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.
Here’s your chance to see a wide selection of interesting new products from SHOT Show 2011. Today, Wednesday June 8th, ShootingUSA re-broadcasts its hour-long SHOT Show Special, originally filmed on-site at the Sands Convention Center in January. This 60-minute telecast features nearly 50 new products, including Colt Centennial 1911s, Smith & Wesson 1911s and Performance Center Hunting Revolvers, new Die Sets from RCBS, Les Baer Monolith AR10s, Mossberg Tactical Shotguns, Ruger Mark III Pistols, Hogue stocks for Savages, new Wood LaserGrips from Crimson Trace, and Thompson Center’s new Venture hunting rifles.
Shooting USA’s hour-long SHOT Show Special airs on the Outdoor Channel on June 8, 2011 at the following times:
Shooting USA has officially become a one-hour television show. The “Sighting In” segments will no longer air as a separate half-hour series. Instead, “Sighting In” will be included in the new one-hour format on the Outdoor Channel. Look for Shooting USA as a single listing in your cable and satellite menus. Here are air times for the Shooting USA hour, Wednesdays :
Shooting USA SHOT Show Special on May 11
The next hour-long Shooting USA episode airs Wednesday May 11, 2011 — and it’s worth watching. On May 11, Shooting USA serves up its SHOT Show special from the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas. Shooting USA’s reporters interview gun industry notables and spotlight new products. You’ll see some of the best new firearms for 2011, along with other new outdoor gear. If you could not attend SHOT Show, don’t miss the May 11 episode of Shooting USA.
SHOT Show kicks off tomorrow, Tuesday, January 18th. Today your Editor is fortunate enough to be attending the Media Day event, hosted at the Boulder Rifle & Pistol Club, outside Las Vegas.
At Media Day, we’ll be inspecting and testing new firearms to be introduced later this week at SHOT Show. This is a rare opportunity to handle and shoot a wide selection of new firearms, and also to test new optics and other accessories. Stay tuned to the Daily Bulletin for regular updates on our Media Day discoveries, plus all the latest products on display at SHOT Show. We will be interviewing many firearms industry notables, and we’ll try to get photos (and video clips) of the most interesting and innovative new products.
The NSSF, which operates the SHOT Show, also has its own YouTube Channel now. There you can a variety of professional-produced short videos every day for the next week. To watch the NSSF Videos, go to www.YouTube.com/nssfshotshow.
The 2011 SHOT Show kicks off January 18 in Las Vegas at the Sands Convention Center. Running for four days through the 21st, SHOT Show, the largest gun- and hunting-related trade show in the world, will attract over 1600 exhibitors and more than 30,000 attendees, plus nearly 2,000 media representatives.
Those attending SHOT Show can create a customized booth visit guide using the NSSF’s web-based interactive Show Planner. You can also access a List of Exhibitors and a Show Floorplan through the official SHOT Show Website, www.ShotShow.org.
Problems with Hotel Bookings — Check your Reservations!
Unfortunately, it appears that there are some problems with Las Vegas hotels reserved through third-party booking agencies. Jim Shepherd of the Shooting Wire reports: “Apparently, some who have booked their hotel rooms through third-party booking companies are finding out they’re out the money, but their rooms were never booked. At least one hotel room reseller (HDMC) appears to have taken payments from SHOT Show attendees without actually booking rooms.”
Chris Dolnack, representing SHOT Show organizer NSSF, advises show attendees to double-check their reservations. Those who booked through HDMC should call their hotels right away to ensure rooms were actually booked. Dolnack adds: “As a safety precaution, anyone who booked using a third party (not the SHOT Show reservation desk or the hotel directly) should contact the hotel to confirm their reservations.”
If you want to learn about the latest new guns and shooting accessories for 2011, log on to ShootingIndustry.com and check out the FREE January 2011 Digital Edition of Shooting Industry Magazine. The special January SHOT Show edition is packed with new products. The New Product Showcase spotlights hundreds of new product offerings from manufacturers across the industry. Firearms, ammunition, optics and accessories are included.
SHOT Show Guide and Exhibitors’ Map
The January edition of Shooting Industry Magazine also provides invaluable info for SHOT Show attendees. You’ll find planning tips, last-minute updates, and the official SHOT Show Exhibitors Guide complete with floor map of the convention center.
Last but not least, the January issue of Shooting Industry Magazine includes an up-to-date list of manufacturers’ promotions, sweepstakes, rebates, and dealer incentives.
The 9th Annual SASS Convention and Indoor Championship will be held December 8-12 at the Riviera Hotel and Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the Single Action Shooting Society’s annual gathering, SASS members can attend seminars on shooting skills, reloading, gun maintenance, stage planning, and match management. Firearms vendors will display their wares, and a wide variety of activities will be held, including: Indoor World Championship, Classic Cowboy Saloon Dance, Hall of Fame Induction, and Wild West Performers (e.g. Trick Ropers, Gun Spinners, and Bullwhip Artists). The Popular “Cowboys in the Sky” CW band will perform on Friday night.
