How Did You First Learn Of Ipsc/uspsa?

[IPSCDRL]

There has been much talk of late as to recruitment of new members to USPSA. It got me thinking about how we can still be "The best kept secret in the shooting sports." I first learned of practical pistol through a fellow that works at the same company I do. I was walking through the cafe at work one day about seven years ago and saw some guy tracing the outline of an IPSC Metric target in a foam lunch tray with a plastic knife. I immediately recognized the shape as that of a target and so stopped and introduced myself since I had several guns and liked to shoot. This guy headed up a weekly practice session at the local gun club and invited me out to give it a try. I showed up with my (t)rusty WWII era 1911, a couple of mags, and a nylon “Uncle Mike’s holster to give it a try. The guys at the club were good about explaining things to me and once I tried it, I was hooked!

As I look back on this experience now, I realize that it was simply luck that I found this sport at all. How about you?

BTW, that fellow with the foam tray and plastic knife was Rob Boudrie. And now you know, the rest of the story…

[jhgtyre]

I had heard about USPSA from a friend but it sounded too expensive and there was not a club, that I knew of, in the area I lived in. I didn't try it out until I moved out to AZ and that same friend dragged me a match. I've been hooked ever since.

-ld

[scooterj]

Jerry Miculek's brother, Donnie, at a local gun shop back in the early 90's. Been hooked since.

[David Olhasso]

My wife and I were at the local indoor shop/range and I saw this guy with what looked like a space gun to me at the time. He was drawing from a holster, shooting 4 shots at what seemed full auto speed, performing an amazing reload, and then shooting another 4 shots in the blink of an eye. I saw that he was shooting at brown cardboard at 10 to 12 yards so I figured he was peppering the paper with sporatic hits. When he pulled in his targets, I saw that he had two targets with the centers covered by hundreds of tan stickers.

After I saw that, I was hooked. I had never seen a match and knew nothing about the sport. All I knew is that I wanted to be able to shoot as fast and as accurate as that guy could. He taught me well.

[lynn jones]

i bought a "american handguner" magazine with a picture of Richard Heine on the cover doing a double tap!

lynn jones

[tightloop]

Dropped by a gun store in '77 and one of the owners was loading on a Star Loader. After talking to him for about an hour, he invited me to practice with him the next day. He outfitted me with everything, holster, ammo, gun.

Shot the standard 25 yd drill for the time. 1 shot 2.5 sec. I did it and did not have one hit on paper, my bud did it and had 5 A's and 1 B. Went to the next match they had, and even with the poor practice experience I had, after watching the match, I knew I could beat 75% of the shooters there. Hooked, been doing it in one form or another for 27 yrs.

[D.Hayden]

At our range, the Action Pistol is over the berm, and can't be seen from the normal range, didn't even know it was there, never heard of the sport... finally met someone at the range shooting an Open gun, started talking. Took the intro course in April. Now after many $$$'s later, I'm still bad but having a great time. Thanks to everyone in this forum, either responding directly or as I search thorugh old posts!

It's very word of mouth, until you're in it, and start getting Front Sight, or get to this forum (or Matt's), there's very little info out there.

[kindlyoldcoach]

I discovered IPSC through American Handgunner magazine articles, starting maybe 20 years ago. The spreads on the custom guns of the day repeatedly stressed their accuracy, and that got my interest more than anything else about the game. Any excuse to buy and use good kit.

It's very word-of-mouth where I am, too...shot "outlaw," recreationally with a couple of others at my club, for years before I decided to sign up. Before the internet made finding local organizations easier, the average chance encounter with real local IPSC shooters went something like this:

"Sounds like fun. I'd like to try that."

"Well, you have to take a safety course before you can try it."

"Great. When, where, how much?"

"No idea. Maybe some time within the next year. Have to ask about that."

"Okay...who's the person who organizes these courses round here?"

"That would be me."

Slowly, this seems to be changing.

