Pump Shotgun

[chp5]

Can a shooter be resonably competitive with a pump shotgun or is the shooter at a huge disadvantage?

I'm sure a great shooter can be competitive with any reliable gun, but how about a run-of-the-mill A class shooter?

Thanks for your thoughts.

[Bear1142]

CHP5,

Define reasonably? (You damm lawyers ) Seriously, I think you can do reasonably well, but it will only take you so far. Kinda like shooting a Glock in limited. You can get along pretty well, but there comes a time where it will start to hold you back. I don't think you'll suffer too much on the field courses, but on the stand and hose stages it will be really tough to keep up.

Erik

[chp5]

Thanks Erik.

Fortunately (or unfortunately), I don’t think my equipment has ever held me back. It also gives me a convenient excuse for tanking stages. Yeah, it was the gun - that's it.

Based on my past shotgun performance, I don't think a pump will hurt me! I also want a shotgun that I don't ever need to clean.

[GordonB]

A run of the mill A shooter with a pump vs. a run of the mill A shooter with a working auto? I'd say the guy with the auto will, overall, trounce the guy with the pump gun.

If the skill levels are different and the pump shooter is more experienced and skilled then I think a pump shooter can have a chance.

[Bob Hostetter]

A pump shotgun is kinda like a revolver, it can be used very successfully but it takes a great deal of practice. There are several people who are very fast with them, probably the best was John Shaw.

I don't think, at the upper levels of competition, you can overcome the disadvantages although a lot of it would depend on the stage designs. The more hoser type stages (especially with slugs) would be tough with a pump gun.

[BillL223]

On a stand and shoot, say 5 poppers@ 10-12 yds, my shot breaks are about .25 sec. A good pump shooter will probably do .35. Using that logic, figure the pump at a .1/shot disadvantage. Most field course require the majority of time is spent moving and reloading. A fast reload will more then make up the extra time spent shooting.

[benny hill]

In a nutshell, NO.

[PacMan]

Benny, I didn't know that you're a man of few words On the serious note, pump gun adds "macho-coolness" factor in a match, but it is really no fun after 5 rounds of full house slugs and 5 rounds of 00 bucks, but hey, if you don't want to or can't afford to get a semi auto, then play with what you've got.

[lmccrock]

My first shotgun was a Mossberg 590, 8+1 rounds plus a heat shield, cost $225 used. It is heavy, and damps those max loads of slug and 00 buck. I held off on a semiauto; my reasoning was that a semiauto would only let me miss faster. At the little unaffiliated club matches I attended, a reliable 8+1 pump was competitive against the unreliable 6-7 shot semiautos. Perhaps if my early matches were at a different locale, my decision would have been different.

After moving someplace with nationally competing 3-gunners, and after I missed much less, I decided to get a semiauto: 1100 Competition Master. Only one match but I am happy so far.

If cost is a factor, and cobbing together a used semiauto is not for you, a pump is okay. It is fun using a pump and beating some shooters with semiautos.

But to answer your question, .... what Benny said.

Lee

[kellyn]

Once again, listen to Benny, he is wise.

On a good day, I can come fairly close to auto speeds with a pump, when shooting drills on a square range. That all starts to fall apart once the shooting positions get goofy and contorted.

At Kyle's match, I was operating a pump (for the Heman class) from the inside of that little &*^@$ car. That experience convinced me that autos are the way to go.

[Overkill]

As soon as you have to reload more than a couple shells the fractional difference in cycling time gets lost in the reload time. When you look at the reliability aspect the pump pulls ahead handily. In my limited expierence it not uncommon to see a pump gun out shoot an open gun when the open shooter is doing that trick where they load one and toss three on the ground along with this plastic tube and handle thingy.

[PacMan]

As soon as you have to reload more than a couple shells the fractional difference in cycling time gets lost in the reload time.  When you look at the reliability aspect the pump pulls ahead handily.  In my limited expierence it not uncommon to see a pump gun out shoot an open gun when the open shooter is doing that trick where they load one and toss three on the ground along with this plastic tube and handle thingy.

Cool, let's spread the words, pump shotgun is the way to go (I'd just bring my "marginally reliable" benelli to these matches.)

Edited to add - Sorry, I just couldn't resist the opportunity to get a $mart @$$ comment in.

[Flexmoney]

I've never been to any of the big-name 3-gun matches. From my small exposure to 3-gun...everybody gives a name to their gun...and it is often the same name. I know, 'cause I always hear them calling their guns name during, or just after, the course of fire.

I just can't figure out why everybody names them "Damn Gun"???

From what I've seen of the shotgun portion of 3-gun...sticking in shells is most important. And, the gun must run.

[kellyn]

I'm not so sure about the myth of pump shotgun reliability. I've seen plenty o shooters short stroke their pump guns and I've seen plenty of pump shotguns break. More reliable? Maybe but certainly not absolutely reliable.

I agree that a good shooter who can load fast on a pump gun will spank an incompetant open shooter who can't operate his speed loaders. But that's not really a fair comparison. When comparing shooters of equal skill, an open shooter will trounce a pump operator.

Where are all the pumps winning at the Nationals? or SMM3G? or North American Tac? That quick cycling you may have developed will slow WAY down around a barricade or through a low port or prone or in a car or shooting weakhanded etc. etc. That fractional difference will now be measured in seconds.

We've had to invent a He-Man class to shoot pumps competitively.

[chp5]

Thanks for all the replies.

I was just thinking about selling my M1 Super 90 and buying two or three pumps!

I guess I'll keep it.

[PacMan]

That quick cycling you may have developed will slow WAY down around a barricade or through a low port or prone or in a car or shooting weakhanded etc. etc.  That fractional difference will now be measured in seconds.

That was the main reason I switched from pump to semi so quickly after one local 3 gun match! Shucking a pump gun in a confined space around the ports and barrels was not the same as shucking it in the open.

[skeeter]

my 1st 3 gun shotgun was a pump and for the 1st couple of years it worked well and i won a few matchs. this was mostly due to stage layout though. then they had a real fast stage with the steele right on top of each other, i ran the stage real well and thought i had it won when another shooter on my squad pulled out his 1100 and smoked me by 2 seconds! i knew that i went as fast as i could with that pump. the next week i traded it in on my first auto. when the steele is tight you can just plan a$$ go faster. and it doesn't kick as hard.