Switch guns/Stay same division...???

[rowdyb]

Maybe it is knowing @B_RAD in real life but here is where I am at.......

 

I've been shooting a steel framed CZ in Prod for 90% of my uspsa matches for the past 4 years, since I started uspsa actually. I bought a cz-ub P10F on a whim a month or so ago and took it out to finally shoot it a bit today, chrono through it and such. I've been in the doldrums recently enough about shooting that I've actually thought about, planned and budgeted for a hobby after quitting shooting. But then I realized I don't want to quit. Nor do I want to switch divisions.

 

Back story: I shot a G34 for a year in IDPA in 2013. Both of my ccw guns are striker fired. I'm a mid pack M on the national level in Production. I have plenty of time and ammo to practice. I am 5'7 and 144lbs.

 

So what am I thinking?!?!?!?! I am thinking of staying in Production, staying with CZ, but switching to the P-10F platform. Get two of the optics ready guns, and have one set up as a CO gun, one set up as a PRod gun and the current non optic one I have now as the practice/dry fire gun. I'd be staying in the same division, shooting the same caliber, running the same manufacturer. But I did experience a new level of interest and desire in getting better, shooting something different, that I haven't felt in a very very long time.

 

But...... I'd be making a fairly big platform change. My question isn't if the P10 is any good. Or any other comparison question between the two guns. My real question/concern is it is May, almost half way through the year. I have Area 4 in 3 weeks. But then a gap until US IPCS Nats. So, am I inviting failure to to make this kind of switch this far into my shooting ability and this part of the calendar year?

Edited May 15, 2019 by rowdyb

[Nathanb]

Every time I feel burnout coming on I do one of two things.   I shoot pcc and run around like a maniac or I buy a new gun and shoot a new gun. 

[rowdyb]

So I'm not looking for any technical or mechanical edge. Just something for me mentally and emotionally. But if it comes at a cost of a big drop in performance for a long period of time, then I seriously have to consider how I feel and how to fix it.

 

ps @Nathanb I already have a pcc. hahaha.

[Nathanb]

Shoot pcc then. And just shoot it for fun. I use way more ammo shooting it. 

[rowdyb]

No thanks. I love Prod and a little bit CO. That's really what I enjoy shooting. And as I self reflect there is a technical aspect about it I wasn't fully acknowledging.... and that's that I'd have one gun I could shoot idpa ssp and co with and uspsa prod and co with. Something I can not easily do now.

[WhiteDingo]

One of the benefits of the P10F, if you want to think of it this way, is that a backup or replacement firearm isn't nearly the investment another SP01 or Shadow would be.

 

If you're going to switch, makes sense to do it before Area 4 if you have the time to acclimate to the striker from DA/SA

[davsco]

shoot/do what makes you happy and excited.  i don't think there are too many trucks given away at shooting matches, so make them fun.

[blacklab2011]

I think we sometimes get to results oriented and that takes joy away from what we are doing.  Focus on the process, learning a different gun, preparing for major match.  After you start having fun again evaluate where you are with new gun/division and what you want your new goals to be.

[Mcfoto]

Do what I did facing a similar situation: go revolver. That’s a challenge...

[dansedgli]

3 weeks is plenty of time to get familiar with a gun.

 

Enjoy the change.

 

I switch guns all the time, I don't think it's a big deal. 

 

 

[B_RAD]

No

[TrackCage]

I say switch. You won't be giving up much. 

 

As a slight aside, I'm not sure DA/SA guns have any real appeal, practically speaking, outside of Production circles. 

[Hi-Power Jack]

2 hours ago, rowdyb said:

 I have Area 4 in 3 weeks. 

 

I'd stick with it for 3 weeks, shoot Area 4, and then decide.     

[Trevor300wsm]

I’m new to this game, but I’ve been a long range precision rifle shooter for 9yrs. One thing I can say for sure is that I would not change to a different match rifle a couple weeks before a big match. I’d say stick with what you know until after the match. 

 

Your theory on the P10F and being able to shoot one gun for all those different matches is solid. I’m waiting on my P10F to arrive as we speak. I’ve never shot a match before, but my thought process was that I could shoot both Production and CO with the same gun.  

[jcc7x7]

Once a week take the new gun with you to the range and shoot it for FUN.

Not for practice, not to see if you can use it in USPSA, just go out and shoot it.

So it's not a job, not work, not trying to get better just for the enjoyment of shooting.

That often is enough for me to then settle back in to what I've been using in competition!

[broadside72]

Switch to revo and be top 3 in most matches even as D class shooter!

[rowdyb]

5 hours ago, WhiteDingo said:

backup

I do have two identical Shadow 2's already. Complete set ups for both as far as mags, belts and so on. And a huge box of spares.... At one time I had 11 different pistols just for competition.... 3 sp01 shadows, 2 shadow 2, 1 p10c, 2 1911's, glock 34, glock 41, s&w revo, cz scorpion and a 40sw tac sport. That's 12 if i counted right.....

