TargetTalk

JamesH wrote:I would assume every club has some quirky rule.

If I was running an ISSF match and there was a local rule in force then I would make sure all of the competitors were aware of it.

It really boils down to common sense. A "safety line" rule would probably be OK to be announced before each detail. A requirement for safety glasses however would need to be advised in the match programme/ entry form. Competitors need to be able to make a decision whether to incurr the extra expense of purchasing safety glasses (if they haven't already got some) when entering and also have the opportunity to buy them before the match. An announcement on the range would not be good enough.

JamesH wrote:I would assume every club has some quirky rule.

Every range I've been to around the world bars people from touching anything on the bench when people are forward of the firing line, so this is hardly quirky.

Reading the above posts, the poster made it clear there was no one forward of the line. I also recall they were rebuked for approaching the bench. There is certainly nothing wrong with 'getting ready', and a lot of shooters stand by the bench the whole time - the key thing is that guns, magazines etc are not touched until 'load' is called.

Rob.

Richard H wrote: That said there is no need to be a jerk about it,

That's right.
Some ROs simply are jerks, they enjoy to harass.
Simply get that kind of RO-punks off the range. For good.

There is also no shortage of jerk shooters, I still remember the games people played with 'not ready', it swings both ways.

When it comes to safey I'm pretty tired of being polite, having had multiple firearms pointed at me, dry-fired at me, having 7.62mm rifles fired a metre behind me and twice now seen rifle shooters line up to shoot over the heads of people 100 yards in front of them.

You can tell some people politely 100 times and the don't get it. If you have to yell to get it to sink in then so be it.

JamesH wrote:There is also no shortage of jerk shooters, I still remember the games people played with 'not ready', it swings both ways.

When it comes to safey I'm pretty tired of being polite, having had multiple firearms pointed at me, dry-fired at me, having 7.62mm rifles fired a metre behind me and twice now seen rifle shooters line up to shoot over the heads of people 100 yards in front of them.

You can tell some people politely 100 times and the don't get it. If you have to yell to get it to sink in then so be it.

Thats rifle, not pistol like this event.
As for jerk shooters, yes there are some out there, but we did nothing wrong and the point is the RO was a jerk. Simple!!!

As for your rifle comments, obviously the range is run by cowboys who dont follow safety rules, where in the example I provided no one was touching a firearm, no one was forward of the firing line and no one was doing anything dangerous!!!

I was under the impression that no one goes to the line until RO says shooters to the line. If this was not the case then it can become difficult and dangerous to monitor all shooters, ie some at the line some wandering behind the line, etc. Just my thoughts. I think ISSF shooters are best off if they adhere to the rule book and not make up "local rules" which can come to bite at a real match. Having said this not withstanding a major faux paux, I think the RO needs to keep a civil manner especially if the shooters are experienced and regarded as safe shooters. Hope everyone out in the shooting community has a nice holiday season and gets a real nice shooter from Santa.

In every range I've shot on in Canada that's the rule. The few that I've shot on in the US it was the same rule for that matter Germany and Austria too. Maybe in Austrailia and the UK that's not the case.

It's interesting reading about this ISSF match and RO's actions from across the Tasman in New Zealand.

I have hung my pistol hat in the ISSF ring and try and make it to some ISSF competitions away from my club. This can be a costly exercise but is satisfying, and social. At these comps, we all like to have a laugh when we can during a match and that's a good thing. I train in all ISSF events, especially Air and Free Pistol. Not that many shooters seem to do that in NZ, and it appears to me in recent years that an increasing number of new shooters gravitate to other disciplines like Action or Practical shooting because it is more "fun", and it seems to me there is a growing number of new people in the sport, overall, who may never learn to shoot well because they avoid the time and discipline needed to shoot accurately.

I hope that RO's and judges in ISSF wake up to the fact that if matches are run in an overbearing way, we will lose shooters to other pistol disciplines, and other sports, and we will only have ourselves to blame.

We have to make the F in ISSF stand for Fun!

Popeye

customs954 wrote:I was under the impression that no one goes to the line until RO says shooters to the line. If this was not the case then it can become difficult and dangerous to monitor all shooters, ie some at the line some wandering behind the line, etc. Just my thoughts. I think ISSF shooters are best off if they adhere to the rule book and not make up "local rules" which can come to bite at a real match.

That's just my point. Apart from allowing shooters on to the firing point at the start of the match procedure, "shooters to the line" type rules are purely local ones. They are certainly not ISSF rules.

Kiwi ISSF Shooter wrote:I hope that RO's and judges in ISSF wake up to the fact that if matches are run in an overbearing way, we will lose shooters to other pistol disciplines, and other sports, and we will only have ourselves to blame.

I couldn't agree more.

The rules must be applied; all of the competitors have the right to know that everyone else is shooting under the same conditions as them. There are however different ways of applying them.

brakarzac wrote:Thats rifle, not pistol like this event.

The first comments applied to pistol ranges.

As for jerk shooters, yes there are some out there, but we did nothing wrong and the point is the RO was a jerk. Simple!!!

You did do something wrong, and you were unaware of the rules for whatever reason.

As for your rifle comments, obviously the range is run by cowboys who dont follow safety rules

I never liked shooting rifle at Bisley.

Kiwi ISSF Shooter wrote:
I hope that RO's and judges in ISSF wake up to the fact that if matches are run in an overbearing way, we will lose shooters to other pistol disciplines, and other sports, and we will only have ourselves to blame.

We have to make the F in ISSF stand for Fun!

God posting, "Kiwi".

The range officer on that specific range has the ultimate say, even above the chief range officer if that CRO isn't present. It would be easier to apologize for the misunderstanding and move on from there than to challenge this person.

Good luck.
Retired