New Winds at Manatee ?

[StraightPipes]

Been hearing things about the Manatee Gun Club for the last year or so. They have added 100 yards to the short benchrest range ? Also, a 600 yard berm? Maybe a wider improved 1K berm?

No knocks here, its a great facility. If they need any interest or support maybe we should let them know about it. A 600 yard berm even, would create a fantastic draw to the range.

Call them or e-mail them; www.Manateegunclub.com

 

[Alex Wheeler]

There is a group of guys there that want to see the club move in the right direction. The way it was, there were no rules, a guy could show up with a rail gun and shoot next to a factory gun. Now they are shooting a 1k br match with IBS rules and a 500 meter br match with IBS rules. Things are moving in the right direction. The br range is back to 300. There has not been any improvements to the main line yet.... The 1k range needs to be widened to allow more targets and the 500 meter berm needs to go back to 600yds. But the match director and the match organizer are working on it. Maybe the match organizer will comment on here. It would be a big help to the efforts if you guys called or emailed the club to let them know your interest in them holding sanctioned IBS events.

 

[StraightPipes]

Zfast, is it just a "participation or interest" situation ? " BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME".............. 600 yards is "crucial". The specific input that you can generate or better put, what you learn at a specific yardage can be taken to "any" range.

Being said, what you learn at 565 yards cant be used anywhere but Manatee. If you travel the southeast a 600 yard match "WILL" draw shooters. Count on the 600 yards to draw "Tune-up and Practice" participation also.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Zfast, is it just a "participation or interest" situation ? " BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME".............. 600 yards is "crucial". The specific input that you can generate or better put, what you learn at a specific yardage can be taken to "any" range.

Being said, what you learn at 565 yards cant be used anywhere but Manatee. If you travel the southeast a 600 yard match "WILL" draw shooters. Count on the 600 yards to draw "Tune-up and Practice" participation also.

Agreed, 565 yds is a ridiculous distance to shoot. The club has the money to move the dirt. We need help convincing the other board members and president that its a noble cause. We get between 10 and 25 long range shooters every Saturday. There is alot of interest amongst the regulars to shoot "REAL" matches, not just use $4k rigs to shoot "fun" matches. If we had 600 yards to run a sanctioned match I am sure we'd have 30-40 shooters. Unfortunately I am moving, so I wont get to see it happen, but I will always stay involved with the club, there is a real great bunch of shooters and if they ever get their chance to shoot in sanctioned matches, you guys will no doubt be reading about records and small groups being shot by them.

 

[CaptainMal]

Had to respond because I also am moving. Moving closer to Manatee. Been fixing up the new house because my wife watches too much H&G TV. Have missed all their shoots for a couple months and I DO MISS THE PLACE.

Your ideas were presented a few months ago. My information is the 600 yard change was bid a a rediculously high price. Unless bids come in reasonable, it won't get started. Only thing is it probably will get done sometime.

The 1,000 widening would be nice. Nicer yet would a dryer approach to the 1,000 yard target. When it's wet it's near impassable.

I like it at practice instead of "official". The current 565 yard berm is fine for me. It's a personal thing as I just like to shoot. If it's "formal" and "qualified", the shooting comes with pressure. I like what is done now. We help each other while shooting, spot for each other, offer advice and all during the shoot. Make it some kind of sanctioned shooting and all that's gone. For me, that's a big part of shooting - the fun with others.

Full regulations and sanctions are just not my thing. I may be in the minority.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

The bid that you speak of was not for what we are talking about now. It was for the br range, area 51, and the left 565 berm. They got 2 of the 3 done. The bids have not come in yet for the work being discussed. Do not fear "official matches" nothing saying you cant still shoot gongs at 600 and 1000yds.

 

[Dgd6mm]

You can have sanctioned and non-sanctioned matches. There are plenty of people to go around and shoot both. I used to shoot there every other weekend when I lived down south, one of the ( East Coast Boys ). Now living in N.Florida, having new shooting buddies and looking for a game to play other then shooting at the gong.

 

[StraightPipes]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH, so if we want to pratice or keep things "unsanctioned or unofficial" as in "no stress", I am not under the impression that this is the topic being discussed here. I have shot Manatee and stood around "BS.ING"many days away.

600 yards would cater to those that wouldnt mind getting serious once and awhile. There is plenty of room down there to do both.

The shooting sports as we know it today "must" remain a competitive and organized entity if it is to survive. Step up, and build ranges and matches.

 

[savagedasher]

I was going to stay out of this. But I feel I must give my thoughts .We have over 800 members less then 1% are competitive shooters.I totally agree we had the money and a need to improve the range. But what is going on was totally stupid.Why would we take area 51 to 200yd when we all know they will be shooting fully auto weapons. Taking the 200yd to 300yd great idea. Taking the 550 to 600 is something that needs to be done.Widening the 1000yd I agree with also But I feel pistol range has never been addressed.60% of all guns that are sold are hand guns. Competitive shooting has and always be a loss to the gun club. One non member will pay the gun club more the one competitive shooter. Taking the east berm back to where 600yd can be shot is great idea. Good Shooting Larry

 

[bdandrew]

You can have sanctioned and non-sanctioned matches. There are plenty of people to go around and shoot both. I used to shoot there every other weekend when I lived down south, one of the ( East Coast Boys ). Now living in N.Florida, having new shooting buddies and looking for a game to play other then shooting at the gong.

 

[CaptainMal]

Good dialogue.

Few months ago our rifles were weighed and we had to shoot in classes. Some of the regular shooters quit.

That lost participation and bothered me at the time.

Agree, both sanctioned and recreational is a good thing.

 

[StraightPipes]

Sounds like "open minds" are needed here. Lets keep the debate civil.

