The most current rules are posted on the I.C.O.R.E. web site and this posted rule book supersedes any and all printed materials and prior printed rule books.

Welcome to ICORE!

ICORE is dedicated to Wheel Gunners from every walk of life and for every purpose: from collectibles to competition. Your membership is a valuable way to insure the continued success of the wheel gun, both for sports and other interests. Thank you for your support.

Please read through this entire booklet so that you may become very familiar with the rules and regulations involved in this shooting sport. We have done our best to insure that the format is easy to follow and to understand. Since your membership is the key to our organization, we want your input and appreciate your comments regarding the contents of this book. A lot of research has gone into the wording, layout and style; but we anticipate revisions in the future. You will help shape ICORE as we grow.

While learning the various aspects of these rules keep in mind that our basic intent is safety, fairness and fun. If you have a question about a rule, base your decision on these principles.

Thank you again for your membership. We look forward to seeing each and every one of you at an ICORE sponsored event so that we may meet the people that are making ICORE a strong, viable force that will continue to support the revolver in all its glory.

Our Sincere Regards,

Michael and Sharon Higashi
ICORE founders

SECTION 1 SAFETY

1. All persons, competitors or spectators must wear eye and ear protection while participating or viewing events.

2. Every new shooter must be cleared with the Match Director as having a basic knowledge and be able to use the knowledge to be a safe competitor.

3. ICORE functions on a "Cold Range" basis for safety. Unloaded firearms may be handled in designated areas only. Firearms may only be loaded or unloaded at the direction of Range Officers. Violators face disqualification from the match.

4. Any shooter whose firearm breaks the 180 during the course of fire will face disqualification.  The 180 is an imaginary line separating up range from downrange.  This line moves with the shooter throughout any course of fire.

5. Accidental discharges impacting within 3 meters of the shooter, while reloading, between shooting areas, or in a direction deemed unsafe by the Range Officer will result in disqualification from the match.

6. Any shooter who displays disruptive behavior or is abusive (verbal or otherwise) towards any other person at that match will be disqualified.

7. Any shooter found to be under the influence of any drug or alcohol immediately before or during the match will be disqualified.

8. Dropping an unloaded firearm behind the firing line necessitates that a Range Officer pick it up, confirm it is not loaded, and in a safe manner return it to the shooters bag, holster or vehicle.  Any dropped firearm found to be loaded would cause the shooter to be disqualified. If at anytime during the course of fire, or while loading, reloading or unloading, a competitor who drops their firearm or causes it to fall, loaded or not, will be disqualified. (Revised 1 September 2009)

9. All persons at the match must obey Range Officers with respect to the shooting competition and safety rules.  Any shooter failing to do so will be disqualified and removed from the shooting area.  Any person failing to observe this rule will be removed from the shooting area.

10. Unsafe gun handling by a competitor during a match may result in disqualification from that match. Unsafe gun handling may include but is not limited to accidental discharges, sweeping, shooting over confining berms, and any other actions deemed unsafe by the match staff.

SECTION 2 RANGE COMMANDS

 ICORE has based its range commands on the assumption that the shooters will present themselves to the starting position with their firearm unloaded and holstered, prepared to shoot the course of fire. The course of fire will be explained to the shooters by a complete written description of the course of fire and/or by a walk through from the Chief Range Officer. It is the shooter's responsibility to understand the course of fire. The CRO will invite the shooter to the starting box or area and give the following commands:

1. "Load and Make Ready" or "Make Ready" (for starts with an unloaded firearm). Either command will be suitable as not all stages are started loaded. The shooter may now take a sight picture if they so desire, prepare the revolver in accordance with the written course of fire, and assume the starting position as defined in the course of fire. This command signifies the start of "Course of Fire".(Revised 11 January 2010. Effective date 1 Feb 2010)

2. "Are You ready?" - The CRO asks if the shooter is prepared to proceed. If the shooter is not ready to proceed, it is the shooter's responsibility to inform the CRO that they are not prepared. When the shooter does not respond negatively to this question, the CRO will assume the shooter is ready.

