Guardian Team Match at Arena Training Facility in Blakely Georgia – AAR
This match is a team match working as “Primary” and “Secondary” shooters. Each person had a rifle and pistol and whatever other gear they wanted to carry. The stages were blind meaning we didn’t get to watch the group in front of us go and copy what they did or improve upon it. Everyone had to figure it out for themselves at every stage.
My buddy was the Primary shooter because he had recently purchased his first real rifle which was a Bergara HMR premier in 6.5 creedmoor. He has a Vortex PST Gen 2 FFP MOA scope on it. He’s had this rifle for less than 3 months and had never shot past 100 yards. A couple trips to Youngs Longshot and we had his drop chart out to 1,000 yards in 100 yard increments using Hornady 140gr ELD Match ammo. He borrowed my Beretta M9A3 because he shot it well and up until we started training for this he’d never done more with a pistol other than casually shooting. As secondary shooter I was limited to calibers of either 223 or 308. I took my Remington 700 Magpul hunter that has an muzzle break and Timney trigger, but otherwise is just a simple 308. I knew going into this match I’d be limited to shorter distances and I had some old 168gr Federal Gold Medal Match ammo to burn up with plenty of log book data behind it. I carried my Gen4 G17 that’s got an undercut and Trijicon HD night sights.
We were allowed to purchase one mulligan for $50 which we could use right after any single stage allowing us to reshoot the stage. The only catch was that they didn’t want everyone in the squads to reshoot the entire stage again just because it’s be delay the whole match for everyone.
Friday June 5th:
We left the house around 3:30am and made one quick stop to drop off Nicks work vehicle and we were on the road by 4:00am. We traveled 69 South, to 65 South so we could avoid Atlanta and the traffic around that city. I could barely keep my eyes open and Nick did almost all of the driving. We ended up making great time and arriving around 3:30 – 4:00 at Arena.
Once we got to Arena we checked in with registration. We were told we had access to a zero range, and there was a “McMillan Challenge” and an “Accu-Shot Challenge” while we were there. Once we were done with that we had some time and relaxed before returning at 8pm for the mandatory safety briefing. During the briefing each two person team was assigned to a squad made of up four teams. Then we were told what stage to report to the next morning. The whole group of all teams was split in half. One half would go to their KD (known distance) range and the other went to their UKD (unknown distance) range.
Day 1 Saturday June 6th:
We were supposed to get any last minute details or updates at 6:00am if there were going to be any and there were none. We were loaded up and went to the “KD” (known distance) range. This is where we met the other teams that we were grouped together with for the duration of the event. Turned out about every stage had both shooters firing 10 rds of rifle, unlimited pistol rounds and targets would be engaged either left to right, right to left, near to far or far to near. All rifle targets had to be ranged, then engaged. All stages started with 6 minutes which included mental, physical, ranging, positioning, wind calls and making the shots. The forecast was good old fashioned Georgia heat and sunshine with full exposure.
Stage 1 – 6 Wheel:
There was some type of military ish vehicle there I’d never seen before. The stage started with us both shooting pistol targets and then the primary shooter getting into the bed of the vehicle and shooting from that while the secondary shooter went to a mini tank trap and would shoot from that.
We made short work of the pistol targets and timed out on rifle with primary getting to finish with just a few seconds left for secondary. I never got the chamber flag out of my rifle for the stage. It was a good stage to break in on.
Stage 2 – Skull Drag:
This stage started with a belly crawl up to the firing line with whatever gear you brought with you. It was somewhere in the 20 – 30 ish feet distance to cover. Once at the firing line we had to range and engage rifle targets.
Stage 3 – Puzzle:
This stage started out with having to solve a puzzle with different colored pieces of wood fitting into the box in a particular way. If you got it done quickly you had extra time to find, range, and shoot targets. If you took more than 90 seconds, you could start to find, range, and engage at that point.
Stage 4 – Lazy “W”
This was a barricade stage in the shape of a “W” where you had to fire two rifle rounds from each point on the “W”. I think this was a stage where your partner had to single feed your rounds into your chamber for you. Then you had to work the bolt and take it from there, but the idea was to make your partner help you keep the rifle fed. Pretty sure this little trick was this stage, but I’m not 100% sure.
