IPSC pistol for smaller hands

Just thought I'd follow up in case anyone else was debating between the XD and the M&P. Last weekend I headed to the range with my new XD40. As luck would have it I ran into a friendly guy who shoots IPSC and had his .40 M&P there to shoot. Big thanks to him in case he reads this as I got a ton of good pointers and got to shoot his M&P.

To compare the two I found the M&P to be more comfortable in my hand. But the M&P had a mean muzzle flash even if recoil was pretty equivalent to the XD. I have to assume the mean flash was because of the shorter barrel.
The sights seemed a little nicer on the M&P.
I like my XD and all in all I think it was probably the better deal as I bought 3 extra mags for it at around 30 bucks as opposed to 100 for the M&P. The XD also came with a holster and mag holder, both of which are usuable pieces of equipment. There doesn't seem to be much out there yet for holsters for the M&P.
As for the M&P mags breaking...I did see some pics on the net of broken mags. I told that the guy who owns the M&P and he tossed an empty mag over his shoulder behind him. He didn't seem too worried.

My opinion with the limited experience I have with both guns - you can't go wrong with either one.

Big thanks to Wolfgang at Wolverine Supplies for the fast service. I see a love/hate relationship developing with Wolverine. I love them and their products and my wife will hate them for taking all our money...LOL
 
Just a few random thoughts. I'm good with random thoughts.

We are going to shoot IPSC shortly, my son (14) and I. We have a fistful of choices here and are even prepared to buy new guns should the need arise.

We have both a S&W 686 revolver and a couple of Ruger d/a revolvers; including a GP101. Both beautiful guns, with holsters and speed loaders. Obviously set up for IPSC. I think I like the idea of Andrew shooting a revolver for IPSC in .38 (maybel HBWC's).

In the automatic department... I have been playing with a ton of guns; here's the list and I would be grateful for observations:

(1) Our latest is a Ruger P345 with target sights tuned for IPSC. D/A and S/A. I LOOOOOOVE it. The trigger is smooth as butter. And it is smack on accurate too for a wee gun. I shot 3" groups all evening long .45 cal.

(2) We have a Kimber Target II Stainless Steel in 9mm. Think the previous owner may have had FTEx problems; we got a great deal, cleaned up the extractor problem and this gun is a tack driver, fast to resight the target.

(3) We also bought a Kimber Custom II in .45... it is pretty much as accurate as the P345 but the trigger needs some work and that's on my list of things to learn for the next month. I think this would make a great IPSC gun; I have yet to have any kind of an issue with it whatsoever.

(4) Colt Double Eagle Series 90 - wonderful auto in .45 that's dead to nuts accurate and has a compensator that is removable. Tuned for IPSC. I love it.

(5) GLOCKS of all kinds, shapes and sizes. We have been trying to cut down the selection of Glocks in the safe to 9mm and .45's. I find them too light for IPSC type shooting or target shooting. Don't find them as accurate as the aforementioned for one thing. And I dislike the safety on them for casual shooting. For defensive purposes or as a duty gun they are hard to beat... and I will be the first to stand up and say that. But for IPSC they are too much gun for me. Or too little depending on how you look at it.

So... do we have something that we want to use here? Or do we want to be looking at getting someting a bit more elaborate into our safe? I am thinking something like a Kimber Gold Match or something like that. I love Kimbers and they are so very easy to work on. Contrary to other reports I have seen on here lately... I have had no problems getting a Kimber problem cleared up on my own in short order with a little help from my friends.

We have lots of other guns on hand. A Taurus PT99AF for instance, with several magazines, that is all steel and I am looking forward to trying it out this weekend. We have several target pistols that are obviously not for IPSC type shooting; a S&W 41 in .22 and a 52-2 in .38 HBWC. Also a FAS set on the way for target shooting. And a Ruger P89... I just don't like the feel of this pistol. It's a fine shooter but not for my hand. Can't explain it. Just not for me.

What is the ideal pistol for IPSC? And the ideal pistol for Target Shooting? Getting tired of playing about and looking to settle down with one gun for IPSC and a set for Target (thinking either the S&W set, a FAS set or perhaps if we can afford it, a set of Walthers). Suggestions? What do YOU use and do you like it?

So far, for us, total confusion reigns. We are torn between the revolvers, the Kimbers and the P345's.

Torontogunguy
 
torontogunguy said:
Just a few random thoughts. I'm good with random thoughts.


What is the ideal pistol for IPSC? And the ideal pistol for Target Shooting? Getting tired of playing about and looking to settle down with one gun for IPSC and a set for Target (thinking either the S&W set, a FAS set or perhaps if we can afford it, a set of Walthers). Suggestions? What do YOU use and do you like it?

