IPSC Range Report

I went to shoot my first "sanctioned" IPSC/USPSA match this morning. I shot at the CFRPC (Central FL Rifle and Pistol Club), in SE Orlando.

I'd reccommend to anyone to GO DO IT!!! WOW!!! Most fun I've had shooting in years. Period.

I had a blast!!! Great guys (and 3-4 women), ages from 22-70, and guns ranging from a few Glock 19, all the way up to $4000+ Full Race 9mm Major guns, with red dots, compensators, and 29 round mags. Everyone was super friendly, and lots of help. Strategy, equipment, ammo, reloading, best prices, best gunsmiths... I saw no brand snobs, except for one Glock guy... but hey... he's a Glock-Guy.

In production Class, I saw quite a few 4" M&Ps, a FEW Glocks, a few XD's, a few Sigs... 4" was the minimum, and the trend is toward 5" 9mms, like the new M&P Pro Series and 9L, the XD Tactical, and the 5" Sigs. Glock 34's, etc are no-nos in IPSC Production (http://www.ipsc.org/proddiv.php). It was a complete mixed bag.

In the race guns, it was almost all SV and STI frames, double-stack 9mm-Majors, and 38 Supers. Very few 40's. Almost no 45's except for a handfull of single-stack traditionalists...

Most guns were Open Class Race-Guns, the next biggest class was Production, with some VERY good shooters, and finally Single-stackers... I actually shot in the Limited-10 Division, so I would score higher, shooting a 45. I brought my Custom-Shop XD45 Service. I was one of maybe ten 45's there, including the 1911's!!! A few Hi-Cap Paras, etc around.

I finished pretty low in the field, I'm guessing, because I had a few misses, trying to go too fast in the first stage. I slowed it down in the second stage, shot a LOT more A-Zone hits, and scored pretty well. But first time out was all learning, which I'd suggest for anyone, regardless or ability. Go slow, shoot well, and build speed later.

I shot the whole match with 3 mags, (31 shots, as I was limited to 10 per, plus one in the pipe.) Next time out, I will bring 4. They limit the number of rounds per mag, but never the number of mags on your belt.

If you go... I suggest:

- Read the rules before you go (www.ipsc.org)
- Start in Production Class if you can
- Take the longest barreled, most accurate 9mm you have.
- Take at least 4 mags, and at least 200 rounds. (If had to do a re-shoot, I would not have had enough ammo!!!)
- Focus on good hits, safely. Speed will come. You may have to shoot as many as five 8" steel plates, as far away as 35-40 YARDS... This may consume a mag or more.... if you're not that accurate...
- Most of the shots are on man-sized cardboard, at LESS than 7 yards.

Also suggested:
- Snack bars, or fruit you can eat between stages. You will usually be shooting for 3-5 hrs.
- Water...
- Sunblock for your neck and arms, and a good hat...

Go
SHOOT
HAVE FUN!!!

Jeff

Thanks for sharing, Jeff. I will definitely get into something like this some day.

-Jeff-

Thanks, Jeff. Good write-up.

I knew you would have fun Jeff. You have added one more great facet to your gun hobby.

It's a great way to have fun while expanding your gun handling capabilities.

How many shooters showed up?

:smt1099

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TOF

I knew you would have fun Jeff. You have added one more great facet to your gun hobby.

It's a great way to have fun while expanding your gun handling capabilities.

How many shooters showed up?

:smt1099

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There were 4 groups, I think about 42 shooters total. Heaven forbid, it's going to require a new gun... :smt033

And you'll be happy to know, top of the list: Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm Pro Series. The gun was designed around USPSA Production Class it seems, with a 5" barrel, fiber-optic front sight, and plain black wide-notch rear, zero over-travel, short reset, "factory smoothed" 4.5 lb trigger, etc. The large backstrap feels custom made for my hand, with good trigger reach, and a thick palm swell, but still with great access to the mag release.

$585 at my local range where I'm a member...

Gun show November 28th and 29th... so I'm saving my nickels.

Jeff

I've been thinking about going down there myself.

