Chris D. Horton Legacy Sniper Comp 2024
1. SAFETY
1.1 For the purposes of the Chris D. Horton Legacy Sniper Comp (referred to as CHLS), the entire property of the match location and its associated ranges, trail, encampments, roads, vehicles, structures, and dwellings will be considered a COLD range. Firearms may only be loaded at the direction of a match official.
1.2 When required by the stage brief, firearms may be made ready before starting a stage only under the direct supervision and after the direction of a Range Officer while in a designated shooting area. This includes inserting magazines (empty or otherwise).
1.2.1 Stage starting condition and location for firearms will be clearly stated in each stage brief.
1.2.2 Some stages will start with firearms in transport condition, empty chamber, magazine out, hammer or striker down.
1.2.3 Some stages will start with firearms in hand, magazine out, bolt back.
1.2.4 Some stages will start with firearms in hand, magazine in, empty chamber.
1.2.5 Some stages will start with firearms staged magazine inserted, empty chamber bolt back.
1.3 Firearms will be unloaded and cleared to transport condition under the direct supervision and visually inspected by a Range Officer before a shooter leaves the designated shooting area.
1.4 After completing a stage, firearms will be cleared and transported from stage to stage in transport condition.
1.4.1 Transport condition includes: empty chamber with magazine out, bolt closed and hammer or striker down.
1.5 No participant, official, range staff, or support personnel will consume or be under the influence of any alcohol, drug, or mind-altering substance while engaged in shooting activities of any kind. Anyone found doing so will be disqualified and removed from the property immediately.
1.6 Any participant, official, range staff, or support personnel under the influence of any prescription medication that renders said person impaired, will be stopped, removed from competition, and may be asked to leave the premises.
1.7 Eye protection will be worn by all competitors, staff, and spectators while pistol/M4’s are in use on the zero range or on competition stages. We do not consider it necessary for LRP rifles when engaging targets beyond 100m.
1.8 Ear protection will be worn by all competitors, staff, and spectators while firearms are in use on the zero range or on competition stages.
2. DISQUALIFICATIONS
2.1 Match disqualifications will result in the competitor being stopped, removed from the shooting area, disqualified from the match, and possibly removed from the property depending on the severity of the infraction or offense. ROs will stop the competitor, render their firearms safe, remove the competitor from the shooting area and notify the Rangemaster. The Rangemaster will review the infraction and may issue the disqualification or return the competitor to the match. The Match Director will have the final decision, and the decision will be final. If a competitor is disqualified from the match, they will not be eligible for any prizes, compensation, or refunds.
2.2 Safety related offenses that will result in a match disqualification include, but are not limited to:
2.2.1 Negligent discharge during loading, unloading, clearance of a malfunction, or any other remedial action.
2.2.2 Failure to maintain positive control of a loaded firearm. This includes dropping, bobbling, mishandling, or losing a loaded weapon from a securement device such as a holster, sling, or scabbard.
2.2.3 Abandoning a loaded firearm in an unsafe manner wherein it does not stay within the confines of the prescribed abandonment container or position.
2.2.4 Sweeping, flagging, or muzzling themselves, a teammate, another competitor, spectator, or staff member with a firearm during a stage.
2.2.5 Discharging a firearm into a stage prop or hard surface closer than 10 feet from the competitor.
2.2.6 Breaking the 180° to the stage field muzzle safe zone or plane as described in the stage brief.
2.3 Other offenses that will result in a match disqualification.
2.3.1 Cheating, purposefully impeding another competitor, lying, altering scorecards, altering targets, or altering props to gain a competitive advantage either before, during, or after the stage or competition.
2.3.2 Altering any of their own, their teammates, or a competitor’s firearms, optics, ammunition, or required equipment from the prescribed condition that is specified in the match rules or written stage brief.
2.3.3 Sharing stage details with competitors who have not shot a stage will be considered cheating and will be grounds for a match DQ.
2.3.4 Leaving any stages blind holding area with the intent of learning details of the stage like target location, distance, shooting position etc.
