why do you shoot the division you shoot?

[steviesterno]

Hey all,

I have been bored at work and reading all about what it takes to do well in Open and Production, even though I'm pretty much a solid SS shooter. It got me thinking, why do you choose to shoot the division you shoot in?

I really love the 1911. I carry one, keep one next to the bed, and love the ergos. I also like those fancy polymer wonder 9s, and dots are fun! However, I keep coming back to SS because it makes me make the hits. I like to know I have safety round to make up a miss, but that's it. I also think it's making me much better at stage dissection. I find that making good hits and making them count is helping me beat production, limited, and some open shooters over all. Plus a 1911 is dead sexy, and that's all there is too it.

So basically, what do you shoot and why?

Steve

[jualdeaux]

i shoot SS because I'm coming from IDPA and I shoot ESP with my 1911. I could shoot production with a couple of others but I just shoot that Trojan better.

Oh, and I don't have a limited or open gun.

[michael b.]

I've shot all sorts of guns in my life, but I shoot SS because I love the way the 1911 fits my hand. I also love the added challenge it brings.

[Sarge]

I shot Production with a Glock 34 for a couple of years but being 52 years old tomorrow I was having trouble picking up the front sight. I wanted to eventually get a 2011 and shoot Limited but I wouldn't be able to see those sights any better. So I splurged and made the jump to Open. I tried to shoot the Glock the other day and it's just not happening. I'll probably be selling it soon.

So, long story short, Open because I don't have to struggle to see the front sight.

[Skydiver]

I shoot L10 because I like to tinker on my guns and I like the stage breakdown problem when only having 10+1 rounds. Production provides very narrow constraints for gun tinkering, so L10 it has to be.

[blaster113]

My bread and butter is L10/Limited but I dabble in Open and Production. I like the wide open equipment rules in Limited; close to Open but with iron sights (no scopes and comps of course). Plus I realize my strength is in Limited/L10 after trying out the other divisions.

[Jim Norman]

I shot Production with a Glock 34 for a couple of years but being 52 years old tomorrow I was having trouble picking up the front sight. I wanted to eventually get a 2011 and shoot Limited but I wouldn't be able to see those sights any better. So I splurged and made the jump to Open. I tried to shoot the Glock the other day and it's just not happening. I'll probably be selling it soon.

So, long story short, Open because I don't have to struggle to see the front sight.

Kevin, same problem, ,but with inserts in my Rudy's I can see the front sight. The correction is in between reading and distance. Limited, L-10, SS and on rare occasions, Revo and Prod, even rarer Open. Interesting that I need to ware my regular glasses to shoot open!

[TwoShot]

I am 58 years old and have severe astigmatism (correction -20.5) and a cataract among other issues in my dominant left eye. 20/40 is the best the Dr. can correct my vision in that eye. 20/20 in the right. Just can't see conventional sights. I went to open to be able to shoot at all. My C-more has a 6 minute dot, what I see is about a 12 minute grape cluster of dots. I sight in using the center of the cluster. After an 8 year layoff, came back 4 years ago and made A class with this setup.

[Jaxshooter]

I am 61 and with contacts I can still see the sights . I shoot open more than anything else but enjoy shooting revolver almost as much.

[XRe]

Open.... pure speed, flow, and adrenaline, baby Who wouldn't want to drive Top Fuel?

[Seth]

Limited... I'm young enough to see the sights and too old to go fast.

[Sarge]

I shot Production with a Glock 34 for a couple of years but being 52 years old tomorrow I was having trouble picking up the front sight. I wanted to eventually get a 2011 and shoot Limited but I wouldn't be able to see those sights any better. So I splurged and made the jump to Open. I tried to shoot the Glock the other day and it's just not happening. I'll probably be selling it soon.

So, long story short, Open because I don't have to struggle to see the front sight.

Kevin, same problem, ,but with inserts in my Rudy's I can see the front sight. The correction is in between reading and distance. Limited, L-10, SS and on rare occasions, Revo and Prod, even rarer Open. Interesting that I need to ware my regular glasses to shoot open!

SSSHHHHHHHHH!!! As far as my wife knows glasses would not work for me and I HAD to get an Open gun! That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!

Funny you mentioned it but I also noticed the dot is perfectly clear with regular glasses whereas iron sights are quite blurry!

[MoNsTeR]

Open: gadgets! gizmos!

[donnyglock]

Open... Its the most fun you can have with your pants on.

[Neomet]

I bounce between Open and Limited. I like them both. Open satisfies the tinkerer in me and is the easy button for hard/tight shots. Limited has guns that look like guns rather than cosmic particle projectors and I am actually more consistent with irons.

[LPatterson]

I have no idea. It is a matter of wanting to try something different. When I started there was Limited and Open and I had a 1911. So within the rules I bought some 10 round magazines. But I was having to do mag changes that other Limited shooters so I bought a Para 14-45. Hung up on the .45ACP so I went to a Glock 21C, some mag extension and an Optima to shoot Open. Too many ejected shells into the Optima made it useless. Then lo and behold there was a Limited 10 Division so I went back to that, for awhile. Then a Production Division was created and 9mm bullets were cheaper so I tried that for awhile with a Baretta Vertec because it was supposed to have a 1911 grip angle. Never could get the hang of the DA/SA pull. So it was on to the newly created Single Stack Division and back to my 1911. One day in Sportsman's Warehouse and how I had just about every time gun they had and I was pointed to a 625 they wanted to get rid of. Well it used a .45ACP which I had a ton of so I tried Revolver Division for awhile but couldn't get the hang of all the reloads and stages where they wanted you to shoot an 8 round array where you had to carry something in the off hand. Attended a GSSF match with a borrowed gun and won a gun, picked a G17 because I thought I might go back to Production.

