[Stranded in Daytona]

How does one go about getting a good start in Competition Shooting? I am only 21, and don't even have my pistol yet, but I love the competitions that my school's Firearms club does when we go to the range.



I want to take a Tactical Pistol Course for my own personal protection, but where should I look to do this? Are there any good websites to visit for information? Im a total noob when it comes to this, so please bare with me.



Thanks,

Cameron



btw, I live in Daytona Beach, FL right now, if the geography helps to answer any questions

 

[Round Gun Shooter]

Go to this web site http://uspsa-area6.org/ find the club closest to you and e mail the club contact. Explain you want to get started and ask what they have for new shooters in your area.



Or try this site http://www.idpa.com/clublist.asp?state=FL and do the same.



First is for USPSA, second is IDPA. Try them both and see which you like.



Regards,

 

[dragonlibra]

Some other ideas

Round Gun Shooter had good suggestions.



A good forum besides here is Brian Enos forum. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/



Ask around a local ranges about any tactical courses. There may be a good school in your area or a course coming to one of your local ranges.



There are several good schools that are known nationally. Gunsite http://www.gunsite.com/ and Thunder Ranch http://www.thunderranchinc.com/ to mention two.



There are also a number of DVDs you can buy that are very good. Thunder Ranch sells theirs. There's a ton listed at GunVideo. http://gunvideo.com/ And some very good competition videos are put out by Matt Burkett. http://www.mattburkett.com/



If you have Outdoor Channel they have a nice slate of shooting shows on Wednesday evening. Shooting Gallery, Shooting USA and Personal Defense are my 3 favorites. Shooting USA especially many times shows USPSA or IDPA competition and Personal Defense has segments from Thunder Ranch.

 

[M&P Store]

Cam,



I suggest you take it one thing at a time. My advise would be for you to either find a good instructor or a good shooting school where you are and take a basic class first. Get a feel for things, see how the fundamentals work for you. You've got one thing working for you, you have no bad habits to begin with. If the instructor is a good one, your hard drive will start writing all the right things as your base foundation begins.



Then take it one step further and take another class from yet another instructor if possible. This does a couple of things; it allows you the opportunity to compare between 2 good instructors and make a decision on what works for you, different instructors offer different training skills that will only work to your benefit to know more, one of them might cover something the other has not, etc.



Once you've got a couple of hundred rounds under your belt, then do what the others suggested, find out where your local clubs are and get involved. This I say from my own personal experience. When I first got started, I was fortunate enough not to get drawn into any pistol or accessory buying frenzy. I took a very basic NRA course just so I could try out all the loaner guns at the range until I found one to my liking. Borrowed some holsters and mag pouches from friends and signed myself up for a weekend class. A good weekend class will tell you what works for you and what doesn't. It will save you some in the long run. By the time I got to my first IDPA match, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I didn't end at the bottom of the group when the scores were announced.



Anyway, I don't know much about Daytona Beach but there are some good instructors in FL. There's Dave Harrington in Tampa and if he does conduct a beginner's class, there's Frank Garcia's Universal Shooting Academy which I highly recommend. I have friends who are IDPA Masters who seek him out to improve on their fundamentals.



Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[M&P Store]

P.S. Frank does have a beginner's class. Just saw it on his site. See link below:



http://universaltacticalacademy.com/coursedesc_pistol.html

 

[Stranded in Daytona]

i-shot



Thank you so much for the advice. I figured it would be to my advantage to get some courses before I just signed up and went with a basic knowledge.



I'll check out those classes



-Cameron

 

[M&P Store]

Anytime Cameron. That's my best advice. Get your fundamentals and safety ingrained before considering any of the competitive sports suggested. Many a times have I seen new shooters at matches that exhibit bad safety skills. An SO/RO will appreciate nothing more than a safe shooter even if he/she has never shot a match before.



Let me know if I can help with anything else.

 

[Stranded in Daytona]

I believe I'm going to enroll in the tactical pistol course with Frank Garcia in June. I need an Open Top Mag Pouch... I don't like the Blade-tech too much, but I found this Blackhawk quad mag pouch:



http://www.cactustactical.com/osc/product_...4190a4775845753



Any experience with this? What are some other options that people would recommend? Thanks a lot

 

[Roger]

Hey stranded,



A tactical course is fine and dandy, but not needed to begin IDPA/USPSA shooting. There are several clubs near you. Any of a number of people would be glad to loan you some gear if you bring the ammo. get in touch with someone from the club and mention it to them. They can arrange to have something for you. I normally carry enough stuff for a new shooter minus the ammo. If no one in the area will, I'll be glad to meet you at the St. Augustine USPSA match after the area 6 match and shoot with you(I have a spare Glock 34 and maybe even an extra M&P 9 by then) The best thing to do is find a shooting buddy and hang with them for a few matches.



Roger

 

[Dan Burwell]

What are some other options that people would recommend?

Get Helmie's I-shot mag pouches you can get them from the MP store. Holds the mags very well but are still really fast.

