Speed Shoots have specific procedures as well as elements dictated by freestyle. This Question of the Month was inspired by a real match and requires reading of the rulebook. Did you get it right? Let’s find out!
Stage Info: Speed Shoot, Comstock, 10 rounds total.
Start Position: Inside shooting area, handgun loaded and holstered with wrists above respective shoulders.
Stage Procedure: Upon the audible start signal, from within the shooting area, engage either all the cardboard targets or all the poppers, then perform a mandatory reload and engage the remaining array strong hand only.
What happened: The competitor fired 2 shots at each cardboard target, freestyle, then performed the mandatory reload and engaged and knocked down all the poppers, strong hand only. He then notices misses on the cardboard targets and takes two make-up shots, freestyle. As the RO, what is your call?
As I was making the next Question of he Month Poll, I did accidentally edit the answers for this poll. I believe I changed everything back to how it was, but there is a chance that the answer and number of votes don’t match. But if the number of votes for each answer are correct, the correct answer is not what the majority thought. Let’s work through what the correct answer is.
Let’s first look at the rule that governs Speed Shoots (1.2.2.3): Courses of fire consisting of one continuous string of fire not exceeding 16 rounds shot on one or more arrays of multiple targets from a single location. The Written Stage Briefing may specify engaging arrays of targets without violating rule (1.1.5), as long as the competitor is allowed to engage said arrays in any order, and individual target engagement is not specified. No more than eight rounds may be required without a mandatory reload and no more than one mandatory reload may be required in the course of fire. Weak/Strong hand may be stipulated after the reload is complete. Stage may be scored either Comstock, Fixed Time, or Virginia Count. See Rule 9.2.3.2.
I have added italics to a couple of sentences. These are key for determining what the correct response is along with the wording of the WSB. First, let’s look at the strong/weak hand only requirements. In Speed Shoots SHO/WHO can only be specified after the reload, which is what the WSB stated and the competitor did. However, there is no language in 1.2.2.3 that says the strong/weak hand has to be used exclusively for the remainder of the stage or entire stage like we have for Standard Exercises (1.2.2.1) and General Courses of Fire (1.1.5.3). The competitor did switch to strong hand only and engaged the remaining array as specified in the stage procedure. But neither 1.2.2.3 nor the WSB said the competitor had to remain shooting SHO for the rest of the stage. As soon as the second array (the poppers in this case) were all engaged he can go go back to freestyle. So no penalty for shooting the cardboard targets again with both hands.
If you look at 1.2.2.3 and the language related to reloads, there can only be one required reload per Speed Shoot stage. There also isn’t anything in the WSB that requires specifying a mandatory reload anytime the competitor switches arrays, because that would violate the Speed Shoot rules. So, the competitor cannot be penalized for failing to make another reload. He did the reload after engaging the cardboard targets (array 1) and before engaging the poppers (array 2). And note that the reload point is between array engagement, not the number of shots.
What about violating the stage procedure, that has to be the correct answer, right? Did the competitor violate any of the stage procedure? No. He followed the stage procedure and then spent extra time making those make-up shots on the cardboard targets.
So after reading all of this, we have one possible answer remaining. Yes, no additional penalties is the correct answer. As I said above, he already penalized himself with extra time and we cannot support any penalties with the rules.
Remember to cast your vote in the current Question of the Month poll!