New Guy IDPA Questions.

I shot the KY-TN IDPA regional match this last Saturday, it was lots of fun. I beg to differ a little bit that it's not training though. Just like the much talked about "mussel memory" in drawing an firing, enough taking cover and attention to less than 50% of your upper body exposed long enough should also ingrain that into habit. Anyway, I didn't do to bad shooting, it was a few procedurals that took its toll. Being new to IDPA and having to shoot first at a couple of (to me) complicated stages that you had to tactical reload, emergency reload, on the move / behind cover, etc. etc. played a head game with me. Also being a newbie I was paying particular attention to everyones gear and tactics to improve my own skills and score. There were about 60 competitors at the match and I made it a point to see what everyone was shooting. What was missing were the LCP's, air weights, Solo's, etc. I did not see anyone shooting anything smaller than a 4 inch barrel, and that was me. Like many of you here, I do it for the fun of it, get some practice out of it, associate with other shooters and get away from the wife for the day :D

Another thing that was unusual, there were quite a few misfires and cost them time. Listening to the banter about it, apparently they were re-loaders. Their primers were not seated correctly and/or they had a bad primer.
 
What was missing were the LCP's, air weights, Solo's
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Not sure about the LCP as far as caliber goes and most air weights are snubies and would be shot in a BUG match just because of barrel length and rounds. Most shooters in revolver will shoot 4" barrels. Question, what is SOLO's?
 
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Willie Lowman says: "IDPA is does not train you for real life scenarios, it trains you to shoot card board targets that will never shoot back at you.

If you want training, go to a real shooting class taught by a reputable instructor and practice what they tell you.



I say: Willie, please post a list of "shooting classes", taught by "reputable instructors", that are now using actual beligerant criminals (armed with pistols/knives/bats) actively trying to kill the students.
This could be quite a bit more usefull than simply shooting at "cardboard targets that will never shoot back at you".
Can't imagine their liability premiums.
Thanks in advance,

J
 
IDPA is not training by a long shot, and it won't make you a tacticool HSLD operator. But, for those of us, especially new to carrying, who don't have $1200 a week to spend on ammo and tuition for top-notch training, it's the best that can be done to test and improve skills. It will expose many of your flaws, improve your accuracy and gunhandling, and put you alongside people who can share a lot of insights and information. It beats the hell out of going to a stationary range, and, when combined with occasional professional training, in my opinion, renders one better prepared for a confrontation than 99.9% of the people out there. Most important of all, it's FUN.
 
Solos are the new Kimber pocket 9.

IDPA is not particularly friendly to pocket guns. The Tac journal has spoken to this several times. Thus, a great number of actual carry guns are disqualified. It is a game. In club matches, shoot your snubby, etc. Ask the match manager if you can. Here, I've shot my 38 snub and a 327 mag. Others have shot 380s. You do that not to win but have practice. IDPA is resistant to mix these guns in regular matches - I think that is a mistake, BTW. They miss a slew of new gun owners.

About real training compared to IDPA - there are places where you use Airsoft or sims. If well controlled, it's about as close a civilian can come to real incidents. They can be heart pounding.

IDPA is fun and slightly more realistic trigger time than IPSC (ducking for cover - Haha - :D).
 
IDPA is fun and slightly more realistic trigger time than IPSC (ducking for cover - Haha - ).
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I'll not argue with ya there, but it assumes that realism is a desired trait of your game of choice.

As I've heard it said:

IDPA is a game trying to be real.

USPSA/IPSC is a game that's happy to be a game.

;)

In the end though, while I don't think either really prepares you for "situations", both tend to increase basic marksmanship skills, which you'll always do well to have in a real situation.

Also, anything is better than not shooting. I'm a USPSA person and don't do IDPA, but if USPSA wasn't around and IDPA was all that was available, I'd probably be doing that instead.
 
plus 1 for MGMorden

IDPA formed because IPSC got so out of control with all the race-gun gear. IDPA is still a game. What is sad is that both have contestants that believe they are the gunfighter-from-hell because they've competed in the sport or 6 months. Wow! All you MS13 Gang members beware.
 
IDPA, USPSA, and Steel Challenge all are better than just punching holes in paper from a firing line. They get folks drawing from holsters acquiring targets, and hopefully getting there hits. Just my thought here. How many people that are CCW'ing daily that have never or have very limited practice at drawing there weapon and presenting to a target? I will add in a timely fashion.
 
Most have little practice at such. I do like steel also. Great for practicing basics of trigger, sights, under speed pressure.

MGMorden - LOL.
 
For now, on a very limited budget IDPA, Steel, and USPSA will have to do for my training and as I stated earlier and Glenn has trigger time, holster draw, and target acquisition. Best practice that I can afford for now and the foreseeable future.
IDPA -closest to real life "without paying BIG bucks"
USPSA- "track and field with a gun"
Steel- draw, trigger control,sight picture.
Just my opinion folks.
 
I don't think Rob Leatham has ever been in a gunfight, but I doubt many 'operators' would want to shoot it out with him.

