Aldrin Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 I live in a area with two local matches a month. One is usually 70-80 shooters and 6 or 7 stages and takes about 6 hours. The other is 30-40 shooters - 4 stages and takes about 3 hours. Is this about how long a match should last? I've been thinking about driving to the another city in my state that has more matches in hopes of the them being faster but I'll be adding an hour drive time each way. I've only shot a handful of matches and really like this sport but it seems like I'm there forever for only a few minutes of shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 That sounds pretty typical for most clubs. I'm not sure how many shooters we had today...something between 25 and 35 maybe? and it was 3hrs from the start to scores posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlmiller1 Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Jump in & lend a hand setting up. Help tear down when it's over. Paste, score, R.O. in the middle, those will all add to your experience & make it seem a better use of your time. It doesn't sound like excessive amounts of time to me. All last year, I got to the range @9 or earlier, left usually between 5&6. Then 3 hrs scoring the match, posting & mailing results, etc. 4 hrs? hahahaha. MLM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseywales Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 (edited) Assuming that the stages are already setup (and Mark's right, volunteer to help setup and teardown, it's much appreciated when that burden is shared) Figure 10 shooters/squad X 3-4 minutes/shooter + 3-5 minutes between stages + 3-5 minutes walk-thru = 39-50 minutes per stage. Timing is dependent upon stage design, experience level of squad, squad participation with taping/resetting. If you want more shooting bang for the time invested - get to the practice range with a buddy or two. Make up your own stage arrays (not entire stages), run thru each of them several times, change up the arrays, repeat. Not much standing around, lots of time pulling the trigger. Edited February 8, 2009 by joseywales Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris iliff Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Times seem right on from my experience. Help as much as you can. Some clubs are an hour or more drive for me one way and sometimes I'll do the drive on Saturday to set up and Sunday to shoot. On those weekends I might end up with 5 or 6 hours in the car. I can't always do this, and probably should do it more, as the sport gives back far more than it takes away IMHO . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h2osport Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Our local matches usually have between 45-60 shooters. 5 or 6 stages and run 4-5 hours from first shot to tropies(after tear down). If you have a lot of classifiers the time seems to take longer. Part of that is that classifiers often have multiple strings, and alot of the shooters spend extra time on classifiers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chbrow10 Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 +1 to helping, but more specifically, help paste and reset the stage for the next shooter. The fastest way to do that is to have everyone near a target and after the RO walks by to score it, immediately reset it. That way the time it takes to reset the stage is driven by how fast the RO can score it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sslav Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 I've only shot a handful of matches and really like this sport but it seems like I'm there forever for only a few minutes of shooting. It takes about 5 minutes per shooter including scoring, pasting, resetting. You get your five minutes, everyone else on the squad gets theirs. The larger the squad, the smaller is the ratio of you shooting to other guys shooting. No matter where you go, there you are. ROing, scoring, taping/resetting and lets not forget BSing make the time go faster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin c Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Action shooting is a lot like sex - a whole lot of time and effort spent getting to the actual act itself, which is over way too soon (though being quick on the trigger is good in one sport, but not the other ). If you spend five minutes total actually on the clock during a five stage match, that's more than most. But, just like sex, not too many who do this say that it's not worth the trouble to go to. Just like sex, they wish there was more. And, just like sex, if it isn't available, well, alternatives need to be found . To keep sex, er, shooting a match, from being a bore, get involved in more than just your time on the clock. As suggested above, helping out helps the match run faster, and passes the time. When there aren't duties to be done, there is the good company you're in to talk with, about the equipment, about the shooting, about the stage, and/or anything else. If the itch is that strong, well, dry and live fire practice are a subsitute, and nobody/not too many will respect you less for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tzygä Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 This sport take time. Every stage takes 45-55 minutes so every shooter takes about 5 minutes every stage. I just come to the match and take it easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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