3 Gun Nation

[JMIS]

Not sure if this is the right place to post but does anyone else think 3 Gun Nation should go back to the old way? I liked seeing the different major matches. I think if you want the sport to grow, then show video of the pro's and regular joe's on the same stage. Let people know that if you're safe, you can shoot the same matches and stages the pro's shoot. I have lost interest in the new 3 Gun Nation. Maybe it's just me?

[outerlimits]

i have never liked the stages...always carbine distance rifle targets. what the heck happened to 360 yd rifle targets? if it wasn't for my bud patrick, i probably would blow it off.

[michael1778]

It's not just you, JMIS. I haven't watched all season. When I watched a couple seasons ago, it was Bryan Ray and Rob Romero going head to head in Heavy Metal. Or Miculek vs Voigt in Open. Or Jesse and Kelani "breaking out" in Tactical Optics. I very much enjoyed seeing different divisions with different 'play' styles. And then once we lost anything farther away than I can throw a football (and, for the record, I suck), it lost any remaining appeal.

Today, I'm much more interested in matches outside the tour. Ironically, we don't get good video of those matches.

[GoinHot]

I like it. Yeah it's different and more geared for TV but that's the whole idea.

I still like going to matches with 600 yard shots that doesn't change. It is just a twist on what we have done for a long time. I am the 3-gun match director for our club and we have a couple matches a year set up like these - total high speed hosefests. They are always the best attended matches. My really good shooters like to see what they can do against each other in this format and the average shooters like it because they are hitting things and having fun. Not to mention I get a lot of the wives and girl friends out that day because it's more fun for spectators to watch the high speed action.

I hope the show survives. I love having guys come up to me at our pistol matches and tell me they have been watching 3 Gun Nation and want to come shoot our 3 gun match now. Any thing that promotes our sport in a positive way helps bring more people into the sport and that is what's all about.

[michael1778]

I'd like a more balanced portrayal of matches over the season. No denying that a blistering fast short-range match can be a ton of fun. But, would some other styles be *that* hard on the audience? I don't want them to fail, in any way. Just would like to see a broader style in the season. Of course, I'm not watching this season so I could be all wet on this one!

[sdhunterman]

I am a fan of the new style. My favorite part is the shooters choice targets, Pistol or Shotgun, Rifle or Pistol. It adds a new dimension. It always seems there is one or two guys that shoot it different.

[MarkCO]

I have a hunch that there will be a bit more diversity next year, but I really don't mind the format that the Pro series uses. The short fast stages compress the top group and I think it makes the competition better for both the viewer and the competitor. The 6th stage is kind of cool, and something unique only to the Pro Tour. If the stages were longer, and had more long range, the benefit of that 6th stage would go away and kind of screw up their scoring format. In fact, I think if they would SHOW the actual scoreboard when the 6th stage is running, more people would see the whole reason and how close stuff really is.

Also, the 3GN Pro Tour does create some benefit to us average Joes. The top 20 (and the 34 guys we never see on show) are practicing hoserfest stages and trying out gear to give them an advantage for that style match. Their skill level HAS increased in THAT format and some are not showing up to the outlaw matches creating room and some placement for the average recreational shooter they would not otherwise have. Sure, the top guys win, and will still win.

One thing that would be nice for 3GN to do is to actually post stage and total scores per match for us to look at. There are guys out there working their butts off that want on the Pro Tour in 2014. To be able to see the names and scores of the guys they compete with in the regular matches would help them gauge their performance as it "may" relate to their chances to make the Pro Tour.

[Chuck Anderson]

I view 3GN as a different sport than Multigun. Doesn't make it better or worse, it's just different. I'm looking forward to (hopefully) get to play the new sport next year.

[Flatland Shooter]

I view 3GN as a different sport than Multigun. Doesn't make it better or worse, it's just different. I'm looking forward to (hopefully) get to play the new sport next year.

I totally agree.

As far as getting more shooters involved, almost everyone has a range that can host the 3 Gun Nation Club Series Matches. Not everyone has the luxury of a 300 to 600 yard range. Any club that can host a USPSA or IDPA match has the room for a match in this format.

The Houston area is having its first club series match at the end of September. Based on the success reported at other locations, we should have a good turnout of shooters, both experienced and novices.

