Poppa Bear

If the safety area is the safest place to do the work then use it. If not move a table or bench into an appropriate location. Safety trumps the rule book.

That us why I double plug as an RO and use electronics. I can forget to put the muffs down or on and still have some protection.

If the steel is of legal size it can be used if it falls as a shoot target. It cannot be used as a no shoot unless it is a USPSA/IPSC shaped target (metric or classic) They can be used as hard cover.

As set up I would call it legal. At quick and easy fix would be the addition of a second wall to act as the barrier that is not part of the shooting area.

Not always true. I was a senior in college, spring of 1991. I had a part time job to make ends meet. The boss needed some extra help over spring break and offered some bonus money. I agreed. With the extra cash in hand, I went to the local mom & pop gun store and bought a Colt 1991a1 which I had been eyeing for about 4 months. Paid $425, NIB out the door. At the time that was huge money for me. It was worth 1/3 the value of the pick-up I owned at the time. I always wanted a Colt 1911 .45 and I figured the end of college earned it. The pistol was as basic as they came: parkerized, simple iron sights, and black plastic grips. "Entry level" in every way. Jump forward 23 years: I still own that pistol and have taught both my teens basic pistol shooting with it. I hope to pass it to a grandchild some day. I would rephrase the above to say never buy cheap entry level guns. You are better off buying a quality made entry level gun. A Colt 1911 is generally a better quality than a foreign import. That said a couple of years ago I bought a used Springfield Loaded as an entry level 1911. I got the gun for $500, but intended to spend a couple hundred more on upgrades. New sights, trigger, hammer, sear, etc. and i have a gun I am happy with for less than what a new one would have cost me.

It might be because so many of us are in forms of the construction industry, but it is common for us to stretch a cord to create a center line to base our measurements off of. After marking the various distances we then use that same center line to measure the distance to the left or right of that center line. We use marker flags to denote the inside corners of the targets so that others can place the target stands as we measure out the classifier.

For the most part the only couple of inches I deal with are in distance measurements. +/- a couple of inches at 75', 105', or 150' is plenty close enough when laying them out. The distance between targets or for target height are going to be +/- maybe 1/4".

Use 4' sticks and have a couple of 5' sticks set aside. Place the 4' sticks in the stands and use the 5' stick to do a quick and accurate 5' measurement to the shoulders as you staple the targets in place. You can also do like us and have stands that are open to the ground on the bottom. Place 5' sticks in them and staple the shoulders flush with the top of the sticks. We will buy 10' 2x8's and rip them down into 1x2's after cutting the 10' pieces in half. Cheaper than buying bundles of 1x2's, especially if you have people with industrial table saws.

Like a Limited shooter dropping his mag and reloading on the draw, then hosing the targets. I've seen that one. Also, speed shoots are done from one location so you cannot require more than 8 rounds. Jay Jay Graham You are correct. I think Jay forgot to include the reload part assuming that we already knew that part. I can set up a stage that has 16 rounds with 1 target on the left behind a wall and one target behind a wall on the right. I can then set the remaining 6 targets in the middle. Open and Limited shooters can take everything without a reload. All other divisions will be required to execute at least one reload. This is a legal Medium COF due to the multiple locations and views needed to shoot the COF. IF I put all 8 targets in the open and forced you to engage them with 2 shots each from a shooting box I would have to require ALL divisions to execute a reload in order for it to be a legal Speed Shoot. Because, as a Speed Shoot I cannot require more than 8 rounds without also requiring a reload.

You cannot require more than 8 rounds on an array. Think of array 1 as 4 paper and array 2 as 8 steel. Most people will shoot 8 rounds and 8 rounds only at the paper. The steel people will shoot until either the gun runs dry or until they knock them all down. Shoot "One for One" and it will only take the required 8 rounds. Miss any of them and you keep shooting until you knock them all down or reload. Once they are all down the COF is either over with. OR, you execute a reload and proceed to engage the other array. If the WSB is written poorly the competitor might be able to start engaging the other array without the reload between arrays as long as they have already completed one while shooting at the previous array. The mandatory reload is more a case of requiring a reload if the speed shoot takes less than 8 rounds on an array. Set up a COF with 4 steel and 2 paper and you have an 8 round COF. Now is the time to require the mandatory reload between arrays.

Yes you can use prior targets as evidence. 9.1.4 says the call must be made on the actual target in question but it does not say you cannot use other targets to confirm your ruling. Similarities between the target in question and prior or later targets can help the RO to make the right call be it scoring the target or ordering a reshoot.

I am called Poppa by the grandkids and I am a Bear if you want to hurt my family. Think Mommabear on steroids.

The WSB will be very specific for this stage if it is laid out according to the current diagram. It will likely address all of these issues. More likely it willbe laid out such that these issues will addressed during construction.

