I have shot one IDPA match in SSP Division to get my feet wet. I enjoyed it and I am now going to shoot in the revolver division, because I am shooting semis in other competitions. I was curious what setups some of you may be using for it. And also any clarification on where you can carry speed loader pouches on your belt. I have heard two different things. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

You've heard two different things because there are two different options, depending on whether you strong or weak hand load.

I strong hand load so I carry two moon clips or speed loaders in front of my holster and one behind it. If I was a weak hand loader, all three would be carried on my weak side - just like mags for a bottom feeder.

I have two guns that I use - a 625-8 PC and a Brazil 586.

I use a Blade Tech holster, ranch products moon clips and the North Mountain stacked moon clip holder for the 625.

For the 586, I use an Alabama holster, Safariland Comp III loaders carried in Kydex holders made by a member of the board here (BobR1).

Have fun. Any other questions, just post them up.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

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NRA Benefactor Member

Thanks Pizza Bob. I use my right, strong hand, to exclusively load my wheel guns. I wasn't sure if IDPA rules allows you to have two speed loader pouches in front of your holster. I know they are specific about only two magazine pouches for semis. How many speed loader pouches will they allow? I'm not going to be using moon clips, but Safariland Comp III.

Thanks

So you are shooting Revolver Division in the SSR sub-division. Your revolver is chambered for 6-rounds. On your belt you can carry three speed loaders in pouches. Since you strong hand load, you can have two in front of the holster (and they must be within an inch of the holster and each other) and one behind the holster. You could have a fourth (behind the holster) just to hold the loader that you will charge the revolver with at the line, when given the load and make ready command (24 rounds total). Holster must carry the gun with the front strap of the grip above the top of the belt and it can be no farther forward on your belt than the mid-point of the trigger on your body center line.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

PS: If you are penurious like me, you can save some bucks by using an HKS speed loader (about $10) to do the initial charge at the line and save the Comp III's for loading on the clock. I usually just carry the initial loader in my hand or pocket.

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NRA Benefactor Member

Pizza Bob nailed it... 2 right in front of the holster and 1 just behind. I also use an HKS for my initial load to start the stage..... I carry it in my vest pocket...

I use Comp III speedloaders, I shoot a Smith & Wesson 686SSR and my holster and speedloader pouches were made by Master Tac (you can find them on Facebook).

You can carry 3 speed loaders for reloads, you may have a 4th in back for topping off, 24rds total. With mag fed guns it is much the same; you are allowed 3 mags on your belt for reloads if the mags are 6-7rds. For BUG/S I carry 3 mags weak side. As noted, for revo speed loaders it is really shooters choice as to location, unlike magazines, which have to be behind your hip bone which pretty much makes it a weak side position by default. see idpa rules:
8.1.5C
8.6.1
8.6.3

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

I shot IPSC for a number of years 25-30 years ago and was thinking about getting back into compedative shooting in Idpa. When I was shooting g IPSC there were basically theee classes and two power factors. We had stock class, unlimited and revolver. There were no boxes the pistol had to fit in, no rules on holster placement or gun position or rules like what idpa seems to have.

I thought idpa was supposed to be practical shooting but it appears the rules were written by a politician. Rules, rules and more rules. The more I learn about it the less appealing it sounds.

Am I wrong?

It's called USPSA now in the US. The rest of the world is still IPSC. Some of the rules are different. The range lawyers can tie up a match for quite a while arguing about the interpretations of the fortyleven page rule book.

On a brighter note, for IDPA, I'm shooting a 40 S&W 686 with moonclips, got a Galco leather holster and single clip on moonclip holders. Simple rig for a simple match.

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protocalldesign.com

IT depends on what you want to do. IDPA is based on defensive shooting, hence the rules on equip, & how to shoot the stages. Many just want to run & gun then USPSA is for you. JMO, if you carry a gun, then USPSA will put a ton of training/competition scars into your shooting. So for me, IDPA has fewer of these.
FWIW, Revo do not have to fit the box. Only restrictions are 4" or less bbl. BTW, Nothing "practical" about giant compensators, 5-6" bbls & open front holsters with 10 speed loaders on the front of your belt, nor standing in front of 3 targets & hosing them.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

To me it seems that IDPA would be less practical than USPSA. Every situation is unique and scripting the way a stage should be shot seems contrary to how one deals with a situation. I was part of a group that shot indoors every Thursday night. IDPA didn’t exist then and IPSC was about it. Often stages were setup and no one was allowed to see the setup until we were engaging the targets. Only the RO, helpers and shooter were allowed on the range and no information was shared with the other shooters. When you walked in no targets were revealed until the buzzer sounded. The shooter had no prior knowledge of what was happening. Some stages required a flashlight and were shot entirely in the darkened range and others were in the light or dimmed situation.

