Vincerama

Look up "Parachute Clips" they are probably about $5, and used to make a belt or strap from nylon webbing straps. The ends of your velcro inner belt might fit through them and voila!

I think, depending on the RO and depending on if you are a newbie and ask the RO for help, the RO will yell out warnings like "Watch your finger!" and "Watch the 180"! So for a newbie, the warnings are worth it, but also unsettling, like being scolded by your Mom for doing something dumb. The safety class I went to covered most of the range related safety items, and I think the 180, trigger discipline and of course not NDing are the major safety concerns. Are there any others? What other things should I watch for? There was an experienced shooter at the same match who got DQ'ed breaking the 180 when he drew a bit too soon during one of those starts where you are facing uprange. I avoid that by only drawing when I've turned around and that's an easy I think ... but then I thought decocking would be simple too! You know, I also am a bit worried that the next time I go to the match, the RO will eye me and think "Ugh, that guy again!" But I will get in some practice and drilling in before the next one! So I'm skipping the next closest match to gather my wits and practice. Oh, and because my wife won't let me go.

Thank you for all the tips! To clarify, my "almost breaking 180" came in my first match when the RO said "Watch when you reload, don't point the gun up too high!", then on my last match, as I was doing a "retreat" (thanks for that word!) I made sure my hand and arm was behind me, but my wrist was not pointed straight back, I immediately corrected it when the RO yelled "Watch it! Watch the 180!" so that was a close one, and a mistake I won't make again. I dislike decocking, but I'll use the tips I've learned and practice at home, I will not ND on LAMR again! The trigger finger, I need to work on being conscious of. The RO told me that he could see (on reloads) I was cocking my finger out (which I do on purpose) but because I'm not laying it along the frame, and just have it curled out of the guard, it's had to see if it's in or out and I might get called out. I can practice this at home. Running between shooting boxes without reloading ... I think I really need to think before leaving the first box "FINGER OUT!" as I think this is the big failing. I will definitely also put some grip tape or something on the frame where I can index my finger too. I never thought about dropping the mag at the first box and reinserting the new mag when I got to the next box, but this only works if you are in slide lock, otherwise the gun still has one in the chamber. I think that's a good idea, but I better just work on the finger on slide. I'm not opposed to yelling "finger out!" at least until I get it down subconsciously. Thanks for all the tips, I will slow it down and play for safety from now on until I've drilled these things into my head. I know practice and muscle memory will help, as I've already trained my draw and grip to be pretty good without thinking about it. I go straight to the thumbs forward, instead of whatever I was doing before (half weaver, half whatever I see on TV). I mentioned my DQ to another newbie at work (who DQ'ed on his first and only match by breaking 180) and he said that at the safety course he took, the instructor said "I don't trust those decocking levers, you should manually decocking by pinching the hammer and pulling the trigger". At my safety class, the two instructors didn't mention decocking at all. The showed us how to draw and fire, and also the range safety rules like the safe area, the sequence of how to get ready for a match without breaking the safety rules, what the commands were. But at the class I had my SA gun, and the other two students had 1911's so the decocking issue never arose. Hopefully, you will not hear about any more DQ's from me! (It means a 6 month ban from that range if I do!) And I hope other newbies can get some tips too! Please post more safety tips if you have them!

