IDPA next weekend!

I'm nervous but I'm going to give it a shot. I'll use my 1911 until I figure out what I really want (Right now I"m looking at a Glock 19 or PX4 Storm.)

Any tips? I have a great belt, good holster, 2 magazine belt pouches and a concealment garment (Cheap vest.)

Dang, sorry I missed this.  If you haven't gone yet, I'd take 4 magazines.  One for your first mag, and I think that the class you'll be in (CDP) allows you to have 3 spare mags (2 in carriers, one in a pocket) but I could be wrong.  I've not shot in that class personally.

Otherwise, I think your list is fine.

NUMBER ONE RULE for new IDPA shooters is --- BE SAFE.  Keep that muzzle pointed downrange, keep your draws calm and cool within your limits, even if that limit is very slow.  The only thing you can do wrong is to be unsafe, so be careful, and don't bother for a moment about whether your score is good enough.  One time, we had a cautious new guy shoot a stage that the rest of us shot in 30 - 40 seconds, and he shot it in 220 seconds.  We all went up and congratulated him on being smart and careful.

NUMBER TWO RULE --- See Number One Rule.

NUMBER THREE RULE --- Enjoy yourself.  Don't add to the pressure by trying to exceed unrealistic expectations.  You won't win.  You'll probably be last.  And that is 100% A-OK.  Your job at this stage is to get a feel for the game, have a good time, and leave with the same number of holes in your body as you had when you arrived.

I also suggest that you take some time later to determine what it is you're seeking from competition, and stay focused on those goals.  For example, I decided early on that I wanted experience in drawing, firing and movement with my carry guns in my carry gear (untucked shirt and IWB holster).  Those guns are usually big revolvers with fairly heavy ammo.  That means I'm not likely ever going to place high in IDPA, but I will be a much better defensive shooter through the experience.  

Your goals might differ.  You might decide you love the game and you'll want to do what you can to get better scores, including mimimum power factor ammo, IDPA vest, etc. and there's nothing wrong with that.

My suggestion, though, is to not forget your goals and stick with them.  Don't let someone else's goals interfere with yours.  For example, every match I go to, someone always tells me I'd do much better with 38 Special ammo instead of full 357 mags.  I desparately want to tell them I'm not here to win the game, but I just smile and nod and try not to crap on their goals although they clearly don't understand mine.

Cool! I have time, it's not until this Sunday morning.

I do have 4 good mags; I think I have 4 total of a Chip McCormick (is that the name?) or Wilson mags. I have 2 Kydex mag pouches and a third horizontal Magholder for 1911.

How many rounds do you take? 200?

I forgot 1911 may be in CDP; I need to go change my status, I think I had myself in SSP!

The amount of ammo you need will depend on the number of stages they have. I've not seen a stage that required more than 18 shots as a minimum. I think that's the largest number of minimum shots allowed under IDPA rules, but I might be wrong about that.

Regardless, I would count on needing at least a handful of extra shots per stage. You will miss sometimes, and don't forget, that is 100% A-OK.

One other thought Beta, before my first IDPA shoot, Charlie Foxtrot gave me some really good advice. He said before a shooting stage at cowboy action events, he takes a few really deep breaths to calm his nerves. I found that to help quite a bit.

Good point, very good point. I'll try that.

I have 500 rounds from Freedom Munitions, maybe 100 rounds of CCI stuff and a 100 round Winchester white box and a holster, vest, holster and pouches. I'm going to go to the range tomorrow after jiujitsu and throw 200 rounds or so downrange and practice my drawing and reloads in a tactical berm - so I'm not doing it for the first time Sunday morning at 0800. I'll let you know how it goes!

OK false alarm!

Yesterday I got all my kit on and started practicing how it felt to draw and reload. One thing I realized quick .. I never came to grips with how big that freaking 1911 is! So big, in fact, that my strong side thumb can't really hit the magazine release without having to twist off-center and really destabilize my grip on the pistol. So much so I wasn't really comfortable doing reloads with a loaded weapon.

So I asked the match coordinator about maybe using my XDS instead, that was a no-go because it's a backup gun category. So I'll go compete when I can decide which pistol I want to buy next to compete/carry in (so far it bounces between the Beretta PX4 Storm, CZ75 Compact or Glock 19.)

Beta, an you using two hands? If so, I was shown a trick for shooting SASS Wild Bunch with a 1911: As you bring your pistol on target and haven't established your two handed grip yet, take your support (weak) hand thumb and trip the slide release. Then rotate your hand down, pivoting on the thumb, and into your firing grip.

