3-Gun Fun & assorted Hijinx

[rhino]

We had our first 3-gun match at Atlanta CC today (ChIPS is the USPSA club there) with one stage each for rifle and shotgun, then two for pistol.

I shot the shotgun stage first, and I was the first at the line. It took me 92+ (that's ninety-two, not 9.2 with a type) seconds to finish a stage with 18 targets and just a little bit of movement. Let us now examine the laundry list of screwups that led to this shameful debacle.

First of all, I never practice reloading and my shotgun only holds 7+1. 9+1 would have been kind of handy!

Second, I carry my reloads on a belt with elastic loops across my belly. Unfortunately, I've not worn the belt for more than a year. Today, just before the match started, I learned that it was 6-8 inches too big, but I didn't really have time to adjust it and make it smaller. I didn't think it would be a problem because I was able to hook it on my pistol and mag pouches, so it didn't fall to the ground.

The problem was, when I tried to grab shells from the loops, nothing was securing the belt, so it took even longer than usual to grab them and get them free from the loops.

Then there's the little thing where I missed the first four targets (three clay birds and a US popper) completely, and missed each of the birds twice. So I have to do an extra complete reload just for that.

Well, doing the extra reloads cause me to run out of shells on the front of my belt, so I had to go to my "emergency supply" from the loops behind me. Getting those from the loops made getting them from the front seem speedy by comparison!

So ... there I was ... reloading like geriatric turtle caught in a molasses storm ... and doing more of it than I planned ... at the last point where I reloaded, I was taking so much time that I started humming the theme song from "Final Jeopardy" while I was try to get shells into the gun. It was not pretty.

I rebounded slightly on the rifle. My time was okay, but I had a miss. A complete miss. On a target less then 25 yards away. With my AR. With a Red Dot on it. A complete miss. And I wasn't trying to go too fast either. Shameful.

Then I reshot the rifle stage with pistol. I did it in 35+ seconds with rifle (20 targets), then it took me more than 50 seconds to complete it with my pistola. Fortunately I brought the Para out of mothballs and had my 18-round big stick ready. But I kept looking at the targets (and missing) instead of looking at my front sight (and hitting). And most of my hits were 6-12 inches lower than my point of aim. Can you say trigger jerk and looking for hits?

I don't even remember how long it took me to do the shotgun stage with pistol (we used paper targets instead of the clay birds, and kept the poppers).

I know I had some complete misses with pistol too, but I can't remember on which stages. I got better hits on the second stage because I cranked my Bo-Mar "up" a few clicks to raise the point of impact. That helped.

On the bright side, my shotgun, rifle, and pistol all ran like champs. No malfunctions ... of the equipment, anyway.

[twix]

Dum dum dum dum dum, dum-de-dum...I almost fell over laughing when he did that.

I got a courtesy shoot with an open gun that Rhino missed seeing. It was apparently pretty entertaining watching me wave this blaster around looking for the dot for about 13 seconds after I ran a few steps. I' m blaming it on the bi-focals.

Another poor fellow had his AR mag drop to the ground twice after a reload (of course he didn't realize it either time and was pulling the trigger wondering why it wouldn't make noise).The third time he picked the magazine off the ground and slammed it into the rifle it blew the basepad and speed unloaded the spring and bullets everywhere.

I couldn't help laughing. He took it like a pro.

[stingerjg]

sounds like a good case of 'Crash-and-burn'

glad to hear that all of your equipment worked thou.

[rhino]

sounds like a good case of 'Crash-and-burn'

glad to hear that all of your equipment worked thou.

There's always that bright side! I'll be better prepared for the much bigger 3-gun match I am shooting on Saturday.

The poor kid with the exploding AR mag did handle it well. He had a really good time going before his reload too ... ouch!

[Liota]

Rhino,

Sorry you were having such technical difficulties, but there is an upside. It's not a bad thing to have your belt 6-8 inches to big as long as you take time to adjust it.

Hopefully, all will be better next time.

Liota

[lynn jones]

rhino,

i know how you feel. i was at the Mississippi 3 Gun match shoot the AR-15 with the Army Marksmanship Unit members watching on. when the rifle goes bolt action. (gas return thing on the bolt became loose) including travis t.

the army gunsmith(joe harless?) fixed the problem for me (he got a LULA loader for the at help and advise). this lasted for two more stages, then on the last stage the puking started all over again. i got the big goose egg on that stage.

now, does that make you feel better?

lynn

[BDH]

Let us now examine the laundry list of screwups that led to this shameful debacle.

At least you were OUT THERE SHOOTING! That's more than I can say for myself. It seems that every weekend for me has had some type of conflict and I haven't been shooting hardly at all.

Get ready to see MY match screwups posted after I shoot the Summer Blast, followed immediately by my screwups at the Buckeye Blast....

