Adam Riser and Adam Maxwell from On The Perf tackled the unwritten rules of match behavior in Episode 52. From prize table picks to paster gun protocol, this one covers everything you need to know to not be “that guy” on your squad.
Here’s the short version of everything we’re about to cover: I care way more about the quality of a person as a person when I’m squadding with them than I care about the quality of them as a shooter.
That’s how Adam Riser framed it, and it’s the right lens for thinking about match etiquette. You’re going to spend two or three days with these people. Good chance you’ll end up having dinner with them. How good you are at shooting matters way less than whether people actually want to be around you.
Most of this stuff is common sense. Some of it isn’t obvious until someone points it out. All of it will determine whether squads want you back next year.
If you carry every day, have a plan before you set foot on the range. It’s a cold range. Technically, the rules say you’re supposed to find an RO who will take you somewhere to unload. Nobody actually does that. Just handle it in the car the same way you handle it when you’re dropping off your rental at the airport. You have a process for sneaking the gun out of your pants without anyone seeing. Do that thing.
Once you’re out, go sign in immediately. Pay your money. Handle the admin stuff first. Someone volunteering their time is trying to wrangle all the goats, and the sooner everyone’s accounted for, the better everyone’s day goes. Don’t make them chase you down.
This seems simple, but it matters. Show up to the range with your magazines already loaded. Not just your first stage—all of them.
Once the match starts, you’re supposed to be engaged. You’re walking stages, processing stage plans, resetting, helping out. The more gear prep you can do beforehand, the less you’re scrambling when you should be paying attention.
Adam Maxwell runs about six pistol mags and six rifle mags to a major three-gun match. All loaded before he arrives. He knows which mags go on which stages. Pistol mags are just topped off and ready.
And whatever you do, do not load magazines during the stage briefing. Maxwell remembers a guy at a Minnesota three-gun match fifteen years ago loading an AR mag during the big briefing. Metal mag. Chalk, chalk, chalk. Everyone trying to listen, and this guy’s just standing there chewing his gum and loading rounds. Don’t be that guy.
New shooters often assume the top competitors are secretive about their stage plans. That some ninja approach exists that nobody shares. That’s not how it works.
At the higher levels, people walk stages together constantly. They argue about approaches. They catch each other’s mistakes. Riser can’t count how many times someone like Brian Nelson or Daniel Horner has said “hey, did you see that one over there?” and saved him from missing a target.
The plan is to outshoot the other guy, not to outsmart him with some secret stage plan. And if you have a plan so ninja that nobody else sees it, there’s a decent chance it’s actually terrible and experienced shooters are avoiding it for good reasons.
The perception that top guys are secretive comes from a misread. They’re happy to share—they just won’t beat you over the head with it. If you ask, they’ll tell you. But they’ve also learned that trying to convince someone not to do something dumb is often a waste of time. Sometimes you just have to let people touch the stove.
B-class shooters tend to be the loudest about their stage plans. The higher you go, the more people just kind of keep to themselves unless asked. That’s not secrecy—it’s just not volunteering information that’s wasted on most people anyway.
The “sneaky plans” at the top level aren’t really about seeing something others don’t. They’re about execution ability and risk analysis.
Classic example: four poppers that throw four clays. Everyone wants to get all four clays in the air at once. But is it worth the risk? Depending on the scoring system, messing up that shot could be trivial or catastrophic. You might save some time with four clays airborne, or you might end your match.
Riser did a video from Memorial 3 Gun on this exact situation. Three poppers throwing low clays. By his math, absolutely nailing the all-at-once sequence gained two-tenths of a second. Missing one clay cost five seconds. That’s not a bet worth taking.
The perception is “saving time, saving time.” The reality is massive risk for minimal reward. The smart shooters know the difference.
This one gets people in trouble more than you’d think. Green tips are out. Steel shot is out. If your bullets stick to a magnet, rethink your choices.
There is some magnetic ammo that isn’t steel core, but it’s rare. If you’re running stuff like that, carry dykes so you can cut one open in front of an RO and prove there’s no steel. Otherwise, just avoid the hassle.
Sabot slugs through smoothbore barrels won’t hurt anyone but you—they’ll just ruin your stage. But steel-core stuff can frag people. Know what you’re feeding your guns before you show up.
If you carry a paster gun, you need to actually use it. No hovering at the front of the bay while everyone else handles the back targets. If you’re putting out numbers and making that receipt trail out the bottom, nobody’s going to complain that you’re not setting steel.
Some considerations:
If you take a whole roll of match pasters, you’re setting a goal. Use it. Don’t pocket half a roll of someone else’s pasters.
If you’re a guest at a club match, don’t hog their supplies. If there are only two rolls at the stage, take a small amount so other squads have something to work with. Some clubs are strict about this—Rio Salado doesn’t even let you load your paster gun with their pasters.
Maxwell actually switched from a paster gun to the Targets USA paster roll holders. They travel better, don’t break when someone else handles them, and you can work them with one glove on. Paste a few targets, set a piece of steel, paste a few more, set another piece. Run around like Michael Jackson with one glove on.
