Question about "Production"
I am no longer an active USPSA competitor but competed for a long time - started 1986. I watch the sport evolve including adding comps, adding RDS, high cap, etc. Shot Open, Limited, and Production - finished shooting Production. When "Production" started the theme as the time was to attract new shooters with a lower cost of entry plus pistols that you can find at your LGS.
Seems like "Production" has evolved into a 9mm, 10 round capacity event dominated by pistols that the majority of shooters would not normally find at a LGS and that cost $1000+ before modifications. I realize that USPSA is a "game" and fully support that USPSA and other shooting sports have improved firearms in general - especially optics - but hate to see Production leave its roots.
Question about "Production"
You don't want to be frustrated just starting out. It depends on how your matches are set up. If you're likely to see 25+ yd mini poppers and the like, I'd recommend a gun you can shoot confidently. If that's a G19, good on you. But, I've seen quite a few very frustrated U and D class shooters trying to make their compacts work for Production. Of course, a lot of that is skill, but bigger guns are easier to shoot well.
About decocking a CZ with your finger: it's not a big deal. Just get someone to show you how to do it right (stick index finger with pad toward hammer in between hammer and firing pin, rotate finger to ease hammer down). I've done it and seen it done 1000's of times and have never seen an ND.
A decocker adds complexity where it is not needed. I would never use one for competition.
The safety is a bigger concern. I had mine go on at Area 1 Championship last year, and it cost me a lot of time. I have now installed DS Perman extra-power safety springs and the problem is solved.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
olstyn
Hell, you can do just fine with a G19 or G17. Maybe to compete at the highest levels, you need something special, but certainly not to get started.
I shot a friend's Shadow once. It was super nice, but I just can't get over the manual decocking procedure required. It always strikes me as an extra opportunity to DQ *and* injure oneself at the same time that just isn't present on DA/SA pistols with decocking levers/switches/buttons, and of course the manual safety is entirely irrelevant in Production; all it serves to do in that role is provide an opportunity to accidentally have the gun not go bang when you want it to. It would be nice if somebody at CZ could crack the code of getting a good trigger out of the CZ-75BD and translating that into a decocker version of the Shadow/Shadow2. I still wouldn't be able to justify purchasing one, but I'd at least be able to justify *wanting* one. :)
Question about "Production"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
GJM
The shooting on the move part is what I see as the biggest difference between 10 and 140mm and completely changes the game for me. Ten means shoot and reload as you move, where 140mm means never stop moving.
Fifteen is weak sauce, as it mostly just gives you extra make up shots but the ability to shoot multiple arrays without reloading. We have frequent 40+ round stages in AZ, and ten rounds is tedious for that kind of shooting.
I know AZ folks like to play by their own rules [emoji3]... but
1.2.1.3 Long Courses–In Level III or higher matches must not require more than 32 rounds to complete.