 

2 hours ago, jcc7x7 said:

ot for practice, not to see if you can use it in USPSA, just go out and shoot it.

I can not remember the last time I shot for fun... 6 years ago? Shooting, and guns, are purely an outlet for two things for me. Mechanical tinkering but far above all competition. I would not be into guns much at all if it weren't for competition. I would shoot a gun maybe 3x a year if I wasn't into competition. And two of those would be shooting rifles.

 

3 hours ago, TrackCage said:

ou won't be giving up much

true. the switch is like maybe only 10% based in technical stuff. but 90% based in me just feeling blah about my practice and shooting ever since i moved. i've shot a steel framed cz for 90% of my shooting for the past 5 years. the "blah" of that sameness has finally hit me. more so because in the rest of my life i am very much a person who needs, new/change/novelty.

[rowdyb]

I don't want to change divisions or calibers or sight system. Prod, 9mm minor, iron sights. That's what I like. Going to a different gun but staying the course on those items still keeps me in the same goal pathway I was in before: Major Goal #1= Finish above 80% at US IPSC Nats and Low Cap Nats in Prod. (previous best of 78%) Major Goal #2 is a subset of 1=Be awarded an individual slot in Prod for the 2020 World Shoot. (I'll have shot all 4 classifier matches, so hopefully I have 3 good enough scores to go as an individual. Around 230-ish points)

 

Changing to a p10f does nothing to take me from this path. But my hope is that something "new" with in it, reinvigorates me to try harder than I have been.

 

My worries are I don't have the grip strength to really rail away with a polymer gun and that I don't have a "striker fired" trigger finger that will allow me to hit 35 yard mini popers like I do now. But those are all "me" things, and can be changed....

Edited May 16, 2019 by rowdyb

[rowdyb]

3 hours ago, B_RAD said:

No

I ordered a few more mags and a cheap holster tonight. Just to see..... Put it on the clock and all. A $140 is cheap to see what I think versus diving all in....

[GJM]

I bet in three days you will be mostly there. If it excites you it is all good, and you will have plenty of time to decide what you want to do before your major matches. 

 

By chance, I picked up a P10F yesterday at CZ Custom, put a DP Pro on it last night, and shot it today a bit while mostly shooting my CO Shadow. The P10F is a great shooter, and draws and transitions better for me than the Shadow, but doesn’t split as well. It seems like a low drama pistol, with a more forgiving trigger/shooter interface than a Glock. 

 

Even if you reserve it for shooting Steel Challenge, rainy days, or perking your interest up from time to time, it is cheap fun. 

[MikeBurgess]

I say switch now, I would be willing to bet that within a week of practice you will not be able to see the change in your scores. likely the change will let you feel more interested in general and may over 3 weeks end up with a performance improvement due to increased interest in practice over that period.

 

we all give the gun WAY, WAY, WAY too much credit for our shooting performance, in the end the basics are the same and the performance is us not the gun. 

[rowdyb]

yeah, this is totally me trying to trick myself out of the doldrums and yet stay in my division.

[Lastcat]

If you have reached an M, then you have conquered most of the challenge. COF strategy, rules, load, gun handling, etc... As long as you feel the "new gun" would work 99%, then everything else should just kick in. Of course I am sure you will put in the time to get the practice. Like you said,

 

Quote

"But if it comes at a cost of a big drop in performance for a long period of time, then I seriously have to consider how I feel and how to fix it."

 

That urge to drop the new gun and get back to the old one, might hold you back, especially at Mid-Season. I would change over if I had all my ducks in a row. 

Edited May 16, 2019 by Lastcat

[rowdyb]

27 minutes ago, Lastcat said:

have reached an M,

92% in Prod. Hiding with 84% in both CO and L10.

[rowdyb]

Well I have found one technical hiccup. And one skill one. But first the good news. In the drills and stages I ran today my times were exactly the same as with my Shadow 2. I mean within a few hundredths of a second.

 

The so-so news. My accuracy after 20 yards is not as good as with the Shadow 2. Not sure how much is load tuning and how much is my poor trigger and sight work. (stock P10 sights) Shooting at an 8" plate at 30 yards felt almost like it was luck if I hit it, with a 50% success ration. With Shadow 2 I am 80% doing that same thing.

 

The hiccup/bad news. I like the idea of this gun as I could run it in various forms in idpa and uspsa. But I ABSOLUTELY could not release the slide with my right thumb. Which is a critical component of shooting in idap, having a slick slide lock reload. Now idpa is probably only 20% of my shooting at best, but I will be shooting idpa worlds this year, so the import of it does linger in my mind.