Open / L-10 Nats Banter

[ysued]

I like PASA, too!

Quincy and the surrounding area have been very good to USPSA in the past.

Troy

That is right!!

But PASA is a range that you DEFINITELY need a Golf Cart to move around with!!

The good thing is that you can easily rent one, like I did in 06!!

[Gary Stevens]

As has been said before ranges are not plentiful that can hold a nationals, but we have had national championships before USSA came into existence. There are some ranges available, if they were to ask for or accept the match if offered. East Huntindgon could do it, PASA could do it, I would bet that South River in Georgia could do it with some advance notice and a bit of creative thinking. It might be a 15-18 stage match over 2 1/2 days, and most likely a back to back for it to work. I don't know what the range status is on the west coast, so I can't comment on that.

I was just in Reno teaching an RO course this past weekend. I believe they still have 12-13 bays, and I can't say what their prop situation is.

I would guess that the obvious answer would be PASA as they have the range, props, and experience. And as has been said Quincy has been very good to shooters and actually want us to return. Yes, Illinois sucks on firearms, but that is not the Quincy area or PASA obviously.

Since I am just a lowly Area Director, I can only suggest in these matters though. .

Gary

Edited September 23, 2008 by Gary Stevens

[XRe]

The range is not conducive to holding a match the size of Nationals. Being split as far apart means you pretty much have to drive between areas of the range. The roads are too narrow to support that traffic. Parking sucked.

Logistics. Holding the match in "halves" (so that you don't have to switch halves of the range mid-rotation) fixes a large part of this issue - and having a regular, frequent shuttle from the main parking area to the lower range fixes the rest of it. Still doesn't help the vendors, though...

It's expensive to fly to, and the hotels are also not exactly cheap.

No arguments here. I flew in to Spokane and drove over...

[ysued]

As has been said before ranges are not plentiful that can hold a nationals, but we have had national championships before USSA came into existence. There are some ranges available, if they were to ask for or accept the match if offered. East Huntindgon could do it, PASA could do it, I would bet that South River in Georgia could do it with some advance notice and a bit of creative thinking. It might be a 15-18 stage match over 2 1/2 days, and most likely a back to back for it to work. I don't know what the range status is on the west coast, so I can't comment on that.

I was just in Reno teaching an RO course this past weekend. I believe they still have 12-13 bays, and I can't say what their prop situation is.

I would guess that the obvious answer would be PASA as they have the range, props, and experience. And as has been said Quincy has been very good to shooters and actually want us to return. Yes, Illinois sucks on firearms, but that is not the Quincy area or PASA obviously.

Since I am just a lowly Area Director, I can only suggest in these matters though. .

Gary

And that is what we ant Gary, good suggestions!!

At this time, IMHO, PASA is the only one that doesn't need too much work to make it happen!!

As you said the state if IL sucks when it comes to guns, but the PASA Area and Quincy does not, PASA has the Props and the range.

How is East Huntington now?? Do they need a lot of work to make it happen??

How about Fredericksburg?? It worked OK in 96 and 97. but those were the days that nationals were 12 or so stages!! Are they big enough to hold a 18-19 Stage match??

Is this the same Reno range he had the 95 Open in?? That place was a freaking Dust Bowl!! Reno is a doable destination. I'm thinking about air travel here too, not driving, I know a bunch of shooters prefer to dive, but I almost always Fly.

I don't know abut the GA range, But if they need too much work and creativity, is it worth it?? Like the question asked previously by Charles Bond, who's going to pay for it??

At this time, PASA or USSA are the Cheapest to fly to, that I know of.

Hey, How big is Frank Garcia's range?? How about Titusville?? But FL, Like GA, In September, the chance of getting caught in a Hurricane or a Tropical are very high!! If you thought that it sucked at Tulsa this year, try flying all the way to GA or FL and getting stuck there during or after a Tropical Storm or Hurricane!! No Power, No Light, No Gas, Not much food!!!! Yes, I have lived through them and it sucks!! The worst part, no shooting!! Like we have said here countless times, we would love to set the dates for the Nationals with a whole lot of anticipation, but with unstable weather like they have in the east Coast, it's hard to anticipate more than two weeks within the Hurricane Season from June 1st to November??

OK, I'll let the pros, like you to find out the best solution for this issue!!

[Jim Norman]

What about the facility that Blue Ridge 3-Gun is using for 2009? Anyone have info on it?

Jim

[TDean]

I thought Bend, Or. was/is a nice range for Nats....

