Hmm... thank you! Looking at that target though, I feel the "A" zone is too generous. I'd be tempted to draw a line across the neck/body line and reduce the "A" even more. Easily done though.Originally Posted by JCN
Hmm... thank you! Looking at that target though, I feel the "A" zone is too generous. I'd be tempted to draw a line across the neck/body line and reduce the "A" even more. Easily done though.
In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man
In reality, it winds up being reasonably small.
Because the chest A zone is just a little larger than 6x6.
If people go too fast, then they miss over shoulders.
It works pretty well in reality.
And the whole target is about 1/2 the height of a traditional USPSA / IDPA target.
Having started new shooters in both, I’d have to agree.
There's part of me that really liked GSSF matches for that. I had already started in USPSA by the time I shot some of those matches, but the environment seemed very friendly to those starting out. Being able to buy a Glock and blue label prices and the random giveaways just sweetens the pot.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur."
Disclaimer: I have previously worked in the firearms industry as an engineer. Thoughts and opinions expressed here are mine alone and not those of my prior employers.
This is a complex answer - because IDPA is scenario based at its core, it tends to lean towards including real world props when possible. USPSA is sport-driven culturally, so it eschews things like "holding a baby" or "open a car door" in favor tasks that isolated to the sport. For example, in USPSA matches I've had to pull a rope to open a port which forces SHO firing. In an IDPA match, that task might be forced by having me hold a simulated baby or something.
There's nothing in the USPSA rulebook that I'm aware of that specifically disallows using real world props and stuff, but culturally there's a significant difference.
At IDPA, we did save the baby, doors, etc. Did that once in USPSA. The folks were totally into unrealistic baby holding in order not to lose time. At Givens, we did save the baby and get it behind a truck. I've posted that picture before. One well known trainer got negative points for tossing the baby like Tom Brady behind the truck for a distance so he could get his two handed hold back.
I agree that in most USPSA, anything that diverts from trying to shave time from standard run and gun is frowned upon. It is not a SD oriented game. We did have a match director set up a narrow plank way that you would have to walk down to shoot through various portals or 'doorways'. However, it was determined that the old folk set did not have to 'walk the plank' as a fall might occur, knees were shot or bones were titanium.
Cloud Yeller of the Boomer Age
FWIW (since the thread title does reference the IDPA rulebook)-
For several years now, IDPA rules say that the shooter cannot be penalized for not doing any “non-shooting activities.”
To quote the first paragraph in chapter 5:
“After the start signal, penalties for non-shooting actions may not be issued to competitors for their performance on a stage.”
So there’s no more carrying babies or dragging dummies required. Creative stage designers can certainly make props that activate targets, so that shooters need to move them in order to complete the stage, though.
Didn't know that. We dragged bodies and had to carry brief cases filled with secret papers and diamonds. I got a penalty for ditching the brief case once. More moving to the time game, I suppose.
I designed a body drag that was a trap for right hands (revenge of the leftists handers). A friend got all turned around, face us with his gun. Oops, just packed up and left the match. Yes, the correct manipulation had nothing to do with 'game' time.
Haven't shot IDPA for awhile, it's an hour and half away and I need to stay closer to home - USPSA is twenty minutes away. Just draw and try to hit the targets well for me with a close to EDC gun.
Cloud Yeller of the Boomer Age
There's still some of that stuff, but to your point you can't get penalized for "carrying the baby wrong" like you could back in the old days.
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