What's the deal with a stage gun start?  A buzzer goes off, you pick up a stage gun and fire whatever, then you put it down and then press another buzzer to finish the COF.  So when does the time start?  At the first buzzer or when the shooter presses the buzzer after finishing with the stage gun?  If it doesn't start until the second buzzer after the stage gun is done with, then what's the point of shooting lightning fast with the stage gun then hitting the second buzzer quickly as I've seen some do?  Anybody know what the deal is?

The time starts when the competitor hits the buzzer. All stage gun shooting is off the clock.

-Cameron Thompson

This is for the 3 Gun Nation show - it lets them do product placement without impacting competitive equity.

In real 3-Gun matches, any stage gun is fired ON the clock.

I appreciate the responses.  I just couldn't figure it out since watching the show, some would shoot the prop gun and then hit that second buzzer as fast as they could while others would take their time with the prop gun and hit second buzzer when they got good and ready.

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.

The few stages I've shot with stage guns have all had this in common:



1) reliable gun, ie full size S&W revolver, Glock, Rem 870, AK47

2) very rounds - usually 3 to 6 rounds

3) the targets are "hoser" targets

You might be surprised how many people aren't familiar with common guns.  Out of the examples I gave, I only own an 870, but I have shot all of the listed guns at one point or another.



One of the ideas behind using common guns is if you need to pick a strange gun and use it, it would probably be a common gun.  



Also, the matches I shoot don't have sponsers, so the RSO's "donate" their guns to the stage.  They are often not expensive guns.  I am working up a stage where the final six rounds will be out of my old Ruger Securty Six.

I like stage guns, and I include them in my matches fairly often.  I try to make them the very first shots so if something goes wrong you aren't
re-shooting the entire stage.  I've used a bolt-action .50 rifle, a full-auto water-cooled 1917, a full-auto STen, a revolver, etc.   I include the
prop gun as part of the background scenario story of the stage, something else I enjoy doing, and everybody loves it.  Of course, I'm talking
about a small local match with 25-30 shooters and not a major three-day match with a few hundred shooters.  It's part of what makes three-gun
fun at the small level, and at the local level its all about fun and not so serious.  I wouldn't do it at a major match.

I have no interest in shooting a stage gun even if it is something Exotic.  If I wanted to shoot that gun, I would have brought it to the match