Rocky Mountain 3-gun Match Report

[Helmut]

anyone have any info......unfortunately I was unable to make this year.....

[Chuck Anderson]

The weather has been great so far. The stages are pretty cool. This is my first year here. I'm really surprised at how close the rifle targets are. I think the farthest shot is just over 200yds. Tough positions to shoot from make them a little tougher than that sounds but it's weird to see a range with this much distance possible and only shooting 200 yds.

Talked to Taran Butler, Daniel Horner and Tony Holmes. They think their all pretty close right now. They had three stages left to shoot then. Daniel is crushing the rifle stages. I was happy beating Taran on Stage 7 with 95 seconds to his 98. Then I found out Daniel shot it in 59 freaking seconds. What the heck?

Two stages left tommorrow we'll see how they go.

[MattBurkett]

The match is definitely running smoothly and well. Stages are quite fun. Even stage one and two with the rifle targets at a max of 235 about 30% or more are timing out on them. Blaine did have rifle targets out to 350 but at 5 on thursday, the range made them shorten the distance. No on is sure why.

Chuck, good luck on the last couple of stages.

All stages are running ahead of time - which I think is a first for a 3 gun match!

With all the bitching and griping before the match by people that aren't involved, I didn't know what to expect when I got here.

Blaine and the staff/RO's have done an excellent job. Hopefully that closes the door on the negativity espoused by many on this forum. Beside the people that were complaining (before the match) aren't here.

Two stages to go and get ready for the next match in KY next weekend.

Will post some more info when I get time.h

[Chuck Anderson]

I'll definitely agree with the on time status. I can't believe how well some of these stages are running. We had a target break on Stage 2 after our first shooter. We still ended up finishing the stage only about 10 minutes late after a 40 minute delay.

The match staff is doing a great job. They had a couple RO's that had to leave yesterday due to a family emergency and still everything is running on time or ahead of schedule.

For those folks that haven't been to Whittington before, it's worth the trip just for the scenery. The club and setting is just beautiful. It's set up against the mountains and using mostly natural terrain. There's wildlife everywhere. We've seen probably 200 antelope, deer and wild turkey all over the place. The RO on Stage 2 was telling us that in the morning they had a deer run across the stage. About 30 yds behind was a mountain lion chasing it. Not something you're gonna see at most three gun matches.

[mike_pinto]

Which one was considered the no shoot?

Hope you all have fun today and give 'em hell..

Wish I was there.

Mike

[George]

Hows the weather?

Hope it's staying dry for ya' all.

[ccur]

Blaine, Denise, JJ, Steve Hulet, and all the other hard working staff....THANK YOU FOR A GREAT MATCH!!! Rod and I loved it! The stages were fun (and not so grueling that you felt like you couldn't do them), the prize tables were great (I was #84 and won a JP side mount sight and a Matt Burkett video...THANKS JP AND MATT!!), The RO's were the best and the weather was awesome!!

Wish we could do it again next month

Thanks again

Cheryl

PS...

Matt Burkett 1stOpen

Taran Butler 1st Tactical

Tate Moots 1st Heavy Metal

Edited August 27, 2006 by ccur

[Dustin Lohof]

Hi to everyone, this is the very first post I have ever made. I don't now if everyone realizes, how many people surf this site. I have been one of them. I can't begin to tell you how much I've been help by this web site. I'm on this site at least five times a day… senses the very beginning. The information never stops. Thank you to everyone that has ever posted anything here. The first thing I tell any new shooter that I encounter is that they must look at this forum. It simply can’t ( B.E .) beat. I'm a little over whelmed by even posting, but I just talked to Robert Johnson about the Rocky Mountain 3 Gun and ....he took 2nd in open. That’s huge. Most everyone looking at this post realizes what that means. R.J. good job. Even our most “significant others” most times can’t realize what it takes, to simply pick your rifle or pistol or shotgun off the table a million times a night. It looks like R.J picked his up a lot. WOW!

