All very good ideas/points Chris. Want to talk about slippery slop though...
At least one shooter was DQ's for not having their gun's safety functioning. I'm not talking about disabled, but just not functioning. Say a grip safety not functioning- hammer would drop without grip engaged for example. I can understand why in this case- not allowing a shooting to continue. Safety is paramount.
But... couldn't he have been allowed to fix it before continuing? It might not have been intentional. Seems reasonable. I don't know. And how would an SO know how to safety check all guns? Do they know how to check the FP plunger is working in a Glock? What if you need to break down a gun to check these things? If you can't check all gun's safeties- is it fair to check a 1911 which is "easier" to check?
The more I play and help out in these sports the more confusing it can get...
At least one shooter was DQ's for not having their gun's safety functioning. I'm not talking about disabled, but just not functioning. Say a grip safety not functioning- hammer would drop without grip engaged for example. I can understand why in this case- not allowing a shooting to continue. Safety is paramount.
But... couldn't he have been allowed to fix it before continuing? It might not have been intentional. Seems reasonable. I don't know. And how would an SO know how to safety check all guns? Do they know how to check the FP plunger is working in a Glock? What if you need to break down a gun to check these things? If you can't check all gun's safeties- is it fair to check a 1911 which is "easier" to check?
The more I play and help out in these sports the more confusing it can get...
Jon,
I encourage you to write up your experience and submit the article to the IDPA magazine.
Perhaps a new status of "No Fault DQ" is in order to allow people who have a situation that technically results in a DQ, but is deemed not an overt act of the shooter to break the rules to continue the match for no score. At the very least the investment in time and money should be respected.
As for the shooter who was allowed to shoot based on the error in bullet weight, I feel it WAS the right call. But please note that if I did my math right, Jon was sent home for ammo that was less out of compliance than this other gentleman. Is THAT fair?
But it is a slippery slope. The real 'cheat' might start downloading factory ammo and reassembling it so that it just misses. How do you tell?
As for the "Club Rules" modifications, I support them 100% IF the spirit is to help shooters. I had a rule that basically said "Everyone shoots". Equipment violations meant your score didn't count - that's all. I could always correct holster issues with a table start, low ready, or some other method. If they had fun, we all succeeded. Everyone that I made exceptions for came back the next time in proper equipment. How many would have returned if I simply said "that's wrong, please go home."? Who does that help?
At a large match, I can easily see that not allowed, but at the local level - especially when you have a large mix of new shooters, lead by example, but allow them to participate if they run afoul of some equipment issue.
Would you DQ a one armed shooter because he can't run the Classifier as written?
That said, Safety issues are entirely another issue - I'm not referring to them.
For shooters that plan to attend a big match, I recommend always doing 3 things before you go:
1) Chamber check EVERY round. Take the gun apart and drop them into the chamber to make sure they fit properly. All it takes is one off loading to jam and ruin a great run.
2) Use equipment you KNOW meets the rules. Chrony is your friend. If you don't have one, ask around. I always had mine available if someone needed to check a load.
3) Don't change anything you do at a local match for the 'big one'. Stick with what you KNOW works.