Dpms 3-gun Match

[kurtm]

The Two Clowns and a super hero were Mike Voit, Benny Cooley, and Mike's friend of whom I don't remember his name ( darn Matt wouldn't cough up any of that memeory stuff! .... I think.)

The R.O.s at RM3G and Mesa will be just like the guys that did stage #4 at DPMS, cheerfull, friendly....even after really long days, and doing everything they can to help the shooter. They even went as far as pading the top of the trailer Kurt A. Miller

[Rockchucker]

This was my first major 3-gun match, and I was totaly impressed! The staff at DPMS was awesome! I would like to make a few comments:

I'm somewhat bothered by some of the RO comments. My only RO experience is as an IDPA SO, but I surely understand giving yourself up so that a match can be held and so that others can have an enjoyable experience!

The group of RO's from Washington state that ran Stages 1&5 had the right idea. It was apparent that their intentions were for shooters to 1) BE SAFE and 2) HAVE FUN. I apologize for not having all of their names, but the Beale family, at stage 5, had to be wearing body armour in order to deflect all the comments from impatient shooters. Unfortunately, delays at this stage caused a lot of frustration! Bill Sahlberg's son (Adam) is a very cool young man. He fit my image of an American soldier to a T. Bill, you are a very lucky Dad!.... I don't know what else these people could have done to make a bad situation better. My squad shot stage 5 at 8 p.m. on saturday and although we weren't all happy, you can find several top finishers in that squad.

I also witnessed two DQ's at stage 7. One lady got off three rounds and was stopped for a 180 violation. I have it on tape, and I can't see it! The other was a squad mate of mine. He knew that he deserved it and he took it like a man! However, I felt very uncomfortable while shooting the stage, as everyone ahead of us, had warned us that we would be dealing with a range "Nazi". In all fairness, I would have to say that they were right. The guy was a total autocrate and seemed to have the rest of his RO crew whipped into a submissive state.

The bottom line is....I really don't like seeing all of the ROs critiqued as a group, but if they are to be judged as a group, count my vote as EXCELLENT!

Here's my lasting recollection of the match:

I'll always remember the guy from Texas speaking up for his buddy, who is going through a real tough time with his wife and new baby.....A good chunk of cash was put up by the always generous shooting community. We should all be blessed with such "friends"!

Earlier in this thread, someone mentioned that Pete Brownell had offered to match the contributions that were collected. He did this behind the scenes and without fanfare. I was sitting in the front row and I never heard or saw a thing about it!

Today, while I was placing a phone order with Brownell's, I told the saleslady who took my order, that I thought that it was a very generous thing for Pete to do.

Ten minutes later, Pete Brownell, himself called to thank me for my comments.

Is Brownell's a great company or what!!!!

[nicospop]

Kurt-

If they have problems with the MD or the same RO's why do they let them come back? It's hard enough if you are a serious competitor to deal with everything that goes on, be it good or bad! What can be done at a match by a competitor to stop or fix this?

I just found out that 2 clowns & a superhero are MIKE VOIGT,BENNIE COOLEY and DON AUGUSTINE.I also heard that was the first time that team DPMS 1 has lost,and Randy Luth is having a special traveling trophy made.This will make it interesting for next year.

Edited August 17, 2005 by Shooter Grrl

[Squishy]

This is my second DPMs Tri gun match . I had a blast. I will be back . Hats off to Randy and his staff for a top notch match . The prize table was outstanding. Never seen a better prize table. The only down side to the match was the CRO of stage #7. We were the last squad to shoot that stage. The CRO warned us to watch our 180 coming out of the shooting box . He told us point blank that he DQed 8 shooters on this stage . ( he said it with a smile). He liked that part of his job. When it was my turn to shoot I was very careful of my 180 out of the shooting box . As soon as I took my first shot with a slug thru the port I made a reload going to port 1 as soon as I started to move the CRO yelled muzzle. I was no where near 180. 2 other people in our squad were video taping they said I was not even close to the 180. This CRO should not be allowed back. The RO's of stage 5 were the best . They were backed up all weekend and still had a smile for the shooters. We finished at 8:30 on Saturday night. That means the worked 12 to 13 hours that day and showed up the next morning with a smile . Great job.

[ChandlerSniper158]

I would like to thank Mr. Luth and everyone else involved for working thier butts off to put on a great match for everyone who attended. The stages were alot tougher than last year.. which is a good and bad thing.

The prize table was awesome and I`m also glad they did away with the lewis system, and you went up in the order you finished.. you want to go up sooner.. shoot better. That said...It was mentioned earlier about course layouts. There were way too many 180 traps. They are trying to bring new shooters into the sport, and setting them up to get DQ`d is not the way to get em back. Yes... they are limited to how they can lay a stage out, but there is no reason to set up stages like they did.. on the ones in question..2 and 7 come to mind. The RO`s on stage 2 were awesome.. they went out of thier way to make sure you were safe and HAD FUN, the guys on stage 7 were way too full of themselfs. They did say with a smile they had already DQ`d 7 people on thier stage, ( and I was also there and he did brag to another RO about "how many" he had ) and I witnessed one and it was marginal at best. The shooter stepped into the box and went to port arms.. you could tell he was farily new and they whacked him right off.. not cool at all. What was wrong with telling him to keep the muzzle downrange? I heard a few times while moving thru to watch my muzzle, and I was nowhere near breaking the 180, and I heard it thru most of my squad as well. What was wrong with moving the barriers another few feet towards the rear of the range? That would have alleviated alot of the problems.

