GA State match

I just got home from Atlanta. We went out there to visit some good friends and shoot the GA State IDPA match. Luckily my friends live about 5 minutes from the range it was held at so it worked out perfect.

I will get a more in depth report later but I will say that it was a pretty good match. All their movers are pnuematic movers. That is good a bad, good because they are easier to shoot and there is less reset time. Bad because they are easier to shoot and 2 of the stages I tried to shoot had a few small problems but they got them fixed.

I shot OK, not my best shooting though. I shot well enough to win SSP SS so I am pretty happy about that and I got my bump to Expert. Like I said I will put up some more thoughts and the video a little later.

Shooting Something Different

Yesterday my wife and I shot a Steel Challenge match. We both used .22's since we wanted to shoot something different than we have been shooting in IDPA. I gotta say it is a lot of fun, it is different than IDPA since it was static but it really makes you concentrate on sights and trigger. We will definitely be going back next month but hopefully I will do a little better. It was a little frustrating the way I shot some of the stages, trying to thorw down a fast time doesn't do any good if you are not hitting the steel.

Video from TX Match

Here is the video from the Sate match. The times for the stage is the raw time and doesn't include points down. The order I shot the stages are 8, 10, 7, 6, 4, 3, 5, 1, 9, 2. Stage 6 I had a problem with a shoote induced double feed and that cost me about 8 seconds. Stage 1 was after an hour or so of sitting so I felt really sluggish and it shows on the video.

Texas State IDPA Match Recap

The State match came and went and it was a pretty good match. There were 10 stages and a minimum of 143 rounds, no standards stage which is fine with me. There were 170 + shooters that signed up to shoot so it was a pretty big turnout with about 130 shooting sunday. They broke it into 10 squads for the first stae then it was open squading after that. I really like open squading but the fact that they filled every stage to start meant that from the begining there was a back up on a few stages, the ones that were a little more involved and had more props to set. Also I didn't walk through the stages before I showed up at that bay so I ended up leaving the hardest stage as my last one, it had 2 fast swingers, one of them at 20 yards. All in all though it was pretty good and I shot well.

I could go through all the stages but I am sure that would bore some people so I will just touch on the hilights of my match. I didn't shoot blindingly fast but I was quick and with that I was also pretty accurate. I was 16 down total going into the last stage and ended up 25 down total. I was able to keep focused and never earned any PE, NT's, FTN's, I think that was the other contributing factor to me winning.

Everything seemed to work out well, I never had a complete meltdown on any particular stage. I had 4 really good stages (2 of those were pretty good), 3 just OK stages, and 3 stages that were not good but didn't completely kill me. The good thing is that I was able to no dwell on the stages that were bad. I shot them, realized what happened and moved on.

One of the problems was a problem with gun, I did a reload and when the slide dropped it didn't strip a round so when I got to the next position it went "click". I racked it but then it tried to double feed so I had to reload again, looking at the video and timing it this cost me atleast 8 seconds. The other bad stages were just not shot well. One of them had some 8" steel plates at about 10 yeards or so and missed them on the first shots so I had to go back and that costs time. I just got into too much of a hurry and it cost me a little. The last stage that was not all that good was after about an hour wait without shooting, it was stage 1 and after sitting that long I just didn't move or react as fast as I wanted. It was towards the end of the day and I was starting to get tired.

The first stage I shot was a freestyle, sronghand, weakhand stage, stage 8. Gee what a great place to start. I shot it well but had an issue again with no round stripped on the reload soooooooo...."click". That is 3 times I have had this problem now so I really need to find the cause, I am thinking it the way I am reloading rather than a gun problem.

Lessons Learned:

All the other stages went pretty good though, I just tried to stay focused and shot my own match. I went into it with the mindset that I didn't care what others were doing, how they were shooting a stage and that I was going to shoot the stages based what I know my strengths are. If I was given room to make choices on reloads or where to move etc... I made sure I chose what suited my style the best not what I thought the "fast" guys were doing. It is amazing how if you keep your head into it and plan the stage out and follow that plan you will shoot well. I minimized the mental mistakes which meant I didn't have any penalty time added, and I never was surprised by an empty gun. I knew where I would be when I went empty, I knew which targets I was going to engage after the reload. Keeping focused on the stage and planning it out was a huge benefit.

Match Particulars:

1St ESP SS
14th overall
10th most accurate

Texas State IDPA Match

Here is a link to the scores to the match and I will get a video of me shooting up. I had a pretty good day, I won ESP SS and finished 14th overall. I will write a recap later but overall it was a good match.

Link to scores

Another weekly match report

As I noted last week I shoot with WHIDPA (West Houston IDPA). It is a pretty good group and there are some pretty good shooters that come out, even for the weekly Wednesday night matches. Take last night, Gordon Carroll and Greg Garrett shot. They shoot with us a bunch and it is always good to see how they shoot and see where you can improve on your shooting. I don't try to follow exactly how they shoot the stages (if there are options how to do it) but I watch how they play to their strengths and I try to use that when I prepare to for my run. The stages were pretty good last night with movement, movers, and some other stuff all in effort to get us ready for the TX State match next week.