[nm3gnr]

Once again the Rocky Mountain Three Gun went off as a big success !!!!!

Blane and all the match staff did a great job. This is my fourth year to attend and it gets better every year.

The stages were cool and very do-able. (except I almost timed out on stage 1 ) but I got er done just in time. The Whittington center is truly a world class facility !!

The match staff worked very hard as always. I don't understand where all the rumors came from, I noticed the ones that I heard were spreading the rumors were not there and I hope this puts an end to all this trouble trying to hurt a great match.

I truly hope this match goes on next year. Blane said it will !!! So I am very happy about that.

The match sponsors deserve a great big thank you !!!!!!! there were lots of prizes to be had !!

Range officers stated that all the squads were very enjoyable to work with.

Everyone that enjoys this match needs to rally support behind Blane, JJ, Steve, George, Bob, Denise, Henning, Robert and all the other names I can't remeber, to help make this match another big success next year.

Guy and Garrett, We missed you guys this year !!!!! I couldn't imagine shooting a rifle stage without you guys but we truged on through ???

I hope to see yall next year !!!

Damon

[BritinUSA]

Does anyone know where they are posting the results. I realise the match has only just completed so this is not a criticism, just curious to see how my friends finished.

[RiggerJJ]

JJ and I just wanted to say thanks! What a great bunch of shooters! Thanks for all your help, that's one of the things that helps to keep things running on time! Thanks so much for stage resetting, brassing and hull picking, it made our jobs so much easier after the match! We got cleaned up in record time!

Thanks for the good words, too!

A great big thanks to all our sponsors. I'll give you contact information later. I just got home and need to take a 24 hour nap! ZZZZZZZZ!

Thanks to JP Enterprises of course. We all wish your family well.

Thanks to Sabre defense, Spec Ops, Trijicon, DPMS, R&R Racing (for both sponsorship and assistance), SPringfield Armory, Tac PRo, Arredondo, Grams Engineering, 3Gun Gear, Redding, Blackhawk, Brownells, Triangle Shooting Sports, MSTN, Nordic, Point Blank,GunSite, Montano Bullet, ACE, Mike Gibson, STI, Viking Tactics, Carroll Targets, Black Hills Ammunition, Hornady, ArmaLite, BarSto, and late entering sponsor Matt Burkett!

Please send them a little thank-you to let them know how their sponsorship matters! We couldn't have these matches without them. Their generosity is well appreciated!

We also wanted to give special thanks to the RO's, who worked their butts off! Roger Briden, Adam and James Casanova (2nd 3-gun match ever, and they're catching on quick!), Greg Drobny, Bob Mills, Dave Mosier, George Murphy, Chris Petrie, Garrett and Robert Reigan, Steve Shimek, Joe Sledge, Henning Walgren, and George Bridenstine. Also, thanks to Darrel Humphrey and Billy Ricard for their help in stats and tearing down. Thanks Steve Hulet for quick scoring. (We were only an hour late on the awards! We'll do better next year! )You guys are SOOOO AWESOME! We both loved working with all of you!

Also, thanks so much to Matt Gengl, Jake Kempton, Brock Hammel and John Gengl for their work the first day! Hang in there guys!

Thanks to the Whittington Center, well I'm sure I have more people to thank, but JJ's snoring is distracting me! He only saw one snake, and lived to tell about it!

Good shooting,

Denise and JJ

P.S.

Steve Hulet said he would post the results on the RM3G website, but he's beat, too, so I don't know how fast it will get there!

[MarkCO]

This was my first ever major 3gun match and I really enjoyed it. I was on squad 9 which was a great group of diversity. We had seniors and Super Seniors and every class represented except open. Got to shoot with two Dillon employees, great guys! The stages were challenging and fun and the prize table deep. Thanks JPrifles for my prize! Sabre Defense gave away a random drawing rifle of ANY configuration to one lucky competitor, that alone is worth the chance. DPMS gave away 4 uppers by drawing to the bottom 50 competitors. Having never shot in a major competition, I learned a LOT. I have never really even fired my AR past 100 yards, although I had calculated the ballistics. I am going to drive a few hours a few times this winter to practice LR.

