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2015 Vegas Precision Rifle Challenge AAR
By Vu Pham
NorCal Practical Precision Rifle Club
The 2nd Annual 2015 Vegas PRC is now in the books and with all the buzz from the online forums and social media, I believe it is safe to say that this event was a huge success. Roy Drew and the Sin City Precision Shooters put forth serious thought, effort, planning, and energy to pull off such a smooth and dynamic event.
Before I get into this AAR, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the major sponsors of this event.
Without a doubt, Kelbly’s Rifles was the premier sponsor of this year’s Vegas Precision Rifle Challenge. Kelby put a complete custom rifle, two actions, and March optic on the prize table. They also paid for event coffee mugs, challenge coins, BBQ, and, most importantly, the beer!
Ian Kelbly with the rifle they donated and used in the side match. I believe RJ with Team Steiner won the side match with a ridiculous size group at 200yards.
Kelbly's new Tac action.
Other top sponsors included:
• GA Precision – Custom Rifle
• DPMS – Complete Gen2 AR10
• Vortex Optics – A variety of optics.
• Bushnell – A variety of optics.
While these might have been the top sponsors of this event, all of the sponsors’ generosity made it possible for all competitors to take away something nice from the prize table.
Match Format:
Like most other national level precision rifle competitions, this was a two-day event with an approximately 200-round course of fire. Competitors were allowed to zero their rifles and check their DOPE out to 1000 yards on the Friday before the match began.
The 72 competitors were broken into smaller squads with half of the squads staying on one side of Nellis Air Force Base while the other half of the shooters traveled about 15 minutes to the other side of the base to complete their evolutions. Competitors flip flopped ranges on day two.
Each day of competition consisted of two evolutions with 3 to 5 COFs per evolution. We got through a lot of stages with just the right amount of down time in between stages. The shooting order rotated for each stage, so no one person or group had to shoot first all of the time.
On Sunday afternoon all of the competitors rallied for BBQ, beer, and awards. The even concluded about 7pm on Sunday evening.
The Range/Venue:
Two words, “it’s Vegas!” Travel and hotel costs are pretty decent due to the abundance of choices you have in the Las Vegas area. I would think this would probably be one of the easiest places to travel to for a match.
This year’s VPRC was moved to Nellis AirForce Base from the previous location of Desert Sportsman. The Nellis AFB range/facility is hands down one of the most dynamic square ranges I have shot on. There is just something too cool about having A-10 Warthogs flying slow and low overhead while you are getting your 100 yard zero. The match was held on two separate ranges on the base and both offered their fair share of challenges. Both ranges had plenty of distance and shooting positions. The furthest we shot was 1400 yards, but there was plenty more real estate if needed. With large firing lines and multiple firing positions, the Sin City crew was able to shoot multiple stages simultaneously.
The Nellis AF Base range has a lot of untapped potential and I can’t wait to see what the Sin City crew comes up with in 2016.
The Sin City Range Crew
The one thing you can always count on when attending an event put on by the Sin City Precision Shooters is a good time and lots of laughs. This year’s range crew consisted of 30+ men and women from the Sin City Precision Rifle Club. Roy Drew and his range crew did a fantastic job of making sure everyone was having a good time no matter how they were performing on the range.
The ROs for each evolution were professional, clear, fair, and firm when needed to be. All competitors were treated the same and, if any help was given to one shooter, it was done across the board.
Each stage had multiple spotters, a “cat herder” which was responsible for the shooting order and keeping score, and the main RO. The RO gave each squad plenty of time to prep, ask questions, and locate targets. They ensured the COF was crystal clear when it was your turn to shoot. All of the stages I shot poorly were never due to the COF being unclear.
Roy Drew and his team of ROs put a lot of thought not only into the COF and range layout, but also the amenities that helped to set their event a part from the rest.
Things such as:
• Breakfast available in the morning prior to shooting.
• Water and soda at every evolution
• Lunch brought to the squads on Day 1 to keep people motivated, but did not stop the flow of the stages
• Clean porta potties at each of the ranges
• A gathering after Day 1 at a local restaurant 15 minutes from the range giving everyone a chance to catch up with old and new friends
• BBQ, beer, and side matches keeping people busy during the final scoring on Sunday afternoon.
Out of all the great ROs I have shot under that weekend, Mr. Ty Frehner definitely stood out from the pack. Ty is probably one of the best ROs I have ever had the pleasure to shoot under.
Another thing I really like and will be incorporating at our events in NorCal is the click counters each of the spotters had. This made it almost dummy proof on how many impacts were called by each spotter. After each competitor completed the stage the spotter could verify exactly how many impacts they saw and called out. Very simple solution to something that is extremely important and easy to screw up.
It was truly impressive how well this match ran considering all of the moving parts and distance between the two ranges.
The men and women that make it all happen (only half of them pictured here)
Course of Fire
The COF consisted of 175 – 200 rounds for the duration of the match. Ninety-fiver percent of the match was shot on steel targets with only 1 paper stage on the morning of day two.
Targets ranged from 100 to 1400 yards with the majority of the targets being in the range of 300 to 700 yards. All target sizes were generous in the 2 – 3 MOA arena which made it possible for competitors of varying capabilities to get hits here and there. Let’s face it, shooters WANT TO HIT TARGETS! With generous target sizes and par times, the hit ratio for the top finishers were from 75% to 83%.
I think a lot of competitors would agree that higher hit ratio events tend to be more enjoyable, yet add a different type of match pressure. Instead of going into a stage hoping to get a few hits, the shooter has to focus on not dropping too many rounds since other competitors either shot clean or only drop a few rounds.
