First USPSA Match

[spinmove_]

Yesterday morning I shot my first USPSA match. I ran it concealed in Production with the following equipment.

G19.4 minor tweaks with Dawson Charger FO sights
Raven Morrigan
CCC Versamag Carrier
Bravo Concealment dual mag pouch
Magpul 15 rd G19 mags

No function issues. I ended up finishing 74.26% in my division (11th place of 20) and 47.66% overall (37th place of 57). My total time was 100.15s and my hits were 99 As, 1 B, 17 Cs, 0 Ds, and 3 Ms. I did hit 1 NS.

I know I’m at a disadvantage running it concealed, but I’m finding that it’s a good pressure test of how I carry my gun and spare magazine. I definitely need grippier shoes as the ones I wore yesterday definitely caused me to slide around way more than I would have liked.

Given this and seeing the stats of the other shooters, even just within my division, it would seem that I simply need to move and shoot faster. Any pointers on how one would work on increasing speed while maintaining accuracy? Is there any other pointers anyone would suggest deriving from what I’ve provided or otherwise?


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[GJM]

Yep, you nailed it — shoot and move faster while maintaining a high level of accuracy. That can be a lifetime pursuit. Welcome to USPSA.

[JHC]

Great job on all those Alphas.

[spinmove_]

Thanks, JHC.

So that’s it, eh? Just work on pushing myself to go faster?


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[GJM]

Thanks, JHC.

So that’s it, eh? Just work on pushing myself to go faster?


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You need to learn to do everything faster, except unload and show clear. Try to shoot lots of Alphas, but realize the game is scored by hit factor, and nobody cares about Alphas except as a component of hit factor.

Read the rules on the USPSA website.

[spinmove_]

Ok, so the scoring is hit factor which is Points / Time. So I want to hit as many As as humanly possible, but I don’t want to take an eternity guaranteeing those As. Fair enough. I was already working on pushing myself for speed anywho, this just sort of reinforces it.

On the plus side, since I showed up for this match I discovered this club runs open practice every Tuesday night. And they’re closer than either of the indoor ranges that I frequent. I may have just found my new favorite place to do live practice.


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[GJM]

Forget the concept of “guaranteeing” an A, as it will be too slow. Instead, shoot for an A. And, shoot the close targets slow and the far targets fast. The concept is harvesting points as efficiently as possible.

[HopetonBrown]

Ok, so the scoring is hit factor which is Points / Time. So I want to hit as many As as humanly possible, but I don’t want to take an eternity guaranteeing those As.

Stoeger said to shoot at a speed that will give mostly As with some Cs.

[Peally]

It's a balancing act, depending on the stage it can be slightly weighed towards speed or accuracy. The advice to shoot all As with close Cs as fast as you physically can is solid and will serve you well.

As far as how to move faster just literally do that, move faster (while not tensing up and screwing everything up). Learn to pull the trigger more rapidly, look at targets faster, run as fast as you can, etc. If you watch guys better than you on YouTube or wherever and compare it to your own video it'll quickly become obvious where you're losing time and what you need to work on.

Welcome to the best pistol fundamentals test in the country.

[Spartan1980]

As a general rule when shooting minor PF you need a lot of A's. A fast C at major PF is going to beat a slower A a lot more often than in minor. If you stick with it you'll learn what types of stages you can hose and what stages you need to get those A's on. That comes with time and experience. For now just shoot against yourself and improve all of your fundamentals. Shooting from concealment isn't as bad as it seems in the grand scheme, an extra half second on your draw and a reload or two isn't going mean much until you get up into the A and M classes, then it will. I do believe that Mr. Gabe White made it to Master class shooting from concealment with all his gear. Have fun with it, that's what it's for. :)

[spinmove_]

As a general rule when shooting minor PF you need a lot of A's. A fast C at major PF is going to beat a slower A a lot more often than in minor. If you stick with it you'll learn what types of stages you can hose and what stages you need to get those A's on. That comes with time and experience. For now just shoot against yourself and improve all of your fundamentals. Shooting from concealment isn't as bad as it seems in the grand scheme, an extra half second on your draw and a reload or two isn't going mean much until you get up into the A and M classes, then it will. I do believe that Mr. Gabe White made it to Master class shooting from concealment with all his gear. Have fun with it, that's what it's for. :)

Gabe White is indeed my inspiration for participating in USPSA concealed. It’ll be interesting to see where I classify whenever a classifier match does come up. I am just having fun and trying to compete against myself. I’m starting to see just how good of a litmus test USPSA really is.


