BillinTR

I take a deep breath on "shooter ready" then nod to indicate I am ready and continue normal breathing on that part. Don't know if it helps, hurts or has no effect. It is just a habit I got into.

The address I used was info@idpa.com. I must have fat fingered the r into my post. I also tried posting directly into the site through their "contact us" interface. I already posted a question about my issue here concerning a classifier I shot recently. I am pretty certain of what the rules say and the responses I got confirmed my understanding. I just need to make sure IDPA HQ is aware of my issue so that my classifier is posted correctly. But so far I get no response from any email or other contact I have tried. I will take a look at the web site for the phone number. But since I occasionally receive emails from the info@idpa.com address when they send out their updates and promotions it is kind of annoying that I can't get a response to my questions.

Does anyone know a reliable way to contact someone at IDPA HQ and get an actual response? I have tried two different ways through the web site. One was to email infor@idpa.com and another was to post a message through an interface on the contacts page. So far I have not received any response whatsoever, not even a go away and don't bother me.

Well my understanding of the new rules is exactly as you have outlined them. I have a copy of the rule book downloaded. But I am concerned that based upon his statements to me at the match when signing my card that the IDPA database will not reflect my classification in all three divisions. So far the IDPA database has not been updated with the results of this classifier. I sent an email to the IDPA web site about this. Hopefully I will hear back fairly soon.

Well I was shooting a Sig P220 which is qualified for all 3 divisions. Admittedly it is not the best pistol for SSP or ESP but my objective was to classify in all three. And yes I did indicate that I was attempting to get all three classifications. But when it came time to sign my card he only signed it for CDP and told me it was not necessary to put all 3 on my classification card. I checked today and the classifications have not yet been entered into the IDPA database. I didn't press the issue that morning because there were a lot of people waiting to get their card signed and I figured I could get it straightened out later. Maybe that was a mistake.

I finally got my classification up to date this past weekend but I have a question because my classification on my card was not indicated as I expected. I intentionally shot a CDP gun in the classifier with the idea that I could get my classification applied to all three semi auto divisions. But when it came time to sign my card I was only given a CDP classification. When I questioned the match director about why he did not indicate all three on my card he told me that it was not required because my CDP classification would apply to all three divisions in the absence of classification in the other two divisions. Since the times are different for the three divisions I would expect it to be possible to get different classifications in the three divisions. Although my time would have put me in the same classification in all three that particular aspect of the classification would not have applied. Did the MD do this right or should my card have been signed for all three divisions?

More than one person has said that if you think you are over classified then shoot a different division. I thought that when you entered a shoot in a division you have not classified in then you compete at the classification that you received in the division in which you are classified. So what did that accomplish? And if you shoot the classifier in CDP the classification you earn is applied to all three semi-auto divisions. If you classify in SSP then it is applied to ESP as well. I must not understand everything about the classifications. Personally I only REALLY care about my own shooting and working to improve it and having fun while doing so. If I went to a sanctioned match I would mainly be interested in learning how the better shooters are doing things. But it would sure be nice to be able to do well with respect to others which are in the same classification (my current peers). Which would be hard, if not impossible, if I was over classified. And there seems to be virtually no going backwards if that happens. Well I'm not going to stress out over the issue at any rate. I just don't understand the whole concept of not trying to do as well as you can on a classifier.

Unless yu happen to be exceptional when anyone finally gets promoted into the next higher classification it will probably be a case of "just barely breaking into another classification". You will eventually have to compete against folks who are enough better than you to make you work harder. I just wish there was some way to avoid the problem of having one amazing day and getting stuck in a classification you have no business being in. Like maybe having to do well in multiple matches before you get a bump. But then people in a hurry to move up would start to bitch.