It may take several tries, but there'll come an AH HA moment. I find this is much faster than breaking your grip, or sling-shotting the slide.  

You most certainly know this, but NEVER drop the 1911 slide without a round or dummy round (Azoom) in the mag. Milk the slide forward if there no round in the chamber. But, NEVER milk the hammer forward! That's very bad for the sear. Let the hammer fall unrestrained. (Empty chamber checked and safe direction, of course.)

One of these days I've gotta to try IDPA, IPSC or PPA
.

Yep I was! I'm right handed, I've been trying to use the technique I've seen where I leave enough space with my thumb high enough to get above the safety, and my left hand gets a good on-metal grip with my two thumbs kind of above each other. The problem I was having was I just don't feel like my thumb is long enough to hit the magazine release when I'm reloading, so I have to break my grip to tilt it even more to lean way out with my thumb and then that big ol' heavy 1911 feels like it is not at all stable and I had a brief mental image of dropping it in the dirt mid-stage! Which, you know, would suck.

Magpul Grip Panels 1911 MOE Government Commander Polymer Black

Sorry, I misread your post as a problem with the slide release. I blame Bush -- and the rum.  These modded grips are supposed to be what all the tacticool kidz are using.  They're on my wish list. If these fail, you might have to go with an extended mag release. Simple to install.

One of life's little joys is running an Eleventy flat out.

No worries man! Now I gotta ask what rum, cause I've been on a rum kick lately.

To be honest, my post was the result of my natural talent for stupidity, not rum - or Bush.

However, when I'm mixing Cuba Libres, I pour the Costco Original Spiced Rum. Not bad, especially for the price. For sippin', I've recently been introduced to Captain Morgan Private Stock: nice. Sailor Jerry's, Blackoak, Trader Vics are also favorites.

Not a booze snob for the little I drink - more to spend on guns!

Nice, I haven't tried the Costco. My go to is Bacardi Oakheart, honestly. I really really like this Captain Morgan Limited Edition Sherry Oak finish - it's dark spiced rum aged in sherry casks. REALLY REALLY good.

I tried the Captain Jerrys, not sure what it is about it but it didn't agree with me, it had too hard of a sharp note for me at the end, if that doesn't sound too pretentious.

You should try Ten Cane rum, it's apparently 'authentic', and I tried one tonight with some fresh lime juice and wow was it good.

Charlie Foxtrot wrote:
But, NEVER milk the hammer forward! That's very bad for the sear. Let the hammer fall unrestrained. (Empty chamber checked and safe direction, of course.)

Well dang. I never knew that. I don't own a 1911, but still. So, always let the hammer drop on a 1911?

Tennessee Jed wrote:

Charlie Foxtrot wrote:
But, NEVER milk the hammer forward! That's very bad for the sear. Let the hammer fall unrestrained. (Empty chamber checked and safe direction, of course.)

Well dang.  I never knew that.  I don't own a 1911, but still.  So, always let the hammer drop on a 1911?

Always. Every gun. The hammer/ sear interface is really a delicate knife edge. Slowly dropping the hammer grinds that edge and can quickly destroy an expensive custom sear. A friend milked the hammer forward in front of a high-zoot '11 mechanic, who just about lost his schlitz. I made damn sure to drop the hammer when I came my turn to clear the gun in front of him.  I've since read that advice many other places.  

Also, don't allow a slide to slam forward on an empty chamber. Equally bad.  

And...... why the HELL don't you have an Eleventy?  

Charlie Foxtrot wrote:
And...... why the HELL don't you have an Eleventy?  

I know, I know....it's disgraceful. I once owned a Springfield Armory Milspec that I loved, but it gnawed the web of my shooting hand like a rabid badger. Once I started getting scar tissue I gave up on it. Since selling the Milspec, my M1 Garand has yet to forgive me.

I am seriously thinking about adding a 1911 to the collection. Don't want to spend over $1,000, so I'm looking at the Ruger SR1911 and the Springfield Armory Range Officer, with a slight preference to the Range Officer at the moment, but that can change with the direction the wind is blowing.

Any suggestions, oh wise one?

Sheesh; I am most unwise, just ask my wife. I buy guns and ammo, when I could have been investing in shoes and purses.    

The Rugers and Springers are very nice. I once fell desperately in lust with a TRP; but lordy, what a price tag.

