Stage Ideas for Indoor Matches

[nate89]

We shoot an indoor USPSA-style (non-affiliated) match every week at our local indoor range. It is a 10-lane 25-yard range with an Action Target AR550 backstop. I have been in charge of stage design since we started in June. We have been shooting 4 stages a week and changing them every two weeks. I have been using the classifiers, and other designs I have seen online for ideas, but am always looking for stage ideas that can work in an indoor range. Two of the biggest issues are not being able to shoot steel, and the restriction of basically shooting strait downrange (not into the walls) on every stage. As you approach the trap, and if you are in the middle, you can shoot some angled shots, but nothing very wide. I was wondering if anyone else hosts such a match, and where you are getting stage designs or ideas to keep them interesting for everyone? Everyone seems to enjoy them so far, but I want to keep it fresh and not fall into a rut. Thanks in advance for any ideas, or places to look for new ideas.

[yellowfin]

Just because you can't shoot steel doesn't mean there aren't other options for reactive targets. Those rubber multi sided balls can be hung by paracord between two posts and swing freely when hit. There are rubber disks made of the same material that could be lined up like a plate rack, or if you have one, try seeing if they'd work on a Texas star with a sufficiently thick enough rubber coating. You could use bowling pins also I think, if at a sufficient distance. Falling/disappearing targets aren't a bad idea, and maybe something like a jack in the box as well. Balloons can work too for additional variety.

There's a LOT of people who know way more about this than I do over on the Brian Enos site.

[Arctic1]

Can I ask why the restriction on steel?

My local club range is a 25 meter indoor range, with a narrow shooting area like yours; only down range.

We shoot steel, we just place the targets as far back as they can go.

With regards to stage design, a few tips:

-Use ports and barrels to shoot through
-Use walls and alleys to force shooters to move to new firing positions; lateral movement as well as back and forth
-Use mini targets to press accuracy
-Use mandated boxes to shoot from - good for adding long range shots, for example
-Use awkward starting positions (seated, facing uprange, touching wall, hands in bucket of water, gun on one barrel with magazines on a second barrel across the range)
-As yellowfin said, use bowling pins to simulate steel - they are deceptively hard to hit
-Use hand-activated swingers (pulling on strings)

A 180 degree range is not necessary in order to create good stages. In addition, the narrow safety angle helps with muzzle awareness.

[nate89]

Thanks for the input. I did get a couple of the hard rubber targets and had a couple stands built to bring them up off the floor. I have also used ports, no-shoots, reduced targets, and a few other things to break thinks up. The awkward positions, bowling pins, and barrels are all good ideas that I haven't used yet. I'll try it out and see how they work.