Shooter-Voted Best Nationals Location

[rowdyb]

8 hours ago, shred said:

At least that drains better.  The king of range-drainage might be the old Space City range in Alvin-- it rained seven and three quarter inches of rain in 45 minutes one year.   Flooded the entire place a couple feet deep in water.  We shot the next day in mildly-soggy conditions.    Wouldn't have believed it if we weren't there in it.

 

The club I belonged to in Arkansas invested heavily in culverts, drainage and especially gravel year after year. It could rain inches in an hour and be almost immediately ready to shoot. Important as much as it rained there.

Edited July 14, 2022 by rowdyb

[GigG]

4 minutes ago, rowdyb said:

The club I belonged to in Arkansas...

Which one?

[deerslayer]

8 hours ago, rowdyb said:

The club I belonged to in Arkansas invested heavily in culverts, drainage and especially gravel year after year. It could rain inches in an hour and be almost immediately ready to shoot. Important as much as it rained there.

If you are referring to CASA, I fully agree.  I don’t want to shoot a match in a downpour, but if I do, I hope it’s at CASA.  

[Bakerjd]

I've shot Nationals at CMP and Frostproof. I liked Frostproof better as far as ability to handed 300+ people as far as range amenities goes. But CMP was pretty nice too. 

 

Honestly before we start talking about where it's held we need to talk about who is running and overseeing Nationals. I personally want to see way better props, and for it to be more like a wow factor as far as stages and stuff goes. 

[pjb45]

I have shot Nationals at: PASA, Vegas, St George, Al, Tulsa, MT.

If it was not raining Tulsa is great.

I prefer St. George.  Range is good, the towns are nice, accommodations reasonable.  Buying beer is a hassle but not a big deal.

Props: I have not heard of better props than those at Rio Salado-Desert Classic. The had a fireman pole, roller coaster, helios, cars, more steel type targets than you might think.

Remember props have an effect on stage turnaround times.

 

IMO, stages are the first issue in a great match, followed by ROs, the unsung heros are staff.

[yekcoh]

On 7/18/2022 at 6:09 PM, pjb45 said:

I have shot Nationals at: PASA, Vegas, St George, Al, Tulsa, MT.

If it was not raining Tulsa is great.

I prefer St. George.  Range is good, the towns are nice, accommodations reasonable.  Buying beer is a hassle but not a big deal.

Props: I have not heard of better props than those at Rio Salado-Desert Classic. The had a fireman pole, roller coaster, helios, cars, more steel type targets than you might think.

Remember props have an effect on stage turnaround times.

 

IMO, stages are the first issue in a great match, followed by ROs, the unsung heros are staff.

I do appreciate the staffs for what they do and I really think the staffs should receive good pay/compensation so we dont have to call the unsung heroes or volunteers. 
 

Im all for paid staff. 

[motosapiens]

19 minutes ago, yekcoh said:

I do appreciate the staffs for what they do and I really think the staffs should receive good pay/compensation so we dont have to call the unsung heroes or volunteers. 
 

Im all for paid staff. 

in actuality, at A1 or nationals, I have computed that I am earning $20-30/hr for my RO time. Free match entry, lunches (+dinner stipend at nats), hotel or cash stipend to apply to my own lodging arrangements, and partial travel reimbursement at nationals.

 

The downside is I have to shoot the staff match with a little less time to watch other folks runs on the moving targets.

 

At 2021 SS nationals flights were still cheap, so even tho I had to cross the country, I think I made a small profit overall on that match (adding in the $250 gift cert for the bullets I use from the prize table).

 

It's still alot of work, and you have to have the extra vacation time to spare, but at least at A1 and nationals, it is worth it for frugal types like me.

[guns_and_labs]

St. George was great, but as much for who was running it. Whatever happened to Las Vegas, though? I remember one held there and I thought it was ideal.

[yekcoh]

1 hour ago, guns_and_labs said:

St. George was great, but as much for who was running it. Whatever happened to Las Vegas, though? I remember one held there and I thought it was ideal.

They modified the range so it's not suitable for action pistol. I'm working on getting restoring that.

[OPENB]

I shot Open Nats at SUPS in 2019, and enjoyed it. I understand they had a range remodeling in 2020, but why has Nats not been there any longer?

[yekcoh]

6 hours ago, OPENB said:

I shot Open Nats at SUPS in 2019, and enjoyed it. I understand they had a range remodeling in 2020, but why has Nats not been there any longer?

From a 3rd person perspective, the communication got dropped when Yeemin was yeeted. They are actively trying to bring it back.

