JBOT5000

I struggled with this also and I read everything I could but was confused on the many different answers. Here's what I did. You point a shotgun and only use the sights or beads for slugs at distance. To properly hit what your pointing at when it comes to a shotgun you need to mount it the same everytime and make sure your mount is correct. I have a versa max with a mid bead sight and a raised comb in the stock. When I mount the shotgun I look at what I want to hit wih both eyes open. When I close my left eye and look at the mid bead it is just slightly below the front fiber optic sight making a figure eight. That means the front is slightly higher than the rear meaning the shotgun will shoot slightly high. This is good since my eyes are slightly above the front sight and it will hit what Im looking at. If i mount my head slightly lower, higher or to the left or right it will not hit what I'm pointing/looking at. When it comes to slugs at distance just use it like rifle sights nuff said. You can tell if your natural mount by mounting the shotgun 10 times and then closing your eyes on the last mount when you open them if everything lines up right as it should you are mounting correctly. If not you need to start finding out where you need to mount your head to get it right. There are some true shotgun experts on here like Pat Kelley that can expand or correct what I'm saying.

If you're sensitive to recoil the versa is by far the softest shooting and that 3.5 inch loading port makes a big difference. If I had to do it over again I would buy the versa max competition and send it to crums for a new lifter and trigger job and call it a day. I have a lot of neck and shoulder problems and this is the only shotgun that works for me.

I have used almost every limited optic and the one now I really like is the new Burris 1x the reticle is awesome. The leupold was great since it was one of the only etched reticles I could adjust to my eyes. I use an eotech at work and have an aimpoint as well and those dots just aren't sharp for my eyes. But now that the Burris is out I wouldn't even consider another optic. Make sure you look through it before you shell out for the Leupod and larue I had that exact setup and sold it in a month. I lost quite a bit in the deal.

Zip ties the true friend of any real operator. Just so you know I will be stealing the zip ties method assaulter thanks for the tip.

drill into the handguard at the back of it by the receiver, there is plenty of room there to mount the noveske qd. I personally don't like having my sling at the end near the barrel as I find if the rifle or shotgun is hanging I can quickly grab the end of the handguard and not worry about grabbing sling. Another option is to grab the GG&G sling adapter that mounts between the stock and receiver and run a single point sling. JF

I ordered the two piece set from midway for 7 dollars. I just used a metric allen wrench to screw it down. It's kind of a pain to make sure it threads in straight. For 20 bucks you can order from luth ar and it comes with the screw, a qd sling swivel and a special thread tool. I'm cheap so I went the 7 dollar route for two and did it myself.

I think the 17.25 would be just fine and would not alter the weight too much. I think you will find just a little weight out front will help steady the rifle when shooting off-hand. I am 6' and when fully extended my support arm barely comes to the end of the handguard with my 15". If you are over 6' or have long arms then a 17.25 may be nice for you.

You got it buddy. I'm in Brazil this week but I'll post some pics of my setup when I get back with a video or two just so you can see that the thing doesn't move at all when I shoot. JF

Thanks TRUBL on the extension tip I've been thinking of picking one up. Mine doesn't have any loctite on it, this is a long solid tube with pressure against it from the forearm. I don't think you need loctite and personlly I wouldn't do it after the pain I went through removing the factory tube. I like to swap my parts out often so loctite is my enemy.

Thanks Pat....I already felt like a tool for my performance at the SMM3G. Seriously though nice shooting, I'm inspired after that match to stop being a lazy three gunner and get into the game. Also Mark thank you for all the tips and advice at the SMM3G like I told you I just look for your posts and copy whatever gear you say I should get. I just need to get the whole shooting part down. JF

Just a thought but rifle length gas systems are really not ideal for barrels less than 17". I know there are companies that make 16" rifle length gas systems but some consider that dwell time to be too short to properly run the DI system. If you were to combine that issue wtih a misalinged gasblock I can imagine a system that was under gassed. Also some guns jus do not like certain mags, make sure you have tried a selection of mags too be sure. i.e. magpul gen 2,3, colt aluminum mags etc.

