Brian and I had an awesome time at the Rocky Mountain 300 this weekend.

The match was very well run, by super friendly and helpful match staff. The other shooters, largely from Colorado and the mid-west, were terrific.  We did run into some northern Utah shooters, including Farley and Inez Collins (who BOTH won guns at the price table!).

The stages were much more than just “hose-fest” 60+ shot stages. They were devious, fiendish things that had you forgetting which way was up by the end.  In the end each was 3 top notch stages with more than 3 times the devilishness.

Just looking at them on paper didn’t do them justice. Once you got on the ground and tried to figure out reload points, or positions where you could see this or that target, the complexity quickly added up until your brow furrowed and then pre-stage thinking time was up and you had to shoot it.   And unlike most stages, fatigue played a role.  You were breathing hard and your arms were like lead at the end of most stages.   And heaven forbid if you had any makeup shots and had to re-think reloads and positions on the fly.  Tough, but very fun.

It turned out that my Glock, with a lightened striker spring, really didn’t like the magnum pistol primers Brian used for this batch of match ammo.  So I had about 40 duds (and lots of comments about my new “5th” generation bolt action Glock) – lesson learned.

I also learned to bring extra mag pouches. One of mine ripped of my belt after getting caught in the start chair. It was ruined, and I had to haul mags around in my pocket, or tucked in my belt.

Brian did well, finishing in the top half of shooters. He missed top Junior shooter by screwing up the last 2 seconds of the last stage (50 penalty points in 2 seconds!). Lesson learned, as well…

This is a match we are putting on our “do again” list.  It was fun. The people were cool, and the prize table quite impressive (as well as cash payback for division placers). 

I will post video of Brian shooting the stages tonight or tomorrow.