Well, the weekend is here and that means 48 hours of what ever I want! Ok, so maybe there’s some housework and chores in there somewhere, but allow me to generalise. I love my weekends as they allow me and my wife to relax or make things happen depending on our plans. I guess I mean we’re in control. Today I started my day as usual, with an early morning visit to the gym at 6:30am and now I’m sitting at one of my favourite café’s about to enjoy some breakfast and coffee.
I am shooting a competitive handgun match today at one of my gun clubs. It’s called IPSC and is a practical shooting event that revolves around fire and movement, speed, accuracy and, as always, safety. The targets may be static, dynamic (moving), concealed behind hard cover and the course of fire could involve just about any shooting position from standing, kneeling, prone (lying flat) and various others. We also shot in buildings, out in the open and in scrub or bushland environments. It’s a field-oriented discipline with it’s foundation originating from a military aspect.
The image shows a bit of the gear involved. You can see my handgun (shooting my Production gun today) in the holster, and my holster and belt rig including four magazine pouches and magazines, shooting glasses and some 9mm ammunition. There’s other gear of course but these are the basics. Oh, I forgot to put my hearing protection (earpro) in the image but will remember to wear it on the range. The pistol is a CZ 9mm semi automatic and has an 11 round capacity (one in the chamber plus a full magazine) hence the need for additional magazines. Stages can be from only a few rounds to 40-50 rounds so quick magazine changes are required.
The scoring is done by combining the length of time elapsed for each stage with the actual hits. Everything from the initial draw, firing, mag changing and movement is critical to gaining a great score. The more hits in the shorter time wins. Hits are also classed as Alpha, Charlie, Delta, Mike. A Mike is a miss with points being deducted and more points are awarded for an Alpha than a Delta for instance. Accuracy is the key. This system is used for the cardboard targets which are roughly torso sized and shaped and the steel is awarded a single hit. Cardboard targets need to be hit twice (double-tapped). Large deductions of points are also incurred if a shooter fails to engage a target, or hits a no shoot target.
Anyway, I have not shot any handguns for a long time, I guess about 3 weeks now, so I’m a little out of practice. I usually fire around 300 rounds per week so I’ll probably be slow and inaccurate today…But I’ll have fun. Generally I can draw from the holster and get my first aimed shot on target in about 1.4 seconds, which is not fast by any standards really. I know people doing it in 0.8 seconds, but they’re pros!
I’ll be wearing my GoPro today I think. I have never done that before so plan to give it a go on the first stage I shoot to see how it goes. Maybe I’ll have some interesting footage by the end of the day or it’ll be completely shit. Probably the latter, due to my shooting or camera work. I don’t have a chest rig for it so will have it mounted on my head. Let’s see.
I hope everyone has a great weekend planned no matter what you’re doing, relaxing, getting active or a bit of both.
[- Design and create your ideal life, don’t live it by default -]
Hurray!!! Weekend is here again. I love weekends too. I only work from Monday to Friday which means I have weekends to myself. I also have more time to spend on steemit on weekends 😂
Enjoy your weekend @galenkp
Haha, yes by bro, I hear you. I also work Monday to Friday so weekends are blissfully mine...all MINE! Well, me and my chores I guess. :)
Have a great weekend man!
Nice set up! If you get any footage, I'd love to see it in a post. I've wanted to explore shooting ISPC. Apparently it is a great way for law enforcement to stay sharp.
Hey @papacrusher, great to hear from you. If I get some I'll share it with you. I have some of others shooting but rarely ever get footage of me. I'm too busy shooting! I'll see how todays comes out. IPSC is a great way to keep focused and stay sharp. Unfortunately here our cops are only required to actually shoot a small number of rounds per year, once. (I believe it's 10 rounds or so. Something like that anyway.) It's a little frightening that anti-gun lobbyists want to disarm the people and let the government have all the guns. Most of whom cannot shoot for shit! Anyway, I recommend heading to a local club and checking out the IPSC section. It's great fun, reasonably cost-effective to enter into and teaches people to shoot with an extremely high level of proficiency. I recently shot the State Titles here in South Australia and it was amazing fun. (I won top rookie, which added to the awesomeness). It's an international sport so maybe I'l see you at the Worlds one day? :)
Have a great weekend bro.
Congrats on Top Rookie. We are only required to qualify twice a year here. I'm the department firearms instructor and and just qualifying is definitely not training. Its difficult convincing the administration to spend additional funds on more range time and ammo. Good luck tomorrow!
