Don't Double Tap Forward Falling Steel

[stick]

I shot a USPSA match Saturday.  For not shooting or practicing in over two weeks, I did fairly well.  Our last stage was stage three.  Two arrays of three targets through low ports, 2 steel activators (one on a drop turner & one on a swinging target) 2 static steel.  The stage went to plan except I double tapped the first static steel causing it to stay upright.  The mistake cost me a few seconds.  Enjoy the video.

 

[broadside72]

Interesting, while I have limited experience, I have yet to see forward falling steel that didn't need some sort of manual intervention to lock it upright

[Jakobi]

The best forward fallers I've seen have some kind of overtravel limiter so they don't rotate past vertical and need to be correctly adjusted.

[IHAVEGAS]

I hate it when they do not paint steel and you do not have a way to know if the popper didn't fall because you were below the scoring zone or on the edge or the popper itself is flakey,  or if you hit a plate that didn't fall (reshoot) or if a plate fell when you didn't hit it (reshoot). 

[Boudreaux78]

A friend taught me a good trick a few years ago. Walk the backside of each stage. It will help you find hidden targets and determine if a popper is a forward faller. It has saved me more than once from double tapping one that was an activator.

[Doc1]

I'm not that confident with steel and wait til it falls to before I go onto another target so I never double tap it. Lol but I my steel phobia is less now than when I first started.

[Ccampo1129]

I made this mistake before. The steel began falling and i literally stood it back up with the following shot. Taught me to trust my steel hits. Also smart to never end an array on steel. Make the steel the first target/s your shoot in the array so if one doesn’t fall you can come back to it after you finish the paper. 

[Balakay]

41 minutes ago, Ccampo1129 said:

. Also smart to never end an array on steel. Make the steel the first target/s your shoot in the array so if one doesn’t fall you can come back to it after you finish the paper. 

Congrats on 50 posts but rules like "ALWAYS shoot steel first" are dumb.  Often, stage design will dictate otherwise. 

[Ccampo1129]

1 hour ago, Balakay said:

Congrats on 50 posts but rules like "ALWAYS shoot steel first" are dumb.  Often, stage design will dictate otherwise. 

I have more than 50 but thanks...

If you can help it, i feel like it is more wise to not end an array on steel. Especially if that steel is not visible from another position.

Its not a "rule" just a helpful tip in my opinion.

If you call your hit on the steel and move to the next position before it falls..... now what?

[Balakay]

9 minutes ago, Ccampo1129 said:

 

If you call your hit on the steel and move to the next position before it falls..... now what?

That's the plan...call the hit and leave before it falls.. If you are waiting for it to fall, you are wasting time