We had a great OPPS January match with 55+ folks showing up in Amish Country this last weekend in SE OK. We offered a train up for new applying members and the weather was perfect. A 4-wheeler full of cookies and snacks was as nice to see as a beer cart. ;D Everyone got to fondle one of the new Impact actions developed by Wade and Tate. Those things are some top notch gear. The model highlighted some of the improvements they've made to the design but I'll let those guys market it and explain them how and when they are ready.
Tate and TJ put on a great mix of positional shooting and bumped up the only prone stage making it interesting by requiring shot to shot switches to weak side on a troops stage. I wish I would have kept better notes on yardages but since they were pretty moderate (inside 800 iirc) I found myself guilty of rounding them off a bit and simplifying my stage plans.
Stage 1 started with a compromising position from a slanted ramp connecting to a flat bed trailer that provided bipod support but body contact was prohibited - this ramp setup to target was over 90 degrees to the target, probably more like 120 degrees. Body contact with the ground was not permitted either but with a little acrobatics you could cut down your body angle from very perpendicular to 30 or so degrees but your legs were hanging off the ramp. Anyhow, it started as very challenging but went to prone on the flat bed trailer at 3 other targets spanning out to some 780 yards iirc. Targets were pretty good size and was a stage I wish we had not started on since I had no momentum yet.
Stage 2 is listed as "barricade 550" and my notes are anemic lol. I think this was a barricade combined with a rooftop and we had a mix off weakside and strong side shooting at a pretty large target. The roof was slick and I plan or consider that better next time I approach new rooftops.
Stage 3 was the PRS standard barricade that is being used now as a tiebreaker. I personally think the points are worth more than the risk of rushing to win a tiebreaker. I like including this stage in state level club matches and it's something we can all practice for a little edge in PRS matches. Is it hard? Nope. But if you manage it wrong it could hurt your score. I've posted a picture of the basic structure of these standard barricades - this one is just being framed up. The one we shot off of this weekend was really sturdy.
Stage 4 was the "Scarecrow barricade" - this is in the pictures I'll attach. IIRC we shot at coyote targets at 450 yds from the left side of the obstacle and switched to a coyote target at 500 yds off the right side. Really fun stage but the top level was almost too tall for me and I'm 5'10". Idk what stumpy folks would do. I actually stood on one of my MONEY BIG bags to get enough elevation to run my rifle easier.
Stage 5 was our first pistol/rifle stage. We started out shooting pistols at a ~6-8" square at a little beyond my pistol skill level's distance lol. I blasted a few off but got through it. We then cleared the gun to safe and advanced to rifle work. The first position was on a felled tree and there really was not room for bipod contact and rear support so other positions had to be built or one had to use a compromised position. Perhaps short little rifles or bullpup stuff helps here but many used large bags and medium bags to make it work. Personally I don't want to run two bags at once like that but sometimes you have to make due. We shot 270 yds, 366 yds, and 450 yards near to far and advanced to another stump that reversed the elevation of support points. We shot this far to near (I botched that up and smacked the near target first losing a point due to mental mistake... smh) Really fun stage and I appreciate Tate trying to knock some rust off of our pistol skills.
Stage 6 was one of the more challenging obstacles and also was the most challenging in terms of time limit. We had 90 seconds to get off 14 possible shots from 10 positions on a cattle panel gate. The yardage was short at 431 yards but with a switching tail wind and the speed required it was no easy task.
Stage 7 was a near to far troops prone setup but we were required to shoot each target twice, once strong side and once weak side. I liked this stage and was glad to get some easier points imo. At first weakside gets people riled up but I like when it is included in COF. Again the 3-5 mph switching wind caused some folks grief as it would turn a full 180 degrees down at the target but other times would sing as a true tailwind. It's days like these or really blustery days that I'm thankful for my 260 AI. It helps my confidence when the wind is a little more tricky or challenging. It may not be that much statistically but confidence and momentum is important.
Stage 8 was a mixed positional stage at a 10-11 MOA target at 142 yds IIRC. While the target was big I think it kept the bitching down since many hate standing -> kneeling -> sitting -> unsupported prone sequences. I love these stages since a lot of guys resign and I feel it gives a chance for others to make up lost points, especially if these are practiced often. I got 7/8 on this when I accidentally swatted my trigger during my 8th shot slung prone.
Shooting out of a sling is really fun and I was let down I didn't clean this stage.
