2007 South Carolina Sectional - Mark Your Calenders

[Fireant]

JFD,

I just want to know why that last plate either had holes in it or was sitting on a spring that kept it moving for me? obviously range equipment malfunction Great stage. Like others have said, I'd like another crack at that stage.

[JFD]

I think the problem with the plates was they are 10" instead of 8". Obviously we are used to shooting 8" plates, so the extra size and weight must have been too easy to hit and sucked the oomph out of our bullets....Sure....That must be it

I'm also pretty sure Mid Carolina provided us with extra tough paint....I mean why else would those plates so often require so many "hits" to make a single mark on the steel???

Sort of like that forward falling plate on stage 6. It was obviously defective if it took 20 seconds to fall with a well-placed shot 6" from the base, yet fell pretty fast with a hit on that roundy sort of part or that skinny looking part above it I shot it second on our squad and a member of the Air Force team (great bunch of guys!) who shot first went with the 6" from the base hit "plan". I didn't notice the location of the hit right off and totally changed my plan to account for the "slow" plate When I knew what really happened it was too late IMHO to change my plan and I still didn't know how fast/slow it fell. I guessed it was really slow

That sounds like a fair excuse even though I shot the right head-shot targets, blasted 5 plates, figured to shoot the left head-shot targets and then hose down the targets through the ports. Unfortunately I got excited on my last shot on the last head-shot target when I saw the last popper was available out of the corner of my eye. Rushed the shot and clipped the non-scoring border for my only penalty of the match. An overlay might have given me the hit (maybe...perhaps...it could happen), but I didn't have enough sense to ask for it at the time since I knew it was a bad shot. Pharaoh Bender may have been in the land of wishful thinking when he asked for an overlay on my stage, but I think it's smarter to ask for one right now than to think it might have been a good idea later

How strange that nobody else thought my plan was original enough to copy Of course it must have been a sign of great respect that they were honor bound to not copy me. Surely it wasn't a bad plan...

[JFD]

I've checked the results to see if my stage was unusually evil.

Lucky for me I don't know the exact definition of unusually evil. It was almost twice as difficult as the next hardest stage, so I think it was just plain "evil".

Here's some facts:

Total match penalties:

GM = 22

M = 49

A = 108

B = 258

C = 288

D = 323

U = 144

Total penalties = 1192 for the 8 stage match (Hey, don't come to SC expecting easy hose-a-matic stages )

Penalties for my stage and the percentage of the total match penalties:

GM = 6 = 27.27%

M = 13 = 26.53%

A = 38 = 35.19%

B = 87 = 33.72%

C = 76 = 26.39%

D = 61 = 18.89%

U = 51 = 35.42%

Total penalties = 332 = 27.9% of the match total

Since I was starting to get interested, I figured I'd rate the difficulty of all stages according to how many penalties we had. Check it out:

Rating Stage Penalty %

1 8 27.9%

2 5 15.7%

3 3 14.9%

4 7 12.1%

5 1 10.6%

6 4 8.3%

7 6 7.9%

8 2 2.7%

I'd have to say stage 3 was my favorite, but all of them were a lot of fun. Stage 8 scared me the most even if it was mine (NO advantage at all) and Stage 1 scared me the most in a different way because of the amount of running. My right hip and knee are fried right now and I was hobbling on every stage. Guess why my stage didn't involve a lot of movement

The cool thing about the sport is that it isn't all about running, so I finished as good as a "hobbler" can expect to by hitting what I was aiming at. Please don't let those other 120 shooters know my "secret", or at least keep quiet about it to the other 36 Limited shooters

[Turtle]

Got back around 5pm yesterday and was a little tired after a long weekend...

What a great match! It was everything I've come to expect over the years (I think this was my 5th SC Sectional) and more. As they say, like fine wine, this match gets better with age. Much thanks to all that made it possible and congratulations to the winners. If you missed it this one, sorry. It was my first major as an OPEN shooter and I was pretty happy with the results. My gun ran flawlessly, thanks Errol! I made a couple of costly errors on 2 stages (8 and 5) that dropped me quite a bit in the standings, but I came away a better shooter because if it. It was great to see all of my extended family that I haven't seen since last season. I wish I would have been able to get to meet some of you that were there; hopefully next time...

[JFD]

I was just checking my props and was amazed to find the PVC pipe supporting the wall in front of the swingers had only been shot once in 2 days. The right swinger frame was shot twice on a stick support and the left swinger frame showed a lead smear, but zero damage. Actually neither had any damage as I "armored" them with a couple layers of angle iron that has survived for a long time. None of the other PVC was touched.

The wooden hardcover frames were not so lucky, but no repairs were needed during the match and they are still solid. Glad I put in the corner bracing.

Much better than my last attempt at using PVC.

[cpty1]

Yes, I was feeling especially charitable around the time I shot stage 8. Donated more than my share of penalty points on that stage.

Was a great match. Linda and Jack did their usual most excellent job.

Edited April 16, 2007 by cpty1

[maineshootah]

I've checked the results to see if my stage was unusually evil.

JFD,

Do not worry about it, your stage was one that I enjoyed the most. (I didn't know I could vote on stages, or I would have!)

Running, long shots, close shots, steel and swingers x2 to boot.

It was a nice change, which forced shooters to think about how they were going to shoot everything.

I loved it!

Edited April 16, 2007 by maineshootah

[cliffwalsh]

What a great match, as usual.

Thanks to Linda and Jack, you guys are the best.

Thanks to all the RO's and staff for the hard work, we appreciate it very much.

See you all next year.

