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Rifle Competition Events AAR: Georgia Guardian Arena Team Match

ChidJ

Sergeant of the Hide
Full Member
Minuteman
May 18, 2020
242
156
Georgia
This is for the match held the weekend of the 6th of June, 2021. I'll start with stage descriptions (in numerical order rather than the order I shot them in) and then get into my takeaways at the end. It was pretty hot and I had very little sleep going into this match so my memory may be a bit foggy. If anyone else was there, feel free to chime in and correct me.

BLUF/TLDR: This was an excellent match. 16 stages, lots of shooting, moderate difficulty. Targets, for the most part fell between 500 and 900 yards. All stages were 6 minutes. Money well spent.

Gear Utilized: DesertTech SRS A2 (300WM), V7 Weapon Systems AR15 (.223), S&W 329PD (44RM), Beretta M9A1 (9mm), Sig Kilo3000 Binos, Leofoto 404C w/leveling head, Warhorse Development support bags, Mystery Ranch packs, Nosler and Black Hills factory ammo.

Stage 1 Love Boat: Start position was on a wobble platform. Teams were allowed to build a position on the platform prior to the start of the clock. One shooter took up a prone position, the other took up a standing position with support any way you liked. The only caveat there being that any shooting gear utilized had to be on the platform. On the go command, shooters engaged 3 targets near middle far middle near with 2 rounds each, with standing shooter shooting their 10 rounds first. I think the farthest target was around 650. After firing 10 rifle rounds hit or miss, both shooters moved to an adacent prop and alternated shooting 3 pistol targets at approximately 10, 12, and 15 yards. You had to hit the target in order for your partner to then be able to engage. Targets were engaged near to far. I'll start by saying I detest wobble platforms. They just feel a bit silly. I had my partner shoot prone and I attempted to run a barricade bag on front and use the tripod as rear support. It worked ok. It wasn't a complete flop but I didn't feel like I had cracked the code on how to beat this stage either. This pistol shooting wasn't difficult by itself but if you were running out of time, it could have been tough to hit them fast as they were fairly small (smallest maybe 6 inch plate)

Stage 2 Da Hide: Start position was at the side of a table about 15 yards from the start position. On the command go, team moved with table and all gear to a simulated roof apex. Shooters then took a position on the table and shot through the gable ends of the simulated roof through a net. The furthest target I can remember was at approximately 800. Targets could be engaged in any order. After both shooters engaged rifle targets, shooters would move next to the roof and engage 4 pistol targets in a square array and hit them with 2 shots each. The shooter who shot first on the table would engage pistol targets first and had to engage them clockwise. Pistol target ranges were about 15-20 yards. Then, after getting all 8 hits, the second shooter could engage them counter clockwise. This was a tricky one. We timed out partially because of the amount of time it took us to find the targets. I also had trouble with one of the pistol targets and as I only had 6 rounds in the cylinder, was forced to reload which ate up some time.

Stage 3 Chopper: Start position was seated in a helicopter fuselage with gear in the back seat. On the command go, team moved in front of the helicopter and engaged 4 pistol targets. After engaging the pistol targets, the team moved to the rear of the helicopter and engaged 5 rifle targets from the back seat. I can't remember the target distances. We timed out on this stage as well as our second shooter was engaging targets. There was a little difficulty getting a decent/stable position from the rear of the helicopter as the targets were sort of off to the side.

Stage 4 Gopher Box: Start position was in a 5x5x4 box on a stand with a hole at the top with all gear in the box with both shooters. On the go command, one previously designated team member would pop up out of the box and scan for targets fro 1 minute. No ranging at this point. Then after 1 minute, back in the box. On the next go command, that same team member would emerge for 45 seconds and was able to range the same 5 targets. After 45 seconds, back in the box. On the final go command, both shooters emerge and shooters took turns identifying targets to the spotter and engaging them with 2 rounds each. I and my teammate did not find all the targets. The furthest we identified was at approximately 990 yards. We also timed out even before engaging the targets we did find.

