Bigzona

Thanks for the history lesson. Always interesting to learn where things evolved from.

I'm 19months into USPSA. How long has Overall standings been a thing? I always assumed it was there, and must admit, when I first started overall standings were just as important to me as division standings, but that has since changed.

I'm likely in the minority. Started in CO. Achieved my goals. Moved to Open and now doing some cross training in Limited shooting 40. Learning both irons and the caliber for the first time. My sense is at a national level Limited is healthy enough (judging by participants at Nationals...production is a different story). My view is that the sport should have a place for iron sight shooters (new and old) to play without the 10rnd limit for Prod. Limited is fine as is.

I'm still really surprised about all this. Feels like we blinked, and there are very few option for HC. I'm with @season94. Super curious about ACW's source, but not sure why they would care to share given that many builders no longer offer HC.

For me, it helps with getting a good sense of how to modulate my aggression. When I first started, I'd get in trouble with lots of Mikes because I was a natural hoser. Then I'd over correct and be way to conservative when I really should've been aggressive. Nowadays, that approach has deepened to improving educated guesses on what the hit factor should be on a stage, and letting that define my aggression. The joy of our sport is that the learning is literally perpetual. More advanced shooters are a wealth of knowledge....and there's always somebody better than you.

It would be great to hear back from you and the OP on what you tried from the suggestions and what worked. This is the interesting part of the game where we're all wired different. We have a few high level shooters locally. One clearly separates himself after the walk through the program his plan in....you can literally see it. Then another guy walks through twice, and keeps socializing until he shoots...then proceeds to crush souls. We're all a bit different.

In that case, it's highly likely that the shooter has a lot to learn about keeping their guns running

I have similar approach.

My 2 cents. If you don't shoot majors, and just play as a weekend warrior at locals, then a back up doesn't make sense. If you shoot majors, and more importantly travel for them, then its very necessary. Moreover, I'd submit that its most critical for Open more than other divisions. Yes, your match is likely toast if you have to go t your back up, but at least you can shoot the rest of your match and the $$$ you put into logistics to get to the match isn't toast. Ideal situation is an exact clone of your main gun as stated.

Agreed. Thanks for the input. I'm blessed to have several local clubs, but one in particular really strives to properly test skill in a variety of ways. The others are fun, but do fall into the hose fest trap. I attended Dragon's Cup for the first time this year, and found it quite balanced in its approach to testing skill.

Set up two targets roughly 5yrs apart to start. Aim at one target, but focus on a quarter size spot on the other target. Use a timer on delay (assuming you're training alone) When the beep goes off, transition your pistol from the first target to the spot where you are shooting and fire. Do this at 7yards to start, so it isn't too difficult. What you're doing here is breaking down the transition to build a specific skill; (1) keeping your target focus on that specific spot, as you move the gun from the initial target, (2) developing the visual skill to perceive the dot coming in with your peripheral vision onto the spot you're focusing on, and (3) sending the round at the right tie without over-confirmation. As you improve, widen the distance between targets. After a few reps, do a full transition in which you fire on the first target then transition to the second. Pay close attention to ensure you're leading with your eyes, but also focusing hard on a specific spot on the second target. You won't become well versed in one session, just add this drill into your practice and over time you'll develop the visual skill and timing. Have fun!

This is interesting. I'm 1.5yrs into USPSA, and still learning a lot of the history. What would one consider a good test of skill in a major match? In my mind, some appropriate mix of execution at speed (hoser), accuracy (distance plus target difficulty), and strategy (interesting stages with multiple viable options to execute).

Visualization seems to be one of the most critical part of our game that is a bit under-discussed. The above commentary is all accurate, but each individual is quite different. For me, I try to lock in my plan asap so I can move onto the visualization phase. That includes running it in my head without looking at the stage, and when I get stuck I take a look, then look away and do it again in my head until I don't have to look at the stage. I was once told that when you've visualized correctly, first the fluidity in execution of the stage is self evident, but second you will likely have the stage in your head for a week.

