The Early Days of IPSC

[Patrick Sweeney]

Let me guess; complete with back-story. About how your unit just got some hot intel on an Al-Quaeda outpost, and you're going in to clean up?

We did that in the early days. Verisimilitude was important. I found it silly. As a result, I played with it for my own amusement. Things like, when we had some earthmoving going on at the club, and a bulldozer left on the range, I designed a stage called "Dodge the D-9 Cat."

Or, when we were shooting indoors in the winters (the increased income from greater attendance was eaten up by range fees, we stopped after a few winters) I designed a stage called "Shore Leave."

The explanation (printed, for all to read before shooting the stage) went something like this: "Your space cruiser is docked at the Martian spaceport Olympus Mons East. You're waiting to go through customs when the far wall blows out. The Archons are attacking! You have 30 second to fight your way to the airlock before depressurization makes the air too thin to breath."

Today I look forward to" "Here are the targets. Engage them safely when you can see them. Any questions?"

[Patrick Sweeney]

OK, time for an update, since I have five minutes between articles, and a story that I probably can't put into a magazine article. Flip back to page 15 (holy frak, batman, fifteen pages?) and re-read my 2002 3-gun nationals experience.

I leave the hospital and collect my drugs at the pharmacy across the street. As I'm riding back, I read the warning labels. "Do not drive!" "Do not operate heavy machinery!" (So, light machinery is fine, eh?)

Basically, I have a satchel bag full of drugs, and there is one I can take and still function. So I take it, and then drive to the range. There I throw myself on the mercy of the ROs, and wander around taking photos instead of shooting. Luckily, I was running a Canon F-1 with AE prism, and color film. Because it was all I could do to focus (manual back then) and get some shots. (No kidding, my film developer asks me if I was on drugs. The rolls, you see, were exposed to a wide variety of settings.)

Back at the casino I dose myself to the gills with all the drugs and sleep like a log for twelve hours.

The next day I try to shoot. Oh boy, talk about an interesting experience. I explain to each RO what's up and that I'm not on drugs, and tell them that at the end of the stage I'm probably going to have to hand them the firearm. Some stages, not so bad. One, an all-shotgun stage that required movement, side-to-side shooting, and mucho reloading, was a bear. As I progressed through the stage, the world got darker, grayer, and the tunnel I was looking through got smaller and smaller.

In all, an experience I'd rather not do again, but a useful data point.

Oh, no kidney stone. No stones or gravel to be found (You don't want to know what that test is like) and peeing through a sieve to catch the non-existent stone for a week is beyond boring.

And still, I have to leave Vegas yet.

[Patrick Sweeney]

Time to leave Vegas. My luggage? One carry-on bag with clothes. One carry-on bag with camera gear. One Pelican "coffin." The coffin is big enough to hold two rifles, a shotgun, handgun and gear. It has wheels, but should have its own motor. Another checked bag, with miscellaneous gear and ammo. I pack everything up (considering once again the option of shipping the damned thing) and head to the airport.

At the ticket counter I inform the nice lady that I need "one of these" and hold up the firearms declaration tag. She hands me one and says "I have to see that they're unloaded." OK, I open the locks and swing the lid open, looking around to see if anyone is close enough to peer in. Her eyes get wide, and she inhales sharply. AR, with scope and comp big enough to be a silencer, check. 1100 with ten-shot mag tube, check. Open gun, check. Magazines stuffed into slots in the foam, check. Heavy-barrel M700, with 3-9X40 scope on it, plus bipod, check. "You're going to have to take that over to TSA for the x-ray machine." I guess the chamber-check was forgotten in the shock of a modest amount of ordnance.

I lock up and haul everything off to TSA. "Sir, can you unlock that, please?" Sure, I unlock, and their eyes get wide, too. They call over other TSA agents from nearby posts to gawk. I thought for a moment they were going to put out a radio call for more gawkers. Then one of them gets out a bag of patches and starts rubbing things down.

"Uhh, whatcha doin'?" "Swabbing to check for trace explosives, sir." Hmm. "Well, I just spent the last week on a firing range, so I imagine that thing is going to go 'ding' when you give it a swab."

