Shooting Guideline Action Pistol Shooting is open to all individuals who are interested in action-type courses of fire, which combine speed and accuracy with shooting at multiple targets. The purpose of this page is to give general information on how to get started in the sport of action pistol competition. The information given will answer the most often asked questions that a beginner will have. How To Get Started If you have an interest in trying action pistol competition, it is recommended that you find a tournament being conducted near you. Attend this tournament as a spectator; this will give you an opportunity to observe how it is conducted and talk to the sponsor and competitors. Be sure you don't disturb the competitors during the match - the time between relays is a good time to talk to them. You will see a variety of equipment and accessories. Every competitor has his own opinion as to what is best. This may sound confusing, but remember, you're there to gather information. If there is a club in your area, make arrangements to attend one or more of their shooting sessions. This will serve the same purpose as attending a tournament except a shooting session is not always conducted under match conditions. However, this will give you a better opportunity to talk about equipment. Also, you may have an opportunity to actually shoot one or more types (brands) of pistols that will help you to decide which seems best for you. Equipment The beginning shooter does not need a lot of specialized, high priced equipment to participate. There are, however, many custom gunsmiths offering tuned-up pistols for this style of shooting. It is possible for a beginner to compete with an out-of-the-box autoloader or revolver, the key factors of any gun are safety and reliability. Probably the most important piece of equipment for Action Shooting is a safe holster, which will hold the firearm securely while moving, yet allow a rapid draw. Auto pistol shooters will need spare magazines and magazine carriers that also offer security and speed; revolver shooters will find speed loaders a good investment. There are currently several companies offering fine holsters and accessories for the Action Shooter. This section is not meant to restrict equipment, but to define limitations. Generally, there are few restrictions on pistols and their accessories, except for safety concerns. Various types of sights may be used, from standard metallic (fixed and adjustable) to optical and electronic. However, a sponsor may, at his option, restrict a given match as to type of sights allowed. A new firearm category has recently been added to the Action Pistol program, Rule 3.2 Stock Firearm provides for essentially out-of-the-box guns with only specific modifications to enhance accuracy and reliability. Tournament sponsors may provide separate awards for this category, or restrict a match to stock firearms only. This new category offers extended opportunities to shoot Action Pistol with moderate expense for equipment. Ammunition There are some specific rules for the type of ammunition used in Action Pistol competition. The lower limit of caliber shall be 9mm; all ammunition fired in a tournament must meet or exceed the power floor as described when checked by chronograph using the formula: Bullet weight X muzzle velocity=not less than 120,000 (Example: using a 158gr bullet, the muzzle velocity must be at least 760fps to achieve the power floor of 120,000); any ammunition used must be loaded within safe limitations for the handgun to be used; all ammunition fired by a competitor in a tournament must maintain identical bullet design, weight and velocity. Hand loads may be used, provided they meet the specifications of the rule. Many competitors load their own ammunition, as this is not only cost effective, but allows for loads to be "customized" for a particular gun. In many cases, hand-loaded ammunition is more accurate than commercially produced match grade ammunition. If you chose factory ammunition, be sure it meets the power floor. If you reload, be sure to follow all safety procedures. Targets The official Action Pistol Shooting Targets are rectangular, with the top-end rounded. These targets were designed for use in the Bianchi Cup Tournament and through arrangement with John Bianchi, will be printed by NRA licensed manufactures, in both cardboard and paper. The second "official" target is an 8 inch diameter round "plate" made from .375 (3/8) inch thick steel. It is normally painted white. The plates may have individual bases and may sit on a stand in a series of six, or they may be fitted with hinges on metal frames as a more elaborate, permanent fixture. In order to score a hit, which is 10 points, the target must be knocked down. The third "official" target is the speed plate, which is made from .375 (3/8)-inch steel. It is painted white. In the speed event, 4 of the 5 targets must be knocked down to score, while the 5th (stop-plate) must be hit to stop the clock. All courses require a competitor to start with a holstered pistol and, on command, draw and fire at one more targets. Some of these courses limit the use of only the "strong" hand or use of the "weak" hand. One advantage for new shooters, however, is that a two-hand hold may be used in most of the course. Although the Matches start with a