Florida Open 2006 - Match Discussion

[dirtypool40]

OK, we have a thread about the confirmation cards. As match time draws near, let's use this one for discussing the match, once we get "eyes on" stages, through to awards.

Edited February 20, 2006 by dirtypool40

[dirtypool40]

Dateline - Tuesday morning; thread bump.

Anyone been out and seen anything? Any RO's on the range yet?

Who's shooting Thursday?

I'm heading down Friday afternoon to register and walkthrough things. Staying at Green Gables.

Dinner Anyone?

[Radical Precision Designs]

Dateline - Tuesday morning; thread bump.

Anyone been out and seen anything? Any RO's on the range yet?

Who's shooting Thursday?

I'm heading down Friday afternoon to register and walkthrough things. Staying at Green Gables.

Dinner Anyone?

Eric-

I bought some Silhouette and primers from you at the Monster Match. Got any more left? I'll be there Friday snooping around, and then shooting in the BE "Nut Squad" Sat. & Sun.

[dirtypool40]

I couls probably part with a sleeve or some Tightgroup, but I"m getting down to where I want to be. Email me or call me direct. No mas Sillouette.

[Kevin Kline]

Ill be there Thursday looking round stages, shooting all day Friday, staying at Econo Inn in Avon Park.

[L9X25]

Ill be there Thursday looking round stages, shooting all day Friday, staying at Econo Inn in Avon Park.

Glad to hear that .... now we know where to TP your car!

[Carmoney]

I'm not going to be able to make it this year but I'm sure interested in hearing the scoop on how the 2006 major match season kicks off for the USPSA wheelgunners!

I don't believe D.Carden and Hopalong are shooting it this year, either.

Has anyone heard from Ricky? Or any of the guys from Europe (or elsewhere in the world)?

[cpty1]

I'll be heading down on Thursday. Hope to get down early enough to see some stages in the afternoon. Another of my old age maladies has set in and I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to shoot Friday or not. Kinda playing it by ear. Will either shoot Friday and have tables set up Saturday and Sunday, or if I don't shoot will set up all three days. Staying at the Quality Inn in Sebring. Everyone stop by the vendor area and say hello. Really looking forward to the match.....been a long winter. Just looked at the weather forecast.....high in the low 80s and lows in the mid 50s....woohoo!

Edited February 15, 2006 by cpty1

[Still Praying]

Another of my old age maladies has set in and I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to

That maybe more than we need to know Chris.

BTW, I'm realy enjoying that shooters bag I got from you at the Area 6 last year. See ya at the match.

Ronnie

[dirtypool40]

Any reports from Thursday? Any RO's walk the stages today?

[DrawandDuck]

Stages look pretty straight foward....very few no shoots...actually don't know if I even saw one...Walked them while at lunch from the Grauffel class. Steel sprinkled in several stages(poppers and plates), some unusual uses of starting props(golf club, zip line, bowling ball, and a stage you have to shoot while walking an 16" walkway during the entire stage. BRING THE SUNSCREEN GUYS/GALS!! It was HOT today with the same forecast for the weekend...felt like 90 to me!!! Everyone have a safe trip down and see you at the range.

Edited February 17, 2006 by DrawandDuck

[old john]

What does Frank want one to do with a bowling ball at a shooting match. Please don't say put it in the zip lock and shoot strong hand while walking with it in the bag! Old John

[Bigbadaboom]

What does Frank want one to do with a bowling ball at a shooting match. Please don't say put it in the zip lock and shoot strong hand while walking with it in the bag! Old John

If it's the same way they used it at the "Monster Match" then you'll love it. It's coooooool.

I won't be there due to work but I want to wish everyone good luck and a great time and to all my local friends and shooting buds, don't shoot faster than you can see, stay positive, relax and have fun. Oh yeah, "AND WIN!!!"

[Kevin Kline]

Well just got done shooting the match about an hour ago and am driving home while typing this on my laptop and aircard. And no, Im not typing while driving, my brother in law is driving and Im typing. He is geeting me sick though with his driving.

Well, not a bad match, a lot of shooting and mental work for one day though. Im exhausted mentally and physically. Zero no shoots just like Frank always does. Challenging stages with some longer shots and amoeba targets are deceiving. If you're not used to shooting on them, you can screw them up quickly.