3. "Stand By." - This is the verbal signal given by the CRO to the shooter that the start signal will follow soon.

4. Start Signal - The signal for the shooter to start the course of fire will most often be an audible signal from an electronic timing device. However, other options can include visual, verbal, or other start signals that must remain the same for all shooters that execute the course of fire.

"STOP" - Any Range Officer assigned to a stage may issue this command at any time during the course of fire. The competitor must immediately cease firing, stop moving, and wait for further instructions from the Range Officer.(Revised 11 January 2010. Effective date 1 Feb 2010)

  Once the shooter has apparently completed the course of fire, the CRO will issue the following commands.

5. "If you are finished, unload and show clear." - If the shooter has finished the course of fire, they will then remove all ammunition from the revolver cylinder, and hold the firearm in a position that allows the CRO to confirm the firearm is unloaded.

6. "If clear, close cylinder, holster" - After issuance of this command, the competitor is prohibited from firing. While pointing the handgun safely downrange, the competitor must perform a final safety check of the handgun as follows: Close the empty cylinder, and holster.(Revised 11 January 2010. Effective date 1 Feb 2010)

7. "Range is clear." - This command given by the CRO indicates the range is safe. No one should move forward on the range to perform range duties until this command is given. This command signifies the end of "Course of Fire". (Revised 1 July 2009)

SECTION 3  DEFINITIONS OF FIRING POSITIONS/STYLES

1. Free style - being the shooter's choice, generally standing supported, kneeling or prone, etc., firing position.

2. Strong hand - in the case of a right handed person this would mean their right hand only, unsupported by their opposite hand.  All functions must be performed by this hand alone with the exception of reloading, clearing malfunctions or unloading.

3. Weak hand - in the case of right handed person this would mean their left hand only, unsupported by their opposite hand.  Draws must be using the strong hand, the firearm will then be transferred to the weak hand and firing may commence.  Drawing, reloading, clearing malfunctions or reholstering may be done with the assistance of the strong hand.

4. Kneeling - is defined as having a minimum of one knee on the ground.

5. Prone - is defined as body horizontal to the ground.

SECTION 4 STAGES

1. Stages must be set up in a safe manner, without presenting a hazard to any shooter.  You must take into consideration ricochets, ground hazards, visibility, local shooters abilities and any other item that may constitute a problems such as, 180's, shoot throughs etc. NOTE: The stage layout must be 6 round neutral.  The Match Director of each event is responsible for this.

2. Each stage must be presented to every shooter in the same way: Shooting areas, target arrays, target types, props, range commands, etc.  Every controllable aspect of the course of fire must be the same for every shooter at the match.

3. Stages and their descriptions must be set up clearly.  Make things easy to understand.  Shooting boxes and/or areas and fault lines must be easy to distinguish from the surrounding area.  Props are up to the course designers and Match Directors.  Keep in mind that you want people to enjoy the challenge.

4. Props must not provide any danger to the competitor.  Any prop that is used that requires maneuvering completely over, around, through or under must have an alternative procedure available for those that may be physically unable to follow the directed course procedure. No penalty is to be assessed if the shooter gains no advantage.

5. The stage design or description may dictate reloads, engagement sequence, firing positions, and firing styles.

6. The course may designate a specific or limited number of shots to be fired during the string or stage, this is called "Shots Limited" as "Virginia Count" is in IPSC. If no set time or maximum number of shots are indicated by the course design the shooter may use the extra shots and time to better their score, this will be referred to as "Shots Unlimited".

7. The classifying stages sent to each ICORE club and used for the purpose of obtaining classification within the ICORE organization must be set up exactly to the specified dimensions.  Since these stages are used world wide to find proper classes for our shooters, they must be set up identically.

SECTION 5 EQUIPMENT

1. All firearms used in ICORE matches must be revolvers with a .32 magnum caliber or greater and in sufficiently safe condition. All firearms are subject to inspection and approval by the Match Director or Range Officers.

