Idpa help?

Yes, if shooting in an IDPA competition, you have to shoot by IDPAs rules. However, those rules are mostly about safety and technical aspects of the competition and not about your particular shooting style.

M&P fullsize dominate IDPA around here right now so you will be fine shooting it in competition.

Can you explain the difference between how you wanted to shoot and how they wanted you to shoot? I shoot IDPA a lot and am an IDPA Safety Officer and we're concerned with safety. You also need to shoot the stage as instructed with regard to use of cover and order that the targets are engaged.

IDPA has rules. They are to be observed. If you declare you will shoot it Your Way, I will disqualify you for unsportsmanlike conduct.

You can look into USPSA. They are more freestyle.
If you shoot according to "state training" nobody will care (as long as it does not lead you to violate range safety rules) but you will not win, either.

I do not answer for outlaw shoots managed by know-it-alls as you describe.

I would definitely try out IDPA. Just advise them that this is your first time and don't tell them the way you shoot. Listen to the match director and safety officers. They are only there to keep everyone safe and insure the rules are followed. Once they see that you are safe handling your firearm and are listening to their instructions, everybody's going to have a good time. Humility will go a long way here. If you decide its not for you, well, at least you tried it.

IDPA is a game and this game has rules. These rules may not be what you want, but they apply to everyone who is in the game.

If you can't follow rules of the game, it may not be for you.

Do not judge IDPA by "this guy".
Try the real thing.
If you don't like it, do something else.

This wasn't an idpa event but a local gun club shin dig. He didn't like my stance, how I drew, how I wore holster, other tactics. Safety wasn't an issue other than the guy that showed up cause he wanted to shoot his new kel tec and barged into the shoot, come to find out he wasn't even a member. Dumped a mag and left, I laughed my butt off on that one

Click to expand...

IDPA has rules like the others said. Some of those rules may require you to change something about your gear or habits, but without knowing what you do, exactly, we can't say.

Here's the rule book: http://members.idpa.com/Content/Rules/x2gukat1.wyt.pdf

You're going to need to have a basic holster that sits on your strong side, at your belt level, and is positioned somewhere in the 3:00 - 5:00 region on your strong hip. You're going to need a cover garment of some sort. You'll also need a few magazines and should have either a double mag pouch or two single mag pouches, set on your belt opposite your gun, behind your weak side hip.

Your holster can't be a drop and/or offset style, though the vast majority of belt holsters (and all IWB holsters) work just fine. No appendix carry, cross-draw, SOB, shoulder holsters, drop-leg rigs, ankle rigs, fanny packs, "thunderwear," belly bands, or other alternative holsters.

The safety rules are very basic as well, though you should pay very close attention to make sure you're doing it exactly the way the club and IDPA require. No handling of guns at all (loaded or unloaded) until directed by the safety officer, for example.

As far as your "tactics" -- if you've got some odd draw, stance, or way of pieing a corner, that's between you and the timer. Nobody is going to throw you out for that stuff. You just may get to see people exercise a lot more efficiency of motion than you're used to. But that's great! It's all a learning experience.

If you don't like lots of occasionally strange rules, IDPA is definitely not for you. Rules are the raison d'etre of IDPA. I had a bad experience with fanatical zealot ROs and took a break for a couple years. Then I started to relax and began to treat it like any other sport. Each has different rules and nuances. Vive la difference. It gets me out to the range more often and it is fun to navigate through stages while worrying about more than just shooting everything as quickly as possible. I recommend you just take it with a grain of salt and go try it. You'll probably have a great time.

I heard that there was a new shooting association that was trying to surface. Less game, more real world tactics.

I enjoyed IDPA. Met a lot of good people there. Some of the rules are a bit off, but its a game.

I got dinged with a procedural penalty because I did not reload with retention on one stage. I asked the RO if he would reload with retention if he had no cover and 3 more targets to engage. He said no. Thats not how I was taught.

Its still fun. Just make sure you read the rule book. There are some clubs that appear to have their own rules. YMMV.

As others have said, it is impossible to say where you might have to diverge from exactly what you currently want to do without knowing more specifics, but I can tell you this with 100% certainty:

If you go into any gun game expecting it to be some perfect mirror of combat tactics taught by the state, you are going to be disappointed.

IDPA, USPSA, etc, are sports. Like any sport, they have rules, for gear and procedures, that apply to everyone. Trying to buck them at every turn is not going to lead to a good experience for anyone.

Not saying this is you, but you need to go into a new sport with an open mind and with the understanding that past "tactical" training is neither going to make you an expert/great shooter out of the gate, nor is it going to align 1:1 with the rule set in any sport.

As others mentioned, depending on exactly what you like or don't like about an IDPA match after you try a real one, USPSA is another option that allows much more freestyle shooting. I.e. once the timer goes off, you can basically shoot the targets in any order or style you want, unlike IDPA, which is far more choreographed in terms of shooting targets in a specific way, in a specific order, from a specific spot, etc.

Sapper771 said:

I heard that there was a new shooting association that was trying to surface. Less game, more real world tactics.

