After many months of haggling with the River Bend Practical Shooters, who run the USPSA matches at River Bend Gun Club in Conyers, the club has decided to end the USPSA matches. Without ranting on the details, most of it was over how much money the club got paid per match. and from the shooters’ side, how many times the range access was trimmed back.
Honestly, this is a sad thing. I have competed there since 2008 and I love it. Plus, we hosted the USPSA State Championships in 2020 and 2021, and got a lot of accolades on it. Then last year they hosted another Level 2 match, the Peach State Championship, which drew a lot of top shooters from around the country.
As I live in Kennesaw, the hour drive to RBGC wasn’t bad. So now I am left with my other 2 matches, Cherokee Gun Club in Gainesville, or Talladega, both 2 hours away.
Or, I can shoot IDPA or Action Shooting at RBGC, but TBH after what the club Board did, I’m not leaning that way.
Last week I successfully completed my exam to renew my certification as a USPSA Range Officer. I passed it with a 100% score*, 20 of 20 questions, on my first try.
I mention (brag?) my score because this was the first time I had aced it, and one of the only times I passed it on the first try.
I think I know why I did better this time than before:
Experience.
I mean, it should make sense that the longer you do something, the better you get at it, provided you work on improving your understanding of it.
Which leads me to the point of this post – why become a range officer.
I have been a USPSA Range Officer since 2013, and I have taken the RO class twice**. I started shooting USPSA in 2008, and after two years, I decided to take the class so I could add to the number of ROs that were available to referee the matches.
Taking the class was an eye opener. And working as an RO in the USPSA State Championships and National Championships really expanded my knowledge of match workings, how to set my strategies, and got me a lot more engaged with other shooters.
But in all that time, I have found that the real advantage of being an RO is it has helped me improve my shooting. I have moved up a level since becoming an RO.
How did that happen? For me, it was all about focus.
Learning the rules in class, and why they were added, sharpens my focus. Focusing on safety helps me focus on where to move, and how to act.
On a day to day basis, reading the newsletters, and taking the exams help me focus.
So, why become a Range Officer? It will help you shoot better in the long run, and you will be safer, and know more good people. It worked for me.
* Ok, not perfect. On one question I got the answer right, but it said I got the rule number wrong. It turns out the rule I referred to also included the working in the other rule. So to me, I was right.
In 2021, I got the honor to serve as Range Officer for the USPSA Georgia State Championships. As they do in many higher level matches, I got to choose from an awards table, and I got awarded a pair of Hunters HD Gold shooting glasses, and I must say, they have been the best pair of safety glasses, shooting or otherwise, that I have ever had the pleasure of wearing.
First, what makes them so usable is the glasses designed so that no matter how bright the day is, or how dark, I see the same view through the lenses. This is a wonderful feature that lets me wear them in the brightest day, or in stormy weather.
Second, the frames are very comfortable, with side shields. They are very sturdy, and easily cleanable.
Third, they adhere fully to ANSI standards, making them the safest glasses I own. For those who may not know, I am a degreed chemical engineer, who spent over 20 years in the petroleum and specialty chemicals industry, before moving into engineering recruiting. One of the earliest things I learned in industry is the first thing that new shooters should be taught – SAFETY COMES FIRST. Never enter an operating area with wearing the appropriate safety gear – eyewear, hearing protection, safety boots, hard hats, and the like.
Likewise, in shooting, we have safety rules we follow, the most well known being Jeff Cooper’s Rules. To the Four classic rules, I added Rule Zero: Eyes and ears! In other words, always wear safety glasses and hearing protection.
The American National Safety Institute – ANSI – sets the standard for safety glasses under code Z87.1.
So, when I got my glasses, I noted they are code Z87-2+, meaning they are specified as impact resistant.
As a side note, I reached out to the safety manager at the company where I work, and he agreed that in addition to being shooting glasses, these would be very good for me to wear as working safety glasses, were I to go into an industrial environment that required safety glasses.
Also, I must say that working with Brian Conley at Hunters HD Gold was one of the easiest order processes I have had the pleasure of having.
In summary, I have found my Hunters HD Gold shooting glasses to be the safest, most visually appealing, and most comfortable shooting glasses I have ever used, and I highly recommend them to my fellow shooters, and to those who need eye protection.
Saturday July 27, 2024, I shot in the monthly USPSA match at River Bend Gun Club. I have been shooting USPSA for 16 years now, and I have managed to improve my scores some from the early days, mostly by moving from Production to Limited.
But I must admit, I have not done as well as I would like. I mean, who really does?
This week, I noticed something that, to be honest, had been somewhat in my mind as an advantage, but really isn’t. I noticed that on short range shots, I was able to shoot rather accurately, without actually aiming. My arms and brain were able to point the gun well enough that I could shoot two Alphas out to about 7 or 8 yards, without actually aiming.
The problem with this, though, is that I noticed that in the last couple of years, I have tended to move that range out some, and I was now in a mode where I very rarely actually used my sights. This led to a lot of misses, but the thing that really made me realize it was how difficult it had become for me to knock down steel with just one shot. In fact, steel became quite an annoyance to me.
But what happened this week was we ran a Classifier, where there were six steel targets in the middle, and a paper target on each end. When the RO said “Make Ready,” I drew my pistol, and actually took a good sight picture of all the targets. Then, when I shot, I actually aimed at each target.
My results: 4 Alphas, and 6 steel, all on the first shot.
I know . . . what a concept!
So then I decided, what if I did this on all the stages? Well, the video above is the next stage, which was the last stage. Scoring: 3 Charlies, the rest Alphas, and . . . the most awesome part . . . all the steel down on the first shot.
So, now I am planning to do some dry fire practicing, and to go to the range and practice, and move myself back into better scoring.
Fill Yer Hands 