ErichF

I did the morning thing today, and will finish up tomorrow morning. Rain stayed away for the morning shooters, at least! Video from Stages 11, 12, and 3:

No two matches are ever the same, no matter how many you go to on a regular basis.

Why do you guys keep saying this? No one ever suggested that one INTENTIONALLY shoot for lower points. Of course we all aim for A's. Guys, the point is that there is a trade off. Sure, I could shoot 100% of points, but the trade off is a 10 minute course of fire! THAT is not "acceptable" So, the compromise is to go a little faster, understanding that there will be a reduction in percentage. I think the whole key is finding your comfort zone in that you maximize points accrual while doing it in the shortest amount of time. After all, that is the product of Hit Factor, no? Chris, have you ever shot a perfect match? Has anyone, ever? Whatever the number is for a given level of shooter, there is some "sweet spot" percentage that reality just dictates...whether it's 90%, 95% or whatever. When we say "shoot for 90% of points," it is only to give some visualization of the speed/accuracy equation. Again, a rule of thumb. Do I make this an active thought while I'm planning a course of fire, no. I try to do stages as simply as possible, as accurate as possible, and as fast as I can too. Simple is usually efficient. But, when the dust settles, part of MY metric analysis is percentage shot. If I'm around 90%, I'm happy with how I did. The next match, I try to push hard for better times. If I still have 90% of the points after upping my game, I know I'm improving over all. Talk about simple.

No... Look at last year's Nationals winners. Every single one of them shot at least 94% of the points available before penalties. Every single one. That is not a coincidence. What is it they say about "rules of thumb?" Ah yes, they don't always apply, especially to the exceptional. I'm still not with you here. Regardless of skill level or division, the optimal percentage in terms of balancing speed and accuracy is to shoot as fast as you can earn 93-95% of the points available. Why? Because at the top of the game, where the top 3-5 finishers in a division are as near as makes no difference to equal skill levels, the guys who are coming out on top are the ones shooting those kinds of point percentages as efficiently as possible, without exception. You're free to shoot however you want of course, but you're choosing to ignore the overwhelming evidence to the contrary... This is like those old Weaver guys saying Isosceles is only good if you shoot IPSC, when in reality it's the best stance for getting fast and accurate hits no matter what your target is. Shooting 93-95% of the points is the best way to succeed in this game no matter what your skill level. I don't think it's overwhelming evidence. I think it is a common mis-reading of the data. If you step back, you will notice that it is a speed focus. I think so, too, Kyle. Here's some data from my past few matches... Last weekend, winner of Production shot 88.86% of available. He's a high B-Class shooter. In that same match, I shot 84.29% after losing 40 points in penalties (not my best performance) and got third place. In an earlier match, the winner of Prod shot 89.20%, also a high B-Class shooter. I shot 91.20% and no penalties, yet still got 3rd place. Another match, winner shot 89.30%, a GM at that. I shot 92.46% or 88.95% with 20 points in penalties and got third place (again, but after one GM and one M). According to my history of data, it's clear that the reason I'm not placing first in these cases is because I'm just not fast enough in getting the same level of points. For me to aim for even a higher percentage of points, I would have to SLOW DOWN, given my current SKILL LEVEL.

No... Look at last year's Nationals winners. Every single one of them shot at least 94% of the points available before penalties. Every single one. That is not a coincidence. What is it they say about "rules of thumb?" Ah yes, they don't always apply, especially to the exceptional.

I setup my little Samsung HD on a tripod just abeam the start position, which usually keeps folks from walking in front of it. I have put the camera downrange on occasion, but I don't do that on stages with steel. The splatter can tear up the camera. Steel-less classifiers are perfect to setup a camera down-range. Below is a video made from a tripod slightly off the stage. One stage I had someone pan to follow me, since the stage was wide. At 2:35 is a view uprange during a classifier:

I like the show(s). In fact, Top Shot and other TV series are why I'm even here I wasn't shooting anything until last Sept (I'm 39 years old), and now I'm a B class competitor in USPSA. I'd always been interested in shooting, but didn't know anything about practical shooting until I started seeing the "USPSA National Champion" titles under the Top Shot shooters' names. I looked up this "USPSA" acronym and had an epiphany...I could do that! So, let me say it this way...Top Shots is doing better than YOU ALL in getting folks into shooting USPSA is one of the best kept secrets in shooting, IMO.

I just started shooting from my first batch using the Armscor bullets, and they came out great from the start. I loaded them on top of 4.4gr of W231 and with an OAL of 1.132 Chrono was averaging 1090 for a PF of around 135. Bullet weight is around 124.5gr.

