Keene PCSL is winding down but the competition is hotter than ever.
- Jason
- Sep 13, 2024
- 8 min read
Updated: Sep 21, 2024
2024 is the first year for Practical Competitive Shooting League at CCSSEF in Keene, New Hampshire. PCSL is a generally new platform that provides a simpler competition rule book. In short it says, go fast and shoot accurate. And our competitors have thoroughly embraced the change. 2024 holds seven matches at our home base. One match a month starting in April and finalizing in our biggest and best match in October. Every match that we have had has been better than the one previous to it. We have had a number of work parties where we continue to build walls and we have reinvested proceeds into equipment to make the stages more elaborate and fun. The hard work is paying off.
Our September Showdown took place last weekend and it fell on a perfect September day. Not too hot, not too cold, crisp morning air and the smell of gun powder. After our safety
briefing we had prizes to give away. Monadnock Firearms once again stepped up to the plate. Their kind donation of a set of Fix It Sticks to one lucky winner. Fix it sticks are a field armorers kit for all those unexpected repairs. And they aren't cheap. They are quality and worth every penny. This isn't a throw-away prize, this is something any shooter would be happy to have in their range bag and it was given to one lucky shooter just for signing up to run the stages with us. Congrats to the winner and a HUGE thank you to Monadnock Firearms in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire. If you have read my previous blog posts you know how I feel about this gun shop. There are plenty of FFLs that can sell a firearm. This is the place to go to find the professionals that have the patience and knowledge to be sure you are getting exactly what you looking for.
Shortly after 9am we dispersed to our first stage. My wife and I were once again paired up with some of our favorite familiar shooters. Ed, Rick, Liz and myself would be running tablets and timers. We are also accompanied with some new to us shooters and one new to the sport shooter. I have to admit that sometimes first-timers do make me nervous. At the first stage, this gentleman informed me that this was his first competition. I took a moment to go over the commands and what I expected of him. I told him of some common mistakes that I have seen other shooters make so that he might not fall into those same pitfalls. I could tell immediately that he understood what I was explaining to him and I really didn't have anything to worry about at all. Beyond that, he turned out to be a helluva marksman also. He was cleaning house with iron sights all day long. He was very safe and attentive all day while putting points on the board. Great job. It was a pleasure shooting with you.
This match consisted of six unique stages. I do have to thank Rick Barker and Kyle Narkum for this matches stage designs. Five of the six stages involve shooting several targets from a minimum of four positions in the stage. This forces the shooter to have fast transitions from target to target in each position and have to be quick on their feet when moving from position to position.
It's difficult to say which stage was my favorite but I believe it is this one. Starting with palms on barrels, give it hell when be timer rings. I dart to the left rear corner and am sure to put my left foot on the shooting zone markers. From here I can see all of the left side targets. I fire as quickly as possible on the closest two targets and have to take my time on the further up. To hit the left side inner stage target I have to lean heavily and even then I can only make Charlie or Delta hits but my thought is that by doing this it will prevent me from having to run to that corner of the stage at all. From the same left rear position I then transition my optic to the right rear target which is mostly hidden but I at least hit Charlies and
Deltas, thus preventing me from running to the right rear position. My thoughts are less running is less time and better scoring. These are longer shots so I do have to take a little more time when squeezing off both shots. I execute ten shots into these five targets and leap forward into a diagnal sprint to the right front. This dash allows me time to drop a mag and insert a fresh set of freedom seeds, snap two into the right side first target, run outside the shooting zone, around the wall, back over the orange shooting zone barrier and six more rounds into the final paper and one to tip over the steel popper. It felt fast, it felt good. I was happy. The scoring commences and I had one miss at the target I had to heavily lean to see. That sucks. I was confident with both of the shots I sent but the cardboard doesn't lie. All said and done I had 18 Alphas, 4 Charlies, 1 Delta and 1 Mike. I'm still happy.
