November 2008 South Florida Defensive Carbine Match
Tropical Sport Shooting Association again held the monthly South Florida Defensive Carbine match on the 4th Tuesday, the 25th, of November 2008 at the Markham Park Target Range in
western Broward County, Florida. Set up began at approximately 17:30,
with sign-in beginning at 18:00 and shots fired at 19:00. All shooters
were complete and props and targets off the range by 21:30.
This stage consisted of 14 threat targets, with the majority covered
with a non-threat target and no non threat intruding on the -0 portion
of the target. The non-threat targets were marked with with red paint
in the shape of an "hands" across their chest. The stage began with
the shooter standing with the rifle loaded to capacity and as many
backup magazines as they deemed necessary on their body. At the
signal, the shooter began walking forward in a line parallel to the row
of targets, engaging each threat target as they advanced. There was a
stop stick at the end of the line with 4 targets left to be engaged
from this spot if required.
Intent
The intent of this stage was to simply provide an exciting
"shooting on the move" or "run and gun" type stage, with the shooter
left to judge their own ability in terms of walking speed relative to
shooting speed. Range rules dictate that we can not shoot at greater
than 90 degrees to the end berm, so once the shooter passed a target he
could not engage that target.
In
addition, the stage required one reload for virtually all shooters,
which further reinforced the need to not outrun their shots. If the
shooter got ahead of themselves and then had to perform a reload, they
passed several targets in the process.
Gaming
The
truest way to game this stage was to make all of your hits count and
not be forced to make the reload. With 14 targets and a minimum of 2
shots per target it was possible to get all -0 hits and not be required
to reload with a 30 round magazine. The alternate was to engage the
first 10 targets with 3 rounds each, reach the stop stick, perform the
reload, and engage the last 4 targets standing still.
Personal Lessons
I
did pretty well in gauging my walking speed relative to my shooting
speed. I also chose a magazine grip on the AK with my support hand
which made the reload somewhat easier since my hand was already resting
on the magazine. I am slowly getting away from the "bash out the
magazine" type reload with the AK as I'm finding it requires too much
sustainment training and is a rapidly perishable skill. I am
preferring to simply strip the empty magazine and discard it and then
retrieve and insert the fresh magazine. In a perfect world it's
slower, but if you miss bashing that magazine catch once or twice then
you eat up a lot of time fumbling.
Match Lessons
This
stage could have been a bit more interesting if we had arranged the
targets at various distances and allowed for the potential for some
shot-throughs on non-threats. However, people do like a "zombie stage"
and this stage provided that in spades. A simple stage with nothing
but shooting.
This stage
consisted two walls set up to form an "L" shape with a third wall
arranged to form a hallway. There were 13 threat targets, with three
non-threats. The non-threats were arranged only to keep shooters from
hitting stage props and to establish muzzle safe points to the far left
and right. At the signal the shooter engaged the first threat target
in the hallway, then began moving down the hall and engaging the
remaining targets as they were seen while using cover.
Intent
The intent of this stage was simply to provide a vehicle for using
cover from both sides. In addition, the hallway affect directs a lot
of blast at the shooter and can be a major distraction to those not
used to shooting like that.
Gaming
There
really wasn't much to gaming this stage other than pushing the envelope
with regards to how much you could get away with not using cover. As
with Stage 1, it was possible to shoot the entire stage without the
reload if the shooter only took 2 shots per target.
Personal Lessons
I need to reinforce getting behind cover for the reload. I had to be reminded to get back when my rifle ran dry.
Match Lessons
Most
people need the same reinforcement I do, and the safety officers and
score keepers need to be aware of same and enforce it. All reloads are
to be behind cover.
Stage 2 - Layout 1
Stage 2 - Layout 2
Stage 2 - Pasting (this makes me VERY happy!)
Stage 2 - Action
Stage 2 - Video 1 (note that the shooter had to be reminded to seek cover when reloading)
Stage 2 - Video 2 (note that the shooter successfully "gamed" the stage by shooting only two rounds on some targets, thereby eliminated the need for a reload)
Stage 2 - Video 3 (note that the shooter made good use of cover and did not let his muzzle get past the edge of cover, or "crowd" the cover)
Stage 2 - Video 4 (note that the shooter, a natural satan-hander, begins the stage with the rifle on his strong side then transitions to his support side halfway through in order to maximize his cover. Note also the speed reload performed support side for this shooter. Excellent display of ambidextrous shooting and weapon manipulation)
