I shot the Tactical Games Sniper Challenge in Alabama this past weekend and wanted to provide an AAR of the match.
I finished 2nd overall/2nd in the individual bolt category. Stages were very similar but slightly different for teams. You were required to wear a plate carrier weighing over 15lbs slick on all stages.
Main gear I used
Masterpiece Arms 6CM with a KGM R6 silencer
Vortex 4.5-27 Gen 2 Razor with H59
Armageddon Gear Schmedium w/heavy fill
Gray Ops CNC plate w/ AG bag
Velocity Systems scarab LT place carrier
AXL belt system w/ CZ Shadow 2 w/ SRO RDS
Match took place at Alabama Precsion.
It was a two-day event. We were allowed to zero, practice on the mover, and laze targets on Friday. No distances for any targets were given in the match.
The way things were set up, is that your squadmates called hits/spotted for you, but no coaching was allowed. Competitors got to watch each other shoot the stages, and could be on glass whenever they wished/communicate before and after the stages.
We shot 16 stages, with two additional stages that were only run time.
10 stages Saturday, 6 stages Sunday.
On Saturday we drove to every stage, and could pull gear from our car as we wished. On Sunday we had a long movement of around 1.7 miles where we had to carry whatever gear we needed for the long stages. We also had 3 floater stages we could shoot whenever we wanted, before or after our long movement.
Stage 1/2
Stage 1 was your run time on this stage, you had a total of 20 minutes to run .7ish miles (had to wear plate carrier and pistol, but left rifle behind). Run time was used to determine the start time on Sunday. I have been running a lot, did well and was the 2nd fastest of the match.
Stage 2
We fired 10 rifle and 10 pistol, rifle was prone, 5 shots into two separate 4" squares at 100. Pistol was the same, but at 30 yards. I cleaned the rifle with ease, but dropped some pistol shots.
Stage 3
Started with some pistol steel ranging from 7 to 25 yards, then dropped to prone with the rifle and shot targets from 3-600 yards, coming back to the 300ish yard target after engaging each of the others. No dialing was allowed on this stage.
Stage 4
10 rifle shots from 5 ports in a connex, ranged from prone to standing.
Stage 5
Shot some pistol at steel, then into the back of a car to engage targets from 3-600, 12 rounds max, 3 hits per on 4 targets.
Stage 6
Shot off a rock, modified prone, mover with two targets at 456, one was a pretty big IPSC, and other was a circle that felt quite small. You had 12 rounds max, and had to alternate hits, this stage hurt me.
Stage 7
Start off my carrying 70 or so lb weights 75 yards, then shoot off stair steps from top to bottom. 2 shots per step, 10 shots total. Steps went from kneeling to funky prone. One target at 450ish if I remember correctley.
Stage 8
Pull a weighted sled 50 or so yards, then shoot pistol at steel. You had an unlimited pistol, with each hit earning you a rifle shot for a max of 12. Then we got in the back of a helicopter and shot a huge plate at 400 yards from modified prone.
Stage 9
Troop line of sorts, drop prone on a platform and shoot from 260 to 700 and change, 10 rounds max, 2 hits per target.
Stage 10
DOT type road block barricade, with 3 positions. 2 of the 3 positions were about 18" off the ground and we were required to shoot 90* through them 3rd position was off the top of the barridace. This was my first stage of the match, and I thought I shot it pretty bad, but I ended up winning the stage. 90* is a tough concept to grasp.
Stage 11
Modified prone off of a boulder, target at 650 or so, total of 9 hits possible, start with 7 rounds in the gun, if you miss you have to run and retrieve one round of ammo from about 80 yards away. Even if you hit all 7, you still had to take 2 trips to retrieve ammo for shots 8 and 9.
Stage 12 - long movement
10 possible hits, unlimited rounds, shoot at a plate at 450 from 5 positions with 2 hits from each position. Was a mix of posts and a rooftop.
Stage 13 - long movement
Prone off top of connex, 10 rounds max, 5 targets, 2 hit per. Targets were at 800, 900, 1000, 1100 and 1200 yards.
Stage 14 - long movement
Milling stage from the back of the helicopter, I learned here that a Mildot master is worthless for most shooting competitions as it does not have sub-tensions for smaller than 1mil, which is mine if you need to mil a human, but when milling an 18" target at 620 or so you are left with bad data. Math worked better.
Stage 15 - floater
Shoot 4 shots at 100 yards in 4 different squares from prone with your rifle
Stage 16 - floater
Run 50 yards or so uphill and back, then shoot 6 shots into the head of a USPSA target with the rifle at 50 yards. Once done stand up and shoot the body of the same target with your pistol 6 times
Stage 17 - floater
Shooting prone from connex window, you had 6 shots to hit the mover. Gas gunshot the IPSC, bolt shot the circle. Once again, this stage hurt me. I need mover practice.
Stage 18 - your total run time for the long movement with your wait times subtracted.
All in all, I thought it was a very fun match. The only stages I would have ditched were the rifle on paper, as I found that a bit boring, but I know it wasn't boring for all shooters. I would love to see the elimination of squadmates getting to watch each other shoot/spot for each other, but that makes a match much more logistically challenging and would be near impossible at many ranges due to how close stages typically are to each other.
I have never had any interest in shooting the normal Tactical Games, as they seem to be a smoke show with some minor shooting. They also do some things that are not worth the injury risk to me, such as throwing 200lb sandbags over your shoulders. The physical parts of this match did a great job of getting you stressed, but not risking severe injury/leaving you in recovery for a few days after.
I thought this match was a great mix of physical and shooting, the targets were much bigger than a typical PRS match, which was probably a good thing as the match attracted many new shooters.
