Did any of you shoot IPSC Nationals?

[Alaskan454]

I know there are a few action shooters lurking in these hills.  Curious if anyone else survived the torrential rain Florida had to offer!  They literally put bilge pumps in the bays to clear water out.  It was very wet.

[bigbrowndog]

Shot one year at PASA park where a bad storm came through, destroyed several stages. Late start the next day to get them rebuilt, 2000, 2001, or 2002.

Trapr

[cas]

I have friends that were probably there working the match. Never went to a national myself, at the end of me working Area matches, it got to where the Area match was the one match I shot all year, the match before that being the same match the year before.

Rain reminded me of the last multigun match I shot at West Point in awful weather. Several inches of standing water on part of one stage (located of a trap and skeet range IIRC). After the shooter was done, half the squad would paste targets while the other half walked around trying to help the shooter find his now submerged magazines.

Video made me sad. I really loved shooting revolver, but I gave it when they went to 8 rounds. Beginning of the end for me and USPSA, and IMO near the start a long line of stupid decisions and rule changes that haven't stopped coming.

[x101airborne]

I wouldn't be able to remember where to go and what targets to shoot where. I would ROYALY mess that up. Those fellas were gettin it though! Dang that is some fast shooting.

[contender]

"I really loved shooting revolver, but I gave it when they went to 8 rounds."

I've been shooting USPSA since 1998. No,, I didn't go to the Nationals,, nor do I ever see myself going either. I don't try & compete as hard as I used to. I do try & work on MY skills & most importantly,, have FUN!!!!

When I started,, there were (3) divisions. Open, Limited, and Revolver. I started off shooting a 1911 in Limited. I didn't have a DA revolver that I could use. A open gun (also known as a race gun) wasn't in my price range. A few years after I joined,, they added the Limited-10 Division, and I was golden for a little while. But allowing a guy with a Limited gun to shoot it in Ltd-10 by just not putting more than 10 rounds in a magazine gave then an edge over my .45. As time passed,, I finally found a S&W 646, 6-shot, in .40 S&W. SWEET!!!!!! Now I had a gun to use. As I was carefully gathering the stuff I'd need to use it in competition,, the 8-shot revolvers in 9mm appeared. And were quickly adopted as acceptable guns to use in competition. I remember how many of the revolver shooters would show up to a match,, look over the stages,, then decide if they wanted to shoot "major .45" or "minor .9mm."
Well, the 8 shot guns have ruled pretty much since. I was behind the 8-ball again,, and being I'm a stubborn cuss,, I started my Revolver Division shooting that Smith. I would get beat,, but I didn't care. I was having fun. Ruger came along with the Super GP-100 in 8-shot .9mm, and I worked on getting one. Covid hit,, and production ceased. Yet,, I managed to find one. It's now my normal USPSA competition gun. I love it!

But I understand where you are coming from. Rule changes,, especially all the different Divisions now. A lot of the rules have come about due to the "gamer types" who do all they can to gain an edge over others in one form or another. We have (8) Divisions, and soon to be (9) with a recent survey about even another division. I'm not sure that division will be accepted. I understand the desire to get more people involved,, and to allow a broader range of firearms,, all while keeping the different divisions to where one competitor's gun isn't a big advantage over another gun. By creating different divisions,, and specifying the features a gun can or can't have tries to level the playing field for that division. And as a RO,, the rules can be complicated to keep up with.
On the plus side,, membership in USPSA has grown a LOT over the last few decades. So,, I guess having different divisions isn't totally a bad idea,, from a business or popularity standpoint. Heck,, I was handicapped shooting a single-stack 1911 against a higher capacity gun when I started. I had a few magazines that held 12 rounds of .45,, but going against a true "Limited" category gun,, with 19-22 rounds hurt any chances of my times being top level. I lost a lot of time by the numerous reloads I had to make during a stage. I used to carry 6 magazines on my belt,, and two others when I went to the line. My "Barney" magazine,, and my starting magazine. In Ltd 10,, that was 80 rounds with me for a stage. (And once,, when I forgot to reload my magazines after a stage,, in the next stage I had enough to shoot it w/o an incomplete score.)

But I too see a lot of the changes they've made to try & get more & more people involved in the sport. Apparently,, it's working,, if you look at the membership numbers. And on my range,, I see a lot of folks who enjoy specific divisions because of their preferences.

If it makes people buy guns, and get involved,, I can accept those changes.

"I wouldn't be able to remember where to go and what targets to shoot where. I would ROYALLY mess that up."

I'm SURE you could do it. NONE of us started out shooting that fast or whatever. We ALL started at local levels,, and much slower. We learned how to study a stage, see where we could do our best (hopefully) and move as quickly as possible. We often say; "Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast." I have new folks all the time who watch us at my matches,, and say; "I can't do that!" I calmly & politely say; "Were you born with any skills to do anything? No. But you learned how and do many of them now without even thinking about what you are doing. You CAN do it,, to YOUR abilities." And now,, there are Divisions to where most folks who already have a few guns can find a place to put themselves in & try it.

The one thing I have shared with so many people who inquire about USPSA competition is this;

It makes a person get out of their comfort zone of paper punching practice. It makes you THINK, as well as teaches you the motor memory skills of gun handling at a faster level than most people. Just like driving a car. Those of us who drive,, when we started,, we had to think about all the little steps it takes to operate a car. Yet,, after thousands & thousands of repetition, you no longer think,, you have "motor memory skills." This type of competition does the same thing.

It was proven in a very close to home even this past July 3rd.

One of my long time friends,, and fellow competitor, who became a NCHP officer 13 years ago,, was in a gunfight. He had to react to being shot. Without warning, a guy pulled a Desert Eagle .44 mag out of his car, and shot Jeff in the chest from about 4-5 ft away. In the picture released by the LEO's,, it shows the moment prior to the guy pulling the trigger, and Jeff is starting his draw. Jeff was very quick, and returned fire, firing 6 rounds. He hit the thug 5 of the 6, and apparently the 6th round went just over the guy as he was falling. Jeff was wearing his vest,, and it saved his life. He wasn't knocked off his feet or anything,, but he told me directly; "I don't remember doing my draw or firing,, it just happened." His motor memory skill took over. He said; "I remember thinking; Oh CRAP,, I'm in a gunfight!" He does remember firing as soon as he cleared his holster.

Jeff is alive & doing well in part due to his ability to only have to think of what was happening,, NOT how to get his gun into use, and make it work properly. Since that shooting,, Jeff is still awaiting for the State to finish their "official" investigation,, (he was cleared within a few days by the County DA) before he returns to patrol. He's been issued a different handgun, as the one used will be held in evidence by the State for 3 years. He told his Sgt. that he was not going out on patrol w/o putting his newly issued handgun through a good series of shooting to assure it would work. I helped him with that about 3 weeks ago. I ran him through several drills,, to make sure the gun would run, AND that he was under the timer & a little stress.

Jeff says that his USPSA competition time helped him live.

[markwell]

I started shooting practical pistol in the late '70s. Shot the IPSC Nationals in the early 80s and the World Match in '83 in VA. Haven't shot a national level match in quite a few years, but still shoot some IDPA events. Action pistol is a great past time but you need to be fit to do well.