October 31, 2015, 01:38 PM
exx1976So, I still owe an AAR from day 2 of the GAP Grind. Here it is!!
Woke up early, 6:00ish. Got my morning cup of road tar, went to the office to borrow some more sugar. Still barely palatable, but better than no coffee.
Beginning at 6:45, the first stage was put up. It was a self-service stage, cold bore shot at 100 yards at one of those playing cards with the ace of spades and the crosshairs in the middle. Shoot it at 100 yards.
Now, normally my cold bore shot goes high and left. Not a lot, but it does. At least, with a can on it. This was the first cold bore shot I'd ever taken and paid attention to with the brake.
Turns out it went RIGHT where I aimed it. Nerves? Psychological? Can? No idea, but it seems with a brake the rifle is just dead nuts where I point it. I didn't even come close to winning that one. But, I did get 1 point (hit the black, get a point. Get within the circle around the crosshairs, get 3 points. Miss any of the black ace of spades logo, or off the card, no points).
I was in squad 2 for Sunday, so our first stage was actually 2 stages combined - the two new skill stages for the 2016 season. These two stages will be at every PRS match this year (check the rule book for specifics - you can build your own prop to practice, they give all the specs). The first was prone. 400 yards, 12" square, 90 seconds, unlimited round count. Your first target was on your left. 2 hits, then move to the next target (same distance & size) 25 yards to the right of target 1. Two hits, then move to the third target (same size & distance) 50 yards to the right of target 2. Four hits on this target, then back to the middle target, two hits, then back to the first target, 2 hits. Begin 10 yards back of the starting position, rifle in hand, unloaded.
The RO for this stage SUCKED. I couldn't hear him say "impact" at all. I hit the first two targets no problem, but when I Transitioned to the far right target, I didn't take my time in correcting my position (my fault; I should have). As a result, when the rifle recoiled, I hopped off target. The targets were on posts, they didn't swing, so feedback was nonexistent if you didn't see the impact. I fired at that target 6 or 7 times before I heard the RO say "What target are you shooting at?" It was only then that I realized I had made the required number of hits and transitioned back to the center target. Then time was called. I scored 8 our of a possible 12 points here. When I got up I made sure to let the RO know, in no uncertain terms (though politely) that he needed to speak the fuck up. He apologized, and I moved along.
The next stage was the other 2016 skill stage - 10" circle at 400 yards, shot from a barricade. 8 rounds, 2 from the bottom left, two top left, two top right, two bottom right. Same starting position, 10 yards behind the prop, unloaded. This was my only goose egg of the day. I rushed. Bad. Double dumbass on me.
Next up was "Ride Along Gone Bad". The same Louisana State Trooper car as Saturday was used (no idea why there was an LA car in TN, but whatever), but this time, you had to fire a total of 9 shots - 3 from the hood, 3 from the roof, and 3 from the trunk. The doors could be open or closed as desired, and staged prior to time starting. I chose the rear door open, as I'd seen other shooters have success with this method.
I had my spike feet on my Atlas, and was advised to not put any holes in the sheet metal. Dammit, that was seriously my plan! Oh well.
Targets were at 600 yards, and were a full size IPSC for 1 point, 66% IPSC for 2 points, or a 45% IPSC for 3 points. I put 3 hits on the 66% from the hood, then transitioned to the roof. My rear bag, which is on a lanyard hanging by a flush cup, got trapped between me and the roof of the car. I struggled with that for much longer than I should have, then put 3 shots on the 66% again. Moved to the trunk, closed the bolt, and time was called. 12 out of a possible 27 points there.
Next up was "Hoodlums on the Street". Boy, did I fuck this one up. Engage up to 8 rounds from the prone position on 6 targets. Targets were hostage/headshot targets, hidden around, in, and behind cars. 2 targets at each car: 403 yards, 459 yards, and 500 yards. Each target is worth 2 points. Hit a hostage, and lose 1 point. Start on your rifle, bolt open. I cleaned it in 6 shots in 34.74 seconds. So how did I fuck it up? Immediately after the RO called impact on my last shot, he said "You're the fastest one so far!" I looked to my left, and saw the owner of PDC Customs standing there. This was a prize stage - fastest amateur with the highest points on this stage won a free chassis. Ugh. I easily could have done this 4 or 5 seconds faster, as I really dawdled on some of it. Damn. Turns out the winner did it in 30.xx seconds. Oh well. That'll teach me to pay better attention to the ENTIRE page in the range book, instead of just targets and yardages. Better luck next time... At least I got my 12 points, right?