2. Ammunition must produce a minimum power factor of 120000. The power factor equals bullet weight in grains multiplied by velocity in feet per second. All competitors may be tested for minimum power factor at any ICORE match.  Six rounds will be collected from each competitor at random during the match and at least one of those six must equal or exceed a 120000 power factor when shot over a chronograph through the competitor’s firearm.  A seventh round may be collected and weighed, to accurately determine bullet weight. "FAILING TO MAKE CHRONO" will result in 360 seconds being added to a competitor's score. A competitor, using a revolver chambered in .38 Special and/or .357 Magnum and using factory new UMC 158 grain, Remington 158 grain, Blazer 158 grain, or Federal American Eagle 158 grain ammo, may compete without regard to power factor. (Revised 09/13/2004)

3. ICORE requires a holster that will securely hold your firearm.  The holster must cover the trigger guard area.  Holsters must be attached to your gun belt. The heel of the butt of the gun is not allowed below the bottom of the belt. (An exception shall be duty rigs and single action rigs.)  Tie downs are allowed on single action rigs only. The Match Director may require a "holster test". With the gun/belt/holster assembly attached to the tester's waist, the revolver must be retained in the holster when the tester hops. During this hop, both of the tester's feet must clear the ground, the tester's heels must clear the ground by at least 3 inches and the tester may not hold or touch the revolver. All retention devices on the holster used to pass the holster test must be similarly engaged at the start of every course of fire.

4. ICORE requires a belt sufficiently strong enough to hold your holster and loaders in a safe manner.  The belt is to be worn about the waist.  Women may wear theirs at hipbone level.

5. ICORE requires sufficient loaders and loader holders as necessary to complete the stage at hand.  The holders must be attached to your gun belt.  You may do your initial loading from pockets prior to beginning the course of fire.  However during the course of fire all reloads must come from your belt, unless otherwise directed by the course of fire or at the direction of the Match Director or Range Officers. During the course of fire, you may safely retrieve any ammo that has been dropped.

6. A revolver must compete in the Open Division if it has one or more of the following modifications:

   A. Compensating, venting, or metering ports of any kind.
   B. An optical sight including telescopic and red dot sights.
   C. A rib sight, a front sight that extends beyond the muzzle, or a rear sight that extends beyond or behind a factory manufactured sight's location.
   D. Any barrel other than an unaltered factory barrel or an unaltered factory replacement barrel made by the revolver’s manufacturer. Alterations to the barrel other than what is required to safely install the barrel are not permitted in Limited Division. (Revised 16 February 2006)
   E. An underlug, barrel weight, grip weight, or any other modification designed to increase the weight of the revolver.

7. Any revolver not competing in Open Division may compete in Limited Division or Retro Division subject to Rule 5.8 and 5.9.

9. A revolver may only compete in a single Division that must be declared prior to the start of competition. (Revised 12 October 2009)

SECTION 6 TARGETS/SCORING

1. The official target of the ICORE organization is the NRA D-1 target.  The X-ring is the 4" zone in the middle of the target. The X-ring and the next zone outside of that constitutes the A zone. The next is the B zone, the balance of the target is the C zone.  The X-ring may be used as a tie breaker or bonus zone. Portions of the NRA D-1 target may be painted black, to represent hardcover, or an X-ring bonus zone. Scoring zone perforations should remain intact. Targets may also be painted or taped with a large black X over the entire target representing a non-engageable No-Shoot target.(Revised 11 January 2010. Effective date 1 Feb 2010)
Click for scoring image

2. Standard height for paper means the top of the target is set at 5' 6" from the ground.  For plates the top of the plate is at 4' 6" from the ground.  The top of 18" X 24" rectangles are at 5' from the ground.  Those targets set at "ground" level must have the bottom of the target within 12" of the ground.

