3rd time pistol shooting ~ 1st time competitor at IDPA

[melensdad]

For those of you who came to the INGO OPEN CARRY CIGAR NIGHT about a week and a half ago you may have met my real estate agent/partner and partner in my new cigar lounge Juan. Juan grew up with hunting rifles but never handguns. About a month or two ago I sold him a Taurus PT111 and showed him the basics of handgun shooting. At the CIGAR NIGHT he was talking to some of the INGO members and a non-INGO member who shoot IDPA.

Tim, the non-INGO member invited Juan to the North Porter County Conservation IDPA shoot. Tim has since joined INGO. Tim now posts on INGO under the name 'downzero'

Yesterday I had Juan out at my property. I put a CZ75c in his hand, pulled out paddle holster, gave him a stack of magazines, and took him to my range. We stapled up multiple targets, set up couple shooting positions and I gave him a few more pointers.

Today he competed with my CZ75c, Tim shot this video:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vNWILf3O74]YouTube - Juan Stage 1 String 1 reshoot North Porter County Conservation club IDPA match 6-20-10[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB2VtctsYMA]YouTube - Juan Stage 4 North Porter County Conservation club IDPA match 6-20-10[/ame]


Here is Tim shooting:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPglTNJga58]YouTube - Tim Stage 1 String 1 North Porter County Conservation club IDPA match 6-20-10[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaaaHnSxhCk]YouTube - Tim Stage 4 North Porter County Conservation club IDPA match 6-20-10[/ame]

 

[rockhopper46038]

I think you deserve high praise for your mentorship, sir!

 

[melensdad]

I think you deserve high praise for your mentorship, sir!

No not at all. I think Tim influenced Juan as much as I did. Juan is a natural competitor.

 

[HICKMAN]

looks like fun was had by all! good job!

 

[melensdad]

Listening to the video I think it may have been Gil, who is Tim's father, who shot the video. Not sure of that. Gil was also at the INGO CIGAR NIGHT.

 

[jjlaughner]

Hey I just watched these videos on Tim's YouTube. I know Tim through an old Truck Club.
He use to come down here to ACC and shoot in Indy when I was shooting in 05-07'.

Looks like fun!

 

[FieldShunt]

It so happens that Yours Truly was the range officer (called a "safety officer" in IDPA) in these vids.
Juan actually did an excellent job. We have first-timers go without the required concealment garment to reduce the brainpower load a little and we coach as needed just to get them going at first, as you can see.
Juan, like nearly every shooter at his or her first match, needed mostly to learn the customary range commands and then get a few tweaks to his gunhandling (arguably the best reason for any gun-carrier to attend a good action-pistol match like USPSA or IDPA).
Beyond that, he was quite a fundamentally good shooter in terms of getting hits and moving along at a reasonable pace.
We are sure that he will come along very quickly as he clearly was applying himself to the task and had a good time doing it.
I know he told me he's looking forward to taking a run at USPSA soon. He sure sounded eager as he left.
Always glad to see enthused newcomers at the matches.

While I was obviously watching downrange, my recollection is that it was Tim running the video camera yesterday. The voices you hear are our squadmates, most especially "Big Fritz Wack'em Good", as he's known in the SASS circuit. No one was mentioned to us as being Tim's father.

Bill

 

[melensdad]

Beyond that, he was quite a fundamentally good shooter in terms of getting hits and moving along at a reasonable pace.

I never shot IDPA and was not really sure what Juan was competing in so when I had him at my home range on Saturday I worked with him on some of the fundamentals. It was the first time he shot that pistol (I loaned it to him for the competition) on Saturday because I figured he'd have an easier time controlling a steel pistol than his own compact lightweight poly pistol. After he got down some of the basics of sight alignment (he did MUCH better this time) then I set up 4 shooting positions for him to move through so he could get a feel for shooting from different angles and different distances as well as shooting on the move.

We did not work much on dropping the magazine and reloading, there was not enough time or ammo Saturday to have him do that much.

BTW, when he brought me back the gun this morning he did say that the person shooting the video was Tim as Gil did not attend the event.

 

[tem375]

I was also there, I did not shoot in that squad, but after I was done I watched Juan, he did very well and looked to be having fun. Good to see you out there, now come to New Buffalo next weekend.

 

[melensdad]

I was also there, I did not shoot in that squad, but after I was done I watched Juan, he did very well and looked to be having fun. Good to see you out there, now come to New Buffalo next weekend.

When Juan brought my gun back to the cigar lounge today he said he could not make it to any event this weekend. I guess that Tim (downzero) also invited him to an event. I was hoping that there were some movies taken of you too, but you were on the other squad so it wasn't really possible.

 

[tem375]

I was hoping that there were some movies taken of you too, but you were on the other squad so it wasn't really possible.

Ya, I ended up in a different squad because I wasn't paying attention when we "squadded up", but that's OK b/c I shot terrible compared to usual so I wouldn't want video anyways.

 

[downzero]

Hey guys. My dad wasn't there. I can't convince him to come to a match; I've been trying for years.

Thanks Bob for loaning Juan the gun. Juan asked me what kind of gun to borrow, and I told him that any fullsize, 9mm pistol that he could get 3 magazines for would be suitable. He showed up with a CZ-75 Compact, which was still better than his Taurus. I'm going to take him to the store and have him look at some pistols.

