GOF

You may carry two on the belt just ahead of the holster and one on the belt behind the holster. Or, you can delete the behind the holster carrier and tote a speedloader in a vest pocket. Some prefer a speedloader in the strong side vest pocket. It adds weight to help swing the vest out of the way on the draw, and if you have to make a Tac/RWR reload it's simple to dump rounds in strong hand, deposit in vest pocket, and come out with the speedloader carried there. GOF

Just MHO, but drawing from cover with an IDPA approved holster (not an open class USPSA rig) adds .20 -.25 sec to the first shot/daw time over open carry. A 3.5 - 4 sec split on a reload (assuming a Down 0 hit on both rounds, and not just triggering the round to beat the timer)is Master/Expert class IDPA time with SSR or ESR. GOF

+1 to Speed Shooter Specialties. Kenny is a top ranked shooter,knows what shooter's need, and a heckuva nice guy who will get you serviced quickly. I've dealt with him on a number of occasions and he is top notch. For trigger work, Dan Burwell... he is the Master on M&P triggers. And, he's fast with the work and not overly expensive. GOF

I would have to second the M&P. It seems to fit a lot of shooter's hands well, and I know Master/Expert shooters that shifted to it from Glocks and CZ abd they shot better. GOF

Times of 1.9 - 2.2 are very good if you are Down Zero. If you are not Down zero, those times suck. As others have mentioned, you cannot miss the head shot, (that's 2.5 seconds). Miss that shot and you are at a Marksman level. Run it under 2.2 sec and down zero and you're doing fine (lower Master or upper Expert level). Down zero is the key on that stage. Even a single down one on the COM shot adds .5 seconds, so your 2 second time now becomes 2.5. Think down zero. GOF

It's not really a complicated Rule. If the gun came from the factory with a certain safety device factory installed (thumb, grip, magazine disconnect, whatever) then the factory equipped safety device must work as the factory intended it to do. If the gun doesn't have all that stuff (like my bare bones S&W M&P .45 ACP) then you can just shoot the gun and not worry about all those extra parts. GOF

Winchester Super Field (WSF)is an extremely good powder for 147/9mm. It seems to have an ideal burn rate for that small case, although it sucks in .38 Special, and isn't the best choice in .45 ACP. I use 3.4 grains and make 875 fps from a 4.25 inch 9mm M&P with perfect functiong with factory springs. It makes 125 PF easily, with less recoil than any 115 or 124 grain load that will make 125 PF (and drops steel better than the lighter bullets). It also works beatufully in my CZ-85 Combat, with factory springs. Little muzzle flash, very clean burning, and very nice, soft, recoil. There are 7000 grains in a pound of powder. At 3.4 grains per load I'm getting about 2,000 loads per pound. Works with jacketed (my choice) or cast lead (I've used them with this load without problem or smoke). GOF

Regarding an earlier question on case life... I have yet to have a nickle plated 9mm or .45 ACP case split on firing or resizing. All of these I have used have been Federal or Speer. As for .38 Spl (which I load a lot more of than semi-auto rounds, because I don't normally pick up my semi-auto brass after a match) I have not seen premature spliting with Fed or Speer plated brass, but I have yet to have a Win or Rem plated case survive the third resizing. Most will split during resizing before that. I can only suppose there must be a slight difference in the type of plating processed used between the companies. I have reached the point I don't bother to save Win or Rem plated brass from factory loads for reloading, I just shoot it and leave it. I have no problems with their unplated brass though. GOF

If you want to shoot seriously in IDPA (or go Minor in USPSA Revolver... or shoot ICORE) round nose or pointed bullets are the way to go. SWC designs, and even JHPs with a flatter metplat, can pooch a reload in a hurry. BTDT. And, it doesn't make any difference if your chambers are chamfered or not.... trying to shove square pegs in round holes still slows things down, no matter how chamferd the hole is. A 158 grain LRN does a fine job, and they can be had cheap... and they will shoot more than accurately enough. But, given the present ammo selection from the bullet makers, you have to reload them to make PF in IDPA. ICORE is a different, and more sensible, matter. There are factory loads allowed there. GOF

No reloading experience with the .40 S&W... but for 9mm a 147 grain bullet (cast or jacketed) ahead of 3.4 -3.5 grains of WSF will make the required 125 PF (it does it out of my 4.25 inch S&W M&P.. so it certainly will from the Rule book 5 inch barrel) and is softer than 124 & 115 grain loads at the same PF. That heavier bullet also drops steel better, and shoots tighter groups. Most of the top IDPA shooters use a 147/880-900 fps load in 9mm for that reason. GOF

Steel, No experience with Titegroup or Solo... but in a .357 chambered gun... and with a 158 LRN... Clays or HP-38/WW231 can get you 850 fps from a 4 inch barrel very nicely. You only need 792 fps to make 125 PF, so this works well, but pressures are a touch above +P SAAMI pressures for .38 Spl. The LRN bullets load very smoothly, and they have passed every chrono I've run across (State, Regional, Nationals). GOF