[Gary Stevens]

If that is the Park City, Kentucky location, I am ashamed to say this, but I know nothing about it. Talk about flying under the radar!

I will find out the details though in short order.

Gary

[outerlimits]

I thought Bend, Or. was/is a nice range for Nats....

shot the nationals two years at bend, plus a few area 3 gun matches there. great range, all the berms side by side, and there were a sh%$load of them. parking forever. yea, it's 1/2 hr out of town, but except for tulsa, aren't they all? having said that, i heard that club no longer has the horses to pull off a large match anymore. but it sure was nice...

[norbs007]

Something to get in the mix. Supposedly, a $62 million 295 acre shooting park will be opening soon in North Las Vegas. I believe it's under construction and should be opening next year. Pretty sure that one of its purpose is to host national shooting matches; the only thing right now is it's being protested by some residents.

[Chuck Anderson]

I thought Bend, Or. was/is a nice range for Nats....

Bend is a nice facility that USPSA did pay to essentially build. However due to the current club officers there will not be another Nationals there. And due to the way USPSA HQ has interacted with some of the folks in Oregon I doubt there will be one in this area at all.

[Flexmoney]

... Remember the range at the 2000 Limited in PA?? It had grass, it rained, it was OK.

Nope - East Huntingdon has always had gravel range surfaces. Only one stage at the '00 LTD Nationals was on the grass.

Without drainage tile or other turf improvements, stone surfaces work best for us in our part of the country.

I don't remember very well, I have pictures, but I would have to find them!!

Ron is what I would call "Very close to the source"

I bet he is, I don;t remember, But I do remember some grass, somewhere.

I just don't remember, it's been 8 years!!

Y

You can see much of the East Huntington range here in this shooters video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2xb7Cn7Fio

[HoMiE]

I thought Bend, Or. was/is a nice range for Nats....

Bend is a nice facility that USPSA did pay to essentially build. However due to the current club officers there will not be another Nationals there. And due to the way USPSA HQ has interacted with some of the folks in Oregon I doubt there will be one in this area at all.

That's sad to hear.

[ysued]

... Remember the range at the 2000 Limited in PA?? It had grass, it rained, it was OK.

Nope - East Huntingdon has always had gravel range surfaces. Only one stage at the '00 LTD Nationals was on the grass.

Without drainage tile or other turf improvements, stone surfaces work best for us in our part of the country.

I don't remember very well, I have pictures, but I would have to find them!!

Ron is what I would call "Very close to the source"

I bet he is, I don;t remember, But I do remember some grass, somewhere.

I just don't remember, it's been 8 years!!

Y

You can see much of the East Huntington range here in this shooters video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2xb7Cn7Fio

Thanks Flex, It's been so long, I couldn't remember that much!!

[Sestock]

You can see much of the East Huntington range here in this shooters video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2xb7Cn7Fio

If you look at the video, we had rain for 18 of 20 days leading up to the match. There was so much rain that we had a spring running into one of the bays. There were some soft spots, but the gravel bays drain well.

[ysued]

If you look at the video, we had rain for 18 of 20 days leading up to the match. There was so much rain that we had a spring running into one of the bays. There were some soft spots, but the gravel bays drain well.

Look, Tulsa has some gigantimus Golf Courses, they get the rain USSA gets, and it doesn't turn to $hit when it rains. USSA can be fixed!!. It only takes time and money!!

BTW, Gravel drains very well!!

Y

Edited September 23, 2008 by ysued

[shootingchef]

here is what I googled on the Las Vegas project, it's still not operational. Too bad, sounds like a heck of a place.

The Clark County commissioners and Congressional representatives hosted the first phase ground-breaking ceremony for the nation’s largest public shooting facility on Saturday, October 21. The 2,900-acre world class facility will be built on North Decatur Boulevard about 5 miles north of the I-215 Beltway.

When fully built out, the park is expected to draw competitive shooters from around the world, provide law enforcement training facilities and give Southern Nevada’s recreational shooters a safe and affordable place to shoot, county officials said.

“People in the Las Vegas Valley used to be able to just go out in the desert and shoot their guns,” said Commissioner Tom Collins, who represents the area where the park is being built. “ Las Vegas has grown a lot since then and we need to have a safe and affordable place where citizens can go and practice. This park has been a long time coming.”