2.3.5 Shooting prohibited ammunition or non-designated primary or secondary calibers.
2.3.6 Conduct deemed unsportsmanlike by the Rangemaster or Match Director.
3. CONDUCT
3.1 Competitors will conduct themselves in a polite, courteous, and respectful manner at all times.
3.2 The Rangemaster or Match Director may assess penalties (ranging from loss of points and up to and including disqualification from a stage or the match) to competitors who repeatedly demonstrate conduct deemed unsportsmanlike, unsafe, and not in the interest of a fair and equitable competition.
4. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
4.1 Competitors with documented physical disadvantages may be given a pre-approved alternative to the written stage brief but may incur a penalty. Every attempt will be made to accommodate these disadvantages with an equitable alternative, but no advantage will be allowed to any competitor. Requests must be made prior to the beginning of the stage and must be approved by the Match Director.
4.2 Under very special and extreme circumstances reshoots will be granted at the discretion of the Rangemaster or Match Director.
4.3 Reshoots will not be granted for competitors suffering from firearm, ammunition, gear or other mechanical malfunctions.
4.4 Reshoots will not be granted for competitors that do not understand the stage briefs, movement required, target distribution between team members and stage time limits.
5. AMMUNITION
5.1 Pistol
5.1.1 Ammunition shall be ball or frangible ammunition produced commercially. No Handloads, hollow points, or defensive loads are allowed.
5.1.2 Service Division shall be 9mm or 45 ACP.
5.1.3 Open Class is allowed any caliber, but failure to knock down steel targets is on the shooter, no allowances will be made for failure of target steel to fall.
5.2 Rifle
5.2.1 Primary (Precision) rifle shall be .308 / 7 .62x51 ONLY
5.2.2 Secondary rifle shall be .223 / 5.56x45 ONLY
5.2.3 Precision loads may be commercial or hand loads, Secondary rifle rounds shall be commercially available.
5.2.4 No tracer or other incendiary rounds. No steel core or armor piercing rounds allowed on range.
6. DIVISIONS
6.1 Service Class – at least one member of team is Sniper Qualified, or currently assigned to a sniper section.
6.1.1 The service class is intended to provide a level playing field for sniper teams across the spectrum. For this reason, some limitations on weapon accessories are necessary:
6.1.2 No weapon mounted LRFs
6.1.3 No scopes with ballistic calculators built in
6.1.4 There will be a meeting the Friday night before the match to discuss any other accessories to be prohibited in the spirit of fairness for the Service Class Division only.
6.2 Open Class – Any team that does not have at least one member with Sniper Qualification or currently assigned to a sniper section.
6.3 All Teams
6.3.1 Each team will carry and use at least two rifles and two pistols in the competition.
6.3.2 Each team must declare a Primary and a Secondary shooter. This designation may not be changed during the match. Wrist brands identifying Primary and Secondary shooter will be issued at check-in that must be worn on the strong hand throughout the match.
6.3.3 Teams will have to take all mission related equipment for the duration of the match.
6.3.4 Primary gun max distance is ~1200 m and Secondary max distance is ~800m. Distances are approximate.
6.3.5 The Primary shooter must shoot the Primary rifle at all times, and the Secondary shooter must shoot the Secondary rifle at all times, except when stage briefs require otherwise.
6.3.6 All divisions will carry everything with them that they start the day with. Teams may not abandon any equipment, clothing or gear. Nothing but empty cartridge casings may be abandoned.
6.3.7 The distribution of gear between the team members while traveling between stages can be determined by the teams and can change throughout the event. Rifles can be carried in hand, slung or in rucks. Rifles must be transported in a safe condition. Pistols can be carried in a positive retention holster or packed away. Pistols must be transported in safe condition.
7. EQUIPMENT
7.1 Each team will carry a minimum of two rifles and two pistols. Teams may decide to carry a bolt and gas gun for the Primary shooter; however, all equipment must be carried on shooter or in pack for the entire match.
7.2 Teams in both divisions may carry any equipment that they feel will benefit their performance.
7.3 Allowable equipment includes: LRFs, spotting scopes, binoculars, tripods, wind meters, PDAs, ballistic computers, bipods, shooting bags, rucksacks, writing utensils, notebooks, calculators, data books, slings, shooting supports, etc.
7.4 For all divisions: Stages will require all gear to be carried throughout the stage and penalties will be incurred for failure to do so. These penalties can range from additional time penalties or a complete disqualification for the stage. Teams will be able to retrieve lost or abandoned gear during these stages, but it will be on the clock, and it will reduce their opportunity to score hits on targets. Gear left behind after the stage time expires will be considered abandoned and will be returned on Sunday afternoon.
