USPSA fixed time stage - setting the time

[lordpaxman]

Are there any USPSA stage builders out there who have crafted a fixed time stage and have a good way of setting the time? I’m MD for a June match and have a stage in mind, and want to set the time so a GM might complete it, but a D class won’t be too upset.

 

[Hoser]

Set it up ahead of time and have a few people try it cold.

Trying to make it where a GM might finish it but a D class shooter wont get stomped isnt going to happen.

 

[jmorris]

Par time stuff doesn't seem very popular. When I wanted to get people to move, I just made a moving shooting port and built the stage from there. At the end, they could still hit any target, from a further distance but had to follow the port to the end.

Running target as moving barricade.

www.youtube.com

 

[jmorris]

From further back to better see the layout.

Running target as moving barricade 2

www.youtube.com

A shock sensor triggered by the blast from the first shot sets it in motion.

 

[lordpaxman]

I was planning to test it in my backyard, and I know where I place relative to the others. But of course that’s my plan and my shooting.

Par time stuff doesn't seem very popular.

I know. My issue with our L1 matches is they tend to be hoser stages, but they do typically have movement. That’s a neat moving port idea.

 

[jmorris]

Another way I have done it is to only have the targets shootable for a preset amount of time and activated as the shooter moves through the stage.

Auto targets

www.youtube.com

 

[Smokin Gator]

I've mainly seen par time on standards stages, Schmidts standards. Can't remember if I've ever shot a regular stage with par time in USPSA. In ICORE they did have par time stages. They'd have different color and sized plates. The smaller the plate the bigger the bonus, minus 2 seconds for example. You'd decide if you wanted to gamble hitting the smaller plates or shoot the bigger ones knowing for most shooters you wouldn't have time to shoot them all. It was fun.

 

[lordpaxman]

Since a fixed time stage isn’t scored as HF you probably won’t see many regular stages with a par time. Standards and speed shoots can use fixed time.
I just like mixing up stages a bit and letting the competitors see things they don’t normally do. Speed is important on any stage but when you measured against a fixed time it tends to mess with the usual. There are no mikes or FTSAs, just NPMs, overtime and extra shots, and extra hits.
I ran into a fixed time stage at A5 for the first time and didn’t have a clue as to what it was. It would have been easier if I had been introduced to it at a L1 match first. That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it, after all, they were crazy enough to ask me to be MD.

 

[Smokin Gator]

That's a good idea to have it at a local match if you're seeing fixed time stages at majors in your area. Shooters at local clubs have brought chronographs to local matches to allow newer shooters going to their first level 2 match to check their pf prior to going.