My first IPSC match

BCRider

BCRider

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Took part in a club IPSC match at Thompson Mountain Sportsman Association range today. It's my first ever IPSC match and I'm hooked. THIS is why I took up shooting in the first place.

Being a club match there was a bit of give and the guys RO'ing for me as well as a few others were helpful and ready to suggest and to point out some helpful ideas. In addition I pulled a couple of minor faux pas's that were pointed out for correction but without a DQ. A nice break when you're just starting.

Got my share of practice with gun issues too. I've got a batch of ammo that my Shadow does NOT like so there was a healthy run of stovepipes and FTL jams to deal with. That was where one of the fuax pas's occured.

It's a two day event and I was originally only going to go for one day. But I had so much fun that I'm going to pass on the other hobby and go back tomorrow for the second day's match and to heck with the added expense! ! ! :D Besides, with my gun acting up it's hella good practice for dealing with jams in the proper method that won't earn me a warning or the dreaded "STOP ! !" from the RO in a full on match.
 
Replace your recoil spring with a lighter one and your stovepipes should go away. CZ offers a lighter recoil spring of about 11#. Just remember there are only two types of IPSC shooters; ones who have been DQ'd at a match and ones who will be.:D Don't ask how I know.

Take Care

Bob
 
I did two things last night that did the trick but now I'm not sure which is the one that worked.

I stripped and wiped out the slide rails and instead of using air tool oil, which I had for the last cleaning a week ago, I used CLP. I also switched to 115grn factory from the 124grn factory I used yesterday. But I took along the 124 to try in a stage or two to see if the issues were still there. As it turned out I only used the 124 stuff for one stage so it's hardly a definitive test. However the pistol ran like a champ all day with no issues at all.

Maybe it was because the sun was out? :D

Anyhow this sure is a great sport. I can hardly wait until the next club match.
 
Canuck44 said:
Just remember there are only two types of IPSC shooters; ones who have been DQ'd at a match and ones who will be.:D
Bob
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Wise words.
Welcome to the game BCRider! I found that once I became a little more competitive (around year 2) I would push the limits much harder to get faster times. Closest I've come to DQ'ing was at last year's provincials. I nailed the stage but almost dq'ed on the last shot...
 
I did have a couple of brain burp moments. One was a close call on breaking 90 during a back run. I was still OK so that would not have been a DQ but the guy RO'ing mentioned it as a courtesy. I thought I was turned enough but from there I really exagerated it. The beauty of a club match to work on this stuff. And the other was a failure to lift the finger out of the guard during a jam on the Saturday which would have resulted in a DQ at a full on match. Again the advantage of a club match. With those suggestions in mind I really started to emphasize my actions. Even going to far as to stick my trigger finger out so far during walkthoughs that it felt like it was going to pop out of the knuckle... :D

Got lots of other helpful hints as well for equipment setup, I had my mags around the "weak" way in the holders, shooting hints as well as some other procedural hints that'll help going into my BB course a few weeks from now.
 
it took Murray G 25 years to get DQ'd and chances are it'll happen to Eric one day too.
 
I strongly suspect I won't be giving either of these guys a run for their money. :D

Just reading through the rules as well as listening to discussions on DQ's there's just way too many little points and one of them will eventually trip me up.
 
This is awesome BCRider.

I wish I could have gone and done a club match before a qualifier, but already had plans for the long weekend.

Are you going to the Nanaimo qualifier by chance?

D.
 
One suggestion.. match are not the place to find out what ammo work or do not work in your gun. Test all your equipment & ammo on the range and use only know combination ;)
 
Dsynch, I may come over to watch/tape/help score/etc since I can get the motorcycle on for cheap(er) but I won't have the Black Badge course by then so I can't compete in a full on official match. I'll have to see what's on the calender for that day. The curse of having too many hobbies that all have their events on the weekends. LOTS of conflicts.

Janeau, while I'd agree normally this "issue" came right out of the blue over the last month. And OF COURSE it did it far more in the match then it did in testing where I only had one stovepipe out of 150 rounds during testing but 3 or 4 bad jams during the match. Isn't that always the way? :D Also I'm not in any way going to try to jump in and go for points this late in the season so it's all for grins, giggles and experience. And while the jams were frustrating they were excellent "on the job training" for clearing jams while under the clock and RO scrutiny. Somehow it's just not the same when those two factors are not there. So while it was frustrating and ensured a distant placing for the day it was excellent practice.
 
BCRider said:
Dsynch, I may come over to watch/tape/help score/etc since I can get the motorcycle on for cheap(er) but I won't have the Black Badge course by then so I can't compete in a full on official match. I'll have to see what's on the calender for that day. The curse of having too many hobbies that all have their events on the weekends. LOTS of conflicts.
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You doing BB with Murray or with Richard? I had Richard and it was fantastic. No doubt Murray would be awesome also, but only Richard was running classes in Feb.

If you can make it to Nanaimo, that would be cool.

I'm running 147gr in my shadow right now. You are welcome to try some if you want to see how they run in yours.

D.
 
Hey BC Rider, I'd suggest not to go with 11# recoild spring unless you shoot light reloads. Go with 14# or 13# the lightest. I'd also suggest getting an extra slide stop and since you shoot Shadow - extra FO rod; I had FO fall out from front sight last Sunday during the match I shot. Also, mini torch is what you use to secure new one in the sight, not a lighter :D
 
I'm way ahead of ya CeeZer. My front sight is already broken and glued for the time being. At a steel target shoot about a month back I was mid way through a string of shots and noticed that my black square around the red fiber dot was turning into a diamond and then back to a square with each shot. A trifle distracting I must say.... :D Seems the back upright of the U that holds the fiber snapped off. When I first looked at it I thought it was plastic since the break line was all black. But it seems that it was cracked and then blued so the inside of the crack blued as well.

I'm going to make up a new one or maybe I'll just buy a replacement. I need to order the mainspring calibration kit from Ghost anyway so I can finally tune down the DA pull closer to the 5 lb minimum or at least get it down under 10. As for the recoil I'm running factor or factory equivalent reloads so I'll be sticking with the stock recoil spring. Even when the 124's didn't jam up I didn't notice any difference at all in the felt recoil so I don't see any advantage in shifting to a heavier bullet. Although 147's may change my mind. For those I'm guessing that I would need a lighter recoil spring?

Dsynch, I found out today that the naniamo match isn't until July. I'll likely be BB'ed before then and may well be joining the Thompson Mountain group that's planning on making the journey.
 
so how to secure the FO rod that's already on the gun with a torch? my shadow shuld be in the mail by tomorrow. and i dont want to order a new rod.
 
First check just how well it's flared over and evaluate from there. If it's nicely flared over then you're in pretty much no risk of it kicking out. If it looks like it's barely flared then it's time for a bit of work.

The "wind proof" lighters that produce the blue torch like flame would be the tool of choice. Just keep it fanning lightly and quicklyover the end of the fiber to avoid it suddenly melting and charring. And do it in such a way that it's not directed at the coating on the slide as well. In fact it would be best to punch out the retaining pin and do it off the slide I'd say.

Someone told me that model railroad hobby shops carry the plastic light conducting fiber for far cheaper than the gun stores have it for. I really need to check that option out.
 
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