First 3 gun match to MD

[Tmcfarland]

Looking for critics...helpful ones that is. I have stepped up to help out our local club for the next 3 gun match we will have. I have been given free rein except for including 2 mandatory classifiers and have a pretty good selection of targets to pull from. I attached my first drafts and looking for thoughts on the designs.

BURN EM' DOWN.docx

Not Too Fast.docx

[Tmcfarland]

Download restrictions... here is the third stage

Bring It Home.docx

[Tmcfarland]

Here is the fourth stage

FIELD GOAL.docx

[atomicferret]

Slinging an empty gun, on the clock, in my opinion, is not a good idea.  Too high a chance that someone can knock a pistol out of a holster.  

Also When slugs are intermingled with birdshot and there is close steel, the chance of a mistake also goes up.  If you absolutely must do it, use clays to help mitigate the danger a little.  

 

when using paper targets that are mandatory pistol or rifle, I like it when a match uses a different target for each gun (classics for rifle, IPSC's for pistol, or whatever).  

 

Another thing to think about is the reset time.  If a stage is all on a single line, nothing can be reset until everything is cleared, if it is set up with a down range flow, then it can be reset behind the shooter.  That really helps a match stay moving.  

 

I hope this helps and i hope you have a great match. 

[Tmcfarland]

17 minutes ago, atomicferret said:

Slinging an empty gun, on the clock, in my opinion, is not a good idea.  Too high a chance that someone can knock a pistol out of a holster.

My mistake...should have been off the clock, thanks

 

24 minutes ago, atomicferret said:

Also When slugs are intermingled with birdshot and there is close steel, the chance of a mistake also goes up.  I

I agree, might be changing that up a bit.

 

25 minutes ago, atomicferret said:

Another thing to think about is the reset time.  If a stage is all on a single line, nothing can be reset until everything is cleared, if it is set up with a down range flow, then it can be reset behind the shooter.  That really helps a match stay moving.

Only a couple bays we have would enable that type of reset. Most of them are not very deep and kind of narrow but will see if i can move a few things around. 

 

Really appreciate the feedback

[JAF1680]

If you do the swingers with slugs have a few extra targets ready because they will take a few hits from birdshot and it will tear them up eventually.

[StealthyBlagga]

Firstly, WELL DONE for stepping up to run a match. Lots of folks whine about matches, but few have the guts to step up and make a match happen.

 

I agree with all the other points made above, especially the risks of mixing of shot and slugs on steel, and the slowness to reset. Also, as a general comment, I would say all your WSBs are too rigidly prescriptive, giving the shooter little in the way of options and creativity. Everyone is going to shoot them the same way. Some vision barriers (walls, barrels, whatever you have) would make a HUGE difference in visual appeal and shooting challenge (go shoot a few USPSA handgun matches to see what I mean).

 

Here are my thoughts on each stage:

 

"Burn Em Down": The WSB is needlessly complicated. The flashers have to be shot twice, but some designs may not settle quickly after the first hit (especially with a 308). Also, think about how quickly the RO will have to be calling those hits. In general, two-bay stages run very slow, but you can speed things up a bit by having an RO clear the pistol and place it in a safety area after the shooter moves into the next bay. Lastly, it is not clear when the PCC can be used (but maybe that is spelled out in the match rules... what rules are you using?).

 

"Not Too Fast": The splatter from the slug plate will tear up the nearby paper. Also, I am not a huge fan of tables for abandonment of any gun, and you have the same tables being used for staging and abandonment... you are setting folks up for dropped guns. Instead, I suggest you invest in barrels and bins that point down into the ground.

 

"Bring It Home": Some of the rifle targets are visible past the 180, which is bad practice. Steel splatter could be an issue on adjacent paper. The shooting areas for pistol may seem obvious but are not spelled out (do you have to move forward or can you shoot everything from the same position?).This stage is also likely to run slow due to the amount of reset, and the need to clear all guns before starting to reset. The peacock target array will lead to arguments over shots that touch the outer perfs of the targets, and the sticks may get shot to crap (requiring replacement - wrap them in duct tape to prolong their life).

 

"Field Goal": The shooting areas may seem obvious to you, but are not spelled out.

Across all the stages, the start positions are not spelled out, and the shooting areas are not made clear (try using "Area A", "Area B" etc.). You have not indicated on the diagrams which targets are to be engaged with rifle, pistol, shotgun or PCC (suggest marking the targets unambiguously on the diagram, e.g. rT1 = rifle, pT1 = pistol, sT1 = shotgun etc.). Safe abandonment condition should be spelled out in your rules so it does not need to be described in each WSB.

 

Closing thought: Think carefully about your time budget (beep-to-beep time per shooter), and how long folks will be stuck on the range. Running every stage with all three guns costs you a lot of time and, honestly, can get really tedious (my opinion). You will lose a lot of time to the Make Ready sequence, especially if you let folks screw around with elaborate sight pictures and visualizations, so having the On-Deck shooter pre-load their shotgun makes a lot of sense. Likewise, clearing all three guns at the end will be a huge time suck. Shooters will allow you several matches to find the right flavor, but will drop you quickly if you keep them on the range all day just to shoot four stages.

 

Please take the above as constructive criticism... we need more folks like you to grow the sport.

Edited December 3, 2017 by StealthyBlagga

[Tmcfarland]

Thanks for all the comments, the match went well with only 30 shooters and 3 squads. Made a note to make the squads 8 or so for the next one. We had a total of 7 stages and they averaged out to about an hour a piece to run 10 shooters through. I did change a few of the WSB’s and some of the targets placements. It was a LOT of work and grateful we had a heck of a team helping with set up and tear down. My next one has not been scheduled yet but will be 5 stages max and have less targets. It was a great learning experience for sure


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[StealthyBlagga]

Beware of making the squads too small lest you have too few folks for reset. You lose 2 people to RO duty (clock + tablet), plus the shooter, plus the on-deck shooter, plus the shooter who just finished and is stuffing mags. With 8 per squad, only 3 will be resetting. If you don't want to be out on the range for 7 hours, reducing the number of stages is the right approach. Most if all, do what is sustainable for you so you don't burn out your crew. 

Edited December 3, 2017 by StealthyBlagga