IDPA Pistol Dilemma

[CypherPunk]

Congratulations and welcome to IDPA.
As a side note, it was recently announced that IDPA is coming to the Frederick IWLA. You can thank TTMD, Cody Claxton, Ben Kelkye, Woodstock and a few others for that.
Having a choice between AAFG and TCSC will be good for everyone.

My thoughts are that whatever functional pistol you choose will make very little difference in your score for many matches, if not many months or years.

My second thought is to urge you to consider training and shooting with the pistol you plan to, or regularly do carry.

Look forward to meeting you.

 

[protegeV]

I just shot a match yesterday. I used an xdm. Out of 10 guys in my group there were 6 XDMs, 2 glocks, an m&p, and a 1911.

The one guy with a g34 was pissed. He had about 6 or 7 failures in 90 rounds.

 

[davsco]

The one guy with a g34 was pissed. He had about 6 or 7 failures in 90 rounds.

was he shooting handloads or did he mess around with the recoil spring? i do a lot of matches and very very very rarely see a glock malf other than in these two situations.

 

[CypherPunk]

was he shooting handloads or did he mess around with the recoil spring? i do a lot of matches and very very very rarely see a glock malf other than in these two situations.

Without further details, my guess would be they probably bought a case of Tula, Wolf or some other боеприпасы.

 

[protegeV]

was he shooting handloads or did he mess around with the recoil spring? i do a lot of matches and very very very rarely see a glock malf other than in these two situations.

He was shooting reloads. His dad was shooting in our group as well. Same ammo, but he was using an XDM.

 

[Gryphon]

XDMs I shoot my 3.8 as well if not better than my 4.5. Reliable, accurate, . . . Not much else to say.

 

[Tihsho]

Sadly I'm not looking into the XDM's out of personal preference to the feel. The only other option that has come up, that would bump the competition class would be a 1911 in 9mm. Found the sister model of my Springfield Range Officer that I have at a LGS this weekend and it was chambered in 9. The only drawback is it's a single stack with 9 in the mag, so in the case of needing 10 rounds I'm not sure how I'd pull that off as from my understanding you can only have two mags when you're getting ready for staging. Two mags means I can't rack in one and then top it off. I honestly need to read the rules more.

 

[protegeV]

Sadly I'm not looking into the XDM's out of personal preference to the feel.

Your loss


Xdm is 2nd only to the vp9 as far as feel goes IMO.

 

[jimbobborg]

was he shooting handloads or did he mess around with the recoil spring? i do a lot of matches and very very very rarely see a glock malf other than in these two situations.

I've seen one go full auto. As the shooter walked buy I said "Glock perfection." He didn't think it was funny. Turns out he had just had a new disconnector installed and it was not working properly.

 

[davsco]

Sadly I'm not looking into the XDM's out of personal preference to the feel. The only other option that has come up, that would bump the competition class would be a 1911 in 9mm. Found the sister model of my Springfield Range Officer that I have at a LGS this weekend and it was chambered in 9. The only drawback is it's a single stack with 9 in the mag, so in the case of needing 10 rounds I'm not sure how I'd pull that off as from my understanding you can only have two mags when you're getting ready for staging. Two mags means I can't rack in one and then top it off. I honestly need to read the rules more.

couple things. know you want to use 9mm to save on ammo, but idpa has a cdp division specifically for .45's including 1911's, glock 21's and other .45's. can buy a ton of ammo from using a gun you already have.

if you do get a 9mm 1911, you should be able to use 10 round mags in the ESP division. either way you can either barney a mag or rack one in the chamber, remove the mag, top it off and pop it back in. you can only start with two mags on your side but no provision against a barney mag in front pocket that isn't otherwise used.

if you are considering a 9mm 1911, go ahead and consider a 9mm 2011 that has higher capacity, though most likely more coin. still legal in idpa esp (conditions apply, generally bushing barrel-see sti eagle). perfect for other games such as 3 gun, falling steel, etc.

 

[davsco]

I honestly need to read the rules more.

you (and everyone else) should read the rules of the games we play. but don't get too caught up in them. follow the basic safety rules of all games (finger outside triggerguard when not actually shooting and gun pointed downrange at all times). you'll get hit with some penalties and procedurals for breaking a rule here and there but that's part of the learning process.

i went to a new (for me) range and idpa match last year and they wanted anyone who had not competed there before to take the same prematch briefing as brand new shooters. the match director who was a real jagoff was going out of his way to confuse the new shooters with all the different rules and seriously two guys were ready to hang up the towel and go home. i took them aside after the briefing and gave them the simplified and basic rules and they stayed and shot the match.

 

[Tihsho]

I've been contemplating running with my G23, but it's been one of the handguns I own that I've been on the fence about getting rid of. I'd consider running my 1911 if I were reloading, but for the price of setting up to reload I could just go with a 9 and a case or so of ammo and still be under.

As for the 2011's, they did catch my eye a while back, but I can't justify dropping the investment into a doublestack 1911 in 9mm just for IDPA. Are the great firearms? Of course! But limited to 10 in the mag, I don't see the point of going for the 2011's just for the double stack bringing my mag capacity up.

I'm still at the research point, but besides running the G23, which is in .40 for those who are not Glock people, running with a Tokarev or a P64 being thw two other handguns I own just doesn't make sense.

 

[jimbobborg]

I'm still at the research point, but besides running the G23, which is in .40 for those who are not Glock people, running with a Tokarev or a P64 being thw two other handguns I own just doesn't make sense.

But you'd get massive style points.

 

[Tihsho]

Style points for sure, but I can't find Tok ammo to begin with let alone feel confident about drawing a Romanian Tokarev that has a fairly shoddy after market safety. I'm not confident in it being a carry gun, so I'm not going to bother risking it. As for the P64, it's a mag cap issue, would bump the game class for sure.

