3-gunners how do you split up your practice between guns?

[badchad]

Right now I probably spend 5% of my practice time with a shotgun (pretty much all reloads), 10% with a rifle/subgun (reloads/transitions), and 85% pistol (everything I can think of).

Seems a bit skewed. If I could only shoot one gun, it would be pistol since there are so many more competitions for it in my area, but I shoot each gun in local competitions whenever I get a chance. I tell myself that my rifle transitions will translate pretty direct to my shotgun shooting, my movement skills with a pistol will to some degree translate to both rifle and shotgun, and that pistol is hardest and therefore needs the most work. Any errors in my reasoning? I’m not sure if I want to change the split right now but maybe in the future (I hear 3-gun has some fat prize tables ). I’m curious how you 3-gun specialist split it up.

Edited September 19, 2008 by badchad

[el pres]

I'm with you on that ! The thing is that you cant just go out with your buddies and blow off

rifle rounds at objects for fun like you do with a pistol, it's just too expensive !! Rifle and

shotgun practice has to be very productive for me due to the costs !!

I also find that transitions, sight discipline, and movement all flow down from the pistol !!

[Viggen]

For 3-gun your greatest gains will come from learning to actually shoot a rifle accurately. Most 3-Gunners do OK with the pistol, do OK with shotgun(the reloads), and absolutely tank the rifle stages. Reason? They can't shoot accurately at any range beyond 40 yds.

Shoot 20-30 rounds accurately, several times a month and learn how to shoot. Nothing from a benchrest. Everything from prone or kneeling or standing. Learn to shoot accurately.

Basic rifle practice is your best bet.

[uscbigdawg]

Here's what helped (and still helps) me.

Start out with the pistol. Work on your basics. Transitions are everything!

Then...go to the rifle. ZERO THE FREAKIN' RIFLE! And know your holdover's from 5 feet to 400 yards. Ballistic software is your friend. Work on your position shooting (standing, kneeling, squatting, prone (with and without a bipod), around walls, etc.)and working on manipulating the rifle across the course, during a malfunction and clearing it (not torching a round off) on gun transitions. I have a couple of the MGM lollipop plates and A/C zone targets. Awesome for working transitions, presentations, etc.

Finally go the shotgun. Reload, reload, reload. Practice wide transitions and close ones (plate racks are great for this). KNOW YOUR PATTERNS and holdovers for your slugs. Reload some more. Practice more gun transitions.

Everything starts with the pistol. If I had to give a percentage break down for starting out. P=50%; R=35%; S=15%.

Rich

[jbullgpd]

Just move to PHX!!!!! Ah that is about the only thing I miss. I'm trying to remember but I could shoot 3-4 3gun matches a month there or maybe 2-3 witha shotgun only or rifle only depending on the month. I was probably in the best 3gun shooting shape of my career at that time, got top 20 at RMG, (hey for my first major match I was happy Since I moved I don't get as much practice but I love it up here, sacrafices.......

[el pres]

For 3-gun your greatest gains will come from learning to actually shoot a rifle accurately. Most 3-Gunners do OK with the pistol, do OK with shotgun(the reloads), and absolutely tank the rifle stages. Reason? They can't shoot accurately at any range beyond 40 yds.

Shoot 20-30 rounds accurately, several times a month and learn how to shoot. Nothing from a benchrest. Everything from prone or kneeling or standing. Learn to shoot accurately.

Basic rifle practice is your best bet.

Your not sopposed to give that away !!!

And yes, alot more of it then most people think is learning to use your gear. Zeros, zeros, zeros, for all the guns,

select slug proceedure, positions, clearing jams, etc...

[Y. Koester]

I think that i will do about 75% rifle practice for a while. Cause Not so good with the whole rifle thingy.

[Viggen]

For 3-gun your greatest gains will come from learning to actually shoot a rifle accurately. Most 3-Gunners do OK with the pistol, do OK with shotgun(the reloads), and absolutely tank the rifle stages. Reason? They can't shoot accurately at any range beyond 40 yds.

Shoot 20-30 rounds accurately, several times a month and learn how to shoot. Nothing from a benchrest. Everything from prone or kneeling or standing. Learn to shoot accurately.

Basic rifle practice is your best bet.

Your not sopposed to give that away !!!

And yes, alot more of it then most people think is learning to use your gear. Zeros, zeros, zeros, for all the guns,

select slug proceedure, positions, clearing jams, etc...

Sorry . I should never have mentioned the practice thing - and accuracy. Won't happen again.

[bigbrowndog]

work on what you have trouble with, or are getting ready for. When a sg match is coming up I don't practice rifle. I have let my pistol slack off, because it was my best of the three, and now I'm having problems, so I practice pistol more now.

Certain matches require more of certain skills, practice what the match requires.

Most important, don't cram too much into a practice session or the last things you work on will not get the quality that they need.

trapr

[kurtm]

First off, rifle shooting doesn't really flow down from pistol shooting. The two are almost diametricly opposed in the way they are held and "gripped". Ie. Pistol weaker grip in holding hand, stonger pressure in support hand. Do that with a rifle and you will scatter shots to the wind especially when shooting fast. Most of the stuff mentioned here is already good stuff, but that one caught me.

Really work on position shooting with the rifle if you have trouble right now, as someone said "Zero your rifle and then BACK AWAY FROM THE BENCH" Since I keep a "zero record" I can tell you that last year I shot exactly 25 rounds off a bench with my match rifle, 10 were expended when I put on the new J.P. front sight and had to re-zero. I split my rifle practice between VERY Close and at least 200yds, nothinig in the middle. I practice mag changes in the garage and every once in a great while I will do a mag change in live fire...but it is very rare! Rifle comprises about 20% of my practice, but I have shot rifles forever.

