Posted: 3/10/2014 11:27:15 AM EDT
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Does anyone have any experience with this? I'm very interested in getting involved, but I don't know the first thing about competitions, who to talk to, locations, etc. I'm in the San Antonio area, so do y'all know of anything nearby?
Thanks CBM |
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you might be a little more specific.
there are a lot of competitions. pistol, rifle, 3 gun. idpa steel challenge ipsc cowboy action shooting quick draw cowboy quick draw silloette(sp) and those are only the one's I have done, or know someone that has played. lately there have been a few 22 cal 2 gun matches that I have wanted to play in, but don't have enough mags. |
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Quoted:
you might be a little more specific. there are a lot of competitions. pistol, rifle, 3 gun. idpa steel challenge ipsc cowboy action shooting quick draw cowboy quick draw silloette(sp) and those are only the one's I have done, or know someone that has played. lately there have been a few 22 cal 2 gun matches that I have wanted to play in, but don't have enough mags. Show's how little I know about competition shooting. For now I'm looking at pistol, but I could definitely get into all of the above, minus cowboy action shooting and quick draw. |
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Quoted:
Show's how little I know about competition shooting. For now I'm looking at pistol, but I could definitely get into all of the above, minus cowboy action shooting and quick draw. Quoted:
Quoted:
you might be a little more specific. there are a lot of competitions. pistol, rifle, 3 gun. idpa steel challenge ipsc cowboy action shooting quick draw cowboy quick draw silloette(sp) and those are only the one's I have done, or know someone that has played. lately there have been a few 22 cal 2 gun matches that I have wanted to play in, but don't have enough mags. Show's how little I know about competition shooting. For now I'm looking at pistol, but I could definitely get into all of the above, minus cowboy action shooting and quick draw. Check out IPDA with Mike at Texas Tactical. His matches are at Ceder Ridge and ARC. You just need a pistol, 3-4 mags, mag pouch and holster. |
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Hi CBM.
I was in your shoes a while back and was nervous about how to start. Here is where I started. It couldn't have gone better, so I will encourage you to give it a try. Look at www.texassteelcompetition.com. As the name suggests, this is steel challenge shooting. This group is safety-consious, but laid back and WELCOMING to new folks. They shoot center-fire on 2nd Saturday, and .22 on the 4th saturday. Both matches are at Cedar Ridge Range off 1863 (up 281 north). Paul (the guy that runs the match) is a really nice guy. The R.O.s are ALWAYS helpful and make EVERYONE feel welcome. Scoring is easy, but not too much of a focus. Safety and having a good time are the priorities. Let me put it this way: parents bring their children to these matches (particularly the .22 match) so they can learn the ropes. The next match is on March 22nd. I will be out of town, but do plan on being at the match following that one (April 12th). PM me if you want any more details. I'd be glad to look for you on the 12th and show you around. REGARDS --- RCK1999 |
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Steel Challenge would be the easiest way to ease into competition shooting since there is little movement or weapon manipulation involved. USPSA or IDPA would be next since you only have to worry about one gun. I'd recommend dabbling in the pistol games a bit before moving on to 3 gun. The best thing you can do is take your handgun, a safe belt holster, some mags, and ammo, show up at a match, and let them know you're new so they can guide you through all the safety rules. Focus your first few matches on not getting disqualified for a safety violation. The worst thing you can do is to keep putting off attending your first match because you're afraid you don't have the right gear, don't know all the rules, or aren't a good enough shooter. Most matches are very welcoming of new shooters, and they will guide you through all the rules and even let you borrow gear.
