Do you take a backup pistol to a match

[kmaultsby]

Hello all I am shooting my main pistol a lot a matches in production.  Do take a spare pistol of the same and make to a match?

[Silverscooby27]

Yes because my time is very valuable.

[Explosiveo]

Yes. I really think that the need for a backup gun depends on how much you are traveling to majors. If your just shooting a bunch of local matches within a couple

hours of your house. Then you don’t need one. maybe just purchase some spare parts of whatever is most common to break on your particular gun.

 

if your traveling to a lot of majors and spending a significant amount of money. Placing well. Then it may make sense.

It’s unlikely that you will need a backup gun very often. I shoot a lot of matches and I have only really needed my backup a couple times.

[JoeMKY]

Yes at major and local matches. Had to use it more at local matches lately. I might have lost the stage but the backup gun helps me push through the rest of the match. At major matches i have the backup gun and a big bag of parts and tools in the car just in case something breaks and maybe during the lunch break I can fix it with the parts bag and move it to the backup gun once fixed.

[zzt]

Carrying spare parts and the required tools to matches is not my idea of fun.  Plus, for two of the parts failures I had no spares.  I never thought they would break.   Also, who wants to try repairing a gun at the safe table?  I'm usually the last, or close to the last shooter on the squad.  If I have a malfunction, I've blown that stage, and probably the next one if I don't get the repairs done in time.

 

 I've had to use my backup three times.  Once at a LIII match and twice at LI matches.  Much quicker.  Call the RM, get approval, resume shooting on the next stage. 

 

I bring an identical backup pistol to all USPSA and SCSA matches.  I bring spare mags as well.  The only gun with no backup is my PCC.  I do bring a spare BCG.  I only shoot that about six times a year, locally, at steel challenge matches.  I don't want to spend $2500 for an identical backup.

[dapribek]

Yes, always. I’ve used it a few times. 

[MHicks]

Assuming that a person has a backup gun for a division, is it really that hard to take a second gun rug with the backup along, just in case?

Bringing spare parts and tools and trying to repair at a match would be more of a hassle unless it's just replacing a slide stop or something.

[barry]

Have carried backup gun for years. Only time I used it was to take parts off to fix a squad mates gun. Been lucky I guess.

[ddc]

Once in a match.

Several times at the range practicing.
I can't imagine not having one sitting there ready to go.

[aandabooks]

Always.  I don't want to hope for getting a gun repaired at the safe table and the rest of my match depends on having the right part or ability to get it done.  I just carry a spare of the exact gun that I'm using in the match.  I've never had to switch but it is always in the range bag.

[Johnny_Chimpo]

When my match gun and carry gun were the same type, I always had a back up in the car.  Now that they're aren't I don't.

 

Not too concerned about it this year because my match gun is both relatively new and well vetted. 

 

But something to think about for majors next year.  The cheapest alternative is to finish building a belt for one of the other full-size pistols I already have and take it, the gun, and the magazines in a second bag.  Or buy a second S2 and optic.

[zombywoof]

Not for local matches. Always for majors.

 

My gun went down once at a local. One of my friends let me use his to finish the match.

[BMSMB]

Yes, but I dont think of it so much as a back up gun.

 

I've got a match gun and a training gun. I break the trigger reset spring every month or two in my training gun. I bring the training gun as my backup, but I don't expect to ever use it at a match. Anytime something breaks on my training gun, the replacement comes off the match gun, and a new part goes on the match gun. Works well for me.

[thermobollocks]

Yeah. Used them a few times at locals, once when I had a wicked OOB that killed an extractor, once when it turned out my sear spring was worn out and my gun went burst mode, and once when my dot wandered loose.

Edited April 19, 2023 by thermobollocks

[Bakerjd]

Yes I do. I happen to decide it wasn't needed after years of having both with me at all matches. Well a few matches into the idea my optic broke and........ I shot the last stage for sure and probably 3 of the 4 stages with a broken optic. 

 

Now having said that I didn't realise the optic was broke till I was doing a practice session a couple days late and kept loosing the dot, re zeroing it and loosing it again. Pushed on the glass and it popped out. At the match I was just getting all my hits about 3 inches to the right of where I aimed. Would I have switched guns due to it? Probably. 

