Ben Stoeger Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 I posted a version of this on facebook a few days ago. I am tweaking it a bit and reposting it here.TLDR: This years nationals was the bomb Stages: There was a big variety of stages this year. Short stages, medium stages, and long stages too. They tested you on tight shots, positioning, moving targets, hoser targets, and a bunch of other elements. Really the only thing you could maybe say was lacking was a bit of distance shooting. With all the partial targets I am not sure you needed to push targets out further than 25 yards All in all, the stages challenged even the best shooters in the match, but not in a way that felt cheesy or gimmicky. Everything you were asked to do seemed perfectly reasonable and like a fair test of shooting skill, but things were mixed up in a way that kept it interesting. Logistics: The match was laid out using the zone format. I think it makes lots of sense and I would love more multi day matches to start doing it in zones instead of shooting all the stages sequentially. There was a practice bay where you could function check your gun and zero your gun. There was no BS about using that.. you just went there and did what you needed to do. No sign up sheet. No need to pay. It was a done deal. There was free bottled water at the range. There was plenty of parking. Food appeared to be readily available for purchase. I didn't buy any so I can't say if it was good or not.Scoring was done by practiscore. Obviously that system is pretty well refined at this point and I encountered no issues. The instant email scoring receipt was pretty cool. So... all in all, I think Ken Nelson and his crew killed it. I have been to nationals since 2007 and I can't say I have been to a better one. Well done Ken and Crew! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strick Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 I would agree with just about all of that. 3 day format would be better......since I didn't get it done on day 4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Only Nat'ls I attended (about 6 years ago), I thought it was great but wished (expected) the OPEN comp to include more long distance shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritinUSA Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 I think the organization of the match was first-rate, though I would have like more small and medium courses thrown into the mix. I think there is too much emphasis on high round count field stages, they are fun to shoot much but I think a good small/medium stage can be just as challenging (in some cases more so). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaraW Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 (edited) I think the organization of the match was first-rate, though I would have like more small and medium courses thrown into the mix. I think there is too much emphasis on high round count field stages, they are fun to shoot much but I think a good small/medium stage can be just as challenging (in some cases more so). I thought it was a good mix. There were big stages, but over all 27 stages the average round count was 23 rounds per stage. Almost 1/3 of the long courses were under 30 rounds. The speed shoots, short and medium courses made up about 37% of the match. Edited October 3, 2014 by MaraW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2MoreChains Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 Personally I liked that it was set up so Staff could shoot in the pre-match, or at least those that wanted to. I'm all about volunteering to work the match but being able to shoot it for score was a huge plus for me. I liked the mix of stages, different challenges, mix of hoser and hard shots, and felt like the SUPS crew did a bang up job of putting on this years Nats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 Someday the Nationals should be held in the summer to get more juniors and families involved. Also, there are a few of us who only get time off in the summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2MoreChains Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 Someday the Nationals should be held in the summer to get more juniors and families involved. Also, there are a few of us who only get time off in the summer. Ha! My situation is the exact opposite. Fall/winters are my "off-season". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 Someday the Nationals should be held in the summer to get more juniors and families involved. Also, there are a few of us who only get time off in the summer. Ha! My situation is the exact opposite. Fall/winters are my "off-season". Yeah, if you are in any way affiliated with a school system or college about the only time you can get time off is in the summer. I started working as a school bus driver in my semi retirement and thought it would be great for shooting but alas, most of the must see matches including nationals are not in the summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2MoreChains Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 From what I understand, Prod Nationals is going to be the 2nd week of August in Quincy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandbagger123 Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 Someday the Nationals should be held in the summer to get more juniors and families involved. Also, there are a few of us who only get time off in the summer. if it is in the SW you would not want it in the summer. You will BBQ in the desert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundevil827 Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 From what I understand, Prod Nationals is going to be the 2nd week of August in Quincy. Personally, I'm glad to see that, even though I just moved from Illinois. I'd like to think a central location is great, and makes it more accessible to more people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 the Nationals should be held in the summerif it is in the SW you would not want it in the summer. You will BBQ in the desert. I have attended only one Nat'ls - about six years ago, and it was the end of August ... In Las Vegas. It was 114 F. and at least two RO's passed out during the shoot. I vote for September or October if it's going to be in the desert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 It doesn't have to be in the west, SW, etc right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 (edited) Right - summer in Maine should be perfect. I shot the Area 8 match in Virginia just a few weeks before the Nat'l six years ago - it was ONLY 90 F. in VA, but the humidity was much worse than the 114 F. (dry) in Vegas. At the end of the day, I was a dishrag, from the humidity - much prefer the dry heat. Edited October 3, 2014 by Hi-Power Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motosapiens Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 I thought this year was great. I think it makes sense to move around every few years tho, and it makes sense to schedule the event for an appropriate time for the location. August in vegas, st george or atlanta would probably be pretty dumb. August in some places isn't bad tho, maybe santa cruz, or seattle area or anchorage. Either that or you'd just have to run EVERYONE in the morning and take afternoons off to drink beer and look at stuff in the vendor tent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 PASA was pretty nice in June Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strick Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 PASA was pretty nice in June Which is a big difference from August Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 Why August? Also, Michigan has a range that could easily handle Nationals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beltjones Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 I agree with Ben's post. It was a very well-executed match with a great variety of stages. If I have one very minor contention, it's that the movers were too easy, or that they didn't need to be activated at all in order to be shot efficiently. I thought that was a bit strange. Otherwise this was the best match I've been to in terms of execution and organization. I'm saddened that nats won't be at the same range again next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HI5-O Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 I enjoyed the match and how it the stages were arranged in groups. It seemed easier to plan your shooting strategy since you could see targets thru the walls on most of the stages. With the different divisions shooting the same stages looks like the level of difficulty was defaulted to the iron sighted divisions. Ken Nelson and the crew are great and if I get any chance to shoot a major match there again, I'll be sure to sign up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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