opposite end of the spectrum, will you be at the Bianchi Cup this year? Take care, Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.J. Norris Posted May 16, 2004 Share Posted May 16, 2004 One other question.... Any plans for Juniors at the match? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gm iprod Posted May 18, 2004 Share Posted May 18, 2004 What about foreigners, who need an excuse to go on a shooting holiday? Sorry I mean business trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBaneACP Posted May 19, 2004 Author Share Posted May 19, 2004 Hey Phil; Confidentiality WILL be maintained (or the floggings will continue). Right now we're looking at a three division/class/something-or-other match with a six-figure CASH overall purse. Except for you, of course. Should you win, you would be paid in tactical vests and 250-grain .45 Colt lead bullets...BTW, had dinner with laser-god Alan Winslette last night, and he says you're on-board with him. Good for you! MIchael B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 I've been wondering...how are you going to keep info about the stages from getting out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBaneACP Posted May 25, 2004 Author Share Posted May 25, 2004 Flex; Death threats ought to do it! Seriously, I'm looking at Dave Arnold, Troy McManus and Chris Edwards doing course design, and the three of them are so closed-mouth you couldn't pry anything out of them with a crowbar. I also figure the course design will not be finalized until the last possible minute, and we'll throw out a lot of chaff. Smoke and mirrors... BTW, am thinking about 3 divisions now...Open/Unlimited; Production/Stock and a wild card division that nobody's ever seen before. $33K in prize money per division. MB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooter Grrl Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 Damn - I need to practice so's i gets an invite! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.J. Norris Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 Michael, Any more info the on match right now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gm iprod Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 I need the invite soon or the State Dept will not let me bring firearms, just yellin at them will not score enough. BTW, not to much running around, the knees aint right yet . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twix Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 That sounds awesome, I will eagerly look forward to watching the match on TV. Please promise you will post stage descriptions after the match is completed so we can replicate the match on the local level and compare how we mortals would have done against the DAWGS. Thanks, TomB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewRacer Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 Any more word on this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBaneACP Posted March 3, 2005 Author Share Posted March 3, 2005 I'm probably going to have to hold until next year...in all honesty, I've just run out of *me.* My production team just agreed to take over production of the AMERICAN RIFLEMAN show (in addition to my own SHOOTING GALLERY and our COWBOYS) at the request of The Outdoor Channel. That gives us,like, 78 shows to do in the next 12 months.Plus a recently green-lighted documentary on "The Gun Wars" with me and Tom Gresham hosting. In the meantime, we've drastically increased our support of the Steel Challenge and one of the big cowboy matches. Sorry...I really wanted to do this in 2005! Michael B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Sweeney Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 Quit whining, get yourself cloned, and simply have double espressos automatically charged to your card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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