Handling A Holstered Firearm During The Cof

[Al Stewart JM]

Greetings from Jamaica,

I have a case for comment / clarification, that I had also posted on the USPSA forum.

A very experienced local IPSC / USPSA competitor ("M" class) is on the line in the start box, and is given LAMR by the RO. With the handgun (an open racegun with spurless hammer) still locked in his Ghost holster, the competitor racks the slide to cock the hammer and applies the safety; he then draws to a sight picture and dry-fires on the empty chamber, and then proceeds to load, make ready, and re-holster.

The RO said he was not happy with the procedure but did not issue a DQ. However, it later became a point of contention in the usual post-match discussions, and has not been resolved in principle. So, it will probably become an ugly item at a future match unless properly handled.

The competitor in question said that he has been using this procedure at several international match stages this year, including a USPSA Section Championship and a European IPSC Level 3 match; further, he discussed it with several GM's, CRO's and RO's and cannot find any problems with it.

I have reviewed the current January 2004 USPSA/IPSC rule book (Green!) as well as my own NROI RO Course notes and can find nothing that specifically addresses this. Frankly, I think if there was a clear-cut issue it would be clearly stated in the rules.

I would appreciate some more feedback on this before making a recommendation one way or the other!

Thank you in advance, DVC!

Al. Stewart

JAMAICA

[galt11]

This is something that has caused some disagreements in the past. According to the Jan. '04 (Green Book) what was described was perfectly within the rules unless the match organizers had prohibited this specifically in the stage briefing (rule 8.7.2). The only other applicable rules would be 8.7.1 and 8.7.3 for those playing according to IPSC rules. These prevent a shooter from taking asight picture with a loaded gun and from taking sight pictures on multiple targets. As a CRO in the US, I would prefer if they took a sight picture with the gun unloaded, safer for everyone, but have no problem with taking a sight picture. Hope this helps.

Adam

[Gary Stevens]

I see this a part of the "make ready" procedure. No harm, no foul.

Gary

[LPatterson]

It is not a method I would use because I don't trust mechanical locks. After LAMR if the gun falls out of the holster even unloaded it is a DQ, so why not take the gun in hand, rack the slide then put it back in the holster to take a sight picture. Most Open shooters are holding the gun out in front of them to turn the dot on anyway so why not just rack the slide at this time.

[Chuck Anderson]

My guess is he's probably concerned about the IPSC rule against multiple sight pictures. By racking the slide in the holster there's no question that he's not sighting as he's racking. This allows him to take the sight picture and dry fire without any question of multiple sight pictures. I don't see it as an issue.

[racerba]

No rule was broken that I am aware of.