What is your favorite handgun sport?

[Alpha Sierra]

USPSA gets my vote.

I started with IDPA around 2008 and shot it semi seriously for about 3 years.  I was a raw pistol beginner back then and IDPA seemed simpler and less equipment intensive.

I laid off from handgun shooting and let my IDPA membership lapse somewhere in late 2011 or early 2012.  I picked up my pistol interest back again this summer and went back to some local IDPA matches.  I quickly grew bored with the short round count per stage and the tightly prescribed manner in which you must shoot a stage.  The new rule book is a complete disaster and it defies common sense.  The straw that broke the camel's back was the Accu Shadow ruling one day before Nationals.  It didn't affect me but it showed a complete lack of common sense, at the very least in the timing of the announcement.  I also find the obsession with basing IDPA on "the real world" tiresome and boring.

I tried a USPSA match and got hooked immediately.

Here are the things I get out of USPSA (Production) that I cannot get out of IDPA:

1. The freedom to decide when and where I will engage any target
2. The freedom to decide how, where, and how many times to reload
3. The freedom to decide when and how to use or not use cover
4. More shooting for the same amount of time and money spent (comparing local matches in both sports)
5. Fewer raw noobs with no idea of what they are doing (makes the day go faster and less stress over safety issues)
6. A better managed classification system
7. A more useful sanctioning organization
8. A more useful sanctioning organization website

[jameslovesjammie]

I've attended 2 USPSA matches as an observer and shot at one.  It was incredibly fun, but for the amount of time invested, there is less than 3 minutes shooting for 4 stages that lasted half the day.  Work and kids kept me from attending more matches, but I still have the first DAA Racemaster imported in the U.S. for a CZ.  (I was the only CZ guy on the pre-order!)

Starting about 13, I began shooting informal Bullseye at our local club.  If you want to be humbled...start shooting Bullseye!  It is a test of true marksmanship that you don't get in other handgun games.

About the same age, I started shooting IHMSA.  I only attended a few matches, but it was another discipline with a heavy bias towards accuracy.  And you didn't have to just hit your target...you had to knock it over!  There aren't many things more satisfying that dropping a ram at 200 meters!  The Contenders and XP-100's and SuperMags...this brings me back!

I wanted to start shooting ICORE, but there wasn't enough interest at the club and they quit having matches.  I wanted to try IDPA, but it was during the week and I don't wear vests.     The local club shot steel challenge twice a year...both at the least convenient time for me to attend.

Honestly, I can't say I have a favorite "game" that I play.  I enjoy going to the range and BS'ing more than anything.  I can shoot any time I want now that I moved back to MT, but the camaraderie you find at any gun club is something special.

[2morechains]

I've attended 2 USPSA matches as an observer and shot at one.  It was incredibly fun, but for the amount of time invested, there is less than 3 minutes shooting for 4 stages that lasted half the day.

Here's the irony: the better you are, the less shooting time you'll actually have in a USPSA match!  I've always said that the D or C-class shooter who takes an eternity to get thru a stage (compared to a M or GM) is really getting their money's worth! 

[1SOW]

I enjoy USPSA the most for sanctioned events.  My reasons are basically the same as Alpha Sierra.
Planning each stage from start to finish can be a challenge in itself.  The high round count draw and shoot field stages are my favs.
The huge mix of moving, disappearing and stationary target-types is a big part of the fun.

Steel Challenge IS a great way to develop accuracy and speed,  but isn't as much "Fun" for me.  It's a more rigid discipline that gets repetitious to me after a few stages. 
Lots of steel (20 +)  of various types  and with shooter movement IS a lot of fun for me.  Plate racks, poppers, falling plates, fixed plates, triangles, the Star, bowling pins, rectangles,  and many more make for an adrenalin rush when the buzzer goes off.     An old-time carnival comes to mind. 
Like JoeL always says,  "This is fun, but this isn't easy"

Local shoots can be a lot of fun too.  Steve Bonnet,  previous National and International champion shooter,  sets up a "Fun Shoot" here every week at two different local gun ranges. He sets up 5 stages  that mix ALL THE ABOVE together using a blend of USPSA/Steel Challenge and IDPA rules.     On 5th Saturdays it's a three-gun event Rifle, Shotgun ( ) and handgun---even .22.  He often has a BUG stage and/or a rifle stage that can be shot with handguns if preferred.   
Waaay fun to shoot. 

