How do you run a ton of people?

[danjordan78]

Am going to be running some steel matches in the future and I'm wondering how ranges can run so many people in so short a time.

I'm going to the US Steel Nationals in March and am just as anxious to see how the match is run as I am to shoot it. I'm assuming they will have 200 competitors and they are saying things will be done by 2pm each day. How do you run 200 people through 8 stages that quick?

I know there are other ranges that have monthly matches that run 100+ people as well. Is everyone able to get done that quickly?

At our local matches it's pretty much an hour per stage, even with separate bays for each stage.

Do you have open squadding so people just wander from stage to stage?

How do you cut time?

What if you only have 2 bays or one big one that you can set up 4 stages in?

Anxious to find out.

Thanks.

[ZackJones]

I've only run an 8-stage match once and we did it using 4 bays. What we did was the day before the match is go to the range and setup the two stages we were going to shoot in each bay. Let's say we're shooting Smoke & Hope and Roundabout in the same bay. We first setup Smoke & Hope and painted the ground around where each of the stands went. For regular targets we painted the ground white and for the stop plates we painted red. After everyone shoot the 4 stages we broke for lunch and while folks were eating we reset each stage and started shooting as soon as everyone finished lunch. Another thing we did was to have all of the steel and 2x4's needed for each stage on the stage before the start of the match. That way resetting from Smoke and Hope to Roundabout was a simple matter or moving stands and swapping 2x4's and steel.

Until last month the way we handled squadding was to allow shooters to self squad the day of the match. At the match last month we had a couple of shooters running late so instead of holding everyone else up for those late shooters I told those ready to shoot to come grab a tablet and to start shooting and that worked out very well. Starting this month I'm planning to implement squads and as soon as a squad has all shooters signed in they can start shooting.

I'm looking forward to the Nationals as well. I want to see how they do it so I can get as many hints and tips that I may be able to use when we host the state-wide steel challenge championship match at our club in October.

[Pasley]

Where I shoot we generally have six stages and it takes 3-4 hours to shoot. Depends on how smoothly the squad works together and if you have to wait on the squad ahead. Usually 5-6 people per squad and generally at least a couple of those will be shooting two entries.

Some matches I kind of wish folks would slow down just a little. You would think some of them are being charged by the hour.

[jdphotoguy]

We run 5 stages on 4 bays with about 30 to 40 shooters per match.

Early last year we looked at all 8 Steel Challenge stages and determined which stages could fit on each of the 4 bays. We then placed large colored metal washers on stakes and marked the location of the shooting box and all targets for each stage that would fit on each bay.

We use PractiScore's match management web site so folks can preregister for the match. Then on the day of the match I have the match predefined on a Nexus tablet, with stages and those that preregistered already loaded.

Competitors are asked to show up by 7AM to help with stage setup and those that do, get a 50% discount on their match fee. Junior shooters also get a 50% discount, whether they help with setup or not.

Because we only have 4 bays, but shoot 5 stages, we drop off an additional stage at each bay. This additional stage is the same for all 4 bays. When a squad has finished shooting their 4 stage, they stay on that bay, tear down the stage they just shot and erect stage 5.

We have large tarps at each stage to catch brass, so brass collection between shooters is sped up.

After setup is complete and the competitors have paid, we divide everyone into 4 squads, with at least 3 folks capable of ROing per squad.

While the MD conducts a brief shooter's meeting, I synch everything to the Nooks, each squad takes their Nook with them, then we send them off to their respective first stage.

At each stage, the ROs call out the next shooter and which two folks will be in charge of painting after the current shooter is finished.

When a squad shoots their last stage, they are responsible to tear down that stage and return it to the warehouse.

Edited January 5, 2015 by jdphotoguy

[Nimitz]

the keys to effeciently running a match are to be ready to start on time, ensure as many squads as possible have the same number of shooters which means folks running 2 guns put their name down twice on the squad list, ensuring at least 2 ROs per squad and making sure everyone helps with painting after each shooter.

We start at 9am with around 30 shooters or so with a 6 stage match and are always done by noon without ever rushing. I shoot the Nationals last year and while we ran smoothly and nevr had to wait between stages, we didn't exactly finish at 2pm each day, more like 4pm each day .....