jdavionic

Looking at the factory front. Looks like .185 might be better?

i wanted to get a trijicon front sight to replace the factory front sight only. I was going to stay with the factory rear sight. The front sight that I was looking at is the Warren Tactical Tritium front sight with a height of .215. Will that work? Looks like the factory front is shorter.

Thanks for the response. With respect to the latter discussion, I honestly wouldn't care whether kids were officially scored or not. I think kids would like to see their scores posted locally for the same reasons that adults like to see them. But as far as making the scores official and getting a classification, I seriously doubt my kid would care about these official items at her age. And by the time she cares about it, she'll be shooting a firearm that meets the official requirements. My only input regarding adding a division is that it might work to attract more young people to the organization on a whole. But whether USPSA wants that or not, and whether they believe that this new division(s) would be benefit or not is obviously up to them. I don't see a down side to it. But as I said, I'm quite new to the organization.

I just don't see a youth program / division evolving into the sport's death sentence. The NRA offers various small bore competition and youth programs. I don't see the degradation there. Unfortunately they don't offer anything that is as dynamic as the challenges offered by the USPSA.

It may an ignorant question...but just how available are these Steel Challenge matches? For me, I suspect that the closest is an hour drive and that the frequency is not weekly.

Wow, what an interesting debate. Being relatively new to USPSA/IPSC, I’m surprised at the issues being introduced. For what it’s worth, I’ll offer the perspective from someone who has not been in this too long. Pros: Offers an opportunity to introduce kids to the sport. In my case, I have a child that is interested but she is simply too small to safely handle a 9mm. Although I’ve seen and know of kids that are relatively small who can handle them, I suspect the comfort level would be higher with a .22LR. Increases participation in the sport. I have seen & heard of cases where local clubs have struggled to get enough participation. I don’t see where opening the door to additional people will have anything but a positive affect on enrollment and participation. From a political perspective, I think it is beneficial to encourage the youth to learn about firearms, safe handling of firearms, enjoying the benefits of owning and using firearms responsibly, and as they mature they can understand implications of the daily challenges that we face with folks who want to take them away. Perhaps this participation will help the next generation take charge in this constant battle over the second amendment. Cons: For some folks (not me), it may prove to be frustrating with additional time required for scoring (tiny .22 holes can be a challenge), close scrutiny by the RO, etc. I guess one could argue the merits of citing a .22LR as fitting into the original plan for the sport. I haven’t researched the history of the sport enough to respond; but it appears to be a concern. Risk & Liability of having a younger, novice shooter in the sport. As a parent, I can say that I wouldn’t let my children even go to the range until I felt they were mature enough to handle the gun safely. I have taught them and constantly reinforced safe handling of firearms. However I recognize that you don’t have to go far to find examples of parents that are irresponsible. In response to this issue though, I have seen many adults that are irresponsible in their handling of firearms too. I think you run the risk with any new shooter. With respect to the logistics of how this might work, I would expect that a parent must be present & an active member for their child to participate. I would not want this to turn into some twisted firearm daycare facility. I would expect that the organization would list acceptable firearms for use in this division. This should allow the organization to help ensure that the shooter is working their way up to higher caliber firearms. Scoring – I shoot minor and wouldn’t have any issues with the rimfire division being scored the same. These are kids and they are in a different division. I don’t see the issue their scores being comparable to other divisions. Personally, I’d love for my kid to be a better shooter than me. Production only. I think we’ve got a lot of options out there already. To help simplify scoring and encourage kids to learn on production firearms, I think production is the best solution. Heck, my Dad wouldn’t let me shoot with a scope at all. Let them wait to explore the other options until after they have a good foundation to work from.

First off, let me say that if you are concerned about thread hijacking from the perspective of the original poster (me)...please don't be. I appreciate all of the feedback and the thread has evolved to a useful discussion that is beneficial for the sport. If creating a new thread is helpful for further discussion, that's fine. However the mods shouldn't feel the need to create one for my benefit. As another member noted, this topic was discussed at our local match and they were very receptive & supportive of the idea. When I got home, I told my daughter that I had good news and that, if she wanted to, she could compete with a .22LR pistol and that there was another person with a 12 yr old son that was interested. She just smiled and said "oh, I'll beat him"...very amusing when you hear it coming from this small girl. Point being, it appears in just the small sample in this thread that we could generate more participation in the sport by allowing younger, responsible kids an opportunity to participate. To help with an example, here's my rough plan for my daughter. I'll go with her to a range and rent & borrow a couple of types of handguns to help determine which one she is most comfortable. I'm looking at the Ruger Mk III and Browning Buckmark, but I'd appreciate any other suggestions. Somewhere along the line of this activity, I want her to come & watch a few matches. When we purchase a gun & accessories, I plan on teaching her the basics (reinforce the safe handling points that she has already been taught, teach her the RO commands, procedures, etc). Then when she appears to be ready and she agrees that she's ready, we'll give it shot.

Don't misunderstand. Most clubs will allow her to compete, and may even post her scores. But she will not get classified by USPSA until she starts shooting a pistol that meets the reqiurements of the division she is shooting. In essence she will just be shooting for fun, and of course the learning experience. But heck yea, bring her out. Thank you. I don't think she'll care about the classification. Hopefully they'll post her scores on the local website. I know she'd like to compare herself against others. She's very competitive (competitive gymnast) and it is one thing that motivates her a lot.

Thank you for the encouraging feedback. It sounds like it's basically at the discretion of the local club. I'm a relatively new member (joined in July '07) and I don't think I've missed one local match. I've never seen anyone as young as my daughter shooting with them; and I didn't see any allowance for her participation with a .22LR in the rule book. So I didn't think there was an option for her until she got big enough to handle a 9mm.

My daughter just turned 12. She's quite small (20th percentile for height & weight) but she loves shooting. She wants to shoot "better than Dad", which is great to hear. But can she with a Ruger Mk III? Or a Browning Buckmark? When I look at the USPSA rule book, it looks like she must shoot a 9mm. But a 9mm for her is a bit much at this point in her size / comfort level. Help for this eager young girl! Many thanks.

btt

I've got an XDSC in 9mm and I've been thinking of competing with this gun in USPSA Production. When I purchased the gun, Springfield sold it in an XD Gear kit that included a 15rd magazine with a sleeve and some other items. My question is - can I compete using this magazine with sleeve in production? Is it considered an OEM item since it is sold by Springfield with their gun? Thanks.

I didn't understand that they were different. So is there an advantage to shooting limited versus production or vice versa with this gun? What would you recommend? The gun is more for production. If you shoot it in limited, you will be shooting against tricked out 2011 guns with higher magazine capacity. I don't know how you shoot, but you will be handicapping yourself with that gun in limited division. There's no advantage for that gun in limited division. My recommendation is to shoot it in production and practice the double action first shot so you get used to it and it won't be so "night and day." Thanks! Production it is then. I have enough challenges...both financially & with respect to skill level.

I didn't understand that they were different. So is there an advantage to shooting limited versus production or vice versa with this gun? What would you recommend?

I just shot my first match with mostly borrowed equipment and a different gun than the one I wanted to use. I want to use my Beretta 92F for limited production. What are the pros / cons of using the gun? One area of curiousity pertains to the loading & ready setup. When you are on the line & insert the magazine and chamber a round, do you do so with the safety on or off? If off, then are you allowed to re-holster the weapon with the hammer back? For me, it's day & night with respect to the trigger pull & accuracy on my first shot.