Finally Going To Try Some Competition

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Just a small update on the holster issue, I ended up mildly modifying my AG.

Some 1/16" rubber spacers with slightly longer screws, along with removing the metal plate that adds to retention and it's now perfect.


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Shot my first match today.

It was fun. Met a few new people who let me in on some other local matches.

Only gripe was essentially taking 5hrs for less than 5min total shooting.

Mostly importantly I didn't DQ.

I will definitely be doing some kind of match regularly but don't know how serious I'll get into it. I think the shooting under pressure is definitely worthwhile experience.
 
Wait til you get better :)
My time today was under 60 seconds total. Left my house at 9am got home at 4:30
 
That's the way it goes! Just checked practiscore, last month's IDPA match was 113.2 seconds for 7 stages and 3.5 hrs there with a 2hr commute both ways.

Last 3GUN match was 288.9 seconds for 5 stages but 6hrs there with a 2hr commute.

But, the fun is "priceless".
 
Today I shot in a state championship match, 2.5 hours drive to the venue, I don't know what my score was but it was the PA rimfire challenge match so my score is my time which is less than a minute and a half but was at the range for 5 hours, then 2.5 hours back home, 300 miles total.

I was thinking about the OP when I was speaking to a competitor on another squad as there was some squad overlap time. He was from the Fredricksburg, VA area and he told me he can shoot 2 or 3 matches a week with ease in that area. He knew the venue and the hosting club the OP was taking about very well. There were several shooters at the match I shot today from North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama, prolly more, theses are the ones I know.
 
The 5hrs was just shooting the stages. I was there at sign up which was an hour earlier and then after all the shooting each squad broke down the stage you finished on. Left the house at 630 and got home at 4.

As for folks that keep mentioning NOVA or Maryland, they couldn't pay me to come shoot a match up there. No offense.

There's a steel match at another range thats a bit closer the second week in Sept. I'm going to try and make that, see what those are all about.

Honestly I just didn't expect there to be as many people there as there was. Seemed like forever between stages.
 
Yes, the time between when you actually get to shoot is really long at times and that can be tedious. It does go better when everyone helps out with taping and scoring but it's just part of the game and you'll get used to it.
Steel challenge matches seem a little faster to me because there's no taping. But if you get a lot of new shooters (or lousy pistol shots like me) who shoot several times at each plate that can take a little while also. But we all have to start somewhere and if the match organizers are on the ball they won't put a bunch of new shooters in one squad.
Spend some of that down time watching each shooter and ingraining your stage plan into your head as they shoot. That will help time pass better. That's also something I need to do more of, now that I think about it.
 
Don't worry about time spent shooting vs time at match.
Even if you shoot NRA Conventional, you would be making 90 shots in 33 minutes. I shot some F class where it was 20 shots in 20 or 30 minutes, two or three times in a full day. l
 
Take some kind of portable de-priming device to the match, use it to make waiting time productive.
:D
 
egd said:
Yes, the time between when you actually get to shoot is really long at times and that can be tedious. It does go better when everyone helps out with taping and scoring but it's just part of the game and you'll get used to it.
Steel challenge matches seem a little faster to me because there's no taping. But if you get a lot of new shooters (or lousy pistol shots like me) who shoot several times at each plate that can take a little while also. But we all have to start somewhere and if the match organizers are on the ball they won't put a bunch of new shooters in one squad.
Spend some of that down time watching each shooter and ingraining your stage plan into your head as they shoot. That will help time pass better. That's also something I need to do more of, now that I think about it.
Click to expand...

The bold is IMHO 100% true.

Yes there's a lot of "down" time at matches, but only if you're one of the guys (or gals) that hangs back and doesn't help paste and reset. IF you're out hustling it actually goes by pretty quick (and you get a free workout depending on how much steel). You're not going to put down anywhere near the number of rounds you would in a class or even working drills on your own. You will get to shoot some fun stages that are often very challenging and IF you're one of those poor SOBs stuck on a square range actually practice some stuff you can't normally do.

