Several shooters living near me made the four and a half hour drive to the lovely CMP shooting facility in Talladega, AL from L.A. That's "Lower Alabama" for you non-Red-Necks. The CMP range is fantastic, more like a luxury hotel than a typical rifle range. They have 54 electronic targets at 200, 300, and 600 yards that can be remotely raised and lowered as needed. There are several pistol ranges too, also with electronic targets, as well as a shotgun facility.
I was told that the Kongsberg Target System from Norway cost an astounding two million dollars. I knew ahead of time that these targets feature black-on-white aiming disks, 36 inches in diameter at 600 yards, without any other markings. That, of course, is a real problem for precision shooting. I even changed my normal fine cross hair scope for one with a graduated reticle.
I was given four different (conflicting) reasons the targets cannot be marked with rings or even a center aiming dot. If in fact the impossibility of adding target rings is a design defect associated with the target scoring membrane, it is a serious drawback. In my opinion at least, this inability to add some kind of markings, at least an aiming dot, would disqualify this system from being used in genuine F-Class competition or any other kind of shooting where aim points are frequently adjusted in increments of less than 1/4 MOA. Making small aiming adjustments is tricky, at least for people like me, when the smallest mark on the target is nearly six MOA across. Can this problem be corrected? Some range officials told me yes, some didn't know, and some were adamant that it is impossible to put any marks on the target membrane.
We arrived a day ahead of the match and did some practice shooting which, I will have to say, was interesting and enjoyable. The target monitors at each station can display various target styles along with other data once you get past the slightly quirky menu system. Oddly, nobody insisted that the monitors display the Center-to-Center measurement in inches rather than millimeters before they wrote that 2 million dollar check. Shame on somebody.
I'm not sure how many shooters registered but it looked like around 35 or so. Of course there was the usual registration foul ups experienced at most other matches. For example, I was assigned to the same relay and shooting position as another competitor and the fellow to my left had the wrong name appear on his target display over and over again. But rather than the match director simply scribbling on the entry sheet to make the correction, this particular electronic target system required long minutes of doing who-knows-what in the high tech control tower in an attempt to set things right. After a long delay, they eventually got things figured out, more or less, and finally the first relay was instructed that they had 5 minutes to fire unlimited sighters in a strong and shifty tailwind. Despite the challenging wind conditions, the people near where I was monitoring my counterpart quickly got their point of impact centered up, or nearly so. Then, rather than launch directly into a 20-minute scoring string, there was another irritating delay. Finally relay #1 was instructed to fire for score. Immediately after the first round went down target, I noticed that my station and four of them to the right of me failed to indicate anything. Some stations appeared to be working normally, but it looked like half of them failed. This started an agonizingly long period of rebooting, excuse making, and hand wringing by all concerned.
The mood of the shooting group quickly changed from willing to give the system and staff the benefit of the doubt to disgust and irritation when one of the match officials announced that the electronic system was probably OK and half the shooters were simply missing their targets entirely. This was a huge mistake. Not every shooter on the line was an ex world champion but nobody was shooting the dirt and sky either. Moreover, everyone was in the black with their sighters moments before. As far as I know, there was not a single shot off paper. The shooting group seemed willing to put up with some glitches in return for not having to pull targets, but everyone has their limit. Trying to shift the blame to the competitors pretty much erased any good will that existed at the beginning of the match.
After further messing around, they called the range cold, including the stations on the other end of the very long firing line where the recreational shooters were apparently enjoying success. The staff pulled the target backers. I am sure they were hoping-against-hope that the backers would prove to be intact. Of course, they weren't. More delay, more excuses, and some additional blame heaped on the shooters did not do much to improve the situation. Around noontime, the range was ready for some test rounds but not before another warning on the P.A. system that strong winds can shift your impact point. Ya' think? Talking to a bunch of experienced F-Class and Sling shooters as if they are childish rookies is NOT the way to win friends. A fair number of shooters gave up and went home before the match was cancelled.
After some reflection, I would have to give the facility an A++. It really is fantastic.
It is hard for me to heap scorn on anyone who volunteers to organize any kind of competition, especially if they are working for free. I've been there and done that. However, I assume some of the staff are paid employees of the range. It is natural that they would defend their very expensive target system. According to the shooters I talked with, denying that they have teething problems while trying to shift the blame to the shooters left a bad impression that far outweighed the disappointment associated with the actual technical problems. Therefore, I would give the staff a grade of D.
As for the target system, I would have to give it a big fat F. Shooters invest a lot of time and money to attend matches like this. If a conventional target malfunctions, it is possible to shift to another target and carry on, usually with only a short delay. When this particular electronic target system crashes, that's it. Game over; literally. It is simply not ready for prime time. This is my first time shooting electronic targets and I'm certainly no expert. Nevertheless, I cannot imagine anyone installing the expensive Kongsberg Target System at this time. I am certain electronic targets are the wave of the future and no doubt, they are wonderful when they work. Read the post by Bryan Litz about using the Silver Mountain system at the Lodi Nationals for a very positive report on electronic targets.
Unfortunately, using an electronic target system for an important match without any kind of back up, especially where competitors come from long distances, demands that the system MUST work. Sad to say the Kongsberg Target System failed to perform in spite of the very impressive two million dollar price tag. If you live by the computer, you die by the computer.
So how was the Alabama State F-Class Championship Match? NOT TOO GOOD, as we say in L.A.
I was told that the Kongsberg Target System from Norway cost an astounding two million dollars. I knew ahead of time that these targets feature black-on-white aiming disks, 36 inches in diameter at 600 yards, without any other markings. That, of course, is a real problem for precision shooting. I even changed my normal fine cross hair scope for one with a graduated reticle.
I was given four different (conflicting) reasons the targets cannot be marked with rings or even a center aiming dot. If in fact the impossibility of adding target rings is a design defect associated with the target scoring membrane, it is a serious drawback. In my opinion at least, this inability to add some kind of markings, at least an aiming dot, would disqualify this system from being used in genuine F-Class competition or any other kind of shooting where aim points are frequently adjusted in increments of less than 1/4 MOA. Making small aiming adjustments is tricky, at least for people like me, when the smallest mark on the target is nearly six MOA across. Can this problem be corrected? Some range officials told me yes, some didn't know, and some were adamant that it is impossible to put any marks on the target membrane.
We arrived a day ahead of the match and did some practice shooting which, I will have to say, was interesting and enjoyable. The target monitors at each station can display various target styles along with other data once you get past the slightly quirky menu system. Oddly, nobody insisted that the monitors display the Center-to-Center measurement in inches rather than millimeters before they wrote that 2 million dollar check. Shame on somebody.
I'm not sure how many shooters registered but it looked like around 35 or so. Of course there was the usual registration foul ups experienced at most other matches. For example, I was assigned to the same relay and shooting position as another competitor and the fellow to my left had the wrong name appear on his target display over and over again. But rather than the match director simply scribbling on the entry sheet to make the correction, this particular electronic target system required long minutes of doing who-knows-what in the high tech control tower in an attempt to set things right. After a long delay, they eventually got things figured out, more or less, and finally the first relay was instructed that they had 5 minutes to fire unlimited sighters in a strong and shifty tailwind. Despite the challenging wind conditions, the people near where I was monitoring my counterpart quickly got their point of impact centered up, or nearly so. Then, rather than launch directly into a 20-minute scoring string, there was another irritating delay. Finally relay #1 was instructed to fire for score. Immediately after the first round went down target, I noticed that my station and four of them to the right of me failed to indicate anything. Some stations appeared to be working normally, but it looked like half of them failed. This started an agonizingly long period of rebooting, excuse making, and hand wringing by all concerned.
The mood of the shooting group quickly changed from willing to give the system and staff the benefit of the doubt to disgust and irritation when one of the match officials announced that the electronic system was probably OK and half the shooters were simply missing their targets entirely. This was a huge mistake. Not every shooter on the line was an ex world champion but nobody was shooting the dirt and sky either. Moreover, everyone was in the black with their sighters moments before. As far as I know, there was not a single shot off paper. The shooting group seemed willing to put up with some glitches in return for not having to pull targets, but everyone has their limit. Trying to shift the blame to the competitors pretty much erased any good will that existed at the beginning of the match.
After further messing around, they called the range cold, including the stations on the other end of the very long firing line where the recreational shooters were apparently enjoying success. The staff pulled the target backers. I am sure they were hoping-against-hope that the backers would prove to be intact. Of course, they weren't. More delay, more excuses, and some additional blame heaped on the shooters did not do much to improve the situation. Around noontime, the range was ready for some test rounds but not before another warning on the P.A. system that strong winds can shift your impact point. Ya' think? Talking to a bunch of experienced F-Class and Sling shooters as if they are childish rookies is NOT the way to win friends. A fair number of shooters gave up and went home before the match was cancelled.
After some reflection, I would have to give the facility an A++. It really is fantastic.
It is hard for me to heap scorn on anyone who volunteers to organize any kind of competition, especially if they are working for free. I've been there and done that. However, I assume some of the staff are paid employees of the range. It is natural that they would defend their very expensive target system. According to the shooters I talked with, denying that they have teething problems while trying to shift the blame to the shooters left a bad impression that far outweighed the disappointment associated with the actual technical problems. Therefore, I would give the staff a grade of D.
As for the target system, I would have to give it a big fat F. Shooters invest a lot of time and money to attend matches like this. If a conventional target malfunctions, it is possible to shift to another target and carry on, usually with only a short delay. When this particular electronic target system crashes, that's it. Game over; literally. It is simply not ready for prime time. This is my first time shooting electronic targets and I'm certainly no expert. Nevertheless, I cannot imagine anyone installing the expensive Kongsberg Target System at this time. I am certain electronic targets are the wave of the future and no doubt, they are wonderful when they work. Read the post by Bryan Litz about using the Silver Mountain system at the Lodi Nationals for a very positive report on electronic targets.
Unfortunately, using an electronic target system for an important match without any kind of back up, especially where competitors come from long distances, demands that the system MUST work. Sad to say the Kongsberg Target System failed to perform in spite of the very impressive two million dollar price tag. If you live by the computer, you die by the computer.
So how was the Alabama State F-Class Championship Match? NOT TOO GOOD, as we say in L.A.
