Senior (55+) Beginners

[GunBugBit]

Great to see it's not such a small club!

[Denny4]

I too started at the age of 56. When I got my carry permit and my Ruger SR9c training was needed. So I cold turkey showed up at an IDPA match and gave it a whirl. Most of the time I shoot two matches a month and I am almost 60 now. I shot my 9c for 3000 rounds and now compete with a XDM 5.25 9mm. I have also shot some 3gun and steel challenge. I finish right in the middle of local matches and State matches also. I will never forget my first stages and my first taste of match stress. Denny

[Out of Ammo]

Started shooting at the age of 55 and just turned 61. I started USPSA about 4 years ago and was shooting a FNP-9 the first year. I switched to the XDM 5.25 in 9mm and love it. Shoot it every chance I get.

[tewatson]

Does returning to the sport at 55 after a 20-year hiatus to raise kids qualify?

Tom

[GOF]

I began shooting competitively in 1971 as a member of a US Navy pistol team. They gave me guns & ammo and hauled me around to matches through various Far Eastern countries we weren't currently at war with. With what I was making as an E-4 I could never have afforded that on my own... but the education & EXPERIENCE was PRICELESS. Later (1974/75) I wound up as an small arms instructor at NAS Jax, FL and got to check out guns & ammo to shoot local matches. That was cool.

When I left the Navy at age 28 for the Real World I didn't make enough money to be able to afford to shoot until the early 1990s, and shot a few matches, including the Masters International at PASA in 1991. I wasn't real active until I met Mas Ayoob in 2005 and he dragged me into IDPA shooting. I was 55 then. But, I was ready to shoot!

I couldn't run as fast as the Masters... but I did remember that you still had to hit something, no matter how fast you ran & shot. I did classify as EX in SSP (now MA), ESP, CDP, and SSR (now just Revolver) and have a pile of 1st Expert trophies (and a couple of DCs) in Revolver, and CDP. Just made EX in the new CCP and MA in BUG with my normal M&P 9c carry gun.

GunBugBit did start a pretty good thread. I'm now 65 (Super Senior/USPSA & Distinguished Senior/IDPA...... although I think they could simplify that by just creating the "ROF" class .... "Really Old Fart"

But that doesn't mean you can't still play with "the kids". I shot a IDPA match last Sunday with a Revolver... which I hadn't shot in awhile... and finished 7th out of 20 shooters... despite four of the six stages being 13, 15, 16 and 18 round stages. Glad I remembered how to run my Comp IIIs!

When I get my Open gun back from trigger work I am looking forward to USPSA/Steel Challenge. I'll shuffle slowly to the start position, hunch over and use my "Old mans" voice... LAMR....and when the buzzer goes -- whip the crap outofa bunch kids!

That's so cool. At the above mentioned IDPA match I remember sitting around for the after match bull session and hearing some 30-something high speed/low drag semi-auto shooter remark to his friend " I just got my butt handed to me by an old guy with a revolver!"

It does the heart good. You're never to old to shoot. And, on complex COFs... sometimes "age & cunning can beat youth and speed".... you still have to hit something with the shots you fire.

Being old doesn't mean you can't still go out and play with the other kids

Life is too short not to enjoy it to it's fullest!

Edited August 29, 2015 by GOF

[310yuma]

You young guys make me laugh ,I shot NRA bulleye in almost another life time started and really did not shoot USPSA until I was 65 . I am the old guy with the revolver, but that is what I like to shoot. I stared out with a C classification , became a B with a national bump, but plan to make A before the year is out. Eyes don't work as well and some snails are faster but I am having fun. We are not here for a long time but for a good time.

[techj]

Other than pellet guns never handled a firearm until 2012 @ age 53. now own a few (well maybe more than a few) and started competing in 2013...mostly speed steel.

If it weren't for some medical problems I would have started idpa last year but hopefully will be able to start next year @ 57.

[CoyoteMW]

Got talked into my first match three years ago, just before 62nd birthday, and competed with borrowed gun and gear. Had very, very little handgun experience and had never heard of USPSA or IDPA. Got hooked fast. The guys and gals I shoot with have been terrific in their support, advice and encouragement.

This sport seems to awaken a long dormant competitive gene in me. Just wish that the pre-stage images I visualize of me moving fast and shooting accurately had a little more reality in the execution. It's been fun.

[Nimitz]

At 54, I don't really consider myself 'later in life' tho.

It's relative. We consider ourselves still young, the 20-somethings don't.

none of the 20-somethings I shoot with can keep up with me on foot or bicycle or motorcycle, so no one cares what they think.

Unlike Nimitz, i don't at all regret not starting earlier. In my 20's and 30's I was racing bicycles and skis in europe and had no time or interest in something as sedentary as USPSA.. Shooting has been a good activity for my so-called declining years because it saved me from golf and knitting.

I never have any real regrets about anything I've done .... waste of valuable oxygen thinking about the past ... that being said, I was aware of this 'thing' called 'combat pistol shooting' back in the early 80's but couldn't seem to get involved in it because I was too busy wasting my time chasing some silly career goals which seemed awful important at the time ... too bad I didn't know then what I know now ... Edited August 31, 2015 by Nimitz

[GunBugBit]

You young guys make me laugh

Happy to provide entertainment value.

[GOF]

Go shoot. Have fun. The heck with everybody else. You're never too old to play with the kids.

