Beginner to competitive pistol shooting, thoughts on getting started?

[leatherneck448]

Hey guys, I have been highly considering getting into IPSC/USPSA type pistol shooting.

I have shot pistols pretty extensively in the past, but never competitively...

Was wondering if you guys have any tips or suggestions for getting started?
also, I have a slew of Q's about the sport in general, so here it goes.

Do you think a bone stock Glock 22 would fit the bill just fine for competition?

What equipment would you guys suggest for a beginner?
(holster, mag pouches, belt, etc.)

Where do I go to get "certified" to compete in these matches?

I had a few others but they dont come to mind at the moment.....
Any sort of response helps.

Thanks,
Kenny

[coop68]

Hey guys, I have been highly considering getting into IPSC/USPSA type pistol shooting.

I have shot pistols pretty extensively in the past, but never competitively...

Was wondering if you guys have any tips or suggestions for getting started?
also, I have a slew of Q's about the sport in general, so here it goes.

Do you think a bone stock Glock 22 would fit the bill just fine for competition?

What equipment would you guys suggest for a beginner?
(holster, mag pouches, belt, etc.)

Where do I go to get "certified" to compete in these matches?

I had a few others but they dont come to mind at the moment.....
Any sort of response helps.

Thanks,
Kenny

To answer your questions: i know others are going to answer a little better than me, but from what i have seen and know!

A glock 22 should be fine starting out later down the road you might want to get something else or upgrade what you have. will say you should have at least 3-5 magazines!

a hostler you are comfortable drawing with would be needed, mag pouches, and a good belt to hold it all up i like the Blackhawk CQB belt personally, but there are plenty to pick from midway has a bunch and other tactical outfits sell them. Loading tool for you Magazines helps save your thumbs between stages if you don't already have one.

matches usually have a new shooter orientation early in the morning your best bet is to contact the match director of the up and coming match about going to a safety briefing as a new shooter. If it is your first time shooting this type of match, you normally get a coach/babysitter to help you along and give you advice and so forth.

coop

[Byte Stryke]

I went to the USPSA match at ACG this past Sunday
forever to be known as the blizzard shoot...[ROFL1]



There is a Safety brief early in the morning, check with the RO/RM before the match date (a few days before)

quality belt with a sturdy stable holster and 6 mags with Mag holders (as recommended to me by RW)

If you want to see what its about, show up and go to the briefing, watch a match, talk to people.

I Met allot of nice people that offered reloading equipment use, instruction, advice and various other insights to the sport.

as for the Glock 22, it seems that the .40S&W Does have quite a following in the sport. I think the rest will be up to you.

as I Haven't actually competed yet (Still getting gear together) I think that's about all I have to offer.

Link for the schedule
http://www.ecouspsa.com/eco-new/schedule.htm#uspsa

[Irving]

If you're doing IDPA, that is more geared toward shooting what you would carry, and not really toward building a race gun. A Glock 22 would be perfect for that. They also limit to 10 rounds per mag, hence the importance of as many mags as possible.

[earplug]

Check out the various Steel Challange shoots that are starting this month.
Good way to build a foundation for other events that have more movement.
Pueblo has a Wednesday shoot that starts on the 6th.
You can shoot without a holster to get started. You will need a bag or container for your weapon.
Buy more magazines, eye and ear protection.
Talk to other people at the match to gain ideas on holsters and magazine holders.

[rtr]

As referenced above we will have weekly steel matches at Pueblo West Sportsman's Association starting around 4pm. Gun, holster, 3 mags and your good to go. This coming Sunday is Pueblo West IPSC at same range, gun, holster, 4-5 mags, pants with pockets and your good to go. IPSC Safety class starts around 8am, take the class, shoot the match, all for free. Bring about 200 rounds of ammo.

Try both of these out, shoot a few matches and you'll get an idea on equipment.

