JonasAberg

I'd be open to trying it but getting a(ny) firearm license is somewhat costly and time consuming in this country. I'm also at a point where I'm thinking "yeah I could get <firearm X> but that translates to two years worth of 9mm". I guess the bottom line for me is cost. If I had more money I'd probably get a revolver, maybe even compete in club matches every now and then but don't see myself getting into it in a big way.

Another one... There are times when you have a large stage and/or lots of props with multiple people pasting targets. In these situations, I like to go to a place where I can observe everyone and be the last one to head back. That way I make sure there isn't anyone left at the "load and make ready".

Just an FYI for anyone attempting to remove the front sight ; on my X-Five Allround, the sight came out left to right and it was jammed in there TIGHT! Same with with another Allround, owned by a friend of mine. So there are Sigs with sights that come out left to right.

This may seem obvious but - know the rules. Especially when it comes to rule infractions leading to a DQ, you may only see it for a split second and you'll have to call it right there and then. As a brand new RO, issuing a DQ may feel intimidating, especially if it's a veteran shooter. If you completely trust your knowledge of the rules you will be more confident in making the tough calls. Also - carry a printed out version of the rule book. Not because you don't know the rules but to show the shooter the rule if and when and argument arises.

I won my first team medal this summer and that kind of lit a fire and I decided I wanted to improve even more. I started doing dry fire some 15-30 minutes as often as I could, which turned out to be 4-5 times per week and live fire once a week focusing on fundamentals and/or the stuff I had been working on in dry fire. I now have five months of winter ahead of me and no pistol matches so I'm working on a training plan, trying to figure out areas where I need to improve the most. I will then structure my training, focusing on those major weak areas and hopefully I'll be able to hit the ground running when the season starts in April.

I just tend to forget to pick it up sometimes. I'm pretty amped up and focused shooting a stage so it just slips my mind to pick up the round.

I just shot my first indoor match and had one of my best matches all year. I contribute that more to practice than being indoors though. Some differences - it's loud! Definitely double up on ear protection. Be aware of safety angles mentioned in the stage briefing as they may be a bit stricter than on an outdoor range. Indoors, the floor will be flatter than the ground on an outdoor gun range, which will make it somewhat easier to shoot on the move. No wind indoors so less need to wear gloves/heavy clothing between stages. The ventilation was pretty good where I shot but eventually I felt the need to clear my throat a lot so I was obviously breathing in something that probably isn't very healthy. Some kind of face mask may be in order if you're going to shoot a lot indoors.

Where I live, a lot of guys use small, club competitions as a testing ground for these type of things; make some changes, see how/if it runs in competition.

We shoot rifle and shotgun during winter so a lot of us wear gloves for that. I saw a guy wear gloves at a pistol match this summer and thought I'd try it myself but after just picking up the pistol the feel was way too different for me to like it. What would have to be done for it to become popular? Create a glove that is thin enough to get close to the same feel of no gloves AND are warm enough to use in cold weather (at or below 14 degrees fahrenheit) and I'd be interested in picking some up for winter training. For summer matches they'd have to offer some kind of advantage (superior grip) over going gloveless and I just can't see how that could be done.

Me, I can go either way. As a kid, especially in my teens, I was very shy and liked keeping to myself. At 17-18 I decided it was enough of that and actually taught myself to be more social and outgoing. As a result, I can basically switch my social side on and off like a light switch and feel very comfortable either way.

I suspect the same. As I understand it, it's the actual exportation of firearms parts and/or components that is the issue. While it's possible, I doubt it is any more legal and honestly I don't feel like taking the risk of getting into that kind of trouble.

My first year of shooting, participating in one of my first club matches. Table start, all magazines flat on table, lots of targets. A(nother) new guy started his run, went around the table and as he went for a spare magazine he turned completely around, sweeping the whole squad. Got sent home and haven't seen him since.

I'm working on getting faster transitions. For me, I noticed I sometimes have a tendency towards "tunnel vision", where I get too focused on the particular target I am shooting and see very little else. As a result, I had to look for the next target, especially on trickier stages. So what I am doing now is I'm working on being aware of targets in my peripheral vision so I can move more aggressively towards it. I particularly like shooting steel challenge type drills for this, using wide transitions. Dry fire works too.

IPSC rule: The minimum trigger pull must either be 2.27kg (5lbs.) for the first shot fired and no restriction for subsequent shots fired, or 1.36kg (3lbs.) for every shot fired.

