With the rather unfortunate DQ the last time I tried 3-Gun, I was ready for a second shot. