EL Presidente

[MCGILLA]

As a newer USPSA shooter, I wanted to start getting a baseline on my “gear” setup ie holster belt mag pouch locations etc, and shot the El Pres. I had another shooter comment that it was not ideal for a gear testing baseline. Is this true or is there a better way to track your baseline progress when adjusting mag pouches and holster placement? My time is around 15 seconds so I’m not exactly burning it down yet. 

 

Thanks 

[Nathanb]

Honestly it’s more about feel and comfort.  Where your hands fall on the draw and where they want to go to without you training them and then building from there.  Everyone is different and will want their gear oriented a little differently for them

[MCGILLA]

Thanks Nathan, this was my first year shooting USPSA and I was using sort of sub par gear for carry optics. Currently D class but want to make sure I have everything optimized for better performance. I noticed during dry fire I could get my pistol out and on target much faster with a hanger on my holster so as I add a few modifications to my belt setup which I’m still figuring out I wanted to have a live fire drill I could do to test it. I will also mention that during a 3 Gun match this last year I had a pistol fall from a holster so now better retention is very high on my list. 

[Kwontanamo]

Rather than shooting classifiers i would set up stages for dry firing where you have to challenge your transitions, reloading, and moving around barricades. That changed the way I set up my magazines on my belt. For the holster, I never went wrong with the rules set for production and SS (behind the hip bone)

[MCGILLA]

Good call, yeah the movement inclusion is a better idea I should have thought of that

[waktasz]

Look at what other people at matches are using and just do that. There's no real need to spend weeks buying and testing different gear. 
Also for USPSA I would consider a different holster all together than 3gun. You don't need (or want, most likely) a bunch of retention in your holster for USPSA. 3 gun is obviously different. 

Edited December 29, 2021 by waktasz

[coframer]

21 hours ago, waktasz said:

Look at what other people at matches are using and just do that. There's no real need to speed weeks buying and testing different gear. 
Also for USPSA I would consider a different holster all together than 3gun. You don't need (or want, most likely) a bunch of retention in your holster for USPSA. 3 gun is obviously different. 

+1 on that 

[Kwontanamo]

On 12/28/2021 at 11:57 AM, waktasz said:

Look at what other people at matches are using and just do that. There's no real need to spend weeks buying and testing different gear. 
Also for USPSA I would consider a different holster all together than 3gun. You don't need (or want, most likely) a bunch of retention in your holster for USPSA. 3 gun is obviously different. 

2nd! i often told my friends to come with me to a USPSA match so that they can get an idea on what kind of gear and division they wanted to shoot. 

[38super]

Live with what you have.  Buying the latest whiz bang equipment does nothing to develop your skill set.  Go fast stuff will hide basic skill flaws.  Concentrate on dry fire practice (airsoft maybe).  Best $$ spent is ammo and Match fees, you can't buy a score.  Classifier stages pit your skills against the best.  El Prez is one of the best turn n burn stages.  

[HesedTech]

On 12/28/2021 at 6:56 AM, MCGILLA said:

As a newer USPSA shooter, I wanted to start getting a baseline on my “gear” setup

Okay, what's the best advice?

 

1. What can your budget allow?

2. What is your goal or commitment to the sport?

3. Practice makes better.

4. Checkout Stoeger, Anderson, and maybe Casey Reed programs for dry fire.

5. Yes an El Prez will give you a baseline for gun handling and skills. Of course so will other classifiers. Don't forget USPSA is about movement not stationary shooting.

6. Dry fire with the gear you use.

7. Pick one division to get good at, and then buy the gear recommended for that one.

8. Yes better guns shoot easier, but gun handling are a skills which transfers between all of them.

9. Don't chase equipment as a magic wand to replace practice.

10. Anytime you think you have some fantastic idea no one else has tried, well there might be a reason they haven't done it.

 

The best advice is that which you actually apply and use.

 

PS. everybody has an opinion.

[Kwontanamo]

On 12/29/2021 at 7:19 PM, 38super said:

Live with what you have.  Buying the latest whiz bang equipment does nothing to develop your skill set.  Go fast stuff will hide basic skill flaws.  Concentrate on dry fire practice (airsoft maybe).  Best $$ spent is ammo and Match fees, you can't buy a score.  Classifier stages pit your skills against the best.  El Prez is one of the best turn n burn stages.  

Yup! Made this mistake when I started.

[Tunachaser]

On 12/28/2021 at 7:53 AM, Kwontanamo said:

Rather than shooting classifiers i would set up stages for dry firing where you have to challenge your transitions, reloading, and moving around barricades. That changed the way I set up my magazines on my belt. For the holster, I never went wrong with the rules set for production and SS (behind the hip bone)

FYI...Behind the hip bone requirement has been removed from USPSA.

[Kwontanamo]

19 hours ago, Tunachaser said:

FYI...Behind the hip bone requirement has been removed from USPSA.

I didn’t know that. Hmm that is interesting. 

[38super]

re HT:  I like #10.  Trouble with #10 are the "for sale" fixes to a non-existent problem.

[X5SigChris]

Being new as well, I feel your pain. To be honest, I’m tired of adjusting my belt a little bit here and a little bit there lol. Seen a lot of people running the primary mag real far forward and angled near horizontal. So I tried it. Tonight actually I gave in and moved it back a little and took some angle out of it. I just have a terrible grasp there and my reloads suffer. Simply doesn’t work well for me where others made it work. 
 

as far as dry fire goes, I think I paid $20 for two packs of stoegers scaled down targets and hard cover stickers. Let’s me set up a few “stages” in the garage and around the house. It appears to be helping but time will tell when I can compare match scores. 
 

best of luck!

[bludog]

Besides dry fire, an inexpensive bb revolver with a red dot on it has been invaluable for backyard practice on transitions and shooting while moving. Revolver was $39, rounds cost less than penny.