IDPA with an Ultra Compact

[DrHenley]

The whole idea of IDPA is to compete with something you actually carry. For some reason I don't think many people actually carry what they shoot at IDPA matches...

So in that light, I decided to run a match yesterday with what I ACTUALLY carry, a Sig Ultra.


I wasn't sure how much of a handicap it would be. On the plate racks I do approximately as well with it as with my DW Panther.

Prior to the match, the only jams experienced were very rare FTF jams due to weak mag springs, not really the gun's fault. I did experience one severe jam with a Wilson during the match, which required removing the mag (which I dropped) and cost me a lot of time on that stage. Another stage I had a soft jam (FTF due to a weak mag spring) that was quickly cleared. And I had one brain fart that cost me a procedural.

Overall I did pretty well considering I am out of practice and was using an Ultra Compact. I had the best time on one stage in my division, and the second best time on two other stages.

What surprised me was my accuracy with the Ultra. i seemed to be able to get on target very quickly. Effortlessly even. I had thought that the light gun would not recover quickly enough to do fast double taps, but as it turned out, the low mass seemed to make it easier to get back on target. And of course the 3.3" barrel makes it a lot quicker to clear the holster, something I didn't really think about before.

I don't think the aluminum frame will hold up to continuous match use. I'm already noticing some places on the rails where the anodized finish has worn through. The slide is so tight that when it gets dirty is starts feeling gritty, even fully lubed. All that is well and good for carry (don't plan on having a 200 round shootout with it)

But that has me thinking that I could compete with a steel framed compact. Something along the lines of the RIA TAC II Compact.