Great discussion. As stated above (and I agree), one thing is high volume competition 2011s that require attention to ensure all components stay in tune (particularly for major PF), versus a 2011 used for EDC/CCW that will get some occasional practice rounds. Before being serious about competition, I owned all the Staccatos and ran them hard with virtually no malfunctions. They've all since been sold, with exception to my EDC (a C2), and I have the utmost trust in them. In contrast, all my competition 2011s in Open and Limited have had a number of malfunctions in the initial phase while I worked through tuning to my preference, as well as the learning curve of going to major PF.

Comprehensive and balanced. We all shoot for different reasons and have different motivations for investing time and money in this sport. Ultimately it's a hobby for the vast majority....go have fun with what you like to have fun with, and don't be mad at others that define in a different way. Happy that LO is here....more ways to have fun. Carry on!

9major generates higher pressures than 38Super for major loads.

I fully agree with this, but there's some nuance here. A person jumping to Open Major has some maintenance practices to develop that may not be obvious in the absence of doing some proper homework. I'll happily share my experience. I wasn't new to the double stack 1911 platform when I switched to open. My open guns are from Don at Venom Customs (reputable builder!!). I already had a habit of cleaning my pistols and inspecting them after every match. For my minor pistols, I was probably cleaning out the extractor channel every 5000 rounds with no issues. Given that I'm using 3 times the powder for major, it gets much dirtier much sooner. Ignorantly, I stuck to my usual cleaning regiment until my extractor went out of tune due to the tremendous build up in the extractor channel. Reliable gun. Ignorant user. I've since adjusted and the guns have been excellent. Shooting Open (and in particular 9 major), it's critical to stay on top of small parts due to high pressures. So yes, you get what you pay for and its key to use a reputable builder. But there are some considerations that are specific to shooting Open Major that a newbie will need to learn to keep the gun running.

All great advice so far!! I'd lean in hard on asking other Open shooters what their maintenance cycles look like. What components of their pistols have failed and why. And do your best to ensure you have some understanding of what maintenance and preventative maintenance practices are necessary to keep the gun running. I did something similar, and and all my local shooters had different challenges to overcome in their journey. I went 3000 perfect rounds before I started to battle with gremlins, but I learned as quickly as I could, and generally now know how to keep the gun running. In summary, have a great gunsmith or be prepared to get very intimate with your open gun (tinker!).

Sounds like an extractor with too much tension. If you're not comfortable with checking and tuning the tension on your extractor, then call Atlas. It's almost certainly the case that too much tension is keeping the round from properly chambering since the rim of the cartridge isn't sliding behind the hook of the extractor.

EGW is pretty good. I'd just recommend learning how to check that it maintains tension, most importantly before your major matches. As a general good practice, if you keep the extractor channel fairly clean, then your extractor should maintain tension for quite some time.

They rarely stay in stock. They popped up at Shooters Connection for a day and a half then went back out of stock.

Putting aside caring or not about what top shooters do, I think the points above are simply the bottom line. I'm a year and a half into the sport. I delayed joining the sport given that my collection was predominantly 9minor 2011s. Eventually joined CO with a shadow 2 and then made the investment for Open since I love the platform so much. Had LO existed, I would have joined the sport sooner and never would have invested in Open (which I do love btw). This past weekend, I saw plenty of Limited and Open shooterS opt to run LO and dust off their 9minor 2011s from the safe.

I believe Tim Herron is the Limited Optics G. It'll be good to start seeing the data come in for the various Area Matches.

I strangely don't perceive any challenges in the reloading process across the mag sizes. If anything, 140s are my least favorite because I have 'shorter' real estate to grab. And the reverse is true, 170s are easiest for me to execute a fast reload with....perhaps it's my large hands.

If the 170 is enough for the entire stage, its all I ever use. If there's a reload and stage planning allows, I start with 155 and reload to the 170 (I try to avoid dropping my 170s). 140s are usually my emergency and Barney mag on the furthest back mag pouch. Might change this approach, but for now its working.