The $61 million, 225-acre first phase, expected to open in January 2008, will feature a 30-site host area for RV camping; a clay target center with 96 RV spaces and a 24 combination trap and skeet field with a 5,000-square-foot building with a pro shop and cafeteria; an archery building with a 30-seat classroom and restrooms; a “known-distance” archery range; a public rifle and pistol range with a pro shop and convenience store; and a hunter education center with a 90-seat classroom with archery, rifle, pistol and shotgun ranges and a simulated hunting course. Almost $30 million of the total cost will pay for extending utilities and Decatur Boulevard about a mile to the site with flood control facilities.

When completed, the project will be a world-class park with facilities for local sport shooting enthusiasts as well as accommodations for major national shooting events. Planned amenities not mentioned above include an indoor range, public day-use ranges, tactical ranges, rifle and pistol silhouette ranges, a bench rest range, a cowboy mounted shooting arena and a 1,200-yard high-power rifle range. A 35-seat classroom will accompany each range. Shotgun enthusiasts will benefit from 125 trap and 24 skeet ranges as well as sporting clays and international trap facilities. Archers will have an International Archery Federation (FITA)-approved archery range and three field courses.

The park, located on North Decatur Boulevard about five miles north of the I-215 Beltway, is being funded with grants from the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act, which uses money from the sale of public lands to pay for parks, trails and natural areas within the county. The park has been in the planning stages since before the land was transferred to the county from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in November 2002. Senators Harry Reid and John Ensign, along with Reps. Jim Gibbons and Shelley Berkley, sponsored the act that provided the land.

““This site will be – bar none – the finest shooting facility in the world,” said Sen. Reid. “I have been fighting to make this shooting park a reality for more than five years and I'm proud of the partnerships between Clark County, sportsmen and women, local police, and many others that have made it possible. I look forward to coming back when the doors officially open.”

The county hired Don Turner, then manager of Arizona’s successful Ben Avery Shooting Facility, in 2003 to start the planning process for the park. Turner is now the county’s Shooting Park manager. More information about the park is available on its Web pages at www.accessclarkcounty.com/parks or may be obtained by contacting Turner at 455-8199 or dturner@co.clark.nv.us.

[XD Niner]

Looks like they were a bit optimistic with their planned January 2008 opening date. I hope it makes it because it sure sounds good.

[G-ManBart]

The Single Action Shooting Society folks hold their End of Trail match at the Founder's Ranch, just east of Albuquerque off I-40. We've just started shooting USPSA matches there once a month and I think they could honestly hold a USPSA Nationals there...they draw thousands there for the big matches from what their website says. Easy to get to, tons of parking, RV hookups and 17 bays and a few areas where Chrono etc could be done (they have long range areas that aren't in bays), multiple small shops and buildings for vendors, a covered stage area with sound system and a whole bunch of picnic tables etc. It's only about 20min from downtown AQ, flights aren't too expensive here and the weather tends to be very cooperative. Check out the overhead pic of the range on the "Shooting" page:

http://www.foundersranch.com/index.html

Edited September 24, 2008 by G-ManBart

[ysued]

The Single Action Shooting Society folks hold their End of Trail match at the Founder's Ranch, just east of Albuquerque off I-40. We've just started shooting USPSA matches there once a month and I think they could honestly hold a USPSA Nationals there...they draw thousands there for the big matches from what their website says. Easy to get to, tons of parking, RV hookups and 17 bays and a few areas where Chrono etc could be done (they have long range areas that aren't in bays), multiple small shops and buildings for vendors, a covered stage area with sound system and a whole bunch of picnic tables etc. It's only about 20min from downtown AQ, flights aren't too expensive here and the weather tends to be very cooperative. Check out the overhead pic of the range on the "Shooting" page:

http://www.foundersranch.com/index.html

Now, that is one SWEEET place!!

Weather Rocks in September/October and Albuquerque is a great city!!

Y

[G-ManBart]

The Single Action Shooting Society folks hold their End of Trail match at the Founder's Ranch, just east of Albuquerque off I-40. We've just started shooting USPSA matches there once a month and I think they could honestly hold a USPSA Nationals there...they draw thousands there for the big matches from what their website says. Easy to get to, tons of parking, RV hookups and 17 bays and a few areas where Chrono etc could be done (they have long range areas that aren't in bays), multiple small shops and buildings for vendors, a covered stage area with sound system and a whole bunch of picnic tables etc. It's only about 20min from downtown AQ, flights aren't too expensive here and the weather tends to be very cooperative. Check out the overhead pic of the range on the "Shooting" page:

http://www.foundersranch.com/index.html

Now, that is one SWEEET place!!

