Range Officer

[bradaz11]

Our range shooting area floor is painted in 2 zones... the red zone 3-4 ft from the benches, the gray zone behind that.
Once all the weapons on the benches have been cleared by the RO, and people are allowed to go forward, no-one is allowed in the red zone. If the RO stands at the end of the line of benches, he can easily see anyone infringing that..

If you've picked up a magazine and box of ammo, theres no problem loading the magazine while you're standing in the grey zone when others are forward.

ok, so it's more touching mag near gun. but wow, some of you treat your members like children. If they aren't safe handling their firearms, train them better!

some of you would wet yourselves at BWSS matches. We run a hot range, so your walking around with loaded revolvers in your holsters and moving up to a loading table with your guns while other people are shooting. then move to the line with a rifle with 10 rounds loaded into it. difference is there is a strict set of clear rules for this, and we all police each other on safety aspects. Thats why no one has been hurt.

same as at practical matches, mags are loaded behind shooters, while you await your turn at the course of fire, then next shooter retrieves their gun and waits while the course is reset.

I'll say it again, if you can't trust thoseat the tables next to you, why are they allowed to still be on the table next to you!

[Pete]

And bear in mind that there is a certain type of person who revels in supervising others, is a stickler for "rules", who assumes that commonsense is solely their prerogative, and that all around them are idiots.....

Pete

[bradaz11]

And bear in mind that there is a certain type of person who revels in supervising others, is a stickler for "rules", who assumes that commonsense is solely their prerogative, and that all around them are idiots.....

Pete

ah yes, those that seem to RO, far more than shoot

[Daryll]

Our range shooting area floor is painted in 2 zones... the red zone 3-4 ft from the benches, the gray zone behind that.
Once all the weapons on the benches have been cleared by the RO, and people are allowed to go forward, no-one is allowed in the red zone. If the RO stands at the end of the line of benches, he can easily see anyone infringing that..

If you've picked up a magazine and box of ammo, theres no problem loading the magazine while you're standing in the grey zone when others are forward.

ok, so it's more touching mag near gun. but wow, some of you treat your members like children. If they aren't safe handling their firearms, train them better!

some of you would wet yourselves at BWSS matches. We run a hot range, so your walking around with loaded revolvers in your holsters and moving up to a loading table with your guns while other people are shooting. then move to the line with a rifle with 10 rounds loaded into it. difference is there is a strict set of clear rules for this, and we all police each other on safety aspects. Thats why no one has been hurt.

same as at practical matches, mags are loaded behind shooters, while you await your turn at the course of fire, then next shooter retrieves their gun and waits while the course is reset.

I'll say it again, if you can't trust thoseat the tables next to you, why are they allowed to still be on the table next to you!

Those are the club rules, which demonstrate that the clubs parmount concern is safety. No matter how experienced the rest of the shooters on the line are, I wouldn't want to be forward of the shooting line while people are tinkering with guns on the bench.
(I too go back to the days of Practical shooting in the 80's and 90's, waiting in line to shoot a stage with a holstered pistol, arms folded...)

[MistAgain]

And bear in mind that there is a certain type of person who revels in supervising others, is a stickler for "rules", who assumes that commonsense is solely their prerogative, and that all around them are idiots.....

Pete

I can recall a range officer at Bisley in the early Practical Pistol days , camer up behind me and forced my loaded 1911A1 deeper into its holster as in his opinion it wasnt holstered properly .
He was able to move it at least a 1/4 ince deeper , lucky I used belt keepers those days or gun and holster would have hit the ground .

[Tallguy]

[/quote]

With a crowd of up to 15 shooters, often many new, with their pistols benched with one or two empty magazines sitting alongside, it's best to have a no handling policy whilst others have gone forward to patch. With the tables full, it's often hard to determine what's being touched - be it firearm or magazine.
Here's one of the club's 50 metre ranges, this one is used for general practice and training. I'm to cover this once a month.

[/quote]

I shot on that very range in the picture as a guest when visiting Jersey 18 months ago. John Sawyer was my instructor!

[Jersey]

I shot on that very range in the picture as a guest when visiting Jersey 18 months ago. John Sawyer was my instructor!
[/quote]

I sure you enjoyed your time shooting - It was John's suggestion I try out for a RO.

[hitchphil]

And bear in mind that there is a certain type of person who revels in supervising others, is a stickler for "rules", who assumes that commonsense is solely their prerogative, and that all around them are idiots.....

Pete

Sod The F Off mate .............. What a patronising & condescending comment!

To many of us RCO its 180 degrees to that, its assure safety & help manage the flow of the event & facilitate a happy, meaningful & fair shoot. Thats why I & others like me get paid for performing it.

[Blackstuff]

Our range shooting area floor is painted in 2 zones... the red zone 3-4 ft from the benches, the gray zone behind that.
Once all the weapons on the benches have been cleared by the RO, and people are allowed to go forward, no-one is allowed in the red zone. If the RO stands at the end of the line of benches, he can easily see anyone infringing that..

If you've picked up a magazine and box of ammo, theres no problem loading the magazine while you're standing in the grey zone when others are forward.

ok, so it's more touching mag near gun. but wow, some of you treat your members like children. If they aren't safe handling their firearms, train them better!

some of you would wet yourselves at BWSS matches. We run a hot range, so your walking around with loaded revolvers in your holsters and moving up to a loading table with your guns while other people are shooting. then move to the line with a rifle with 10 rounds loaded into it. difference is there is a strict set of clear rules for this, and we all police each other on safety aspects. Thats why no one has been hurt.

same as at practical matches, mags are loaded behind shooters, while you await your turn at the course of fire, then next shooter retrieves their gun and waits while the course is reset.

I'll say it again, if you can't trust thoseat the tables next to you, why are they allowed to still be on the table next to you!

I would say quite the opposite about peoples safety concerns at a BWSS or PSG match/range, as like you say everyone operates to a fixed set of 'stringent' rules and more importantly, there are specific and pre-ordained consequences for breaking the rules. Guns are also held vertically or are in secure holsters when not in use which makes it obvious to everyone that they are pointed in a safe direction. You can't do that on some rifle ranges (particularly MOD ranges) where the ubiquitous '70 mil' rule applies.

Rifle ranges have basic safety rules, that a small minority still can't seem to follow, but there is limited consequences for breaking them aside from a possible b0ll0cking from an RCO, (and I can count on one hand when i've seen that happen, two of them being me delivering them). When i've shot as a guest with another club on an MOD range i witnessed someone open their case with the rifle facing up range, bolt in and closed and he just turned through 180 degrees with the muzzle horizontal at chest height and swept 60% of the line. I mentioned that to the person who was hosting and was told "Oh thats just *, he always does that"....

And then there's the actual wild west that is clay shooting grounds....

And bear in mind that there is a certain type of person who revels in supervising others, is a stickler for "rules", who assumes that commonsense is solely their prerogative, and that all around them are idiots.....

Pete

Sod The F Off mate .............. What a patronising & condescending comment!

To many of us RCO its 180 degrees to that, its assure safety & help manage the flow of the event & facilitate a happy, meaningful & fair shoot. Thats why I & others like me get paid for performing it.

In fairness there are a few like that (in my experience anyway), thankfully though, they are in the ultra minority.

[Pete]

And I wasn't intending to tar all RCO's with that brush..........I did the NRA course myself some years ago, mainly because I wanted to get a better handle on how the NRA worked, but also because the course was on offer at £45.....
I only acted as RCO a couple of times, and my card expired.

Pete