JAFO Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 I just discovered this area of the forum, so I thought I'd share this screwup from the Texas Open this year. After shooting USPSA for 4 years, this was my first major match. A friend and squadmate gave me two pieces of advice: 1. Take your mags off your belt between stages so you don't get so tired by the end of the day. 2. Don't change what you've been doing right before a major match. The second piece of advice was given in reference to me considering barneying from the last mag on my belt instead of having an 11-round make-ready mag in my pocket. Well, I guess I should have applied it to the first piece of advice as well. I made the incredibly bonehead move of starting Stage 11 with no mags on my belt. If ever you decide to save weight by not carrying your mags during a long day of shooting, remove ALL of them from your person. It was my first multi-day match, and not carrying 60 rounds of weight around on my hips all day long seemed like a good idea. So after our first stage, I reloaded my mags and put them in my range bag. But I put my 11-round make-ready mag back in my pocket. On our second stage, when it was my turn I reached down and found that make-ready mag in my pocket, and I completely forgot to check my belt! I shot that mag from the first position, moved to the second position and went for the reload and...nothing. Ooops. Needless to say, I zeroed that stage. When I started out, I was in the habit of running my hand around my belt to make sure I had mags in the pouches before every stage. I had gotten away from that, but since this little incident, I have started to pick that habit back up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CZinSC Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 I started doing that "save the weight, leave the mags in the bag" thing a few months ago. After forgetting to put them back in on more than one occasion while being called to the line to shoot, i have since ditched that idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poppa Bear Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 I still do it but I RO a lot so I will even ungun after I shoot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 Not his(her) responsibility, but would have been nice if the RO mentioned it to you. I had an RO didn't mention to me that my earmuffs were on my head when the buzzer blew - fortunately I felt it before I fired the first shot of my 9mm major - that would have hurt some. Some RO's are friendlier than others, I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poppa Bear Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 Failure to have hearing protection in place is grounds for a reshoot. RO should not be starting you without them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuildSF4 Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 (edited) The RO should check for hearing protection. 5.4.2 If a Range Officer deems that a competitor about to make an attempt at a course of fire is wearing inadequate eye or ear protection, the Range Officer may order the competitor to rectify the situation before allowing the competitor to continue. The Range Master is the final authority on this matter. 5.4.3 If a Range Official notices that a competitor has lost or displaced their eye or ear protection during a course of fire, or has commenced a course of fire without them, the Range Official must immediately stop the competitor who will be required to reshoot the course of fire after the protective devices have been restored. Edited April 16, 2013 by GuildSF4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAFO Posted April 16, 2013 Author Share Posted April 16, 2013 When I realized it, I stopped, tilted my head back to the sky, uttered an expletive, locked my slide back and said, "I'm done." Considering the RO looked at me funny when I said that, I'm guessing he didn't notice. I was first on that stage, and no one on my squad noticed, either. They felt bad for me, but that didn't help much at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbc98c Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 that is rough. i ro also, so i take my mags off. but im shooting open with 3 big sticks (really large hands, easier to reload with) so i can't fit them in my pocket. the ro probably should have noticed that though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poppa Bear Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Mag in gun also helps. Saw one this last weekend where the shooter used a barney mag for the first round but forgot to put in his first mag. We cannot say anything so at the buzzer we all watch the shooter fire once, and then waste a couple of seconds trying to figure out why the gun is back in battery but not firing. Went for a mag change and only then realized he did not have a mag in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motosapiens Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 When I realized it, I stopped, tilted my head back to the sky, uttered an expletive, locked my slide back and said, "I'm done." Considering the RO looked at me funny when I said that, I'm guessing he didn't notice. I was first on that stage, and no one on my squad noticed, either. They felt bad for me, but that didn't help much at the time. Wait, why would they feel bad for you? The rules clearly say you get a reshoot. Did something else happen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunchies95 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 When I realized it, I stopped, tilted my head back to the sky, uttered an expletive, locked my slide back and said, "I'm done." Considering the RO looked at me funny when I said that, I'm guessing he didn't notice. I was first on that stage, and no one on my squad noticed, either. They felt bad for me, but that didn't help much at the time. Wait, why would they feel bad for you? The rules clearly say you get a reshoot. Did something else happen? There is nothing in the rules to warrant him a reshoot. The RO did not interfere and gave the "If you are finished..." command after JAFO said he was done. By the way: at our club match this weekend, I was switching between Production and Single Stack (which meant changing belts). I walked up to the line to shoot Production with no mags on my belt. I've never had my make ready mag in my pocket before, so I go lucky. Even I cannot follow my own advice all the time. I made a lot of changes to what I was doing before/during that match. Almost got myself DQ'ed because of it.......Started to walk towards safe table with Single Stack mags in my hands. Stopped myself short of the table when I realized I was going to set them on the table so I could change rigs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAFO Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 See what happens when you try to do too much, you overachiever? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stick Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 I too did that at a match. Very similar situation. I didn't realize that that I hadn't reloaded all of my mags. Shot the first few targets reloaded , moved to the next array fired two shots and slide lock. I looked down like how am I at slide lock? I only had two rounds in the gun. For that very reason, I put all the empty of half empty mags in my pocket and never back in my mag holders. I also check every mag on my belt before I load and make ready. I actually had the screw up on video. Its quite funny to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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