The 1999 Smith and Wesson IDPA winternationals was held on March 4-6 at the S&W academy in Springfield Mass. The match was exciting, challenging, and ran very smoothly. The courses of fire tested shooting ability, tactical reloading, low light shooting, and use of cover. The match had many doorways and barricades to shoot from and as with all proper IDPA matches, the shooter was required to slice the pie and utilize cover in these courses of fire. The match had only one stage that required shooting from concealment, which raised the eyebrows of some shooters who were accustomed to shooting every stage concealed.
Stage one and stage two were the first and third parts of the classifier. The first stage was set up in S&W's large public range and the stage was divided in two, with two ROÕs and two sets of targets administering the course of fire. The second stage (third part of the classifier) was run in a small classroom range. Like the first stage, it ran well and with the efficiency that was present in all stages of this match.
Stage three was a long wall with three doorways. The shooter began about twenty five feet from the leftmost door. All the targets in this stage were to receive two shots each. At the beep the shooter ran to the left hand doorway and engaged three targets; some partially covered by hard cover and/or non-threat targets. A horizontal moving target that was partially covered by a non-threat target began to move back and forth across the stage. When done, the shooter tactical reloaded and proceeded to the next door. A vertical mover moving away and two targets partially covered by non-threat targets were there to meet the shooter. After engaging these targets the shooter tactical reloaded and proceeded to the last door. This is where most shooters engaged the horizontal mover as it was considered a low threat target. The last two targets were then engaged to finish the stage.
Stage four was set up in one of Smith and Wesson's test ranges. The props at the stage made it look like a rundown roadhouse bar. The shooter began seated at a table and with gun holstered, concealed, and loaded with only six rounds. On the floor was a mannequin representing the wounded barkeep and at his side was a loaded S&W five shot revolver. At the beep, the shooter moved to the left hand door, drew,(for safety reasons there was a fault line there) crouched, and engaged three targets at two shots each. When the slide locked back, (and if it didnÕt it had to be manually locked back) the shooter dropped the gun in a padded box and proceeded to the right hand door. The shooter grabbed the revolver and engaged the last two targets. As with all other stages, the shooter had to utilize cover when shooting through the doorways. On the second run-through the revolver was left unloaded and the shooter had to reload the gun using a Bianchi speed strip before engaging the last two targets. This caused some trouble for shooters who were unfamiliar with this type of ammunition carrier.
Stage five was the second part of the classifier. It took place in another of Smith and WessonÕs more interesting test ranges. It ran as smoothly as the other stages did.
Stage six was a motel room scenario. The shooter was seated in a swivel chair looking at a TV with gun lying on a table to the side. The first run had the shooter swivel the chair to the rear and shoot at the three targets in tactical order. The second run had the shooter jump out of the seat and shoot the three targets in tactical order. The third run had the shooter begin by holding a baby doll. The shooter had to turn to the side and protect the "baby" as the targets were engaged strong hand only.
Stage seven was a low light stage. The shooter laid on a mat with gun and flashlight on the mat and in front. The only light present was a "campfire" which was a red light bulb inside a wood stack. There were three "bears" which were IDPA targets standing horizontally on wood legs. On the beep the shooter had to pick up the gun & light, illuminate and engage the first bear with two headshots, and then shoot the other two bears with shots to the center scoring zone. The second run through had the shooter lying 180 degrees differently.
Stage eight took place in a large dimly lit range. There was a "police car" with three targets in front. A doorway was to the right of the targets. The shooter began by sitting in the passenger side of a police car (it was the cab from a compact pick up truck with a light bar on top) At the beep the shooter exited the car and used the door as cover to engage three targets with controlled pairs. When through the shooter tactical reloaded behind cover and advanced to the door. At the door the shooter utilized cover to engage three targets. The shooter then tactical reloaded and moved to the second door. The shooter had to engage three more targets (some with partial hard cover) utilizing cover and without hitting the non-threat target blocking all but the head of the leftmost target.
The S&W Winternationals were a great success due to the great Range Officers, a clever Match Director and a fine group of shooters. Most of the shooters I talked to approved of the inclusion of the classifier and applauded how efficient it was run. I'll bet that most of the shooters will return next year to do it all over again.