Range etiquette rambling with some tips and tricks for an enjoyable match. Feel free to add on the thread anything you have seen and may 2021 be a good year for you all on and off the range!

[Doge]

Some Range etiquette rambling as the 2021 season is starting to ramp up. Also for those attending their first

U.S. Practical Shooting Assn. (USPSA), Steel Challenge Shooting Assn.

or IDPA match. Or any practical shooting match more or less.
 

- Know and be aware of the rules of the game and stay updated. Rules change all the time. That being said have some forceful backup in case (e-mail confirmation, rulebook in PDF, or even screenshots of rules that might throw people off). Had a competitor at one match approach me as I was about to make ready try and tell me I was breaking rules with my setup. I was able and about to provide confirmation from the rulebook and e-mail confirmation from the Match Director. It didn't come to that as the Range Officer on my squad and some other shooters corrected him. Feeling is not knowing.
 

- Before you buy anything, do some research on the game and what is allowed and not. I've seen people show up to matches with thousands of dollars in equipment just to find out that their gear was either not legal in the game or not competitive.
 

- If you are not running the scoring tablet or timer help paste and reset. Also extend the courtesy of the shooter on deck to not have to paste/reset and let the shooter that just finished reload mags etc.
 

- Be cognizant of the shooter order, don't be the shooter that makes everyone wait because you forgot to get your gear in order.
 

- If the match director, range master, range officer, or even another shooter corrects you on a ruling see at as someone helping you stay accountable and not as a personal attack. It's not personal it's just business.
 

-Help tear down or set up when you can. Most matches are a volunteer sport. Match Directors, staff, and volunteers take time out to give a good experience. Certified Range Officers even pay their own money to attend courses.
 

- Stay classy and practice sportsmanship. This should be a no brainer but you'd be surprised. Don't cheat, don't use your affiliated club as a personal tool, and be a good ambassador to the organization and club.
 

- Safety, safety, safety. Be safe on the range and have an emergency medical plan if something happens. Even having a basic first aid kit and tourniquet can make a big difference.
 

- Don't be scared to help someone if they seek it. The Bible has a verse "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.". If I can give some good tips to someone that asks me and it pays off that's a win for me.
 

Sorry for the long post, and if you made it this far on reading it thanks for taking time out to. Personally with my job and moving constantly I've been able to shoot at more that 20 clubs from a club to national level. It's a great community and I'm very fortunate that in practical shooting like my job I can count all the people I don't care for with one hand. Keep it safe and classy!

[Eric802]

16 hours ago, Doge said:

- If you are not running the scoring tablet or timer help paste and reset. Also extend the courtesy of the shooter on deck to not have to paste/reset and let the shooter that just finished reload mags etc.

This. I recently shot with some folks I’d been trying to squad with for a couple months because I figured it’d be a good learning experience. It was, but it kind of sucked being (no exaggeration) the only person heading down range to paste and reset at times. Great shooting with some M’s and GM’s...as long as they remember to pick up some pasters occasionally. 

Edited March 15, 2021 by Eric802

[BillChunn]

13 hours ago, Eric802 said:

Great shooting with some M’s and GM’s...as long as they remember to pick up some pasters occasionally. 

 

Just shove a strip of pasters into their magazine well..... (really, don't do this if you are not good friends with the person AND they can  take a joke...).

Or you could just hand them a strip as long as they are not on deck or have just completed the stage.

 

BC

[waktasz]

All the GMs around here have paster guns. It's the slow moving C classers you have to smack in the ass once in a while

 

[Intheshaw1]

3 minutes ago, waktasz said:

All the GMs around here have paster guns. It's the slow moving C classers you have to smack in the ass once in a while

 

I'm no GM but those paster guns make it way faster. I bring mine to most matches and I can paste 75% of a stage before the 3 guys doing it by hand can do the rest. I've tried to get the club to buy one for each stage but they aren't cheap.

Edited March 15, 2021 by Intheshaw1

[waktasz]

they are cheaper than a timer.

Honestly since I've gotten one it's kind of annoying that other people expect you to tape even more. I may start leaving it at home. 