Not bad for the match, I had 1 mike and was doing great through 7 stages. Thru 7 stages, 4 D's and no mikes, no shoots or penalties. Then the last three stages I was getting tired and trying to fight through it. 4 D's on one stage and 1 mike. I refocused and finished strong on stage 10. I tried to slow down some on this match to get the points that SOOOOO important in Prod and not have misses. Good props and design I thought.

As always, good match.

[Bwana Six-Gun]

What's the scoop on who did what to whom with revolvers?

[hopalong]

Scuttlebutt has it that in the Revolver division.........

Richardo is having gun problems, Fail to fire, ect.

Master Walsh had a bad day with several Mikes......Good thing Frank doesn't like No shoots as he'd likely be in them too.

Keith is lurking in the shadows, not much news good or bad with him so he'd be one to watch.....Even Master Walsh said so.......so I hear.

We'll see how it all ends up when the smoke is clear.

HOP

[Sharyn]

I hear Forrest is shooting very well with Derek's gun. Kick butt, Forrest!!!

[Vericio_Brazil]

Hey HOP,

Any news about the wheelgunners?

Thank you.

[dirtypool40]

Just got home, great match.

I shot another stinker of a FL Open but had a lot of fun squadding with the BE'ers.

No results as yet, except don't look for me in the top 20.

Cool stages, great weather looooooongs days.

Got some good video and stills, will try to post some.

ok, nap time.

[gmshtr]

From what I've heard:

Some guy named Eric - Open

Todd J. - Limited

Angus - Prod

? - L10

? - Revolver (probably have a 1-8 chance of guessing that winner)

Wish I could've been there.

Phil

[XD Niner]

I had a great time. This was the first large USPSA match that I have attended. I thought they did a great job on the organization (everything right on time or slightly ahead of schedule), the props and the stage layouts. I saw shooters from France, Germany, Canada, Jamaica and a couple of Central and South American countries. I think one guy may have been from Russia judging from his accent. Of course, there were competitors from all over the U. S. too.

On Friday night, I noticed the pin that held the front of my Bomar style sight was coming loose. Like an idiot I put my 1911 on edge and pushed the pin in by pushing the sight against the edge of the night stand in the hotel. You guessed it, the rear sight slipped in the dovetail. I spent a sleepless night worrying about if I had gotten it back in the original positing. Sooo, I was the first on the practice range Saturday morning at 6:45 to get it sighted in again. Fortunately, I had guessed pretty closely and it took only four clicks to get it centered. Whew!

Despite the lack of any no-shoots, there was an abundance of hard cover and hidden targets. I was the first shooter on the Golf stage yesterday at 7:00 a. m. and sure enough I completely overlooked one target that was hidden behind a wall. I never even saw it during the walk through. My pleas to the RO that I hadn't had a cup of coffee yet went unheeded. One procedural and two Mikes to start the match. Yikes!!

I really enjoyed most of the stages. I think Bowling, Competitive Eating and Hunting were my personal favorites. Gambling was the only non-field course with two repetitive strings of twelve shots each required. I think the shortest field course was 26 rounds. I shot over 360 rounds this weekend counting a couple of mags on the practice range.

I couldn't stay for the final awards, prize table and Harley raffle. I finished in the middle of the L-10 pack (not surprising for a "C") and wasn't worried about a trophy or plaque since no classes except Open and Limited had many awards. I'd heard the prize table was nothing to get excited about from some previous posts and decided to head home early. I just hope my ticket wasn't drawn for that Harley because you had to be there to win.

I will shoot the Open again next year but will try Friday. The Saturday/Sunday round had 20 12-person squads on 10 stages so you had to wait nearly and hour between stages. I'm a Type A personality and that was just too slow for me. On the other hand, I saw a whole bunch of bone tired shooters on Friday afternoon when I arrived so Friday has its drawbacks too.

[Radical Precision Designs]

Just got home from the Match. Had a wonderful time.

Was able to put faces to some names here. Shooting with the BEnos "Nut Squad" was a lot of fun. Very nice, amiable people we got here, for sure. Would love to "hang out" again with them, definetely.