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[Peally]

You can shoot the easier to setup classifiers in private practice and see where your scores fall to get an idea. Pick 3, score them in practiscore a few times, and slap your hit factor into a calculator (AZS Calc on Android, the USPSA website, wherever). I also think Practiscore automatically shows what class you scored in but I either broke that feature or they broke it in the most recent version.

[Sal Picante]

Good job!!

Feel free to hit me up if I can ever help!

There are some tricks to "moving faster" - mostly around "moving efficiently", but that's a different topic.

Try limited minor if you don't want to keep reloading... :)

[spinmove_]

Good job!!

Feel free to hit me up if I can ever help!

There are some tricks to "moving faster" - mostly around "moving efficiently", but that's a different topic.

Try limited minor if you don't want to keep reloading... :)

Maybe this is a stupid question or I could probably easily do a search on it, but what’s the difference between Production, Limited, and Open and which division makes the most sense for how I would actually carry a G19 in everyday life?

Also, thank you! And I’d be more than gracious to entertain any tips on how I could be more faster/more efficient.


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[Peally]

Production is production pistols with few allowed modifications (no magwells, compensators, etc), can only shoot minor scoring (A zone hits are the same, but you get less points for worse hits compared to major), limited to 10 round magazines during the stage (you'll need 4 or 5 on your belt as a result). IDPA equivalent is closest to SSP.

Open is anything goes. Major power factor scoring allowed and everyone takes advantage of that. Completely dominated by very expensive custom guns and people that accidentally broke a rule and got bumped into it for a match.

Limited is the same as open only no optics or compensators are allowed (thus the name "limited"). You can shoot either major or minor but most everyone shoots major. That being said while you will have a scoring handicap with a 9mm in limited you can load your mags to capacity so it's typically pretty beginner friendly.

If you're using carry gear and you don't have a lot of mags I recommend Limited. There's no real penalties to changing divisions so if you find production is more your jam down the road it's no big deal.

I didn't read the article fully but this seems to covers the jist of the current divisons: https://www.pewpewtactical.com/choosing-uspsa-division/

[GJM]

Limited allows you to shoot from appendix or another holster (less restrictions than Production/CO). You can use your regular mags up to 140mm length mags. More shooting, less reloading, less mag pouches needed. You will be at a disadvantage shooting minor, and competing with 2011 pistols in major, but it is pretty close to your regular carry holsters and magazine capacity.

Carry Optics and Limited, shooting minor, are my fav USPSA divisions.

[Zincwarrior]

Yesterday morning I shot my first USPSA match. I ran it concealed in Production with the following equipment.

G19.4 minor tweaks with Dawson Charger FO sights
Raven Morrigan
CCC Versamag Carrier
Bravo Concealment dual mag pouch
Magpul 15 rd G19 mags

No function issues. I ended up finishing 74.26% in my division (11th place of 20) and 47.66% overall (37th place of 57). My total time was 100.15s and my hits were 99 As, 1 B, 17 Cs, 0 Ds, and 3 Ms. I did hit 1 NS.

I know I’m at a disadvantage running it concealed, but I’m finding that it’s a good pressure test of how I carry my gun and spare magazine. I definitely need grippier shoes as the ones I wore yesterday definitely caused me to slide around way more than I would have liked.

Given this and seeing the stats of the other shooters, even just within my division, it would seem that I simply need to move and shoot faster. Any pointers on how one would work on increasing speed while maintaining accuracy? Is there any other pointers anyone would suggest deriving from what I’ve provided or otherwise?


Sent from mah smertfone using tapathingy

Shoot any steel? I shot my first Texas Star earlier in the month and that was interesting.

[Spartan1980]

Maybe this is a stupid question or I could probably easily do a search on it, but what’s the difference between Production, Limited, and Open and which division makes the most sense for how I would actually carry a G19 in everyday life?

Also, thank you! And I’d be more than gracious to entertain any tips on how I could be more faster/more efficient.


Sent from mah smertfone using tapathingy

For your current stated purpose Limited is probably what you want. What Peally said is spot on.

Just be aware of mixing your goals. If you look at the guys consistently winning level 2 and level 3 matches you'll be hard pressed to find ANY shooting minor, and just about as hard pressed to find them shooting plastic guns, though they are out there. Almost all will be shooting custom 2011s in .40 that hold 19 to 20 in the mag.