Stage 5 – Range Card
This started with “milling” formula and math instead of a puzzle. Same rule applied that if you got it done quickly you had a little more time. If you took 90 second they’d let you know that you could start the stage at that point. With a 6 minute stage we elected to use the 90 second to identify where the targets were in the open range so we’d make better time ranging and shooting them. This was another stage full of tough positions to shoot from with both shooters using 10rds each of rifle.
Stage 6 – Tombstone
This stage had big tombstone shaped lumber up against the columns of the shelter. They were a tough challenge to shoot from.
Stage 7 – Frustration Station
I think this was a stage where the two shooters had to lay beside each other on a narrow section of roof top and shoot from that position with all gear. Anything that fell off was not allowed to be picked up.
Stage 8 – Comfy Rocks
Our final stage of the day was a great one to end on. This stage was one of my favorites because the primary shooter had to shoot standing, kneeling, and sitting, then kneeling, and standing. Once he popped off his first 5 rds the secondary had to shoot one round off 5 different boulders in the order the targets were expected to be shot. Once secondary was complete, the cycle repeated itself for another round. I loved that the match director had people just stand and shoot because nobody ever practices that. I loved that when we went the wind and rain picked up at the end of the day and we got dumped on for just the few minutes of our stage and then it all calmed down. It was like Murphy’s Law came up and gave us a great big hug.
After all the stages were shot Saturday night there was a gathering where Gary introduced some people from the local Child Advocacy Center and after they discussed all the things they were doing to make the world a better place helping children Gary presented them with a $10,000 check. It was amazing to hear their stories, and hear the good work they are doing. When the Guardian says it’s all about the kids that’s exactly what they mean. When you start talking to a room full of big, burly, tattooed, manly men and tell them the stories of what the proceeds of a match like this are doing to people in a bad shape it’s not hard to look around that same room and see that same tough crowd getting a little bit misty eyed. It’s incredible to witness something like that and feels good knowing the registrations, raffle tickets, and other stuff are going to such a good cause.
After the presentation was over they went through the prize table by calling out raffle tickets. The prize table was just silly at how much stuff was up there. Custom actions, scopes, barrels, silencers, certificates for 50% off multi-thousand dollar items, and about any kind of shooting accessory you can imagine were on that table. All of it was donated by the industry to help support a cause of helping kids and families in need. If only this part of the gun world made the news everyone would sign up.
Day 2 Sunday June 7th:
We started the same as Day 1 where we looked to see if there were any changes or updates and then we drove to the UKD area. That facility is huge and I was amazed at how long of a drive it was on their property. The forecast for the day was rain, and heavy rain with very few breaks of anything else in the middle.
Stage 10 - Mini Tower:
We started with stage 10 because they wanted to get that done first due to heavier rain coming in. The stage was typical in that it started with pistol targets, then moving to rifle targets with finding, ranging and engaging. This time we just had to run up a single flight of stairs to a small landing and shoot off the handrail.
Stage 9 – Dual Barricades:
This stage started with dragging a tire to the pistol area to start shooting. The tire had rope on it and the grass was wet so while the tire was decent sized it wasn’t overly huge or anything like that. It was just enough to get a heartbeat up. Once at the pistol stage there was a single hit on target that had to happen by alternating single shots from either the primary or secondary. This pistol was unique because the target was a full size IPSC at 50 yards. Once that was done we each had a different barricade to shoot our 10 rifle rounds off of.
Stage 11 – Mid Tower:
This stage started with pistol, then we had to use a carabiner on rope to hoist all our gear up to the second floor then start finding, range, and engaging off a high bench out of a window. This time we had 5 rds out of our own rifle, then had to swap to 5 rds of our partners rifle. During our first 5rds on our own rifle we tried to get everything dialed in hastily so the partner could just pick up the rifle and start shooting without a lot of thinking about it.
Stage 12 – High Angle:
This was a truly unique stage where primary was given a sheet that had target symbols on it that he’d have to call off to his partner who would shoot the corresponding target below it from the roof of a third story sea container aiming down to targets that were probably 25 yards out 2 rounds at a time while the primary would engage his rifle targets that were farther out more typical to the match. It was high angle, and a different kind of challenge which made it really fun.
