ScreaminBejesus Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 I'm getting ready to participate in local USPSA events in the San Francisco Bay Area and would be interested in any advice or suggestions you might have. I just began shooting about a year ago, plan to use my Ed Brown 1911 in single stack, have joined USPSA, signed up for a local training course required of new participants, and am starting to work on presenting from a holster. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UFO Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Go the speed you are comfortable with, concentrate on getting your hits and being safe. The rest will come with practice. But, the number 1 thing.........Have Fun, this is a great sport! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzw26n Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Practice dry fire, drawing from the holster, keep your finger out of the trigger until your moving to the target. Let the RO know this is your first Match, they will understand and be more tentative. Run the course of fire as safe and as accurate as you can. Have fun and learn by observation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatJones Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 As UFO said, shoot your own speed. You can only shoot as fast as your ability allows, in competition is the points you can shoot that determine the winner amongst shooters at a given ability level. Speed comes from practice. In competition shoot for points. For a time when I started, I couldn't squad with open division shooters. Listening to their pace of shooting made it difficult to shoot at the speed required by me and my revolver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chills1994 Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Shoot all A's, quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michmalo Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Agree with go slow and have fun. I would try to squad with similar single stack shooters and It would nice if you had 5 mags.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericridebike Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Like others have said, have fun and don't put too much pressure on yourself. The main thing is to be safe. Be familiar with your gun and equipment. Keep your muzzle awareness and don't break the 180. Let the RO know it's you're first match and they are usually very good about helping make sure you have a good experience. It is an incredibly fun game and you'll meet some good people. I'm sure you'll be addicted in no time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Welcome There are only three things to remember for your first match: safety Safety SAFETY. Nothing else matters - miss all the targets, go slow as a snail, but make sure you not drop your gun or turn around with a loaded gun, or touch your gun unless you're at a safe table (no ammo) or under the direction of the RO. If comfort is important to you, bring beverages, snacks, rain & sun gear, something to sit on, bug & sun spray, a bag to collect your brass, hat. Of course, eye and ear protection are necessary. Helping paste target and set steel is also necessary. Oh, the Most Important - SAFETY. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreaminBejesus Posted July 7, 2015 Author Share Posted July 7, 2015 Thanks for all your replies. This all pretty much confirms what I've been thinking going into it. In my younger days as an aspiring musician, I learned that while there was always a clear path from slow and musical to fast and musical, there is no path from fast and unmusical to fast and musical. Seems the same applies here. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9x45 Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 The required safety class is to make sure you don't point a loaded gun at someone, especially me. After that take shooting lessons from a local USPSA Grand Master. There is a whole lot more going on shooting a match than just gun and gear. After that, it's quite simple, shoot 95% A's really, really quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris iliff Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Be safe. Go as fast as you can. Be safe Throat punch the "slow down" crowd. Be safe. When you aren't shooting, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE, FAST, FAST, FAST. Be safe. In the simplest terms the two components of USPSA's motto (DVC) that matter the most are the D=Dilegentia=ACCURACY and the C=Celeritas=SPEED. BE SAFE. Constantly practice doing everything quicker. Especially when you are not shooting. You should be moving like your hair is on fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatJones Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 The big time savings are not in the shooting. Practice reloading. Practice moving into and out of postions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gng4life Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 (edited) ^^ What Pat said. You should really just go have fun and make sure you are super muzzle conscience! Nerves will set in but just relax and shoot safely. Don't do what the GMs are doing, just go as comfortable as you can shoot and focus on good shots, listen to the RO (they can help you so ask), and have fun. Let us know how it goes. Edited July 7, 2015 by gng4life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjlefty51 Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Stay safe and don't let the speed of others change your pace. Focus on getting good clean hits and let the speed develop as confidence grows. Don't be afraid to let the RO know you are a new shooter and ask question about anything you may be uncomfortable with or unclear about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gng4life Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 (edited) Double Edited July 7, 2015 by gng4life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lawboy Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Get down to RR&CG, which I assume is where you plan to shoot, or DAP, and meet Al Burk, Theo Arjona, Alex Ma, and a bunch of other very good SS shooters, and start learning the ropes. Nothing else to do but do it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fergus556 Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 If you really want to get better, get some dry fire books and invest in a shot timer. I started practicing like this a couple years ago, and wish I had twenty years ago, dramatic difference! Anyhow see below, Steve Anderson's BS really helped me. The reason I went with his books is because he was a local central Ohio shooter at the time. Hope it helps. andersonshooting.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin c Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 Have fun, be safe. Those sentiments I heartily endorse. I would add that, if you want to learn, get involved. The experienced shooters are always friendly around here, but are a bit more inclined to drop helpful hints, observations and suggestions to those who offer to help out. You don't have to know much, just be willing to pitch in with stapling up targets, moving props during stage builds and break down, and, if you have any special talents, like being a whiz with latest tablet software and cloud computing, you can gently point us old analog luddite geezers in the right direction... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted July 11, 2015 Share Posted July 11, 2015 books & DVDs are great but unless you want to spend a LOT of time trying to figure everything out on your own you'll want to take a class from a top practical shooting instructor ... it will literally save you years of frustration. This is very complex sport with a lot of subtle things going on at the same time .... even if your shooting goals do not include being hell bent on world domination a class is the best way to get accurate information ... otherwise you may get on the path of "shoot slow to get your points", "shoot open because it's easier & you won't have to worry about all those mag changes" and all the other never-ending, well meaning but bad advice prevalent in our sport .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmca Posted July 11, 2015 Share Posted July 11, 2015 First chance you get, take the NROI course, really helps to know the rules Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meanzbullet Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 The great thing about shooting single stack is you will probably be top 10. It isn't ine of the most popular divisions. Everyone has given you great advice already. Your time is saved while doing everything other than shooting. The shooting takes less time than the draw the reloading and the moving good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Top 10? I've never seen a SS shooter finish lower then Top 3 except for the majors I've been to .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatJones Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Where do you people shoot? We had 15 single stack shooters out of 43 total today in Pueblo Colorado. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreaminBejesus Posted July 13, 2015 Author Share Posted July 13, 2015 Thanks so much to everyone for your suggestions. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogtired Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Everybody forgot "see the sights"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now