i turned 21 the first of this month and bought a kimber custom target. i found a good used davis leather company holster and a galco mag pouch. i will be shooting in my first IPSC shoot this weekend. anyone have any tips for me? ive been waiting to do this for a while and can see it being an addiction. ive shot bullseye pistol for a while and am going to have to start from scratch learning techniques for IPSC.

Its best to show up early and have one of the veterans of the sport run through some tips, especially if they have the stages set up early.  There are some very simple basics that you can learn in about 30 minutes which will greatly improve your performance on your first day.  There are some goofy safety rules that you must know before hand, or you will end up breaking an IPSC safety rule, and it will embarass you and rattle you for the entire day.  The worst thing is to embarass yourself safety-wise simply because no one took the time to explain the IPSC safety rules to you.  Don't worry about having the best equipment.  I used to shoot with Ted Bonnet, who won two back to back World Shoot competitions in Limited class and he could take a Llama .45, stick the extra mags in his back pocket and waste everyone on the field with their super high tech equipment.  Remember....its not the arrow, its the indian.........

Tony Rumore
Tromix Corp

Same as Tony says. DO NOT HANDLE your firearm on the range until the RO is standing there directing you what to do. DO NOT turn backwards and point the gun beyond 90 degress to the targets (known as the 180 rule), finger OUT OF trigger guard while reload or moving. Too much to list, have a friendly helper walk with you in the "SAFE" area tell about movement, reloads and other. First rule-SAFE, and have lots of FUN.   Hal- TY-20603,,,"B-open"

yeah, thanks guys. i pretty good about general safety stuff from years of training from my old man. finger off the trigger, watch the muzzle, etc, etc. keep em coming though.

I was on the Hurlburt field pracyical pistol team in the AF (Hurlburt field is AF SPec ops base in Fla.) and i can tell you this....practice with dry fire,practice mag changes daily,without looking,practice drawing from the positions,practice gun handling skills,like taking the safety off after the target is aquired after the draw,listen to advice of experienced shooters,but use what you need,get comfortable with the pistol and yourself,bring water,and tust me on the sun screen....hahaha..seriously pay attention,learn the rules become uspsa member,support everyone worse than you and better than you and the top two tips and the rules to live by in IPSC ..........BE SAFE AND HAVE FUN WITH IT!!!

9

Don't they make you take a course before they let you shoot IPSC in TX?  In Canada we have black badge courses which run a weekend.  I shot over 400 rounds at mine. After which my colt was part of my hand......

Let's see, I'm new at it too!  Here's what I've gleaned so far.
Dry Fire
Going slow makes it smooth, and smooth makes it fast.  Sounds silly but it's true...watch the pros and GM's, they are smooth as glass (usually [:)]) and fast as hell.
Practice doesn't make perfect, Perfect Practice makes perfect.  do it right when you practice, or you'll do it wrong forever.
Dry Fire
Good draw from the holster (fun to aim at the tv when idiots are on I hear...if you're into that sort of thing, the gun is unloaded, etc., etc., etc.)
Dry Fire
Relax, and have fun.
Equipment is 10% (does the gun work?) and the rest is practice and experience.  Neither of which I have (42nd out of 51 last match).

Do it safely. Shoot all A's.

That's it, be safe, be accurate.
Speed will come, don't rush it.

PRACTICE[size=4]PRACTICE[/size=4][size=6]PRACTICE[/size=6]

Shoot real fast and don't miss. [:D] I'd suggest you get with one of the regulars to "walk you thru" your first match. Have fun!

First time, don't go fast, just try to get good hits. Speed will come later.
My first match, I went too fast and had alot of miss's.
I was hooked though.
It's fun.

Don't forget the BULK bullets, BULK primers and lotsa powder, will need to load your own to keep your ammo expense down if you are equipped to reload.