Starting handgun matches at my local club

[Shooter115]

I realize this post covers a broad area, but I wanted to keep the dialog to a single thread vs. trying to keep up with 5.

I’ve made it my mission this summer to get action pistol shoots going at my clubs range. It’s currently a 2-3 hour drive for me to get to any pistol matches and I would rather spend money on bullets than gas. I’m basically starting from scratch and have a $3000 budget to buy everything from targets to props to shot timers, so yea, I’m spread paper thin. I know my list of targets and props will be lame compared to the larger clubs that have been doing this a while. As much as I’d like to go out and buy the best of the best and 2 of everything it’s not going to happen here. Whenever one starts to talk about budget and gear, the first response is always “Buy once, Cry once”, which I can agree with almost all the time. In this case though it’s kind of “Get what we can afford and make it work”. Also due to the current shape of our range we can only run 2 stages per match, but we’ll shoot each twice and make the best of it. We have room to put in more bays, but I need to get a following before the rest of the board will agree to let me bring in the dozer. But for now I have to be realistic with the limited budget and the fact that it’s possible I might not find enough shooters to make this a success. I’ve got about 20 people so far that have said they would like to shoot and am in the process of reaching out to other clubs. If I consistently get 20 people to show up for an informal monthly match I’ll call it a win. Rules for our matches would be roughly based off USPSA rules, with a little more built in leeway. This is going to be more for fun than die-hard competition…..at least to start.

Targets:

For steel, I am looking at getting (10) 28” poppers, a plate rack, (30) 5x5 steel knock-downs, plus we have dozens of round knock-downs 6-12” in diameter. Plus I am getting a couple full and 2/3 size steel IPSC targets made for longer shots. Any further suggestions, please remember I’m on a real slim budget.

Paper targets. Going to start with 100-200 IPSC targets and the pasters needed. Looking at Shooters Connection for these, any point looking elsewhere? No such thing as a local supplier in this neck of the woods so freight is inevitable.

Target stands for paper. There was post a while back about using a simple U-shaped PVC pipe holder that you just spiked to the ground, I’ve also seen full frame free-standing PVC target stands that look like they would work well, any long term reports. I realize PVC might be toast with 1 shot and it’s not going to be as durable as steel , but it’s also easy to repair. The main reason I’m really interested in the PVC holders is they would be easy for some of our other members to build. Trying to avoid having to do absolutely everything myself and I really don’t feel like spending even more time out in the shop welding H frames on top of the targets and props I already have to make

Walls. At one of the ranges I shoot at, they use triangular pieces of plate steel with (2) upright 2” dia. tubes welded to them. They could be staked to the ground, use 2x2’s in the tubes for uprights and snow fencing for walls. This seems to work well, but could I do better? Looking for cheap, easy to set-up, cheap, versatile and cheap.

Again sorry for the barrage of questions, I probably don’t have the experience I should have to plan this all out on my own, but we have to start somewhere. Feel free to offer any advice or suggestions. Who knows, maybe I’m crazy for trying to pull this off, but I’m betting almost every successful club match out there started with a firm push from one person. So vs. sit on the couch I guess I’ll push. Like I said, right now I have about 20 people that want to shoot, but I hope if we can just get it going, more people will want to get involved.

Thanks,

Chris Sell

[kevin c]

Steel, and especially mechanical steel, is expensive. You could save some dough by waiting on the rack. You might also be able to get away with using mini poppers in place of some of the full sized (and more expensive?) full sized versions. Steel silhouettes are fun but, at least for USPSA style matches, aren't going to be used that much (at least they aren't out my way). Steel is also heavy enough that it could slow up any teardown and rebuild of more stages mid match. Also, do you have a place to secure the high value items?

I guess you can tell I'm trying to get you to go lighter on the steel at the outset. I don't mean to say none, but perhaps less.

Also, it's my impression that some new clubs fade away because the guy who starts it out never gets any help. You have twenty people interested in shooting, get them interested in the running of the club ASAP.

[Chills1994]

I would rather have a simple 10 inch or 8 inch circular plate with a foot welded on it, so that it sits on top of a rebar stand/stake, than to spend a bunch of money on steel for just one plate rack.

Are there any electricians in the house?

