Competition gets you killed on the streets.

[Dave Williams]

Mike Seeklander's interview with Ken Hackathorn touches upon these subjects. It's a great listen.

http://americanwarriorshow.libsyn.com/ken

Seeklander's podcasts are great, I listen to them frequently.

[Aray]

Also, I hate the generic "competition" label. Trust me, when I faced of with an armed felon in a dark bar.....it was a competition. Just with different scoring and prizes. I like to have everything I do be a competition...even if it is against myself. The differences we are talking here is sport shooting versus use of force. Scotty Reitz likes to call it "Play" shooting. It sounds derogatory, but in fact, sport shooting should be something fun. It should be enjoyable and a means for self improvement and testing while having fun. If you are not sport shooting as "Play" or "Sport" and as a means of testing and improving specific performance....and it is as "training" for use of force problem solving.....you're doing it wrong. Trust me.....a lot of folks are doing it wrong. Not the types we see on this forum, but there is some serious wrong going on out in the firearms world. That is in both the sport and professional realms.

I agree, and along these lines, I saw/stole this quote from Sumdood who I don't know the other day:

"A shooting competition isn't a gunfight, but every gunfight is a shooting competition."

[Zincwarrior]

I know someone that carried an STI 40S&W in an AIWB rig for a few months... and still does every now and then. Having 42 rounds of 180gr hate on tap is pretty nice.

While not directly on point, I've seen a large number of shooters who will use the same platform of gun. They will use a 1911 officer from the same maker as the 1911 full size they shoot as an example, or carry a baby Glock vs. their race gun Glock.

[Corey]

I am old enough to remember, too. I think a fair statement would be that his opinion evolved over time. When people like Ross S were winning with the Weaver, competition was great. Big Bear, SW Pistol League and early IPSC. After the Weaver was supplanted by the Modern Iso and the boys (Robbie and Brian), competition became bad.

Truth! Of course I didn't know him until well into the "competition is bad" era. He did mellow a little in his later years on the Weaver vs Isosceles issue. He always insisted that Weaver was the superior technique for gunfighting but I also remember that he once said something to effect of if you get the hits you need within the time you have available then it really doesn't matter which system one uses. Coming from him, that was a big change in attitude.

[JCS]

Forgive me for bringing this back up, but I watched a YouTube video from Frank Proctor recently about his carbine. He mentioned your either competing for points or competing for your life. But he talked about his experience with competition in regards to his rifles. He said he used to run the stock all the way in when he was in the military. Between tours he started competing and found out through competition that he needed to run the stock extended all the way.

It seems competition can be helpful in that sense.

[Luke]

I've been to franks place, it's way out there. Not very close to any streets or he may have something to worry about.

[Dagga Boy]

Forgive me for bringing this back up, but I watched a YouTube video from Frank Proctor recently about his carbine. He mentioned your either competing for points or competing for your life. But he talked about his experience with competition in regards to his rifles. He said he used to run the stock all the way in when he was in the military. Between tours he started competing and found out through competition that he needed to run the stock extended all the way.

It seems competition can be helpful in that sense.

It is a great place to check YOUR gear. You want to check the efficiency side of your carry gear, whether a concealed, LE duty, or military, go run it in some matches. It will likely be enlightening. Then you can start working on a balance of how that gear can be made to function efficiently in its normal use and more efficient while shooting. The problem comes in when we put our focus on setting up our play gear and it conflicts with our serious gear. Hey, if the sport side is your priority....then it should be the priority when setting up equipment. If sport is a way to practice for serious, but you are prioritizing the sport for set up, then I would suggest rethinking things.

[GJM]

It is a great place to check YOUR gear. You want to check the efficiency side of your carry gear, whether a concealed, LE duty, or military, go run it in some matches. It will likely be enlightening. Then you can start working on a balance of how that gear can be made to function efficiently in its normal use and more efficient while shooting. The problem comes in when we put our focus on setting up our play gear and it conflicts with our serious gear. Hey, if the sport side is your priority....then it should be the priority when setting up equipment. If sport is a way to practice for serious, but you are prioritizing the sport for set up, then I would suggest rethinking things.

I don't think it is necessarily an either/or proposition. I am equally serious about my gaming and defensive gear, with each optimized for its use. Right now, I am gaming a CZ and carrying an HK LEM, which seems the best choice for me in each area. What is common to both is they are all operated by aligning the sights and pressing the trigger.

[Dagga Boy]

But I also know you train in your carry gear as regularly as your game stuff. My post was more directed at the folks who are setting up their street stuff to mimic sport stuff that may not work well, or running stuff that is polar opposite in opposite places from where you are putting reps in. I think there is a good balance. In reality, a lot of my AIWB rigs actually mimic'd the draw angle of my competition rigs.

[Sammy1]

I have been on the receiving end of gun fire and in my opinion participating in IDPA or USPSA if by far better than going to you gun club once a month, where you probably can't draw from the holster, and shooting an NRA bulls-eye. Yes you can get bad habits. The IDPA/USPSA club I go to the most doesn't allow the muzzle to go higher than the berm during reloads so its is an awkward reload that builds bad habits. What you have to ask yourself is by not participating are you doing better drills on your own or nothing at all. Just my 2 cents.

I love seeing the guys shooting compact or subcompact guns from realistic street holsters. Those guys are training for concealed carry.