rubberneck

The rules are there to create a level playing field for the largest possible pool of competitors. At IDPA nationals I was told that 70% of IDPA members were from the northeast which was one of the reasons why it was moved to Pa. I found that number hard to believe but it came from a person who should know so I am prepared to take it at face value. I didn't have the chance to ask what states they considered North East but I am pretty sure that it would cover NY, NJ, Mass and Maryland. All four states have some sort of magazine restrictions. Look on the bright side. If the magazine issue bothers you that much you can always find a USPSA 3-gun match to shoot.

I don't remember the specifics. I do recall him being really upset about it during his walk through. Since I only shot the stage as it was I have no idea what it would have been like if it was left as is.

I hope the S&W attorneys don't demand changes on several stages like they did last year. One stage designer, who shall remain nameless, was beside himself last year because the legal beagles neutered a stage he was quite proud of.

Other than the trigger the biggest drawback to using the Hi-Power in L-1o is the magwell. The squared magwell leaves no room for error and there isn't enough material to really bevel the opening. If you are off by just a hair your reload is going to be all screwed up.

Don't you mean that those who are active in the sport, and received their second ballot, voted. I would have loved to have voted.....

I think the 20th century approach to the 21st century is something that should be addressed even if it requires a change in the by-laws. I got the first ballot but tossed it when the problems came up and waited for the second ballot. It never came. I don't feel particularly disenfranchised but this whole process was handled very poorly by the CPA firm and I am guessing there are a lot of people who are bothered by it.

In this day and age why do we have to rely on paper and snail mail to vote? What is the objection to allowing members to vote online? Those without o-line access could request a paper ballot sort of like an absentee ballot.

Don't let anyone kid you. The first two stages are nothing more than a warm up for the real classifier. In all my years of shooting IDPA I have never seen a shooter burn down the third stage while screwing up one of the first two.

Is dumping a round intentionally really any different than purposely down loading your first mag by a round to ensure a slide lock at a specific point in the COF? As far as I am concerned they are the same thing. I suppose the shooter could always claim that it was a simple mental error and they were unaware of the fact that their gun only had 9+1 instead of 10+1 but it nets the same result. Downloading your mag is obvious but if knowing the shooters intent is the standard for applying the FTDR than it will never be applied.

You are right Len. Nice guy, nice wife, cool motor home. IIRC he was a factory sponsored USPSA shooter for EAA back in the 80's but gave up shooting for the past 18 years and just recently got back into the sport. He came in second by 8 seconds but had some issues with his gun feeding properly on several stages. If his gun runs 100% he probably wins.

Is that the stage at the nationals that got the girl her FTDR? Yes. The stage required no such thing. The shooter could have moved to P4 engaged T7 with one round, performed a slide lock reload and re-engaged T7 with the second of two required rounds before moving to P5 and engaging T8. Throwing a third shot at T6 meant an early slidelock and eliminated the need to perform a reload and re-engagement of a target. No, that is incorrect, as the stage did not call for a tac reload or a reload with retention. The shooter could have elected to do so but he/she was under no obligation to perform one before leaving P3. The shooter. I think anyone who has ever participated in a sanctioned sport has had issues with some of the rules of that sport. On that front you aren't alone. Instead of insisting that the sport yield to your point of view, you can do what I do, and that is to accept the flaws in the rule book and still enjoy the sport.

I wouldn't count on the big Newbolds at a major match as they do tend to sag when they have been shot a lot. The Newbolds shot at Nationals were the 8 inch round ones, and they changed them in between morning and afternoon squads before the got shoot up that much. I was shooting 115 grain factory ammo and every Newbold I engaged went down quickly with a single hit. I don't recall anyone in my squad having a problem or complaint with them during the match. If they did, I wasn't in ear shot when they brought it up. It is interesting to hear that people had problems with them. For us they were a non factor provided that you hit them.

I thought that was one of the coolest stages at the match. I just wish I could get Ken Reed to make those targets for our club. It doesn't matter to me what shape the steel is just as long as it presents a test of the shooters skill. In this case it clearly did. The good shooters knocked them down quickly. The less skilled shooters paid for their inaccuracy.

Really, so the 8 procedurals I took at a match last year for supposedly having my toes touching the ground outside the shooters box wasn't a subjective call. After all the ball of my foot was on the wood part of the box and only an inch of my foot was extended outside of the box. The only way he could have been 100% sure was if he was laying on the ground looking to see if it touched, which is impossible to do when his major responsbility was to watch my gun. Nope that was totally black and white. No chance that the SO got that one wrong. I suppose no shooter has ever been disqualified at a major USPSA match because the SO claimed the shooter broke the 180. I suppose the guys DQ'd because the SO claimed that they put a shot over the berm weren't subject to a judgment call that may or may not have been correct. After all, only the shooter knows what his sight picture looked like when he broke the shot. I am sure the guys who have been dq'd because the SO thought they had an AD in between two targets weren't subject to a judgment call. I see where you are coming from. USPSA SO's never exercise their judgment when assigning penalties far stiffer than a FTDR at a major match. Nope no judgment has ever been required when DQ'ing someone at a USPSA match and in every one of those cases the SO was obviously 100% correct. They never make errors. I am curious, how many IDPA matches you shoot annually? You seem to be very outspoken about your feelings towards IDPA. Isn't only fair that we know what your background is regarding your participation in the sport you seem to have strong feelings for?

