I was excited to see a new Tactical match that was within driving distance...there aren't that many here on the East Coast.
The lodging was nice and super convenient. The staff were very nice and the food was excellent.
We started with a match brief from the Match Director. It was good except I like to hear them ask who has medical training and where/if medical kits are available. We pray we never have to use them but it does bring a warm feeling to know you have a EMT in your group or that there is a med kit at your stage.
Group 5 was up early to start the match. It was cold but not unbearable. Everyone seemed to be appropriately dressed. The first stage we fired was the Tobacco Barn.
Tobacco Barn Stage...The RO started the brief as we looked out into a field and target sizes and which class would shoot what was rattled off...about 30 seconds into it there were 20 adult men saying "what?". I think it would have been easier to just have made up sheets that could be handed out to each team with the target sizes. It could have helped move things along faster. There were plenty of steel targets to engage on this stage except I doubt anyone ever shot anything other than the close stuff. Guys were just trying to grab 6 points out of there and only a handful of our group grabbed 3-4. I would bet that most teams played that stage the same way. Half of the steel out there wasn't engaged by our squad. Seemed like a waste of good targets.
Hide stage...this was a stage that many of us have seen before. Time started and you moved from one position into a hide and you engaged some targets...we had to range them all first but it was not hard to find the targets. The problems our squad was having was that none of us could see any impacts. During our match brief it was said that some of these stages were designed so that you could not even read your teammates trace...this must have been one of them. It didn't go well and I think we had 1 hit out of our squad. We had heard the squad before us had ZERO hits. Seems like a lot of effort to build the stage went for nothing. It was tough to hear competent shooters bang off 25 rounds and come away with a goose egg. Having a spotter on that stage was useless in our group.
Ridge Line stage...this was a nice stage. Easy to range and most guys shot this in the prone. Targets were clustered in an area and you could just range the biggest one and have the range for most of them which saved time. Engaging them was fine and if your spotter could see your impacts you had a good chance of making some points there. Our group shot that when the sun was going down and once the light was off that ridge impacts were hard to see...not really a big deal as long as you weren't the last guys to shoot in your squad.
Night Fire...Suad 5 drew the short straw and had to shoot this stage last. Night fires in general just suck...anyone that has shot these before know that it's only fun if it's the first time you have ever shot at night OR you have some high speed Night Vision Gear to use. Otherwise, Night fire stages are unnecessary. There was a lot of down time in our group for this stage (5 hours). I didn't like how the stage was set up either. The first target was set up so that you could see it with your scope in the prone but your bullet flight was actually impacting about 10 yards in front of you. This I think was unsafe and I didn't even bother engaging that target. Also since we were the last group to go we had targets that were hammered. There was no white paint left on any of them. Some guys made hits...I think a few guys hit 3 but nobody cleaned it. Talking to the groups that had gone earlier they said almost everyone was making 3. We got done that stage at 2300 local time.
Next day
Close range...This stage is similar to others I have shot before. You have to engage multiple targets at different ranges without touching your scope. Most of the time these stages are set up where the time precludes you from touching your scope so you just hold over or under to finish the stage. This stage was set up and you could only touch your scope during the prep time. Then you could not touch your scope again. Not really a big deal and even though the targets were tennis balls and golf balls... the targets were close enough to be shot. Problems here again were no impacts being visible. If your gun was on then you got a few. The spacing of the targets were hard to figure out and even the RO's said it would be a problem. Reason this was an issue was that you had to call out which ball you were shooting at and the RO had to confirm it...if you shot a ball and the RO thought you were shooting a different ball then you didn't get credit for shooting that target...even though he saw you hit it. It burned a couple of guys in our group.
Red Barn stage...Lots of steel here on this stage. Ranging them wasn't difficult and the RO's here were very good. There were 2 firing positions at this stage and I would say our group engaged the most targets at this stage. Impacts were visible and adjustments could be made.
The prize table was full and everyone went home with something. There were three classes of shooters (military, open, and heavy) I think the heavies could have been bunched in with the open guys. I'm sure the 308 guys were happy to measure themselves against other 308's.