[SGT_Schultz]

18 hours ago, Eric802 said:

This. I recently shot with some folks I’d been trying to squad with for a couple months because I figured it’d be a good learning experience. It was, but it kind of sucked being (no exaggeration) the only person heading down range to paste and reset at times. Great shooting with some M’s and GM’s...as long as they remember to pick up some pasters occasionally. 

 

Simple.  Don't get up next time.

 

When the RO yells for pasters, look at all the GMs in the eyes.

[Ssanders224]

18 hours ago, Eric802 said:

 

24 minutes ago, SGT_Schultz said:

 

Simple.  Don't get up next time.

 

When the RO yells for pasters, look at all the GMs in the eyes.

 

18 hours ago, Eric802 said:

This. I recently shot with some folks I’d been trying to squad with for a couple months because I figured it’d be a good learning experience. It was, but it kind of sucked being (no exaggeration) the only person heading down range to paste and reset at times. Great shooting with some M’s and GM’s...as long as they remember to pick up some pasters occasionally. 

 

Or.... Just don't concern yourself with what anyone else is doing.  

 

If your goal is to preform well at a match, there's about a million things you should have your mind on.  Whether or not anyone else is pasting isn't one of them. 

[SGT_Schultz]

1 hour ago, Ssanders224 said:

 

Or.... Just don't concern yourself with what anyone else is doing. 

 

 

Normally I don't.  But sometimes douchebaggery rises to a level that needs to be addressed.

[Sarge]

2 hours ago, Ssanders224 said:

 

Or.... Just don't concern yourself with what anyone else is doing.  

 

If your goal is to preform well at a match, there's about a million things you should have your mind on.  Whether or not anyone else is pasting isn't one of them. 

That doesn't work. If your goal is to perform well at a match being the only guy resetting sure isn't going to help achieve said goal.

[Ssanders224]

6 minutes ago, Sarge said:

That doesn't work. If your goal is to perform well at a match being the only guy resetting sure isn't going to help achieve said goal.

Yea, that’s just not correct at all. 
Do you, do your part. Ignore the rest.  

 

During a match, if you are putting thought/concern into whether others are contributing enough, jokes on you. 
 

Most top contenders at level II’s can’t  tell you who’s been taping and who hasn’t. Just not important. 
 

(none of this applies if you are match staff, etc.  In that case, it’s definitely a concern) 

[Intheshaw1]

7 minutes ago, Ssanders224 said:

Yea, that’s just not correct at all. 
Do you, do your part. Ignore the rest.  

 

During a match, if you are putting thought/concern into whether others are contributing enough, jokes on you. 
 

Most top contenders at level II’s can’t  tell you who’s been taping and who hasn’t. Just not important. 
 

(none of this applies if you are match staff, etc.  In that case, it’s definitely a concern) 

Likely true unless you're the only one resetting. Can't help but notice NO ONE else helping you reset or the same one person. It's happened to me a few times and I've called people out for it or just sat down the next couple of resets and people tend to figure out they need to help.

[Sarge]

20 minutes ago, Intheshaw1 said:

Likely true unless you're the only one resetting. Can't help but notice NO ONE else helping you reset or the same one person. It's happened to me a few times and I've called people out for it or just sat down the next couple of resets and people tend to figure out they need to help.

LOL> Reminds me of the time there were 2 of us resetting while the rest shot the s#!t . We finally decided to say F it and sat down. Then the RO yelled at everyone and said get off your asses and reset the stage. It's like they didn't even notice 90% were not helping. LOL

[Intheshaw1]

2 minutes ago, Sarge said:

LOL> Reminds me of the time there were 2 of us resetting while the rest shot the s#!t . We finally decided to say F it and sat down. Then the RO yelled at everyone and said get off your asses and reset the stage. It's like they didn't even notice 90% were not helping. LOL

Yeah, it used to be really bad for cleaning up after the local 3 gun match until the MD said if you don't help and the bay you finished on isn't cleaned then you will not be allowed to shoot anymore matches there.

 

Remarkable how fast people help when they are threatened with a ban.

[Sarge]

32 minutes ago, Ssanders224 said:

Yea, that’s just not correct at all. 
Do you, do your part. Ignore the rest.  