[Hannu]

Lost of good advice. I am thought about adding a few things I have found helpful myself :)

-First I would think what you want to do ? Do you wanna be M in first year and GM in 3-5 years ? Or do you want to just hang out with good people and you empty few cartridge cases just because you want to be like other guys there ?
I am probably pretty middle class myself :) Matches are very social happenings to me, but I like to run & gun and try to beat myself too.
You do not have to concentrate by yourself in total silence, IPSC/USPSA is a social sport :)
The better you feel generally, the better you shoot, and there are no exceptions to this ;)

-If you are seasoned pistol shooter and have good basic pistol shooting skills (like you can shoot 2"-3" 5 shot groups @25 with a good gun) - you will learn other needed skills very fast. If you have good basic skills and you are willing to practice, you will be A or M class shooter within a year.
IMHO the problem with 98% of new shooters is lack of trigger control, stance/grip etc very basic things.

-I would not buy Glock for start. I would get pistol with good single action trigger and good sights, like single stack 1911 if you do not want to spend $2000+. Reason for this is, you need lots of experience to shoot USPSA stages with Glock trigger and even if your basic skills are on good level you can still learn some bad habits.

-.40 is very popular in Limited-division, but in Limited only. I would say, that Glock .40 is not beginners gun, but that is just my opinion.
If you happen to have one, just shoot that in first matches so you can see if you like shooting matches or not.

-If you think it is equipment race, you should think again. There are more than few examples that show you can be in top 5 at overall list with 1911 .45 single stack, kydex holster etc.
Many shooters use Openguns at least sometimes, because at some point it is the fastest way to move forwards.

-How many mags you need, depends on what are you shooting. If I would have 6x full Open big sticks, it would be 7-8 lbs of weight, just mags and ammo. I run so slowly that I do not want that extra weight on me and anyway I would have trouble keeping my pants up :) But, with single stack major gun you often need 4-5 mags on a single stage. I also like to keep one "oh shit" mag just in case :) It means 2-3x Open and 4-6x SS mags.

-Do not try to save $50 on holster / mag holders and belt ! Get high quality ones, they are gonna be cheaper in long run. I just replaced my CR Speed belt I used for Open. I used it for 7 years, shot 100.000-150.000 rounds during that time and dry fired countless hours.
For example: CR Speed belt + mag pouches, Blade Tech Kydex holster (Production and SS) or CR Speed race holster (Limited and Open).

-Steel Challenge is very good practice for basic things like trigger control, taking sight picture, target transitions etc.

Welcome to a new lifestyle ! ;)

[SA Friday]

Ok. First thing, the closest club to you is the HPPS club at Ben Lomand Gun Club. Their match is every 3rd sat of the month, and they do a safety orientation for new shooters before the match. All the uspsa clubs on the front range are affiliated and all will require you attend one of the clubs safety orientations. Its to ensure you know the range commands and safety rules. They can be odd for some new shooters, but they are good and you need to know them.

Run the gun you have for now. Try the sport before you start investing in equipment. Se what others are using and what works before investing too much. The G22 will work just fine you will want a good belt, 5-6 mags, minimum 4 mag pouches, a kydex or molded plastic strong side belt holster, and 200-250 rounds of target ammo. If you need equipment, call the prez of hpps and talk to him. He has extra and can loan you some if you let him know in advance. You will want to contact him anyway so they can plan for the appropriate amount of new shooters. We had 8 at last months match.

Www.ecouspsa.com is where the match schedule is for almost all competitive shooting for the front range and club contact info etc.
Www.blgc.org is ben lomands site and a decent map to the range.
Www.uspsa.com is the main org for the type of matches most common on the front range and their rules are on the site. Its very good idea to read them before you shoot.

Sean
Ex-HPPS club Prez
Current board member
Its my contact info under club prez on the web site, so call me, pm me, or post here formore info or questions. Just give some time to get back with you. I'm a full time college student that works and has three kids. I can get stretched thin at times.

