Shoot and Compete with What You Everyday Carry

“Gaming it” is what I call it when a competitive shooter takes every advantage made available based on one’s division. He or she may chamber custom loads, work with lighter connectors, French-fry-crisp aftermarket triggers, a ported slide cut and engraving at the cost of hundreds. There’s nothing wrong with it—not in the least—but it’s not why I show up at matches.

Working to climb a leaderboard, striving to outshoot those lined up on one’s left and right, is a great way to hone one's skills, and it’s the perfect motivation for many handgunners. Divisions such as Production in U.S. Practical Shooting Association and Steel Challenge; Stock Service Pistol in International Defensive Pistol Association; and MOS in the Glock Sport Shooting Foundation allow for match attendees to compete using the same setups they might use as a carry or home-defense handguns.

But what about those daily-carry handguns that might include a weapon-mounted light, maybe a compensator or a ported barrel? Any one of these would push a competitor into an “open” or “unlimited” division. In these divisions, participants are taking every possible advantage, checking all the boxes to have the best chances of finishing first—like the gun setups I described earlier.

Fun fact though: In my experience watching fellow competitors at matches I’ve attended over the past couple years, the handguns that malfunction are always the Gucci custom setups—the Frankenstein builds that can get finicky when loaded with certain factory ammo or when a gust of dirt, courtesy of some serious south-central wind, gunks up the gun during a slide cycle.

Things to Consider

Most firearm experts, including the product engineers themselves, advise against getting too custom for a carry gun, especially when it comes to the internals, specifically anything having to do with the trigger group. So decisions need to be made, with the underlying question being: Are you competing to train, or are you competing to win?

For myself, competitions serve to test my ability to shoot accurately while under stress and, in the case of disciplines like The Tactical Games, while physically exhausted with a heart rate above 180 beats per minute.

I run my Glock 47 Gen5 pistol mounted with a Vortex Defender ST and a Radian Weapons Afterburner and Ramjet compensator-and-barrel combo. A Streamlight TLR-1 HL sits secured to the rail while an 18-pound spring rests inside. All other internals remain stock. This setup closely mirrors my main daily carry, a Glock 19 Gen5 with the same light, compensator and barrel but with a Trijicon RMR instead of the Vortex.

These handgun setups put me in the Unlimited division in GSSF and Open in USPSA. In those divisions, yes, competitors also often run compensators as well as aftermarket triggers and other fine-tuned internals—usually to suit the custom popcorn-puff loads they’re shooting—but that is where I draw the line.

Same Feel and Consistency

I keep all my triggers stock on all my Glock pistols for two main reasons: I trust the factory-installed safety features as they specifically relate to a stock trigger, but I also want that pistol to feel the same whether pulling to defend myself or dropping plates at a GSSF match.

I carry daily in Condition Zero—round in the chamber, safety off. Should I draw, the moment I align sights and pull the trigger, the pistol goes bang. Competition will never create the one-to-one adrenaline rush of a personal-defense encounter, but it remains the safest—and for me personally, the most enjoyable—way of gauging my progress and proficiency with a pistol. Still, while I will never be able to replicate how my body will respond to a critical situation, I can control the exact feel and functionality of my equipment.

I respect the many varied reasons competitors choose to come out and support shooting sports. Attending matches and supporting our community is the most important thing.

Fellow division competitors may rock a tricked-out race gun, and while that may give them an advantage, it isn’t part of my story. The only competitor who concerns me is myself. Are my times getting better? Is my immediate sight alignment more consistent? Am I making more hits with fewer penalties?

With other attendees waiting on deck or circulating nearby, their watching eyes serve to add further pressure. The shot timer jumpstarts my heart rate, and from there I remember to breathe, stay focused, manage a smooth trigger pull, one after another. That helps me become ever familiar with how that exact same pistol feels when I am stressed but intent on getting better and making every bullet count, always working toward an unconscious competency.

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