 

During a match, if you are putting thought/concern into whether others are contributing enough, jokes on you. 
 

Most top contenders at level II’s can’t  tell you who’s been taping and who hasn’t. Just not important. 
 

(none of this applies if you are match staff, etc.  In that case, it’s definitely a concern) 

  Resetting for most everybody else is like being staff at a major. You either work or focus on shooting. If you hump all day more than everybody else your shooting will suffer for it. I'm not talking about letting it get in my head as much as I'm saying it wears your ass out. True, many top contenders at level II's don't care enough to say anything because they might draw attention to the fact they could be doing more to help instead of just focusing on winning.

  Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing top shooters but I am saying I'm not there to support them winning a match by doing more labor than them. 

[blacklab2011]

Gotta love these threads about guys bullying or passive aggressive ways to get others to paste, reset stages.Etc...I’ve been reading this forum for close to 10 years and feels like I’ve read about a thousand of these.

 

One thing I’ve never been able to figure out is what sense it makes to have 8-10 guys walk down range and each stand by one target waiting to paste.  Doesn’t take long for the help to dwindle.

 

Why not assign certain parts of the shooting order to be responsible for

resetting. Bottom of shooing order and  once your done shooting a stage reset for next 3-4 shooters.

 

3-4 people can reset as quick as 8 guys standing by a single target.  That way everyone knows whose responsible for reset and helps out.

 

Helps keep everyone fresh, allows everyone plenty of time to concentrate on stage plans, prep etc.

 

Why not try something different.

 

 

 

 

[Ssanders224]

17 minutes ago, Sarge said:

many top contenders at level II's don't care enough to say anything because they might draw attention to the fact they could be doing more to help instead of just focusing on winning.

You could have stopped after “many top contenders don’t care enough to say anything” and you’d have been correct. 

The notion that there’s usually any nefarious reasoning behind it, or that most are putting any extra thought into it past  just not carrying is misplaced.

 

Also, I’ll never fault anyone for for “just focusing on winning” when they’ve spent countless hours training, spent ridiculous amounts of money preparing, made other sacrifices, and traveled across the country to compete in a sport. Does that mean they should disregard resetting duties? Of course not, but as a competitor that’s also focused on winning, I’m certainly not going to concern myself with it if they do. 

[Ssanders224]

11 minutes ago, blacklab2011 said:

Gotta love these threads about guys bullying or passive aggressive ways to get others to paste, reset stages.Etc...I’ve been reading this forum for close to 10 years and feels like I’ve read about a thousand of these.

 

A thousand threads, made up of only like a half dozen of the same posters, lol. 
 

 

Anywho, I feel like we’ve derailed this one pretty bad. Whoops. 

[BillChunn]

For the NRA Service Rifle national matches such as the ones held in the past at Camp Perry, you are responsible for putting time into the "butts".  Hauling the target down, marking the new hit on the target, pasting the previous hit and then moving a scoring disk to show the point value after every shot.  This can get a bit tiring in the summer sun, with no shade.

 

Some ingenious people  decided to hire themselves out to do the target work.  They could clear $200 a day working in the place of 4 shooters.

 

For some of our past Sectional matches, the Boy Scouts pasted and reset stages for the entire match.  There was part of each competitor's match fee dedicated to their efforts so they made quite a bit of guaranteed money.  There was also a donation jar available for them to make a few extra bucks.  Don't know how that would fly with the parents in today's cancel culture but it's another solution.

 

BC

[konkapot]

I've shot in clubs from Area 1 to Area 8 and generally people have been great about taping/resetting. I've seen Todd Jarrett and Travis Tomasie tape and work the timer.....and do a great job at it. 

 

The C Class crew, who's generally more interested in socializing, has a slightly higher tendency to need to be reminded to help. 

 

One reminder from other shooters or ROs has always solved the problem, regardless of shooter classification. 

 

Agreed 100% about 8 guys going down range to stand by 8 targets; that's asinine. 

