I'm in full agreement, the UKPSA is rubbish! And you can only access the forum if you're a current member.
Competitions are set at different levels; practice matches, then Lv1-Lv5, which are more and more complicated targets/stages as the level increases. As far as i'm aware only Lv1-3 comps are held in this country as I think 4-5 are international comps only.
There are class distinctions from Open (Novice) through Grade D-A and then Master. I think I was graded from competing in the British Open but I’ve no idea what Grade I was placed!
If you PM me your email address I can send you a copy of the 2009 Shotgun Rules (which are due to be updated next year) which has detailed information regarding competition level/stage definition and limitations etc. EDIT; no need, here's a link;
http://www.ukpsa.co.uk/IPSCRules13May03 ... un2009.pdf
For a level 1 competition you’d probably be looking at 7-8 stages, 2 long, 3 medium and 3 short courses of fire. Short courses are normally 8 targets or less, medium are 16 targets or less and long courses can’t be any more than 28 targets.
In an average Lv1 match you’d be looking at 75-100rds of birdshot (most people use #6 30-32g but for Lv1 I normally use #7.5 28g as I’m a cheapskate!). Maybe 25rds of slug and 25rds of buckshot. However, its quite possible that you may have to re-shoot a stage (I had to do one stage 4 times at the British Open!) so as a rule of thumb I always take twice the amount of ammo that the match requires.
Over the year there are normally 3-5 lvl3 matches, 6-8 lvl2’s, 12 or so lvl1’s and the same again for practice matches. There are then the European and World championships but I’ve not got the skill or money for those yet!
The comps are split between manual (pump/lever) and auto for obvious reasons, then each of those are split between Standard, Modified and Open divisions, depending on what type of gun you’re using. Standard is for tube fed guns with none optical or electronic sights (fiber-optic sights are permitted), and they can have extended bolt-releases, safeties etc. and the maximum number of rounds you can start with in the gun is 8+1. Modified (I think – it’s a b@stard division!) has the same restrictions on sights but you can start loaded with as many rounds in the gun as you can cram in. Open is an ‘anything-goes’ category and basically a F1 style affair with the richest competitor generally winning. Standard Auto has by far the greatest number of competitors in it so is the most challenging.
As far as I’m aware using a mag fed gun (Saiga etc) or stick speedloaders automatically bumps you into Open, but I could be wrong on that it might just be Modified, then depending on what type of sight you use/other modifications you may get bumped to Open.
Most people load from Pro-dec clip belts or California Competition Works style shell caddies. I have both on my belt – see pics. Its very important to work out the best method of loading for you as the medium/long courses are normally won/lost on how quick you can reload your gun. There are loads of YouTube Videos that show you different loading methods, I mainly use weak-hand loading.
Flipping clays, push doors/flaps, yank target activation, alsorts of nastiness/fun 
:lol: