Bill

Billf, Do you have any destinations in mind? How about dates? If you go to http://www.idpa.com and look at upcoming matches that could give you some idea where and when for state matches. Then ask us if they are any good. Have you thought about starting your own club close to home? IDPA clubs are less paperwork than USPSA. Bill Nesbitt (Edited by BILL at 5:42 am on April 22, 2002)

Billf, You will find as you travel around that different people in different areas are supposedly shooting the same sport but it is different. That happens not only in shooting sports but everything. I have been places where you wonder if anybody ever read the rule book. Since we started looking at ALL matches as ROTD we have a good time everywhere. The IDPA Nationals has been pretty good the last couple of years. Decent stages and consistant SO's. What part of the country are you from? Maybe some of us here can give you a few tips on State matches to attend or avoid. The West Virginia State will be good. Carolina Cup also. Bill Nesbitt

Billf, Did you start at position 1 with the car behind you? If so, as close as I can figure from the course description, I would have engaged the targets as I moved backwards toward cover behind the car. How close was the popper? Usually it is best to be 10 yards or so from any steel for safety purposes. Yes I do look for better ways to shoot a stage. Instead of calling it gaming I call it finding a better way to survive on the street. That makes it OK. Bill Nesbitt

I'm running about 8# on my Model 10 S&W. Works OK for me. Bill Nesbitt

Flex, I was SC when the Tri-State section was formed. I did not run for re-election after about 3 years. Most of the clubs in the section joined IDPA when it started. One of the big reasons is because 2 members of IDPA's BOD live here. Poor match design also had a small part. Several of the clubs had mostly Limited shooters so the switch to IDPA was easy. In my opinion USPSA is missing the boat by not promoting Production more. IDPA has proved that many shooters want to shoot production type guns. Maybe the Street - - - OOPS I mean Factory Gun Nationals will help. Cost of equipment is a big thing to many. To shoot Limited or Limited 10 you need a 1000 to 2000 dollar pistol. For Open it is a little more expensive. Production you can shoot for $500 or a little more. USPSA lost many shooters to IDPA. To get them back they need to promote Production. Bill Nesbitt

Charles, I was at TDI too. It was a fun match. With traveling SO's you can have a large one day match and the SO's get to shoot too. Many large matches will have the SO's shoot the day before so they can have SO's dedicated to each stage. I prefer dedicated SO's, but if I work my butt off at a match I want to shoot it too. Flex, I haven't seen the results either. Bill Nesbitt

A sight picture is when you have your gun out and take aim at the targets during the load and make ready. It is not allowed in IDPA but is quite common in most other shooting sports. Shadow or Ghost shooting is when you point your finger, magazine or something else instead of your gun. There is no rule in the green book prohibiting shadow shooting, but it is usually frowned upon as not being in the "Spirit" of IDPA. The theory is that on the street you will not have a chance to see how the light affects your sight picture until the shooting starts. There is usually a talk through when the squad gets the stage instructions. Of course it is hard not to see things if you are helping paste targets. Charles Where were you shooting? You can e-mail me if you want. Bill Nesbitt (Edited by BILL at 2:39 pm on April 9, 2002)

It's only happened once so far, but the flatgunners fear me. Bill Nesbitt

"yeah, SSR is a fun event BUT its not where the competition is" The competition is to beat all the flatgunners with a round gun. Bill Nesbitt

If IDPA is training, shouldn't we be gaming every stage? To find better ways to survive on the street? Just a thought. Bill Nesbitt

Perhaps I should explain myself better. When I said "push the envelope" I was talking about cheating pure & simple not gaming. In my opinion gaming is a good thing. We can use it to find better ways to shoot a stage and, just maybe, we can find a better way to stay alive on the street. Bill Nesbitt

Yea, I guess $ could be a reason. I shoot for fun. That's why I am still doing it after all these years. I figure even loading on a Dillon 1050 I am still in the hole. Bill Nesbitt

I guess a good question now is; WHY don't they shoot anymore? I have been shooting some form of pistol competition for 20 years. I have seen a LOT of people come and go. Bill Nesbitt

Flex, The original intent for IDPA was to have a bare minimum of rules, just enough to point shooters in the correct direction. Hopefully everyone would "Do The Right Thing" The FTDR was for the very few times when people cheated. Too many people tried to push the envelope. Now we have more rules. Storm, I agree they should give FTDR's for some stage design. Makes you wonder what were those people thinking??? Bill Nesbitt

I am one of the Safety Officer trainers for IDPA. To get ready I have spent a lot of time with the Green Book. It is a lot thicker than the first Red Book I got back in 1997. I don't think we would have needed a bigger rule book if we had just used the FTDR correctly. How many of you have ever seen someone get an FTDR? Have you ever given one yourself? Have you ever gotten one yourself? Have you seen someone that should have gotten one and they didn't? What are your thoughts? Bill Nesbitt

Here's my results. S&W Model 10 round butt 3 inch with a post front sight. Trigger is 8# and smooth. Put dime on front sight & extend pistol in normal shooting grip. First time 10 straight & stopped. Then 27 straight, then 26 straight. I just keep the gun out and keep dry firing until the dime falls off. Tried it with a Taurus model 85 snubby. I put the dime on top of the frame because of the slanted front sight. I could keep it on for about 5 before the heavy hammer fall bounced it off. I DID NOT use super glue. Bill Nesbitt

Super Glue. I'm gonna to use super glue. Don't tell Flex. Bill Nesbitt

OH MAN. Do you have to stand the dime on edge???? I was going to lay it flat on the sight. Maybe I won't be able to do it after all. Bill Nesbitt

FLEX, How do you have to cock the hammer with the dime on there? I'll just try it with my revolver. Bill Nesbitt

I have shot about 40,000 West Coast bullets through 2 Glock 17's with no problems. I like them a lot. I clean the guns every couple of months just because I think I should, not because they need it. Bill Nesbitt

John, What part of the country do you shoot in? Inquiring minds want to know. Bill Nesbitt

I agree that USPSA members should get first pick of slots. It would be a good thing for USPSA though if they could make the match big enough to include some of the folks who left USPSA for IDPA. We're all shooters. We need to stick together. Anything done to help unite ALL shooters will be a good thing for the shooting sports. Bill Nesbitt

Can some of us secretly still call it "The Match Formerly Known As The Street Gun Nationals"? Bill Nesbitt

You will need to make Production a big deal if you want IDPA shooters to attend. At most big IDPA shoots there is 30% Stock Service Pistol (similar to USPSA Production), 30% Enhanced Service Pistol (non 45 ACP single action), 30% Custom Defensive Pistol (45ACP single action) and 10% Stock Service Revolver. The ESP shooters would be minor and my guess is half would switch to 45's and half would shoot production. I think you could get a fair amount of revolver shooters out also. Bill Nesbitt

Bummer. Same weekend as the West Virginia State IDPA Championship where I am the assistant match director. Where I will be shooting my model 10 S&W. Thanks anyway. Maybe next year. Bill Nesbitt.