It’s time for pistol shooters to load up plenty of ammo and book their plane tickets. Three major pistol championships are scheduled to take place in the next five weeks. The USPSA, IDPA, and IPSC are all holding big events, starting in mid-September.
First the USPSA National Handgun Championships will be held September 16-24 at the Desert Sportsman’s Rifle & Pistol Club in Las Vegas. We’ve shot at that range, tucked in the foothills on the northwest side of Las Vegas. It is a large, well-equipped facility. But it is also a dry, dusty location that can be hot as Hades in September. Bring plenty of water (along with plenty of ammo). Leading up to the USPSA Nationals, the USPSA has scheduled three of its eight regional championships over the first two weekends of September. This ensures competitors will be primed and ready for the National Championships.
On September 21-24, the IDPA will conduct its first-ever World Championship Match at the Universal Shooting Academy in Frostproof, Florida. Because it does not require (or permit) expensive custom “race-guns”, IDPA competition has become very popular. IDPA matches emphasize the use of cover and other “practical” defensive techniques. The idea behind IDPA was to provide a competitive discipline which allowed shooters to perfect their skills with the actual guns they carry or use for home defense. The IDPA expects a big turn-out in Florida, including shooters from a dozen or more foreign countries.
Unfortunately, the IDPA World Championship will over-lap the last four days of the USPSA Nationals. Some shooters hope to compete in both events. In order to allow this, the USPSA and IDPA have worked out a compromise. The Shooting Wire reports: “The [scheduling conflic] was more a result of a lack-of-communication comedy of errors. Each organization announced their championship dates within a short time of each other — and quickly discovered the problem. But Robert Ray at IDPA and Michael Voigt, president of USPSA, quickly worked out a compromise. Shooters competing in USPSA’s Limited and Production division nationals in Vegas on September 21-24 will be allowed to shoot through the match in order to fly out to Florida and compete in the IDPA World Championship.”
Greece Hosts IPSC World Shoot in October on Rhodes
The IPSC World Shoot XVI in Greece, takes place October 3-8, 2011 at the Kalamonas Shooting Range, on the island of Rhodes. This is a huge event — over 1,000 shooters are expected to attend. There will be five (5) divisions, based on handgun type: Open, Modified, Standard, Revolver and Production. In addition, awards will be handed out to five (5) categories of shooters within each division: Overall, Lady, Junior, Senior and Super Senior. The IPSC World Shoot features some spectacular stages based on Greek history and mythology. These include the Labyrinth Stage and the water-filled Colossus of Rhodes Stage, both shown below.
Gander Mtn. has opened a 20,000 square-foot, high-tech firearms training facility in Lake Mary, Florida. The new Gander Mtn. Academy in Florida offers modern multi-media classrooms, live-fire ranges, a state-of-the-art “Virtual Range”, as well as interactive shooting simulators that let you test your skills in defensive scenarios. In the Academy’s high-tech virtual “V-Range™”, shooters can sharpen their skills and master their mechanics “without spending time and money firing endless rounds of expensive live ammo”.
V-Range™ Video
The virtual range (V-Range) is set up like a conventional firing line, but the targets are projection screens with 2,000,000 pixels per lane. You “shoot” with real pistols modified to fire laser beams, not bullets. Students can zoom the target screens to examine their results and then save their targets as digital image files (sent via email).
Virtual Simulators with ‘Real-Life’ Scenarios
Along with the V-Range, the Gander Mtn. Academy offers two high-tech simulators, the Pro V SIM 180™, and a 300-degree “surround” enclosure, the Pro V SIM 300™. Gander Mtn. Academy is the first and only firearms facility to offer this cutting-edge simulation technology to the public.
V-SIM 300
The V-SIM 180 and V-SIM 300 environments are designed to help you make quick decisions involving a wide range of real life situations. V-SIM 180 and V-SIM 300 training sessions cost $40 and $50 respectively for 30-minute time-blocks. The simulator scenarios run the gamut—from numerous self-defense options to a variety of situations commonly found while hunting and shooting outdoors. After the simulator session, participants can play back and review their performance (with instructor feedback) in video debriefing rooms equipped with Hi-Def monitors and performance-auditing software. Students can even upload video clips of their simulator sessions to YouTube.
