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who doesn't do idpa or uspsa or 3 gun?

8K views 100 replies 54 participants last post by  Mong0 
#1 ·
just wondering, for those that don't do idpa, uspsa or 3 gun, why not?

in my opinion, it's a perfect opportunity to get some practice with the gun(s) and gear you may depend on to save your life, under a little bit of stress. with being on the clock, and your buddies and everyone else looking on, definitely more stress than just hitting the range and doing everything in slo-mo. plus it's a bunch of fun.
 
#2 ·
Having taught intro-to-USPSA classes for about a hundred students, and observing their future involvement in the sport, my conclusion is that there are a lot of people who just can't tolerate not being really good at something that they really enjoy doing.
When some new shooters see how far they have to go to be "good", and take it as a challenge to get better, others can't handle the knocks along the way to being good.
Not everyone is cut out for competition.
 
#4 ·
Thats the inherent flaw with any "game"... if one cannot either demonstrate improvement or meet some personal expectation of proficiency, in some self imposed timeline, many tend to give up...

I tried golf in the mid 90s; dove in feet first. Was at the range or playing 3-4 times a week for a full PNW season, April till September... and was just as bad when I gave it up as when I'd started. It wasn't fun, it was frusterating... Only recently have I given it another shot, as equipment has evolved to mask my inadequacies.

I haven't tried any of the gun games, but its a personal idiosyncrasy- if I'm not willing to able to put the time and effort into an activity, I tend not to start in the first place....
 
#5 ·
I don't currently compete. I did many years ago. I'm a short term competitor in a few types of competition. A few types of shooting sports, airplanes,....

I get bored with any competition after a while. It always involves a lot of time commitment, much of which is spent waiting for others to compete. It's a reality. It's true it's not for everyone, but for more than one reason. Mine has to do with my adult A.D.D..

But I'm considering doing some again. Maybe IDPA or 3 gun.
 
#8 ·
To many health complications. I was told I would be dead by now, be in a wheel chair the rest of my life, I can walk and I'm still alive but other issues might make it difficult to do those things like trying to run or jog when my heart isn't capable of pumping enough blood to my legs to keep me from falling or getting back up. I'd be happy just making it to the range to shoot. I'm not complaining, life is s gift.
 
#9 ·
My daughter is ranked 11th in the US in competitive rock climbing (she's 14) This is a huge time, traveling, & monetary commitment.

So there's not much left over. But when there is a time window FOR ME, I race cars. Drag or autocross. To me it's more fun than IDPA type stuff.
 
#10 ·
I'd love to compete. Family activities and work tend to up a great deal of my time. I hope when the kids are a bit more independent I'll be able to.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Similar to a number of fellow Forum member's comments, there are significant time/other responsibility demands on me.

Not complaining, not at all, just answering ... This is "life" for a significant percentage of Americans.

No concerns about not "measuring-up" ... Being a lifetime high-handicap golfer never dissuaded me from a company golf tournament. But I needed the company to provide the time. Always enjoyed such events, no matter where I stood on the final scorecard.

So ... It would be great to participate in a shooting competition ... would be a blast. Hopefully someday. But I've got to deal with "wishes" and "wants" as a lower priority in comparison to things that I must do ... e.g., care for aging parents ... who took care of me for so many years in the past.
 
#14 · (Edited)
I tried it a few times years ago, it was ok and I did well the few times I went.
I didn't like all the rules, rules about what class your gun was in, rules about this rules about that, mandatory reloads, admin reloads ......blah blah blah.

I want to shoot the course how I want to run it and reload when I want etc.

Now I have my own property and range. I practice how I want to, when I want to and with whom I want to and I get a say in the rules.
 
#15 ·
There are people who just don't have the competitive urge. Others of us are adrenaline addicts.

Can't count health - although not all shooting sports are run n gun - or priority for some other participant sport against.

But there are a lot of people making excuses, too.
Time? You might have more spare time than you think. Spectator sports are a huge time waster.
 
#16 · (Edited)
^^^^

Taking care of one's parents is a spectator sport?

Every meal, every step in a walker, every appointment with a physician, every invoice/billing in the mail?

I'm 100% pro-2A. No anti-gun types in Congress, no bans on any firearms types for any law abiding citizen, etc. Ain't no (bleep bleep) anti-gun liberal here. My ARs, not to mention my 1911s, stand for the 2A.

