Just Back From Camp Perry.....

[Ham_Chu]

Me and my 'guys' got back last night...what a trip! Of the four of us, shooting 3 matches we came home with 6 medals.

Heat was BAD. Really bad. I don't remember it ever being like this before. It was, like, Africa hot. (Heat Index hit 101)

Apparently, one shooter was evac'ed for heat exhaustion. Others were close. I thought I might be.

Another shooter got his crunched under his pit target, another evac.

And a really interesting 'reshoot' opportunity due to gross incompetence of the Range Tower.

A good time was had by all......


Lib'sTeeth will be back later in the week

[thughes]

Thanks for the update.

[harleyhutch]

Any good deals at the CMP north store, if you went that is?

[Ham_Chu]

North Store:

According to what I'd heard, people were lined up at the door before 5am. They were putting out 6 M1 Carbines per day, at opening. First Come basis ($900, IIRC). They haven't had a carbine in the store in ~5 years or more.

In the afternoon, when they are long gone, there is no line to get in.

Otherwise, the standard $2000 M1C & D sniper models (w/o scopes) that no one wants, a few M1 Garand Rack grades for $700, and a few M1 Garand SPECIALS (I recommend these, if you can afford them) for the new, low price of $1030. The SPECIAL has a brand new Criterion barrel and Boyds stock mounted. The cost of doing this to a lower grade rifle greatly exceeds the $1k these rifles cost, and no hassle.

Web slings galore, both new ($12) and beat the F#&@ up ($5). Otherwise, not much. Prices on the HXP went up to $135/200 round box. The carbines were the big shock, but good luck getting past the Black Friday crowd to wrestle one to the ground.



Commercial Row.....that's a whole different story:

Powder galore, in both 1 ($25) and 8 ($150) lbs jugs. RE15, Varget, 4895, etc..... The likes of which has not been seen 'round these parts in years.

Primers ($28/1000), bullets all there in bulk packaging

22LR, got a brick of Wolf Match Target for $58. Last time I saw that (2yrs), they wanted $110. All sorts of 22lr, but just the match stuff (S&K, Eley...), not the bulk, wal-mart blasting stuff.

Hornaday was there giving ~20% off their reloading equipment. And free hats.

AR-15. AR-15 and AR-15. Any and everything you could want. USGI magazines for $20, new. Magpul accessories everywhere. Flash suppressors and bayonet lugs on it all. Folding stocks, collapsible stocks, lead-filled target stocks. Uppers, lowers, parts kits, trigger groups. Rock River, Armalite, Fulton Armory, Springfield, White Oak, Bushmaster, Giessele.

...everything an aging, overweight, white male could want.

[thughes]

...everything an aging, overweight, white male could want.

You mean to tell me that they sell 20 year old redhead females with a daddy complex on Commercial Row? Damn, I am SO there next year!

[Ham_Chu]

<speechless>

[Liberty's Teeth]

I'm down 7 pounds, heart is racing and I'm pissing cobwebs. It's really hot and humid!!
The big boy is tomorrow. National Trophy Individual. The Presidents 100 on Wednesday and the Springfield M14 match on Thursday. If it stays this hot and humid I may shed another 4 pounds.
Ham-Chop, great time with you and enjoyed the visit!

[Meketrefe]

LOL... you guys need to practice more inside the sauna.

[24Pink14Stink]

LOL... you guys need to practice more inside the sauna.

100 yard sauna sounds fun to me.

[harleyhutch]

Thanks for the update, wish I was there, WORK SUCKS, but not having money sucks more.

[Ham_Chu]

So...the 're-shoot opportunity:'

These are all 'no-alibi' matches. If you F it up, and do not get all your rounds off in time, STFU, put the bullets in your pocket, and go home with them...the match marches on.

During the rapid fire sequence (10 rounds in 80 seconds with a reload (with bolt action rifles)) one individual (who was NOT my guy) was AFU. As the tower called "IS THE LINE READY?" he has a screwdriver in the magazine of his Enfield rifle trying to pry out rounds that got put in some wrong way. He is screaming things like "NO" and "NOT READY." My buddy next to him is also screaming to the line safety (its run just like a military range, safeties per 15 firing points with the green/red paddles).

The safety (doing her job) sees there is an issue, starts waving her red paddle (visual signal of NO), calling out things like "NO" and "NOT READY."

The next thing that is heard from the tower, at normal cadence, is...READY ON THE RIGHT? READY ON THE LEFT? THE LINE IS NOW READY. YOU MAY COMMENCE FIRING WHEN YOUR TARGETS APPEAR. And the targets go up.

And everyone for 10 firing points is screaming "NO" and "NOT READY.". 120 other shooters see the targets and start shooting (they know its a no-alibi match and will lose 100 of 300 points if they don't shoot).

No one near this guy with his F'ed up rifle shoots. Their line safety is telling them not to. My buddy actually unloaded his rifle, grounded it and stood up.

