I love shooting. Whether it is just to relax, part of my practice routine, actual training, or competition; if it gives me a reason to shoot more I am all in. I am also fortunate to have married a partner who not only loves to shoot as well but is arguably better at it than I am. Thus, we both love attending shooting sports competitions including IDPA, Steel Challenge, Bowling Pin matches, various local house leagues and Glock Sports Shooting Association (GSSF) indoor and outdoor matches. We went as far as creating a shooting team in 2018, found sponsorships, and had jerseys made (Indy Shooting Team).
Prior to lockdowns and cancellations in 2020 and 2021, our team was competing most weekends, and in addition to multiple local events we were attending an average of two IDPA events, three GSSF indoor matches, and one GSSF outdoor match every month. With events being canceled in 2020 and 2021, ammo shortages, and excessive costs, our shooting time became primarily devoted to training the influx of new gun owners. During that time, our competition shooting diminished from the highs of 2019 to maybe one local event a month in 2022.
During a casual lunch earlier this year with most of the shooting team, the conversation turned to our previous levels of pre-lockdown shooting. The decision was made there and then to ‘get the band back together.’ We quickly decided to return to shooting GSSF outdoor and indoor events. The advantages of shooting GSSF include prize support (free Glocks for winning divisions at outdoor matches) as well as competitions that can still challenge established shooters while being open to newer shooters. GSSF matches are a combination of accuracy, time, and distance but do not incorporate movement or drawing (hence why we also shoot more action-shooting-focused events).
What is GSSF?
GSSF Indoor Matches are offered as 3-match leagues and vary from the matches spaced over a weekend or couple weeks, to the more traditional matches offered monthly. GSSF indoor matches are sponsored by Glock, but run by locals usually associated with the host range.
These matches are quickly shot as the course of fire for each of the five divisions is 50 rounds (25 for pocket division) shot at five varying further distances 10 (or 5) rounds at a time in under 15 seconds. Scores for an individual course of fire range from 0-500 (0-250 for pocket) and though there is a penalty for going past 15 seconds, scores are primarily focused on accuracy. Final results for each league are calculated by averaging the best two scores across the three matches for each division.
One of the prizes at such matches is a perfection patch for shooting a perfect 500 or 250 score. GSSF indoor matches are hosted at local ranges, occur throughout the year, and are generally decently attended (15-30 people per match is common, with many choosing to shoot multiple divisions). There are three monthly GSSF indoor matches within two hours of our location.
GSSF Outdoor Matches, in contrast, are larger events. These matches are run directly by Glock in conjunction with a local outdoor range. There are many more divisions and the prizes are more substantial. However, there are generally a lot more people competing (75-100 people is common).
There are three different courses of fire and accuracy is balanced with time in the scoring (faster time with more accuracy are scored more positively). Final scores are time-based (the time it took to complete the course of fire with additional time added for rounds that did not land in the bullseye). The round count is closer to 100 for each division and usually, it takes 3-4 hours to shoot all three courses when shooting in multiple divisions. The course of fire includes Five to Glock (a similar setup to the GSSF indoor matched using paper targets at five distances), Glock ‘M (a combination of paper targets and a steel target focused more on spaced-out engagement than distance), and Glock the Plates (dropping all the steel from a standard plate rack).
Typically, each U.S. state has only one or two Outdoor matches each year. There are a total of eight GSSF outdoor matches within about four hours drive from us each year.
What has changed since 2020?
Once our group decided to return to more regular shooting in 2023, we identified four GSSF outdoor matches to attend and checked out the rules for both indoor and outdoor matches. In the past, GSSF indoor matches had three broad categories: Pocket (Glock 42 or 43), Stock (all other Glocks with 10-round capacity with only very minor modifications allowed), and Unlimited (Stock Glocks but with any number or type of modifications allowed). Pocket and Unlimited are similar in GSSF outdoor matches and there is still a Stock division open to most Glocks, but there are many more subdivisions including subcompacts, heavy metal, and Glock girls.
Since we regularly shot these events, both indoor and outdoor matches have also added a rimfire division (Glock 44) which we already had purchased for its use as training guns. More recently the outdoor matches in 2022 and now the indoor matches in early 2023 have added a Glock MOS division. This new division necessitated the need for my wife and I to prepare new competition guns to participate in 2023.
Selecting and Preparing for Glock MOS
Glock makes most 9mm models of the Generation 5 series available as MOS (optic-ready) versions. Additionally, several models of .40 S&W, 10mm, and .45 ACP (varying between Gen 5 and Gen 4) are also available in MOS. Any Glock-produced MOS gun is open for use in the indoor and outdoor Stock MOS division.
Although my wife and I shoot multiple 9mm Glocks in competition, we both prefer the Glock 17. Fortunately, as we ended 2019’s season we had both ordered a Glock 17 MOS hoping for the new division to be added. Thus, we both had our chosen Glock already in the safe before the lockdowns and were ready to get them prepped for competition now in 2023.
There are several minor modifications allowed in any GSSF Stock division. The first is that triggers can be modified as long as the new trigger or part is manufactured directly by Glock. Fortunately, I was at SHOT show earlier in 2023 when Glock announced their first-ever performance trigger. I ordered two immediately and decided to add them to our two stock Glock 17 MOS guns.
The second allowed addition to a stock MOS is, of course, the optic. My wife and I have been shooting in the unlimited division with optics for years and both have our favorites. I am fond of the Holosun 507C with green dot (2 MOA) and circle (34 MOA) for GSSF and picked up another one for my stock MOS gun. My wife uses the Burris Fastfire 3 (3 MOA), liking its smaller window and simple red dot for competition shooting and was happy to obtain another for her stock MOS.
The final allowed modification in stock division is the addition of removable grip tape including such products as Talon Grips. My wife and I both prefer a rough granulated grip for competition guns, especially those that may end up being shot outdoors in inclement weather. We both added Talon Grips’ granulated grips to our guns. Finally, neither of us like to reload at an event so we topped off our preparation with 10 magazines each in a carrier.
With our guns prepared we are ready to shoot the new Stock MOS division in both indoor and outdoor matches. We already regularly shoot the other four divisions in indoor matches and have shot most of the other divisions in outdoor matches. The new Stock MOS division gives us yet another excuse to send more rounds down range!