But is participaying in one or two shooting organizations more important than one's parents (in my case) or one's employment in the case of other Forum members?

Before rebuking another person, give some thought that that other person might be engaged in something other than spectator sports on the tv screen. Especially when they say -- directly -- such is the case ... And they take the time here, as Forum members, to give an honest answer.

Sorry, I had to say what's on mind. I love and agree with countless of your other posts... I.e., a Forum friend; but giving some pushback here.
 
#25 ·
^^^^

Taking care of one's parents is a spectator sport?.
No, that falls under "health" in my book. Sorry I was not more clear and did not take the time to address every possible exemption to excuses for not competing.

I am glad that 'combat auto' keeps track of his solitary shooting. I doubt that many do.

Anecdote Alert:
In the winter I shoot IPSC at an indoor range 58 miles away. I seldom go when the weather is good enough to enjoy matches and practice outdoors, so there are large gaps in my attendance. Last winter there was a broad spectrum of shooters, from ranked competitors to the very casual and rather inexperienced. This season, a few of the casual shooters have gained experience and skill but most have quit, leaving the field to the competitors out for "trigger time." Pity, the ones who gave up were the ones who could benefit the most.
 
#17 ·
I enjoy most of the shooting sports, and have been involved since my last year in the Air Force. Skeet, Trap, Cowboy/Indian (me), and a early pistol action shoot (local) and Joined IDPA and USPSA. I was shooting too many venues, sometimes two on the same day. I dropped SASS ,USPSA,Trap, and it worked out better. After maintaining 4 guns for SASS, I never cared for three gun.I enjoy IDPA over all the pistol shooting sports, but it's not as much fun as when it first started in the 90s.
 
#18 · (Edited)
I've done plenty of USPSA and Steel matches over the last years, BUT, I found the most efficient use of my range time is to use my own timer, set up my own multiple-targets (in an outdoor pit), do very targeted practical (and as realistic as I can find) SD drills and track the times over the months/years on an excel-spreadsheet.

Proes of matches: Camaraderie, necessary if all one has is a linear 1 target indoor range otherwise, very good for beginners to get exposure they wouldn't otherwise have, and a lot of fun.

Con's of matches: Too much time spent watching others shoot (good for beginners, not as much value for the experienced), too many hours spent given the what 125-150 rounds one gets to shoot, some of the USPSA stages are ridiculously unrealistic.

Proes of using a timer, my own set-up, my own pit: Very efficient use of shooting time, can shoot 2X or 3X the rounds as a match in 1/3 of the time. Very focused and realistic SD drills. Very easy to track times over year so one knows which drills to focus on. On a given range day, can do any specific drill as many times as needed till one "gets it right" (can't do that at a match). Also a lot of fun.

When I look back at my shooting skills development over the years, yes, attending matches helped, but later when I purchased a timer and started doing it on my own it really accelerated my skills.

To each their own, as in most things shooting.
C.A.
 
#23 ·
I found the most efficient use of my range time is to use my own timer, set up my own multiple-targets (in an outdoor pit)
I wish I had this option.

As someone said above, all the rules and classes of guns etc just seems ridiculous. Last I'd heard from people that have been on multiple two way ranges, their are no rules in gunfights.....
That, and "competition will get you killed on the streets" are the two most common ways how some people protect their egos.
 
#22 ·
One cannot quantify and rate performance in a game without rules... the purpose of such games is to, as much as possible, simulate the "real" world- very similar to training events for those that do engage in 2 way ranges for a living; there's always rules, limits, boundries, and constraints....

On a 2 way range, the "winner" is the one still standing when the smoke clears.... pretty sure using such a standard for a game would be a felony...
 
#20 · (Edited)
It's true. Some skills learned/honed from these games MAY save your life. But it's also true that you're many many more times likely to be involved in a fatal car accident and a full roll cage, race seat, helmet, and HANS would have saved your life. And the investment in acquiring the these is likely a fraction of the investment in dollars and time most of the enthusiasts of this forum put into guns and related equipment.

IMO, the argument that doing this type of shooting sport is justified by some risk of needing it to save your life is unrealistic, unless you are in situations potentially needing a gun regularly; i.e. LEO, military, private security, etc.. There are many other risks in life that have higher probability that would be more pragmatic to address first. Just tell me you like doing the shooting sports. It's much more realistic.
 