Stage 13 – Stumps:
This stage started with rifle staged, and the team flipping over a much larger tire two times before they could start the stage. The tire was covered in sloppy wet mud and felt slick. If you’ve ever enjoyed CrossFit, you’d have like that stage. The obstacle was enough to get your heart rate up but far from impossible. Rifle was pretty typical of the match but we had to shoot off tree stumps of wood as a barricade.
Stage 14 – Buddy Fire:
We had to drag a weighted dumby up the stairs and get him in position before we could engage the stage.
Stage 15 – Buddy Swap:
They started this stage by flipping over two playing cards. Of both playing cards matched reading “keep rifles” you each kept your gun. If it read “trade rifles” you swapped rifles. If the two cards didn’t matchup then you had to draw another card and then do whatever that one matched up with. It was a nice mental challenge and we got lucky that we could keep our own rifles. We started with pistol, then had a long barricade where had to fire tow shots from each position. What made this stage really fun was some problem solving on the fly when my buddy got a nasty double feed jam because he forgot about his range flag. While he was looking downrange trying to figure out what was going on I was beside him and could see what needed to happen. I had just finished firing my 10 rounds and stripped the mag out of his rifle while he still had it shouldered. Two rounds fell out and I jammed the mag back in yelling “Go”. He kept shooting and I was spotting through my scope while stuffing his two rounds into my empty mag telling him that when he’s out I’ve got a mag for him to use. It was a typical stage otherwise, but the problem solving stuff makes things more fun.
Stage 16 – Deuces Wild:
This stage started with running up to the pistol area, then running behind a deuce and a half to drop all gear, then running back to a tire that had a sloppy wet mud covered rail road tie that you guys as a team had to pick up and slide in the back of the truck bed which also just happened to have a nice big thick layer of mud in the back of it for you to kneel on. Once there you had to find it, range it, and engage it.
After the last stage we got mostly cleaned up and said some goodbyes before we got on the road to drive home.
Physical Challenges:
The physical parts of this match were not overly demanding, but weren’t a complete walk in the park either. They were enough to make you a little uncomfortable and get your heartbeat up right before you were trying to take a fine shot at something small far away. Things like a low crawl, hopping into the bed of a truck, dragging a tire, going up stairs, flipping a large tire as a team, dragging a weighted dummy, picking up a rail road tie that’s wet and covered in Georgia mud and getting it in the back of a deuce and a half are all things that added some flavor to the match. I liked those challenges and for a lot of guys who are used to shooting from a bench or prone it was a good way to break them out of that routine.
Mental Challenge:
The puzzle and milling math were good distractions to get people thinking of something other than the stages they were about to start. I thought those were great examples. The other mental part of this match was that they changed the direction of engaging targets at every stage it seemed like. Left to right, or right to left, or near to far, or far to near, everything had to be ranged and then put in order to shoot before you’d just start blasting.
Marksmanship Challenge:
Most pistol targets seemed to be in the 20 – 25 yard ish distance and were fairly challenging. Some were as small as a 6” ish plate and others were 10 – 12 inch ish range. They weren’t really easy shots to make but they weren’t overly difficult either. Our team made some short work of them and with unlimited rounds on pistol targets being the norm we made several follow up shots. We could see and hear other teams struggle to get through the pistol targets. If they’d have limited the pistol rounds on targets that would have been a tougher challenge, but I’m glad they didn’t.
Most rifle targets were on the smaller side of what I’ve seen up to this point. This was my third match, and of those three my second team match and my second Guardian. Of those three matches I’d say this was hands down the toughest marksmanship yet and certainly the farthest shots. This match had one target at 1,225 yards, but most targets were in the 600 – 700 yard ish range and looked to be in the 6” or 8” size ish range or a big IPSC. It was tough and the wind was going at all times during that match.
Our Equipment used:
My buddies Bergara Premier HMR Pro is a very accurate rifle and with that Vortex PST Gen 2 scope on their is a combination I’d recommend to anyone. I definitely pushed through my shots to get him setup and have more time to score points. I didn’t do nearly as well with my factory 308, but I’m not blaming the gun or ammo. It shoots well, and I had enough Fed GMM 168gr match kings to burn up in this match before completely switching over to 175gr handloads.
