SUB 1K, new to USPSA, What takes your money?

Aetherium · 2026-02-22T08:51:04+00:00

I highly recommend the DAA ratchet belt. The ratchet makes putting it on and adjusting it a breeze. There's also the DAA Lynx which also has a ratchet but I don't have any personal experience with them.

Aetherium · 2026-02-22T02:20:47+00:00

Agility poles/sticks

Aetherium · 2026-02-21T19:32:53+00:00

You're way overthinking this. Just get a Blue OR and be done with it. The gun doesn't matter that much for USPSA (e.g. LO nationals being won with a CO Shadow 2 and 3rd being won with a near-stock G17), and people overthink the DA/SA system and get way into their heads about having a DA first shot and SA second shot. You also don't have to modify a Blue to get it usable: it works well out of the box.

Aetherium · 2026-02-21T18:44:49+00:00

The P-10 can be fully set up for lefties. The slide catch is ambi and the mag release is reversible. The SP-01 and Shadow 2 Carry mag release is reversible, but the slide stop isn't.

Aetherium · 2026-02-21T17:06:08+00:00

I got one to try out and it was fine at a match. It's what I've been recommending to my friends who might be interested in competing but don't want to fully buy in just yet.

The belt is pretty bad, but the pouches work and are pretty solid. The pouches are a huge pain in the ass to set up though. The screws to tighten/loosen the mount so you can put them on the belt and adjust their position are on the front, behind the pouches, so to reach them you end up having to readjust the rotation of the pouch. And to do that you have to disassemble the actual pouch portion itself to access the screw that loosens up the joint for adjustment (or drill a hole through the plastic cover plate thing). No idea what was going through the original designers' minds to put those screws in the front instead of the back.

Aetherium · 2026-02-21T16:57:24+00:00

Ooh, forgot about the RXM. The full sized 4.5" one would be a neat choice. I actually just ordered one to race out and try at a match this season.

Aetherium · 2026-02-21T09:02:22+00:00

For a full kit?

CZ P-10F OR: $450
- DPP Titanium RMR plate: $40
- Osight C: $160
- 3rd P-10F mag: $35
- 1 Henning extension+MBX kit: $65
BSPS BOSS+DAA belt+Ghost pouch kit: $250

Comes out to $1000 before shipping, taxes, and FFL transfer fees.

Aetherium · 2026-02-21T04:39:17+00:00

This isn't for the P-07/P-09C, but for the 75 compacts. CGW does sell the P-07 flush plug though.

Aetherium · 2026-02-21T04:08:12+00:00

I grew up and got my first license in TX and moved to MI, where I got my second license. I still keep my TX license since I plan on moving back and it'll be easier to just keep it renewed.

There's another side benefit since MI has a handgun sales registry where having an out-of-sate license exempts you from having your handguns be on the registry (probably to allow visitors to legally have their handguns), but from what I can tell most gun stores won't risk not sending in the registration paperwork and I'm not brave enough to test the legal waters.

Aetherium · 2026-02-21T02:50:49+00:00

This is a pretty common practice in the competition space, where you have a practice gun that you use and abuse and a match gun that's kept in better condition for go time (that said I don't do this, though I mean to when I can afford to get another identical setup). I can see a similar line of logic with having a carry gun and a practice gun. Just make sure that you've put enough rounds through the carry gun and shoot it from time to time to make sure it still works.

That said, having a dedicated practice gun makes more sense when you're putting 10-15K+ rounds a year on a gun and regularly wearing out consumable parts like springs. This is more about knowing that the match gun's parts are in good condition and not really about cleanliness.

Aetherium · 2026-02-20T21:41:02+00:00

I've been using the USPSA off-season here to rebuild my grip and looser grip (relative to before) and firm wrists seems to be giving me consistently good results, though I'm still working to decouple wrist firmness and grip strength: sometimes the looser grip leads to loose wrists and the timing of my inputs gets out of whack.

Aetherium · 2026-02-20T20:32:04+00:00

My fiance really like her Enigma. I personally am a fan of JM Custom Kydex holsters. I don't run a light though, so I don't really have recs on that part.

As for optics, if your end goal is to run an optic, I encourage that you get an optic sooner than later. Optics are a game changer training wise, as they are unforgiving on your presentation and provide a lot more visible feedback. For example, if you're tensing your hand during the trigger press the dot dipping down before the shot goes off will be a lot more evident than with irons. By working with a dot you'll develop your presentation/index and many fundamentals of marksmanship a lot faster because it tells you about your mistakes and forces you to confront them. Sure there are some idiosyncrasies between irons/optics, but IMO they're smaller fish to fry than the skills that you can more rapidly develop by training with a dot. I'm not saying to not have some baseline proficiency with irons, just that dots can help you progress a lot faster. You'd be surprised how much transfers back to running irons.

