Area 1 2005 - Missoula MT

[Putty]

Ah, yur killin me. I been workin my butt off to get better. We lost our clubs ability to shoot at a facility and the qualifiers have been nil lately. But I shoot em when they come around. Sorry I didnt make the qualifier match in Bend, but had the house buying blues. I just do as Master Scott tells me..... 200 draws and reloads a night, and Benny Hill's minimum of shooting at least once per week or 300 rounds during the week. All interspersed with dry fire drills. A good recipe. I look at area 1 as a way to gauge where I need to be and work on in the future, as well as watch some really good shooters and perhaps borrow techniques to make my own.

[Loves2Shoot]

You already know what to work on (it's between your ears)

[kimel]

Day 1 is history here in Missoula.

Wailing wall hasn't been posted yet so no results to report as of yet; sounds like it won't be until morning.

Match is awesome, staff is fantastic. If you aren't here you are missing a great match!

[ong45]

This has got to be the best shooting weather i have seen in a while, and the range is awesome.

I shot the first 4 stages pretty good, and had a failure to extract in the 5th stage, so... like a fool i just shrug it off instead of checking the gun out and guess what? i have 2 failure to extracts in the next stage aauuuurrgh!!! Got back to the room and found out that the extractor is on the light side. I'm so pissed i could jump out the window ( if i had a ground floor room ) hope saturday goes better.

James

[LeMat]

I just got done talking to a buddy of mine (he's on Squad 23) and he's pretty darn impressed. I'm heading down there tomorrow night (only about 2 hours south for me) and watching the event Saturday.

Apparently there are some pretty serious speed traps.

Wish I could shoot, but I've only got about 8 matches under my belt.

[Nate]

A perfect shooting day. No one is dominating and it looks like most of the races will be pretty close. Lots of places to look like a goof. I took advantage of several. Good combination of stages.

[Chuck Anderson]

Well Area 1 is over. I'd just like to say thank you to the Match Director's, CRO's and everyone that worked the match, even Floyd. This was one of the best run Area matches that I've been to. The courses were well designed. They were deceptively simple. I know that I had more penalties at this match than I have in a long time.

For those that haven't been to Missoula, the range is absolutely beautiful. Set right against a big old mountain. The weather was perfect for our squads, we shot in the morning on Thurs and Friday. The match ran great.

And thanks to Alma for letting me fondle his Glock. That Vanek trigger is great.

[John Dunn]

Great match! Thanks to one and all for all the hard work that went into this thing. Haven't seen the results, but I shot like a retard, so I'm in no big hurry.

A couple of suggestions for future Area 1 matches in Missoula (and I hope there will be more!)

More safety areas, should be one between each stage, just throw up a card table along the side of a berm.

Provide water at the stages, include the cost in the match fee so that when you're dying of thirst you don't have to bum 50 cents to get some water.

Wailing wall...separate the divisions!

Awards ceremony...I left early, like a bunch of other competitors. If the awards had been at 3 or even 5pm I would have stuck around, but 7pm when the shooting is over at 1pm? No way, not with a 9 hour drive.

If you are late to a stage you need written permission from the MD to shoot? How about giving the CROs some discretion here and cut out the note from mom crap?

[LeMat]

Got back a few hours ago, and from a spectator's point of view (which may not mean much), it was a real fine match. Had some rain this morning and was overcast most of the day, but what's a match without rain?

Mr. Dunn made some very good points in regards to the safety table (I believe there was only one) and the wailing wall.

Seemed like most everyone had a lot of fun. One thing for sure, I think I've got a real itch to shoot this game now.

[John Dunn]

Just got through perusing the results on the USPSA major match results page in the member's area.

Congrats to Sam Johnson for winning L-10. His win is even more impressive when you realize that he zeroed stage 10 when his extractor broke a few rounds into the stage. He told Ron and I that since he was out of the running he was going to, "Turn the badger loose!" Did he ever!

As always it was a pleasure to shoot with Sam and Ron and all the rest of squad 12. The comments above are constructive criticism, and I hope they are received as such.

[kimel]

This was an incredible match. The stage designs were great and the match staff was great. I never saw any huge backups on any stage...at least for my squad.

Sorry I didn't run into more of the BE forum crowd. I forgot my BE t-shirts at home (they were in the dryer and never made it to the suitcase). If you shot Stage 9 Friday afternoon I was the guy on the work crew in the yellow Brazos Custom shirt.

John's comments about the safety areas are spot on. At least some of the CROs were allowing for a "mass unbag" and "mass bag" at the line before and after each squad which helped this.

The Missoula club really set the bar high with this one; great job guys!!! I heard rumors about 2006 but nothing concrete. Was there an official annoucement at the awards ceremony? I shot Thursday/Friday morning and worked Friday afternoon so was out of Missoula after a quick check of the wailing wall this morning. I couldn't see staying until 7PM for the awards and then either paying another $80 for the motel room or driving until near midnight to get home.

Edited June 26, 2005 by kimel

[bgary]

I heard rumors about 2006 but nothing concrete. Was there an official annoucement at the awards ceremony?

Yes.

The 2006 match will be in Albany, Oregon. Match Director Mike McCarter said that he's planning 12-14 stages, August timeframe, details TBD.

Bruce

[kimel]

Thanks Bruce.