Steve J hit upon my biggest complaint about hot ranges between stages, and that is once you are hot you can't leave the bay without clearing with an SO... and those SOs are normally busy running the COF. It makes it tough to take a bathroom break, grab a water bottle from the passing golf cart (the good Sanctioned matches have those), and if a revo shooter suddenly remembers he needs to scrub chambers, he's got to grab a SO... get cleared... and then go to the Safe Handling area. I've been to a couple of Nationals with hot bays and... IMHO... the hot bays created more problems than they solved and were a major inconvenience to the shooters. GOF

If you are going to play IDPA SSR you might want to consider reloading. The Speer 38+P Lawman will normally chrono... I have no experience with the other loads mentioned above. But, I have a lot of reloading experience to make 125 PF from a 4-inch for IDPA. You may have to go outside what the reloading manuals say. I have a half-dozen different manuals here, some going back 20 years, and all list loads at safe pressure, but with velocities that could only be called "very optimistic". There is a very good forum here for reloading, and I've found it very helpful. Buying 125 PF .38 loads over the counter is going to get expensive enough, in a hurry, that you could pay for your reloading gear and produce quality ammo, by the time you purchased your first case of factory loads. GOF

You didn't mention what barrel length, or the game you are shooting. IDPA (if that is what you are thinking about) requires 125 PF from a 4-inch barrel. The Speer Lawman will give you the 792 fps you need to make that. With ICORE, the PF is 120 and as noted there are factory loads that are "given a bye"... on chrono, if you use them. GOF

Koski, I understand exactly what you are saying about magazine/division capacity. But I have never had a problem with 9 rounds being a PE. It has come up and I just simply asked the SO if he could get the tenth tound into the magazine. When the SO couldn't (both times it came up) the gun fell under the "because of reduced magazine capacity" clause in the rule and I shot it at "maximum mechanical magazine capacity". This wasn't in a sanctioned match, but if ten rounds won't fit the magazine there is a provision in the rules to shoot the gun anyway. At least, that has been my personal experience. GOF

All safety devices that your pistol came from the factory with must work in IDPA. A well-known professional team shooter was DQed at an IDPA National because the grip safty on his 1911 did not work. IDPA takes deactivating any safety (including magazine safeties) seriously. GOF

Plated bullets are lead bullets without the leading. Use lead loading data and you'll be fine. GOF

I have a .45 M&P 4.5-inch gun. The factory trigger was 7 pounds+ (sucked)... a trigger job ( Dan Burwell) dropped it to a very crisp 3.5 pounds. Love it. With standard springs the gun will run (Clays powder) a 230 grain LRN at 680 (Minor, and very soft) or kick the powder charge up (Clays or HP-38) and it runs fine at 770 fps (comfortable chrono Major) with no significant POI shift with the 230 LRN... just a reduction in recoil with the minor load. The only problem running it in SSP/ESP is that the magazines S&W advertises as holding ten rounds don't always. Even if you have a thumb like Conan The Barbarian, getting 10 rounds in is tough on some mags. Great gun for CDP (8 rounds)... but not a bad gun for SSP/ESP if you can only shove 9 rounds into the mag and use a Barney mag to chamber. The math works pretty well if you think about it. The gun itself handles real well... shoots accurately enough... and is a joy to shoot once you get rid of the factory trigger, and maybe add something other than the factory three-dot sights (I don't like them). It's not a bad deal... and it also works fine for USPSA L10. GOF

WSF seems to have the ideal burn rate for 9mm. 3.4 - 3.6 grains should get you about 875 fps with a 147 grain 9mm cast bullet (125 PF is 851 fps)and WSF is very clean burning with little smoke. GOF

Jane, If no Classifier matches are held within your reasonable (within 1.5 hours one way) driving area within a given year... or if just one is held and for business/family/general life reasons you can't get there to shoot it.... does that mean you just have to crawl into a hole and die and are no longer allowed to compete in IDPA... even if your membership is paid up well in advance? What does one do if there is no reasonable opportunity to shoot the Classifier? GOF

Jon, The logic for the annual Classifier is that as shooters gain more experience in IDPA their skill levels -- and scores-- will increase, and they should shoot against shooters in a Class that truly relfects their skill level. I have no problem with that philiosophy, and have seen dramatic improvement with shooters that I SO at two different clubs. For a SS who is shooting like a MA to be competing in the SS class is not fair to all the other legistimate SS. The drawback is that Classifiers are not equally available to all shooters. In some cases, a club may only hold one or two a year, and if business, life, or just "stuff in general" prohibits a shooter from being there on that EXACT day, then I wouldn't tar & feather a dues paying member for not shooting an annual Classifier. As for your DQ for a non-functioning 1911 grip safety... don't feel bad. Doug Koenig got DQed (caught?) for the same thing at a IDPA National match. You're in good company. Stuff happens. GOF

The Rules say one thing, the clubs that hold Classifiers do them when they can, and the Rules don't really mean a lot at the local level. If you can't make a Classifier because of scheduling, or if no Classifiers are held within your area (common) I have not seen that to be a problem. I've shot the last two FL state matches and no one looked at my classification card. Same for 2010 GA State. And the 2007 and 2008 Nationals. If there is no Classifier in your area within that time period, just tell the MD. The guys at FL State are pretty cool. GOF