 

[Stranded in Daytona]

Hey stranded,



A tactical course is fine and dandy, but not needed to begin IDPA/USPSA shooting. There are several clubs near you. Any of a number of people would be glad to loan you some gear if you bring the ammo. get in touch with someone from the club and mention it to them. They can arrange to have something for you. I normally carry enough stuff for a new shooter minus the ammo. If no one in the area will, I'll be glad to meet you at the St. Augustine USPSA match after the area 6 match and shoot with you(I have a spare Glock 34 and maybe even an extra M&P 9 by then) The best thing to do is find a shooting buddy and hang with them for a few matches.



Roger

Hey, thanks a lot Roger. Do you have the Dates for those events? Or a link to find out... also if you have a link to some of those other clubs in my area seeing as I don't know where to go to find them. I will have my M&P this weekend, so I won't need to borrow a gun or ammo.



Cameron

 

[Stranded in Daytona]

[quote name='Stranded in Daytona']What are some other options that people would recommend?

Get Helmie's I-shot mag pouches you can get them from the MP store. Holds the mags very well but are still really fast.[/quote]



Those look very nice, espeically for Conceal Carry. But I think I'll be more comfortable with the Hip-side mag pouch. Especially since I will need to carry 4 extra mags at the Tactical Course. Also, Im kind of practicing a stance and "pretending" to eject an empty mag and grab an extra and reload. My hand naturally goes straight to just below my hip. I try pulling from slightly above my hip and find that to be a bit of a nuisance for me. I think the Hip Pouch might be my best bet.



Also, How does it feel carrying about three of those I-shot mag pouches? I'd assume that gets kind of uncomfortable

 

[Dan Burwell]

Last sunday I had on four I-shot singles plus a comptac double in the rear not uncomfortable at all. I was shooting production at a USPSA match and 2 stages I found myself with only on mag laft at the end

the ones you had linked will not be very fast at all as they have most of the mag body covered which means you will have less to grab and have to pull further to get them out.



The I-shots are the way to go. I will be getting 2 more soon just so I don't have to use the double any more.

 

[Roger]

Start here and type Florida in the club finder www.uspsa.org



St. Augustine shoots the third sat. of the month. Their website is www.mysapsa.com That is my southern limit for a one day match, but Titusville shoots the first sat of the mont and is not far from you also.





Roger

 

[Mousekiller]

Stranded

You could also try Uncle Mikes double mag holders.. They work fairly well and are cheap. To start with they are not a bad buy.



I've been shooting pretty much all my life with one thing or another, and when i finally had the time and money to get into competition shooting i started doing some research.. I had the basics down but not for competition shooting.. So i ended up taking a "new shooters class" with helmie by the way, given by a long time USPSA shooter in our Area.. Great guy.



As you are new to shooting I'd at least take something basic, NRA course, etc.. get the basics down and all the safety rules..as Helmie suggested. You maybe able to find a decent instructor at one of the USPSA clubs or IDPA clubs around your area, i know of quite a few with the crowd that i shoot with..



Then go and get yourself involved.. If a "competition" class is available take it.. If not go to a match and shoot, nobody is going to laugh or make fun, actually you'll probably have to many folks trying to "help"..

I'll also give a shameless plug here to Helmie at I-Shot.. I don't know of a better person to do business with or one that supports the shooting sports anymore then Helmie does.. he makes some great stuff and stands by it 200%..



Did i mention that Helmie beat me at our graduation match for our new shooter class by a couple of points

... lol..



Good luck..



Your gonna have a lot of fun with this..



Jeff.

 

[Stranded in Daytona]

Mr. Burwell



I was about to order a few of the I-shot mag pouches but hen I realized that they are right hand only right now. I want my mags to be on my left side for a quicker reload, and so I don't have to switch hands.



any solution to this?

 

[Dan Burwell]

They are made for right handed people so they are made for your left hip.

 

[Stranded in Daytona]

Re: Stranded

You could also try Uncle Mikes double mag holders.. They work fairly well and are cheap. To start with they are not a bad buy.



I've been shooting pretty much all my life with one thing or another, and when i finally had the time and money to get into competition shooting i started doing some research.. I had the basics down but not for competition shooting.. So i ended up taking a "new shooters class" with helmie by the way, given by a long time USPSA shooter in our Area.. Great guy.



As you are new to shooting I'd at least take something basic, NRA course, etc.. get the basics down and all the safety rules..as Helmie suggested. You maybe able to find a decent instructor at one of the USPSA clubs or IDPA clubs around your area, i know of quite a few with the crowd that i shoot with..



Then go and get yourself involved.. If a "competition" class is available take it.. If not go to a match and shoot, nobody is going to laugh or make fun, actually you'll probably have to many folks trying to "help"..

I'll also give a shameless plug here to Helmie at I-Shot.. I don't know of a better person to do business with or one that supports the shooting sports anymore then Helmie does.. he makes some great stuff and stands by it 200%..



Did i mention that Helmie beat me at our graduation match for our new shooter class by a couple of points

... lol..



Good luck..



Your gonna have a lot of fun with this..



Jeff.

Thanks for the advice, Jeff

 

[Stranded in Daytona]

They are made for right handed people so they are made for your left hip.

ah... please excuse my noob-ness, lol

 

[Stranded in Daytona]

ok, just ordered one. I'm gonna see how I like it