It's my understanding that you put TSA locks on the outer case, but the inner GUN case must not have TSA locks on it.

Anything going to Canada comes from Amazon.CA, which doesn't necessarily have the same titles as the dot com site in the US.

I've read about this on several sites...but what is the back story? Is this just another push from a liberal, socialist agenda, fun police run amok, or what?

I have been reloading a lot recently with Precision Delta 124FMJ, and want to continue using them. However, they are out of stock, and my stock is running dry just before Area 6 So, I went to Everglades Ammo and picked up two cases of Armscor 124FMJ. Has anyone loaded these rounds, and does anyone have a comparison of them against PD? I plan to use the same load recipe I use for the PDs (4.6gr of Win231 and 1.135 OAL - 138PF). Thanks!

I do the same as JaxShooter, but only because I've practiced the "flip" and can do it safely. It's no different than the RO sticking his hand out to catch the round, which I see pretty often. I would rather take the risk in catching a round than let the RO. I also pull the slide back for the RO so he can be sure the gun is clear after I pop the round out. That means an extra slide rack, but it only takes a 1/2 second and doubles the clearing check prior to hammer down.

Shoot slow, MOVE fast. Faster shots will come naturally. Aim for a 85-90% available point score. If you're shooting 70% of points, you're going too fast (or your accuracy has real issues), if you're getting 95% of points, your going too slow.

If you leave the outer cant standard, it's legal. If you start adding spacers and canting it out more, you could run into legality issues, depending on how it rides on your build. I got mine from Spring Precision for $70

+1 Love my Blade...

Why is it that the same folks who defend a controversial rule by copping out with the "It's a game with rules; don't like the rules, don't play the game" then go on to call someone else a "gamer"? Don't chastise someone for being a "gamer" in a game. Yeah, I don't like the IDPA rulebook as it stands, and therefore I don't play IDPA. I'm actually interested in trying it someday, but I'm holding off until the rules are revised by these Tiger Teams. I don't want to enter into a new competition only to have to relearn a new rule set. This is my whole reason for participating in this discussion - I WANT to shoot IDPA in the future. Am I naive on a few issues regarding IDPA, sure...but I won't learn anything if I don't participate in the discussion. On that note, I am often meeting folks at USPSA matches that have migrated from IDPA with complaints about the rules in that game. I mean, splitting hairs on whether a dropped empty mag left a round in the chamber or not is just silly. Either retain ALL the mags, or let em drop if empty...what is so hard about that? It's actually pretty easy to enforce, too. If the score keeper sees a mag on the ground with rounds in it...gig em. If it's empty, no one has to try and remember whether or not that was from a slide lock or not. To me, this mag drop thing is inviting errors in scoring, but then again a valued concept of IDPA is to give the shooter "the benefit of the doubt" right?

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So, what is either tactical or practical about hanging onto an empty mag?? It sure seems that the IDPA rules were written by a bunch of old instructors with nothing better to do. The Tiger Team has a lot of work to do, and this is only one example.

Nice! My advise as someone who has recently started USPSA and learned a few lessons...shoot slow and MOVE fast. At this point in your game, if you're like me, you can shoot good follow-ups if you don't rush the shot. Where you can improve times, right now, is on your reloads, transitions, and movement between shooting positions. Let your shooting accuracy guide your shooting speed. It will get faster and faster with time. The good news is that all the movement practice can be done at home in your backyard with dry-fire.

So what if you miss the "class", anyways? The best classroom is the typical, local, level I match. There, you will learn the most. A class is nice, but most folks don't have the luxury of a formal class prior to their first match. Our local club match is usually around 25% new match shooters every month.

Hah! that's what I'm saying...everyone else get in line

That Sux, man...hope you get it figgered out soon. The only time my XDM 525 had issues was when I shot a match with my first batch of reloads. Being cautious I loaded them at the minimum book charge, but I didn't have access to a chrono prior to the match. Wayne saw the first one, as he was RO'ing me on that stage. Low power fire didn't cycle the slide all the way and caused a jam. After the match I borrowed a chrono and found they only had 116PF Now, I'm loading 124FMJ Precision Deltas for a PF of 138. Shot 500 of those in practice last week and a match yesterday and didn't have one issue.

Thanks, Ben! Dave thought it would be a great opportunity to showcase USPSA from an average Joe perspective, so he brought his gear down from CT and shot the match with me. This was also his first USPSA pistol match. Erich