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If so what would be a good production (9mm) pistol to start off with? I have approx. 600~700 to spend. I was looking at a springfield loaded, but would that put me up against people with 10 times the experience?
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Maybe implied in your statement but just to clarify, a Springfield Loaded is a single action gun and therefore not legal in Production Division. You would have to shoot it in Open, Limited, or Limited 10 though Limited 10 would be the optimum division for that gun. The 9mm cannot score major in USPSA though. 9mm is a great caliber for Production Division but none of the others because it can only score as Minor Power Factor which means your hits are 1 point down for everything but A hits.
If you are intent on getting a 1911 type gun, get a .40 or .45. If recoil is a problem, load your ammo at reduced (minor) power factor until your skills improve to the point where the recoil isn't a problem. Strength and body mass are not at issue at all. It is purely technique.
Your comment about shooting against people with 10 times the experience really doesn't apply to any division. You must join the USPSA and shoot four classifiers to gain classification. (Usually one per match though clubs sometimes offer Special Classifier Matches which have 4 classifer stages. A shooter would be classified as soon as the classifers are processed by the USPSA)
Typically you can expect to be classified in D Class though new shooters will occasionally score in C depending on skill and similar shooting experience.
Now here's the important part, when you shoot in a USPSA match, you are only competing against other shooters in your equipment division AND your class. In other words, if you buy the Springfield Loaded and shoot in Limited 10 as a D shooter, you are only competing against other Limited 10, D shooters. If you shoot your Ruger and classify in C, you'd be shooting in Production, C. That's the beauty of the equipment divisions and classifications. You're only competing against people with similar hardware and skills.