New Guy IDPA Questions.

[Don P]

For now, on a very limited budget IDPA, Steel, and USPSA will have to do for my training and as I stated earlier and Glenn has trigger time, holster draw, and target acquisition. Best practice that I can afford for now and the foreseeable future.
IDPA -closest to real life "without paying BIG bucks"
USPSA- "track and field with a gun"
Steel- draw, trigger control,sight picture.
Just my opinion folks.

[DT Guy]

I don't think Rob Leatham has ever been in a gunfight, but I doubt many 'operators' would want to shoot it out with him.

In the end, accuracy, power and speed are the ultimate tactics, and there are worse ways to develop them than serious competition.

Larry

[Gryff]

Just to chime in a little late...

IDPA is NOT training. In reality, it teaches you bad habits that can get you killed if you used them in the real world (expecting to know where your targets are, moving through an unknown situation at a run, hanging 50% of your upper body out from behind cover).

Instead, it is a game that used real-world principles as much as possible for it's foundation. Doesn't mean that everything in the rules are realistic for self-defense, but it is nearly impossible to create a game that is 100% grounded in the real world.

I will tell you it does provide some fantastic practical experience, though. Weapon presentation, sight acquisition, target transition, reload consistency, and malfunction recovery are all skills that are sharply honed through practical pistol competition.

Personally, I've recently become disenchanted at the lack of accountability to the paying members by the owners of IDPA. There is inconsistent and infrequent addressing of member concerns and needs, and no mechanism to insure that the people who pay for the sport's existence get a say in how its run.

But it's still a fun sport, and a great way to spend a weekend day.

[bitttorrrent]

IDPA -closest to real life "without paying BIG bucks"
USPSA- "track and field with a gun"

Could anyone expound more on the differences of these. I am in IL and my Dad is into Cowboy shooting which I will try this summer for the first time, but I really want to do more of the above.

What is difference IDPA and USPSA. Track and field - does that mean more running around etc. I did used to run cross country - ha.

Anyway, I want to join one of these but not sure which one and don't really have time (ok wife won't be on board with me leaving her with the kids while i run around to different matches to see which one i like).

I have plenty of guns and can find the one that suites me fine for the one I choose or just buy a new one (which i like doing anyway - good excuse).

I think I'll go watch some more youtube videos of the above two..

[RickB]

In the context of video games, IDPA would be one in which you have to be careful of threats shooting back, while USPSA would be more like one in which you must track down and shoot as many targets as possible, as quickly as possible.
IDPA: If cover is available, it must be used. USPSA: If you are behind cover, you can't see everything you should be shooting.
IDPA: Gun and gear must be concealed from view. USPSA: Gun and gear is hanging out where you can most easily access it.
IDPA: In a "real gun fight", there would be a limited number of threats. USPSA: Every day is zombie apocalypse when shooting USPSA.
IDPA: Retain depleted mags in case you need them later. USPSA: Why do I need to retain a depleted mag, when I have five fulls ones on my belt?
The games are really quite similar, but there are many detail differences.

[Gryff]

Could anyone expound more on the differences of these. I am in IL and my Dad is into Cowboy shooting which I will try this summer for the first time, but I really want to do more of the above.

What is difference IDPA and USPSA. Track and field - does that mean more running around etc. I did used to run cross country - ha.

IPSC/USPSA was originally developed with the intent to make a game out of combat-style shooting. Over time, gear and rules evolved it into being more of pure speed shooting.

In the mid-1990s, a group of guys felt that USPSA had evolved too far away from the intent of competing with "fighting" guns, and they formed IDPA. IDPA was designed to be a game with a basis in self-defense skills and real-world guns. In it, there are requirements to usually start with your weapon concealed, you use cover when shooting, scoring is more weighted towards accuracy, guns usually can't be uber-modified, etc.

Where the "track and field" comment comes in is because IDPA has more strict rules on the maximum number of rounds that can be required in a stage and how much movement is allowed. The result is that IDPA stages are generally quicker than IPSC, with less targets and less movement.

There is a long-running argument about which is better. USPSA's detractors say that you need $5000 space guns to be competitive and that there is no realism in the stages. IDPA detractors say that the stages are too choreographed and too many of the rules are arbitrary.

The simple fact is that both games rock. I find that IDPA is a great starting point in action pistol because the stages are usually more simple. On the other hand, USPSA is awesome because it is about "How fast can you shoot?", and can have some sensationally challenging stages.

Personally, I recommend that you start in IDPA, and then after you've shoot a few matches, give USPSA a try. USPSA realized that they had alienated a lot of potential shooters with their gun rules (as demonstrated by the rapid growth of IDPA), so they instituted the "Production" and "Single Stack" classes in the past few years. That means that shooters who don't want to drop $1500+ on their guns have classes in which they can be competitive. Because of this, there is no reason why you can't jump back and forth between the sports (I shoot ten IDPA matches a year, and 5 USPSA matches).

[bitttorrrent]

IDPA sounds like more my style. I just want to use a fairly common gun to participate, not a multi-thousand dollar high bred.

There is a place for say formula 1 race cars, but that is so untouchable that I like more of the different classes in say American Lemans where some are closer to stock at least in body style.

I'll check it out in spring maybe when my time and the temps are better.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

IDPA is looking at a rules revision and setting it up, BTW.

One lack of realism (yeah), is the lack of well integrated small gun usage. Even with the 10 round or single stack limits, I think they should come up with ways to make matchs snubbie and 380 friendly. The stages have courses of fire that aren't realistic if you have a snubby and one speed loader.

But that's another debate.