The problem with bullseye is that it is shot one handed. I've been competing for a couple of years now and a two handed stance seems unnatural and no more steady to me. I could see where it could mess you up going from one to the other. Kinda like golf and baseball.
Handgun competition - best place to start?
- Thread starter azrocks
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Crunchy Frog
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I'm a proponent of Steel Challenge as an intro to competitive pistol shooting. Not to say that you cannot start from scratch in any of the shooting sports.
Mike OTDP
Member
Bullseye, or one of the other precision disciplines. Good fundamentals. Everything else builds on that. Quite aside from the advantages of being able to hit at 50 yards.
lonegunman
Member
Your six smoking D-ringers in 1.75 seconds are conditional on someone saying, "Shooter ready,,,,,,,,,,,,,,stand byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy" BEEP. You gain zero situational awareness or gun fighting ability banging those six shots out quickly. Are you walking out of Wal-Mart in your speedy gear, magic holster strapped on and wearing a shirt with advertising from gun companies all over it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,looking for trouble in tan and good guys in bright white shirts?
azrocks- go shoot something. They have a class for guys that suck in every sport. If you pursue any competitive sport you start at the bottom and as you progress you can buy the gear that works for you. It is surprising to see how badly you shoot, but if you are measuring yourself against a guy with decades of experience and tens of thousands of rounds down range you are doing it wrong. When you get to see those guys work, take the time to watch and learn.
About ten years ago I was shooting the Idaho state championships (bullseye). At this match were three former Olympians and two other guys who had cracked 2650. Between them they had held or broken about a hundred National Records. At the time I could top 2600 (the four minute mile of shooting bullseye) as could two of my teammates at the match. A match with 18 shooters and nine of them are national level. It was fun for us since it was pretty stress free and after the nationals. To the newer shooters not so much. No one was going to sneak a match win from Expert class that day.
I shot several perfect strings of fire, my timed fires were all clean and my rapids as well. I shoot a 200-14X timed fire in both Centerfire and 45 and finished 3rd or 4th. Clean rapids were the order of the day and my best of the day was a 297-18x National Match Course in 22 that was 2nd. I was over 2600 and over 100 X's and finished 5th overall. Point being, on any given day you can find yourself shooting against guys equal to or better than you are, that's no reason not to shoot.
Your toughest competitor is always yourself. In every match you can find some improvement, a string of fire you crushed, a course of fire you enjoyed, a nice draw, a perfect reload or just the weather. At some point it will come together and get you to the prize table or a stage win. Or you will make it to "B" class and be soooooo tactical that you are better than 99.99% of people.
I shoot with one hand, it is after all called a HAND gun. If two hands were required they would have invented the "HANDS gun". You have options if you have skills.
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I'm not really sure where you are going with this. I don't honestly train for gunfighting or even care about it, I am a sport shooter, but you talk down on action shooting for not training you to be situationally aware, and then speak of bullseye like it is the epitome of all that is firearms, which seems a little backwards.
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lonegunman
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You claim being a "B" class shooter made you better that 99.99% of people on earth and so tactical that you are a gun fighting world champ. I disagree. I happen to think shooting more than one discipline won't kill you.
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I didn't say that. NY32182 did.
And he didn't claim to BE a B shooter. He said that A B shooter was better than 99.9% of the people out there, which, while somewhat of an exaggeration, could be true. Go sit at your local gun range and count the people that come in the place that don't have a damn clue what they are doing and even the people that do have a bit of a clue what they are doing. Someone who has made it to B class has a pretty solid understanding of fundamentals and will certainly be better than all of those people.
And he didn't claim to BE a B shooter. He said that A B shooter was better than 99.9% of the people out there, which, while somewhat of an exaggeration, could be true. Go sit at your local gun range and count the people that come in the place that don't have a damn clue what they are doing and even the people that do have a bit of a clue what they are doing. Someone who has made it to B class has a pretty solid understanding of fundamentals and will certainly be better than all of those people.
Pete D.
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I find it interesting that so many of us think about firearms - handguns especially - as tools to be used in "defense" scenarios and thus the competitions that emulate that are interesting and other forms of shooting less so. There is no harm in that of course.
For myself, all of my handguns are sporting goods. Bullseye works for me. I cannot shoot six rounds in 1.75 seconds but I can hit a three inch ten ring at 50 yards shooting one handed. (now if I could just do that 10 times in a row....)
Pete
For myself, all of my handguns are sporting goods. Bullseye works for me. I cannot shoot six rounds in 1.75 seconds but I can hit a three inch ten ring at 50 yards shooting one handed. (now if I could just do that 10 times in a row....)
Pete
lonegunman
Member
I'm at my local range, sometimes five days a week. I'm at a sporting clays club several times a year, a rifle range several times a year, a vintage rifle match a few times a year, a dozen bullseye matches a year, a couple of action shooting things. I actually own my own 120 acres of shooting range with steel targets to 800 yds and plenty of stands to make any stage of "tactical" shooting I could ever want. No one sport or type of shooting makes you 99.99% better, contrary to whatever they write in Front Sight.
I'm daydreaming of building a production class gun of some sort and I don' think I'll be instantly better than 99.99% of anything. I do think it will be fun to shoot and worthless as a carry gun. The claim of amazing abilities leaves me doubtful, especially when people claim they translate to some unbeatable ability in the real world.