I was hoping to run with those guys last night, or at least stay close but alas, I did not. Last night I actually shot pretty well, the mechanics of sights and trigger were working pretty well, reloads were not to bad and I moved some what efficieintly, where I failed was the mental part. In the third stage I made a decent reload right upto the point of seating the mag, it went in but not like usual. My M&P will slam charge consistantly if I forceable seat the mag, yes this can be a real problem if you rely on it and it doesn't happen as evedenced last night. See I had to reload, then activate a drop turner, well the slide did not fall when I did the reload but I was more focused on the activator so I just tapped the bottom of the mag again and the slide fell. Activate, turner drops...........I go click, by the time I racked the slide the turner was gone so that was 2 misses/5seconds. Not only that but I let it throw off the remaining part of the stage.

The other mental error was just dumb on my part and not keeping focused on the last stage. You had to activate the swingers and step over to the side of a truck. I even aske the SO where it was acceptable to move to so I knew I had to move about 2 seconds before the buzzer. Yep, you guessed it, buzzer went off and I stayed put so I earned a prcedural because I did not keep my focus on the entire stage, just on the shooting. I got edged out in ESP SS and ESP overall by less than 3 seconds. Mistakes happen and errors get made, the important thing is to limit the mental ones and when they happen, regroup and stay in the game.

Lessons Learned :

Having a plan and following it I think is a huge part of practical shooting. Knowing when you are going to move, which target you are going to index on, and when you need to reload are all things that lead to a good stage. But you also have to shoot the plan you came up with even if you messed up one part you need to stick the remaining plan. The worst thing you can do is get flustered after a mental mistake and let it ruin your whole stage. Make a mistake? Well you can't fix it now so get back onto your plan and make the most of the rest of the stage and that may help you get a little bit up the competition that just folded.

West Houston IDPA Wednesday Match 8/19

Didn't do to bad, won ESP SS and was best overall in the match. I messed up the first stage though so my time could have been much better. I had some sort of trigger reset issue, whether it was a mental mistake or a mistake of how I was manipulating the trigger I am not sure. That along with pulling shots to the right added too many points down for my liking. I am pretty sure most of it was rushing which is not the same as going fast......need to work on that some more. My wife shot really well and is progressing very well. Yo can really see that things are starting to click for her and that she is working on the things she knew were giving her problems in the past, I am starting to get worried that she will be beating up on me before to long.

Overall it was an interesting match. The first stage had 2 clamshell targets that activate at the same time with "no shoots" coming up to block them. Each target required 2 rounds. Needless to say you had to be quick and trust the sights were on target since you had just enough time to squeeze the trigger 4 times before they disappeared. The third stage had something very similar except they were drop turners and didn't have a no shoot blocking them.

Lessons Learned:

What I did learn was that unless you are a mid-level Master or better your first goal should be putting rounds on paper. I watched most shooters concentrate so hard on getting clean hits that they spent way to much time lining up the sights and the targets were gone. Hits on the paper, even -3, are better than multiple misses, not even getting a shot off, or hitting a no shoot. You need to get the gun up and when the target presents itself it is a point and shoot drill. Adding much more than that into your thought process slows you down.

Getting Started

There are millions of gun owners out there and many that may want to start shooting practical competitions but don't know where to start or are overwhelmed by what it might take to start. In reality it is not that complicated, it just takes being safe and compitant with your handgun, and a willingness to have fun.

I found that for the newest of the new shooters IDPA is a little better but not everybody has an IDPA club nearby. USPSA/IPSC is also a great choice so don't be scared off by either.

Hopefully if you are looking at shooting sports you have a good understanding of gun safety, and the operation of our firearm. You don't have to be Annie Oakley but you should know the basics of your gun, how to shoot (sights/trigger) and safe handling. The rest will be a learning process once you get started.

Read the rulebook for USPSA and IDPA (yes that is the current one eventhough it says 2005) to figure out what the different divisions and classes are. This will give you an idea about where your current handgun or the one you have been looking to buy will put you or even if it is legal. They also cover the important aspects of teh saftey and range commands, these need to be understood and followed. Having a good understanding of the scoring is a plus but it can be a little confusing at first, epsecially if you are not seeing scored in person. Reading the rulebook is one of the most important first steps in getting started.

Equipment :

• I recommend starting with what you already know. Use the handgun you have and don't get suckered in by the allure of all the "race" guns you will see and hear about. Start with what you know, find the division it fits into and go have fun.

• You will need some spare magazines, speed loaders, or moon clips depending on you type of gun. The amount you will need is variable but for IDPA figure on at least 4 and for IPSC 5 or more would be preferable. You need to have enough to start with the gun loaded to division capacity, and have enough to reload during the course of fire (COF). In IDPA the COF limit is 18 rounds and in USPSA/IPSC it is 32.

• Holsters and Magazine holders are going to be a personal choice. I would say to start out with a basic kydex holster and mag pouch, use it for a while then decide what, if any, changes you want to make. You will need to be able to hold to spare magazines on your belt for IDPA and typically 4 or more in USPSA.

• Don't forget about good ear and eye protection. Being able to see the target clearly is obviously key to shooting well, but good ear protection that still enables you to hear the RO/SO commands is just as important.

After you have all that covered just find a nearby club and go have fun. Check out the IDPA and USPSA website for a list of clubs in your area. If you are nervous about shooting then just go and watch, help out setting up and taping targets, etc... so you can see how it all works. I can gurantee that you will meet a bunch of very helpful people that will be more than willing to answer any questions you have.

Have fun, and shoot safe.