When I decided to buy my pre-'Boma gun, I obsessively reviewed a bunch of the 1911 options. I settled on the Smith and Wesson SW1911, largely based on my reading and the opinions of a couple of 1911 plumbers that I knew and trusted. They understood the Achilles Heel of the 1911 is the internal extractor. If it is not quite right, or getting old, or imperceptibly damaged, it can cause all types of problems. And tuning the internal extractor is a black art. Browning recognized the flaw; his next pistol, the Browning Hi Power, had an external extractor.  

Smidt incorporated the external extractor into their 1911s and made the gun nearly bulletproof. I've heard of competitors that have put 50k rounds through them with essentially zero problems. My own SW1911 has almost 3k rounds without a failure that wasn't directly my fault. That includes SASS Wild Bunch competitions in some very ugly conditions.

The current S&W Series E 1911s are even better than my generation. I will have one!

I picked up those Magpul grips and they should be here Friday night, I have some range time scheduled on Sunday to check out my buddy's Tavor - I'll let you know how it goes.

Really interested in your Tavor thoughts. Especially for close quarter/ home defense.

Tennessee Jed wrote:

Charlie Foxtrot wrote:
And...... why the HELL don't you have an Eleventy?  

I know, I know....it's disgraceful.  I once owned a Springfield Armory Milspec that I loved, but it gnawed the web of my shooting hand like a rabid badger.  Once I started getting scar tissue I gave up on it.  Since selling the Milspec, my M1 Garand has yet to forgive me.

I am seriously thinking about adding a 1911 to the collection.  Don't want to spend over $1,000, so I'm looking at the Ruger SR1911 and the Springfield Armory Range Officer, with a slight preference to the Range Officer at the moment, but that can change with the direction the wind is blowing.

Any suggestions, oh wise one?

Since I know you won't be carrying it, you should consider the Range Officer. It is a really nice bullseye gun right out of the box. No smithing needed.

The whole extractor issue is I believe blown out of proportion. Yes, you need a well tuned extractor to get good, reliable function. But there is a significant tolerance level to that, especially if you aren't carrying it so need absolute reliability. The external makes up for the issues with the spring steel tension, but I can tell you shooting mine for many, many years and many, many rounds that it isn't that much of an issue.

Dropping the slide is more of an old knife-edge issue. Back in the bad old days (when I was shooting bullseye) really good competition sears were cut on a knife-edge, and the hammer hooks were SHORT. The hammer hooks are still short in a competition gun (not so with a carry gun) but ALL sears are cut on a full-contact jig. Back then you could load a round by pulling the slide stop and the gun would go off now and then. We got past that by holding the trigger back, holding the hammer back with the thumb of the other hand, then dropping the slide stop. Then you let go of the trigger FIRST (to allow the disconnect to work), THEN let the hammer go (onto the sear). Worked every time.

The one thing you oughtn't do is load a cartridge (or snap cap) into the chamber, then drop the slide on it to "load" it. That makes the old extractors have to jump the cartridge edge to get into the extractor groove on the case, and that is a LOT of pressure on the extractor. In the normal loading sequence from a magazine, the case slides in behind the extractor as the slide bolt face moves it forward out of the magazine and ultimately into the chamber. I guess if you have an external extractor like CF it doesn't make as much difference, but since I don't have any like that, I just don't do that.

Devereaux wrote:
Since I know you won't be carrying it, you should consider the Range Officer. It is a really nice bullseye gun right out of the box. No smithing needed.

Just out of curiosity, why would the Range Officer be bad for carry?  Is it the rear sights with sharp edges?

Not that I'm interested in carry one, but I've heard others say that before and I'm starting to wonder why.

OK bonus points to Charlie, who recommended these grips.

Here's the new grips and then what I had before on the 1911. Now reaching the magazine release is WAY easier.

RO's are made as bullseye guns. That means a couple things.

- Triggers are light. You can adjust to have more weight to the trigger, but that kind of defeats the purpose of the gun.

- Sights are fully adjustable. Most modern SD guns have no adjustments to sights. You can get a set of Novaks with wings to protect the sights AND have them adjustable, but the ones that come are competition sights, not fighting sights. Narrow slot in the rear, tall, flat front.

- Hammer hooks on competition guns are cut quite short. That allows a nice, light trigger without creap. But you don't want short hammer hooks on an SD gun as that makes them much more finicky and so prone to fire when you might not want to fire. IIRC, most SD hooks are no less that about .018-.020, while competition hooks are .012. That is a huge difference, and one you don't want in a carry gun. Plus short hammer hooks can allow a weapon to discharge from jolting when you are carrying it, as there is less holding the hammer onto the sear.

- Some would say that a competition gun is made to tighter tolerances and that makes it a little less reliable. Not sure I go there anymore, but at least that's the theory.