ACPL Northwest Arkansas Championship IDPA
 

Went and shot the NWA Championship a few weekends ago.

Had a pretty solid run, but a few bad choices, and a couple missed shoots kept me from getting 1st in my division. Still had a great time!

3rd in ESP SS, and 21st out of 85 overall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wliFTfIm92w

Pretty cool.....I don't follow the timed shooting sport but I bet it can produce some adrenaline.

Its in no way training, but it does help you learn to shoot with the blood pumping a bit, and helps you get more familiar with your weapon in a semi stressful situation.

Its enjoyable for sure! Nice when you win a trophy as well!

Nice job there.

I used to be heavy into IDPA and a bit into USPSA not long ago. I haven't shot both in quite some time though. Sometimes I miss the action, I say to myself let's go shoot IDPA this weekend but then I think about this FL heat and humidity, 4-5+ hrs out there no AC, just for barely 2-3min on the trigger, then I go nah. hahaha.

You did great!

Agreed....we train to stay alive in a gunfight...so I avoid the timed shooting sports. But stress as an additive is always good if you enjoy that type of shooting.

Very cool. Very fast. Was that a 9mm you were shooting?

I never have understood why some people feel that training for a gunfight and competition shooting are mutually exclusive.

Very cool, great shooting Sir.

They are two different mindsets. I do not want rules to kick in if I am trying to stay alive. There are no timers, rules, guaranteed places to hide or duck behind or limited rounds in a gunfight. Remember...we fight as we train...waiting for a sound could get you killed.

It is indeed. Its a Springfield Range Officer 9mm. In love with that pistol. Its a bit on the heavy side and barely makes weight. Been a real accurate gun for me as well. For sub 900 bucks I couldnt be happier!

I've thought about getting one long and hard. I like everything I've read about it. Looks well made by a long standing brand. I might have to revisit the RO idea...

Soooooooooo..... the only way to train is in a real gunfight??????

No.....to.train as if you are in one......there are no rules...I do not want the rules of competition games ingrained in my training.

No, technically it's not training, it's practice...which develops muscle memory...with some artificial pressure added since you don't have the real pressure of a live gunfight.

If you think there are no rules in a real gunfight, you better not be in one or you will end up either in the grave or in the slammer for life.

Let's see, in a real gunfight Joe, it sounds like you:

Want to stand flatfooted in the open
Firing indiscriminately with no regard for innocent bystanders
With no muscle memory for operating your firearm quickly and accurately under pressure
And no practice clearing jams.

Yeah, good luck with that bud...:rolleyes:

http://www.cotep.org/forum/picture.p...pictureid=1046

You are laughable and obviously have no idea of my training. But you are quick to insult.
I have trained with Brownie multiple times in Quick Kill and Threat Focused pistol shooting. I have trained with bttbbob for NRA RSO and Pistol. I put literally thousands of rounds downrange monthly at my own private range, NONE of those rounds from a static position, and most single handed shooting. There are members here, and at the FCC forum that have witnessed me put 17(G17) rounds on a small steel silhouette, moving, at 30 feet, in seconds. If those members want to chime in it is up to them. Care to get into rifle to pistol transitions? Or the fact that I train with a current USMC DI as well as a USMC Armorer at my range in South Carolina?

The only rule in a gunfight is to fight to stay alive. You can wait for a buzzer, by time it goes off I will have filled you with lead and will have moved so far offline your whole family will need to form a search party to find me. And I will be reloaded and ready to go again.

Your insults did not deserve any response from me, but I am the type to enlighten the less intelligent. Consider yourself enlightened.

You will be standing waiting for your target to move.:D

Anybody who waits for a buzzer would be......funny.....wouldn't be me

Not trying to insult Joe. Just telling you what it sounded like. I conceded the point that it is not training. IDPA is, in my opinion, a very good way of developing muscle memory for the operation of your weapon.

