by Gila Hayes
A couple of months ago, in May, we had a very fun video interview with Michael Bane about the value of competitive shooting. Now that summer is well and truly underway, I hope more of our members are getting out to shooting events. After we published that interview, several Network members shared their thoughts about shooting matches and I find in their examples the strongest inspiration to participate in shooting events, whether that entails a return to matches after a long absence or starting the shooting sports for the first time ever.
What’s In It for Seniors?
A long-time member wrote me a note expressing that while he had enjoyed Michael’s interview, he wondered, “What do old toots get out of competition? I’ve read Marty and Mas commenting on the track meet aspect that is a major component of USPSA and IDPA (now). Tom Givens commented on liking irons [fixed sights, not optics] after all those years with them.”
Glenn claims the status of “old toot” at 77 years of age. He must remain fairly close to home so he can care for his wife. As a result, the IDPA club is too far away, so he shoots USPSA matches at a closer range. “I’m not going to win anything as my arthritic knees preclude running anywhere,” he wrote, “so I just try to get good hits, as do some of the other old toots in the club.” Still, he and his fellow seniors find the matches valuable for “drawing, getting on target, getting hits, reload practice, malfunction practice (from guns supposed to be utterly reliable),” he laughs. He mostly competes with a gun he can carry for self defense, not equipment specialized for competition. He adds, “The younger members now are nice to me and help pick up magazines.” This gentleman, a retired university prof and researcher, is too humble to acknowledge, and maybe even fails to recognize, that he brings the wisdom of his mindset, persistence, and view of life and its challenges and rewards to his interactions with the younger shooters. I have no doubt competitors are happy to see him on the range and benefit from associating with him.
Set the Right Goals
Another member also lauded the fellowship he enjoys at the local IDPA and USPSA matches. Bob explains, “I compete with myself and usually finish at the bottom (or last) of the competitors.” His approach to matches has changed with experience. “In the first years of shooting I would measure my shooting results against my friends and new shooters,” he writes, calling that “admittedly the wrong approach considering certain physical limitations.” Now, he sets goals of “accuracy and technique,” adding that he started shooting in 2007 and in 2016, started to reload ammunition using a Dillon 550B.
He concluded, “Club shooters are generous, and cheerfully offer help in all areas. They have a healthy sense of humor. On occasion I am the target [of their humor]. I can take it. I am happy to ‘return fire.’ Who does not want to talk about firearms and reloading? I am grateful for the friendships and learning and fun.”
Sharing with Others
There’s an important theme here, echoed in the observations of the next member to respond. Armed citizens need to associate with fellow gun owners. The fellowship of club members is a strong motivator to keep going back to shooting matches. This fact resounds through the words of JW, a member who joined our Network family this spring, after he graduated from Massad Ayoob’s 40-hour class Armed Citizen’s Rules of Engagement and Live Fire MAG40.
He relates, “I have been shooting matches since the inception of IDPA and not only enjoy them, but enjoy the type of folks that usually show up.” He commented later that totaled up to 40 years in competitive shooting. Today, as a long-time participant at matches, and former U.S. Marine, he’s someone new shooters approach with their questions. A very common question, he wrote, is “Will shooting matches increase my chances of survival?” There is no easy answer because so much depends on the individual’s “approach to their chosen gun game,” he opines, but adds that there are numerous ways to make match shooting more beneficial. Let’s consider what he wrote:
“Will shooting matches increase my chances of survival?” The answer is “yes or maybe,” he explains, because gun games “can improve accuracy and speed, and [the competitor] would be better prepared to defend themselves with a firearm – especially if it’s with a firearm they use in matches.
“Between the two sports mentioned, I feel IDPA may be better for lending itself to defensive skills. A good score in USPSA favors speed whereas IDPA favors accuracy. If you shoot the same stage at the same speed under both sports, non-stellar accuracy will hurt your IDPA score more than it would in USPSA. Between the critical aspects of speed and accuracy, I feel accuracy must be supreme. Speed is good, but of little value if you can’t make good hits. Good hits give you the best chance of quickly stopping a threat. Rounds that miss the intended point of impact not only delay shutting down the threat, but if a complete miss, purchase anything they hit – sometimes at great cost financially and mentally.
“How you run stages in your chosen gun game, can improve lifesaving skills, as can the equipment you choose. You have two choices. You can treat your sport strictly as competition or you can treat it as a way to improve lifesaving skills. If it is competition, all well and good, but keep in mind that some equipment guidelines and strict adherence to the rules may not be the best tactical applications for a real life self-defense situation.”
For example, JW continues, IDPA encourages retaining partially spent magazines when reloading in the middle of shooting a stage. USPSA matches give more value to speed, leading to the “practice of dumping a partially loaded magazine to save time between shooting positions.” Armed citizens who want to benefit from shooting matches need to consider habits they want ingrained after shooting, and IDPA’s “reload with retention” vs. a true tactical reload “topping off with ammunition after you feel the fight is over and have a pause – or before crossing an opening with a gun you feel may be near empty,” must be carefully weighed.
Decisions to retain or discard magazines from which a double feed malfunction occurred are also elements in habits self-defense shooters should consider. At matches, dropping a faulty magazine to the ground is fastest, so while it is the common procedure, it is one he doesn’t follow. In addition, he finds value in shooting to, and reloading from, slidelock, as well as habituating a tactical reload at the end of a stage. Neither are ordinary match practices, so he suggests letting the folks running the stage know before you start.
Other common match procedures influence shooting from cover, target engagement order, and body shots or head shots. He suggests that with the buy-in of match safety officers, competitors who want to hone their defensive shooting abilities can ignore scoring, accept match penalties and engage the targets in a different order than the stage description designates. The same may apply to shooting more difficult head shots, but let me add that you’ll want to alert the folks running the stage in advance, because sometimes head shots, especially from low cover, can go over the berm, so if the stage calls for body shots, check before taking only headshots to challenge yourself. He suggests other ways to test and build your skills, like shooting the entire match strong hand only or with your non-dominant hand. He also likes to occasionally shoot close targets “from a high retention position if it can be done safely,” first advising the range safety officer.
Competition guns, holsters, optics, low-recoil ammo and compensators can differ wildly from the guns we carry daily for self defense. JW suggests “Run at least 50% of your matches with your daily carry rig and gun, or at least the same type of gun. If possible, have a set of matching practice magazines so that you don’t over exercise your carry magazines.”
Imposing reality on match stages is a challenge, but our member strives to imprint tactically-sound responses like making full use of available cover including keeping the muzzle on his side of the barricade, moving aggressively when movement is allowed and shooting when moving, again, where allowed. He has a preference for surprise stages shot without previews.
This kind of influence is really valuable to clubs that put on matches, and although he doesn’t acknowledge it, the shooters in JW’s area are fortunate to be in his sphere of influence.
Matches and Members
Now that summer is in full swing, I hope Network members will be inspired and motivated by the opinions and experiences and ideas our members expressed in response to our May lead story about being a lifetime competitive shooter. Whether you go out to the range to work your way up to the top ten on the match score board, or go for the friendly and supportive time spent with other armed citizens, or just to knock the rust off your fundamental skills like safely drawing, keeping the gun loaded and running, moving safely with a gun in your hand, and polishing up your accuracy, it’s hard to think of a better venue than a friendly match at your local shooting range. Give it a try!