Both the Beretta M9A3 he used and the Glock 17 I used worked well and hit where they were supposed to. We saw many other teams struggle with red dot rigs when the rain hit and fogged up their optics. I was a little shocked at that and it was almost every guy was having issues with water on the lenses and obstructing their optics or blurring out the fine red dot into a giant glob. We just went up to stages with iron sights the old fashioned way and put those muddy, wet, and sloppy guns to work.
Other Equipment used:
Just before the event I upgraded my rangefinder to a Leupold RX-2800 and that was outstanding. I had only had it to a known distance range once to confirm it’s calibration before leaving it in my cargo pocket the whole time for this competition. I’ve been happy with my Bushnell elite 1600, but the clarity wasn’t always there for the reticle for a defined point when measuring distance. The Leupold was great and I wanted to be able to range out farther than the Bushnell was capable of for some upcoming adventures.
Something I saw another team on our squad use was with their electronic hearing protection was the Walker Razor Walkie Talkie that basically clips onto your hearing protection and gives you a push to talk or VOX capability to use with your ear pro. I was really intrigued and the guys had nothing but great things to say about it and how it really helped them communicate with all the gunfire at the match. They did say that at a match you had to use the PTT not the VOX, but it worked well for them and these guys were seasoned competitors who did a wide variety of matches each year.
Training up:
Leading into this event we knew we had a new shooter with all new gear doing something he’d never done before as our primary shooter. On our first visit to Young’s to get a drop chart we focused on good data from the bench. Then it started to pour and we had him shooting off the handrail in pouring rain from a kneeling position or off a chair at the same distances. There wasn’t any time for a nice gradual progression it was time to get the drop chart out of the way so the real work could start.
The steel plates in the pistol bay at Young’s were another incredible resource to get a newer shooter up to speed on pistol shooting plates at varying distance. In addition to this, we spent a day in the backyard going through more than a brick of 22lr where all I did was keep mags loaded for him and told him to keep making well aimed shots. Thank goodness for the magazine speed loader for the Ruger mark series pistols. He never had to wait for another loaded mag. Getting those reps in went a long ways to picking up a lot of pistol points. It was just building that muscle memory of shot after shot that didn’t seem to make great improvements that day, but the next time we were at the range was amazing.
The best way I can describe on how to get ready for something like this is to find the most awful shooting position possible and then practice from there.
Weather:
The weather was far from easy. One day was hot & humid and we went through a lot of water. The next day was not quite as hot but the rain was a good steady pouring all day long. Neither day was easy, but neither day was brutal.
Overall:
There’s just something about challenging yourself outside of your normal routines and limits around like minded people who love the same hobby you do that gets into your blood. Everyone there was so incredibly nice and all the proceeds went to an amazing cause. It’s easy to get intimidated about going to a match, but honestly I think everyone I came across was a genuinely friendly and good spirited person that was helpful and would likely give you the shirt off their back.
I still consider myself new to matches and my partner sure found a challenging team match to start off on. For a team with a primary shooter who’d never shot a rifle past 100 yards or a pistol very much at all until a couple months ago I think we did really well. We ended up in the top half of the entire group by an admittedly small fraction of a percent, but I’ll take it. We were up against a lot of guys with a lot more experience behind them and quite frankly our equipment was very much on the low end of the quality spectrum. His 6.5 Bergara could keep up with anything there, but my 700 in 308 168’s was never going to impress the type of shooter at this match. I hope saying that encourages people to get out and try it because it’s not about whatever gear and gizmo’s you have or don’t have. It’s about putting time in and taking some well aimed shots. The Guardian competitions help a great cause which is icing on the cake. For a couple of dumb guys who like to go outdoors and do dumb guy stuff it didn’t get much better and was a great weekend trip. What else could I have asked for.
