Fabulous Ferrous Fracas (3F) Tournament of Champions

What is the Tournament of Champions?

Fabulous Ferrous Fracas is a fun and challenging match that uses only steel targets. The rules of the 3F are quite simple. There are five targets. You must shoot those five targets as fast as you can. You will do this 4 times and your slowest time will be removed.

The Tournament of Champions is a four stage match with three potential rounds of shooting. Each shooter will enter the match based on their firearm division. The first round will be used as the classification system for placement in the second round based on a percentage of the fastest shooter's time in each division.

Class One - 100%-85%
Class Two - 84.99%-70%
Class Three - 69.99%-55%
Class Four - 54.99% and below

In order to move on to the second round, competitors must shoot better than 50% of the competitors in their class to move on at a discounted fee. If a competitor does not shoot better than 50%, then they can re-buy in for twice the original entry fee.

After round two, competitors remain in their class unless they perform exceptionally well. If a competitor is in the top 10% of their class and the next competitor below them is more than 5% behind them, that competitor and everyone above that competitor moves up to the next class. If the gap is 10% or greater, then the competitors move up two classes.

In order to move on to the final round, the same re-entry and buy-in occurs. Competitors in the top 50% will pay a discounted fee and shooters below half will pay a higher buy-in.

How much does it cost?

The Tournament of Champions will cost $30 to enter the first round. If a competitor shoots in the top half of the class, they can enter round two for $20. If they shoot below the top half of the class, then re-entry costs $60. The final round will utilize the same pricing system. $20 for the top half and $60 for anyone wanting to enter from the bottom half.

What are the prizes?

The Tournament of Champions is a cash prize match. Each round has a different payout system. The entry fees for each class will be tallied and payouts will be allocated on a percentage system.

Round One
First Place - 20%
Second Place - 10%
Third Place - 5%
Division Champion - 5% (this is allocated from all classes)
Taft Sport Shooters - 10%
Carry Over to Round Two - 50%

Round Two
First Place - 30%
Second Place - 15%
Third Place - 7.5%
Taft Sport Shooters - 10%
Carry Over to Final Round - 37.5%

Final Round
First Place - 50%
Second Place - 25%
Third Place - 15%
Taft Sport Shooters - 10%

Of course how much you can win depends on who keeps shooting. We will use an IDPA regional match as an example of potential payouts at the bottom of the page.

What do I need to shoot 3F?

We plan on shooting four stages per round. You will need a pistol or revolver that shoots pistol caliber rounds or a pistol caliber carbine and a minimum of 20 rounds per stage. We recommend you bring 120 rounds per round or about 350 rounds for the whole match to be safe. Bring a holster, mag pouches, and as many magazines/speed loaders as you have. The more magazines you have, the better.

What are the rules?

The match is simple. When a shooter puts their hands into the surrender position (hands above the shoulders), they are ready to shoot. The SO will say, "Shooter Ready, Stand by" and then the buzzer will sound. The shooter may shoot the 5 steel targets in any order, however, the designated stop plate must be shot last. When the stop plate is shot, the time is recorded while the shooter reloads if necessary (highly recommended) and raises their hands when ready to shoot the next string. Four strings will be shot and the worst score will be removed.

Additional shots on the stop plate will be counted. So if a competitor shoots the stop plate twice or shoots again, their final shot will be their final time.

If the shooter shoots the stop plate before hitting all targets, they will be issued a 10 second penalty per plate missed.

Shooters will be penalized 10 seconds for "creeping" or moving their hands before the buzzer. A 10 second penalty will be scored when a shooter steps on the ground outside of the shooter's box (foot on top of the box is not outside of the box).

The maximum time for a string is 30 seconds. If the shooter goes over 30 seconds, the SO will stop the shooter and tell them to prepare for the next string. If the stop plate is not hit, the shooter's score will be 30 seconds.

Each competitor will have 3 minutes to complete all four strings. A timer will be used and any strings not completed in 3 minutes will be given the maximum score of 30 seconds each. The 3 minutes does not stop for competitor weapon malfunctions or jams. The 3 minutes start as soon as the competitor is in the box and cleared to load and make ready. If a competitor's name is called and they are not present after three callings of their name, the 3 minutes will begin in absentia.

The 3 minutes will stop for stage malfunctions or other unforeseen circumstances beyond the competitor's control. This match must run quickly and smoothly and that means competitors must have reliable and operational equipment and be prepared to shoot when called.

All Taft Sport Shooters' safety rules and reasons for disqualification will remain the same.

What do the stages look like?

Distances will vary from 10 to 30 yards. All stages will have 5 targets with one stop plate. Due to time contraints, no movement stages will be used.

What are the divisions

Stock (SSP or Production)
Modified (ESP or Limited)
Classic (CDP or Single Stack)
Stock Revolver (SSR or No Compensators or Optics)
Open Revolver (ESR or Any Revolver)
Open (Any Handgun, No Restrictions)
Carbine (Any Pistol Caliber Carbine - Optics or Irons)

Registration

All competitors must pay in advance and pre-register. There are two ways to pay:

Pay Online Using Pay Pal A convenience fee will be assessed
Download a Match Application and Mail It In

Registration is limited to 80 shooters (staff included). Shooters may only shoot one handgun at the match. Shooters may re-enter using a carbine only, but all normal match fees apply.

IDPA Sample

Let's look at the 2014 SDPS CA State IDPA Championships as an example of how those shooters would have placed in the Tournament of Champions. We will be focusing solely on the Stock Service Pistol Division.

After the First Round off all shooters in SSP shooting together, here are the results.

Using the 15% for Classes we get the following classes and pay outs:

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Here we will simulate what happens when we get a couple of competitors to move on in Round Two, but in the final Round, only the top half pay in to shoot the final. Again, we won't know until match day who feels like moving on and who won't and that will probably be determined by how close the scores are.

For Class Three, we are going to simulate what happens when no one in the bottom 50% want to move on.