Then there's the whole camaraderie thing, that just doesn't happen when you belly up to a booth.........
 
Glad you enjoyed it,
I think it's loads of fun.

My USPSA matches usually take about 5 hours for the shooters to shoot 6 stages.
I spend maybe a little less than 5 minutes (and I'm slow) actually shooting my (give or take) 180 rounds, the fast guys are 1/2 that or less.
Along with taping, resetting steel, i spend the time between shooters watching the good guys and reflecting on the dumb mistakes I just made:)
We are lucky and seem to have plenty of people to tape. (however there are always seem to be a few people who are to lazy to get up off their bleep and help)
Failure to tape should be about a 30 second penalty.......

I just pretty much figure using most of the day for a match, which seems about par for the course.
One of our shooters comes up from down South. He said the matches he was shooting there took closer to 7-8 hours just to shoot the match so for him it's worth the extra 1 hour driving time. (he likes our matches better as well)

Of course the funny thing is the faster you get the less time you actually spend shooting and of course less time shooting is better in this case.
 
You can make almost any recreational or amateur competitive event seem like a waste of time if you define the scope of the “point” narrowly enough. A typical golf swing takes one second. A decent golfer makes about 80 swings per round. A round of golf takes 4-5 hours. All for 80 seconds of swinging!

Of course, all the rest is golf, too. Watching your playing partners hit their shots. Talking while you travel between holes. Planning what shot you’re going to hit. That’s all as much “golf” as the actual swinging.

Shooting a match is the same way. Watching your targets get scored, pasting for others, running a pad or timer, stuffing your mags at the back of the bay while catching up with your buddies.... that’s all part of it. Don’t view that as being extraneous to the seconds you’re actually on the clock.
 
What about the brass? Do you police up your own brass between stages or is it lost to the range?
 
I didn't mean to sound like a complete sour puss, I just didn't realize the amount of down time being my first time and all.

And yes I was out there helping tape and reset but was a little hesitant as I haven't learned all of the signs for the areas of the target. Unless I came across ones that were both Alpha then I tended to head for the steel.
 
PWC said:
What about the brass? Do you police up your own brass between stages or is it lost to the range?
Click to expand...



Don't know the answer to that technically.

I saw one person try to pick some up in the squad ahead of us after they finished and several people got on him about it.

I shoot aluminum and don't reload so it's kind of a non issue for me.
 
A decent golfer makes about 80 swings per round.
Click to expand...
I always like to take more than 80 swings, I take more swings so I feel I'm getting my moneys worth;)

How hard can it possibly be to hit a ball that's not moving?:D

I don't mind using most of the day for a match, get to talk to fellow shooters, and have and fun time.
 
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PWC said:
What about the brass? Do you police up your own brass between stages or is it lost to the range?
Click to expand...

At the couple clubs where I shoot, you're allowed to police brass AFTER the match is over and the stages are picked up. Then we get to split the brass that's on the last stage we shot. Normally (and surprisingly) there's not that many guys sticking around to scrounge after the match is over.

I imagine most clubs are similar. The intent is to get the range picked up; props & targets stored first. You don't want to be the guy at 5:30:

 
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^^^
That's the best way to do it.
If you are picking up brass during the match, you aren't helping paste/reset.

The 150 pieces of brass I leave at the match is worth like $4, and I'm not crawling in the dirt for $4, so if you come to a match I'm at, you can have it.
 
:rofl: Chuck, good one!

Yep, time to grab brass is after the match.
If the piles get to where they might cause footing issues we may kick some out of the way while taping/resetting targets.
 
Chuck: That was absolutely hilarious!!! My gut still hurts from laughing. Thanks for sharing that!
 
1MoreFord said:
Back when I shot IPSC picking up brass Was one the assigned duties between runs. It's only fair and polite.
Click to expand...

I disagree. I'm not bothering to pick up mine, and I'm definitely don't going to be picking up yours. In between shooters you should be pasting and resetting.
 
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