The RO's shot the match previously and were counted in the match...I'm not really sure how I feel about this. It seems there could be a conflict of interest...the guy who has a score already in the books should not be able to take points away from another shooter. Plus you will always have the comments on ideal shooting conditions, who set the targets out there, etc...not saying that the RO's and staff are not of pristine character...it just seems like it's a conversation that always happens when RO's shoot matches and are counted in your match. Give them their own prizes after they shoot and be done with it. Let the paying competitor's shoot for what's left over.
There was a lot of down time. Some of it could have been avoided by having more than one shooter up on the line ready to go. Also, in the information on round count about this match...at the brief it was said that you could shoot a maximum of 25 rounds at each stage. That should have been put out in the beginning. I think on the website it says 100 rounds (always bring a little extra) I'm pretty sure nobody ran out of ammo but I'm sure some guy's got close...I know one guy who finished well had only 1 round left.
I'm not sure I would shoot this match again in it's current form. Great prize tables are good but they arent the only thing. A great course of fire is what brings most of us back time and time again. Shooting over 100 rounds and the <span style="font-style: italic">winners barely hit 25% </span><span style="font-weight: bold">(this info was incorrect...they shot in the 50%)</span> of them isn't up there on my list of things to do again. It was said by the Match Director that the RO's had lost $1000 from their other jobs to be here for the match...ok...so what. How much money do you think the rest of us have spent to shoot this match? There are other matches with very similar terrain and is all UKD and it doesn't have half the prize table but I would rather shoot that match...even in the winter. Not seeing your impacts makes for a long day...at any match. The targets were big enough and I didn't think any of the positions I shot from were bad...each shot felt "good"...my data was off and without a shot call it added up to a lot of rounds into the dirt.
Thank you to the Staff and RO's that put on the match...it was clear that a lot of work had gone into it. Big Thanks to the sponsors for offering up great prizes.
I did have a great time seeing old friends and helping the new shooters that were in my group. I hope this match evolves and becomes a premier match since it has all the right ingredients...just depends on what direction they want to go. Hopefully they are open to making some changes.
Be safe, shoot well
Respectfully,
--KJ
The lodging was nice and super convenient. The staff were very nice and the food was excellent.
We started with a match brief from the Match Director. It was good except I like to hear them ask who has medical training and where/if medical kits are available. We pray we never have to use them but it does bring a warm feeling to know you have a EMT in your group or that there is a med kit at your stage.
Group 5 was up early to start the match. It was cold but not unbearable. Everyone seemed to be appropriately dressed. The first stage we fired was the Tobacco Barn.
Tobacco Barn Stage...The RO started the brief as we looked out into a field and target sizes and which class would shoot what was rattled off...about 30 seconds into it there were 20 adult men saying "what?". I think it would have been easier to just have made up sheets that could be handed out to each team with the target sizes. It could have helped move things along faster. There were plenty of steel targets to engage on this stage except I doubt anyone ever shot anything other than the close stuff. Guys were just trying to grab 6 points out of there and only a handful of our group grabbed 3-4. I would bet that most teams played that stage the same way. Half of the steel out there wasn't engaged by our squad. Seemed like a waste of good targets.
Hide stage...this was a stage that many of us have seen before. Time started and you moved from one position into a hide and you engaged some targets...we had to range them all first but it was not hard to find the targets. The problems our squad was having was that none of us could see any impacts. During our match brief it was said that some of these stages were designed so that you could not even read your teammates trace...this must have been one of them. It didn't go well and I think we had 1 hit out of our squad. We had heard the squad before us had ZERO hits. Seems like a lot of effort to build the stage went for nothing. It was tough to hear competent shooters bang off 25 rounds and come away with a goose egg. Having a spotter on that stage was useless in our group.
Ridge Line stage...this was a nice stage. Easy to range and most guys shot this in the prone. Targets were clustered in an area and you could just range the biggest one and have the range for most of them which saved time. Engaging them was fine and if your spotter could see your impacts you had a good chance of making some points there. Our group shot that when the sun was going down and once the light was off that ridge impacts were hard to see...not really a big deal as long as you weren't the last guys to shoot in your squad.