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Might want to take a look at these websites or FB pages:
www.texasmultigun.com www.apdmarksmanshipteam.org Both have blogs and other information you would find helpful. In San Antonio there use to be a lot of competitions at Cedar Ridge Range and Blackhawk. www.uspsa.org and the brian enos forums are also great sources of information. There are several very experienced and accomplished competitive shooters in this HTF, I am sure they will be along to help also. Steel Challenge is a great start. ETA - moment of duh, tired from work. Be sure to check out 3 Gun Nation here. While 3 gun probably is a little advanced to just jump into, especially if you are interested in pistol to start with, the guys who post in there are good guys and very helpful. |
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Quoted:
Steel Challenge would be the easiest way to ease into competition shooting since there is little movement or weapon manipulation involved. USPSA or IDPA would be next since you only have to worry about one gun. I'd recommend dabbling in the pistol games a bit before moving on to 3 gun. The best thing you can do is take your handgun, a safe belt holster, some mags, and ammo, show up at a match, and let them know you're new so they can guide you through all the safety rules. Focus your first few matches on not getting disqualified for a safety violation. The worst thing you can do is to keep putting off attending your first match because you're afraid you don't have the right gear, don't know all the rules, or aren't a good enough shooter. Most matches are very welcoming of new shooters, and they will guide you through all the rules and even let you borrow gear. Here's a list of stuff from CAPS. IDPA Handgun 9mm or .38 special or larger 3 or more magazines Strongside hip holster Eye & Ear protection Minimum 125 rounds of ammunition Concealment Garment Hat and appropriate weather gear Closed toe shoes Water and snacks I would add a mag holster to that list. Concealment garment could be just a button down shirt you wear open. I wore a long sleeve tshirt and had to pull up my shirt with my weak hand everytime. Next time ill go ill have a button down for faster draws. A lot of the guys wear those tactical vest but this accomplishes the same thing. Slow down, hit your target, have fun and be safe. Most important rule is keep booger hook out of the trigger guard until you are on target. |
| I started in IDPA and gravitated to USPSA and 3 gun. I always recommend interested shooters to start with IDPA as it's more structured with course of fires requirements. You will learn basic range commands and safe gun handling skills in this sport. I won my division in the 2003 IDPA nationals and wanted to move to the next step, which was USPSA. In this sport your COF is free style and you have a 5 minute walkthrough on each stage to break it down and decide how you want to shoot it. It can be a little overwhelming for new shooters so I wouldn't start there. IDPA places more emphasis on accuracy, where USPSA is a balance of speed and accuracy. You have some good advice here so get out there and have some fun. Hopefully I will see you at a match some day. |
| Thank you all for the wonderful replies! I've always loved this forum and this kind of support is exactly why. Sounds like a steel match may be the best thing to start with. I'm pretty comfortable with handguns, but y'all are spot on with the fear of going to my first match. I've got a lot of information from y'all to read through, so I'll start looking at different matches and go from there! I'm gonna need to get a good holster for sure...I've got the blade tech that came with my M&P, but I'm not real fond of it. Any recommendations in that department? I like paddle holster, but what do y'all recommend for competitions? Does it need to have any retention protection? |
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Quoted:
Thank you all for the wonderful replies! I've always loved this forum and this kind of support is exactly why. Sounds like a steel match may be the best thing to start with. I'm pretty comfortable with handguns, but y'all are spot on with the fear of going to my first match. I've got a lot of information from y'all to read through, so I'll start looking at different matches and go from there! I'm gonna need to get a good holster for sure...I've got the blade tech that came with my M&P, but I'm not real fond of it. Any recommendations in that department? I like paddle holster, but what do y'all recommend for competitions? Does it need to have any retention protection? The holster you have should be fine. Any reasonable holster should be fine. rules here. http://steelchallenge.com/steel-challenge-Rules-Home.php As I recall, you shoot 5 times at each course, 5 shots (at least - you continue until you hit each target) each. If you're a bad shot you'll want to have 5 magazines for whichever pistol you're using, so that you don't have to reload a magazine to continue - and make everyone wait on you. You can get by with less if you're using something with a high capacity. If you're using a 1911 with 8 rd mags, you might want more than 5 magazines. Basically - you don't want to have to load a magazine in the middle of your turn to shoot. It slows everything waaaaaay down and you'll end up with people stacked up behind you, waiting. |