They may pout a bit when you beat them... but they'll get over it

Edited August 31, 2015 by GOF

[NTNG]

I started last year at age 56. Shot some local matches, with LOTS of help from friends who have been doing it awhile. I shot the Area 8 match last week, no DQs, not the best, but I had a great time. I was on a squad with some seriously good shooters, all of whom were more than willing to help me out! I was impressed that folks of that caliber < no pun intended > would be willing to help out a new shooter.

[chacbalam]

I guess that at 49 you guys would call me a young un'. It has been over 20 years since I picked up a fire arm, but the bug has truly bit me and I am raring to go. I just don't know exactly how to get started in competitive shooting. I hope to start competing before before 55. I just need to get my act together.

[GunBugBit]

Good luck chacbalam!

The way to get started is to acquire what you'll need as you can, don't have to buy everything all at once. This forum has all the information you'll need. It was my main resource as I got things together. It was almost four years between the time I bought a competition belt, holster and pouches until the time I stepped into the box and made ready the first time.

[cuzinvinny]

I'll turn 60 in 4 weeks. Started competitive shooting (local static steel league)in June of 2007. Now I'm a competition junkie, steel, IDPA,

USPSA, and Icore. Best of all, my son started about a year or 2 after me. He's married with a son who will turn 3 in 8 weeks, so he doesn't get

as much practice time as he would like, but those young eyes and reflexes have allowed him to progress quite well. We usually attend matches

together. Over the last few years we stared to attend 3 to 4 major matches per year. We just returned from our first major USPSA match. He finished

in the top half of the pack, while I had a great time. My only question "Is it still considered bonding when he kicks my butt week after week?"

[IHAVEGAS]

Started at 55, am now 60 ish. So far I'm right below the cut off for B class in USPSA limited and IDPA expert in cdp.

Notes:

I think age (short term memory skills) makes it harder to learn and execute course planning in USPSA, this is coming along and I feel good about it but I think it would have been easier at 45 and under.

Vision and general quickness challenges and slower learning challenges just are what they are. I think old farts can be very good but it seems like you need to work harder for improvement and be more patient.

Good (great!) motivation to get your weight under control and do the other fitness / mental alertness things that you should have been doing anyway.

Have noticed that old farts can still take things too seriously and be poor sports (buttholes) if they do not engage their mature thinking side at matches. This part is easier with age though .

[Bob DuBois]

Just hit 70 and still banging away. Started at 40 so earlier start than most here.

Hang in guys shooting sports are still fun!

[BobS761]

I started shooting matches with my dad, like a lot of kids...He was 76 and I was 51. LOL!

[goldfieldshooter]

Shot my first Bianchi Cup 2002 age 55. Won the senior in 2007, again in 2008. Had a third in senior since but can't remember which year. What else can you do in retirement? My sign off says it all

Edited September 2, 2015 by goldfieldshooter

[Daft]

Started with cowboy 3gun at around 13 years ago. Like light guns for sure. Getting medicare in a few months

[WaltonFeep]

I shot Bullseye in my early 20s. Got away from competition and gun ownership for many years but returned at 55. I shot my first IDPA and Steel Challenge at 57. I am looking forward to a few good years ahead. I am in good health, can still move the feet, and shoot fairly well although I prefer optics as I have a few vision issues. Good to be part of this group!

[TANFARM]

Started at 59.........my wife inquired why would you become involved in a sport where your skill ability diminishes every year. I thought that was certainly a valid point. I enjoy this type of competition because it required me to get a whole new skill set.....on many levels.

Since stating , I now reload all my own 9 mm ammo and shoot a lot !!!!...

The only negative I'm finding is the physical aspect is taking its toll...I'm simply not as fast or agile as I was at 40 .....however I just slow down and work around the pains ........it's a great sport!!!??

[GunBugBit]

It is a great sport. It offers things you really can't find anywhere else.

[Bkreutz]

Started at 59.........my wife inquired why would you become involved in a sport where your skill ability diminishes every year. I thought that was certainly a valid point. I enjoy this type of competition because it required me to get a whole new skill set.....on many levels.

Since stating , I now reload all my own 9 mm ammo and shoot a lot !!!!...

The only negative I'm finding is the physical aspect is taking its toll...I'm simply not as fast or agile as I was at 40 .....however I just slow down and work around the pains ........it's a great sport!!!??

How do you talk yourself into slowing down. I keep telling myself that but when the buzzer goes off, I push as hard as I can (which ain't much). Then the next day I can hardly move. Good thing I'm retired.

[glassblower]

What is it about 55/56 years of age that makes sensible folks jump into a sport that requires speed, vision, agility, mental clarity, memory, and $$$$$$$! Hmm, must be that first issue of AARP that they send out at about that age. I plinked for a couple of years before I started USPSA competitions at 56, now I'm 58 and just made B in Limited.

Besides the fun of competing, this sport emphasizes the maintenance of those physical and mental attributes that at this age, are usually in decline. For me, the sport re-started a physical fitness program and dry fire and other vision exercises seem to have slowed vision degeneration. The best part of all this was engaging in the mental training aspects so now, rather than browsing the new Suduko books, I'm in the meditation, strategy, and mind improvement book section. And of course BE's book and his recommended reading list. Practicing those techniques has helped me in this sport and in life in general. Uh, wait, what did I have for breakfast..............hmmmmm

While this sport is great fun it certainly may cause us old farts to engage in beneficial activities and help up fend off those young trigger snappers awhile longer! I did for me!