I had a heck of a time remembering to take the safety off when I first started IDPA. Something I never had an issue with before, and I've been shooting all my life. Same with getting the mag all the way in when doing a tactical reload.

training and practice are different things, but both important.

http://www.cotep.org/forum/picture.p...pictureid=1046

I really think you should. Its been a fantastic pistol for me. To give it a quick range report...

I have had a few jams here and there, but normally from me trying to use the slide stop as a slide release. I dont run a heavy enough spring in the gun to do that, and it always do it reliably. You can actually see that happen on one of the stages.

The slide to frame fit is actually not very good...BUT that being said the barrel to bushing and hood fit is fantastic! The gun cycles very smoothly, and I have a feeling that the slightly sloppy fit on the lower half actually helps the gun a lot.

For the money its super hard to beat! If they had made stainless versions when I purchased mine I would have got it, and get a FO front sight as soon as you get it. You wont regret it!

As for the rest of you...that escalated quickly.

My two cents? IDPA isnt training. Training is training, but IDPA is a quick way to learn your platform, and all the ins and out of it with a hint of stress which makes some people just fall apart. I do other real training, but I dont find the two mutually exclusive. From pushing my times to be faster I have learned to trust myself much more. I know I can do a double almost as fast as I can pull the trigger now, and be on target. Competing with people that are better than me helps me gain skill, and make myself a better shooter all the way around. Were as If I got to a class I might get some one on one with an amazing instructor I get to shoot with Master and Distinguished Master class shooters and pick there brain as well. Its a game...no doubt. But at least its a game with practical skills being used.

I believe it is the amount of practice(quality, proper practice) that develops the muscle memory. When I lived up by Titusville there was a local outdoor range where they had these competitions once a month. I went and watched a few times, and declined a few times when asked to enter. I practically lived at the range as my kids were at school so I could shoot daily. I did ask a few competitors why they shot these games, and the most common reply was something like..."to keep their skills up"....wording close to that. But I rarely saw any of them at the range, so I would question myself as to what skills they were keeping up by shooting a few minutes a month on a timed, known course. My answer to myself was it was really a good social event, it was fun, and that was about it. If there were weekly shoots and maybe bi monthly practices with oversight I could see skills being honed, but the frequency just wasn't there to actually develop anything of use in a street encounter. So while I am not against IDPA or any other shooting get togethers, I only see them developing skills for that particular course of action.

My sons spent hours upon hours in our yard hitting baseballs into the net. Before school, after school, before sleeptime, they would slam ball after ball. They were a little above average hitters on their team.

I took the net down and instead took them to the ball park nightly. I pitched to them and they pitched to each other, simulating a real game encounter at the plate. Seth lead the league in Home Runs and RBIs with his brother Joseph close behind.

Same sport, two different styles of preparation, completely different results.

Not that my opinion matters, but I can live with that assessment.

Well, I certainly agree with that Joe. But serious competitors spend many times more hours at the range practicing than actually competing. Buying ammo for practice was bankrupting me after Obummer got elected. I switched to using a 22 conversion slide for a while, until 22 ammo disappeared. For a while I was practicing with an Airsoft 1911 because it was the only way I could afford to shoot and wore the gun slam out. Then I started casting my own bullets, which was economical, but slowed me down considerably. At that point I went into "Ammo Conservation Mode" and decided to take a break from competing. Now that 22 ammo is loosening up, I'm back to mostly practicing with a 22 conversion slide, and getting serious about it again.

The matches to me aren't really a competition with other shooters. They are a "final exam" if you will, of how well I have been practicing. My first few matches were focused on accuracy and mechanics instead of speed. It took over a year before I could run a clean match. I would THINK I had it all down in practice, but under the pressure of the matches, flaws became evident. As I got to where I could run clean matches, then I started working on speed.

At the beginning I worked with an instructor. That only got me so far. The IDPA matches (and preparation for them) got me much farther down the road than just the training alone.

http://www.cotep.org/forum/picture.p...pictureid=1046

^^^ is the gun I compete with...and carry.