Tactical Gear at Matches

[ST911]

Attachment 104936

Not being absurd or obtuse, but wondering...

I arrive at the match with my gun in a holster mounted to my belt. I appear to be in violation upon arrival.

If I arrive at the match with my gun in a gun rug or sleeve within my range bag and don/doff at the safety area I am compliant. What is different about my rug/sleeve than my holster, from a mechanical and risk perspective?

If I have arrived and not even registered or rostered for the match yet, can I be DQ'ed for the above? At what point can the match/org rules be invoked?

[JCN]

Not being absurd or obtuse, but wondering...

I arrive at the match with my gun in a holster mounted to my belt. I appear to be in violation upon arrival.

If I arrive at the match with my gun in a gun rug or sleeve within my range bag and don/doff at the safety area I am compliant. What is different about my rug/sleeve than my holster, from a mechanical and risk perspective?

If I have arrived and not even registered or rostered for the match yet, can I be DQ'ed for the above? At what point can the match/org rules be invoked?

I’m not a rules expert.

But ranges that are designated “cold ranges” can DQ you for loaded holster on the range outside the scope of the competition.

I think it’s a theoretical safety thing to not confuse someone who arrived with a loaded gun for competition and never cleared it… thereby walking around with a loaded gun (not allowed on a cold range).

It might seem silly… until it’s not.

I’m sure it’s similar to some of the movie and force on force scenarios that require “no live ammo” anywhere in the guns except for very narrowly defined parameters.

Or something like that if you’re not Alec Baldwin.

[Jim Watson]

The usual announcement is that if you have shown up wearing a gun, have the RO oversee you unloading it.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Yeah, that's the usual. However, folks do load to go home/unload when arriving in the parking lot with a wink and a nod. They do try to say NOT to load and holster in your car as someone shot their car once. One match setup I used to go, ran hot. After your run, you made your gun ready to fire again under the SO. Touching the gun when not on the firing line was verboten.

One 1911 guy, was told to load and make ready and proceeded to put a round one or two feet from my foot and inches from the SO (I was score keeper). Then the guy raised the gun up saying: Wha hoppen?

The SO (a sherif grabbed him in the vice of steel). I do have qualms about some holsters. One kid has one that seems just to be a skeleton with a t-bar sticking in front. He has been shaky with it. Trying to save milliseconds, I assume.

Places differ.

[bofe954]

USPSA doesn't allow thigh rigs (5.2.7) and if I remember correctly this:

5.3.1
The use of offensive or objectionable garments is not allowed.
The Match Director will have final authority in respect of what garments competitors are
allowed to wear.

used to talk about camouflage. I think the rationale was to have the match look more like a sport and less like a militia training day.

[Jim Watson]

Yeah, that's the usual. However, folks do load to go home/unload when arriving in the parking lot with a wink and a nod. They do try to say NOT to load and holster in your car as someone shot their car once. One match setup I used to go, ran hot. After your run, you made your gun ready to fire again under the SO. Touching the gun when not on the firing line was verboten.

One 1911 guy, was told to load and make ready and proceeded to put a round one or two feet from my foot and inches from the SO (I was score keeper). Then the guy raised the gun up saying: Wha hoppen?

The SO (a sherif grabbed him in the vice of steel). I do have qualms about some holsters. One kid has one that seems just to be a skeleton with a t-bar sticking in front. He has been shaky with it. Trying to save milliseconds, I assume.

Places differ.

Anecdote alert:
Loading guns in vehicles:
A shooter here once shot his steering wheel airbag. I don't know if that deployed it or not.
Another ventilated his trunk.

I shot a match that ran hot bays. The whole squad rowed up and LAMR. Wait your turn, shoot, ULSC, holster empty to go to the next stage.
BANG
SO said "I was looking right at him, he did not have his finger on the trigger." He was allowed to continue in spite of a likely faulty gun, but was able to get through without further incident.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

I don't like guns that have been messed with to save milliseconds and become unsafe, as defeating the drop safeties.

As far as appearance, I used to find UK gun magazines in Barnes and Noble before the UK Ban. They had an IPSC section and quite a few times denounced American humanoid targets as compared to the headless one. The former demonstrate Blood Lust as compared to sport. It was common in the UK to defend their gun ownership for 'sport'. Didn't work out well for them (or the Australians). Trying to make USPSA a boys with toys game for PR as compared to the 'realistic (HAHAHA) IDPA protocols. No relevance to DA STREET, training you to be a vigilante, I suppose was the rationale.

Same with the MSR blather. 30 school kids killed with a Modern Sporting Rifle. Joe Biden says - oh, well, I didn't know it was for sport - so let's not ban them!

A small subset of our shooters, shoot the regular matches with carry gear as they say they just want trigger time in drawing and hitting a target with such gear. Good hits are their goals. Tend to be the older set. However, we do the mini carry matches with carry gear but some show up with the gamer rigs and get flack for that. I'd bet they don't actually carry (which we can't anymore - waiting for Clarence to get off the yacht).

[rcbusmc24]

Just got back from a local USPSA match here in Eastern NC. Plenty of the dudes were running duty set ups. Many of them are also currently serving CSO's or support guys with MARSOC, Recondo's with 2nd Recon, other friendly neighborhood Jarheads, Traveled down for the day from what used to known as Fort Bragg, or are local LEO's. My shooting buddies were a US Deputy Marshal out of the Wilmington office shooting a Glock 17 in Carry Optics concealed from appendix, a buddy who was Marine Infantry and know owns a tree service shooting a G19 in Carry optics from appendix, a CSO buddy shooting a G34 in Production from his work belt with a speed scabbard substituted out for the normal G19/ RDO/ Surefire level three duty holster.... And me, retired dude, running a Colt Gold Cup Trophy 1911 9mm in Single Stack in a RCS Holster and Esstac mag pouches on my Mean Gene Leather belt (gonna die in the streets right here...). Both the production shooter and I won our divisions at the match, we were also the only shooters in those divisions....Ha.

Locally I see a bunch of dudes, mostly younger, running tactical stuff, at least at first. It is either stuff they already have or as we say at the shop,low hanging fruit around here and easy for them to purchase or borrow. If they really get into the game then you start to see them move to more specific kit for the game. Most of the time. We do get some "special mil.... guys that really only use the local matches as extra practice time and do not care about the game itself other than not DQ'ing. And they will stay on their duty gear and G19.

[mmc45414]

Can you confirm this? I thought gun in holster not on body and not at safety table was a DQ…
Something about a guy at Nationals going to the potty and leaving his rig in the bathroom.
EDIT: found the rule. It’s a DQ at USPSA.

Nearly all of my experience is at a local club following UML rules (yup, it obviously looks like DQ at USPSA). Very common for many people, including match directors, to either remove ALS stuff or their entire belt between stages. Either because:

Removable QLS type holsters make sense for 3 gun at big matches. If you’re running a shotgun or rifle only stage with weird shooting positions it makes sense to go to safety area to take pistol out and bag it, then remove holster for stage and put it on after stage.

Or just to jump in the Gator and drive all the support gear to the next stage.
Maybe this is the rule, maybe just established practice. Very strict about flags in long guns (that still must be carried muzzle up or down) and no pistol out of a holster.

If I have arrived and not even registered or rostered for the match yet, can I be DQ'ed for the above? At what point can the match/org rules be invoked?

Dunno know the exact rules, but before I give anybody my money I stash the carry gun. The club allows CHL, I figure until I am registered and paid I am just a guy at a gun club.

I no longer attend enough matches to be relevant, but this also doesn't sound like anything new to me.
One reason this used to be common was guys that were coming from the “tactical side” that decided they wanted to play, and they showed up with the gear they already had.

And I think this might be the case, people using the gear they have. Maybe it is not the most appropriate for the exact match scenario, but I do not have exactly what I want/need for every use case. Not difficult to hang $500 around your waist, I think some people gear up for whatever, be it an entry team or cosplay, and don't spend an additional $200-$500 for every specific match format they might show up for.

[CleverNickname]

At the USPSA match I shot yesterday, one of the guys in the squad ahead of me was running a war belt with a TQ and a couple AR mags. I see that occasionally at level 1 matches. But then I had to roll my eyes a little bit when he put on a set of plates before his turn to shoot.

He was shooting what appeared to be a Staccato P. I mean, hitting all the stereotypes.