Bill

[johnsons1480]

The Houston area is having its first club series match at the end of September. Based on the success reported at other locations, we should have a good turnout of shooters, both experienced and novices.

Bill

I'm shooting that match, and I'm really pumped about it!

[JMIS]

This is a good point, If clubs put on 3 Gun Nation type matches. But I also think the shooter or person that interested in 3gun should see what 3gun matches are like. The new shooter or a shooter that's never beed to a major is in for a rude awakening. They say "the sport of 3gun'' all the time, well unless you're on the Pro series, 3gun is not like whats on TV.... Except for maybe club type matches.

I guess all I'm saying is I miss the old 3 Gun Nation

Edited August 29, 2013 by JMIS

[Flatland Shooter]

I guess all I'm saying is I miss the old 3 Gun Nation.

Other than 3 Gun Nation TV, there is not much coverage on this sport. We occasionally get bits and pieces of different matches around the country on some of the shooting shows but that's not nearly enough in my opinion.

I just wish the networks would get together with some of the major matches and include some good coverage.

The success of 3 Gun Nation TV and the Top Gun series may be the catalyst to get it all started.

Bill

[P.E. Kelley]

I guess all I'm saying is I miss the old 3 Gun Nation.

Other than 3 Gun Nation TV, there is not much coverage on this sport. We occasionally get bits and pieces of different matches around the country on some of the shooting shows but that's not nearly enough in my opinion.

I just wish the networks would get together with some of the major matches and include some good coverage.

The success of 3 Gun Nation TV and the Top Gun series may be the catalyst to get it all started.

Bill

Yea! Maybe NBC or CBS or ABC sure they will...oh wait a minute. Naw just dreaming.

Edited August 29, 2013 by P.E. Kelley

[JMIS]

I guess all I'm saying is I miss the old 3 Gun Nation.

Other than 3 Gun Nation TV, there is not much coverage on this sport. We occasionally get bits and pieces of different matches around the country on some of the shooting shows but that's not nearly enough in my opinion.

I just wish the networks would get together with some of the major matches and include some good coverage.

The success of 3 Gun Nation TV and the Top Gun series may be the catalyst to get it all started.

Bill

Yea! Maybe NBC or CBS or ABC sure they will...oh wait a minute. Naw just dreaming.

It doesn't have to be on any of the big three. There is so much cable TV now a days. After all 3 Gun Nation is not on CBS, ABC or NBC Sports anymore ;-) But we all still watch it.

[GreenDragon64]

Fox Sports 1 just started up, I don't think it reaches anywhere near the number of people that ESPN does. I'm not sure as to how open they would be to having a show like this, but right now FS1 is showing soccer and a lot of replays of sports star interviews.

[P.E. Kelley]

Subscribe to The Blaze TV and watch season 3 of 3GN and Hotshots together on the internet.

[SouthernGunsLLC]

Subscribe to The Blaze TV and watch season 3 of 3GN and Hotshots together on the internet.

The downside to airing on The Blaze is that it is polarizing due to all the people that wont want to sign up because it is Glenn Beck's channel.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2

[outerlimits]

Wish it was in hi def...looks like the video was in water for a month.

[EaZeNuTZ33]

I don't watch 3 Gun Nation anymore...but mostly due to not paying for cable/satellite when I rarely watch TV at all, and it being on a station that no family members have. Same goes for The Blaze TV...I don't want to pay $15/month for a service I won't use more than 30-60 minutes per month. If it were on regular TV, I would be setting my alarm to inform me when it would be on, and watch it, even if it was on at 4am.

The episodes I have watched were higher speed, closer targets, and reminded me of what I've seen at the short stages in USPSA multigun matches. I personally prefer the natural terrain, more open, more running, more long range rifle...type stages myself, but I enjoy damn near ALL gun related shows. I DO understand that the faster the trigger is pulled and the faster the stage is shot, the more entertaining it is for TV, generally speaking of course.

