Saturday, October 9, 2010

Fast-shooting Fun from the USPSA National Championships

Last month the United States Practical Shooting Association Multi-gun national Championships were held here in Las Vegas (See down the page for the earlier post).. This month the various classes of the pistol nationals are being held here. I love it.
Since I avidly shot in competition for nearly 25 years, it is fun to see how the current crop of shooters is performing. I took a quick look at a course as it was being scored:  The only part of the target you should hit is the tan portion. Hitting any white or black part results in penalties!! The legal part of some of those targets looks awfully small!.
Here's a shooter tackling that course. A solid run, not taking many chances. Score maximum points, have a good time, don't incur any penalties.
There was also some fast but well-controlled shooting being done by the ladies. Make no mistake, they are fierce competitors and those who take the top places are superb shooters!!
What you have to do is analyze the course, make a plan on every move you must execute to win it--and then do precisely what you planned without you,  your gun or your ammo malfunctioning.  This particular competition has eighteen separate events (known as stages), and the winners must carry out their plans without errors consistently over four hot, dusty days!

Here, a shooter shows some fast execution!
 That course was intricate and intense, but short. This next  one is a more complex stage that has to be shot on the run, through windows and around corners, following a carefully-planned strategy: Note the shooter running to particular places so as to make the fewest number of starts and stops.
By the way, the ringing cell phone is mine, as some politician's fund-raiser pesters me on the weekend! The shooter has to carry out the course no matter what distractions arise.

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