I have to admit, this pretty much mirrors my own personal viewpoints concerning the gaming aspects of the shooting sports…
Speaking from personal experience, the one and only time I have dabbled in anything even approximating IDPA/USPSA, I just about did not participate due to one of those odd and somewhat annoying rules. In this particular circumstance, it was a matter of where you keep your spare magazines. I am cheap – there is no doubt about that – so while I had forked over for a holster and a single magazine holder, I had never gotten around to purchasing a second of the latter, especially since I carry a second spare magazine… oh… never. However, in events where 15+ shots may be required, and given that PPS magazines are only 8 rounds or less, I figured bringing the third magazine and stuffing it in one of my cargo pockets was a good idea.
Except you cannot do that. Magazines have to be in dedicated magazine holders, and pockets do not count.
I understood that carrying a magazine loose in my pocket was not ideal, and I also understood that doing so would undoubtedly detrimentally affect my reload times if it came down to that magazine, but keeping magazines in pockets is Against The Rules (TM), so I had to spend 15 minutes scrounging around the store before the match, and finally asking the employees to borrow a holder.
Was this a big deal? Not really. Was the practice moving-and-shooting worth the frustration of dealing with the nit-picky rules? Absolutely. But when nit-picky rules serve as a hurdle to that practice, there is something wrong with the situation. I completely understand managing safety, and I completely agree with ensuring adequate rules are followed to make sure everyone goes home with the same number of holes they arrived with… But it seems to me that a lot of the organized shooting sports could attract a lot more interest if they jettisoned the prizes, rankings, and most of the rules, and just had “practice shoots” for people interested in just dipping their toes, in addition to their competitive ones.
In the end, I managed to walk out with a free shotgun for my time and effort, so a $10 magazine holder seems somewhat of a paltry objection… but it is simply the principle of the thing. And, really, once I get my act together, get the house finished, get moved, and pick up a few more pieces of equipment (most specifically, the second magazine carrier I still lack), I am going to start dabbling in competitive shooting again.
But one should not advertise one’s events as “simulations of real-life encounters” if you do not allow the participants to equip themselves as they do in real life.
I’ll probably be going to my first match this spring. I have a belt holster and a double-mag carrier that should meet muster. Of course I will not be running my carry gun, nor my carry rig, because cross-draw is against regs, and also how I happen to roll.
Oh well, it should be fun shooting on the move and reloading against the clock. I imagine I’ll suck so much that I really won’t loose too much sleep about the dumb rules.
I guess if we want something a certain way we’re better off setting up targets in a sandpit somewhere and running our own.
Be kinda neat actually to run a timed course with my 5-shot snubbie, drawing from the pocket of my jeans and reloading from speed strips.
See, that is just another example of the problem – they want to model these matches after real-life encounters, but they do not allow people to carry their equipment in their real-life fashions. Granted, cross-carry can be… problematic… for people not used to it (not badmouthing your choice, just saying that muzzle control can sometimes be a problem for folks), but if you can demonstrate proficiency, there is little reason you should not be able to employ it.
In any case, the practice is definitely worth it, as you will find. As I mentioned regarding my go-round, I was the best of the worst, but I still managed to learn a great deal from the experience, and am eventually going to dive back in to see what else I can acquire… The practice doing things not commonly approved of at ranges is beneficial, no matter how you cut it – hell, just drawing from a holster and firing is not permitted at most ranges in the area, and Lord knows we need practice doing that.
At the event I went to, there was one bloke going through with a six-shot fullsize revolver, and while he was significantly slower than those of us with semis, his form was darned near perfect, and he ended up scoring better than my happy ass. It helps when you do not miss whole targets…
Go, enjoy it, and learn from it, but I do wish things were a little more flexible, both to get more people onboard, and to allow more people to practice somewhat critical skills.
“not badmouthing your choice”
No need to. There’s a reason why most people strong-side belt carry. Just so happens that this rig I got is REALLY comfortable, and conceals a commander 1911 under clothes I generally wear anyway. Also offers a slower draw than strong-side as well.
But better to have a gun with me, and a .45 to boot, than no gun at all, or a pocket gun when I could have brought a full-size.
Agreed on all counts. If it works, it works, regardless of what other people think of it – and they may have a basis for their opinion, but if anything, getting involved in the firearm-owning community has taught me that what is fantastic for one person may not even come close for the next.
This is, of course, not to say that one should not listen to those with experience, merely that one should figure out what works best for you, and practice the unholy hell out of it, for just the reason you cite – any gun you are effective with is better than no gun.
“But one should not advertise one’s events as “simulations of real-life encounters” if you do not allow the participants to equip themselves as they do in real life.”
Therein lies the problem. People sometimes bill IDPA matches as ‘real-life’ or whatever. If there’s a guy with a timer keeping score, it’s a game, plain and simple. Games need to have rules to make them fair for everyone. That said, any IDPA match I run, I’ll let you shoot whatever you bring as long as it’s safe. I have to enforce strong side belt carry only for safety reasons, but I don’t care where your mags are. If you don’t have a strong side belt holster, I’ll let you shoot for no score from low ready.
Unfortunately, Jeff, I would point out that the governing agency of IDPA holds its courses of fire up as “simulations of real-life encounters”. Now, I know that the word “simulations” has a lot of leeway built into it, but that leeway should be a matter of the course, not of the players.
I sincerely appreciate that you are willing to let people come and shoot for no better reason than the practice, and with nothing more than what they bring. I totally agree that if you are playing for scores/trophies/whatever, you should be held to the same standards, but IDPA/USPSA offer a very-hard-to-find training opportunity, even apart from the sport aspects.