Sunday, August 10, 2008

Day at The Range

Today was the monthly IDSA match out at the range, and it was a good one. Thirteen shooters, nine stages, and a heavy breeze to help make the heat bearable. I put over 150 rounds down range and saw some improvement in my abilities. I was very happy with my performance in eight of the nine stages. The stage I tanked, I tanked bad. Let's just say 60 seconds added on to my time due to penalties, a hard to clear misfeed and a fumbled mag change all in the same stage. Ouch.

I have decided that today was the last day of my Tripp Research Cobra Mag vs. Wilson Combat ETM trial. I am done with it. The ETM failed two out of three uses today and I have had it. I'll write up a more detailed report at a latter date, but the basic results are: Tripp Research Magazine = 100% reliable, ETM not.

The last stage of the day was fired from the prone position, at three targets, at 50 yards. Not quite something you do every day.

These IDSA matches are a blast to shoot. The scoring is simple. A target is either neutralized or it is not. Failure to neutralize is a 10 second penalty. If you shoot a no-shoot target, it is a 20 second penalty. There is a 3 second penalty for a minor procedure violation and a 3 second/shot penalty for a major violation. It is kind of hard to get a procedural penalty. Raw time + penalty time = score.

If you are in the DFW Metroplex, and are interested in shooting with us, let me know and I will keep you updated.

7 comments:

Alan said...

I'm interested. I normally shoot IDPA, but IDSA sounds interesting.

catfish said...

interesting take on the ETM mags... I've been seeing some mixed reviews - some folks love 'em, and others, like you, have had nothing but trouble.

Brad said...

What kind of failures were you getting with the Wilson ETM mags?

I recently bought a Kimber SIS and I am getting failure to feed stoppages. From time to time, the round won't go completely into the chamber.

I sent it back to Kimber, and it ran well for a while, but right around 200 rounds into my last range session, it did it again.

Just curious to see if that was the problem you were having, thanks.

John R said...

Alan - From Frisco you might want to try out the matches at TDSA. I shoot in Johnson County at JCSSA, which would probably be a two hour drive for you.

Brad - I have a pretty good image of the failures I have been getting here. It is always on the second to the last round in the magazine, and the only time I get that particular failure is when I am using that magazine.

Brad said...

I see... My malfunctions are a different deal altogether. Unfortunately, mine aren't as specific as yours, although I have only been using the Fiocci (it was on sale). Maybe I'll try a few different brands.

Thanks for the answer.

Matt W said...

I would definitely be interested. Just moved to the DFW area and still trying to meet some new shooting buddies. I might be in the same boat as Alan though, I'm up in Flower Mound.

Unknown said...

I'm in Houston, Spring area, anyone know of any shooters down here?