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You’re the Range Officer

Today you are on the other side of the line. You wear the Range Officer's armband, and the Jury is at your shoulder. Eleven things are about to go wrong on your range. Each needs a ruling — fast, fair, and by the book. Ready?

Who does what, in real life: the Chief Range Officer runs the range and gives the commands. Range Officers, one for every 10 firing points, watch the athletes and report. The Competition Jury supervises, the Results Jury has the final word on shot values, and the Jury of Appeal hears appeals. In this game you make every call yourself.

Before the match

The relay is called to the line. Set-up time is running.

Think first: During set-up, before sighting START, an athlete fires a pellet safely into their own target “to feel the trigger”. Your ruling?

  • A warning only
  • It counts as their first sighter
  • 2 points off the first series
  • Their first match shot will be scored zero

Sighting runs its 15 minutes. You call the end of sighting and glance at the clock before match START.

Think first: Sighting has ended, but match START hasn’t been given. An athlete fires. Your ruling?

  • It becomes their first match shot
  • The shot is not counted, and 2 points are deducted
  • It counts as a sighter
  • Their first match shot is scored zero

During the match

Think first: The athlete on point 14 fires a match shot that lands on the target of point 15. How do you score it for athlete 14?

  • It counts at its value on target 15
  • Athlete 14 re-fires with no penalty
  • It is a miss for athlete 14
  • It is a miss, and athlete 14 is disqualified

Think first: An athlete’s monitor shows 61 match shots. Your ruling?

  • The extra shot is annulled and 2 points come off
  • The lowest shot is dropped
  • The 61st shot replaces the worst one
  • Disqualification

A hand goes up on point 22.

Think first: The athlete reports a pellet stuck in the barrel. Clearing it takes 4 minutes. What do you give?

  • The 4 minutes back
  • The 4 minutes back plus 5 minutes
  • No extra time; the Jury may allow extra sighters
  • Nothing, and 2 points off for the delay

Think first: Another athlete’s pistol didn’t fire. You find the safety catch was on. Allowable malfunction?

  • No: non-allowable — no time and no sighters
  • Yes: the pistol failed to fire
  • Yes, but only in a final
  • Yes, the first time it happens

Think first: An athlete arrives 12 minutes after match START. They overslept. What time do they get?

  • A full 75 minutes from now
  • 75 minutes from now, plus sighters
  • None: they can’t start
  • Only the time remaining in the match

Then a monitor goes dark.

Think first: One athlete’s electronic target fails and can’t be fixed for 6 minutes. Everyone else is shooting normally. What do you do?

  • Stop the whole range
  • Move them to a reserve firing point, with 5 extra minutes and unlimited sighters
  • Let them continue on paper targets
  • Give them the 6 minutes back, with no sighters

Equipment and conduct

Think first: A coach walks up behind an athlete on the firing line and starts talking. The athlete hasn’t unloaded or left the line. It’s the first time. Which card?

  • None: coaching is allowed
  • Green: 2 points off
  • Yellow: a warning
  • Red: disqualification

Think first: Mid-match, a phone buzzes in an athlete’s kit bag at the firing point. What is the right call?

  • Fine, as long as they don’t answer it
  • Fine if it is switched to silent
  • Not allowed on the field of play: it has to go
  • Allowed during breaks only

The match is over. The top 10 report for post-competition checks.

Think first: In the post-competition check, a finalist’s shoes come up over the ankle bone. Your ruling?

  • Disqualification
  • A warning: change shoes for the final
  • 2 points off
  • Nothing: the shoes passed earlier in the week

Your score sheet

One square per ruling: green right, red wrong.

Notice the pattern in what you just ruled on. The rules are hardest on what an athlete controls — timing, shot count, equipment, coaching — and most generous with what they don't, like an interruption or a failed target. If you missed any, the full explanations are in match procedure, malfunctions, penalties and equipment control.

  • Before START: a pellet zeroes the first match shot; between sighting and START: not counted, −2.
  • Cross shot: a miss for the shooter. Extra shot: annulled, −2.
  • Malfunctions: no extra time in qualification; only allowable ones may earn sighters.
  • Late: no extra time. Single target failure over 5 min: reserve point, +5 min, unlimited sighters.
  • Coaching on the line: warning, then −2. Phones off the field of play. Failed post-competition check: DSQ.

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