Shot My First Match Last Night

[Moondoggie]

Wife and I went to The Bullet Hole in KC yesterday for the CZ promo and for me to shoot the Mill Creek Practical Shooters Friday nite indoor match. I joined USPSA this week, and had my gun and gear ready to go. Been out to practice 3 times in the past 2 weeks.

First we stopped at Fiorella's Jack Stack (primo) BBQ place on Metcalf for a feast.

We both shot the 7 rds provided in the CZ 9mm to compete for the thighest group...I think I might have a chance at the prize. I had 3 rds in one keyhole.

Next we went downstairs (after purchasing some reloading supplies) for the match. Great bunch of folks! I helped with setup, and Julie and I shagged brass for almost every shooter.

I really only had two goals for my first match...don't get DQ'd and for goodness sake don't shoot a "No Shoot"! That worked-out OK.

Reloads on the move went surprisingly well...no problems there.

Game Plan? What game plan??? Even with 26 years in the Marines and 2 years as a reserve police officer behind me I found shooting the stages pretty stressful. On each stage I FTE'd a steel plate.....just moved right past the position. At least on the 2nd stage I remembered b4 I finished shooting that I had screwed-up, so I consider that a minor improvement. My shot placement was very OK, on one close paper tgt shot through a port I keyholed 2 A's in the head above a no shoot. I also shot 2 mikes on one paper tgt that was very hard to bring the gun to bear on. I think I'll shoot with earplugs and wear muffs off the line from now on...the position I shot the two mikes on required you to have your head up against the range wall (with both feet in a box) in order to see around L side of a barricade to shoot to the right. The muffs got in the way.

The guy who RO'd me on both stages gave me quite a few great pointers afterwards.

I had a great time!

On the 2 hour drive back home, Julie sarted talking about trying this out but her only major drawback is that she absolutely hates semi-autos (also, she's left-handed). She didn't realize that there's a revolver class. No problem, since we have a 25-2 and a 625-2! (The 625 is her favorite handgun, stays in her nitestand drawer.) We also have 1K rds of 45 Auto Rim and speedloaders. Now for some lefty gear!

I apologize for posting a book, but I wanted to share some points about my first adventure.

Many thanks to those here who share their knowledge and experience. It made my first attempt far more successful than it otherwise would have been.

Randy

[blkbrd]

Randy;

Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on joining USPSA and catching the bug.

You will find that you will meet the greatest people while shooting matches, try and get to some outdoor matches and discover just how much fun a field course can be.

[TriggerT]

Congrats, and welcome to the most addictive sport I have yet to find. Hope you both continue to enjoy and become more involved in USPSA.

[rhino]

Randy ... welcome to you and your wife! Sounds like you got a great start!

Re: the 625 ... I think you'll find that using standard .45ACP cases and moonclips will be faster than .45 auto rim and speed loaders. Plus it'll be easier to collect her spent brass!

[Moondoggie]

Yes siree, Rhino...I've got a small coffee can full of oil with all of my moon/half-moon clips in long term (15 yrs) storage. They work OK in my 25-2, not so well in the 625...prolly would need to get the cylinder cut so they'll fit better. The 25-2 has TT/TH (and 6" vs 5" on the 625), so the 625 would be a much better choice for her to shoot.

[SiG Lady]

Ah... but such a NICE addiction it is!! Glad to hear you had such a great time. Welcome!

[John Dunn]

I haven't had any good BBQ since I left KC. Arthur Bryant's was my favorite, but there were over a half dozen truly wonderful joints serving scrumptious BBQ.

Last time I ordered ribs here in Wyoming, it was about the saddest thing ever.

Sorry for the thread drift. Welcome to the club!

[Moondoggie]

John, you can go to Fiorella's Jack Stack website and order any of their BBQ meats. I think they vacum pack it for shipment.

I ordered 2 4# live Lobsters by FedEx last month for Julie's birthday...they made the trip just fine. Arrived alive, but didn't stay that way for long

[short_round]

Game Plan?  What game plan???

Exactly! I had an issue with this today too. Welcome to the forum and welcome to IPSC!

[dajarrel]

Welcome to the sport. It is a great game and the the people are among the finest I have ever been associated with.

Have fun !!

dj

[Shooter Grrl]

On the 2 hour drive back home, Julie sarted talking about trying this out but her only major drawback is that she absolutely hates semi-autos (also, she's left-handed).

Hmmmm - tell me more about this please? Why does Julie hate semi-autos?

[Moondoggie]

Shooter Grrl;

I'm 51, Julie is 49...so we're getting a little set in our ways.

Julie's first experience with an autoloader was with a cheap .25 as a teenager. It belonged to a boyfriend. Since it would FTE/FTF a lot, she just developed the attitude that semi-auto pistols are unreliable. Now I think her reluctance toward a semi-auto is mostly an aversion to more moving parts than a sixgun. Also more issues like mag performance, etc. She's perfectly happy with less capacity as long as it works all the time/every time with no questions. She shot my new Para, said it was OK..better than she thought it would be.

Out of 14 handguns in our safe, 11 are revolvers. Our 625 is her favorite gun, followed by a 25-2.

Our interest in IPSC is purely enjoyment...we're not strongly oriented towards being competitive. It's a fun game and we both like to shoot, but I/we are more interested in shooting our best with reasonable equipment than getting wrapped around the axle about scores/classifications. I'm just happy that my beloved is interesed in my addiction and willing to participate. It makes it a whole lot more comfortable than having to deal with recriminations about every $ I want to spend in that direction.

I'll prolly have some work done to the inside of my Para after I've shot a few more matches, but I don't see me ever buying an open gun. It will be quite awhile before the limits of this gun are holding me back.

[Shooter Grrl]

Geez Moondoggie, the only thing I can think of is what kind of guns are you buying that don't work everytime? Such junk is not my realm of knowledge or experience!

But you're right that her willingness to participate is a good thing. I personally would work with her though to help her become more comfortable with the semi autos. It's not so much for being competitive, it's (at least IMHO) more for the knowledge and the confidence of being able to grab ANYTHING and KNOW that I can use it.