Blueridge

I'll stick to amusing Devon like I did at the Toys for Tots match this past December in South Carolina. I'll have my hands full just TRYING to be competitive with the D & C class revolver shooters. Fortunately for me I will not have any revolver shooters in my squad Saturday. That way I won't know how good or bad I did in the revolver division until the results Sunday.

Shooting sports are great for improving gun handling skills. Also IDPA gets you in the mindset of using cover to your benefit. The way that these things help with self defense are that they build your confidence in those areas, thus leaving you to be able to concentrate on other issues. In a situation that requires you to use your firearm in self defense, you will automatically fall back on the skills that you have honed in practice, training, and the shooting sports that you participate in. This will leave your conscious mind free to handle the issues that occur in self defense that cannot easily/really be practiced. Shooting sports DO help with self defense, because thay give you the opportunity to shoot under the pressure of time. Thus we find out how we react when it is not just sending rounds downrange at our leisure. You can never be prepared for every possible self-defense situation that could arise, but you can hone the skills you have as best you can. I shoot a Ruger Alaskan (.454/.45) loaded with .45 Colt in both IDPA and USPSA competitions. It is not the "best" revolver that I could use, but it is the primary revolver that I have around me the most. I say bring what you have and if you later want to get another revolver go for it. I have used my Alaskan solely since I decided to shoot revolver in IDPA and USPSA about 3 years ago. I own a S&W 625 in .45 ACP (which I have seen as a very popular revolver for both shooting sports), but I prefer the Ruger Alaskan.

I don't see Bob P listed on the self service squadding page for the match. I guess that someone else will have to step up and make Devon P work to defend his title. In the grand scheme of things I am mainly going to be there as comic relief.

Well there are 11 revolver shooters listed for the match (myself being one of them ). It should be interesting and fun at least. I am going to have the most fun I possibly can, and let the results show if I am competitive . I plan on using a lighter powder load, so maybe I won't sound so much like I am setting off a cannon when I am shooting through a stage (185PF with a 250gr bullet can be a bit loud you know). I'll still put the fear of .45 Colt into the steel poppers though . My overall goals are to have fun, finish respectably in the revolver division, and have as many auto shooters behind me in the overall rankings that I can manage. In that order of course .

I took the test this past Wednsday, passed (with a 100%), and got the letter in the mail with my new card yesterday. Great setup!

I would have to say that I only shot between 3000-6000 rounds last year, and on the low end at that. I have a few other sports/hobbies that I participate in (Archery, Olympic Style Fencing, Photography) along with 3 shooting sports which limits my time for each. I have the USPSA NC Sectionals in May, the State Games of NC fencing event [i'm the event manager] in June, and the US Fencing Summer Nationals coming up in July. This along with monthly competitions in several of the above.

From what I have read most of the posts (understanably) refer to auto shooters reloading. While the information is valuable, it does not seem to really equate to reloading revolvers. The method for reloading an auto and a revolver is a bit different, and that is why the reloads take less time on average with the auto. Some different things have to be paid attention to with a revolver and more steps in the process. You are not going to see many (if any) revolver shooters completing a reload on the first step leaving one location to the other.

What will be the limit on the number of shooters for the match? If there will be a maximum number I wnt to get my application in as soon as possible

239 total rounds required, so I guess I will be bringing 500 rounds to be on the safe side. You never know when something will go wrong and you might have to re-shoot a stage. I get the feeling that I will need to get a glove or tape my left hand for protection against the cylinder heat during the latter reloads on several of the courses. Seven of the nine stages will require 4-5 reloads mandatory (shooting revolver), and somewhere around 20-25 rounds the cylinder can get pretty warm/hot from my experience. I have reduced the powder charge in my reloads recently, so that should allevate some of the heat issues.

One of the benefits that I have found from shoting 45 Colt in competition is that I have been allowed to retrieve my brass at almost all of the matches that I have participated in that were "lost brass" matches. The RO's normally tell me that I can retrieve my brass after my run through the stage, or they have given it to me later in the day when the brass is gathered from the stages. I have always been appreciative of that kindness that has been extended to me. I don't count on that being the case, but I can only remember one time in the last 3 years (the whole time I have been competing in IDPA & USPSA) where I was not allowed to retrieve my brass at a lost brass match. Even that one time I was given my brass from 3 stages where the RO's on those stages did not want it. I don't use moonclips, by the way. It's speedloaders all the way.

Being a revolver shooter, I have pondered the movement and reload issue quite a bit. I take it as a given that I will have to reload 3-5 times a stage on average. That casued me to consider moving then reload, reload then move, or reload while moving. Generally I reload prior to moving because it has so far been faster and feels smoother to me. The idea of reloading while moving makes sense to me in theory since doing two things at the same time should save time, but the reality of multi-tasking is much different than the theory in my experience. Then again most people that see me shoot would say that I am not concerned with speed.

I was 36 when I started in the sport.

I would prefer to have an address of the range, which often is not on the website for the range even. I use Google Maps and a Garmin GPS when I go ranges. Many give directions on how to get to thier range (from the north, south, etc...), but no destination address. Give me at least a block number if the range has no specific address please.

I just don't want to miss this match......I'm sure you understand that.

Any word on the application being available?

I have been looking for good books for revolver shooting focused on competition. I heve yet to find any that really suit what I am looking for. I understand that auto shooters are more numerous, but someone could at least have a section of their book or segment of their video focused on revolvers. I have even had trouble finding many sources on revolver use for defensive purposes. Thunder Ranch has some videos that cover revolver use, but that is about all I have come across.

