RO Best Practices

I know our rulebooks are quite long and complicated. And I know that there are too many rule numbers. But using the rulebook effectively just takes a little familiarity and practice. We don’t expect everyone to memorize all the rules and rule numbers because it’s not necessary and we provide rulebooks as a handy reference. Here are some tips on how to get better at using the rulebooks.

Start positions specified in written stage briefings usually specify locations for hands and range officials need to make sure that the competitor has his or her hands in the proper position before proceeding with the “Are you ready?” range command. Why? Because if the competitor is not in the proper position, a reshoot is required. Let’s look at some common hand positions used in written stage briefings.

What makes a good Range Officer? There are many facets to running a stage efficiently and safely. Let’s take a look at some of the desirable qualities of a good range official.

Regardless if a gun is dropped during the course of fire, or outside a course of fire, it is the job of a Range Officer to oversee its retrieval and return to a safe condition (see 10.5.14). But how should a RO go about this?

No, this is not a foot faulting post, at least not directly. One of the things I see at major matches are stage crews not maintaining the fault lines. As hundreds of competitors go through the course of fire, certain corners are getting buried by dirt and gravel that is kicked up as people stop in prime shooting positions. Is this an issue? If a competitor earns an unfair foot fault, it sure is!

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.

Now and then we get a query from folks who are confused about something they saw recently at a match, perhaps at a club they have never shot with before, and they are wondering if what they saw was right and proper. The most recent of these inquired regarding early scoring and the job of the “second RO”. Let’s dive in.