These were really practical shoots and huge fun. You really learned to deal with surprises like moving targets and shooting in the dark. You never knew what was coming down until you’d shot the entire stage. Scripting the way one shoots a stage and where and how many magazines and where they’re placed defeats everything. There are no rules in the real world.

my late father shot IPSC back in the 70's when a trigger job and Pachmayrs was a trick setup... imagine a time when guns did not have optics or need batteries...lol... it is why a number of people went the way of cowboy shooting... but then the "Gamers" showed up there too... the gadget and loophole people just need to go off by themselves and play with each other and leave the rest of us alone... should be treated like tee ball... no scoring or timing... just focus on learning the fundamentals and practice getting yourself better...

I was under the impression that unlimited class was disappearing. I guess I was wrong. What seems to have happened is the same thing that happening in society. Some people in charge feel compelled to impose more and more rules even though we did just fine without them.

I competed in unlimited as well as stock and revolver but stock was by far the larger group in my club.

I sold my race gun several years ago and now I’m only interested in limited and revolver. I still have all my gear from IPSC days so I guess I’m good to go.

Cowboy looks like it’s going the same way. I had never shot cowboy action but was asked to shoot a charity match in Virginia. I didn’t have any guns that would qualify and had to borrow them. I didn’t even have the cowboy clothing and at that time no one cared. I thoroughly enjoyed it and to my surprise I won the match.

Don’t you wish we could roll things back to the good old days before we had rules for our rules?

At this end of the world we shoot IPSC and ICORE, although the later is not set up past club level at a few locations.

We have five divisions in IPSC:

Open, anything goes.
Standard, no compensators or optics.
Production, double action first shot. CZ 75 type guns rule.
Revolver.
Classic, aka single stack. 1911’s only.

Open division is still strong, mostly older shooters who bought guns 20+ years ago and still use the .

Standard division is dwindling. Appears not many interested but some Classic shooters are talking about going back to standard.

Production was the “growth” division until a year or so ago. The CZ SP01 and Shadow 2 rule this division.

Revolver. What can I say, except that after the adoption of 8 rounds over 6 a few years ago the 929 is now the “entry level” pistol.

Classic is now the “growth” division. A number are moving from Production to Classic for some reason now. It is relatively simple. A 1911, a nice trigger, mag well and grips plus enough magazines. 8 round capacity for major and 10 rounds for minor. Can be shot with only 5 mags, although 6 are better in case you have a mag failure on a 32 round course of fire and miss a couple of targets. 9mm is the preferred caliber, although I noticed a few more .45ks in holsters recently.

Sounds like Classic may be what the OP is looking for.

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View from down under

New for me, M686-3 for next year IDPA



Comp II and DIY speedloader pouch

They used to have this thing called "PPC". The original intent died as soon as at became worth winning.

At least they had cooler guns.

Okay, I'm calling malarkey on that.



Nobody wears photographer's vests. It wouldn't even count as concealment in a pretty good chunk of the country.

Ditto for the holsters and the mag carriers. The guns don't get realistic for most folks until you get down to the BUG classes. My G34 MOS would be legal for "Carry" Optics. Dude, if I'm actually toting my G34, it's because I just capped Cletus, the cops took my 26, and I'm worried about retaliation from his 17+1 cousins.

Oh wait, I'm in New York, where Cletus only has 10+1 cousins.

Gun Game 1 is no more "realistic" than Gun Game 2. It's just flavor, what's available in your area, whether the participants in one are jerks in your neighborhood, and what kind of gear you want to buy.

But that's fine, because if you made people compete with real carry guns in real concealment holsters, it would be like watching Keystone Kops, except with guns, and a surprise castration at the end.

Well uspsa is totally scripted & you get to,airgun as you walk thru it. Any competitin is good prsctice but all practice will leave scars when it comes to the street. So idpa has fewer of those for me. Yes I would love blind stages but not gonna happen. For that, a good fof or tactical class.
Btw the rules for gear are mostly safety oriented & so competition is even. Same for rules during a stage. No one wants to see a guy flag his groin on a seated draw from appendix or mizzle everyone while they move thru positions with a shoulder rig. I get it, some people, mostly cops, have an aversion to any competition. Mostly because their gun skills suck, but its a confidence killer when they see people with good gun skills.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

Take the wad of panties out of your butt. There are diff div to get more shooters to shoot. You only compete against those on your division. So if you want to shoot bug, shoot bug. If you want to shoot CO with your g34, shoot that. Iwb, owb all good. Just depends on are you competing or practicing with carry gear.
When i shoot a sanctioned match, I'll shoot owb. The vest is just easier when its like 100deg, but plenty of guys use the ole Hawaiian shirt. I get it though, everyone wants an excuse to not compete.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

