RANT ON
For those of you that know me, you know that I have shot ALOT of IPSC and just started into CDPA this year.
I've found good and bad in both. With IPSC, there is a definite set of rules that are strictly adhered to and dictate how matches and courses of fire will be designed, set up and run. Unfortunately, I've seen rule changes that should have been made that weren't and then there are changes that haven't been made but should! On the whole though, it is alot of FUN but sometimes just too political.
With CDPA/IDPA, I've found that there is a set of rules that dictate how matches and courses of fire will be designed BUT the actual running of a course of fire is dictated by the range officer who is officiating at that particular time. Sometimes, those range officials assess penalties for some and not for others and that just aint right! Oh, and it's starting to become political! CDPA, IDPA, CDP???? Get a grip, they're the same game!
So, I shoot IPSC to be competitive and work on SOME shooting skills with a gun/holster that I would never carry operationally, and to me, CDPA is fun and a way to test SOME skills using a gun and equipment that I would actually use operationally and in training tac, mil and LEO's.
I like the use of cover and tactical rules but I've found that, often, the debates on tactics of "gunfighting" in CDPA get to be a little much..especially when it's by people who have ZERO actual knowledge of tactics.
To say that either discipline deals with actual TACTICS is delusional at best. Both offer GREAT shooting scenarios and practice but that's about it.
In CDPA, I've seen competitors waste 5 seconds trying to pick up a dropped mag with rounds in it rather than deal with a tactical scenario or RO'S who dicatate which target and technique should have been utilized first i.e. engaging all targets in tactical sequence with one round then returning for the second.
BOTH are games, both offer practice for shooting and fun competition but any relation to actual tactics in either is fleeting at best.
BUT I STIIL LOVE SHOOTING 'EM BOTH. We need to understand and agree that any shooting is good , shooting is fun whether it is hunting, skeet, trap, CIVSAC, bulls-eye, PPC, IPSC, small bore, long range rifle, IDPA, CDPA, 3-gun, 2 gun, zombie matches, sporting clays, plinking. Those who watch what we do often see only guns and they could be put off by the inability of our own people to get along. I've notived that if you take someone that has never shot anything and give them strong safety instructions, supervision and a gun that won't hurt, most people will love it and we usually end up increasing the ranks and understanding of gun owners by one more!
It's like frickin' kids on a playground thinking dodgeball is better than football..it's all about what you LIKE to play, not whether one is better than the other. And as far as I'm concerned hockey sucks but boxing and football are awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I see that Quig, Sean, 667, Pop and some others have all jumped in here and I like the discourse but guys... quit arguing, it's self-defeating and pointless.
RANT OFF