"Oh no, sir. The machine only looks for explosive chemicals." I consider asking just how it does that. I consider my options. I figure, I have a degree in Chemistry, and this guy doesn't. He probably can't even pronounce the words involved, but asking him is likely to trigger the "I'm in charge here" reflex. So amazingly, I keep my mouth shut.

More amazingly, the machine burbles happily and does not scream. I lock the coffin up, they stuff it through the machine (it took two agents to get it to the maw) and once it passes and is stacked, I shuffle off to my gate.

There, I'm subjected to yet another pat-down. Maybe it is the "I hate this whole process" vibe I give off, but I get searched more often than anyone I know. The airlines should give me a "frequent groping" pass.

Once home, I re-think this whole "I'm going to shoot everything" approach to 3-gunning.

[Ross Carter]

Surprised someone did not AD on him...poor excuse for a human.

I have to agree slimy is the word Jake brings to mind. Someday I'll tell the story how he picked the teams for the 83 World Match and how I ended up on the silver team sharing shirts with John Shaw.

And yeh the 1911 shooting in the pool stories are true, it's about impossible to make up stuff more crazy than what we actually did back in those days.

[Patrick Sweeney]

OK, one more and I have to go back to work. This was a shooting event/target sales promo put on by Action Target. They got name instructors to show up and teach a class, we show up to shoot, and Action Target gets to spend the time pushing their targets. (Good targets, by the way.)

The time in 1992, June. My brother and I pile into his F-150 and drive to Utah. In the Rockies, we pass a semi on the downslope, smell something burning, and Mike gets off the gas and eases onto his brakes. As the semi drifts past us, we see smoke coming out of the trailer axles. We figure if anything goes wrong, better to be behind and late, than in front and smooshed.

We get to the range, which is in the watershed area of the Rockies for Salt Lake City. No development. Just a police range. (Hmm, lead, in the city water supply. Only cops can do that, I guess.)

We sit through the lecture on MP-5s, and during the break one of the officers asks how you load a magazine when your thumb gets tired. I figure I'll have a little fun, and tell him something that Colt actually recommended in the early days of their M-16 9mm. "Dump the rounds on the table, and shove the magazine down over them, pushing them into the magazine one at a time." He clearly didn't hear the tone of my voice, as he then asks the instructor about that method when the class resumes.

Once outside, I'm standing on the veranda when I hear an insistent buzzing. I look up and see hummingbirds. I'll be damned. We're at something over 6,000 feet, and the little guys are looking for the feeders that I now noticed were on each corner of the building. They've got to be working real hard in that thin air, but getting food worth the effort.

Oh, HK MP-5? Don't let anyone tell you they are unbreakable. I broke the loaner in that class. Busted the hammer in two, in the middle of a magazine of ammo.

[Bryan 45]

I spent about an hour and a half last night reading this thread. What a riot! I started shooting USPSA matches around '01, but even at that time we were shooting some stages that had a little more of the "practical" element. I remember one stage where we started facing uprange, behind a grill, with an oven mitt on one hand, and a spatula in the other. About every month we shot a stage where you had to carry something from start to finish, either a baby doll, briefcase, or some other "everyday item."

Patrick and others, thanks for sharing these stories.

[Powder Finger]

Just showed my nephew some vid of 86 nat's. All i can say is the shorts have cost me my eyesight for a week.

[outerlimits]

won't mention any names here, but at the western states match in reno back in the late 80's, a certain person A/D'd while dry firing in the hotel room. his room was two doors down. i knew what had happened, knocked on the door and the look on his face was priceless. he talked loud for about 10 mins

[BritinUSA]

Just showed my nephew some vid of 86 nat's. All i can say is the shorts have cost me my eyesight for a week.

Short shorts... the history of the world is replete with fashion hiccups.

It would be cool to get all these resources, photos, videos etc. all compiled into one place. We need a USPSA/IPSC History book with all these great stories and photographs with some DVDs thrown in the back for all the old movies.

[Carmoney]

Just showed my nephew some vid of 86 nat's. All i can say is the shorts have cost me my eyesight for a week.

Short shorts... the history of the world is replete with fashion hiccups.

Ah, shooting in short shorts ain't nothing.....

....compared to this!

[jasmap]

Just showed my nephew some vid of 86 nat's. All i can say is the shorts have cost me my eyesight for a week.