draw, safety is stressed at all times. The trigger finger must remain outside the trigger guard during the draw and until in actual fire position (which is generally standing). While in Action-type shooting the emphasis is on center-of-mass, rather than relying on a specific sight picture (i.e., 6 o'clock hold on standard bullseye), proper sight alignment and basic marksmanship principles are of great importance. IPSC Training Tips Here are some basic thoughts and ideas that might help you improve your IPSC shooting, refocus your training, or enjoy competition more. Identifying What's Wrong Basically there are two areas to look at: points and time. After your next match sit down and look at your scores. Where are the people who are beating you getting ahead? The easy answer is "time", because the typical thing is for people to get fixated on going fast and forget that the scoring has two components. Before you look at the times, look at the points. It's important to understand the relationship between the high hit factor on a stage and how many seconds a point is worth. It's very common for the high hit factor at a major match to be in the 7-12 range. No matter what the high factor is, one over that factor is how many seconds one point is worth. In other words, if the high factor is a 7, one point is worth 1/7 of a second; for a 12 factor stage, one point is worth 1/12 of a second. A lot of people don't understand that a miss doesn't cost you 10 points - it costs you 15, because you aren't getting the 5 points for that missing A. That means on a 10 factor stage, where each point is worth 1/10 of a second, a miss is equal to 1.5 seconds. That means if you can make up that miss in less than 1.5 seconds your factor will be higher than if you leave it. This also means that in certain cases you are better off to leave a small steel plate after engaging it once or twice, than taking up 10 seconds banging away at it. Obviously you can't do that if the whole course is small steel plates, but there are times when taking the miss is better than eating a lot of time. If you have a jam after firing one shot at the last target on a stage, you have already engaged the target. If it takes you longer than 2 seconds to clear the jam or reload, you are probably better off stopping and taking the miss - especially if the stage has a high factor (over 10). Here's a key to mastering any physical skill: before you try to perform the skill at any significant speed you need to spend some quality time getting the form right. There are a million subtle details in your grip, stance, draw, reload, and target acquisition. Part of learning to go faster is to break down what you are doing and analyze it. Compare your form to someone else's, preferably someone who is a lot better than you are. When you practice, concentrate on smooth, relaxed motion, and correctness of form. You are far better off with a 1.4 second reload, for example, than a tense, jerky reload that is 1.0 second one of ten times, 1.8 most of the time, and two of ten times you botch the load completely. There is no substitute for diligent practice. The hard truth is that unless you are willing to spend some time dry firing or on the range, you won't see any dramatic improvements in speed. Worse than that, it really takes 3-4 sessions a week to show significant improvement. Otherwise you are only maintaining or inching forward. If you can spend 10 minutes a day dry firing you will probably be better off than making one trip to the range and shooting 500 rounds in one session. Of course, there is also no substitute for going to the range and setting up field courses and shooting a lot, but as you'll see, you might come to believe that how you practice is as important as how much you practice. Attitude Attitude is the most important factor. First and foremost, you should be excited about shooting the match, and waiting your turn to shoot a stage should be like standing in line for your favorite rollercoaster. The electric jolt that should hit you as the start buzzer goes off is what makes IPSC so much fun. Think back to the first few IPSC matches that you shot. You didn't know much about the scoring rules or how to game a stage, but if you are like most competitors you had a great time, because it gave you an adrenaline rush. Unless you are one of the lucky few that are making a living shooting matches, don't ever lose your perspective. The day after the match no one but you, and maybe a few friends will remember how you did on stage 5. If it stops being fun, take a break and regroup. For most people, IPSC stops being fun because of frustration with gun problems, erratic performance, or burnout from ending up being match director, course designer and head RO at too many matches. All of those things can be fixed. Gun Problems Everybody's been there, or will be there someday. When you least expect it, usually at a major match, your gun will break. It will probably break after running flawlessly in practice for months. If this happens, remember that there is always another match. Find a gunsmith that you trust, and who can repair your gun in a timely fashion, especially during match season. If you can afford, get a backup gun. If you intend to shoot more than 3 major matches each year, a backup gun is a wise investment. If the main gun breaks the day