Pictures from the event:
Here's a video that was produced during the match. I didn’t realize they were doing this because the camera crew was with the other half of the group. https://www.facebook.com/GuardianLongRange/videos/907350303072153/
Check out the Guardian Matches here:
https://www.guardianlongrange.com/
This match is a team match working as “Primary” and “Secondary” shooters. Each person had a rifle and pistol and whatever other gear they wanted to carry. The stages were blind meaning we didn’t get to watch the group in front of us go and copy what they did or improve upon it. Everyone had to figure it out for themselves at every stage.
My buddy was the Primary shooter because he had recently purchased his first real rifle which was a Bergara HMR premier in 6.5 creedmoor. He has a Vortex PST Gen 2 FFP MOA scope on it. He’s had this rifle for less than 3 months and had never shot past 100 yards. A couple trips to Youngs Longshot and we had his drop chart out to 1,000 yards in 100 yard increments using Hornady 140gr ELD Match ammo. He borrowed my Beretta M9A3 because he shot it well and up until we started training for this he’d never done more with a pistol other than casually shooting. As secondary shooter I was limited to calibers of either 223 or 308. I took my Remington 700 Magpul hunter that has an muzzle break and Timney trigger, but otherwise is just a simple 308. I knew going into this match I’d be limited to shorter distances and I had some old 168gr Federal Gold Medal Match ammo to burn up with plenty of log book data behind it. I carried my Gen4 G17 that’s got an undercut and Trijicon HD night sights.
We were allowed to purchase one mulligan for $50 which we could use right after any single stage allowing us to reshoot the stage. The only catch was that they didn’t want everyone in the squads to reshoot the entire stage again just because it’s be delay the whole match for everyone.
Friday June 5th:
We left the house around 3:30am and made one quick stop to drop off Nicks work vehicle and we were on the road by 4:00am. We traveled 69 South, to 65 South so we could avoid Atlanta and the traffic around that city. I could barely keep my eyes open and Nick did almost all of the driving. We ended up making great time and arriving around 3:30 – 4:00 at Arena.
Once we got to Arena we checked in with registration. We were told we had access to a zero range, and there was a “McMillan Challenge” and an “Accu-Shot Challenge” while we were there. Once we were done with that we had some time and relaxed before returning at 8pm for the mandatory safety briefing. During the briefing each two person team was assigned to a squad made of up four teams. Then we were told what stage to report to the next morning. The whole group of all teams was split in half. One half would go to their KD (known distance) range and the other went to their UKD (unknown distance) range.
Day 1 Saturday June 6th:
We were supposed to get any last minute details or updates at 6:00am if there were going to be any and there were none. We were loaded up and went to the “KD” (known distance) range. This is where we met the other teams that we were grouped together with for the duration of the event. Turned out about every stage had both shooters firing 10 rds of rifle, unlimited pistol rounds and targets would be engaged either left to right, right to left, near to far or far to near. All rifle targets had to be ranged, then engaged. All stages started with 6 minutes which included mental, physical, ranging, positioning, wind calls and making the shots. The forecast was good old fashioned Georgia heat and sunshine with full exposure.
Stage 1 – 6 Wheel:
There was some type of military ish vehicle there I’d never seen before. The stage started with us both shooting pistol targets and then the primary shooter getting into the bed of the vehicle and shooting from that while the secondary shooter went to a mini tank trap and would shoot from that.
We made short work of the pistol targets and timed out on rifle with primary getting to finish with just a few seconds left for secondary. I never got the chamber flag out of my rifle for the stage. It was a good stage to break in on.
Stage 2 – Skull Drag:
This stage started with a belly crawl up to the firing line with whatever gear you brought with you. It was somewhere in the 20 – 30 ish feet distance to cover. Once at the firing line we had to range and engage rifle targets.
Stage 3 – Puzzle:
This stage started out with having to solve a puzzle with different colored pieces of wood fitting into the box in a particular way. If you got it done quickly you had extra time to find, range, and shoot targets. If you took more than 90 seconds, you could start to find, range, and engage at that point.
Stage 4 – Lazy “W”
This was a barricade stage in the shape of a “W” where you had to fire two rifle rounds from each point on the “W”. I think this was a stage where your partner had to single feed your rounds into your chamber for you. Then you had to work the bolt and take it from there, but the idea was to make your partner help you keep the rifle fed. Pretty sure this little trick was this stage, but I’m not 100% sure.