Stage 5 Spinner: At this stage, teams went head to head. One member of each team was designated as either "offense" or "defense". Then an offensive member from one team would set up next to a defensive member of another. On the command go, offense and defense would advance up a small hill to their respective shooting table and would set up to engage a spinner target at approximately 500 yards. The offensive team member would attempt to get the spinner to go end over end while the defensive member would attempt to keep it from going over. Shooters were allowed 12 rounds each and given 3 minutes. If the spinner spun, offfense was awarded points. If the spinner did not, the defense earned 10 points. This was my first stage of the day which was a shame as my match jitters got the best of me. I was the offensive shooter, found the target and set up to shoot it. I then realized I forgot to range it so I quickly grabbed the binos and lazed what I thought was the spinner berm. After firing the first couple shots, I realized my range must have been way off so I came off the gun to re-range. I ended up timing out after only firing a few rounds. I thought this was gonna be a shoe in stage for me as the 300WM would have flipped it with one impact but alas couldn't make it happen.

Stage 6 Pinzgauer: It's not a Unimog haha. On the command go, team advanced up a hill to an array of 4 pistol targets. Shooters engaged those targets with 2 rounds each, hit or miss. After both shooters finished firing at pistol targets the advanced to the back of a "Pinzgauer" which looks like some kind of old school troop carrier and engaged 3 targets near to far from the back of the vehicle with primary shooter going first and then secondary shooter engaging. I don't know what the ranges were because I later figured out we were shooting at the complete wrong set of targets due to our own color mixup. The truck was very cramped and it was tough to come up with a suitable shooting position to accomodate both shooters and gear in the small space.

Stage 7 Mil Rocks: On the command go, shooters moved up to separate positions on standing and one shooting from one of 5 rocks. Shooter from the rocks engaged an array of 2 targets with one round each. If the shooter on the rocks managed 2 hits, the standing shooter could engage their own separate target from the prone with 2 shots. If the shooter on the rocks missed one or both, standing shooter had to shoot their target standing. after both shooters fired their 2 rounds, the shooter on the rocks would move to another rock. Rock shooters targets were at approximately 350. Standing shooters target was around 200. The trick on this stage was that no electronic rangefinder was allowed to targets had to be milled by more primitive means, for lack of a better term. Some teams just guessed, some used reticle references, some used mil reference cards. I had custom mil range estimation bracelets made a while back and I always bring them just in case. They came in clutch on this stage.

Stage 8 Platform: On the command go, team members advanced approximately 50 yards to separate sides of a platform and engaged 2 pistol targets. These targets had to be hit and were engaged in an alternating sequence (left side hits close target, right side hits close target, left side hits far target, right side hits far target). After 4 pistol targets were successfully hit, both shooters moved to a platform and shot from the prone at 3 targets which were to be engaged in sequence near middle far middle near (this was a common engagement sequence throughout the match) with 2 shots each. IIRC the farthest target was at 850. My recollection of Day 1 is pretty fuzzy.

Stage 9 Ladder Drag: On the command go, team would move with a makeshift ladder approximately 25 yards to a barricade where they would take turns engaging a pistol target at approximately 50 yards (seemed a lot closer than that but thats what the stage brief said). As soon as a single hit was achieved team would move up to a platform and engage 3 targets near mid far mid near with 2 rounds each from each shooter. The furthest target was around 600 yards. This was a fairly simple stage. The targets for this stage were some of the easiest to find of the day.
 
Stage 10 Top Tower: On the command go, team would ascend stairs up to the top of a 30 foot tower and take turns engaging from near to far 5 rifle targets.I don't know how far out the last target was as we timed out. The fourth furthest was at approximately 1150 yards. My teammate and I are still pretty young and spry so we made it up the stairs fairly quickly. However, this stage had the longest targets of the competition and I had only recorded data for up to 900 yards. We managed to guess our way through it though. The breeze at the top was welcome as it was very humid haha.

