Last weekend I had the privilege to compete on the Kansas City Missouri Police Department (KCMO) Pistol team for the annual Special Olympics charity shoot. Unlike previous years, this year’s competition was combined with the Brandon Collins Memorial shoot. Master Deputy Collins worked for the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) and was killed in the line of duty on September 11, 2016.
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office has held a memorial shoot every year, and though I shot at the first one some years ago, I was unable to make it to subsequent shoots until this year. I did shoot the Special Olympics match last year since KCMO invited me to shoot on their 4 man team. KCMO has a long-standing friendly rivalry with JCSO and last year we won the team event and the large traveling trophy that goes with it. I also won Carry Optics with a score that was good enough to win overall.
The match consists of 3 stages. One is a 36 round timed shoot from 25, 20, 15, and 10 yards on an IPSC target. Hard cover blocks everything except the A zone. The next stage is the same as the first but shot on the NRA D-1, which has a MUCH smaller scoring zone. The third stage is a steel challenge type stage, but this year it involved 13 targets of various sizes and shapes at various distances. A reload anytime before the last shot was required. The stages this year were slightly changed from last year but the idea and the difficulty remain similar year to year.
JCSO asked me to shoot on their team this year, but since I had already agreed to shoot with KCMO again, I have to watch my back around my JCSO friends! Just kidding of course, and in reality, I would be very happy to shoot with any of those guys any time. Both agencies take their training seriously and are a pleasure to work with.
With the hectic schedule I’ve had lately and the lack of practice, I didn’t expect to do very well. Somehow though, I managed to win Carry Optics again, and we won the team event as well. This year my Carry Optics score was not quite good enough for the overall win, and a friend at JCSO edged me out by 1 point with his open gun. We did get the traveling trophy again though, and in addition to the Carry Optics trophy, we were each awarded a nice individual trophy from the team event. A great-looking coin also accompanied each trophy.
My KCPD teammates included Ward Smith (FAST coin holder #13), John Best and Dave Hill. Ward shot open and came in 5th, John shot limited and came in 1st, and Dave shot open as well and came in 3rd. Quite the team and I’m always excited to shoot with these guys. Overall, it is an excellent shoot for 2 worthy causes. Various law enforcement agencies entered a team or individuals, and a great bunch of civilians also competed. In all, almost 200 shooters competed. If you can make it, sign up for next year!
I haven’t shot many matches the last couple of years but I always enjoyed the Brandon Collins and Special Olympics matches. It’s nice to see that they combined them this year. What pistol are you using for CO?
Come back out next year! I shot my standby, the LTT P30L.
I will definitely be there if the schedule lines up.
Let me know if you do!
This was always a good match the few times I shot it before moving across the country. One of my last showings I brought a few coworkers along for their first matches. It’s a pretty good introduction to doing things outside of the square range.
Where were you working then? If you can say.