Shotgun gets about 20% also. I really don't do much live fire. At the range I will usually take a box of shells and that is that. I practice shooting one, from port arms or low ready, then loading 8 and then shooting another round. I always try to move while loading, up, down, side to side, standing to kneeling, prone, standing to prone etc. forward or backward. I do loading drills in the garage in tight areas and around and through doors, while crawling under the truck, etc. Twards the end of my practice session I will load the 8 and then do some speed shooting for 4 or 5 targets in random order.

The rest of my practice is wasted with pistol shooting. KurtM

[bigbrowndog]

Kurt tells a lot of stories, his pistol practice isn't wasted he's trying to break...............I mean "break in" a new 9mm pistol that a "friend" bought for him. So he's actually doing work when he's at the range, but thats just the kind of guy he is, always thinking of helping out a friend whenever he can, heck he even crawled under my truck at Raton to see why it was leaking fuel,.................come to think of it it leaked worse after he came out from under it, So it made it much easier for me to locate the leak later,....................see there he was helpin' out a buddy again.

Trapr

[kellyn]

Moving to Phoenix is good advice! Since I get to shoot at Rio Salado which has a ton of matches, I don't do too much pistol "practicing." I spent most of my live fire practice these days on the rifle and shotgun. Yesterday, I shot a pistol match (100 rounds), then afterwards worked on offhand at 50 yards, kneeling at 100, and prone at 200 with the rifle (125 rounds) and then ran a few slugs at 50 (15 rounds). So all three got a workout. Today, I'm going to shoot a pistol match and then work on shotgun loading drills on a plate rack and maybe dryfire the rifle in the afternoon.

Badchad, I think you focused too much on the pistol.

Viggen is correct that most people struggle shooting their rifle accurately. That is where you should focus your livefire training.

Shotgun reloads can be mastered at home. But with the ever increasing amount of sporting clays style shooting in 3 gun (a positive trend IMHO), you ought to spend some time at the skeet and sporting clays range.

And uscbigdawg is spot on: ZERO THE FREAKIN RIFLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well off to the range!

[kurtm]

Dry fire a rifle?.......That,s just for Sailors baby!

Loading drills? Come on Kelly, Bruce told us that this Nationals is just a good old fashioned IPSC match where you just have to shoot....not a reloading match, so I guess I'm sunk anyway

I haven't broken...ah...in Mikey's pistol yet. Don't forget I found out that your track bar was bad also, but did you notice that on the way home it was wandering just a bit more?? Hey what are amigos for!

Someone posted that they don't shoot shotgun too much as it is similar enough to rifle...I agree, but spend some time speed shooting the shotgun so you know how your body deals with recoil.

I got to admit, match shooting all the time has really worked out for KN3. He has become one of the best pistol guys I know! along with Trapr. Hey Kelly...can I work on your 4X4 too? Maybe help change the next tire? KurtM

[kellyn]

Kurt, you're right. Why would I do any shotgun loading practice for the USPSA Multigun? Well hopefully it will carry over to Ft. Benning. And no, you can't touch the FJ !!!

[benelli2]

Friggin Practice! I wish, but if I did have the time I would break right about at Kurts percentages with a little more weight on rifle, as I don't sleep with mine on cold Wyoming nights like Kurt does ( the Benelli gets jealous) 45% pistol, 30 rifle and the rest shotgun would be a good mix for me

jc

Ps where is british Mike hiding, are you coming over to see how Kurt has your pistol broken in? We are planning the Pre Benning Practice Bash and need to know if you are interested?

[kellyn]

Didn't Kurt blow up that crappy 9mm of Mikey's?

[bigbrowndog]

Kel, i don't think "blow up" is the correct term, "rapidly disassembled" I think is more appropriate!!!!

Trapr

[outerlimits]

i split my time cleaning the darn long guns. shotgun gets most attention, then rifle, then pistol. since most 3gun events don't feature the pistol like the old dayz (read true 3 gun), i don't worry about that piece. seriously, i shoot open so #1 is loading the shotgun, #1(a) is getting yer rifle dope down pat. after that, it's just a big IPSC match.

[SinistralRifleman]

Just move to PHX!!!!! Ah that is about the only thing I miss. I'm trying to remember but I could shoot 3-4 3gun matches a month there or maybe 2-3 witha shotgun only or rifle only depending on the month. I was probably in the best 3gun shooting shape of my career at that time, got top 20 at RMG, (hey for my first major match I was happy Since I moved I don't get as much practice but I love it up here, sacrafices.......

Truth...I almost never go to the range to practice, there are too many local matches to use for "practice"

[mike.45]

Russell, I got the video and I forgot to say thanks.... so thanks ! Beer on me !

Hope to see you guys, and my assembeled and functioning 9mm at Benning !

[EkuJustice]

Practice? With my schedule and the cost of ammo the matches are the only time I get a chance to pick up the gun to shoot it

[TRUBL]

Jarmo and I finished in the top 25% and top 30% at RM3g this last year....and typically....thats about where we tend to finish always, unless we crash and burn. OK, we do NOT practice at all!! Never, nada, ziltch.......and we should. We even figured out that if, just if, we would actually take out AR22's once in a while to shoot off hand.....we'd move up significantly in the standings.

[Topmaul]

The only practice I get is actually in matches, due to the fact my Pistol skills are my weak point I try to shoot IDPA or anything to get quality time with my 92 FS wish I had time and the money to practice but just don't.