What's your game?

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pax

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Hi all,

Shameless attempt to pick a few brains here. I'm adding a page to my website which discusses the shooting sports. My plan is to simply list a few different competitions and games a new shooter may want to explore, and provide links to the parent organizations where users can get more information about each game.

So, what game(s) do you play -- and what's cool about the game to you?

pax
 
First competition was skeet - I started at a very very young age.

As you know originally a skeet field was circular to replicate bird hunting with all the angles and presentations. It was cut in half and has 8 stations. Targets fly ~ 55 mph.

I instruct using a skeet field. From little kids on up in age to aging. I start with low 7, this station is great for a lot of reasons, and replicates a flushing quail for instance.

I also use a skeet field for defensive shooting. I use low 8 as a Tueller Drill with a shotgun.

Some "cow pasture" skeet fields we also have berms on 3 sides. We transition from shotgun to handgun. We even have clay throwers tossing targets at / toward us, again, Tuller Drill with a shotgun, and then transition to handgun for teddy's. We also do shotgun with steels on ranges such as this, including, some shooting slugs at clays - stationary and moving.
Figure if we can hit a 4" moving orange clay with a slug...good to go if the largest area presented as a threat is that size...with a shotgun with no beads, no sights , bone stock ...

Skeet to ME is the most versatile field I can use to keep my skills up and teach others on. I have used it for LEO, and Armored Guards for instance.

I often do not shoot "regulation" targets. Targets are regulated to cross over a center stake and to actually fly thru a hoop set at a regulated height above ground.

I often request, and I do not want to know, if the targets are higher, lower (flater).

Fun Games such as Crazy Quail I really really enjoy, and I really like to pull this game :evil:

Variations exits - still for example-
Shooter starts for instance at station 6 and has to walk toward station 8 - and then back toward station 3. Shooter can only load two shells. The puller can pull a single or double at anytime. Puller has to pay attention if shooter fires one, not to pull a double - then again the shooter is wise to keep the gun fed and running...cause the puller is NOT going to diddle-dally. You are going after "quail" and they will not wait for you to load a gun afield.

I shoot from low gun anyway and really appreciate International Skeet. One must shoot from low gun, and the targets are faster.


5 stand.
Replicates hunting. I especially like the Rising Teal, and the incoming targets.

Sporting Clays.

Columbaire

Live Pigeons

Turkey Shoots, Card Shooting, Slug shooting steels( stationary and moving), Longer range slug sniping games...


Semi-Retired due to other life priorties such as college at age 51. I do some instructing to select students in a variety of shooting - including still using a skeet field and shotguns.

It was time for me to not compete, instead go thru another "dimension" as my Mentors & Elders spoke of and even tho' I was there for others always, it is even more less about me - much much more for the students now and passing forward.

I'm the fellow totin' a .410 single shot giving instructions now-a-days most often.
 
USPSA Practical Shooting http://www.uspsa.org/

I've been shooting this as my first shooting sport for about 9 months. I enjoy it because of the great people you get to meet each time out and because of the personal challenge each match presents. Sure I like to beat the next guy as much as anyone but ultimately it's a personal challenge to get to the next level.

It's quite a rush to 'run & gun' and the satisfaction I get from running a great stage makes all the practice and bumps along the way worth while.

One other thing I like about USPSA is that you are generally not forced into completing the coarse in a particular manner. How you decide to 'solve' the puzzle is up to you.
 
I started with Bullseye pistol at 14. (My son is starting that at the same age this summer. Time flies!)

Next I shot Hunter's Pistol Silhouette. It's neat because it only requires a 100 meters of range. Still is tough though, especially the steel turkeys at 75yards. They do appear to move on occasion.

Next, NRA Highpower rifle. The first time I heard eight M1 Garands go off at once, I was hooked. I was never a good rifle match shooter due to fat and not practicing enough. Shooting rapid fire stages at 200 yards did cure me of buck fever and make me a much better shot in the deer woods. I held on to all the rifles I used in Highpower and still plan to go back someday.

Folks I met at the rifle matches got me interested in bowling pin shooting and pins were my game for 10 years. I competed at the old Second Chance Bowling Pin Shoot from 1988 to 1998. I liked pins because they were shot fast, but accuracy was still important. The Second Chance match had lots of side events, including some with subguns. That was a hoot too.

I got to see a lot of excellent shooters at SC, Jerry Miculek, Brian Enos, Ken Tapp, etc. I talked to most of them and learned things by watching them shoot too. Trivia was played between stages while the pins were set up. It was always my best event, unfortunately. Pin matches are harder to find these days, but some are still held.

I shot some steel plates on Saturday. Steel is also fun too, and the same guns used for bowling pins work fine on steel.

I have shot a little bit of IDPA, some PPC-type matches, and a little bit of Cowboy Action-type stuff.

