peacemaker25

Very true. I don't load anything beyond dummies, myself. Can't load shells for what the box stores still them for. Though it might be worthwhile looking into an old used MEC, (I've seen 'em for $25,) as dummies can get beat up, after enough times through the port.

I always made my own, when I was cowboy-ing. Getting into this, I'm gonna make up some more. I've got an old MEC Jr to load them on. Deprime and size as normal, but I use the eraser off a #2 pencil for a "primer," (aka firing pin catcher.) Use sand for powder, (just run it through the measure, assuming it's dry.) Then power piston and shot as normal. A drop from a hot glue gun to seal the crimp, and it's done.

Howdy, folks. Quasi-newb here. I'm not new to competitive shooting, as I shot Cowboy Action intensively for a number of years, and probably a few dozen USPSA matches over several years. I'm a rank newb where three gun is concerned, though. I've wanted to try for years, and was just about to jump in in '14, but life took a hard left turn, and I found myself remodeling houses and raising babies for several years. My shooting came to a screeching halt. I was just hoping that this would be the year to get going again, when all this quarantine business came up. Suddenly, all the matches ate canceled, but just as suddenly, I've got plenty of time for dry fire, and even some for live. My question for you folks, then, is what should I do with it? I can think of some obvious things, draws, mag changes, shotgun loading, gun transitions, and the like. Any tips on how to do those, 3- gun style? How do you practice movement, getting into and out of prone, those sorts of things? If it's relevant, I'm hoping to shoot Heavy Irons, with an M-14S, (just got, haven't even shot that one, yet,) an STI Lawman, (my Single Stack gun,) and a Mossberg 590. (I grew up on an 870, but never loved it. Flat hated it, after a hand injury made me a lefty, hence the Mossy. Though, some reading lately points toward the Winchester 1300 as being a better bet for this game, though I've never seen the why elaborated on.) Sorry for the long post, and thanks for any ideas or suggestions!

I can't speak to your combo, but FWIW, I run an STI Lawman with a S&A magwell, and have a great big pile of CMC powermags. They work very well together.

Try some Larry Correia audiobooks. Monster Hunter Series, or Grimnoir are both good. He knows his guns, too. Help keep from taking things too seriously.

I shoot Single Stack. I did shoot one match in Limited Minor, but that was many years ago, and the witch is dead. Er... Make that, "...and the gun is sold."

I'd second (or is it forty-second?) the motion to get one of the good dry fire manuals. Really helps to learn things right the first time, rather than have to learn, unlearn, relearn, rinse, and repeat. Ask me how I know.

I wouldn't suggest it. Lots of people don't have much strength at all in their ring and little fingers, especially on their off hand. If that's the case for you, then you could very easily be taking away 90% of your available grip strength, and using it to work the trigger.

Learning eye movement is interesting, since it doesn't really need to be practiced with the gun. If you find yourself with a few minutes to spare during the day, pick out a doorknob, a light switch, and a power outlet, something like that. Practice flicking your eyes back and forth. Once you've got your eyes moving well, you can start following with the body, with the idea being to use the body to drive the gun to the next target.

I think adding some group shooting back in to your regimen is going to be your friend. I know when, a few years ago, I injured my right (dominant,) hand, I had to switch to shooting lefty. Until the right got healed enough to be a support hand, I spent most of my time working actual Camp Perry style, one hand Bullseye. I started shooting groups I wouldn't have thought possible before. When I started practical training again, the two styles really seemed to cross pollinate.

I put Dawson's pre-cut option on my dad's G17. Went on easily, fit well. I only shot one match with it myself, but worked just fine, I thought. ETA: his was a G3, with the finger grooves, and the tape was nicely designed, with holes to accommodate the ridges.

I started with some random blackhawk pouches that I picked up somewhere, but never liked them, as they didn't hold position on the belt very well, and tension wasn't adjustable. You just got what you got. When I finally decided to buy some decent gear, I went with DAA (Double Alpha Academy.) I got their belt, and the dedicated single stack Racer pouches. Talk about a revelation. I'd highly recommend them. I can't speak to the Ghost setup, as I've never played with one.

I started loading with a square deal, had an L and L for about a week, and now have a 550. The square deal works pretty well, but is a bit of a nuisance to change calibers. The 550 works really well, and is a breeze to change over. The Hornady was a hairy nuisance, so it went on down the road. I've only seen a 650 in use at friends' houses, but it seems like it would be a big fast press for one caliber, but not one you'd want to convert back and forth all the time.

I use the DAA dedicated single stack ones, and would strongly recommend them.

Now that is interesting information.

I have pretty severe astigmatism, too, and I found that contacts would usually shift and blur out at exactly the wrong time. Or pop out. Or dry out. Or otherwise make nuisances of themselves. So I just wear glasses. Simple, and you'd have to wear eyewear anyhow, as safety equipment, so why not put your correction in it?

I use my middle finger, but that's because I shoot lefty. I don't know if it's the fastest way, but it's the fast enough way, since the speed limiter for me is always getting the mag to the gun, not getting the old one out.

I just go ahead and drop mine, but they're CMCs with plastic base pads. I have a set with rubber pads, but I've never started using them. No issues so far.

Ehh, yes and no. I've found I shoot better if I shoot deeper into the magazine and try to plan my stage with as many 6-8 round strings as possible between magazine changes. Obviously, this is dependent upon loaded vs unloaded starts and how the stage is actually laid out, but if I can shoot 6 or 7 rounds, rather than 4 or 5, it's better for my hit factor to do so. In the stage I was referring to, I wasn't planning to do a bunch of extra reloads, but force of habit overruled my stage plan. However, because I carry a zillion mags, it just made me slow, instead of running dry halfway through.

I understand why Lim/Open guns have their slides lightened, to speed cycle times and maybe to tune sight tracking characteristics. What I'm less clear on is why people flat top or tri-top Single Stacks. Is it the same thing? If so, how does a light slide act on a 45? This is largely prompted by an encounter with a guy selling a gun which he thought was worth a lot more than I did, largely because it had been tri-topped.

I have Blackhawk, a set of quad pouches made my someone I don't remember, and DAA SS Racers. The Racers are by far the best of the lot. They've got a world of adjustability built in, so you can get whatever you want out of them. I carry 7 on the belt, partly because DAA sells a 7 pouch bundle. Usually I do the Barney routine, and then load the seventh mag, but sometimes it's good to have them all. For example, if you shoot a lot of Single Stack, you'll find a direct connection forming between your feet and your mag release. Move your feet, and the mag falls out. Usually this is good, but when a course designer gets away from the 8 move 8 pattern, and puts single or double targets around, you can real quick wind up with a lot of mags laying on the ground. A few extras are nice to have.

I've got STI's TAS, or Tactical Adjustable Sight on my Lawman 5.0. It works pretty well, but the rear blade is forward angled, and sits over the sight cut, rather than hanging off the back of the slide, so the sight radius is shorter than the conventional Bo-mar. Also, I did have to go with a .230" front to get it to zero. It's better than a fixed sight by a mile, but I'd still rather have a quality target sight.

The press out is also the current prevailing wisdom among cowboy shooters, as it lets you cock the gun and acquire the sights before you reach full extension. If you start the press from the same position, it adds commonality of training to your two different draws. That's where I learned it, anyhow.

This is hardly a broadly definitive answer, but my CMC Power mags worked with my old gun, which had a standard barrel, and they still work fine with my new STI, which is ramped.

I just read this in one of the books, (Matt Burkett's?) he suggested gripping a half full bottle of water like you do your pistol, then practice moving with it, nd see how still you can keep the surface of the water.