But limited is the "easiest" for a new shooter.

[Clusterfrack]

So much great advice here already... Once you have the fundamentals of shooting down, you know you can make any shot in the USPSA game. So shoot fearlessly and learn from your mistakes. There was a Ben Stoeger podcast a few weeks ago where Ben said something like: Don't shoot like a pussy, but don't shoot like an asshole either. Shoot like a dick. You know, that guy who finishes first on a tough stage all calm and confident, and you're thinking "what a dick". :D

Shooting Limited minor is going to be tough score-wise, but that's pretty much your only option for AIWB. Personally, I like Production division, and don't worry too much about the difference in holster position from my carry gear.

About learning to shoot faster while maintaining accuracy: I like Steve Anderson's approach of separating 'accuracy mode' and 'speed mode' in practice. Log your gains in both, and DO NOT try to improve both at once. Be patient. I've found around a 3-6 month lag between working on something really hard in practice and seeing improvements at matches.

[spinmove_]

Shoot any steel? I shot my first Texas Star earlier in the month and that was interesting.

Some, but not a ton. The only steel I’ve really shot is at a GSSF match. So a plate rack and some poppers.


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[spinmove_]

So much great advice here already... Once you have the fundamentals of shooting down, you know you can make any shot in the USPSA game. So shoot fearlessly and learn from your mistakes. There was a Ben Stoeger podcast a few weeks ago where Ben said something like: Don't shoot like a pussy, but don't shoot like an asshole either. Shoot like a dick. You know, that guy who finishes first on a tough stage all calm and confident, and you're thinking "what a dick". :D

Shooting Limited minor is going to be tough score-wise, but that's pretty much your only option for AIWB. Personally, I like Production division, and don't worry too much about the difference in holster position from my carry gear.

About learning to shoot faster while maintaining accuracy: I like Steve Anderson's approach of separating 'accuracy mode' and 'speed mode' in practice. Log your gains in both, and DO NOT try to improve both at once. Be patient. I've found around a 3-6 month lag between working on something really hard in practice and seeing improvements at matches.

Well, I don’t carry AIWB. I’m a 3:30-4:00 guy, so apart from magazine capacity I fit into Production just fine.

I remember that podcast though. So maybe I’ll work on shooting like a dick instead of being worried so much about absolute precision.


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[GJM]

Just yet, I wouldn’t worry too much about classifiers and getting classified. Shooting classifiers and shooting matches are both part of USPSA, but sometimes can be different.

Also, I wouldn’t worry too much about gear. Limited minor would be a great way to get your feet wet, learn the game a bit, and then you will be better informed about where you want to go with it.

The great thing about USPSA is it provides absolute benchmark data about your shooting, compared to others locally and nationally. It is also incredible fun that others go to great effort to set up challenging shooting problems that you would be unlikely to experience in personal or timmie practice.

[spinmove_]

I saw on Ben Stoeger’s Instagram page that, at some point, the Major and Minor scoring differences are going away. Any idea as to when that’s happening?


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[JHC]

Good job!!

Feel free to hit me up if I can ever help!

There are some tricks to "moving faster" - mostly around "moving efficiently", but that's a different topic.

Try limited minor if you don't want to keep reloading... :)

Take Les up on that offer ok Spin?

[Peally]

I saw on Ben Stoeger’s Instagram page that, at some point, the Major and Minor scoring differences are going away. Any idea as to when that’s happening?


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He was trolling, seriously.

[taadski]

Disregard.

[Olim9]

He was trolling, seriously.

Lies, Ben Stoeger never trolls :rolleyes:

[MVS]

Be careful, it is addictive. I don't get over to your side of the state much, but if I do a match over there this year I will hit you up. I am signed up for Ryan Rocks, and thinking about working the Area 5 championships.

[Clusterfrack]

I bet we will be moving to time plus scoring too... [emoji6].

But seriously, minor/major and hit factor scoring are what make USPSA such an excellent sport.

[spinmove_]

Be careful, it is addictive. I don't get over to your side of the state much, but if I do a match over there this year I will hit you up. I am signed up for Ryan Rocks, and thinking about working the Area 5 championships.

Oh man, Ryan Rocks falls on my birthday, but also a Friday and I have very limited vacation time this year. I’ll have to see.


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