By Gabby
Today I am at Sharp Shooters in Roswell, GA to watch the weekly IDPA competition. Before I discuss the competition, I must address the range itself.
First Look at Sharp Shooters USA:
This place is gorgeous! Clean, organized, well staffed, but also beautifully appointed, with leather seating, marble countertops and hardwood floors. Designed to recognize that the place is clearly a sports facility, Sharp Shooters is comfortable but not to the extreme of becoming a facility focused on hospitality, that would be missing the point. With three rooms containing a total of 24 lanes, the soundproofing is clearly exceptional. Ventilation is excellent and functioning at a high level, even when standing down range.
The only snag I barely feel compelled to mention, was the less than welcoming impression the staff gave when I came in. I walked into the store and saw absolutely no-one, neither staff, nor customers, until I was more than 20 feet into the building. Only at that point did two staff members, almost in unison, address me with a brusk, "Can I help you?"
Shooting here seems like it would be a pleasure. Shopping here as a female? Stay tuned...
IDPA stands for "International Defensive Pistol Association" and is one of the only ways, shooters can actually hone their defensive shooting skills in a live fire environment. Each shooter races the clock to complete an established group of tasks, as quickly as possible. The first stage I observed was a string of three shots, one at each target, from a seated position, followed by a tactical magazine swap and a string of three more shots. The buzzer sounds and the shooter opens a box where his gun has been placed. Everyone else stands behind the firing line and watches.
There's a nice comradely at these matches. Everyone helps cover holes in targets after each shooter's turn, and everyone helps assemble the stage, moving blue barrels, barriers and target stands. The level of competition doesn't seem intense or even palpable. However, I imagine, if I were sitting in that chair, the eyes behind me would be burning a whole into the back of my neck.
2 comments:
I had my first match last month and my 2nd next week. Trust me, when you hear that buzzer it's like tunnel vision and you have no awareness of the eyes staring at you!!
Scoring penalties are actually, 0 for head and 8" of center mass, 1 for the remainder of center mass, and 3 for the outer scoring area (peripheral areas). Points down are divided by 2 resulting in the number of seconds to add to the raw time. Hitting a non-threat is a 5 second penalty, procedural errors are a 3 second penalty (not using cover, failing to follow the course of fire), and failing to get a hit in a 0 or 1 area results in a failure to neutralize - 5 seconds.
Thanks everyone for coming out last night and see y'all next Monday.
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