Our rules do allow for scoring and no-shoot cardboard targets to be cut, but there are some rules about the cut edge that need to be followed. Let’s look at some examples and the rules which are involved.
[Read more…] about Cutting targetsStage Design
Build It Right
There’s a short video in the level one presentation that shows a competitor in a different country leaning on a wall while he engages targets. The wall subsequently falls down as he shoots and he rides it down to the ground, hammering away at the targets. He doesn’t drop his gun, and seems to get a kick out of the experience, as does his fellow competitors in the peanut gallery. The point of the slide is that props need to be built to withstand their intended use, as specified in the rules.
[Read more…] about Build It RightWhich shoulder?
Every once in a while you get a question and just have to go hmmmm? Recently during set-up at an all classifier match, the issue of what is the shoulder of a USPSA cardboard target when the specified target height of “5 feet at the shoulder” is used. If you think about it, there could be two answers. Is shoulder height the top of the main body of the target or is the shoulder where the lateral edge of the target breaks down at an angle? I would guess most people would say the former rather than the latter example but is it as cut and dried as that?
[Read more…] about Which shoulder?X Marks the Spot
No, not a post discussing treasure maps, sorry. In this case, it is regarding the placement of firearms on a surface prior to the start signal as part of the make ready routine. Let’s grab our shovels anyway and and see what we can find.
[Read more…] about X Marks the SpotPrep those props for painless scoring
Shots that travel partially or wholly through props and hit a cardboard target usually require a bit of detective work by the RO to determine the proper score. Let’s talk about how a RO should score these targets and some tricks to avoid scoring issues.
[Read more…] about Prep those props for painless scoringLast six shots or three targets?
USPSA matches are freestyle, as stated in rule 1.1.5. This means that competitors must be able to solve the stage in their own way. We don’t tell them the target order, or that they have to move to the left or right first. But we do have some specific exceptions to this rule that are outlined in the sub-rules of 1.1.5, including requiring strong hand only or weak hand only for no more than the last six shots in medium and long courses. But there are some tricks to how you specify this to prevent gaming.
[Read more…] about Last six shots or three targets?No-shoot vs. hard cover in stage design
Over the years I have designed over a hundred courses of fire shot at all levels of our sport. Many people have made a comment that I seem to use a lot of hard cover targets rather than no-shoots. A good friend of mine Ray Hirst once told me, “A hard cover target is the waste of a perfectly good no-shoot.”
[Read more…] about No-shoot vs. hard cover in stage designFinding Balance
Now and then, we get questions from folks asking if thus and such is “legal” in terms of stage design. Sometimes these things are a good idea and sometimes they are not. And occasionally, we roll out the “just because it might be legal doesn’t mean it’s a good idea” response.
[Read more…] about Finding Balance