#29 ·
The good part about those that participate for limited time is that the learning is very steep initially. They learn a lot relatively to where they started. While it may be a fact that high proficiency in shooting skills would be an advantage if the situation calls for high skills. But I have seen few examples of situations requiring high level shooting skills. More often basic skills and simply acting are deciding factor within the control of the victims.
 
#32 ·
Jim Watson. I agree that watching sports is a waste of time.

I don't do it unless my kid is competing. Heck, I don't even watch her competitors. I just watch her do her thing then check the scores afterwards.

As for TV sports, I have a hard time thinking of anything that is less important to me than a game played by strangers in a far away city.

There's guys who have logged THOUSANDS of hours of beer, truck, & razor ads. Which is 2/3 of any football game.

They could have built an entire house, by hand, in less time. That would be an actual accomplishment.

Once my daughter goes off to college I may use IDPA to improve my skills. Whether I beat anyone or not is of no concern.
 
#33 ·
A few years back I started to check into 3 gun and IDPA. When I went to the match, everyone was focused on the rules and no one was smiling or talking to each other. Not a single person acknowledge my presence.

A week later I went to a SASS match. When I walked up, someone came over, introduced themselves and explained the the event. I had multiple people come up and talk to me about how much fun the event was. Afterward, one of the shooters let me try out his gear and a week later took me shooting at a different SASS event. I only had to show up with a cowboy hat and safety glasses. A week after and $2500 later I had the required firearms and equipment to participate. That's why I shoot SASS and not IDPA.

Thanks to Sudden Sam!
 
#36 ·
A few years back I started to check into 3 gun and IDPA. When I went to the match, everyone was focused on the rules and no one was smiling or talking to each other. Not a single person acknowledge my presence.
That is regrettable. I am going to guess that it is club dependent rather than a general rule. Both local IDPA and USPSA clubs are very welcoming to new shooters. IDPA certainly has more contrived rules so I am not surprised that people could have been engrossed. Check out your local USPSA options.
 
#34 ·
i just like to go shooting on our farm with friends and family. sometimes i will go with some SWAT EMT friends at an outdoor range. nothing fancy, just enjoying being in the fresh air with good fellowship. i dont have anywhere near the competitive genes to do the competition stuff, and it doesn't bother me.
sometimes we will bet on shots or performance to see who buys lunch. that's as about as far as i go competitively speaking.
i always tell them if i lose i need to know how much peanut butter to put on their pbj sammiches.
 
#37 · (Edited)
WC, If you do things correctly, it will show up in speed and accuracy, if you don't there will be issues. Of course, safety always first, and never compromised.

One should be creative enough to design their own drills, it isn't rocket science if you have the equipment...

For me, realistic drills are the most important, many of the USPSA stages are like watching a John Wick movie, looks good, but requires a certain amount of suspended reality to call it "real". (No comment on IDPA, never shot it but I hear it is more realistic). So I switched to static steel, which is more realistic as far as SD vs USPSA. When I got a timer, and set up my own drills, it was even better than static steel. Best of all worlds.
 
#38 ·
WC, If you do things correctly, it will show up in speed and accuracy, if you don't there will be issues. Of course, safety always first, and never compromised.

If you break cover, the score (time and accuracy) won't show that. If you make a safety mistake, without incident, you won't know without outside eyes. If you believe that you NEVER make a mistake.... that's a lot of ego and arrogance, and ignoring reality. If a world class pro can make, and miss, a safety violation, than anyone can.


One should be creative enough to design their own drills, it isn't rocket science if you have the equipment...

So you've conceived and staged every possible drill with your available equipment....?

For me, realistic drills are the most important, many of the USPSA stages are like watching a John Wick movie, looks good, but requires a certain amount of suspended reality to call it "real". (No comment on IDPA, never shot it but I hear it is more realistic). So I switched to static steel, which is more realistic as far as SD. When I got a timer, and set up my own drills, it was even better than static steel. Best of all worlds.
So 95% of your drills are 3 rounds or less, 3 yards or less, single target...? Thats "realistic"....

The point is, doing such thing solo has its limits: scenario development is limited, rules enforceed process, and assessment of potential flaws or failures is limited by perspective.... the only thing you can assess is speed and accuracy.
 
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