August...ugh. The one month a year it is nearly impossible for me to get time off in. So goes life.

[EricW]

Outstanding match!

So well done it was practically impossible to not have fun.

[alma]

And thanks to Alma for letting me fondle his Glock.  That Vanek trigger is great.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Any time Chuck!

Congratulations on winning Production Division. I will have to build up my confidence on the white and black laced targets and I will see if I can give you a run for your money next time.

This was really a great match. Count me in anytime they host a major match here.

[bgary]

Wailing wall...separate the divisions!

I (the stats guy) would *love* to separate the divisions. Unfortunately, it would slow things down in the stat shack considerably, and I would rather get things out quickly. The interim postings are primarily to allow you to check the accuracy of your scores as entered....

If you are late to a stage you need written permission from the MD to shoot?  How about giving the CROs some discretion here and cut out the note from mom crap?

The ROs don't have that discretion - they were simply following the rules. See 6.6.1 - the shooter has to have the MDs permission to shoot the stage, if they weren't there on time. The "note from mom" is the most expedient way to communicate that permission from the MD to the RO.

---

Glad to hear so many folks enjoyed the match, and thank you for the constructive comments. We're hoping to continue the trend of making this a better match every year! The Montana guys put a lot of work into planning and did a phenomenal job and, I too hope we can put a "major match" on the ground at that range.

Bruce

[bberkley]

Thanks Bruce. 

August...ugh.  The one month a year it is nearly impossible for me to get time off in.  So goes life.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Looks like tentative match dates will be June 8-10, 2006 at Albany Rifle & Pistol Club.

I'll get a section on www.arpc-ipsc.org setup for the 2006 Area 1 match soon.

[carinab]

Great match - good stages - beautiful range!

It was nice to meet you BE'ers. Sorry I missed a few of you - Ron, Kimmel. Thank you to all who helped put this match on, it was top notch!

[kimel]

CarinaB: Sorry you were suffering through a good old Northwest Chest Cold for the match. They can be brutal. I highly recommend George Dickel with a bit of honey and lemon if need be for those. One good blast before bedtime and you are generally good to go the next day. Way better than Nyquil...cheaper and better tasting too.

Bberkley: June 8 -10 should be MUCH more workable. I'll have to get that on the vacation schedule ASAP.

[n2ipsc]

… I'd just like to say thank you to … even Floyd.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Dude! I'm all tingly - think I better take tomorrow off from work

Seriously - my hat's off too to the lads and ladies that made this such a fantastic match. Great stages, great weather, beautiful setting, finished early each day, ran like clockwork, great CRO's… Definitely one of - if not the - best organized events I've ever been involved with, and DEFINITELY the easiest RM post I've ever held (a bored RM is a happy RM).

If you missed it, you missed a treat…

[Ron Ankeny]

Ditto on a few more safety areas and a cooler of bottled water. The stages were great, but there were some legitimate 180 concerns.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate how hard the guys worked to make the match run well. Bruce worked his butt off (along with many others) but still made the time to listen to shooters and address their concerns. Each stage had a dedicated CRO to keep things consistent, but they were over worked. Asking one guy to run 300 shooters on a 2 1/2 day format is a bit much. I hope they were paid.

[SteveZ]

My mission in life now is to KILL all nerf footballs. I suspected my little in/out was going to cost me the match...it did!

Alma...thanks for "watching my back" on stage 3.....and also the tips!

I also want to personally thank all the helpers on stage 3. You guys rocked! As you all know, we faced a lot of hurdles on stage 3 and the workers picked up the slack....and for one of the workers who thought I was a lawyer by profession (and I'm sure he meant it in the nicest way!!! ) No I'm not....software engineer...it's sorta like an attorney....analysis and consistancy is part of my job.....and "no, I'm always a Yankee fan!" The Cubies will have to survive without me.

Advice for everyone...never complain to Bruce Gary about anything in Reno, Nevada and you'll get along fine in life!

[bgary]

Advice for everyone...never complain to Bruce Gary about anything in Reno, Nevada and you'll get along fine in life!

Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha

Put another way, don't bring me a complaint unless you are willing to be part of the solution

Steven was unquestionably part of the solution, at this match. He ran a stage that had a number of layers of complexity, including repeated range-equipment failures and a number of opportunities for shooters to flirt with the 180, if they were not paying attention. He ran it consistently, courteously, and professionally....

Great job, Steven... you have the grateful appreciation of the shooters at the match, and my personal thanks! I owe you one

Bruce

[Stuck in C]

Man, what a hoot. I think I might get addicted to shooting big matches if they are all this well run and this much fun. As far as my shooting goes, I'm glad it was sunny enough for the sundial timer to work. And sign me up for the Stevie Wonder Shooting Team. I haven't hit that many no-shoots since I started this game. I was on a small squad (#21) where I got to watch James Ong burn through the stages with his Open flamethrower. Met a great bunch of people, including some BE'ers, although I didn't introduce myself. Thanks again to all the CRO's, RO's and all the staff!

[SteveZ]

Put another way, don't bring me a complaint unless you are willing to be part of the solution 

Looks like I'll be part of the solution for the 2007 Area 1 "License to Thrill" Championship in Marysville. I already signed up for CRO duty for that one too. I'm just going to be a "shooter" for Albany....if I see a Nerf Football....I'm going to burn it!