Learn › Track 01 · Foundations
Range safety & commands
An air pistol is quiet and has almost no kick, so it is easy to forget that it can hurt someone. A range stays safe because everyone on it reacts to the same few words in the same way, without thinking. Picture this moment first.
Think first: You are settled in the aiming area, the first stage of the trigger is taken up and the shot is about to break. The Range Officer calls STOP. What do you do?
- Finish the shot — it was already on its way
- Take your finger off the trigger and lower the pistol, muzzle still pointing downrange
- Put the pistol straight down on the bench and step back from the line
Four words that run the range
The Chief Range Officer controls the firing line with a short set of commands. The four you will hear most are LOAD, START, STOP and UNLOAD. Each one tells you exactly what you may do with the pistol, and what you may not do. Tap them in order to see the routine.
Two details catch people out.
First, LOAD is not START. In a final the Range Officer calls LOAD, gives you time to load, and only then calls START. A shot that goes off in between is a miss.
In a final, a shot fired after LOAD but before START scores zero.
Second, STOP lasts until a new START. After STOP, and after UNLOAD, firing only resumes when the Range Officer calls START again. Nothing else counts, including the person next to you starting early.
The safety flag
A safety flag is a bright cord or strip that you push through the open breech and out of the barrel. With the flag in, anyone walking behind the line can see that your pistol is open and empty. Put it in whenever you are not firing: before the first command, after UNLOAD, and any time you leave the line.
Think first: During qualification your coach wants to talk to you. What must happen first?
- Your coach comes up behind you and talks quietly, so nobody is disturbed
- You unload, put the safety flag in and step back from the firing line
- You put the pistol on the bench, still loaded, and turn round
To talk with a coach, the athlete unloads, inserts the safety flag and leaves the firing line. A violation earns a warning, then a 2-point deduction.
Muzzle, finger, one pellet
Most range rules come down to a few habits. Build them on day one, until you do them without thinking.
- Muzzle downrange, always. From the moment you pick the pistol up to the moment you put it down, it points at the targets. This applies to an empty pistol too.
- Finger off the trigger until the pistol is up and coming into the aiming area.
- One pellet at a time. Load only when you are about to shoot, and only one.
- Flag in when you stop. Open action, safety flag through the barrel, pistol down.
- Protect your eyes. ISSF rules say athletes should wear shatterproof glasses.
Dry firing means pressing the trigger without a pellet and without releasing air. It is the best practice there is, and it is allowed during set-up time. Releasing air or firing a pellet is a different matter.
Think first: It is set-up time, before preparation and sighting has started. You want to check your trigger. Which is allowed?
- Dry firing with the dry-fire switch on, pistol pointed downrange
- Firing one pellet into the backstop to check the pistol works
- Releasing a puff of air without a pellet to clear the barrel
A shot before the sighting START turns your first match shot into a zero, or a disqualification if safety was involved. Releasing an air charge before preparation time earns a warning, then 2 points.
Why it is strict
None of this is about air pistols being especially dangerous. A firing line is a row of people pointing pistols in the same direction, and it is safe only if everyone stops, loads and unloads at the same moment. The rules are strict so that the habits stay automatic, even when you are nervous in a final.
- LOAD: you may load, not fire. START: you may fire. STOP: cease at once. UNLOAD: clear, flag in.
- A shot after LOAD but before START in a final is a miss. Firing resumes only on a new START.
- Safety flag in whenever you are not firing. Unload and flag in before you leave the line to talk to your coach.
- Muzzle downrange, finger off until aiming, one pellet at a time. Dry fire in set-up time, but don’t release air.