Stage 11 Music Room: On the command go, team would ascend stairs to a second story cargo container and took up separate positions on either end of the cargo container with a partition and RO between them. The RO, on the go signal had started very loud music. Team members, from their position would take turns drawing a card from a box with a symbol on it. They would then have to relay that symbol to their partner via voice only as you cannot see one another and the partner would engage the given target with two rounds. This pattern would alternate until time expired or each teammate engaged 5 targets. This stage was very tricky for us. This was the second to last stage of the match for us and I think only one other team left had to shoot it so the targets at this point were pretty shot up and the symbols were difficult to see. On top of that, I could not hear my partner at all. I know he could hear me. I tried desperately to hear him but I didn't want to take out my ear pro as the blast from the 300WM in the cargo container was vicious. I ended up just shooting the same target, which was a cross at 450 yards, over and over hoping that it was gonna be correct on one of the draws. Even the RO tried to give me a hint as we were riding the struggle bus but I couldn't hear him either.

Stage 12 Tire Flip: On the command go, team would flip a large-ish tire twice then advance up some stairs to a platform. One shooter would take up a position on a makeshift set of stairs, the other on a tree stump. Shooters then alternated shooting from 5 positions with 2 rounds from each position at the same target each time. The target was at 850 yards. Once 10 rifle rounds were shot by each competitor, shooters would then take up pistols and engage 2 targets each with 1 round on each target. I shot the stairs. The steps were very close together so it was a tight squeeze to get the gun into each gap between steps. We made it work though

Stage 13 Partner Swap: On the command go, shooters would ascend some stairs to a platform where rifles and pistols were staged. Shooters would then take turns engaging targets near to far with two rounds each for a total of 6. The furthest target at this stage was at 550 yards. The shooting position was a typical shooting table/bench. After both team members had fired their 6 rounds, they then swapped positions and shot one anothers weapons engaging the far and middle targets with 2 rounds each for an additional 4 rifle rounds each. Team members would then engage 3 pistol targets with one round each with the others pistol. I was a bit concerned on this stage as my team mate had very limited to no experience with both a magnum chambered bullpup bolt action and a 44 mag revolver but we got some points and didn't get a safety DQ so I'm gonna call that a win.

Stage 14 Position Cards: On the go command, team ascended a small set of stairs to a bucket where a bunch of cards had one of 6 positions written on them. One teammate would draw a card and both would shoot from the given position. The positions were cable spool, barrel, stool, logs, table, and prone. I can't remember a ton of details about this stage as I never even got past the first position. It was a single target at 850 yards. I looked and looked, shot at a target and asked if the RO if it was the right one. Shot at another, wrong target. Shot again, wrong target. I could see the cringe in the spotter and ROs faces haha. We got a zero on this one because I'm apparently blind as a bat. My partner also tried to describe it to me but I just couldn't find it.

Stage 15 Rock Paper Scissors: On the command go, team moved up a short set of stairs to a position where they would play rock paper scissors. The winner got to go prone and the loser had to use one of 3 sequential unsupported positions going from standing, to kneeling, to seated, to kneeling, to standing. 2 shots were fired from each position and rock paper scissors was replayed after each 2 shot string. The far target was at 850 and the near target was at approximately 300 yards. If you managed to complete the full 20 shot positional string, you could engage a pistol target at will with unlimited rounds and score for up to 3 hits for big points, rewarding those who worked through the positions quickly. We did not unfortunately and missed out on one of the biggest pistol payouts of the match. No big deal though. On to the next one

Stage 16 Deuce: On the go command, team moved from the start position at the road to a barricade and took turns firing pistol at 2 targets each. These targets had to be hit to move on and team members alternated engaging them looking for 1 hit on each target. They were close-ish pistol targets. About 10 and 15 yards away, respectively. After hitting the pistol targets, team then grabbed a railroad tie and loaded it into the back of an old military truck and then hopped in the bed of the truck with rifles and engaged an array of 5 targets with 2 rounds on each target from each competitor near to far. One shooter shot all 10 rounds then the other would shoot their 10 rounds. My rangefinder took a dump on me at this stage. Not sure why. It worked fine for most of the rest of the match but at this stage it just didn't want to give me a number. I think the targets were set up from 450-650 but I could be way off on that.