If they have to yell “where’s my shooter” and you’re that shooter, you’ve messed up.
Nobody cares how you shoot until you’re holding up the show. The two cardinal sins of match etiquette: not resetting, and not being ready to shoot. Everything else is pretty much forgivable. Those two will get you remembered for the wrong reasons.
Have your gear organized. Don’t walk up to the line with piles of guns in your arms looking like you’re moving apartments. If you can’t carry everything in one trip—rifle in one hand, shotgun in the other, pistol and mags on your body—then take two trips. Or ask a buddy to grab something.
When you’re actually on the line and ready, stop moving. Hold still. So many people twitch and creep and do weird little adjustments that the RO can’t tell when they’re actually ready. Finish your make ready routine, put your hands in position, and freeze. The RO will see you holding super still and know you’re ready to go.
Whatever your particular shotgun needs to dump everything out of the tube, learn that thing. Don’t stand there racking every round through the chamber one at a time while everyone waits.
At minimum: hold the shell release button while you rack so you’re only doing one cycle per shell instead of two. Better: learn how to push the shell release from the lifter side so rounds just slip out the bottom without going near the chamber.
More cycles through the chamber means more chances for something to go wrong. If you can empty the gun without sending shells to the chamber, that’s always the move.
When you’re interacting with the RO, keep it short. This isn’t a conversation. It’s information exchange.
Start position? Hands up. Hands down. Two freestyle. Two strong hand only. Yes. No. Done.
Same thing if you’re spotting for someone and calling corrections. Figure out ahead of time how their brain translates information. Some people want impact calls—low, left, high, right. Some people want hold corrections—come up, come left. Ask before the stage, give them what they asked for, and use the minimum words necessary.
If you’re going to nitpick on scores or rules, you better know them. And even then, pick your battles carefully.
You’re only going to win so many of these arguments. If it’s Tuesday night and that hole could be a Charlie or an Alpha, let it go. Save your credibility for when it actually matters.
Maxwell watched someone recently try to call for calibration after shooting a popper really low by the hinge. But someone had already painted it. And the guy wanted to argue calibration—except that wasn’t a calibration issue. That was a “you missed” issue. Not the hill to die on. Especially on day one of a three-day match.
You want to be the person where, when you actually do raise an issue, the RO thinks “if he’s saying something, there’s probably something here.” Not the person where everyone rolls their eyes because here we go again.
Think about work on the range like karma. You’re building up points.
If you’ve been setting steel hard and taping targets all day, and then your gun goes down and you need fifteen minutes at the function fire bay, people will cover for you. “Yeah man, you’ve been busting your butt. We got this.”
If you’ve been dragging the whole time and then disappear for half a squad, the reception will be different.
Ask yourself: am I working hard enough that if I had to walk away right now to deal with something, would anybody have a problem with it? That’s your benchmark.
And if you wear a jersey, walk to the farthest target. Go all the way to the end. That’s the point of wearing a jersey—people see you. They also see when the jerseys hover at the front of the bay. Reflect well on whoever’s name is on your back.
If you’re established in the sport and you see someone at their first or second match, take that person under your wing. Offer your stage plan. Help with holds. Make sure they’re having the best experience possible.
Don’t preach at them. You have a season’s worth of advice you could dump on them. Don’t. Give them one tip. Maybe two. The overwhelming firehose of information doesn’t help anyone.
If you have a backup gun and their gun’s having problems, loan them your stuff. Most people already in the sport are already on this train. Just help them through.
And it feels incredible to help someone through one of their early matches. Do it for them, but also do it for yourself.
Don’t text the match director for scores within two hours of the match ending. Our sport isn’t scored real time. Calm down. They have other stuff going on.
Same thing when you enter a match—don’t text immediately wondering why you haven’t been approved. Give it time.
Lots of jockeying for position happens around prize tables. Some ground rules:
You may look but you may not touch. If something is covering something else, ask a staff person to move it. Your hand will get slapped otherwise.
Have a plan before it’s your turn. Know what division you’re in, which table is yours, and roughly where you fall. If you aren’t top ten, the guns are probably not for you. Have options A through E ready because some combination will already be gone.
When it’s your turn, pick. Don’t wiffle-waffle while everyone waits. Get your stuff and get out.
If you’re sponsored by a company, don’t take their products off the prize table. They put that stuff there to get it into new customers’ hands. There was an era where sponsored shooters got sent to matches specifically to win prizes back. Those people and those companies weren’t looked on well. Don’t be that.
If you really want something from your sponsor, have that conversation with them beforehand. It can usually be worked out. But grabbing it off the prize table is a bad look.
If you pick something off a prize table, reach out to that company and thank them. You don’t need to start a podcast. Just say thanks. Companies notice which events and shooters reach out and which ones don’t.
And if you think you’re going to finish near the top, stay for the awards. Bring clean clothes if you need to. It’s such a lame look when someone wins and they’ve already left. “Oh, so-and-so won? He left already.” Don’t be that person.
Listen to the full episode on On The Perf. Adam Riser and Adam Maxwell cover gear, techniques, and tactics for 3-Gun, USPSA, PCSL, and other action shooting sports.