As always, the Sin City crew never disappoints with their course of fire. The match consisted of 20 stages which tested each competitors’ skillset from running & gunning to good ol’ prone long range shooting out to 1400 yards. Competitors engaged targets over walls while standing on top of ladders, out of old Humvees, dog houses, roof tops, on top of connex boxes, and a bunch of other variety of props. Competitors were also tested physically on a few stages were they dragged a dummy made of 4x4s to 3 different firing positions during the course of fire. My personally favorite was the “More Hamma” stage. Competitors had unlimited rounds to hit a 515 yard plate from the prone position as many times as they can in 90 seconds. Below is the video clip of Arizona’s Matt LaVine run which gave him the stage win and $200.
Hung my head in shame with a bad hit only raising the puck less than a foot. Luckily Mike Lee with Defiance Machine took pity on me and some how manage to move the puck less than I did. Mike ended up with a stuffed pink unicorn to take home.
The dummy made of 4x4s we drug from firing position to firing position during one of the stages.
850yard Hostage Shoot inside a bus.
Speed Skinnies @ 450 yards.
A few other highlights was watching Team NorCal’s Gustavo Caracha clean the 1100, 1200, 1300, and 1400 yard stage with his 260rem. Gustavo went 12 for 12 and was the only one to clean this stage. I also believe he was the only one to clean the Humvee Run & Gun stage going 13 for 13.
Thanks to Gustavo, NorCal was able to win some beer money from our SoCal brothers on the LR stage.
Another cool COF was their Mid Match Zero stage where each squad had 3 minutes to fire as many rounds as they needed to check zero on the morning of Day 2. This was ingenious. How many times have you heard a competitor say their zero is off on day 2? After the 3 minute live fire session we had shot a simple 5 dot drill for score.
Overall I felt the course of fire was diverse and creative. All the stages were fun, well laid out, and executed nicely by the Sin City range crew. The top competitors needed to use all their tools in the tool box in order to finish at the top at the 2015 VPRC.
Match Winner and Top Finishers:
The winner of the match, Chase Stroud from Texas, absolutely crushed it with a grand total of 152pts. This score gives him a hit ratio of over 80% overall! Congrats to Chase on the win and taking home a beautiful GA Precision Rifle donated by George Gardner.
Other top finishers include:
2nd Marcus Blanchard – 144pts
3rd Jeremy Bentham – 138.5pts
4th Tim Milkovich – 136pts
5th Jonathan Berry – 133.5
Chase Stroud
Marcus Blanchard
Jeremy Bentham
What I Did Not Like:
Those of us that have been involved in organizing and putting on these type of events know that it is not IF something will go wrong, but rather when and where something will go wrong. For the most part, everything went rather smooth from the competitor’s point of view and, if there was anything that went haywire, the Sin City crew did a great job keeping it transparent to the competitor. Unfortunately for the Sin City crew, the worst thing that can go wrong (besides bodily injuries) went wrong at the very end of their event.
During the award ceremony (about 5 to 7 places deep) they realized that there was a big discrepancy between the final scores posted for the competitors to review and what they had in hand. After some discussion by the Sin City crew, it was discovered that one of the stages had been dropped accidentally from the score sheet they were going off. Ty Frehner announced the screw up, apologized profusely for the mix up, and corrected the situation.
After waiting another 45 minutes, the scores were corrected and everyone went home with the correct placement and prizes. The delay caused several competitors with scheduled flights to miss out on the awards ceremony and delayed the trip home for folks like myself with a 9 hour + drive home. We ended up getting on the road a little after 7pm that evening. In the end, no harm, no foul.
My only other gripe about this event is the 1 point scoring system. If you look at the final results you will notice 19 tied scores. Personally, I think a 10 point system will allow the match directors to separate the field, yet still keep the scoring system rather simple.
Media Coverage and Sponsors:
The media coverage for this year’s VPRC was amazing. Frank Gali of Sniper’s Hide was out there with his team from SCOUT ensuring everything was covered from the action on the range to interviews with the top PRS shooters. The 6.5 Guys were out there as well providing coverage for the sponsors, event, and competitors. Sin City also brought in their own media coverage via Contingency X. Between all of these media outlets, I believe the sponsors that supported this event were well represented.
Below is a complete list of sponsors for the 2015
Premier Sponsor: Kelbly’s Rifles
Gold Sponsors
DPMS Inc.
Mile High Shooting
JC Steel Targets
Defiance Machine
PDC Custom
XLR Industries
3rd Generation Shooter Supply
GA Precision
Center Shot Rifles
Vortex Optics
IOR Valada
US Optics
Bushnell
Contingency X
Rifles Only
Desert Tech
Silver Sponsors
Peerless Rifles Co.
Spartan Precision Rifles
Huber Concepts
Burris Optics
Bronze Sponsors
NorCal Practical Precision Rifle Club
Hawkins Precision
Target Cam
Harris Bi-Pods
Strom Tactical
Short Action Customs
Short Action Precision
Bartlein Barrels
Redding Reloading
J. Dewey MFG.
MGM Targets
Lauer Weaponry
Copper Creek Ammo
Overall:
I personally think the Sin City crew did a fantastic job with this event and it was worth my time, effort, and resources to attend. They have all of the key components for putting on a great national level precision rifle event and just need a few tweaks here and there to obtain near perfection.
Their 30+ member range crew is second to none. Most of their range crew are competitive shooters themselves which really helps the quality of the match. Safety was paramount and I did not witness any issues in that area. I will continue to come to this match as long as they will have me. Once again I would like to thank all of those involved and supported the 2015 Vegas Precision Rifle Challenge.
Sincerely,
Vu Pham
NorCal Practical Precision Rifle Club
_________________ Nor Cal Practical Precision Rifle Club"It's not what you shoot, it's who you shoot with." www.ncpprc.com
Last edited by vu308 on Wed Feb 25, 2015 7:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
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