[Vince Pinto]

Hi guys,

I saw an ad for a new gun club in Hong Kong and I decided to join, just so that I'd have a place to shoot.

The manager was an active IPSC shooter and RO, and he introduced me to IPSC and gave me my first lesson. Two months later, soon-to-be IPSC President Nick Alexakos was invited to Hong Kong to give shooting classes and I signed up.

I won my first match 3 months later shooting an H&K P7M8 in Standard Division out of a Jurassic Period holster - I was over the moon and hooked for life.

[Ironman]

Taran Butler told me about it and said that I should join and compete. I took his advise and have not regretted it.

Jim

[Jon Merricks]

Saw it on TNN about 10 years ago.

[DougBarnes101]

My cousin told me about it and it sounded like a lot of fun. First time out was with a Colt Commander box stock. Had a blast. The people there were great. I'm not much better than I was then but I still have a blast everytime I shoot.

[tightloop]

As an aside to how I learned about it, let's address the friends that have been made.

My three closest, male friends were all products of, meeting while shooting. Those friendships have lasted 25+ yrs, and expect them to last a few more...

While the shooting is great, friends are even better.

[old shooter]

I loved shooting since I was a kid, and naturally read every shoting magazine available. I always got Guns & Ammo just to read "Cooper on Handguns". I just salavated over any mention of drawing out of a holster and shooting fast. When G&A had an article about the Columbia Conference, it mentioned the first Secretary or Treasurer was elected. His name was Burt Estes, and it said he was a capt. in the Hurst, Tx police dept. I lived in Houston at the time, and promptly called him. He told me about the next match he was holding and gave me directions. I drove 6 hours friday and stayed in a hotel and shot my first real match the next morning. I shot with that club and qualified for the nationals that year (1977 in LA I think) I stayed with them until Houston had a club and shot with them until the kids came along.......now I am back....

Mike

[steve223]

I first heard about it Through A.H. In the mid 80s.Im Withtight loop Ive made some Great Frends and Find more at almost every match.

Steve

[twix]

I emailed the closest clubs, one IDPA and one IPSC, I was looking for something more than stand and shoot with my defensive handgun. I never did hear back from the IDPA club, but Whit Fisher called me within an hour after I sent my email. He guided me through my first match. Hooked. Was that only three years and how many dollars ago?

An interesting side note, Whit kept me from DQ'ing on my first stage of my first match(popper didn't fall and I wanted to turn and run back to the specified box to reshoot it). Whit stopped me. I probably would have never been back if he hadn't and I would have DQ'd.

This summer I had to DQ Whit (really he DQ'd himself, I just happened to be the RO).

[Singlestack]

I used to be into White Water Kayaking. One of my boating buds is an A class shooter. When he told me he was an A class IPSC shooter, he did not even give me a clue what that ment and I remain impressed by that. He sent me to a match and insured me I would have fun. I had never heard of IPSC and did not have a clue what I was getting into. I thought I knew how to shoot a pistol. Hell, I owned a .45.

That day, March 18 2000, is still very clear in my mind.

[John Dunn]

I'd read about it and followed the match results for years in the various gun mags (I think Ross Seyfried was the top shooter when I first got interested, what's that, 82? 83?). Had the desire but no gear, no money, no contacts who shot IPSC. Graduated from High School in 86 and got my first pistol (Ruger Bisley .41 mag, still have it), too poor to shoot it much. College...broke. Med School...broke, no time. Surgical Residency...broke, no (talking zero here) time. Real job...money, time. Took a class at Gunsite and found out this shooting stuff was too cool to do just during a class. Got on the internet, found a couple of clubs in the same state within a 6 hour drive. Since then it has been a fun and frustrating road of discovery and meeting cool people. I've recruited one other guy to join USPSA, and with the help of some forum members here, may eventually get a club started here in town. If I could get my wife interested life would be grand, but I think I'll have to wait for my daughters to grow up a little.

