How sound is my plan?

cam1936

cam1936

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Well i've tried a few different handguns and I really like the 1911 style. Having a nice, crisp and uniform trigger pull every time is mainly why I like it so much. The thing is I want to start shooting IPSC matches and I don't have a huge budget.
So my plan was to get a STI spartan in 9mm and shoot standard division. 9mm lets me practice more because ammo costs less, I also have a gsg 1911 and I like the idea of being able to practice with a rimfire on the same platform I'll be shooting matches with.
My problem is I'm wondering if one can be somewhat competitive shooting minor in standard division. I think I'll get frustrated if I don't gain any results with practice and more experience because my gun is holding me back. I'm not looking to be winning matches, but I do want to be improving. Should I stick with production and shoot a gun I don't like as much as a 1911?
 
Get the 1911. We may have a Single Stack division and the US already has one so there is a Division for it. Single Stack rules allow 10 rounds if Minor and 8 if Major and shooters find that the capacity outweighs the scoring difference in a lot of courses of fire. Particularly up here where we see lots of 9 round strings and 8 round strings with unloaded starts. With better course design it probably wouldn't be an advantage and the major guns would be the way to go.
No matter what it would be a great way to start and as long as you are poking A's you'll be good to go.
 
Typically, your scores are about 10% lower shooting minor than if you shot major and that's if you go minor accidentally, shooting a basically major load but getting scored minor. The actual difference if you're shooting a real minor load will be a lot less

Starting with minor isn't a big deal, you'll find out who your competition is and then your goal will be to beat them. You'll be comparing scores with each other, and checking each others times. You're not going to be racing with the top guns, no matter how fancy a gun you get, so stick with what you like/want/have and figure out who's close in ability to yourself, and start competing against them.
 
Also you may want to look at a 40 as the compromise. BDX 9 mm is $220/thousand while 40 is $245/thousand. you are giving up one round but shooting major. drop me a pm about availability of BDX Ammo.
 
Nope. But lots of other slightly more expensive 1911's do.

If you hit the Alpha all the time then shooting minor isn't a biggie as there is no points cost. And if you practice reloads until you can do them easily and fast despite the lack of a flared magwell then another handicap will go away. And a 9mm 1911 carries 9 rounds. In my short time at IPSC I have not found a lot of situations where I would shoot right to a 10 round magazine limit before turning and running to the next target while reloading. Most situations seem to see me dropping mags with one or two left in them.

With the various skill level classifications in IPSC I think that if you're a good enough shooter and keep improving that you will be able to work your way up. When you hit your performance plateau and nothing at all will move up up further you'll be in a position to look at your stage scores and see where shooting major over minor would give you points. And with that you'd be able to calculate how much higher you'd be in the results if you were shooting major. When you reach that sort of plateau then you can decide on how to proceed or if you're happy with your performance and if the choice of ammo is holding you back or not. But really if the ammo or lack of a magwell are holding you back then improving is actually just a matter of practice and getting better. Once you are shooting all alphas and can't fault your reload times then it's not the choice of shooting minor but the fact that you can't draw and shoot fast enough.
 
Sounds like a sound plan to me, 9mm 1911's are great to shoot. If you don't plan on going to the USA to shoot you can save a few bucks by getting a Norinco 9mm single stack.
Tripp makes 10 rnd 9mm mags
 
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