Weather Rocks in September/October and Albuquerque is a great city!!

Y

Yeah, I can't describe how pretty it is there. It also seems to be a touch cooler there when it's hot in AQ and nowhere near as windy. The folks that run/own the place seem to be very happy to have USPSA shooters holding matches there and have already said they'd do a few things to the bays to make them better for us because the CASA folks don't use the full length where we often do.

Oh, the intereting thing is that the bays all slope upwards towards the hills they face, so I'd expect they'd drain reasonably well in anything but a total deluge! R,

[ysued]

The Single Action Shooting Society folks hold their End of Trail match at the Founder's Ranch, just east of Albuquerque off I-40. We've just started shooting USPSA matches there once a month and I think they could honestly hold a USPSA Nationals there...they draw thousands there for the big matches from what their website says. Easy to get to, tons of parking, RV hookups and 17 bays and a few areas where Chrono etc could be done (they have long range areas that aren't in bays), multiple small shops and buildings for vendors, a covered stage area with sound system and a whole bunch of picnic tables etc. It's only about 20min from downtown AQ, flights aren't too expensive here and the weather tends to be very cooperative. Check out the overhead pic of the range on the "Shooting" page:

http://www.foundersranch.com/index.html

Now, that is one SWEEET place!!

Weather Rocks in September/October and Albuquerque is a great city!!

What Deluge???

It never rains in Albuquerque!!

Y

Yeah, I can't describe how pretty it is there. It also seems to be a touch cooler there when it's hot in AQ and nowhere near as windy. The folks that run/own the place seem to be very happy to have USPSA shooters holding matches there and have already said they'd do a few things to the bays to make them better for us because the CASA folks don't use the full length where we often do.

Oh, the intereting thing is that the bays all slope upwards towards the hills they face, so I'd expect they'd drain reasonably well in anything but a total deluge! R,

It never rains in Albuquerque!!

Edited September 24, 2008 by ysued

[norbs007]

That's indeed one nice looking range...USPSA should look into it.

[shootingchef]

Founders ranch looks great!

[mactiger]

If you look at the video, we had rain for 18 of 20 days leading up to the match. There was so much rain that we had a spring running into one of the bays. There were some soft spots, but the gravel bays drain well.

Look, Tulsa has some gigantimus Golf Courses, they get the rain USSA gets, and it doesn't turn to $hit when it rains. USSA can be fixed!!. It only takes time and money!!

BTW, Gravel drains very well!!

Y

Yamil, I know you like Tulsa, but be realistic. The golf courses don't get nearly the foot traffic that the bays at USSA get during a match. There's way more room to walk around on a golf course. And, they drain.

The whole point is not whether USSA can be fixed, it's when it will be fixed.

Troy

[ysued]

If you look at the video, we had rain for 18 of 20 days leading up to the match. There was so much rain that we had a spring running into one of the bays. There were some soft spots, but the gravel bays drain well.

Look, Tulsa has some gigantimus Golf Courses, they get the rain USSA gets, and it doesn't turn to $hit when it rains. USSA can be fixed!!. It only takes time and money!!

BTW, Gravel drains very well!!

Y

Yamil, I know you like Tulsa, but be realistic. The golf courses don't get nearly the foot traffic that the bays at USSA get during a match. There's way more room to walk around on a golf course. And, they drain.

I have shot Pro Golf!!

have you seen the Thousands of Spectators, Golf Carts and Media Following Tiger Woods though the courses??? Sometimes you don't see them on TV. The media sets up platforms & other useless crap everywhere!!

And yes, they DRAIN!! Because they were built to do so!!

The reason I mentioned the Golf Course in Tulsa is that if they can make them to drain, so can USSA!!!

I honestly couldn't care less where the match takes place, whoever hires me, pays my way, but at the same time I would like to share my opinion, for the sake of the shooters that have to pay their way there!! I know Missoula is a great range, but from where I live, it's about 4 times to fly there than to Tulsa or ST Louis (PASA). GA or FL would have ten times the Weather problems than Tulsa from June 1st to the end of October, Hurricane Season.

That would just leave PASA and USSA, Plus Vegas, Reno and I think Albuquerque should be looked at!!

The whole point is not whether USSA can be fixed, it's when it will be fixed.

Troy

I would hope the management at USSA would think that way too!!

Edited September 24, 2008 by ysued