For those who don't know how the match is scored, every stage is worth 100 points, time based, 180 seconds time out on every stage, time added for misses, FTEs, and FTNs. Paper must have one "A" or two hits anywhere to not incur a FTN. Steel and clays are hit or miss.

Stage 1 (rifle): 4 steel flash targets in an L shape, 185 to 235. Six varied tough positions spread over about 25 yards. About half our squad timed out, it was our first stage. 26 rounds required.

Stage 2 (rifle): 6 paper in 3 groups, 2-4 yards, 4 steel flash targets in a square about 145 to 175. Shooting from the side of a hill across a wooded ravine to the steel. 3 of 4 positions, covering about 12 yards had paper and steel, the otehr steel only. I bashed the tree with my head on this one, oops. We all shot it under time and got almost all of the hits. A huge deer ran out of the ravine while one of our squad was shooting. 28 rounds required.

Stage 3 (pistol): 21 paper targets in a gauntlet fashion up a creek bed running about 25 yards. Looked easy, took some planning and skill. There was a position at the end where you had to shoot the last target through a 10" round hole in a huge boulder. This is the stage where a deer ran past a competiitor as it was being chased by a mountain lion. 21 rounds required, most shot 42.

Stage 4 (shotgun): 6 clays, 3 falling steel plates (slugs) and 3 steel swingers on the crest of a small hill, 7 positions over about 30 yards. You started off shooting 2 clays with shot at about 5 yards and then climb the hill to shoot 4 more clays and then 3 falling plates with slugs. A few tried them with shot and they did not even move. Then turn 180 and run down the hill to 5 marked postions at which you engaged the slug swingers every time. Slugs were from about 30 yards to 50 yards. 6 shot and 18 slugs required.

Stage 5 (rifle and shotgun): 6 paper with rifle and then 15 steel tagets with birdshot. You started with rifle on a railroad tie and at the start shot paper while moving across the creek on a railroad tie bridging the creek. Once at the shotgun, put down safe'd rifle and shot the 15 steel while climbing a hill and onto a tailing pile. On this stage Samson offered a critique of each shooter when you were finished. 6 rilfe and 15 shot required.

Stage 6 (shotgun): This was a "speed" shotgun stage in a ruins. 6 clays from one area, 6 falling steel paltes from another, 3 clays from the next and then 8 calys from the last, about 30 yards. This was a very cool stage. I got to watch Burkett smoke it in 22 seconds and Butler smoke it in 30 seconds, the respective open and TS winners. I also saw the next 3-4 fastest times after those. Daniel Horner, heck of a nice guy and amazing shooter, had a malfunction that appeared to cost him about 5 seconds for a total of 35. 24 rounds required.

Stage 7 (rifle): Another cool stage shot across a small canyon, 75 to 80 yards on 4 flash targets set in a square about 15 yards on each side. 6 positions on a two tiered shelf. I got to watch the 3 fastest times on this stage also. This was Burkett's only noticeable bobble in the match, 80 seconds, 2nd place on the stage in open. He fired about 20 extra rounds. I did well on the stage. If you have ever hunted deer in a canyon, this is the same thing, just 24 times in a row, really fast! I kicked myself for wasting time going to sitting on the last two positions, I know I can make good hits stading, but I chickedned out at the last second. Some people thought the targets were 8 inche plates, I thought the were at least 12" plates. THis was all about getting into and out of postion. 24 rounds required.

Stage 8 (shotgun pistol): On the side of a hill, engage 18 clays and then 5 paper with pistol while running 25 yards. How fast can run load your shotgun while running up a rocky path was the big question here. 18 shotgun and 5 pistol (most shot 10 or more).

