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Old 05-22-2011, 12:40 PM
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mgo mgo is offline
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Location: Tucson, Az.
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Default my first "combat match" (IPSC) match in 20 years-what I saw there

To me, competetive "combat" style matches is a training exercise, rather than a trophy hunt. My first matches were in the 70s, and after around 20 years absence, I shot in a match near Tucson yesterday, on Saturday, May 22.

No, I did not wow the crowd. My performance was mediocre, as usual, but again it was good training. Safe handling, listening to instructions, clearing multiple targets and problem solving, were part of the five stages. People running the match, and other shooters were all very nice ladies and gentlemen.

There were the usual tricked-out race guns with optical sights, and many factory stock pistols as well. I saw 45s of course, 40S&W and then there was me, with my little S&W M&P 9MM compact.

Many shooters were running S&W M&P 40 S&W caliber pistols. There were many Glocks in 40 S&W as well. I did not see any revolvers in the match this time. One shooter was running 38 super caliber.

I did not notice any Sigs, gen 3 Smiths, HK or Steyr pistols at the match. One shooter might have been using a Walther P99, but I did not get a close enough look to verify that.

Out of around 40 shooters five or six were women. Most of them were wicked-fast and very skilled. I even chatted with a handful of shooters who I shot with 20 years ago; they are still enjoying the sport.

Targets consisted of cardboard shapes with white ones as "no shoot" targets, stapled next to or over the tan "bad guy" targets.

Each of the five stages involved at least one reload, and around 15 to 25 shots to be fired. Stages included shooting from cover and barriers. There were no prone positions in this match.

There were some knock-down steel targets as part of some of the stages. My defensive 9MM loads successfully knocked those down OK.

My S&W compact performed just dandy. Since I was using a camera bag for spare mags, my reloads were a little slow, but otherwise I was fairly efficient. The Galco holster I used stayed in position and did not shift around (it's my CCW holster). When holstering a "hot" gun I made sure no clothing was likely to snag the trigger on the way back into the holster.

My biggest impression of this match after being away for 20 years was the mix of pistols; S&W, Glock, and then the rest were 1911 platform pistols. Back in the 70s "old days" Glock, and the S&W polymer M&P did not exist. It was mostly 1911 pistols and occasional revolvers.

The attached picture shows the exact pistol and holster I used in the match. Not pictured is the cheesy camera bag that held my spare mags (:})
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Last edited by mgo; 02-27-2012 at 10:08 PM.
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