Short shorts... the history of the world is replete with fashion hiccups.

Ah, shooting in short shorts ain't nothing.....

....compared to this!

There are a few things in my life I wish my eyes had never seen. This is on the list.

[Powder Finger]

Just showed my nephew some vid of 86 nat's. All i can say is the shorts have cost me my eyesight for a week.

Short shorts... the history of the world is replete with fashion hiccups.

Ah, shooting in short shorts ain't nothing.....

....compared to this!

Good grief now i'm blind for at least a month!

[DUKE]

Any of you guy's know a fella by the name of Jeff McDonald I think he just turned 70? He is a friend of mine here in Georgia that I shoot IDPA with sometimes he is still in decent shape and wide open when he is shooting and very competitive. He has not shot IPSC in twenty years probably but he enjoys telling me stories from when he CROed at the first five nationals and how much he enjoyed shooting IPSC back then. When I go to his house he always enjoys showing some pictures or plaques he won in the 80's. The one he was most proud of was 1990 nationals match results where he shot 74% of Jerry Barnhart who was the match winner. I think I have him talked into comeing out to a club match at Cherokee Gun Club soon. {OLD GUY'S RULE}

[Wornout Trails]

Any of you guy's know a fella by the name of Jeff McDonald I think he just turned 70? He is a friend of mine here in Georgia that I shoot IDPA with sometimes he is still in decent shape and wide open when he is shooting and very competitive. He has not shot IPSC in twenty years probably but he enjoys telling me stories from when he CROed at the first five nationals and how much he enjoyed shooting IPSC back then. When I go to his house he always enjoys showing some pictures or plaques he won in the 80's. The one he was most proud of was 1990 nationals match results where he shot 74% of Jerry Barnhart who was the match winner. I think I have him talked into comeing out to a club match at Cherokee Gun Club soon. {OLD GUY'S RULE}

Thanks Duke, Well you have done it NOW! Met some mighty fine folks up at Barry, Ill. and PASA. Had some good times with old Larry Lord back in the late 80's early 90's. ------------ More on that later.

I will be at the Cherokee Gun Club on the 8th Aug. to shoot the IPSC Match with you! Been a long time coming!

W.T.

[Patrick Sweeney]

Some news, and an update, one of the names I've used in this thread, Bruce Britt, died recently. Cancer. What I hadn't known was what he had done before he was one of the world's nicest guys in practical shooting: 82nd airborne, in Vietnam.

Bronze Star, Air Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with three bronze devices (3!) two tours, and no Purple heart.

So, there we were, at Second Chance near the end, and we're sitting in the night air. The match fireworks were over, and people were launching their own fireworks.

In the night, we hear a low, dull, "thwoomp" Bruce says "parachute flare, it came from that way, just this side of the treeline." he looks up and says "can you hear the whistle?" It's right there." And as he says this we hear a slight 'pop' and then a few seconds later the flare lights.

"And the tube will land over there." He says, pointing into the night. Tube? Yep. you see, that flare is launched as a unit, and the tube, once it reaches its apex, uses a small charge to throw the flare out and ignite it. The tube then falls to the ground.

"We have to go talk to them" Bruce says, and gets up. We walk over towards the sound, and another flare or two go up as we cover the distance. Bruce recognizes the sound and direction each time, even when the rest of us are uncertain. When we get there, in no uncertain terms, we explain you can't be raining empty tubes down on people or cars. Knock it off, now.

Knowledge gained from a very special school, and that the rest of us had no clue existed, or that Bruce knew.

Edited February 26, 2013 by Patrick Sweeney

[Steve RA]

These stories are really interesting, personally, the 86 Nationals were the very first USPSA match I ever shot and while I came in 4th from last ( of the finishers) I thought I had done fairly well considering absolutely no experience previously.

[StraightUp_OG]

Here are some 80's shorts! LOL

I think this was the 86' AZ state champs. in Douglas AZ. I am the big, tall, dumb kid in the back, I must have been 16 or 17 in that pic. I got this image from Ian Martin, he is standing in front of me. Sure was fun growing up in Phoenix, shooting at Rio and chasing Rob and Brian every week!

Gone are the days ...

