Friday my Sweetie and I took a 3-Gun class with old friends Mark Passamaneck and James Casanova. Both are veteran 3-gun shooters and champions in their own right...James in particular had a spectacular season last year. The class was just excellent and gave both of us the grounding we've been looking for. My Sweetie in particular smoked the rifle and shotgun stuff. She was shooting a Stag 3G competition rifle with a Swarovski Z6i and an FNH SLP shotgun overhauled by Mark P. Mark shortened the stock, opened up the loading gate and welded up the lifted, etc. Of course the gun always ran like a scalded dog.
I ran the JP rifle I shot up in Oregon, still with the now-ancient Leupold CQ/T. I used a T&E Mossberg 930 JM Pro shotgun, which I was very impressed with. It ran with birdshot and slugs, was extremely easy to manipulate in all the drills and was fast fast fast cycling.
We'll probably aim for a big 3-gun match in April and try to get through it in once piece. I will tell you the absolute truth...the expense of starting 3-gun is daunting, and I get discounts! My friend Iain Harrison is adamant that a person can get started in 3-gun for less than $1500...well, maybe (here's some of Iain's star-up videos for G&A and here).
Three-gun is more like cowboy that I think a lot of people realize, with their joint emphasis on transitions and speed. Obviously, 3-gun requires a higher skill level, but the base is very similar.
I'm looking forward to getting at least one more cowboy match before winter sets in hard. The weather up in the high country has ben nothing short of amazing, a long, lingering Indian Summer with sunny days at temperatures in the high 50s and low 60s. Makes for wonderful days at the range.
$1500 for a three-gun rig might be pushing things, even for a starter kit, but a Mini-14, Maverick 88 and decent 9mm pistol should run close to that price.
ReplyDeleteThe real barrier to entry into 3 gun is ammo costs. The 100-150 rounds of .223, 100 birdshot and 50 or so pistol rounds needed for a club match adds up quickly, and we won't even begin to talk about the 100+ round stages in the IronMan. The choice soon becomes "Should I shoot one 3 gun math this month, or two USPSA matches or three IDPA matches instead?"
Local clubs here have started to run Tactical Carbine/Shotgun matches as a lower-cost entry match that are also easier to run as you don't need the long-range shots anymore, and if you run the shotgun option, a $25 box of #8's from Wally World works just fine.
Hope it doesn't come to it, but you might want to consider a plan B for your Secret Hidden Bunker 2.0 Maybe one of those nice retired Florida RVs with the sun shades that roll out over the door.
ReplyDeleteSeems your legislature is as crazy as mine LOL....considering assault weapons ban? WTF? Is there no place immune from this nonsense?
http://www.9news.com/news/article/301373/222/Theater-victims-want-stricter-gun-laws--?
I am considering purchase of a Mossberg 930 SPX myself, and have seen a few bad comments at various places (of course, any gun has its detractors). So you like the weapon, consider it worth the price (which isn't really that bad)?
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