Manatee 3 Gunners,
I wanted to reach out to you to let you know we are going to add a new division to our match starting in January 2022 - Carry Optics Division.
Carry Optics will sit between Tac Ops and Open and will allow for the use of red dots to be mounted on the slide of pistols (no frame mounted, no compensator) along with red dots on tube fed shotguns. The pistol can be any make or model but the red dot must be mounted to the slide only. The other minor addition(s) to Carry Optics will be the addition of 4 extra rounds to start in the shotgun tube, making it 12+1 to start a stage and an extra red dot in addition to the allowed magnified optic on the rifle. Below is a snapshot of the proposed matrix of divisions for Manatee 3 Gun 2022:
| Division | Rifle | Pistol | Shotgun | ||
| Limited | 1 non-magnified Red dot or irons, iron backsup ok, no mag restriction | Iron sights only, 141.25 mm double stack mag or 171.25 mm single stack mag maximum length | Tube fed shotgun, iron/fiber optic sights, no tube length restrictions but may start stage with no more than 8 rounds in tube + 1 in chamber | ||
| Tac Ops | Only 1 magnified optic, backup irons ok, no mag restrictions | Iron sights only, 141.25 mm double stack mag or 171.25 mm single stack mag maximum length | Tube fed shotgun, iron/fiber optic sights, no tube length restrictions but may start stage with no more than 8 rounds in tube + 1 in chamber | ||
| Carry Optics | 1 magnified optic, one non magnified optic ok, no mag restrictions | Slide mounted red-dot, 141.25 mm double stack mag maximum or 171.25 mm single stack mag maximum length | Tube fed shotgun only, Red dot ok, no tube length restrictions, may start stage with no more than 12 rounds in tube + 1 in chamber | ||
| Open | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
We've listened to feedback and there are plenty of new shooters coming out and joining us with a new pistol but get put into open with their new slide mounted red dot pistol. Hopefully, with this new division we make the divisions more streamlined and have a smaller jump between Tac Ops and Open. As always you can shoot into a higher class (i.e. a Limited shooter can put themselves into Open), but not the other way around. I think in a few years there might be red dots on pistols in Tac Ops and because we are an outlaw match we can be some of the first adopters. We are going to try it for 6 months or so and see what kind of interest we have. We might modify it after that depending on where some of the majors go. I know we have some shooters that don't like loading the shotgun so this new division allows for a few more in the tube to start off with but not having to step up into Open with a lot of the box fed guns.
We are looking forward to seeing some new and returning shooters to come out and come back and join us. I'm also trying to figure out how to incorporate some PCC in the match as well in place of the shotgun in some of the matches. It's a little harder with our current range rules but I'm hoping to make it happen for some of our events.
We have our next scheduled match on January 8th (3 guns - rifle, pistol and shotgun) and a bonus Jan. match on the 5th Saturday, Jan. 29th.
In the 5th Sat. match, we may not shoot shotgun but have a two gun match (rifle/pistol) with our "sniper" stage to engage targets out to 620 plus yards with a bolt gun or different AR platform rifle than your 3 gun rifle. I think I'm planning on shooting my DMR rifle to change it up. If you have a fancy DMR or precision bolt gun come out and join us, or shoot your 3 gun rifle and see how you do at longer distances!
Let me know if you have any questions, see you on the range.
Shine