First off, what a great match. In spite of what appeared to be some emergency manning issues, the match administrators did a great job making it happen. A few things I really liked were that all the targets that you'd be engaging for the day for all stages were interspersed one with another making finding them a unique challenge. The dinner was excellent and I know they raffled off some pretty sweet prizes. It was also cool to be a part of them donating match proceeds to the Child Advocacy Center of Georgia.

My gear was not competitive but I didn't intend for it to be. I run what I think is fun. I was severely disadvantaged as my magazine only held 8 rounds so at many stages I had to single load the last few. I also had to reload the pistol a few times mid stage due to limited capacity. I brought a pretty hefty tripod but didn't really ever need it. The rangefinders conked out on two stages. Not sure why. The battery was fine and it worked before and after each of its failings. I also shot this with my younger brother who has ZERO experience with this sort of thing and so, with my limited experience it was sort of a blind leading the blind scenario and our score reflected that. The one piece of gear that was a gamechanger without being an actual gamechanger was the Warhorse bag that I brought. I really like that bag. I know most folks like the gamechanger or fortune cookie but I just like the Warhorse Commanche with git lite better.

I hope nobody gets the impression I write these to show off or to try and spread my vast knowledge. I just like reading AARs so I figure maybe others do too. Big thank you to the facility owner who donates the use of the facility. Eddie Noland is as much to thank for this event being successful as any other person out there. But everyone I visited with were the best sorts of people and that really can make up for brutal heat and piss poor scores haha.

See y'all at the next one
 
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Stage 10 Top Tower: On the command go, team would ascend stairs up to the top of a 30 foot tower and take turns engaging from near to far 5 rifle targets.I don't know how far out the last target was as we timed out. The fourth furthest was at approximately 1150 yards. My teammate and I are still pretty young and spry so we made it up the stairs fairly quickly. However, this stage had the longest targets of the competition and I had only recorded data for up to 900 yards. We managed to guess our way through it though. The breeze at the top was welcome as it was very humid haha.

Stage 11 Music Room: On the command go, team would ascend stairs to a second story cargo container and took up separate positions on either end of the cargo container with a partition and RO between them. The RO, on the go signal had started very loud music. Team members, from their position would take turns drawing a card from a box with a symbol on it. They would then have to relay that symbol to their partner via voice only as you cannot see one another and the partner would engage the given target with two rounds. This pattern would alternate until time expired or each teammate engaged 5 targets. This stage was very tricky for us. This was the second to last stage of the match for us and I think only one other team left had to shoot it so the targets at this point were pretty shot up and the symbols were difficult to see. On top of that, I could not hear my partner at all. I know he could hear me. I tried desperately to hear him but I didn't want to take out my ear pro as the blast from the 300WM in the cargo container was vicious. I ended up just shooting the same target, which was a cross at 450 yards, over and over hoping that it was gonna be correct on one of the draws. Even the RO tried to give me a hint as we were riding the struggle bus but I couldn't hear him either.

Stage 12 Tire Flip: On the command go, team would flip a large-ish tire twice then advance up some stairs to a platform. One shooter would take up a position on a makeshift set of stairs, the other on a tree stump. Shooters then alternated shooting from 5 positions with 2 rounds from each position at the same target each time. The target was at 850 yards. Once 10 rifle rounds were shot by each competitor, shooters would then take up pistols and engage 2 targets each with 1 round on each target. I shot the stairs. The steps were very close together so it was a tight squeeze to get the gun into each gap between steps. We made it work though

Stage 13 Partner Swap: On the command go, shooters would ascend some stairs to a platform where rifles and pistols were staged. Shooters would then take turns engaging targets near to far with two rounds each for a total of 6. The furthest target at this stage was at 550 yards. The shooting position was a typical shooting table/bench. After both team members had fired their 6 rounds, they then swapped positions and shot one anothers weapons engaging the far and middle targets with 2 rounds each for an additional 4 rifle rounds each. Team members would then engage 3 pistol targets with one round each with the others pistol. I was a bit concerned on this stage as my team mate had very limited to no experience with both a magnum chambered bullpup bolt action and a 44 mag revolver but we got some points and didn't get a safety DQ so I'm gonna call that a win.

