couldbeanyone
Member
After observing people carrying small guns, and never seeming to practice with them, I decided to create concealed carry matches at our local range in an effort to get people to actually shoot what they carry. Really inspired by a young man who has since become a cop. He was always practicing with a 1911. I asked him what he carried. He pulled out a Springfield xds in 45 ACP. I asked him if he had ever tried shooting it fast. He said no. I suggested he give it a try. The results, at 7 yards, uspsa target, 6 rounds, 1 D zone hit, 5 misses.
The match was scored using uspsa scoring (hit factor) and was basically uspsa format, with the following changes: you must draw from concealment, your gun had to fit in a box sized to accept nothing larger than a Colt officer's model, no power factor, you could use anything from a 22 to a 45, and all stages were designed to be 5 shot friendly (5 shots and move, so people shooting 5 shot guns weren't forced to make standing reloads).
The turnout initially was very good. Had a lot of people show up with guns they had never considered shooting in a match including several 5 shot 38 specials, lcp, Smith bodyguard, etc. Most of the participants were people who were already at least casual competitive shooters. So these are people who generally shoot better than your average concealed carrier.
Lessons learned:
People don't like performing badly. All of the guys shooting 5 shot 38 specials performed VERY poorly. Their response to shooting poorly and fumbled reloads? "I ain't shooting that in the match again." later matches they shot with compact polymer autos. Glock 43 etc. They did better but still not great. You would think it would be motivation to practice and get better but, no... yet you see them several times later and they're still carrying the 5 shot snubbies.
No one came close to winning with a 45acp. Take that for what it's worth....
On average people shooting physically larger compact guns or smaller small caliber guns (22 lr, 32 ACP) performed better.
If you are truly a good shooter, you will probably do well with whatever....young man (single stack grand master and very high finisher at Nationals) shot a Kahr cm-9 and was always a top finisher. Another guy, ( limited master) shot a shield and always finished well. I shot a Airlite 8 shot revolver in 22lr and did well. Yes I carry it.
People hate to suck. Over the course of the year, general participation fell to the point that I quit having the matches. The guys who quit coming kept shooting their full size guns in other matches.
I will never understand the mindset of people that will continue to carry a gun that they have demonstrated that they can't perform with. You would think it would inspire them to either practice with the gun and continue to compete until they could perform, or switch to carrying a gun they could perform better with. But no......I just don't get it.
The match was scored using uspsa scoring (hit factor) and was basically uspsa format, with the following changes: you must draw from concealment, your gun had to fit in a box sized to accept nothing larger than a Colt officer's model, no power factor, you could use anything from a 22 to a 45, and all stages were designed to be 5 shot friendly (5 shots and move, so people shooting 5 shot guns weren't forced to make standing reloads).
The turnout initially was very good. Had a lot of people show up with guns they had never considered shooting in a match including several 5 shot 38 specials, lcp, Smith bodyguard, etc. Most of the participants were people who were already at least casual competitive shooters. So these are people who generally shoot better than your average concealed carrier.
Lessons learned:
People don't like performing badly. All of the guys shooting 5 shot 38 specials performed VERY poorly. Their response to shooting poorly and fumbled reloads? "I ain't shooting that in the match again." later matches they shot with compact polymer autos. Glock 43 etc. They did better but still not great. You would think it would be motivation to practice and get better but, no... yet you see them several times later and they're still carrying the 5 shot snubbies.
No one came close to winning with a 45acp. Take that for what it's worth....
On average people shooting physically larger compact guns or smaller small caliber guns (22 lr, 32 ACP) performed better.
If you are truly a good shooter, you will probably do well with whatever....young man (single stack grand master and very high finisher at Nationals) shot a Kahr cm-9 and was always a top finisher. Another guy, ( limited master) shot a shield and always finished well. I shot a Airlite 8 shot revolver in 22lr and did well. Yes I carry it.
People hate to suck. Over the course of the year, general participation fell to the point that I quit having the matches. The guys who quit coming kept shooting their full size guns in other matches.
I will never understand the mindset of people that will continue to carry a gun that they have demonstrated that they can't perform with. You would think it would inspire them to either practice with the gun and continue to compete until they could perform, or switch to carrying a gun they could perform better with. But no......I just don't get it.