 

[alucard0822]

I've been contemplating running with my G23, but it's been one of the handguns I own that I've been on the fence about getting rid of. I'd consider running my 1911 if I were reloading, but for the price of setting up to reload I could just go with a 9 and a case or so of ammo and still be under.

As for the 2011's, they did catch my eye a while back, but I can't justify dropping the investment into a doublestack 1911 in 9mm just for IDPA. Are the great firearms? Of course! But limited to 10 in the mag, I don't see the point of going for the 2011's just for the double stack bringing my mag capacity up.

I'm still at the research point, but besides running the G23, which is in .40 for those who are not Glock people, running with a Tokarev or a P64 being thw two other handguns I own just doesn't make sense.

You are over thinking it, just use your 23, use light ammo, shoot a few matches, and you will have a MUCH better idea on what you want to do. The most important thing is to get into it, and start competing. It's just a game for 99% of the people who shoot IDPA, most clubs are easygoing, and few if any are sponsored pros or interested in traveling to tournament matches. After my first year or two I brought different pistols or revolvers from time to time, and competed in different classes to challenge myself, or get some good practice in with a pistol I didn't shoot as well or often. After my first season shooting my M9 and Sig 220 I dedicated a gun to sport shooting and put together my M&P pro and stuck primarily to SSP. Good trigger, large ambi controls, fitted polished/lapped stainless barrel ,tall adjustable FO novak sights, and handloaded just barely over the 125PF. It had most everything I needed to improve scores and shoot well, but it took a couple years of competing before I knew what I wanted, and took that long for my skill to progress enough that a better pistol made an actual difference in my score. Many of your decisions will depend weither you are competing against others, or competing aggainst yourself.

 

[Walton Feep]

My favorite pistol is my CZ75 from Cajun Gun Works. I have shot IDPA a few times so no expert but this pistol is smooth as silk and very accurate. It is probably the one pistol I will keep to my last breath.

 

[Tihsho]

You are over thinking it, just use your 23, use light ammo, shoot a few matches, and you will have a MUCH better idea on what you want to do. The most important thing is to get into it, and start competing. It's just a game for 99% of the people who shoot IDPA, most clubs are easygoing, and few if any are sponsored pros or interested in traveling to tournament matches. After my first year or two I brought different pistols or revolvers from time to time, and competed in different classes to challenge myself, or get some good practice in with a pistol I didn't shoot as well or often. After my first season shooting my M9 and Sig 220 I dedicated a gun to sport shooting and put together my M&P pro and stuck primarily to SSP. Good trigger, large ambi controls, fitted polished/lapped stainless barrel ,tall adjustable FO novak sights, and handloaded just barely over the 125PF. It had most everything I needed to improve scores and shoot well, but it took a couple years of competing before I knew what I wanted, and took that long for my skill to progress enough that a better pistol made an actual difference in my score. Many of your decisions will depend weither you are competing against others, or competing aggainst yourself.

Agreed, experience defines what you need over what you want when it comes to games. I'm not looking to compete or travel the world in this. Honestly, I'm looking to just improve my marksmenship in a practical environment and scenario. The only other option that's going on is steel challenge. The reason for that is that the misses got interested while reading into IDPA this weekend after we went to a few LGS's. She thought it was interesting and her being new to firearms appreciated the challenge as well as the practical aspect to it. Then she found steel challenge and has been trying to talk me into going into that with her instead of going the IDPA route. Regardless the route, they both seem fun. Steel challenge seems to be a great segue into a more competitive style of shooting (even if it's competing with yourself), plus you gain practical practice. Targets differ, but the stress put on you to do your best is still the same.

I'll probably end up going to my first match with my 23, but again I'm in the air when it comes the being a firearm I want to keep in general. I'll definitely be trying more handguns out in the next couple weeks while I wait the final days of my HQL to show up in the mail.

My favorite pistol is my CZ75 from Cajun Gun Works. I have shot IDPA a few times so no expert but this pistol is smooth as silk and very accurate. It is probably the one pistol I will keep to my last breath.

CGW seems to be the way to go when it comes to parts or work for CZ's. My question for those who have shot multiple CGW's CZ's, how do they feel compared to one another? Are they consistently the same, say that the work done or parts installed are similar or identical? Or is there a margin to still get them dialed in more? The reason I ask is that I'm not a fan of smith required work on something I've never felt. Being able to revert a firearm back to stock is a nice option if something doesn't work out.

 

[OrbitalEllipses]

CGW seems to be the way to go when it comes to parts or work for CZ's. My question for those who have shot multiple CGW's CZ's, how do they feel compared to one another? Are they consistently the same, say that the work done or parts installed are similar or identical? Or is there a margin to still get them dialed in more? The reason I ask is that I'm not a fan of smith required work on something I've never felt. Being able to revert a firearm back to stock is a nice option if something doesn't work out.

I've handled a few and they're all good - you can get them in modest trigger weights or silly ones. Decocker vs safety doesn't matter, as proven on Brian Enos forums; they can get within tenths of a pound trigger weight depending on how much work you put into them. CGW supplies all OE parts with your gun if you get work done so you could convert it back to stock. You can also buy the individual CGW pieces and do it yourself, following some guides online. The decocker internals are far more complicated though.

I will say that CZ OEM triggers are garbage. The only good OEM trigger is in the Tactical Sport and that's a 5" IPSC Limited division single action gun from the factory.

Regardless, I shoot my USP better than the 75...but the 75 is just a JOY to shoot. Same with my 9mm 1911. It all just depends on what you're looking for. A CGW CZ will run you twice the cost of a Glock if cost is a factor.

 

[Tihsho]

I'm definitely going to keep an eye out at this weeks show to see how they fit.