I just shot my first IDPA match last weekend. Coming from IPSC, I envisioned it to be similar with only a slight change in equipment or scoring. In addition to some truly asinine rules, I didn't much care for the attitude of the fellow shooters, either.
For one thing, they kept referring to the targets as BG's or "criminals". Instead of "engaging" their targets, like we do in IPSC, IDPA shooter "neutralize" theirs. I understand that it's a "defense" pistol match, but something about a lot of guys getting excited about "head shots" makes me nervous. Ditto the fact that a lot of these guys had their guns in behind-the-hip holsters and kept jerking them out at the buzzer. A presentation should be fluid and graceful -- it should not look like someone got stung in the behind.
Secondly, I decided to use a stripped down Glock 17 for the match. I was told by the RO that I could only load 10 rounds in my mags. Fine, no problem, I'll just pretend I'm shooting Lim 10 IPSC. After clearing the first course of fire, I was told by the same RO that I was getting a penalty. When I asked why, he told me that I dropped a mag that still had rounds in it. Obviously I could do nothing about the penalty, but I asked for a logical reason behind it. I was told, "You're penalized for not maintaining ammunition on your person. If this were a real firefight, you might run out of ammo."
I responded, "If this were a real firefight, I wouldn't be restricted to 10 rounds in my mag, nor would I be forced to make tactical reloads at specific points. In a real firefight, people shoot their guns until all BG's are stopped and / or they've run out of ammo." He just sort of grumbled at me and walked away. Then I watched as people, instead of simply dropping their mags, would attempt to stick them in their pockets, taking upwards of three seconds to do this. I wonder what the RO would have said if I mentioned to him that three seconds, standing there in the open trying to stick in a mag in your pocket isn't the kind of tactical procedure taught at Gunsite.
On the second course, there was to be a total of twelve rounds fired, two in one set of three targets, reload, two in the second. I figured that to avoid the mag-drop penalty, I'd just load my first mag with six rounds, drop the empty mag, and pop in a fresh mag. Nothing doing. I was told this is a "failure to do right", as it was considered "gaming". Hmm....isn't it a game?
Finally, on the last course, during a tac reload, I grabbed the mag and stuck it in my mouth, reloaded and finished the course. One of my squad mates (and IPSC shooting buddy) laughed that this was an inventive way to get around the mag drop penalty, as it was quicker than stuffing it in one's pants. Well, you know what, placing a mag in one's mouth or down the front of a shirt receives the same penalty as if I dropped it on the floor.
At the end of the match, I discovered that those mag drop penalties amount to ten seconds! If I missed the target completely, I wouldn't receive a ten second penalty. So what IDPA has taught me is that in a "real" firefight, one can only carry 10 rounds, must not let any still loaded mags drop, and if they do, that's worse than if you missed the bad guy entirely and hit some innocent on the other side.
IPSC is NOT training for defense, not in the slightest. But neither is IDPA. There's nothing realistic about either. They are games, pure and simple, both with rules invented seemingly to frustrate the player. If you want to shoot, shoot, but pick the sport that has less asinine rules. For me, I'll use the IDPA matches to "train" for the "reality" of IPSC.
