# Do you shoot this?



## KGentry (Aug 15, 2008)

Here is our newest video and I was wondering how many gun people on the board shot competition?


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## Growler67 (Sep 8, 2008)

Not officially no. I've shot a couple of similar "styled" matches before (early 90's) and would love to get into something like this, but and other factors right now are just not on my side.


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## Baldy (Jun 21, 2006)

Very cool for sure. It would take me about 10 mintues to do what them fellows due in seconds. I am to old to move that fast. I enjoy watching them though. Good little flick.:smt023


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## Fred40 (Jan 7, 2008)

I shoot _Bullseye_ AKA NRA Conventional Pistol.

Not as exciting as yours.

We shoot one handed at targets 25 & 50 yards away.


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## jeb21 (Jun 10, 2008)

Great video. I used to shoot IPSC locally but that kind of dried up. Now I shoot IDPA locally. It is fun and at times informative on my limitations and the shooting skills that I need to work on.


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## Mike Barham (Mar 30, 2006)

KGentry said:


> Here is our newest video and I was wondering how many gun people on the board shot competition?


Not in years. After about ten years shooting matches on and off, I finally decided I had neither enough natural talent nor enough competitive drive to really excel, so I tapered off and eventually quit.

This decision was reinforced when I got _spanked_ in the final shoot-off at Gunsite!


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## BeefyBeefo (Jan 30, 2008)

Cool video, thanks for sharing. I do not, nor have I ever done anything like that. It is something I would like to get into in the near future though.

-Jeff-


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## Wyatt (Jan 29, 2008)

Include me in. I just need one of you guys to sponsor me for a couple of pallets of ammo. 

Mike, or any of you guys who have done that, at that level, what with all the apparent training those guys do, about how much do you think they spend a month on ammo (assuming they would have to buy it)?


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## Mike Barham (Mar 30, 2006)

Wyatt said:


> Mike, or any of you guys who have done that, at that level, what with all the apparent training those guys do, about how much do you think they spend a month on ammo (assuming they would have to buy it)?


When I was semi-serious, I was shooting 500 rounds every weekend, plus two "practice" matches - pins and plates - a week. The guys who were actually good shot twice that.


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## TOF (Sep 7, 2006)

Baldy said:


> Very cool for sure. It would take me about 10 mintues to do what them fellows due in seconds. I am to old to move that fast. I enjoy watching them though. Good little flick.:smt023


I can't move that fast anymore either Baldy but I still enjoy the shoots. We have one Saturday and I am going. I know I won't come in first but don't expect to be last either. I do expect to be a winner cause everyone that enters is that.

:smt1099


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## KGentry (Aug 15, 2008)

*Ammo*

We shoot 6 Matches in Texas every month and 8-10 major matches around the country and at least 1 International Match. We go through an average of 3-5 thousand rounds per month - this includes 2 training sessions every week. The ammo is one part - the gas is another :smt076

There are sometimes when I have to ask what city we are in cuz we travel so much. Thank goodness we have sponsors that help the team with the costs!

I would not trade this sport for anything - We have so much and SO many stories!!


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## Ram Rod (Jan 16, 2008)

I've done a couple local IPSC matches with our club. I'm not really hooked yet, but I could be in the future. My work schedule is the main thing keeping up with things like this. I work every other weekend.


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## Wyatt (Jan 29, 2008)

*Ouchie Momma!!*

4-5 (000's) rounds a month, even the cheap 9mm stuff bought in 1K packs come to about $800/mo. If you're shooting .45's it's even more. And like you said, add gas and maybe a motel bill or two every month.

I like guns, but I don't like them that much. I'll stick to golf as my main recreation. I occasionally get more than one shot out of each golf ball, so a box of golf balls lasts me longer than a box of ammo. :anim_lol:


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

I shot in IPSC/SWPL matches from 1979 through the mid-1980s. At that time, our club, The Equalizers, quit IPSC because it had become about as _im_practical as it was possible to be. We started a new, absolutely-practical shooting discipline instead, and it continues today.
I practiced with my club every weekend: at least 500 rounds, as Mike said, and frequently 800 or more. We ran through some basic warm-up drills, and then did the upcoming match-of-the-month over and over and over again, until we could just about do it smoothly on "automatic pilot" while concentrating entirely on pistol technique.
I had some slight success, and won a bunch of trophies. I even learned a few things.
The only way to compete in matches like these, I feel, is to buy the best-made and best-modified, "full-race" pistol, commit to endless practice, and do a whole lot of reloading. I bought into everything except the "full-race" pistol part. My belief is (and was) that if you can't carry it concealed on your person, it isn't worth using.
This kind of competitive shooting will not teach you to be a better defensive shooter. Actually, it's quite the reverse, in that it will teach you some very bad habits that may get you killed in a defensive situation.


