teros135

You're kidding, naturally. Of course it's unsafe. That's why it's an AD and a DQ, because it's unsafe. (Not because "someone didn't get hurt - this time" but because it's an unsafe action.)

Legal, perhaps. Smart, not so sure. I'm with the crowd who can't figure out why you'd want to pull the trigger without knowing what's in the chamber. I also can't figure the advantage to cocking a 1911-style gun without also putting the safety on, since by not doing that you've changed the draw sequence. (That comes under the heading of "don't do anything that you're not going to do in the match".) Yeah, yeah, you can probably do it, but why?

Perhaps, but it would have prevented an AD/ND, which is really more to the point, safety-wise.

Well, that may be true for an Open gun at 1450 fps, but with Production at 884 fps (9mm, 147 grain) a target 20 yds away and moving at 10 fps will travel 8" during the bullet's flight, which is wider than the entire A zone. At 10 yds away it's 4", so some lead is still needed for the 5.9" wide A zone. At 180 grain Major velocities the movement is still 7.7 " at 20 yds. That's assuming these particular parameters, but I recall neglecting to do the calcs last year and shooting behind the target every time - mainly because after the first shot I forgot to lead it at all, never having shot a mover. (Practicing the simulated mover on Matt Burkette's website helps; we'll see how much in three weeks!)

In Level II matches I've seen tables both in a separate area and tables faced directly into a berm, well back from the area containing the stage and with yet more berm beyond them uprange. You'd have to violate the "safe direction" (which is usually well marked) by quite a bit to have a gun pointing "uprange" of the backstop to where people might be. These tables have been clearly marked as "Safety Areas", have the safe direction indicated, and often have lettering about "no ammunition". The boundaries of the safety areas have been indicated in different ways, by the table itself in front, of course, and by a safety tape attached to stakes in the ground or by having boards (e.g., 2 x 2s) attached to the tabletop at either side and extending out a foot or so, to let the folks using the safety areas know where the left and right sides are. I've never seen anything that says a safety area has to be "surrounded" in some way - has anyone else?

Thanks. Here's hoping the front will move over, under, or around us this weekend!

Yep. That's probably it. (For me it's bad bullets. To each his own.)

Nope. It's still 2" from the inside of the belt.

Looks like we're going to be having rain all day Saturday. Can anyone comment on the condition of the range? Lots of gravel or lots of dirt? Thanks!

I'm not sure why you think trapping a dropped gun isn't considered "gun handling". That phrase isn't used in that way anywhere in the rule book or the relevant NROI ruling ("Dropped gun", 7-14-09). Think about it, the instant you touch it, you're handling it. Yes, you won't necessarily be DQd for dropping it outside a COF, unloaded, but in the COF you're going to have a DQ, regardless how it was dislodged from the holster. We're responsible for the gun, after all. Also, safety areas aren't required by the book to have boundaries "on the ground that shooters must stay within"; they're required to have the safe direction and boundaries "clearly shown" (2.4). If I missed something in the rule book, I'd appreciate the citations.

BITB won't be on the classifier list for this month. They have to be uploaded by the 10th and are finalized by the 14th or 15th (although like others I'm still waiting for mine from March to show up...)

Like I said... Thanks to Troy for taking the time to research this.

I wouldn't like to see a thigh holster used, even at Level I. It may be one of several holsters used by duty officers, but the main one is usually on the belt. Worse would be a shoulder holster or crossdraw holster, even if someone uses them on duty. (I understand that even other officers are uncomfortable around shoulder rigs, and I'd hate to be in the sweep pattern at the buzzer - LE or not.) I'm not trying to invite an argument of "well, how about SWAT officers", etc. I don't think they generally wear thigh holsters unless they have other tactical weapons, and those aren't allowed in USPSA anyway.

It's best to just read the rule book. It's not that long or involved. That way you'll know them yourself, not somebody else's take on them. We're all responsible for knowing the rules, and just picking up a few pointers here and there won't make it.

So technically, it is never "your" stage unless the RO grants it to you. If you interfere and have not been approved to be on the course of fire, you can be assessed a penalty. And yes, I realize the title includes the word "local", but I wanted to go and read the rules. Usually the head RO gives a quick briefing before the walkthrough and mentions that only the on-deck shooter is allowed to walk the stage. That sounds like the permission needed.

Yeah, but I've noticed some taking advantage by doing airgunning and walkthroughs in addition to taping. We should all be mindful of the etiquette and give all the room to the squad that's on the stage. Our time will come.