I hope it succeeds and can make it, but I would have some concerns about WHO is watching it and if those people are the ones finding that format entertaining....speaking of the Sportsmans Channel or wherever the show ends up in the future. When I rode motorcycles and got into stunt riding, these EXACT discussions were brought up about TV, the X-Games, video games.....the NON-popular opinion was that the general public who was "WOW'd" by freestyle motorcross and high flying or high speed tricks performed over big jumps were not going to be entertained by the idle speed technical tricks performed in a parking lot on a streetbike like that the people in the sport liked. The smart ones changed their game towards high speed tricks and they are the only ones I know that are still making money at it. All of us that liked the technical side of riding in a small closed off parking lot to see how smooth and precise we could be...we aren't doing it anymore! While I enjoy the long range rifle steel at 400 yards or further away, a guy on his stomach with his rifle who is either banging away an entire mag to hit four targets, or is taking slow controlled shots to hit one for one isn't all that entertaining on TV where the rifle gong is a small spec on the TV screen, and you can barely tell when it is hit. A guy double tapping paper at 10-30 yards with a rifle while sprinting to a dump barrel to grab his shotgun, having 2-3 pieces of brass in the air at the same time, IS more exciting for the general public. If you audience is the general public, you WANT (arguably NEED) to include a disclaimer that "shooting a rifle or pistol at a full sprint could be dangerous. What you are seeing here is performed by trained professionals,...." and if you are inclined to add that disclaimer, you can probably assume that it will be exciting to watch. I rarely see disclaimers on videos about how hunting a coyote, and taking a shot at that coyote at 600 yards is an act of technical precision and mathematical calculation and should only be performed by a professional shooter! Now the question comes in ---> Is the audience you are reaching the general public who goes "WOW" at an FMX rider doing a backflip on his dirtbike and wishes they had the balls to do it, or does the audience you are currently reaching consist of people who want to see an elk taken at 600 yards? The next question is...are you willing to change the format of the show to match what your current audience would desire?

I'm a small business owner and have learned over and over that appealing to your audience can only happen AFTER you truly learn who your current audience is, not just the audience you had hoped to target!

[DocHolliday1]

Is it just on Sportsman's channel now?

[Flatland Shooter]

I'm not sure of the timing, but I believe all of the TV shows will also air on the 3 Gun Network website.

There they also show some of the smaller matches not seen on TV.

Edited September 3, 2013 by Flatland Shooter

[GreenDragon64]

I just checked the website and they haven't posted the full videos for any of the 10 episodes for S3 of the 2 episodes for S4 yet.

[MarkCO]

It looks like you might have to join 3GN to get access to some content now. Maybe that is how you have to go to get the 3GN videos now.

[Moltke]

So I don't have the history behind me to know about the "old" 3GN, but as a broader question - It seems like the 3GN matches are very much the same up close blasting with the occasional hard shot. Is that the kind of sport this is going to be? I assumed there'd be some of that, but where's the longer / harder shooting?

[MarkCO]

Actual matches produced by 3GN have always been the close-in high speed, TV audience friendly matches. 3GN took scores from established matches in the past to determine placement, division winners and such. Only the top 10 or so ladies and the top 50 or so Pros get to shoot the 3GN Pro matches. To get on the pro tour, you have to be signed up as a semi-pro, garner enough points and get an invite to the shoot-in match in February.

Next year there will be regional 3GN matches open to the masses.

The history of 3Gun, get Chad's book and it will fill you in. Short story...the first few years were basically like classifier stages, one gun at a time. That morphed into SOF which had blind (kind of) stages, full pop ammo and very restrictive gear limitations. SMM3G took that and morphed it with USPSA style guns, gear and rules to what is IMGA rules. SOF is no more, but RM3G morphed that match into one of the more technically challenging matches pushing the pistol past 50 yards, the shotgun past 100 yards and the carbine past 500 yards. Most major matches are considered "outlaw" where the MD is king and sets their rules, creates the stages and in fact, the very persona of the match itself. There are also USPSA 3Gun matches which subscribe to a defined set of rules voted on by a board. Most of the outlaw matches "borrow" the safety and ROing aspects from USPSA. There are a lot of flavors to choose from. Pick a few each year and sample them to see which ones you prefer.

The DPMS match is no more due to imposed range restrictions, and there will likely be some other outlaw matches go away over the next few years and the market stabilizes.

Here is the 2013 match schedule: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=159659

I assume a 2014 schedule will be popping up soon. Talk to your local shooting friends and pick some to try out. None of them are "bad", but some you will have a personal preference for based on a variety of factors.