Thoughts On First Ipsc Match

[ducati]

what was your feeling on your first ipsc match?

i attended my first match today, livingston gun club.the people at this shoot were great. helpful right from the start. guys were giving pointers, had a great time. having shot a couple of idpa matches at my club, i think i like this ipsc better. reloading on the move, courses set up that you decide how you are going to shoot. and alot of steel poppers.

i am hooked. i will be attending future matches. thanks livinston gun club for putting on a great match.

[Ron Ankeny]

Welcome to IPSC. Glad you had a great time. We had three new shooters this morning and all of them are "hooked". IPSC shooting is a ton of fun, but even more importantly, each of the new shooters had a "mentor for a day" and we went out of our way to make them feel welcome. They will be back.

I remember my first shoot because I think I had the most points across the target faces and I still managed to come in near the bottom of the pack.

[Duane Thomas]

I'd fired a fair amount of IDPA before my first IPSC match. And, not to seem totally modesty challenged, but I was a pretty good IDPA shooter. I'd never won an IDPA match at that point, but if I wasn't in the top four out of 30-plus shooters there was something seriously wrong. Came into IPSC, and the average skill level was SO much higher than IDPA. Instead of starting at the top of the score sheet and moving down to find my name, it was start at the bottom and move up. I thought it was so cool. It was like, "Joy! Another mountain to climb." I knew there were important things to learn here, that this was the environment that would help me take my shooting to whole new levels. And so it has proven.

[Liota]

Ducati, Welcome to IPSC! Glad you're hooked. New shooters are wonderful. The sport is addictive.

Ron, we also had a whole bunch of new ones this month. They seemed hooked when they left. One wants to buy a new gun to play with. He said his wife wouldn't let him spend the money for as expensive weapon as an open blaster, but I told him it was a toy, one for training but a toy nonetheless. He did very well for his first match and seemed to have a lot of fun in spite of the constant reminders from the RO to watch his safety issues (e.g., finger in trigger guard, 180, etc...). Once he gets used to it and practices some, he will be a pretty good shooter.

Liota

[j1b]

First IPSC match was at Rio Salado in AZ.

TGO was teaching a class and I attended. I shot my first match while I was there. I was petrified, nervous, and excited. I got hooked, and stayed hooked (and broke) for years to come.

Today - despite not shooting much, I think about shooting all the time and look forward to being able to do it again.

JB

[Jeeper]

The best shooter at my first IPSC match was the poster above; Jack Barnes. I though I was a good shooter, having just come back from Gunsite, until I saw him shoot. I almost fell over! I was hooked once I saw how much room for improvement there was for me.

[Duane Thomas]

I was hooked once I saw how much room for improvement there was for me.

Exactly!

[Guest Larry Cazes]

My first IPSC match was 2 months ago shooting with TASC at the chabot range in castro valley, ca. Ive been shooting action pistol for 2 years as well. I was quite nervous but most at the match were very friendly and willing to answer whatever questions I had as well as to offer pointers where needed. The beginner class they taught was excellent and well worth the time spent. My wife has since started shooting with this group as well and we are both hooked and have since joined the club. I was actually quite intimidated about starting in IPSC based on what I had read and heard from other people and I don't really think that this is unusual. Thanks to everyone at TASC for making our introduction to the sport a lot of fun!

[ducati]

i agree on the needing to improve on my part. ipsc showed me this.

[Flexmoney]

My first match...heck, my first summer...I went in thinking I knew how to shoot. I had shot expert in the Air Force (pistol and rifle)...I had been shooting most of my life...

I remember the drives home after the matches that summer... I keep wondering how all those old, fat guys were beating me so bad.

[Loves2Shoot]

I was in awe after my 1st match. I thought I knew how to shoot. I realized I could only crawl and had a ton to learn, but I was hoooked.

[j1b]

The greatest thing about IPSC - all you'll ever need to do is improve. No such thing as a perfect score, so there is always room for improvement.

Thanks for the compliment Jeeper - where was the match?

JB

[Jeeper]

Jack

It was at Pima Pistol club in late 97 or early 98. I remember watching both you and Tim Copperstone in amazement. He was definately one of my early role models. I shot a lot of matches with him in 98 at Pima and Jensens. Before shooting IPSC I shot sihlouette and was pretty damn good. I then wanted to get into IPSC and decided to go to Gunsite for fun. I whooped everyone in my class there bad. I remember how proud I was at having the best el pres time of like 7 or 8 seconds After gunsite I came to shoot a match and you were the first shooter up on the stage I was on. I almost had a heart attack. I came to the match with a kind of big head and WOW did that change! I soon realized that I was at the bottom of the pile in comparison.

