Mini-IDPA

Well..today is a new chapter opened in my life..I have been recently looking for some fun shooting games, and I located a local club next town that holds pistol shoot outs once a month in the form of a mini IDPA format - Thanks to Teakhead for this advice..I waited for 3 weeks since I discovered the club and today was the shoot out.

Here is the deal, you register at 11:00am and pay the fee then you get to shoot 3 rounds..Depending on the number of participants, you can shoot as many rounds as time allows untill 3:00pm.

Round # 1: you open a closed door and have to shoot 3 targets, 2 rds per target are counted. Target 1 is a swaying human-size target, target 2 is BG and target 3 is a BG holding a hostage.

Round #2: you have to shoot 4 targets. hiding behind stacked up barrels you have to shoot from the left side using your weak hand (my left hand in this case) 2 targets..then you have to run to the other end of the Barrel wall (around 7 yards) change magazines and then shoot 2 BG targets using regular hand.

Round #3: at about 7 to 12 yards you have 3 BG targets that you have to shoot starting with the one at 7 yards and ending with the one at 12 yards. Again 2 rds per target..

You can shoot more than 2 rds per target but this will affect your timing and you will only get the best 2 shots for your score.

That was the fact..Now is my opinion..That was the most fun and learning shooting experience after bowling pin shooting. I have been target shooting at indoor ranges for the past 2 1/2 months, I have shot a total of 2200 rds all in all..But today was different..I didn't have time to aim..I was shooting with both eyes opened..I was mechanically moving and shooting without direct thinking, I am not sure if I used my techniques I developed in target practice shooting..I was just following my instincts..The real surprise was that I did really good on the shot placement..The regular club members congratulated me on the shot placement and my shooting all in all. So may be all that practice I am doing on target shooting at 15 and 20 yards paid off indirectly in my sub-concious & came in handy when I was shooting at 7 and 10 yards. But one thing is for sure..Target shooting is necessary for skills and techniques but not sufficient for self defense or IDPA type of shooting..One has to do both..

Try it out guys for those who haven't yet..It's an enlightening experience..By the way, I used my SIG P226 with a generic holster that I bought for $20. It fits all my full size 9mm. Next month I will participate with my CZ75 SP01.

Welcome to the Action Shooting Sports..... :smt023

:smt033

<chuckles> Yeah, when that timer beeps the ole Weaver Stance just goes by the wayside, don't it?

As you get more and more innoculated to the stress, it comes back (that or whatever stance you've practiced before). IDPA and USPSA will change the way you practice. You'll find your weak points and work on them until they are strengths; your weak points will change over time and you'll work on THEM. It's a great way to improve, and a great way to become an effective combat shooter (not through the competition, but through practice).

Don't make the mistake of looking at it as training--it is not. It is practice.

To do well, practice to be smooth, not fast.
Quickness comes to you automatically with time.
As the man said, "Smooth is faster than fast."

If you practice to be smooth, your Weaver stance will not "go by the wayside" when the timer sounds. Neither will your trigger control, nor your front-sight focus.

To do well, practice to be smooth by dry-firing slowly, for about 10 minutes, each and every day. For each dry "shot," start in a relaxed position, acquire a good shooting grip on the gun, make a slow and smooth presentation, and "fire" as soon as you have a good center-of-mass sight picture.
My daughter used to be my start signal and my timer, from when she was about six until she discovered that boys were more fun than coaching dad was. By then, I'd gotten pretty good.

The best advice given me was move fast shoot slow when starting out. The speed will come in shooting. Move quickly from stage to stage shoot smooth and natural and points will add up pretty nicely.

Steve you said...."My daughter used to be my start signal and my timer, from when she was about six until she discovered that boys were more fun than coaching dad was. By then, I'd gotten pretty good. "

My daughter says the reason I spent those years getting good was because she discovered boys....
I told her come on thats not the only reason.............

RCG

Quote:

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Originally Posted by recoilguy

...My daughter says the reason I spent those years getting good was because she discovered boys....
I told her come on thats not the only reason.............

RCG

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:anim_lol: :anim_lol: :anim_lol: :smt083

the issue is the time needed. Anyone can get such hits, but if it takes you 20 seconds and it takes the top hands 10 seconds, you are in the same position as the guys who need 20 seconds to run the 100 yd dash. You know, toilet tissue? When it is about your life, being too slow is the same as not even trying, you lose, big time. Sure, you have to get the hits, but speed has to be present, also.

...And it kinda depends upon what you're trying to accomplish, too.

If your point in competing is just to win trophies and prizes, then you'd better be a full-time athlete with thews of steel and nerves of co-ax. You'd better run fast and shoot quickly.

However, if you're in the game to improve your technique, and you're merely competing against yourself and the score you made in the previous match, running fast and shooting slowly is probably a good idea. You might even run slowly, too.
Slow, thoughtful practice leads to efficiency of motion. Efficiency of motion, in a real-life gunfight, is more of a deciding factor than is mere raw speed.