Limited VS Open just looking for Direction

[CocoBolo]

Ok have not shot my Limited gun since the Nationals, been shooting Open. Took both guns to the local range today and shot the League stages twice with both guns.

6 paper targets 3 on the move 3 stationary from 18 yards, 4 peper (2l/2s) thru a barrel, plate rack thru a port and a Texas star not exaclty an easy COF lots of movement.

My best run with Limited was 37.23 (did 2 reloads) and with the Open gun 33.16 (w/1 reload). Hit factor for Limited is 3.54 and for Open is 3.98. If I am right I shot 89% of my open self with my limited self? (dropped 3 points with each)

The real question is as a C class shooter am I better or more competitive in Limited or Open, I often think you need to be at least 10% better in open just to break even with limited.

Thoughts?

I don't know how others of the same classificaiton shot, several ahead of me shot in the 50's.

Edited May 9, 2010 by CocoBolo

[XD Niner]

Only you can decide which Division is the most fun and rewarding for you. If you're trying solely to determine in which Division you are currently the most competitive, then set up three or four classifiers and run through them a few times with each gun. Then compare the results to the Classifier Calculator. This should give you a quantitative assessment of how you compare to others in your Division but also let you compare your Limited to your Open results.

Running through a long field stage such as you described introduces a host of variables into the "with which gun am I more competitive?" question. The movement aspects should be the same whether you're carrying an Open gun, a Limited gun or a squirt gun. Many of the other aspects will be similar as well. These similarities will mask the differences between your performance with the two guns. A classifier will minimize the non-shooting variables. If you pick 3 or 4 that focus on different skills you should get a pretty representative result.

Edited May 10, 2010 by XD Niner

[Jman]

I hear this at Rio frequently. "Shoot your Open gun more and you'll shoot better in Limited". Haven't shot Open enough to confirm. But theirs one or two out there that are pretty good at this.

[CocoBolo]

XDNiner & JMan _ Thanks for the input. I think the bottom line is I don't have to choose, if I can shoot open for 6 months pickup my Limited gun and shoot a difficult course of fire almost as well as with the open gun, I'm not huring myself shooting open, and when I crave the soft sweet pulse of a limted gun I can just shoot it.

Jman I'd say that shooting open does more for your trigger control than about anything I can think of. It does not help in building reloading skills, you need SS for that.

XDNiner - I see your point with classifiers it eliminates a lot of variables.

[Chris Keen]

Pick one and practice.

[Flyin40]

Both are deeps pools. I think Limited is the tougher division out of the two.

Which one is the most fun to shoot??

Flyin

[G-ManBart]

It'll really depend on the level of competition in each division where you shoot. Some clubs have a bunch of good Open shooters and lot have none, or very few. Almost every club seems to have some good Limited shooters.

I've never thought that shooting complicated stages multiple times tells you all that much unless you really break it down on the clock to see where the differences were on each run. Total time doesn't mean much if you don't know (for example) you were much slower on one array, slightly faster on another, but way faster in transition compared with the previous run...

The other thing is that you're learning the stage better each time you do it, so you're more likely to hit your marks just right on the second or third or fourth try....that can artificially reduce your time and make things seem to flow better. What you can do cold is what we're really after. Doesn't answer your question, but its food for thought. R,

[Hi-Power Jack]

Were there enough shooters present so you could compare

where the 3.54 and 3.98 placed you in C Open and C Limited?

I've shot in many matches where there were 60 - 100 shooters,

and I can compare my shooting placement in those larger

shoots -

My scores/times/hits are much better in OPEN, but so is

everybody elses, so that I'm still a C shooter in both

Open and Limited.

But, I enjoy the Open much more and shoot it whenever I

can, and shoot Limited when I can't shoot OPEN.

[CocoBolo]

Were there enough shooters present so you could compare

where the 3.54 and 3.98 placed you in C Open and C Limited?

I've shot in many matches where there were 60 - 100 shooters,

and I can compare my shooting placement in those larger

shoots -

My scores/times/hits are much better in OPEN, but so is

everybody elses, so that I'm still a C shooter in both

Open and Limited.

But, I enjoy the Open much more and shoot it whenever I

can, and shoot Limited when I can't shoot OPEN.

Results finally came out a good Limited GM set the 100% mark my open percent is 69% and Limited is 66%, this kind of falls in line with how I feel about the runs with each gun, the limited gun run was a very good run and the open gun could have been a little quicker. I was the top C in both divisions so nothing to compare there. If I were shooting a major match next week I would take the Limited gun. For local matches I think I'll just shoot the open for a while longer, till it grows on me and sticks.

[CHA-LEE]

Shooting the same COF twice in a match isn't a very good measure of which gun suits you better. There are too many variables to consider during your single stage run with each gun. You also have to think about the "Burn In" factor of the stage its self. I know that if I shoot a stage twice back to back my second run will usually be better in either points or time resulting in a better hit factor. Simply because I have an opportunity to optimize my actions on the second run based upon what happened on the first.

The only way that you would really be able to tell how much % better/worse you are with one platform over another is to setup a stage and shoot it 5+ times with each gun. It would probably be best to alternate between each gun between runs as well. Figure out the HF for each run and then average both divisions results. This would be the best way to get a true measurement of your ability to perform with each gun.

Each division can provide a very challenging task to do well in. So I think its really up to what you feel is more fun to shoot. Or from a different vantage point, maybe you shoot the gun that you know you are worse with so you can improve your skills?

Either way, if you are shooting anything how can that be a bad thing?