Standing reload Question

[dmshozer1]

3.5. SOs must, during the stage walkthrough, verbally indicate to all shooters the points of cover for each target and the criteria that will be used in assessing the shooter's use of cover during the stage.

Are you kidding me!!

Talk about time consuming! A squad of shooters may want to engage the targets using cover in different ways than the next guy.

Now the SO has to take the time to tell them either they can or cannot do it that way.

Here we go again that it depends on the SO's interpertation. If the SO is moving with that squad from stage to stage, their idea will probably be different than the SO in another squad.

Funny. And they talk about how it would hold up a squad if a SO had to put a over lay on a target once in a while to see what the actual scoring call should be.

One more grey area!

By the way, in a citizen type gun fight there probably will not be a reload. Someone will be dead or wounded in a few rds.

Statistics have proven that.

[dmshozer1]

The NM state match a couple days ago used the basketball rule. It worked quite well.

Tin - Your scorekeeper should be doing the bulk of the work on cover calls and reloading calls.

That may work at a big match where they have a dedicated score keeper working with the SO but who wants to be responsible for that at a local match?

In my experiance at local matches most shooters could not handle that job.

Look at these pages. Most people do not have a clue on most of the rules and these are the experianced shooters!

[Jim Watson]

You have a point.

I think the worst part is the guy handed the e-scoring tablet with three minutes of instruction, then when done we wonder where our scores went.

[RickB]

As a new player and having been in one club match.........(perspective)

There was a stage that started with two targets in the open that we had to engage on the move (no flat footed shooting, feet HAD to be moving) then we went to a wall. Started off 10+1. First target had a no shoot covering all but the head, second target open. I put two in the first and transitioned to the second. I was "seeing" well that day and was aware of the first three hits but lost the fourth so fired a "provisional" at the second target. (turns out I had placed two touching. even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while)

So now I am going up to a 12' wide wall to continue the stage. We cannot shoot AROUND the wall but must engage the other targets through a window. On the other side of the window, in your face, is a no shoot. This forced you to slice the area to be able to engage other targets..........left, right, high and low........to avoid the no shoot. I get there with six rounds. Start low left then high left to take three targets. Now I am at SL. So by this new rule I have to stand there or slide one foot back to get behind cover to reload. If I duck down and take a lateral step behind cover while executing a reload to come up on the other side I would get a PE? That does not sit well.

On another stage we started at capacity (10+1) or reduced capacity in my M&P and were behind a barricade just large enough to cover you. There were ten targets on the right and one on the left hidden from view looking around the right side. So the game was slice the right side and then pick up the left. I fired three at the last target on the right to force the slide lock so I could reload in the transition. That earned me 2nd place on that stage out of 33 in SSP. I was able to do it with a wide stance and no need to shift my feet so no chance of a PE. Shorter shooters had to skip a foot or so. Should they really get a PE for doing that? I do not see the logic.

It was fun, I will do it again..........for now. I have played a lot of games but when the rules get to be more of a focus than the game it gets cumbersome. I am fortunate to have a club that shoots both games on the same day so you can run one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. That will be a fun mental exercise......

I think it's extremely unfortunate that no movement is allowed even while at "continuous" cover. The rule change was to prevent reloading while moving between the cover position where you are, and the cover position that are going to move to. The definition of cover had evolved to mean "anywhere that I can't see unengaged threats", so people were shooting from one position, and then reloading while moving to the next position, since no unengaged threats were visible during the move. To prevent reloading while moving across open ground between shooting positions, the flat-footed reload was introduced; you have to reload before you go (leave cover), or reload after you arrive (at cover). Not being able to do a moving reload while at cover is unfortunate. Your example of ducking under a port while reloading, and popping up on the other side of the port with a loaded gun, seems like the prefect time/place to reload, but apparently for consistency's sake, no moving reloads. This includes the last shooting position on the stage; even though there's no place to move to, you can't move while reloading.

You can shuffle your feet while shooting at a bianchi barricade, so nobody should have received a PE on the second stage.

Rule 3.9.4.1. Exception: The shooter may shoot around both sides of a Bianchi barricade or barrel, including shifting their feet and knees without penalty.

[alma]

Is that interpretation of cover still standing? If so then shooting threat targets and immediately doing a flat footed road before moving on would seem to be a faster alternative. This is all so confusing.

[RickB]

The problem for most seems to be that cover existed relative only to the targets being engaged from that spot, so nobody ever "left cover".

You have to look at it as after engaging all threats visible/available from a certain spot, you are still at cover.