I had occasion to use an STI GP6-C pistol in an IDPA match this weekend.  It is a DA/SA pistol, in 9mm, that my son mainly uses. I decided to try it, and found that I liked it quite a bit.  I had my best result in Las Vegas IDPA matches, finishing 2nd overall out of 50 shooters, and winning Stock Service Pistol Expert.

Short:

Excellent pistol.
I did the best I’ve ever done at an IDPA match with it. Inexperience with the initial DA action cost me.

Practice!

Longer:

Most things in life involve tradeoffs. There are few “perfect” solutions. This is especially true in pistols. 

The core tradeoff for the GP6-C is a smooth double action (DA) first shot, followed by 1911 quality single action trigger with a tiny reset.

What I found was that, with a bit of practice, I could get a good shot off with the initial DA, and then sizzle with the excellent Single Action trigger.  The minimal reset let me move my trigger finger minimally, thus causing little effect on the muzzle, for accurate shots.

I did pay, however, for inexperience with a DA trigger. I had a miss on a first shot on a stage. I suspect it was because it was the first time I’d ever shot a DA trigger while moving. I’ll practice that in dryfire….

Recommendations:

If you shoot IDPA, you should really consider this gun for their Stock Service Pistol division. It will give you a competitive edge.

If  you shoot USPSA Production division, and have a $1200 or so budget, I’d recommend a customized Springfield Armory XD Tactical because it has a longer sight radius (USPSA often presents longer shots than IDPA), and can easily have a superb trigger (done by Canyon Creek or other local gunsmiths).  If you are on a budget, the GP-6C is race ready for around $700 bucks.

If you shoot both, or don’t have budget to customize an XD Tactical, or budget for two guns, then I’d recommend this pistol highly as an excellent IDPA gun and very competitive USPSA Production division gun.

If you want to shoot the gun, just e-mail me and I’ll bring it to a match and we can run it afterwards.

For a more in depth review, read my son’s blog review of the GP6-C.

Dad and I are getting into 3-gun more, so we’re looking at getting a shotgun that kicks a bit less. My dad’s had 20+ concussions, so our recoil-operated Benelli will literally knock him silly on a long shotgun stage or if slugs are required by the stage. I thought I ought to give club members a shot at it before it goes up on Gunbroker. Asking $750.00 or a trade towards an SLP or nice 1100.

The gun is an M1 super 90 that’s been kitted out with a 9-round extension tube and an 8-round sidesaddle. It’s tough as nails, but it just kicks a bit too much for my old, frail father.

If anyone’s interested, shoot either me or Dad a note. I’ll try to remember to bring it to the next match.

Here is a video of both of them running today’s practice stage.

Dave Sevigny offers useful match day tips in this Tactical-Life.com article.

The performance tips are good ideas, but what I really noticed was the “good competitor” advice:

In conclusion, be a good competitor. Along with following the printed rules of competition, there are a number of unwritten rules in sport shooting such as:
• Listen to the range officials instructions during the stage briefing
• Turn in your competitor label and score sheet and help your squad sort out the shooting order
• Find a rear exit and do not impede walk through efforts
• Keep off the stage and leave it open for the competitor who is up next
• Keep the volume down when a competitor is on the line
• Be honest about what happens whether it is in your favor or not
• Help reset the stage if you are not up or on deck
• Thank the range officials for working the match

I found the article today. But yesterday, I watched Dave and the top shooters in the United States follow this advice as they shot the Limited 10 Nationals. He doesn’t just write it, he does it.

When they weren’t on deck or up, the top shooters in the world taped targets, reset moving targets and politely waited in line to do stage walk throughs. The only target I didn’t see them mess with was the Texas Star, which was done by range staff. Given how many times heavy star plates have wacked me, I think that wise when competing at their level.

http://www.kptv.com/video/20128648/

A new Zogby poll shows major support for firearms ownership and also concealed carry.

An overwhelming majority of Americans (83 percent) support concealed-carry laws, while only 11 percent oppose them. A majority of Independent voters (86 percent), Democrats (80 percent), young voters age 18-29 (83 percent), Hispanic voters (80 percent), and those who voted for President Obama (80 percent) support the right to carry a firearm.

That’s right… 80% of those that VOTED FOR OBAMA support the right to carry a firearm.

H/T: Say Uncle

Brian & I have a few books that have helped us get started in IDPA and IPSC/USPSA shooting.  We would be happy to lend them to you if are interested:

  Practical Shooting– Beyond Fundamentals
  Brian Enos

  Practical Shooting Fundamentals
  Matt Burkett

  Thinking Practical Shooting
  Saul Kirsch
  
  Perfect Practice – A guide to quality IPSC training
  Saul Kirsch

  Refinement & Repetition: Dry Fire Drills for Dramatic Improvement
  Steve Anderson

Just e-mail to arrange an exchange. I will also try to remember to bring them to the matches.

The range from the basics  (Practical Shooting Volumes 1-3), to How to Shoot Faster, and the most useful so far – How to Practice (Volume 7).  Volume 7, the Practice one also includes training charts and dry fire drills in a PC readable PDF format. 

If you want to borrow them, just e-mail Ken Nelson (kn@kennelson.com) and we can arrange a meet in town sometime.

I’ll also bring them to matches and make them available for return at the next match.

BTW:

http://www.mattburkett.com has tons of info and products for the practical shooter.

 
So we started hunting around on GunBroker.Com and in local shops.  Sure enough Cedar Post Pawn in St. George had it an attractive price. And we walked home with the Kimber, a Kimber .22 conversion kit, and 1,000 rounds of Federal .45 ACP.

Initial Impressions:  Very nice!   It is quite accurate. It shot where I pointed it. And the crisp, light, trigger made tight groups a piece of cake at 10,15 and 25 yards. I’m talking “holes overlapping” at 10, and 2” freestyle at 25.  No malfunctions.

We had no malfunctions in the first 100 rounds fired.

11 Year Old Experience

I was concerned that Brian, age 11, might have trouble with the recoil. But that proved to not be a problem freestyle anyway.  He was able to do faster, accurate, splits with the Kimber than with his XD(m) 9mm. And because the trigger was so much better than the XD(m) his strong hand shooting was more accurate as well.  His times were about even because the recoil really moves his single hand shooting arm quite a bit.

.22 Conversion Kit

The .22 conversion kit factored big in our decision. With ammo prices sky high, being able to train with .22 ammo can pay off quickly.  The conversion is easy to switch out. And it is quite accurate. It cycles fast and we only had one jam (on the first shot).   The only issue I had with it was it didn’t want to lock back on an empty magazine. That makes emergency reload practice (IDPA) hard to practice. But we can do that with dry fire drills anyway.

Summary

Excellent pistol. I don’t have much experience with the .45 ( basic Officer training/use in the Army).   This one shot where I aimed, felt well balanced, recoiled smoothly, and had excellent tritium night sights that were easy to pick up even facing a quartering sunset.

Once our 1911 holster (Blackhawk), mag holders (Bladetech), and Chip McCormick Power Mag magazines come, one of us will be shooting Single Stack at the next match.

Note: If you have a gear you would like to review, please e-mail me. I’d be happy to post your review or to set you up with posting privileges.   I’d like this site to become an active place for shooters to learn the latest things of interest to our sport.