7.5 Hiding, staging, or discarding any equipment, ammunition, food, clothing or any other items to avoid carrying them or with the intent of returning for them later will be considered cheating and will result in an immediate disqualification from the match. This does not include any “undetected movement” stages where a team may need to move into position after stowing their equipment during the stage.
7.6 Pistols
7.6.1 Must be iron sight or slide ride dot only, no frame mounted dots. Magazines must be 20 round mags or less. These are the only restrictions on pistols, compensated pistols are allowed.
7.6.2 Service Class must stay within the broad scope of military weapon issuance parameters. For example, you may carry a Glock 19/17, Sig 320/226/229, Berretta 92 or 1911, but a Walther Q5 has never been issued by any service in the US. It does not have to be something your unit would issue you specifically.
7.7 Rifles
7.7.1 Spotter/Secondary Shooter must carry a gas or bolt operated carbine rifle chambered in .223 / 5.56 with operable safety.
7.7.2 Sniper/Primary Shooter must carry a precision rifle chambered in .308 / 7.62x51 that may be gas or bolt operated.
7.7.3 All carbine rifles must have a sling and always carried slung or in their pack.
7.7.4 For the ruck stage, both members of the team will carry a rifle, but it doesn’t have to be a precision rifle, however the precision rifle must be with the team.
7.7.5 All rifles used for the match must be tagged by staff during check in. If your rifle tag comes loose or missing between stages, you must report it immediately. Any shooter found with a non-tagged rifle will be penalized with DQ from current stage, and possibly the event.
7.8 Holsters
7.8.1 Holsters shall be of good quality with positive retention designed for the firearm carried. Retention should be sufficient to retain firearm regardless of body position or physical activity. A level 3 retention holster is recommended for this event as dropped firearms are grounds for DQ. Level 3 holsters combine passive and active retention features; in addition to friction-based retention, a thumb-activated pivot guard is used to secure the firearm. The pivot guard must be disengaged by pressing a thumb release. Holsters should be made of Kydex or equivalent that is sufficiently rigid that prevents engaging the trigger. Holsters may be mounted to your plate carrier, belt, or in a drop leg configuration. No soft-sided, nylon universal holsters allowed (Uncle Mike’s). No inside the waistband or appendix carry is permitted. No speed/competition style holsters permitted.
8. STAGE EXECUTION
8.1 The entire match is a timed event (MATCH TIME). All action, preparation, and transit is on the clock. All gear for the match will be carried by the teams at all times unless otherwise instructed in a stage brief.
8.2 Upon arrival to a stage, teams must check in with the stage ROs to receive special direction, if any, and either proceed to the stage or begin a DELAY TIME evolution.
8.3 DELAY TIME is a documented “off the MATCH TIME” period that is reserved only for delays to progress because of match conditions. These include occupied stages, stage resets, RO time out, weather, safety, etc. While on DELAY TIME, teams may hydrate (or dehydrate), perform any necessary first aid, and add/remove clothing layers for temperature regulation; however, no other actions can be done while on DELAY TIME. This includes gear prep, reloading magazines, etc.
8.4 To enter DELAY TIME, teams must have read and understood the stage rules, prepped all their gear and equipment for the stage, and be ready to proceed with the stage. This does not include setting up bipod/tripods in advance, but unstowing weapons and other gear from packs.
8.5 When the RO signals its time to exit DELAY TIME, the team is on MATCH TIME again and the stage brief period will begin.
8.6 Some stages will include blind holding areas where the stage layout cannot be seen.
8.6.1 Any competitor leaving any blind holding area with the intent of learning details of the stage like target location, distance, shooting position etc. will be disqualified from the match immediately.
8.7 Some stages will allow for inspection of the stage layout and identification of targets beforehand.
8.8 Stage Brief
8.8.1 Stage rules will be posted at each stage to be read by the competitors.
8.8.2 Stages will have a par time (STAGE TIME) which is the maximum allotted time to complete that stage. All actions not completed within this STAGE TIME will result in additional penalties (PENALTY TIME) added to the team’s score. This will include missed targets, incomplete actions, etc. Penalties will be outlined in the stage briefs.
