co-exprs

Summer 2010, I had been shooting and pretty much training myself, for about 2 years, from little bits of information I picked up from various videos and articles and from intently watching what the GMs do at matches. How they run stages, prep gear, develop thier routines. I was nearing the end of an agressive learning curve and really getting my fundamentals solidified, when I hooked up with a GM coach who not only shoots really well, but had a style I really liked. He turned out to not only have a gift for shooting, but also for breaking down skills and teaching them in a way I could understand. He taught me that while shooting fundamentals are paramount for scoring points, efficiency in motion is paramount in reducing time. As an efficiency expert I connected and I went from B to M in 12 months.

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=147212 This would be a good option too.

Mtac, XTR, PST are the best options in your budget.

I caught that too. I don't know anyone who shoots an M4 in 3G. It's not due to cost either. Salient and Benny guns cost another grand. It was funny. My wife asked me which one of the three guns I liked best. I picked the Nova for it's sheer versatility. A 24" Nova can be inexpensively deployed for hunting, competition, clays and home defense. It's the most reliable and the easiest to load. The poll showed the M4 as the favorite.

I hate that classifier. I have never been able to develop any rythm in my trigger finger. I've been working on it for a long time, but never seem to make any improvement. Bill Drills are a noted hole in my game. Glad you are pushing you're learning curve forward again. Oh wait... you shoot in my division. Darn!

I run an SLP and found it a great value, but the new Mossberg 930 Miculek signature 3gun shotty looks pretty dope and is inexpensive to boot. I haven't held one, but it looks like Mossberg pulled out the stops on that beast. The feature set is impressive and they're investing in it's stong future by signing some serious tallent as well. Flannigan and Miculek are both signed factory shooters, running that platform and I'm pretty sure Daniel Horner is currently running one also. If I were just getting in and on a budget, I'd certainly give the new Mossberg a serious look.

I'd say 6 caddies to start out will get you through 95% of all shotgun needs. If you have a 36" waist like me, you can just squeeze 6 caddies across the front, if you space the plates correctly. It's kind of rare to go over 30 shot stages. I have friends with ELS. For a while we would borrow extra caddies and mag pouches from each other. Now we are all pretty well set up.

There are some who run the offset irons very successfully. Most of my friends who have tried them, eventually decided it was a wash in time and opted for the lighter weight and simpler cleaner lines on the rifle. It is faster to use the offset sights when transitioning close/far/close, but not any faster when running through a CQB course. What we found is that there are so few times in which you have to transition from 100+yd targets to CQB and not have some sort of movement where you can easily flip the power ring without loss of time. In addition, when just using the variable power optic for all sighting, you only have one cheek weld to learn. Offset irons got popular when most competitors were running a fixed power ACOG. Now that most people in tactical division run low power variables at 1-4x or 1-6x, there are only a handfull who bother with the offset irons. There again, look to the top tactical division competitors. Only a handfull run the offsets any more. For <$750 my choice would be the Mtac and a Larue 104 mount. The Mtac is very user friendly and very fast. It represents a very good value for a 3gunner in terms of features/performance/$$$. You get a lot for your money. Personally, I'd take the money saved and get some other good gear you might need. You could get a Carbon Arms Twins an ELS belt or some other such cool gear. Maybe some 4x4 caddies or some safariland 773 mag pouches.

I have 11 blocks mounted on my 36" waist belt. If you alternate the blocks to have the bolt hole patterns high and then low, you can get the pistol on the 180 and a pistol double mag pouch on the opposite 180 and 6 shell caddy spots in between, across the front. I have one spot for an AR mag pouch on either kidney and one more shell caddy spot on the right side behind the holster. I have 9 Otto, 4 shell caddies for 36 rounds on my belt. If you get a Carbon twins chest rig you can double up shell capacity without having to reach behind you. My set up is pretty versatile. I have a couple of safari 773 pouches. My two AR mag pouches are set up one vertical and one horizontal, for one in the front (horner style). I can currently run up to a 100rd pistol course, 65rd shotgun course (with a chest rig) and a 120rd rifle course and pretty much any combo in between. Here's a tip... mount most of your gear so that the clips slide up from the bottom. It will be much easier to unclip them from the top and slide them down, when you want to take them off, and won't make it any harder to install. The only clip I run traditional is the pistol holster, just because I want the additional security that it will stay put. The 4x4 caddies are cool, but you have to leave space between them to smoothly pull the stack of shells. You need room for your fingers. I don't think you will be able to get more than 3 across the front, you could do 4 max if you put one on the 180, but pulling from the 4x4 off the back is a bit of a reach and in the dark. So total, for tactical division, I have 11 blocks on the belt and 15 pieces of gear with the male end clips mounted to them. I'm gonna go ahead and switch my single stack gear over as well to support He-Man. I agree with the belt overlap in the back. It takes a few minutes to get the belt on and buckled properly. Fortunately, once on, you can leave it alone all day, so it ends up being only a minor hassle.

