A Checklist Of Gear For Beginning Practical Pistol

You’ve decided that yes, you want to do this “practical pistol” competition thing because it looks like it’s fun (it is) and it might just help inoculate you against making stupid mistakes when you life is on the line (that too). 

So, what do you need? 

1. A reliable, serviceable handgun
   Duh. Yes, you CAN shoot practical pistol with a cheap $150 hunk o’junk. No, you don’t want to. If you’ve bought a Glock or XD or CZ or M&P or similar, in either 9mm, .40 or .45, you’re set. 
2. Enough spare magazines
   What’s “Enough”? Four, at an absolute minimum. Look, magazines are a disposable, replaceable part of your gun: They’re going to wear out eventually, so buy some spare ones now. 
3. A decent holster
   What’s “decent”? Opinions vary on this, but in general, don’t use a woven nylon fabric holster for a practical pistol competition. Me, I like Blade-Tech holsters, but Safariland, Bianchi, Galco, Comp-Tac, and DeSantis are all good brands to start with, and if you need help choosing, my friend Tom’s written a great book on buying a holster for your gun.
4. Some way to keep your spare ammo handy and accessible
   And by this, I mean a magazine pouch on your belt. Again, my preference is Blade-Tech, but there’s a lot of different choices here.
5. A good belt to hold everything together
   No, not even a solidly-built “work” belt is going to cut it. Something like this reinforced “tactical” belt will help distribute the weight around your waist and make things MUCH easier for you.
6. Ear Protection and Eye Protection
   No, a pair of drugstore sunglasses and cotton balls in your ears isn’t enough. Get something that’s safety-rated for your eyes and something that’s designed for noise reduction for your ears.
7. Ammo
   Figure on 150 or so rounds for a match, a bit less if it’s an IDPA match.
8. Somewhere to compete
   All this cool stuff means SQUAT if it just sits around in a corner of your house. You can use the National Shooting Sports Foundation Range Finder page/app to find a range near you that hosts practical pistol matches, or visit the United States Practical Shooting Association or International Defensive Pistol Association to find a competition near you. 

And be safe. And have fun. 

How to Survive Your First Action Pistol Match

If you’ve been reading our website for any amount of time, you’ve seen how much fun we all have shooting action pistol matches like IDPA or USPSA. Action pistol (also known as practical pistol) is a ridiculously fun sport, but getting started can be extremely intimidating for both men and women.  I waited almost a year after taking my first training class (that included the basics of USPSA) before shooting my first match because of the anxiety I felt about competing.  You don’t have to wait,  just remember a few basic things, and you’ll be well on your way to having a great time.

Just Do It – If you’re waiting until you’re 100 percent ready, you’ll never shoot a match.  There are a few things that are helpful to know before stepping foot onto the range.  Practice and repetition will make you a competent action pistol shooter, but for now, it’s best to stick to the basics:

• Focus on the things you can control, like making sure your gun works and your ammo runs, malfunction drills are no fun when you’re competing.  

• Learn the rules of the range you will be competing at  (hot or cold range, safety areas) before you go, that will save you some time and put you a little more at ease when you step on to the range.  

• Make sure you know how to safely draw your pistol from a holster before heading to your first match.  This is easily accomplished with dry-fire practice at home (safety first – triple check to make sure your gun and magazines are unloaded first and move your ammo to a different room).

• Add some reloading practice once you’ve got your draw down (check to make sure there is no ammo in the magazines first).  Don’t worry about your speed, take the time you need to be smooth and steady when pressing the mag button, reaching for your magazine pouch and inserting the new magazine.

Learn the Lingo – There are some basic commands that you can study before shooting your first match.  Make sure to learn the range commands of the sport you’re shooting (IDPA and USPSA commands are slightly different).  Knowing and following these commands will keep you from getting disqualified (it happens, even at big matches), which is the opposite of fun.  Here’s a comparison of the basic IDPA and USPSA range commands, you can also read the current IDPA or USPSA rulebook for definitions and an explanation of the scoring.

It’s Ok That You’re A Little Freaked Out – Just roll with it.  You’re going to be running around with a gun shooting things that you’ve probably never shot before under the pressure of time,  it’s pretty normal to be uncomfortable with that idea if you’ve never done it before.

