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12/13/2011: "Course of Fire Rules Part 2"

The following is part of our effort to make sure we are abiding by the rules as listed in the IDPA rule book. This is the rest of the course of fire rules. I have added comments on a few of the rules to help clarify the rule. The entire rule book is available on www.IDPA.com. ################################################################

CoF 12. Determine and clearly mark muzzle safe points. (jph – The 180 degree rule isn’t always safe. It depends on your range. Sometimes 180 degrees is too much and needs to be reduced to something less than 180 and sometimes it is safe to increase the safety margin to more than 180 degrees. If you increase the size safety line to more than 180, you must be very careful of where the rest of the competitors, range officials, and spectators stand. You can use orange cones or other easily identifiable objects to mark the location of the line. Since we shoot indoors in a concrete box, our line will always be 180 degrees or less, depending on the course of fire.)

CoF 13. Use concealment for scenario stages when appropriate. Exception: Police or military officers when using actual duty gear. (jph – they should wear all appropriate gear, not pick and choose which pieces they use.)

CoF 14. No “strong-hand only” strings of fire may require the shooter to engage targets more than ten (10) yards distant.

CoF 15. No “weak-hand only” strings of fire may require the shooter to engage targets more than seven (7) yards distant.

CoF 16. No “weak-hand only” reloading.

CoF 17. No head-box shots are to be required more than ten (10) yards distant.

CoF 18. No more than 25% of the shots required on any string of fire may be on steel targets and no more than 10% of the total shots required in the match may be on steel.

CoF 19. No string of fire may exceed a maximum requirement of eighteen (18) rounds. (jph – while any individual string may not exceed 18 rounds, the total for a stage may be more than 18 rounds.

CoF 20. No foot-fault lines may be used on any scenario stage. (jph- This is where the safety officer (SO) has to make the call.)

CoF 21. After the match has started, all course design changes are final. CoF cannot be changed unless all competitors that have previously completed the stage get to re-shoot it.

CoF 22. CoF should be “revolver neutral” whenever possible. See glossary for further details. (jph – from Appendix Eleven – Glossary - Revolver Neutral: A descriptive term for a CoF which does not call for revolver shooters to do impossible things. This does NOT mean that every CoF should require six (6) rounds or less. This does mean that, if a CoF requires a tactical reload, the tactical reload will be called for before six (6) rounds have been expended. You cannot ask a person with an empty gun to retain unexpended rounds. Think of revolvers when designating cover, reloads and stage requirements.