This weekend (Aug 8-9) I participated in what had been advertised by David Burke on his blog and in e-mail as a Canadian Defensive Pistol Provincial Match at Connaught Ranges.
Before I go on, I want to state that anything I say here I said directly to the Match Director and would have said to David Burke if he hadn’t left the match early.
Back to the match. It turned out that this was by no stretch of the imagination a CDP match. The match was organized and run by a group from the OSA and its stated purpose was to practice for the upcoming DCRA National Service Conditions Championship. What if any, association they had with CDP and/or CSSA was never explained.
The match consisted of a number of drills, including one from fifty yards, that were closer in nature to PPC than anything else and four scenarios that utilized some walls and included a target on a moving sled. What was somewhat confusing was that four types of targets were used simultaneously (IPSC Classic and Metric, CDP and IDPA). The scoring was different, consisting of time, and hits on three scoring zones that changed depending on what type of target was being fired on. Other than the scenarios took far too long to complete, the match was somewhat interesting and I have no problem with the rules for that discipline. However, it was not what was advertised i.e. CDP.
I had an issue with the cost of the match which was $50.00. In any other disciple I shoot a $50.00 match fee would probably include a banquet or at least lunch. For this match $50.00 allowed you to shoot, period. No lunch, no water – nothing. However it was my choice to pay and I didn’t ask when I registered if water or lunch was included.
There also appeared to be some issue regarding the use of the range. Information provided prior to the match indicated that the match would held on adjoining Ranges 3 and 4. In fact only Range 3 was utilized and it appeared that the Navy Combat Shooting Team that was practising on another range were required to provide a monitor on our range. What was at issue was never explained.
Finally, I am not impressed by Mr. Burke. He advertised the CDP Provincial Match and as late as last Thursday indicated by e-mail that everything was fine. This was obviously not the case and while he was there for Saturday and for the first part of Sunday morning he never did explain the inconsistency of what he had promoted and what was actually happening. Once bitten, etc. I don’t think that I will be falling for that again.