ErichF

I'd pay $30 a night for a primitive site with access to the range, CLEAN SHOWERS. But, not in the summer here in FL. Hotel AC is good for the soul after a long day in the FL sun pasting and setting steel.

I love the two day split format. Coming from Gainesville, I can drive down to Frostproof leisurely and get to the range by 1pm to start shooting, then finish the rest the next day. It also costs me one less night in the hotel (no Friday Night pre-match drive). I wish more local matches would shoot in the afternoons instead of mornings, at least in the winter months. I'm getting tired of waking up earlier on the weekends for matches I have to drive 1.5 hours to, than I do during the week for work, and I have started to attend matches a lot less because of that. New Scoring system is neat. Below is a copy of my results for the first day. This is printed out at stations around the range by swiping your RFID badge.

I agree completely. I do not play gun games for training. That is what paid training courses are for. I have recently found a range that holds what is essentially a USPSA match with rifles. I shot it for the first time and had a lot more fun than USCA matches.

I've stayed at that Econo Lodge once...ONCE.

The Hernando Sportsmans' Club down here in Central FL Gulf Coast has been doing an Action Rifle match for some time. They follow USPSA safety and procedural type rules, and score something like IDPA. I will be shooting in that match for the first time on Saturday, and I'm very much looking forward to it! http://www.hernandosportsmansclub.com/actionrifle.htm Check out the rules and video for an idea.

Remove a single letter "s" and that phrase brings a whole other meaning.

As they say, "You can't make this stuff up!"

There is such a thing. They have started to legitimize themselves now through a new National Body: USCA

Three years shooting this sport now, and over a dozen major matches including one Nationals...I haven't won a damn thing either in raffles, Division/Class, or table prizes. I don't even bother anymore. I go to a shooting match to shoot stuff and see if I can beat some other guys in the process. Prizes are irrelevant to me. I think the draw of the FL Open (I have yet to shoot one) is the challenge of the match. It's all field courses and from what I hear, very tough. Doing well in the Open means something.

FL has three Sections (maybe 4, don't know if the panhandle has its own, too) in it due to the number of active shooters. What other states have multiple Sections, and how many?

There is absolutely no reason on God's Green Earth that the official rule book PDF on the National Website cannot have a list of changes in it that are updated in real time. I do not look at Front Sight as a place for rule changes, since it is not any more appropriate as a rules outlet than this forum. It's an organizational newsletter required by law for tax-exempt status. It just happens to be good reading too :-)

Easy, the Wyoming Antelope Club in Largo/St Pete: http://www.wyomingantelopeclub.org/ Some the most excellent shooters in the state of FL come from there.

Fly into Tampa or Orlando direct. Standard IATA firearm regulations and no hassles. If you are held up for any reason in any of those northern states airports due to delay or weather, you will have to hold your firearms at the airport while you stay in a hotel somewhere. Folks have been prosecuted for possession of firearms after returning to the airport after spending the night in a hotel. They have been arrested when trying to check in for their flights the following day because they were obviously in possession of a firearm in the city. Stupid and insane, yes, but it happens.

Come on up to the Hernando Sportsman's Club Matches. USPSA matches are 2nd Sunday. They have multigun matches as well.

I shoot my XDM 5.25 in Limited minor every year at the Monster Match, and I can still hold my own against the major PF and fancy all-steel guns. The rest of the year I shoot Production. As for the OP, think of what Division we generally steer newbies: Limited. Limited can be both the easier, less stressful Division and at the same time be the most difficult. Easier for the less competitive shooters because reloads are less frequent with most modern double stacks, and equipment restrictions are minimal. More difficult for the competitive shooters because of the wider range of equipment brought to bear by your fellow Division competitors. Limited arguably has the widest range of gun and equipment options next to Open, but you have to stick with iron sights and no recoil reduction options. Production guns, by design of the Division, are essentially the same and equipment restrictions put most people on the same level field. We Production shooters are often playing a different game than the Open and Limited shooters, as are the poor souls subjecting themselves to Revolver