So far, for us, total confusion reigns. We are torn between the revolvers, the Kimbers and the P345's.

Torontogunguy
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Just a few comments. For IPSC you will find that your 45's will be too expensive to shoot. Your 9mm Kimber would put you at a slight scoring disadvantage in Standard Division. You might want to decide which division you want to compete in. Watch a few matches to see what others are shooting. You'll notice that most in Standard Division are some form of 1911 style gun, usually in 40S&W. The Production Division were primarily 9mm tupperware with the occasional CZ75 or 85, or Beretta. Recently there has been an influx of Tanfuglios and CZ SPO1's. Any of your Glock 17's or 22's would be perfect. I use a 9mm USP.
Have fun.
 
pmt said:
Just a few comments. For IPSC you will find that your 45's will be too expensive to shoot. Your 9mm Kimber would put you at a slight scoring disadvantage in Standard Division. You might want to decide which division you want to compete in. Watch a few matches to see what others are shooting. You'll notice that most in Standard Division are some form of 1911 style gun, usually in 40S&W. The Production Division were primarily 9mm tupperware with the occasional CZ75 or 85, or Beretta. Recently there has been an influx of Tanfuglios and CZ SPO1's. Any of your Glock 17's or 22's would be perfect. I use a 9mm USP.
Have fun.
Click to expand...

This is one of the problems with IPSC. Total confusion for the newbie. If price is the only issue with regard to .45 then perhaps we are able to accomodate it by using Wolf reloads which we have great success with. The .40's are not too different in price. I am thinking $190/M for .40 and $250/M for .45. Wolf will reload any way you wish... just tell him what you want and all it takes at this end is a few buttons pushed. I think.

Anyway, we also purchased a couple thousand rounds of .38 HBWC's and they were about $160/M as I recall. So the difference in cost is minimal if you buy right.

We have much to learn with regard to IPSC rules and regs and I think we are going to have to print out the rules books and start reading them all. Too many rules. I say just set up the damn popcans and start blasting away.

Torontogunguy

P.S. Thanks for the observations about the types of guns being used... I think you are right, we need to look and see what the champs are using.
 
torontogunguy: With what you've listed in your safe for you and your son t shoot I have to ask - Would you consider adopting a 35 year old man? :D
 
torontogunguy said:
P.S. Thanks for the observations about the types of guns being used... I think you are right, we need to look and see what the champs are using.
Click to expand...

It isn't really all that confusing. You're pretty much free to use any gun - just realize that your equipment will determine which division you play in. Same goes for ammo - if you can afford to shoot 5-10K rounds of 45 per year, have at it. Personally, I'm cheap - I reload for 9mm.

Go to BRRC today or tomorrow. There is a Level 2 match in progress. Take some eye/ear protection & go watch & talk to people.
 
Best thing is to try out a bunch of guns and find out what fits you the best. For your son, in addition to common suggestions, try something in 9mm like a Steyr M9-A1 or Baby Eagle. These are ones that my kids are using , smaller grips and in the case of the Baby Eagle, full dustcover that adds a bit of weight up front to limit muzzle climb.
 
torontogunguy said:
We have both a S&W 686 revolver and a couple of Ruger d/a revolvers; including a GP101. Both beautiful guns, with holsters and speed loaders. Obviously set up for IPSC. I think I like the idea of Andrew shooting a revolver for IPSC in .38 (maybel HBWC's).
Click to expand...


torontogunguy said:
Anyway, we also purchased a couple thousand rounds of .38 HBWC's and they were about $160/M as I recall. So the difference in cost is minimal if you buy right.
Click to expand...


.38 Spl HBWCs probably won't even make 'minor' (unless their MV is 845 Ft/Sec or greater.....) Further, Revolver Standard Division isn't very popular in IPSC in most of Canada. (We have a saying here in Alberta: Unless you're Jerry Mickulek, shooting revolvers in IPSC is a lot like masturbation; fun to do but really ugly to watch :eek: )
 
I am surprised nobody mentioned the Walther p99. I tried out every production legal gun I could and found that the only one I could reach all of the controls without changing my grip is the p99. I have the newest model with the extended mag release and it really makes a difference. The gun is super accurate too. The only thing stopping me from competing with it is the amount of mizzle flip with the highish bore axis. Will have to spend some time with some minor loads to see if that helps much (only really shot factory).

Having said all that I compete with a Glock 22. I don't really use the slide release because if I ever slidelock I will just slam the mag home and it will drop the slide. I have an extended mag release but I still have to adjust my grip to drop a mag but with practice it is not much of an issue.
 
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