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Throwing out a Match in .4 of a Second.


Gooldylocks

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Last match I shot I was shooting the classifier stage (Can You Count?) at the Albany Rifle and Pistol club and I simply forgot to reload at the designated time. Racked up 50 points worth of penalties in the following second.

The stage direction is to shoot 5 rounds into the first target, reload, and shoot the second target five times. You then switch to the other two targets for the next string that has the same direction.

I shot the first target of the first string with two rounds and got out of sync with my gun and had to adjust for the last three. Lost count and had to count holes in target before reloading and engaging the second.

Clearly frustrated with my performance from the first string I tried to speed it up for the second string. And speed up I did..... :eyeroll:

Basically I ended up shooting all five of my shots into the second target of the second string before I realized I hadn't reloaded.

Whoops.

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Haha yep, apparently no I can't count. It was a frustrating stage because of how easy it was. Looking back it proves that I need to be able to just let the last one go. Since I was so frustrated from my first string I totally forgot about the reload in the second string in my rush to shoot faster and get my splits more consistent... Sometimes the easiest things are the most frustrating.

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I RO'd a shooter a couple of months ago that couldn't count to 5. He kept putting 6 rounds in the target. He SWORE he only pulled the trigger 5 times, but there were 6 holes each time.

He was a good sport about it. Thought we were pulling a fast one on him but had it on video too!

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I wouldn't kick yourself too hard on that one. I've seen people do the exact same thing with that exact same classifier. It's hard to fight off how your brain turns to oatmeal once that buzzer goes off. I really had to concentrate on that classifier when I shot it last summer otherwise I would have done the exact same thing.

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I RO'd a shooter a couple of months ago that couldn't count to 5. He kept putting 6 rounds in the target. He SWORE he only pulled the trigger 5 times, but there were 6 holes each time.

I wonder.... was he a revolver shooter in another life? ;)

It is a tough one mentally for me because when I make mistakes on stupid simple stuff I get frustrated. And then you make REAL mistakes.

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  • 1 month later...

Saw a guy at a local match do something similar on a different classifier. Realized he biffed the reload part and already zeroed the stage...so unloaded his 9mm STI at the last target on a virginia count stage.

Edited by SSGJohnV
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Saw a guy at a local match do something similar on a different classifier. Realized he biffed the reload part and already zeroed the stage...so unloaded his 9mm STI at the last target on a virginia count stage.

I bombed a stage once that had you finishing with uprange movement. I nearly tripped over the fault line, fired one shot at the last target while over the line and then realized I was at slide-lock (the rest of the stage had gone poorly). At that point I decided my hit factor was toast anyway, so I calmly reloaded, walked out of the shooting area right up to that last target and put one round in the middle of the "upper A zone". That earned a couple of laughs from the peanut gallery.

Edited by JonSnow
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This thread got me thinking about shooting that particular classifier with a revolver. Is there a rule that would preclude loading ONLY 5 prior the beginning of each string? Then, at least you're unlikely to shoot 6 into T1 and T3. Of course, possible downsides of ONLY 5 come in the event of "operator error" (short stroke), or a primer failure. Of course, the reloads would be with a full moon clip.

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We shot this classifier on Sunday, speak of the devil. I did ok...even considering I was about to reload on string one with only 4 holes in the paper, so I did what any self respecting shooter would do and gangster shot once more (sideways) then reloaded. String 2 went fine. 5.12 and 4.91 respectfully.

Had a new guy not reload at all...and he got a reshoot because of me. The RO didn't give me time for the first string and I forgot to ask. Lucky day for him.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I look really close at the rules on these types of classifiers now. If there is no penalty for going to slide lock, I ONLY load enough rounds in the first mag to shoot clean to the reload. I figure any points I drop on Mikes are on me, and likely less than however many procedurals I will get for forgetting the reload. I once went from a first place match finish to 4th place in the final classifier stage of a 3gun match because I forgot the reload on my AR between target banks. I SMOKED the stage and was feeling very smug as I cleared my rifle when I noticed that there was an odd quiet from the peanut gallery instead of the usual smatter of applause and cheers when somebody burns one down. I looked back at the RO, and she was tapping the magazine on her belt. D'oh!! Amazing how your brain can forget something you just told it to remember 1/2 second before the buzzer went off! :roflol:

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That was my very first classifier. Forgot the reload. After that I had a mental block with Can you Count. Over the next two or three years I shot it 5 or 6 times before I finally got it right. :blush:

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