Stage 14 Position Cards: On the go command, team ascended a small set of stairs to a bucket where a bunch of cards had one of 6 positions written on them. One teammate would draw a card and both would shoot from the given position. The positions were cable spool, barrel, stool, logs, table, and prone. I can't remember a ton of details about this stage as I never even got past the first position. It was a single target at 850 yards. I looked and looked, shot at a target and asked if the RO if it was the right one. Shot at another, wrong target. Shot again, wrong target. I could see the cringe in the spotter and ROs faces haha. We got a zero on this one because I'm apparently blind as a bat. My partner also tried to describe it to me but I just couldn't find it.

Stage 15 Rock Paper Scissors: On the command go, team moved up a short set of stairs to a position where they would play rock paper scissors. The winner got to go prone and the loser had to use one of 3 sequential unsupported positions going from standing, to kneeling, to seated, to kneeling, to standing. 2 shots were fired from each position and rock paper scissors was replayed after each 2 shot string. The far target was at 850 and the near target was at approximately 300 yards. If you managed to complete the full 20 shot positional string, you could engage a pistol target at will with unlimited rounds and score for up to 3 hits for big points, rewarding those who worked through the positions quickly. We did not unfortunately and missed out on one of the biggest pistol payouts of the match. No big deal though. On to the next one

Stage 16 Deuce: On the go command, team moved from the start position at the road to a barricade and took turns firing pistol at 2 targets each. These targets had to be hit to move on and team members alternated engaging them looking for 1 hit on each target. They were close-ish pistol targets. About 10 and 15 yards away, respectively. After hitting the pistol targets, team then grabbed a railroad tie and loaded it into the back of an old military truck and then hopped in the bed of the truck with rifles and engaged an array of 5 targets with 2 rounds on each target from each competitor near to far. One shooter shot all 10 rounds then the other would shoot their 10 rounds. My rangefinder took a dump on me at this stage. Not sure why. It worked fine for most of the rest of the match but at this stage it just didn't want to give me a number. I think the targets were set up from 450-650 but I could be way off on that.

First off, what a great match. In spite of what appeared to be some emergency manning issues, the match administrators did a great job making it happen. A few things I really liked were that all the targets that you'd be engaging for the day for all stages were interspersed one with another making finding them a unique challenge. The dinner was excellent and I know they raffled off some pretty sweet prizes. It was also cool to be a part of them donating match proceeds to the Child Advocacy Center of Georgia.

My gear was not competitive but I didn't intend for it to be. I run what I think is fun. I was severely disadvantaged as my magazine only held 8 rounds so at many stages I had to single load the last few. I also had to reload the pistol a few times mid stage due to limited capacity. I brought a pretty hefty tripod but didn't really ever need it. The rangefinders conked out on two stages. Not sure why. The battery was fine and it worked before and after each of its failings. I also shot this with my younger brother who has ZERO experience with this sort of thing and so, with my limited experience it was sort of a blind leading the blind scenario and our score reflected that. The one piece of gear that was a gamechanger without being an actual gamechanger was the Warhorse bag that I brought. I really like that bag. I know most folks like the gamechanger or fortune cookie but I just like the Warhorse Commanche with git lite better.

I hope nobody gets the impression I write these to show off or to try and spread my vast knowledge. I just like reading AARs so I figure maybe others do to. Big thank you to the facility owner who donates the use of the facility. Eddie Noland is as much to thank for this event being successful as any other person out there. But everyone I visited with were the best sorts of people and that really can make up for brutal heat and piss poor scores haha.

See y'all at the next one
Wow! What an awesome detailed AAR. Really appreciate the thought you put into this. Hope people get a good idea of what to expect with our team matches. We will be using this post as a "Case Study" for shooters who are wondering how our Team Matches function. Special thanks to Garrison Pratt of Kelbly's Tactical for putting this match together. Hope to see y'all at our future matches! -Gary Larson www.GuardianLongRange.com/Matches
 
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