Saturday night we had ten hungry, boisterous and cantankerous "entities" join up for dinner at Don Jose Mexican Restaurant. We drank plenty of Tecate and Dos Equis (XX) beer, and I even had a Margarita (non alcolholic ). Confusingly enough, some of the conversation centered around the merits or legitimacy of "moonshine" as produced in Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina, with defenders from their native "countries/States"offering their views. Being from Florida, I offered to be the arbiter when such product became available at the next BEnos Match. ????

I concurr with the description of the Stages. Very strategically challenging, with various ways of shooting them. When I thought I had a specific stage all figured out, Dirtypool would point out a variant that would send you back to your thinking cap, and rethink your strategy, only to miss one target by changing your strategy at the last moment. Aaargghh!!! Then, at lunch time (Sunday) while eating lunch, my open gun with the side mounted C-More somehow got banged against something, throwing my dot/aim way off on the next stage (Baseball) After grinning ear to ear by figuring out the perfect strategy I spent nearly one magazine trying to knock down the small steel plate that would allow me to proceed with the rest of the stage finding out where my gun was shooting at. Not fun. At the end of that stage more smoke was coming out of my ears than out of my gun. A quick trip to the practice range (for a well spent buck per mag ) corrected my aim, But the damage was done. In addition, this kind of matches, (field, sprinting) are definetely not made for shooters with artificial knees like mine. But I had a lot of fun, which was the (main) reason for my coming, and mingling with akin folks. Love y'all, you people.

Now, for an encore: The Florida State Championship next month ...

Edited February 20, 2006 by Radical Precision Designs

[boo radley]

Well, I'll throw in my report -- first big match I've been to, and I'm still jumpy. Relaxing is not a term I'd use to describe this weekend....

First: if anyone has a link to the final standings, I'd *greatly* appreciate a pointer. I had to leave during the shoot-off to catch my plane. I thought an 8:15pm flight would give me plenty of time, but at 5pm, I couldn't wait any longer, not knowing how busy the airport would be.

So I missed the final results, the awards ceremony, the prize table, and the drawings. If I won the Harley, please do NOT tell me.

I'm furious with myself for arranging the travel with knowing exactly how long these things last...<sigh>

As near as I can tell from looking at the individual stage results, I ended up either 2nd, 3rd or 4th in my class C/Ltd division. <sigh> First was clearly won by a large margin by a gentleman from Venezuela, Noe Leon.

Second -- and this should be first, really: great meeting and shooting with y'all. Everyone was truly a class act, and it was nice to put names to faces: AikiDale, Brundoggie, Radical Precision, Harry, Eric S and his new wife, Mark M, Bryan, Randal (Open Mike?), Ronnie, and I'm sure I'm forgetting one or more, and if so my apologies. Also, Wild Bill Caldwell was floating around in another squad, and I met Chris Patty at the vendor's booth.

Got there Friday afternoon, and spent probably about 4 hours walking around the stages with Brundoggie drawing stage diagrams, taking copious notes, etc. We started with the stage 'Bowling'. Also ran into (though I didn't know him at the time, Aikidale and his female companion, who was doing the same).

Had a barbeque dinner and a couple beers with Brundoggie and Wild Bill, at a surprisingly good casual place in Lake Wales, then back to the hotel, where I reviewed my notes, visualized, dry-fired, and generally didn't sleep worth a godd*m. Drove to the range at 0600 Sat, in pea soup fog, and spent a couple bucks at the practice range shooting plates.

The deal is, for $1 a magazine, you can shoot plates. I'm glad I bought some extra ammo at WalMart.

First stage, I told myself to take it easily and carefully, which worked well, because I jerked around the stage like a hooked fish, when the timer went off -- didn't see the front sight once, and turned in 3 mikes, and a bunch of D-hits.

The nice thing is, there's about an hour and a half wait between stages, which is ample opportunity to reflect on one's performance, and inspirational start. The second stage wasn't much better - a very short stage with paper and some painted steel: you tossed a die, and whatever color came up you *didn't* shoot. 2 runs. First run was ok, second, I missed on some steel then forgot what f*cking color I had rolled....Aikidale shot this stage very well -- in fact, throughout the entire match it was nice seeing someone from the squad really burn down at least one stage. I told Randal he ought to get a picture of the leader board on one stage in which he beat Matt Burkett and a bunch of other top shooters.

