Re: IPSC competitiveness with stock gear.
Yes, you can do it, if you are competing within your classification and/or equipment type. For instance, I was doing pretty good at my club with my stock Kimber Pro Carry .40SW. It has a 4.25" barrel and slide on a full size aluminum frame, and I was using factory ammo so I was getting quite a bit of recoil (.40 is a jumpy round, IMO). I was shooting in the Limited 10 category which means I was limited to having 10 rounds in a magazine. Now, I can also shoot it in the new, provisional Single Stack category with a 8 round mag limit.
But, I was really only competing against other shooters in the same category, Limited 10 (and now the new, provisional Single Stack division). I wasn't too competitive with the Open class shooters, except for the guys who tried to buy their skill via equipment instead of via practice.
IPSC has seven classes of shooter skill levels: Unclassified (U - not enough scores to be classified), D, C, B, A, Master, and Grand Master as ranked from lower skill to higher skill. A shooter's classification is based on his scores he achieves on designated classifier stages over a period of several shoots. IIRC, a shooter needs to have shot six classifiers to get ranked. The details aren't important right now, but you get the idea. I never made enough matches to get out of the C class, although I think I could be a B class shooter.
In addition to the shooter classes, there a six catagories of gun and equipment classes: Revolver, Production, Single Stack, Limited 10, Limited, and Open. The rules are more strict for Production becoming less strict as you move towards Open. A plain-jane Glock will work in Production, but could also be shot in Lim 10, Limited, and Open, but would be at a disadvantage. An Open gun may not run in the lower classes, because it probably doesn't meet the criteria on equipment limits. For the most part Production = stock, while Open = Anything goes. You can figure out how the equipment costs will slide.
So, you can see how you can be competitive in your category. If you want to take your CZ or Glock with a plastic holster and three magazines to a match, you certainly can. You could jump right in to the Production class and blaze away. You might even win your class. But to be competitive with every other shooter at your range, then you will need lots of skill, and maybe better equipment. I don't have any desire to shoot Limited or Open guns, but many people do. So be it.
There is a ton of info on IPSC and how to "game it." The short and sweet is this: speed and accuracy win. On stages with fewer targets, give up a little speed to gain more accuracy because with fewer targets to shoot, bad shots and misses (or shooting a no-shoot target) will be a larger part of your final score. On stages with more targets, you may be able to sacrifice accuracy for more speed since the bad shots will be proportionaly less of your score.
Now, get out there and shoot. Be safe, have fun as that's what it is all about.