[Joe4d]

Vegas was nothing but hookers drinking and gambling,,, horrible horrible place,,,, So ummm whens it coming back to there ?

[shred]

5 minutes ago, Joe4d said:

Vegas was nothing but hookers drinking and gambling,,, horrible horrible place,,,, So ummm whens it coming back to there ?

Don't forget the cracked windshields and old codgers with a radar gun...

 

[motosapiens]

8 minutes ago, Joe4d said:

Vegas was nothing but hookers drinking and gambling,,, horrible horrible place,,,, So ummm whens it coming back to there ?

I worked (but didn't shoot) vegas in 2012. The match hotel was on the edge of town, close to the range, so it was pretty convenient. The range seemed nice, but I remember some severe match flow issues with big backups at a couple stages. I haven't seen anything like that since, but I have only shot 6-8 nationals (st george a few times, frostproof, talladega 3x, and ss nats at PALA once).  All those ranges were nice when I was there, but pala would probably have been annoying for a match where i didn't drive.

 

Ultimately, I think nationals should move around every few years, and I'd like to see some different ranges get involved.

[Joe4d]

When I shot Nats in Vegas I am thinking 2009 or 10 ? Hotel was the Orleans casino resort. I went early and stayed late. Had a good time, Jumped WAY up in standings on second and third day.. think there was alot of partying going on.. I waited..
Caught some shows with a friend from Highschool, Bite,, and Blueman group...  
I wouldnt even consider going to IL or anywhere in the NE... Maybe Florida in winter, but weather can screw you there.
Tulsa seemed to flood every year for IDPA,, and every year they acted surprised.

 

[outerlimits]

shot the 98 nationals in Vegas-parking was behind 6' berms on the long range range.  lots of wrecked glass.  you could actually see the action ranges if you had a lifted truck.  scary.  shot 3 gun nats there a few times since...mo betta.  

[shred]

I liked the Missoula nats location, but it was kind of a pain to get to and after it didn't sell out, USPSA cut them out of future consideration.  That's the last nats that I remember where they had funky props and stage scenarios-- we shot one stage wearing life jackets (start position holding the kayak paddle) and another had a button you had to hold down so the nuclear reactor siren wouldn't go off. 

  

 

[Dirty_J]

A nationals event should NEVER be located more than 90 minutes from a major hub of the largest air carriers.
 

NEVER. Absolute deal breaker. It makes the air travel so much more expensive when there’s limited capacity and competition on the routes. 

[caspian guy]

11 hours ago, shred said:

I liked the Missoula nats location, but it was kind of a pain to get to and after it didn't sell out, USPSA cut them out of future consideration.  That's the last nats that I remember where they had funky props and stage scenarios-- we shot one stage wearing life jackets (start position holding the kayak paddle) and another had a button you had to hold down so the nuclear reactor siren wouldn't go off. 

  

 

Yep enjoyable match at a nice location.  But traveling there was indeed an expensive PITA

[shred]

We made it a road trip through Oregon and Idaho and stayed with some friends.  Nice trip.  Some other people went via Yellowstone.

 

 

[ampleworks]

Voting for Cardinal (OH)

 

Major international airport and hundreds of hotels all available with ~30 minutes

Plenty of parking at the range with easy on/off the interstate

Ohio gun laws are relatively friendly now with constitutional carry

 

Talladega is nice and there's plenty of hotels since the area is used to 100K visitors several times a year but 90-120 minutes of driving after flying in before you even get to the hotel would be annoying. TMP needs to work with a statesman to get an exclusion for the 9am start time.

[shred]

I like the 9am start.  Much more civilized than putting gear on by flashlight before the sun rises.

[Dirty_J]

18 minutes ago, shred said:

I like the 9am start.  Much more civilized than putting gear on by flashlight before the sun rises.

I also like that 9a start. They’re able to get split squads done with daylight (usually), so it works out fine imo. 

[Fishbreath]

I would change two things about Cardinal nationals if I had a magic wand:

 

1. More shoot-any-direction bays.

2. Warmup/sight-in bays open before AM squads' first shots.

 

Otherwise I think it's a great facility, although I'm slightly biased because it's a super-easy drive for me.

[OPENB]

6 minutes ago, Fishbreath said:

I would change two things about Cardinal nationals if I had a magic wand:

 

1. More shoot-any-direction bays.

2. Warmup/sight-in bays open before AM squads' first shots.

 

Otherwise I think it's a great facility, although I'm slightly biased because it's a super-easy drive for me.

Yeah, the bays with the concrete walls suck, but they are using bullet traps to try allow more directions other than directly down range.