I was DQ'ed at a match yesterday, but more disturbingly I was almost DQ'ed for something else. My DQ was for a ND on the make ready command, I was manually decocking my SP-01 and either through lack of concentration or just poor technique, the hammer slipped out of my fingers and the gun fired downrange. A rightly deserved DQ. Well, I will not make that mistake again. I went home and practiced 30 times or so without a problem. The hammer was a touch oily from me over-oiling it, but the fault was all mine, not the oils. The hammer was in my fingers and my poor technique fired the gun. Did I pull the trigger simultaneously? My correction for that is (aside using another gun) to run through the steps in my head, since time is NOT of the essense when making ready. 1) Pinch the hammer with weak hand. 2) pull it back a bit to ENSURE I have a good grip, and to take it off the sear so I'm sure I'm holding it, and it's not the sear holding it in position. 3) Pull trigger 4) ease down hammer. I was NOT doing step 2 (I hunted the net for good manual decocking techniques, this seems reasonable) and I think that I was assuming that I had the hammer held firmly when I pulled the trigger. Well, lesson learned to be more careful, improve technique and focus on the task at hand. OK, what was actually more disturbing to me, because I didn't realize I was doing it was, that on one course that required moving back up range, I ALMOST broke 180. I think this one, I can certainly watch for with any stage that requires moving back up range. Also, I didn't realize I was doing this, nor do I recall doing it, but if I moved between arrays without reloading, the RO said I had my finger in the gaurd. I don't think I did, I tend to curl my finger out of the guard and it looks like it's in the guard, but I must learn to lay my finger along the frame so that I am definitely not in the guard. I don't know if I am or not, which is the problem. How can I train myself to make sure I do this? Lay my finger along the slide with every reload and move? I think maybe as a newbie (5 matches) there is still hope for me, as the habits are not set in stone. I was trying to be a bit competitive, but I think I might be better served to going back to just trying not to DQ and shooting A's and completely forget about any speed. I am quite willing to stop and think between arrays. Stop. Make sure finger is out of guard and along the gun. Briskly walk (not run) with gun definitely down range, exaggerate if necessary. Reloading? OK, nice and smooth, ensure finger is visibly (to the RO) out of the guard, don't break 180 on reload. I understand these things and I believe I can be a safe competitor. I'm not in it to be the best, just to have fun, but getting a taste of DQing is quite bitter. A good slap in the face that I have other things to work on before getting a high score. I was defintely discouraged, but rather than being angry, I think it's best to get back on the horse after a reset on my priorities (safety, then accuracy (since accuracy doesn't compromise safety), then speed will come later). So what can I do at home and at the range to practice good safe techniques? I can certainly dry-practice decocking the gun safely. I can definitely practice a drawing and reloading safely. Breaking 180 I can do by deciding not to run from box to box but to move at a quick walk. But how can I drill in good trigger discipline? I've been shooting for over a decade, so my gun handling skills are good and safe. The decocking is something I would never ever do in real life, and so have not practiced much. I only have one DA/SA gun (the SP-01) and even outside of USPSA, I would never consider decocking it (it has a safety, why would I purposely pull the trigger on a loaded gun to decock? It violates the third basic firearms safety rule! Oh yeah, because USPSA says I have to if I want to use that gun in production). Sure I can switch to a Glock, or a decocker, but I think I'll just practice this one with better technique. Usual range shooting does not require you to move between targets. I would shoot up a magazine, then reload. And obviously my finger is out of the trigger guard when I reload. Only at a USPSA match have I encountered moving between targets and I think that if I'm not doing a reload in between, I don't think enough about where my finger is. So for a guy who is not stupid, but IS a newbie at USPSA and it's necessary skills, what can I do to make myself an upstanding respected and safe competitor? Should I buy an airsoft and run around my basement/backyard to drill in the trigger and muzzle discipline? OK, I know I mostly wrote this because I'm feeling bad about the DQ, but I do want genuine tips on how I can break my bad habits, and better manual decocking tips would be nice too. And no, I won't give up and I won't switch guns to avoid the situation UNLESS you guys think that I should just to take the decocking out of the DQ equation. (I can run in Limited 10 with my CZ75 SA which has a safety, I won't get much points with 9mm, but like I said, maybe that would be helpful while I figure out the rest of my issues?) Thanks guys! I'm glad there is such a great resource as BE forums!

You guys are lucky! Here in California, the Shadows are not on the "Safe gun roster" so the only way to get them is to do a "single shot exemption" which tacks on $50. Also for on-roster guns, if we have them shipped, we have to have guns shipped to an FFL, which tacks on another $60-$75, then tack on the Dealer Registration of Sale (DROS) for another $25. Then we wait 10 days to pick up the gun. Oh, and even though the gun was bought in another state .... we have to pay sales tax on it. I get jealous when you guys say "Oh, I ordered a gun, it's being shipped to my doorstep and should arrive tomorrow".

Ah, OK, so that makes more sense that it's just like an honorary thing. But then, how do you determine the best hit factor percentage? One guy will always have the highest score, right?

OK, so say there are 60 guys shooting a match, shooting all different guns in different divisions. I understand that you can shoot the best in the division and really, you are the best with those equipment rules. But the overall match winner ... is that just pure score/time, regardless of division? So if a guy has an open gun with optics and 25 round magazines, if divisions are ignored, won't he pretty much always beat the Single Stack guy with his 8 round mags and iron sights? yes, of course there are those guys that shoot revolvers faster than some guys with open guns, but in general, if you don't take divisions into account, how is the "overall winner" really the overall winner? Or am I missing something because I'm a newb and barely understand all the rules?

