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Francis Marion 2004 Hints & TipsAs the course of fire for the
Tactical Swamp Match begins to crystallize, we'd like to take
this opportunity to give you all a few hints and tips to help
you shoot this match well, so that you can better prepare
yourself. This year we have quite a few new shooters, and
I want you to be as ready as possible for what you will
face. As of this afternoon, there were 39 confirmed
shooters. If we get a decent number of walk-ins, this will
be the largest ever Francis Marion, with the most stages and
highest round count ever in its 24 year history.
Attached is the "story" behind
the three stages that make up the Tactical Swamp Match.
The three stages will loosely match the stage descriptions
described in the story. I say loosely, because we never
know what the "course" is going to look like until the day of
the match. Sometimes Mother Nature gives us more or less
water than we are expecting, and we have to modify our course on
the fly.
Stage One - This stage is
DESIGNED to make you wet and muddy. Be prepared for this,
because it will be unavoidable. As currently designed,
this course will require you to crawl through one of ALGC's
infamous pipes, off the clock. It is not required, but it
is STRONGLY recommended that you have a sling which will allow
you to sling your shotgun across your back while moving through
the tube. This stage will be all buckshot, requiring no
more than 13 rounds. You're encouraged to bring plenty of
extra ammo though. All reloads will be Ready Position
Reloads, from cover. Review the rules on the webpage if
you don't know what this is. Standard ammo carriers, such
as side-saddles, bandoliers, etc., should work. However,
make sure that your ammo is accessible for a Ready Position
Reload. Also, it is HIGHLY recommended, that you have a
place somewhere on your body where you can put ammo so that it
doesn't get covered with mud. If you feed your gun muddy
ammo, you may jam your gun, especially with auto-loaders.
Here's an example of what your crafty match director will
do: Gun will be loaded to class capacity (6 + 1
rounds). Side-saddle will be loaded with 6 rounds of
buckshot. Additional ammo will be on belt carrier.
ADDITIONAL ammo will be in a covered belt pouch which keeps the
shells clean. The belt pouch will be the last ditch ammo
supply for reloads if I do something bad, like fall in the mud,
drop my gun in the mud, etc., getting my primary source of ammo
muddy. Sometimes the swamp is filled with "sucking mud"
which will take your foot wear off if it isn't secure. If
you're not wearing tight, high ankle boots (recommended for
ankle support), you may want to duct tape your foot wear to your
ankles. I'm not kidding. Loosely fitting rubber
boots or other loose foot wear is NOT recommended.
Stage Two - In this stage
you'll start off in an "ambush position", behind cover, where
you will engage a few pepper poppers from cover, then leave
cover and engage a few more pepper poppers while moving to
another cover position. From this second cover position,
you will execute a transition reload to slugs, and engage 11
paper targets with slugs. It is highly recommended that
you know where your gun hits with slugs at 25 and 50
yards. Paper targets that are accidentally hit
with buckshot will be scored as misses. Pepper poppers
that are hit with slugs will earn you a DQ and a $25 fine.
It is highly recommended that you have separate storage
locations for your buckshot and slug reloads, so that you don't
accidentally do this. Per our rules, transition reloads
from buckshot to slugs don't have to be from the "Ready
Position", but all other reloads must be. For example,
when get to the second cover position and have to transition
from buckshot to slugs, you can do whatever you need to do to
get your gun loaded with slugs, manipulating your gun in any way
you want. From this point on, if you need to reload with
slugs (and you will have to), your reloads must be from the
"Ready Position". Minimum ammo requirements for this stage
will be 5 buckshot loads, 11 slugs. Its always recommended
to bring much more along. This stage will be in the woods,
along the sometimes wet, sometimes dry, creek bed. Mother
Nature will determine whether this is wet and muddy or not.
Stage Three - In this stage,
you will be required to knife a dummy (knife will be supplied)
and drag a relatively heavy dummy. You may want to have
your sling available for this portion, depending on your ability
to drag the dummy. This stage will require a minimum of 12
rounds of buckshot, and ONE slug, to stop the clock. It
will be on dry land, up on the bowling pin range.
A few notes on spare ammunition
carriers:
Although they are not
"illegal", we strongly DISCOURAGE the use of buttstock ammo
cuffs. The reason is that we often have stages which
require you to shoot from the weak-side shoulder. This is
difficult / painful to do with a butt-cuff filled with
ammo. If you are seen to use a butt-cuff in some stages,
but not in others (due to weak-side shooting), your match
directors will be very unhappy with you, and may do something
draconian, like give you a Failure To Do Right penalty. In
the real world, you don't know ahead of time when you will have
to shoot around a weak side cover position.
Trap / Skeet style ammo pouches
are specifically NOT allowed, per our rules. Ammunition
carriers that attach to your arms or wrists ARE allowed.
However, they are not recommended. These types of carriers
tend to get your ammo covered in mud.
A few more items:
Camping will be available to
all comers, Friday and Saturday night. If you aren't a
member, but want to camp (and don't already have a club member
to hang with), please let us know so that you can officially be
our guest.
The gates will be open very
early in the morning Friday, because we will be setting
up. If you aren't a member (or with a member), and you
aren't helping in the set-up, you shouldn't show up any earlier
than late afternoon for the Night Before dinner. The
ranges are off-limits to non-members, except during the match,
unless they are accompanied by a regular member.
********* Non-members
will have to pay an additional affiliate membership fee of $5
the day of the match, if they haven't already signed up as
yearly affiliate members. I apologize for leaving this off
of the original match flyer, but it is our club rule.***********
On the day of the match, all
access to the lake and the surrounding areas (except for the
immediate pavilion area) will be restricted, for safety
reasons. The driveway to the Trap/Skeet range will be
closed, and all foot approaches to the lake area will be
posted. If you were planning on fishing the day of the
match, sorry.
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