In years previous I had been shooting a 1911 in single stack division and quit due to the mismatch of aging eyes and iron sights. I got tired of 30 point deductions for shooting no shoot targets but seemingly had no control over it. So I stopped shooting competitively. Then in 2015 (reminded by the article linked to) I decided I’d had enough of not participating and even if the gun I was building wasn’t going to be competitive in Open Division I was going to build a sort of “Open” handgun to get the optical sight. A few months after I started the build USPSA started the provisional division of Carry Optics and the article takes over from here. I was doing the right thing at the right time and my gun fitted into the new division by mere chance. I never did put it into Open Division; I didn’t need to.
It’s hard to believe that was 7 years ago. Time flies! FWIW, I loved Carry Optics but hated the gear belt (I always have) so when USPSA started PCC division I swapped to it and I wear the belt when it’s needed (GI web belt w/dump pouch and places for 4 stick mags) and remove it for most of the match. Now the question is, how long has PCC div’ been around? I bet it’s been 4 years but IDK.