The 2023 International Defensive Pistol Association World Championship was held at the CMP Talladega Marksmanship Park in Talladega, Ala., October 12-14. At the match, there were 385 shooters that competed in 15 stages across three days of fierce competition replicating real-life defensive shooting situations.
The International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) is the governing body of this unique shooting discipline which simulates self-defense scenarios and real-life encounters. Since its founding in 1996, IDPA now boasts a sizeable membership of more than 22,000, including members from 75 different countries.
Fired under the 2023 IDPA rulebook, new this year at the IDPA World Championship was that Enhanced Service Pistol division shooters could have compensators or ported barrels on their guns.
The match featured all eight IDPA divisions—Stock Service Pistol, Custom Defensive Pistol, Back-Up Gun, Carry Optics, Compact Carry Pistol, Enhanced Service Pistol, Pistol-Caliber Carbine and Revolver. Additionally, there were 13 full stages, plus a warm-up stage to start the competition and a cool-down stage to conclude the match.
Keeping with the theme of IDPA, the 15 World Championship stages featured scenarios such as stopping armed robbers trying to enter a home, disrupting an altercation with a jilted ex-boyfriend attempting to crash a wedding, and defending yourself from goons after taking a wrong turn down an alley.
“We were thrilled to have shooters from more than 17 countries joining us for our fourth World Championship event,” Joyce Wilson, the executive director of IDPA said. “This year our Match Director, Frank Strong, and his staff did a remarkable job for preparation and stage design. They worked for more than a year designing stages that were not only challenging, but also kept the match flowing well.”
IDPA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP HIGHLIGHTS
Carry Optics division competitor Kevin Harding led the field in the overall match results with a final score of 245.11. In second place overall was Justine Williams with 250.36, who also topped the Pistol-Caliber Carbine division leaderboard. Williams, a member of the Colt Shooting Team, is the second woman to ever accomplish this feat at the IDPA World Championship. Rounding out the top three overall shooters was fellow Pistol-Caliber Carbine division competitor Steve Miles with 252.54.
In Custom Defensive Pistol, Glenn Shelby won the division title with a score of 290.04. A Distinguished Master IDPA shooter and longtime member of the Wilson Combat Shooting Team, Shelby is an 11-time IDPA national champion and now a four-time world champion. For his gun at the 2023 International Defensive Pistol Association World Championship in Alabama this past October, Shelby was shooting a Wilson Combat CQB Elite pistol chambered in .45 ACP.
Another member of the Wilson Combat Shooting Team, Distinguished Master IDPA shooter Austin Proulx, posted a score of 270.09 to secure the Compact Carry Pistol division title. He was competing with his Wilson Combat SFT9 pistol chambered in 9 mm. Although the win marked Proulx’s first IDPA World Championship title, back in 2021 he was the IDPA national champion in the Compact Carry Pistol division.
2023 IDPA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERBOARD
You can view the full results of the 2023 IDPA World Championship at the Practiscore website. Learn more about the International Defensive Pistol Association at idpa.com.