That's it. My brain officially hurts now. "Can't I just put the ball in the hole?"

I'm a big fan of bright illumination. If IOR has improved the brightness, I would be interested in taking anouther look. 23oz really isn't that bad once you consider that most of the other 1-4x scopes out there run between 20 and 24oz with a high Larue104. My Meopta is about 23oz with the mount and cat tail. I agree that more options is gooder. I really like the Z6i BRT scopes, but don't have one because they are simply too expensive. The Pitbull offers up a similar field of view and good glass in a compact package. If the illumination has improved then it's a big win at the price point.

If you are a once in a while 3g competitor and already have a red dot, then grab a magnifier and go have some fun. If you will most likely never compete beyond 200yrd, then red dot it up. If you want to be competitive in every way and are not shooting limited division (1x optics or irons only) then you really need a variable power. The guys lifting thier heads to find targets are not running at 1x. I have a comp M4 collecting dust on my shelf at home because I figured out real quick that it simply won't get the job done. All of the magnifiers I looked at were awefull glass with terrible fish eye and by the time you pay for that and a decent mount you could have a real optic. Aimpoints and Eotechs have thier place, but in my area we shoot from point blank out to 600yds. There are always one or two guys who show up with red dots and magnifiers. They shoot the same speed as the guys with scopes on the fast stuff and then tank the long range stages. There are always exceptions. Some of the Limited class guys are really good with 1x optics. Casanova and Johnson are both exceptional with unmagnified Aimpoints and Prismatics, but they have both burned up barrels practicing too. Whatever you give up on the fast stuff, when running a low power variable, is unmeasurable. Whatever you give up on the distance stuff, when running a red dot, is mounumental.

What he said. Dead end. You will end up spending $1200 to $1400 for a heavier, more problematic, and less versatile sighting package. Even the majority of Limited class competitors prefer the Leupold Prismatic over an Eotech or Aimpoint. If you will only be engaging large tagets inside of 200yds, then a red dot is fine. Some matches never get our more than 200. If however you will be shooting beyond 200 or ever have to make a precision shot inside of 200 then you will be so much better off with a low power variable. In addition to the already mentioned benefits, 50% of your shooting would require you to flip the magnifier to the side, thowing the rifle off balance. For $1100 you can get into a Meopta ZD 1-4x or an IOR Pit bull 1-4X with a high quality mount. You would have vastly supperior glass, balistic reticle, more compact, lighter weight and more robust product. If you just gotta have a day light bright reticle like a red dot, the Meopta ZD will get the job done. It will be just as fast as your buddies Eotech in 1x and will eat the Eotech for lunch in every other way. If you would like to save a few pennies and don't absolutely have to have a day light bright reticle then take a look at the Burris Mtac or the Vortex PST 1-4x. Eotech's score big in the coolness factor, but if you really want to cover all of your bases from point blank to 600yds, a good low power variable is the way to go.

It's also a really well made belt. I have my USPSA rigs on CR Speed belts and my ELS outclasses by a hefty margin.