Thanks for giving us the report. That seems like the best gun outdoor gun range in CFL that I've heard of so far.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Method

I've been thinking about going down there myself.

Thanks for giving us the report. That seems like the best gun outdoor gun range in CFL that I've heard of so far.

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The next match is on the 22nd. Get there around 9. PM me first, and we'll meet up.

Send an email over to the Discipline Director, Julian, off their website. He'll give you the skinny, or just PM me.

It is a great range. Huge facility.

Jeff

I got my scores back... First time ever, I finished 31st out of 45 over all. But that includes the guys shooting Open Class Race Guns (compensated, red-dots, and 29-round mags). There were only two people in my division, which ended up being Limited 10, so it's hard to rank there.

Generally, I lost a lot of points when I tried to go too fast. When I slowed down, I doubled my points for the stage...

Why?

Score = Points/Second

An A-zone hit is 5 points.
A C-Zone hit (production) is 3 points.
A D-zone hit is 1 point.
A complete MISS is -10 Points!!!

The scoring is based on points per second, therefore a miss costs you 10 seconds on the stage! And, most stages take 15 seconds for the FAST guys, and 25 for the SLOW guys. Every miss costs you 10 points, or effectively 10 seconds. If you took a GLACIAL 35 seconds to shoot the stage, but made all A-Zone hits on 12 targets, you will score higher than a BLAZING 15 second stage with only 1 miss and a bunch of C's and D's...

Even the difference between a 5-point A, and a 3-point C hit, is the same as 2 seconds. The temptation is to go fast. Fast is fun, but it's hits that score...

I guess it's like real life. If you out-draw your adversary, and miss, you're dead every time... If you draw a bit slower, and puncture his "A-Zone" twice, chances are, you'll win, and survive.

Next time... I'd taking a 9mm that returns to POI faster than my 45. I'm going to focus on my speed BETWEEN shots, including reloads, and string transitions (smooth is fast), then shoot slowly, and make A-zone hits...

Top 50% is the next goal... "Competitive" in Production Class in 6 months...

JW

That sounds like a pretty good showing for the first time out Jeff.

As you indicated it is hard to judge yourself when there are only a couple of shooters in a class. That is why I view mid range in the overall scoring as being acceptable for me. I am too old and slow to be truly competitive. You however still have a chance so go get them.

I also plan on getting a long barrel M&P. I will hold off a while in hopes of a .40 cal. becoming available though. I prefer Major scoring as it offsets my lack of speed to a small degree.

Keep having fun and be sure to let us know when you take a match overall. :mrgreen:

THANK YOU for the report that will even more. Good luck and shoot straight and have fun!!!!!

I'm going to watch a match for the first time tomorrow. I'm going to carry my pistol and ammo just in case I talk myself into shooting.:rolleyes:

Good for you Jeff, keep at it. Man it's fun isnt' it?

Zhur

<g> USPSA is a different critter.

First off, G34s are legal in Production. The G17L is not as it doesn't fit in the box.

Second--doubling your points may not give you a higher score. You may place higher with the lower points total if you could shoot it twice as fast with the bad hits (USPSA scores points per second rather than points overall, and that is called your "hit factor"). So, let's say I shoot 20 points in five seconds, points dvided by time--my hit factor is 4. If I shot 10 points but did it in 2 seconds, my hit factor is 5, and I win over Mr. Slow-But-Accurate.

In USPSA speed isn't a factor, it's THE factor.

Now, to get the most out of your performance, work on target tranisitons the most. Here is why--if you take your draw (for instance) from 2 seconds to 1.5, you've saved .5 seconds. If you take your target transition from .6 to .3 on a 10 target stage, you've saved 3 seconds! On that stage if you shoot it clean in 10 seconds your hit factor is 10, but if you save the 3 seconds, it's 14.28.

What that means--when you hear a shooter do a stage, close your eyes. It sounds like this: pop pop, pop pop, pop pop. When you hear a Master class shooter it sounds like this: pop pop pop pop pop pop. You can't really tell where he changed targets. Does that make sense? Work on the target transitions and your performance will dip at first, then improve steadily as your technique improves.

Dan