[JohnL]

what was your feeling on your first ipsc match?

i attended my first match today, livingston gun club.the people at this shoot were great. helpful right from the start. guys were giving pointers, had a great time. having shot a couple of idpa matches at my club, i think i like this ipsc better. reloading on the move, courses set up that you decide how you are going to shoot. and alot of steel poppers.

i am hooked. i will be attending future matches. thanks livinston gun club for putting on a great match.

I shot that match - I know we had a new shooter in our squad - #3. The first time I shot IPSC I was a bit nervous but had the same experience you did - friendly people, lots of pointers and I got hooked. I now belong to Livingstion Gun Club and I shoot almost all of the handgun and 3 gun matches.

I look forward to seeing you out there again.

[tightloop]

It wasn't my first match, but I was talking to a guy who owned a small sport shop one afternoon while he was loading some .45 rounds on his Star loader. We got to talking and I asked him what he was doing. Found out he shot IPSC and this was for practice tomorrow. Well, he invited me to go with him. Used his other pistol, his ammo and his extra leather.

The first exercise we did was the old draw and shoot one at 25 yds in 2.5 sec.

Now I am kind of like Flex, I had been shooting all my life, had a dozen big bore revolvers in the safe, and was expert in the service, so I thought; how tough can this be. He shot first and I ran the stop watch, no timers then. 5 A's and a B. My turn, 1 C and 5 Mikes. Talk about room for improvement.

That was June 1978, and by April 1979, I had qualified to go the IPSC Natl's, talk about getting hooked. Not much different now than back then, gear is a bit different, people are about the same.

[ducati]

johnl that was me, i'm hooked. thanks again.

[j1b]

Jeeper

Must have been one of my last matches there

I love that club and the people there. I am flattered by your comments.

Jack

[megaman]

my first ipsc experience wasn't as awe inspiring, but i was certainly life changing. it was at a club organized shooting fair hosted at my local range. i tried the two ipsc "stages" set up with a custom limited 40 cal. i liked the movement and the members were very friendly. from that experience i discovered another facet of shooting that i wanted to explore and grow in. just this past year i joined the uspsa, got classified, participated in my first state match, my first match outside my local club, directed several matches at my local club with stages designed by myself. i look forward to continuing to improve in this dynamic and exciting sport.

[spl K]

when I drove up, I could see the range. I remember asking myself, WHAT IN THE WORLD DID GET MYSELF INTO??????? shot that first match and hooked ever since!!!!!even if I got my butt kickkedd bad!!

[Hank Ellis]

My history is a bit convoluted. 15 years ago I shot IPSC at the local indoor range Wednesday night "fun match". I sucked. But I got less sucky. The local guru wanted me to give a 'real' match a shot as he thought I was ready. I didn't get around to it. The real world got involved and I had to stop shooting entirely. Now I'm back. Picked up a 45 again and I realized the barns of America have nothing to fear. Yeah, if you don't use it, ya lose it. I still suck.

Went ahead and went to my first 'real' match a couple weeks ago. My only two goals were to not DQ and don't zero a stage. I succeeded in one of those goals.

Stage 1: CM-63. Six shots at a target at 35 yards. Hell, I've never shot outdoors or at any target farther than 50 feet. "What am I doing here?" As I stood ondeck, my heart was pounding and the butterflies were in full flight. The feeling flashbacked me to round 4 of 8-way in the '91 US Skydiving Nationals. Take a deep breath. Slow down. Forget the clock. Get your points. Short story. The gun mal'd at least one round per mag. Got rattled. Lost count. Let's just say the scorers didn't use too many pasters.

Stage 2: A four string stage started sitting a table. Close stuff at 15 - 20 feet with a couple of round steel. Around barricades and through a room. Walk through this and it's doable. At the buzzer it was like the old days. Called my shots. Got what I wanted. Walked off satisfied that I did the best I could on that stage that day.

Stage 3: A four room stage with multiple hardcover and noshoots. Yeah, I can do this. Did OK till the gun mal'd again at the last string. Got rattled (again). Jerked my shots low and hit the hardcover.

Stage 4: A three string stage with the last one through a port in a barricade. I have no clue as to why I pulled seven shots low into the hardcover on the last string. Mental overload from Stage 1 and 3? By this time I'm expecting the gun to mal, and it did.

Stage 5: Simple stage. Brainlocked it big time. I know it was from the mental trash from the previous four stages.

