What's the most unsafe thing you've seen at a match?

[Jory45acp]

On 2/2/2019 at 6:11 PM, Flatland Shooter said:

Back in the mid-80's at a semi-major match in Glen Rose, Texas a competitor did the unthinkable.  I did not witness his actions but word got around the match quickly.  I was told later that in addition to a match DQ, it also resulted in a permanent ban from USPSA.

 

A competitor on "unload and show clear" rushed through the process and holstered his pistol.  The RO advised he did not see an empty chamber and asked he show clear.  Per the version we heard, the competitor drew his gun, cocked back the hammer, pointed it at his temple and dropped the hammer.

Wow, that should be a automatic ban from the USPSA for life. We do not need that drama tied to us because of someone's complete lunacy. That's a perfect example of a singular person making many other look bad. Unbelievable. 

[Hdiamond]

At the indoor match I run, we had a tactical Timmy shooting his 3rd or 4th match. He’s on deck, everyone goes down range on this wide open speed shoot to score and paste. 
he decides to draw his gun and dry fire the whole stage while there’s people down range standing in front of the targets. 
Needless to say the minute us ROs noticed he was outta there. Scary feeling. 

[Lastcat]

2 hours ago, Hdiamond said:

At the indoor match I run, we had a tactical Timmy shooting his 3rd or 4th match. He’s on deck, everyone goes down range on this wide open speed shoot to score and paste. 
he decides to draw his gun and dry fire the whole stage while there’s people down range standing in front of the targets. 
Needless to say the minute us ROs noticed he was outta there. Scary feeling. 

 

That would be odd. I'd be pissed off too. I wonder if he has done this before. Maybe at a Range with his buddies and to him it was ok...lol. He's probably still blaming the RO. 

[Hdiamond]

12 hours ago, Lastcat said:

 

That would be odd. I'd be pissed off too. I wonder if he has done this before. Maybe at a Range with his buddies and to him it was ok...lol. He's probably still blaming the RO. 

He came to 1 more match and got a lot of dirty looks then never saw him again. 
If he shows up again, next time he DQs for something unsafe he won’t be welcome at our matches. 

[Kokeman]

The most dangerous stuff I've ever seen at matches was from before I started shooting USPSA and steel challenge. In my mid twenties I was shooting muzzle loading matches. Countless hang fires that ended up going off while pointed at the concrete or through the pavilion roof. One club I was end had to ban people blowing down their barrels. Never understood why people did this. But a guy went to blow down his barrel during the occasional 22 match there. Most matches involved alcohol. I've seen guys nap there flints while pointing their muzzle at everyone on the firing line. Never once seen anyone DQ or made to stop shooting for safety violations. 

[SGT_Schultz]

10 hours ago, Kokeman said:

The most dangerous stuff I've ever seen at matches was from before I started shooting USPSA and steel challenge. In my mid twenties I was shooting muzzle loading matches. Countless hang fires that ended up going off while pointed at the concrete or through the pavilion roof. One club I was end had to ban people blowing down their barrels. Never understood why people did this. But a guy went to blow down his barrel during the occasional 22 match there. Most matches involved alcohol. I've seen guys nap there flints while pointing their muzzle at everyone on the firing line. Never once seen anyone DQ or made to stop shooting for safety violations. 

 

Sounds almost like every sporting clays tournament I ever went to.  Needless to say I don't shoot that any more.

 

Most unsafe thing I've ever seen is an old guy who's a semi regular at one of the local clubs.  I will absolutely not squad with him.

[OnnaBugeisha]

Guy, untucked t-shirt, reholstering at a match without pulling his t-shirt out of the way.  T-shirt bunched into the holster and trigger guard. RO noticed immediately and grabbed his arm just before he really jammed the gun into his holster, with the shirt tail caught in the trigger guard. 

Edited July 25, 2020 by OnnaBugeisha

[SGT_Schultz]

8 hours ago, OnnaBugeisha said:

Guy, untucked t-shirt, reholstering at a match without pulling his t-shirt out of the way.  T-shirt bunched into the holster and trigger guard. RO noticed immediately and grabbed his arm just before he really jammed the gun into his holster, with the shirt tail caught in the trigger guard. 

 

THAT gets me on edge every single time.  Worse is when idiots who do that look at you like you have three eyes when you tell them why that's a bad idea.

[Phoenix1977]

Years ago, some unfortunate fellow during a IPSC match holstered his Tribrid (remember those?) in 38 super. Holstered way to fast, without looking. Gun went off, putting that major load through his upper leg and exiting just above the knee, luckily only a flesh wound. Guy went into shock and fell to the ground , passing out.

We stabilized him and adressed his wound until the proffesionals took over.

Made quite an impression on all of us.

Luckily the poor guy recovered.

[IHAVEGAS]

4 hours ago, Phoenix1977 said:

Years ago, some unfortunate fellow during a IPSC match holstered his Tribrid (remember those?) in 38 super. Holstered way to fast, without looking. Gun went off, putting that major load through his upper leg and exiting just above the knee, luckily only a flesh wound. Guy went into shock and fell to the ground , passing out.

We stabilized him and adressed his wound until the proffesionals took over.

Made quite an impression on all of us.

Luckily the poor guy recovered.

 

I have dq'd two friends for holstering before they remembered to flick the thumb safety on, both took it gratefully as it is a spooky dq. I assume that is what this poor fellow did and then he somehow managed to bump the trigger?