[Limitless13]

Alright guys, don't laugh. 12 years ago.... ( Lord. I was 7 ) Sitting at home flipping through the cable stations came on American Shooter. It was hosting a Doug Koenig tourney. Been druling ever since.

[ErikW]

Musta been 93 or 94 when I took the new shooters class given by the Richmond Hot Shots. (Local GM instructor to me after shooting the field course: "I thought we agreed you were gonna walk this.") But I didn't shoot a match, that I can recall. I can't even recall what got me into the class. Fast forward to 97: I had a renewed interest in shooting after years of dormancy. Again, I can't recall what got me into it, I either saw a flyer at the Chabot rifle range or I saw the club, TASC, shooting a match there. I found the guy who looked to be in charge and asked him how I could get started. He said I had to take a class. I said I took Richmond's class. He asked for my card, which was long gone. I took their new shooter's class. It was a good that I did.

First thought after first stage of first match: Holy @#&! this was fun! Second thought: I can't believe I missed those.

[JFD]

I got into it by accident almost. I had a negative impression of USPSA from the gun rags, and had the idea that I had to have a $3000 handgun to compete.

A firend dragged me kicking and screwming (close to it anyway) to an outlaw match, which I loved. The outlaw match politics finally drove me to another outlaw match, which was basically a USPSA practice match held the week before the actual USPSA match. I stuck with that until that group affiliated with IDPA. After a couple of IDPA matches, it became apparant that IDPA wasn't for me. I then tried the USPSA match and found my true love.

It seems to me that unless a person is unusually bold, people tend to think they need an Open gun to shoot USPSA, and most have to be dragged, tricked, or threatened to their first match. After that, they should fall under the spell of USPSA immediately.

I believe L-10 and Production should be concentrated on exclusively when trying to attract new shooters. They already appear to be well aware of Open guns, and few newbies to competition have an Open or Limited gun in the safe prior to shooting USPSA.

The closest I've seen was last week. A guy showed up to watch my match and was wondering what division he would be shooting. The poor guy had purchased an iron sighted single stack comped 1911, thus forcing him into Open with about the worse setup imaginable. I concentrated on the fact that my matches are L-10 friendly, so he would still have a great time. I really hope to see him next month.

[mpolans]

My dad and I had been shooting skeet fairly regularly at the Heidelberg Rod and Gun Club in Germany back in 1989. We were leaving one night when we heard some guys blazing away pretty fast. I'd had a vague understanding of IPSC, but never really seen it and never thought I'd see it in Germany of all places.

We stuck around and talked to the guys and it turns out they were into IPSC and had practice every Wednesday night. There were matches almost every week somewhere within driving distance (back then, 4-5 hours each way could be considered "driving distance") with Heidelberg hosting one of the best matches in western Europe once a month. My dad had a fairly nice single stack custom .45 that he used for bowling pin matches and a right handed Wilson/Rogers holster (I'm a lefty) he used for his one run at the Bianchi Cup. I was stuck with the WWII era .45 and we traded off the holster until he broke down and got a Ernie Hill Fastrac.

I was hooked, big time. The combination of drawing, reloading, running around, moving targets, and especially, creative problem solving, drew me to IPSC. Over the next couple years, I went from trying not to be last, being halfway decent. Along the way, we made a lot of friends and introduced several people to IPSC. I've had the funny experience of bumping into someone at a match in Virginia that I helped introduce to IPSC 10 years ago in Germany (he kicked my butt too).

Then we moved to Japan. Between living in Japan, college, and now grad school, I haven't shot IPSC to nearly the same degree ever since.

Oh well, some day...

[Duane Thomas]

Staring back into dim prehistory, I believe I became aware of IPSC through the "Games Nines Play" chapter of the SWAT publication, Hi-Capacity 9mms, edited by Michael Bane. One of the first gun magazines I ever read. Then it was American Handgunner. Fired a fair amount of pistol league stuff at a local range; just stand and shoot stuff. When IDPA started up, I fired the first match ever held in Washington state, because, honestly, I could write articles on it. Got hooked on that. A few years later got into USPSA and love both sports.

