User Panel
Posted: 5/9/2022 1:15:50 PM EDT
Shot my first IDPA match. Met my goal of being safe and learning the process. I came in last place, I need to work on slowing down and getting my hits where needed.
Everyone at the match was super nice and welcoming.. I had a good time. |
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Excellent. I always liked IDPA better than the IPSC matches.
My goal was to finish in the middle without malfunctions or fuckups. I really didn't care much about the score and would often leave before they were tallied. |
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SPECIAL CONSULTANT
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"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."
G. K. Chesterton |
never underestimate the stupidity of other people
GA, USA
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you didn't come in last... you beat everyone who stayed on the couch this weekend...
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"every exercise is a low back exercise if you do it wrong enough"
@MacManus |
Originally Posted By Kabic: Shot my first IDPA match. Met my goal of being safe and learning the process. I came in last place, I need to work on slowing down and getting my hits where needed. Everyone at the match was super nice and welcoming.. I had a good time. View Quote I find this the norm... At least at most of the matches I have been too. |
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LARUEMINATI
NRA Endowment Life Member Originally Posted By Boom_Stick: ""AKs are for villagers you have to tell not to shit in their water supply."" |
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That's great! I'd love to start up shooting those matches again if I can find a club that isn't a "good 'ole boys club" that cheat scoring or are fudds.
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"The world is full of kings and queens. Who will blind your eyes and steal your dreams. It's Heaven and Hell" - RJD
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Great, and hope you will be there for the next one. A worthy goal for next time would be to end up scoring closer to the middle of the pack. My last time, we had some regulars- fantastic shooters landing in first, second, and third.
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I learned so much at ipda, uspsa, steel challenge .
Being a life long country boy shooter i thought i was gun smart. I found that i lacked allot of safety procedures. I also lacked the thought patterns of transitioning and stance with shooting behavior. |
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For someone who has never done any competitions:
What are the differences in IDPA, USPSA, Steel Match, ect. ? Which one would be the best to start with? How does one find local matches? What is the minimum gear requirement? And how much does a match typically cost to enter? Shooting at the static range has lost its appeal. |
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never underestimate the stupidity of other people
GA, USA
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Originally Posted By GriswoldGuns: For someone who has never done any competitions: What are the differences in IDPA, USPSA, Steel Match, ect. ? Which one would be the best to start with? How does one find local matches? What is the minimum gear requirement? And how much does a match typically cost to enter? Shooting at the static range has lost its appeal. View Quote Idpa is golf with handguns. Lots of rules. Uspsa is drag racing (open divison) and a lot more freedom. Gssf or steel is a good first match. No movement, gun loaded/unloaded off the clock, decent ROs. Learn the commands and what it is to shoot there with the pressure of a buzzer and people around. Listen to the good guys. You will know them when you see them. Walk up and say hi. Tell everyone you’re new, we love helping new guys. We were all new guys. You need a gun (glock if gssf) and a holster, plus like 3 mags. 5 mags is better. Add a mag holder to the belt. Then shoot a USPSA match. Same idea but includes moving and shooting. Go slow, be safe. You can’t miss fast enough to win so just learn the basics. Then go all in and shoot outlaw 3 gun ;-) You can check your local ranges for a schedule or just google “your town+ Uspsa” or steel or whatever. |
"every exercise is a low back exercise if you do it wrong enough"
@MacManus |
I will definitely be going again. My goal for next match is to cut my points down in half.
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IDF, A.A. 215, "Scorpion" Company. 1993-1996
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Originally Posted By GriswoldGuns: For someone who has never done any competitions: What are the differences in IDPA, USPSA, Steel Match, ect. ? IDPA is more defense oriented, typically lower round count, supposed to utilize cover, basic equipment, etc. Your score is your time with less accurate shots adding time to total your score (called time plus scoring) USPSA is a game,.where you try to score points by shooting targets, them the points get divided by the seconds it takes to shoot (called hit factor). More freestyle, and you have more options on guns to use or divisions to shoot (although if you want to shoot a stock handgun and 10round mags there is a division for that too. Steel challenge and GSSF are likey better for 100% newbies because there is no moving around. Any of these matches should have a lot of YouTube videos available to see how the stages are similar or different. Which one would be the best to start with? GSSF or Steel challenge if you're really nervous, but showing up at any match and telling the staff "hey this is my first match can someone walk me through how this works" will probably get you a few new friends. How does one find local matches? Ask in your hometown forum What is the minimum gear requirement? Usually just a holster and a few magazines, for GSSF you don't even need a holster. USPSA matches are usually 120-150 rounds, maybe more maybe less, but always bring more. And how much does a match typically cost to enter? Usually less than your ammo cost for the day... $20 for a local match. Shooting at the static range has lost its appeal. View Quote |
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“Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a 10mm at your side, kid.”
