Do you compete with what you carry?

[ampleworks]

Since my daily Kel-Tec is not suitable for IDPA...I treat it just what it is.....a game.

Either 4" or 5" XD out of a Blade-Tech. I plan on shooting a STI in CDP later this year too.

[xcelr8n]

IDPA = full size steel 1911 in a paddle holster

Carry = full size light weight 1911 IWB

I keep the setup very similar but as others have mentioned, I'm there to compete.

[sslav]

I do not shoot IDPA often. When I do I usually shoot something other than what I shoot in USPSA just for some variety. This year it will probably be a 4" 686.

[MemphisMechanic]

The magwell would kinda dig into your side.

I carry a Glock 19 in a C-TAC. It stays at home when I'm playing the IDPA game to win.

[Duane Thomas]

For a sport supposedly designed around carry guns and defensive pistol seems odd no carry guns are competitive.

Well, that depends on what you carry, doesn't it?

[waktasz]

When I started I only had a g26. I've had an SO ask me where my gun was when I came to the line dressed in shorts and just a t-shirt with my g26 IWB.

[DoubleDelta]

I'm in Illinois.

By the way, that was one of the better written poll/survey questions/responses I have seen on this forum.

Ya done good.

Thanks! I am trying to realy wrap my head around the IDPA game and wanted to know if I was some kind of freak for being a USPSA shooter trying IDPA and not gameing.

[DoubleDelta]

I was also suprised by how many shooters were using guns that I would not consider to be a great choice for a CCW

If there were only one "right" choice there would be a lot less pistols on the market. I don't carry my "game guns" but I do carry STI's and big glocks (not downloaded) and full size 1911's.

That is the whole point of my question. What is suitable to carry is highly subjective and up to personal opinion. But if you have the majority of shooters shooting full size guns that have nothing in common with their carry gun-just to be competitive-well where the heck is the real practicality in that? Right now there seems to be only one "right" choice and that is guns like the G35/34.

[Aglifter]

IDPA made me realize how much I struggle w. shooting a compact gun, and how much easier I find a Glock to shoot instead of a Sig. So, now I while I was carrying and shooting a P226, I have since switched to shooting a G17, and, once its had a few hundred rounds through it, will carry a G31, and probably shoot the G31 when I have ammo. However, if I cannot shoot the G31 as well as the G17, I'll go back to carrying 9MM.

However, above all, its a game. Downloaded mags alone prove that.

[sslav]

However, above all, its a game. Downloaded mags alone prove that.

During my son's last hockey practice the coach had them push a tire around the ice with a stick, play tug of war with the stick, run through an obstacle course that included hopping over a low barrier and diving to slide under a higher barrier and a whole bunch of other things that you will never see in a hockey game. Yet they were definitely practicing to play hockey.

[jmorris]

But if you have the majority of shooters shooting full size guns that have nothing in common with their carry gun-just to be competitive-well where the heck is the real practicality in that? Right now there seems to be only one "right" choice and that is guns like the G35/34.

I compete and win with a commander length STI that is pretty close to one of my carry STI's but I think my carry guns reflect my competition guns not the other way around. FWIW Majority doesn't mean "right" and practicality has no place in competition.

[feersum dreadnaught]

I shoot a Sig P220 Stainless Elite in IDPA CDP, using a High Noon IWB holster. It's been to GrayGuns for action/trigger work. I carry it ~50% of the time, and the rest of the time, I carry a Kahr PM9.

I like the game, and don't worry about beating the G34 guys - I'm ok consistently placing in the upper 1/3 overall at the matches. I shoot IDPA more as a competition with myself, than against others.

That said, I just found myself looking at leather line kydex OWB holsters, thinking "that looks faster..." ;-)

[Dan Hefta]

Production, Glock 34

Limited and Lim 10, Glock 24

Carry everyday everywhere, Glock 27

I have chosen to use the same platform for competition as I do with my carry gun, less to think about.

[Ahab]

Competition: Smith & Wesson 625 or 686SSR for IDPA ESR and SSR respectively.

Carry is a S&W Model 60 with a 3 inch barrel in an IWB holster. Last year, up until about July/August I shot and carried a lot of different guns, and was stuck in Sharpshooter in all the different classes I was in. Around that same time, I started messing around with revolvers, and after a disappointing performance at the Tri-State Regional in Memphis I switched exclusively to revolver shooting. Not because I think wheelguns are inherently better, but by shooting a 1911 one week and an XD the next week and a 625 the week after that I wasn't dedicating any time to getting better at shooting, I was just sort of sitting around.

After I switched to nothing but revolvers for competition and carry, I've seen a dramatic increase in my performance. If I go to the range, I'm either shooting my carry gun, or one of the revolvers I compete with. Since making the switch to one dedicated platform, I classified into Master in ESR and yesterday missed it by a hair shooting the classifier in SSR. I'm a huge believer now in shooting a gun that is similar to what you carry, but even more importantly in competing with the same gun or a reasonable facsimile thereof.

I also shoot a 627 in Steel Challenge, here are three out of four of the revolvers I shoot and carry.