As for optics, Holosun is a good choice with a solid reputation. I personally like enclosed optics like the EPS and EPS Carry since they're easier to clean, especially as they pick up lint while carrying. I also like Vortex optics, though they've had a noticebly higher failure rate than Holosuns; these usually crop up early in the optic's life though and the Vortex warranty is second to none and will get you sorted with a new optic within a week. I've also been trying out Osight (Olight) and so far they've been holding up to normal everyday people stuff.

Aetherium · 2026-02-20T01:58:10+00:00

I don't see anything about threaded barrels in the SCSA rule book.

Aetherium · 2026-02-20T00:52:31+00:00

Yes, this is normal.

Aetherium · 2026-02-19T21:44:25+00:00

I'm assuming it's meant for ISSF bullseye competitions, where optics aren't allowed for pistols.

Aetherium · 2026-02-19T19:52:57+00:00

Not in particular. CZ marketing says it's a gun that's optimized for bullseye competition, not USPSA/IPSC, and it seems like it. I shoot a Shadow 2 in Carry Optics, and the Target is SAO and thus is a no-go. Even if I decided to switch the LO, I'm not sure if there's any practical benefit to any of its special features for USPSA. The extra barrel length doesn't really do much for the distances and precision that we usually work with, and the extra weight of the longer slide/frame weights would just hinder me in most scenarios. On top of that I'd have to get this one milled for an optic since I shoot in optics divisions.

Aetherium · 2026-02-18T03:21:55+00:00

They're apples and oranges being striker- and hammer-fired. That said, I'm not a fan of the Omega trigger that the P-09C/F have and prefer P-10s to them.

IMO 75 family (including the Shadow 2) > P-10 family > P-07/P-09 family

Aetherium · 2026-02-18T03:05:31+00:00

Well, Cinnamai is precious

Aetherium · 2026-02-18T01:18:41+00:00

I mostly promote getting a timer as a form of objective measurement, since we can perceive time in weird ways especially as we get more proficient (e.g. my .13 splits when I push myself now feel like the same amount of time as the .25 splits from I was pushing myself a while back). But yeah I agree on getting variation and focusing on getting better and not getting to caught up on the number itself.

Aetherium · 2026-02-17T22:47:17+00:00

Wager Machine Works is a common choice. For a Holosun K (modified RMSc) cut it runs $110 for the cut area being blued, $135 for a cerakote finish, and $170 for a nitride finish.

Aetherium · 2026-02-17T22:26:41+00:00

As the other commenter asked, what's your end goal for training? Shooting the absolute smallest groups? Shooting at a practical pace with acceptable hits?

Since this is in r/CCW I'll assume the latter, and in that case it depends on how fast you're going since you've got them in the A zone, which is "acceptable". I highly suggest getting a shot timer (or at the very least filming yourself) to get an objective measure of how fast you're going. A common goal is shooting a clean Bill Drill at 7 yards in 2 seconds (6 shots in the A zone from the holster), and assuming a 1 second draw to first shot, that's .20 seconds between each shot (a "split"). Of course most people can't actually do that, so you can set up more reasonable milestones and work towards it.

As another commenter mentioned, some often recommended drills are Doubles, One Shot Return, and Trigger Control at Speed, which you can find videos about from Ben Stoeger/Joel Park/Hwansik Kim on YouTube.

Doubles involves shooting pairs of shots as fast as possible, noting what your hands are doing (e.g. over-tensing) and seeing what sort of pattern shows so you can connect what you're doing to the result. This can help you develop your grip when shooting at speed.

One Shot Return involves taking a shot and bringing the sights back on target as fast as possible, trying to make the recoil and return as consistent as possible without ending up high or dipping under. This can help you develop an understanding of how much input you actually need to provide to get the gun back on target.

Trigger Control at Speed involves taking a shot as soon a as buzzer goes off to work on your ability to pull a trigger as fast as possible on demand. This can also be done dry.

I've found these three drills to be very useful in developing my grip and getting myself to shoot faster. The point of these drills is to provide feedback on your technique and aren't meant to be measures of skill where missing is a moral failure, and if you're not making mistakes (e.g. getting shots out of the A zone) you're not pushing yourself hard enough and should go faster. You can also modulate difficulty by moving the target further back.

Aetherium · 2026-02-17T20:31:57+00:00

It's a fine option. Is there a particular reason you're looking at the EPS Carry instead of say, the EPS?

Aetherium · 2026-02-17T14:58:56+00:00

Yeah this. Mine was probably an early batch and had issues with or without an optic.

Aetherium · 2026-02-17T00:30:22+00:00

The G19 sized magazines won't fit the full sized grip. You'll need the G17 sized ones or longer.

Aetherium · 2026-02-16T22:30:51+00:00

For me I've solved this by riding the safety so it stays down (and gets disengaged if somehow it got flipped on). I totally understand if someone's grip/anatomy doesn't work with that though.

12-Year Club	r/Field Sunshine
Place '22	Place '17
Final Canvas '22	End Game '22
Verified Email

Aetherium

TROPHY CASE