Juan really wants to get into shooting competitively so I'm going to help him look for a suitable gun. My personal gun of choice (IDPA legal ones, of course) is a 5" Smith and Wesson M&P 9 Pro, but we'll see if he prefers a Glock 17 or 34, the Springfield XD9 Tactical, XD(m), etc.

In USPSA, I shoot either a Kimber Single Stack, the M&P in Production, or an STI Eagle 5.0 in Limited (it has a bull barrel and the slide lightened, so it's not suitable or legal for IDPA at all).

I appreciate everyone's kind words. I am glad to have sucked another person into competitive pistol shooting. Another friend of mine got into the sport with me two years ago and has been kicking my ass for the last year or so. JJLaughner got me into this originally in 2004, and I'm hoping that he will bring me a case of bullets so I can get him set up for a year's worth of shooting before I disappear to law school.

And while my screen name might be "downzero," I haven't shot IDPA in about 5 years. I'm "downzero" because "two alpha" is often taken.

 

[downzero]

Here's a few pics of guns you guys might see or my friends on the range wearing.

STI Eagle:

M&P Pro (that I shot yesterday) and Glock 17 (friend's)

STI, Para, STI custom build

A few Kimber 1911s. I usually compete with the one on the left.

 

[melensdad]

... Thanks Bob for loaning Juan the gun. Juan asked me what kind of gun to borrow, and I told him that any fullsize, 9mm pistol that he could get 3 magazines for would be suitable. He showed up with a CZ-75 Compact, which was still better than his Taurus. ...

Juan didn't tell me what type of gun you said, I've got full size pistols as well. But I laid out a few choices and he gravitated toward the CZ75c after checking out the grip, trigger, etc. Next time I'll lend him a full size gun.

He didn't seem to fond of the Glock after trying the CZ. Can't say I blame him, after all the CZ is the choice of more military and police agencies than any other pistol on the planet. Honestly if I shot that event I'd probably choose a double stack 1911, Browning HP or a CZ 75sa. But to each his own, that is one great thing about guns, there are so many designs to choose from!

I didn't realize the match was limited to 10 rounds in the magazine.

 

[Soundslikejosh]

I didn't realize the match was limited to 10 rounds in the magazine.

Its more tactical that way

 

[tem375]

Its more tactical that way

Actually, it is, seeing as you can incorporate more reloads without having to spend a fortune on ammo, which lets those of us who could not afford another pistol sport able to participate b/c of the relatively low cost. So in a way I guess your sarcastic comment is very true, how ironic.

Nice looking guns Tim, hope to see you at some more events in the future, and I will try and hit some USPSA events as well.

 

[Soundslikejosh]

I suppose the mistake is mine. I always interpreted IDPA as a sport that was supposed to be as "real-life" as possible. But that's not the case, because in real life, who would carry a gun that is only partially loaded?

Listen, I am not trying to make a peeing contest here. Sarcasm doesn't hurt other people and I am not trying to take anything from your sport. Every set of rules accomplishes certain goals while sacrifing others. The simple reality is that you can't satisfy everything. No hate involved here, just comedy trying to shine a light on the other gentleman's statement.

 

[geronimojoe85]

So what is Juan's total round count it would be intresting to find that out.

 

[tem375]

Somewhere less than 100 on Sunday, plus a little bit on the Saturday before, and I believe a couple of rounds from the time previous to that. I would venture to guess less than 200 rounds, and already shooting IDPA I LOVE it.

P.S. Soundslike- I took no offense to your sarcasm, just pointing out my opinion on that as I hear it from people all of the time, however like you said you can never have it all, and in reality IDPA is just a shooting Game, nothing more.

 

[downzero]

IDPA is not "real world" It's just a game, same as everything else. Call it a game with more restrictive rules than USPSA. I shoot USPSA because I've found that what really matters is learning how to take a sight picture and pull the trigger. I must have been right...I got 6th place out of 20 shooters at NPCC in my division. And if I hadn't screwed up the last stage, I might have done even better than that. Point being...I've learned a lot shooting USPSA...and you guys should try it, too.

Bob,

It's cool that he didn't follow my directions. I'm somewhat indifferent. IDPA isn't a game that favors the double stack 1911, although in ESP, IF you use a short dust cover gun (frame like my STI), with a bushing barrel (which mine does not have), and do NOT lighten the slide (oops), or have a mag well (oops, again), or don't load your mags to the 20 round capacity (damnit!), they'll let you compete. Once again, IDPA is a game. Just like any other game, it has rules. And while I wouldn't shoot Gold Dot hollow points at 1050 FPS (147s), IDPA does seek to recreate defensive scenarios. Next time, if I have anything to do with it, however, I'll hook him up with a full-size pistol...because they're easier for new shooters.

I might actually shoot more IDPA in the near future. Don't quote me for saying it, but it's EASIER!! Not having to remember from where to take more than 18 shots is way easier than the 32 shots in USPSA!

I really look forward to shooting with you guys. I won't claim to be the best USPSA shooter (I'm a C class!), look me up, A 63438. But I enjoy shooting with you guys.

And, while I'm home, if anyone wants a crash course in reloading or anything, let me know. I'll teach you.