BDH

[slight thread drift] I think a lot of this is eliminated if the range staff watches their steel. We have been told many times to 'manage your steel' and what is being referred to is paying attention to the steel so that it never gets out of calibration. I usually try to remember to go downrange and inspect steel every other squad or so. If it is getting heavy, I lighten it up. I also check to make sure that it is staying firmly staked, and that the eyebolt has not loosened up if it has an activator. When adjusting it, I set it as light as possible, so that it will go down every time, yet still stays up reliably. Using that practice, I had a total of one re-shoot (from steel out of calibration) over both the 2004 and 2005 Nationals. Why did I have the one?? Well, I got lazy, or distracted or whatever, and I did not manage my steel which let it get out of calibration'. 100% my fault, but then again, one reshoot due to bad steel over the last two Nationals isn't a bad track record..... [/slight thread drift]

Two things.... First, I was surprised to see some big dog laying on my stage in Barry, and was worried about the ticks. I asked the owner (sorry, can't remember the name so feel free to help me out), and he said that the dog was on XXX (Frontline maybe?). Apparently some drug that as soon as the tick bites, he immediately lets go and is pretty disoriented and falls off. Would be nice if WE could take that drug... Second, when I was a kid I used to travel the woods with a magnifying glass. One of my favorite things to do if I found a tick on a sunny day was to put it on a flat surface, and focus the sun's energy through my magnifying glass on his little squirming body. POP!

Maybe I am evil, but I have often set up swingers so that if someone 'really' wants to shoot them while they are static, they do have that option. They may only have a piece of the D zone, OR more likely, they may have an 'upper A/B' shot between two no-shoots. If they want to give up the points by shooting the D hits, or take the time required to shoot an upper A/B while the target is static, well..... that is their choice.....

Always hard to respond with an answer to something you did not actually witness, but from the description, it sounds like the targets appeared once, and then disappeared. Based on that, the appropriate rule seems to be.... 9.9.2 Moving targets, which do not comply with the above criteria will not incur failure to shoot at or miss penalties except where Rule 9.9.3 applies (9.9.3 is the rule that defines that you must activate the mover). Again, assuming I understand exactly what happened here, it does not appear that any Procedural penalties should have been applied.

Actually, you didn't hear me call out anything as I wasn't the RO (I was on the clipboard). Also, I certainly was not trying to 'finger' anyone as this was just one of those things that happens. All that said, still hate to see a good run down the tubes, but so be it.....

Just FYI.... if you are looking for a WS shirt, they are still available in the USPSA store.... USPSA Store

You must 'taste' better than me as I think I escaped without any 'sucking'. Then again, maybe that 40% DEET stuff I was covered in protected me (while seriously melting my some of my plastic gear).....

You're welcome! The Nationals staff is a dedicated group, and while it was definately hot, we knew it was just as hot for all the competitors. Everyone survived this one together. A couple of comments around 'RO's that might need a refresher'... First, if you ran into an RO that might need 'coaching' in some area, the best thing to do is have a quiet discussion with the Range Master about the issue. Since the RM is responsible for all of us, he can help make sure that the RO gets up to speed. I think most of the staff appreciates feedback that helps improve their future performance (at least I know that I do). Second, the heat was getting to everyone. I know because I was running the ladies Super Squad (my last squad late Friday afternoon), and we got to the end of the COF, and it took me a minute because I couldn't remember my range commands! I finally pulled it together, got the shooter cleared, and was just really glad that I only had 3 or 4 shooters left to go. Sooo, maybe whomever you ran into was just struggling with the heat, and not his/her normal self. Glad to hear you enjoyed your first Nationals, and hopefully we will see you for years to come...

I can only speak for Stage 12, but...... Popper was moved... Drop turner was moved... Change from Metric to Classic targets... Change in number and position of penalty targets... Start position changed... Other than that... neither my target placement, or any of my walls were moved...

Happy birthday BJ!! Great to see you at Nats as always. Hopefully, I'll see you again this year (GA State or Area 5).....

Interesting discussion about the popper not going down due to wind holding it up. I had not heard about that... At least I had simple re-shoots, and if I remember correctly, only had two of them. One was for a target pasted prematurely, and I can't even remember what the other one was for, but it was also straitforward. [slight thread drift] I really felt bad for the shooter who had to re-shoot because of a pasted target. It was his last stage of the entire Open/L10 match. He had a great run, and said 'finally, about time that I whipped a stage here' and he was really happy. Unfortunately, about half way through scoring, we came to a target that had just been pasted forcing the re-shoot. At that point the 're-shoot demons' took over and while the shooter had a faster time, he ran by one of the targets resulting in a 2 Mike, 1 FTE, which completely screwed him. I felt horrible, but there wasn't anything I could do.... [/slight thread drift]

