First, let me say that I am in now way second guessing the RO’s call by posting this. I am 100% sure that if he hadn’t been positive he saw it he wouldn’t have called it. I know and have shot with the RO for almost a year and trust and respect him greatly.
That said…
Don’t know if this is irony, karma or poetic justice.
I DQ’d for a 180 violation. The stage (Which I drew) was this one - link.
I engaged T1-T3, started to the right and reloaded.
I learned several things. If I must go from left to right, I should reload then move (or at least do so more cautiously). I also learned that I probably should have stuck with my original drawing that had the table behind the fault line and the shooter behind the table. This would have made things more neutral.
Also, ironically, I was elected VP of the local club today. :roflol:
Obviously, it’s impossible to tell from the video. If it had been the guy with the timer calling the DQ, I’d have to question how he could possibly have seen what the gun’s orientation was when the call was made. But if someone who was substantially farther stage left saw the gun break the 180, then you’re screwed.
Right-handers have this issue when running in the opposite direction. It’s one reason I advocate against the commonly-seen “90 degree” gun flip for a reload. Keeping the gun pointed more or less in the same direction as your shoulders is usually enough to control the muzzle safely under any circumstance.
Sorry you got dinged, dude. At least it was just a club match. That’s the right place to learn all your lessons!
Tough break. Good job on your part for accepting responsibility for it on the spot. Even better job for posting it here & on YouTube so that others may learn. Competition needs more folks like you willing to “man up” when stuff happens; I’d shoot on your squad any day of the week.
As a stage designer, I try to limit reloads on such stages to movement left to right because it favors the majority of shooters (who are right handed). Unfortunately, it’s tougher for left handers on such stages.
An easy (and common) solution is to make the lateral movement include some degree of approach, as well. In other words, instead of moving straight right or left, angle the shooter to be moving downrange so he’s not effectively eliminating half of his 180. Even just a 30-degree cut towards the berm can make a huge difference.
This also lets the shooter move in a more natural way (the way you and I would race along the side of a building under fire) instead of using an artificial canting of the gun to guarantee safe muzzle direction.
I can’t tell from the video, either. However, given the layout (in the video) I would blame the stage design more so than your gun handling. I still don’t see a 180 violation, but if they say it happened, then you did the right thing. Kudos.
this is one reason i try to move right to left (im a righty, not a lefty). I can see where the muzzle would be turned more than 180 if i were goingleft to right-opposite of you. lesson learned i suppose. put in in your memory bank! its gonna happen to everyone sooner or later…
Names aside, the “180 rule” is really more like a “170 rule” under most circumstances. If the gun points straight right, straight left, straight up, or straight down you are likely to get DQd. If the gun points uprange of your feet you are likely to get DQd.
You need to be in a [b]very[/i] square range mindset when playing these games.
Agreed- you need to be in a safe mindset about the 180, but I believe the mentality will serve you (and others) far beyond “games” with guns.
Everyone knows the rule: “keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.” - but does the average handgun owner obey that rule?
NO. For proof, look no further than your local indoor range. Notice all the bullet holes in the ceiling? On the floor? Even a shooting bench or two will show bullet holes. - and those were just the guns that went off while pointed someplace they should not have been. Funny thing is, MOST of the people you see pointing their muzzle all over the place will SWEAR that they are “safe shooters.”
The 180 is far more than some nit-picky safety rule. It is the application of the rule we all agree on: keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction. If one truly IS a safe shooter, the 180 presents no obstacle whatsoever.
Umpteen years ago while still new to shooting games, I was DQed and nearly banned for doing a 360 deg scan from a safety circle. I knew something was up when most of the shooters watching behind me dove left and right. The like minded stood fast and enjoyed the show.
I didn’t care much for “unload and show clear.” Why on earth would I holster an empty gun?! They finally figured out that reloading at the end of the stage was not a rule violation, if I unloaded after and left the line clear.
Gun games require a different mindset.
And every range session should end with a trip to the Dairy Queen.
I’d have to disagree. The problem with the 180 rule is that it’s an artificial substitute for intelligent safe gun handling. Just yesterday at the range, there was a guy who was turning his pistol 90 degrees to the left every time he reloaded. That meant he was pointing his pistol at everyone else on the line over and over again. When I walked over to correct him, he said “I never broke the 180!”
No shit, sherlock. Except there are live human beings standing on the 180 now, unlike when you’re all alone at an IPSC match.
There is a huge difference between pointing the gun in a safe direction, and keeping the gun within a 180-degree arc in front of you. One is always safe; the other is only safe if you’re on a square range by yourself.
The cold range mentality is based on some legitimate concerns that are related to the cross section of shooters who show up at matches. But I agree, all else being equal, it’s giving in to the lowest common denominator in a way that has long term negative effects.
But just for the sake of playing devil’s advocate, the cold range rule during matches addresses:
[ul]
[li]new shooters with no training
[/li][li]juniors who may need to be separated from parents (bathroom, etc.)
[/li][li]women (I have it on good authority that it’s difficult for a lady to use a porta-john with a loaded gun in a race rig)
[/li][li]the inherently stupid
[/li][/ul]
Because you have so many completely unknown participants at a major match, it’s impractical to watch them all. So the cold range thing is a simple (perhaps lazy) solution.
I had an IDPA match that required a meeting of range officials to determine my potential DQ or penalties when my snubby S&W Model 19 was blowing the scoring centers out of the target, thanks to CorBon .357 Magnum ammunition.
This and other silliness, confined to my locale…I’m sure. Reduced my enthusiasm for the game. When safety becomes a process and less a mindset, learning of a sort will take place.
The OP takes the high road and provides quality examples in many ways.
As you’re carrying and moving, the “safe direction” is fluid and constantly changing. It’s a difficult concept for the LCD and/or square-ranger, who only understands 180 and the backstop.
The cold range mentality is based on some legitimate concerns that are related to the cross section of shooters who show up at matches. But I agree, all else being equal, it’s giving in to the lowest common denominator in a way that has long term negative effects…
