In this day and age, we have reached a point where the possibility that everything we say and do is being recorded, especially on a shooting range at a match. And, because an awful lot of this is shared on social media, how we comport ourselves on the range really does become the public face of the shooting community and can have far reaching impacts. Let’s discuss a bit deeper.
[Read more…] about Dangerous TalkMistakes Happen, to All of Us
This should not be news to anyone but we are all human, and as such, we make mistakes. Even if we are super careful, and sometimes because we are being TOO careful, we make mistakes. There are several ways you can react to this, some good, some really not that good. Let’s chat about it.
[Read more…] about Mistakes Happen, to All of UsThe Cultured Club
Here at NROI, we all too frequently have complaints about ROs come our way; generally they are not formal RO Incident Form type complaints but more along the lines of “I had a bad RO at xyz match last weekend.” There is usually an implied “NROI needs to do something!”
[Read more…] about The Cultured ClubThe Evolution of Stage Design Tools
Back when I started in this sport the new hotness for stage design were a bunch of templates for MS Office products like Word and Excel. This was a HUGE step up from the green plastic stage design template many had been using for years or freehand drawing. Some were using Corel Draw as well but that required a Corel license (or at least a bootleg copy of Corel) and “laptops” were under powered and over heavy so portable stage designing wasn’t a thing. Things have come a long way since those days.
[Read more…] about The Evolution of Stage Design ToolsInterference/Assistance/”Coaching”
One of the rarer calls that is made at major matches is that of Interference, or Assistance, or more commonly called as “Coaching”, as defined in 8.6. For Level 1 matches, we have 8.6.2.1 which allows for coaching for competitors with Range Officer approval. But what constitutes each of these? Which ones can be penalized? Who gets the penalty, if any? Let’s dive in.
[Read more…] about Interference/Assistance/”Coaching”Timber!!!
We’ve all done it. Moving along through life and everything is going our way and suddenly we are landing on the ground not really sure how we got there. All well and good, usually, with nothing more than our pride bruised or maybe a minor scrape. But what if this happens at a match, during a stage, and we are the shooter? DQ? Let’s step back from the dust cloud and look the situation over.
[Read more…] about Timber!!!Circlestack? What the heck?
Revolvers get referred to by a lot of names. Circlestack, Wheelgun, and more. The revolver, typically in a .38 variant or .45 ACP and the 1911, generally in .45 ACP although .38 Super was around as well, were the foundation firearms of our sport going back to the very early days before double stack magazines, comps and, optics. At that point the 1911s were using surplus magazines so were 7+1 vs. 6 rounds in the revolver so there was not that much disparity. As revolvers were still the duty guns for most law enforcement agencies at the time they were very popular in the sport and readily available. Now, they are a rarity in our sport, especially USPSA, and it is not uncommon to run across ROs that aren’t “Revolver Aware”. They are a bit different from a rules standpoint so let’s stroll through the book and take a deeper look.
[Read more…] about Circlestack? What the heck?Compassion in the Shooting Sports
It either has happened already or will happen sooner or later to all of us. Either we get injured and/or we get older; and our ability to be agile and speedy in our sports of choice diminishes. Should we just give up, start playing checkers in the park, and go away or soldier on? Let’s cogitate on that.
[Read more…] about Compassion in the Shooting Sports