Dropped Something...

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ATLDave said:
:(

Scoop draw or just butterfingers?
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Total Mr. Butterfingers. I tried a scoop draw for a month or so in practice a while back, and just decided it was too dangerous and didn't provide enough of a benefit to even consider it.

Even in practice, that is the first time I have ever dropped a gun like that.


Chuck R. said:
THANKS for posting that, great reminder that it could happen to any of us!
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Yeah, what an idiot I was. That was a very costly mistake (obviously), so thank goodness it was just at a club match and it didn't cost me a lot to fail.

My biggest worry has always been to travel to a big match somewhere and pay for travel, hotels, meals, plus a large entry fee, and then get DQ'ed on the first stage!!!

Bottom line: I got sloppy. I was sloppy and lost my concentration trying to run into position before I had my firearm under control. Very stupid.

Lesson learned.

Funny story however:

This is only the second time I have been to this club (it is a bit of a drive for me). The last time I was there, I was in a squad with the MD. We were in this SAME BAY for the LAST STAGE of the day, and the MD got DQ'ed for dropping his gun during the draw!!! Is that crazy or what??? Same thing as yesterday, the last stage of the day in the same bay.

Been to the club twice, and both times someone has been DQ'ed on the last stage in the same bay for dropping their gun on the draw.

The only good news I can think of (besides the valuable lesson learned): This is the only bay they use for USPSA at this club that has grass rather than a gravel/rock surface, so my gun didn't get a dent or scratched up. :) (Trying to be positive here somehow!)
 
Welcome to the club. Happened to me a few months ago while trying to rack a jammed round with sweaty hands. I was on my second to last stage and was doing better than I have before.
 
Doublehelix said:
My biggest worry has always been to travel to a big match somewhere and pay for travel, hotels, meals, plus a large entry fee, and then get DQ'ed on the first stage!!!
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I feel you there, had that particular fear reinforced for me last month. One of our local GMs got DQ'ed at IPSC nationals (said he swept his left hand). He lucked out in being able to re-schedule his return flight, and states that in hind sight he wasn't really ready for the match and is taking the opportunity to re-focus. But for me at least the whole concept of, first, qualifying for a match like that then as you said getting all your ducks in a row as far as travel, lodging, food, and fees, then DQ. THAT has to be a pretty "scuse me let me go bury my head in the sand" type of feeling.
 
Clearly there is a spatial anomaly in the particular bay. It could be an area of denser gravity. A time lag hole can also affect objects in physical space. Causing them to feel heavier or "have their own, different, inertia". I would steer clear of it if I was able.

Sacrificial chicken blood sprinkled on and about the area, with an Eagle feather, is reported to confound the spatial/time rift.

:)


In seriousness, I am sorry you recieved a DQ. I hope you do better next time, and I bet you won't make the same mistake again.
When you drop a J - frame in the bathroom and darn near break your pinky toe off with it, let me know...
(No good story, that pretty much sums it up!)
 
My sole DQ to date also came from a dropped gun - but dropping it wasn't the DQ. I had been given the "unload and show clear." I did and did - hammer down on an empty chamber. I was given the command "holster." I tried to holster in my then-new-to-me DAA racemaster (which can be a little finicky about entry and exit angles). I got it in just-the-wrong-way and was still fiddling with it when the RO called "range is clear" (a friend of mine who shoots Production, and therefore knows nothing of the hinky-ness of race holsters). I stupidly pulled my hand away, and the gun dropped.

Now, at this point, it wasn't a DQ, since the course of fire was over. But unlike doublehelix', my gun dropped onto the concrete floor of an indoor range. It landed on the thumbrest... and began to slowly spin on its side. The muzzle was initially pointed downrange, but it was turning under its own inertia clockwise. The reptilian part of my brain figured that it was about to sweep the whole crowd, and I reached down and grabbed it to prevent it from doing so. At that point, I had DQ'ed myself - only an RO is allowed to retrieve a dropped gun, and you can never retrieve your own.

I felt bad because what I did was wrong. However, I tried to use it as an opportunity to model good behavior. This was at the match that I MD and RM! I took the DQ "like a man" (although my observation would be that women have a higher rate of taking a DQ well and in a sportsman-like manner) and stayed to keep helping the match run.
 
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Demi-human said:
Clearly there is a spatial anomaly in the particular bay. It could be an area of denser gravity. A time lag hole can also affect objects in physical space. Causing them to feel heavier or "have their own, different, inertia". I would steer clear of it if I was able.

Sacrificial chicken blood sprinkled on and about the area, with an Eagle feather, is reported to confound the spatial/time rift.
Click to expand...

Chicken blood? Hmmmm... will rooster blood work? I know of a neighbor's rooster that I would LOVE to sacrifice, especially on Saturday mornings when I am trying to sleep in!!!

Love it!!! Thanks for the help!!! I will make sure to perform the ceremony sometime this month under the light of a full moon while dancing naked with the dead chicken spraying the blood everywhere!
 
Thanks for posting and sharing the story.

I just started IDPA and USPSA; when my first drop happens I'll just accept my DQ, go on about my business and learn from the experience.
 
I would like to try this too. Minus the feather.;)

I must read the rules, but perhaps some grip tape? You already look as though you are well into the race. Probably just a fluke. The angle of the range.
I wish you good luck, sir!:)
 
Careful with the eagle feather, possession of certain raptor feathers is a crime in CA.
Oh but you live in a free state, I tend to forget there are such places every now and then.

If the bay is really bad a chicken may not be enough, it might take a goat or a pig.
Burning incense while performing the right is supposed to help as well.;)
 
In all seriousness, this sport that we love is a dangerous sport, and we need to understand that the rules are there for our and other's safety.

It is easy to get complacent because we do this so much, but TBH, I was not upset at all when I got DQ'ed. More humbled at the possibility that I could have endangered my life of that of another.

It was a true wakeup call for me to remember that safety ALWAYS trumps speed and a good score.
 
Doublehelix said:
It was a true wakeup call for me to remember that safety ALWAYS trumps speed and a good score.
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Thanks for relating your experience, Doublehelix. We all need reminded from time to time that safety is always the first prerequisite when handling any firearm. When drawing from a holster during competition, over the years I always mentally rehearse this mantra: Acquire a good grip first; everything else follows.
 
SwampWolf said:
When drawing from a holster during competition, over the years I always mentally rehearse this mantra: Acquire a good grip first; everything else follows.
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Love it. This should be engraved on a plaque and hung up in the clubhouse of every range in the country.
 
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