CCW Story Part 35: Todd shows his stuff at IPSC.

Lisa had 3 sets of cardboard targets, carefully measuring the distances between them and small rubber mats on the floor. She introduced herself, and explained the setup. “The white silhouettes are no shoot targets, you get points deducted for hitting them. The black squares of rubber are on the floor are so that you can drop you empty magazines without damaging them.” I examined the setup Lisa had created, with three white silhouettes, each with several brown silhouettes poking out from behind it, like cowardly burglars hiding behind a hostage. Each target had A, B, C, and D zones that delineated different scoring areas on the target. Outside, each competitor set his gun bag down with muzzle pointed away from the building, and one by one slipped their pistols into side holsters according to IPSC protocol. With holstered weapons, the competitors returned inside for the first round of the competition.

Todd and I discussed the tactics he would employ.

“I am here to hone my concealed carry skills, not to win the competition”. Todd said.

I respected Todd for his desire to improve his shooting skills. Arguably he was the best marksman of the folks I had met at the range, and had always followed every safety rule. I had never seen him, or any of the other range employees break any of the four firearms safety rules, ever. If a person is going to carry a pistol in public, Todd would make a good example of how to treat the rules with respect.

Decked out in safety glasses and ear protection Todd stepped to the line with his standard carry weapon, a Kimber 1911, in the holster he carried it in every day. The only change in his normal rig was that he had several magazine holders attached to his belt. As Todd, the first shooter of the match inserted a magazine loaded with .45 caliber match ammo into his Kimber 1911, a range safety officer declared the range “hot”. By IPSC rules, spectators were allowed to stand behind the shooter but could not move around while the range was hot.

Todd stood ready, a range officer behind him with an electric timer. At the beep of the timer, Todd jumped to his feet and began firing in quick controlled bursts at the targets. Holes appeared in the brown silloutes in quick succession, in tight pairs. Todd dropped the empty magazine from his weapon, and quickly popped a loaded magazine in its place. After firing, he showed the range officer that his weapon was clear, safetied the 1911 and the range was no longer hot.