For my Indy/Metro readers, I have a new Burger Column up on one of my favorite joints in the entire city: 96th St. Steakburgers.
Weekend Shooty
If you’re looking for information on Indy Metro Area shooting matches this weekend, check out IndyGunRacers.com; they have all the weekend’s matches posted on their site. I’ll be at Marion County Fish & Game tomorrow to blast some bowling pins with the Para Tac-5. I’ve got some special cheater bullets for the pins, and like I’ve said, definitely need to keep getting trigger time on the Para in preparation for Bianchi Cup.
Quote of the Day
“Not playing to win is like sleeping with your sister. Sure, she’s a great piece of tail with a blouse full of goodies, but it’s just illegal.” -Lt. Topper Harley, Hot Shots
Chicks and Guns
Via Tam, who linked to a pretty bitchin’ t-shirt, I find a new blog called In Jennifer’s Head. Neato.
More IDPA Divisions
Check out the Gun Nuts Radio Blog for a post on the Stock Service Revolver division of IDPA.
Facts, not feelings
Robb has a request for facts and statistics. He does a pretty good job himself with his numbers.
Getting started in competitive shooting
Easily the most common thread I see in the “competition” forum at TFL, and also one of the most common emails I get goes something like this:
Dear TFL/Caleb:
I want to get started in competition shooting, but I don’t know what gun to buy, I already have a Glock 19/Springfield XD/Ruger GP100 that I carry sometimes.
My answer is invariably the same, and I’ll repeat it here for posterity: if you’re just getting starting in competition shooting, shoot the gun you carry for self defense. If you don’t carry, then shoot the gun that you keep in the nightstand/closet/gun safe for home protection. If you’re not sure what competitive division your gun will play in, don’t sweat it – go to the local match, and ask someone there because odds are they will know.
For example, say you have a Glock 19 that you carry for self defense/use for home protection. In USPSA, that gun would be a Production Division gun, and in IDPA it would be in Stock Service Pistol. You don’t need to do anything goofy to the gun, just get some extra magazines (5 is a good number) and go shoot.
The next question I get is “what about holsters/mag holders?” This is easy, actually. For IDPA you’ll need at least 2 mag holders, and a good holster. For USPSA you’ll need a few more mag holders. I use Blackhawk magazine holders – they’re durable and relatively inexpensive. However, any quality magazine holster will serve you fine, as long as it retains the mags during rapid movement.
Holsters are again pretty simple – like my mag holders, I prefer Blackhawk CQC holsters. If you’re not interested in a Blackhawk holster, I would also recommend Comp-Tac or Blade-Tech. All three of these are excellent polymer holsters which will be very resistant to sweat, heat, and other elements of competition shooting. Galco makes a great “Carry Lite” package, that is essentially a competition “starter kit”.
Not counting spare mags, you can get all the gear you need to shoot competition for around $100. Don’t sweat the gear too much – just get stuff that is safe and serviceable, and spend that extra money on ammo for practice.
If you end up liking competitive shooting, use your carry gun for a few months before you think about buying a special gun just to run in matches. I still shoot my carry gun regularly in matches; it also shares the exact same operating system as my other competition guns.
Hey PDB
PDB and I argue a lot about playing games vs. training. If I had a dime for every time he called me a gamerfag (definition: someone who plays pistol games for the sake of playing, and winning, the game) I would be able to retire from this life of crime. With that in mind, here is today’s quote of the day:
“Most people who dismiss competition shooting use ‘tactics’ as an excuse for poor marksmanship.” -Sgt. Maj. Brian Searcy, U.S. Army Special Forces Operational Group Delta.
Check!
Protip: Don't be that guy
You’re probably wondering “what guy” it is that you shouldn’t be? The following videos, captured from what archeologists will someday use to discern the true meaning of western culture, demonstrate what guy you should not be. Don’t be that guy that hands his girlfriend a .476 Heffalump Magnum, gives her little to no instruction, and then stands back and laughs as she inevitably gets whacked around. Even worse is when the girl commits a safety violation because her idiot boyfriend didn’t bother to explain fun things like muzzle control and trigger discipline.
For example, in the following video, some one has provided the young lady with a muzzleloader. A heavy muzzleloader. This same person also failed to inform said young lady that sometimes the lock time on a muzzleloader can be…delayed. As such, by the time the gun actually goes off, the muzzle is pointed into the dirt, and the shooter no longer has control of the weapon.
Our next subject provides someone with a short barreled .500 Magnum, and then is amused when the monster recoil and torque from the gun causes her to bean herself in the forehead with it.
Aaaaaanddd to wrap things up, the last item on our list involves a young lady, who thankfully is wearing ear and eye protection doing something rather unsafe. You’ll have to click on the link to watch this one, as embedding is disabled for this video.
Now, this is the part where I qualify my statements. I’m relatively certain that there are just as many incidents of men getting injured by firearms or acting unsafe, but for whatever reason most guys don’t record their friends getting injured and post them on the internet. I guess it’s only funny when it happens to a girl.
The moral of the story is as said above: don’t do that. It doesn’t just hurt your girlfriend or make you look like a jerk, but it hurts the shooting sports as well. Those videos are on the internet for anyone to find – say some young woman or man is interested in shooting and finds one of those. What impression is that going to leave him or her about our sport? Certainly not a good one. Whenever you post something gun related on the ‘net, whether you intend to be or not, you have made yourself an ambassador for all gun owners. You’re representing every single one of us with your moronic shenanigans, and as such making it harder for us to bring new shooters into the sport.
Speaking of Wheelguns
My local club is thinking about trying to get some ICORE Matches going. They’ve asked for volunteers to help get this up and running, and I’m seriously thinking about getting involved. Right now, I shoot autochuckers exclusively in competition, but if I got involved in running/directing ICORE matches, I’d probably switch one of my IDPA guns out for a wheelgun. What do you guys think, should I get involved in ICORE? I’d probably keep shooting ESP in IDPA, and then instead of shooting CDP I’d switch out to Stock Service Revolver or Enhanced Service Revolver depending on what gun I went with.
Vote now, vote often!