Stage 9 was a pistol only stage comprised of three shooting positions starting on the edge of a creek and working your way through some timber. The shots ranged from pretty far to medium range and I think it was fair and the time was generous. Thank goodness for mag extensions and no round limit lol.
After we were done, a few of us burned off some pistol rounds, swapped a 9mm suppressor across a few guns, and practiced some of the longer shots. After packing gear and BS'ing the winning scores were announced.
I was very glad to see one of my Team Shoot Zero Teammates Tanner Rollins tied for first place with TJ, but since we shot the PRS barricade stage that is intended as a tie breaker, Tanner won since he beat TJ's time by 3 seconds. I think this is a nice and fair way to keep scores orderly. He cleaned a handful of stages and makes some of the difficult positional work look easy. IMO he has that slow-is-fast speed that I've seen guys like Wade and Rick Reeves excel using. I rush a lot, cuss a bit, and things get a little chaotic so when I see someone shoot that calm and move efficiently I take note, although I have a hard time converting and executing it lol.
The top 10 shooters scored as follows:
1. Tanner Rollins - 58
2. TJ Allen - 58
3. Austin Orgain - 52
4. Paul Reid - 51
5. Ronnie Redd - 49
6. CL Turner (beat me in PRS tiebreaker. My time was like 3 days :'() - 47
7. Miles Johnson - 47
8. Justin Vinyard - 46
9. Kyle Kilhoffer - 46
10. Justin Shireman, Rick Reeves, and my SZ teammate Michael Thomas - 45 (I don't know PRS barricade times)
Met a few new guys and enjoyed seeing other friends I had not seen in a while, which is really why I like making the matches. Hopefully if I can make the February match I won't flop a stage and can carry my concentration and focus through the whole day. Most of this sport is a mental game now that our external ballistic solutions are so refined and predictable. Even a wanker or two came up from Tejas to play with the Okies.
Not sure what is going there - positional practice :-\
I'll be chambering up a 6 and 6.5 this month so I'll be hitting the range for load development but I am going to commit some time weekly to working on rooftops as I find that is one if not my weakest type of stage.
Looking forward to seeing you guys at the Feb match and next time me and a few guys plan on getting some decent videos and more pics. We were just having too good of a time and then the day was over before I realized I had not taken a single picture.
Please post some pics if you have them. Also, stop by and like my PRS Team's page on Facebook. We offer discounts from some of our great sponsors and try to upload pics and vids from recent matches and practice. In a week or two we will be giving away some free MONEY bags so stay tuned. https://www.facebook.com/PRSTeamSHOOTZERO/
Tate and TJ put on a great mix of positional shooting and bumped up the only prone stage making it interesting by requiring shot to shot switches to weak side on a troops stage. I wish I would have kept better notes on yardages but since they were pretty moderate (inside 800 iirc) I found myself guilty of rounding them off a bit and simplifying my stage plans.
Stage 1 started with a compromising position from a slanted ramp connecting to a flat bed trailer that provided bipod support but body contact was prohibited - this ramp setup to target was over 90 degrees to the target, probably more like 120 degrees. Body contact with the ground was not permitted either but with a little acrobatics you could cut down your body angle from very perpendicular to 30 or so degrees but your legs were hanging off the ramp. Anyhow, it started as very challenging but went to prone on the flat bed trailer at 3 other targets spanning out to some 780 yards iirc. Targets were pretty good size and was a stage I wish we had not started on since I had no momentum yet.
Stage 2 is listed as "barricade 550" and my notes are anemic lol. I think this was a barricade combined with a rooftop and we had a mix off weakside and strong side shooting at a pretty large target. The roof was slick and I plan or consider that better next time I approach new rooftops.
Stage 3 was the PRS standard barricade that is being used now as a tiebreaker. I personally think the points are worth more than the risk of rushing to win a tiebreaker. I like including this stage in state level club matches and it's something we can all practice for a little edge in PRS matches. Is it hard? Nope. But if you manage it wrong it could hurt your score. I've posted a picture of the basic structure of these standard barricades - this one is just being framed up. The one we shot off of this weekend was really sturdy.
Stage 4 was the "Scarecrow barricade" - this is in the pictures I'll attach. IIRC we shot at coyote targets at 450 yds from the left side of the obstacle and switched to a coyote target at 500 yds off the right side. Really fun stage but the top level was almost too tall for me and I'm 5'10". Idk what stumpy folks would do. I actually stood on one of my MONEY BIG bags to get enough elevation to run my rifle easier.
