AAR
The match this year (2008) was divided up into 3 stages: the swamp stage, the woods stage, and the long range stage. The theme this year was ZOMBIES.
SWAMP STAGE
You began by pulling a dummy down into a muddy stream bed, up a short rise, and then you stashed him in the weeds to hide him from the ZOMBIES. You then crawled through a mud filled tunnel ( this caused some serious problems for my son......the mag clamp/sling attachment on his 870 came loose and he lost the back slung 870 in the tunnel.....when he emerged from the tunnel he was sans 870!:banghead:....he had to crawl back in to retrieve the gun, which was caked in mud and had a 4ft nylon sling trailing behind it......he was OK until he used the mud caked rounds in his sidesaddle for his reload......the gun experienced sticky extraction afterwards and he had to slam the butt of the 870 on the ground several times to keep the gun functioning....we were all extemely proud of him for staying in the fight despite extreme frustration....it was a tremendous learning opportunity!!!) took up a position of cover and then the timer started. You engaged several poppers from cover, and then moved through a course through elephant grass, including jumping over a muddy hole about 4ft across. All the while engaging hostile steel poppers and plates representing ZOMBIES, reloading from cover and shooting on the move. GREAT STAGE!
WOODS STAGE
You began on your butt on the side of a hill, as if you just slid down the hill. You engage a popper to your immediate front, and then you began an uphill move, engaging hostile ZOMBIES as you went. You reach cover, and then have to deal with 6 hostiles in the riverbed to your front. This presented the opportunity for weakside fire, and you were given props if you used your weakside around cover. I ran dry weakhanded and transitioned to my right hand for the reload then switched back to weakhand for shooting.....why???? I've never practiced reloading weakhanded, only shooting.....You will not do what you have not trained to do under stress! I wasted quite a bit of time doing this. And this match is very stressful and that is the reason I am such a big proponent of competition shooting being a form of combat training. After you dispatch these you move to cover and engage 3 ZOMBIES which were about 30-50 yards away with slugs. EXCELLENT STAGE! and my boy beat me on this stage. I can't even describe how proud of him I am for his NO QUIT attitude.
LONG RANGE STAGE
You begin with your shotgun in the backseat of your car, slug in the chamber, 4rds buck in the tube, safety on. Unass the car, grab the shotgun, engage a distant ZOMBIE with the slug, about 90yds. Move to a 6ft wall, scale it halfway and engage 4 poppers. Move to prone cover, load up with slugs, and engage 4 ZOMBIES at about 70yds. Engage two lateral movers with slugs, then load up with buck, crawl through another tunnel and engage 5 low ZOMBIES (lollipops)with buck, kneel for a quick topoff, move to cover and engage another 4 ZOMBIES (lollipops), topoff and move to kneeling cover and engage another 3 ZOMBIES (1 popper, 2 swingers) two of which were moving side to side. Ditch the shotgun, grab a machete and lop off your buddie's arm to free him from the ZOMBIES, do a battlefield pickup on his SW M19 and shoot 6 ZOMBIES (platerack) in the head. LONG STAGE! There were 16 buck targets on this stage and my son began the stage with 16rds of buck left, he did not miss once!
EQUIPMENT USED
My boy used a 18.5" 870 Youth 20ga with a Choate +2 and a 4rd Sidesaddle, bead sight, nylon carrystrap sling. He used WW #3 Buck and Remington Slugger slugs.
I used my work gun, a 14" 870P 12ga, modified choke, Speedfeed III stock, bead sight, CSM singlepoint sling with a MI sling plate. WW Slugs and 00 Buck. I LOVE THIS SETUP The only thing missing is a Surefire forend and that is coming soon.
We shared a tactical vest with 2 6x6 utility pouches mounted on each side low, and a 9rd shell loop section high left chest. He experienced some shells falling out of the left 6x6 in the woods stage. This vest was less than optimal and we will be upgrading our equipment. The guy who wins every year uses a simple shell bandolier and a belt pouch.
I saw some cool gear, including the much talked about Knoxx collapsible stock. It's owner really liked it. Also, I saw the vaunted 20" Wingmaster rifle sighted barrel with RemChoke. One guy had a 14" Benelli M1S90 with ghost rings. Nice stuff. The perennial winner uses a 590 with ghost rings, pistolgrip buttstock, and a Surefire forend. I'm pretty sure he practices alot too
hmmmm I wonder if there is a connection?
Pump guns rule this match, and the RO likes to gloat about making autos choke in the swamp. But you have to test your equipment out.....we saw a few pump gun shooters with ammo/shotgun reliablity problems....basically the ammo they'd bought/brought didn't work too well with their guns, and they were forced to do the old butt slam on the ground malfunction reduction technique. I wonder how many guns aren't compatible with the ammo their owners have bought for home defense duty and the owners don't even know it???? Probably a lot. Gotta test your gun/ammo combination.
My training partners and I are sold on pistol grip shoulder stocks. They offer a tremedous amount of control for situations such as:reloads at the pointed in position, manuevering with the gun in one hand and doing something with the off hand - something which is very common in the real world(crawling/opening a door or window/handling a suspect), weapon retention, standing at slung ready(like on a perimeter/or guard duty).
Also, I really like my single point sling. The staff are not fans of "tactical" slings, but this CSM unit did not impede me at all. Attached at the buttstock/reciever junction, the sling leaves the forend/loading areas free of clutter found with 3pt slings. Also, offside transitions are very easy with this setup. It is half bungee, half nylon strap.
When my son's gun became caked with mud, luckily I had my friendly neighborhood (late) Remington Armorer to strip and clean it for us......Thanks! He mentioned the inability to strip out the trigger assembly due to the sidesaddle screws......just something to think about.
LESSONS LEARNED
This type of shooting really gets the "Jazz"(learned this phrase from Dave Harrington) flowing, meaning adrenaline. This is the closest thing you can get to combat conditions for the average shooter. Lessons learned in these type of situations engrain themselves into your subconscious. These opportunities are invaluable.
This type of competition is strenuous, and you will get muddy, wet, bruised, scraped, and tired! What more can you ask for!?
This is the second time I've seen dirty ammo introduced into the gun cause functioning problems. It's critical with these guns that they get fed relatively clean ammo. Even though it's a pump, it'll still choke.
You have to train yourself to run the forend to the rear the moment the shot breaks, every time. I saw alot of delay between shot and running the forend, myself included. I also saw alot of "click" instead of "bang" due to the same thing.
It's critical that you be able to "combat load" a shotgun. It is so much faster than the method of: 1-insert round into mag tube, 2-hit action release/run the forend. Speed is important! Don't let anyone tell you that "1 method is easier to remember"......dominate the gun!
If you shoot a semi auto, you better practice with it. While in my opinion the properly maintained semi auto is a good combat arm, they seem to require a more dedicated practitioner than the old pump gun.
The best shooters are the ones who shoot alot.......BA/UU/R!
CONCLUSION
This match is highly recommended to all members here interested in the Combat Shotgun. It would be great if we could have a THR contingent next year. There was an excellent cookout after the match and it was just a great time all around. There appears to be camping facilities available, contact the gun club in reference to that.
I would like to thank the staff on behalf of myself and my son and my friends. We had a great time.
Pics/Vids to follow,
Dave Williams
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