America’s Most Often Overlooked Sport(s)

Are you tired of just taking your rifle/pistol/shotgun to the range, standing or sitting in one spot, and monotonously pulling the trigger at the same old boring targets? I know that I sure did. If that is you, perhaps you better try out one of the plentiful shooting sports available to you. They can help you hone your skills, identify weaknesses in your shooting, give you a decent workout, plus they are safe and fun. You would even be joining an international community that you didn’t even know existed!

One of the more interesting things about the shooting sports is that they are not an entirely American phenomenon. Some may have started in the United States and were subsequently exported to other countries, but many shooting sports are huge in other parts of the world. Take the International Practical Shooting Confederation, or IPSC (usually pronounced Ip-Sick). While in the United States it has a large following as the United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA), IPSC styled pistol matches and other shooting sports have a global following, with many regional clubs in different countries. In fact, shooting sports are the third most widespread sporting activity in the Czech Republic. Wow! Who knew? (Wikipedia. Wikipedia always knows.)

What I would like to do over the next several weeks is start a series of posts focusing in on one of the many shooting sports, how to participate, and the benefit each can provide you from both a training and competition standpoint. For those of you who are counting, this is part one, in which I will focus on so called “Practical” shooting in the form of USPSA and IPSC.

If you went on YouTube and searched for IPSC or USPSA videos, you might have been a little intimidated. Doubtlessly you saw people sprinting through stages with guns that cost the same as a compact car, shooting so quickly they must have fully automatic switches. Who wants to compete with that? I sure didn’t want to, and the beauty of it is you don’t have to. USPSA matches are divided into a variety of classes, “D” through “Grand Master.” Their pistol matches are further broken down into several different divisions which I will break down briefly. While you can, and probably will, be squaded or grouped with shooters in different divisions and classes, each shooter competes only against the people withing their division, and at bigger matches, only against people in your same class. This gives everyone the opportunity to progress at their own pace, while being able to see how people in different classes or divisions perform.

Production Division- Most often filled with shooters new to the sport, or looking to use their defensive or duty sidearm for more training. Magazines are limited to 10 rounds, and very few modifications can be performed on the firearm (new sights, a better trigger, and a replacement barrel are allowed).

Revolver Division- Do you prefer a wheel gun to the newfangled jam-o-matic combat Tupperware Glock and Wesson pistols? Then the revolver division is where you belong! As a warning, bring many speed loaders or moon clips, as reloading provides an intense mental challenge with each stage.

Single Stack- For those of you who worship at the temple of John Moses Browning and his almighty 1911, may it be wielded by the right hand of God during the final judgement. This division is limited to “publicly available” 1911 styled pistols. If you are trying to obliterate your targets with the good ‘ole .45 ACP, you’re going to be limited to 8 rounds in your magazines, so bring plenty, and be prepared to work out your reloads much like the revolver division.

Limited- This division is where things start to get interesting, and expensive. Limited guns are allowed to have more modifications, and fully loaded, extended magazines no more than 141.25mm in total length. This is the division I started shooting in, and got continously thrashed due to my non-modified magazines. .40 S&W lovers, this is the division for you.

Limited 10- Do you want to do all sorts of fun modifications to your competition pistol, but live in the socialist utopia that is Kalifornia? Then this is your division. All the same rules apply as in the Limited division, but the magazines are restricted to 10 rounds to appease the oppressive regimes in the “less-free” states.

Open- As the name suggests, the Open division is where people go slightly crazy. With practically no restrictions besides a magazine limit of 171.25mm, the only thing holding you back is your imagination, and probably your checkbook. If you like to reload 9mm rounds to higher pressures, want to stick 28 of them into a magazine, put that magazine inside a heavily modified pistol (which is allowed to have optics), and pull the trigger at targets as fast as you (safely!!!) can, then this division is for you. Be warned though, many of the people who can afford to shoot this division are way better than you, and even the old guys are gonna kick your ass.

There are way more rules to each of the divisions than just that, so I have linked the USPSA website at the bottom of the post. There is one more thing you need to know about, and that is “Power Factor.” It is a bit confusing, but since it is more aimed at the folks who load and reload their own ammunition, I will keep it simple for the beginner. The first part is that USPSA and IPSC matches have a minimum caliber of 9x19mm/9mm Luger/9mm Parabellum/9mm NATO. So for those of you hoping to take out your little .380 carry gun, you might want to upgrade first. For the newcomer, the easiest way to put power factor is this: 9mm is scored as a “Minor” power factor, everything else is scored as a “Major” power factor. The difference between using a “Minor” or “Major” round is that the scoring is different for your hits, how I think of it is that you get a bit of a bonus for attempting to tame the recoil on one of the harder hitting rounds. However, if you plan on shooting production division, there is no Power Factor consideration, so you can totally forget about that until you start feeling like shooting Limited, Revolver, Open, or Single Stack.

So now that we’ve gotten that technical and boring information, I am sure you are all at the edge of your seats going “Cool but what do we need to start this ridiculously fun activity?” I will tell you, so sit back and relax a bit.

For the new shooter, the gear worn by some of the veteran shooters out there can be kind of intimidating. Super slick holsters, belts on top of other belts, magazines held on simply by magnetic magic, etc. You don’t need any of that. You need a belt, a holster, magazine pouches, a pistol and four to five magazines. I recommend five magazines, but understand you can shoot any match with four magazines. Each mach usually requires 120-150 rounds of ammunition (if you are really on for the day). I always bring extra because I like to shoot and I hate running out of ammunition. Do you have all that? See how simple that was? For the new shooter, especially someone who is looking to hone skills or expose training scars in their marksmanship, the equipment required really is minimal, and does not have to be all that expensive.

So now you have your equipment, you searched for the nearest USPSA or IPSC match to you, and lo and behold, there is a match at your local range this weekend! So what should you expect when you arrive? The first thing is to be prepared for a safety briefing. Most small matches will conduct a short safety briefing, as well as a rules briefing, with any new shooters to ensure that everyone will be able to participate in a safe manner. Some match directors can be uneasy about allowing new shooters to participate at all, so make sure you call ahead if you are unsure of the match’s rules. If this makes you nervous, don’t worry about it. Many of these competitors are some of the nicest, most welcoming people you will meet. Every time I have ever competed at a new range, or with a new group of people, they have all been welcoming to any and every skill level, provided an individual can compete in a safe and courteous manner.

So you are ready to begin competing, but you may still be asking what this type of competition can provide for you. Like most things in life, it depends upon what you want to get out of it. Keep in mind that USPSA scores on a “Hit Factor” which is simply points scored divided by your time. Often this means that people are running through stages and shooting as quickly as they can get hits in order to reduce the time in a stage. If you are trying to use this type of competition for a fun bit of marksmanship practice, then you won’t have to run or exert yourself too much. You can focus on your fundamentals in order to get the highest score possible, at the expense of time. If you are looking to get a decent workout in while getting some time behind the trigger of our favorite gun, you can do that too. Just keep in mind that not all stages are going to be designed to have a lot of running. You can, however, run into stages that have almost nothing but running. Lastly, if you are looking to pick up a new hobby, or even a new sport that you can enjoy well into your later years, this is a great sport to try out.

The most important part is that you be safe, and have a good time.

Next week: I will focus on the traditional shotgun sports Trap, Skeet, and Sporting Clays. I may even give a few pointers, which surely could help your game (I’m looking at you, Dad).

USPSA Homepage

Watch one of the Team GLOCK IPSC shooters, KC Eusebio at the IPSC World Shoot in 2011

Watch me shoot a local match in New Mexico in 2014