You're looking good bro. You just need a multi colored shirt with family run businesses. Bonus points for having multi colored pants and an I'm too good to talk to you attitude. Seriously though everything you do is just going to get faster with time. If you're going to rock shorts a quick pair of velcro knee pads helps out a lot with getting up and down. I've given the same advice to some of my dates. JF

Don't be that guy that breaks the 180 and gets DQ'd. Just had a gun pointed at all of us during a 3 gun match and sympathetic was not my first response. Go slow, breath and think. You are already going to finish near the bottom that is assured so the pressure is off. Be safe, smile a lot and say things like "wow that was hard, how can I of done that better?". The older, bear belly crowd loves that attitude and will give plenty of glorious advice. Having fun and making friends is better than going too fast getting DQ'd and having everyone think you're a tool. Now with those encouraging words get out there and have fun. JF

Hope for the best and plan for the worst. Load it the ideal way and shoot i.e. shoot your 6 clays then 4 slugs, load more slugs as necessary then empty the slugs and start fresh with birdshot. Loading is hard, unloading is easy, such is life. JF

I like how the benelli's point but I don't like the recoil at all. Make sure you fire one first before the plunge. Due to injuries in my neck I'm versa max all the way. Give one a shot before you decide on the inertia system guns.

I just tried the elf 3 gun trigger and it is sweet. Honestly I felt it was a little too close to the firing point. My hiperfire 24c gives me a hair more breathing room before the bang. I'm sure with a bit more trigger time I might like the elf better.

Straight all the way.......... JF

The world was made for right handers. Immediately give up your leftist ways and convert. JF

Run anything out to 250 yards after that wind will start messing with your 55 grain whatever rounds. I pack in the 75 grain steel matches after that. It is tough to find them and I will never reveal my source for them ever. Why tell anyone about the slutty quite nerd girl who is super hot when she lets her hair down and takes off her glasses (I prefer the glasses)? JF

Wow. Blondes, Brunettes or Redheads. My advice is try them all and then try them all again to be sure. If possible try them together and then side by side. I've run geiselle 2 stage triggers, JP triggers, RRA NM two stage, and I'm now running a hiperfire 24c. Under stress most trigger pulls are barely felt. The NYPD uses ridicuous triggers in their guns and they seem (albeit sometimes not that accurate) just fine. Two stage triggers are great for long range and they add a little padding during a tactical situation when you may be tightening the trigger before you want to shoot. Most people run single stage triggers because they can be set to the bleeding edge before they go bang. Anyway for my money try a hiperfire, I also just tried the new elf 3 gun trigger and the KE arms triggers and they are sick. Also blondes are fun to test drive but after 10 years you will be trading them in. JF

Mark (as is his usual par) hit it on the head. Lifting a fat girl up still requires the same amount of force as lifting a skinny girl up with an 80 pound vest. If you have a heavy BCG and a light buffer you adjust this by adjusting the gas. If you have a light BCG and a heavy buffer it may balance out or you may need to dial down the gas. If you want to tune your system it pretty much goes in this order; adjustable gas block, lighter bcg, lighter buffer. The goal is to have the lowest amount of gas moving the least amount of reciprocating mass possible. JF

The best example I saw of this was during a law enforcement training. The instructor would be teaching and all focus was on him. Then he would have someone bang loudly on the door and everyone's head would turn. He would then ask "when that noise startled you all, how many turned and looked intently with one eye?". Our natural fight or flight is going to be to look with both eyes wide open and the eyes will even start to flatten to take in direct threats which is why "tunnel vision" happens. With that being said I have also had long range precision shooting from special forces and none of them will say "okay we're shooting out to 800 yards make sure to keep both eyes open". Up close at 1x bang away both eyes open at 5 or 600 close an eye it's okay.

For what it's worth my gun will not lock back if my magpul BAD lever loosens up and stops the mag catch from catching. Other than that why mess with taking weights out of the buffer when you can run the JP Silent capture spring or the taccom light weight buffer? Also some people have erratic issues if they did not line up their gasblock correctly with their gas port. I would take my gass block off and make double triple sure it is aligned correctly then I would go from there. If you have a misaligned gasport even at "full" gas you may be off by enough to not be able to correctly gas your system. Sine you're starting over just buy a JP upper and you can be guaranteed it is done correctly.

I watched James Cassanova destroy us "optics" guys handily with this reticle at the SMM3G a couple weeks ago (of course he would still beat us with a 10/22 and iron sights). If I ever make the switch to tactical this is the optic I would use hands down and I'm stongly considering making the switch since the prize table is so much faster than tac optics. I would never consider using my aimpoint or my work eotech for 3 gun just for the fact there is so much room in that reticle and the burris gives you a ton of reference points for distance shooting. I've also had the prismatic and it was nice but I think the burris beats them all hands down. Grab the Istrelok app and get to shooting with that bad boy. JF

Well to me spending $60 bucks for a briley in light modified, extended and black was worth it for my 870 police magnum for the NRA TPC matches I do (don't even ask about all their stupid rules). For a 3 gun shotgun the answer is "no" there is no difference. I'm not sure remington makes a black, extended cylinder bore so paying extra was worth it for me. If you don't care about color or extended or not, buy whatever you get a deal on. I'm sure others may disagree but that is the beauty of the internet and freedom right?