edr9x23super

When IDPA was formed, it was agreed upon that the match directors and stage designers would keep the round counts under 100 rounds when and where possible; this was done for 2 reasons:

1) To attract the average shooter, who could compete by purchasing 2 boxes of ammo at wal-mart, etc.
2) To neutralize the equipment race (and the money race) as much as possible.

I was a founding member of IDPA and still shoot with them as much as I can. I was there during the good years in USPSA (1987-91) when the gear to win with was a single stack 1911 and 4 spare mags, as well as the bad years (1996-2003) in USPSA when membership was dropping and lots of folks (me included) had become very disillusioned with the equipment race and all of the problems with sand bagging (and grand bagging) during big matches, etc. The matches in USPSA got way away from Jeff Cooper's intended purpose for the competitions and became 200 round shoot-a-thons. Your minimum investment to be competitive was around $3000 for limited, $4000 for open.

In contrast, Bill Wilson and the gang that founded IDPA came up with the idea that a person could spend less than $600 for guns and gear, buy a couple boxes of ammo and have no problem competing; I remember shooting the Area 4, 5 & 7 championships back in 1995 and participating in some of those discussions with Bill, Ken Hackathorn and others who had become fed up with all of the crybabies and prima donnas and gamesters that took over USPSA in the 1990s....

Now it is my understanding that IDPA is about as big as USPSA, which I think is a great thing. Especially since USPSA has had to put in a production division for normal people with normal equipment.

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Ram Rod

Thanks HK Dan for some very informative posts. We go to Sturm's range once in a while, and we've shot at the Ozark Tactical Shooters (Ozark Sportsman) place before. I used to work down the road from Sturm's Range and their IDPA matches started at 6pm weekday evenings, and I got off work at 7pm. Steve and I (the owner) have known each other for quite some time. He was my instructor for my state certified CCW class, and I knew him before then and used the indoor range. I was one of the early yearly dues paying members there. Very nice setup, and even tried out his 100yd rifle range. It was my work schedule that messed things up.
CASA (the club in Little Rock) is sort of linked to my current affiliation with the Old Fort Gun Club in Ft Smith. But the distance and my wife's work schedule dictate we stay closer to home on the weekends, or it won't happen at all. We do the 130 mile round trip once a month now with no problem other than lack of sleep for her. Right now, the wife and I are pretty much dedicated to the steel challenge matches through Nov, and at least we can dedicate the time and effort to do that. My wife needs to get comfortable and improve in this first, and she's telling me, and I know. I do think we would be best off doing the IDPA matches in the future although outside the club. The trade off with time and miles driven alone would be worth it. We've pretty much dedicated our time off or our work schedule changes, and our allotment of ammo per month for these Steel Challenge matches.
Y'all have been most helpful. I appreciate it.

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RamRod-----sans remords
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HK Dan

Heck, Ram, it's all part of the service...<g>

Remember the "not all created equal" part, my friend. Don't judge the sport on a single bad club (assuming that you find one of those). The hallmark of IDPA will be solid, defensive oriented stages with low round counts.

I LOVE stages with oddball start positions. By that I mean, something that might happen to you but you never think to practice. In one, they started on top of Harry, our 110 pound dummy. They had to keep the weak arm across his neck and maintain sternum to sternum contact while engaging 3 targets at different angles. It's harder than ya think--the gun was upside down for 2 of 'em...<g>

We had 1 where they start by NAILING a 100 pound heavy bag. That swung out and tipped a popper over--then they could draw and engage 2 targets. A lot of 'em forgot that the bag was coming back...<g> Yes, we were perfectly safe doing it, and it opened a few eyes. "HELLO? GET OFF THE X"...LOL

Dan

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Agave

We usually shoot about 60.

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Scouse

IDPA has (IMHO) brought reality into the practical shooting sports.

Not to confuse an IDPA match with a training program, but it can not be bad to draw from your carry holster, a carry pistol, and shoot from different positions, differing amounts of rounds, under stress, concealed!

And it's fun, 6 stages, 100 rounds, make for a good mornings shooting, but as the word gets out, more competitors, longer days.

Sticks

Individidual clubs vary as to round count and number of stages obviously based on number of available bays and time. Then there is the Sanctioned Matches which require 8 stages, and a minimum of 100 shots.

The amount of rounds you can carry per stage is dependent on your weapon.

Revolver, 6 rounds in the weapon, plus 3 reloads - 24
Pistol up to 10 rounds per magazine, 3 magazines total (1 in the pistol, 2 spares, 1 round in the chamber) - 31

If you carry a compact pistol or basic 1911, 3x8 round magazines, 1 in the chamber - 25. Regardless of the pistol, you are only allowed 3 magazines per stage.

The courses are designed to have a maximum targets/ minimum number of shots. READ - The maximum number of targets allowed per stage at 9 requiring 2 "Down 0" hits to eliminate = 18 shots.


The local club that I RSO for only has 4 bays, so there is generally only 4 stages, with the occasional 5th stage with 2-4 strings (each string for the stage is in a different bay) and each of those strings will only have maybe 6 shots minimum (3 targets). So we tend to max out the number of targets. Realistic encounters, not so much, but you did come out to shoot, not fire a handful of rounds then sit and wait for an hour before you shoot again.

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Sticks
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