Going to Nationals!

Musings Over a Barrel: Going to Nationals!:

Were in!  This September, I get to shoot the IDPA National Championship match.

No, that's not me saying that; I'm too old and slow to go to a Nationals match any more (but then, I always was).

But for one young competitor, especially, it's the Dream Come true!

Competition makes Monsters of us all:
You have to qualify for the nationals, which isj't all that hard to do if you're a fast, young gun. 

I remember my first USPSA National match back in the 1980's, when I was shooting C-class in Limited division.

That was in the period when USPSA was just beginning to add new divisions ... as I recall, we had only Open and "Stock" at the time; "Limited" division wasn't even envisioned, let alone all the divisions we contend with today.

   I was having the hell kicked out of me by a young man whose skill-level in his (STOCK?) category was WAY beyond his rating.  I couldn't believe he was still C-class, so I searched him on the internet.  It turned out that he had recently been bumped up to B-class.  He wasn't aware of it, but I brought it to the attention of the match staff, and in doing so was bumped up to third place in my class and category.

I'm not proud of it,  I've never been "skilled" in competition pistol shooting, but I was at the peak of m form after spending months shooting thousands of rounds a month to be as competitive as I could, and I really wanted to win SOMETHING for the $400+ match fee.

The gentleman in question was disappointed, of course, but he never said a bad word to me.   He was the better man, in more ways than one.

I guess this is something of a cautionary note to competitors.   Sometimes winning isn't as important as playing the game, taking your licks, and shaking the hand of those who beat you.

I've become something of an expert at congratulating better shooters..


I only wish I had learned that lesson 20 years earlier.

Well, and I wish I was a better shooter ... but it's better to play and lose, than not to play at all.

Jeff's USPSA 2009 Nationals Blog

Jeff B., a local USPSA competitor, has just started a new blog today and I've included him in my sidebar. Look for the link under "Hot Link(s) Of The Week" for now, I'll move him to a permanent spot later.

Jeff started the blog to chronicle his adventures (and perhaps mis-adventures) at the USPSA Nationals this September, and he has started it early enough to include all the preparations that a "a lowly B-class shooter" makes prior to going to the biggest USPSA match of the year.

I suggest you stop by his blog, perhaps bookmark it for frequent visits. (I did.)

Today, you'll learn how "a lowly B-class shooter" got Hornaday to sponsor him for the Nationals!

ps: if nothing else, you appreciate the Neon banner he has at the top of his blogpage. I'm experience Pix Envy!

USPSA Nationals - via Bane's Down range Blog

Follow The USPSA Handgun Nationals Online

---

USPSA has teamed up with Down Range TV to bring the USPSA Handgun National Championships to a computer near you. The Down Range Blog will feature daily - and hopefully hourly - updates from the both the Smith & Wesson Limited, Production and Revolver USPSA Championships and the USPSA Open and Limited-10 Championships.

On the blog you'll find previews of the matches, interviews with shooters, daily scoring updates and lots and lots of photos. We'll even try to bring you a podcast or two. The Down Range Blog will be the place to get an inside look at the Championships and the shooters. And with over 600 shooters competing there's plenty to follow.

Join us online and track the match and your favorite shooters.

---

--- an email directly from USPSA.ORG

Home Run At The Nats - The RO's Life Is Not A Happy One

Our friend, The Hobo Brasser, sent me some range reports from the 2007 Open/Limited 10 Nationals. He worked the match as a Range Officer.

Here are his primary observations:

Tuesday: Report at 8AM RO meeting-the usual. Then setup your stage (put up targets look it over, etc.). PM RO match 6 stages. Used the ones that had activators so they would be tested. Stage 10 Shoot Out –“*&^$#@&”

Wednesday: AM shooters allowed on the range (they were not allowed on the range Tuesday) PM run six squads finished about 6:30. Went out to dinner with George and Brian Jones and Aldo Gonzalez. Nice visit. Brian was 3^rd Master for the match and George was 5^th Super Senior.

Thursday: Ran 12 squads-had to eat at stage-ran about an hour behind schedule by end of day. Two Big Macs and 3 beers for dinner then to bed.