I enjoyed IDPA. Met a lot of good people there. Some of the rules are a bit off, but its a game.

I got dinged with a procedural penalty because I did not reload with retention on one stage. I asked the RO if he would reload with retention if he had no cover and 3 more targets to engage. He said no. Thats not how I was taught.

Its still fun. Just make sure you read the rule book. There are some clubs that appear to have their own rules. YMMV.

Click to expand...

I added the bold. If you are in the open, why are you not running that gun dry engaging targets?
If you are in a position of cover, the partial mag reload makes perfect sense, but if you are in the open I would expect the shooting to continue until dry, then an emergency reload.
At least I think that's the thinking behind it...

If you can handle the important things (like observing the 180, not crossing your body, etc) it is some of the best practice you can get for the cost of admission!
I learned the rules 3 seconds at a time (penalty here, penalty there) but I was always safe, so no biggy. If you don't get your ego wrapped up in arguing tactics against a standing rule book (its a game) it will be beneficial.

Corpral_Agarn said:

I added the bold. If you are in the open, why are you not running that gun dry engaging targets?
If you are in a position of cover, the partial mag reload makes perfect sense, but if you are in the open I would expect the shooting to continue until dry, then an emergency reload.
At least I think that's the thinking behind it...

Click to expand...

That was the stage and the rules. No movement, no cover. I did not agree with it.

IDPA has rules. They are to be observed. If you declare you will shoot it Your Way, I will disqualify you for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Click to expand...

Really?

Seems to me the OP is talking about his shooting stance.. i.e. Weaver, Isosceles, Modified, Chapman, etc. etc.

Other than WHO & SHO. I dont think Ive ever seen a stage description tell me what stance I can and cannot use during the run.

Granted, if he goes full Timmey knocking down barriers, treat scanning and stabbing targets with his blade... Then by all means boot the person...

Really?

Click to expand...

Ahhh, once again we have the "internet problem" where everyone reading a thread takes each phrase in his or her own most exaggerated way.

Of course if someone's breaking rules, knowingly, deliberately, repeatedly, disqualify them and tell them to go find some other playground to stomp in.

If someone's just doing things in a way that's odd, that's slow, that's outdated and/or too "tacktickle" to be competitive -- but they're still safe -- well, let them go ahead and provide a few laughs for the other squad mates.

Seemed to me the OP was talking about a whole different "state training" than what IDPA allows. I have seen some armed government employees with an approach not compatible with IDPA or even USPSA. I don't care how he stands as long as it is behind available cover, etc.

It used to be very common to hear "I will shoot it my way and "take the procedural.""
Since that will get you a PE first, then a FTDR, then a DQ, most of Those People have learned to follow the rules on the range and confine their complaining to the internet. Otherwise they would not be welcome to shoot.

Granted, if he goes full Timmey knocking down barriers, treat scanning and stabbing targets with his blade... Then by all means boot the person...

Click to expand...

Unless it's part of the COF...

Sapper771 said:

That was the stage and the rules. No movement, no cover. I did not agree with it.

Click to expand...

Then it sounds like a drill...
Which can give you practice where otherwise you wouldn't.

We did a drill last Monday where the target was at 20 yards.
At buzzer engage target while standing freestyle with 6 rounds, perform an emergency reload (mag only had 6 in it), reload and re-engage the target with 6 rounds from a kneeling position, perform a reload with retention, re-engage target with 6 rounds from prone position.
It was a good drill in that you practiced both kinds of reloads and shooting from prone (which not many people practice).

Sure, if you had a badguy out there you would be moving, but that wasn't the point of the drill.

Remember it is practice and pretty much what ny32182 said and you will be fine.

Corpral_Agarn said:

Then it sounds like a drill...
Which can give you practice where otherwise you wouldn't.

We did a drill last Monday where the target was at 20 yards.
At buzzer engage target while standing freestyle with 6 rounds, perform an emergency reload (mag only had 6 in it), reload and re-engage the target with 6 rounds from a kneeling position, perform a reload with retention, re-engage target with 6 rounds from prone position.
It was a good drill in that you practiced both kinds of reloads and shooting from prone (which not many people practice).

Sure, if you had a badguy out there you would be moving, but that wasn't the point of the drill.

Remember it is practice and pretty much what ny32182 said and you will be fine.

Click to expand...

I see what your saying, but I still disagree with the stage's rules. At this point, we were past the "drill" portion of the match. We had already conducted the Bill Drill and El Presidente earlier. This drill also required us to engage the targets in "tactical priority". Which was also questionable, IMO. Every stage ,after those two, was move and shoot up to this one. Every stage after this one was move and shoot.

It wasnt a big deal to me, it was just one of those things that I observed as a potential issue. I was a full time LEO at that time, so it may have been that it had more impact on me than it would to a non-LEO/MIL. Training scars are hard to fix.

I understood it was a game. The RO was cool about it and most of my group made comments about that particular stage being "off kilter". I took the penalty, made a mental note, and moved on.