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## Willy D (Jun 5, 2008)

I went a couple months back and watched a match similar to that..The stages were a little different but similar...

It is at that point when I decided that I was gonna get a 9 mm...Everyone pretty much was shooting 9 mm...Most of the guys had moderately tricked out guns to heavily tricked out....The place is close to my house and has a match like that once a month on a sunday and also a steel match once a month on a saturday...I would probably do my usual one day a week at the range practice and maybe shoot those two matches...My intention would not be to win against the stiff competetion, but to improve my self everytime I would compete...I have a good friend who is in it semi-serious and he told me that it is a great sport with guys who are willing to help and share and just enjoy it...Within these matches there are several skill levels and you can go at your own pace...if you go out as a newbie (me) and think you are gonna kick major ass, you will most likely fall short..My buddy told me to just go out and do my thing..compete against myself and improve...it will improve my shooting skills and gun handling skills and be much more fun than standing and shooting at one paper target..

It looks like a blast to me....I have since bought the 9mm and a holster and extra mags...Now when I go to the range, I practice drawing from a holster and reloads...gotta crawl before you walk...

Willy


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## TOF (Sep 7, 2006)

I don't know about other areas and there shoots but ours are open to all comers. We can compete at whatever level we choose to. 

We have some Grand Master shooters using the best Gaming equipment money can by and others using whatever they have, some of which aren't very reliable.

I have used my GP100 6 shot revolver M&P40 and a few other similar pistols. I am not competing against the GM's I am competing against myself. Although Steve is right in some respects about learning the wrong things if approached from the right perspective you can also learn a few usefull things.

I use what I am carrying every day including IWB holster.

There are not very many Ranges that let you practice drawing then moving all around the range while shooting, as could become necessary in real life. We also have some moving targets which will teach you a thing or two.

If you can afford and want to then shoot 5000 rounds a month if not you can still participate in shoots like ours and have a great time while learning a few things.


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## JeffWard (Aug 24, 2007)

Mike Barham said:


> When I was semi-serious, I was shooting 500 rounds every weekend, plus two "practice" matches - pins and plates - a week. The guys who were actually good shot twice that.


Let's do the math... at $20 per hundred for 9mm WWB (which won't get you into "Major", therefore killing your chances of winning...)

500/weekend = 2000/month
2 pin matches per week = 200 rounds = 800/month
twice that to get good = 5600 rounds per month if you shoot every week.
Times 20 cents per sqeeze...

$1120 per month, (or roughly the cost of an above-average 1911-A1) per month! IF YOU SHOOT 9MM!!!!!

$1680 PER MONTH FOR 45 ACP!!!

$18,480 per year, if you take a month off to rest your wrists.

A decent used car, or three trips to Jamaica for two... worth of 45ACP ammo per year.

Ouch...


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

Um...reloads are much, much cheaper...especially when you buy the primers, powder, and bullets in wholesale quantities through your club's member-gunsmith.


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## Wyatt (Jan 29, 2008)

Yeah Steve, reloads are cheaper but time is money too. How much time does it require to reload that much ammo? I'm asking because I really have no idea, but I'm guessing it's a lot. And it's not an occasional thing either. If you're shooting that many rounds regularly then it sounds like you're chained to the reloading bench for a good part of the time your are not actually in the act of firing your gun. :mrgreen:

How long does it take to reload 5K to 6K rounds?


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## Mike Barham (Mar 30, 2006)

Shooting that much factory ammo is pretty much out of the question for most people. I shot .45ACP back then, and reloaded on a Dillon press. It was pretty much essential. I was younger, though, and had less going on in my life. 

Nowadays, there are things I'd much rather do than sit in front of a reloading press for hours to prepare for a match I'd never win.


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## Wyatt (Jan 29, 2008)

Mike Barham said:


> Shooting that much factory ammo is pretty much out of the question for most people. I shot .45ACP back then, and reloaded on a Dillon press. It was pretty much essential. I was younger, though, and had less going on in my life.
> 
> Nowadays, there are things I'd much rather do than sit in front of a reloading press for hours to prepare for a match I'd never win.


That's all I'm saying. :mrgreen:


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

Wyatt said:


> Yeah Steve, reloads are cheaper but time is money too. How much time does it require to reload that much ammo? I'm asking because I really have no idea, but I'm guessing it's a lot. And it's not an occasional thing either. If you're shooting that many rounds regularly then it sounds like you're chained to the reloading bench for a good part of the time your are not actually in the act of firing your gun. :mrgreen:
> How long does it take to reload 5K to 6K rounds?