Friday: Ran 12 squads-had to eat at stage again-ran about 20-30 minutes by end of day. Friday night staff appreciation (2 knives this year).

Saturday: Ran 6 squads finished about 30 min late. Lunch, vendor tent (small this year) go to hotel, drink beer go to bed early.

Sunday: woke up early left at 5:45 Missoula time 9 hour drive home.

We had two stages in our bay and we ran them in tandem. After Wednesday we had a system that worked well. Two stages to a bay may be the reason for getting behind each day. We were the first stage in the bay so we would pass a squad on to the next stage and they would often start before we had the squad from the stage before us. The stage next to us would then pause when our shooters arrived so we could do our walk thru. After that we would work in tandem again. This seemed to slow down the whole process.

The range is great, the scenery is beautiful and the match was the best run major I have ever worked at. I had two RO’s who were fantastic-Bruce Bethell from Arkansas and Julie Williams from Wisconsin.It was my second as a CRO and I feel like it was a great Nationals from my perspective.

Other notes:
No word yet on whether the "Go Sit In The Corner" stage actually started with the competitor sitting downrange of the gun. At least, at the Nats, it was (probably) unloaded.

In the Home Run stage, HB reports that "they put a 15# weight 15' lead on the bat to keep people from throwing it." (I'm not sure why, since the original stage instructions were clear about initiating the targets by STEPPING on the foot trap. I suppose this just made it easier for gamers to remember.)

UPDATE: June 27, 2007
Read the comments. I quoted "15# weight" when a more accurate quote would have been "15'lead" in the penultimate paragraph. Judging by the comments, rather than depending on a heavy weight attached to the bat, the Match Administrators tied the bat to the ground with a fifteen foot cable. I apologize for the misunderstanding

2007 USPSA Open/Limited 10 Results

The first USPSA Nationals of the 2007 Competitive Season are over, and the results are posted here.

USPSA, in its respect for the privacy of competitors, omits last names from the public results. However, if you are a USPSA member you can see the full names on the Member's Page of the USPSA website.

Since I'm not an official publication of USPSA, and I think winners should be publically recognized, here are the results for each division:

LIMITED 10 DIVISION

Top 10:

1. Rob Latham - 100%
2. Ted Puente - 96.19%
3. Taran Butler - 96.16%
4. Travis Tomasie - 95.95%
5. David Sevigny - 95.00%
6. Emanuel Bragg - 94.95%
7. Michael Seeklander - 91.51%
8. Michael Burrell - 91.30%
9. Angus Hobdell - 90.79%
10. Phil Strader, Jr. -88.07%

Categories:

Top Foreign: (08) Micahel Burrell - 91.30%
Top Senior: (13) Ron Avery - 85.08%
Top Lady: (46) Julie Goloski - 67.08%
Top Junior: (61) Ben Thompson - 61.40%

Special Interest:
Unclassified: (15) Jerry Miculek - 84.05%

Local Interest (Columbia Cascade Section finishes):
(21) Scott Springer - 77.52%
(28) Chuck Anderson - 73.50%
(63) Chris Cardoza - 61.02% (Junior - Glock?)
(91) Stephan Kemper - 55.25% (Junior - Glock?)
(97) Barney Brooks - 53.99% (Super Senior)
(99) Michael McCarter - 52.84% (Super Senior - Glock?)

Number of Entries: 163

Number of Match DQ: 7

.


OPEN DIVISION

Top 10:

1. Max Michel Jr - 100%
2. JJ Racaza - 98.04%
3. Chris Tilley - 96.55%
4. Saul Kirsch - 96.49%
5. Todd Jarrett - 95.17%
6. JoJo Vidanes - 93.81%
7. KC Eusebio - 93.81%
8. Matt McLearn - 90.68%
9. Shannon Smith - 90.55%
10. Michael Voigt - 89.28%

Categories:

Top Foreign: (04) Saul Kirsch - 96.49%%
Top Senior: (30) Michael Auger - 79.30%
Top Lady: (44) Athena Lee - 75.93%
Top Junior: (11) BJ Norris - 89.12%

Special Interest:
A8 Father: (104) George Jones - 65.95%
A8 Son: (21) Bryan Jones - 83.11%