20 years ago you would have had a point but you don't today. There are enough manufacturers of trail type shoes with really aggressive tread patterns that are the equal of cleats and a suitable for all day wear. I have shot in all sorts of foul weather and run flat on wet grass and mud. I have never once slipped wearing either a pair or Merrill's or the pair of North Face trails shoes I wear now. This is nothing more than people making a mountain out of a mole hill. You can safely shoot this sport in all sorts of conditions wearing a good pair of trail shoes. There is no need whatsoever to wear football cleats. Somehow that doesn't stop people from bringing it up.

IDPA is a sport and like all sports IDPA has rules. Every time a sport draws a line in the sand someone always comes along and complains why the line has to be in that particular spot. 9 times out of 10 the person complaining does so becuase it doesn't suit him personally. IDPA and USPSA for that matter, can't be all things to all people no matter how much you think it should be. If your friend had taken a second to read the rule book he would have realized that there is only a prohibition on hard knee pads. Soft knee pads are allowable if a competitor has a need for them just as long as they are covered by clothing. If he hwas unsure of the legality of wearing knee braces he should have asked the match director for a ruling before hand. I saw plenty of guys wearing two knee braces. Not one of them was giged for it. It is amazing how flexible match officials can be when you take the time to open your mouth and ask instead of just assuming you can't. The real problem is that there are too many people holding court on the shortcomings of the IDPA rulebook when they really don't have a clue about the rules and the rationale behind them.

It's funny how every year right after IDPA nationals we read the same bill of complaints against the sport, usually from guys that very rarely shoot the sport. I have been on the wrong end of some bush league calls in USPSA. Somehow I find a way to get past it and still enjoy the sport.

In my opinion that doesn't work, you are essentially eliminating Vickers count scenarios. Not to mention that it becomes a safety issue when there are often targets up range of you when you complete the COF.

I am sure that the anti gun forces in this country are intimately aware of the rules regarding mag capacity in IDPA. Since Bullseye shooters step to the line with even less than we do, should we ask them to either stop shooting or go strictly to high caps to protect our sport? While we are at I think we should we force revolver shooters from our game. We wouldn't want the anti's to think that there is no need for auto loaders when a 6 round revolver can compete.

nm.

Really? the definition of "VICKERS COUNT STAGES" is simple and I quote from the rule book: In Vickers Count scoring, as many shots as desired may be fired, but only the best hits as specified by the course description will be scored. Let's now check the good old dictionary for the definition of "DESIRED" de·sire de·sire [di zr] vt (past and past participle de·sired, present participle de·sir·ing, 3rd person present singular de·sires) 1. wish for something: to want something very strongly 2. find somebody sexually attractive: to want to have sexual relations with somebody 3. request something: to wish for and request something (formal) n (plural de·sires) 1. craving: a wish, craving, or longing for something 2. something wished for: something that or somebody who is wished for (formal) 3. sexual craving: a strong wish for sexual relations with somebody [13th century. Via French désirer < Latin desiderare ] -de·sir·er, , n Word Key: Synonyms See want. Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Additionaly in ALL other sports that I am aware of there is not a "duality or conflict" within the rule set when the application of penatiles is accessed by officials making a judgment call. If you are going to be a smart alec you might as well look up the words caveat and exception while you are at it. You can take as many shots as you like, except when you dump a round with the express purpose of causing a premature slide lock. The two can co-exist even if you don't like it or refuse to acknowledge it. Just because the rulebook says you can take as many shots as you like during a COF doesn't mean that they can't list exceptions to that rule, and round dumping is quite clearly an exception to a Vickers count stage. I don't understand why that is so hard to fathom. Sort of like in USPSA where everything is supposed to be shot freestyle, except where otherwise noted.

I believe it would add a little bit of realism to the stage since it's supposed to be "Defense of Life" situational stages. I carry an M&P compact with 13 rounds or a full size with 19 rounds (All my 17 round mags hold 18). I never "Down load" my mags for defensive carry so why would I want to "Down load" them to practice defensive use? Using your logic if I carry a Wilson Carry comp should I be allowed to use it in CDP? I am sure someone out there carries a gun with a Doctor sight on it or a SVI wide body with a giant magwell and tungsten guide rod. The sport can't be all things to all people otherwise it would become an unmitigated disaster. The second you draw a line in the sand someone will come along and question the rationale for putting that line in that particular place. I don't think anyone wants to be involved in a sport where the line moves from year to year. I know I wouldn't.

No more than 5 yards from P2. Someone in the squad will have to tell you what type of hits she had.

First off I shoot both games, and I like them both. While I agree with what you posted above, the problem comes when in that situation a shooter intentionally puts his first round on any target in the berm, and then fires two more into the -0. He's at slide lock, and there are only 2 holes per target. How could the SO justify a FTDR in that case. I realize the shooter is a cheating ba$tard in this case, and possibly should be DQ'd, but you have to have probable cause. I also agree that good course design would go a long way to fixing the problem. Bruce No disrespect intended. How could you accuse him of cheating when we have a rule that allows the shooters to shoot as many shots as he wants at each target. Just because a stage is a Vickers count stage it doesn't automatically exempt the assessment of a penalty for round dumping. The two can and should co-exist. Every single sport that I can think off calls on it's rules officials to exercise their judgment in making calls during the course of an event. This notion that an official making a judgment call in IDPA is completely unfair must be unique to IDPA in the sporting world. If you don't think it is your place as an official to use your best judgment and experience to assign a penalty as called for in the rule book than you might want to rethink being an SO. What is the point of having a rule book when an official will tell you flat out that he will never ever enforce one of the rules under any circumstances.

IDPA is indeed supposed to test real life skills. Those skills include being able to shoot quickly and accurately but it doesn't stop there. It also tests gun handling skills, and being able to reload a gun quickly clearly is a skill of immense importance. Allowing shooters to start a stage with 15+1 marginalizes that skill on 80% of IDPA stages.