8.8.3 Prior to the STAGE TIME starting, competitors will have 1 minute to ask questions for clarity regarding the stage.
8.8.4 Range Officers will answer questions to the best of their ability. Generally, only logistical questions regarding the stage, stage boundaries, and other safety related items will be answered. No additional interpretation of the rules will be given.
8.8.5 Range Officers will not explain or depict how previous competitors navigated a stage.
8.9 Range Officers will be fixed and assigned to stages throughout the event to ensure that the stage brief presentation, question/answer time and the details of the stage rules and execution are consistent throughout the shooting of a stage.
8.10 After completing a stage, competitors will be released to proceed to the next stage in the sequence. Competitors are not to communicate with any team that has not yet completed the stage. Stage details regarding target size, location, range, stage execution, etc. are not to be shared between teams that have completed the stage and those that have not.
9. SCORING
9.1 In a deviation from prior years, the entire match will be scored as TOTAL TIME, with the fastest overall time taking first place and so on.
9.2 TOTAL TIME is the combination of MATCH TIME plus any PENALTY TIME minus DELAY TIME
9.3 Primary and Secondary team member times will not be kept individually.
9.4 All stages will have a par time and a penalty time component for remaining targets, uncompleted objectives and any other procedural violations as described in the stage brief.
9.5 In the event a stage or team is delayed during a timed event, they MUST request a DELAY TIME credit from the RO on that stage. It is the responsibility of the teams to request DELAY TIME. No adjustments will be made after a stage completion for unrequested DELAY TIME
9.6 PENALTY TIME can be avoided by successfully completing required shooting and non-shooting tasks as described in the stage briefs.
9.7 PENALTY TIME values for targets not discovered/engaged/defeated will be covered in the stage briefs.
9.8 Hits on static steel will be verbally called by the Scorer, unless otherwise stated in the brief.
9.9 Hits on reactive steel will be verbally called by the Scorer and will require the target indicator to flash or activate. Such requirements will be clearly stated in the stage briefs.
9.10 Hits on falling steel will be called by the Scorer and will require the steel to fall or disappear. Such requirements will be clearly stated in the stage briefs.
9.11 Paper or cardboard targets may require more than one hit to be neutralized. Such requirements will be clearly stated in the stage briefs.
9.12 Some steel targets may require hits from both team members to score. Such requirements will be clearly stated in the stage briefs.
9.13 Hostage targets that are impacted will be assessed as a time penalty. Such penalties will be clearly stated in the stage briefs.
9.14 Some stages will require the shooter to communicate to the Scorer which target they are engaging so that the correct target can be observed and scored. In these instances, hits will not be scored if the target was not identified by the shooter and confirmed by the Scorer.
9.15 Misses will not be called by the stage Scorer and stage Scorers will not assist teams in getting on target.
9.16 A team member will be required to initial a score sheet confirming their score before leaving the stage.
10. PROTESTS AND ARBITRATION
10.1 Disputes between Range Officers, Scorers and competitors will be handled calmly and efficiently. All parties will be respectful and may be confident that every effort will be made to make difficult decisions with fairness. Unfortunately, during competitions, emotions are high, and mistakes can be made. Penalties or disqualifications are not taken lightly. They will be carefully considered, and the appropriate call made.
10.2 Protests may not be lodged regarding the scoring of targets. The Scorer’s verbal call stands and is final. Scorers may correct their verbal call if they realize they made a mistake during the stage. This correction can only be made before a team member initials the score sheet confirming their score before leaving the stage.
10.3 In situations where a penalty or disqualification is a possibility, the Match Director will be summoned into the discussion. The Match Director will do his best to hear both sides of the story and may ask other witnesses to render an opinion. The decision of the Match Director will be final.
10.4 The decision to stop a competitor for an unsafe act will be made by the RO of the stage. The Rangemaster will be summoned to rule on the act. If no resolution can be made, the Match Director will be summoned. The decision of the Match Director will be final.
10.5 After the final scores are tabulated and posted a time period of arbitration will be announced. Since competitors have already initialed a sheet confirming each of their stage scores there will be very little arbitration on final score. Competitors may dispute the compilation of their final scores. When the time for arbitration has expired all disputes will be considered final.