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Shooting classifier on a regular basis - taboo?


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With my busy schedule, I can only participate in two matches a month. At my local gun club, every fourth Saturday is the classifier. Just so happens that is when I'm usually able to shoot matches. So my question is: Is it frowned upon to shoot the classifier on a regular basis? For me it is just another opportunity to shoot and have fun.

Thanks.

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You run the risk of polishing the classifier. What I mean by this is not really improving you skills as much as knowing exactly how to shoot specific targets at specific distances. You may earn classification that you cannot compete with In a match. I do not mean to imply that you will not improve you skill shooting the classifier.

I shoot the classifier in practice a few times a month. As long as you understand how it effects you shooting there is nothing wrong with it. If I had the opportunity to shoot the classifier I would take it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

practice is practice. if you are doing something in a manner that allows you to learn and improve then there is nothing wrong with it. how much dry fire time and number of reps are spent on 1. the draw 2. the reload 3. target transitions 4. movement. pretty much all of it and all the time and yet no one frowns upon repeated practice of those things to get good at them.

so shoot it as much as you want. do what is good for you.

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practice is practice. if you are doing something in a manner that allows you to learn and improve then there is nothing wrong with it. how much dry fire time and number of reps are spent on 1. the draw 2. the reload 3. target transitions 4. movement. pretty much all of it and all the time and yet no one frowns upon repeated practice of those things to get good at them.

so shoot it as much as you want. do what is good for you.

My thoughts exactly. Although, I do understand I may polish certain sequence of actions by shooting the classifier. Hopefully they can be duplicated in my matches.

Thanks all.

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I've got the opposite problem. My schedule hasn't allowed me to do a Classifier in years. And the two that I did had malfunctions. I'm winning some local matches as a "Marksman" in CDP.

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You run the risk of polishing the classifier. What I mean by this is not really improving you skills as much as knowing exactly how to shoot specific targets at specific distances. You may earn classification that you cannot compete with In a match. I do not mean to imply that you will not improve you skill shooting the classifier.

I shoot the classifier in practice a few times a month. As long as you understand how it effects you shooting there is nothing wrong with it. If I had the opportunity to shoot the classifier I would take it.

I like to shoot the Classifier for practice. Recently I asked an accomplished local Master class shooter about this. My goal is to be able to shoot Master level scores at will. I asked - would I end up a 'paper' Master unable to compete at a Master level in matches? He looked at me - I think to see if I was serious - laughed and said: "If you can shoot Master scores on the Classifier at will, you ARE are Master".

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I shot my first classifier a few weeks ago and was 4 seconds shy of Expert, with two headshot misses on stage 1 and 2. The last two local matches I shot, I found myself in the bottom half of the SSP SS group. I guess some shoot the classifier really well but perform less than stellar at matches. I'm starting to believe I'm in that group at the present time.

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The only way I would see it as a problem is if you have limited spaces and someone that needs it (for a sanctioned match) can't get in.

We have roughly 4 a year. The one before last, I got in when someone backed out. Otherwise, I would have had to cancel for a match (and lose the entry fee). I signed up three hours after the signups went live.

If that isn't a problem around your ways, shoot away.

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If you enjoy shooting it, then do what you enjoy. Having said that, why not just shoot one match and use your second day (when you plan to shoot the classifier ad nauseum) to go to a different range and simply practice the skills you feel you're lacking on the "real" match day? If I were in your position, I'd shoot it on occassion but take that time to practice... and save myself a match fee in the process.

I used to shoot Steel Challenge a lot. Some people love the ability to shoot the same thing repeatedly to fine tune it and compare data from match to match. I was that way too for several years, but eventually I got burnt out on the exact same match over and over again. You might find yourself experiencing the same thing after awhile.

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  • 3 weeks later...

With my busy schedule, I can only participate in two matches a month.

At my local gun club, every fourth Saturday is the classifier...

Consider yourself Lucky !

There are clubs that run it only once per year or season and some that have tried to run it on an indoor range in the middle of Winter in one of the Canadian Border states !

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  • 2 months later...

To the person who mentioned head shot misses, when I have shot the classifier for fun or practice if I drop ANY points on stage 1 I stop, tape, reload, clear my head and start over a the first string. Any points dropped on stage 1 are unacceptable for myself.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 months later...

You may earn classification that you cannot compete with In a match. I do not mean to imply that you will not improve you skill shooting the classifier.

I had that problem after a really good classifier score. I shot it twice in a row and became a paper Master. My goal since SS had been to make it to MA.

So yep. Paper Master getting beaten by up and coming Experts at sanctioned matches.

I used it as motivation to buckle down and start dry firing 30 mins a night a few days a week and worked at it until I was in the hunt for a division championship at the matches I attended. One hell of a motivator!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm the opposite. I practice the classifier cold and only get one try at it. I feel this gives me a good feel of what it's like to shoot a real classifier.

This is pretty much were I stand on the issue of shooting the classifier.

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There is a classifier in May at a range about 30 minutes away. There is a USPSA match (1.5 hours away) on the same day. I cannot find a convincing reason to shoot the IDPA classifier. It appears so boring compared to regular matches. I find this thread interesting given the different expectations people have for shooting competition. I really don't care about my "classification." I just want to continuing scoring in the top 3 at local matches (and eventually win more regularly). I agree with an earlier poster that if you practice the classifier a lot and get classified Expert or Master, but get beat at matches by unclassified or people with lower classifications--it would be embarrassing. I want to be the underestimated unclassified guy.

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If you want to shoot anything above a Tier 1 club level match - and that run by a tolerant MD - you have to be classified.

If you are more interested in being the big fish in a small pond and they are letting you get away with it, go ahead, but you will not be welcome at a major match.

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