which pistol advice

H

Harpman

Inactive
I know this may be a can of worms....I been shooting for years, rifle competitions mostly, and just plinking around the homestead with single actions...anyway, I thinking about getting into the uspsa type games, I know there are several types...question is, which pistol could I get that would be allowed in the most types of competitions ?...I am thinking a 1911 model, but have made no other decisions, on caliber, etc...and any advice on who makes the best competition ready 1911 out of the box...Thanks in advance for any help..I already reload, so thats not a problem...main thing is, I dont want to buy a pistol for one type game, then realize there is another game I like better but the pistol will not qualify.
 
shoot? or win?

Suggest a Glock or 1911 in 9x19 as 'acceptable in all games except Cowboy and Bullseye'.
(9x19 'cause it's cheaper)

Suggest visiting your local club(s), telling them what you desire, and then hanging on for the ride...

...'cause you'll get overwhelmed with advice, badgered into borrowing someone's gun-n-gear "so you can try it", and all nature of input.

1911s and Glocks, yep.

Start, though, 'cause it's enormous fun, and you'll kick yourself for not starting sooner (like when we were 11).
 
Glock will work for USPSA, IDPA, GSSF, and there are even Glock-only matches run under USPSA rules. And there's steel matches. And Bianchi matches. 9mm is cheap, and competitive. If you want to shoot bowling pin matches as well, get it in .45.
There's probably at least as much variety for the 1911. Get a .45, with a half-dozen 8-round, and a half-dozen 10-round magazines, and you can play just about anything, from USPSA to bullseye. I've heard very good things about the STI Trojan.
 
I got the S&W M&P in 9mm today, what a sweet pistol...I already had about 500 bullets and brass, powder, primers..all stuff I took in on a trade even though I didnt have a 9mm.
 
Start, though, 'cause it's enormous fun, and you'll kick yourself for not starting sooner (like when we were 11)
Click to expand...
You ain't kiddin!!
I'm not quite 40 and just started shooting Action Pistol, (IDPA, more or less) 2 years ago. Man, what a lot of fun.

On the upside, my 16 year old is starting to get into it now and my 10 year old can't stand waiting until he's big enough to shoot a nine. He wants to know why they don't shoot IDPA with .22s so he can play! Although actually at our shoots, non-sanctioned and just for fun, some people actually do use .22s. The equipment rules are pretty much "You must have a pistol and a holster. Oh, and no BB guns." I've seen everything from Ruger Mark IIs to .460 revolvers.

Oh yeah, and to answer the original question, 1911 .45!! Any reputable maker will serve you fine and you can tweak and customize to your heart's content. Far, far too many options and varieties to be unable to get it how you like it. Yeah, ammo's a bit more but you will want to at least look into reloading if you're going to get into the pistol games. Man, can you burn a lot of ammo in a hurry!
 
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I would just go to a few of your local ranges that shoot competition and tell them your intentions. I'm sure they wouldn't mind you hanging around to watch and learn. Maybe even ask if you can help set-up and take-down stages/props. This way you'l get a better feel of what class you would prefer shooting and can buy your handgun based on that decision.

Good luck :)
Zack
Shooters Plus
 
SVI and STI double stack “1911s” chambered in 40 are quite popular in uspsa limited. If you are shooting a 9mm in uspsa you’d better be in production or open. The 9mm would be your caliber of choice if you went with IDPA, but the 40 downloaded to “minor” can save you some money if you wanted a competitive pistol for both games.
 
SVI and STI are a wonderful guns, I had tuned STI Edge it worked just great. Fast, reliable... But I had to sell it because the grips were to large (double stack mag) for my short fingers. So I'd recomend to try STI a few times before investing in this gun, check how it fits your hand, etc
So I am back to single stock 1911. I have Les Baer TRS with slim grips :)
Anyhow -good luck - you are on the road to have a great fun
 
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