I’ve been shooting IDPA and USPSA matches for about 12 years now. My favorite is IDPA shooting in the CDP division. While IDPA is generally easier to shoot in than USPSA, it is more real world carry oriented. IDPA is also less of an equipment race than what USPSA can be.
In IDPA, you generally run a course of fire in a defensive mindset. In USPSA, you run with an offensive mindset. Both games are their own kind of fun. IDPA scoring places a higher weight on accuracy vs speed , while USPSA scoring favors speed over accuracy a little more.
When I do shoot USPSA, I do enjoy the extra challenge of shooting Single Stack major with my IDPA gun. 8+1 capacity in a 32 round course of fire requires you to really have a solid stage plan.
A lot of casual shooters seem to shy away from the shooting competition scene. I mainly compete to keep my skill set sharp and to improve myself if there is room for it physically and mentally. I shoot with a lot of other like minded folks that shoot for the same reason. The nice thing about shooting with a regular crowd is that while everyone's shooting abilities may vary, they also serve to each other as a performance benchmark to compare with to see if you or they are improving as time goes on. IDPA generally has more laid back shooters that are more willing to give advice and encouragement than the sometimes uptight, more competitive USPSA shooters.
I probably only have about $1200 in my whole 1911 setup counting gun mods, magazines, mag pouches, and holster. Its a Kimber Stainless 2 with a Nighthawk Custom carry magwell, Harris Tru Radius sear, EGW oversize firing pin stop, and a Hogue wraparound grip. Recoil spring is a Wolff 16.5lb variable rate and the mainspring is a 23lb Colt spec. The 1/16” radius on the bottom of the firing pin stop with these spring weights works surprisingly well for flat cycling with 230gr RN at 750fps.
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I'm going to agree with some of your observations and offer a different point of view on others. I don't do this to be argumentative or attack your observations. I'm doing this for those who might be on the fence to have a more complete picture (or an alternative point of view) of both sports.
IDPA is very loosely based on self defense scenarios but they bear almost zero resemblance to reality. Most of IDPA's "tactical" rules are complete nonsense. I won't go into that here but suffice it to say that trying to tie IDPA into any sort of tactical reality is a fool's errand. It's a game whose founding premise was "we'll do the opposite of USPSA".
My biggest problem with IDPA is the paint by the numbers approach: go to P1 and shoot T1 - T3, then go to P2.......etc. It IS possible to design stages where you are free to make your own plan and still avoid breaking rules like exposing oneself to unengaged targets but that would require two things: stage design creativity and shooters who actually know the rules well enough to come up with a legal stage plan. IME, most IDPA shooters never even open a fucking rulebook and rely on tribal knowledge. Some SOs have tried to give me procedurals when I've gamed stages in ways that are legal but that no one else thought of. All I tell them is "show me on the book where it says I can't".
Let's talk equipment race. If you stay out of Limited and Open, USPSA is no more of an equipment race than IDPA is. Compare the modifications allowed in IDPA carry optics, ESP, and CDP to USPSA carry optics, production, and single stack and you'll notice that they are functionally the same. A kydex holster, two or three mag pouches, and a real nylon carry belt will cost almost as much as a USPSA double belt rig.
I started my handgun competition in IDPA, drifted away to compete in rifle and shotgun sports, then when I came back to handguns I tried USPSA and quickly figured out that USPSA is the deep end of the pool where talent and skill are much higher at least in my local area.
When I do shoot IDPA, I attack stages as aggressively as I do in USPSA while staying within IDPA rules. When I say aggressively it means I draw as fast, shoot as fast (while still getting very, very few points down), move as fast, reload as fast, and shoot on the move wherever I can. Now that IDPA uses fault lines, I execute my position entries and exits same as I do in USPSA, using the fault line angles to expose and shoot at the first target on my way in and seamlessly transition into slicing the pie with no delay. The end result is that while I'm a B class shooter in USPSA I end up placing in the top five overall at just about every IDPA match I go to. The last one I shot in, Sunday before yesterday, I took second overall to a Master who beat me by 0.47 seconds in total time and only because he had one point down less than me (my raw time was faster than his). I won Carry Optics in that match by an almost 15 second margin.
I agree with you that IDPA heavily favors accuracy. I think that leads the majority of IDPA shooters to never develop speed without sacrificing accuracy. Some do, and most of those who do are likely USPSA shooters as well.
USPSA scoring is little understood by a lot of people. The scoring is based on your ability to score more points per second that others. It seems that you can blaze away taking A-C hits everywhere and still beat others who are slightly slowed but more accurate. Well that depends on which division you're shooting in. Open and Limited, and to a lesser degree Single Stack, let you do that when you shoot major power factor since C and D hits are worth more points to them. In divisions where only minor power factor exists, you better be shooting 90%+ Alphas very quickly if you want to be competitive, almost like IDPA come to think of it.
What a lot of IDPA shooters fail to realize are that tactical mistakes like hitting a no-shoot or missing an engageable target are penalize far more severely in USPSA. If you miss a shot at a threat target in IDPA, you get 5 seconds added to your time. In USPSA (where scoring is points/seconds) you not only not get the points you could have scored had you hit the target, you also get TEN points deducted from your score. Hitting a no-shoot in IDPA is a 3 second penalty, in USPSA it's a ten point deduction.
Unlike you, I haven't found anyone at my local USPSA circuit to be an aloof dickhead. Most of us do take it seriously but no one takes it to the extreme of being unfriendly, unapproachable, or unwilling to help other shooters. I routinely bounce stage plan ideas or questions with guys I know who are masters and grand masters and not a single one has ever done anything but be helpful and friendly. Hell, Bob Vogel showed up at one of the indoor USPSA matches around here and I saw him engage with a bunch of noobs without any attitude.
The IDPA guys I shoot with are just as friendly, but like I said before the local IDPA talent pool is very shallow and most of them really should not be giving shooting advice to anyone. Most of the ones that are good are also USPSA crossovers.
Any IDPA shooter who wants to try USPSA can get started with exactly what they have. An SSP shooter can jump right into Production with their current holster, belt, and mag pouches as long as he has enough magazines and pouches (typically five mags and four or five pouches). Everyone should have plenty of mags for whatever pistol they shoot, and buying 2 or 3 more pouches is no big handicap when they cost $20 online from just about anyone.
Same with Carry Optics. An IDPA CO shooter needs nothing to start playing USPSA, just have three mags on the belt, fill them up to capacity, and take off the magwell (allowed in IDPA CO but not in USPSA CO) if they have one.
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so who knows.