Stage 5 was our first pistol/rifle stage. We started out shooting pistols at a ~6-8" square at a little beyond my pistol skill level's distance lol. I blasted a few off but got through it. We then cleared the gun to safe and advanced to rifle work. The first position was on a felled tree and there really was not room for bipod contact and rear support so other positions had to be built or one had to use a compromised position. Perhaps short little rifles or bullpup stuff helps here but many used large bags and medium bags to make it work. Personally I don't want to run two bags at once like that but sometimes you have to make due. We shot 270 yds, 366 yds, and 450 yards near to far and advanced to another stump that reversed the elevation of support points. We shot this far to near (I botched that up and smacked the near target first losing a point due to mental mistake... smh) Really fun stage and I appreciate Tate trying to knock some rust off of our pistol skills.
Stage 6 was one of the more challenging obstacles and also was the most challenging in terms of time limit. We had 90 seconds to get off 14 possible shots from 10 positions on a cattle panel gate. The yardage was short at 431 yards but with a switching tail wind and the speed required it was no easy task.
Stage 7 was a near to far troops prone setup but we were required to shoot each target twice, once strong side and once weak side. I liked this stage and was glad to get some easier points imo. At first weakside gets people riled up but I like when it is included in COF. Again the 3-5 mph switching wind caused some folks grief as it would turn a full 180 degrees down at the target but other times would sing as a true tailwind. It's days like these or really blustery days that I'm thankful for my 260 AI. It helps my confidence when the wind is a little more tricky or challenging. It may not be that much statistically but confidence and momentum is important.
Stage 8 was a mixed positional stage at a 10-11 MOA target at 142 yds IIRC. While the target was big I think it kept the bitching down since many hate standing -> kneeling -> sitting -> unsupported prone sequences. I love these stages since a lot of guys resign and I feel it gives a chance for others to make up lost points, especially if these are practiced often. I got 7/8 on this when I accidentally swatted my trigger during my 8th shot slung prone.
Shooting out of a sling is really fun and I was let down I didn't clean this stage.
Stage 9 was a pistol only stage comprised of three shooting positions starting on the edge of a creek and working your way through some timber. The shots ranged from pretty far to medium range and I think it was fair and the time was generous. Thank goodness for mag extensions and no round limit lol.
After we were done, a few of us burned off some pistol rounds, swapped a 9mm suppressor across a few guns, and practiced some of the longer shots. After packing gear and BS'ing the winning scores were announced.
I was very glad to see one of my Team Shoot Zero Teammates Tanner Rollins tied for first place with TJ, but since we shot the PRS barricade stage that is intended as a tie breaker, Tanner won since he beat TJ's time by 3 seconds. I think this is a nice and fair way to keep scores orderly. He cleaned a handful of stages and makes some of the difficult positional work look easy. IMO he has that slow-is-fast speed that I've seen guys like Wade and Rick Reeves excel using. I rush a lot, cuss a bit, and things get a little chaotic so when I see someone shoot that calm and move efficiently I take note, although I have a hard time converting and executing it lol.
The top 10 shooters scored as follows:
1. Tanner Rollins - 58
2. TJ Allen - 58
3. Austin Orgain - 52
4. Paul Reid - 51
5. Ronnie Redd - 49
6. CL Turner (beat me in PRS tiebreaker. My time was like 3 days :'() - 47
7. Miles Johnson - 47
8. Justin Vinyard - 46
9. Kyle Kilhoffer - 46
10. Justin Shireman, Rick Reeves, and my SZ teammate Michael Thomas - 45 (I don't know PRS barricade times)
Met a few new guys and enjoyed seeing other friends I had not seen in a while, which is really why I like making the matches. Hopefully if I can make the February match I won't flop a stage and can carry my concentration and focus through the whole day. Most of this sport is a mental game now that our external ballistic solutions are so refined and predictable. Even a wanker or two came up from Tejas to play with the Okies.
Not sure what is going there - positional practice :-\
I'll be chambering up a 6 and 6.5 this month so I'll be hitting the range for load development but I am going to commit some time weekly to working on rooftops as I find that is one if not my weakest type of stage.
Looking forward to seeing you guys at the Feb match and next time me and a few guys plan on getting some decent videos and more pics. We were just having too good of a time and then the day was over before I realized I had not taken a single picture.
Please post some pics if you have them. Also, stop by and like my PRS Team's page on Facebook. We offer discounts from some of our great sponsors and try to upload pics and vids from recent matches and practice. In a week or two we will be giving away some free MONEY bags so stay tuned. https://www.facebook.com/PRSTeamSHOOTZERO/
