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crosstraining in other divisions?


slickrick

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am presently shooting glock in production. do you guys think shooting in other divisions will give me a little boost to improve more? or should i stick it out in prod.? the reason i'm thinking about this is because i've shot other prod. guns but they've given me problems like jams, etc. With glock its been worry-free but i havent been to shoot as fast as with the other DA/SA guns. :blink::blink:

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IMO----To be the very best you can be in a single division... my advice would be to stick with and master the gun you now shoot. There is an old saying with a lot of truth in it..."beware of the man with one gun because he probably knows how to use it".

I like many shooters sometimes get bored and shoot in a number of divisions ... but I can'r say that there is a lot of cross over value that would make you better in your production shooting.

If you do "cross train" it would be my advise that you do it for long periods of time.... not just for a match or two. I know a number of shooters that show up every week or month with a different gun..... and they are all headed for a career as D shooters.

I have shot revolver for a year straight and noticed when I returned to SS that I was a more accurate shooter.... because a double action revolver teaches you to make sure you call the shot before moving the gun off target... but that's about the only real "learning" that I have found to be valuable by changing divisions.

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am presently shooting glock in production. do you guys think shooting in other divisions will give me a little boost to improve more? or should i stick it out in prod.? the reason i'm thinking about this is because i've shot other prod. guns but they've given me problems like jams, etc. With glock its been worry-free but i havent been to shoot as fast as with the other DA/SA guns. :blink::blink:

For me it was the best thing I could do.

I shot my first IPSC match in June of 2006 and for 10 months I shot nothing but revolver except a few matches with a single stack.

After 10 months I shot limited/limited 10 for 6 months. I learned to break down a course differently, Istarted learning to shoot on the move. When I went back to my revolver I was shooting it better than ever.

So yes I think a little cross over is a good thing. YMMV

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I started in Production my first couple of months, then poked around in Limited for a month or three, then back to Production. For me it opened my eyes to movement, reloads, and better stage planning. I don't think it did me anything but good seeing how other divisions work. Having to reload every 10 rounds vs 20 in my Limited, vs. 8 in my SS. I also plan on shooting single stack matches in the next month. Shooting is shooting, and the more I know, the more comfortable I am. YMMV.

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Just my opinion, from someone who has switched pistol platforms 3 times in the last 6 months :blink:

Stick with one gun/one division until you reach YOUR goal. If that is a M, great. Then the things that you have learned by obtaining that high of level of performance will carry over if and when you switch divisions. The things that have made you very good in one division will carry over into the next. Then its just a matter of details.

I say this because I have gone from single stack,to a Glock 34,to a Glock 24 and now to an S_I by Benny Hill. I have switched back on forth between IDPA and USPSA. I have reached the level of Sharpshooter in IDPA and I have not shot enough matches to be classifed in USPSA yet, but I probably will be in C class. So, take this information with that in mind. I am no M or GM by any means of the imagination.

Things I've learned: (1)Switching back and forth is EXPENSIVE !!!!! Holsters, mag pouches, belts, not to mention reloading equipment etc... adds up fast, not to mention the loss you take by selling and or trading your pistols.

(2) Switching divisions/platforms has really slowed down my progress.

The only positive thing that I can see is now I know what I like and don't like and maybe I can pass this info. onto someone and save them a little time and alot of $$ in pursuit of their goals.

My plan is to shoot the snot out of my S_I, shoot USPSA Limited division exclusively until I reach M. My goal is to obtain that in 3 years.

I did forget to mention, that it has all been alot of fun !!!

FWIW

Edited by baerburtchell
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I committed to shooting revolver for a year. After Nationals this past year I went back to Limited. What I discovered was that I was calling my shots better and had learned to analyze a COF better in order to manage the six rounds before a reload. But, like MichiganShooter said,

"If you do "cross train" it would be my advise that you do it for long periods of time.... not just for a match or two."

JMHO

dj

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am presently shooting glock in production. do you guys think shooting in other divisions will give me a little boost to improve more? or should i stick it out in prod.? the reason i'm thinking about this is because i've shot other prod. guns but they've given me problems like jams, etc. With glock its been worry-free but i havent been to shoot as fast as with the other DA/SA guns. :blink::blink:

If you switch guns, ask yourself, why? It's taking a shortcut to better/faster shooting, but you will have to learn anyway. It doesn't matter which gun you shoot.

You know what a Glock is capable of in good hands (World Champion level shooting).

I would stick with the Glock. Sounds kind of strange, but you learn the most by shooting a gun that you're not very good/fast with, initially.

You will not learn anything more by switching divisions. Production is the division where accuracy counts most. Accuracy is one of the most (if not the most)important fundamentals of the game. In Production you are forced to shoot accurately, and you will still have to learn how to be fast. You do more reloads than other divisions. I dare to say that you will learn the best starting out in Production.

