First let me say THANK YOU! I had a great time; the COF was challenging, there was great shooter turnout, the weather treated us way better than could have been expected, the prize table and sponsor list was fantastic, the ROs were friendly and had a great attitude, and it was the one match I can go to in the year that is close to home. Awesome details included supplying us with water, snacks/granola bars, the awesome BBQ dinner and the JJ sandwiches. Great thinking!
You mentioned attracting new shooters... It doesn't seem attracting shooters is much of a problem, as the match was full. However, it seems this match faces a difficulty factor many other (perhaps bigger and more established) matches don't have - which is the extreme variation in skill level of the shooters. You've got guys ranging from serious shooters that travel the national circuit shooting national-level events, all the way down to small time local guys shooting their first match and taking advantage of a real tactical match that is within easy driving distance.
This makes designing a COF more difficult because a highly challenging one suits the experienced guys just fine, but is intimidating for less experienced guys. I know I heard a fair bit of pissing/moaning from a couple shooters that just weren't hitting much. Now, some people are great at taking things like that in stride; doing their best and not getting frustrated if they can't connect on targets. Others on the other hand, get disgruntled and feel alienated - making them less likely to come out to events like this. This is a lot less of an issue at the bigger national events because anyone going to them knows it's a big-time event and if they are a novice, fully expect to get a beat down.
Frankly, I'm not really sure what can be done about it. The COF had some stages that were manageable for novices, but for the most part, the targets were very small. Maybe working out the logistics to more evenly spread the "easier" stages throughout the weekend, so a shooter that had his ass handed to him at one stage will soon shoot another one where he can get some good hits? Perhaps you could simply put some larger targets out there so shooters would rarely take a zero for any stage, while still keeping a bunch of challenging targets out there? Maybe have a big target and a small target at many of the target positions to allow the shooter to choose which to shoot at (obviously small target = more points)? Perhaps the answer is simply to "not care" about the couple of guys that get sand in their vaginas? Honestly, I don't know the answer and don't know exactly what to suggest, but the match organizers should at least be aware of this.
Logistically, some improvements can be made to make the match move along more smoothly and quickly.
Here are my criticisms: (Note: After spending some time on this and compiling this rather long list, I'd like to take a second to reiterate this was a GREAT match - please don't think I'm complaining!!)
1. Cold Bore Shot. It takes forever to cycle 35+ shooters through this. I realize that Rich wants everybody to have the exact same CBS "condition" to deal with to keep things fair. Still, this could be reconfigured so 2 or 3 squads can be shooting this stage at the same time. Not sure if that would be best done by having multiple (close by) shooting positions taking turns firing at one target, or multiple positions shooting multiple targets... Regardless, provided the target distance, target size, target visibility, wind-effect and shooter position is basically the same, no one would mind the shooting "scenario" not being literally identical. This would save an hour per day.
2. Maybe I'm not familiar enough with the layout of the facility, but if it's possible to configure the shooting lanes to allow for more than two squads to be shooting at a time, that would certainly keep shooters shooting more. Maybe 3 squads instead of 2? A method I've seen at other matches to really keep up the shooting-flow is to set up several stages that can be shot (and walked to/from) safely, and have shooters do a "round robin" of those stages.
3. More RO/Spotter support, which I realize dovetails directly into my 2nd point above. You can't have more squads when you're already short on ROs and Spotters. Rich mentioned on several occasions he was having trouble getting RO's and spotters that are experienced with this type of shooting match. I overheard Felipe suggest to Rich a method that works to get RO volunteers is to tell them they'll get to go to the prize table beginning after the 5th place shooter. That allows top shooters to get first pick of prizes, but leaves "good stuff" on the table for the RO's. Sounds like a pretty good plan to me.
Also, provided the match is going to take place basically the same weekend... Next year, you can count on Peter and I both to be RO/Spotters for the match. We have good scopes/tripods and solid experience with how this kind of match is run. It would be super awesome if we could ALSO compete in the match, but if that's not in the cards, we'll still RO/Spot.
