I’ve been getting back into the swing of USPSA. I had to take a few months off after the birth of our second. I just wasn’t able to leave my wife with the baby and three year old long enough to shoot a full match.
I shoot Single Stack major. I handicap myself because I shoot the venerable 45 ACP and so have more recoil than someone shooting 40 S&W. Shooting 45 ACP is a requirement for IDPA Custom Defensive Pistol (CDP) so that’s what I built since I wanted one gun for competition. The only difference in my IDPA and USPSA rigs is the number of mags I carry.
What I noticed is the number of shooters who have gone in for the Pistol Caliber Carbine (PCC) division.
I don’t like PCC. I love PCC’s for a lot of things, like home defense and fun, but pulling one out for USPSA seems… almost like cheating.
You don’t have to draw from a holster, you start from the low ready facing up range. You don’t have to shoot one handed. There is no size limits to magazines so you may never have to reload during a stage (one shooter I saw had a 42 round mag). Shooting a rifle with a 16 inch barrel, red dot, and over size compensator at 10 yards, you can’t miss the ‘A’ zone unless you try. On short range targets, you can just about touch the cardboard with the muzzle.
If you feel the need to shoot a rifle for speed, go to a tactical carbine match. Shooting off hand at 100 yards is more challenging.
I have come to the conclusion that shooting a PCC is like sitting down to pee. It’s fine for women and little kids who still have accuracy problems, but it’s just not something a grown man with self respect should do.
Hey, blame the button fly jeans, man, not the guy who wears them…!
Meh, on your “analysis” re: PCC. Same issue w/ a bone stock G17 vs a $5000 Open race gun.
I find it a very good idea, au contraire. Extra opportunities to get the PCCs ouf of the safes (and no, they aren’t suitable for real rifle matches w/ 150-300yd stages) without any extra work for range designers/officers. Win-win!
I think there is a difference.
Yes, usually the guys shooting open class are at the top of the score sheet while the guys running production are towards the bottom. Still, there are always some guys shooting limited or even production near the top because they have the skill.
When they added PCC, the top spots are ALWAYS PCC. They are faster than everybody by wide margins.
It’s like attending a hot rod race when somebody shows up with a top fuel car.
It just doesn’t feel sporting.
Again, that’s why there are Divisions. Mixed results (ie: all divisions) aren’t even published, in my neck of the woods.
They don’t take their PCC guns to a carbine course because they won’t be top of the field anymore.
This is the core of the argument against this kind of shooting being considered practical, despite the name.
To torture the analogy further:
An Indy car isn’t going to win a drag race against a top-fuel car.
A top-fuel car isn’t going to win at Indy.
You don’t see either one commuting to the office everyday.
You want to win your gun game, you tailor it to the rules very tightly.
Hope those rules apply to real life?
IPSC has been a game for at least 20 years. IDPA isn’t so parctical as it used to be.
Both are still very good to improve your shooting skills, but people shouldn’t live under the delusion it replicates real life. That’s what training classes are for.