More Gander Mtn. Academies Slated to Open Soon
The Florida Gander Mtn. Academy is the first of four high-tech training centers Gander Mtn. plans to open this year. The second location, in La Cross, Wisconsin, is slated to open in April, 2011. In summer, Gander Mtn. plans to open training Academies in Greensboro, North Carolina and Roanoke, Virginia. For more information, visit the Gander Academy Website, or call 1-888-5GANDER.
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Report by Dave Conrath
In the last week of December, 2010, two pending FTR records were set at the annual Snowbird X-Miss Match hosted by Florida’s Port Malabar Rifle and Pistol Club. Competitors traveled from as far North as Michigan (through heavy snow). At the match, conditions varied over the four days of shooting from 25-mph winds, to below freezing temperatures and frost, to burning swamplands including falling ash. In a superb performance given the conditions, Kent Reeve was Palma rifle and overall winner with 1799-99X (dropping only one point over the 3-day event). Keith Perry was overall iron sight winner with 1781-107X.
New NRA 600-Yard Service Record Set by SSG Emil Kovan
SSG Emil Kovan (USAMU) and SFC James Gaston (BNX Rifle Team) took turns setting and resetting the NRA 600-yard individual NRA Service record. SFC Gaston shot a 198-11X, only to be bettered by SSG Kovan with a 200-11X.
Kovan uses a GA Precision-built, Surgeon-actioned, .308 Win rifle. It has a 26″, 11-twist barrel for tactical competitions, plus a 29″, 10-twist twist tube for F-T/R, both chambered in .308 Win. The 26″ BBL is chambered for 175-190 grain bullets, while the 29″ is throated for 210-grainers. Kovan shots moly-coated Berger 210gr VLDs in the longer barrel. He reveled that he loads “bullets long so they get soft seated .010″ when [closing] the bolt”.
In F-TR class, SSG Kovan won for the second year with a 1772-75X, Nik Taylor took second overall with 1769-69X, SFC Gaston took third place 1739-75X. In an extremely tight race in F-Open Class Michael Dana was first with 1765-36X, Mark Finizio took second with 1764-68X, Tom Goodman finished third with 1763-62X.
BNX Rifle Team Sets Pending F-TR Team Record
During the team matches on the final day, the BNX rifle team from Coastal Carolina Rifle Club at Camp Lejeune shot a new, pending F-TR 4-Man Team National record with a 794-37X. Shown below are BNX Team members (left to right), SFC James Gaston (200-9X), Tony Robertson (199-11X), Dave Conrath (197-7X), Tom Goodman (Asst. Coach/Scorer), Nik Taylor (198-10X) — Team Captain and Wind Coach.
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First the USPSA National Handgun Championships will be held September 16-24 at the Desert Sportsman’s Rifle & Pistol Club in Las Vegas. We’ve shot at that range, tucked in the foothills on the northwest side of Las Vegas. It is a large, well-equipped facility. But it is also a dry, dusty location that can be hot as Hades in September. Bring plenty of water (along with plenty of ammo). Leading up to the USPSA Nationals, the USPSA has scheduled three of its eight regional championships over the first two weekends of September. This ensures competitors will be primed and ready for the National Championships.
On September 21-24, the IDPA will conduct its first-ever World Championship Match at the Universal Shooting Academy in Frostproof, Florida. Because it does not require (or permit) expensive custom “race-guns”, IDPA competition has become very popular. IDPA matches emphasize the use of cover and other “practical” defensive techniques. The idea behind IDPA was to provide a competitive discipline which allowed shooters to perfect their skills with the actual guns they carry or use for home defense. The IDPA expects a big turn-out in Florida, including shooters from a dozen or more foreign countries.
Greece Hosts IPSC World Shoot in October on Rhodes
Gander Mtn. has opened a 20,000 square-foot, high-tech firearms training facility in Lake Mary, Florida. The new Gander Mtn. Academy in Florida offers modern multi-media classrooms, live-fire ranges, a state-of-the-art “Virtual Range”, as well as interactive shooting simulators that let you test your skills in defensive scenarios. In the Academy’s high-tech virtual “V-Range™”, shooters can sharpen their skills and master their mechanics “without spending time and money firing endless rounds of expensive live ammo”.
Report by Dave Conrath
New NRA 600-Yard Service Record Set by SSG Emil Kovan
