You were fun to watch!
The results are available on the "NW Challenge Home" page (although by match day, it had been changed to the "R&R Racing Multigun" match.)
Here's a quick summary for those of you who hate to click on links:
OVERALL AGGREGATE: Top Ten
- Taran Butler (TO)
- Robert Johnson (O)
- Chuck Anderson (TO)
- Chuck Mahoney (TO)
- Beven Grams (O)
- Trevor Ott (TO)
- Larry Lebeau (O)
- Gary Purcell (TO)
- Scott Hawkins (TO)
- Gordon Baladad (TO)
Robert Johnson
Top Tactical Iron Sights (TI):
Kirk Jameson
Top Tactical Optical (TO):
Taran Butler
Top Heavy Metal (HM):
Phil Brodahl
STAGES:
- Lined Up and Ready 2 Roll (Rifle, Shotgun)
- 4X4X4 and More (Rifle, Shotgun)
- Mr. Beal's Best (Pistol, Shotgun)
- Rock Around the Croc (Pistol, Shotgun)
- The Corridor (Shotgun, Rifle)
- 4's A Crowd (Shotgun, Pistol)
- Breaching Doors (Shotgun, Rifle)
- Crazy Zebras (Pistol, Rifle)
- Stalled in Stalingrad (Pistol, Rifle)
- Survivor II: The Maze (Rifle, Pistol)
FeedBack:
If you shot the match, I strongly encourage you to join competitor Joe Durnbaugh in contribution to the Feed-Back Page for this match. (This is a feature you won't see at most IPSC/USPSA matches.)
Impressions:
The most visually interesting stage (from the viewpoint of the spectator) was Stage 7: "Breaching Doors". Hands down, no contest, this was a blast to watch. I've already posted videos of Taran Butler, Chuck Anderson and Beven Grams in the article "Super-Size It", and the Klein boys (Grandfather Jeff, son Jason and grandson Jacob) in "The Klein Family". I'm always pleased to see evidence that this is indeed a Family Sport, but when you get three generations in one squad it's something between A Real Treat To Watch and an affirmation of my personal bias.
There's more than one reason why I didn't get film of Stage 8: "Crazy Zebras". I hated that stage when I first shot it as a pistol-only stage in the 2005 Crazy Croc Match, and I admit I didn't make any special effort to find a squad on the stage during the R&R Racing match. It's an excellent, very challenging stage but one can only take so many targets with the C/D zones almost entirely masked out. In this stage, there were 30 of them.
ARRGGGGHHHHHH!
Stage 1 and Stage 2 were rifle/shotgun stages, which combined the agonizing combination of slow long-range rifle shooting and slow shotgun reloading.
I know, I know, the challenge to high-round-count shotgun stages is not quite so much the actual shooting as it is the ability to reload quickly and the 'don't-miss-because-it-will-cost-you-reload-time' factor. There were a LOT of stages with shotguns -- seven out of ten. I spent a lot of time watching people reload their shotgun, and I often caught myself sub-vocalizing "come on, come on, hurry up, hurry up!" during the reload part. Some of the reload were amazingly well timed and executed, and I was impressed. But I also saw a lot of people passing up targets because the miss penalty just wasn't worth the time it took to reload ... or at least they seemed to think so.
For comparison, there were 5 stages requiring use of a pistol, and 8 stages requiring use of a rifle.
SCORING:
I talked to Bob Higbie, RO of Stage 9. He explained to me that the scores were based on target 'neutralization', and time. Paper targets which had at least one hit in the A-zone were considered neutralized, but if they had two hits anywhere in a scoring zone they were considered neutralized. Misses, targets not neutralized and penalties added time to your score. The lowest time won the stage.
Match Staff:
No description of a match would be complete without mention of the people who actually worked the match. I know I won't be able to mention all of the workers, and for those many who I seem to slight, I apologize. I just want to mention a few people I actually watched and spoke to.
Brent Reddeway worked the Area 1 three-gun two weeks ago, last week he took his wife to visit family in The Dakotas, and the next Monday morning he showed up at the range to help set up the stages ... at least one day, he was the only one available to assist MD Bobby Wright. Then he worked Stage 10 with only one helper. He has a great tan, and he has lost at least 20 pounds since the last time I saw him.
Steve Shippey, an Albany Rifle and Pistol Club -- ARPC -- member (and President-Elect of the club) worked Stage 5 with NO assistance. He was always cheerful and helpful, but assume this of ALL the RO staff, and especially assume this of "The Shipster" because this is his usual mien. Note also that his website "2alphas" is the host of the match and the site where the stage procedures and match results are located.