4. Safety. I know the match was "big boy rules" but nonetheless, I saw (what I consider) an unsafe practice occurring time and again: People moving from one position to the next with a round in battery. Shooters would often fire the last round from a given port/log/spot on the barricade, chamber a fresh round AND THEN move to their next spot. I never saw the muzzle of a loaded rifle pointed at anybody, but they were often pointed into the sky and/or haphazardly in a randomish downrange direction. This is not allowed at any other match I've attended, and I'd argue is simply not best practice. It should be stressed to shooters to ONLY chamber a round once in position and the target/impact berm is in the scope. I've seen several ND's at various matches from people shifting position and inadvertently touching the trigger. A problem compounded by the fact many precision rifle shooters run pretty light triggers.
5. Match booklet. It is really nice as a shooter to receive a match booklet that has stage descriptions, target designations, ranges, rules etc etc so shooters can read through and brief themselves beforehand. Understanding this costs money in the form of paper/printing/etc, even just emailing it to the shooters the night before the match begins would be nice. Shooters could either print it out, or just download on their smartphone to have it out in the field with them. Dovetailing into this is a prior suggestion by [MENTION=11250]stinkyDrunk[/MENTION] to possibly have ROs shoot the match the day before, and allow competitors to come watch.
6. Prizes. The prize table and raffle was great, I really like to see rifles/barreled actions going to newbies that are trying hard with subpar equipment or perhaps no equipment at all. In fact, at PTS last year RW Snyder donated a complete rifle build, to be given to a shooter the ROs all agreed NEEDED one, and had the right ATTITUDE to deserve it. This was absolutely fucking awesome. However, one adjustment I'd make (aside from the already mentioned RO prize table incentive) would be altering the cash payout. Instead of $1000 going to the match winner only, maybe $500 to 1st place, $250 to 2nd and $150 to 3rd? Or something like that. You get the idea.
7. Target designations. When you WANT the targets to be easily seen, white is by far the best color to use. If you want to add target acquisition difficulty to the "test" of the stage - paint them red or green or whatever. I know quite a few shooters were having trouble finding targets so I think white paint would've been helpful. As an aside..... This was not an issue at this match, but I've seen it at other matches where a target is going to get hit a LOT, you might as well not paint it at all. This makes it so everybody gets the same crappy sight picture on that target, rather than the first few shooters getting a fresh target, and then everybody else a dull gray crappy one.
8. Target failures. I'm sure you guys are learning a lot about setting up steel targets and what it takes to keep them up and running throughout a match like this, and I realize this is a constant-learning process. That said, don't underestimate the time wasted in fixing targets. At the hostage stage shot prone off the berm top, the target hanging in the drivers window failed at least 4 consecutive times for my squad, taking ~10 minutes each time to repair. This one target easily cost our squad 40 minutes or more in downtime, and wasn't the only example of target failure. Again, I realize setting steel targets that can withstand hundreds of high-power rifle shots without failure is 1/2 art, 1/2 science and not easy, but it is something to focus attention on in the future to improve the match.
9. PRS Match. Making this a PRS match would draw a larger number of more highly experienced shooters, which would be awesome. The only thing stopping it is RO support and space for 50+ shooters. It would absolutely be a solid avenue in growing/proliferating this match, and tactical match shooting in this region of the country in general. It's a double edge sword though because the talent level will be greater, creating an even greater talent difference. I dunno, maybe this match needs another year or two under it's belt before going PRS?
A few other thoughts:
I rather liked the couple stages I shot where foliage and vegetation would occasionally block the target. You had to wait for the right wind condition for the foliage to blow out of the way. This required the shooter to judge if they'd be better off shifting position to get a better view, wait for the right wind condition, or to simply move on in the interest of time. Hard to "design into" a stage, but neat when it happens just right.
It was mentioned to provide better impact berms for seeing the splash from misses. Personally I thought it was a pretty good blend. In practical field shooting, it is pretty common to see a vegetation backdrop behind a target and a miss won't be seen. Forces a shooter to develop their ability to watch for trace/vaportrail. That said, I'd have liked it if the Cold bore shots had a nice dirt berm behind.