Dropped into a local Hit Factor Concealed Carry Match this past week at Scottsdale Gun Club—something I haven’t done in a while, but absolutely needed. These USPSA-style matches aren’t about medals or bragging rights. They’re more like pressure cookers for your fundamentals. Think of it as tactical therapy—with a shot timer.

This match had four stages, each designed to push a different skill set: seated draws, reloads under pressure, distance accountability, and tight transitions. Nothing crazy complicated, but enough to expose any rust—and yeah, I had some. That first stage in particular reminded me real fast that cold starts don’t care how many years you’ve been shooting.

For this match, I brought out the BUL Armory Ultra Light Pro—a 2011-style pistol chambered in 9mm. It’s light, flat, and fast. Ran flawlessly all day. But I was running 15-round mags, which forced extra reloads on the longer Comstock stages. When you’re up against the clock, those extra reloads matter more than you'd think.

Scoring was split between Comstock and Virginia Count. For those unfamiliar—Comstock lets you take as many shots as you need, with your hit factor calculated as points divided by time. Virginia Count is stricter—you get a fixed number of rounds, and if you shoot extra, you’re eating penalties. Both formats challenge you in different ways, especially if your background is rooted in military-style "fire and forget" marksmanship. That mindset tripped me up more than once.

One major takeaway: I need to retrain myself to pause and evaluate shot placement during Comstock stages. Taking an extra tenth of a second for a follow-up could mean the difference between an Alpha and a Charlie—or worse, a miss. In a match setting, it’s easy to fall into the trap of trusting your first sight picture and pushing ahead. Sometimes that works. Sometimes it doesn’t.

Despite a rough first stage, the rest of the match went solid. I settled into a rhythm, trusted my fundamentals, and let the reps do the work. The Ultra Light Pro felt like an extension of my hand—minimal recoil, crisp break, and zero hiccups. Definitely a platform I’ll continue to run and test.

Shoutout to Velocitas for supplying the ammo—it ran clean and consistent all day—and major thanks to the Scottsdale Gun Club crew and volunteers for putting on a well-organized, no-drama event. You all make this community better.

If you’re looking to push yourself, test your EDC gear in a realistic setting, or just get a dose of humble pie, find a local match. Don’t worry about your score. Worry about learning something. I sure did.

Full gear list and match footage is up at www.razormp.com.

As always, I’ll see you on the high ground—or in the next post.

— RazorMP