3. Hard cover is defined for scoring purposes, as an impenetrable barrier placed closely to and partially in front of a shoot target, or a NRA D-1 target with impenetrable portions painted black, any rounds passing through hard cover into the shoot target would be scored as a miss.  Any round passing only partially through the hard cover and through the shoot target will be considered as a hit. Both shoot targets and no shoot targets are considered impenetrable. A full diameter hole in either, made by a shot subsequently striking a shoot or no shoot target downrange will be scored as a miss on the down range target. If the down range target is a no shoot target, no penalty is incurred. (Note: If the RO cannot determine which hits on the down range target are the result of a shoot through, more hits on the down range target then what were shot through a target or hard cover, the shooter is given the higher score.) (Revised 11 January 2010. Effective date 1 Feb 2010)

4. Soft cover will be described as a vision barrier through which shots may pass and be scored on the shoot targets.

5. No-shoots are targets that are indicated as a non-engageable target. Only full bullet diameter shots will count as a penalty.

6. Scoring is done on a "total time" basis. The accumulated time of all runs, plus target hits, plus penalties equal total time. That will be the score.  On the D-1 targets A zone hits add 0 seconds, B zone hits add 1 second, and the C zone adds 2 seconds. If a hit breaks the perforation, the shooter is given the better score.  Targets that disappear during the course of fire will not be given penalties for  failure to engage, but will receive miss penalties, targets that some portion remains visible will receive both penalties.  Steel targets are scored as a simple hit or miss.  Knockdown targets must be knocked down to score as a hit.

7. The following penalties may be assessed during scoring:

8. It is the Range Officer's responsibility to insure that scoring for their stage is done properly. Each shooter is responsible for signing their score sheets after they have reviewed it for completeness and accuracy.

9. No shooter or spectator may touch any target until it is scored. Any person doing so may be disqualified from the match.

10. If at anytime a competitor is unable to finish a stage or string because of the competitor's equipment failure (i.e. barrel blockage, firearm breakage, etc.), the competitor will be scored his time and hits for the course of fire until the breakage, and awarded ALL penalties for misses, failures to engage, and any other procedural penalties appropriate to the stage or string. (Revised 8/28/2000)

11. If a competitor is unable to finish a course of fire containing multiple strings because of the competitor's equipment failure (i.e. barrel blockage, firearm breakage, etc.), the competitor will be awarded penalties as described in Section 6, Rule 10 for that string. If additional strings are required to complete the course of fire, the competitor may finish the required strings if repairs or replacement can be effected within 30 minutes. If the competitor cannot effect repairs or replacement within 30 minutes, penalties are awarded as described in Section 6, Rule 10 for each remaining incompleted string. (Revised 8/28/2000)

12. In the event of breakage, a competitor may complete the match with an "equivalent" revolver after receiving express permission from the Match Director to make the substitution. Any change in ammunition may be checked to assure it meets minimum standards.

SECTION 7  PROTEST

1. Competitor protests regarding scoring and/or Range Officer’s decisions must be made verbally, first to the Range Officer in charge of the stage, then to the Range Master, or the Match Director if there is no Range Master. If no consensus can be reached, a written protest along with a protest fee of double the normal match fee or $100, whichever is less, must be submitted to the Match Directorwithin one hour of the verbal protest.  The Match Director will choose an Arbitration Committee. It will consist of one Match Official and two competitors. The Match Director, Range Master, and the involved Range Officer cannot be on the Arbitration Committee. The Committee’s decision must be made before final match scores are posted. The Committee’s decision must be in writing and is final. If the protester prevails, the fee is refunded, if not, the Match keeps the fee. All written protests and written decisions, whether won or lost, should be sent to the rules director within 60 days.

2. If a shooter has a protest they are not to sign the score sheet.

SECTION 8 RESHOOTS

Reshoots are mandatory under the following circumstances:

1. Range equipment malfunction.

2. If  a Range Officer mistakenly stops a shooter for a suspected safety problem, and the problem was not real. Safety concerns that are not of the shooter's doing will also be grounds for a reshoot.