I'm curious about your thoughts on the relatively large squad sizes at the 2005 Nationals. I'll be honest that I was kind of dreading 20 person squads going in, but from my perspective, I thought they worked out very well. The primary benefit to range staff was that we could turn around the stage really fast since as soon as we scored a target, two pasters went on it, and we moved on. From a shooter perspective, since the squads were so large, only around half the squad had to go down range to paste after every shooter, which gave people plenty of time to get ready to shoot, rest up, etc. The only downside I could see regarding the large squad sizes was that it made the walk-thru pretty crowded. On that note, since we normally turned our stage around in 45 mins max, we easily could have moved to a 10 minute walk-thru inspection period, and still have been way ahead of schedule. The only disclaimer that I need to add here is that the only stage that I really saw running was my stage (Stage 12, Not In My Yard), so I am curious if the large squad sizes might have been a hindrince on other stages. Also, thanks to all the squads for being great at pasting and helping reset the stage. Despite the brutal heat, the squads were GREAT at helping us turn the stage around.

Carlos, First, glad you enjoyed the match, and thanks for 'sweatin it out' with the rest of us. Second, while I am not 100% sure that it was this exact situation, I did receive a question during the match about whether it was okay to 'practice reloads with an empty magazine' in the safe area. While I do not recall who asked the question, I do remember telling them that there was no problem practicing reloads with empty magazines, and they went on their way. Anyway, sorry if there was confusion on this issue. Brian Hanna - CRO Stage 12

A picture speaks a million words!!! Good luck all. Heading out tomorrow AM, and see ya there!!

Dave, Just go, and have a blast! My first Nats was one heck of a learning experience, but my squadmates and the staff were all too willing to answer questions/coach/advise. Just try to think of it as several club matches on back to back days. Also, I will add to the several that posted that you will need to stay hydrated or you will get into trouble. In fact, I need to get some 'hydration' right about now! See ya in barry and be sure to say hello! BDH - CRO Stage 12

This thread will probably get killed so the only comment I can make is..... God Bless the victims, their families, and the UK. Unfortunately, this will be a long war (and it is a 'Global' war)... Friends will stick with friends, and in the end, good will prevail against evil, and against cowardly bastards who slay innocent people...

Bruce, overall, I still support this. It is based on major match performance and even though it is a small group, what an elite group it would be....

At most major matches, I am working not shooting, so I end up there longer than most anyway. However.... at Area 4 this year, it was really nice to end on Saturday, go to the range for awards Sunday AM (and teardown), and then have most of Sunday left to get back home. Home by maybe 6:00 PM that Sunday gave me some time with Mrs BDH, and a little downtime before my alarm goes off at 5 AM Monday morning..... Then again, I completely understand the extra vacation days burned during the week, so maybe we are better shooting through Sunday to avoid the work disruption. Now you know why I placed a null vote....

Happy BD SG!! Good to see you and David at our match last Sunday. Hope to see you back next month.....

Now that is truly unfortunate, selfish, and very disappointing....

Understood, and I have seen this before. Just saying that it doesn't appear that making a general announcement is allowed. Defining them as softcover in the stage briefing would make them softcover, and then the wisdom of shooting though them becomes another issue (as Paul B pointed out).... That is a great solution for more than one reason.... from the safety angle of a bullet whizzing around inside and potentially exiting in an unsafe direction... from the stage consistency standpoint (as I bet those barrels never moved once they were filled with dirt)... and from a scoring standpoint as two center shots on a barrel filled with sand would most likely be scored 2 Mike!

9.1.6 Unless specifically described as "soft cover" (see Rule 4.1.5.2 <BDH comment, I think this is a typo and they are refering to 4.1.4.2>) in the written stage briefing, all props, walls, barriers, vision screens and other obstables are deemed to be impenetrable "hard cover"..... Based on this, I am not sure that the match can define all barrels as soft cover...

First, I agree with dajarrel's comment. It is very difficult to call something like this without actually seeing it. Second, you said the round hit the berm and 'went in clear direction of the target'. Were you moving at the time? If so, 10.4.6 may apply. Third, since you said 'weak hand gripping pistol' I assume that you had clearly completed the transfer of the gun to your weak hand. If the RO viewed you letting one go while in process of the transfer, then 10.4.5. would apply. In any case, I think the best thing to do is to ask the RO to give you the rule that he is DQing you under. Technically, the RO has to note the reasons for the DQ anyway (10.3.2), although that step often gets skipped at club matches (in fact, we had one today at our club match, but I witnessed it and do the stats, so I know that it was a 10.5.3 call). Hope this helps....

Lynn, great reminder so no one gets caught offguard... Phil, sorry I knocked down Turtle's popper in Ohio... Will you still 'sway with me' during my walkthru...

Hop, congrats dude! You da man!! See ya in a few weeks...