You do not need to look at the score logs if you have the scoring device. Changes are logged on the squad list for that stage. If you see a number on the right-hand side of a competitors listing that score has been changed. Changing the score back just adds another number so that it can be seen the score was changed twice.

Without seeing the diagram, because I am on my phone, I would change it during construction so that the targets do not disappear. Now you have to engage past the swinging HC. I would also offset the targets so that an accurate shooter could take PP 2- PP5 while shooting past the edge of PP1. Miss and tag PP1 and the swinger makes things more difficult.

I happen to have our master Nook beside me. Scores have been posted from our last match so I tried changing the score for a target on one of my stages. That change put a 1 on my line. Changing it back turned the 1 into a 2. So it would appear that changes after they have been saved are noted

If it is one of the most current 8 valid classifiers then it will count no matter how many years go by. That is why I try to use as many different classifiers as I can. It allows ones that are repeated a year or two down the road to count being as there are 8 newer ones on the list. This does not always work if the member shoots several different divisions. Then the older one can still be one of the most current 8.

I've seen a couple of deer get shredded on a range. Track mounted M2 .50 cal familiarization was going on and between rotations a couple of deer came out and started to graze behind one of the trucks used as a target. When the platoon started shooting the deer ran out and the ricochets turned them into burger meat. Range control was all over us until they verified that the deer were not visible until they ran out.

Yes. 1.1.5 Freestyle – USPSA matches are freestyle. Competitors must be permitted to solve the challenge presented in a freestyle manner, and to shoot targets on an “as and when visible” basis. Courses of fire must not require mandatory reloads nor dictate a shooting position, location or stance, except as specified below. However, conditions may be created, and barriers or other physical limitations may be constructed, to compel a competitor into shooting positions, locations or stances. 1.1.5.4 says you can specify the SH or WH using the WSB. Most designers would prefer to force the SH or WH using props.

We shoot 60 to 80 rounds on our 3 stage Monday night practice matches. Standards and Classifiers are the only ones less than 20 rounds normally.

1.1.5.4 Medium or Long courses of fire may stipulate the use of either strong or weak hand, provided that only one hand, either strong or weak, is specified for no more than the last 6 shots required. 1.1.5.5 A course of fire which, through the use of props, requires a competitor to shoot both strong-hand-only and weak-hand-only must not require that the shooter transition directly from one to the other. The course of fire must provide movement and unencumbered freestyle target engagement between the two This is the rule that would be used for the stage in question. You can design a 32 round stage that is 29 rounds of strong hand and weak hand as long as it is the props that force the use of either hand. I should not have posted this!! The design team for Area 3 will probably make one up now for next year. They are great at designing stages that require the use of props for SH and WH targets.

Reading Troys statement :...The WSB did not specify that the slide could not be locked back, and although slide fully forward is the default, I usually like to spell everything out. ... .made me reread rule 8.1.3: Courses of fire may require ready conditions which are different to those stated above. In such cases, the required ready condition must be clearly stated in the written stage briefing. When a Handgun Ready Condition requires a handgun be prepared with an empty chamber (or cylinder), the slide of the handgun must be fully forward (or the cylinder must be fully closed) and the hammer or striker must be fully down or fully forward, as the case may be, unless otherwise specified in the stage briefing. I have always considered unloaded starts to be slide forward, but this rules seems to imply that I can specify that the slide be locked to the rear as part of the gun condition in the WSB. I would never do that because of the possibility of someone over inserting their first mag, but it appears to be a legal start condition if it is specified in the WSB.

You do ask some interesting questions Brandon. What has been highlighted by this thread is how important all of the details can be. Through no fault of your own you posted a legitimate question that unfortunately had a lot of baggage attached to it because you did not have the full story yourself.

That is what I figured. When the OP talked about a 34" tunnel my assumption is that his tunnel is 34" high. It might be 34" wide which can create a challenge to keep from brushing the sides. It should not be 34" long because that is too short to create much of a challenge. If it is 34" high then we have a safety issue because forcing competitors to crawl through the tunnel raises the chances of them sweeping themselves if they keep the gun in their hand, or DQ'ing by having it drop out of their holster if they elect to holster it prior to climbing through the tunnel.

I have shot stages/ matches with senior CRO's. RM's and even AD's. Anytime it was a staff shoot we ALWAYS discussed the WSB to determine what was legal and how we might be able to game the stage, or what if any targets appeared to be either illegal or improperly placed. It was a learning experience because we heard opinions that we had not considered and found different ways to look at the course that highlighted some of these issues. It also ensured that we were all on the same page as to how the stage should be run as well as allowing us to call the RM over to change that which needed to be changed. That is why I am saddened that 3 RO's were able to shoot a stage with the slide locked to the rear without someone pointing out the illegality of it. Mistakes happen but this is one that should not have happened because the first person to think about it should have asked if it was even allowed. Thank you Troy for giving us a better accounting of what actually transpired.