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Backup open gun- Yes or No?


Benji

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How much are you willing to pay for convenience. That's the only way you justify this answer. If your gun goes down are you willing to walk away from a match and not finish? Are you ok with sitting out a couple weeks until that gun is fixed? How competitive are you? Those are some of the bigger questions you should ask yourself before you make the additional purchase. I think everyone needs a backup gun and then a backup for your backup. You can definitely find budget builds for backup guns that won't break the banks or look fancy and still get the job done. 

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2 hours ago, chenault said:

I’ve had both my main and my backup in to a smith for repairs, not minor ones.  If your serious you need to have a backup, but if your not I personally now have a nice co gun that I switch to when my open gun is down.  It keeps me fresh with the dot and it’s not that big of a switch.  Another option to think about

That's a good idea, at least allows you to finish the season if there was a major failure. 

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4 hours ago, chenault said:

I’ve had both my main and my backup in to a smith for repairs, not minor ones.  If your serious you need to have a backup, but if your not I personally now have a nice co gun that I switch to when my open gun is down.  It keeps me fresh with the dot and it’s not that big of a switch.  Another option to think about

That is precisely what I’m doing now....converting an old production gun to Carry Optics so at least I can still play with a gun with a dot on it to finish the season. Next season I will have mine back, and my guy will be building the second open gun.

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47 minutes ago, Silverscooby27 said:

That is precisely what I’m doing now....converting an old production gun to Carry Optics so at least I can still play with a gun with a dot on it to finish the season. Next season I will have mine back, and my guy will be building the second open gun.

 

Honesty,  I’m finding that spending some time with my CO gun is making me stronger in open as well.  It’s been a good experience 

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1 hour ago, Silverscooby27 said:

I don’t like to have to worry about Charlies 😂

But that’s the great part of practicing with a co gun.  You change focus a bit.  I don’t think it’s really an accuracy mode thing as much as it is a tighter focus thing.  I do notice though that when I switch back over I’m still going as fast just getting more points.  The recoil control of the co gun helps as well.  

Edited by chenault
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If you can afford it a backup gun is the way to go. I never had a backup gun until I started building my own. Shooting the IPSC nationals I started getting hammer follow

so I went to my backup gun. It was nice to have instead of going to the safe area and trying to fix your gun. Plus a backup gun you don't have to worry about if 

its going to run. The gun you took to the safe area to try and fix, you are not sure if you got it fixed and that will be in your head the rest of the match.

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  • 1 month later...

I recommend having a Bu gun for all the reasons stated above.  But also consider that your backup gun needs to have the same feel or near identical so that you don't have to adjust to it in the middle of a match.  A different trigger pull or grip angle can really mess you up for a couple of stages until you get it down again.  

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The carry optics back up is a good idea if you mainly shoot open. My open guns are out of commission so I’ve been shooting my X5 and it’s been helpful. It wouldn’t kill me at a match to have to switch to it. 

Edited by Posvar
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Another reason for two guns is when you want to change something.  Try a new sight, trigger, thumb rest, whatever it may be.  You can change one gun and shoot it for a bit to see if you like it.  Your primary stays in match mode until you know for sure. 

 

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I know a lot of you travel a lot and not having a back would be crazy to spend the money and time to have a malfunction and not able to finish match. Especially with a open gun since they can be finicky to begin with. Anyway,the more toys you got to play with the better right.

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having a back up gun is always a good excuse to buy a new/another toy lol, you don't have to buy the most expensive one, you can always pick up a used one and upgrade it gradually to your liking/need. It's better than not having anything to fall back on too when you need it the most. 

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34 minutes ago, toothandnail said:

Been shooting Open for 8 years, mostly 3 gun, so that's 3, OPEN firearms per match.

In 8 years, I've never NOT finished a match due to breaking something.

in 8 years, I've never NOT finished a stage due to breaking something.

You also shoot pansy 9minor through an open gun 🤔 no wonder nothings broken yet. 

Edited by Shmella
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The real value of having a 2nd gun is not so you have a backup if something breaks but so you can have a “fresh” gun for matches.

So you train with one gun and then switch to the “match” gun for any match that you care about. The “practice” gun is the backup to matchy in case it does go down for some reason.

For this to work the guns really need to be identical.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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