Ammo for USPSA Competitions

Gearing up in prep for upcoming USPSA competitions is important, not just in training, but to ensure you have what you need for the competition, ahead of time. One of the many prep items I like to ensure I have ready to go before any match, but especially at a Major USPSA match, is ammo! Having plenty of stock for practice and for the day of the match is important to consider!

Leading up to the match, I want to ensure I have the right amount of ammo needed to successfully shoot all of the stages, and with plenty of extra ammo for any makeup shots and training rounds.

So, how do you know how much ammo to prepare to have for a major match? Well, more than likely, you, as the shooter/participant, will receive a Matchbook around a week or two before the match. When I receive the Matchbook, I look through each of the stages, which gives me an accurate minimum of what I will need to complete each course of fire.

I will then plan around 10 extra rounds for each stage, plus an extra 50 for overall, to allow for any makeup shots on the stage or reshoots. I will also bring about an extra 50-100 rounds for practice in the test bay (if permitted) prior to the match. This may look different for other competitors, but this has worked for me and saved me a few times! There have been instances where I have been required to reshoot a stage (due to unpasted targets or steel calibration calls), and I try to make the time to get a few rounds of live-fire practice in the morning or evening before the match to confirm zero, and to get the feel prior to shooting my first stage. If I didn’t bring the extra rounds, I may have been caught in a bind.

When I receive the Matchbook, I look through each stage and locate the round count per stage, which is located on each of the Written Stage Briefs. For example, this is from the SC Sectional Match from this past weekend: https://www.scsectionuspsamatch.org/match-book

If you look at Stage 1, for example, it lists that it has 14 IPSC (cardboard target) and 1 steel. Since it is best 2 hits on paper (IPSC targets) plus a hit on steel, I will need a minimum of 29 rounds. So when I am looking at this stage, I will count 29 plus 10 more, so around 40. I will go through each stage and add up with an overestimation on each stage, in the event I need more than the minimum, or if they tweak the target/shots for the stage. 

If you look at stage 8 in the Matchbook, how many rounds are the minimum needed to complete the course of fire? You got it, 31 is the minimum.

In the video below, can you count how many rounds I actually fired? And as you can see, the actual stage and the matchbook stage brief were changed some, including the start position. 

Being prepared ahead of time is key! That is why I love AmmoSquared. I set up my recurring 9mm order in my account, and just have it shipped to me ahead of time. Easy and simple! Not to mention perfect for practicing prior to the match for training ammo as well! Certainly, give it a try for your next match. Stage planning is a task of its own. AmmoSquared makes it convenient for your ammo needs!