IDPA - appendix carry?

[1911Nut]

Attitudes like that are how you shrink participation in a sport, especially when there's an alternative available which does not have the "dumb" rules in question.

There are multiple USPSA clubs within a little over an hour drive of me (several of them within a half hour drive) hosting weeknight matches every week from spring through autumn with bigger matches on some weekends, but only one IDPA club in the entire metro area, and the lonely IDPA club hosts matches significantly less frequently. Certainly there are other factors as well, but I can't help but think that the contrast is at least somewhat related to the "dumb" IDPA rules.

Not certain which "attitude" you are referencing. It's simply a statement. If one doesn't like the rules of any sport and think they are "dumb", then the perfect solution is to not participate.

I'm very fortunate. I can participate in 6 to 7 IDPA matches per month (year round) within a 35 minute drive from my home. There are a couple more I can participate in within 2 hours of my home. I participate in as many of them as I can.

There are even more USPSA matches within the same driving distances of my home, but I seldom, if ever participate in them, as I don't enjoy that sport as much as IDPA. That doesn't mean USPSA has stupid rules . . . . it's just what I want to do with my free time.

I'm convinced that is is highly counter-productive to the shooting world to continuously criticize ANY shooting sport today. I'm all for encouraging improvement in the rules and allowing anyone to share their opinions. But pointing out how your chosen sport is "dumb", or criticizing the sport because the rules don't match the rules of your favorite sport is hardly the conduit to achieve change.

There are plenty of enemies of the shooting sports out there. I prefer to not be among them.

It may not apply to all areas of the country or the world, but "shrinking participation" is absolutely, positively not happening in my part of the country.

[JCN]

Production is dying. Poor Man's Open has stomped it.

If you are playing in Production, Glocks are second level. Competitors run CZs and Tanfoglios now.

A Glock will not prevent you from getting to M level in USPSA. It’s probably about 2-4% off a classifier to shoot a stock Glock versus a fully prepped CZ.

If someone is shooting at the 40-50% level on classifiers, a full prep gun isn’t going to get them to B. A little bit of dry fire will.

The gun doesn’t hold most people back from their potential up to a fairly high level of performance.

There's no difference in ammo being "wasted." The rule penalizes dropping an empty magazine on the ground if the chamber still has a round in it. There's no ammo being dropped, and the round in the chamber will be shot too.

I didn’t say that the rule still wasn’t stupid. I’m just arguing that people can count to 6 or 8 by just counting make up shots if they have a stage plan so I’m not buying “can’t count” as a reason. Otherwise you’d have random ammo counts in magazines, arranged by the SO.

Ah, so now we've entered the "move the goalposts" phase of the conversation. I never claimed a bunch of people were winning nationals with stock plastic guns, but even when you start talking about Shadow2s, they may be the "race guns" of Production, but they're still not $3K. MSRP is something like $1400 IIRC. Expensive, sure, but ~1/2 of what you mentioned. On the flip side, how many $5K custom 1911s do you see in IDPA? I'm pretty sure it's not zero. You can compete in either sport with a wide range of guns at a wide range of prices, so claiming that USPSA is some sort of "rich guy only" territory is pure BS.

Also note that I can run a Shadow2 in IDPA CO with a milled and lightened slide.

[olstyn]

Not certain which "attitude" you are referencing. It's simply a statement. If one doesn't like the rules of any sport and think they are "dumb", then the perfect solution is to not participate.

It's possible that I read some tone which you didn't intend. If so, my apologies.

[1911Nut]

No apology necessary. Thanks for your reply.

[Zincwarrior]

A Glock will not prevent you from getting to M level in USPSA. It’s probably about 2-4% off a classifier to shoot a stock Glock versus a fully prepped CZ.

If someone is shooting at the 40-50% level on classifiers, a full prep gun isn’t going to get them to B. A little bit of dry fire will.

The gun doesn’t hold most people back from their potential up to a fairly high level of performance.



I didn’t say that the rule still wasn’t stupid. I’m just arguing that people can count to 6 or 8 by just counting make up shots if they have a stage plan so I’m not buying “can’t count” as a reason. Otherwise you’d have random ammo counts in magazines, arranged by the SO.



Also note that I can run a Shadow2 in IDPA CO with a milled and lightened slide.

Fair points there.
I've seen the biggest growth in both being poor man's Open: Carry Optics. I think that's the future of the sports and the industry overall.

[JCN]

Fair points there.
I've seen the biggest growth in both being poor man's Open: Carry Optics. I think that's the future of the sports and the industry overall.

I agree too. In objective testing, I’m just so much better with a dot that I quit fighting my desire for iron sighted carry guns.

To be fair, I’ve had irons knocked out of zero and having a dot plus BUIS actually is a more reliable sighting system for carry IMO.

I also don’t see why people disparage CO as “Poor man’s open.”

It’s not about cost for most people, it’s about hassle. It’s the same as racing less modified vehicles rather than prototype cars. It still takes a lot of skill to race well and expensive cars don’t replace basic driving ability.

But to have factory based cars that have parts that are available in stock from mass distributors and were built to reliability and durability specs for widespread use?... THAT’s a lot of the draw for carry optics.

It’s less hassle. When people have a lot of money, their time costs money. Sometimes people with money just want shit that works. Carry Optics comes on a basis of factory engineering and testing.

For the same reason that I’d rather daily drive a GT3 than a McLaren, I’d rather compete in CO than Open. And financial cost of entry isn’t a consideration at all. Hassle of breakage and repair is.

[JAD]

Oh my fucking gourd IDPA versus IPSC.

I sincerely hope all of you get herpes.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Well said!!!

[ST911]

I like some stuff about USPSA. I like some stuff about IDPA. I test, learn, have fun, and don't take either too seriously. Is that still okay?

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Yes.