I have been doing postal and Internet comps for a while. I did my first live comp today and it was a lot of fun. I show up with my 40Xcalibur with NF scope and Eley ammo and got ribbed by some of the guys for my expensive equipment (though the slung-up shooters were sporting some nice equipment).
The match used mini-Palma style targets at 100 yard. Competitors could choose to shoot either F-class style or Palma style (.22LR only).
I really like the live match because I feel it is fundamentally more fair. We are all shooting the same wind conditions and the same distance. In Internet and postal comps, this is not necessarily the case. This point was really proven by the fact that I and one other shooter cleaned the target on two of the stages. On the second stage, he dropped 3 and I dropped 1, which ultimately won me the comp... so my worst target was the one that won me the competition. You can't simulate that over the Internet. I always like to write about conditions when I post scores, because a lot of the targets I am most proud of are not necessarily the ones with the most points or X's, but the ones I did a good job reading a difficult win.
Anyway, our Internet comps are fun, but if you get the chance to shoot a live match, I urge you to take the opportunity.
BTW... the format of the match is called mini-Palma, and it uses targets scaled down to represent shooting at 800, 900, and 1,000 yards. I don't know that this is effective at that, but it is fun.
Here are my targets:
My scores were:
800 yd 150-11X
900 yd 149-8X
1,000 yd 150-7X
Aggregate 449-26X
It was a blast! I think my performance was directly a result of the SH Internet comps, so thanks to Joe and TP for getting me started!
The match used mini-Palma style targets at 100 yard. Competitors could choose to shoot either F-class style or Palma style (.22LR only).
I really like the live match because I feel it is fundamentally more fair. We are all shooting the same wind conditions and the same distance. In Internet and postal comps, this is not necessarily the case. This point was really proven by the fact that I and one other shooter cleaned the target on two of the stages. On the second stage, he dropped 3 and I dropped 1, which ultimately won me the comp... so my worst target was the one that won me the competition. You can't simulate that over the Internet. I always like to write about conditions when I post scores, because a lot of the targets I am most proud of are not necessarily the ones with the most points or X's, but the ones I did a good job reading a difficult win.
Anyway, our Internet comps are fun, but if you get the chance to shoot a live match, I urge you to take the opportunity.
BTW... the format of the match is called mini-Palma, and it uses targets scaled down to represent shooting at 800, 900, and 1,000 yards. I don't know that this is effective at that, but it is fun.
Here are my targets:

My scores were:
800 yd 150-11X
900 yd 149-8X
1,000 yd 150-7X
Aggregate 449-26X
It was a blast! I think my performance was directly a result of the SH Internet comps, so thanks to Joe and TP for getting me started!