I was doing some thinking about "stage guns" the other day. I did some pro/con analysis:
PRO: Many shooters, particularly not the "other than tier-1" shooters (you know, chumps like me), enjoy them, particularly if the stage gun is something exotic.
Sponsors like to get shooters' hands on product, and nothing is better than live fire.
CON: Stage guns and their effectiveness aren't under the control of the shooter. This is a big one. Nobody wants to lose match points because someone else's gun didn't work.
Stage gun malfunctions cause reshoots, and reshoots are the devil. This has been pretty well taken care of by having the stage gun used at the beginning of a stage.
I may have a possible solution for MD's and/or sponsors that want to use a stage gun in a match. Set up your stage gun at the start of a stage as fully optional, on unscored target/targets. If a shooter hits the target, or knocks over 4/5 or whatever you decide that "stage gun success" should be, than that shooter is entered in a drawing for a prize, either the stage gun, or something the sponsor donates, or whatever. This makes the stage gun an option, fully up to the shooter. The top shooters (and aspiring top shooters) aren't going to take the time, they can just go shoot the stage. The mere mortals can decide to take a few seconds (a few seconds mean a lot less to us mere mortals, trust me), shoot a gun they would otherwise never get to play with, and maybe win something. It seems like a win-win.