Stage 5 – Range Card
This started with “milling” formula and math instead of a puzzle. Same rule applied that if you got it done quickly you had a little more time. If you took 90 second they’d let you know that you could start the stage at that point. With a 6 minute stage we elected to use the 90 second to identify where the targets were in the open range so we’d make better time ranging and shooting them. This was another stage full of tough positions to shoot from with both shooters using 10rds each of rifle.
Stage 6 – Tombstone
This stage had big tombstone shaped lumber up against the columns of the shelter. They were a tough challenge to shoot from.
Stage 7 – Frustration Station
I think this was a stage where the two shooters had to lay beside each other on a narrow section of roof top and shoot from that position with all gear. Anything that fell off was not allowed to be picked up.
Stage 8 – Comfy Rocks
Our final stage of the day was a great one to end on. This stage was one of my favorites because the primary shooter had to shoot standing, kneeling, and sitting, then kneeling, and standing. Once he popped off his first 5 rds the secondary had to shoot one round off 5 different boulders in the order the targets were expected to be shot. Once secondary was complete, the cycle repeated itself for another round. I loved that the match director had people just stand and shoot because nobody ever practices that. I loved that when we went the wind and rain picked up at the end of the day and we got dumped on for just the few minutes of our stage and then it all calmed down. It was like Murphy’s Law came up and gave us a great big hug.
After all the stages were shot Saturday night there was a gathering where Gary introduced some people from the local Child Advocacy Center and after they discussed all the things they were doing to make the world a better place helping children Gary presented them with a $10,000 check. It was amazing to hear their stories, and hear the good work they are doing. When the Guardian says it’s all about the kids that’s exactly what they mean. When you start talking to a room full of big, burly, tattooed, manly men and tell them the stories of what the proceeds of a match like this are doing to people in a bad shape it’s not hard to look around that same room and see that same tough crowd getting a little bit misty eyed. It’s incredible to witness something like that and feels good knowing the registrations, raffle tickets, and other stuff are going to such a good cause.
After the presentation was over they went through the prize table by calling out raffle tickets. The prize table was just silly at how much stuff was up there. Custom actions, scopes, barrels, silencers, certificates for 50% off multi-thousand dollar items, and about any kind of shooting accessory you can imagine were on that table. All of it was donated by the industry to help support a cause of helping kids and families in need. If only this part of the gun world made the news everyone would sign up.
Day 2 Sunday June 7th:
We started the same as Day 1 where we looked to see if there were any changes or updates and then we drove to the UKD area. That facility is huge and I was amazed at how long of a drive it was on their property. The forecast for the day was rain, and heavy rain with very few breaks of anything else in the middle.
Stage 10 - Mini Tower:
We started with stage 10 because they wanted to get that done first due to heavier rain coming in. The stage was typical in that it started with pistol targets, then moving to rifle targets with finding, ranging and engaging. This time we just had to run up a single flight of stairs to a small landing and shoot off the handrail.
Stage 9 – Dual Barricades:
This stage started with dragging a tire to the pistol area to start shooting. The tire had rope on it and the grass was wet so while the tire was decent sized it wasn’t overly huge or anything like that. It was just enough to get a heartbeat up. Once at the pistol stage there was a single hit on target that had to happen by alternating single shots from either the primary or secondary. This pistol was unique because the target was a full size IPSC at 50 yards. Once that was done we each had a different barricade to shoot our 10 rifle rounds off of.
Stage 11 – Mid Tower:
This stage started with pistol, then we had to use a carabiner on rope to hoist all our gear up to the second floor then start finding, range, and engaging off a high bench out of a window. This time we had 5 rds out of our own rifle, then had to swap to 5 rds of our partners rifle. During our first 5rds on our own rifle we tried to get everything dialed in hastily so the partner could just pick up the rifle and start shooting without a lot of thinking about it.
Stage 12 – High Angle:
This was a truly unique stage where primary was given a sheet that had target symbols on it that he’d have to call off to his partner who would shoot the corresponding target below it from the roof of a third story sea container aiming down to targets that were probably 25 yards out 2 rounds at a time while the primary would engage his rifle targets that were farther out more typical to the match. It was high angle, and a different kind of challenge which made it really fun.