3. When the Stage has been finished and the score sheet that is given to the competitor is not completely or correctly scored.

4. When the Range Officer and the Match Director concur on special circumstances for granting a reshoot.

SECTION 9 CLASSIFICATIONS

1. For the purposes of  ICORE classification, the following scale will be used for Limited, Open and Retro Divisions: (Revised 12 Oct 2009)

   100%    - 95%   Master
   94.99% - 80%  A
   79.99% - 60%  B
   59.99% - 40%  C
   39.99% - 0%    D

2.  ICORE classification will be determined from the average score of the three best classifiers on record.  To become ICORE classified in either Limited, Open or Retro division four classification stages must be shot and submitted for each division. The absolute top score will be disregarded for classification purposes. (Revised 12 October 2009)

3. Classifications will be reviewed on an annual basis and your classification depends on your membership being current.

4. If adequate classifiers are shot, an ICORE member may maintain distinct classification(s) in Limited, Open and Retro Division. (Revised 12 October 2009)

5. A member retains the highest classification he has earned. Anyone can request a move up or down in the classification system. Submit your request to the ICORE Statistician with a supporting letter from a club officer or range officer. It will be considered based on the scores over the past twelve months.  Only one requested move will be honored per year. You may also request a review of someone else's classification. (Revised 1/29/2001)

6.Your ICORE classification may reflect finishes in ICORE sanctioned larger matches.

7. At the match director's discretion, the Lewis Scoring System may be used at all ICORE sanctioned events, particularly at ICORE regional matches. ICORE's version of the Lewis System assigns a class to each shooter in a match after the match is completed and all final scores are tallied. The 100% performance mark will be the top Open and/or the top Limited shooter's time for the match. Shooters that shoot between 95% and 100% of the 100% performance mark are assigned to Master class, Shooters that shoot between 80% and 94.99% of the 100% performance mark are assigned to "A" class, Shooters that shoot between 60% and 79.99% of the 100% performance mark are assigned to "B" class, and so on through the remaining classes. If the Lewis System is not used, a separate class for unclassified shooters must be used and all shooters in this class will shoot "heads up". (Note: ICORE intends that the Lewis System be used at a match where there is a high percentage of unclassified shooters.) (Revised 9/11/2002)

8. In order to claim a prize gun at an ICORE sanctioned event, a shooter must be an ICORE member. A non-ICORE shooter may walk the prize table in the order of finish designated by the Match Director, but may not be awarded a gun at an ICORE sanctioned event.

I.C.O.R.E Rule Change System
Adopted by B.O.D. on Nov. 22, 1997

ICORE is, and must be, an organization driven by the membership. This is particularly important regarding the rule book which, until recently, has been the sole responsibility of the Board of Directors.

The Rules Director suggested the following procedure to the Board of Directors on 11/22/97, it was approved by the BOD, and an "I.C.O.R.E Rule Modification" form was included in the 4th edition of the rule book:
1. Copy the form from the back of the rule book, fill out the copy and forward it to the Rules Director. The Rules Director will review it and return an initial response as to whether the proposal will be submitted to the BOD for a review/vote.

2. If the Rules Director determines that the proposal warrants submitting to the BOD, he will forward it, along with his recommendation regarding the rule change. Upon action by the BOD, the Rules Director will inform the initiator of the BOD's decision, and if necessary, notify the membership as to the new or revised rule.

ICORE
Attn: Rules Director
P.O. Box 6898
Los Osos, CA 93412

CLOSING REMARKS

The sport of firearm competition is a challenging arena in which different skills may be acquired and honed. Each member is responsible for their own behavior and should contribute to the general safety and enjoyment of other shooters. The intent of this handbook, as stated at the beginning, is to provide a basis for safety, fairness, and fun in competition. As a member of ICORE your intent should be the same. We want to encourage people to remain in the sport. We want to interest others in joining the game.

As always - DVC to you and yours.