IDPA, Exploring the Dark Side

I have been corrupted. It is snowing in hell, and the end is near. I shot my first IDPA match on Saturday, and I even followed all the rules!

The afternoon started easily enough, slightly overcast, a temperature of 65 degrees. I thought to myself, "Why not wear shorts?". First things first, I needed a cover garment. I also have to be one of the cool kids. So what to do? Off to the local 5-11 dealer, I had to find me one of those uber-cool 'shoot me first vests'. Taking a page from another IDPA shooter (that we all know and love, right?), I strapped on a BLackhawk SERPA holster and some plastic mag pouches.

So now I have all the cool gear, it's time to head to the range. The match was fairly straight forward, six stages, about 100 rounds fired. My most immediate observation was the focus on accuracy versus speed. It was almost shocking to see how slow everybody was shooting. I had some decent runs, didn't drop too many points, and I only had one procedural.

The final stage we shot was long by IDPA standards, 14 rounds. You started the stage having to shoot two targets at five yards, activate a drop turner, retrieve a volleyball from the top of a barrel, and retreat about fifteen yards. After the retreat, you had to reload, shoot two more targets, run another fifteen yards across the range, reload again, and shoot two more targets. The volleyball had to stay behind cover the whole time, you could set it down, you could do anything except palm it. There were people holding the ball between their biceps and shooting, people setting it down and shooting, anything that you could imagine. Did I mention that the volleyball was low on air? Not flat, just low enough that it crushed a little bit. The gamer in me took over, I couldn't help myself. When it was my turn I put my first rounds into the two targets, activated the drop turner, put three rounds in it, grabbed the volleyball, shoved it into my mouth and I bit down hard. Retreating to cover, I moved down the wall until the next target was visible. I Shot the other two targets, my slide locked back and I reloaded. Before I continue, do you realize how hard it is to reload with a volleyball in your mouth? I had to pull the pistol up to eye level just so I could see the damn thing. I ran across the stage, sliced the pie and shot all remaining targets with the distraction of everybody laughing at me.

Final notes: I still think that IDPA was created by a bunch of crybabies that were tired of losing at USPSA. This does not make the game easy, much like our government, they have added alot of rules to ensure that nobody has an advantage over anybody else. I just wonder if I can write off all this new gear that I bought.