One of the main things I do with a rifle now is .22 benchrest. It's fascinating and frustrating at the same time. It also gave me an excuse to pick up two accurate Remington .22 rifles a 541T HB from a local store, and a 40X .22 from the CMP. It's made me concentrate on trigger control which is a good thing. Info on .22 benchrest is available at www.rimfirecentral.com.

HTH.
 
3gun rules the world. :)

It is like practical high speed pistol shooting, but with more guns.
 
sm just taught me something new. I'd never even heard of columbaire ...

Correia, is there a parent organization for three gun, as there is for IDPA and IPSC?

pax
 
Yep, most clubs just have their own interpretation and set of rules.
 
pax,

3gun is all over the map. USPSA and IPSC have a rule set, but they aren't universally used. There are quite a few boutique matches. A boutique match is a one off event, like steel challenge, bianchi cup, or the retired Masters.

Technically, Sportsman's Team Challenge is also a 3 gun match, but doesn't have a combat focus, so it isn't generally what people talk about when they say 3gun.

Games I play or have played.

USPSA/IPSC: I like this because it's a chance to see what I can really do. IPSC catches a lot of flak for being "tactically unsound," but those folks are the diehards that can't get around the idea that not all guns are weapons. www.uspsa.com

IDPA: IPSC for people that don't practice :evil: The matches are set up very similar to IPSC matches, but have more rules about the "proper" way to reload, use cover, etc. Also, there isn't nearly as much shooting. I also think the classifier system leads to people being overclassified. I stopped shotting, because the org banned my equipment, right after I bought it, several times.www.idpa.com

NRA Bullseye, 2700, etc. Awesome game. Probably the home of the third most nitpicky people in the handgun sports, after free pistol and air pistol. Bullseye is the Zen/Taichi/Yoga school of shooting. The equipment required isn't exactly demanding. The record scores were mostly shot in the 1950s with equipment that current competitors would scoff at. Every match is a collection of 3 different courses of fire: Slow, Timed and Rapid. Slow fire is 10 rounds in 10 minutes (on 25 ft indoor courses, it is sometimes two strings of 5 rounds, 5 minutes each, for scoring purposes) Timed fire is two strings of 5 rounds in 20 seconds, each. Rapid fire is two strings of 5 rounds in 10 seconds each. The three most common matches are the National Match Course, the 900 and the 2700. www.bullseye.com

Highpower/Service Rifle: I shot Service rifles when I was in Jr. High and High School. I started off with a DCM (now CMP) Garand that I borrowed from the club. Ammo was issued to me at the match ($7 for 64 rounds, IIRC). Within a few years, I had shot a match with all of the commonly available service rifles like Mausers, G3's, FAL's, 1903's. My club was unusually lax in it's rules about what guns they would let you shoot, although scores were only submitted for classification if you were shooting an approved gun. The generosity of the other club members letting me shoot their stuff was fairly typical of my experience in the shooting sports. In fact, one fellow competitor loaned me a brand new match grade AR-15 for over a year to "Break it in." Thanks Rodney, if you're out there.

Air Pistol: Like bullseye, but Slowfire only. An Olympic Sport. Men shoot 60 shots in 90 minutes, women shoot 40 shots in 60 minutes. Scholarships available.http://www.usashooting.com

Smallbore Rifle: Another NRA game. I shot prone matches starting when I was 9 or so, all through high school, once again with a DCM gun. I believe I went back and forth between Remingtoon 541T and a Winchester 52D. I was pretty casual about it, but I think I would have burned out pretty quick if I took it seriously. Like Bullseye, it's another Zen Game. I recently bought an Anschutz to get back into it. A few practice sessions have reminded just how tough it is. There are very similar competitions controlled by USA Shooting. There are also University Scholarships available for this game.
 
Wow, Owen, what an excellent post! That's exactly the kind of information I'm looking for ... :D :D

pax
 
Sandy and I competed in long range handgun silhouette back in the early 80s. It was at the time a fun, family sport. There were four classes back then (production, revolver, standing and unlimited). Now there are about twelve classes. I was a AAA class Unlimited shooter back then.

I dusted off my old Creedmore position last weekend at Whittington, using my Ruger mark I on the hunter pistol course. It still works! I may have to get the Wichita and XP100 out and try it again. :)

http://www.ihmsa.org/

attachment.php
 
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PAX, Right here in Washington

Yeah, Owen pointed out some great things...

http://www.custersportsmensclub.com

I think one of the cheapest games to get involved in is Rimfire Bullseye at a local club. I participate in the local Whatcom County Pistol League. Indoor, Outdoor, whatever. It's fun, yet challenging. To me is the basis for many of the other shooting disciplines. Moving on from there to Standard Pistol Bullseye.