[TRNinTX]

Kyle, my oldest son, saw coverage on American Shooter about 3 1/2 yrs ago. Convinced his Mom and I that it was something he could really get into. Kyle first paid for a Springfield SS. His Mom drove him two hrs to his first match with two 8 rnd mags and two 7 rnd mags and no clue other than some good advice from a friend on the internet. The shooters there loaned him 10 rnd mags,walked him through the stages and treated him like he was their own.

We went to the Nationals in East Huntington, PA to see what it was all about. He was talking to a complete stranger who saw his interest and offered to sell Kyle his used P16 and 7 hi-caps for $750 because we need more Jrs. shooting. When the box arrived not only were the gun and mags in it, but a pair of Pro Ears, 2K bullets and some brass. Needless to say that was the beginning of the journey.

BJ and I watched Kyle shoot for about 6 months and then decided it was too much fun to stay on the sidelines. We have gone from knowing nothing to running a monthly match at our local club in 3 yrs. I will have to say that we have met some of the best people on the range. I cannot express enough thanks to the shooters who have taken my boys under their wings and supported them with equipment, advice and encouragement. There have been so many that have taught them so much about the sport that I could not because I was a newbie also.

I am baffled when I read the USPSA Guestbook about the whining, bitching and poor attitudes at clubs. I guess we are just lucky in our area, because we have had nothing but positive experiences. My sons can sit and visit with TJ, Phil, Dave Sevigny like they were family. In what other sport can the "regulars" have that kind of contact with "all stars"?

[rhino]

My older brother was very active in IPSC and similar stuff back in the 1980s and I knew he shot guns, but I was afraid of him and of guns and of him having guns.

Fast forward to 1993-94 . . .

I was watching NBC on a Saturday morning. Bill Clinton was talking to a group of teenagers on some kind of special show, and I recall two things he said. One was when he said the people "don't have any right to say" [something]. Then he said, "We have too much personal freedom in this country."

Before that, I was apolitical and I'd never voted, but when I heard those words coming from the elected president, it hit me hard. I never thought about freedom and personal liberty, but something just clicked and I realized a few things:

1. I needed to learn more and get involved

2. The dignity of the individual and personal, individual freedom are more important than the whims and feelings of any collective or group

3. Clinton was an inherently evil and dangerou person

So . . . I decided to make a political statement of some kind, and when the rumblings of the infamous Crime Act of 1994 were first heard, I realized I need to buy a gun. I purchased a Ruger P89DC, but had no idea what to do with it, but an RKBA activist was born that day.

Since I had it, I decided I needed to learn about safety and how to use it, so I turned to my brother. He taught me about safety and how to shoot, all the while secretly leading me down The Path. I went to a rifle and shotgun match to watch him, and I thought it looked fun, but beyond what I could ever do.

In early 1995 we attended a day of shooting with my alma mater's gun club (Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech.) and lo and behold, they had a "combat course" for us to shoot. After one try, I was hooked. I couldn't believe afterward how much fun it was!

A couple of weeks after that, my brother and I shot my first USPSA match with much beloved but now defunct Coal Creek Gun Club, the friendliest and most fun shooting club ever. Not unlike many others, I did a little boo boo that should have gotten me DQ'd, but the RO used his judgement and gave me a lecture instead. I'll never forget that and since then I've been very safety conscious (except at home where I do random live fire inside the house ). I doubt if I would have come back had I been DQ'd. I'm not saying it's a good idea to overlook DQable offenses by newbs, but in my case, I think it was the right call in the long run.

My brother had stopped shooting actively when the so-called "equipment race" got heated with the first comped .38 supers and such. When I started shooting, it was essentially a return to the sport for him and it was cool that a Limited Division existed for both of us. More importantly, the shooting (both pre-IPSC and after) provided a common ground for my brother and me. We bonded and became actual friends for the first time in our lives. That's the best part of this story!