Night Fire...Suad 5 drew the short straw and had to shoot this stage last. Night fires in general just suck...anyone that has shot these before know that it's only fun if it's the first time you have ever shot at night OR you have some high speed Night Vision Gear to use. Otherwise, Night fire stages are unnecessary. There was a lot of down time in our group for this stage (5 hours). I didn't like how the stage was set up either. The first target was set up so that you could see it with your scope in the prone but your bullet flight was actually impacting about 10 yards in front of you. This I think was unsafe and I didn't even bother engaging that target. Also since we were the last group to go we had targets that were hammered. There was no white paint left on any of them. Some guys made hits...I think a few guys hit 3 but nobody cleaned it. Talking to the groups that had gone earlier they said almost everyone was making 3. We got done that stage at 2300 local time.
Next day
Close range...This stage is similar to others I have shot before. You have to engage multiple targets at different ranges without touching your scope. Most of the time these stages are set up where the time precludes you from touching your scope so you just hold over or under to finish the stage. This stage was set up and you could only touch your scope during the prep time. Then you could not touch your scope again. Not really a big deal and even though the targets were tennis balls and golf balls... the targets were close enough to be shot. Problems here again were no impacts being visible. If your gun was on then you got a few. The spacing of the targets were hard to figure out and even the RO's said it would be a problem. Reason this was an issue was that you had to call out which ball you were shooting at and the RO had to confirm it...if you shot a ball and the RO thought you were shooting a different ball then you didn't get credit for shooting that target...even though he saw you hit it. It burned a couple of guys in our group.
Red Barn stage...Lots of steel here on this stage. Ranging them wasn't difficult and the RO's here were very good. There were 2 firing positions at this stage and I would say our group engaged the most targets at this stage. Impacts were visible and adjustments could be made.
The prize table was full and everyone went home with something. There were three classes of shooters (military, open, and heavy) I think the heavies could have been bunched in with the open guys. I'm sure the 308 guys were happy to measure themselves against other 308's.
The RO's shot the match previously and were counted in the match...I'm not really sure how I feel about this. It seems there could be a conflict of interest...the guy who has a score already in the books should not be able to take points away from another shooter. Plus you will always have the comments on ideal shooting conditions, who set the targets out there, etc...not saying that the RO's and staff are not of pristine character...it just seems like it's a conversation that always happens when RO's shoot matches and are counted in your match. Give them their own prizes after they shoot and be done with it. Let the paying competitor's shoot for what's left over.
There was a lot of down time. Some of it could have been avoided by having more than one shooter up on the line ready to go. Also, in the information on round count about this match...at the brief it was said that you could shoot a maximum of 25 rounds at each stage. That should have been put out in the beginning. I think on the website it says 100 rounds (always bring a little extra) I'm pretty sure nobody ran out of ammo but I'm sure some guy's got close...I know one guy who finished well had only 1 round left.
I'm not sure I would shoot this match again in it's current form. Great prize tables are good but they arent the only thing. A great course of fire is what brings most of us back time and time again. Shooting over 100 rounds and the <span style="font-style: italic">winners barely hit 25% </span><span style="font-weight: bold">(this info was incorrect...they shot in the 50%)</span> of them isn't up there on my list of things to do again. It was said by the Match Director that the RO's had lost $1000 from their other jobs to be here for the match...ok...so what. How much money do you think the rest of us have spent to shoot this match? There are other matches with very similar terrain and is all UKD and it doesn't have half the prize table but I would rather shoot that match...even in the winter. Not seeing your impacts makes for a long day...at any match. The targets were big enough and I didn't think any of the positions I shot from were bad...each shot felt "good"...my data was off and without a shot call it added up to a lot of rounds into the dirt.
Thank you to the Staff and RO's that put on the match...it was clear that a lot of work had gone into it. Big Thanks to the sponsors for offering up great prizes.
I did have a great time seeing old friends and helping the new shooters that were in my group. I hope this match evolves and becomes a premier match since it has all the right ingredients...just depends on what direction they want to go. Hopefully they are open to making some changes.
Be safe, shoot well
Respectfully,
--KJ
