The Glock Matches

These few photos were taken the first weekend in November 2001 at the GSSF (Glock Sport Shooting Foundation) and SSA (Sport Shooting Alliance) Southern California GlockMeister Challenge in Norco, CA, in which I participated for the first time.  (More details about the match rules, stages layouts, scoring system, results (from previous years and soon from this year) can be found on the GSSF website.)

The fun thing about this match is how they do the ultimate rankings and prize distributions.    There are seven categories: Amateur Civilian Category, Amateur Law Enforcement Category, Amateur Subcompact Category, Amateur MajorSub Category, Amateur Competition Category, Unlimited/Master Category, and StockMeister Category.   GSSF uses the "Lewis" prize allocation system for the Amateur Civilian and Amateur Law Enforcement categories.  This means that after scoring, the competitors within those categories are listed in the overall order in which they finished.   The overall list is divided by the number of classes to be awarded, usually into thirds.   The top one-third is designated "A" Class, the second one-third is "B" Class, and the final one-third is "C" Class.   At larger matches, GSSF reserves the right to add additional classes (that is "D", "E", and "F" classes, and so on) thereby adding to the available awards.   GSSF also reserves the right to delete classes if, in the sole judgment of GSSF, there are insufficient entries to justify a full A, B, and/or C class award schedule.  At one of the matches last year, in my category (Amateur Civilian), there were 107 shooters.  That meant the final list was divided into thirds.  Class "B" started at the shooter who placed 36th, and Class "C" at 72nd place.  BOTH of those contestants won a new Glock (as did the shooter who placed at the top of the "A" Class, naturally, but he/she was top of everything!  Not only that, the next 9 people in each class also won at least some cash prizes, between $100 and $25 each.  So I'm excited to see the overall results from last weekend.  Even if I knew exactly what my own scores were, I wouldn't know how I fell into the grand scheme of things overall until the final results are posted.  Pretty cool, eh?  For kicks, I tried to add up my scores based on what I vaguely remember (it got confusing with all the rings....) and I figure my overall score was around 271.  At that same match I just mentioned, that would have put me around 81st, which would have put me in the top 10 shooters in Class "C" and I'd have won $25. :)

Update Nov. 15:   the results were postedand I did far better than I'd guessed, which meant I was in the middle class (Class "B"), right about the middle of that. Here are a few of the stats (lower scores are better):

Amateur Civilian Overall: I placed 48th out of 98 contestants
Match Total	5 to Glock			Glock 'M			Glock the Plates
Match Total	Time Only	Add'l Time (Penalties)	Comb'd Time	Time Only	Add'l Time (Penalties)	Comb'd Time	Time Only	Add'l Time (Penalties)	Comb'd Time
211.09	45.42	53	98.42	41.98	25	66.98	45.69	0	45.69
Just for Fun, how I ranked (out of 98) just based on each column:
48th	89th	51st	63rd	86th	24th	40th	65th	1st to 53rd (we all had 0 penalties)	52nd

What I think this shows: my shot placement is pretty good and consistent but my speed needs work. My shooting instructors and buddies keep telling me that speed comes after accuracy, so this is also indicative of my newness to the sport, i.e., just a few months really.
Some more Fun stats:

There were 10 total adult women in the Amateur Civilian category. I finished 4th among them.
Ranks 1, 33, and 66 won pistols. I finished almost exactly between the middle and bottom pistol winners, so I should have shot about 16 people better or worse to have won a pistol. (And ten in each of those three classes also won money.)
If they'd not been so generous, and instead of dividing the 98 shooters into three groups to award three sets of prizes, if they'd only divided it in half to award two sets of prizes, I'd really be mad. I'd have still placed 48th, but the top of the second ("B") class would have started at the NEXT person (49th or 50th), just one or two worse than I was, to win a gun!
I had roughly estimated my total score to be around 271; if it had been, I'd have won $50, but since I shot lots better, I won nothing (other than my dignity)!
There was only one female in the Law Enforcement Category. She placed dead last (but won $75 for being the high LE female!). Her match total was 584.78 whereas mine was 211.09 (remember, low is better).
With my total of 211.09, I'd have placed 24th in the Law Enforcement Category, 41st in the Competition Category, and 24th in StockMeister Category. It's unclear who should enter those last two categories, but since fewer shooters seem to compete, I could end up with a higher ranking. However, for those two, there are only three prizes awarded, and those are to the top three shooters where I'll never be (or not for years and years and years to come).

"Glock the Plates" Stage

Shooter has up to 11 shots to knock down all six 8" steel plates at 11 yards. Score is based on elapsed time with a 10-second penalty for each plate left standing. This is repeated a total of four times (called "strings") and the four scores are added together for the total score for this stage. My first string was around 18 seconds, my second was just over 12, and my last two were each between 7-8 seconds for a total of 45.69! And I left no plates standing so I got no additional penalty time!

The total for the top Civilian female was only 17.16 seconds (yikes) and the top Civ. male was 19.54. The top Law Enforcement male was 15.09, but sadly and somehow unbelievably, the top Law Enforcement female was about half as fast as I was and missed 20 out of 24 plates for a total of 270.66!

"5-to-Glock" Stage

Shooter can only shoot 10 rounds and must hit each of five cardboard targets twice.  The targets are placed at 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 yards away.   Score is based on elapsed time with additional time penalties added for each shot not hitting the center of the target.  There are nearly impossible-to-see rings perforated in the cardboard and these determine the penalty seconds.  (These are apparently standard NRA targets, so most of the shooters knew where the rings were.)  Each shot in the "A Ring" and/or "B Ring" adds zero (0) seconds (with number of hits in the "A Ring" being used in case of ties); for each hit in the "C Ring" two (+2) seconds are added; and plus five (+5) seconds are added for any other bullet mark on the target on or within the "D Zone".    Shots that completely miss the cardboard incur an additional 10 seconds per miss.  This string repeated a total of three times and the total scores are added together.  I don't remember my exact scores or times, but I did hit dead center in the "A Ring" at least once on each target and I never once missed the cardboard.  I did have several in the outer rings, though.

The final posted results showed a total for me of 98.42.

The total for the top Civilian female was 72.84 seconds and the top Civ. male was 27.06.  The top Law Enforcement male was 27.69, but the top LE female had another sad total of 147.67.

"Glock 'M" Stage

There are four cardboard targets and three metal "poppers".  Each string consists of the contestant shooting two and only two shots at each cardboard target and then up to three shots to get down one of the metal poppers.  This is repeated a total of three times and the scores are added together for the total score for this stage.  Score is based on elapsed time with cardboard hits similar to the scoring in the Stage described above and a 10-second penalty for each popper left standing at the very end.  I don't remember my exact scores or times, but I did hit the cardboard much like above, never completely missing, and I didn't leave any of the metal guys standing.

The final posted results showed a total for me of 66.98.

The total for the top Civilian female was 31.57 seconds and the top Civ. male was 20.42.  The top Law Enforcement male was 21.06, but the top LE female had another disappointing total of 166.45.

I shot the match again in April of 2002, but didn't fare as well overall, but since I was third in my grouping, I got $75 for the placement! Click here for a PDF of the scores and here for a copy of the check!