Local Interest (Columbia Cascade Section finishes):
(34) Yong Lee - 78.70%
(83) Norm Bright - 68.37%
(103) Bob Lee - 66.02%
(110) Bill Marrs - 64.91% (Senior)
(111) Ryan Leonard - 64.79% (Junior)
(115) Squire Tomasie - 63.96% (Super Senior)
(117) Ramiro Rayes - 63.82%
(129) Scott Fague - 61.26%
(143) Frank Cook - 59.74% (Super senior)
(147) Everett mastrich - 58.91% (Senior)
(153) Zachary Bright - 55.49% (Senior)
(166) Michael Kennedy - 52.79% (Senior)
(167) Bill Sahlberg - 52.68% (Senior)

Number of Entries: 227

Number of Match DQ: 7

Note: If I've left anyone out who should be included here, I apologize. Please send corrections to me at the email address listed at the bottom of this page.

Congratulations to the competitors, I wish I could have joined you there.

USPSA Open/L10 National Match stage #11: "Go Sit In The Corner"

This is the second in a short series of articles describing the experiences of competitors at a Club Match which features stage designs published by USPSA and which are intended for the 2007 USPSA Open/L10 National Match.

The first in the series featured Stage 2: "Home Run".

This stage is Stage 11: "Go Sit In The Corner".

All stage designs (in PDF format) can be viewed at the USPSA Website.

Stage Starting Position:

"Seated in chair with arms crossed, hands on opposite shoulders. Gun in loaded and ready condition per 8.1, lying flat on one of the barrels, muzzle pointing downrange. All exra magazines are placed on the opposite barrel."

Comments on the Stage Design:

My personal most serious criticism of this stage design is that it required the competitor to be position downranged of a loaded pistol. Looking at the published schematic of the stage design, it seems obvious that this is an intentional feature of the design. I cannot imagine what the designer thought would be particularly attractive about this design feature, but this is one good reason why I am glad I hadn't planned to compete in this match.

Am I the only IPSC shooter who feels uncomfortable about this?

Note the starting position (above); there is no verbiage which suggests that the muzzle of the pistol should NOT be pointed at the competitor in the starting position.

I assume that the NROI has vetted this stage; are any of their members planning to sit in the corner on this stage? I suspect that this has NOT been tested in "Real Life" (that is, nobody has set up the stage and shot it, to see how it feels to stare down the barrel of a loaded gun.)

This is not A Good thing. Perhaps USPSA may reconsider this factor of the stage design. I hope.

At the Club match, I was not the only person who approached the Match Director to voice a certain discomfort about this starting position.

Local Variations on the Stage Design:

Looking at the Stage Layout, it appears that the chair (starting position) may have originally been intended to place the competitor facing downrange in the chair. The club match had the chair placed uprange. This may be a slight difference between the "pre-match" version and the "national match" version of this stage.

The national match stage procedures require that the pistol be placed on one barrel, and all magazines be placed on the other barrel. In the club match version, all magazines were carried on the belt. The Match Director at the club match stated that this was because the stage required more than 10 rounds be fired from a single position. In the actual event, the stage design only required that Limited 10 competitors (also Single Stack and Production) be careful about ammunition management. In the accompanying video, you will see that while the Open Division competitors managed the stage handily with a single (hi-capacity) magazine, the Limited-capacity competitors typically broke the stage into three-magazine arrays. The 11-target, 22-round stage was either divided into 10-6-6 or 10-4-8 round combinations, with one hapless competitor demonstrating the standing reload when he realized that he hadn't planned the stage as well as he might have wished.

In the video below, you will see that the stage design leaves very little room for any alternative than that the competitor be placed downrange of the loaded firearm at the start of the stage.

The first shooter, Mitch, demonstrated that a 10-round magazine limitation is not a serious impediment to a fast stage time. Second shooter, Geek, shows the relative placement of loaded firearm and shooter starting position. The rest of the competitors show variations on the sequence of target engagement and the reload-tactics of competitors who have limited ammunition. Clearly, the challenge of Open Division Competitors is less challenged than that of Limited 10 Competitors.