[Shortshooter]

Hi all, I have been seriuosly interested in competition shoots. I am a green horn, but love to shoot. I figure I can do nothing less than learn from the people who do it all the time.
First question:
How do I get into it?

Second question:
What types of guns are permissable?

Thanks all!
Shorty

[ThorsHammer]

I would suggest you try out IDPA, which stands for International Defensive Pistol Association, they have matches pretty much everywhere.

Go to the Affiliated Clubs page and see if there's a club near you. Some of the other members might have other suggestions, but all I know about is IDPA.

Good luck, and happy shooting!

[Garandpa]

A better question would be: What have you got? I mean, what do you like to shoot? Handguns, Highpower Rifles, smallbore rifles, shotguns? There are competitions for all of them (even some of them combined). Give us something to work with here.

[T.Mihm]

Not to threadjack, but I'm also in the same boat. I'd love a way to improve my marksmanship. I have started myself on a .22lr. Competed in an all-prone, NRA style half match a little while back and it was a blast. How do I find out where I can compete at?

-Travis

[Garandpa]

The Civilian Marksmanship Program is a good place to start. Their "Competition Tracker" is a great tool for find matches. The link is below. Click on the "upcoming matches" links inside the various match circles:

CMP Index

Also, check out the National Rifle Association, which is the shares responsibility with the CMP as the governing body for long gun competition:

NRA Competitions

Also google your state rifle and pistol association. Most States have an association that conducts matches throughout the year. Your local gun clubs are an excellent place to start as well, and will likely be host to the matches you find on the above mentioned websites. They tend to be a very friendly bunch who will go out of their way to get you started.

[Wornouttrails]

Single Action Shooting Society (Cowboy Action Shooting). Go to a match near where you live and watch.......someone there is going to ask you would you like to shoot his cowboy guns, go for it.......I have shot all the major disciplines, IDPA is great, IPSC is very competitive, but SASS is all layed back, and you get to shoot all 4 guns in one string......enough......W.T.

[Wambli]

Originally Posted by Shortshooter

Hi all, I have been seriuosly interested in competition shoots. I am a green horn, but love to shoot. I figure I can do nothing less than learn from the people who do it all the time.
First question:
How do I get into it?

Second question:
What types of guns are permissable?

Thanks all!
Shorty

Ok that's like asking, "I love to eat, what kinds of foods are out there?"

If you are interested in defensive handgun shooting IDPA is one of the best and I highly recommend it. There are soooooooo many gun sports out there that it is nearly impossible to keep track of them all. If you can use someting for a target, somebody/somehow is shooting at it with something and scoring it.

Try to narrow it down to a type of gun and competition you think you might be interested and attend a local match. Shooters are suckers for helping newbies and before you figure out what happened you'll be shooting borrowed guns and getting free training in a new sport. Follow intruction without deviating and PAY VERY CLOSE ATTENTION to range officers. They will walk newbies through stages, match rules etc so no one gets hurt. Ask a boatload of questions and before long YOU will be introducing new folks to whatever discipline you choose.

Have fun and good luck!

[Acrostic]

Had you checked with IDPA and you can use Handguns, Highpower Rifles, smallbore rifles, shotguns.

[TraderJack]

I'll add my .02 ...

I'm a long time shooter, having started when I was 6 , and shot USPSA (which is the USA governing body for IPSC, which is the International Body), for several years. I just love it!
I shoot a 1911 in the Single Stack Class and used to shoot Open with a fancy race gun. For me, there's nothing like it!

IPSC evolved from the old days of the 'Leather Slap' competition that Jeff Cooper and the boys held up at Big Bear in the 50's

When Bill Wilson brought IDPA along, I tried it a few times, but I found it wasn't to my liking. Way too many rules and pesky little no-no's to suit me.

USPSA is a 'run & gun' type of sport and IDPA is more 'real world' defensive scenarios.

For example in IDPA you must shoot from cover and you dare not drop a magazine - you'll get a 'procedural' penalty for sure!
And they have things like 'failure to neutralize' which means you really didn't take care of the threat! Yeah, OK...

You need to try all of the shooting games...
USPSA, IDPA, Steel Challenge, Cowboy Action(SASS), 3 Gun, NRA... heck why not Camp Perry as well?

That's the only way you'll find out what suits you and your style.
Good Luck!
TJ

[BigSe63xy]

Originally Posted by Acrostic

Had you checked with IDPA and you can use Handguns, Highpower Rifles, smallbore rifles, shotguns.

What's the cutoff point between smallbore and highpower?