How to Beat Jon at the Cactus Match

#1. Bring the fastest, most reliable carbine you have. Make sure it's been cleaned and oiled. Double-check the ammo so that none of those icky Wolf 62-grainers get near the magazine.

This pic was done in the dry-fire period permitted prior to loading and making ready. We didn't have the luxury of filming the stage, because we were the only two on it.


#2. Wait for Jon to get experimental. Instead of his similarly configured Bushy, Jon brought out his scoped HBAR. He'd never used the scope in a match nor function-fired the Beta C-Mag on the HBAR. Don't try this at home, kids! After two feeding problems with the C-Mag, he changed to his emergency 30-rounder. I think the scope distracted him, since he'd intended to use the see-through mount sights on everything, but fell for the temptation of using the glass for the distant knock-down steel targets. Even at low power, the limited field of view slowed down his acquisition time.

Even with all those problems, Jon finished only 3 seconds and change behind me. Before you dig on Jon about lack of preparation, remember that he has a job, unlike his slothful visitor from the Old Pueblo.

Jon beat me soundly on the riotgun course. Sixteen rounds and lots of running...his running reloading was a thing of beauty.


On the five pistol stages, I shouldn't have stood a chance of catching Jon...he brought his Glock 21 that he can shoot unnaturally fast. He'd added Arredondo base pads to some of his mags...and one of the mags just didn't like that. I think I beat him two stages due to mag glitches and my shooting very clean...Jon can miss very fast, too! I'm getting faster with the Para P16-40 every month. Overall, it was the tightest match we'd ever fired, but I'd prefer Jon being at his best when I beat him.

Oh, yeah, Lesson #3. Don't get cocky on the last stage. The final pistol stage we shot was the simple array at right. Engage each target with two rounds each freestyle, perform a mandatory reload, then repeat. The smart way to shoot this one is to go for headshots, since that reduces the chance of hitting a no-shoot (I don't think there's much difference between the "A" and "B" zones on the head for a Major caliber shooter). Well, I'd just been chatting with Match Director John about how great the stages were and how I'd managed to shoot cleanly, so far. I even knocked on wood! Wood doesn't have the same power it used to...I had a miss and a shoulder-shot No-shoot. Next time, I'll just say "Great match, John!" and shut-up until I hand in all my score sheets.