Ammo Situation and Stage Design

[MarkCO]

We use steel challenge type static steel mostly. A clamp holds a plate on a stand and set poppers heavy.

[Mark R]

We use steel challenge type static steel mostly. A clamp holds a plate on a stand and set poppers heavy.

Good ideas...thanks! We have steel challenge targets...need to come up with stages where there are more than 5 on a stage. Easily done...especially with WSB descriptions dictating rifle and pistol locations (non-USPSA multi-gun).

Thanks again MarkCO.

[XDm525Forty]

Okay, long time lurker, first time poster... and I'll further devalue my post by stating that I am not a 3-gunner. So obviously I won't talk about a major match, but locally, as a potential new shooter (well, if I bought two new guns )...

I know a couple of guys with AR-15's, and honestly the most fun I ever had shooting them was not just pulling the trigger 30 times in a row, but a day when we set up a little "run-n-gun." Three targets, three magazines loaded with three rounds each. We put three rounds on the first target, reloaded on the move to the second, three rounds there, reload on the move, went prone and put the last three on the last target.

When I look at something like 3-gun (or even USPSA or IDPA, both of which I hope to shoot this year), I don't think of them as "training," because I understand that they're competitions first... but I do think that they should reward fundamentals like reloading (as opposed to avoiding it entirely and just hosing a stage with a 60-round mag). As I understand 3-gun, there are multiple stages, so (again, as a potential new shooter) I would be all for mixing up high round counts with low anytime, let alone now when ammo is hard to find.

[MiniUzi]

I've set up a few matches for both 3-gun and submachine gun since the panic and I've emphasized quality over quantity. Virginia count is a pretty good way to ensure shooters slow down and get their hits on a few stages.

Personally I'd rather shoot more packed matches with fewer shots total than less matches with more shots just to feel I had somehow validated my presence there. Having full ,competitive matches is more important to me than having a sudden drop off of a significant amount of the monthly competitors. I don't see a benefit of forcing competitors to choose which match they attend because coordinators couldn't cut back a bit. This sport is currently in a war of attrition and we need to ensure that as a whole we do not loose the momentum gained in previous years. New shooters make this sport what it will be.

I've always thought the role of a coordinator to set up scenarios that extract the highest level of skill out of the shooters and take them into shooting positions and scenarios they would not have found elsewhere. My experience is that it builds better shooters and a stronger club in the end. I've found that a lot of decision making coupled with a moderate round count makes for a pretty solid setup. With that being said I allow people to shoot anything that doesn't damage the steel and is safe. We've had an increase in attendance in the past two months in of all things submachine gun matches due to the semi-auto division allowing pistol caliber carbine and 22lrs

In South Florida we have almost no ammo whatsoever on the shelves unless you own a 20 gauge or a 38 special or a few oddball calibers. If it gets bad enough I'll bring guns I can find ammo for and let the competitors use them as stage guns. It is what it is. The show must go on.

Edited February 19, 2013 by MiniUzi