Free Advice

There are some things that just are not in the rulebook. They are part of club culture and the etiquette of our sport. Recently, we have received multiple emails from members asking about others poaching the on deck shooter’s time to walk the stage. Let’s discuss this!

It always has puzzled me why some competitors race through the process of unloading and showing clear at the end of stages. This process is not on the clock and is an important step to ensure the firearm is unloaded, so why the rush?

As with any skill, practice makes perfect…or at least better. Same goes for being a Range Officer. The RO seminar is just the first step, it’s sort of like your learner’s permit for driving. To become a skilled RO, it takes practice.

One of the things you should always do after cleaning or any other disassembly of your firearm is to perform a safety check once it’s back together. We put a lot of rounds through our firearms and over time pieces wear or break. One of the things you should always check is if the primary safety, if your firearm came from the factory with one, is working properly.

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!”

In the RO seminar we stress that working major matches is a great way to get experience as a new RO. You not only get to see all the competitors in the match shoot the stage you are working (which can be interesting), but you also get teamed up with experienced match staff who can mentor you and help refine your RO skills. But how do you get on the staff list for a major match?