Texas Multi Gun 2014, What the heck happened there?

[Cold]

I'm over on Enos looking at the match thread for the 2014 Texas Multi Gun and see a ton of comments hardly ever seen regarding a 3 gun match let alone on a single page.

Here are the comments from just page 13.

"I will never shoot this match again and will advise others of the same.”

"I and my whole squad witnessed Stage 1 being materially changed (rifle targets moved, the plate rack moved and you could no longer shoot the steel with a pistol and reholster hot as the ROs did) during our walkthrough and after the first shooter shot. That is no way to run a match. “

"I saw more than one stage with different requirements on Saturday than were in place on Friday. "

"Also got to see several guys on a squad at stage 10 do the same 180 violation I did with their shotgun but no match dq's issued for them. RO even warned my squad that he was tired of having shotguns pointed at him...I earned my DQ and didn't argue with the RO or MD abouth their decision since I made the mistake. Unfortunately, the enforcement of rules and intent of the stage rules was left open to interpretation. "


"This was never a level playing field for most of the competitors. I am sure most of the competitors believe that either some serious stage changes occurred to facilitate some of the stages times that are in question or blatant cheating/favoritism occurred.”

`"On Saturday morning the long range stage had FIVE offhand targets, not 6. The saga continues…”

"I won't spend the time, money, and energy to come back. Honestly without more answers and less excuses I wouldn't go to another match that you are associated with (Sheldon Caruth). “


"I for one would like to know if we were all competing on a level playing field”

"RO's shot it different than competitors. Over half the stages should have been thrown out if that was the case. Match Director called it a "miscommunication"
“

" I doubt I will be back. I am willing to let a great many things during a match slide, because I live in reality, but I do expect the match to be fair at the end.”

"This was my first Texas Multigun........and my last. “

“This is the first time I'm leaving a match with a bad taste in my mouth."


So what the heck happened for you guys that were there?

Were people really changing targets or adding them on different days or for different squads? Thats stuff thats being posted online or sent around. Heard some rumors at the 3 Gun Nation Pro Series but didn't know what to think until I got online here and saw the comments.

[Jesse Tischauser]

Wow! If like to know who the guy is that beat Nils. He must be superman.

[guitarist1993]

I was there; it was my first major match. Every thing you quoted is correct, though I cannot comment on the accusations of favoritism or cheating. There was an unacceptable amount of miscommunication between the director and ROs. We received 2 different stage descriptions for stage 1 before we started shooting, and after the first shooter nearly broke the 180 when abandoning his rifle (doing it exactly the way the ROs had instructed us), it changed again. We heard that ROs and sponsors had shot an array entirely with pistol on Thursday, but on Friday Sheldon told us we had to use the shotgun on the exact same array. So that stage was eventually thrown out, whatever.

There was a stage with a rifle & pistol shoot-house. There were charge lines in front of each port for us. I later heard (yes heard, not personally saw) that those charge lines were not there on Thursday, and the top time (~15 sec) was set by posting up immediately in front of the first window. The stage description stated that both pistol and rifle had to be used, so the shooter did not even abandon his rifle, just hosed all but one target, held it in his left hand, and drew his pistol and put 2 shots on the closest target with his right. I have nothing against gaming a stage, after all this is a competitive sport, but when the stages are fundamentally different, I have to ask, WTF?

Another example was on stage 12, which included 5 ~200 yard rifle shots from a barricade. The stage required moving between positions on the barricade between each hit. Our description was that a "different position" was down/up one step on the barricade. A shooter in my squad claimed to have seen a video of the RO shoot where their "different position" was from corner of a step/box to another.

Now I'm not a phenomenal or super competitive shooter, so these problems didn't screw me out of a prize (I was never in the running), but I take issue with the obvious mismanagement of this match. My dad was the one who was DQ'd on stage 1, and Sheldon offered him free entry to next year. I highly doubt either of us will be back.

[Bluedreaux]

Some of what is being thrown around is true, some not. A lot of it is baby-mama-drama. It's sad that nobody says they brought up these issues at the match when it would've made a difference, and that tells me a lot.

I won't get into the accusations about Stage 1. It was thrown out, so there were obviously issues. But some of what is being posted simply isn't true.

Overall, the match was a cluster. I've heard that someone is being brought in to fix things for next year.
____________________

The guy who won is fast. He's from the area and was shooting on his home range which is no doubt a benefit. The long range stage was nearly identical to the TXMG monthly matches on that bay. Shoot that steel in the wind every month and you get pretty quick at it. There are only a few places to set up steel at long range, so that's where it has to go. The same steel was used in the same bays as the monthly matches too. The stages were different, but again-shoot FAST targets at the end of a bay enough times and you get pretty quick at it.

[Bluedreaux]

Sorry, didn't answer the direct question.... I don't know of any targets that were added or moved during the match except that a plate rack started moving from the pull rope and was put back, then nailed in place.

The "changing positions" on stage 12 by just moving your rifle a few inches was within the stage description as I remember it (although not within the spirit of the rules). I wish I would've thought of it, but I'm not pissing and moaning because I didn't and someone else did.