 

Now my new theory is 2 is 1, 1 is none and will have 3 open minor/LO guns with me at matches. Well I'll have 3 guns. Probably only 2 at matches. 

[jlewis39]

Let me preface this with: I'm an absolute newb to USPSA...a newly minted Limited D-class with just 4 total local matches under my belt.

 

I bring an identical SFx with me to matches. Not because I think I'm all that (because I'm absolutely NOT), but simply because I don't want to miss out on the event's shooting opportunities because of a malfunctioning primary gun.

 

My thoughts process is: by having an identical secondary gun available, I ensure that I'll be able to gain as much match experience as possible versus having to withdraw due to equipment failure. Maybe my thinking is flawed, I don't know, but I feel more comfortable having that backup gun with me.

 

 

[Joe4d]

On 3/31/2023 at 9:46 AM, MHicks said:

Assuming that a person has a backup gun for a division, is it really that hard to take a second gun rug with the backup along, just in case?

Bringing spare parts and tools and trying to repair at a match would be more of a hassle unless it's just replacing a slide stop or something.

nearest match for me is about 2 hours,, I may get 5 or 6 matches a year....  As Mhicks said, Not that hard to throw a rig and ammo in the trunk, even if I end up with a bump to Open, better than driving all that way and not shooting

[MHicks]

3 hours ago, Joe4d said:

nearest match for me is about 2 hours,, I may get 5 or 6 matches a year....  As Mhicks said, Not that hard to throw a rig and ammo in the trunk, even if I end up with a bump to Open, better than driving all that way and not shooting

 

I now have 3 matches, on different weekends, that are within 45 minutes to an hour of me. 3 more that are about 2 hours away. I try to make it to the closer ones each month but not all of the time. I just shot my first two matches of the year following  surgery.

[allamericanbp]

This thread is proving it is a no-brainer. I now have 2 identical guns. I try to use one for Matches and one for practice but lately I have been rotating them in more than before. I am glad that I adopted this practice because I was in a training session not that long ago and broke a slide stop. If it were at a match, I would/could just pull it off my backup gun but it always helps to have an even swap if possible. It may also help not having to carry different gear with you as well. Especially if I am traveling far away from home base. 

[Part_time_redneck]

You’re never going to need a backup gun………..until you do. Then you’ll be glad you brought it. I always bring a backup & enough ammo / mags for both guns to shoot the entire match. I’ve yet to need the backup but I have loaned it to a buddy on several occasions. 

[waktasz]

For local matches, not usually. If my gun explodes and I can't continued I'd rather get a head start on lunch then go to the car and strap on my backup. This isn't advice, just what I do. 

[KSwift]

I think you should always bring a backup gun for matches if you have one of any kind.

 

Doesn't have to be a duplicate of the main race gun or even close, just something match-legal is better than nothing at all.  Matches cost time (money) and actual money, and just because you brought it doesn't mean you have to use it.  You can still ragequit and go home angry if you want, but it doesn't cost extra to have a functional spare waiting in the car and gives you the option to stick around and finish the course of fire.  And if you shoot with buddies, you're helping keep them in the game too. (because buddies always have more unreliable gear than you)

 

For my first USPSA match, my main gun was an Open Div G34, and the backup option was a carry compact M&P.  For my first PRS match, my main gun was an AICS mag chassis 700 and my best scope while the backup was a plain hunting 700 with a much smaller scope.  Didn't need to switch but could have finished the match with less-than-ideal gear if I needed to.

Edited May 3, 2023 by KSwift

[Bigzona]

I always bring a back up and never had to use it, until my very first major, and I was thankful I had it. No messing around trying to trouble shoot the main gun. Called the RM, went to Chrono, and back in the match!

[StefVanHauwe]

I'm a firm believer in back up guns! Obviously everything depends on how serious you are in competition and which budgets you can alIocate. I have 3 open race guns: my primary match gun (which I only use for matches), my primary training gun (which is also my back up match gun) and my back up training gun (that I always bring to training).  Over the past years I had to swtch multiple times during trainings and matches (in fact even last night - RD failed on me  ), which guaranteed I could finish trainings and matches. 

[Runswithwood1]

Yes, uspsa and 3 gun I bring backups just in case. I had a front sight get loose mid match a couple years ago and have brought an extra just in case. Obviously its easiest when they run the same mags/ammo