Tactical pistol Basic Equipment


The following is a list of basic equipment that you will needed to shoot in a Tactical Pistol match.  
Please keep in mind, The main goal of Tactical Pistol is to emulate real life defensive pistol shooting while practicing safe gun handling techniques. These matches are meant to be fun while being safe and allows the novice or a seasoned shooter to compete and test and improve their skills.

  • Eye protection (required at GMSA) An ANSI Z87 rating is highly recommended - get the best pair of safety glasses that you can afford and don't be too proud to wear those side shields, we've only got one pair of eyes!
  • Ear protection (required at GMSA) Some shooters like earplugs, some like earmuffs, some like the electronic type, the choice is yours but be sure you have something, hearing damage from gunfire is cumulative and irreversable!
  • Any pistol or revolver with a 6" or less barrel
  • Strong-side hip holster click here for webmaster's favorite kydex holster
  • Magazines, speedloaders or moonclips (See note 1)
  • Double magazine pouch, single mag pouches, speedloader holders, or moonclip holders, as appropriate (See Note 3)


Recommended items:


Though not essential, the following items are highly recommended.

  • Range or gym bag to carry the above items

  • Hat
  • Sunglasses - also should be ANSI Z87 rated
  • Water - sports drinks etc.
  • Snacks - crackers, peanuts, granola bars etc:
  • Sunscreen
  • If you've built a shelter over your belt buckle (like many of us have) and/or your back side resembles a bullfrog standing up on his hind legs,  "Perry" type suspenders are highly recommended.  No need to be too proud to wear them "old man straps", just look at it this way, you're toting around a nearly 2 pound chunk of steel and another 2 pounds worth of ammo and magazines on your belt all the while bending, squatting and shooting...no matter how bad we want to, we just can't rewrite the laws of physics!...gravity IS NOT your friend with steel, brass and lead!

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NOTES:

1) You will need a sufficient number of magazines, speedloaders or moonclips (generally, two or three at a minimum, to complete an 18-round-maximum course of fire.

Please be aware that GMSA Tactical Pistol limits the number of rounds in a magazine:

- 10 (ten) - so that single stack shooters are on an equal playing field to the double stack shooters

2) Bring enough ammo!  You will not know how many targets you will be shooting at, what the total round count is or how many times you may or may not miss the target(s), your mileage may vary. We recommend bringing a minimum of 100 rounds with 150 rounds being ideal. While this may result in bringing too much ammo, this is certainly better than not bringing enough!
It is conceivable that a match might involve as little as 25 rounds or as many as 108 rounds.  
There is no such thing as a "typical" Tactical Pistol match so it's better to just be prepared.

Commissioned law enforcement officers and active-duty military personnel may use their standard-issue duty gear if they so desire.