Bob Hostetter

Do you give those 10-12 guns to the top 10-12 overall finishers or use a random system? Who you give those guns to will be the group of shooters you attract.

BoMar rear, Dawson fiber optic front.

It was just a thought ..... Since the bulk of IDPA competitors seem to agree with Mr Watson, wanting IDPA to remain a amateur sport, compensation of any kind would seem to be counter productive on several levels. At the very least it would make it easier for small clubs to host sanctioned matches. There would probably be a reduction in entry fees opening the sport up to more people and/or allowing more money to be spent on really cool stages to everyone's benefit. Performance recognition could still be done by trophies or plaques. Match attendance then would be driven by the quality of the stages/match instead of any precevied chance of financial gain. Those wanting to profit from their shooting then could refocus on USPSA type events.

"I would oppose any move in IDPA to make it possible to pay the rent" As is certainly your right. A lot of people would like to see IDPA stay a completely amateur sport. Clubs could help ensure that by eliminating any and all prize tables, random or otherwise, to prevent profit from being a motivation for match attendance. I think that was the original intent of IDPA but that has gotten lost somewhere along the way.

I didn't shoot the Ca state match in 2013 that you guys hosted so please don't take my comment as a reflection on your match. But I have shoot coast to coast and the more successful matches tend to have better quality props and more imaginative designs and they seem to be much more common elsewhere. But just as importantly, relative to the topic this thread is discussing, is they tend to be better marketed both before and after the match. The top shooters tend to be better sponsored, by companies who are expecting to gain positive exposure, so those competitors have to look at match attendance with a eye towards business. For those puritans who don't want those type of influences in their sport I understand but they have to accept that those top shooters given a choice will attend matches that best fit their business model. If your sponsors aren't getting feedback thru some channel from match attendance they will quickly decide the money they are spending would be better spent somewhere else. If you look at the competitors who attend your match as clients you can then design your entertainment (the match) to draw your targeted demographics by directly appealing to their want and needs. Those will be different for the local pure amateur then a traveling pro or semi pro. If you want the big dogs to attend, design the match to appeal to them.

West coast matches tend to lack the imagination and financial investment in stage designs for one thing. Another is the lack of visibility which makes it tough to keep sponsors happy. That coupled with the lack of decent prize tables and the likely hood of getting anything pure chance, AND the cost to compete being as expensive as many other matches in the Midwest or east coast drive serious competitors elsewhere. If your sponsors are regional then that helps but most aren't and want that broad based exposure from the larger and better marketed matches. West coast clubs are going to really have to step up their games if they except to become a regular stop for the heavy hitters in the sport.

Extreme engineering (they also make then C&S hammer and sears).

Prefer the Delta Dot.

Just curious, does the USPSA President benefits package include health care and 401 contributions?

Production, 8.47 sec, two points down, HF of 10.6257.

Dickies Cargo Pants. Good fit, quality material, and great price.

Switched to 200's several years ago and never looked back, I like them much better then the 180's.

ESP only

you want sturdy but light weight. So for now carbon fiber is the best choice.

Tanfoglio makes a very nice pistol, I shot them for several years a while back. Would love to shoot one again but will NOT ever work with EAA ever again. If Dillion sets the standard for good customer service, they set it for bad customer service. My daughter even went to the Tanfoglio factory when she was studying in Europe and was told they can't sell to Americans cause of their deal with EAA.

I can't figure out the web page well enough to find anything, let alone the SO test.

