DQ on my first stage! (What the sport is like for a new shooter)

[Good on paper]

I’ve only been in the game two years and really only this season has running around about as fast as I can shooting stuff has started to become normal to me. I guess I’m just trying ensure that I don’t become lax in safety while still being comfortable enough to attack a stage.
The reality is I’m probably going to earn a DQ one day but I don’t want to accept it as a foregone conclusion because it feels like that is a step towards making it ok.
I’ve been well uprange and seen down the barrel of a hot gun twice. I really didn’t care for that and refuse to be ‘that guy’. Luckily there wasn’t a ND during those incidents

Muncie, way to own it and I’m glad you’re going to stick with it!

 

[rhino]

I’ve only been in the game two years and really only this season has running around about as fast as I can shooting stuff has started to become normal to me. I guess I’m just trying ensure that I don’t become lax in safety while still being comfortable enough to attack a stage.
The reality is I’m probably going to earn a DQ one day but I don’t want to accept it as a foregone conclusion because it feels like that is a step towards making it ok.
I’ve been well uprange and seen down the barrel of a hot gun twice. I really didn’t care for that and refuse to be ‘that guy’. Luckily there wasn’t a ND during those incidents

Muncie, way to own it and I’m glad you’re going to stick with it!

I've lost count of the number of times I've seen the business end of a barrel while I was uprange. What I will always remember are the people who denied doing it after called on it!

 

[IsThatLegal?]

At wildcat, my first DQ (only one so far) in USPSA was gun on top or a wet barrel (no mat or anything on top). At beep, I bumped the barrel with my knee and the gun slid and fell. Didn't even have time to grab the gun. I still stayed and RO'd the squad till the end.

Slick table/barrel starts. . . .oh man. . . . I am having a flashback and it is not pretty. It was at Buckeye in Ohio earlier this year. Unloaded table start after jumping off of a bed prop. Did not get a good grip on the gun, muzzle made it past 180. Taught me good lesson. I approach table top starts differently now. Body position is slightly different. Slight pause as I look gun into hand. Sounds simple, but I give it a little more focus and respect (and practice) because it deserves it.

Every shooting session is a learning experience. If you shoot a match and do not learn from it, you are not paying attention IMO. I have only been shooting uspsa for about 3 years and am relatively "green" compared to most people in the sport that i shoot with. I have been blessed to learn from most of them. They have been kind enough to share their knowledge and experience with me. Most in this sport are willing to do so if you ask and have the mentality to accept some suggested improvements. Thanks to the OP for sharing his experience. Keep shooting!

As for ROing, that can be a different story. I think some shooters forget that it is a voluntary unpaid position. Most "get it" and understand an RO has no desire to DQ anyone and is just doing his or her best to enforce the rules. Others can get caught up in the moment, or just try to push ROs to see what they can away with. Those few, well, I could do with them for the most part.

 

[Fuzz]

BossHoss ?

yep

 

[Grelber]

yep

We can fix that, watch the muzzle close when he reloads on a flat footed classifier .

 

[Bosshoss]

We can fix that, watch the muzzle close when he reloads on a flat footed classifier .

Yep I point the gun almost straight down when doing a standing reload. Especially when I have a bad reload. To be fair you would have to be right on the 180 line to make a accurate call and I would probably stop as I would say that is not safe for you to be there.
It is hard to call a 180 straight down or up(as in revolver strong hand reload) while side to side is much easier to tell especially when you are looking down the muzzle
I know there are times I got away with things that I could of got DQ'ed for. I don't push the edge of safety to knock a tenth of a second off my stage time.

If you are 100%(not 99%) sure you see me break the 180 DQ me and hand me the the timer or tablet for the rest of the day.

 

[Grelber]

Yep I point the gun almost straight down when doing a standing reload. Especially when I have a bad reload. To be fair you would have to be right on the 180 line to make a accurate call and I would probably stop as I would say that is not safe for you to be there.
It is hard to call a 180 straight down or up(as in revolver strong hand reload) while side to side is much easier to tell especially when you are looking down the muzzle
I know there are times I got away with things that I could of got DQ'ed for. I don't push the edge of safety to knock a tenth of a second off my stage time.

If you are 100%(not 99%) sure you see me break the 180 DQ me and hand me the the timer or tablet for the rest of the day.

Makes sense.
The other thing I think it is easy to screw up a 180 call, you are in real time and it is that persons position relative to the 180 & your angle of view & your mental recollection of exactly where the 180 line is & you are maybe a bit nervous as you see the gun coming around. If there is a definite break you know it, if I have to think about it then no call.
As a shooter I think maybe it was Coach that advised that you do not tempt the r.o. to make a mistake, seems like a lot of the big boys and girls intentionally make it very obvious that they are clear of the 180.

 

[downrange72]

I did once. I went to a match on very little sleep after a night shift. Reloaded and started to move to next position. Mag bounced off knee, for some reason I jumped up and when I landed the gun was pointed at the gallery. I kept running and then heard "stop"...unloaded showed clear. Holstered. ROd or scored the rest of the day.

I had no business being there with a gun that day. it was as if I were drunk for lack of sleep.