The stages. I am going to run this back in the order that they are in the match book. I shot them in a different order but for my purposes I think it will be easier to follow my results as this website evolves over time if I approach it this way.
Stage 1 – Zombie land
A pretty straight forward run fast burn it down stage. Most of the targets were wide open and in close. One small four piece popper array, and one awkward reload point. The paper targets were arrayed such that each was within a set of walls that you had to negotiate. After reaching the end of that run, you had two stacked targets, and then an array of four in a small room.
I felt I had a pretty good run (for me) on this one. I could have made the turn and draw faster, and I hesitated in charging the first set of targets, got to the steel array and had to take two extra shots. Cut back to the main aisle reloading and burned through the close targets. The distance from the last wall on the aisle to cut back to the left to get the hidden cardboard next to the steel was too short to reload in, and would have caused a second reload in order to hit the next array of targets so I elected to run to slide lock, and reload as I was changing targets. Fun stage, run and gun the whole way. The steel slowed me down, as did my slow start coming out of the gate. Still I ran that stage just about the way I wanted. I might have been able to shave three to four seconds off of the stage if things had been perfect.
Stage 2 – CM 03-09 On The Move
This stage was the one classifier in the match. Unlike most of the classfiers that I have been shooting lately, I didn’t blow this one entirely. A pretty simple two string stage. Two completely open targets, and two partially occluded by a no-shoot. You start at one end of the starting box and have to move to the other end to get the last target. For string two, repeat from the other end of the box.
I turned in a solid run for me. I think I forgot that I was supposed to go fast and it helped a bit. I could have moved more quickly through the box though. I need to plan exactly where I want my feet to land in my movements. A quick burst to get to the next spot. Start to move a little earlier, don’t wait to see the results of the shot, etc. One area to work shooting to the left. The string where I started on the right and had to move to the left, I pulled the shots too far to the left and wound up with two “D” zone hits. Better sight picture, better results. Areas to work on.
As I go through these stages, words don’t really describe the stage very well. I am going to help by finding some video to help you understand the stages. I need to start taking some myself to help analyze areas to improve too. In the mean time I will look for some different vids that will help add some color here.
The first one up is Steve Galka’s match video. Pretty cool first person stuff. Evidently, they allowed that squad to shoot the first stage without facing up range.