Cheaters

[MANDOWN75]

I was just at the South Carolina match and I heard a few other shooters talking about some people loading two different loads, shooting a light load during the stages and the major power factor load during the chrono. I was wondering if this was something that happens often in this sport. I would think it wouldn't be and I cant understand why someone would want to cheat themselves or others.

[EricW]

...all the time. The thing is, the cheaters usually screw themselves. As soon as they go to a big match and have to shoot actual Major PF, they're screwed. It all comes around.

[SiG Lady]

I was wondering if this was something that happens often in this sport.  I would think it wouldn't be and I cant understand why someone would want to cheat themselves or others. 

Same reasoning that motivates some of our bullseye clowns to keep firing after the range

master has screamed "Cease Fire!!!"...... Dumb jerks.

[Vince Pinto]

I've only found it necessary to "spot-check" two guys in 10 years for suspected monkey business with ammo, but both survived the additional chrono check.

However the ammo samples on the second round in both cases factored about 10% lower than their first test, and I believe the competitors got the message.

Once you've been suspected and there's smoke, word quickly gets around and you get watched like a hawk.

[shred]

A long while ago we had a charity match where instead of chronoing, you could pay $5 to get somebody else chronoed, right then and there. At the announcement of this policy, one shooter long-suspected of being, um, economical, with his power-factor wailed "I'll be at the chrono all day!"

[EricW]

I used to shoot with guy who was probably king of power factor cheating in Texas back in the 80's. He gave me an hour long dissertaton on all the ways he'd cheat. Personally I don't cheat PF because I think it's stupid, but back then everybody played the game -- if you believed his story.

#1 Trick: He'd always keep a mag in reserve on his belt of hot ammo. When ever they challenged him and told him to drop XX rounds for the chrono, he'd reach all the way around his back and pull out the "good" mag.

Moral of the story: If you're going to pull a competitor's rounds to head to the chrono, wait until he or she is on the line, loaded and ready to roll. Then get the rounds to chrono out of the mag in the gun.

[Liota]

A long while ago we had a charity match where instead of chronoing, you could pay $5 to get somebody else chronoed, right then and there.  At the announcement of this policy, one shooter long-suspected of being, um, economical, with his power-factor wailed "I'll be at the chrono all day!"

We have one of those at our club, too!!! Come to think of it, probably every club does.

Liota

[PaulW]

Oh, heres a good one. FIPT '99. The chrono guy had a hunch that a foreign competitor had claimed the wrong bullet weight. Chrono guy pulled and weighed a bullet and the 200 gr .40 bullet somehow was only 180gr. Ok, benefit of the doubt belonging to the competitor I met up with competitor just as he was finishing a stage and grabbed one of his mags that he had just dropped from running the COF. I'll be damned if his bullets now were not only NOT in .40 cal, but were now 38 super loads (shooting limited by the way). Needless to say he was DQ and the rest of his foreign team were very disgusted with him and said he would probably be kicked off the team.

[lynn jones]

with the power factor at 165, what's the point? hell, now it's just whos powders not affected by the tempurature.

lynn jones

[Skywalker]

I suspect that, if those 'geniuses' at cheating would ever mind to put their mind at training, they would probably get that improvement they are "illegally" seeking for.

Anyway, I can report a true fact that happened here in Italy: a shooter used to cheat the PF by shooting the same load in two different barrels.

The "match" barrel was custom bored by a gunsmith at, say, some 0.001" oversize than the "chrono" barrel. Thus, the ammo making about 175PF in the "chrono" barrel, dropped about 25 PF points in the "match" one.

When required the chrono test, he used to find an excuse (most often "I'll clean the barrel from fouling and I'll be there in a minute) to switch barrels and, voilà, the trick was served.

Eventually, as Vince noted, words got around and he got caught.

[TBF]

WHY DO THEY CHEAT?

CUZ THEY ARE WEENIES.

I don't understand the thrill of winning by cheating, it has to take the satisfaction out of victory

to know you won by not playing the game by the same rules everybody else did. Unless you

are a real WEENIE.

Travis F.

[Loves2Shoot]

I agree with TBF, cheaters cheat because they have no life, and that is the only way they can win, as if winning a stupid pistol match has anything to do with your self-worth. So my 2 cents is people cheat because they have no life.

[Run n Gun]

L2S,

"Stupid pistol match..."? Humph... have you been watching me shoot?

Ed

[Nolan]

I'm reminded of a Tee shirt I saw at a Nascar race:

"If you're not cheating, you're not trying hard enough to win!"

Of course there is a difference between 'creative rule interpretation' and out and out cheating.

Creative rule interpretation:

Fold down kick stand thumb safety to hold gun off the table.

Depleted Uranium barrel sleeve in Production Division.

Beveled rear mag lips and 'stepped' mag pad that fits the 170.5 mm mag gauge and holds 30 rounds.

Out and out cheating:

Getting caught!

[L9X25]

Most matches in Florida pull ammo from your belt at various stages throughout a match. While each squad is only chosen once, you never know when you ammo will be pulled. Even with these procedures, daring cheaters still find ways to cheat.

At the Florida State Match, last year, we had a revolver shooter that failed to knock over a plate (not popper) with 2 shots and complained to the RO that it was not calibrated properly ... A PLATE! The RO called the range master which then FLATTENED the plate with his 9mm and then escorted the shooter to the chrono where his ammo was declared sub-minor and he was disqualified. He had just chronoed 2 hours prior and had been confirmed Major, which is also what he had declared. Busted!

Leo