LFRoberts5

Anyone do any IDPA shooting? Next month will be my first time shooting IDPA competition.

tom turner

I've done some. It is fun, fast, and furious. I think they are great for helping a shooter get sharp on executing all the basic tasks quickly.

The downside? Some of their "games" have some silly little rules during certain stages, and this sometimes will hang up a new shooter who executed a course well, but didn't shoot the right amount of shots into a certain target in the right way.

When you go, spend a LOT of time watching those going through the course of fire you are getting ready to shoot. Watch how they negotiate certain barriers, how they choose to engage multiple targets from left to right or front to back, etc. Those who memorize the fastest way to play this "game" have a better chance of a great score!

Because of the picky little ways they like targets shot, as well as some other matters, I think the "games" ARE a little silly:

You double tap all the paper targets while racing through a course of fire where one may fire 20-30 rounds just on one stage. In real life, a shooter will never face 20 "targets" within a 30 yard area who stand still and wait for the shooter to get around to "double tapping" each one and then moving on . . . even if the target is behind them and still shooting back! Heck, a 20:1 ratio at 30 yards is an un-winnable scenaro.

Instead, a real shootout confrontation would probably be against one maybe two or three people . . . and I guarantee you that no IPSC shooters would be racing ahead like a NASCAR driver in these types of situations. Instead, they'd be focused on keeping cover in front of them rather than remaining moving forward under cover.

Also . . . in the real world we don't have mass quantities of ammo hanging on our belt that we can expend like an IPSC shooter does.

IMHO, IPSC is GREAT . . . for the ammo makers! In some matches, you'll send 150 rounds downrange in just a few moments of frantic shooting.

Still . . . it IS lots of fun. I personally enjoy bowling pin matches and steel matches better. There's nothing like the sight and sound of targets being hit and falling at a really fast pace . . . and everything is seen by all.

In a steel match, you keep shooting until all the heavy metal targets are down. In IPSC, you double tap at the cardboard targets and keep moving . . . and when you've run your course, scorers go back and judge the man-sized targets and award you points bases on where you hit 'em (or don't). And speed vs. pure accuracy factors in swinging the scores towards folks who spray ammo the fastest while doing an "OK" but not necessarily the greatest job in accuracy.

Shot placement, at great speed, is the true measure of combat shooting skills . . . along with maintaining cover smartly so you don't take a round from your "target."

T.

SteelyDan

IDPA can be a real "blast" if you keep it in perspective. Some IDPA rules will make perfect sense as they're based on safety issues while others will leave you scratching your head. A lot of the scenarios will be pretty unrealistic and you'll have to come up with a "tactically sound" solution to the problem.

Just go out and have some fun. If an IDPA officer says you can't compete with the equipment you own, see if they'll let you participate without accumulating points for placement. Ultimately it's a game that should be fun while giving you a different experience than other matches.

SD