AAR time!
BLUF:
- It's golf with guns.
- I'm really slow.
- I didn't make many shots.
- People are extremely nice and helpful.
- I learned a lot.
TLDR:
I didn't do half the things you recommended, but mostly because I was walking around like a lost puppy.
I went to the zero range first, because I knew there was supposed to be a Lab Radar available, and everyone here suggested I get my speeds. When I got there, I saw several Magnetospeeds and Lab Radars, but everyone had their own. When I was about 5 people from the front, I noticed there wasn't a "community/range" chrono, so I left without asking anyone. It seemed like people were getting "in the zone", and I didn't want to get in the way. I got my stuff from the truck, then bumped into the match director and thanked him for putting on the event. I didn't ask about the chrono, because at that point I realized we were getting to match time, and I wasn't going to slow things down for everyone.
I stood where the bulk of the people were, but when someone asked what Squad I was with, they said I was at the wrong stage (Squad 4 started at Stave 4, etc...) The match director overheard I standing at the wrong stage and took me to my squad RO, which is when things started to smooth out.
Once in my squad, people were really helpful. After witnessing me throwing my rice sock over the first barrier and shooting from it, I suddenly had several offers to try out different bags.

My limited experience has made me gravitate to the Armageddon Gear Shmedium. The Game Changer was too big, and the Tater Tot was too heavy and bulky. Apparently I like my shirts and my shooting bags Shmedium. I'm sure this will change a lot as I get experience...
I honestly don't know if my "Test DOPE" was that far off- most of my misses were larger than a few tenths, and felt like they were more related to my lack of experience building a stable position. Roughly half the time I watched the reticle bounce around like I was a Seal sniper on the deck of a ship trying to shoot a Somali pirate. The other half was me trying to get my head position adjusted to actually see something through the scope (lower power is your friend). The remaining small percentage, I hit the target. I had 6 hits, and a 7.42% Match Percentage in Production. I rarely got off more than 2 shots each stage.
My favorite moment was when I was shooting prone at prairie dogs from a stacked shipping container. I'm not good at calling my shots, but on the second shot I finally had the "perfect" shot. I called it and managed recoil well enough to watch the impact.... three feet left. WTF!!? I couldn't dwell on it, so I reached up to dial the next target and the scope moved. I realized what happened, hand tightened the mount thumb screws and managed to take two more careful shots on the clock.
Lessons learned- 1) Double-check your equipment before you go 2) Stay calm and work the problem. As nervous as I was most of the time, it was nice to have a moment of calm where I could still work through a problem and perform better than some earlier stages.
All in all, I'm definitely going to continue to do this. I'll save the money I was going to spend on a chassis and invest in a bag and more ammo. I have a ways to go before my rifle is the limiting factor. It was a lot of fun!
Thanks,
Carlos