A possible scenario would be him practicing something involving reloading or table starts, at this particular safety area or a different one. Then forgot he had a live round chambered. Of course, doing this would be grounds for DQ but as the match was over, maybe he thought it was okay.

In my opinion, retreats are not any less safe than anything else in this sport. Running around with loaded weapons can be very dangerous but also quite safe as long as you know what you are doing. Usually, if there are new shooters and there is a stage with shots close to 180, a door or retreat or similar, that is usually pointed out as something to be aware of. More often than not, new guys are also given tips on how to deal with it so everything is done safely. Just throwing inexperienced shooters into situations like that, that's where you'll have problems.

This is something I am working on and have found out a couple of things. Positioning; I like to position two mags close together in a "stepped" manner, right one (closest to the gun) about an inch and a half further away. This is the one that goes on the magnet. I pick up both mags simultaneously, my body positioned so that my hand moves straight back, right onto the magnet. The mag should be there by the time I get my gun up, at which point the other mag is on the way to the magwell. The problem for me is if I miss the magnet. A few times in dryfire the mag has stuck to the edge, which is far less stable.

Here is how I see it; you fall not because you lose balance but because you are unable to correct it in time. Yeah, you can "train to fall" in various ways but you can also work on balancing and getting those fast twitch muscle fibers working because those are the ones that kick in when you are about to fall. You can do this in the gym when working with weights by allowing your body to move through natural ranges of motion. Many people like to do squats in the smith machine for example but that isn't really a natural range of motion. Sticking to regular squats not only works those fast twitch fibers but also balance (if you are up for it, you can also try "pistol squats"). All exercises where your body moves through space in some way does this. My 2 cents

Where I'm from, it's pretty much understood that everyone helps any way they can; patching targets, setting plates, taking down scores and RO:ing. The exception being if you're getting ready to do your run and often (but not always) if you just finished and want to reload your mags. There's simply no way to run a match pretty much at any level if people started saying they don't want to RO. If it's a club match and there aren't enough certified RO's, then the job falls on the most experienced shooters.

With regards to drones in IPSC, rule 8.6.6 states: " Drones or other remotely controlled devices are prohibited unless their use is approved in advance by the Match Director " Still, I doubt anyone would object to someone filming themselves with a drone if it were a local, club match. Of course, there is always a risk the drone could be damaged by ricochets so it's a risk they'd have to accept.

At the end of the day, the biggest expense is going to be ammo. My pistol of choice was the Sig Sauer X-five Allround; an expensive pistol for sure. I'm on pace to surpass the cost of the pistol next year, only my second year of shooting it. A stock Glock and used rig will be just fine as long as you shoot recreationally and don't care about where you place. However, if you get it into your head that you want to get better, faster and place higher - that's where you will have to start practice and competing more regularly and that's where you'll start to burn money. My two cents

Pretty close guess; I live in Finland but my mother tongue (as well as my last name) is Swedish. At our last big match, we had tourniquets at every stage, which was a direct result of a competitor at a different match some weeks earlier accidentally shooting himself in the foot. One of our members is a firefighter and gave a quick lesson in how to use it. Other than that, man, I wouldn't know where to start. I tend to think there is a reasoning that ordinary citizens should not feel that they have a need for such training and that the authorities will handle it, in the same sense that we are not allowed to carry anything for self defense.

This is probably not relevant to the OP as I'm located in another country but thought I'd share anyway; my club runs pistol club matches on Wednesdays. Weekends are reserved for shotgun, rifle and higher level matches.

I carry an IFAK with tourniquet, combat gauze, Israeli bandages and chest seals on my belt during competitions. It's a bit heavy and I've thought about just stashing it in my range bag but I want to know where it is at all times in case something happens. Usually, moving between stages you set your bag down somewhere and with multiple similar looking bags you may not be able to find it in a high stress situation. I've only really watched youtube videos on how to use it though, as there really aren't any classes for this type of thing in my country (just regular cpr classes for civilians) but it doesn't seem difficult and it's better to have the means to do something while waiting for an ambulance to arrive.

If it's not specified in the brief it's up to the shooter. If the stage is already shot and a reshoot is impossible the stage should be dropped. Edit to add: While I agree that if the door is closed, one could assume that the door should be closed at the start signal but these are the kind of things that are easily forgotten by a previous squad, creating confusion. The main lesson here seems to be that walk throughs are a valuable tool to clear up things like this.