I guess I will never understand the whole notion of sandbagging, especially not in IDPA. What purpose does it serve? Are there that many people whose psyche is so warped they need to validate themselves by beating people in a class they know they do not belong in? It is not like there is money to be made or prizes to be won. You get a trophy whose monetary value is insignificant and if you sandbagged to get it the self esteem value is non-existant. I want to compete against my peers and not be totally dominated by people significantly better then me. But I also want to improve so that I can compete with the better shooters. I am not going to accomplish anything either by being beat down all the time or by doing the beating against shooters I am better than.

Jumping in late to this thread and I am not a hardcore IDPA participant that goes to a match of some sort every week and attends a number of sanctioned matches. Like a few others have expressed on this thread I am mainly interested in competing against myself and improving and measuring my own skills. With that said I have often wondered why it is that there is no provision whatsoever for going down in classification. If a person gets a match bump to a skill level that they truly are not competitive at why can't some method of getting bumped the other way be provided. If I were to get bumped up to expert as an example in a particular match and then in my next several matches I was getting soundly beaten by all the SS and some of the MM shooters doesn't that indicate I belong in a lower classification? Certainly I would rightly belong no higher than SS. And yet in IDPA it seems almost impossible to go back. I don't know about USPSA. Is sandbagging that prevalent that there would be no valid way to provide for this? Since I shoot mostly local matches and have recently made a significant geographical move I have not had an opportunity to shoot a classifier in several years and yet my classification does not change. I am older and slower for a couple of different reasons but have no major physical problems that prevent me from shooting the classifier so no excuses. I know that to shoot a sanctioned match I have to get my classifier up to date and I am doing that soon. But my understanding is that no matter what I do my classification can only go up not down. I certainly want to do as good as I am capable of and no matter what I intend to work on my skills. It just seems that it is legitimately possible to regress at the very least temporarily.

If everybody is following the same rules and forced to reload in the same manner where is your 3 seconds? The rule seems pretty straight forward to me if people stop trying to figure out how much they can twitch one leg or the other. Follow the rule and no PE and no 3 seconds.

Everybody keeps focusing on the technicalities of what constitutes a "flat footed reload" or not moving while reloading. It seems as though it is being made far more complicated than it needs to be. The intent or spirit of the rule is that reloading be done behind cover and that no movement towards the next position take place during the reload. I wonder how many people who are worrying themselves sick over whatever perceived advantage moving one foot forward is going to give them are really capable of making that be the difference in their placing. It all seems pretty simple. Get to cover, stand still, reload, move. I can't believe it will be impossible for an SO to watch your gun while paying attention to your feet in their peripheral vision. And as pointed out the scorekeeper can help with the close calls. If there are any issues that come up because of the stage design then they should be cleared up during the walk through.

If you leave your mag pouches all the way loose how do you satisfy the retention requirement? With a loose mag pouch I would think your magazines would fall out if checked.

Don't worry. I don't feel picked on. I know my opinion may not be popular. I am not terribly familiar with the USPSA equipment rules at all. But I know you can't do anything really radical in IDPA like porting and slide lightening even in ESP. So I feel that if I wanted to I could shoot in ESP with a reasonably well tuned gun without spending thousands. A decent trigger job on an S&W M&P or a Glock isn't that expensive. A lot of what I see guys doing to their guns locally isn't really helping them that much. I sometimes wonder if it isn't more for cool factor. If they spend the money on ammo and practice time they would do themselves more good. Perhaps the same argumets apply to production class in USPSA.

My response about the equipment race is simple. Although I never have shot USPSA my understanding is that the production class and other more restrictive classes were introduced to USPSA for the very same reason. People were complaining that they couldn't afford to compete with the race guns in the more open classes. As far a those Double A pouches I have a theory which may or may not be accurate about the adjustment knobs. In IDPA the pouches are required to have enogh retention to retain the loaded magazines. Now if you go through an equipment check and they are satisfied with the tension but then you decide to loosen them up (for speed?) when you go to shoot the stages I imagine they don't want you to be able to do that. Making them only be adjustable by using a tool makes it a bit more difficult. Just a thought. I could be and probably am wrong.