Pipe Dream - Any Comments

[wsimpso1]

This Sunday I shoot the Michigan State USPSA Match, and one of the stages promises to be a bit of a nightmare.

http://www.michiganstatematch.us/Pipe%20Dream.pdf

Targets: Plates, Pepper Poppers, US Poppers, 8 of each;

Firing is through pipes only (I assume that they are plastic barrels), there are 12 of them;

A continuous vision barrier is up everywhere except where the barrels poke through, making the targets difficult to see while executing the COF except for the ones exposed through the pipe;

Any suggestions on how you handle a course like this? I am suspicious that once a hundred shooters have been through the COF, some of the barrels will shift a bit and some of the targets will be hard to find at each pipe, encouraging us to stick the gun right inside the pipe, something that most of us have learned is bad juju.

I am hoping to go through the nine stages without misses or procedurals and a fair chunk of alphas, but shooting smart would be a plus, and I need some help to do this one smart...

Billski

[dv8]

IMHO, the key to this one would be to minimize movements between positions by finding several spots within the free firing zone from which you can see through several pipes at a time. I'd try to find out whether there is a pattern to target groups that would make it easier to focus on throughout the stage. I found that looking at a stage diagramm doesn't always give you enough clues as to how to shoot it. It all clears up when you get to the stage... well, it is supposed to clear up, any way

Good luck!

Oh, and would you be so kind to tell us how it worked out?

[eric nielsen]

OUCH.

Everyone's score will be tilted in the direction of who got the most out of the walk-thru, to an unusual degree. Hopefully they give you AT LEAST 5 minutes. If the squad is more than 10-12 guys, it should last even longer.

Try to watch it being shot, preferably from high ground, so you can see the shooter and the plates going down at the same time. Or high ground with no one shooting. Whichever is possible.

Also, many stages you can figure out all the angles [see the targets thru the ports] by walking behind the yellow rope, before your squad is up. If it's 10ft lateral movement on the stage, you might cover 20ft behind the rope, but the angles are the important thing.

Don't stress if during your squad's walk-thru, someone says, "I can shoot it all thru just three ports!" Something tricky like that cannot normally be learned in 2 or 3 minutes, esp. if that guy now has a huge entourage saying "Show us how..."

Just find a plan that sees all the targets. Before you shoot, plan on being surprised from the second port on - you may have already knocked down a plate you thought you'd hit later on. Just keep going.

Volunteer to set steel. Get a look behind the wall, with all the plates on the ground. Hold that image in your mind & tell yourself "I'm gonna do that too."

[short_round]

Is this a USPSA legal stage? I thought steel only stages could only be run on fixed time.

[davidwiz]

Going by the 14th Edition,

US 4.3.1.2

There are at least four versions of poppers: the Pepper popper and the Classic popper (see Appendix C), and mini version of each.  All versions are allowed within a course of fire.

4.3.1.3

IPSC Plates (see Appendix D) shall not be used exclusively in any course of fire.  Authorized paper targets or Poppers must be included to reconize power....

There is nothing in the rules that prohibit the use of only steel. In a VC course of fire, only paper targets can be used - 9.2.2.1; US 9.2.2.4, which deals with a "Fixed Time" COF, mentions nothing about what kind of targets.

[Steve Moneypenny]

my first walk through i'm seeing if i can count all the targets!!!! most importnat.

Second see how many ports you HAVE to use, pick the easiest ones to get in position for and forget the ones you don't need.

This stage looks like a nightmare on paper.... and could be one in person, but i've seen nightmares turninto day dreams when they come together. I'm hoping there will be no need for going prone on this.

I'm shooting limited on friday... hope all goes well.

[warpspeed]

I hate stages like this because, like Steve said, counting all the targets is critical.

I would break it down to minimize the # of ports I had to shoot through on each wall.

Then count how many plates from each - like 6 from first, 3 from second, 4 form third, etc. Then when you go to that port, get those 6 and MOVE! That way you aren't sitting wondering if you have more to go. Then resisit the temptation to stray from that plan once the beep goes off.

Take your time on the walk through, don't let anyone else intimidate you into rushing through. Good luck!

[davidwiz]

At least it is all steel. You're going to know, one way or another, if you forgot a target. If it was all paper, or paper and steel, the potential is higher for leaving a target or two unengaged.

Come up with a plan that works for you and try to stick with it. Let us know how it went.

[wsimpso1]

Sorry about not answering on the nature of this COF sooner... Several points for description:

Viewing from a high spot at DSC is nigh onto impossible...

Steel plates near the center were painted different colors, making knowledge of where you in the sequence easier;

The pipes were 12" concrete forms about 18" long, lined with roof flashing;

Two of the steels bring up paper targets when hit;

Just about everyone left the stage shaking their head.

It appeared to give big advantage to folks (DSC members?) who could thoroughly scope it. There were people who claimed to have shot the whole thing from two ports, but nobody on my squad did. As things worked out, I must have had 15 minutes spread throughout the morning to look at it one way or another. I found three ports to fire the whole thing, one towards one end, and two right next to each other towards the other end.

Most of us had inordinate trouble hitting the steel plates. I did too, and I usually hit steel well, if slowly. I wonder if shooting angled or offset through a tube causes zero shifting (no, I did not hit the port with either the gun or bullets, but I did hear about one race gunner who had the optics looking through the port but the barrel was looking at the wall for several shots... I used 8 extra rounds on the stage, and still left a steel plate standing. I assume that most of them were off call.

I do not know what else to say about this stage... It was an obstacle to be fought through in order to fire an otherwise fun match.

Elsewhere in the match, the stages were fun, the banquet and prize tables were good to me (anyone need a Caspian slide with sight cuts, external extractor, for .38 Super? Make an offer).

Billski