Welcome to Practical Shooting 101. There are no textbooks in this class. All you need is your favorite firearm, a safe attitude, and the desire to have fun!
What did you do during your last range trip? Did you stand on a firing line and shoot a static paper target? If you said yes, that’s okay. The fundamentals of basic marksmanship should be practiced early and often in one’s shooting career. Nevertheless, consider your shooting abilities beyond static target shooting. Have you ever shot at a moving target? Have you ever shot at a target while you were moving? What if you have to engage a target from an unusual position, like under a table or over a barrel? These are the sorts of things you encounter in practical shooting competition.
The textbook definition of practical shooting would be using a firearm to engage targets in a dynamic scenario. Practical shooting finds its roots in law enforcement and military training. The people who protect us don’t know what they will encounter in the real world, so they need to know how to run their gun in any situation. Practical shooting gives everyone a chance to learn these same skills.
What do you actually do in practical shooting? The courses, targets, and procedures vary between the disciplines, but the fundamentals are the same. Get the gun in your hand and engage the targets, avoid the no-shoot targets, move as necessary, and manage your ammo. The timer is running, and accuracy is a big part of the score. The goal is be fast and accurate.
In addition to improving our gun handling skills, practical shooting has a lot to offer the competitor in all of us. The various sanctioning bodies have local, regional, national, and international matches, which draw major sponsors. There are divisions for almost any firearm and classification systems that allow shooters of similar abilities to compete against each other. No matter your skill level, your equipment, or where you live, there is a place for you.
Gun owners have the ultimate responsibility of safety, and practical shooting will reinforce the safe mindset. Thousands of competitive shooters prove every year that you can draw, move, and shoot your firearm quickly, and accurately, all while not hurting anyone and having a lot of fun.
What does this have to do with Beretta, you ask? There are many national and international wins for the Beretta pistol in the practical shooting scene. I have competed with the 92FS, the PX4 Storm, and the M9A1. Although I have tried other guns, I keep coming back to Beretta, simply because they always work. When the pressure is on at a match, I only have to worry about how I will perform, not how the gun will perform.
Your homework for next time: check out some of the info on the web about practical shooting. It’s one of the most challenging and exciting shooting sports, and we always need new folks.
Next time we’ll talk about the gear you need and how to get started. Class dismissed.
Make sure you follow Beretta on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube.
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ReplyDeleteIt appears that I'm off to a great start. Let me be clear, the comments about Ben were my own doing and were not endorsed or solicited by BUSA. I have since edited the post and contacted Ben regarding the mistake. My apologies to any and all who were offended.
ReplyDeleteYou can't offend Ben, he is just very straight forward and truthful to a fault, he was just making his position clear.
ReplyDeleteRELAX!!!!
ReplyDelete"There are many national and international wins for the Beretta pistol in the practical shooting scene"
ReplyDeleteI have been checking and I can't really find any in the last 5 years. What matches are won with a Beretta pistol?
Unfortunately, outside of last year's win in USPSA Production at the US Nationals, most of the big match victories were more than 5 years ago. These include the 2000 IDPA Nationals (overall win, first time a SSP gun won the overall) and I think a few other USPSA National wins. Folks tend to fear that double action first shot, so the Beretta has become scarce in competition. It certainly still works though. DA/SA guns are more popular in IPSC because of the 5 lb trigger rule on the first shot.
ReplyDeleteRemember there are also thousands of matches every year that happen and don't make big headlines.
I haven't heard of Phil McNaughton. What is his IDPA or USPSA member number? I think this post about using Beretta pistols may be a hoax of some kind.
ReplyDeletePhil began by shooting IDPA matches, and soon after got involved in USPSA pistol and multi-gun competition. These days he shoots roughly 15,000 rounds a year through his Beretta pistols at local, regional, and national matches.
DeletePhil holds an Expert classification in IDPA Stock Service Pistol and a B classification is USPSA Production. He is also an NROI certified Range Officer.
What is his membership number?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteHoax? Ha, come on now. What kind of hoax would this be? If you want to verify that I am a shooter, my USPSA number is A61459 and my IDPA number is A28618. Sorry if you were expecting someone famous, that's not me. I'm not a pro shooter or even a Master, but I take this hobby very seriously. I'm just your average Joe who likes to shoot, and who happens to like Berettas, that's it. You can also find me on the Beretta Forum as PhilM.
ReplyDeleteIt has been many years since Beretta won big matches. I will get some specifics up.
Thanks for all the replies folks, glad to see some Beretta discussion happening.
I just asked for the number when a google search did not yield any results. No offense intended. Thank you for the clarification Phil.
ReplyDeleteI think Beretta made a bit of a mistake regarding your actual shooting resume though. The classification for USPSA they list is wrong and there is no record of you shooting a major USPSA match.
That said, I think your blog post was very good. The only thing I think people would take issue with is the claim the Beretta pistols win a lot at a National or International level. I do not feel the facts bear that out.
I've only been to sectional matches, sorry haven't had the chance to go to Nationals, and in response to your earlier post, I took last year off from IDPA in general. Like I said, I'm just the average Joe, nothing more, nothing less. The classification is my fault, I was a little premature on that, as it will update to B at the next cycle.
ReplyDeleteI didn't mean to imply that Berettas win a lot, but they have won big matches, and as I had noted earlier, they've won recently.
I'm not trying to paint a picture that doesn't exist, I just want to talk about my interest, and spread the word about practical shooting. We need to grow the sport, hopefully with a few more Berettas in the mix. I think anyone who competes would agree that is important.
Hope to see you on the range sometime!
Let me chime in: what does an ideal IDPA/USPSA Beretta gun look like? This is a great opportunity to get some solid feedback from true enthusiasts, that I can funnel to engineering and product development!
ReplyDeleteIf you'd like to provide your feedback, pls reply to this comment.
dovetailed front sight
DeleteI personally would like to see the following features:
ReplyDeleteSteel Frame (with more aggressive texture)
Dovetailed front sight (preferably a dawson fiber front as stock w/low profile novak rear)
Very wide bevel on the frame for the magwell. I want an M@P sized opening to reload, if not more.
Extended magazine release. The same one from the Elite 2 is fine
A very light hammer spring as stock (lighter than a D spring)
Ability to get a 2Lbs single action trigger with only "do it yourself" polishing
Steel trigger
Steel guide rod
Thank you, Ben!
DeleteWhy are comments being deleted?
ReplyDeleteI use my mod. 96 in our local USPSA matches and I love it. I shoot production and the only thing I would like to see improved is the recovery because of the higher 40 cal. Does anyone know if a heavier guide spring would help?
ReplyDeleteI would love for Beretta to step up (and into) the practical shooting world. It appears to me that Beretta has given very little support to the practical shooting sports. I agree that the DA first trigger pull is the primary reason why many (local as well as 'big match') shooters don't give Beretta a second glance. Personally, I shoot Steel Challenge shoots with my PX4 'G'. The DA first pull doesn't bother me as I consider it to be a training issue. Some may agree....others not.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ben and his 'wish list' of things for a competition pistol. The Elite II is an outstanding platform to begin with and work some of those features in would be very good news to those of us who enjoy Beretta products.
Beretta has not won a handgun shooting competition for more than half a decade. Still a great company, still makes a fine weapon.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the sharing of information. I found the information very useful. This is a great item you posted. I'll be back to read some more. beretta guide rod
ReplyDelete