Truer Words Have Seldom Been Spoken

Whenever the subject of sport shooting comes up around the tacticool friends they inevitably start ranting about how United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) and/or International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) aren’t realistic. I think Miguel’s posts covering such criticisms expresses my feeling perfectly:

“But IDPA is not Real Life!”
But it is more useful than your whining.

While USPSA and IPSC are games they do offer useful practice for skills that are good to have in a self-defense situation. The biggest of which is operating your firearm under the influence of adrenaline. All the standing range practice in the world isn’t going to help you deal with elements involved in a self-defense situation such as a pounding heart, adrenaline, tunnel vision, selective hearing, or firing on the move. Both USPSA and IPSC allow you to understand the affects of these elements and practice under their influence.

Sure it’s unlikely that I’m going be sitting on the shitter when a cadre of thugs comes busting down my door requiring me to grab my conveniently place and loaded gun but the adrenaline rush is going to be similar regardless of the scenario’s likelihood. The first time I shot a USPSA match I was shocked how poor my shooting became when outside stresses such as a timer and audience were introduced. I’m not done with my second season of USPSA (along with several three-gun competitions) and my shooting under stress has greatly improved. I don’t even want to know how poorly my shooting in a self-defense situation may have been had I not fired under stressful conditions before.

Sure USPSA and IPSC may not be real but they’re far more useful than any number of statements regarding that fact.

May 12, 2011 Oakdale Gun Club USPSA Match Results

We had our first United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) match at the Oakdale Gun Club on Thursday and the scores were finally posted. Needless to say I didn’t do so hot which I expected being the first match of the year and all. What killed me were the first two stages; Jenny’s Speed Shoot and El Presidente. Once I drudged through those I feel as though my performance became far more acceptable (still bad but not as bad). Hopefully things will improve as I get back into the swing of things.

EDIT: 2011-06-16 15:55: The word how has been changed to hot in order to make grammatical sense. Thanks again Nicole.

Pine Island Winter Shoot

On Saturday Pine Island Sportsmans Club had their 2011 Winter Shoot. Needless to say this was the first USPSA match of the year so I was rusty and slow. Still I think everything went well enough and I managed to take down the Texas star with a single magazine (even had an extra round left). Of course my friend Greg dominated the Texas star by taking it down in five rounds.

One thing about winter leaving in Minnesota is the fact that it leaves behind a ton of mud. Nothing like having tons of mud on your boots to make things more lively and interesting. Either way I’m waiting for Oakdale Gun Club to start USPSA so I can start shooting it weekly again.