When I was a younger person I remember a comedy routine by George Carlin. It was called “Words you cannot say on TV”. I think it was 10 words, but I don’t exactly remember. It came to me that I should write an article entitled “Words and Phrases Good Range Officers should remove from their vocabulary.” But it seemed to be a bit long for a title.
[Read more…] about Words Do MatterRange is clear?
Recently I received an email from one of my former students. Apparently at a recent match the timer RO would not call the “Range is Clear” until he removed his hand from the butt of his handgun. He asked under what rule was this a correct call. That brought back distant memories to a rule change that occurred in 2008.
[Read more…] about Range is clear?From the Beginning: The evolution of the USPSA Target
For many years I have discussed how the “Classic/IPSC” target was nothing of the sort. In fact, it was mis-named and was a sore point to some older USPSA/IPSC shooters. So, to bring some order to this conversation let us go back to the distant past and explore where we came from.
[Read more…] about From the Beginning: The evolution of the USPSA TargetWhich shoulder?
Every once in a while you get a question and just have to go hmmmm? Recently during set-up at an all classifier match, the issue of what is the shoulder of a USPSA cardboard target when the specified target height of “5 feet at the shoulder” is used. If you think about it, there could be two answers. Is shoulder height the top of the main body of the target or is the shoulder where the lateral edge of the target breaks down at an angle? I would guess most people would say the former rather than the latter example but is it as cut and dried as that?
[Read more…] about Which shoulder?No-shoot vs. hard cover in stage design
Over the years I have designed over a hundred courses of fire shot at all levels of our sport. Many people have made a comment that I seem to use a lot of hard cover targets rather than no-shoots. A good friend of mine Ray Hirst once told me, “A hard cover target is the waste of a perfectly good no-shoot.”
[Read more…] about No-shoot vs. hard cover in stage designWhy no love for Single Stack major?
One of the glaring issues is the recent trend of shooters going to Single Stack minor instead of shooting major. While some would say this is caused by the proliferation of high round count courses at all levels of matches especially Level II and Level III matches as the primary factor I think they are incorrect. Instead, I see course designs where Single Stack major are at a strong disadvantage.
[Read more…] about Why no love for Single Stack major?Truncation: Words don’t cost money!
As I go around shooting and working matches and teaching Range Officer classes I see a common issue that really bugs me. That is the common practice of truncation of range commands and called hits while scoring targets.
[Read more…] about Truncation: Words don’t cost money!Popper left up, now what?
This situation really depends on where this occurs. At a major match, the Range Master is going to be using tested calibration ammo. However, for most clubs in the country they do not have calibration ammo that meets the requirements. So, what happens at a local club match?
[Read more…] about Popper left up, now what?