How about a February Shooting Contest?

**DJ Niner** · 02-06-2007, 02:33 AM

Random thoughts on shooting matches/competitions:

I think it's possible that a 25 yard match might eliminate many folks who exclusively use indoor ranges, which rarely extend to that distance.

Some of the standard ways to make a shooting contest more challenging are:
- Tighter time limits
- Less supported positions
- Longer distances
- Smaller targets or smaller scoring areas on targets
I think you should focus on the last two items.

I suggest polling folks on the maximum distance they commonly have available on their range, then using a slightly smaller target if necessary to increase the challenge.

If participation ever gets above 8-10 regularly, you could start breaking the contestants down into classes, based on their score for each match. So, if 7 people ended up entering, they would all be lumped into one class, and one prize would be awarded. If 10 people entered, you could divide them into two, 5-person classes; the top shooter would win class "A", and the sixth-best score would be at the top of class "B" (and also win a prize). This means even if a person did relatively poorly (compared to the best shooters), they might still be at the top of a class at any given match. 15 folks? 3 classes, and so on. Not always shooting against the best shooters, and possibly winning something even if you're new to the sport or learning a new gun, etc., can build a lot of participation. "Sandbagging" (deliberately shooting a lower score to place high in a lower class) is difficult because no one knows how many shooters will enter, and so the class cut-offs cannot be determined in advance. Announcing in advance that there will be 3 classes if at least 12 shooters enter (and there will be prizes awarded to the top shooter in each class) might help boost participation significantly.

Finally, the suggestion about not posting targets might help if the matches are to be run as they have been in the past. Lord knows I was discouraged when I compared my scores to some of those sharp-shooters, even though I've sent my share of rounds downrange while chasing trophies over the years!

It would increase the workload of the match director, but perhaps the targets could be emailed to a given address, and then posted all at once in a single thread when the winners are announced. Or maybe the VBulletin software allows one thread to have all replies moderated before they are viewed? Then we could all post our targets as we have in the past, but they would not become visible in the thread until the Admin/Moderator moderated the posts, and "released" the thread for public viewing.

Hope some of these ideas are helpful.

**Shipwreck** · 02-06-2007, 06:21 AM

Well, I vote that Wandering Man take care of it, since he brought the subject up

I did it for 6 months, and think someone else should take over.

**milquetoast** · 02-06-2007, 07:31 AM

Originally Posted by DJ Niner

Some of the standard ways to make a shooting contest more challenging are:
- Tighter time limits
- Less supported positions
- Longer distances
- Smaller targets or smaller scoring areas on targets
I think you should focus on the last two items.

Time limits are the most relevant, but impractical for most people, because I'd bet the majority don't have access to electronic timers, and you can't use electronic timers on most indoor ranges anyway. So, that narrows it down to precision drills.

Here are some drills that are way fun, and excellent training, even if you don't win. They also burn a little more ammo than the standard five shot group. More ammo = more fun.

Got this one, a trigger control exercise, from Robbie Leatham: Try to put 3 shots into one hole at 7 yards. One shot two-handed, one shot right-handed, one shot left-handed. Nearly impossible. For a contest/postal match, make it 3, 3, and 3. Total of 9 shots at 7 yards, see how small a group/how high a score you can shoot combining both hands/right hand/left hand.

Another one is Dot Shooting. Here's a target from MyTargets.com. (Lots of fun targets there. All sorts of contest possibilities.)
http://mytargets.com/target23%20half...0on%20grid.pdf
There are 20 dots on that page. At 7 yards, no time limit, how many dots can you hit? (Bullet hole at least cuts the edge of the dot.)

**Wandering Man** · 02-06-2007, 08:33 AM

Originally Posted by Shipwreck

Well, I vote that Wandering Man take care of it, since he brought the subject up

I did it for 6 months, and think someone else should take over.

Oops!

WM

**milquetoast** · 02-06-2007, 04:42 PM

Here's a 12-shot contest:

http://mytargets.com/target106%20grid%20x4.pdf

At 7 yards, fire 4 3-shot groups, one group on each bullseye. Each 3-shot group to consist of 1 shot both hands, 1 shot right hand, 1 shot left hand.

**Shipwreck** · 02-11-2007, 09:38 AM

I love that reverse colored target that was posted. I used them yesterday at the range. I'll be using those permanently from now on. Cheap, great target, Thanx!

**Wandering Man** · 02-11-2007, 02:10 PM

Originally Posted by Shipwreck

I love that reverse colored target that was posted. I used them yesterday at the range. I'll be using those permanently from now on. Cheap, great target, Thanx!

I never could get the target. Just a small square with a red x. Could you post it elsewhere?

Thanks.

WM

**Shipwreck** · 02-11-2007, 04:16 PM

Originally Posted by Wandering Man

I never could get the target. Just a small square with a red x. Could you post it elsewhere?

Thanks.

WM

It was this target.

http://img15.imgspot.com/u/07/35/06/...1170676454.gif

It was pasted above. I saved it to the desktop, and then opened it with Infranview (a free image viewer and minor editor). I just printed it out and it fit a sheet of paper on its own.

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