Ok so I'm gonna shoot my first ever match (IDPA)on saturday and I'm feeling woefully un-boyscout like in my lack of preparedness for the event.
I attended the range safety/rules session weds. night and got convinced to shoot. However:
I've never OWNED a strong side concealed carry holster.. so I had to go shopping.. well the one I got (a forward canted hi-ride fbi-style holster $40) fits my commander nicely.. but not my full sized 1911 (its that custom DA/seecamp frame and extended safety and slide stop) So i spend two hours with leather lotion , neatfoot oil, etc. to no avail. So i recall that SOMEWHERE in the house I have a nylon pouch (by ams) that will do in a pinch.. yeah well it hold the gun but its not a quick draw.. and the gun flops around a lot on the belt. So for lunch today I have to try ANOTHER shop.. this time I brought the gun WITH ME. What I really wanted was a lil bikini style g-slide, but after seeing all the shop owners sporting milt sparks customs now i want one.
Magazine pouches: Ok I have three of these.. two are US GI surplus OD cotton , one is for 45, the other for an M-1 carbine (which works well for 9mm mags) and a black nylon one that will hold either single or double stacks. Ok the black nylon one goes in., and the pouch with the alice clips, heck i only own 5 magazines for 45 auto.. so I could now carry them all.
Haul out BIG ASS belt from closet to support all that weight (damn I KNEW ther was a reason I wear a web belt for this kinda thing)
I also found, that having loaned my dillon set -up for .45 to a friend so he could load up some blasting rounds.. that I'm out of my 45 target loads (and i don't wanna shoot a match with hyrda shocks)so while at the holster place I get three boxes of PMC 230 ball ammo (ouch $15 a box) Should have gone to wal-mart.
Ok I'm also gonna shoot rifle. So I go get my 223 'sport-utility" rifle and some bullets. Damn I forgot to ask "how amny rounds will i need?" So I throw 80 rounds in the range bag. I start getting magazines (well you can only load ten rounds for IDPA, so do i take the 20 round "tanker" mags or the traditional 30 rounders?? Ok I take two of each.. oops Need a pouch for a spare mag, right? Or can i just use a jacket pocket?? Do I have to shoot each rifle target twice?? More stuff I didn't ask.. hmmmmmm.
ok add case for rifle, cleaning rod, patches, ear plugs, gloves, pistol rug, range bag, ammo, chapstick, smokes, snacks, water bottles, camera, film, tapes for the drive suddenly i have a jeep full of stuff...
OK now here I am in the living room with a full sized all-steel 45, two seven round colt magazines and three 8 round chip mcCormick magazines and I really dont "feel" like i conceal all this STUFF and it wieghs a ton.. so i ditch the seven rounders.
I'm still feeling woefully unprepared...
I don't know if its pre-match jitters, or what. I'm not worried about my score I just want to shoot a course without screwing up...
Anyone else have these problems/jitters/concerns??
Dr.Rob
I attended the range safety/rules session weds. night and got convinced to shoot. However:
I've never OWNED a strong side concealed carry holster.. so I had to go shopping.. well the one I got (a forward canted hi-ride fbi-style holster $40) fits my commander nicely.. but not my full sized 1911 (its that custom DA/seecamp frame and extended safety and slide stop) So i spend two hours with leather lotion , neatfoot oil, etc. to no avail. So i recall that SOMEWHERE in the house I have a nylon pouch (by ams) that will do in a pinch.. yeah well it hold the gun but its not a quick draw.. and the gun flops around a lot on the belt. So for lunch today I have to try ANOTHER shop.. this time I brought the gun WITH ME. What I really wanted was a lil bikini style g-slide, but after seeing all the shop owners sporting milt sparks customs now i want one.
Magazine pouches: Ok I have three of these.. two are US GI surplus OD cotton , one is for 45, the other for an M-1 carbine (which works well for 9mm mags) and a black nylon one that will hold either single or double stacks. Ok the black nylon one goes in., and the pouch with the alice clips, heck i only own 5 magazines for 45 auto.. so I could now carry them all.
Haul out BIG ASS belt from closet to support all that weight (damn I KNEW ther was a reason I wear a web belt for this kinda thing)
I also found, that having loaned my dillon set -up for .45 to a friend so he could load up some blasting rounds.. that I'm out of my 45 target loads (and i don't wanna shoot a match with hyrda shocks)so while at the holster place I get three boxes of PMC 230 ball ammo (ouch $15 a box) Should have gone to wal-mart.
Ok I'm also gonna shoot rifle. So I go get my 223 'sport-utility" rifle and some bullets. Damn I forgot to ask "how amny rounds will i need?" So I throw 80 rounds in the range bag. I start getting magazines (well you can only load ten rounds for IDPA, so do i take the 20 round "tanker" mags or the traditional 30 rounders?? Ok I take two of each.. oops Need a pouch for a spare mag, right? Or can i just use a jacket pocket?? Do I have to shoot each rifle target twice?? More stuff I didn't ask.. hmmmmmm.
ok add case for rifle, cleaning rod, patches, ear plugs, gloves, pistol rug, range bag, ammo, chapstick, smokes, snacks, water bottles, camera, film, tapes for the drive suddenly i have a jeep full of stuff...
OK now here I am in the living room with a full sized all-steel 45, two seven round colt magazines and three 8 round chip mcCormick magazines and I really dont "feel" like i conceal all this STUFF and it wieghs a ton.. so i ditch the seven rounders.
I'm still feeling woefully unprepared...
I don't know if its pre-match jitters, or what. I'm not worried about my score I just want to shoot a course without screwing up...
Anyone else have these problems/jitters/concerns??
Dr.Rob
), so twenty should do it for the rifle. Two spares should do for each pistol stage as well. Don't forget that you can (and should) top off your magazine after chambering at the line.