Choosing first division for 3-gun

[michael1778]

I hope to attend at least two other matches before I go to Texas Multigun in April. Unless I decide to drop big money on guns I don't have to shoot WW2 Division, I have a tough choice to make.

I've never shot a 3-gun match before. My background is pistols with a small amount of trap shooting. Rifle time before 2011 was essentially nil.

As a new 42-year old male shooter with novice rifle skills, should I be looking more toward Limited or Tactical (as the Texas match calls it). Tactical for the April match is what many would call Tactical Optics.

I have no rifle optic now. Looks like I will need to buy either a nice 1x or a 1-4-ish scope for Limited or Tactical, respectively. For someone just starting like me, what would you recommend.

Thanks,

Mike

PS - I'm rough with irons since I have no real experience. Not terrible, just inconsistent and lacking confidence.

[Jadeslade]

OK. What kind of rifle do you have? You can put a red dot on and still shoot limited. TacOps is what most new shooters shoot. If you are really a novice, you need to be very careful and practice handling your guns, not breaking the 180, putting safeties on. Pat Kelly-a great 3 Gun shooter gave me some great advice at my first 3 Gun Match. When you start you have to be consciously aware of everything you are doing as you do it. It will be slow compared to top shooters, but it will be fun and you will be safe. As you get better you progress through to become unconsciously aware as you shoot . Kind of walking through the match is the best way to describe it.

[michael1778]

OK. What kind of rifle do you have? You can put a red dot on and still shoot limited. TacOps is what most new shooters shoot. If you are really a novice, you need to be very careful and practice handling your guns, not breaking the 180, putting safeties on. Pat Kelly-a great 3 Gun shooter gave me some great advice at my first 3 Gun Match. When you start you have to be consciously aware of everything you are doing as you do it. It will be slow compared to top shooters, but it will be fun and you will be safe. As you get better you progress through to become unconsciously aware as you shoot . Kind of walking through the match is the best way to describe it.

Thanks. I've got long term experience with pistols, so general safety is well in hand. I was a range safety officer at Edwards AFB 18 years ago. Also, I have taken two tactical pistol classes in recent months to improve my moving and shooting on pistol since I concealed carry regularly.

But you are certainly correct that at these early matches I will have to pay careful attention to long gun handling. I plan on some one-on-one training with a local PD & SWAT firearms instructor. He trained a contestant on Top Shot recently.

Gear-wise I have the following:

• Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm Pro 5"
  
• CZ 712 Utility shotgun
  
• Smith & Wesson M&P 15 Sport with MOE+ grip, ACS stock, and replacement MOE carbine hand guards
  

I also have:

• Smith & Wesson M&P 45 full-size
  
• Benelli Supernova 24" pump
  

Planning on a Safariland ELS set-up for my belt/holster/caddy rig.

It's the "Oh boy, now I have to finally buy an optic" that is worrying me. I've intentionally held off while I was flirting with the idea of WW2 Division for the Texas match (no optics in that division, but I'll pass on it this year). Thinking either Leupold Prismatic for a 1x (Limited) or a Vortex or Burris for 1-4x (Tactical). Price wise, those are in the same ballpark. That made me realize it won't be about money but instead about what a new rifle shooter should select for his Division as he starts 3-gun. I registered for Limited but I talked to them about switching divisions if I needed and the match staff were cool with that.

Thank you for your recommendations!

-- Mike

[Mbauer67]

You could always get a 308 rifle and shoot heavy metal, with or without optics, there are a lot of really good shooters in TAC optics. Some people find it Intimidating others like me love it.

You could always just get an optic for your m&p and shoot either class

[michael1778]

You could always get a 308 rifle and shoot heavy metal, with or without optics, there are a lot of really good shooters in TAC optics. Some people find it Intimidating others like me love it.

You could always just get an optic for your m&p and shoot either class

With the .45 and the pump action shotgun, you could see I have plans to be able to shoot Heavy Metal someday. I think that would be cool. It's different and not part of the crowd, which is nice to me. Bryan Ray was kind enough to converse with me online about M1A vs AR in 308. That's for another time as I get better.

I don't want to get in a "Gear War" with people (so forget Open and why HM is interesting). Truth be told, I have the money to go all-out, but I don't have the time to commit to Open or shooting a ton of matches to get the enjoyment from a pile of gear purchases. The rules for Texas Multigun in April don't have a traditional Heavy Metal division. Instead they have Tactical-Heavy (which is Tactical but with a .30 cal rifle and one optic of any magnification). To me, the whole point of HM is all three guns being different, not just the rifle. So, that Tac-Heavy division isn't interesting. WW2 division is very interesting, but I'd need to invest in an M1 Garand that I would shoot at a match once or twice a year (if I'm lucky) and invest in a single stack .45. That's a lot of investment money even though I have a terrible crush on the M1 :-) I reluctantly decided to stick with either Tactical or Limited for this year. My question came down to what recommendations would people have for a first-time 3-gunner who have very little rifle time except bench work at the indoor range in 2011.

For April, I'll have time to practice with one set-up with my M&P15 Sport. I can see I will get a few optics as time goes by. But what's a good way to start so I don't get frustrated with either totally awful results, or having to fuss with gear within stages, or some other disappointment I cannot foresee??

Thanks.