9 round magazine with a 1 round plug. I've found a 9 round magazine gives me more versatility for off 8 count reloads. The 1 round plug is so that "if" you attend a match with an 8 round magazine max, you can plug it at 8. Shotgun magazine capacity is kind of a wild card at matches with different wording on the rules. It's also a bit of a hot topic on the forum. In my area there are 3 regular matches and there are 3 different sets of shotgun magazine rules. One match allows longer tubes, with 8+1 only at the start. After that you can use the whole tube. Another match in my area allows 9 shells in the gun at start, meaning the MD allows you to start with an empty chamber and 9 in the mag. The third match is by USPSA rules which is 8+1 at all times, meaning never more than 8 in the magazine. The 9 round mag with a 1 round plug (inserted when you need it) will allow you to use the same shotgun in all matches without violating any rules.

I am on a strict $400 per month budget (thankfully my wife hasn't asked me to include gas in my shooting cost). That has to pay for my supplies, equipment and match fees. I teach pistol marksmanship classes in the summer which adds a little to my summer $$$ and if I win a prize, I try to grab something I need. Otherwise the money from a prize gets roled back into reloading supplies. Right now, every cent I can scrape up is getting gear and ammo together before Larue and Noveski CO State in April. It's tight, but I gotta shoot within my means. I sometimes get impatient to be much better than I am, but then I look back at how few rounds I have really shot. When I look at it that way, I am actually learning very quickly. Just have to make every single shot count for something in the learning curve, and gear selection has to be carefully considered for functionality vs cost. The best products aren't always doable and I often have to settle for second best. When second best parts or gear simply won't do, I cinch up the purse strings untill I can afford to buy what I need and look for some other area of improvement. This helps to keep me constantly self evaluating to find gaps in my performance and focus my practice on filling the gaps. Right now, for me the two big gaps are shotgun reloading and rifle accuracy. Last year rifle accuracy was the biggest hole in my performance, so most of my budget $$$ is going towards rifle practice.

Here's a clue fellas. Stop watching the stars and watch the hot pro women dancers in skimpy sparkly dresses and pray that just once a button pops.

I can think of a dozen reasons, why the competition is invalid, and yet I still record it and look forward to watching. It's guns going bang and stuff exploding. What's not to like. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my wife also recorded the new Top Gun show. For those not familiar, Colby took the opportunity to work with the guest instructors while there, to film a whole second show. Top Gun is focused around the guns themselves rather than the shooters. Still some shooting and a small side competition, but I find the history of firearms just as fascinating as shooting them. In the last episode, Mike Seeklander got a small bit of redemption, shooting as a guest and won the small side competition. It's a fun show. Certainly better than the Dr Oz show my wife enjoys. Although, when Top Shot is on, I'm unproductive. When Dr. Oz is on, I make ammo, so I guess it's not all bad.

I'm not touchin your gun dude...

To dream the impossible dream.

Springs often need to be tuned. The almighty Bolens springs always have to be tuned. Simply bend the top coil so that the follower sits properly. You won't hurt anything.

I would relish the opportunity to watch you throw a mag down range when told to make ready. Sorry, but that would be pretty funny.

Use up the Tac, since you have it. After that, switch to IMR 8208. It's shoots the same as Varget, but meters better. Use your LC brass for the 69 SMK and the rest for 55s. For the 69s I use 23gr even with OAL 2.235" and get an even 2800fps from my 20" barrel. Zero with your 69gr and take the 55s where they lie. For practice I run Hornady 55gr FMJ with 24.4gr 8208 and OAL 2.200" for a velocity of about 3100fps. The further out you zero the more likely you are to have a similar impact between your 55s and 69s. If you zero at say 200 or 250 you split the error differnce. The two rounds will stay within 1moa out to about 400.

I sort of ended up with a hybrid. I didn't like the additional upper body movement, as it just added more things to line up for a good sight picture (moving head and moving sights). So I reach as far around as I can, without breaking my upper frame. My left hand ends up about half way between my naval and my holster. You will get closer to your holster, cuz you wear your holster a little more forward than I do. I got accustomed to my holster being on my hip, at my 180*, from single stack days. Dry fire for me has slowed down considerably. Last summer, I developed shooter's elbow which has been some what painfull at times. I'm trying to let it heal up to avoid surgery. The condition is at least now healed to the point where it hurts only for a few days after a match and then clears up. Sure hope the problem corrects itself. I really don't want to have to take myself out of action.

The lightest spring you can and still get possitive feed reliability. That usually ends up being a 13-14lb spring for 45.