I finished 2nd overall/2nd in the individual bolt category. Stages were very similar but slightly different for teams. You were required to wear a plate carrier weighing over 15lbs slick on all stages.
Main gear I used
Masterpiece Arms 6CM with a KGM R6 silencer
Vortex 4.5-27 Gen 2 Razor with H59
Armageddon Gear Schmedium w/heavy fill
Gray Ops CNC plate w/ AG bag
Velocity Systems scarab LT place carrier
AXL belt system w/ CZ Shadow 2 w/ SRO RDS
Match took place at Alabama Precsion.
It was a two-day event. We were allowed to zero, practice on the mover, and laze targets on Friday. No distances for any targets were given in the match.
The way things were set up, is that your squadmates called hits/spotted for you, but no coaching was allowed. Competitors got to watch each other shoot the stages, and could be on glass whenever they wished/communicate before and after the stages.
We shot 16 stages, with two additional stages that were only run time.
10 stages Saturday, 6 stages Sunday.
On Saturday we drove to every stage, and could pull gear from our car as we wished. On Sunday we had a long movement of around 1.7 miles where we had to carry whatever gear we needed for the long stages. We also had 3 floater stages we could shoot whenever we wanted, before or after our long movement.
Stage 1/2
Stage 1 was your run time on this stage, you had a total of 20 minutes to run .7ish miles (had to wear plate carrier and pistol, but left rifle behind). Run time was used to determine the start time on Sunday. I have been running a lot, did well and was the 2nd fastest of the match.
Stage 2
We fired 10 rifle and 10 pistol, rifle was prone, 5 shots into two separate 4" squares at 100. Pistol was the same, but at 30 yards. I cleaned the rifle with ease, but dropped some pistol shots.
Stage 3
Started with some pistol steel ranging from 7 to 25 yards, then dropped to prone with the rifle and shot targets from 3-600 yards, coming back to the 300ish yard target after engaging each of the others. No dialing was allowed on this stage.
Stage 4
10 rifle shots from 5 ports in a connex, ranged from prone to standing.
Stage 5
Shot some pistol at steel, then into the back of a car to engage targets from 3-600, 12 rounds max, 3 hits per on 4 targets.
Stage 6
Shot off a rock, modified prone, mover with two targets at 456, one was a pretty big IPSC, and other was a circle that felt quite small. You had 12 rounds max, and had to alternate hits, this stage hurt me.
Stage 7
Start off my carrying 70 or so lb weights 75 yards, then shoot off stair steps from top to bottom. 2 shots per step, 10 shots total. Steps went from kneeling to funky prone. One target at 450ish if I remember correctley.
Stage 8
Pull a weighted sled 50 or so yards, then shoot pistol at steel. You had an unlimited pistol, with each hit earning you a rifle shot for a max of 12. Then we got in the back of a helicopter and shot a huge plate at 400 yards from modified prone.
Stage 9
Troop line of sorts, drop prone on a platform and shoot from 260 to 700 and change, 10 rounds max, 2 hits per target.
Stage 10
DOT type road block barricade, with 3 positions. 2 of the 3 positions were about 18" off the ground and we were required to shoot 90* through them 3rd position was off the top of the barridace. This was my first stage of the match, and I thought I shot it pretty bad, but I ended up winning the stage. 90* is a tough concept to grasp.
Stage 11
Modified prone off of a boulder, target at 650 or so, total of 9 hits possible, start with 7 rounds in the gun, if you miss you have to run and retrieve one round of ammo from about 80 yards away. Even if you hit all 7, you still had to take 2 trips to retrieve ammo for shots 8 and 9.
Stage 12 - long movement
10 possible hits, unlimited rounds, shoot at a plate at 450 from 5 positions with 2 hits from each position. Was a mix of posts and a rooftop.
Stage 13 - long movement
Prone off top of connex, 10 rounds max, 5 targets, 2 hit per. Targets were at 800, 900, 1000, 1100 and 1200 yards.
Stage 14 - long movement
Milling stage from the back of the helicopter, I learned here that a Mildot master is worthless for most shooting competitions as it does not have sub-tensions for smaller than 1mil, which is mine if you need to mil a human, but when milling an 18" target at 620 or so you are left with bad data. Math worked better.
Stage 15 - floater
Shoot 4 shots at 100 yards in 4 different squares from prone with your rifle
Stage 16 - floater
Run 50 yards or so uphill and back, then shoot 6 shots into the head of a USPSA target with the rifle at 50 yards. Once done stand up and shoot the body of the same target with your pistol 6 times
Stage 17 - floater
Shooting prone from connex window, you had 6 shots to hit the mover. Gas gunshot the IPSC, bolt shot the circle. Once again, this stage hurt me. I need mover practice.
Stage 18 - your total run time for the long movement with your wait times subtracted.
All in all, I thought it was a very fun match. The only stages I would have ditched were the rifle on paper, as I found that a bit boring, but I know it wasn't boring for all shooters. I would love to see the elimination of squadmates getting to watch each other shoot/spot for each other, but that makes a match much more logistically challenging and would be near impossible at many ranges due to how close stages typically are to each other.
I have never had any interest in shooting the normal Tactical Games, as they seem to be a smoke show with some minor shooting. They also do some things that are not worth the injury risk to me, such as throwing 200lb sandbags over your shoulders. The physical parts of this match did a great job of getting you stressed, but not risking severe injury/leaving you in recovery for a few days after.
I thought this match was a great mix of physical and shooting, the targets were much bigger than a typical PRS match, which was probably a good thing as the match attracted many new shooters.
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