All the rambling still does not explain why I shoot the Division I do, which next year will be Open again with a G24C with a C-More. A local sporting goods store had it on the shelf for 6 months before they marked it down by $100 and I am a sucker for a sale.

[GrumpyOne]

I shoot Production (although I have open guns too). I chose Production as it seems to be the most level playing field, and is based more on the shooter, than the equipment (this is my opinion, and others may disagree with it, as is their right.)

[DoubleA]

I shoot Limited right now because that's what my glock is set up for and I want to master it before I move on to a gun that is much easier for me to shoot. Then it is on to shooting production with a CZ or even maybe open if I came across the right deal.

[wurm]

I shoot Production because I started shooting a Glock in IDPA. When I started coming out to USPSA matches all I had to do was add a few mag pouches and I was ready to go. Well that and take off the vest.

I also like to torture myself. I have a serious itch to get an Open gun but I know sticking with one division is probably better for my shooting than switching back and forth a bunch. We shall see how long I can hold out.

[EEH]

I shot Production with a Glock 34 for a couple of years but being 52 years old tomorrow I was having trouble picking up the front sight. I wanted to eventually get a 2011 and shoot Limited but I wouldn't be able to see those sights any better. So I splurged and made the jump to Open. I tried to shoot the Glock the other day and it's just not happening. I'll probably be selling it soon.

So, long story short, Open because I don't have to struggle to see the front sight.

thread drift but--Happy Birthday,,and thanks for your service

[ksmirk]

I just got going and choose limited, my reason might be odd but I feel there are more folks shooting limited and I like the challenge. I think I might try some L10 to help me with my mapping out my stages better and reloads next year. I think revo will be in my future but later as my budget is a little shy but it looks like a good time. Either way I'm shooting and having a good time even if I only have a "U" classification Later,

Kirk

[Braxton1]

I am liable to have a hot compensator shoved somewhere undesirable for saying this, but I shoot the iron-sighted Divisions mostly because I don't care for dots. It really feels like I am playing a "first-person shooter" video game when I shoot Open.

(I have a Dawson Stroker Open gun, so it isn't a "I hate those people with their big mags and fancy scopes" thing.)

I started in Open back when there was no Limited/L-10/Production and a high-tech gun was a 45 single-port comp with 8-round mags. The transition to 38 Supers was nice, but wasn't a quantum leap, because they still had iron sights and only held 10 rounds. When the dots and hi-caps came in, it really didn't feel so much like a shooting contest anymore because a lot of skills were not tested as rigorously anymore (A 26-round field course used to require at least two on-the-clock reloads. Now, even the cheapest guy can do that with one big stick with factory guts in it.) The necessity to quickly "read" sights was also negated.

I went along with the equipment race, owning every Safariland holster from the 007 all the way to the 013 and equipping my gun with ever-increasing capacity and the latest dot sight. I was one of the first in the South to use a dot and one of the first to use a TRI (now STI) frame. Innovation doesn't bother me and I actually do appreciate it.

When Limited came out, I laughed at first. Once I tried it, I realized that it put the challenge back into it for me. Iron sights and having to do reloads made it fun for me again.

When Production came, there was the additional challenge of the relatively sucky triggers and carry-type holsters.

Like I said, this is just insight into my personal mindset. It's just like my opinion on hunting. I don't do it, but I will stand up for YOUR right to.

I still pull the Open gun or the STI Limited guns out occasionally for a brief romp, but always go back to my Glocks or Single-Stacks.

[snow patrol]

I only shoot limited, and kinda found myself getting there by circumstance.

I'm a big fan of Smith and Wesson. I carry one at work on duty (gen 3 auto, not a M&P), and love the M&P pistols. I really wanted to get into USPSA through production division, and went looking for a 5" M&P. First I wanted a 9mm, then I learned about power factor and how it related to scoring. Couldn't find a 9 pro or 9L anywhere to save my life, but found a lonely NIB 40L at a local dealer, so without much thought I bought it. Got it home and shortly thereafter discovered... It's not on the approved production list. So after lots of Apex parts, goodies from SSS, and some Taylor Freelance mag extensions, I've got a rockin Smith and Wesson limited division gun. After shooting lots and lots of rounds through "production" guns like my duty Smith and M9 in the military, shooting a tricked out gun at major power factor with rounds I've loaded myself is a ton of fun. And, it's still a Smith and Wesson!

[Inkman]

I simply enjoy shooting my good old 1911 much more than any production guns at the moment. Limited looks like a lot of fun and i'll probably get going in that sooner than later, but Revolver, for me at least, would be a really fun division to tackle.

Al

[steviesterno]

hmm, lots of interesting posts! I'm a relatively young gun at 28, but love me the nostalgia and feel of a 1911. I'm new at reloading, and can still manage to get 45 ACP to a soft shooting major. Now I will be "forced" to shoot something double stack in 3 gun next year, mostly to save belt space and on reloads. But we're running a 3 gun match up here next week with pistol shots onto clays at 25 yards. can't break out my double stack 9mms and hit a damn thing like that, but I know with the 1911 and 2 rounds max, i can do that at 50 yards all day.

Mostly I'm scared to try open because I know I would love it, want it, obsess about it, but still not be able to afford it.