Stage 13 – Stumps:
This stage started with rifle staged, and the team flipping over a much larger tire two times before they could start the stage. The tire was covered in sloppy wet mud and felt slick. If you’ve ever enjoyed CrossFit, you’d have like that stage. The obstacle was enough to get your heart rate up but far from impossible. Rifle was pretty typical of the match but we had to shoot off tree stumps of wood as a barricade.
Stage 14 – Buddy Fire:
We had to drag a weighted dumby up the stairs and get him in position before we could engage the stage.
Stage 15 – Buddy Swap:
They started this stage by flipping over two playing cards. Of both playing cards matched reading “keep rifles” you each kept your gun. If it read “trade rifles” you swapped rifles. If the two cards didn’t matchup then you had to draw another card and then do whatever that one matched up with. It was a nice mental challenge and we got lucky that we could keep our own rifles. We started with pistol, then had a long barricade where had to fire tow shots from each position. What made this stage really fun was some problem solving on the fly when my buddy got a nasty double feed jam because he forgot about his range flag. While he was looking downrange trying to figure out what was going on I was beside him and could see what needed to happen. I had just finished firing my 10 rounds and stripped the mag out of his rifle while he still had it shouldered. Two rounds fell out and I jammed the mag back in yelling “Go”. He kept shooting and I was spotting through my scope while stuffing his two rounds into my empty mag telling him that when he’s out I’ve got a mag for him to use. It was a typical stage otherwise, but the problem solving stuff makes things more fun.
Stage 16 – Deuces Wild:
This stage started with running up to the pistol area, then running behind a deuce and a half to drop all gear, then running back to a tire that had a sloppy wet mud covered rail road tie that you guys as a team had to pick up and slide in the back of the truck bed which also just happened to have a nice big thick layer of mud in the back of it for you to kneel on. Once there you had to find it, range it, and engage it.
After the last stage we got mostly cleaned up and said some goodbyes before we got on the road to drive home.
Physical Challenges:
The physical parts of this match were not overly demanding, but weren’t a complete walk in the park either. They were enough to make you a little uncomfortable and get your heartbeat up right before you were trying to take a fine shot at something small far away. Things like a low crawl, hopping into the bed of a truck, dragging a tire, going up stairs, flipping a large tire as a team, dragging a weighted dummy, picking up a rail road tie that’s wet and covered in Georgia mud and getting it in the back of a deuce and a half are all things that added some flavor to the match. I liked those challenges and for a lot of guys who are used to shooting from a bench or prone it was a good way to break them out of that routine.
Mental Challenge:
The puzzle and milling math were good distractions to get people thinking of something other than the stages they were about to start. I thought those were great examples. The other mental part of this match was that they changed the direction of engaging targets at every stage it seemed like. Left to right, or right to left, or near to far, or far to near, everything had to be ranged and then put in order to shoot before you’d just start blasting.
Marksmanship Challenge:
Most pistol targets seemed to be in the 20 – 25 yard ish distance and were fairly challenging. Some were as small as a 6” ish plate and others were 10 – 12 inch ish range. They weren’t really easy shots to make but they weren’t overly difficult either. Our team made some short work of them and with unlimited rounds on pistol targets being the norm we made several follow up shots. We could see and hear other teams struggle to get through the pistol targets. If they’d have limited the pistol rounds on targets that would have been a tougher challenge, but I’m glad they didn’t.
Most rifle targets were on the smaller side of what I’ve seen up to this point. This was my third match, and of those three my second team match and my second Guardian. Of those three matches I’d say this was hands down the toughest marksmanship yet and certainly the farthest shots. This match had one target at 1,225 yards, but most targets were in the 600 – 700 yard ish range and looked to be in the 6” or 8” size ish range or a big IPSC. It was tough and the wind was going at all times during that match.
Our Equipment used:
My buddies Bergara Premier HMR Pro is a very accurate rifle and with that Vortex PST Gen 2 scope on their is a combination I’d recommend to anyone. I definitely pushed through my shots to get him setup and have more time to score points. I didn’t do nearly as well with my factory 308, but I’m not blaming the gun or ammo. It shoots well, and I had enough Fed GMM 168gr match kings to burn up in this match before completely switching over to 175gr handloads.