Then there's blasting Bowling Pins. Our club even has classes for pistols that don't meet major power factor. (the pins are placed farther back on the table) First round is against the clock. Second round is head to head. It really brings out the competitive nature in participants. This is a very fun addictive competition. Better than Falling Plates, where speed and accuracy are king, as there's the challenge is to 'remove' the pin from the table. Not just knock it down. Adding that there's a little luck needed for the pin action in a lot of matches. We have a variation of Pin Tops for .22 that is also quite entertaining. Different classes for modified or stock pisols for pins and for Pin Tops.

You've obviously got the other IPSC/IDPA/Cowboy popular stuff, but there are others that allow us to show off our shooting skills. I recently attended a Hunter Pistol/Cowboy Rifle match. -Not quite as 'fun', but did present some challenges. Rams at 200m with pistol, much the same as Siloette shooting. Do the same with your favorite leveraction hunting rifle with open sights. Our club also puts on Varmint shoots with rimfire or other long rifle. Highpower matches sometimes also have classes so people can use their hunting rifles.

Shooting is a very diverse sport. Diverse in the poeple that participate, from Ministers, to LEO's to housewives. And diverse in what gets shot, or shot at.

-Steve
 
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Even more "outlaw" than 3Gun are the long-range hunter/tactical style matches. These involve shooting targets out to 600-1000 yards with rifles, generally with either 1 shot per target only, or stiff "miss" penalties. These courses generally involve movement with the rifle and gear (1-3 miles), as well as target location, ID, and ranging.

Even though the matches are very similar, some of these are advertised as "hunting" matches and some are advertised as "tactical" or "sniper" matches.

Examples include: ITRC (WY), Steel Safari (NM), Keneyathlon (NM), PRTC (NM).

-z
 
I am supposed to tell you folks -

Uncle Steve did not hit the jelly bean set out at 25 yds with a Red Ryder BB Gun and had to buy the "competition" Wendy's including a Frosty.

Six year old girls are tough, and you try hitting a jelly bean taped to a string swinging in the breeze off a tree limb.

"You get one shot"
"I'm old, don't I get more than one shot?'
"Okay two shots, and that is it"

"Did you miss 'cause there was no sights?" <giggles>

"No, actually I could not see the durn jelly bean, in fact that jelly bean sure looked smaller than ususal".

"It was a baby jelly bean and I don't like the pink ones anyway".

I admit it, I lost this competition.
 
Rimfire silhouette:

YOU try hitting a playing card sized metal ram at 110 yards, offhand, unsupported with a .22! Now try hitting 5 in two minutes...

Heck, just try to find the thing in your 24 power scope! That's when you notice your heartbeat can move the POA off target...

Not to mention what a slight breeze can do to to a 40 gr. bullet travelling at less than 1000 fps by the time it gets to 100 meters downrange...

http://www.weaponssafety.com/sbms.htm
 
I shoot benchrest rimfire matches with a Marlin .22. It's great practice to someone new to cartridge rifles(I've only been using cartridge rifles seriously for a couple years) learn the actual basics of shooting and get trigger and breath control down before without worrying about supporting the rifle.

I also do CMP highpower rifle matches with a M1 Garand. Its a good way to learn long range marksmanship and center fire rifles.
 
So, what game(s) do you play
Click to expand...

Mostly NRA rules Bullseye, but I shoot International Standard Pistol too.

I also dabble in Team Challenge and some of the run 'n' gun stuff.

-- and what's cool about the game to you?
Click to expand...

I like Bullseye for it's meditative aspect. If 3 Gun is the shooting equivalent of Brazilian Ju Jitsu, then Bullseye is Tai Chi. Being a child of the easily distracted MTV/ADHD generation, I find that putting my mind in the state needed to do well takes much effort, and has helped me to develop self-discipline.

Team Challenge is a blast because it's cool to step up to the line with two other people and hammer away at steel plates. Dad is the one who kind of dragged me into doing Team Challenge, so it's kind of father-son hangout time.

*AAAAAAAAAwwwwwwwwww*

And the run 'n' gun? I shouldn't even have to explain why that's cool. :)
 
Justin ~

Who's the parent organization for Team Challenge?

pax
 
I'm another USPSA junkie. It is the most fun you can have with your clothes on! Three matches per month is my goal.
 
USPSA - big time addiction - don't need to say anything more. If you shoot it, you know.

Jerry
 
NRA highpower for me. I shoot a match a month at our local club with practice sessions every other Sunday.

Getting ready to head off to Camp Perry for the CMP service rifle matches next month. If you want to see something impressive come up and watch the National Trophy Infantry Team Match (aka - rattle battle).
 
I really want to get into three-gun.

I also want to build a "Texas Biathalon" course. Instead of snow skies though, mountain biking interspersed with target shooting.
 
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