The results in L10 with me shooting minor:

Stage 1: 00.00 %

Stage 2: 37.51 %

Stage 3: 27.52 %

Stage 4: 03.65 %

Stage 5: 00.00 %

Overall: 16.09% against a Master class shooter. Dead last any way you want to slice and dice it. Next closest had double my score.

Initial impressions: Man, do I suck. Hoover vacuums have nothing on me. Can't hit the side of a barn. But I didn't DQ and the RO only made one comment after a stage was over.

Later impressions. Stage 1 was a killer. No real shame at this point personally in zeroing this one. Four of the seven in L10 zeroed it. Stages 2 and 3 were OK but I've got to work on hardcover shots. Stage 4 hardcover got me bad and I still don't know why. Stage 5 was a pure brain fart. I need to flush the negative vibes of the previous stage when I step up to the current one. In other words, quit thinking.

Afterwards, a Master in Limited who was in my squad told me to not to worry. You have to start somewhere. You will brainlock, it takes time to condition yourself mentally to this game. Go practice and get your shots. Forget the clock right now, it's not important.

Excuse me. I need to load up the car and go to the range. And on the way stop by the mall and pick up a sundial for the RO.

Till later

Hank Ellis

[tightloop]

Hank

We've all been there...

[scooterj]

Hank, I was in your squad. After a 15 year hiatus, I think that you did great. Don't be so hard on yourself. Stick with Lloyd and he'll have you back in top form in no time. Hope you got some fresh ammo. If possible you should try to hit a few of the other local matches. There's a match every weekend no more than 1.5 hours out of Baton Rouge.

[rhino]

Hank ... showing up and trying puts you way ahead of most of the pack!

As the others have mentioned, we've all been there (and some of us are still there!).

The key is to be safe and have fun. If you can learn a little and improve each time, it's a success all the way around!

And if the RO uses a sundial to time you, you're way out of my league. We have a PACT Mk12 Calendar that they use to time me!

[Hank Ellis]

Just a followup concerning my post dated December 1, 2003, on this thread.

Figured out that not all of the problems were with the nut pulling the trigger.

Digging around on this site I found a thread concerning service model SA 1911 hitting way low from the factory. Hmmm. Guess I should do a proper sight in and see what happens. Short story. It shot at least 7" low at 25 yd. At least 7" because it wasn't hitting the paper at all! Filed off .025" to .030" from the front sight and it now puts a bullet where I aim it.

The malfunctions were primarily from the one Chip McCormick Power 10 mag I had. The others mags I have are the now discontinued McCormick Tacticals. The mag spring in the Power 10 was simply not compatible with the Minor loads and recoil spring I was using. Chip McCormick was cool enough to send me a couple mag springs for me to experiment with. Cutting coils as required to make it function properly. This is a work in progress.

I guessing some of the other mals were from the 15 year old Minor reloads I had laying around. I've since shot all that up and now using a Major load that one of the Limited Masters is using. The perceved recoil between my old loads and the new loads is barely noticeable.

Lessons learned:

1. Always do a proper sight in on any new firearm. Sandbag or Ransom Rest at 25 yards. Probably wouldn't hurt to do a sight in every 6 to 12 months depending on your shooting volume. Definitely after any change that could affect accuracy.

2. Never go to a match with a piece of untried equipment. Go to the range and do some solo practice with the new equipment to make sure it functions properly. A match is not the time to find out something doesn't work.

I'm seeing progress. Times and points dropped going down. Confidence level going up. We'll see in February at the next match whether I'll meet my original goals.

{Results of February match. High overall Unclassified. Placed 3rd of 6 in L10. Didn't DQ. Didn't zero a stage. Too many positives to list. Only negative was a Mike on the classifier. Left the range with a grin.}

Till later

Hank Ellis

[yeahyeah]

Just went to my first match Sunday...it sucked, or should i say I sucked. Very depressing, I thought I knew how to shoot...I was wrong, thought I knew how to reload...I was wrong, thought I knew something...I was wrong. I went home so devistated that I thought I would never shoot a gun again. I guess I'll practice some more and try it again. I knew I was not going to do well going in to my first match, but I thought I wouldn't be such a "wally" I felt like a fool. Man what a bummer, I was looking forward to a good day, didn't have any gun problems, they were just plain brain farts all day. Although one stage was a blast the others overshadowed it, thank goodness I had one fun stage... funny thing is it was the stage I feared the most, turned out to be the only one I didn't screw up like and ass!

See Ya