After that, there are a handful of other major USPSA events, like the Louisiana Gator Classic, a sectional match taking place this weekend as well, the Area 2 Regional Handgun Championship Nov. 9-13 in Mesa, Ariz., and the IPSC National Championship on November 4-5 in Gaston, S.C.
USPSA has a list of all http://www.uspsa.org/uspsa-match-listing.php>upcoming matches on their website in case you're looking to fit in some end of the year competition.
One match you might want to jump into is the http://themonstermatch.net/>Monster Match on October 29-30 down in Frostproof, Fla. at Frank Garcia's Universal Shooting Academy.
The 2004 brainchild of match directors Shannon Smith and Jim Schoonmaker, the match has been off-and-on but was resurrected in 2010 to the delight of many shooters.
Why? Well, to put it simply, the Monster Match is a hosefest.
The match adheres to most of the USPSA rules but thumbs its nose at guidelines pertaining to round count. That is to say, there are only eight stages but a 400+ round count.
That's pretty much the definition of a hosefest.
And for those of you shooting Production, or I guess Limited-10, a bandolier of extra magazines might be in order for when you run out of room on your belt. Here's a look at one of http://youtu.be/PfvVQa3ansU?hd=1>last year's stages which gives you a good idea of the amount of shooting you can expect.
The Monster Match is by all accounts a lot of fun, and this year they are even holding a costume contest for those who wish to shoot in disguise.
As of last Friday there were still slots left so if you are in Florida, or can fly in on short notice, and assuming you have enough mags and a near metric ton of ammo, then the Monster Match has your name written all over it.
Of course, if the wide open run-and-gun of USPSA competition isn't for you, or the thought of monsters frightens you, then there are still a couple events on the http://www.idpa.com/major_match.asp>2011 IDPA calendar, though nothing on the scale of their "big 3" events, and there's still one major match left on the ICORE calendar and one on the SASS schedule.
This is your last chance to win one of the Smith & Wesson firearms being awarded through the random draw that's open to those that have competed in one of the seven events in the series. You don't have to win a title, just show up and compete to be eligible for the drawing.
If your taste for wheelguns skews a bit more western and a little more dated, then check out one of the http://www.sassnet.com/AnnualMatches.php>remaining SASS matches of 2011.
In talking late yesterday to http://www.downrange.tv/blog/>DownRange TV's Marshal Halloway, he and his irascible sidekick, Marshal'ette, are taking a break before the end-of-the-year/pre-SHOT Show rush to put some lead downrange out west.
They're headed to The Gunfight Behind The Jersey Lilly this weekend in Norco, Calif. This is the last major match of the SASS season and always a big draw since it's also home of the very first SASS club - or "Ground Zero" for cowboy-drag as Michael Bane would probably say.
And lest we forget, going fast hasn't gone out of style just yet and New England has two Steel Challenge matches in November. Harvard Sportsmen's Club will host their first sanctioned Steel Challenge match on November 5 and already has 70+ shooters lining up to compete in the one-day match.
Match organizer Paul Dandini anticipates somewhere between 80-100 shooters will shoot the match - assuming the New England weather cooperates.
Response to the SSC announcement was immediate with the U.S. Coast Guard Academy committing to send 23 cadets while the University of Vermont's Gun Cats will send 12. Harvard and Yale are both looking at sending in a squad.
Hopefully the weather will indeed hold out and give shooters at least one, or two, more good shooting weekends as the 2011 season winds down.
- Paul Erhardt, Editor, the Outdoor Wire Digital Network
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