Anyway. Won't go into the boring stage-by-stage detail, but it struck me as a pretty grueling match, and absolutely unforgiving of mistakes. The stages weren't as hard per se as I had imagined prior, but there were often multiple ways to shoot the same stage, depending on risk. Lots and lots of easy/hard combos: you'd have to dash 20 yards, shoot a couple close targets then need to pick off a tight steel before moving. Interesting stuff. I have a lot of respect for the IPSC std target, now, too: I'd think I had an A/C hit, and it would be 'C/D'.

Had a nice dinner with a couple folks from the forum, as Radical Precision detailed. Sunday, got my act together a little bit, and started calling the shots, and gave it my best. DirtyPool, and the other top shooters on the squad were very helpful in stage planning and mgmt.

Anyway, stuck around as long as I could....looked like Ronnie, Randal, Bryan, Harry, and possibly myself were all in the mix of getting some kind of recognition; Brundoggie *should* have been in the mix, since he's a damn solid L-10 shooter. Dirtypool showed why he's an M with some flat-out *amazing* runs and hits on some stages, but had a couple problems, as did MarkM and Aikidale who are both obviously excellent shooters but had a rough spot and some tough calls.

Must run to work. Again -- great meeting everyone. Also -- a huge thanks to the RO's and other volunteers at the range. That's got to be brutal waking up that early for 3 days and dealing with stressed-out shooters and long, long days!!

[dirtypool40]

Thanks Boo, it was fun. You guys kept me level and smiling in spite of my dismal performance.

I actually cancelled out of the match Friday, cancelled my hotel room and then when things "worked out", I ended up loading ammo Fri night and leaving my house at 0430 Saturday morning.

BlkBrd is telling me I ended up 11th, which only means everyone elses gun broke. I had a rough match, gun locking open on new mags first four stages, trying to make that up with speed (Note: to be read slow Mikes). Then I switched to the "old reliable" international stndard mags I have shot for the last year and a half. Then gun ran great, but now I was out of count and kept running it dry.

Saturday we drove to mom's after the match, and back at, you guessed it 0430 Sunday morning.

Once in a while it would seem like things were going to gel, and I would trigger freeze or miss a position, so I never had what I would call a solid run. I felt in most cases I picked good plans, but didn't execute well.

Gambling was a clear case of letting your subconscious idle and "correct things" that should be left alone.

I'm still not convinced I shot "Eating" wrong. I shot it in 19.69 with a LOOONNG 2+ seconds of trigger freeze on the swingers. It really felt solid except for the end on the swingers. Fastest run was TJ at 15.99. So If I don't trigger freeze I really think I'm within a second of the pace. And TJ did smoke the thing. I mention all this because the Supers all ran around the front, and I ran across and then up.

I got TJ, Smitty, Graffel, Seeklander and lowly me on tape. Oddly I am the only guy that didn't run around the front, so maybe that should tell me something. Anyway, I'll run it both ways this coming weekend for fun and see what I come up with. I bet it's close. And yes, I wanna know. I'm not into doing something "just because" and if it's faster, I wanna know for next time.

All in all, it was what I told myself it would be; a wake up call to get my ass out there and get back up to speed. We're shooting it again as a local match next weekend. I'll be there.

The one bright spot was that in the videos my movement does seem to be improving. Not there yet, but better. "poco a poco" as they say. I'll try to figure out how to post some, even as a blooper reel.

It's funny how reading this over, I get the blinding flash of the obvious that maybe, just maybe I didn't "set myself up for success".

Well, fun had, money spent, lesson learned.

Edited February 20, 2006 by dirtypool40

[XRe]

BlkBrd is telling me I ended up 11th, which only means everyone elses gun broke.

Is it at all possible that you a Type III performance - ie, bad performance, good result??? That your skill was able to keep you in the match at 11th overall in spite of all the difficulty you encountered???

Ease up on yourself, amigo A lesser skilled shooter would've ended up quite a bit further down the list than you did, given the same circumstances. Just set yourself up better next time And get those big mags workin' 100%