IDPA Classifier

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Correia

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I've got a classifier coming up next month. I'm just a lowely Sharp shooter in CDP. Having only classified once, and that was when I first started shooting competition. I'm hoping to do much better this time around. I've improved a lot since that time, and I usually place in the top five or so at our local matches, beating most of the Experts and if I have a good day some of the Masters. :) Don't ask about the bad days. :p I'm a way better 3 gunner than a pistolero.

Question for our IDPA shooters, what is your classification?

What are some of your tips for the classifier?

www.idpa.com/classifier/classif1.htm is a link to the COF for those of you not familiar with it. Word on the street is that guys like Leatham, Sevigny, and Burkett have all shot it in the 50s and 60s!
 
I just shot my first IDPA match last weekend. It just so happened it was a classifier. I classified Sharp Shooter. I had two misses (invisible bullets) and a procedural. I could have done much better without those.

Oh well, it was just the first match. I look forward to advancing my classification.
 
Hi. I've shot the classifier 8 or 9 times over the last 5 years. First time I made SSP sharpshooter by less than a second, made expert by a second and a half a year or so ago. I also classified once with a 1911, made sharpshooter in CDP.

Best tips I know of: don't blow the head shots on stage 1, take enough time not to have any misses (or many -3) on stage 3. Stage 3 is obviously the hardest and there is little room for error. Be smooth with the reloads, you can loose a lot of time there.

Good luck.
 
I am MM in CDP (been over a year since I shot the classifier in that class, so I hope I could do better) and SS in SSP.

I would have to agree with the "take your time" theory. Complete misses hurt a bunch so make sure to place your shots carefully.

I know when I shoot matches, I try to find that fine line between slow and accurate and fast and all over the place. I usually try to go too fast and drop a shot or two, which really makes things worse. A miss comes up costing you 2.5 seconds on the bottom line (unless you have a FTN or other) and most people can slow down just a hair and get that shot right and take a lot less than 2.5 seconds.

Now, if I could only practice what I preach!! :banghead:
 
Stress, tell me about it. In yesterdays match I couldn't hit a six inch plate at ten yards! :D I just fell apart, tanked a bunch of stages. Oh well. I guess I'll get the bad stuff out of the way first. :)
 
In my match Saturday, I was doing pretty well, then on the last stage, we had moving targets. You had to start from one position and move around a counter and hit a switch to start the movement. Simple, right? I run around the counter, crouch down next to the switch and proceed to shoot two rounds into the first target, without pushing the button! Cost me two "P's":rolleyes:
Good news is after I hit the switch, I ended up only three points down on the stage. Whew! Sometimes you just wonder what in the heck was going on in your mind:confused:
 
Official IDPA scoring of a perfect double:
Down Five<<<<<<


Well, a truly perfect double you couldn't tell, so this is legit. Otherwise, we're told to always give the benefit of the doubt to the shooter. S/F...Ken M (IDPA RSO)
 
Well, a truly perfect double you couldn't tell, so this is legit. Otherwise, we're told to always give the benefit of the doubt to the shooter. S/F...Ken M (IDPA RSO)
Click to expand...

Some shooters I have absolutely no doubt that it can't be a double. Others if I have doubt then I'll count it. It depends on the shooter.

Adam
 
Sure, some guys you know it's not a double because you watched it go through the target frame, into the dirt or into the ceiling :mad: That's why they pay us the big bucks, right;) S/F...Ken M
 
My classifier, and first ever IDPA shoot, is on the 12th.

I'm psyched. :)

- Gabe
 
Correia,

Sometimes it's not the Experts you gotta beat it's the lowly marksman!

That 24 in plate wouldn't be so hard to hit if you would slow down!

JK!
 
Hey man I know! It was just one of those days. My previous two matches were 3rd and 2nd place finishes. Then this one was 13th. :) Plus the real kicker, two of my shooting buddies who I usually squad up with came in 1st and 2nd! :D
 
I'm still a novice:eek: I shoot a Glock 30 in SSP.
I always croak on the third stage of the classifier. My points are usually on par with the MM till the range stretches out.
My last classifier was downright embarrassing. I grabbed the wrong box of (untested) reloads. They proved a little light, giving me plenty of FTF drill practice during the match :rolleyes:
I've got to try SSR one of these days.
 
Over the last three years I've managed to make a Expert in CDP, SSP, and ESP. My 6 shooter skills have a ways to go. First time out with a 6 gun I missed Exp. by 9 seconds. I just have a hard time pulling out my S&W 586 for some reason. I prefer autos.
I think alot of my progress is my ability to shoot 12 classifiers a year. First Sunday a month. Every month. Did I mention 12 times a year? :)
For the past year an a half or so I've run alot of shooters though the classifer and some of the things I've picked up are, don't get to worked up. I've watched a lot of shakey hands from adrenaline.
The first stage can make the difference in a good Classifer score.
As already stated, you have to hit all the heads.
Another point is the one handed shooting, alot of people don't practice enough at this. Too slow, bad hits.
The second stage, some shooters have a hard time walking and shooting at the same time. And when it comes time for the El' Prez
some like to hose the targets instead of aiming[myself included].
On the third stage, well, the last part of the Classifer is a bear, shooting 20 yards around the weak side of a baricade is tough. I've seen a few guys use the baricade as a rest. I think this throws off thier rythum. It's something they usually don't have then they start to use it. No consistancey. And others seem to have a hard time with Tac reloads and retention reloads. Something else that needs practice.
Have fun and hose'm.
 
Well, I'm a novice with SSR (my speedloads aren't) and I shot it with a S&W 64-1 (a mistake to shoot with such a rare wheelgun anyway).

I qualified as Marksman with my Glock 17 the 3rd time I shot it back in February. I took my S&W1911 to my IDPA match last Sunday and beat my Glock score by 18 seconds.

I look forward to getting a S&W610 for my SSR.

I'm going to shoot SSP and ESP with the Glock 17 at the next qualifier, and I'll shoot CDP with the 1911.

I don't want much in this IDPA world, but I would love to get a 4-gun classification someday. Sharpshooter would be nice, but I'd certainly settle for Marksman. The guy that runs my IDPA club is a 4-gun Expert; he practices... Maybe I should too! :D

My advice (such as it is from a lowly Marksman), is to concentrate on the head shots in stage 1. And when you think about it, Stage 3 is really a bullseye match with a barricade and a barrel thrown in. That being said, practice shooting at an 8" target (the center on an IDPA target) and you should at least only get a -1 from time to time.
 
Got one coming up this weekend at Hendricksen for those in the SLC area.

I like to shoot a classifier on my own or with friends about once a week.

It's a good fundamental drill.
 
Archer, I usually shoot with UDPL. Do you shoot with NUDPA? If so I know a bunch of those guys.
 
I'm a member of both organizations and try to get to both sets of matches as much as I can, but some of the UDPL shoots have conflicted with my archery competition schedule of late and I get paid to shoot arrows, not bullets :)
 
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