Allowable Malfunction in Standard Pistol Precision?

[Gwhite]

We had this come up during a practice match, and I wasn't sure how it gets handled. The shooter had a jam on his 5th shot, and followed all the proper procedures for a malfunction. In looking at the rules, it appears that he is supposed to fire another 150 second five shot series, and take the low 10 shots. That seems a bit unnecessary for precision, where you have plenty of time. To keep things moving, he was given 30 seconds to fire 1 shot.

There is mention of the precision stage in rule 8.9.3 (c) (which is for "25m pistol" events, which I assume includes Standard), but the way it's worded isn't very clear. They mention "a maximum of two (2) minutes", which makes me suspect it's not for Standard Pistol.

Later, in Rule 8.4.9.5 " ALLOWABLE MALFUNCTION Procedures – 25m Rapid Fire Pistol and 25m Standard Pistol ", it talks about firing all five shots, but it doesn't differentiate between precision and the sustained fire stages. That's what made me suspect he might have to fire an entire 150 second 5 shot series.

Does anyone have any knowledge or experience they can provide on this?

Thanks!

[Spencer]

8.9.4.5 ALLOWABLE MALFUNCTION Procedures - 25m Rapid Fire
Pistol and 25m Standard Pistol
...b) The athlete must fire all five (5) shots at the target(s) in any repeat series...
...STDP: The five lowest value scores from all scored shots.
I.e. five shots in 150-seconds.

[john bickar]

Good question. I've never had this happen to me, nor have I seen it happen in a standard pistol match. And I have shot a lot of them (including quite a few in NRA collegiate competition).

At first blush, without having taken a look at the rule book, I think you handled it correctly. That would be what I would expect, as a competitor, if I had a malfunction on the 5th shot of the 150s series of a standard pistol match.

I do not think that the 150s standard pistol series is a "precision" series.

It is entirely possible that I am wrong.

...and I see that Spencer beat me to it, while I was typing this.

[David M]

150s series is concidered a timed series. If the shooter is using a timer on the bench and has the time remaining, then clear the malfunction and finish the series within the time limit.
If you do not have enough time remaining then claim the malfunction and you reshoot the series. Load and fire five shots.
This case he would score the lowest five values of the nine shots on the target.
If for example he only had only eight holes but nine shots fired, then he would score the lowest four and a zero.
Most shooters will shoot 150's in about 60-90 sec.

[rmca]

Later, in Rule 8.4.9.5 " ALLOWABLE MALFUNCTION Procedures – 25m Rapid Fire Pistol and 25m Standard Pistol ", it talks about firing all five shots, but it doesn't differentiate between precision and the sustained fire stages. That's what made me suspect he might have to fire an entire 150 second 5 shot series.

There are two types of ways to resolve malfunctions in 25m ISSF events.

The first applies to rapid fire and standard pistol, where you repeat the entire series (5 shots).
The second applies to center fire and womens/juniors 25m pistol. Here you complete the missing shots.

The reason is the time constraint, where in RF and STD the series is 5 shots in sequence within the time frame. The sequence is a key part of how you perform in the series. So to resolve a malfunction you should fire 5 sequential shots to be on the same plain as everyone else. The exception could be the 150 sec, but the rules say otherwise. Think of the rapid fire match, it wouldn't be the same if just one shot would be fired in the malfunction resolution series.

In the centerfire/p25 you have five "individual" and "independent" shots in the series. The is no sequence. Note the "" in individual and independent. Here you can just complete the missing shots and have the same level of difficulty as everyone else (kind of...).

In relation to your case, the shooter should had fired 5 shots in the malfunction resolution series, and be credited with the lowest 5 shots of the two series.
As has been mentioned before, you should only declare a malfunction in the 150s (typical jams) if you have no time to resolve it.
A stopwatch is a must in this part. It helps me knowing how much time I have to load, when the series will start, when deciding to declare or not a malfunction, and not to rush the shots.

Hope this makes sense ;)

[xtreme]

That problem reads like you also put 10 shots up , and then score. As most Clubs do.

It reads as if he had to reshoot the 5 shot series, he would have 14 shots on the target.

That creates a problem if that malfunction is in the second series [last shot], before scoring.

The rule is for 5 shots, then score. Who does that at Club level??

A roundabout way is to just treat that series [2] as his re-shoot ie. go down and score all targets, and score the lowest 5 on that shooters target, as he should have 9 shots there. Any misses are counted as zero.

After a range is clear, he fires his "re-shoot" of 5 shots. Go forward and score the 5 shots.

This is not the legal way of dealing with malfunctions and re-shoots, but if you think about it, it achieves the same result as if you scored after each 5 shot series and he had a malfunction in one of the series.

As said by others, if there is time, it is better to clear and not claim the malfunction

[Gwhite]

Thanks for everyone's input. The concensus seems to be that the 150 second series is considered a "timed" series, and therefore he should have fired another 5-shot series & taken a score based on the low 10 shots.

I'll make a note in our range/match operations guide, and spread the word. I'll also recommend using personal timers (which we have).

[David M]

Standard pistol range officer guide
http://www.nrc-pa.com/standard_paper.pdf