Also, the situation tewlman mentioned about the reshoot on stage 5.. what the RM said to the shooter was total BS ( again.. I was standing right there when he said it to him ). What difference does it make if your shooting for first or last place.. if the range wasn`t set up the same... why shouldn`t you have the same chance to shoot as the rest of the people who have ran thru the stage???... showing up to shoot and expecting a prop, staged weapon, ect. to be there and it`s not will just totally blow the stage for you no matter who you are. For the RM to say that was total crap. That just ruined any credibility he had with me as being a top RM. Last I knew there was only one set of rules for the match.. not a different set for the "top 5" and the rest of the fill ins who come to donate our time and money so the "top 5" can get some good prizes.

As far as the rest of the match.. the squad I shot with was great.. Steve, Steve, and Tony.. it was definately a blast shooting with you guys. Next time I`m gonna bring my dog training collar for a certain member of the squad.. so we can zap his ass when we can`t find him. I`ve already got my entry ready for next year.. see ya there.

CS#158

[tewlman]

10-4 on that dog collar Scott. Let me know, i can bring one if you cant!

[latewatch]

As far as the rest of the match.. the squad I shot with was great.. Steve, Steve, and Tony.. it was definately a blast shooting with you guys. Next time I`m gonna bring my dog training collar for a certain member of the squad.. so we can zap his ass when we can`t find him. I`ve already got my entry ready for next year.. see ya there.

Scott, great shooting with you also. I'll definitely be there next year.

[Cactustactical]

Hopefully, these comments about certain RO's are being seen or forwarded to the match organizers. They can't fix a problem or not invite RO's back if they aren't aware of ths problem. It sounds like there was a definite problem on 1 stage.

[kurtm]

Yes Greg, Mr. Sahlberg and I had a long chat last night. He is well aware of what happened, and is doing all in his power to get it corrected. It was a nice give and take conversation and at no time did he just fall back on " My R.O.s right or wrong". He seemed to sincerely want to get it all straightened out. KURTM

[JD McCutchen]

I unfortunately had to work most of the week and Thursday and did not get to assist with setting up or shooting the match with the other RO's. I did take a peek at some of the stages to see what I would be missing. I can say this much, had I been able to shoot the match, there were definate areas that care needed to be taken.

I have been an RO with the Tri-Gun for all 3 years it has been running, well actually the first year I was the scorekeeper. Last year I had to DQ an individual for shooting a round out of the range at a 45 degree angle during his weak handed reload. I felt like crap having to DQ the man considering it was only his 3rd stage of the match, I know...he DQ'ed himself but I had to make the call. This year, knock on wood, was uneventful on our stage.

I forgot to mention that I was one of the three RO's on the Stage 6 (200yd). I know there were a bunch of people who did not have a good time on our stage because they were either not hitting the targets like they thought they should or ran out of time. There were only a small handfull of shooters who actually used the 300 seconds and did not finish, but yet these few had fun becuase they were shooting.

When people were done with our stage, I did get quite a few hand shakes and words of thanks and praise for a job well done. I only heard one negative comment when a squad was leaving and I don't even remember who said it - "Now we are off to the DQ Stage".

One event on our stage that really sticks out for me is this...During mid-day Saturday we had just gone through the walkthrough with one squad and they were playing on the props, when one squad came in from the left and one from the right. They were told to come down and get shot through our stage. I talked to both squad captains about the shooting order on which squad was next. They both agreed with the decision that was made. During one of the shooter's runs, I had run out of water. One competitor, upstanding and outstanding whoever you were, came up behind me and told me to give him my Camel Back and he would fill me up.

All in all I am sorry to hear that some of you did not have a good time all around, excluding the stages you may have shot poorly on.

I am sorry to see that our stage did not make the "happy" list, but that just means that we will have to try harder next year. And with that in mind, I am going to see if we can incorporate some standing offhand shooting to 50 and 75 yards start practicing. Well it looks like we won't make next year's happy list either.

PS - Personal thanks to Jerry for the cigars, we will do it again next year.

[latewatch]

I am sorry to see that our stage did not make the "happy" list, but that just means that we will have to try harder next year. And with that in mind, I am going to see if we can incorporate some standing offhand shooting to 50 and 75 yards start practicing. Well it looks like we won't make next year's happy list either.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

JD,

Many thanks for your efforts and hard work. I enjoyed Stage 6 (even though I'd like to have shot better) and thought the RO's on that stage did a great job.

BTW, I'm all for some off hand for next year!!!!

[tewlman]

JD,

you had an awesome stage and you guys did a great job running it. Wished i would have hit that right hand paper target the first time i was on the horse , but asside from that, i did fairly well there. We were backed up there some on Friday, but it all worked out. Keep up the good work.

[Brian Payne]

I loved stage 6. First time I shot rifle at 100 yards with iron sights, much less at 200. Was hitting the targets well but had nine rifle malfunctions. That sucked. Then to find out it was from my own stupidity, that really sucked.

Lesson learned. Don't change rifle stocks without thoroughly test firing your weapon prior to the match. Different buffer caused short stroking of the bolt.

Will have to get a couple of those flash targets. Those are nice.

[ChandlerSniper158]

JD,

You guys were great.. you and your crew did an awesome job running everyone thru. We were way behind on stage 5 and you guys let us get our squad thru so we weren`t farther behind. I`ll start practicing for the offhand stuff now.. see ya next year.

CS#158

[kellyn]

I think we've hashed this one out.