Haha, you're a cop? No offence intended with my last comment. It's just the reality here. I believe everyone should have some concept of how to handle a gun, especially in this day and age. My rule is that if you live in my house you need to know how to operate and make safe every type of firearm I have: Shotgun, rifle and semi-auto pistol and revolver. My wife is a proficient shooter for this reason.
Thanks for the luck, I'll need it this time around I think. :)
Lol no offense taken at all. Ive been a cop for 20 years and they can be some of the worst shots and most careless gun owners. I agree 100 percent about everyone in the home being proficient. My wife and daughter(when she lived at home) trained with all the weapons in the home.
I've got 3 mates that are cops and only two know how to shoot with any degree of safety, speed and accuracy. Frightening. Still, they're too busy revenue-raising by writing traffic infringements to ever have to shoot. I have another mate who is in the STAR Force (police tactical response unit)He's an ex-British Royal Marine. He knows how to shoot...And lift weights... :)
If I ever come up your way I promise to obey all the laws. I don't want to get papa-crushed! :)
Yes please wear the GoPro today :D How many gun clubs do you have? o_O Do you have targets that "shoot" back? XD Having fun is the main thing, am sure you'll have a great time out there :D
Hi @ryivhnn I'll be GoPro'ed up for sure. At least for one stage. If it gets in my way then I'll be de-GoPro'ed for the rest.
I am a member of two clubs. To have (and retain) the right to own handguns it is a requirement to be a member and actively shoot at the club a minimum amount of times, in competition, per year. I take my guns home, they don't stay at the club. There are many, many clubs here in South Australia and across the country. In SA there has to be around 20-30 at least, maybe more.
Good question. targets don't shoot back. I actually get asked this a lot. If they did we'd be in some sort of situation and that would go badly for most people who have no idea about guns and being prepared for emergency situations. That means most people.
So nothing that holds a "gun" (cardboard cutout or nerf gun XD) or flings tomatoes at you? Aww XD But fair enough, I can see how that could be a problem.
Shooting is conducted under the control of a range officer whose commands must be obeyed. No one is down range. I shoot a military pistol with live ammunition. Getting shot will almost certainly mean death. It's all taken very seriously. I shoot at a club run by the military so, as with all clubs, safety and rules are paramount. The targets do not resemble human shapes by design and are certainly not painted with faces or anything for that matter.
No tomato's present either. :)
The video will be up shortly @ryivhnn.
Cool post. Looking forward to the video.
Video and post up soon @roundhere
Beautiful set up...
I have a phobia for guns though... But either ways have fun and break a leg..... 💪
Guns are safe in the right hands, completely safe. :)
Looking forward to seeing the video. It sounds like a lot of fun. Hopefully you get a deal on the ammo since you're a member of the club. Otherwise, the cost of shooting so many rounds can add up quickly. Then again, you're not shooting AR ammo, so it's not quite as bad. Have fun. Be safe!
I make my own ammo @themanwithnoname. 0.25c/ 9mm round and my rifle rounds cost me $2.20 each. It's not really cheap but life's too short not to have hobbies. I don't drink and smoke so why not huh? Look out for the video post coming up soon.
That's a fun hobby. Yeah, it's actually probably cheaper to buy ammo, but if you really enjoy doing it and you get a sense of satisfaction from knowing that you can make your own supplies, it's worth it. It's amazing how much money you can save if you don't drink or smoke!
Agreed! With my rifle ammo I make it myself for better accuracy and precision (over machine made factory ammo). With the pistol stuff because it’s 0.10c cheaper per round. I enjoy the process and science of making my own as well. I find it relaxing. I’ve done posts on making ammo. It’s quite interesting. I think so anyway.
Yeah, I know someone who smokes $5000 away every year. I found out the other day a packet of cigarettes could be $35-$50 per pack! That’s crazy. I have a drink every so often but so rarely I call myself a non-drinker. My wife doesn’t drink at all (or smoke) so between us we prefer to have other hobbies.
Thanks for the run down on the shooting comp mate. I’ve seen a few pistol clubs when traveling around and always wondered what the shooting comps would entail. Let me know how you go 👍
Video and post up soon @harrynewman
I've never tried any type of competitive shooting, but it does look interesting.
I'd rather be out in the field doing it but that would be illegal here. Shooting at a club is a requirement. I don't really focus on the competitive nature of it and don't give a shit what I finish although I am one that always like to improve, or at least perform at my best, and so I put some effort into it. Other's don't and they still have fun but that just goes against my nature.
Thanks for your comment.