IDPA anyone?

[arnisandyz]

Does anyone shoot IDPA or other practical shooting competitions? One of my friends wants me to go with him one time and I'm concerned I may get hooked and have to find time for yet another hobby.

 

[Grenadier]

I used to shoot in monthly matches. With my schedule now, it's rather difficult to get back into it. I've been fortunate, though, that every club that I shot IDPA at, ran well-organized matches, and had some creative, yet realistic, scenarios.

I was usually the oddball in the group, shooting a Glock 31 (chambered in the 357 Sig). Most people would look at it, and think "eh, it's a 9 mm," until after I fired the first shot. The bark of a 125 grain FMJ flat point flying out at 1400 fps was certainly noticeable.

There was one rather humorous occurrence. One fellow at the match was shooting his custom .45 ACP loads that were supposed to barely make the 165,000 power factor for CDP, out of his 1911. Well, they checked his ammo, and his bunny fart loads didn't break that 165,000 power factor, so he had to shoot ESP. He kept trying to make a stink about it, claiming that the chrony was broken, and that his loads were, indeed major, but to no avail.

When it was my turn to have my loads checked, I could hear him chortling in the background, saying "that popgun ain't barely gonna make 125,000." Well, after I fired the first round, and the calculations came to 175,000, his eyes bulged, and he furiously claimed "Now I KNOW that machine is broken if some popgun gets 175,000!"

Silly fellow...

 

[arnisandyz]

Going to my first IDPA match this Sunday. I'm using my XD9 subcompact since thats what I carry everyday. I'll be put in a harder class (ESP) since they classify the XD trigger as single-action, and I'll be giving up some range on the long shots against the service/tactical size guns. I don't plan on being too competitive yet. I'm just going to take my time and concentrate on drawing and presentation and finding the target, and safety.