It is very difficult to make a living just competing but it is possible to make a living working in the firearms industry where at least a part of your job description is shooting in competitive matches. The key is identifying what your sponsor/employer would consider worth their investment in you. That is almost always a measurable increase in sales, or more importantly, profits. Marketing is always the quick answer and while there is some truth to it, it is usually focused on other competitive shooters and that is the wrong place to look. For a company to have enough non designated income to support a competitive shooter it pretty much has to sell on a national level and the total number of potential customers from the shooting sports is way to small of a demographic. Add to that, especially in USPSA, most shooters are already brand loyal and have most of their equipment so potential sales are very small compared to other markets. The market segment that buys the most product and is the most likely to respond to marketing are the recreational shooters or the newer self defense shooters. Numerically you are comparing millions to thousands, with the millions for the large part looking for an expert they can trust to guide their buying decisions..... you need to position yourself as that expert. If you were really smart you might want to look at adding in house training programs that are designed to specially teach skills but also include hands on product demo's that feature your sponsor's product lines, all of which is geared towards the newer shooters needing the most basic instruction ( not the high speed, low drag, sexy stuff). If you can add to this a background in the technical areas of the business such as manufacturing, design and engineering, and be able to communicate the good and bad things about the product line in a way that easily translates into "engineering/marketing speak" your value goes way up. This is especially true if you are capable of identifying not only the problems but the solutions as well. Now this will mean that at times you will be shooting platforms that you might not prefer, that might not fit you or work the way you want. And there lies the true mark of a pro, to be able to use what you consider to be a sub par platform that is in development, still perform well with it while communicating with engineering and marketing about how to make it better, while promoting it to the public in a manner that enhances your sponsors/employers image but still tells the truth about the product keeping your integrity intact. Finally add to this the willingness to travel constantly, work more hours then anyone should have to, maintain your skills in your spare time so that you can at least finish on the 1st page, and you are perfectly capable of being a pro shooter if you define that as someone who makes a living with a gun. Being a winner, and/or being pretty or photogenic helps, but it is more important to be knowledgable, accessible, friendly, always available for your customers and your employer. It's doable, not nearly as cool as some might imagine, but still better then a real job.

Regardless on what business you are in failing to respond to phone messages and emails is simply bad business. If you don't want to answer them then you should put a message on the phone indicating that you won't be answering and set up an automatic email response stating the same thing. Bad customer service is bad customer service. When you are offering a program for free, based as an incentive to purchase your product, to people who have possibly invested multiple 1000's of dollars, if not 10's of 1000's of dollars and then not even answer emails or phone calls let alone ship promised product, that's wrong. You can't explain it away. Now that other people are making the frames this is going to cost STI a lot of customers and that's too bad. I have supported them since day one having purchased dozens of frames and guns, currently owning 8. But if there isn't some type of change, they will be the last ones I own. Most of the guys I know that shoot STI's feel the same way. If they aren't going to pay the contingency money they should be honest and close the program down.

I waited from Sept of last year to May of this year to get my last order and that was after a lot of unanswered emails and phone calls.

I didn't expect there to be too many changes suggested by the Tigger Team process because of the individuals that were selected to provide input. Please do not take this as a condemnation of the team members but instead an awareness of their predilection of maintaining the status quo. If you ask people who are comfortable and committed to the current rule set to suggest changes you aren't going to see much because they aren't going to see much that needs improvement. I am surprised that the process took sooooooo long, but I suppose this was to give the membership a feeling that everything was looked at closely. I keep hoping that there is another set of suggestion coming but I doubt it. If you are going to shoot IDPA as a 'competitive' shooter you just have to realize that the rules are what they are and look at them more as 'stage instructions' then well thought out guiding rules. Just make sure you fully understand the rules for each stage, individually, before you shoot, and smile. I thought the comment about eliminating the track event portion of IDPA shooting as a great equalizer was cute, because it's not. When you cut the stage down to the most basic requirements it doesn't level the playing field, it instead gives the better shooters a HUGE advantage because ultimately they are.........better shooters. It's the movement, the opening of doors and windows, the silly non shooting things you are asked to do that slows the better shooters down, not the other way around. O'well, as long as STI keeps paying contingency money for sanctioned matches, I am going to keep shooting IDPA.

I have one but its a 6".

nordic

There are least 3 different followers used in the 9mm mags, some work better then others.

Whole grip

Who does quality grip stippling on the M&P grip?