[leatherneck448]

so, if I were to enter a competition with the aforementioned glock w/4-5 mags, a blachawk CQC holster, a C-R speed belt, and two blade tech double mag pouches, would I be good to go?

keep in mind, I am just trying to make a good entry level setup.
if you have any suggestions on how to make this better/more cost effective, give me a holler

thanks,
Kenny

[DocMedic]

so, if I were to enter a competition with the aforementioned glock w/4-5 mags, a blachawk CQC holster, a C-R speed belt, and two blade tech double mag pouches, would I be good to go?

keep in mind, I am just trying to make a good entry level setup.
if you have any suggestions on how to make this better/more cost effective, give me a holler

thanks,
Kenny

As long as the CQC holster isn't a drop leg, then your good t

[Hannu]

To put it short: your equipment is within Limited rules, which I think would be your best bet with G22. 5x G22 mag is plenty good for regular stages.

If you have not purchased your equipment yet...
I would take CR Speed single mag pouches however - they come with bunch of adapters and you can convert them to work with almost any pistol mags later. +they are alot faster and more comfortable to use.
And I would take Blade Tech DOH holster indstead of CQC: http://www.blade-tech.com/Drop-Offset-Holster-pr-1024.html

Just do not forget eye/hearing protection, and ammunition ;) I would take range bag, where you can put all your stuff. Take some tools you can disassemble your mags and clean them with.
I like to use running shoes, because there are usually several opportunities to run on stages :)

[SA Friday]

Ya, the set up will work, but as hannu said. The bladetech DOH is a much beter holster if you are looking at investing right now. Really can't go wrong with the DOH in either production or thelimited divisions. Mag pouches are more of a personal feel thing IMO, but the cr speed pouches give the most flexibility for use and work well. The bladetech pouches aren't bad if you want something initially and are cheaper. Once again if you are confident you are going to get into shooting, invest in the cr speed mag pouches. The cr speed belt is quite literally the only way to in my opinion if sticking with shooting competitions regularly.

As long as you have the basics or can borrow some gear, it never hurts to just come out and ahoot and ask queastions, get a feel for the gear, etc.

[leatherneck448]

one more question, would quad mag pouches be legal to use in competition, like this one from bladetech?

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=815434?cm_cat=Cart&cm_pla=ProductDesc

thanks again,
Kenny

[CHA-LEE]

leatherneck448> Yes those are legal, but only in Single Stack Division (1911 Pistols). But for double stack magazines like a Glock has these will not work because the mags end up being too far from the inside of the shooting belt. There is a rule that states the maximum distance a magazine can be located on away from the inside of the belt is 2 inches.

As others have already said, get the CR Speed Versa Mag Pouches as they are very adjustable and can be used for just about every gun division.

[Irving]

I think it should be said that in many competitions, you can still shoot the match with gear that is not "legal" in a certain class, it just won't count. If you are just going out to see if you have fun at the sport, than it shouldn't matter if your match counted.

[k2peaker]

Hey Kenny,

You've gotten some good advice from some very seasoned USPSA shooters for sure.
I started in USPSA 13 years ago and one thing that I remember doing when I started sounds similar to where you are.

Don't overthink it; don't overplan it at first.

In other words, get into a safety class like others have suggested. You'll learn tons from that alone. And, after attending a couple of matches, the path that you want to pursue will probably "present itself". Then you can deep dive into the optimal gun and equipment from that point.
With your Glock, ammo, decent holster & mag pouches you'll be fine.
Like Hannu says earlier, a single action trigger might be better to start with, and I don't disagree. It's just that you'll learn more by doing your safety class and shooting one match than we could throw at you via the forum.

Just set your expectations accordingly at first. No one starts at the top of the list -- believe me on this. I've seen incredibly seasoned SWAT and LE and SF and other shooters show up at their first couple of matches and finish pretty low. Not that they are bad shooters but they're just new to this kind of competition and the skills required to succeed. It takes time and much practice. The ones to be commended are the ones that put their ego aside, go into "sponge mode", and learn from others.

(Btw: I agree with the recommendation of the CR Speed pouches. That is one decision I don't think you'll regret regardless of what path you end up on).