RBGC Practical Shooters

Directions

Check the top of the page for the link to directions to the Riverbend Gun Club using Google Maps. When you Reach the paved road after the gravel road you will take your first right which takes you up a hill to the parking lot and the range we use for our match.

Range Policies

A very important note about the Cold Range policy at Riverbend Gun Club. The club requires that all firearms be unloaded and hammer down on an empty chamber when not actively in a shooting bay. With this in mind, if you are traveling to the range and exercising your 2nd Amendment Rights, please stop at the bottom of the hill before you travel up to the parking lot and degun any personal carry weapons. There is a large berm available for that purpose and we ask that you use it as such. We have not designated this area as a safety area as we realize that live ammunition will be removed form your weapon here. Once you have secured your unloaded and hammer down an an empty chamber weapon (holster or gun bag) in your vehicle, then proceed up the hill and park. Please only bring the gun(s) you will be using for competition onto the range.

Riverbend also has a strict policy requiring eye protection at all times on the property. Before you leave your car please put on your shooting glasses and leave them on the entire time you are at the range.

Start Time

Match Registration begins at 9AM and the match will start at 10AM with a short Shooter’s Meeting for announcements and such. If you have never shot a USPSA match before then you will be required to attend a safety briefing that takes about 20 or 30 minutes. For that reason you will be required to get to the range no later than 9AM to allow plenty of time for registration and gearing up before your required safety Briefing. Please adhere to this requirement if at all possible as safety is our number one concern. We fully reserve the right to refuse entrance to the match to anyone that has not attended a full Safety Briefing.

Registration

The shack at the top of the range is where you’ll go to register for the match. Be prepared with cash or check for your match fee and note that RBGC and LEO discounts require showing a current RBGC member ID or LEO ID respectively. Have your USPSA membership number ready for the registration sheet so we can register your scores with USPSA. If you have not registered with USPSA yet, just put “pending” in your USPSA number slot. We highly encourage all shooters to consider membership in USPSA (check USPSA.org for registration info) as it allows you to obtain classification and helps to support the sport. You’ll also need to register your Division, Classification, and whether or not your scoring Major or Minor for the match. If all of this is Greek to you then click the links to get more specific information on each of the topics.

Score Sheets

You will be handed a score sheets with your Shooter Number written in the corner. Write this shooter number and your first and last name on each of the Stages of the score sheet to assist the person scoring the match later in figuring out who owns each score sheet. Please write legibly as it will only help you later when the scorer had to figure out what your scribble means.

Squadding

The Match is made up of a number of Stages with each stage shot in one of the many Bays on the range. All match participants are split into Squads that then go to a particular bay and shoot that stage. As stages are completed, the squads advance to the next bay until finished. Squadding typically happens one of two different ways. The first is with a sign-up sheet and it’s done right after you register. The sign-up sheet will list each of the stages where the Match Director has decided to start a squad. Simply write your name on one of the stages to join a squad. Remember your start stage so you know where to go after the Shooter’s Meeting to start the match. The second method happens during the shooter’s meeting so if this method is used you don’t have to worry about squadding for now. During the Shooter’s Meeting, the Match Director will line up number of experienced shooters equal to the number of squads he wants and then will ask everyone to form a line behind each person up. He will give you a cut off limit for the maximum number of people per squad so adhere to this. Once everyone is sorted, the Match Director will assign a starting bay to each squad and everyone heads out to get started.

If during your Safety Briefing, you are assigned an experienced shooter as a partner/mentor for the day, please be sure you squad with them. This partner/mentoring system is a great benefit so make sure you take advantage of it.

 Gearing Up

Now is a good time to get your gear on change into your shoes if necessary and get your belt, holster, and mag pouches on. Do not load your magazines yet as we will next be going into the designated Safety Area to put your gun in your holster. The Safety Area is designated by a sign and will always have a high berm behind it.

The Safety Area has one simple rule. No handling of ammunition is allowed in the Safety Area.

Since we haven’t loaded our magazines yet grab your range bag or gun rug and enter the Safety Area. While in the Safety Area take your gun out of your bag or gun rug, double check to ensure it's empty by pulling back the slide and inspecting the chamber, and then place it into your holster. You may practice drawing your gun and take unloaded sight pictures as long as the gun stays safety pointed towards the berm. Once you have finished and placed you gun back securely in your holster (check to ensure that race holster are locked!), you can then grab your bag and leave the Safety Area.

Once outside the Safety Area there is one cardinal rule. No handling of the gun can take place unless at the explicit instructions from a Range Officer in a shooting bay.

This rule is an absolute and will earn you a match disqualification if you forget and draw your weapon outside of the Safety Area without the express instruction from an RO. Outside the Safety Area is where you can handle ammunition though so take the time now to load all your magazines to Divisional capacity. You may place the loaded mags on your belt in your pouches, or you may elect to leave them in your range back and put them on when you get to your first stage. The choice is yours to make.

Shooter’s Meeting

At the start of each match there will be a shooter’s briefing or meeting where the Match Director will go over any pertinent information that you may need for the match. There may also be announcements made for future local and regional matches of interest. If the Match Director has decided on a second method of Squadding outlined above, he will start the squadding procedure now. If not, then at the conclusion of the meeting, head off to the stage you signed-up for at registration and enjoy your match!