Here's the link:
http://www.idpa.com/misc/docs/2015IDPA-Rules-MA-V1.0.pdfSeveral new and important things (there's a whole HOST of small changes here and there, here are just a couple of the big ones):
1) Flat-footed reload is GONE. (See all of rule 3.6 starting on page 13.) Basically, if you are moving along a continuous point of cover, you can start/complete a reload. Here's the exactly wording, in part: "A shooter can reload behind cover while stationary or moving along a single contiguous piece of cover as long as the shooter is not visible to any un-engaged targets while reloading." There are even a couple of cases in which you can advance on a target (given a hallway or a room) while reloading.
As such, suddenly the tac reload (retention reload, stupid-keep-all-mags-reload, whatever you want to call it) is now a competitive choice again with respect to running a stage. Remember that the reload is considered finished when the mag is in the gun and the slide is forward, even if you have the old mag still in your hand--so at that time, you can cross non-cover spaces...
Their diagram and cover examples shown in 3.6.5 are actually pretty good explanations. (This is a surprise to me, considering how the rulebook has been written in general.)
2) ALL shots on a non-threat target count for penalties now, instead of just the first shot. (4.14 on page 21.) So if you plug a no-shoot three times, you get 15 seconds of penalties instead of the previous five. (Which means that now if you shoot the non-threat once, you STILL have to care about it instead of just shrugging and shooting through it since it doesn't matter anymore.)
3) ESR is GONE. Of course, technically, SSR is too....because both have been combined into a "Revolver" division with sub-divisions of (effectively) Major and Minor. See all of 8.2.5 for details, starting on 39.
4) BUG has been wrecked. (Ahem. Sorry, personal opinion there.) BUG is now an official division that has to be included in local matches, though higher level matches can choose not to include it. Rules for it (and its sub-divisions of semi-auto and revolver) start on page 41 at 8.2.6, but the part that makes the least sense to me is that it is now a 6-round division, which means that the most common BUG gun out there (a 5-shot j-frame) is now completely non-competitive in the BUG division.
5) CCP division now exists, for those who shot Glock 19s and the like in SSP and were getting stomped. Rule 8.2.4 starts on pg 39, so you can look there. Barrel length 4.1" or less, thickness of the gun 1 3/8" or less, must be semi-auto, ESP legal otherwise. 8+1 rounds.
Anyone else see any other changes that we would consider major? Or at least changes that would tend to trip us up in a match?
