Monday, February 04, 2008 Rama: Civilians chip in for Mamang Pulis success By Karlon N. Rama Stage Five
(conclusion)
WITH borrowed firearms and ammunition scrounged from various sources, I joined with a squad of Kamagong Gun Club shooters in the two categories that set last week’s Mamang Pulis Cup apart from other shooting matches—rifle and shotgun competition.
Unfortunately, while the course of fire designed by the National Range Officers’ Institute was immensely engaging, it was these two categories that, like the Gorres and Darchinyan fight last Saturday, left a bit more to be desired.
In the shotgun category, for example, organizers fused together the semi-automatic and the manual-action division. This, in turn, placed those who, like us, had to pump in order to fire, at a disadvantage.
They did the same thing in the rifle event, combining together in one category those who shot the match with scoped M16 rifles and those who, like us, shot the competition with iron sights.
Nevertheless, remember the first rule in shooting matches? No whining.
The three-stage shotgun course was a speed shoot—the competitor who guns down his targets at the shortest time wins.
Because the organizers fused the semi-automatic and the manual-action divisions, there is little point in publishing who won, as the lineup doesn’t reflect actual performance.
Nevertheless, the top 10 of a field of 44 shooters were Chief Insp. Virgilio Pascua, Raul Tolentino, Supt. Roel Flores, John Melendrez of Kamagong Gun Club, Wilfredo Anglo, Fernando Gonzaga, PO3 MacArthur Avilla, Jimmy Yu of Casey Gun Club, Gerry Velez of Kamagong and Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s son, Miguel.
Slow but sure. While without the sprint and spray flavor of the scatter gun event, the rifle stage was equally intense.
Stage one in the rifle match had a catchy stage title—YOU Scenario for Your Own Urban Scenario.
Shooters were asked to engage the three paper targets twice each from three different shooting locations 15 to 30 meters away. Only hits on the A-zone count with each hit garnering five points.
Stage two was supposedly a Standing, Kneeling and Prone shooting exercise that, had organizers stuck to the details of the original course of fire, would have required shooters to engage three paper targets.
One was to be shot twice while standing, the other twice while kneeling and the last twice again while flat on the ground. The targets, in turn, are supposed to be set 50, 75 and 100 meters away, respectively.
During the match, shooters were surprised to see three orange-painted metal targets no longer than three inches in diameter placed on stands between 70 and 80 yards from the firing line. That’s shooting the distance of somewhere between 210 and 240 feet.
Shooters were to fire while lying prone until all targets fall or until one ran out of ammo. And believe me, lots of people fired and missed until their magazines ran dry.
Low count. Unfortunately, despite the level of difficulty, each metal gong was only worth five points.
The fastest open-sight shooter in the category would have been SPO2 Jun Atuel, the designated Cebu City Police Office Swat marksman, who reached out and touched all three targets in 32 unbelievable seconds.
Yet, his feat only earned him a hit factor of 0.46875 lousy points.
On the other had, the easier YOU Scenario stage, which would have a perfect score of 90 and, at least in theory, could be done in 18 seconds flat, had a potential hit factor high of five full points.
As fate would have it, Atuel finished the YOU stage with a hail of penalties.
Since organizers scored those shooting scoped rifles in the same category as those with iron sights, and since the point-assignments gave more weight to the easier course, the results are again not reflective of the actual skill of those present.
Nevertheless, the top half in the field of 34 include: Supt. Mike Dubria, Wilfredo Anglo, Roland dela Rosa, Raul Tolentino, Insp. Rogelio Pineda, Kamagong’s Mercader, Jojo Roble of Team Roble Shipping, Sr. Insp. Patay, PO3 Rizalito Recongco, Rufo Tagulam, Chief Insp. Delvo, SPO2 Atuel, PO1 Casimiro Atuel, Fernando Gonzaga, myself, PO3 Jomar Ybañez and Insp. Mary Crystal Peralta.
