Practical Shooting is all about accuracy, power, & speed - and the scoring system used - where ones score (less any penalties) is divided by the time taken - is called COMSTOCK SCORING. The power of your ammunition may be tested to confirm that it qualifies as either major or minor power factor ( actually a measure of Momentum), - accuracy is directly measured by score on IPSC Targets, and the time factor puts delicious pressure on the shooter to hurry his multiple aimed shots and risk loosing accuracy
.. all this while under the close scrutiny of fellow competitors and the Range Officer at your elbow watching for any safety or procedural infringements. I remember - more than a few times - being happily assured that "You can't miss fast enough to win!" - Each stage of an IPSC match is a mix of target combinations, use of movement and cover, and 'NO-SHOOT' targets designed to obstruct, challenge, and confuse the operator behind the tool.
The word 'COMSTOCK' never gave me any pause until I recently read an excellent 'Frontier Story' called "COMSTOCK LODE" by Louis L'Amour, well known American "western" author and historian. the book - which tells of pioneers, lawless times and gunfighting gives historical insight of the largest, richest "gold-rush" in the area of Virginia City (Nevada) on the Eastern side of the Sierra Mountain Range in the 1850s.
- There was actually many times more value of SILVER mined in the local, despite the silver ore being treated as a nuisance initially! This story was so very interesting that I then researched its historical accuracy in 'The Roar And The Silence, A History Of Virginia City And The Comstock Lode.' by Ronald M James. - Before the big 1859 strike, "placer miners" panned for gold in the sand and gravels of the area - prospecting in a climate called "of hurricanes and snow, - water a dilution of arsenic, plumbago(lead ore), and copperas(ferous sulphate)". - Nice! - All this a frozen mile and a half above sea level.
This area of Nevada - once called "Silverlands" was known to the Mormons from the early 1850s, and was identified by the Grosh brothers** as a "ledge of silver" in 1856 - but not until 1859 when Henry 'Pancake' COMSTOCK sank a shaft at Sun Mountain which produced a rich yield, was this wealth of silver for ever known as the COMSTOCK LODE.
I surmise that the reason Col. Jeff Coopers IPSC scoring system is called 'COMSTOCK' was that success in shooting matches would be a pathway to gold & silver awards for the top shooters - as it certainly is in America.
** Hosea Grosh struck his foot with a pick on 19 August 1857 and died two weeks later from blood poisoning - and in November later that year, Ethan Grosh died of exposure in a mountain blizzard while crossing the Sierra Mountains. - It was a hard, hard world prospecting in that frontier era.
Col Jeff Cooper who founded IPSC shooting in 1976 as a training aid and competition for law enforcement professionals - also conceived and designed the BREN TEN pistol and its 10MM cartridge (more powerful than both the 9mm and .45"ACP). He died aged 86 in 2006. - Author Louis L'Amour died in 1988 aged 80. - I'm still here!
Marty K.
After researching & writing 1,036 blogs I've got something NEW to try .. I've signed-up to Patreon. - In over five years I've not made one cent from this .. NOW you can send me a wee support $ - starting from $1. to get all this stuff from New Zealand - over a year that's nearly the price of one Shooting magazine. - Am I worth it?
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