I was a little disappointed in the lack of pistol, only 26 required rounds, but other than that and a delay in starting the awards ceremony, nary a glitch. The ROs were professional, helpful and polite. We finsihed every stage early, got to watch most stages being shot by other squads and the wildlife and scenery are awesome. I was glad I took 100 rounds of 69 gr. MKs for rifle, I shot them all. 55 grainers did not move the flash targets enough for my liking, but the ROs were all awesome in calling hits. Some rain at night made for a damp first stage, but nothing that would have affected anyones scores. A few squads had a little rain finishing up a few stages Friday, but again, nothing that appeared to affect scores at all.

Great setting, great ROs and sponsors, challenging courses...I'll go back again.

[gunny]

This is my third year shooting the RM3G.

Awesome match run by awesome folks, from the MD to the RO's and all the staff, A great BIG THANK YOU!

Thanks to all of the Sponsors!

You guys rock!

[Laramie]

I've attended every one of these matches and, as usual, this was really a great match....beautiful setting, well organized, and well run. Congrats to all who worked so hard. Nancy and I love Whittington but a great match is icing on the cake.

I would like to at least e-mail all of the sponsors with a thank you...especially important since, as I understand it, the match had trouble getting off the ground this year.

Has anyone compiled a list of the e-mail addresses? If so, would you share it ?

[Justin]

Had a really excellent time. Thanks to the RM3G guys for putting this thing on, the RO's for being courteous and professional, and to the sponsors.

I didn't place really high, and I'm blaming my equipment. No. Really.

Well, that and my lack of skill.

Still, as a newbie to this kind of shooting, I felt I was better prepared than last year, and, overall, shot better. Still, there were lessons to be learned, and boy were they ever made clear.

The guys I was squadded with were all cool, so thanks to Adam, Mike, Chris and Brian for sharing your gear and being fun to hang out with.

[CraigS.]

We would like to say THANK YOU!! to Blane,JJ,Denise,Steve and staff for putting on a fun and challenging match.

And also the RO's too, you guys were very professional,courteous,enthousiastic and

not to mention helpful. Please come back next year!

We had the best bunch of helpful and supportive people in our large squad (16), like match sponsors Sabre Defence, and every division represented, as well as 4 ladys.

I hope to squad with you all again soon, Thanks again

The stage designs were a good mix, although I would like to see more multi-gun stages (only2 this year) and greater distance on a couple of rifle stages (300yd.+).

Our favorite stages were #2,5,6.

Stage 3 (pistol) was a major adrenaline rush before we even started shooting Friday

morning,

I was standing at the back of our squad during the stage briefing, when I heard

this deer running full speed from behind up the narrow creek bed, as I turned to face the deer there was a large mountain lion was chasing it. The cat went up the left bank and the deer had me dead in his sights on a full out run when it turned within ten feet of me

and leaped up the right bank.

Needless to say, we were all watching the banks above us until we left the stage.

See you in 07, Craig & Heidi

[jbullgpd]

This was my first big 3gun event and also first time ever being at the Whittington Center. I had a blast. The range is beautiful, animals everywhere. Stayed at the competitor housing which is a heck of a bargain, close to all the stages, and actually very nice.....and you can't beat $26 a night. The weather was awesome. I don't think it got above 80, and the evening rain was great, slept with the windows open every night. (Can't do that in Phoenix)

The stages were fun and challenging, even when they didn't look like they were. I also shot with a great group of guys and gals in group two.

Benny I sure did miss ya, hope you are doing better, truely enjoyed shooting with Ty and Doc.

All the RO's were helpful, friendly, and most importantly fair. They worked hard but still kept it fun.

I just want to say thank you to all the people that made this match happen and I hope I can shoot it next year. To all the sponsors thank you, and if someone makes a sponsor email list please post it here, would love to get them all. Thanks JP and Viking tactical for my prizes!!!!

