quote:
So I assume you like to shoot USPSA more than IDPA. Why? Is it the rules or is uspsa just more fun?
Answer to both is yes? ha.
I shoot both, will continue to shoot both, but yes....I far prefer USPSA to IDPA. Partly due to the rules, partly due to stage set up. USPSA is problem solving and trying to figure out how you can quickly clear the course in a way that you choose. IDPA is "you have to shoot this scenario this exact way" more on the rails style shooting with not much room to let you try and problem solve or be creative.
Some history and some ranting: IPSC/USPSA used to be all there was. in the '90s, people started shooting the guns that are now in the open division: red dots, compensators, mag wells, etc. This bothered some folks who felt that USPSA had become to "game like" with people only chasing what performed well at a match and ignoring that it was supposed to be practical shooting, designed to prepare you to defend yourself with a pistol.
So people like Bill Wilson (of Wilson Combat fame) split off from USPSA and created IDPA, with the intent that IDPA was going to be kept purely about practical shooting scenarios and rules that reinforced that.
Then, they created a bunch of rules that people game anyway. If you go to an IDPA match, I can almost guarantee that 99% of the shooters there will be drawing/shooting from an IDPA specific holster that they do not carry their gun with, if they're even shooting with their carry pistol.
Dropping a magazine on the ground with any ammo left is a penalty. Never mind the fact that if I'm in a defensive shooting, the last thing I'm going to be doing is thinking "Oh, better retain that magazine with two rounds in it!" if I'm reloading and moving to cover.
Even ESP (the only category my carry gun fits into) maxes you at at 10 rounds. If this is about "practical shooting", you could disallow extended magazines and have people fill to capacity...which for my gun would be 14, not 10. Doesn't seem like good practical training to have me shoot at a limited capacity and train myself to spend time storing/retaining mostly empty magazines.
USPSA and IDPA are both good tools to practice shooting and moving under stress, and taking a variety of shots at different ranges, angles, difficulties, etc. I still think both can be valuable learning exercises for someone wanting to carry a pistol to defend themselves....as long as they remember both are competitions that have game rules that don't necessarily translate to things you should do in a defensive shooting.
My real beef with IDPA is that while USPSA knows and understands that it is a shooting competition, IDPA seems to still think they're more self defense training than competition....which is not true, at all. Especially when they include rules that they think are self defense oriented which are in reality, stupid.
Sadly, I'm done shooting either competition for the year. Started training for the BCS half marathon in December. I'm out of shape and need to focus on training for the run, and my long run days are all scheduled for Sundays anyway.
I'm going to keep shooting/practicing/dry firing, but I won't pull the trigger in either competition again until January....which makes me sad. But I need to run and lose some weight, so priorities had to shift.