You Will Have Bandwidth Issues – There’s only so much space in your brain, and with action pistol shooting, you will quickly fill it up with all the things you need to remember. Despite your best efforts, much of that information will leave your brain as soon as the buzzer goes off (we call it the Red Mist).  The most important thing to remember above all else is to be safe.  Watch your muzzle direction at all times (keep it pointed downrange at all times) and keep your finger off the trigger when you’re not shooting at a target.  Speed and accuracy will come with practice, right now is the time to concentrate on safe gun handling.  You’re going to mess up, don’t stress about it.  I still have my share (and sometimes more) of missed targets and penalties at pretty much every match.

You Will Not Embarrass Yourself – I hear this concern a lot from people thinking about getting started in action shooting sports.  First of all, check your ego at the door, you won’t need it on the range (it’s much more of a hindrance than a help).  Also, hardly anyone is watching you, and if they are, they’re either making sure you’re safe, or they’re looking at the course of fire, trying to figure out their plan of attack.   There’s always a few ways to shoot a stage, and many of us watch to see if we can pick up some clues that we hadn’t thought of.  We were all new to the sport once, and we are very aware of the mental energy it takes to shoot action pistol.  Follow the safety rules and be safe with your gun, and I promise that the other shooters will encourage you and help you out where needed. 

BE SAFE, don’t try to shoot too fast and have fun!

 

 

Training at an IDPA Match

Let’s talk more about how competition, practice, training and concealed carry all fit together. JaciJ and myself shot an International Defensive Pistol Association match at Phoenix Rod and Gun Club last week at Phoenix Rod and Gun Club. Jaci shot it using her 9mm 1911-style pistol she uses for such matches, and I shot it with the 9mm Smith and Wesson Shield I carry with me on a regular basis. Jaci was shooting the match to get a good score, I was shooting it to practice my reactions if, God forbid, I need to use my pistol for defensive purposes. The difference is, unlike a lot of other competitors at that match who were shooting for a high score, I kept my (empty) gun on my hip after I was done shooting, then drove off and loaded it up with my 9mm defensive ammo of choice when it was safe to do so, because I shot with the gun I carry as a defensive firearm. 

Let’s look at two stages in the match that were, as they say, ripped from the headlines’s of today’s news and how Jaci’s approach and my approach to each was different because of our different goals for the match. 

Stage 4
Scenario: You are downtown when the Zimmerman trial verdict is announced. A group upset by the verdict begins to riot. At the buzzer, engage closest targets with two rounds each in tactical sequence while retreating to cover, then engage remaining targets with two rounds each in tactical priority. 

Here’s Jaci shooting this stage by the IDPA rules and as quickly as her shooting skills allow. 

I shot this stage slightly differently. I did a “tactical reload” in-between the two groups of targets, reasoning that I’d want to top up my gun if I had a break in the action, and swapped out the half-empty magazine in my gun with a full one from the mag pouch on my belt. This is perfectly legal by IDPA rules, but it won’t win you any matches because it’s slower than going to a “slide lock” reload. 

Stage 2
You come across a mob upset with the Zimmerman trial verdict attacking an innocent bystander. Engage all threat targets in tactical priority with two rounds each. 

Here’s Jaci shooting this stage so she gets a good score in the match. 

And here’s me shooting it, trying to approach it as I would in real life. I made sure I told the range officer running the stage beforehand that I was going to issue verbal commands to the targets before I engaged them, so as not to freak him out TOO much when I started yelling.

Another thing I learned on that stage? My Shield doesn’t lock back on an empty magazine, and needs to head to the gunsmith.

So which is better, shooting an IDPA match for good score, or shooting it for good practice for concealed carry? Well, that depends on what your shooting goals are. I look at IDPA as defensive pistol practice first, and a competition second (USPSA is where my competition freak flag flies). Jaci (and a whole buch of other people) see IDPA as a competition first and concealed carry practice second. Those two goals are both valid, and both can be accomplished in the context of an IDPA match with equal vigor. 

Update: Hey, if you’re reading this via the IDPA’s Facebook page or other points on teh interwebz, thanks for stopping by, and feel free to stick around!