before the match, having an identical spare that you can pull out of the safe and use is a wonderful thing. By the time you start shooting multiple major matches per year you've made a significant investment in equipment, ammo, travel, and match fees. The backup gun may seem like overkill but once you have one you wonder what you ever did without it. The bad news about fixing gun problems is that it always costs money. Unfortunately, IPSC is an equipment intensive sport, and keeping the guns running is a big part of it. For some shooters tinkering with the guns, and trying to squeeze every ounce of maximum performance from them, is almost more fun than shooting them! Erratic Performance Those that win their classes are almost always the people who do the following: The gun runs on every stage Shoot 90% or better of the possible points on every stage Fire a minimum of makeup/extra shots No misses, no-shoots, or procedurals Figures out an efficient plan to run each stage and sticks to it For most people, meeting these goals is much harder than learning to go faster, but eventually no matter how fast you go if you fail to meet these goals on match day, someone will beat you -- maybe someone who is a lot slower. Most stages at major US matches these days have high hit factors in the 7-12 range, which means that shooting a miss is like taking an extra 1-2 seconds. The difference between an 85% run and a 70% run, for example, are usually one miss and a couple of D's. When you practice, shoot as if every run is the last stage of a match, and all you have to do is shoot your speed and get all the hits to win the match. If you allow yourself to get D's in practice, you will get misses and no-shoots on match day. Under stress, you will do what you have trained yourself to do. It is the first 50 rounds that you fire in a practice session that reflect what you will do on match day, not the last 50. Here's where attitude comes back into the picture. The way I see it there are two basic attitudes on match day: Fun and Serious. If you are in "Serious" mode, you spend some time before the match chamber checking match ammo, cleaning magazines, and generally doing everything you can to make your gun work. The night before the match you eat healthy food and get a good night's sleep. You get up early enough that you are awake and alert by your first stage, and you stretch and warm up your muscles before it is your turn to shoot. You have looking at the stages and put together a plan on how you intend to shoot the stage, and you have run through it in your mind enough times that you can turn your back on the props and describe to someone else, in detail, exactly what you are going to do. The more detail you have in your mental plan, the less you have to think when the buzzer goes off. At each stage, you tell yourself: This is going to be the best stage of the match - because you are excited to be there and you intend to shoot 100% of your potential. If you allow yourself to be intimidated by a course of fire you have already lost! Visualize yourself shooting the stage perfectly. No matter what it takes, I will get the hits. - you will pay attention to your dot or your sights, and do your best to call every shot as it breaks. If you see your sights move off the target as you shoot, fire a makeup before your gun leaves the target. Calling your misses and not having to go back to targets, or leaving misses and no-shoots, is a major problem for most shooters. In order to achieve this you have to teach yourself to stop blinking as the gun goes off. Videotape or a practice partner will help with this. I am ready to shoot right now. - because you could be the first shooter in your squad. Because you have taken the time before you walked up to the stage to prepare yourself and your equipment, and because IPSC is so much fun that you can't wait to do some shooting! The other option is to get into "Fun" mode, where you go have fun the night before the match, and throw your stuff in the car the morning of the match and hope that your gun is clean, that you have enough ammo to shoot the match, and that you have a holster and magazines. If you go in this mode, don't get upset when things go wrong. After all, you didn't make the effort to prepare for a "serious" match. If you go in "Fun" mode you have already decided that whatever your score is - good or bad - is secondary to the activity of shooting and socializing. Training hard and trying to achieve your personal best is a great thing, and when you succeed it is extremely rewarding - but unless you keep things in perspective you can easily get on the road to burnout when things get tough. Burnout If you get serious, eventually you will get to a point where you are facing burnout. This is true whether you are shooting 2000 rounds a week trying to make Master class, or running your local club single-handedly, or both at the same time. The best solution is to take a break, or change something. Switch from Limited to Open, or vice versa. Shoot a match with a revolver, or your carry gun from concealment. If you are one of the backbone workers of your club, travel to another club where you are only expected to be a shooter, and not a match director. It may be sacrilege to say it, but you could (gasp) just skip the match completely and go see a movie or sleep in.