{"id":16218,"date":"2012-08-20T16:11:18","date_gmt":"2012-08-20T21:11:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/?p=16218"},"modified":"2012-08-20T16:11:18","modified_gmt":"2012-08-20T21:11:18","slug":"is-it-time-now-for-organized-suppressor-competitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/is-it-time-now-for-organized-suppressor-competitions\/16218\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it time now for organized suppressor competitions?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

The author’s \u2018Frankenstein\u2019 AR-15 in .300 Whisper with an SSK suppressor<\/p><\/div>\n

Without trying to sound like some ancient \u2018has-been\u2019 or \u2018never-was\u2019, I think it is safe to say the past thirty plus years have witnessed an unparalleled growth in the shooting sports and handgun ownership like no other seen since the very beginning and introduction of the easily reloadable handgun.<\/p>\n

I also believe quite sincerely the creation of the International Practical Shooting Confederation, IPSC, and the follow-on organizations like IDPA and ICORE have done much to foster and spur this increasing interest to help change beliefs and political attitudes about handgun ownership across a wide spectrum of citizenry with regard to age, social economic status and physical location.\u00a0 Of course, one does not slight the NRA for their work as well and the combination of all these factors has certainly been a successful effort.\u00a0 The political and practical benefits of this for the shooting sports can be seen in the tsunami of overwhelming support and passage for civilian personal protection, concealed carry laws across this country.<\/p>\n

What started out as \u201cCombat Shooting\u201d was soon turned into \u2018sport competition\u2019 and while purist like myself may have cringed at the use of words and marketing techniques that \u2018softened\u2019 the appearance of what was being done, the end result in comparison to where we started has simply been an outstanding achievement.\u00a0 (That\u2019s one of the benefits of being an \u2018old guy\u2019.\u00a0 You get to remember the way things used to be and compare them to how much better they are today.)<\/p>\n

One month ago I attended a 3-Gun match in central Oregon that was sponsored by Crimson Trace and no shot was fired prior to 9:30PM.\u00a0 It was billed as a \u2018Midnight\u2019 match and it was a match oriented toward competition in the darkness.\u00a0 Quite simply, even though it was my first 3-gun match in almost two decades, it was a Blast.<\/p>\n

Yet, even though it was a well run and safe match, I don\u2019t see how \u201cNight\u201d matches are going to catch on across the country without adding another element and that is\u2026\u2026.Sound Suppressors!<\/p>\n

The Crimson Trace match was held in the middle of nowhere.\u00a0 Literally!\u00a0 (And I\u2019m not being negative towards the area or the local citizens when I say that.)\u00a0 It had to be because there are darn few gun clubs or shooting ranges around this country where the surrounding residents will let shooters disturb their sleep with the gunfire continuously ringing out through till the wee-hours of the morning.\u00a0 Even the much heralded GunSite has a 10:00PM shooting curfew so the neighbors aren\u2019t alienated.<\/p>\n

But, I think there is a solution to this dilemma that is a \u2018win-win\u2019 for all of us.<\/p>\n

\"\"

A Les Baer .45 Premier II with an AWC suppressor<\/p><\/div>\n

How about we combine \u2018Night\u2019 matches with firearms equipped with suppressors?\u00a0 No non-suppressed firearms would be allowed in this new format and I think many of you are already starting to see what the implications could be down the road?<\/p>\n

First of all, an organization built around the mandated use of legally registered suppressors and \u2018silencers\u2019 would legitimize them far more than any group of PR firms could in state political capitals or even Washington DC.<\/p>\n

Secondly, I know a suppressor match is an extremely affable affair that is far more relaxed than any conventional firearms match, no matter its form or number of participants.<\/p>\n

Why, do I say that?\u00a0 Because over a decade ago I organized a suppressor only match at a local range.\u00a0 A number of things became readily apparent.\u00a0 One was you don\u2019t know how hearing protection and the repeated muzzle blasts of shooting has a tendency to tire and wear on you as a competitor.\u00a0 Seriously, when these influences are reduced, the fatigue level is not as great at the end of the festivities.<\/p>\n

Also, we saw there was far, far more interaction between the competitors because it was easy to visit in normal conversation as well as tell jokes.\u00a0 I can think of two instances where the Range Officer running the stages at my long ago match had to admonish those waiting to shoot with a \u201cPlease Be Quiet\u201d request because our laughter was bothering the competitor on the line.\u00a0 I\u2019m serious.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t played golf since college but it was a very similar experience in that respect.<\/p>\n

However, it must be recognized it wouldn\u2019t be an easy transition for the current 3-gun crowd to shoot suppressed firearms in night only matches.\u00a0 Suppressed shotgun technology is not that widely available or even developed (except of course in Hollywood films) and when it comes to suppressed firearms in civilian possession, those chambered for the .22 Long Rifle cartridge far out-numbered those chambered for centerfire cartridges.<\/p>\n

So, in order for this new \u2018sport\u2019 to grow, certain aspects of civilian suppressed firearms ownership would have to be recognized.\u00a0 When I ran my suppressor match, I had two divisions; long guns and handguns.\u00a0 I used a \u2018power factor\u2019 grading system that was primarily based on bore diameter and this determined the scoring values of hits in various zones.\u00a0 Since everything was sub-sonic, it made little sense to factor in muzzle velocities with this system.\u00a0 Anything over .40 caliber in a handgun scored \u2018Major\u2019 and anything under down to .32 caliber scored \u2018Minor\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ruger MK II with an AWC suppressor<\/p><\/div>\n

For the .22 rimfire shooters we created a new class \u2018Sub-Minor\u2019 and here only the \u201cA\u201d hits received a score.\u00a0 Any hit outside the \u201cA\u201d zone with a .22 was scored as a \u2018Miss\u2019.\u00a0 Sub-Minor caliber\/scoring was the same for the rifles as well as the handguns if they were chambered for a .22 rimfire, but what we learned was many competitors can shoot a .22 rimfire, whether handgun or rifle, pretty darn good even with that seemingly scoring handicap.<\/p>\n

My thinking following the match and after examining the results was that consideration should have been given to making the \u201cA\u201d zone even smaller than the 8\u201d diameter we used back then.\u00a0 I think a 6\u201d A-Zone would be better for achieving some equivalency between the centerfire equipped competitors versus those shooting rimfire caliber suppressed firearms, or perhaps even smaller?<\/p>\n

My point about this idea is shooting is increasing in popularity, but let\u2019s not rest on our laurels.\u00a0 Let\u2019s continue to create disciplines that have a \u201cWOW\u201d factor and a vast amount of fun and safe excitement.\u00a0 At the same time we would be continuously expanding the technology associated with the shooting sports.\u00a0 Obviously, developing and creating a competition venue that would help both night time target acquisition and suppressor technology to \u2018mature\u2019 would pay life-saving dividends for both our military and law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n

I, however, am just interested in a new shooting game that really gets the adrenaline UP!…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How about combining \u2018Night\u2019 matches with firearms equipped with suppressors? No non-suppressed firearms would be allowed in this new format. Frank W. James weighs in on the idea of organized competitions for suppressed firearms and the implications.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":16235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[116,1,2568],"tags":[2569,875],"class_list":["post-16218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bloggers","category-featured","category-frank-w-james","tag-suppressor-competitions","tag-suppressors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}