For those who have thought about going to a handgun event,  no matter what type,  GO.  You won't be sorry,  and you will smile.  Take what you have to shoot and GO.  You'll learn more/faster here than you will any other way.    New shooters gain more than anyone else and are always welcome and helped.

[Riptide439]

USPSA is great! My 1st choice. Love the people you meet.

I must say, I do love plinking with my Sock Iron 452UL at 50 yards! 

[2morechains]

I agree with 1SOW.  Find a club, find a match (doesn't matter what kind of match) and check it out.  At worst case, you will have wasted 4-6 hrs of your life and 150 rnds or so, but the upside is you may discover that there is a whole new world out there of action/practical shooting.  I used to be a casual plinker, CCW carrier, and just a guy who liked to shoot. 

I'm still that same guy, but ever since I discovered USPSA shooting I've been pulled in deep and spend the weekdays looking forward to the weekends just so I can go shoot a match.  You probably owe it to yourself to try the different disciplines out there and make up your own mind which one you like the best.  I've dabbled in whatever is available in my local area from IDPA to Steel Challenge to 3-gun, and even shot a little Bullseye.  If Long Range Tactical Rifle wasn't so bloody expensive in terms of optics I'd probably get into that as well for the sheer joy of being able to reach out and ding steel at a grand or further... 

The upside to competitive shooting: 
-You will meet some great people.
-You get exposed to a lot more about shooting that goes way beyond the fundamentals.
-Your (mine at least) gun handling will improve exponentially.

The downside:
-Every now and then you can run into somebody who cares more about being competitive than being a sportsman (but I suppose that is true of any sport that keeps score).
-You can spend a lot of money that you would otherwise spend on other stuff...  like therapy and silly things like golf and skiing trips. 
-You will start to disdain 'stock' guns, factory ammo, and most things that are sold at Cabelas or Dicks... in favor of custom guns, handloaded ammo, and shops like Dawson Precision or CZ Custom Shop. 
 
 

[Alpha Sierra]

-You will start to disdain 'stock' guns, factory ammo, and most things that are sold at Cabelas or Dicks... in favor of custom guns, handloaded ammo, and shops like Dawson Precision or CZ Custom Shop. 

LOL that is so true......

I will tell you though that precision riflery does not have to be uber expensive.  There are some optics out there that don't cost an arm and a leg and are good enough to see steel at 1K and inside.

Also, consider buying an AR-15 set up to NRA/CMP Service Rifle rules.  For about the cost of an Accu Shadow you can go shoot bullseyes from three positions at 200, 300, and 600 yards.  That's how I learned most of what I know about rifle marksmanship, which transferred nicely to precision scoped rifles.

[Canuck44]

IDPA despite the current trials and tribulations with the rule book.  IDPA scoring rewards shooting accuracy while IPSC and ISPSA rewards speed shooting and running quickly with a scoring system designed by a physics major.  Ask any competitor to explain it and you will get a mouthful of nonsense with a ?r ``something like that`` at the end of his 10 minute explanation.

Steel competitions because it is so in your face go fast and accurate - pure shooting

IPSC because I enjoy the guys and their attempts at explaining the scoring system.   ``You see Bob your score is reduced because only one Master showed up.  Now you would have shot a lot better if he had not ummmmor is it the other way around.``

Take Care

Bob

 

[recoilguy]

USPSA is the most fun for me but I love to watch good steel shooters. I have a buddy that is rocket speed fast on the steels for a guy who only shoots a few times a month. I shoot with him but he kicks my butt everytime, unless he has a couple misses he has to back trac to. I love rolling my own bullets and I love to see how they perform in my gun. USPSA allows me a good outlet to shoot what I roll and to roll a lot of rounds.

It is so much more fun for me then to stand and shoot at a target I can't believe it. If there is the ting of steel as well thats even better.

RCG

[2morechains]

IDPA despite the current trials and tribulations with the rule book.  IDPA scoring rewards shooting accuracy while IPSC and ISPSA rewards speed shooting and running quickly with a scoring system designed by a physics major.  Ask any competitor to explain it and you will get a mouthful of nonsense with a ?r ``something like that`` at the end of his 10 minute explanation.

