Jane

I'm shooting Thursday (SSP sharpshooter) in squad 1. I see a couple of Steves shooting Thursday, but none in my squad. Anyway, if you see a tall old blonde, say Hi Jane Fleming

This is drifting slightly off topic from the original poll question about observance of the rules as they exist. (To which I voted if you play Bill's game, play Bill's rules.) I've heard (USPSA) shooters complain about IDPA having "so many rules"... but when I took the USPSA RO class last Spring it was obvious that USPSA has at least as many. What I personally find least appealing about IDPA is the scripting of stages. For a while, we had one guy who'd design a stage something like Start holding money bag. At the buzzer, shoot the first two targets strong-hand only while retreating. Do a mandatory RWR behind cover, then shoot the next three targets in tac sequence. Do another mandatory reload. Shoot the popper from behind cover. Then shoot the last two targets weak hand only. Well... why should I try to remember all that crap? (Please to excuse unladylike language. ) I know this is a somewhat extreme example, but to a large extent stages then become a matter of short-term memory recall under pressure, rather than "solving the problem" and shooting well. What was that line from the Butch Cassidy film? "There ARE no rules in a knife fight, Butch!" OK... I feel better now. Edited to add: This actually is somewhat relevant, in view of the comments about asking the SO what's permitted, shooting the stage in a way other than as intended by the COF designer, etc. I really prefer stages where you just follow the rules - use cover, don't leave ammo behind, and deal with the situation... rather than having to perform a specified ballet....

Argh... I should have disclaimered... his IDPA video I find pretty much useless... other than watching him casually shoot the classifier in 65 seconds whilst keeping up his patter for the camera. The others, while more oriented toward USPSA, have a lot more tips as far as shooting fast and moving.

Cool. As for tips... if you haven't checked them out... Matt Burkett's DVDs (available through the store on this site) I've found very worthwhile. I'm too old and don't have the reflexes ever to be a really good shooter (my main goal is to feel I'm competent to own a handgun) but I've derived a lot of benefit from them. Jane

Congratulations from a bottom-level SSP sharpshooter Jane

XP Pro SP2 Netscape 8.1 - Works fine Opera 9.00 build 8501 - Works fine Firefox 1.5.0.6 - Works fine IE 6.0 with latest updates - Works fine

Robert Ray from IDPA headquarters has responded several times to a thread on IDPA forum asking about this category of shooters. Quoting from his last response: You can read the entire thread here: http://p075.ezboard.com/fidpaforumfrm26.sh...picID=152.topic

Then why have they started asking people to enter their classifications on the "members-only" area on the HQ website?

I don't know whether the 'Military' category is supposed to be just for current military... But looking at the people registered for this year's Nationals, I count 5 guys listed as 'Military'. Shooter #41 is also listed as industry and law enforcement. #80 just as military #131 as industry and military #223 just as military #224 as military and law enforcement. I hate to assume... but unless the guys who list LE are currently serving as MPs it would sound as if they're retired military. Last year they apparently only had 2 who listed themselves as military... but did single them out: http://www.idpa.com/matchresults/2005_nati...litary_2005.pdf Jane

Actually, the LGB does address this situation. The LBB no longer includes the language. From the LGB, page 54

These answers and more (including photos of acceptable/unacceptable holsters and mag pouches) are in the IDPA rulebook, which you can download here. Jane

Or in my case... an interesting looking barrel... This was not at a match, BTW... A few years ago I was taking a class at Front Sight. I was using a P239/.40 and that day I had the Blazer ammo with the aluminum cases. We did some malfunction clearance drills, and afterwards I picked up the cartridges I'd dropped on the ground. Later, back doing live fire, I had a "click no bang". Rather than waiting a minute in case it was a squib and then taking the gun apart, I did the beachbunny ninja "tap rack assess" and shot again. Kaboom. Do you see where this is going? One of the rounds of Blazer I'd picked up was a 9mm instead of a .40. I didn't notice it when I was loading mags, but the P239 obviously did. When the 9 found its way into the chamber and didn't fire, the .40 that I tap-racked apparently forced it into the barrel. When the 40 went off it detonated the 9mm cartridge. My instructor dug the casing out of the target (at least I was accurate ) And I'm very grateful for the strength of the steel SIG uses (I play piano...LOL...) The slide wouldn't retract more than 1/8 of an inch. I sent the gun back to SIG with a spare .357 barrel I had on hand and they returned it to me a week later. I keep the barrel in my range bag as a reminder... and have trotted it out when I see people picking up cartridges off the ground

It's not sandbagging. ESP Classifier times are faster because IDPA assumes ESP guns have an advantage over guns that need to start double-action. In effect, you're handicapping yourself by shooting an SSP gun in ESP. You do have to shoot a separate Classifier for each classification you want. If your club allows, you can shoot the same gun and run through the Classifier twice in the same day - once in ESP and once in SSP. From page 21 of the current rule book: From page 72 Jane

You're not!

I've posted an upgrade to ForScore match scoring software. The upgrade is free to users who have purchased previous versions of the software, and adds additional score-entry error checking and the ability to add your club's logo graphic to match results. More information at beachbunnysoftware.com Jane

If anyone is interested in becoming an RO, the San Luis Obispo club is organizing a level 1 RO class taught by Carl Schmidt, to be held April 1 and 2 at the SLOSA range outside of San Luis Obispo. Contact info is in the link. Jane

Best advice I've received for shooting weak hand only was at a Gabe Suarez class. He suggested canting the gun 30 to 45 degrees (what I've started calling a "half homey" ) For a right hander, this brings the sights more in line with the right eye (assuming you're right eye dominant)... so you don't wind up tilting your head. Also, I try to focus on squeezing the gun's grip front and back, but not sideways... to lessen the tendency to milk it.

TruGlo doesn't show tritium/fiber-optic for Springfield 1911s... although they do for Kimbers. I like these sights enough that I've put them on two Glocks and three SIGs. They're brighter than any other night sights I've had (SIGlights, Meps, Trijicons) and have the advantage of the bright green dot(s) in daylight. Natchez has tended to have the best price I've found on them. Again, though... not available for the Springfield...

Germany, I think... As are the frames and barrels for my SIGs But then, my Glocks aren't really made in Georgia either...

Vince, I'll take that in a good sense Jane

This guy on SIGforum likes something called MEPABLU better than either ProEars or Peltor: http://sigforum.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f...935/m/505108424

SIG 226ST in .357 until January when the new weight rules kick in. Then I'll go back to the G35.

You're right, it's not in the rulebook. I asked HQ about it some time back: response on IDPA forum Jane

Sorry if yet another plug for my scoring software ... but I think it's a bad idea to rank peoples' scores in interim results. Guess what - the guy who's shot 7 stages is ahead of guys who've shot 18 stages as far as total time ... My software blanks interim total scores and lists people alphabetically, but still lets people check what's been input against their copies of their scoresheets.