Cliff

[LChico]

Next year - Same place. April 12. Linda, Tom, Julie, Tim, and I had a de-briefing dinner last night and we are already puting together ideas for next year. We will continue to try to improve. We are trying to work out an online registration with credit cards. Also, we know there were issues with the hotel so there will be a new hotel next year. Believe it or not, I am already thinking about stages for next year (I guess I am still delirious).

Jack, I don't think anyone who has ever attended a SC Section match would be surprised to hear that we start planning 12 months in advance

My name gets mentioned a lot, but I have to say that I am absolutely humbled by the great group of CRO, RO and staff volunteers we have at the SC Section match. Angela Keller, Gary Keller, Tim Daugherty and Janice Duchinski worked the match & didn't even get an opportunity to shoot it.

We had 4 stage crews who worked through lunch on Saturday. We brought them food to their stages. I would have never asked them to do that. They did this on their own to improve the match flow.

At the banquet, Jack & John Suber, Matthew Pressley, Julie Holling and Angela Keller continued to work to set up prize distribution and awards while everyone enjoyed their dinner and conversations. All five had been going like the Energizer bunny since 7am.

The clubs from Charleston (stage 1), Asheville (stage 3), and Myrtle Beach (stage 6), arrived as a group to staff a stage and simply made our jobs easier. We had a staff of 60 for the match (again, no surprise to anyone who was there). 18 of them were working their very first major match. We paired new RO's and inexperienced staff with some of our 'veteran' match staff.

Thanks to all of these fine folks!

Linda Chico (L-2035)

2007 SC State Match Statistician

[JFD]

maineshootah

Thanks a lot!

When I designed this stage I was thinking of setting up a basic shooting challenge. I guess it evolved from the discussions following the Ron Avery article in Front Sight. While I have no use for scenarios, I do believe we should be able to make reasonable shots beyond 7 yards even if we don't always see them on a monthly basis. In my mind too much of this sport is about sprinting ability, not shooting ability. Now that I'm not really able to run, I notice it a lot more than a couple of years ago.

While I was close to bringing a stage featuring my 3 swingers and "running man" again, I realized that I was pushing the carnival aspect when I did it in 2005. This year what was really a simple stage featuring shots that my wife and I practice weekly took a turn that I didn't expect, but it worked out.

I was happy to be able to come up with something relatively original that challenged every shooter at the match.

The evil swingers would have been child's play if they started behind the wall instead of exposed. My unused 650 ball operating handle inspired me to build a prop that allowed the swingers to become something we don't see everyday.

It was nice to see the guys from Spartanburg get to come out and shoot a stage of mine for a change instead of me always shooting their stages. While I can't setup a stage(s) and shoot on the same day due to physical issues, I can damn sure handle a sectional stage. Who else can take 3 hours to line everything up?

I decided a while back that a handful of targets behind a few barrels at 3 feet wasn't much of a challenge. So I set 3 targets back 2 or 3 times as far and added hardcover. What usually ends up as 6 alphas for anyone who can breath became a trap for the unwary and a reward for the rest.

Again, I had a great time and it was a pleasure to give something back for a change.

[JFD]

Enough of stage 8.

I thought this was the best group of stages I've ever seen.

Due to issues with running and the ability to forget my plan sometimes, I was scared to death of stage 1 just looking at the stage diagram. In reality I still hated the long run only because that's a personal weakness, but it turned out to be a stage that rewarded accuracy, offered a lot of options, was a hoot to shoot, and impressive in the effort it must have been to build. That stage had a little of everything. I managed I get 96.9% of the points.

Stage 2 was a low pressure stage that was just fun to shoot, although there were still opportunities to screw up. Got 99.2% there.

Stage 3 was one of my favorites. Thanks to taking a que from Herb Jensen's planning technique, I had ingrained the "8-9-5-7" shot sequence in my head so deeply it almost formed a tune The long shots, short shots, hardcover galore, poppers and plates worked together really well. I couldn't wait to shoot it. Couldn't believe I got 97.2% of the points, but that must be the advantage of hobbling along.

Stage 4 was another stage with options, challenging shots, a couple of targets hidden in plain view, and what I kept thinking was a saddled cow I thought I shot terrible on this stage but ended up shooting 96.3% of the points.

Stage 5 was really nice. More options, some shooting challenges, and the opportunity to defeat what have become bullet magnet barrels for me lately. Lots of fun, especially getting 96.0% of the points.

Stage 6 freaked me because I never got to see the forward falling popper fall with a good hit because I shot 2nd in out squad and was too stupid to take a look before my squad got to the stage. It gave me the opportunity to come up with an original, if questionable plan, then screw up that plan with a my only penalty of the match (miss). Still managed 93.3%.

Stage 7 was another favorite. I shot first with a solid plan, took both poppers with 1 shot each, and managed 97.1% of the available points.

Stage 8 must have been designed by an asshat, as I only managed 91.2% with a D hit and too many Cs while moving at a speed just slightly faster than a lava flow.

Combine that with a great squad and Friday was an awesome day of shooting. I actually learned a few things along the way.

[Jack Suber]

I will be ordering additonal golf shirts next week. Anyone interested? Same price - $25.00. I hope to bring them to the A6.

[Jlaughl]

I will be ordering additonal golf shirts next week. Anyone interested? Same price - $25.00. I hope to bring them to the A6.

Sent you a PM Jack...

[Jack Suber]

Last call for shirts. I am placing the order in about an hour. Let me know.

Fireant and Jlaughl, I have y'all covered.

[Jack Suber]

A little more media coverage:

http://www.thestate.com/181/story/49825.html