[Duane Thomas]

It's always been my practice to compete with what I carry. What I've found, once I became a serious competitor, is that being a competitor began to affect my choice of carry gun. When I started competing, I carried a SIG P228 or a Glock 19 so that's what I shot. Shortly after becoming a competition shooter I was carrying a full-sized 1911. Then I went from that to a Glock 34. They about a year ago a Glock 17 once I figured out I can shoot a 17 just as well as a 34. So competition has had the effect of making my carry guns larger and easier to shoot. Can't really view that as a negative.

In the near future it's looking like my next carry gun is going to be an STI VIP 9mm. Yes, I'm being seduced by the Dark Side. (I have yet to see the promised cookies, BTW. Wotta gyp. ) Of course, this is just a high-cap 1911 about the size of my G17 - actually when you get right now to it, this is basically a Lightweight Commander with a double stack 9mm mag and a polymer-and-steel frame - so it's not like I'm gaining a lot in small gun mode there.

[kct45acp]

I personally dislike small guns for carry, therefore I carry depending on my mood that morning, Kimber Custom Target, Glock 34, Sig P226, Taurus PT92, Springfield XDm 9mm. I will even occasionally break out the old Model 15 Smith.

All of these are carried in OWB straight drop Kydex holsters with the exception of the smith which I have a galco speed master for. I carry at least one reload for each.

When the weather gets to hot for concealment garments I resort to a Model 605 Taurus in a pocket holster though.

[A62335]

I don't shoot my carry gun/gear in USPSA SS, but in IDPA CDP I shoot the exact gun/gear that I carry everyday. Old pre-series II Kimber out of a leather OWB with a leather double mag carrier under a vest.

[usmc1974]

but switched to a competition only gun to better my chances at winning the game.

this is exactly what IDPA did not want to become, and mainly why I quite shooting it. Hell most of the time you don't even have to draw from cover( under a coat or vest)

[Duane Thomas]

That depends on the club. At my club concealment is mandatory.

[guns_and_labs]

In IDPA, yes, usually.

Always the same holster I use in daily carry, but sometimes I run IDPA with another of my 1911s. I tell myself that it's just because I can, but really it's because I score better with a full-sized 1911 than with an aluminum or scandium micro 1911.

[19852]

I don't have a small gun so I carry what I have; a Beretta 92F.

[redwoods]

I shoot IDPA mainly for fun and as a competition. So I use full size 1911s with a lightened trigger and springs. I also use ed brown extra wide thumb safeties and adjustible fiber optic sights. I use a holster that is quick and easy to draw from.

For my carry gun, I use a Springfield EMP. I also load it with Fed Hydra-shok, so I use factory springs. I use a leather holster that is tight to my body. I want lightweight and comfort for a carry gun. I also use fixed night-sights for durability and low light shooting.

If you shoot IDPA for the thrill of competition, I would assume you would have a gun for that purpose. If you shoot it for training for your CCW, I would guess you would use your carry equipment.

Randy

[GForceLizard]

No, for IDPA matches I’m going to continue to shoot a Glock 17. I carried a Glock 19 in a Cross Breed SuperTuckDeluxe IWB. It always felt large. I am unwilling to adjust my attire to make it work every day. Now I have a Taurus PT709 slim with a DeSantis Tuck This II IWB.

[usmc1974]

I shoot IDPA mainly for fun and as a competition. So I use full size 1911s with a lightened trigger and springs. I also use ed brown extra wide thumb safeties and adjustible fiber optic sights. I use a holster that is quick and easy to draw from.

For my carry gun, I use a Springfield EMP. I also load it with Fed Hydra-shok, so I use factory springs. I use a leather holster that is tight to my body. I want lightweight and comfort for a carry gun. I also use fixed night-sights for durability and low light shooting.

If you shoot IDPA for the thrill of competition, I would assume you would have a gun for that purpose. If you shoot it for training for your CCW, I would guess you would use your carry equipment.

Randy

You shoot USPSA/IPSC for the thrill of competition. IDPA to mock real life and real life carry, with real life guns, with real life triggers and sights. Proper use of concelment/cover. Duane, that is as it should be.

[waktasz]

I shoot IDPA mainly for fun and as a competition. So I use full size 1911s with a lightened trigger and springs. I also use ed brown extra wide thumb safeties and adjustible fiber optic sights. I use a holster that is quick and easy to draw from.

For my carry gun, I use a Springfield EMP. I also load it with Fed Hydra-shok, so I use factory springs. I use a leather holster that is tight to my body. I want lightweight and comfort for a carry gun. I also use fixed night-sights for durability and low light shooting.

If you shoot IDPA for the thrill of competition, I would assume you would have a gun for that purpose. If you shoot it for training for your CCW, I would guess you would use your carry equipment.

Randy

You shoot USPSA/IPSC for the thrill of competition. IDPA to mock real life and real life carry, with real life guns, with real life triggers and sights. Proper use of concelment/cover. Duane, that is as it should be.

What about in states where you can't carry?

I rarely carry and when I do it's with a pocket gun. I shoot a 43 oz, 2 pound trigger 1911 because at the end of the day it's still a game, they keep score, and there is a winner.