Despite all of the orgs & instructors that have banned them, the number of people who still think they're cool and use them never ceases to amaze to me.Originally Posted by DAB
Despite all of the orgs & instructors that have banned them, the number of people who still think they're cool and use them never ceases to amaze to me.
But I thought IDP-uh, why is it called a SERPA?
Probably still at local club matches, but I’m pretty certain it’s not happening at regional and national matches.
Last year I shot 4 or 5 State/Regional matches and Worlds. I carried a briefcase at one of them, because it was the only way to activate a mover at P3, and the case was at P1. At another one I had to throw a 40lb “pig” into a pen to activate another mover.
Worlds was actually pretty tame when it came to weird props, but clever stage designers are still finding ways to force that sort of stuff. I like it, personally.
Oh, I like it too. Just didn’t want others reading this to have an inaccurate impression of how it’s working these days.
I like all the weird stuff. Today's match was very plain. One popper that activated a drop and turn target. 3 stages where we shot 3 targets, moved 2 steps sideways and shot 3 more. It was fine but not exciting at all. Give me a van to shoot through or around and a baby doll to 'save' any day. Except next week it is supposed to be 20F degrees so I actually hope we have stages like today. At the idpa affiliated club (today) all the rigs are pretty much idpa legal standard hip holsters. Next week we will see more battle belts and drop leg holsters. I have played around a lot w/ drop and offset holsters and I am finally of the opinion that they don't really do much. I am sure there are some 1/10s of a second there but, at my skill level, a tenth isn't going to matter. I don't even drop mine as much as is legal. The butt of my pistol is 1-1.25 inch above the belt. I find that if I drop it further, then my thumb is really not able to get far enough around toward it's position on the gun. I'd rather have an 90% grip before the gun leaves the holster than a lower holster that only allows a 75% grip.
stages with "weird" stuff, lots of steel and movers, are indeed fun to shoot, but they take longer to reset, and you can get failures (poppers don't fall when properly hit, or fall without being hit - wind), or movers that don't properly move when they should. and then you have to give a re-shoot, which only slows down things further.
the last few IDPA nationals they have limited the number of poppers and movers to keep things moving along so shooters don't finish under the lights. so the 'weird' might work well for a local match, where getting done at 2pm versus 1pm is not a big deal, but for larger matches, it can throw a wrench in the match works. normally not worth the risk.
there are plenty of ways to challenge shooters without having to worry about spiking the baby into the blue barrel.
He press checked twice before starting the stage, right? And I bet when he was done shooting during unload and show clear he ejected the chambered round 4 feet in the air and caught it?
We had a stage last fall w/ a popper that had to drop on a cable to activate a mover. A guy shot at the popper, hit it right at the edge of one side, so it dropped but twisted and did not hit the cable. So we pasted and reset and he asked if he could go again after everyone else. Well crap, on the guy's second try there was another problem w/ the popper. I don't remember the details now but the SO was a prick and the guy got no score for the stage. I don't mind poppers and single swingers, but Tx stars, double swingers, etc are heavy and awkward to move, set up and take down.
Yes, the secret is to have stage designs/props that the shooter has to manipulate for a door or something to open. Even without that, there are quite a few scenario things you can do in stages that make them fun.
Reply With Quote