In the end, accuracy, power and speed are the ultimate tactics, and there are worse ways to develop them than serious competition.

Larry
 
Just to chime in a little late...

IDPA is NOT training. In reality, it teaches you bad habits that can get you killed if you used them in the real world (expecting to know where your targets are, moving through an unknown situation at a run, hanging 50% of your upper body out from behind cover).

Instead, it is a game that used real-world principles as much as possible for it's foundation. Doesn't mean that everything in the rules are realistic for self-defense, but it is nearly impossible to create a game that is 100% grounded in the real world.

I will tell you it does provide some fantastic practical experience, though. Weapon presentation, sight acquisition, target transition, reload consistency, and malfunction recovery are all skills that are sharply honed through practical pistol competition.

Personally, I've recently become disenchanted at the lack of accountability to the paying members by the owners of IDPA. There is inconsistent and infrequent addressing of member concerns and needs, and no mechanism to insure that the people who pay for the sport's existence get a say in how its run.

But it's still a fun sport, and a great way to spend a weekend day.
 
IDPA -closest to real life "without paying BIG bucks"
USPSA- "track and field with a gun"
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Could anyone expound more on the differences of these. I am in IL and my Dad is into Cowboy shooting which I will try this summer for the first time, but I really want to do more of the above.

What is difference IDPA and USPSA. Track and field - does that mean more running around etc. I did used to run cross country - ha.

Anyway, I want to join one of these but not sure which one and don't really have time (ok wife won't be on board with me leaving her with the kids while i run around to different matches to see which one i like).

I have plenty of guns and can find the one that suites me fine for the one I choose or just buy a new one (which i like doing anyway - good excuse).

I think I'll go watch some more youtube videos of the above two..
 
In the context of video games, IDPA would be one in which you have to be careful of threats shooting back, while USPSA would be more like one in which you must track down and shoot as many targets as possible, as quickly as possible.
IDPA: If cover is available, it must be used. USPSA: If you are behind cover, you can't see everything you should be shooting.
IDPA: Gun and gear must be concealed from view. USPSA: Gun and gear is hanging out where you can most easily access it.
IDPA: In a "real gun fight", there would be a limited number of threats. USPSA: Every day is zombie apocalypse when shooting USPSA.
IDPA: Retain depleted mags in case you need them later. USPSA: Why do I need to retain a depleted mag, when I have five fulls ones on my belt?
The games are really quite similar, but there are many detail differences.
 
Could anyone expound more on the differences of these. I am in IL and my Dad is into Cowboy shooting which I will try this summer for the first time, but I really want to do more of the above.

What is difference IDPA and USPSA. Track and field - does that mean more running around etc. I did used to run cross country - ha.
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IPSC/USPSA was originally developed with the intent to make a game out of combat-style shooting. Over time, gear and rules evolved it into being more of pure speed shooting.

In the mid-1990s, a group of guys felt that USPSA had evolved too far away from the intent of competing with "fighting" guns, and they formed IDPA. IDPA was designed to be a game with a basis in self-defense skills and real-world guns. In it, there are requirements to usually start with your weapon concealed, you use cover when shooting, scoring is more weighted towards accuracy, guns usually can't be uber-modified, etc.

Where the "track and field" comment comes in is because IDPA has more strict rules on the maximum number of rounds that can be required in a stage and how much movement is allowed. The result is that IDPA stages are generally quicker than IPSC, with less targets and less movement.

There is a long-running argument about which is better. USPSA's detractors say that you need $5000 space guns to be competitive and that there is no realism in the stages. IDPA detractors say that the stages are too choreographed and too many of the rules are arbitrary.

The simple fact is that both games rock. I find that IDPA is a great starting point in action pistol because the stages are usually more simple. On the other hand, USPSA is awesome because it is about "How fast can you shoot?", and can have some sensationally challenging stages.

Personally, I recommend that you start in IDPA, and then after you've shoot a few matches, give USPSA a try. USPSA realized that they had alienated a lot of potential shooters with their gun rules (as demonstrated by the rapid growth of IDPA), so they instituted the "Production" and "Single Stack" classes in the past few years. That means that shooters who don't want to drop $1500+ on their guns have classes in which they can be competitive. Because of this, there is no reason why you can't jump back and forth between the sports (I shoot ten IDPA matches a year, and 5 USPSA matches).
 
IDPA sounds like more my style. I just want to use a fairly common gun to participate, not a multi-thousand dollar high bred.

There is a place for say formula 1 race cars, but that is so untouchable that I like more of the different classes in say American Lemans where some are closer to stock at least in body style.

I'll check it out in spring maybe when my time and the temps are better.
 
IDPA is looking at a rules revision and setting it up, BTW.

One lack of realism (yeah), is the lack of well integrated small gun usage. Even with the 10 round or single stack limits, I think they should come up with ways to make matchs snubbie and 380 friendly. The stages have courses of fire that aren't realistic if you have a snubby and one speed loader.

But that's another debate.
 
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