I would be curious if you can get a 20 foot long stick of metal electrical conduit???

put two bends in it, zip tie snow fencing or "pearl weave" to it, and make that a partition.

I would have an outfit that either has a plasmaCAM or CNC laser or water jet make the steel targets so they are within specs of USPSA rules....in case, one day you do become a legit USPSA club.

Yeah, I am thinking that the steel USPSA target silhouettes aren't gonna be real useful....unless of course you want to go with time plus scoring.

[jar]

Where are you getting all that steel for $3k with money left for everything else?

[Shooter115]

Thanks for the pointers gang. I’ll try to hit everything mentioned in one windy post….here we go.

First off I should clarify something I could have stated better in my original post. I am not a USPSA shooter, never even been to a sanctioned USPSA match. I’m a 3-gun shooter, that’s just trying to get something a little more fun than benchrest shooting going at our home range. I would attend pistol only shoots if there were any within a reasonable distance of here, and yes I live in the sticks. It would be great for 3-gun practice and for the fact I would like to shoot more than the once a month 3-gun matches in MN. My long term goal is 3-gun events here, but right now I can’t get enough guys to hold a match and our range needs some dirt work done to make it really work for 3-gun. We tried last year and had 4 people turn out to shoot and 15 or so came to watch. A lot of tire kickers, but most of the folks around here just don’t have the gear or are intimidated by the 3-gun concept. On the other hand there have been quite a few guys ask me about pistol only shoots and just about everyone around here owns a handgun and a holster. I should also mention we have had some steel challenge type shoots as well as bowling pin shoots that have had pretty good turn-outs. It’s just time to crank up the fun factor a bit.

The reason I’m going with so much steel is….I can get a lot of it for free and the rest is cheap, plus it’s just more fun to shoot than paper, especially when you’re trying to bring in new shooters. I work for a manufacturing company that specializes in material handling conveyors and mining equipment. We process more than 250,000 lbs. of raw steel every week. That buying power is what allows me purchase steel at pretty low cost, plus the founder of our company and a good portion of management are club members, this helps us out from time to time as well Due to the nature of some of our products I can get 1/2” thick steel circular disks ranging from 3”-12” in dia. by the hundreds for free. They are mild steel, but if they get beat up we just chuck them. When shot with handgun only they pretty much last forever, with a rifle....different story.

Actually I am considering dropping the plate rack for a couple reasons. 1. They are really heavy and is going to be a pain to set up every time. Our range is also unsupervised so I can’t leave anything out, unless I want it to get destroyed. 2. The cost. 3. I can buy steel in any grade I want, cut to any shape I want through my place of employment at a pretty low cost.

The poppers I’m planning on getting are only the 28’s. The 42’s are a bugger to lug around and set up. I have procured pretty good pricing on them if I buy in a qty. of 5 or more from a local (they’re in my state anyways), but reputable target manufacturer.

The steel silhouettes…..This is mostly due to the lay of our range. We have one berm on the other side of a small stream. They would make great target to set over there without having to keep sending people back and forth across the bridge to paste targets. It would make for a really cool stage layout. We’ve used silhouettes like this at a few of the multi-gun’s I go to and they worked really well, and they are fun to shoot. Yes I was planning on going with time plus scoring, just cause that’s what I know from 3-Gun comps.

All our targets will get locked up when not in use.

I do have 3-4 guys that want to help run things once we get going, but I am going to be responsible for getting targets and organizing the matches. Plus I can weld and am kind of the crafty one in the bunch. So it’s either do it myself or pay someone else to do it. That’s why I was asking about the PVC target stands, it would be something the rest of the group could put together and take of my plate.

I think I got everything. Thanks for taking an interest everyone.

[Jim Norman]

Shooters Connection for targets, Target Barn for 1" Tape, (Tape is better than pasters. less waste) Walls, we use inexpensive stockade fence. Under $30 per wall. Holds up well, we have some that are 4 years or more old. Steel, get a handful of plates and a handful or US Poppers. US poppers are less money, easier to store, harder to hit.

ASK FOR HELP! You need to make sure you have other people buying into the match, get them to take ownership. If you try to do it all you will crash. You need stage designers and builders, stats, registration and general all around help. Split the responsibility early.

Jim