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Provisional 2017 IDPA Rules up for discussion...

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JTH:
In case you hadn't heard, the provisional 2017 IDPA rulebook has been posted for review and comment.

There are some SIGNIFICANT changes to the rules, most of which (in my opinion) will make IDPA a lot more fun, take out a lot of the micromanaging, and reduce the number of subjective calls that will occur. 

Unfortunately, they still seem to be going with the 1-second-per-point-down thing, though.

Link:  http://www.idpa.com/misc/Rulebook%202017.pdf

Some of the changes:


* No more tactical sequence.
* You can do reloads where-ever you like (including while moving), as long as you are not visible to an un-engaged target while doing so.
* BUG-R is now 5 rounds, not six.
* They've added Pistol-Caliber Carbine (PCC) as a division (yeah, we know, it makes no sense to add this, particularly since they denied Carry Optics)
* They've added a new special we-really-mean-it penalty, the "Flagrant Penalty" for when regular procedural penalties just don't seem enough but you can't justify a FTDR.
* FAULT LINES!  Okay, okay, they aren't "fault lines" they are "visual cover lines."
* New classifier--only 72 rounds, and the classifier times for various classifications have all changed, of course.
* Did I mention they are suddenly allowing pistol-caliber carbines but not carry guns with a dot on them, like a G17 with an RMR?
There are a number of other changes, also, many of which are pretty significant.  Most, like I said (IMO) will actually make the game run better.

A couple make very little sense to me.

Don't get me wrong---I'm having a blast shooting PCC in USPSA and Steel Challenge.  But...it pretty much completely goes against the main principals of IDPA (that whole self-defense/concealed carry bit), they are limiting the magazines to 10 rounds, IDPA scenario stages generally require shooters to carry things, move stuff, shoot one-handed, etc....and the use of cover/ports all the time in tight circumstances is common in IDPA stages.

Pretty much all of those details are the things that making shooting PCC NOT fun.  While I enjoy PCC, other than trying it once, I can't see myself actually shooting it in an IDPA match hardly at all.

And the 1-second penalty is...just ridiculous, IMO. 

A Bill Drill is something that has actually been used as one string on an IDPA stage before.  Someone does a Bill Drill in 2.5 seconds (respectable time!) with 2 points down will now be beaten by someone who does it with no points down in 4.49 seconds.  Are we saying that in our self-defense practice, two good hits to the down-1 area is worse than taking two whole extra seconds to move them a couple of inches in?  (Remember, the down zero area isn't small.  If the argument was between an actual quick-incapacitation zone and the down-zone, that might be one thing...but it isn't.)

Looking at match results, we see that the top finishes are already more accurate than most, while also being faster than everyone else.  Most of their points are due to accepting a down-1 due to the speed of everything else. They'll be able to slow down slightly to increase their accuracy, and it won't really change anything for them.

On the other hand, the mid-level folks (on down) are already shooting at the maximum speed they can manage, with the best accuracy they can get.  If they slow down they aren't really going to get any more accurate---they'll just be slower.  If they speed up, their accuracy will get worse.

In other words, for most of them, all that is going to happen is that their penalty points are going to double.

So the top finishers in any match aren't really going to change much (drop a little, due to doubled penalties, but not much, since they'll slow down a little to have fewer) and the mid-level-on-down is going to drop with double the amount of penalty time.  All that will happen is a larger spread, and the people who aren't at the top are going to see that they are even farther from the top at the end of the match.

I'm still waiting to see what sort of problem this is going to solve.  Are we seeing people win major matches with huge numbers of points down?  (If you look at the major match results available on IDPA.com, the answer is a resounding no.  The people who win ALSO have lower points down than most of the other shooters.)

Considering that Joyce has already made a large number of proclamations about this, the chance of it not happening is pretty small, even if a huge number of people write in with commentary that it shouldn't be done.  And yet....no one has ever managed to make any coherent statement of what type of problem it is supposed to solve, and I'm betting in a year, all that we'll see is that we have a larger spread in the match scores, and no real changes other than that.

If you shoot IDPA, take a look at the proposed rules!  From the IDPA page:

"All comments, reviews, and suggestions should be sent to Comments@idpa.com. Be sure to include your IDPA number as those without will not be reviewed."

JTH:
Something else important---the box sizes for CCP and BUG are now smaller.

So much so, that a number of guns DON'T fit anymore.

So check your guns carefully, then email IDPA and tell them to keep the original box dimensions, because the ONLY thing that smaller boxes do, IMO, is take a whole bunch of guns that people have already been using in those divisions and make them suddenly non-legal.

(Making BUG-R 5-shot max does the same, imo, but truthfully, the standard BUG revolver WAS a 5-shot snubbie.  The fact that you could shoot a 3" six-shooter was...a little ridiculous.)

rimfirerick:
The proposed rule re: CCP gun dimensions is HORRIBLE. In the IDPA Summer Tactical Journal, on pages 23 - 25 they advertised and reviewed the Springfield EMP 4 as "an excellent option for concealed carry and winning in the CCP Division"....the EXACT words in the article.

I bought an EMP4 expressly for shooting in the CCP Division and now, in less than ONE year, the proposed CCP size requirement changes will ELIMINATE the EMP4 from the CCP Division.......after the IDPA advertised it, reviewed it, qualified it,endorsed it, and gave it their Blessing in their own magazine.

THAT type of change doesn't make shooting IDPA more fun, run smoother, or anything else even remotely "positive"................and as these changes are NOT a "safety" issue, not a concealment issue, not a "compact issue", there must be another reason for the changes and the elimination of so many previously approved handguns for CCP and although I hate to say it, I think someone ( Mfg.) will benefit from those changes that eliminate so many competitors.

And yes, I did let my feelings be known in IDPA feedback, but, I doubt that will matter as they have shown they work for THEIR own benefit and as they see fit. and NOT that of the member shooter.

whatsit:
Ugh. Would have loved to see a carry optics division. I haven't ever played idpa, but if I could use my rmr'd carry gun I would be much more motivated to try it.

Lorimor:
Maybe KSTG is the answer?

http://kstghq.com/

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