I'm a USPSA CRO, IDPA SO and was an IDPA match director for 16 years.
I've heard the "let's just shoot without rules" too much, and it never works. It quickly turns into "Bubba rules" and Bubba arranges it so he always wins. I've let guys talk me into bringing their "not quite legal" to an IDPA match, and then they show up with a tricked out USPSA Open gun with optic and comp, shooting major 9, and then wave their toy at the Glock shooters, telling them to "get a man's gun!"
I've been in IDPA from the first, and every rule in the book (some of which I don't like) has been thrashed out by the officials and top shooters. You either have rules that everybody follows, or it all falls apart and people vote with their feet.
I still follow the old cover rules in club matches for defensive practice, but I don't begrudge the younger shooters who are pushing right up to the fault lines to minimize moving between shots.
Most of the people who button hole me to complain about IDPA rules don't even know what the current IDPA rules are.

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Science plus Art

I Stayed out of ipsc back in the day with all the race guns & such. The Few matches I shot were with a stock 1911. Yep, no rules, people cheat. So Rules are to keep shooters honest. Yep no rules in a gunfight but its not a gunfight.
Btw, hate the whole fault line thing. I've only been into idpa about 10y now. Started when we had cover calls. Fault lines really make it more like a game, run, hit your mark, gun, repeat. I see a lot of shooters looking down as they move bad competition scar right there.
It would be great if they allowed blind stages, just tell the shooter how many threats. Even cops often get that info. It would certainly slow those young guys down.
I think idpa is a great practice tool for those that ccw or keep a gun for def or cops. It will allow you to stress test your gun handling skills & fix things quickly as they show up. All easily transitioned into any tactical class. Its a shame so many people that carry guns shun competition. You learn a lot about your ability under just a tiny bit of stress.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

This. I have heard all the complaints from the IPSC crowd about "all the rules" in IDPA. Most of them have never seen an IDPA RB let alone read one. The IPSC RB I have has more pages and you need a magnifier to read it the print is so small and other than the time they take the IPSC Black Badge course most never look at the RB again anyways. Kinda like most IDPA shooters.

Listen both are sports. They are not training for a modern version of the OK Coral. Both are fun and both require skill to be good at. Both are like life, without rules you have bedlam. Bedlam doesn't work for most. It certainly doesn't work in a shooting sport. To the OP you can compete in IDPA with basic equipment. IPSC will cost you a bit more to be marginally competitive. A lot more if you are competitively driven.

All that said there are some rules I don't like, some, to be fair may not have been all that well thought out but on balance I enjoy the sport. I also like IPSC. I wish ICORE was shot at our club but our community is tp small to support another shooting discipline. If you like to compete or just want to bang away both sports offer you that. If you are looking for handgun ninja skills neither are going to help you much. A stint in your Army would be a better option.

Take Care

Bob

I shot IPSC (name changed to USPSA after I joined) back when there were no double stack magazines, the "Rule Book" only had about 20 pages, and everyone shot Major caliber (the Old major caliber), my membership # was A & 4 digits. I was an RO, and worked as several National Matches. I got tired of the constant bickering I just quit. Maybe some day I might attend an IDPA match and see they are a little more realistic.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I'm glad to see this thread. After taking about a 20 year hiatus from action shooting, I'm looking to get back into it. I used to shoot USPSA/IPSC Unlimited class in the late-80s and throughout the 90s with a Para Ordnance 38 Super. I also shot NRA Action with a Behlert full custom 686.

Now that I'm on the wrong side of 60 with bad knees, I want to go a little simpler. I'm having the Para converted to a Limited/IDPA legal gun. I realize that the .38 Super is a Minor caliber in USPSA Limited and I can only load 10 rounds in IDPA, but I love the gun and want to get back to shooting it.

After reading this thread, I'll get some of my only NRA Action gear out and start shooting Revolver class with my 586-0 4-inch.

I may still get back to Cowboy Action as well. I have all the guns, but none of the clothes except for the hat. Frankly, the clothes were the biggest PITA about shooting that game. I guess I did it before the gamers got involved. Where most USPSA matches had the conversation be about the guns, at the Cowboy matches, most guys were talking about their clothes.

Pretty much that's what I do. I have around a dozen Comp-2 speedloaders and 4 HKS. I'm using up a bunch of full wadcutters that i had sitting around for my initial load with the HKS speedloaders.

In a word: NO! Also, beware the ROs with jack boots. You will also see a lot of stages that, real world, aren't survivable, but that's virtually all of the gun sports.