Steel competitions because it is so in your face go fast and accurate - pure shooting

IPSC because I enjoy the guys and their attempts at explaining the scoring system.   ``You see Bob your score is reduced because only one Master showed up.  Now you would have shot a lot better if he had not ummmmor is it the other way around.``

Take Care

Bob

I hear that a lot from IDPA shooters, but having shot USPSA for a number of years as well as doing the stats for matches I would disagree.

The guys who win matches are most likely shooting 90-95% of the available match points AND doing it fairly quickly.  USPSA's hit factor scoring is based on speed and accuracy.  You can't have one without the other and do well in USPSA, and as the saying goes:  "you can't miss fast enough to win" since misses are assessed an additional penalty in USPSA compared to just being down 5 points (or 2.5 secs) in IDPA.  IIRC, the only penalty you can get in IDPA for sloppy shooting other than being down points (secs) is a FTE if you fail to have at least one hit in the -0 or -1 zone. 

Anecdotally, I tested the theory that speed was a viable tactic at some local IDPA matches (back when I shot iDPA) and I won several by shooting uber fast and made up my down points with my speed... granted, there weren't any Distinguished Masters shooting those matches, but there were a handful of M and EXP shooters at that match so it was pretty sporty. 

But at the end of the day in both games, he/she who shoots the most accurately in the least amount of time is going to win.

If you want high adrenaline shooting where accuracy and speed is equally important, try man-on-man shoot-offs sometime.           

[Canuck44]

Good response but my experience differs somewhat from yours.  What I see is Master and A Class shooters accepting c zone hits as a price for speed.  True the winners mate the two concepts of accuracy and speed in both sports. 

IDPA scoring does provide more of a penalty for inaccuracy than IPSC/USPSA and it shows itself when you move down the food chain to B & C Class shooters in IPSC and Sharpshooter & Marksman shooters in IDPA play.  The latter categories is where most of the shooters dwell, a fact often missed in these type of conversations. 

Take Care

Bob

[painter]

I started shooting .22 caliber bullseye indoors at my club last winter.

When James says it's humbling it really is an understatement.

I'm not very good, but I enjoy it.

[Alpha Sierra]

IDPA scoring does provide more of a penalty for inaccuracy than IPSC/USPSA and it shows itself when you move down the food chain to B & C Class shooters in IPSC and Sharpshooter & Marksman shooters in IDPA play.  The latter categories is where most of the shooters dwell, a fact often missed in these type of conversations. 

Take Care

Bob

I don't think so.

You can argue it any way you want it but the fact has been proven by countless cross over shooters that IDPA master  = USPSA B class, at best.

An average USPSA B or C class shooter will crush almost everyone at any IDPA match you care to find.

In addition to the fact that a miss or a FTE hurts twice as much in USPSA, you also seem to forget that the USPSA target has -2 and -4 zones if you are shooting minor PF, while everyone gets the lesser deductions in IDPA.

[2morechains]

IDPA scoring does provide more of a penalty for inaccuracy than IPSC/USPSA and it shows itself when you move down the food chain to B & C Class shooters in IPSC and Sharpshooter & Marksman shooters in IDPA play.  The latter categories is where most of the shooters dwell, a fact often missed in these type of conversations. 

Take Care

Bob

Hi Bob, I'm not following your train of thought.  Can you elaborate why you think IDPA scoring provides more of a penalty for inaccuracy at the SS/MM level than it does for USPSA at the B/C class level? 

Thx

[1SOW]

An average USPSA B or C class shooter will crush almost everyone at any IDPA match you care to find.

I don't necessarily agree with that statement.  USPSA does emphasize accuracy in it's scoring [Points/second average),  but that does vary depending on the type of stage being shot.
On some  Qualifiers ,  speed overcomes accuracy.  On other Qualifiers accuracy overcomes speed.

Bob/Canuck44,  shot USPSA worried about the 'hit-factor'scoring,  instead of "shoot 'em as you see 'em as fast as you can".    ;D

1.With enough time,  I can hit 100% A-zones with no misses  no penalties.  Let's say I took 30 seconds for 10 targets--20 shots.
2.Bob,  you shot much faster and hit all 10 targets--20 shots  in 12 seconds with  one hit in the  C, ,B, C, B, & B Zones on five of the targets  with no misses no penalties.  Who shot better? 

If the bad guys were coming through the wire and within 15 seconds of shooting you ,  who shot better?   
With me shooting,  you're a goner.  They got there 5 seconds before I finished my perfect shots.
With You shooting,  you're probably still smiling.