As a newbie, I can say this; Missing and hitting no-shoots sucks! So I shoot for A's. However one round I hit all A's but so slowly I was basically at the bottom of the score list. Hmm... Something to think about too, if you are shooting A's at a moderate pace (ie; as fast as you can get A's without pushing too hard) then as you get better, you will shoot faster. If you just shoot fast, will your fast C's eventually turn into fast A's? (Maybe, I don't know). What about steel plates and those spinning thingies? If you miss, you miss not matter how fast you miss. Unlike paper where a missed A is a C, a missed steel target is an entire miss, costing you another shot, maybe forcing you to reload sooner. On a spinning thingy, that miss might make it worse as the spinning thing picks up speed! (Polish Plate Rack, I'm looking at you!) So a missed plate might cause you more trouble than if you had taken an accurate, but slower shot. So MY strategy is to TRY and shoot A's as best/fast as I can, and try and get the reloads faster and actually running to the next shooting station. As I was learning the game, I just walked to the next station because I was trying to reload and not get DQ's.

I can see that shooting Limited with 9mm would let you shoot a larger capacity magazine, but with minor scoring. If you are in CA, you can only shoot L-10 (well, not really if you have legal normal capacity mags). Is there any reason to shoot 9mm in L-10? I ask because I have a nice CZ-75b SA (9mm) which fits in that division only, and it's a gun I shoot very well so I was wondering if any one at all shoots L-10 9mm minor, versus L-10 major? I don't have a .40 (might rectify that with a Glock 23 or 35) so I can't directly compare recoil and target re-aquisition. I'm also not a good enough shooter to probably take advantage of any increased rate of fire from a low recoil 9mm to make up for B and C scores, but I might be at some point! Is the only advantage speed, if you are advanced enough of a shooter? Currently I'm shooting a CZ SP-01 (9mm) in production, but I really like the SA trigger of the CZ-75b SA. Thanks!

Glad to see this 8 year old thread still kicking! I'm a newbie, but here is a tip for the experienced guys; "Remember about sportsmanship" I've only shot 4 matches, so I'm unqualified to give tips on improving your score, but as a newbie I noticed a few things. On my 2nd match, I tried to shoot single stack with my unmodified RIA 1911. I'm not a very good shot with it. On one stage, there was a polish plate rack, which I'd never seen before. I didn't know there were spinning, moving things in this game! Anyway, I had one heck of a lot of trouble trying to finish this thing. I had 5 mags on my belt when I started this thing, and one in the gun. When I hit the last plate off the rack, the rack had stopped moving and the plate was hanging at the bottom. I took a breathe, aimed and hit the final plate. As I did so, my slide locked back on my last magazine. It took me 48 rounds! My friend was standing behind me holding one of his mags, just in case. It took me almost 3 minutes to do this one thing. I thought I'd get ridicule from the other shooters, but instead, I got a lot of "Hey, way to stick with it! Glad you didn't give up!". My time was the lowest on that stage, but there were a few people who just gave up on it and if anything else, I beat them! I was surprised at the support I got from the other shooters and it made me enjoy the fact that I stuck with it and did finally hit that target, even though my score was crap. In contrast, on my last match, one of the better shooters breezed through most of a COF and confidently shot at a rack of 6 plates, he missed one, but didn't notice until he started leaving the shooting box. When he sees that he missed, he just stopped. He shot that plate, then walked over to the next targets and just nonchalantly shot them wherever and finished the COF at a casual pace. It seemed to me that since he figured that the missed plate cost him enough time that he would just give up on it (and the match, for that matter). I lost a lot of respect for the guy at that point. Maybe he figured it wasn't worth trying since he couldn't be at the very top of the score. Maybe that's true, I mean it IS a competition. It just seemed to me to be an attitude of "Well, if I can't win then why even try?". I'm convinced that he could have recovered from that miss to get a score that was decent. My impression of these two short incidents is that, whether you do well or not, you should be a good sport about it. Congratulate the newbie for trying hard, even if his score sucks. Don't just give up because you can't get the best score, you can still get a pretty good score. I know it's a competition and you're there to win, but don't be a baby about it if you aren't the winner. I think playing fair and being a good sport makes the experience good for everyone there. Remember that you do this sport because you ENJOY it.

