teros135

Well, that's what the WSB said to do. A "mandatory reload before last shot fired". The stage designer may have intended for the instruction to prevent someone from shooting the stage, then reloading off the clock (back end fix) but didn't think about someone doing a front end reload. Betcha they'll clarify it the next time.

<sigh> My head hurts. This seems to have become the usual overly long, pedantic, arguing-about-semantics-and-fine-points-of-language discussion that makes newcomers crazy and doesn't get around to providing a clear answer to the question. I wish we could simply agree on what's right and fair, within the context of the rule book (as written by mortals and reasonably read by same), discuss it within the context of the USPSA principles of safety, efficiency, and fairness, and not pick it to death. It's a "mandatory reload" situation, right? Of course it creates an unfair advantage to just drop the mag to where it clears the mag well and push it right back in. (I'll bet my 2.5 second reloads would become more like 0.8 if I did that. I'll check that at the range on Friday...) Without all the nitpicking, it seems clear that everybody (well, almost everybody) understands that a "mandatory reload" comes from the belt or another source other than what's already in the gun. Of course it would take longer to pick up a mag from the ground (especially with old knees ) or put the one from the gun into a mag holder and then reload with it, so there wouldn't be a competitive advantage there vs. the normal "belt" reload. It's kind of like the discussion at a recent match about whether you could put your off hand on the shooting wrist or forearm during a "strong hand" or "weak hand" exercise. The rules apparently don't actually say you can't "touch" the shooting arm/hand with the other, so some folks are trying to game that one and use additional support from the other hand/arm. "Strong (or weak) hand only" sounds pretty obvious to me. Just sayin'.

In reading this discussion I keep asking myself where the rest of the squad is, and other spectators. Their safety is also foremost, and any change in where the "180" is would affect them. Don't think there could be a "360" (or "270", or whatever) pit because nobody else could watch in safety. For me, I think of the 180 as the moveable plane mentioned by TitoR, only it goes through where I grip the gun. If the muzzle is pointing 90 degrees sideways to that, I'm right at the 180, and that's too close for comfort.

As somewhat of an "old timer" in local matches but a newcomer to Level II, I really didn't really "get" the complexity until my first large match in April. I appreciated the professionalism of the range staff and in particular the feedback they took time to give me a couple of times, after I finished the stage. Their comments were about about safety issues in situations I wasn't familiar with, for instance nearly sweeping my weekend while reaching for a door handle with both hands in close proximity (I had not encountered a door at local matches). In each case the fix was relatively easy, by adopting a new strategy and doing a lot of dry firing (nitrohuck is absolutely right about that). I didn't feel distracted or disrespected, but instead felt that the range officers were taking my participation seriously and wanted to help. No comments were made during the actual COF, which is appropriate. On a parallel note, as a relatively new certified RO (like many folks, I've officiated locally for several years but just took the official training), I appreciate everyone's comments about the various situations that can occur during a match. It helps us all to gain a broader perspective. In my (mere) couple of larger matches I haven't had the sense that the ROs were untrustworthy or unskilled, but nobody's perfect and the extra levels of checks and balances in the appeals procedures do make sense.

In my experience too, "reloadable" means the mag can be used to do an active reload while moving through the stage. You might be able to squeeze another round into it, but if you try to insert it in the gun there isn't enough room for the stack of rounds to move downward when the top round presses against the underside of the slide, and it won't go in. It may fall right out or not, but it won't latch and won't feed any rounds. These mags are sometimes termed "20-round capacity, 19 rounds reloadable". This doesn't just happen to 1911s or STIs (2011s). Glock has been playing with their mag design, and it's getting harder to have a full reloadable capacity. I have some new .40 15-rd mags that you can push 15 into, but they don't reload reliably, and several new .40 10-rd mags that definitely won't reload, even after letting them sit fully loaded for a month. There are several threads here on BE on how to "adjust" the mags, but the bottom line seems to be that they're coming from the factory a lot tighter than they used to. I once screwed myself totally in a AR-15 stage by using borrowed mags, loading them right to the brim, and then couldn't do a reload at all until I took one round off the top. It simply wouldn't latch into the gun. Embarrassing, but a valuable lesson. If loading to "capacity" I always push down on the top round to see if there's space to compress when it goes into the gun. If I can't compress it, one round comes off. HTH

Many thanks to Mads and crew for a terrific match, especially with a bit of a "short" crew. We all need to pitch in and help out, especially if we want to continue having the complex long courses that we admire. This is one of the best things around, and I'm glad to travel to get there. Thanks, folks!

Well, of course someone with 12,000 posts gets to post links! (Just jealous...)

Found it. In Practiscore, search for "PCSI", then select "PCSI USPSA June 2014" (or simply click on the highlighted text in quotes above)

"Are you kidding?!"