Can I do a 3gun match with my current stuff?

[jtaylor996]

I have:

Kimber Team Match 1911 in 9mm. This is fairly tuned, super reliable with a Dawson FO front. ~2.5# break. 6x Tripp mags. I reload for this gun, MG124 JHP over titegroup. I've got a blade tech holster for this one.

Colt 6920 (Xmas present, haven't even shot it yet). SSA-E, 6 pmags. I got some bulk Federal 55gr. PA micro dot and a 3x magnifier.

Remington 870. The cheap $250 one. 26". I've got like no ammo for this ATM.

So could I show up at a 3 gun match and play along with this stuff to see how much fun it is? (I fully expect to be laughing at myself for dealing with the 870).

How much ammo does a 3G match take?

[BobS761]

Yep, get some 6 round Choate shotshell caddies to start with and have at it! My son runs an 870. Around here we typically run about 100 rounds of each. More for bigger matches, less for some others.

[HRider]

Yes, you could show up and play at a three gun match with your equipment. You would be in Tac-optics. While your setup is not ideal, if you practice loading the shotgun, (you will need some way to carry shotgun shells, pistol mags and perhaps a spare rifle mag), know where your rifle shoots (good zero and know holds for different ranges) and are decent with the pistol, you won't do as bad as you might think. Most large matches with 8 stages or so will require 150 or so rifle, 150 or so pistol, 125 shot and 10-15 slugs. I normally bring double the round count to a match, you can always take home what you don't use. You should get the rules for the match that you intend to shoot and read over them, any questions that you may have can be answered by contacting the match director, club president, etc. You should practice some with your equipment before going to your first match, you will need to be comfortable enough with your equipment to safely negotiate a course of fire. Most folks that you encounter will be very willing to help you out, whether giving advice, loaning gear, etc.

Come out and have fun.

Hurley

[jtaylor996]

I'm guessing slugs are used in the same smooth bore barrel, right?

What types of shot are used?

Are bunny farts ok for pistol?

[jtaylor996]

Also, will I need a sling on the rifle?

[wgj3]

Most matches dont require a sling.

Slugs would go through same barrel, but shots are are generally pretty reasonable with regard to distance and target size.

Most matches ask that you use #6 or smaller shot and most folk run 7.5's or 8's.

Light pistol loads are fine for paper, but can occasionally be a problem with heavy steel that "must fall to score".

You could also remove your magnifier and compete in Limited or Tac "irons" since many matches allow unmagnified optics in that division.

I think all of us would let you know that you can most certainly compete in a 3gun match with your current gear even if some aspects are a little less than ideal in the eyes of some of the high speed, low drag crowd.

Come out, have fun. Decide how you would like to proceed after running a few stages.

Edited December 27, 2013 by wgj3

[SonOfSpartans]

Read about the match before you go. 3 Gun match right now is like the term "weed eater". Multi gun matches are called 3 gun or 2 gun but the courses and rules can vary a little or a lot. Some will have no slugs used. some will have slug and shot. Some will have you able to pick your use of gun on some stages (for example in a stage there could be some steel targets that may be engaged with the shotgun or the pistol. Another stage may say certain paper targets may be engaged with rifle or pistol. All this in the name of allowing shooter creativity) That type of thing can change your round counts for a match. For example stage one at the last match was eight paper targets that had to be engaged with the rifle (two shots per target or all single A hits). Two were at distance and six were close. So if you put two on each that stage was 16 rounds of rifle. If you were confident of all A hits you could shoot that stage with 8 rounds. If you wanted to throw three at the two longest targets to be sure you shot 20. Then there were eight clays on holders. If you shot from distance with an open choke you could break them all with four shots. Or you could run up close and hose them down with eight.......unless you missed one and had to load extra. After that there were seven small steels. Those steels could be taken with the shotgun (requiring reloading) or you could place the shotgun in the dump barrel and go to pistol. If you went one shot per that was seven pistol rounds. If you went to war with the plates (as you will see people do as they miss) I watched shooters dump two high capacity magazines at seven steel.

