Bagging vs. Holstering

[Jim Norman]

Couple of points. The Safety areas at the Montana Nationals were ridiculously far apart. If the shooter went there after each stage to bag and un bag he would probably miss taping for 4-6 shooters. Couple on the front and a couple on the back side. I'll bag off the line if there is a safety area near by but I'm not hiking half a mile to do it.

Many shooters have a reasonably secure holster (not too many folks are shooting from a duty holster so all of them have compromises), but still can lose the gun. How about carrying a bag or a pack and having a strap hook the gun and pull it out. Or sitting down in a chair and having an arm of the chair pull it out. I've seen both happen, and while they may not result in a DQ they still damage the nice pretty expensive gun.

Many folks in my section bag/unbag between stages. At the front part it's included in the 30 seconds the shooter gets to prep so it doesn't add anything. If they're going over put them at the bottom. At the end if the ARO is there with the bag it doesn't take more than a second or two. For the ARO's too lazy (yes I said it) to carry the 3 oz of pistol rug to the end of the stage, yeah it's going to add some time. I've RO'd a big match or two and have RO'd thousands of shooters and have never had a problem with carrying a pistol rug. If they want me to carry their range bag that's an issue. The RO should not be carrying the bag for the shooter, the ARO should. If they are unable to carry a small pistol rug as well as the clipboard, well maybe we could find another job for them.

Personally I don't bag/unbag much anymore. I do in certain cases like first thing in the morning or after driving to another half of the range. I know lots of folks that depending on weather would though. The open guys in the rain come to mind first. I also bag if I've got a strenous course I'm ROing or if there is some steel or targets that require a run to reset. I'm guessing this is faster than meandering out with my hand on the butt of my gun to make sure nothing happens. Even though I know my holster is more than secure enough to pass any holster test.

What he said.

And this adds to my point of having a safety table on every pit.

Jim

[LPatterson]

The safety area for the stage was less than 25 feet away. The CRO stressed several times before we started to use the range commands verbatim from the rule book. 8.3.7 does not say "If Clear, Hammer Down, Bag; it says Holster". The spectator area was ten feet behind the shooters final position after he stood up (prone stage), he handed the bag to someone in the crowd before he started. All I asked was that he holster the gun and remove his hand, if he did that and immediately put his hand back on the gun so we could score targets that would have been fine.

What this all comes down to is there are rules to be followed and I am going to inforce them as I believe they were written. If I am proven wrong then I will accept that and continue.

I spent 20 years following, strike that, reading and then following checklists and that rule book is just another checklist.

If we happen to meet at a Nationals or Area match, I hope you understand I do not deviate from the way the rules are written.

[richardschennberg]

Definitely ban the faulty holster, both for safety and fairness. Also, if anyone protests the scores already shot, he should be required to reshoot them with an appropriate holster.

Richard

[richardschennberg]

Definitely ban the faulty holster, both for safety and fairness. Also, if anyone protests the scores already shot, he should be required to reshoot them with an appropriate holster.

Richard