Local club matches are the backbone of "any" gun range. They must be maintained. Club matches can follow "sanctioned" rules and be a great time also. With "one" exception; the weight of class guns! Example: most "CLUB" rifles are usually over-weight. Some shooters will quit rather than build another rifle. So, for your club matches simply up the weight requirement to say; 20 for light gun. You can keep all your shooters in the game and still base your "club matches" on a sanctioned format with some minor bending of the rules.

You "can" have it both ways, it works. You will find that as time goes by, the shooters that "want to keep it fun" ARE NATURAL BORN COMPETITORS.

Alot of work and dedication has went into Manatee , its obvious. If you manage "change" carefully it will be good for all. Use the IBS format, many ranges do. Modify the weight requirements in your classes. And certainly put sanctioned IBS matches on MANATEE at the same time.

A thought; when you change the weights of your "club class rifles", let the shooters that quit know what you have done. Drive back to their home, help them load-up their gear and drag them back to MANATEE to shoot with all of you!!!

 

[Alex Wheeler]

All very good comments! All of us are competitors. Even the guys who just do it for "fun". You can shoot groups by yourself for fun, you shoot in a match to compete.

The rules for the gong matches are no more. You want to bring a 60 lb 300 wsm and bolt in to the bench or bring your factory 700 .223, its legal. So, I believe there is room for guys who want a sanctioned match once a month...

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Good dialogue.

Few months ago our rifles were weighed and we had to shoot in classes. Some of the regular shooters quit.

That lost participation and bothered me at the time.

Agree, both sanctioned and recreational is a good thing.

I would like to comment about that. All of the regulars that quit also claim to only shoot for fun. Classes didnt change anything other than you cant win light gun money if you shoot heavy gun. Thats the only change. The fun was still there but the money was not.

A club is like anything else. A bunch of guys fight and argue and try and make something everyone can be satisfied with. Things have went on there that I was not happy about, but it never crossed my mind to up and quit, because I love the club, shooting sports, and the shooters out there. It has been a lot of work for me and others, but we did it because we enjoy it and want to help the club as a whole. If you can just up and quit, you werent in it for the right reasons.

 

[savagedasher]

Winds of manatee is what the NBRSA members call their yearly shoot. So it has nothing to do with manatee gun club. They rent the range from the gun club. Back when the club first started they made a agreement with the club to have a yearly shoot. When the held their yearly the whole main range was used. And the club was closed for that week. The NBRSA member agreed to put the 200 yd range in for a guaranteed shot and both have kept their agreement .Closing the whole range for a competitive shoot was a good idea but with bad results. Good Shooting LARRY

 

[StraightPipes]

Savagedasher, is this about closing the range for a week? This isnt about holding national events 3 weekends out of every month. What happens during your gong matches, not the big one, but your play matches? You use half the range only, yes?

I hear this alot from the IBS, "Is Benchrest Dying"? They dont think "big". More often than not, all I hear is"lets have a nice LITTLE match." Who are we going to leave this dicipline to? Where is it going to be when all the old farts"leave the range"?

3 years ago at the Winds of Manatee Match, I met a young shooter named ALEX. (yes he is talking here) He was pissed about his 260 throwing a flyer that he couldnt find. We walked over to witness the experts shoot and had a look at the whaleing wall. His comment was, half the shooters here today can shoot those kind of groups! I smiled, YES..........

You guys need to "mix it up'. Gong matches, 600 yard, 1000 yard etc. with your new weight restrictions and SANCTIONS. Matches with 10-12 shooters are just pissing in the wind. All this will work with help, it wont by dumping on 1 or 2 people. Manage it, schedule it so shooters arent denied their day at the range. Hell, all of you will end up shooting ALL the matches every weekend, and if you dont it wont be any fault of the club.

OH, and Im an old fart. This is my 45 th year devoting myself to the brotherhood.

 

[savagedasher]

My first response was on the range improvement the second was on the winds of manatee. I will try to address the first. Most of the members don't understand our first club was closed by the county for bullets leaving the range. Duette park is owned buy the county and the main road runs east to west 150yd behind our 1000yd berm the new area 51 berm is about400yd from the road.my comment was about making a 200 yd machine gun range when most are 75yd or less. The park is used by bird watcher horse back rider hikers and hunters. So SAFETY is problem.
Why would we want to make a 600 yd range on the west berm where we could shoot 6 targets the whole east side is nothing but a peak which could be made into 600yd range. The 1000yd range could be open up on the east side and gain 6 or more benches. Why we would bring the equipment in and not do it right I have no idea. Good Shooting Larry

 

[StraightPipes]

How many Manatee shooters are reading this thread? There has to be more to this.

If things manage to work out for you down there, I will shoot with you every weekend.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

There are quite a few reading. The problem is two fold. There is only a small group that want to have real matches and also are willing to put in the work to get it done. Second, there is a group that does not want to see real matches come to Manatee. I think the club will eventually get it done.

 

[savagedasher]

Some how this has went from range improvement at manatee gun club to something personal.
I have Ben shooting there 8 or more years .When we started then we had 4 to 6 shooters after 8 years we got it up to 25 or more. We never had any problems we would have one person who would get hot and win several times.In the last year we had all the records broke and buried. I think at 560 Alex hit 44 gongs in a row and run out of bullets. 20 shooters is a very good number for most shoots. Then all at ounce several wanted to go with IBS rules. I and several others didn't have a gun that made the rule.So we were going to have to shoot in a different class. So what I and others had worked for 8 years to get that many shooting done. Mike had ball enough to bring the shoots back to where we started with. Our steel gong shoots will the same rules as we started with 8 years ago. Now for those who was IBS type I and most others will support you to get it done. Spending money on the west berm to put 6 targets in is stupid. If you want help to get the east side taken back to where you can shoot 600 just ask I'm positive all will support it