Soooooo Round count is a funny question. The number of targets at the start is known, the number of shots......

[Steve RA]

By all means try it with what you have. If you really like it you can then start spending money. If it doesn't light your fire then you are only out some ammo.

[02Fatboy]

Just take the magnifier off and shoot in the limited Div.

Edited December 27, 2013 by 02Fatboy

[Lead-Head]

Hell, you can win a 3 gun match with that gear!

Depending on the match and who shows up. You will need the accessories mentioned above but no need to go crazy until you determine 3 gun is for you.

[jtaylor996]

Thanks for the advice, everybody! I'll start looking for a match after I get adjusted to the new rifle.

[Moltke]

There are other divisions available in 3 Gun such as Limited / Tactical Irons which you can actually shoot a 1x optic in, such as your red dot without the 3x glass.

[co-exprs]

There are other divisions available in 3 Gun such as Limited / Tactical Irons which you can actually shoot a 1x optic in, such as your red dot without the 3x glass.

+1 from me. Throw a Nodic extension on the 870 and go shoot the Limited Division. The Kimber 9mm will be fine, just get the highest cap mags you can find. Remember that to do well in 3gun you need to be able to run your pistol fast, load your shotgun quickly and shoot your rifle accurately. Focus on those three things for your first season and you will do well. I shot my entire first season with a 1911 45 and 10rd mags, side saddle on my shotgun and a borrowed Bushnell Holosight. I paid attention to the details, dry fire and live fire practiced as much as I could afford and by mid season my first year I was consistently finishing in the upper quartile at all of the local matches. Pay attention to the veterans and learn as much as you can for the first season. Then go out and buy new gear, once you know what works and what you like. In the short term... you will be surprised at how well you can do with the gear you already have.

Edited December 27, 2013 by co-exprs

[jtaylor996]

I got the 6920 to the range today to sight it in @50yds. This was the best 10 shot group I got:

The center is 1". I figure that's a 1.5" group with a flyer (dude shooting a 7.62 out of a 16" barrel next to me made me jump a little). This should be plenty accurate for 3 gun, if I do my part, right?

I'm not sure i like the 3x magnifier. It flares the dot because its not completely on axis with it.

If I got the PA 1-6 or 1-4, what class would that put me in? Would I need to cut the front sight off to use it?

I'm not very comfortable with the irons at this point. The MBUS seems too close to my eye, and the aperture just seems to large and blurry (since it's close to the eye) for me. Any ideas on that part of the setup?

Edited December 28, 2013 by jtaylor996

[02Fatboy]

It will do for the two hundred yard shoots and in but not out to four hundred yards and out , but not many local matches have four hundred yard shots. Just go and have fun at first.

Edited December 28, 2013 by 02Fatboy

[davsco]

go for it, more than likely folks will loan you anything you need. my first local 3 gun i shot with a 3-round shotgun tube and cargo pants pockets filled with shotgun rounds. and i didn't come in last!

make sure you let each stage RO know you're the new guy and he will let you go last on each stage so you can see (and learn from) what everyone else does. go slow, concentrate on getting solid hits, speed will come later. Ask the RO to review safety rules with you. Have Fun!

[wgj3]

Adding a single magnified optic (or magnifier for a 1X dot) puts you into Tac-Optics, the most popular division in 3-gun. Adding an additional optical sight (such as scope AND 1X red dot) would bump you to Open. You would NOT have have to remove your front sight to add a scope.

[wgj3]

As far as the rear sight goes, you can loosen it and move it away from your eye a couple notches to get better resolution. You could also experiment with different diameter aperatures until you found what works best for your eyes.

[JeremyM]

I run multigun matches on the 4th weekend of every month - www.northtexasmultigun.com. Bring what you have and run it. I would strongly suggest not going out and buying a bunch of stuff before you have a chance to shoot a few matches. You'll have a chance to see what others are running and why and see if it works for you. Eotech is fine, but would suggest a 200'ish yard zero. We regularly shoot out to 400+ yards. There's several of us that have back-up guns and gladly loan them to our squadmates who made not have the right stuff now. Or, shoot our 2 gun division (pistol/rifle) If you want a taste, we're having a match this weekend you can come out to! Feel free to find me at the range and I'll help any way I can.