Indoor Shooting Championship with Wax Bullets
The SASS Indoor World Championship of Cowboy Action Shooting is a three-day, nine-stage shooting competition to be held during the SASS Convention in Las Vegas. Competitors will shoot supplied firearms and wax bullets at steel targets in a variety of Cowboy Action Shooting scenarios. The ammunition is powderless, as the wax projectiles are propelled by standard primers only. This allows shooting indoors, within the convention center itself.
Editor’s Comment: Traditionalists may scoff at the use of wax bullets, but SASS has devised a form of action shooting that can be safely done indoors (on hotel premises) without ricochet risks and without pollution issues. By adapting its game to an indoor setting, SASS has added something new to the shooting sports, and has provided an exciting adjunct to its annual Convention. When shooters get together, they want to shoot. The wax-bullet technology allows SASS Convention-goers to enjoy shooting without traveling miles to a formal indoor or outdoor range. There may be something here that can be adapted to other shooting sports. We can certainly see the potential for winter indoors rifle training using primer-propelled wax bullets. Keep in mind however, that shooters must still employ normal safe-shooting procedures; even wax bullets can cause serious injuries.
The 3-Gun Nation Finals television broadcast airs this week on the Versus Channel. Held in September at the Desert Sportsmans’ Range in Las Vegas, the 3-Gun Nation Championship pitted many of the nation’s top multi-gun shooters in head-to-head competition. After a two-day qualifier to narrow the field, 16 of America’s top 3-gunners met in a single-elimination, man-on-man Final Tournament. $40,000 in prizes were up for grabs, with a fat $25K check for the overall winner.
The action was fast and furious as, one-by-one, competitors were eliminated in the 3GN Championship Shoot-Off, an all-steel target course of fire, racing to the final stop-plate. In the Shoot-Off, all contestants used FNH arms: SCAR rifles, SLP 12-gauge shotguns, and FNX-9 semi-automatic pistols. We won’t spoil the drama by announcing the winner (you can check our Daily Bulletin archive for match results), but you can preview the event by watching this teaser video featuring Bruce Hiatt, Jerry Miculek, and SGT Dan Horner of the USAMU. More videos are found on the 3-Gun Nation Website.
3-Gun Nation Repeats on Mondays and Thurdays throughout December
This 3-Gun Nation Finals broadcast airs on Thursday, December 2, at 3:00 PM Eastern Time. The entire three-part championship block of episodes will repeat on Mondays and Thursdays throughout December.
Legendary shooter Jerry Miculek of Princeton, Louisiana won the Open division at the U.S. Practical Shooting Association’s (USPSA) 2010 Multi-Gun National Championships this past weekend at the Desert Sportsman’s Rifle & Pistol Club in Las Vegas, Nevada. Miculek, who finished second in 2009, has won the title previously in 2008, 2007, and 2005. His first place finish this year also earned Miculek the Senior Open division title.
This was an impressive come-from-behind victory by Miculek, who trailed most of the match. Jerry grabbed the lead on the 10th of 12 stages, then held on to win with a final score of 1997.2577. In winning his fourth USPSA Multi-Gun Championship, Jerry out-gunned dozens of other shooters half his age. Maybe those young bucks should buy Jerry’s Practical Rifle DVD in which he explains his techniques. Though some of his younger competitors could cover ground faster, Jerry was ultra-accurate with his rifle, scoring hits faster than the younger shooters. As Jerry told photographer Yamil Sued: “Son, if I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it right.” In the video below you can see Jerry competing in the 3-Gun Nation Championship, which was held on Monday, immediately after the USPSA event.
“Jerry is one of our sport’s most respected competitors. There is no match that he enters that he is not among those favored to win and that’s certainly true when it comes to Multi-Gun competition,” said Michael Voigt, USPSA president and the defending Multi-Gun champion who finished second this year behind Miculek. Voigt’s final score of 1963.7636 placed him second in the match while Taran Butler finished third with 1927.1224.
Reese Repeats as Women’s Champion
In the Women’s Open division contest Maggie Reese of South Pasadena, California took top honors, winning six of the 12 stages and posting a final score of 1272.8205. This gave Maggie back-to-back USPSA titles, as she also won the Womens’ Multi-Gun Championship in 2009. A soft-spoken, humble competitor, Maggie really dominated her division in this event. She is a deserving Ladies’ Champion. Maggie’s final total was more than 155 points ahead of second place Vinky Castillo’s score of 1117.8194.
SGT Horner and Tasha Hanish Both Win Tactical Division Second Year in a Row
In the Tactical Division, SGT Daniel Horner of the USAMU successfully defended his USPSA Multi-Gun Tactical division title. The Army shooter, who won five of the 12 stages, finished with a 2075.0824 score, beating his nearest competitor by more than 218 points. Then, one day after securing his USPSA Tactical title, SGT Horner won the first-ever 3-Gun Nation Championship, capturing a $25,000 cash prize donated by Leupold.
