No 9 Major In Limited

[austinkroe]

To start off, I know this topic has been discussed and rationalized. I dont care, I just want to rant and I dont want a discussion on this vs. that.

Here is goes:

I got into shooting with some IDPA guys down in GA. They were some great guys and a hoot to shoot with. I enjoyed the game with them.

So, last summer I had a STI built in 9mm. My thinking was that I would shot ESP with it. I figured that 9mm was so cheap that it would make shooting a breeze (monitarily). Plus I was leaving to go to law school and I figured I would not have the time to reload. So, I did not buy a machine. I just wanted to have a custom gun that was all mine and not some store bought thing.

So I moved to KC MO to go to law school. Come to find out there is only one IDPA club in the area and they only shot once a month. I went to one of their matches and won the thing outright by a fair margin. Looking though their scores I found that there was not really anyone shooting with any regularity that would pose any type of compitition for me (it is a game to me and I want to have someone to challenge my skills).

After my dissatisfying IDPA expieriance in the area I turned to USPSA. Got a CR belt and some 140mm mags. I started shooting with some guys around here and they are all great and I have a fun time (other than the fact that they pick on me for shooting minor). So, here, at least, I have become a USPSA shooter. Dang I wish there was a close by steel challenge match as well.

With my new found love for USPSA I have been having a great time. However this limited minor thing has had an effect on my game. I have mostly been an accuracy based shooter and I like a good challenge but I have let the pressure get to me and when I bump up the speed I throw a charlie or two more than normal. It hurts to do this but running on the edge can be fun too.

So here is the deal: Now ammo prices have jumped through the roof and I have decided that I should reload in the near future. The gun I had built can run major 9 and I think that with some help from some locals I could eventually get the skill to load major 9. Trouble is I cannot do this in Limited. As a student I cannot afford a loader and a new gun and I think the loader takes priority because of mass production and per bullet economy. So, I guess when I can afford to get the reloading gear I will be loading minor 9 for quite some time. I just wish I could take advantage of the higher point values for major. Arrrrggggg!

I really want to stop worrying about the 4 Cs I got on the last stage and be able to shoot competitively with some friends on a level playing field. I know As are As but If I want to shoot all As I can do it but I would have to slow my pace down too far, I am only human and I shoot Bs, Cs, Ds, and the occasional no-shoot once and a while. It seems to me that making up points on later stages is a bit hard to do with minor. Furthermore the minor ammo has added no speed to my game. I can shoot a full power .45 just as fast. Guess this was poor planing on my part and I cant fix it anywhere in the near future. I guess I will have to be a little more hungry to run with the local dogs when I shoot minor. Just wish I had easier options.

On a side note, I love the gun and I know I will never sell it not only because it has my name on it but it also runs like a raped ape. The thing will feed anything including empty casings and it can hit a nut out of a squirril's mouth at over 20 paces. I runs in the cold, heat, and rain. I just love the damn thing.

Also, after only shooting USPSA for a few months I went to my first classifier match this past weekend and if the scores I copied down and the Ohio calculator is correct then four out of the six I shot were B class. Hopefully my first class in USPSA will be B and I will be proud to say I got there shooting minor.

It felt good to get this off my chest. I guess I will just have to get a loader, shoot some more, make it to GM, and then I can complain about how my equipment is holding me back.

On the other side when I do win it is nice to be able to say I did it shooting minor. Mmm the sweet smell of victory, I guess that is all I want. Well that and maybe an unlimited gun budget. 3gun, open, and MOR are pretty tempting. Silly shooting addiction, when will I ever learn that I can make do with what I have even though all of the other stuff look like som much fun. I think I blame the glallery threads and the internet in general. Silly me and my minor (only) limited gun.

Edited April 18, 2007 by austinkroe