Why can’t we use manual scoring to recheck Orion scores?

February 24, 2026

Civilian Marksmanship Program▸Youth 3 PAR▸Why can’t we use manual scoring to recheck Orion scores?

This question is slowly going away as more people understand that by asking this question they demonstrate how they don’t understand scoring and favor giving unfair advantages to some shooters.

The fundamental reason this cannot be done is that manual scoring and electronic scoring use two different systems of measurement. Manual scoring relies on human vision. Orion uses scanned target images and computer vision techniques. Manual scoring compares the outside edges of a scoring gauge and a scoring ring while Orion scoring calculates the distance from the center of the target to the center of the shot hole. No scoring system yet devised is absolutely perfect, but on average, Orion computer vision scoring is far more accurate than manual scoring and probably more accurate than current electronic targets. No matter what scoring system is used, some shots are going to be so close that the plus or minus decisions could be debatable. Coaches and athletes need to understand that close decisions are part of sport and that some go your way and some don’t. In most sports, a referee or umpire makes those calls. In shooting, one scoring system must make those calls, not two different systems.

A second reason for not using manual scoring to recheck Orion scoring is because the traditional challenge system is manifestly unfair. Allowing athletes to select shots for rescoring lets them select only those shots that just missed while conveniently ignoring any shots that just made it. This old challenge system ensures that only selected shots that could possibly go up in value will be rechecked and then only for athletes who are willing to pursue a “point-buying” strategy. Council rules still allow athletes the right to protest shots they believe may have been scored incorrectly. On rare occasions, a shot hole will tear in such a way that the Orion algorithm may not read it correctly. If it appears that this may have occurred, the athlete should ask the Statistical Officer to examine the shot and determine if there was an obvious error (Rule 8.5.5). Statistical Officers who are experienced in using Orion electronic scoring are trained to make this evaluation and are authorized to make corrections when necessary.

3PAR Rules still allow athletes to challenge close shots, but more and more match sponsors are deciding not to allow challenges because they are fundamentally unfair. If challenges are allowed and made, the original computer scan can be rescored, but if the athlete loses the challenge, a two-point penalty must be applied to the score of that shot. Other countries where electronic scoring systems like Orion are used permit the correction of obvious errors, but prohibit rescoring correctly scored shots. German Shooting Federation Rules, for example, state, “only one method of scoring may be used” and that when an electronic vision system is used “the scoring rings may not be used” and “it is not permitted to use a scoring gauge.”