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BY PATRICK SWEENEY, CA-/57<br />
m odified. That's just an International<br />
category, right?<br />
Something weird that<br />
shooters with lots of consonants<br />
in their names shoot at foreign<br />
matches, right? Wrong. As a Level III<br />
match, the US Nationals recognized<br />
Modified as an equipment division last<br />
year, and will once again in 2002. It's certainly<br />
a division shot in the United States,<br />
and a fun one, at that.<br />
What is it? It's a place for an Open<br />
gun with some restrictions. It has to be<br />
.40 or larger to declare Major. It has to<br />
fit the IPSC box, and do so with a magazine<br />
in place. Other than that, do what<br />
you want to. Comps? Sure, but the gun<br />
has to fit the box. Ditto optics. To fit the<br />
optics, shooters tilt the gun in the box,<br />
meaning a bobbed muzzle. Magazines<br />
end up with 16 or 17 rounds in them, so<br />
reloading in a stage is something you'll<br />
have to do. (Remember the old days?<br />
No? Then relate to Limited 10.) Oh, and<br />
one more thing. The holster, gun and<br />
magazines have to be on or in back of the<br />
hip line. That means no farther forward<br />
than the point of the hip. With the right<br />
holster, that's no big deal.<br />
How many people shoot Modified? Here in the United<br />
States, not many. The real question is how many Modified<br />
shooters made it to Barry last year? Five of us. (At WSXII<br />
in Cebu, 75 of us shot Modified.) In many ways, shooting<br />
Modified is like the good old days of shooting, where you<br />
had to plan reloads and leave yourself a suitable margin. For<br />
me, with 16-shot magazines (being corrected even as I type<br />
this), I planned on reloading eight or nine times, plus the<br />
mandated three in the standards stages. Compare this to<br />
Open shooters who might have to reload once outside of the<br />
standards.<br />
The 2001 Modified winner was John Flentz, a Limited<br />
GM out of Norco, Calif. John shot an SV Infinity .40 built<br />
by Arron Harris that he had just shot in the Limited Nationals.<br />
One of the details of the International rules is that<br />
a gun that meets all the rules in Standard (Limited to US<br />
shooters) can't be used as a Modified gun.<br />
John solved that problem: "I installed a slide stopmounted<br />
thumb rest, which is allowed in Open but not Standard.<br />
That put my gun into Modified. It seems a strange<br />
thing to do, but those are the rules." The holster and mag<br />
pouch rule caused a little concern for John. "On the reloads<br />
for the Standards, I wasn't sure I'd get back to where the<br />
mags are, being used to the first reload next to the belt<br />
buckle."<br />
act it<br />
Photo by Patrick Sweeney<br />
Curious inventions. Modified Division raceguns balance performance<br />
with size. They share the caliber restriction of Limited, but adopt the optics<br />
and compensators allowed in Open (to the degree that the size of the components<br />
will allow). If you like "carry comp" style guns, consider Modified.<br />
Second was Paul Hendrix out of Virginia, shooting his<br />
Para-Ordnance, which he also used in the Limited Nationals,<br />
but shooting in Limited 10. Like John, Paul shot the<br />
Open because he could. "The chance to shoot 40 stages in<br />
a week was not something I wanted to pass up. When I<br />
found I could use my Limited gun in Modified, I signed right<br />
up." Paul was in my squad, and I got to see again how sometimes<br />
a minor difference in equipment can make a big difference.<br />
His Para mags would hold 17 rounds, but my untuned<br />
STI tubes only held 16. On more than one stage we<br />
had to go with very different tactics because of the oneround<br />
difference.<br />
What if you want to shoot Modified in 2002? First find<br />
a match that will be recognizing the category. With such light<br />
participation in the United States, you may have to do some<br />
looking. (The editors at Front Sight tell me the U.S. "Race<br />
Gun" Nationals will recognize Modified in 2002. However,<br />
that depends on adequate participation.) Once you find a<br />
match, setting your gun up is pretty easy. Move your holster<br />
and mag pouches back, get some 126mm magazines, and<br />
add a thumbrest to your Limited gun like John did. If you<br />
want more, you can build or have built a Modified gun. Infinity<br />
does it, and I'm sure a whole bunch of gunsmiths<br />
could, too.<br />
If you do, we'll see you in Bend this <strong>Aug</strong>ust!<br />
<strong>Jul</strong>y/<strong>Aug</strong>ust 2002 • FRONT SiGHT 65
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