What did you learn about handguns from IDPA or other competitions?

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Are IDPA and USPSA scored the same? Meaning the ultimate goal is to complete a course of fire faster than everyone else?
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Arrgh...one question with two answers. No, they aren't scored the same (USPSA uses a hit percentage to score everyone on a curve -- IDPA uses a somewhat simpler system of time + points down x 0.5), but the final result is pretty much the same. Quickest accurate shooter wins. (Or, most accurate quick shooter wins, depending on how you play! :))
 
The biggest thing I took away from my first IDPA event...a big slice of humble pie. I was pretty humble going in, so I was a little surprised at how much I realized.

Two things I will always need more of regardless of how much I have:
1. Training
2. Ammo
 
They are both scored on a combination of speed and accuracy. Relatively speaking, USPSA favors speed over accuracy compared to IDPA, but to win you have to be at or near the top of the pile in both stats, in either sport.

Also in USPSA it is not entirely accurate to say you can move and shoot from wherever you want. You can move and shoot from wherever you want within the designated shooting area. The designated area will almost always be designated in such a way to force difficult shots on movers or static targets at distances much further away than point blank. If anything, there are more distant shots required more regularly in USPSA than IDPA.
 
The reason I choose a local IDPA club was less new equipment to start (I'm not even sure you would want to do USPSA with fewer than 6 mags on your belt) and fewer rounds shot during a match. Plus many of my clients wanted to go in that direction.

The most irritating things about IDPA are the restrictions of reloading (speed reload) whenever you wanted...you need to not leave ammo behind...and not reloading in the between cover. Running back to cover to reload or running forward with an empty gun just seems wrong
 
The most irritating things about IDPA are the restrictions of reloading (speed reload) whenever you wanted...you need to not leave ammo behind...and not reloading in the between cover.
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What's the rationale behind these rules?
 
The first is that you not leave ammo/mags behind which you might need later. A good idea on it's face, but when I have a magazine malfunction, my first instinct is to drop it and reload with a fresh mag (my first IDPA Procedural)

The second is to prevent folks from standing in the open when reloading...actually it comes from wanting folks to stay behind cover when reloading. Another good idea, but if I'm moving between cover and shooting and run the gun dry...my first thought is to reload. If my reload is completed before I reach cover, I'm going to start shooting again.

To be completely fair, I understand they are in the process of addressing the second point in the rules
 
You should not have been penalized for dropping a partial magazine to clear a malfunction.
Not all SOs know the rules, unfortunately.
They should for what they get paid, don't you think?

In 2005 the reload under cover requirement was changed from reloads must be completed in cover to reloads must be conducted under cover. In the old days you could drop an empty in the open on the move towards cover as long as you seated the reload behind cover. Not now. Carry that empty gun to cover and do it all there.
 
To be completely fair, I understand they are in the process of addressing the second point in the rules
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I read somewhere (one of the websites with rules that people linked in another thread) that if the course specifies it, you can reload without cover.
And please correct me if I'm wrong, because I'd like to know.
 
No, you may not write a CoF that directs the shooter to violate the rules, not and it be a real IDPA stage.

I saw it finessed last week when it was announced that "None of the objects you see on this range are cover, they are only obstacles to where you can move. Shoot and load where convenient." But that was a gimmick stage and should not be taken as normal.

Have you (Skribs) yet participated in a match? If not, or not many, stick to the rules and don't worry about the tricky stuff.

The bedroll lawyers who push such stuff on the internet are not very active on the shooting range.
 
There are stages where you will reload "in the open". They are typically "standards" stages that follow a bit different guidelines than a "scenario" stage. Don't worry about this for now; just do what they tell you to do at your first match and you should be be fine.

As mentioned earlier, you CAN drop the partial magazine from the gun onto the ground in the event you have a jam caused by the magazine or other issues. It is very clear in the rules that procedural should not be awarded for this and any SO that did so is in the wrong.
 
but when I have a magazine malfunction, my first instinct is to drop it and reload with a fresh mag (my first IDPA Procedural)
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Woah! If you got a procedural for that, the SO didn't know what s/he was doing!

