Last weekend, this year's XVII edition of the International Combined Shooting Competition took place. It was organized by the SBS Salwa association, under the patronage of the Ministry of National Defense. This event was organized again at the training ground and shooting range of the 1st Warsaw Armored Brigade in Rembertów - Wesoła (Mazowieckie Voivodeship) and was very popular, attracting about 300 participants from Poland and abroad, divided into 76 teams. WMASG.com, being the media patron of the competition, also sent its team to compete, in cooperation with 5.11 Tactical.
In addition to sports competitions, an important the whole event was also integration of various shooting communities - civilian enthusiasts, to uniformed services. For this reason, the organizers allowe participants to arrive and register on Friday, as well as to stay overnight in one of two resorts in the area or in military tents at the training ground. The main part of the event took place on Saturday.
Saturday's main event at the shooting range started on time, that is early in the morning. Just like last year, participants had to take part in eleven competitions including shooting at distances ranging from 25 to 300 meters and... throwing a dummy grenade at the target. It is worth noting that competitors during this event did not have the opportunity to use their own weapons, but only those provided by the organizers. As resulted in all the participants had even chances, supposedly. In addition, it gave the opportunity to get acquainted with weapons offered by many leading manufacturers, such as Heckler & Koch, Glock, Mossberg, Sig Sauer or the Polish FB "Łucznik" - Radom.
In individual competitions, the list of weapons used looked as follows: H&K HK416 14.5" 5.56x45 mm (semi-auto version) with the MAKstorm 4x30i HD scope, Grot 7.62x39 mm, Sig Sauer M400 Tread 16" 5.56x45 mm with the LPVO Tango-MSR 1-8x24 mm scope, H&K USC .45 ACP with the MAKdot S 1x20 sight, HK SFP9 OR Match 9x19 mm with the MAKdot SH sight, H&K Mark 23 .45 ACP, VIS 100 9x19 mm, Mossberg 940 JM Pro 12GA (using slugs), Glock 44 .22LR and Tippmann .22LR AR-15 type.
Despite the efforts of the organizers, it was impossible to avoid some differences between the weapons at different courses, which affected the final results. Despite the fact that, according to information we obtained, all weapons were zeroed in for their respective ranges, in some cases (e.g. shooting from the Grot 7.62x39 carbine at 100 meters) feedback from participants indicated certain discrepancies. Long-distance shooting (Sig Sauer M400 Tread 16" carbine at 300 meters) was difficult due to the lack of the possibility to use any kind of observation scope and thus take any necessary correction.
The organization of facilities and logistics of the event deserve praise. The starter packs with gadgets from sponsors contained also detailed schedules of the competitions, grouping teams in a way that made it possible to reduce the queue to subsequent shooting courses. There were also three military trucks at the disposal of the participants, which ensured their continuous and smooth flow between different curses of the shooting range, where various competitions were held. A field kitchen, water and portable toilets were also available at various key locations at all times. Prepared with great care, but in a military atmosphere, food was available until late in the evening. The competitors who decided to stay at the training ground until Sunday morning were also treated with a breakfast.
At the main part of the training ground and the shooting range, there where a total of 7 short-range shooting competitions held. There was also a place for the sponsors of the event. During their free time, each participant had the opportunity to get acquainted with many interesting weapons and accessories. At the stand of PGZ Cenzin, one could find e.g. the H&K HK433. Many models of weapons from the manufacturer's offer were exhibited at the FB Radom stand, including the MSBS "Grot" rifle in the bullpup configuration. People interested in advanced optoelectronics could take a look at the latest trends in the field of thermal imaging thanks to the Infov exhibition, including the InfiRay RICO RS75 or the multispectral (multispectral) InfiRay Fast FAL19 sights we wrote about. The Polish brand Son Of Gun has also presented its offer. Near the part of the shooting range where the 100 and 300 meters competitions were held, another attraction was placed, a Leopard 2A5 tank. There was no shortage of people willing to take a ride around the training ground or at least take commemorative photos with it.
Another good solution was to provide participants with access to results online, which were updated almost in real time. Observation of changes in the results provided additional excitement and positively influenced the competitive atmosphere. On Saturday evening, after all competitions ended, there was a final speech and valuable prizes for the best shooters and teams in individual competitions and classes were awarded.
The individual OPEN classification was won by a representative of the Warsaw Police Headquarters - Maciej Mikołajczuk. The team trophy was won by the first team of the SALWA Wołomin club, which included: Mariusz Ćkła, Kazimierz Kieś, Robert Listkowski and Daniel Gankowski, thus keeping the chalange Cup of the Minister of National Defense. In the women's classification, Anna Ploch from SALWA Wołomin was the most versatile competitor. A separate classification was also held for participants from outside Poland: Oldrich Precechtel from the Czech Republic turned out to be the best individual, and Kaitseliit Parnu from Estonia turned out to be the best team. Also noteworthy is the achievement of Pawel Rozenek from the "OBROŃCA" Shooting Club, who obtained the highest results in two individual competitions, additionally winning two more as a team.
We also have something to be proud of: the 5.11 Tactical WMASG.com team appeared on the top step of the podium thanks to Medard Starzycki, who won in the individual classification in the "Mossberg smoothbore shotgun" competition, shooting a target at 50 meters with slug ammunition. In addition, we took the 2nd place in this competition
We would like to thank the organizers of the XVII International Combined Shooting Competition for the invitation. This event would also not have been possible without its numerous sponsors: Sellier & Bellot, CENZIN (PGZ Group), 3M/Peltor, Polish National Foundation, InFOV, Caliber, M.K. Szuster, Specshop.pl, Delta Optical, Fabryka Broni "Łucznik" - Radom and many others, thanks to which it could be held at high level.
Photographers: Paulina Duda, Medard Starzycki