:-D

Edited February 27, 2013 by StraightUp_OG

[Shokr21]

Thoroughly enjoyed reading through this thread tonight, thanks for sharing fellas.

[Powder Finger]

Here are some 80's shorts! LOL

I think this was the 86' AZ state champs. in Douglas AZ. I am the big, tall, dumb kid in the back, I must have been 16 or 17 in that pic. I got this image from Ian Martin, he is standing in front of me. Sure was fun growing up in Phoenix, shooting at Rio and chasing Rob and Brian every week!

Gone are the days ...

:-D

Familiar faces for sure.

most names have faded cept Doug B. and I think Tim C.

[StraightUp_OG]

Indeed. I can remember a few more. The winner was Bob L. & I think Gary W. is standing just behind Doug.

[Patrick Sweeney]

OK, a story to give you a glimpse into just how much of a family pin shooters could be. Perhaps dysfuncitonal at times, but a family none the less.

I figured out early on that in the 3-man team (one pump shotgun, one auto shotugn, one handgun) that the hardest guy to find was the pump shooter. So, to make team-building easier, I'd be the pump guy.

One year, I assembled a team of me, Jerry Barnhart, and Gary Britt, brother of the late Bruce. This had to be about the last year I shot as a Long Gun OSS. (Teams were allowed one Master Blaster per, but if your MB was in what you weren't using, you got a pass. I was a handgun MB, but not a Long gun MB, so I could be on the team with Jerry, who was both. Gary was neither.)

On the 3-man team prize table, prizes were set up in threes. The three best guns in the prize table were Israeli-surplus heavy-barrel FALs, complete with bipods.

We set a smoking-hot time, and were in first place for most of the week. Gary would walk by the prize tables (they were pulled out for display every day) and practically float on seeing "his" FAL.

The last day, a team just edged our time, dropping us to second. There was no time to shoot a better score, (this was a common occurence at SC) and we just had to "settle" for second.

When it came time for prizes, the first-place team strode up, and for some reason, only two of them grabbed FALs. I leaned back and looked at Jerry. Jerry leaned back, and looked at me. Behind Garys back, we smiled and nodded.

Our turn. Jerry and I stepped forward, practically elbowing Gary out of the way. This was only right, as MBs we had the social right to choose first, and as an OSS he chose second. Jerry and I quickly yank a Benelli shotgun each out of the table, and stepped back. Gary, slack-jawed, was stunned for a moment, before he grabbed up his FAL, and practicallay clutching it to his chest, walked to the recorders table.

Neither Jerry nor I had enough reason to own an FAL, to snatch it out from under Gary's nose.

That's the family that was Second Chance.

Edited February 28, 2013 by Patrick Sweeney

[paraman1]

When I first started shooting Walt Bodie (CL106) was still pretty involved with our club . Whenever you were scoring his targets and there was a "Mike" he would argue that it was a double . He buffaloed a lot of the new guys because he had been around since Gods dog was a pup and would let you know it . Well one day we are shooting together and Rich Redovian was ROing our squad when sure enough Walt shoots one of his doubles . Rich is looking at the target 8 ways from Sundaynodding his head and telling Walt that he just might be right while surreptitiously pulling a layover out of his rear pocket . Rich puts it up the hole and says "Nope not a double" to which Walt just stares at the damn layover . Rich did that 2 or 3 times before Walt quit asking about it and the rest of us all started carrying a layover . I can't remember who said it later but it was in response to Walt's "Doubles" , he said "If your good enough to put them all in one hole , your good enough to spread them around so I can score them ."

Edited February 28, 2013 by paraman1

[38supPat]

Who was on the first place team? Wouldn't happened to have had Terry O'hara on it would it?

[Patrick Sweeney]

Might have, he was always a thorn in my side when it came to shotguns.

[Carmoney]

Who was on the first place team? Wouldn't happened to have had Terry O'hara on it would it?

A couple years I ran the pump gun on Terry O'Hara's 3-man team! But we never got first place during those years. Had some amazing times, but there always seemed to be one slow roller, or whatever. Ol' Terry could certainly run a shotgun, once he caught his breath from walking up the hill.

The Dixon/Koch 3-man teams from Iowa were traditional tough, also.