Greetings all,
I am on my way home from the US, after a long, tiring, yet totally amazing week in Barry Illinois. Over the last 8 days the US Back to Back Nationals have been shot with hundreds of competitors competing in the scorching hear over 18 stages of fire.
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This was my 3rd time competing at the USA Nationals, and it never ceases to amaze me how special this match is, in bringing together such a large number of top level shooters. In no other match will you have over 10 shooters in a single squad - each able to win any given stage. Shooting side by side with such great competitors is a humbling experience, and one which gives you a better understanding of the true nature of our sport.

I was here for both matches, but I did not shoot both. I competed only in the Open match, while spending the Limited match following the super squad with 2 cameras to film the action for the new movies I will be producing. We will be making 2 new movies - one of the Limited Super Squad, and one of the Open Super Squad. Look for those in a couple of months?.

The weather was brutal! It was well over 100 (over 35 Celsius) with 90% or more humidity - and the schedule called for long days on the range. The only place to escape the heat was the Smith&Weason hall, where lunch was available during the often too short lunch break. But since I was also a Vendor at the match, promoting my new book Thinking Practical Shooting, I had to spend my lunch breaks in the vendor's tent, which was undoubtedly the hottest place on the range. A tough week indeed.

Both the Limited and Open matches offered much drama. Both super squads ended the match on stage 14, the biggest stage in the match. In the limited match it went right down to the wire? Emanuel Bragg went into the last stage leading over Rob Leatham by just under 10 match points. He was up to shoot first, and hundreds of people were there to watch the shooting. Manny held his own, and shot well on the last stage, not leaving much of an opening for Rob. But, Leatham, the seasoned champion that he is, rose to the challenge, and shot an amazing run - to edge out Manny for the title by less than 2 points! The closest finish in USPSA history.

In the open match Max Michel was the man the beat. The returning champion had his sights well fixed on a repeat of last year's success, and he shot like a true champion. Although he did not break away, he was able to maintain his lead through must of the match. During the first half of the match, Spanish champion shooter Jorge Ballesteros was able to mount a challenge, keeping up with Max, and even passing him by for a brief time. But in the later stages he faded, in part due to scope problems. But there was not let off for Max, as that is when Junior World champion Chris Tilley closed up the gap with a string of fantastic stages. He too was able to edge ahead of Max for just one stage, before the returning champion once again stamped his authority on the proceedings.

In the end Max went into the last stage with a comfortable lead of 40 points or more. Every one expecting him to just cruise home. But he put on a stage winning display, cutting almost 2 seconds of the second best time on that big complex field course.

I was shooting well, but I was not able to challenge for the lead. A few costly errors which I made from time to time made it tough for me to close on the leaders. With such a high level of competitors, you simply cannot afford to make any mistakes, certainly not mistakes which cost big points.
I had some frustrating incidents - like clipping the edge of a steel, hearing the "ding" but leaving it standing, to fall, of course, during calibration. I clipped the edge of a NS to pick up a penalty which would not have scored if the shot was 1mm higher? A foot fault caused by a trigger freeze just as I was pushing out of position. These kinds of silly little mistakes do add up to a lot of points. Too many to give up to this great field of competitors. So in the end I had to settle for 7th overall.

But although I was not too pleased with my overall final result, I did feel that I shot some really good stages, and this was, without a doubt, a great preparation for the WS which is only 4 weeks away. I look forward to that one with great anticipation. It is sure to be a bonanza of a match.

Enjoy the clips and movies - these are but small sample of what you will be seeing in the new Double-Alpha Academy production of the Open/Limited super squads of the 2005 US Nationals.

Download an intro clip of the Limited Super Squad  DVD here

Download an intro clip of the Open Super Squad  DVD here

5MB

As always I have my sponsors to thank for making this possible.
Drummen Custom Guns
Berry's Fmg
Competitive Edge Dynamics (CED)
Mpro-7
Arredondo accessories
Rescomp Handgun Technologies
Lapua/Vihtavuori
Aimpoint
BUL Transmark

Top Open results

Until the next time I wish you all excellent shooting.
Saul Kirsch

Movies: (right click and 'save as')