[co-exprs]

I got the 6920 to the range today to sight it in @50yds. This was the best 10 shot group I got:

The center is 1". I figure that's a 1.5" group with a flyer (dude shooting a 7.62 out of a 16" barrel next to me made me jump a little). This should be plenty accurate for 3 gun, if I do my part, right?

I'm not sure i like the 3x magnifier. It flares the dot because its not completely on axis with it.

If I got the PA 1-6 or 1-4, what class would that put me in? Would I need to cut the front sight off to use it?

I'm not very comfortable with the irons at this point. The MBUS seems too close to my eye, and the aperture just seems to large and blurry (since it's close to the eye) for me. Any ideas on that part of the setup?

That is accurate enough for a starter gun. Especially if you will rarely shoot out to 400. Seriously, just pull the magnifier and run the Eotech. If the match runs out to 200 then zero at 200, if the match runs out to 300-400 then zero at 300. The 1moa dot on the Eotech is small enough to get the job done and unless James Casanova, Kurt Miller or Kelly Neal show up, you will be evenly matched in the limited division. The magnifier is actually a handicap and will put you at a great disadvantage in Tac Optics. If you really just can't wrap your head around shooting 1x then sell the Eotech and magnifier and pick up a low power variable. Mtac, PST, Bushnell Elite, ZD, 1-4 or 1-6... pick your poison as they will all get the job done way better than the Eotech and magnifier and you will probably have money left over. I still recommend running what you got though.

[jtaylor996]

I have the primary arms microdot, not the EOTech. I think it's a 3 MOA dot...

[co-exprs]

I have the primary arms microdot, not the EOTech. I think it's a 3 MOA dot...

Hmmm.... 3moa will depend upon the targets at the match. I shoot one local match which never has targets past 80yds. It's a very fast, in your face, can't make a single mistake type of match, where any red dot will work just fine. I also shoot the Johnson matches in Limited or He Man Iron, where the targets are out as far as 600yds. At that distance, anything more than 1moa is a no go, which means Eotech, Prismatic or irons. If your local match runs precision shots and/or targets out to 200-300yds, that 3moa dot will seem a bit large. Tough choice. I think at this point I may start leaning towards an inexpensive low power variable like the Burris Mtac or the Vortex PST.

[jtaylor996]

Moving to a scope is not so much about spending money on 3 gun, as just not being comfortable with what I've got at the start (I've got like $130 into the optics on this gun at this point). The 3x mag flares the dot out, so it's almost unusable magnified. I'm contacting primary arms about that to see what they say.

Jeremy's club may be the closest to my location, and if he says 400yd is normal, there's no way I can hit that with a 3' dot.

Right now, I'm thinking a 1-4 or 1-6 may be a good match for me, regardless of how much I get into 3 gun. I'm just looking over some of the options now.

I actually have a background dealing with telescope optics, so I'm probably wise enough to cry once on an optic. However, I'm not sure I can afford a really good 1-6, so maybe a vortex 1-4 would be a good option for me.

[02Fatboy]

I have seen shooters hit with dots at 400 yards all the time. So don't sell your self short.

[Jesse Tischauser]

I run multigun matches on the 4th weekend of every month - www.northtexasmultigun.com. Bring what you have and run it. I would strongly suggest not going out and buying a bunch of stuff before you have a chance to shoot a few matches. You'll have a chance to see what others are running and why and see if it works for you. Eotech is fine, but would suggest a 200'ish yard zero. We regularly shoot out to 400+ yards. There's several of us that have back-up guns and gladly loan them to our squadmates who made not have the right stuff now. Or, shoot our 2 gun division (pistol/rifle) If you want a taste, we're having a match this weekend you can come out to! Feel free to find me at the range and I'll help any way I can.

This guy knows his shituff. Jeremy and his crew at The Shooters Source will get you setup with the knowledge and the gear to have fun. Then they even put on a match or three every month so you have a place to enjoy it all. He's is the 3 gun crack dealer.