[Intheshaw1]

1 hour ago, BillChunn said:

 

For some of our past Sectional matches, the Boy Scouts pasted and reset stages for the entire match.  There was part of each competitor's match fee dedicated to their efforts so they made quite a bit of guaranteed money.  There was also a donation jar available for them to make a few extra bucks.  Don't know how that would fly with the parents in today's cancel culture but it's another solution.

 

BC

Glock uses the Young Marines to help with the GSSF matches but I will say it's often a lot harder to get them to work and to not go down range vs getting a few of the competitors waiting to shoot to help. So I'm not sure the scouts or having kids help is the answer.

[Sarge]

3 hours ago, BillChunn said:

For the NRA Service Rifle national matches such as the ones held in the past at Camp Perry, you are responsible for putting time into the "butts".  Hauling the target down, marking the new hit on the target, pasting the previous hit and then moving a scoring disk to show the point value after every shot.  This can get a bit tiring in the summer sun, with no shade.

 

Some ingenious people  decided to hire themselves out to do the target work.  They could clear $200 a day working in the place of 4 shooters.

 

For some of our past Sectional matches, the Boy Scouts pasted and reset stages for the entire match.  There was part of each competitor's match fee dedicated to their efforts so they made quite a bit of guaranteed money.  There was also a donation jar available for them to make a few extra bucks.  Don't know how that would fly with the parents in today's cancel culture but it's another solution.

 

BC

We used the BS years ago for a sectional and the first day they were great. Day two they basically stopped wanting to help so we told them to stay home for the last day. Their “leader” said they grew concerned about lead exposure? I think they were just kids that got tired of working.

[Eric802]

3 hours ago, BillChunn said:

For the NRA Service Rifle national matches such as the ones held in the past at Camp Perry, you are responsible for putting time into the "butts".  Hauling the target down, marking the new hit on the target, pasting the previous hit and then moving a scoring disk to show the point value after every shot.  This can get a bit tiring in the summer sun, with no shade.

 

Some ingenious people  decided to hire themselves out to do the target work.  They could clear $200 a day working in the place of 4 shooters.

 

For some of our past Sectional matches, the Boy Scouts pasted and reset stages for the entire match.  There was part of each competitor's match fee dedicated to their efforts so they made quite a bit of guaranteed money.  There was also a donation jar available for them to make a few extra bucks.  Don't know how that would fly with the parents in today's cancel culture but it's another solution.

 

BC

The worst was going to a range with bad drainage in the target pits.  Nothing like standing there watching for bullet impacts on the berm while swatting away swarms of mosquitos.  

[CocoBolo]

If everyone does their part it makes the match a lot more enjoyable.   That said at the young age of 72, my most important equipment is my chair.  Wait for it.  That said I make sure that when I am not on deck not reloading my mags, I get up outa that chair and I go to the  most distant target or steel tape or reset.   The reason for this is to get more exercise and that folks will help me shoot more matches because I will live longer, and each time it will be easier because the more you do the more you can do.

 

Now back in the day, I worked to set up the match, then was RO a lot and if not scoring and carried tape with me while doing that and hit anything the crew didn't get.  When I noticed someone that wasn't helping I might stroll over and hand them some tape, If they asked what that was for, that's when it started.  You know the talk about how we are a team. 

 

I RO'ed some majors and yes I handed tape to some super squad members. 

 

A couple of add on items.

 

1.  Don't give unsolicited advice, you can of course ask if some one is open to some constructive tips, or offer to mentor a new shooter if they are so inclined.  

 

2. Save the smack talk for lunch after the match.

 

3.  Don't be that guy that tries to change the RO's call, let the RO and the Scorer do their job.   The guy that whips out the overlay, if they need one they will ask for it, it is ok if the shooter asks.

Edited March 18, 2021 by CocoBolo

[NMBOpen]

2 hours ago, CocoBolo said:

If everyone does their part it makes the match a lot more enjoyable.   That said at the young age of 72, my most important equipment is my chair.  Wait for it.  That said I make sure that when I am not on deck not reloading my mags, I get up outa that chair and I go to the  most distant target or steel tape or reset.   The reason for this is to get more exercise and that folks will help me shoot more matches because I will live longer, and each time it will be easier because the more you do the more you can do.

 

 

 

 

++++1000