During malfunction Keep Calm

[jackson923]

Got DQ'ed for the first time yesterday and it was a match DQ, what sucks was it was the first stage and my team were the first shooters. I had a shotgun malfunction, FTE, I cleared and chambered a new round no big deal. In doing so I didn't remember that I lost a round and it threw my count off running my gun dry. That sucked since I was loading two and had to commit one shell just to drop the bolt. No big deal because I had a clean reload other than that, so I'm back up and running and have a second FTE. This one is huge since I have a shell jammed under the lifter. I dump the shot gun and grab my rifle to finsih ingaging targets, at the end the RO says you left a hot gun. I looked down and my safety didn't fully engage when I bunkered my shotgun. I will not loose my cool anymore when I have a malfuntion, in doing so it caused me to neglect the time it took to verify my shotgun was on safe.

[loneranger04]

It hurts a person's pride as much as anything to get DQ'd but it can be a learning experience.

[hopalong]

One thing to put in the back of your mind.

Once your stage plan has gone south......your fault, the guns, FTE, ect.

Fix the problem. Continue the stage and make sure to get as many points on the targets as you can!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your time you could have gotten is gone. CAN'T do anything about that. BUT you can get whatever points available left to help keep the hit factor as high as possible.

Hogalong

[Flatland Shooter]

In the middle of a malfunction, stay cool but remember you are on the clock.

Most of my gear is very reliable so malfunctions are somewhat rare. In a practice sessions when a malfunction hits, I stop dead and analyze the problem so I know what to fix. But if you are not careful, the stop and analyze become part of your matchroutine.

A few weeks ago at the Cowtown Classic I had a magazine turn into a salt shaker. Rather than drop it and load another, I wasted a second or two checking out the bad mag to see what happened.

Stay cool but remember you are on the clock.

Bill

[Panic Flinch]

It's always the distractions that sidetrack our plan.....Don't beat yourself up, you probably learned 10 different important technique changes that will make you a better and safer shooter.