RO Best Practices

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.

We emphasize in the CRO course that good CROs arrive at the stage they are working with a basic toolkit. But after working a few major matches recently, I am thinking we need to remind all CROs and ROs working a stage. Always show up ready to maintain your stage!

For Comstock and Virginia Count scoring, time ends with the last shot. But in Fixed Time scoring, the time ends on the second beep. But what if the competitor doesn’t hear the second beep? What if the RO doesn’t hear it either?

At our recent monthly club match, three of the six stages used Virginia Count scoring.  There was a bit of good-natured grumbling about it, but the stages turned out to be very interesting.  A 20-round medium course had a lot of comments and groans from the competitors.  

Range Officers are not supposed to give the “Are you ready?” range command until the competitor is in the proper start position. But what if the competitor isn’t in the start position? Does the RO say something? Stand there in silence? What is the proper course of action?

Ask anyone, especially those that have earned their RM card but also a lot of CRO level folks and they can tell you the story of their first time working as the RM at a match. And, if you stick in the sport long enough, stay abreast of the rules, and help run matches at your local club(s) then it is probably going to happen to you. Here are some tips and some advice to help you in that journey.

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.