Both the Beretta M9A3 he used and the Glock 17 I used worked well and hit where they were supposed to. We saw many other teams struggle with red dot rigs when the rain hit and fogged up their optics. I was a little shocked at that and it was almost every guy was having issues with water on the lenses and obstructing their optics or blurring out the fine red dot into a giant glob. We just went up to stages with iron sights the old fashioned way and put those muddy, wet, and sloppy guns to work.
Other Equipment used:
Just before the event I upgraded my rangefinder to a Leupold RX-2800 and that was outstanding. I had only had it to a known distance range once to confirm it’s calibration before leaving it in my cargo pocket the whole time for this competition. I’ve been happy with my Bushnell elite 1600, but the clarity wasn’t always there for the reticle for a defined point when measuring distance. The Leupold was great and I wanted to be able to range out farther than the Bushnell was capable of for some upcoming adventures.
Something I saw another team on our squad use was with their electronic hearing protection was the Walker Razor Walkie Talkie that basically clips onto your hearing protection and gives you a push to talk or VOX capability to use with your ear pro. I was really intrigued and the guys had nothing but great things to say about it and how it really helped them communicate with all the gunfire at the match. They did say that at a match you had to use the PTT not the VOX, but it worked well for them and these guys were seasoned competitors who did a wide variety of matches each year.
Training up:
Leading into this event we knew we had a new shooter with all new gear doing something he’d never done before as our primary shooter. On our first visit to Young’s to get a drop chart we focused on good data from the bench. Then it started to pour and we had him shooting off the handrail in pouring rain from a kneeling position or off a chair at the same distances. There wasn’t any time for a nice gradual progression it was time to get the drop chart out of the way so the real work could start.
The steel plates in the pistol bay at Young’s were another incredible resource to get a newer shooter up to speed on pistol shooting plates at varying distance. In addition to this, we spent a day in the backyard going through more than a brick of 22lr where all I did was keep mags loaded for him and told him to keep making well aimed shots. Thank goodness for the magazine speed loader for the Ruger mark series pistols. He never had to wait for another loaded mag. Getting those reps in went a long ways to picking up a lot of pistol points. It was just building that muscle memory of shot after shot that didn’t seem to make great improvements that day, but the next time we were at the range was amazing.
The best way I can describe on how to get ready for something like this is to find the most awful shooting position possible and then practice from there.
Weather:
The weather was far from easy. One day was hot & humid and we went through a lot of water. The next day was not quite as hot but the rain was a good steady pouring all day long. Neither day was easy, but neither day was brutal.
Overall:
There’s just something about challenging yourself outside of your normal routines and limits around like minded people who love the same hobby you do that gets into your blood. Everyone there was so incredibly nice and all the proceeds went to an amazing cause. It’s easy to get intimidated about going to a match, but honestly I think everyone I came across was a genuinely friendly and good spirited person that was helpful and would likely give you the shirt off their back.
I still consider myself new to matches and my partner sure found a challenging team match to start off on. For a team with a primary shooter who’d never shot a rifle past 100 yards or a pistol very much at all until a couple months ago I think we did really well. We ended up in the top half of the entire group by an admittedly small fraction of a percent, but I’ll take it. We were up against a lot of guys with a lot more experience behind them and quite frankly our equipment was very much on the low end of the quality spectrum. His 6.5 Bergara could keep up with anything there, but my 700 in 308 168’s was never going to impress the type of shooter at this match. I hope saying that encourages people to get out and try it because it’s not about whatever gear and gizmo’s you have or don’t have. It’s about putting time in and taking some well aimed shots. The Guardian competitions help a great cause which is icing on the cake. For a couple of dumb guys who like to go outdoors and do dumb guy stuff it didn’t get much better and was a great weekend trip. What else could I have asked for.
Pictures from the event:
Here's a video that was produced during the match. I didn’t realize they were doing this because the camera crew was with the other half of the group. https://www.facebook.com/GuardianLongRange/videos/907350303072153/
Check out the Guardian Matches here:
https://www.guardianlongrange.com/
