First competition experience

[89LT1]

[daybreak]

Hey man, I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to do this write up. I echo what you have to say. New shooters get out there!

[RGERBER]

DITTO

[uhlan1]

I really wish more new people would come out. I keep encouraging people I meet or see at the ranges to come out but they never do. Time, intimidated or maybe I'm just a bad salesman.

[daybreak]

It's intimidation. I always thought I just wasn't good enough to shoot a competition. My boss finally dragged me out to my first USPSA and I ended up having a blast. I was so disappointed in myself for not just doing it sooner. So many nice, helpful, and encouraging people.

Same thing happened with 3 gun. Even though I had some pistol match experience, I just thought I wasn't good enough to 3 gun. I was intimidated. Got over it and shot my first 3 gun and was surrounded by a bunch of helpful encouraging shooters. Hooked.

[reckoner]

It helps if you think about it less as competition and more as just running around while shooting stuff.

[Captiontom]

I signed up for and shot my first competition two weeks ago. It was a local uspsa match. My experience was similar to op's. I was just going to go and watch then shoot at the next match, but I was quickly takes into bringing my gun and shooting. I didn't do it earlier because I didn't think I would be good enough. Once I got there I relaized that the targets were easy to hit and everyone was nice. My goal for the day was to just take it slow and not get disqualified.

I always had a game plan, but as soon as the buzzer went off my plan went out the window. I only remembered to watched my sights for one of the five stages even though I told my self not to forget to look at my sights before every stage. I shot suprisingly well for never looking at my sights though.

I already bought some books so I can study and get a solid dry Fire routine down. I'll shoot again at the next match in a couple weeks

[Ronin2]

Will you did great. No safety issues and you put that M&P40 to good use. I'm glad you had a good time and hope to see you out there again.

Shooting competitions take shooting to the next level from static shooting at a square range.

One of the other things to consider next is to get some hands on professional weapons training from a legitimate training school.

Cheers and Merry Christmas to all!

[funk_drum]

This is great. I'm very excited to start shooting competitions.

[River Bound]

Oh man, that sounds exactly what I'd like to try out. Been thinking about it a lot lately, watching some IDPA videos, reading the rules and checking dates, etc. I need to get some mag pouches and another mag or two and I believe I'm ready. I live in between WEGC and Prado and was planning on just going and watching a time or two and just talking to a few people while there. Intimidating for sure if you don't know someone already doing it to help you out. Do you need a vest or cover garment for LESA like you do for IDPA?

[Captiontom]

Oh man, that sounds exactly what I'd like to try out. Been thinking about it a lot lately, watching some IDPA videos, reading the rules and checking dates, etc. I need to get some mag pouches and another mag or two and I believe I'm ready. I live in between WEGC and Prado and was planning on just going and watching a time or two and just talking to a few people while there. Intimidating for sure if you don't know someone already doing it to help you out. Do you need a vest or cover garment for LESA like you do for IDPA?

I didn't have all the magizines and magazine holsters I needed. I called the guy in charge and he lended me the gear I needed. I bet if you call in advance someone will lend you what you need. This way you can see what gear everyone else uses so you don't waste any money buying junk the first time

[CGT80]

No cover garment needed, as it is just 3 gun with some slightly different rules.

At west end, there is both LESA and 3 gun. I try to shoot at least one of them each month, but missed LESA this month. They are both laid back and have a great group of shooters.

In LESA, we score the zones on the cardboard for points................you want two A zone hits. In 3 gun, two hits anywhere, or a single A zone or head shot will neutralize the target. Most of the other rules are the same between the two and aren't as big of a difference if they do vary.

3 gun has a california compliant division for bullet button or featureless shooters who use 10 round mags, but we rarely have anyone in that division. I won that division a while back...................by default, as I was the only person. Most people have standard cap mags, but I run in limited anyway and just have to try harder to make up for the additional reloads needed on my part.

Come out and watch, but you would be wise to bring your gear and shoot if possible.

Mag pouches don't have to be fancy. I use cargo pockets on my pants for my rifle mags. As long as your holster covers the trigger it should do. You will need a decent number of mags or will need to borrow some from another shooter. Some new people try to shoot with only two or three mags, but it doesn't work well, even if they are big mags. Sometimes we have mandatory mag changes or you may fumble with a mag and drop it or have a malfunction. More is better.

Newbies, you should suck it up and at least come out and watch, if you think you are interested. I have tried to get people to come to the range just to plink, and have tried to get others to try competitions, but they seem to have reasons not to. If only they knew what they were missing.

[89LT1]

Oh man, that sounds exactly what I'd like to try out. Been thinking about it a lot lately, watching some IDPA videos, reading the rules and checking dates, etc. I need to get some mag pouches and another mag or two and I believe I'm ready. I live in between WEGC and Prado and was planning on just going and watching a time or two and just talking to a few people while there. Intimidating for sure if you don't know someone already doing it to help you out. Do you need a vest or cover garment for LESA like you do for IDPA?

Come on out the LESA match jan 17th. Pretty much all that is mandatory is a handgun, a holster that covers the trigger, and at least three mags to hold about 50 rounds (I had 5 10 round mags).

And that's about it. If you can't find someone to borrow a shotgun from then you can opt to just shoot the handgun part. You can keep mags in your pocket if you need. The first time out your not going to really worry about your time, there is too much going on. No cover garment needed like in IDPA.

I would say just come out and shoot. Even if you don't want to do the full competition just being able to move and shoot was a whole new level. I'm hooked and can't stop thinking about going back out.
Pm Ronin2 or I if you have any questions. Hope to see you out there

[Ronin2]

Come on out the LESA match jan 17th. Pretty much all that is mandatory is a handgun, a holster that covers the trigger, and at least three mags to hold about 50 rounds (I had 5 10 round mags).

And that's about it. If you can't find someone to borrow a shotgun from then you can opt to just shoot the handgun part. You can keep mags in your pocket if you need. The first time out your not going to really worry about your time, there is too much going on. No cover garment needed like in IDPA.

I would say just come out and shoot. Even if you don't want to do the full competition just being able to move and shoot was a whole new level. I'm hooked and can't stop thinking about going back out.
Pm Ronin2 or I if you have any questions. Hope to see you out there

Will,

The WEGC IDPA match is this Sunday as well as a couple others to choose from. Interested ?

[River Bound]

Ok, I don't have any plans for the 17th so I'm going to plan on cruising on up and checking it out.

Thanks for the replies and the good advise on getting started. Sounds like there's some good people willing to help out. That's awesome.