Another great stage is the "L is for Love" stage. The shooter starts anywhere in the shooting zone. Their firearm and intended use magazine are laying on a barrel twenty feet up in the stage. At the beep, I run to the barrel and retrieve my Matrix Arms Invictus. I am haunted by my less than splendid performance at a match earlier this season with a similar start. At that match I fumbled the magazine like I had never used it before. It's these harsh moments that stick with us and I wasn't going to let that happen again. This time I got a firm purchase on the magazine and took my time to get it firmly inserted into the mag well. All while treaded backwards
into the shooting zone, drawing up and blasting away at five targets of varying distances. From here I take off to the right, drop a mag, insert fresh while coming around the corner to finish off the remaining seven targets.
A new experience happened for me on the "Lateral Move" stage. Starting in the front center I got the beep and dashed to the left rear, clear the two targets outside the left wall, clear the
targets to the far upper right and one in the far upper left and then I intended to run to the right rear of the stage to engage the next target. Pushing off my right foot, I break traction and the top half of my body starts moving at a much faster pace than the bottom. My brain acknowledges that I am going down. It feels like it is almost in slow motion. I keep my eye hard focused on my pistol, I keep my trigger finger firmly pressed WAY up on the slide and I keep the muzzle aimed way down at the back berm. I twist my body to land on my right side hip and then shoulder. The motion finally comes to a stop. On the ground, lying still, I look to Rick with the timer and with a great big smile on his face he yells, "Keep going, get up, your not done and your not DQ'd". I roll onto all fours, still being mindful of the firearm. I get me feet under me and stand, one handed I put one shot into a right side target, two handed I put two shots into the other right side target, I am completely flustered. I shake if off as best I can and finish out shooting the remainder of my stage plan. Raw time 19.68 second 16 A, 5 C, 1 D and 2 Mikes.
I do have to admit at this point frustration and disappointment settled in. It was only momentary and it wasn't because I superman'd into the gravel. It was because of how I conducted myself after taking the dirt bath. I lost focus on the big picture. I was having a great match up until then and if I got back up and was able to engage my inner competitive shooter, I definitely could have avoided those Mikes and shaved a few more seconds off. But hey, I'm human. After a minute of spitting nails, I brushed the dirt off my pants and made sure I wasn't bleeding to badly, took the timer and continued on with my day. I remembered that I do this for fun. Yes, I want to do the best I can but ultimately I do this because I enjoy it.
The sixth stage was much different than the other five. 19 steel, three drop legs, 6 paper and one max trap from a shooting box forty feet away. Draw and let blaze. A reload is a must for a pistol. This was awesome. Of all the stages, I wish I could have shot this one over and over.
September's match was one for the history books. It was a great time full of great stages with great competitors. This was the best match we have had this season. I know that I say that with every writing that I post but that is because I mean it. Every match we put on it better than the one we had previously.
That brings me to the news of our October Halloween match. For years this has been the pinnacle of action pistol shooting delight in Keene Nh. This year appears to be head and shoulders above anything we have done before. This year we are blessed with the opportunity to donate 100% of the proceeds to the Aiming For Zero Charity. Aiming For Zero is on a mission to prevent Veteran Suicide in America. The statistics for the frequency of veteran suicide in this nation is an overwhelmingly appalling figure. Jeff has been pulling on all the strings he can find and has been extremely successful in the prize donation category. We will be having raffles with some ridiculous shooting sports gear. Matrix Arms donated a Invictus, Highlander Arms donated a 12 gauge, and lots more prizes from Go Fast, Don't Suck, Zero Tech, Mantis x 10 Elite kit, Outdoor Dynamics, Hunter Constantine Concealed Carry Belts and more to come.
We also have the 2024 season championship coming to a close. The battle for the belt is coming down to the wire. I haven't mentioned it much but there has been an ongoing competition for the best PCSL competition shooter at CCSSEF. The total scores for each shooter from each of the seven matches are tallied up and the winner goes home with the belt. Its a tight race and its coming down to the final match. Rick Barker (2825 points) is sitting uncomfortably in first place with Lance Carter (2814 points) nipping at his heals. Kyle Narkum is a close third which is amazing in itself as he couldn't make it to the last match at all. The chase for the belt has been awesome to watch all season. It has been fun to see these high caliber shooters pushing their limits.
Spots are filling up but there is still spaces available. The match is October 12th and it will not disappoint. Sign up on Practiscore. Thank you to all of our sponsors and I look forward to seeing all the familiar faces in a couple weeks.
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