Competition is a mind game

There are many reasons why I recommend that at some point, new gun owners shoot a practical pistol match. 

1. There is no better way to find out if your choice of gun, holster and gear will work under stressful conditions than at a shooting match.
2. You are solving somebody else’s problem with a gun in your hand, which is exactly what will happen if you need to use lethal force: Somebody else started the problem, you need to solve it. 
3. You will find out how your brain does (or doesn’t work) under stress. 

To that last point: 

I shot an International Defensive Pistol (IDPA) Match this week with my co-bloggers, and totally and completely messed up the first two stages. IDPA is notorious for it’s rules, which are, in theory, designed to help re-create what might be found if you need (God Forbid) to use your firearm to save your life. Two of those rules are you shoot the targets in the designated order and you don’t discard a partially loaded magazine. 

Watch as I break both of those rules on the first stage, but recover and turn in a pretty good run (for me) on the second stage. 

The stress that a a practical pistol match puts on you is 1/10th (if that…) of the real thing.

But that’s 1/10th more than most people (thankfully) will have to face in their lives, which is why it’s a good idea for anyone who owns a pistol for self-defense to give it a try at least once. 

Who knows, you might like it.