ANY malfunction clears you from having to retain that magazine. If the SO didn't catch what happened, explain it to them. You do not have to retain a mag (or ammo) if your gun choked.

(Ok...looks like that was covered a couple of times! ...I should read to the end of the thread before replying! :))
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I read somewhere (one of the websites with rules that people linked in another thread) that if the course specifies it, you can reload without cover.
And please correct me if I'm wrong, because I'd like to know.
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As Jim said, the MD isn't supposed to write stages with directions that tell you (or allow you) to disregard the rules.

However as ny32182 said, "Standards" stages (basically speed or skill drills, different from scenarios) may be set up a bit differently. The classic El Presidente or Langdon 9, for example.

As well, there are a few scenarios where no cover is provided. Those usually will be short "fast & dirty" hold-up/mugging type stages where you're reacting to a couple or three targets right in front of you with no cover and no time to find any. The rule book says you must use cover, if cover is provided.
 
OK..I should clarify a couple of points on my procedural

1. It was my first IDPA match. It wasn't until my 3rd that a actually challenged a SO's ruling...all the way to the MD: "Whoa", isn't a instruction, range command or warning; "Trigger Finger" is the correct warning.

2. The equipment malfunction was during a speed reload. I drew the mag from my belt and the kydex clip-on mag carrier came off the belt with it. I gave it a quick flick, and when it didn't dislodge the carrier, dropped it and drew a second mag from my belt. I made my shots and moved on.

The Procedural was for leaving ammo in the ground
 
There is a score so therefore it’s a game thus regulated by rules. Learn the rules which one may abide by or ignore at their folly in regards to scoring. If the experience induces a stressful situation then you’ve made more of what it is which is a game. If you choose to call it training that’s your perception.
 
Just to add to that.

Unless you're shooting is being evaluated and corrections/evaluations are made/taught, it isn't training...it is, at best, practice
 
Unless you're shooting is being evaluated and corrections/evaluations are made/taught, it isn't training...it is, at best, practice
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I don't think it is practice unless it is repetitious, so you ingrain the technique being studied.

IDPA and USPSA emphasize novelty in their setups, each stage different.
I agree with the description of them as a test of your skills.

You are under at least some stress.
True, you aren't fighting for your life, and you are not after a high qualification to keep your job on an elite military or police force, but if you have a competitive bone in your body, you will have some adrenaline flowing.

Score is kept. Some people dismiss it by saying "if score is kept, it is just a game." But on paper targets, score is all there is. It shows your performance and progress. If you don't have a score whether in competition or training, it is easy to slide into "good enough" or "combat accurate" where mediocrity is excused.
 
Can we agree that it is practicing you current skills to see how they hold up under some stress?

I think there are different levels of practice that build on each other:
1. Dry Practice... to learn and ingrain movements/techniques...like drawing, mag changes, grip, alignment
2. Live Practice...confirming your Dry Practice of alignment and trigger press, as well as seeing the sights faster for followup shots (confirming subconscious programing)
3. Competition...To test if your other forms of practice will stand up under pressure/stress. It is also a way to see it a different technique you've been practicing holds up in unexpected (one's you didn't design) situations
 
No, you may not write a CoF that directs the shooter to violate the rules, not and it be a real IDPA stage.
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There are a lot of IDPA stages that the COF is stated as "contact distance" from cover (this is because there are no "foot fault lines", so they force you do do something that is not in the rule book.

Also, the "all reloads from cover" is from an MD's standpoint. Point in fact, is the shoot house at IDPA nationals (OK), once you shot all targets in the room you were then free to reload in the room you just cleared before you made it to the next one. Most will make you get to the next point of cover to start your reload (or RL before leaving), because they look at in the next room (from the position you just shot from to the next one) as "in the open".
 
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