I don't disagree that most people kinda suck. Most of them never fire a gun standing up, much less with one hand, very few from a holster, the low ready or while moving. People that claim they are "better than 99.99%" of anything remind me of people who think they can out punch a boxer because they take Tae Bow or took karate classes in 9th grade.
I'm daydreaming of building a production class gun of some sort and I don' think I'll be instantly better than 99.99% of anything. I do think it will be fun to shoot and worthless as a carry gun. The claim of amazing abilities leaves me doubtful, especially when people claim they translate to some unbeatable ability in the real world.
I don't disagree that most people kinda suck. Most of them never fire a gun standing up, much less with one hand, very few from a holster, the low ready or while moving. People that claim they are "better than 99.99%" of anything remind me of people who think they can out punch a boxer because they take Tae Bow or took karate classes in 9th grade.
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lonegunman
Member
And yet I never said it. I could be terrible with a lot of experience at being terrible.
ok, let's get off the "99.99%" thing. It's veering the thread off-topic, and was simply a number pulled out of the air to make a point that's also being over interpreted. The point I think we all agree on is that competition helps your shooting. The OP wants to know where to start.
vaalpens
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At which club did you shoot your IDPA matches?
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azrocks
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I have no idea who the hosting organization was. They were at in indoor range, so what you could do was extremely limited. I thought it would be a good intro, but being indoors blew for many reasons. I'm fairly certain they no longer host them there.
Berger.Fan222
Member
Start with a competition you find to be fun and where the organizers and attendees are friendly.
These factors will make you want to go back, and more participation means faster improvement.
Unfortunately, I have not noticed any trends which correlate the fun and friendliness of local matches to a particular discipline. Some matches just tend to be more fun and friendlier to relative newcomers than others. It is more a quality from the organizers and local club than a specific discipline.
One tip: look at the score reports of matches you are considering. A high level of participation by women suggest that match is friendly and welcoming for women, it also suggests decent bathrooms, which women tend to care more about. Most match directors will say they are welcoming to women, but the matches with lots of women already participating are a better bet.
A high level of participation by juniors is also a good sign of a fun, friendly, and welcoming match for new comers.
vaalpens
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The IDPA website only lists the Phoenix Rod and Gun club as an IDPA club in the Phoenix area, where USPSA lists a few clubs in the Phoenix are. It seems it will be easier to find an USPSA club close to you.
Ghost In The Fog
Member
I've been a gun owner for a very long time. And as a child I was naturally gifted with long-guns. I always thought I was a pretty good shot, and in my circle of friends, I was one of the better ones.
It wasn't until I shot at an IDPA match, much later in life, that I realized just how ridiculously poor my 'skills' really were. And that was under the pressure of nothing more than a timer.
So the way I see it - until I can shoot well under the pressure of nothing more than a timer - getting all 'tactical' is pretty much a waste of time. I've got a long way to go until then.
It's been a very humbling experience realizing how much I really suck
Great post!
I also think it is fantastic you and your wife are doing this together. Although I have complete and total support from my wife for all of my shooting sport activities, she has no interest in them. It is the only thing we don't do together.
Good luck on your journey and keep us posted on how you do.
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azrocks
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Thank you, sir
You may regret that request... I may find it difficult to make myself shut up about it (haha).And yes, I am very glad the wife is as enthused about this as I am!
thomas15
Member
Thank you, sir
And yes, I am very glad the wife is as enthused about this as I am!
Well I hope that you are able to find a shooting sport that both you and the Mrs. find enjoyable. I have to agree with those who say that Steel Challenge is an easy way to get started into the shooting sports. You could use a $400.00 stock rimfire pistol with 5 mags and those use the low ready position (not a holster) and other than eyes and ears that is all you need. Of course like anything there are numerous ways to spend your money but with steel there are also much less in the way of rules to worry about.
But I'm not a salesmen for anything, just wishing you the best.
springfield2
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hi,i would suggest idpa first for a while.There is some running and guning but more of being on the move with like uspsa.also suggest a lot of dry firing drawing a bunch of times.draw find your front sight as quickly as you can then repeat;find the front sight then pull the trigger while not jerking the gun to the side.time yourself if you can by drawing from the holster raising the gun and then pull the trigger when you see the front sight.Do this over and over you will become faster and you find the front sight faster.Its all about time in idpa so figure out where you can save time on any given stage.
You can get a lot more accomplished than just drawing during your dryfire practice.
IndianaBoy
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I will admit that I am 100% biased.
USPSA. It will make you a better pistol shooter.
That being said, anything is better than nothing.
USPSA. It will make you a better pistol shooter.
That being said, anything is better than nothing.
1MoreFord
Member
Both are *gun games*. Both have BS rules that change yearly and also with regime changes. Each has advantages and disadvantages. I'm an ole IPSC shooter who's somewhat familiar with IDPA aka I don't practice anymore.
Both can improve you shooting abilities but, IMO, neither teaches you street skillz.
Dudedog
Contributing Member
Alright - we signed up for a USPSA introductory class / match coming up this month. Then it's off to the races
Did you enjoy your USPSA match?
I need lots of improvement but I still have a great time shooting USPSA, do I expect to be at the top, no. I don't have the time, money and probably the natural talent to be at the top.
Do I have fun, yes and to me that's what is most important.
There can be lots of argument if one "game" is better than the other but I think that is missing the point, they are all games.
Pick one you enjoy and have fun.
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