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MDs: Wanna Grow Your Match?


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I am the Match Director for 3-Gun at Rio Salado Sportsman's Club in Mesa AZ. Our range is blessed with a tremendously active practical shooting scene, but still we are constantly looking at how we can better engage new folks and draw them into the action shooting sports.

 

Due to the heat here, our summer match participation typically dwindles off to about half of winter averages. We therefore took the opportunity over the last few months to experiment with recognizing 2-Gun divisions at our 3-Gun matches. The equipment rules are essentially the same, but folks use their handgun in place of shotgun. The 2-Gun and 3-Gun divisions are scored separately.

 

For each stage we build, we create TWO written stage briefings; one for the 3-Gun divisions and one for the 2-Gun divisions. With a modicum of thought this can be done without in any way degrading the experience for committed 3-gunners, and it takes only a little more effort for the stage designer than before.

 

With the 2-Gun option, plus a New Shooter Orientation class we run before every match, we have been able to engage the huge and untapped "AR + Glock" demographic. We are seeing a lot of new faces at our matches, and - more importantly - they are coming back month after month.The 2-Gun divisions have even been successful with seasoned 3-gunners who are tired of the shotgun loading game. Perhaps this trend hints at the direction multigun may be going.

 

If anyone is interested in knowing more about our experiences, or wants copies of 3-Gun/2-Gun stage designs to see how we do things, please feel free to post in this thread or send me a PM/EM.

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I've been following your match and I'm VERY interested in incorporating your idea for 2 gun. More broadly, I'm seeing a lot of  rifle (bay or long range) / pistol and even single gun paper matches becoming monthly events for folks that have decked out AR's but don't own a M2. I love my shotgun, but more shooters is more back into the club and more folks having FUN!

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Rio's 3 gun crew has been a VERY GOOD job of creating a 2 Gun/3 Gun mix.  I'm not ready to hang the shotgun up just yet but I do think 2 gun has a bright future ahead of it.  The untapped "AR+Glock" demographic is real.  

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Fellas, great to hear about 2gun starting up. Although I wouldn't personally shoot that Division if it's limited to only Rifle/Pistol, I would shoot it if you were allowed to choose any 2, like the way Safariland did it. 

Keep up the good work! 

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I'm a "AR / TruBor Open Gun" demographic, myself.

 

Been shooting OPEN for ten years, and love it.

 

Just got an AR and would love to compete with it, BUT do not care to get

into the Shottie/Reloading world.

 

Would LOVE to have a pistol/AR 2-gun match.

 

Actually, we do have a "Multi-Gun Match" locally which I've been shooting

pistol only - will now bring my AR along - NO interest in shotgun    :) 

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Stealthy I think that's great. I shot a run and gun with AR and a Sig 320. I wish there were more 2 gun matches. I love shooting clays but don't care for the tactical shotty aspect. Could help eliminate 1 barrier to entry. I have plenty of friends with 2 guns but many don't have a shotgun. 

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  • 1 month later...
15 hours ago, Phong Nguyen said:

A follow-up question.. if you have a Shotgun/Pistol stage, does your 2Gun division just shoot all Pistol then?


Yes, that is one approach. We design the stages to accommodate both firearm types (mostly falling steel). If there is a paper target, shotgunners engage it with buckshot or slugs (or engage an alternate birdshot target). If there is a flying clay, we simply do not set it for 2-gunners and they have a few less targets to shoot at.

 

Another, more interesting approach, is to use 2 guns but with more creativity in terms of target engagement. If you watch the InRange video above, buzz forward to about 6 minutes in and watch how we handled Stage 2. This was a simple stage to set up but created a fun experience for both 2-gunners and 3-gunners.

 

This approach typically takes little-to-no extra effort with setup, so long as the stage designer uses a bit of creativity. As each division is scored separately, there is no competitive equity problem.

Edited by StealthyBlagga
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  • 11 months later...

I wanted to update this thread.

 

We have been offering both 3-Gun and 2-Gun options, as described above, for over a year now. The participation breakdown has been pretty consistent at around 2/3 3-Gun and 1/3 2-Gun. We have seen lots of new shooters dip their toes in the 2-Gun waters, and many have become regulars. We also have a significany number of our regular 3-gunners who sometimes like to shoot 2-Gun for fun. Even in the hotter summer months our match fills (~100 shooters).

 

In summary, the 3-Gun/2-Gun approach we have taken has proved to be very successful at engaging new people in multigun shooting. We highly recommend other MDs consider a similar approach if they want to grow their matches. 

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