The “A” Zone: LRC Practical Weapons Competition

 

By Don B[Edit], Match Director

 

The March 1 match was a great success, with 34 shooters, four scenarios and almost perfect weather!  We had 6 new shooters join us and a good time was had by all.

 

Keep an eye on this column concerning upcoming training sessions for those who would like to participate in these matches but don’t have any experience.  Our first training opportunity is planned for April 5 after the regular match, providing we don’t have rain.  If you are interested then come watch the match, bring your handgun, holster, extra magazines, ‘mag’ pouches, 100 rounds for your pistol, your shotgun and 25 shot rounds.

 

Where do we get the ideas for our scenarios for each month’s match?  Our various competitors submit their ideas for scenarios and the Practical Weapons Match committee reviews the submitted scenarios for safety concerns (Where are the bullets going to go?  Is the 180 degree rule going to be violated because of movement with the scenario?)  We also have to consider which targets are being used and will they be needed for two scenarios at the same time?  During the winter months, we have to consider moving closer to the covered shooting area in the event the rain is pounding down during the whole match!  During the “dry” months, we also shoot rifles and that makes a big difference as to where the scenario will be placed.  Many of us have been shooting these matches for years and have a collection of scenarios.  Plus, there are several web sites that offer a huge number of scenarios for free.

 

How do you win at this game?  Be more accurate and faster than the other shooters!  How does the scoring work?  We shoot for “golf scores”, not “bowling” scores (even though that’s what some of my scores resemble.)  Targets have scoring zones on them and these zones add time to your “raw” time showing on the electronic timer we use.  A hit in the “A” zone doesn’t add any time, “B” is 1 second, “C” is 2 seconds, “D” is 3, a miss is 5 seconds and each hole in a “no shoot” is 10 seconds.  (Ouch!)

 

The person running the scenario is called the “range safety officer” for that event and he or she moves through the scenario with you, making sure you’re shooting it safely and observing whether you’re following the procedures set up for that particular scenario.  The RSO pushes a button on the timer, it beeps and that’s your “Go” signal.  The timer continues to advance and counts each shot.  Your time after the last shot is read and given to the person assisting with the scoring.  The range is “made safe” by clearing all firearms and holstering your pistol.  Then the targets are scored, with bullet holes counted in each of the zones.  Your raw time is entered onto the score sheet, along with the number of hits and misses.  You then take your score sheet to the master score keeper, who enters the raw time on the Excel spread sheet and then adds up the various hits and additional times.  A shooter who get all “A” zone hits and no misses has “cleaned” that scenario and has only his raw time entered.  At the end of the match, the shooter with the best aggregate times takes first place.  You don’t have to have the best time in all four scenarios to still take first place.  (Don’t ask me for the calculations.  I trust the guy with the computer.)  Come on out and see for yourself how this all works.  I’ll bet you’ll be back for more the next month.

 

The “Safe” Slug Myth

 

(Excepted from Guns Magazine 11/07)

(Shotgunner column by Holt Bodinson)

 

The shotgun slug (385 grain 12 gauge 50 caliber sabot at 1,900 fps) is less safe and more dangerous in the field than a 150 grain SP .30-06 bullet (2910 fps) or a 50 caliber (348 grain CVA Powerbelt at 1,595 fps) muzzle loading projectile.  Does that statement sound improbable?  Conventional wisdom would say so.

 

A Pennsylvania lawsuit involving a hunting accident in which a woman sitting in a car was struck by a stray rifle bullet and the proposal of more shotgun slug and muzzleloading only districts by Fish & Game Departments prompted the study.

 

The research firm, Mountaintop Technologies, conducted a study with the US Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center at the Picatinny Arsenal.

 

The March 2007 study looked at, the maximum range a projectile would reach at various firing angles of elevation plus the distance the projectile would ricochet after impacting the ground.

 

The data is intriguing - they found that travel would be:

 

at 35 degrees elevation -

rifle 13,926’, shotgun 10,378’ and muzzleloader 9,197’ Because of the angle of descent, there are no ricochets.

 

at 10 degrees -

rifle 10,004’, shotgun 7,163’ and muzzleloader 6,247’ plus ricochet - rifle 702’, shotgun 949’ and muzzleloader 913’

 

at 0 degrees -.

rifle 1,408’, shotgun 840’ and muzzleloader 686’ plus ricochet - rifle 3,427’, shotgun 4,365’ and muzzleloader 3,812’

these last totals equal - rifle 4,835’, shotgun 5,205’ and muzzleloader 4,498’!

 

“The smaller cross sectional area of the .30 caliber projectile and its shape contributes to a higher loss of energy on impact and after ricochet tends to tumble in flight with a high drag”.  The 50 caliber projectile’s larger cross sectional area and its shape contribute to less energy loss on shallow angles of impact and after ricochet, the projectile exhibits less drag which results in a greater total distance traveled.

 

It will be interesting to see what impact this study may have on present or future slug -only zones and on shotgun slug design itself.

 

The answer may be in making the shotgun slug more frangible.