 

It is a good thing to watch out for when you have the timer. 

[Phoenix1977]

Can’t really tell, i was positioned behind him on his left side, i wasn’t the RO, just a scorewriter. The accident was, as we can track back, a combination of a sloppy safetylever and the finger on the trigger. It all happened so fast. Besides that, we never saw the guy again, he came from the other side of the country and stopped shooting after this accident.

it’s about 23 years ago, but i’ll never forget.

Edited July 26, 2020 by Phoenix1977

[Seery]

On the first stage one of the the new shooters was at the line and told to make ready, he replied "I'm already loaded".  

 

 

[18111811]

people hanging around the fault line near one of the targets just inside the 180

[Wesquire]

I haven't see anything crazy at a match. However, one time I was at a public range and an obviously inexperienced lady shooter had brass eject into her shirt. She jumped up and down in a circle and swept everyone while her finger was still on the trigger. She was even laughing about it and had no idea she was doing anything dangerous.

Edited August 3, 2020 by Wesquire

[BentAero]

On 8/2/2020 at 5:49 PM, Seery said:

On the first stage one of the the new shooters was at the line and told to make ready, he replied "I'm already loaded".  

 

 

Saving time! Just doing his part to keep the match moving.

[Bakerjd]

Didnt see but heard of a guy throwing his PCC down range after a DQ at the Western PA match this year. 

[Sarge]

7 minutes ago, Bakerjd said:

Didnt see but heard of a guy throwing his PCC down range after a DQ at the Western PA match this year. 

I Too heard somebody threw their gun at that match. Also heard he has been banned by USPSA but that may or may not be true.

[Bakerjd]

1 minute ago, Sarge said:

I Too heard somebody threw their gun at that match. Also heard he has been banned by USPSA but that may or may not be true.

I honestly only heard about it because it was the same stage I DQ'd at and I guess for the same reason. 180 break. For me, I just accepted it and moved on. I knew I was super close because I came out of the port and the pistol was 90 degrees from me but didnt think I broke. I guess the other guy wasnt as graceful. 

[Sarge]

21 minutes ago, Bakerjd said:

I honestly only heard about it because it was the same stage I DQ'd at and I guess for the same reason. 180 break. For me, I just accepted it and moved on. I knew I was super close because I came out of the port and the pistol was 90 degrees from me but didnt think I broke. I guess the other guy wasnt as graceful. 

That sucks and I’m sorry you got DQ’ed. As a seasoned RO I can tell you these things happen so fast. And sometimes RO’s get it wrong.  But I always tell people I don’t like driving home from a match and wondering if I was right when I DQ’ed som body. That’s why I am always 100% certain if I call stop. And it’s working I guess because there have only been a few objections in the last ten years. Much better when we all agree for sure.

[Bakerjd]

4 minutes ago, Sarge said:

That sucks and I’m sorry you got DQ’ed. As a seasoned RO I can tell you these things happen so fast. And sometimes RO’s get it wrong.  But I always tell people I don’t like driving home from a match and wondering if I was right when I DQ’ed som body. That’s why I am always 100% certain if I call stop. And it’s working I guess because there have only been a few objections in the last ten years. Much better when we all agree for sure.

Meh, I'm not one to argue a call like that. But either way I wouldnt yeet a gun down range lol.  The way i see it is they are doing their best. I watched a video of me shooting the stage and while it was close and maybe I did or didnt but no need to go off and act like a fool. 

 

And sadly I was honestly kind of relieved. I wasnt into the match at all. I was tired of shooting single stack and didnt have any excitement that day, and withdrew for SS nats while still at the match. Now I'm back to Limited and loving USPSA again. 

[Phoenix1977]

On 8/2/2020 at 11:49 PM, Seery said:

On the first stage one of the the new shooters was at the line and told to make ready, he replied "I'm already loaded".  

 

 

Owww....in that case you may unload now...

[XDoctor]

Last year at a 2-gun match, I was shooting a day early with the other RO's.  We're on a blind stage, you have to turn right and go through some barricades, but we've had no issues.  One of the older guys is running the timer and tells me to make ready.  So I load a mag and chamber a round, and then two of the other RO's come around the corner down range, maybe ten feet in front of me.  I quickly holstered, put my hands up and called the MD over.  (He was on our squad too.)  I explained what happened, and he told the guy not to do it again, and the old guy says something like, 'But this is taking forever!'

 

Three stages later, I finish resetting a double texas star and I'm coming back up the bay with two other guys, and there stands this old dude with a timer in his hand, and one of the other shooters in the process of making ready.  I left at that point and refuse to this day to even be on the same bay as that guy.

[Silver_Surfer]

Multiple ricochets from the next range impacting the ground near you. 

[SGT_Schultz]

On 11/5/2019 at 11:49 AM, Salsantini said:

The worst thing I've seen is someone pointing a pistol at my stomach!  Not a very nice feeling.

 

Same here

[IHAVEGAS]

On 10/16/2020 at 2:13 PM, Silver_Surfer said:

Multiple ricochets from the next range impacting the ground near you. 

 

If you mean bullet splatters falling to the ground from folks shooting steels, that is just part of the game. 

 

If you mean you were standing where you were not protected from actual ricochets (bullet retaining mass and in the next range and some idiots shooting steel targets that are not flat and rated for their guns) then I understand.