My First IDPA match with my Shield 9

[RonW956]

I bought my M&P Shield for the purpose of CC. I practiced with it weekly for 4 months before applying for my CHL, I passed my shooting proficency with it, scored a 250 out of 250 with it. now that I have my CHL i've been carrying it daily in my Alien gear cloak tuck 2.0 holster (love it by the way). Now, i've been participating in weekly local IDPA matches with it. I've never participated in this before in my life & my first time I ranked #7 out of 8 participants. some of these guys are LEO. I thought I did well. The pistol performed flawlessly and having to do tactical reloads was no big deal as I had 3 8 rnd mags in my front pocket. I used a Fobus OWB paddle holster however I see in the near future a dual mag holster so I wont have to keep my mags loose in my pockets.

[BCGlocker]

Congratulations on your IDPA matches. As time goes on you will get more confidence and proficiency. It will never be the same if a problem arises, but it is still teaching one to perform under stress. I think it is good training and lots of fun.

[barres]

I love my Shield 9! There are no local IDPA matches for me to put her through of which I am aware, but in static target practice, she shoots like a much larger pistol. IMHO, you have excellent taste in carry pistols, my friend!

[RonW956]

Congratulations on your IDPA matches. As time goes on you will get more confidence and proficiency. It will never be the same if a problem arises, but it is still teaching one to perform under stress. I think it is good training and lots of fun.

I take my CHL and the responsibilty to myself & to the general public serious. I practice as much as i can with my main carry gun and the best "training" a civilian can get would be these IDPA matches. I have stood in front of a target for the past 25 yrs and I can easily shoot out a golf ball sized hole at 7 yards but that night at the range I felt like a clumsy newbie that never handled a pistol before....wow, and to think I'm CC'ing a pistol, what if a real god forbid situation was to occur, how would I react? well from the amount of noobness I showed in my first IDPA, I can say that if i was in a real life encounter it would have been a unthinkable experience. Not good.

I really believe that if you have a CHL, go get involved in a club, or participate in IDPA matches, get additional training. I cant stress this enough...

[thatguy]

Congratulations on your IDPA matches. As time goes on you will get more confidence and proficiency. It will never be the same if a problem arises, but it is still teaching one to perform under stress. I think it is good training and lots of fun.

I take my CHL and the responsibilty to myself & to the general public serious. I practice as much as i can with my main carry gun and the best "training" a civilian can get would be these IDPA matches. I have stood in front of a target for the pat 25 yrs and I can easily shoot out a golf ball sized hole at 7 yards but that night at the range I felt like a clumsy newbie that never handled a pistol before....wow, and to think I'm CC'ing a pistol, what if a real god forbid situation was to occur, how would I react? well from the amount of noobness I showed in my first IDPA, I can say that if i was in a real life encounter it would have been a unthinkable experience. Not good.

I really believe that if you have a CHL, go get involved in a club, or participate in IDPA matches, get additional training. I cant stress this enough...

Your in good company brother, welcome to IDPA and I promise it gets better.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

OP: When you get that dual mag holder, make sure to get the Kydex kind that expose about half of the mag.
I initially got a nylon dual mag holder with velcro closures. I quickly found out that was terrible gear.
All the serious shooters had the Kydex kind and could access their mags much more quickly than me.

Now I don't carry any extra ammo in my Kydex mag holders. I carry 2 loaded pistols instead.
If things ever went bad, I could start shooting a 2nd loaded gun faster than I could do a reload under pressure.

SIA

[RonW956]

OP: When you get that dual mag holder, make sure to get the Kydex kind that expose about half of the mag.
I initially got a nylon dual mag holder with velcro closures. I quickly found out that was terrible gear.
All the serious shooters had the Kydex kind and could access their mags much more quickly than me.

Now I don't carry any extra ammo in my Kydex mag holders. I carry 2 loaded pistols instead.
If things ever went bad, I could start shooting a 2nd loaded gun faster than I could do a reload under pressure.

SIA

Well i'm not expecting things to get "bad" during a IDPA match that would warrant carrying a 2nd loaded pistol....

Amazon has at least a dozen dual mag holsters for the Shield, I've been looking at the ones by Fobus & Blackhawk.

[harv418]

Ronw,
Welcome to IDPA... It is a fun SPORT. It will help you build critical muscle memory, it will help you with tunnel vision, it will help you shoot on the move and behind cover. I struggle with calling it TRAINING...it is not. There are things in IDPA I would NEVER Do in real life, but it is good Practice.

Do not overlook real TRAINING, as it will help in both Life and IDPA.

Also... I know you said Fobus and Blackhawk. Those can and have failed during matches. Give Bladetech, Comptac both a good look for competitive style mag pouches and holsters. I am even in the process of ordering an Aliengear OWB holster for my carry gun to use during Matches.

I shoot my XD 9 Subcompact at 1 match a month, and any BUG matches. For other Matches, XDM 9mm 5.25. The fun part for me is looking where I ranked. I normally run top 5 in my division/Rank, but try my best to end up top 3 in accuracy.

Robert Harvey
IDPA Marksman - SSP

[RonW956]

Ronw,
Welcome to IDPA... It is a fun SPORT. It will help you build critical muscle memory, it will help you with tunnel vision, it will help you shoot on the move and behind cover. I struggle with calling it TRAINING...it is not. There are things in IDPA I would NEVER Do in real life, but it is good Practice.

Do not overlook real TRAINING, as it will help in both Life and IDPA.

Also... I know you said Fobus and Blackhawk. Those can and have failed during matches. Give Bladetech, Comptac both a good look for competitive style mag pouches and holsters. I am even in the process of ordering an Aliengear OWB holster for my carry gun to use during Matches.

I shoot my XD 9 Subcompact at 1 match a month, and any BUG matches. For other Matches, XDM 9mm 5.25. The fun part for me is looking where I ranked. I normally run top 5 in my division/Rank, but try my best to end up top 3 in accuracy.

Robert Harvey
IDPA Marksman - SSP

I also have a new alien gear OWB holster for my shield that I never used yet. I'll give it a shot on my mext match... I tried it on this morning & I do like the fit & feel of it better than the Fobus paddle holster. I'm still looking around for a dual mag holster for the shield, I'll probably visit the S&W website next. My EDC is a cloak tuck 2.0 IWB for my shield 9 which is by far the most comfty holster I've worn all day yet.

I had another match last night & ranked 4th out of 7 for SSP. Ammo used was freedom munitions 124 gr. FMJ's. I'll have to ask the club if they have any BUG matches as I believe the scoring is slightly different. I also have a bersa thunder .380 that I believe will do very well in IDPA.