Holsters, mag pouches, mags full of ammo, and pistols. That adds up to a lot of weight being supported by our belts during matches. But sometimes buckles break, belt webbing fails, or the Velcro between the inner and outer belts gets worn out and belts fail to stay put during a stage. This is a rare occurrence, but something we get asked about often enough to be a Question of the Month: The competitor’s belt falls off while shooting the course of fire. What is your call as the RO?
[Read more…] about Wardrobe malfunctionQuestion of the Month Results
Another Virginia Count Problem
I don’t dislike Virginia Count. I think it tests a different set of skills. But I do hate when competitors decide to not shoot a Virginia Count stage in a way that violates the stage procedure…because it usually leads to lengthy discussions about how many penalties are needed. Sometimes ROs can’t agree on the number of penalties. Other times they agree on the number, but not the reason. We all need practice, which is why we keep posing Virginia Count questions for the Question of the Month.
[Read more…] about Another Virginia Count ProblemSignificant Advantage
We have many penalties in our sport and most of them are well defined, but there are a few times where the RO needs to determine the number of penalties based on significant advantage. For the September Question of the Month we posed a question where significant advantage may come into play: After the start signal, the competitor draws and shoots T1-T5 from the start position and then enters shooting area B and shoots the remaining targets. How many procedural penalties?
[Read more…] about Significant AdvantageFacing Uprange
In a previous Question of the Month, we discussed the changes to the definition of facing downrange, but we have observed that there is still some confusion about what the definition of facing uprange is. For July, we showed a picture of a competitor in a facing uprange start position, and asked if he was in the correct position. The results indicated that we chose a good topic to explore.
[Read more…] about Facing UprangeActivating activators
In the 2020 rulebook, some changes were made to section 9.9 that changed how certain activated targets are scored if the target is never activated. We wanted to see how many folks noticed the change and as a result asked the following Question of the Month: The Max Trap in the picture is activated by a stomp pad. The competitor shoots the target putting two hits in the upper A-zone and never activates it. How do you score the target?
[Read more…] about Activating activatorsFalse start or DQ?
This question was taken from a thread on the Enos forum. The responses as to which rule applied were varied and there was much disagreement – perfect for a Question of the Month: At a USPSA match, a PCC competitor is given the “Make ready” command, loads and applies the PCC safety, and assumes the start position. After the “Are you ready?” command, but before the start signal, the competitor fires the PCC and the shot impacts the rear berm. As the RO, what is your call?
[Read more…] about False start or DQ?Scoring Skimmers
Have you ever had to score a target from a drop turner where the bullet sliced across the target face? Did you make the right call? The April Question of the Month asked everyone how they would score the below target.
[Read more…] about Scoring SkimmersVirginia Count Penalties
We decided to test everyone’s knowledge about Virginia Count penalties in two different scenarios for the March Questions of the Month. A lot of votes were cast on these questions, and now we can see who was correct!
[Read more…] about Virginia Count Penalties