Next up was the Copper Creek Shoot House. This was the huge shoot house again, with stairs going up to the roof. 8 rounds to be fired from 4 designated positions on the shoot house. They were all at roughly the same height. Target was 66% IPSC at 500 yards. 90 seconds. I scored 8/16 points.
Next up were the rocks. 5 ugly, sharp, busted-ass boulders, half buried in the ground, looked like landscaping. These were your rests. They went slighly uphill, left to right. Start 10 yards back, and shoot one shot from each rock, left to right (uphill) at a 66% IPSC at 450 yards. 2 points per hit, I got 6/10 points.
Field Fire - 5 rounds prone. Targets were at 600 yards. 1MOA circle for 3 points, 2 MOA square for 1 point. NO idea what happened to me on this stage. You were shooting at roughly a 40 degree angle across the range, there was a bit of wind. In any event, I only got a single point. That will teach me - just shoot at the big targets, get your 5, and move along. Dumbass. Again, 90 seconds. Start on your rifle even. Oof.
TYL rack - Up to 10 rounds prone. 515 yards. 12, 10, 8, 6 and 4" targets. Max of 8 points (.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3). I ran straight across in 4 shots and took my 5 points. Didn't trust myself on that 4" one after missing the 1MOA target, prone, on the previous stage. If I had missed, I would have had 5 more rounds to do it again, but I felt my confidence would have been too shaken that I wouldn't have done well the next try. Again - the psychological part of the game I need to work on.
LUNCH BREAK!! Thank goodness. Lunch was once again pulled pork and baked beans and potato salad and coleslaw, and once again provided by Trace Bartlein from Bartlein Barrels. Outstanding!
500 yard urban mover. 10 rounds prone, 3 passes of the mover. There were windows on the path now. Target was a 12" circle. A hit was 2 points, a hit in the window was 3 points. Max was 30 points if you somehow managed 10 window hits. The Amateur winner managed a whopping 26 points. I got 9. Ugh.
Mover shoot house. Yes, this sucked as bad as it sounds. It was a two-story shoot house, and the target was a 66% IPSC mover at 300 yards. Begin 10 yards from the stairs. when your 90 seconds begins, run up the stairs, and fire 3 rounds from the railing, then run back down, fire 3 shots from the window, then 3 shots (prone if you want) from the bottom window. I got the 3 shots off upstairs, came down, got the three shots off from the window, and just as I Was about to break my first prone shot, time was called. All that work for 1 lousy hit. Ugh.
The Deuce and a Half. Fuck this stage. Start 10 yards back, rifle in hand, run up to the back of the 2.5, climb into the bed (holy CRAP are those things high off the ground!), fire two shots from the right corner of the bed (which had a wall on it JUST high enough to make a prone shot not possible and JUST low enough to make it more uncomfortable than hanging upside down by your toenails in a hurricane), then get up, transition to the back window (which was slid open) and fire through the front window (which was missing), then transition to the roof. 3 rounds per location. The three rounds had to be shot in order, each at a 45% IPSC at 324 yards, 363 yards, and 477 yards, near to far. I got two hits, and never made it to the roof.
Speed drill - 100 yards prone at 1MOA paper targets. Start off your rifle, 25 seconds to fire 5 shots. I had a feeding issue, only fired 3 shots, and got 2 hits. Better than a lot of guys who got zeros.
Hostage targets - 100 yards, prone, at paper hostages. They were about MOA-ish, maybe a bit smaller. Hit the bad guy, 2 points. Hit a hostage, -1 point. I DRILLED two of my hostages SQUARE in the forehead and still got 2 points. Oh - this was 5 targets, 5 shots, 90 seconds again. That 90 seconds for 5 prone shots felt like an ETERNITY. I could have easily done better, but I rushed. No idea why. Probably because of the previous stage (which was shot in the exact same location - the paper targets were printed one under the other).
