jeffreywt
07-25-10, 20:35
Yesterday, Jul 24 2010, I shot in my first USPSA match. I thought it would be useful to share my experience and what I learned. Sorry for the lengthy post but, I want to reflect on my experience and hopefully encourage others to take their first step in to competitive shooting.
I had never shot in an action or practical pistol match before. While I am a good (read competent) shooter on the range, shooting in USPSA was a very humbling experience. Being my first time out, I was not concerned in the least about scoring. I did not score well, however, I did not come in last either. If you are thinking about competing for the first time, by all means get out there and do it! Don't be intimidated. I thought about attending a match just to spectate and get a feel for things. A friend of mine told me "if you go to a match just to spectate, after about 2 minutes, you will wish you were there to shoot".
Speaking of friends, I had an experienced (limited, B class) shooter that I was able to shadow all day. This was immensely helpful. He was able to show me where to register, where the safe areas were, provide some insight about the stages, and so on. I never felt lost or out of place because he was there to guide me through. While this is not necessary to attend your first match, it certainly made my day easier and I could concentrate on shooting. If you see someone at the range with what looks like a competition setup, strike a conversation. Chances are they will be happy to show you the ropes.
My friend and I squadded up with probably the most experienced shooters. We had a few M level shooters and at least 1 GM in our squad. Everyone was gracious but I found out that folks of that skill level do not want to chit-chat. They are there to shoot for score. This was probably the only negative aspect of the day. I wish I could have gotten a bit more guidance. That is not to say folks were mean or annoyed that I was slowing them down. I never got that feeling. It was hotter than a whore in church outside yesterday and nobody was comfortable. I'm sure that had something to do with folks just wanting to "get it over with", for lack of a better explanation. After the match was over, everyone was gracious and willing to answer my questions.
What I Learned:
Trigger control is everything. Speed and sight picture means nothing without trigger control. Slapping at the trigger because you are in a hurry will ruin your score. This might seem obvious but it is much easier said then done. Everything you think you know can and will go right out the window when that buzzer goes off.
Half the battle is positioning. There were many many times that I would hustle to a set of multiple targets and then have to adjust my body position to hit them all. Having a game plan on the stages is very helpful.
Safety is key. Obviously, safety matters in the general context of shooting but more importantly, there are some gotchas to look out for. One example is opening doors and not sweeping your body at the same time. I never had a worry of being DQ'ed and the RO told me I was doing better than most in terms of safe handling. Even so, the best of shooters can make a mistake.
I should have brought a camera. Yep, this thread is worthless without pics.
What I Didn't Like
As mentioned before, I was probably not in the best squad for a new shooter. In retrospect, I am glad I got to hang out with the big dogs and again, never got the impression that I was unwanted in their squad. Still, there would have been some more conversing in a more relaxed squad.
There is an obvious gear race in USPSA. It creates a barrier of entry into limited class. Nobody shoots .40 or .45 in production. Race guns are not of interest to me and this means I am stuck shooting 9mm in production to not put myself at a disadvantage. I just bought a nice G21SF two weeks ago but now I need to swap it out for a full-size 9mm.
It was hot. I did good in this respect by hydrating before and during the match but it was still not a very nice day to be running around outside. Even so, I'm not sure this would have stopped me from going yesterday or in the future.
Gear I Used
Glock 19 (wish I had a full-size 17 instead)
Safariland 6377 ALS (fantastic holster)
5.11 Operator Belt (worked great)
Blade-tech mag pouches (also great)
5 magazines (4 on belt)
150 rds of WWB 115gr 9mm
Peltor Tac Sport Ear Pro (I like them a lot)
Oakley's (Delta wears these, right?)
Small hydration pack to haul my gear to each stage
BCM hat (got completely soaked)
A towel (seriously, bring a towel)
32oz of Gatorade and 64oz of Water
I had never shot in an action or practical pistol match before. While I am a good (read competent) shooter on the range, shooting in USPSA was a very humbling experience. Being my first time out, I was not concerned in the least about scoring. I did not score well, however, I did not come in last either. If you are thinking about competing for the first time, by all means get out there and do it! Don't be intimidated. I thought about attending a match just to spectate and get a feel for things. A friend of mine told me "if you go to a match just to spectate, after about 2 minutes, you will wish you were there to shoot".
Speaking of friends, I had an experienced (limited, B class) shooter that I was able to shadow all day. This was immensely helpful. He was able to show me where to register, where the safe areas were, provide some insight about the stages, and so on. I never felt lost or out of place because he was there to guide me through. While this is not necessary to attend your first match, it certainly made my day easier and I could concentrate on shooting. If you see someone at the range with what looks like a competition setup, strike a conversation. Chances are they will be happy to show you the ropes.
My friend and I squadded up with probably the most experienced shooters. We had a few M level shooters and at least 1 GM in our squad. Everyone was gracious but I found out that folks of that skill level do not want to chit-chat. They are there to shoot for score. This was probably the only negative aspect of the day. I wish I could have gotten a bit more guidance. That is not to say folks were mean or annoyed that I was slowing them down. I never got that feeling. It was hotter than a whore in church outside yesterday and nobody was comfortable. I'm sure that had something to do with folks just wanting to "get it over with", for lack of a better explanation. After the match was over, everyone was gracious and willing to answer my questions.
What I Learned:
Trigger control is everything. Speed and sight picture means nothing without trigger control. Slapping at the trigger because you are in a hurry will ruin your score. This might seem obvious but it is much easier said then done. Everything you think you know can and will go right out the window when that buzzer goes off.
Half the battle is positioning. There were many many times that I would hustle to a set of multiple targets and then have to adjust my body position to hit them all. Having a game plan on the stages is very helpful.
Safety is key. Obviously, safety matters in the general context of shooting but more importantly, there are some gotchas to look out for. One example is opening doors and not sweeping your body at the same time. I never had a worry of being DQ'ed and the RO told me I was doing better than most in terms of safe handling. Even so, the best of shooters can make a mistake.
I should have brought a camera. Yep, this thread is worthless without pics.
What I Didn't Like
As mentioned before, I was probably not in the best squad for a new shooter. In retrospect, I am glad I got to hang out with the big dogs and again, never got the impression that I was unwanted in their squad. Still, there would have been some more conversing in a more relaxed squad.
There is an obvious gear race in USPSA. It creates a barrier of entry into limited class. Nobody shoots .40 or .45 in production. Race guns are not of interest to me and this means I am stuck shooting 9mm in production to not put myself at a disadvantage. I just bought a nice G21SF two weeks ago but now I need to swap it out for a full-size 9mm.
It was hot. I did good in this respect by hydrating before and during the match but it was still not a very nice day to be running around outside. Even so, I'm not sure this would have stopped me from going yesterday or in the future.
Gear I Used
Glock 19 (wish I had a full-size 17 instead)
Safariland 6377 ALS (fantastic holster)
5.11 Operator Belt (worked great)
Blade-tech mag pouches (also great)
5 magazines (4 on belt)
150 rds of WWB 115gr 9mm
Peltor Tac Sport Ear Pro (I like them a lot)
Oakley's (Delta wears these, right?)
Small hydration pack to haul my gear to each stage
BCM hat (got completely soaked)
A towel (seriously, bring a towel)
32oz of Gatorade and 64oz of Water