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Here is a little spin on it.......... if you want to 'cross train'........... use the same gun. If you are shooting a G35, you can do that easily..... but no matter which model, you've got the option. Shoot Limited Minor, etc......... that may be the most helpful.

I 'division AND gun switched' all last season........ and it did not help my shooting at all. My only New Year Resolution this year was to shoot one division all year and see how it goes. I decided to shoot my Open gun, and leave the plastic on the shelf for a while.

I felt like, as Merlin said, "Jack of all trades, and Master of none". Oh, one other thing--- make sure you are having FUN. If not, re-evaluate.

-Mike

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Stick to what you are doing and using as long as you are learning.

If someone starts getting better suddenly after changing guns/divisions it is probably just the "trick of the day" that bump started their brain to work again. This has happened to me recently. I started shooting a revolver a month ago after shooting nothing but my STI Limited gun. I'm seeing the sights better and working the trigger better than I probably ever have. I could have learned this with my STI but my brain was getting lazy. After this weekend I am going back to the STI and nothing but the STI for the rest of this year. I'm a Limited shooter that just needed a brain bump.

Chris

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I too get bored and shoot several different divisions. For intance this year I am gonna be shooting more SS. But if it is improvement you seek- I would advise to stick with one gun and one division also. And spend your time, energy and funds to practice! ;)

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Most folks on this forum are serious, serious shooters. If you aspire to be a master or GM, you should probably stick to one gun. When I was shooting a lot, many years ago, I shot several guns--1911 open sights, 1911 dot sights, pin gun, stock gun (for 2nd Chance), space gun (also for 2nd Chance), revolver (for pins), 9mm (for 9-pin). It's true I never quite got my "A" IPSC classification, and I choked at every 2nd Chance, but I wasn't that super serious, I had a lot of fun, and I got to buy plenty of guns and I learned to use them competantly, if not masterly. And I did improve, up to the time I quit. There are plenty of excellent long-time shooters who haven't made Master, though I assume they could if they devoted themselves to it. And there are plenty of serious dillitantes in IPSC, who just want to go out and shoot stages well and learn to operate different guns. I was never going to make Master, and I liked the challenge of attacking a stage with a new gun. Of course, I was single and had money to burn, too.

Just an example from a non-serious, serious shooter.

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Shoot every division and every gun you can get your paws on. Ask yourself after the fact "did I learn anything?". If you have the right attitude and WANT to learn something, then the division and gun don't make any difference. What you're going to find is it's all fundamentals, and not much else.

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As others have said, switching from gun to gun is probably not going to be help you improve your practical shooting skills. Especially between completely different platforms (Glock to 1911 to CZ etc.)

That said, I think there is some value to shooting the same gun in different divisions. Like the above examples of shooting a glock 35 in both production and limited divisions (and ESP/SSP if you shoot IDPA too.) Shooting limited is going to allow you to focus on different sets of stage skills vs production. While the actual mechanics of shooting are the same (grip, sight picture, trigger squeeze) the change in capacity allows you to look at a stage differently. The more ways you can break up a stage, the more likely you are to finding the "best" way for you to shoot the stage. It will also allow you to "change" pace if shooting just one division gets stale.

I tend to stick to either my SVI or mysingle stack during the "Major Match High Season" as they point and shoot fairly similarly for me (very similar triggers and sight pictures on both guns.) And then play around with revolver and production when the season is winding down. Granted, I just made "A" in limited, so my plan should not be taken as a good plan. :)

Edited by baa
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I shot my Production gun (G17) and gear with a 5 lb trigger and full, flush magazines in Limited. I wanted to try what IPSC Production felt like. This was back before we knew how the whole USPSA/IPSC thing would turn out.

I second the opinion that you should try other Divisions with a similar gun to the one you shoot in your primary Division. I learned a whole lot from the experience. My scores didn't change much, C class in both, and on most stages I only avoided one reload. It totally changed my perception of USPSA Production and fancy shooting gear and helped me focus on making myself better rather than my gun "better".

As I've seen in someone's sig, "All competition guns meet the criteria for Open division". Your gun may even fit in the box for Modified.

-Dale

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I don't know what specific class level this would be true, but as your skills progress, the type of gun/division does not matter much. It may take a few rounds to get used to a new gun, but the shooting principles stay the same. Once at that level, your times and scores on a stage will be comparable across all divisions. Shooting different guns breaks the monotony and alleviates burning out. Have fun and shoot what you got.

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I started in USPSA with a dot having never shot iron sights. started in D worked my way to B. I bought a limited gun at the end of the season, boy what a difference ! I have slowed just a touch wright back into control. It took a match to slow down call all my shots, even had to stick a few reloads. My open gun has never felt the same. :surprise: It took seeing the front sight lift and fall wright back in the notch to realize what tracking my dot was all about. Look out this season open class. My 2 cents only.

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