Introduction to IPSC/ Practical Shooting IPSC Introduction for Beginners Page 1 Table of Contents Introduction to IPSC/ Practical Shooting ................................................................................................ 1 1. What's Practical Shooting? ................................................................................................................. 4 1.1 Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 4 1.2 The principles of the sport ............................................................................................................ 4 1.3 Background ................................................................................................................................... 5 1.4 The Equipment Race ..................................................................................................................... 6 2. Start Practical Shooting Safely ............................................................................................................ 6 2.1 The Four Laws of Gun Control ...................................................................................................... 6 THE 1st LAW - THE GUN IS ALWAYS LOADED! ................................................................................ 7 THE 2nd LAW - NEVER POINT THE GUN AT SOMETHING YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO DESTROY! 7 THE 3rd LAW - ALWAYS BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET AND WHAT IS BEHIND IT! ............................. 7 THE 4th LAW - KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET! ........................................................................................................................................................ 7 GUN CONTROL = SELF CONTROL .................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Equipment ..................................................................................................................................... 7 2.3 Basic Skills ..................................................................................................................................... 9 2.3.1 Fundamentals....................................................................................................................... 10 2.3.2 Safe Dry Fire Practice At Home ............................................................................................ 10 2.3.3 The Draw and Fire Sequence ............................................................................................... 11 2.3.4 Reloading, Movement, and other Skills ............................................................................... 12 2.4 Practicing ..................................................................................................................................... 13 3. The Rules of the Game ...................................................................................................................... 14 3.1 Safety and Disqualification ......................................................................................................... 14 3.1.1 The Safe Area ....................................................................................................................... 14 3.1.2 Range Commands ................................................................................................................ 15 3.2Classic, Open, Standard, Production and Revolver. ..................................................................... 16 3.3 Power Factor, Targets & Scoring ................................................................................................. 17 3.3.1 Power Factor ........................................................................................................................ 17 3.3.2 Targets.................................................................................................................................. 20 3.3.3 Scoring Method .................................................................................................................... 23 3.5 Your First Match .......................................................................................................................... 23 IPSC Introduction for Beginners Page 2 3.5.1 Registration .......................................................................................................................... 24 3.5.2 On the Firing Line ................................................................................................................. 25 4. Where to find more information ...................................................................................................... 27 4.1 Other Internet IPSC resources .................................................................................................... 27 4.2 Books, videos .............................................................................................................................. 27 4.3 Related shooting sports .............................................................................................................. 27 4.3.1 3-gun competition ................................................................................................................ 28 4.3.2 Action Shooting/Bianchi Cup ............................................................................................... 28 4.3.3 The Steel Challenge .............................................................................................................. 28 5. Training Tips ...................................................................................................................................... 29 5.1 Identifying What's Wrong ........................................................................................................... 29 5.2 Attitude ....................................................................................................................................... 30 5.3 Gun Problems .............................................................................................................................. 30 5.4 Erratic Performance .................................................................................................................... 31 5.5 Burnout ....................................................................................................................................... 32 5.6 Final Thoughts ............................................................................................................................. 33 6. PISTOL DRY FIRE/LIVE FIRE ................................................................................................................ 33 6.1 Things to remember .................................................................................................................... 33 6.2 Practice Drills .............................................................................................................................. 34 6.3 Live Fire Practise Drills............................................................................................................... 35 7. Reference Material ........................................................................................................................... 35 IPSC Introduction for Beginners Page 3 1. What's Practical Shooting? 1.1 Overview You may have seen it on television, in a gun magazine, or at a local range. A shooter runs and guns through an obstacle course of realistic props. Paper targets and steel plates are engaged, rapid-fire, as moving targets are activated and drop in and out of sight. Blazing man-on-man shoot offs where hundredths of seconds decide the winner. Incredible feats of shooting skill performed at warp speed. What you saw was practical shooting competition, perhaps at the USPSA Nationals, Steel Challenge, Bianchi Cup, or one of the thousands of other matches shot each year by clubs all over the world. Practical shooting is a sport in which competitors are required to combine accuracy, speed and power to successfully complete many different types of shooting 'problems'. Competitors use centre fire handguns in large calibres (9mm/.38 special is the minimum allowed) and shoot full-power loads. Fewer points are awarded to competitors using 'minor' power loads. These handguns are carried in belt holsters and are accompanied by spare magazines or speed loaders in pouches also attached to the belt. At any given match a shooter may be required to shoot targets 2 meters away in one event, and 50 meters away in the next. Sometimes the targets are paper, sometimes they are steel. Often 'no-shoot' penalty targets are placed near 'shoot' targets. Points are subtracted from a shooter's score for hitting the 'no-shoots'. Realistic props are used to simulate a scenario that the shooter must complete. Shooting may be done from freestyle, strong hand, weak hand, prone, or any other imaginable position, depending on the course of fire. Since scoring uses both total points and elapsed time, the shooters strive to find the best combination of accuracy, speed, and power to win. Practical Shooting is what you want to make of it. You can gear up and become a Serious Competitor. The choice is yours. The sport recognizes many different aspects of individual excellence. There is a wide diversity of attitudes among the shooters at a match. For some, the match is part monthly practice, part social occasion. They enjoy the