My final stage of the day was the long ball. Sponsored by Manners stocks, the amateur with the fastest time and highest score wins a Manners stock. Prone, targets at 800, 900, and 1000. 3 rounds on each. First round hit worth 3 points, second and third worth 2 points. 3 shots per target, hit or miss. 800: impact, impact, impact. 900: Impact, impact, miss. 1000: Impact, miss, impact. 17/21 points. There were 2 guys that cleaned it, with the winner doing it in 32 seconds. Oh well.
I ended up tied for 28th (Same as my team standings) out of 73 shooters, with 89 points. Coincidentally, I tied Ryan Hey, a pro shooter, who is sponsored by, among others (Magnetospeed and a few others I don't recall), J Allen. His 89 points got him a 56th place finish, out of 73 guys. So at least I would have beaten SOME of the pros! Cool!
After awards, I went looking for the brass to see what I could find. After sorting through it all Saturday night and only finding 2 pieces, my hopes were high, but since I hadn't seen it out yet, I thought perhaps I could get to it early and get my brass that was (accidentally?) being stolen by the guy shooting 6x47 that had marked his brass exactly the same way I had. After asking 3 or 4 guys about it, I finally found a guy that said someone had STOLEN the fucking brass. "Yeah, I Saw him grab the bag of brass (a full sized leaf bag), and said something to him. He said 'well they just threw it away yesterday', and kept on walking". I was beyond pissed. Had I seen that, that dude would have been wondering why he was looking at the ceiling and why his jaw and his balls hurt. Fucking thieves.
In any event, it was fun, regardless the 30-some-odd% brass that I lost.
On the way home, I was chatting with Lisa from JAE on Facebook, talking about the match. Turns out, I picked up a sponsor.
Very excited to get my JAE team chassis. Just need to pick out a custom color for it. Look for it at Shoot for the Green, as that's the next PRS match I plan to attend.
I do have some pics, but they aren't online yet. Hopefully I'll get around to it soon.
November 07, 2015, 11:31 PM
exx1976Just got home a little while ago from the IA match.
It was the inaugural match for the newly formed Iowa Precision Shooters group. Indeed, 25 shooters.
6 stages, nothing too fancy. It was held on private land.
Stage 1 was a speed rack. 440 yards, 12" plates, prone. 3 plates, shoot left to right, one shot each, then repeat. Time limit was 1:00, but the stage was also timed in case of a tie-breaker. I cleaned it, and had the 3rd fastest time (had a feeding issue - damn AW mags!). Wind hold was 2.75MOA (10MPH)
Stage 2 was To Your Limits, prone at 762 yards. Max of 8 rounds. 3:00 time limit. Engage targets large to small. If you miss, re-engage the target you missed, no need to start over. Targets were 16", 12", 10" and 8" rounds. If you hit all 4 targets, you got an extra point for each round left that you didn't fire. Target values were 1, 2, 3, 4. Max possible score of 14. I missed the first shot, but got a good wind call out of it (7 MOA - I was holding 5). Got 13 points - high score of the day on that stage.
Stage 3 was also prone, and was a 10" round at 340, a 12" round at 440, and a 16" round at 762. Put three shots on each. 3:00 time limit. I dropped a couple due to switching winds, and took 6 of a possible 9.
Stage 4 shot from 55 gallon drums, one tipped on it's side and one standing. Target was a 12" square at 380 yards. 4 shots from each drum in 2:00. I took 5 of a possible 8.
Stage 5 was a 12" square at 330 yards, shot from a cattle gate that had 6 possible shooting heights. Shooter's choice of 5, 2 rounds per, for a total of 10 shots in 3:00. I took 7/10.
Stage 6 was shot from tires. 3 of them, to be precise, all laying on their sides. Two right next to one another, and the third stacked in the middle to make a tiny pyramid. 3 shots from the left tire, 3 shots from the center tire, three shots from the right tire. Target was a 12" square at 433 yards, 2:30. I took 7 of a possible 9.
I won the match, beating Jim See by 1 point - 44 to his 43.
I still need to work on my positional stuff though. I didn't time out on anything, but I certainly used up all the time they gave me.
It was a fun match, and I'm looking forward to seeing what they get put together for next season.
Tomorrow I'm going to pull the barrel, send the action to Beanland, and send the chassis back to J Allen for the team stripe. Need to have it all back together by New Year's day for the Hangover 420 (the start of the local winter matches).
