RO Best Practices

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!

[Read more…] about Tending your fault lines

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.

[Read more…] about Truncation: Words don’t cost money!

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.

[Read more…] about Two ROs, Scoring, & the Rules

Many people understand the role of the range officer with the timer:  to issue the range commands, to supervise and observe the competitor while they shoot the course of fire, to correctly and accurately score targets, and to ensure safety and procedural rules are followed at all times.  But, what about the second, or third, or even fourth RO on a stage?  What are they supposed to do?  Most people understand that the second RO is typically considered the scorekeeper, and while the competitor is shooting, they watch the stage in general, look for foot faults, safety issues, and other procedural errors that may be made.  The scorekeeper is also responsible for accurately recording the competitor’s score, whether that’s done on paper or electronically.  The third Range Officer on a stage has responsibility for an even wider view of what’s happening while the stage is being shot, looking for faults, procedural errors and safety problems.  Let’s look at each job and its responsibilities a little closer, though.

[Read more…] about What’s My Line?

Ah Winter…for some it’s a non-event; for others it’s an experiment in battling the elements to keep on enjoying our sport. It’s the season where movement can include dealing with consistently slippery conditions and the inevitable slips and falls by competitors and staff. While we are discussing this all within the context of “Winter” and all the joyous ice and snow that comes with it; the same realities apply everywhere and at any time of year.

[Read more…] about Stopping for Safety

At some point, you will be running a competitor and they will have some sort of malfunction. And for this post, I am not talking about a squib or a pistol suddenly firing rounds in bursts, which are unsafe ammunition/gun scenarios in which the RO must stop the competitor. I am talking about a malfunction such as a jam, ammo feeding issue, stuck case, or another instance that would not be considered unsafe. As the RO, what do you do?

[Read more…] about The malfunction conundrum

Ammunition reloading, whether accomplished on a single-stage press, or a progressive press, or on an auto-drive unit is an enjoyable activity for some and a necessary annoyance for others.  Regardless, the end result of that activity can have a significant impact on your match performance (ask me how I know!).  A slight user misstep or press malfunction, if not noticed and properly corrected, means the round (or rounds) involved will likely end up being used in a match rather than discovered during a training session.

[Read more…] about Squib Confusion?

We all started there…we were the “New Shooter” at some point in the past. For me, I still remember my first match in vivid detail. I went in with expectations of having fun and not DQing and, thankfully, I achieved both of these goals. I also made a bunch of friends that day and learned a TON. But let’s look at the other side of the picture for a bit. The veteran Range Officers faced with handling a new shooter. What should you do differently for these folks?

[Read more…] about New Shooter Coming Out