Yesterday I shot in my first sanctioned IDPA match, The Masters 2013, at Brock's Gap Training Center in Birmingham, AL. It was ten stages of both fun and frustration.
All of the SOs, saving one man on one stage, were great. This one guy stood out as an asshole, but fuck him. The other SOs were wonderful even if they all had a variety of styles and mannerisms.
The stages were all challenging and fun, my favorite being one that was set up to mirror the scene from The Outlaw Josey Wales in which Clint Eastwood comes out of a general store, hands full, to find himself confronted by a group of Union soldiers. As they stare each other down, he says, "Are you gonna pull those pistols, or whistle Dixie?" You, of course, are Wales. That was also probably my best stage overall.
I ended up 16 out of 20 in Stock Service Pistol/Sharpshooter, and 104 of 140 total shooters. I wasn't dead last, so I'm happy about that. I shot about middle of the pack with the SSP/Marksman, which is what I'm used to.
I was almost disqualified on a stage for possibly unsafe muzzle work. One SO saw it, one didn't. The one who didn't decided I could rerun the stage after the stop call. Personally, I'm not sure. The stage required me to back up and then run down the 90 degree line. My muzzle typically goes where my eyes go and I didn't look past the 90. A few of my squad mates spoke with me after and said I was close but didn't break it. Anyway, I was very conscious about it the rest of the day.
Overall, it was a good match. I had fun, but by the end I was exhausted. My allergies were driving me insane. I had a runny nose for most of the match and was eating Claritin at lunch (which helped not at all for once). Match results didn't come out until late and I was in bed by 8:30 last night so I didn't see them until this morning.
The Glock ran perfectly though out the entire match. I the match using Winchester Ranger 127gr. 9mm +P+ JHP, my carry ammo. I bought it for the same price I see PMC 115gr FMJ going for so I figured I might as well use it and have the extra oomph for steel activators.
I'm looking forward to the next club level match later this month, and I may look into shooting a few more sanctioned matches around the southeast.