[rhino]

Sorry you were having such technical difficulties, but there is an upside. It's not a bad thing to have your belt 6-8 inches to big as long as you take time to adjust it.

You are correct! In the big picture, it's a very good thing! I suppose my real concern is that I should have checked it before the match and solved the problem while I still had time!

now, does that make you feel better?

Just a little!

I have noticed that at most 3-Gun matches I've shot, if your equipment runs through the whole match, you will do well regardless of how well or poorly you shoot. For some reason, I see a lot of equipment failures and gun malfunctions at the 3-Gun matches, far more than pistol. I suppose part of that is because the shooters don't play with their 3-Gun stuff as often, so some neglect can cause problems.

[Flexmoney]

I have noticed that at most 3-Gun matches I've shot, if your equipment runs through the whole match, you will do well regardless of how well or poorly you shoot.  For some reason, I see a lot of equipment failures and gun malfunctions at the 3-Gun matches, far more than pistol.  I suppose part of that is because the shooters don't play with their 3-Gun stuff as often, so some neglect can cause problems.

I concur. Many 3-gun matches are won/lost well before the shooting starts. I wish everything ran like it does in the movies.

Most of my "prep" work for 3-gun is to ensure that there aren't any spider webs clogging up the works.

[Nik Habicht]

And at least try to get the range once with all your long guns before the match....

[shred]

I have noticed that at most 3-Gun matches I've shot, if your equipment runs through the whole match, you will do well regardless of how well or poorly you shoot. For some reason, I see a lot of equipment failures and gun malfunctions at the 3-Gun matches, far more than pistol.

Sorta like the old(er) days of IPSC.. I think 3-gun's a just a little back on the development curve.

(ahh for the days when all you needed was a pistol that worked..)

[Harmon]

alot of folks still need a handgun that works..

3 gun is a diff animal all togheter..

my 9mm marlin rifle is 100 percent reliable..even with 30 shot mags..

cheap ammo plus its compact size and it makes the 160 PF, make it my 3 gun carbine.

win white box makes about 166 pf out of the carbine.

the 9mm handgun load i use with 147s are a touch tardy on power though..they make 155.(good enough for new PF) 3.5 grains of powder has expanded about all its going to in a 16 inch barrel carbine.

its neat to shoot that gun after an AR, there is SOOO much noise diff.

the shotguns is where most folks have their lunches eaten.

1100/11-87 can get cranky with cheap shells, or underpowered shells.

it takes 17 grains of clays and 1.125 oz of shot to get mine 100percent.

[EricW]

I learned a lot at my first 3 gun match:

3) That most people persist in doing their practice off the bench.

c) Most people do *not* practice reloading.

*) A depressing number of people aren't even sure how their guns really work.

We had a stage description:

Starting with a gun loaded COMPLETELY with BIRDSHOT, at the start signal, load two rounds and two rounds only of slugs and engage two targets, then shoot the crap out of everything else...

You simply would not believe the number of people who were simply mystified about how to get two rounds of slugs into their shotgun. I tried explaining the "trick" at least twice. They still didn't get it.

Even with the cheapest match fee, you're still spending a minimum of $100 to shoot a 3 gun match. Might as well get to know your gear before you show up.

[Wakal]

Starting with a gun loaded COMPLETELY with BIRDSHOT, at the start signal, load two rounds and two rounds only of slugs and engage two targets, then shoot the crap out of everything else...

Oh, how cute...a anti-magfed-shotgun stage!

Rhino, at least your equipment works. Some folks have to take pills for that

Alex

[rhino]

Rhino, at least your equipment works. Some folks have to take pills for that

You're right!

Curiously, I had multiple malfunctions with my shotgun shooting slugs (Speer Lawman) at Gunruner's 3-Gun match in May, but I was not able to duplicate the problem afterward. I tried shooting in every conceivable position, hand, upside down, one handed, sideways, blah blah blah. I couldn't get it to choke, no matter how I held it. It must have been one of those weird things that just "happen."

Last weekend (also at Gunruner's 3-Gun at Owensboro, KY) everything ran like a top. My Para-Ordnance P14.45 was 100%, and I used my 18-rd "big stick" on every stage. My AR and my 1100 were 100% too, and I even shot the 1100 left handed around a barricade.

Maybe my 1100 doesn't know it's not supposed to be reliable.

[kimel]

Oh, how cute...a anti-magfed-shotgun stage!

Not really. The course description didn't say you couldn't dump the mag and load a mag with 2 slugs + birdshot. I would suspect that you could perform that operation AT LEAST as fast as most of the shooters I observed doing this (I was RO for a squad at the match EricW saw this stage at). AFAIK no one was shooting mag fed shotguns at that particular match.

What was amusing was watching the open class guys with the XXXL-length mag extensions on their shotguns stand there and stuff birdshot for what seemed like forever to reach "full" and then complain about how heavy their guns were. Of course they didn't need to reload more than once to finish the COF.