Like Mike, I was younger then. I didn't watch much TV.
I did my reloading in the evening, at least a couple of hundred rounds a night. On a low-end Dillon press, that's less than two hours of work. While my daughter was growing up, she would come out to my workshop and help me, which also saved about a half-hour per session. It wasn't a burden.
The most time-consuming part of reloading in bulk is cleaning the brass, but a relatively inexpensive machine does that while you're doing something else. My daughter loaded my primer tubes for me, and kept me supplied with bullets and cases. I pulled the handle and indexed the loader, and refilled the powder measure as needed.
It was a good time to talk to my child about her life, and to teach her things, and just to relate and build a decent rapport.
And then there was 10 or 15 minutes of dry-fire practice, every night. My daughter ran the stopwatch for me, and offered criticisms-usually very perceptive ones, at that.


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## Fred40 (Jan 7, 2008)

On a progressive press like the Dillon 550B (a very popular model) you can reload 500 rounds per hour. I just reloaded 500 rounds of .45ACP last night.....I was taking my time though and it took me 1:30.


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## KGentry (Aug 15, 2008)

*Shooting*

Wow! Were do I start! Ok - On Steve's post - I agree, USPSA Shooting has gone away from Practical roots is started with. USPSA has evolved into more of a sport than a practical competition. There are many reasons for that but mostly money and expansion of the sport. I do not shoot the sport to improve my self defense capabilities but rather a love for the sport and shooting in general. Most USPSA shooters started or have competed in IDPA which is more practical in nature than USPSA today.

However, USPSA provides a higher level of speed and thinking using guns that go fast and have a larger round count. This trains your brain to process information faster and the fact that the shooter has to figure out the best way or the quickest way to shoot a particular stage rather than have it dictated to him or her is better IMHO for real world scenarios. There will not be instructions when the bad guy attacks you - I promise 

On the Equipment issue raised. I love this one!!! Yes, we shoot race guns!! They are fun and are considered the top fuel dragster of guns! Racing a top fuel dragster is nothing like racing on the street either!! But they do it to show how fast you can really go if you modified what is out there!

USPSA has many divisions and you do not need one of these pistols to compete. Dave S. the Glock sponsored shooter and world champ shoots a standard Glock right out of the box! He also competes in IDPA with it. He can shoot a full race gun one day and shoot his Glock the next. Single Stack division is for slightly modified 1911 guns and is the faster growing division in USPSA. So you can come to a USPSA match and compete with whatever you use for conceal carry or buy a gun special for the competition - Your choice!!

On the cost of ammo - Here is how it breaks down for me.
I am shooting 38 super comp - It roughly cost $250 per 1000 rounds of handloaded ammo. If you factor in that I pick up allot of brass and re-use it the cost goes down to $170 per 1000 rounds roughly. It is not as expensive to shoot as you might think - most USPSA shooters - reload!! Or have someone reload for them - I do not have the time so I have a pro-reloader load my ammo. Plus, I am terrible at reloading :mrgreen:

In summary - All handgun sports are fantastic whether it is USPSA, IDPA, ICORE or any other - it is shooting!!! Get your feet wet!!! Remember - there are many countries who cannot do what you have the right to do here in the USA!!!!


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

KGentry said:


> ...Yes, we shoot race guns!! They are fun and are considered the top fuel dragster of guns! Racing a top fuel dragster is nothing like racing on the street either!! But they do it to show how fast you can really go if you modified what is out there!...


We who once occasionally raced sports cars used to say, "Dragsters go fast, but they can't corner worth a damn'." Real-world roads have curves and corners.
I understand the sporting-event side of shooting, but I (personally) am interested much more in real-world practice, than I am in sport.


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## Mike Barham (Mar 30, 2006)

Steve M1911A1 said:


> I understand the sporting-event side of shooting, but I (personally) am interested much more in real-world practice, than I am in sport.


I'm in the same boat at this point in my life. I'd just rather spend my time on other things. There's absolutely nothing wrong with competition - and I learned _a lot _about shooting from it - but like *Steve*, I'm really only interested in the defensive aspects of pistol shooting.

I'd rather just go out to the desert and set up a couple of defensive scenarios with my buddies a few times a year than spend all the time and money for IDPA or IPSC. I'd rather spend the time and money on family and friends, traveling, good wine, etc.


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## KGentry (Aug 15, 2008)

*shooting*

Thats cool! You can just watch the videos!! :smt023


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

What? Watch videos? When I could be reloading more ammo, or even practicing? :mrgreen:


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