Cave Creek, Arizona’s Tasha Hanish, a member of the FNH USA shooting team, won seven of 12 stages and dominated the field as she won the Women’s Tactical division title for the second year in a row. Hanish won the first four stages of the match, jumping out to a 62+ point lead over FNH USA teammate Dianna Liedorff. Hanish won the title with a final score of 1252.3448. Liedorff finished second with 1095.2133. Watch Tasha in action in the video above.
More than 150 top shooters from 26 states, as well as Canada, competed in the 2010 USPSA Multi-Gun Nationals. Despite the brutal heat, which reached the mid-90s, these shooters managed to “run and gun” for four days straight, sending over 19,000 rounds downrange during the competition.
Over the past five days at the Desert Sportsman’s Range in Las Vegas, the nation’s top multi-gun competitors competed for glory and serious prize money. Thursday through Sunday (Sept. 9-12), the USPSA conducted its Multi-Gun Nationals — a big event with shooters competing on twelve separate stages, some 3-gun, some 2-gun, and a few shotgun-only, pistol-only, or rifle-only. One of the USPSA stages even started off with a full-auto FNH machine-gun (provided by the match organizers). On most of the stages, most competitors blazed through the rifle and pistol segments, but many shooters struggled with their scattergun reloading. Those guys and gals who could stoke their shotguns quickly (and smoothly) enjoyed a major competitive edge.
3-Gun Nation Finals
On Monday, September 13, the Finals of the season-long 3-Gun Nation series was held at the Desert Sportsman’s range. The number of stages was reduced to four, but the scenarios were longer and tougher, with more moving and shooting, and generally more challenging scenarios. On ALL the 3-Gun Nation stages, all three guns (rifle, pistol, and shotgun) were used. To do well you need to be strong with all weapon types. The top shooters all had their serious game faces on as big money — over $40,000 in prize money — was at stake. Conditions were tough; temps were in the mid-90s, and erratic afternoon winds toyed with the shooters during the long-range rifle events.
SGT Horner Wins 3-Gun Nation Championship and $25,000 Prize
After seven hours of elimination events to select shoot-off participants, the 3-Gun Nation Final Shoot-off was held at day’s end. In this signature event, sixteen 3-Gun Nation competitors dueled in a series of one-on-one matches until just two shooters remained. These two then competed head-to-head for the Championship. The “last man standing”, SGT Daniel Horner of the USAMU, won the Grand Prize of $25,000, provided by Leupold. Runner-up Bruce Piatt took home a check for $10,000, which US P.A.L.M. supplied. David Neth finished third, winning $5,000, courtesy of Timney Triggers. Congrats to SGT Horner and all the 3-Gun Nation competitors.
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
Shooting USA’s hour-long SHOT Show Special airs on the 
SHOT Show kicks off tomorrow, Tuesday, January 18th. Today your Editor is fortunate enough to be attending the Media Day event, hosted at the Boulder Rifle & Pistol Club, outside Las Vegas.
The 2011 SHOT Show kicks off January 18 in Las Vegas at the Sands Convention Center. Running for four days through the 21st, SHOT Show, the largest gun- and hunting-related trade show in the world, will attract over 1600 exhibitors and more than 30,000 attendees, plus nearly 2,000 media representatives.
If you want to learn about the latest new guns and shooting accessories for 2011, log on to 
Editor’s Comment: Traditionalists may scoff at the use of wax bullets, but SASS has devised a form of action shooting that can be safely done indoors (on hotel premises) without ricochet risks and without pollution issues. By adapting its game to an indoor setting, SASS has added something new to the shooting sports, and has provided an exciting adjunct to its annual Convention. When shooters get together, they want to shoot. The wax-bullet technology allows SASS Convention-goers to enjoy shooting without traveling miles to a formal indoor or outdoor range. There may be something here that can be adapted to other shooting sports. We can certainly see the potential for winter indoors rifle training using primer-propelled wax bullets. Keep in mind however, that shooters must still employ normal safe-shooting procedures; even wax bullets can cause serious injuries.
The 
Legendary shooter Jerry Miculek of Princeton, Louisiana won the Open division at the U.S. Practical Shooting Association’s (USPSA) 2010 Multi-Gun National Championships this past weekend at the 
“Jerry is one of our sport’s most respected competitors. There is no match that he enters that he is not among those favored to win and that’s certainly true when it comes to Multi-Gun competition,” said Michael Voigt, USPSA president and the defending Multi-Gun champion who finished second this year behind Miculek. Voigt’s final score of 1963.7636 placed him second in the match while Taran Butler finished third with 1927.1224.
Over the past five days at the Desert Sportsman’s Range in Las Vegas, the nation’s top multi-gun competitors competed for glory and serious prize money. Thursday through Sunday (Sept. 9-12), the USPSA conducted its Multi-Gun Nationals — a big event with shooters competing on twelve separate stages, some 3-gun, some 2-gun, and a few shotgun-only, pistol-only, or rifle-only. One of the USPSA stages even started off with a full-auto FNH machine-gun (provided by the match organizers). On most of the stages, most competitors blazed through the rifle and pistol segments, but many shooters struggled with their scattergun reloading. Those guys and gals who could stoke their shotguns quickly (and smoothly) enjoyed a major competitive edge.
