Any USPSA shooters here?

[ADulay]

May as well keep the titles similar as the games are similar!

Yes, I've been "challenged" to show up at one of our local USPSA matches and duke it out on the "longer" courses of fire that are what makes up USPSA.

I believe I have the basics of the rules down. Got a sidearm that is currently not doing anything and a bunch of ammo to go with it and it fits into the "Limited" division which should give me my best chance to come out of this with a win over my buddy. He'll probably be shooting in Production or Limited-10. We shall see.

So, we'll see if I survive tonight and will report back tomorrow.

Anyone else shooting USPSA, feel free to jump in here at anytime.

AD (grab a buddy and challenge him to a "duel" in the shooting sport of your choice!)

 

[ADulay]

Well, it was interesting for sure.

First off, there were a LOT more targets to engage. 12 to 15 targets on each stage along with a batch of steel poppers along the way. Figure two shots per paper and at least one per steel and you're talking 30-35 rounds per stage. Evidently these are the "short" courses.

Yes, I did get confused on one stage and completely blew passed a steel target. Never even saw it. Not good as it's a hefty penalty to miss evidently.

I don't completely understand the scoring system in USPSA but as usual, shooters are put into different divisions based on the type of gun used and in their own classifications.

I wound up 11th out of 17 in the Limited division which includes ALL of the Limited shooters no matter what their ranking.

In the actual ranking that I was placed (Unranked, obviously) I took 2nd out of 7 shooters. I'll take that for a first try at it for sure.

Overall I wound up 27 out of 38 which includes everybody, even those guys with the tricked out Open guns, so it could have been worse!

The bottom line was it is different than IDPA on several fronts, but a lot of fun. Plan on shooting a lot more bullets than an equivalent IDPA match.

I think I'll be back next week to give it another try and get Classified the following weekend.

If any of you guys decide to give it a try, be sure and check in here with your own observations.

Oh yeah, the guy who dragged me into this with his "challenge" wound up one spot below me overall. Life is good.

AD

 

[ADulay]

OK, I've got the USPSA scoring system figured out. It's interesting and amazingly, it really does seem to keep everyone where they should be based on actual performance on standard stages throughout the shooting year.

I had to order up another magazine holder so that I could go into each stage with 5 mags (and a backup in my rear pocket) and did order up some new magazines so that all of them would be the same amount. Right now I'm starting out with 16 in the first mag and 12 in the remaining 4 mags. It works for now.

Got another match tomorrow and we'll see if my initial attempt into the USPSA world was a fluke or not.

Actually this is a good warm-up or practice match for the 5 stage Classifier match on Sunday. It'll allow me to get classified in one day instead of over the course of several months. This is good for me, but most of the guys don't like those types of stages on a real match weekend.

So, has anyone else taken a look at this type of shooting? As usual, bring a buddy and duke it out!

AD

 

[ADulay]

Well, I see by the lack of replies in the last ten days that there may not be any USPSA shooters here on the board. (At least not yet.)

But for those of you who at least read about shooting, here's the latest.

It's a much faster game than IDPA and you shoot a whole lot more ammunition in the process of running the stages.

Basically if you can stay inside the marked off area, you're good to shoot anything and everything in any order you desire.

If you want to blast away, have at it!

I shot in a special 8 stage match on Sunday and 5 of the stages were for classification purposes (standards) while the other three were "normal" USPSA stages. The minimum round count on the "easy" stage was 33. That's a lot of shooting on the clock and that was with a stock gun. The guys running in the OPEN division will just blow you away with the speed and accuracy, no matter what their age!

So, now you guys have THREE ways to shoot that may fit your liking. IDPA (defensive shooting), Steel Challenge (static targets from point positions) and the parent of Steel Challenge which is USPSA and their own myriad of divisions. Pick your gun and choose a division.

You'll probably find that USPSA matches may be more prevalent in your area than IDPA or Steel Challenge.

Have at it with a buddy and give each other grief when you're done!

AD (my buddy Bob kicked my butt on Sunday)

 

[ADulay]

Well, now that I have a few local USPSA matches under my belt, a full set of Classifier stages run (minimum of 4) and have been beat up by all the really good Unclassified guys who will soon be A and B class shooters, I've decided to move from "Limited/Major" over to "Production".

Why? Well, I can use the same gun or switch to a 9mm something and give my hands a rest!

The main difference is only 10 rounds in the magazines in Production vs. "as many as you can load" in Limited.

Luckily I have at least six magazines to use for whichever gun I choose in Production, so it shouldn't be a problem. All that and I have noticed just who is shooting in Production locally and I think I can get the drop on them.

Got a 9mm handgun? Run it in Production against your buddy and make him buy the beer at the end!

Quit complaining. Winter is over. Get out there and get those sidearms heated up! Find a local match and have at it!

AD

 

[whitewolf68]

Just so you know AD despite lack of post and traffic here I still read your posts and ALL the others. I may not always respond for one reason or another but that does not discount the fact that I truly enjoy reading them. I do like seeing my friends, whether online or in person, be successful in their endeavors and do enjoy seeing others happy.

I wish my life allowed me the time and flexibility to actually enjoy life and get out and shoot and learn things but alas it does not.

 

[ADulay]

Hey guys,

Had an interesting "mid-stage" section on last night's match. Interesting in that hitting the single "steel popper" target set off a SERIES of disappearing targets to be taken in order.

There were several ways to shoot this stage and I chose to start on the left side so as to take out the first set of targets, perform a reload and then hit the center section and if no taking any misses, I could go to the third "section" and use my last shot to hit the steel popper, thereby starting the swinging target and finishing after a reload. At least that was my plan at the start and amazingly, it worked!!

Of the five buddies I was shooting with on this stage, 3 of them elected to start on the right side.

As an aside to this story, I finally proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the single "KCI" magazine I have will jam every time I use it, which is why it is now in the back of the rotation set and will be getting the knife blade treatment tonight.

Luckily on this stage I didn't need it as it is #5 on the belt.

AD (get out there with a buddy and shoot something!!!)

 

[ADulay]

Does that video seem to be playing slow or rather odd? Maybe it's my old laptop.

Edit:

Must be this old laptop. When I change the "quality" of the video down to 480p it runs perfectly. A little choppy at 720 and practically useless at 1080p, at least on my laptop. When I watch it on the desktop, no problem at 1080 and on the Xbox at 1080.

Hmm, maybe it's time to get rid of this Windows 98 laptop???

AD

 

[ADulay]

Well, I finally found a place for my Glock 41 to play in USPSA for the time being.

I gave it a go in Production but I was going up against all kinds of 9mm guns so that wasn't quite right.

I moved it over to "Limited-10/Major" and it seems to have found a home.

I can shoot the 45 and get the Major scoring benefit from it due to the power factor. Excellent.

So, the Glock 34 now runs in Production and if I'm feeling like getting beat up, in Limited. The Glock 41 stays in Limited-10 and the rest of the pack can shoot in Production, depending on what I'm shooting that week.

What? You haven't even TRIED USPSA or IDPA? Why not?

You can only improve your gun handling and shooting skills. What's not to like?

AD