Tropical Sport Shooting Association again held the monthly South Florida Defensive Carbine match on the 4th Tuesday, the 28th of April 2009, at the Markham Park Target Range in
western Broward County, Florida. Set up began at approximately 18:00,
with sign-in beginning at 18:15 and shots fired by 19:00. All shooters
were complete and props and targets off the range by 21:15.
Course Description
Stage One consisted of two firing positions with the
first having a single barrel for cover and the second consisting of two
barrels stacked vertically. The targets included cardboard IDPA targets, clay skeet "pigeons", and a revolving steel target. Shooters were required to engage one pigeon, one IDPA, and both paddles of the swinging steel from cover at P1, two IDPA targets on the move to P2, and two pigeons and two IDPA targets (with painted on "hard cover obscuring half of them) from cover at P2. Targets ranged from 15 to 50 yards.
Intent
Shooting from tight cover, and remembering the sequence
of shooting, as well as engaging a swinging steel target which becomes
a moving target after the first hit.
Gaming
Most shooters that attempted to "game" this stage did so by not making proper, or even any, use of cover.
Personal Lessons
I
had two FTNs on this stage despite using a magnifier behind my Aimpoint
(although the range of the targets hardly required it), which means
that I need to slow down just a tick and get some better practice with
the magnifier if I'm going to use it. I shot from P1 with the
magnifier, tipped it outward and used the Aimpoint alone for the shots
on the move, and tipped it back into place at P2 for the last set of
targets. Despite all this my base time was the fastest for the match,
which shows that using the magnifier does not need to be a handicap if
engaged and disengaged at the proper intervals. More about the
magnifier in the S3 section below.
Admin Lessons
A
lot of shooters complain about "choreographed" stages, and I believe
that there is a point to this. However, being able to multitask while
shooting is an important skill and remembering from which position to
engage which targets, all the while using proper cover, is hardly a
complicated set of instructions. However, it is incumbent upon us as
course designers to make sure that we properly explain the
choreography, and upon the shooters to pay attention to the walkthrough.
STAGE ONE Video 1 Shooter engaging from P1 with the swinging steel target shown at the end of the video.
STAGE ONE Layout P1 The targets visible on the right were shot from P2
STAGE ONE Layout P2 The targets in the center of the photo as well as the steel were shot from P1, while the targets on the left were shot on the move from P1 to P2
STAGE ONE Action Shooter engaging targets from P1
Course Description
Stage Two consisted of 7 carboard targets, each
partially obscured by a non-threat target, all shot from behind a
vertical Bianchi Barricade as cover. Shooters began with 12 rounds in the gun, forcing a reload.
Intent
The targets, and non-threats, were to be arranged such that all
targets could not be engaged from one side of the barricade and such
that potential shoot-throughs were plentiful.
Gaming
The way that the stage was re-set after a collapse was such that
it was possible to shoot the head of one threat target and get a
shoot-through into the target behind it, if shot from the left side.
Personal Lessons
The magnifier, tipped off to the side, appears to offer no hinderance when shooting close-range targets.
Admin Lessons
If things like shoot-throughs and target
arrangement are key, I need to make sure that I am involved when the
targets fall down and another squad does the re-setting. In this case
the non-threats were re-attached in a way that it was possible to shoot
all targets from one side, and such that it was possible to make a
double headshot with a shoot-through on one threat target into another.
STAGE TWO Video 1 Complete run of stage. Note muzzle-up reload which is not allowed due to range management safety concerns.
STAGE TWO Video 2 (me) Note that it sounds like only 6 targets were engaged. This is because I was able to get a head-shot shoot-through on two targets by starting on the left side of cover. There should have been a non-threat placed so that this could not happen.
STAGE TWO Layout overall Note the non-threat targets that fell off after setup, which led to a misinterpretation of the stage by those that re-attached them.
STAGE TWO Layout View from left side of cover. From here you can see the potential to "game" the stage by shooting through one threat target into another.
STAGE TWO Layout View that most shooters saw, albeit with the two non-threat targets re-attached, since almost everyone shot the stage from only one side of cover.
STAGE TWO Shooter engaging targets from behind cover
Course Description
Stage three consisted of a 12" steel plate at 100+ yards, two 6" steel "Lolli-Popper" plates
at 50 yards, and three threats interspersed between 4 non-threat
targets at 5 yards. Shooters began at P1 and engaged the threat
targets on the move to cover, and then engaged the steel targets
alternatingly shooting the square four times and the circles three
times each. Shooters began with 12 rounds in the carbine.
Intent
Having just picked up a Larue "Po Boy" magnifier
with tip-off mount for the Aimpoint, I wanted a stage that had both
close-range targets to engage with the magnifier tipped off and long
range targets to engage using the magnifier requiring me to engage the
magnifier on the clock. I also like to always incorporate close-range
targets into stages with long-range targets to add some variety.
Gaming
The close-range targets should be easily neutralized with just two rounds each.
Firing hammers into these targets at close range and getting to the
prone position quickly was part of the key to doing well on this
stage. However, once at P2 it is critical to actually be able to shoot
halfway decently at distance and have a rifle that is zeroed.
Personal Lessons
Between this stage and Stage One, I would have to say that the
Aimpoint magnifier is not a liability if used properly. These stages
hardly required it, but at least on Stage Three it did prove to be
useful in hitting the steel targets.
Admin Lessons
One of the shooters shot one of the Lolli-Popper sticks again.
That makes two sticks on two outings for this target. We will start
enforcing a "you break it, you buy it" rule for the sticks from this
point forward, and any shooter that hits the sticks will be fined$40 for replacement costs.
STAGE THREE Video 1 (me) Complete run through the stage. After I go prone you can see me deploy the magnifier before engaging the targets at distance.
STAGE THREE Video 3 Shooter switching between 12" steel and Lolli-Popper target from prone.
STAGE THREE Video 4 Shooter engaging first target array "on the move". Note the stutter step at each target, and the SO calling for the shooter to keep moving.
