[joecichlid]

Does anyone know what kind of range surface they have? Is it lose sand, hard packed sand, lose dirt, hard packed dirt, gravel or other? Trying to figure out which shoes I need to bring for the match.

Joe W.

[boz1911]

I think someone mentioned it was gravel but I would also like to know more and confirm the surface. I'm bring cleats irregardless.

[Dan Burwell]

What I always do when shooting a new place is try and find as many videos as I can shot on the range. I asked a shooter local to that range and he suggested:

Quote

Check Youtube and do a search for "Desert Sportsman"- there are several videos from Brad Ellis (fastdrawGM) and others.

Doing that I found alot of videos showing the range surface and an idea on the size of the bays.

[mrq]

At Desert Sportsman the Pistol Bays are mostly gravel.

[Big Guy]

As I recall, the nationals paperwork indicated the range opens Sept 11 @ 1:00pm.

Does this means that we can walk thru the stages after 1:00 pm?

[mactiger]

Big Guy, on Aug 15 2009, 09:43 AM, said:

As I recall, the nationals paperwork indicated the range opens Sept 11 @ 1:00pm.

Does this means that we can walk thru the stages after 1:00 pm?

Yes.

Troy

[joecichlid]

Dan, thanks for the tip as I had never thought to do a search for videos shot at the range. Great idea!

Troy, thanks for the info now if I can just get to Vegas early enough Friday to allow me to get checked in for the match and check out the range. lol

Joe W.

[yoshidaex]

mactiger, on Aug 15 2009, 07:47 AM, said:

Big Guy, on Aug 15 2009, 09:43 AM, said:

As I recall, the nationals paperwork indicated the range opens Sept 11 @ 1:00pm.

Does this means that we can walk thru the stages after 1:00 pm?

Yes.

Troy

Do we need to register first before checking out the stages?

[Chris Keen]

That shouldn't matter for checking out the stages, but I wouldnt want to be late for registration. They have some pretty long lines sometimes.

[mactiger]

yoshidaex, on Aug 18 2009, 04:35 PM, said:

mactiger, on Aug 15 2009, 07:47 AM, said:

Big Guy, on Aug 15 2009, 09:43 AM, said:

As I recall, the nationals paperwork indicated the range opens Sept 11 @ 1:00pm.

Does this means that we can walk thru the stages after 1:00 pm?

Yes.

Troy

Do we need to register first before checking out the stages?

No, but I'd take Chris Keen's advice.

Troy

[joecichlid]

Thanks for the info guys.

Crack of O'Dark Thirty fly out of KC and land in Vegas.
Check into the hotel and drop my gear off.
Get in line and check for the match.
Go check out the range and the stages.
Get some food and drink lots of water then get a good nights rest.
Get up and go have the best time of my life on the range.

Joe W.

[boz1911]

joecichlid, on Aug 18 2009, 08:30 PM, said:

Thanks for the info guys.

Crack of O'Dark Thirty fly out of KC and land in Vegas.
Check into the hotel and drop my gear off.
Get in line and check for the match.
Go check out the range and the stages.
Get some food and drink lots of water then get a good nights rest.
Get up and go have the best time of my life on the range.

Joe W.

Do you need to pick up ammo??

[Dan Burwell]

For anyone else who cares here is a link to google's sat image of the club:
Desert sportman's club

Zoom in a few levels and you can get a good understanding of the layout. When I was watching the videos I noticed the bays seemed to be shaped funny, now I know why.

[JorDanO]

Looks like there is gonna be a looong walk from one side of the range to the other.

[joecichlid]

Yeah, I hear ammo might be a good thing to have. lol I am thinking about shipping it to the hotel, they do charge $10 for anything under 30 pounds but it might be worth it to save time on Friday. I will let you know for sure in the next few days though.

Joe W

[davaodoc]

joecichlid, on Aug 19 2009, 03:35 PM, said:

Yeah, I hear ammo might be a good thing to have. lol I am thinking about shipping it to the hotel, they do charge $10 for anything under 30 pounds but it might be worth it to save time on Friday. I will let you know for sure in the next few days though.

Joe W

This is my first nationals and I ordered match ammo. The website says : " the ammo will be shipped directly to the match for distribution at the event".

do we pick up the ammo sept 11 during registration at the match hotel or do we pick them up at the range just before the start of the match?

[RobMoore]

Thanks for the googlemap link, Dan.

Looks like a BIG place, with plenty of walking between bays. Perhaps some type of "wheeled" device is in order.

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: Looks like I may bring my cart with me now I was just going to use my backpack, chair and cooler. Thanks, Eric

[boz1911]

joecichlid, on Aug 19 2009, 03:35 PM, said:

Yeah, I hear ammo might be a good thing to have. lol I am thinking about shipping it to the hotel, they do charge $10 for anything under 30 pounds but it might be worth it to save time on Friday. I will let you know for sure in the next few days though.

Joe W

It took a week for mine to get there from Georgia, and we have only three weeks. If you ship to Ray at American Shooters and need us to pick up, just let me know.

[mactiger]

davaodoc, on Aug 19 2009, 07:54 PM, said:

joecichlid, on Aug 19 2009, 03:35 PM, said:

Yeah, I hear ammo might be a good thing to have. lol I am thinking about shipping it to the hotel, they do charge $10 for anything under 30 pounds but it might be worth it to save time on Friday. I will let you know for sure in the next few days though.

Joe W

This is my first nationals and I ordered match ammo. The website says : " the ammo will be shipped directly to the match for distribution at the event".

do we pick up the ammo sept 11 during registration at the match hotel or do we pick them up at the range just before the start of the match?

You'll pick it up at the hotel during registration. There is a little paperwork and sampling involved.

Troy

[mikegot38]

Will the ammo we ship to American Shooters be at the match hotel at registraion or will we need to go there to pick it up? It does not matter, we just need to know so we can get it on our way in from the airport.

This post has been edited by mikegot38: 20 August 2009 - 07:17 AM

[ima45dv8]

We need to pick it up at American Shooters.
They'd need an 18-wheeler to deliver it to the match hotel (and not everyone is staying there).

[yoshidaex]

Any word when the stage descriptions will be posted online?

[Dan Burwell]

yoshidaex, on Aug 20 2009, 10:39 AM, said:

Any word when the stage descriptions will be posted online?

the $10,000 question

Last year they had both stages and squad matrix up by now.

Mr. McManus, mentioned in another thread something about a change in bay availability, so I am guessing this is the delay.

[Big Guy]

According to the USPSA Nationals web page, "the round count for the Smith & Wesson USPSA Handgun Nationals is 306 rounds per match. We will be posting stages as *soon* as we can. Please be patient."

This post has been edited by Big Guy: 20 August 2009 - 01:12 PM