Heck, you could make a metal casting of the lower receiver (frame) and really add some weight. Still, if you're weighed (or dumb enough to brag to fellow shooters) you're going to get caught. There's a purpose to the weight limit in Production.

It doesn't matter what we think about a rule - it's the rule. Minor is 125 and up, Major is 165 and up. Anybody who's knowingly using less than that and declares it wrongly is cheating, and we don't want to tolerate that. Legal mods within a Division are legal, and fair because everybody can do them. If you don't want to, don't bellyache, and shoot what you brung. All-metal guns (or 1911's/2011's, or Berettas, or legally-modified polymer guns, or "flavor of the month" guns) don't make a Master out of a C shooter, no matter what anybody says. Just sayin'.

Yep, that's an easy one to do, especially when running from right to left (I'm assuming you're right-handed). And on that stage it looks like the two platforms were a distance apart and were roughly on a line parallel to the backstop, so there was a lot of room for a mistake. Sometimes a stage pulls you to start from the right side, or your stage plan works best if you go to the front (downrange) right side and move toward the left. It's the reverse, of course, for lefties. For this type of occasion I've been practicing running right to left with the gun in one hand, pointed downrange and horizontal (my "running with the gun" posture), and also doing right-to-left moving reloads. Thanks for sharing this one. I'll bet many of us could use work on those skills.

Sorry to hear that. It's one than can bite us all. Can you tell us what happened, anything we can all learn from? Appreciate in advance but we'll understand if you'd rather not.

I'm wondering if the OP was referring to all the folks he sees with *match shirts*, which look a lot like sponsor shirts if you don't look carefully. In that case, these are folks who have shot at major matches (Level II and up) and who purchased the shirt offered by the Match Director. These show the *match* sponsors' logos but don't represent sponsorship of the shooters. I have a couple of these shirts and find them comfortable (they're light and breatheable), colorful, and fun. I'm not sure about shoes; haven't noticed any "sponsor" shoes but maybe I'm missing something.

That makes no sense at all. It doesn't say "the replacement magazine release can only be as long, and not longer", it says it can extend only the length of the release. And "it's basically saying" and "could be taken to mean" aren't decisive statements, they're "maybe's". No, we've gone around and around on this on BE in the past. This isn't a NROI Ruling (and isn't listed on the USPSA website under NROI Rulings), it's an email put up on BE that Troy reportedly wrote, in response to somebody's question. Who's going to be following that at matches, including majors? Lots of past Production scores should be changed to Open, and lots of guns today would be illegal - except that the rule itself doesn't say that. Respectfully, I hope Troy will give this another look.

Here we go again with the arguments about the meanings of individual words. At the top of 21.6 it says that a replacement mag release (which is an externally visible part) must be an OFM part from the same model of gun or another approved gun (i.e., Production List gun) from the SAME manufacturer. This is the basic part of the rule. Like most USPSA rules, this rule is "nested", with this part being superordinate and other rules that follow being clarifications or for specific situations. So the clarification (in the Special Notes/Clarifications section) is that if the replacement part is a mag release, a factory/OFM part can be used if it "extends only the length of the magazine release", which means the same as "Only extends the length of the magazine release", meaning that the only thing it does is to make the mag release longer. That's standard English (although it could perhaps have been stated with a bit more clarity). It *doesn't* say "a factory/OFM magazine release from the same manufacturer, another manufacturer, or a non-approved model of gun". Approved status was already covered above. Aftermarket mag releases aren't mentioned either, so they aren't approved. The next sentence addresses mag releases that have a larger surface area, such as paddles or buttons. These can be used if they're OFM parts from approved (i.e., Production List) guns. So it seems clear that we can use a mag release from another gun - which is from the same manufacturer and is on the Production list - if it is longer than the one on our gun and/or has a paddle or button. That would eliminate the CZ TS, but there are other approved models of CZs that have an extended mag release.

For practical shooting, you don't need a Ransom rest. You can bench test the accuracy with a sand bag (or sock full of beans) or simply stand with a good shooting posture and shoot groups, preferably at distance. If you can't tell the difference, there isn't one (in terms of "practical shooting" accuracy). If you reload, you need a chrono. Don't ever reload without one. There are some available for about $100, if I recall. The chrono also helps you figure out if you're at PF or, for that matter, way over it. You probably have a timer, so you can check your splits (for both follow-up shots and transitions) - and, again, the accuracy will be right there on the targets. Have fun!

Not necessarily. Considering this example, maybe they were just lucky.