Looking forward to signing up for the match, planning the trip, and enjoying Memphis. This will be my fall excursion away from work.

The answer for me is that I am sometimes the only revolver shooter at a match, and until recently I could not shoot production with my revolver (Ruger Alaskan [actually no Ruger revolvers]) because it was not on the list allowed to be used in production. I like having the choice of shooting revolver or production division, and it will be icing on the cake if I can finish higher than a number of auto shooters in their division.

Actually I have to disagree with you on that. I am right handed and left eye dominant and shoot a bow lefty. I have had no problems shooting this way, and I can shoot a bow right handed also. It feels natural to me either way, but I prefer shooting lefty. The gentleman that taught me the basics of archery started me shooting lefty and I have stayed with that. Basically people are adaptable, some more than others. The best thing is to try as many options as you can and decide from that. As I posted above, I shoot long guns shouldered on my right using my right eye. Handguns I shoot with my right hand using my left eye normally. I can shoot handguns using my right eye and have naturally switched from one eye to the other during courses of fire (due to barricades and such). My left eye is the strongly dominant one, but I am able to switch to my right when necessary. I had trouble with my left contact lens at a match and without thinking about it switched over to my right eye in the middle of a stage. I did not realize I had done so until I had finished the stage. I am an adequate shooter with both handguns and long guns (I have a bit of practice to improve my archery consistentcy). I have been fortunate that I can use either eye to shoot handguns (being left eye dominant), shoot long guns on my right side using my right eye, and shoot bows either lefty or righty. I apologize for any thread drift, as this started as a discussion about firearms.

I suggest that you use what you have until you get to a point that you can buy what you would prefer to use. There is nothing wrong with using what you have, no matter what division you have to use it in. Do your best with what you have, as anything that you learn now will transfer over any revolver that you get in the future. Most of it will transfer over to any handgun you use now or in the future. I don't say this as a person that uses the revolver and equipment that the majority seems to like best, but as someone who enjoys using what he has and has stuck with it. I use a Ruger Alaskan (.45 Colt/.454 Casull) loaded with .45 Colt in competition. It weighs 43-44 ounces and as such places me in the ESR division. I use HKS speedloaders and have little problem manipulating them on stages. There are no other speedloaders that are reccomended for the Alskan, and I have not had the chance to try any that might work personally. I simply compete against whomever else is in my division and read the results at the end. Moonclips are a little faster for me to reload with in the 625 as compared with my Alaskan reloads, but that has not been a "deal breaker" to lead me to move to the 625. I participate in both IDPA and USPSA, so the majority of my competition uses moonclips with their revolvers. Lately my accuracy has been up there with the top revolver shooters in competitions that I have participated in, and I am improving my speed as I get more experience. I have a S&W 625 and equipment for it, but I prefer to use the Alaskan instead. Nothing is wrong with the 625, I just like the feel of the Ruger better.

Not to go off topic, but I love that they finally put Ruger revolvers on the approved production list. Now I can give the beat down to my friend that shoots in production and use my revolver to do it (and then run it in ). ......Now back to our regularly scheduled posts.

I can see what people are getting at, but I don't quite agree with the overall idea. You should focus on improving your personal abilities, irrespective of others. That said you need to work towards something and looking at what others have done allows you to create goals for yourself. You don't live in a vacuum, and ignoring what those aound you accomplish is like sticking your head in the sand. You shoot for yourself, but you compete with others. I shoot revolver in USPSA & IDPA competition. In doing so I have markedly improved my skills with revolvers and autos. My goal to improve is based on my skills alone, but I endeavour to surpass as many fellow shooters possible in competition. You can go to the range and improve your skills without competition, but to compete well you have to hone your skills equal or better than others. Should you worry about others being better than you? No you should not. You should however find something that drives you to continue to improve. Often the easiest thing to do that is competition with others.

I also think that the current demand (that does not seem to be lessening any time soon) from our military is effecting the availability. I feel that their demand should come first anyway, but it would be nice to see a nice supply at the local stores though. I have enough to likely get me through the year, as I don't expend more than 300 rounds of ammo a month on average (I focus on quality over quantity practice). If I had the ammo expendatures that many have (1,000's a month) then I would have a problem with supply. Supply will increase and prices will decrease in due time I believe.

Well I have never had a failure due to my revolver not being clean. I usually go through 100 rounds in a practice session, and may go through 300 rounds a month. This is mainly because I shoot two or three guns in a practice session (single action revolver, double action revolver, and auto pistol). I am not really a big follower of shooting 1000+ rounds in a firearm per session, week, or each month. I don't even dry fire my handguns much (almost never). I primarily look at videos on youtube and stage designs from various matches and think through how I would approach them. I come up with drills from going through those media and practice them when I go to the range. I don't give myself more than 3 times through a shooting string, because as I see it you don't get to go through stages as many times as you like. I compete in USPSA, IDPA, CAS, and Steel Challenge as often as I can. The four disiplines work to improve my firearm handling skills quite a bit. A large part of my view on training comes from the fact that I participate in so many sports. Along with the four above I compete in olympic style fencing in the Foil and Epee events. I have been fortunate to qualify and participate in 8 of the last 9 US Fencing Summer Nationals in either Foil, Epee, or both. Therefore do multiple practices on multiple days a week, as opposed to focusing on one sport. Why limit myself unles I have to.

Rats!!! I cannot go because I have a fencing tournament that I need to attend in preparation for the NC Fencing Divisionals (qualifier for the US Fencing Summer Nationals). So many sports, so little time.