Gary Taylor worked Stage 6 all by himself. When Jason Klein had completed Stage 7 with a huge number of feeding problems with both shotgun and rifle, he asked me where he could function test his guns. I dropped back downhill to Gary's stage and asked him if Jason could use his stage (there was nobody on it at the time) for that purpose. Gary replied "Sure, as long as he doesn't shoot any of the targets and as long as you spell my name right".
"T - O - O - L - M - A - N". Hope I got it right, Gary, and thanks for making us all look good to our visitors.
Bill Salberg worked the most complicated and difficult short-range stage (Stage 7) with one helper, whose name I unfortunately didn't catch. Sorry. He dealt with difficult, hot, tired competitors in his usual cheery manner and fixed an over-taxed 'breach-door' with the loan of a Leatherman between shooters with no delay in the stage. He handled busted targets, competitor controversy (see Bevin Grams in "Super Size It") and probably gave at least one too many re-shoots when he thought it was justified. Between squads, he offered to loan me his guns and ammunition and gear to shoot the stage "just for fun", and I was too chicken to take him up on his generous offer. I was afraid I would like it too much, and right now I just can't afford to start 3-gun competition with an STI pistol, a Mossberg 590 and a WWII Garand. I know I would be out buying guns, dies, bullets and cases within the week. But thanks anyway, Bill.
Bill lost his father last week to an extended bout with Cancer, but he never let it show.
Mike "Mac" McCarter, past president of ARPC, current Executive Director, Director of the IPSC discipline, and candidate for USPSA President (and if there is a God in heaven, he will win the race for the good of USPSA) spent a lot of days in the sun for this match. A tireless worker, a strong leader, and the best John Deere Tractor driver in the county, this former nurseryman not only keeps the club facilities in top shape 3 days a week but even brought in a small grove of potted trees to decorate the North Range road. He hauled water to the shooting bays, and performed whatever dirty little job was needed to make the match run smoothly.
Heidi Salman and Ed Dailey worked the stats shack. Heidi (I didn't recognize her without a gun in her holster) was Stats Mistress, and Ed willingly and cheerfully performed any other chores needed ... if you ate lunch at the match, credit Ed. He sorted the lunch orders, made sure they got where they needed to be when you were hungry.
When I showed up at the match at 9am my first stop was the Stats Shack. My slightest request for assistance was cheerfully and willingly obliged. Heidi printed out a competitor list and stage & squad schedules while Ed printed out the stage descriptions (all of which I have used to write this article). They did ALL of this while I was eating my breakfast at a table in the Stats Shack and writing the stage numbers, bays and names in my notebook. Without their help I couldn't have kept track of who shot which stage when, their names (including correct spelling) and which photo/video related to which competitor.
Robert Johnson is "The Other R" in "R&R Racing". He spent most of his time during the match on his four-wheel ATV running stage score-sheets between the bays and the Stats Shack for Heidi and Ed, and the rest of the time responding to the RO radio net and making sure that the match ran smoothly. During the staff match (Thursday and Friday), he also won Open Division and Second Overall.
Match Director Bobby Wright spend the last couple of months planning, coordinating, designing stages, building stages, finding sponsors for a $30,000 prize table (doubtless with the assistance of CCS Section Competition Director Chuck Anderson) and improvising new props. If you liked the "Breaching" door, you can thank Bobby. As far as I know, this was entirely his original design. I looked for it on the R&R Website and couldn't find it. Bobby, you have got to get this on the market. I predict that it will be a popular prop for future Multi-Gun and 3-gun matches.
Bobby ("Robert?") spent his match driving the Dragon-Mo-Bile back and forth at great speed, usually with either daughter Kaitlyn or son Jesse hanging on and trying not to laugh with glee. his wife, Lili, was all over the range helping get score-sheets to Heidi and Ed and handling such other administrative chores as they came up.
He even found time to shoot the RO Match. Well, maybe a LITTLE time. According to the Aggregat Scores, this Master-Class competitor came in next to last; he didn't have time to shoot 6 of the 10 stages.
Dead last shooter? Heidi ... she only found time to shoot ONE of the 10 stages.
That's what I call dedication.
For what it's worth: if only because of the stage designs I consider this match to be not only better than the Area 1 Multigun match last week, but even better than the USPSA Multigun Match last year at ARPC.
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