Because this was a total F up by the center tower, they did a re-shoot, but only for the 10 firing points or so in question. This was the right call, of course.



What I am displeased about:

1). Tower is incompetent, or worse, complacent. Yes, this sh1t gets boring and repetitive, but 130 shooters on that line count on him being totally aware of what is going on. He is, after all, in charge of the whole event. He didn't even look left when he asked if the left side was ready.

2). Tower blamed the line safety for not informing him of the NOT READY status of her section, of course at the top of his lungs. Yet again, who is at fault? I talked with her later on and she said this was her last day here and she was going home. They were already short of volunteers....good going. We can't do this w/o the volunteers.

3). The Pit Boss (kinda like the tower but in the pits....tells you when to raise/lower targets etc...) got REALLY unprofessional....with quotes over the PA like WE WILL FIND THIS GUYS NAME....LETS START A PROTEST COLLECTION...I'M JUST DOING WHAT I AM TOLD. She did a lot to incite half of the shooters and get their bile flowing, based on NO DATA. She started calling out this anonymous shooter (which I believed HAD to be MY buddy as he didn't fire a single round at his target)....

Overall this cost us about 10-15 minutes we didn't need, so it really wasn't bad. But I am more concerned over the conduct of the whole thing....we already had 2 evacuated shooters (which was handles appropriately, and then this.

I think he was probably trying to make up the time lost to the two evacs (one was from the pits-takes a lot longer) and was rushing through. Also not a pleasing scenario.

TL;DR

[harleyhutch]

Safety first, safety always. Tower has the responsibility to be aware, looking no where but at the safety personnel. Too many people in the tower causing distractions or rushing the line. This cannot happen or bad things will happen.
I've run my share of ranges in 26 years in the Army, ready on the right means you make visual eye contact with the safety ' s on the right, ready one the left is the same drill. No question it was an error from the tower.
Just my $.02.
FUAC

[Ham_Chu]

exactly, but the advantage of running these ranges through the military (20 years Army Reserves) is that you have competent NCOs supervising this stuff. As my buddy said....If you pay peanuts, you wind up with monkees....

I am NOT hating on the volunteers. They are absolutely critical to the operations. They are actually the nicest people out there. But they are unpaid. And out there for 15 hour days. They're there because they want to be involved. Our first time out to Perry (2006) we volunteered, during the NRA High Power week. It was BRUTAL. The training was poor at best (looking back to the military ranges I had OIC'ed) but they can;t get too crazy or the volunteers quit volunteering. The best we got out of it was a free room in a WWII hut (that should have been demolished during the Johnson Administration), and a nice banquet/free dinner honoring us. You gotta LOVE that paddle to put up with that.

Another point to be made....Ohio National Guard/National Guard Bureau/DoD pulled funding for supporting the matches this year. VERY reduced military staffing compared to past years. I'd bet there was a full battalion last year.....maybe a company now. And those were mostly the ever-critical medics (at least they had THAT!).

The volunteers had to pick up the slack for EVERYTHING else OHNG once did. And it showed.... They were filling the dozens of water jugs w/ ice each hour, delivering all the necessary equipment to each range (twice we saw them run out of the T-shirts (everyone gets a T-shirt!) and had to send back for more, once they found them. One of our matches they never got the sponges to clean off the scoring chalkboards, and the water jugs didn't get filled until after the matches started). They were running half staff in the pits due to lack of personnel. None of that was ever a problem before (albeit these are really minor issues).

<<as I read my own post I seem to be pretty down, but I still had the BEST time in my 8 years of attendance. Despite these setbacks, it was a GREAT F'ing time. I am just concerned that this understaffing is indicative of problems to come. Each minor issue seemed to caused by just that------not enuf peeps runnin' thangs>>

[harleyhutch]

Your absolutely correct, tough running anything with a volunteer staff and then the typical government cutbacks. Anything and everything in this country seems to be on the history list that the powers to be would like to see quelled and then erased, little by little till it is gone, then forgotten, only to be replaced by something kinder, gentler and more politically correct or more socially acceptable, but the question remains, By Who??? Certainly not those who keep the wheels turning.

[WARFAB]

Another point to be made....Ohio National Guard/National Guard Bureau/DoD pulled funding for supporting the matches this year. VERY reduced military staffing compared to past years. I'd bet there was a full battalion last year.....maybe a company now. And those were mostly the ever-critical medics (at least they had THAT!).

As far as I know the military guys have not performed line officer duties the past 3 years I've been at Perry. I have no idea who's in the tower calling commands, but the officials up and down the firing line who call ready/not ready have always been civilians during my times at Perry. The guys in fatigues have been the ones moving the outhouses and driving the shuttles and targets around.

I noticed we had an extra legal form to sign at check in this year. I had to promise I'm not a convicted felon or militia member hoping to overthrow the government before I could shoot. I thought it was interesting/humorous, so I got a few extra copies before I headed home yesterday. I'll scan an post after I'm done unpacking and cleaning all my gear.