Welcome to the McHenry IDPA Club.
We hope you’ll find shooting with us a
pleasant and enjoyable experience. New
shooters are always welcome, and can easily find help and advice from any of
the more experienced shooters. While we
do take our sport very seriously, we are not a highly competitive club. We take great pride in helping less
experienced shooters become safer and more confident with a firearm.
While having fun is a very high priority –
safety is unquestionably our number one concern. The McHenry IDPA club has sent nearly 20
shooters to receive certified Safety Officer training, and we have 2 Safety
Officers on the firing line with every shooter during every match. We insist that everyone leave one of our
matches with exactly the same number of holes with which they arrived. To accomplish this, we have some rules that
must strictly be adhered to, by every shooter, every time.
- There
are only 2 places that you may handle a firearm. One is at the “Gun Safe” table where the
muzzle will point only at the wall at all times, and the other is on the
firing line under the direction of a Safety Officer. It is at this “Gun Safe” table that you
will uncase your firearm, remove the magazine, ensure it’s unloaded, and
place it in your holster. At no
other time may a firearm be unholstered.
If you have a question about your firearm or it’s operation, it can
only be removed from the holster at the “Gun Safe” table, with the muzzle
towards the wall.
- Our
matches are conducted on a ‘cold’ range. That means the ONLY time a
firearm is loaded is when you’re directed to “Load and make ready” by one
of the Safety Officers when on the firing line.
- Magazines
(or speed loaders for revolvers) may be charged with ammunition anywhere
except at the “Gun Safe” table. No
ammunition is allowed at the “Gun Safe” table at any time.
The range commands a shooter will hear while
on the range at an IDPA match are consistent at all IDPA clubs nationwide. They are:
- “Does
the shooter understand the course of fire?” This gives the shooter a chance to ask
for any clarification about the course of fire.
- “Facing
down range, load and make ready.” At this time, the shooter will unholster
the firearm, load and make ready (insert a magazine and charge the
weapon), then reholster the firearm.
- “Is
the shooter ready?”
The Safety Officer will wait for a positive response.
- “Standby.” This is the last thing a Safety Officer
will say before the start signal sounds.
At the sound of the buzzer, you may unholster
your firearm and engage the targets.
When you are finished, simply keep the gun pointing downrange and wait
for the Safety Officer to say…
- “Unload
and show clear.”
The shooter will remove the magazine, and open the slide for a
visual inspection by the Safety Officer, who will then instruct the
shooter to release the slide forward, and squeeze the trigger on an empty
chamber to drop the hammer (while still pointing downrange, of course) and
then reholster the firearm.
- “Range
is safe.”
At this time any safety issues are discussed, the shooter’s time is
recorded, and targets and scored.
Some safety commands you may hear while
shooting are:
- “Finger!” The shooter must keep a finger outside
the trigger guard at all times except when engaging targets. If a shooter is given a “Finger!”
command, immediate compliance is required.
This command is typically given while a shooter is moving or during
a reload.
- “Muzzle!” This means the shooter has begun to
drift the muzzle in an unsafe direction.
Immediate compliance is required. The Safety Officer will be ready to
physically correct a shooter’s arm if necessary to remain safe.
- “Cover!” This means a shooter is not using cover
(walls, barriers, etc) properly, and must reposition correctly behind
available cover.
- “Stop!” Means exactly that – stop, take your
finger out of the trigger guard, keep the muzzle down range, and wait for
further instruction. This may
indicate a safety concern that cannot wait until the shooter is finished,
or something as simple as a target malfunction.
New shooters are required to attend a New
Shooter Orientation Program* before being allowed to compete at a match. This program is offered at any monthly match,
and there is no charge. You must bring
your equipment (no ammunition required) and be able to demonstrate safe
operation of the firearm. New shooters
are asked to shoot their first few matches with slow, deliberate gun
handling. Don’t attempt to ‘race the
clock’. As your gun handling skills
increase, your speed will increase.
The typical match offers 3 stages totaling
35-50 rounds, and costs $13 for club members and $15 for non-members. You are welcome to shoot with the McHenry
IDPA club as a guest, but by your 3rd match we ask that you become a
member. Membership fees help us to purchase
items necessary for a match, such as lumber, targets, pasters, staples,
timers/batteries, etc. Joining the local
McHenry IDPA Club is a one-time-only $30 fee.
You must also join the IDPA at the National level, and that costs $40
per year.
Once again, welcome to the McHenry IDPA. If there is anything we can do to assist you
or make your shooting experience more enjoyable, please don’t hesitate to
contact us.
Ted Gens – President Larry Hall – Match Director
815-459-3450 847-854-1596
*Shooters
with experience in competition shooting can be waived through the New Shooter
Orientation Program