[Safety Off]

The match was fun. However, I never shot at 7,000 feet and that kicked by butt Game everywhere. Funny story, one squad getting ready to shoot the pistol stage in a little creek valley seen a deer come running down the creek. They all moved out of the way in wonderment. A few seconds later a Mountain Lion running full speed comes running down the path after the deer. It screeches to a halt and scrambles up the side of the hill. I was told the shooters were all wide eyed .

About the game, it was not uncommon to see Antelope, Deer, Turkeys, Elk and some saw Bear and snakes! It made the event even better. Shooting positions were hard and not having any air made them harder. In All, it was a great time and event.

Edited August 28, 2006 by Safety Off

[kurtm]

Great job! My hat is off to ALL the staff for a match well done. I will be there next year! I wish I had had more time this year.... but Greece is calling I am on the next thing smokin!!! KURTM

[jbullgpd]

Great job! My hat is off to ALL the staff for a match well done. I will be there next year! I wish I had had more time this year.... but Greece is calling I am on the next thing smokin!!! KURTM

LOL, I'm glad you weren't there!!!!!!!! I got one place higher in tac iron, kelly wasn't there either so I was two places higher than I should have been, LOL. Go on and keep missing the same matches I shoot, its helping my odds........LOL, good luck in Greece.

[Brian Payne]

I came down from Minnesota with my wife, son, and two dogs. Brought the fifth wheel camper. What a great time. The campground was great, views were beautiful, and wildlife was plentiful. The only downside to the whole week spent there was the 25 hr. drive it took to get there. I drove it straight through, next year I will stop for a night I think.

The shoot was great. I shot like crap but had a good time. My son shot his second 3-gun match and did a great job. We both learned a lot from the rest of the squad. By the way, squad #2 was far and away the best squad out there . The competition didn't stop at the shooting, we also competed in setting steel and taping targets.

My hat is off to the RO's and the staff at the Whittington Center. My wife stated she couldn't wait to come back next year, and I hadn't even had time to think about whether I would plan on making this shoot next year or not.

Thanks to all of you in squad #2. Two newbie shooters were made to feel welcome and we both learned a lot. You all set a great example as to how shooters should act at a match. No whining, bitching, or sitting on your butts while others do all the work. Sorry we had to miss the burger and fajita party after the match.

[MP5_guy]

The match was fun. However, I never shot at 7,000 feet and that kicked by butt Game everywhere. Funny story, one squad getting ready to shoot the pistol stage in a little creek valley seen a deer come running down the creek. They all moved out of the way in wonderment. A few seconds later a Mountain Lion running full speed comes running down the path after the deer. It screeches to a halt and scrambles up the side of the hill. I was told the shooters were all wide eyed .

Yup, that was the squad I was on (squad 16). We were getting ready to start with our first stage of the day (stage 3) when that deer and mountain lion came frolicking by. We were actually pretty happy that the mountain lion decided *not* to run through our group. The deer went south, the lion went north, and I went west (I was the first shooter on the stage).

[3gungal]

What a great Match! Denise, JJ and all the Ro’s did a fantastic job. We had a great time. Squad #16 was the best squad; everyone helped tape, brass and re-set targets. I can tell ya, it makes a HUGE difference when you are on a squad where everyone helps. I met some great new people who had fantastic attitudes but above all exhibited sportsmanship that was beyond reproach.

Thanks to all the sponsors JP, 3 Gun Gear, R&R Racing, and DPMS, (just to name a few) but especially Grant, Andrew and David from Sabre defense industries you Guys Rock! We enjoyed shooting with you folks.

A very special thank you to Joe Sledge (RO from stage 5) our large squad gave you a run for your money and you never complained. Your hard work is greatly appreciated.

[Mr. Twisted]

Thanks to everyone who showed up and made it an enjoyable time, especially the other ROs. I was working stage six and had an absolute blast.

If you would like, you can read my entire review of the week here at my site.

Hope to see you all again soon.

Mr. Twisted

http://twistedsenseoffunny.com/

[Larry White]

Twisted, welcome to the forum. I think you may fit in here.-------------Larry