rodgers65 Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Sorry - haven't been able to search this yet. I shoot a DA/SA in ESP. Normally I start with the hammer cocked and the safety engaged. If the stage calls for weak hand only, does the safety need to be engaged? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAC702 Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 If the gun is in the holster, then yes. You would be drawing with your strong hand anyway, the same one you would use to disengage the safety before transferring to the weak hand for shooting. In the Classifier, there is a string that is shot weak-hand-only. The gun starts held in the weak hand, pointed downward at 45 degrees, with the finger off the trigger. For this string only, the safety is permitted to not be engaged prior to the start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodgers65 Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 Start position for a couple stages at an out of area match this weekend is with gun in weak hand, at low ready. Normally I wouldn't sweat it, but the SOs at this thing last year were a bit difficult to get straight answers out of. So I wanted to see what the official ruling was before showing up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAC702 Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 If in the same start position as that string of the Classifier, the safety should not be required to be on, for the same reason it is not required to be on during this string of the Classifier. This would no doubt be why the gun is already in a firing grip and pointed mostly downrange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Lord Gomer Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Not to be picky but if you are truly shooting DA/SA then you are decocking it and you do not need to have the safety on. If instead you are shooting it with the hammer back and the safety on, you are not shooting DA/SA......just SA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodgers65 Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 Right, sorry. Gun is capable of DA/SA, but I'm shooting it SA only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afoulk Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 (edited) Start positions in the classifier are irrelevant to any other course of fire. The start condition of your gun at your match needs to be defined by the stage brief if it is anything other than the start condition called out by 8.2.2.1.6. It could legally be required to be either on or off. If it doesn't say anything about the safety position, assume it can be off and make them make you switch it to safe, if that's where they want it. Assuming that they didn't specify a position for the safety, they also probably didn't specify that your index finger of your strong hand couldn't start out touching the safety, should you need to turn it off. They probably also didn't define "low ready". Game away... Edited September 17, 2014 by afoulk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAC702 Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 (edited) It is the Match Director's job to see that everyone is doing the same thing in IDPA. I wouldn't hesitate to bring it to the MD's attention because for the same reason that the Classifier string begins that way is the same reason any stage requiring a weak hand start should begin that way: many guns do not have a safety that can be activated by the weak hand safely. Edited September 17, 2014 by MAC702 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Koski Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 It's up to the COF designer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOF Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 +1 to Koski. It is up to the COF designer and should be stated clearly in the COF description under "Start Position". If it is not, ask the SO. As an aside, I'm becoming surprised that the BENOS forum is starting to get more IDPA rules questions than Ted Murphy's 'official' IDPA Forum. I'm beginning to think that Forum is down to a dozen or so regular posters, and not much else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Koski Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Facebook has 10x the action as idpaforum.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertbank Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 If you are shooting ESP why would you start the gun hammer down and safety off unless the Stage description said you had to start hammer down in which case as others have noted the safety would not have to be engaged and in some guns could not be with the hammer in the down position in any event. It would make for interesting starts for guys shooting CDP with 1811's. Take care Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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