Q: We have a Steel Challenge shooter who is shooting Rimfire Rifle Open division with a dot. He has asked if he can shoot his iron sights on the same firearm as a second gun at the same match, without removing the dot off the gun, if he shows the Range Officer the dot is off. A cover over the dot would prevent the iron sights from being used. This is a level one club event. Can you point me to a rule to allow or disallow this?
A: The simple answer here is no, because Appendix D3, No. 5 in the USPSA rules states that for Rimfire Pistol Irons, optical/electronic sights are not permitted. It does not say “use of,” it just says not permitted, so they can’t be mounted on the firearm. He can certainly use the same firearm for both divisions if he removes the dot for Rimfire Pistol Irons.
Q: Our local club will have a Texas star in one of the stages (level 1 match) in October. Scoring questions:
- If not engaged, do you score as FTSA plus five misses?
- If only one shot is fired at the star, do you score only the number of misses?
A: The Texas Star is actually five steel plate targets, so if each one isn't shot at, it is an FTSA for each plate not engaged, plus the miss penalty per plate. It is not a single target, but a holder for multiple targets—the same as a plate rack.
Q: The sun rose over the hill directly downrange of our first few stages of the day and was making it impossible to use a red dot productively. Some members of my squad suggested occluding the dot using some paster tape; to avoid the issue, other squad members used duct tape to create a makeshift hood over the optic. The range officers for those first few stages and our squad were all poking fun at each other’s taped-up solutions, and after a couple stages the sun rose enough that it wasn’t an issue, so we took our tape off and continued on with the match without it.
After the day was over, I was chatting with some buddies from another squad and told them about shooting occluded because of the sun and all that. They stated they wanted to do that too but were told that wasn't allowed by some range officers at whatever stage they were at. According to them, the Range Officer stated that a competitor’s optic cannot be modified in any way after the start of the match, including shooting occluded or using any type of shade cover, etc.
Once I made it back home I took a look at the USPSA rulebook and found 5.1.8, which states a firearm cannot be significantly modified, but also states that scope covers and tape are exempt. So, would it fall into 5.1.7 stating the competitor must use the “same type of sight,” or is occluding with tape for a couple stages not an issue with the 5.1.8 exemption?
A: This falls under the exemption stated in rule 5.1.8. Scope covers, tape, dust covers and bungee cords are exempt from this requirement.
Q: I’m not sure if this is the correct place to ask, but I wanted to see if the Dawson precision muzzle weight would be legal for USPSA Limited Optics?
A: Yes. The rules for Limited Optics are exactly the same as for Limited, with the exception of requiring an optic.
Article from the November/December 2024 issue of USPSA’s magazine.
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