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Originally Posted By GriswoldGuns: For someone who has never done any competitions: What are the differences in IDPA, USPSA, Steel Match, ect. ? Which one would be the best to start with? How does one find local matches? AJE description is good. I'd start with whichever is closest / easiest for you to go to. I'm not sure how it is in your area, but around here every club uses practiscore. Go to https://practiscore.com/search/matches Create an account (it's free) and search based on your state (or states in my case since I'm right on the border) I've shot all 3, but mostly IDPA, but that's because there's a match twice a month 7 miles from my home Some USPSA shooters that come up from Ft Benning to the IDPA match tend to be very fast, but inaccurate and lots of hits on non-threats, but as mentioned it's a drag race. One of the guys mentioned at the last match that he'd gotten much more accurate after coming to IDPA matches regularly. Steel challenge is definitely the simplest. There's no real "strategy" for deciding the order of targets vs doing reloads, since you don't reload and you don't move I've only been to 4 or 5 steel challenge matches. It's a long drive for me to Talladega CMP and you shoot so much, I'm actually tired of shooting by the time the last stage rolls around. So it takes lots of ammo. The local group does an IDPA'ish match once a month at an indoor range. It toggles between lowlight pistol and lowlight carbine. It's been an amazing learning experience. I've learned what works and doesn't work from an equipment stand point and learning to work with light, which is probably the most likely defense situation (especially where I live). I put lights on everything now :-) it's been a lot of fun, and I'm so much better of a shooter because of it. What is the minimum gear requirement? 9mm pistol, holster and 3 mags And how much does a match typically cost to enter? $10 - $20 here Shooting at the static range has lost its appeal. View Quote |
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Originally Posted By Kabic: Shot my first IDPA match. Met my goal of being safe and learning the process. I came in last place, I need to work on slowing down and getting my hits where needed. Everyone at the match was super nice and welcoming.. I had a good time. View Quote Pretty much the same story for me. Lots of fun! If I focus solely on trying to avoid points down with very deliberate trigger and speed control, I can get off the bottom of the scoreboard, but even with low points down I am still slow. I think the way to play it is to only speed up your shooting when you are convinced you are accurate and can take some calculated risks by shooting fast at the closer targets. |
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I used to shoot IDPA regularly. I had a blast. My only goal was to improve with each match. And most importantly - have a blast.
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So did you try it again or maybe something else like USPSA, Steel, or maybe even ICORE?
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Newbie question here...
Do you need to register anywhere else than Practiscore and then show up for a match? Or is there somewhere I need to register with IDPA, etc first? |
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Originally Posted By CreativeBall: Newbie question here... Do you need to register anywhere else than Practiscore and then show up for a match? Or is there somewhere I need to register with IDPA, etc first? View Quote Kind of depends on the match. For USPSA, if it's a level 1 match, you don't need to be a USPSA member. You can sign up via practiscore and show up. I can say for my club, if you've never shot a match, they want you to advise the match director(usually there's an email contact on the practiscore match page) and let him know. You may be asked to show up a little early to get the extended safety brief. For level 2 or higher matches you need to be a USPSA member and generally online signup is required. Can't say how IDPA works but I am guessing it's fairly similar. |
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IDPA will let you shoot a few matches before becoming a member. It used to be two matches but now I think you can shoot 4 matches before being required to pay dues and join.
USPSA make their money off classifiers so they do not require you to join if you just want to shoot local matches. Definitely contact the match director before you just show up. This will let you get an idea for what you might want to bring (Like there will be no water, bring yourself a drink.) and let him know a new guy is coming. We have a requirement that anyone who has never shot a match at our club or anyone who is not at least an IDPA marksman have to go through new shooter orientation an hour before the match begins. |
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