How about bringing a tripod, and just setting it up to catch the action from one point of view? Then you don't have to chase other shooters to video tape you. Yes, you won't get all the action, but you'll get some of it. If you can really crank the tripod up high, you can video over the tops of the other shooters who are watching. Just a thought, as I know it's hard to approach people and ask them to take the time to video you instead of watching or preparing!

Yeah the FO get's in the way, sucks. Too bad I can't get my hands quickly on the plain serrated Dawsons as I am located here in Asia They don't ship to Asia?

What is your requirement for a "better" basepad? I would never pay $38 for a base pad!! The stock plastic 10 round base pad is not too bad, I mean, what does it have to do to be "good"? Could you fill it with epoxy putty or something to make it more "solid?". Do you want more weight on it?

I'm a Canuck from Toronto, but I live in California now. Among the perks of living in the US is freer gun ownership laws...yes, even in CA! My fellow Californians complain about the draconian gun laws here (safe gun roster, 10 rounds magazines, etc, etc) but they don't really appreciate how relaxed those laws really are in comparison to Canada and other countries!

I'm probably mistaken, but is the xdm 5.25 DA/SA? If it's SA only then in 9mm, it can only shoot (in USPSA) Limited or Limited 10, where 9mm puts you at a disadvantage. What kind of action is it? My CZ-75b SA is awesome, but has the same problem.

I shot a Polish Plat Rack (rotating bar with 4 plates on top and 4 on the bottom) the experienced shooters told me "Shoot the top first, 2, 3, 4, 1, then do the bottom 2, 3, 4, 1). OK, for someone who can shoot straight, that's great. It took me FIVE magazines (40 bullets, also shooting SS!) I hit the last plate after the bar stopped rotating and the plate was at the very bottom, sitting there mostly motionless, I hit it and the slide locked back on my last magazine ... hit it with my last round! Well, if nothing else, I got kudos from the other shooters for sticking to it and not just giving up! LOL!

Reloading takes time to recoup costs. This means that the SOONER you start, the sooner you pay off the equipment. At the very least, save your brass after you shoot. The cheapest way to reload without going mad using a single stage for medium volume pistol rounds is a Lee Classic Turret. You can do it on a single stage, but it's very tedious. Reloading on a single stage is a batch process, a turret is nicer because if you only have a bit of time, you will still end up with finished rounds (with single stage, you end up with batches of half finished rounds until you do the last procedure). A progressive is similar, but you reduce the number of handle pulls per round (not counting the first and last round) to one pull per round instead of 4. Doesn't sound like much, but loading 100 rounds means pulling the handle 100 (+4 or so) times versus 400 times. Start now.

I shot my first two matches (2 hour drive to the range!! ARGH!) at a range where my coworker goes. Don't worry about being embarassed. In one stage, there was a "polish plate rack" which is this rotating propeller thingy with 8 plats on it that spins as you knock off plates. I hit the last plate with the LAST ROUND of my LAST MAGAZINE. I think I used up 40 rounds to hit those 8 plates! The experienced shooters didn't mock me, they just said "Hey, way to stick with it and not give up! Good work!" and that slight praise made me feel pretty good, even though my time was SIX TIMES longer than the fastest shooter! So yeah, don't worry about embarrassment, everyone starts as a newbie! I use a nylon Uncle Mikes holster (don't use this, get that bladetech!) it really slowed me down as it was so high up on my hip that it was hard to draw and really awkward to re-holster. I bought $10 nylon dual magazine pouches... they have flap on them that I had to tuck back behind the belt! Ugh! Then my first belt was a $15 nylon riggers belt (sort of), I immediately went and bought a dual belt, BUT I didn't get an expensive CR speed or DA belt, I bought a $10 duty belt from a surplus store...very stiff, but also 2 1/4" wide, so not many manufacturers make stuff for a belt this fat, luckily the bladetech tech-lok will fit I think, that's my next purchase. I can live with the clumsy nylon mag pouches for now! You know what? Regardless of my newbie equipment and crappy shooting, I had an amazing amount of fun! You don't need to practice for 2 months. I took a safety course on Saturday, and shot a match on Sunday and I was almost last, but I didn't really care! Just get out there!

I went to a surplus shop and bought a "Voodoo Tactical Duty Belt". I don't think they even make them anymore, that's probably why it was in the surplus shop. Anyway, it's a rigid dual belt and I bought it for $10. The problem with it is that it is 2 1/4" wide and I'm finding that not much stuff will fit it (holsters, mag pouches). Maybe that $10 would have been better off contributing to the CR or DA belt! So watch the width of any belt that you buy.