Last year, Crimson Trace ran their Midnight 3-Gun Invitational for the first time and in order to make things work in the dark they needed to make sure that the rules made sense. Some of the rules they put in place worked really well. Others, not so much. This year, there are some critical rule changes that have really improved the way the competition runs and makes things a lot more fun. One rule in particular I hope to see duplicated in other midnight 3-gun events . . .
Every night time competition I’ve run so far requires the shooter to start with all lights and lasers off except for those on your body. The idea is that it prepares you for a “real” night time self defense engagement and some of the stages are designed with that kind of scenario in mind. Obviously this was something that Crimson trace wanted to emulate since it would show off their products “in action” and how easy it is to turn them on and such. But for a true “high speed low drag” competition with pro shooters, it was just a pain in the ass.
This year, Crimson Trace has changed that. Instead of starting with everything off, you start with everything on — even the guns you’ve staged downrange. There are multiple benefits to this.
First, you don’t need to fumble with switches anymore. It makes it much easier to pick up the gun and start shooting immediately which is great for my score and cuts down on the number of things I need to remember when the stage starts. Lowering the number of items on my mental checklist is definitely a good thing.
Second, it makes it much easier to see your target when you’re running. Instead of trying to find the next dump barrel you need to run to, if you already have a gun sitting there with the light on then it gives you a gigantic and easily visible target that you can see from across the stage. It’s definitely a safety issue, and makes the range much safer in my opinion.
This was the single biggest change in the rules this year, and I really think that it’s for the better. Hopefully we’ll see the match continue to evolve over the next couple years and I look forward to seeing how the rules change next year.
@Nick Leghorn
Back at Shot show FNH said they would provide and upgrade so that you can turn your FNH FNS into a longslide version so that you can have a single frame and go from carry gun to competition gun and back in a few minutes. I know from the previous post that the 40 longslide will ship soon followed by the 9mm. Is the plan to still have and upgrade/conversion?
I have standard FNS-9 and would like to know if I keep it and get the upgrade or trade it in for the new long slide
That rule change makes sense from a safety standpoint. I am still jealous you are at the event.
“First, you don’t need to fumble with switches anymore.” Like everything else, train like you fight. I wouldn’t say I fumble with my switches any more than I would say I fumble with my safety, with my mag release or my trigger. Make sense?
” great for my score” Well, yours and every one else presumably.
I’d rather see them fumble with their switches and see who has truly mastered their firearms.
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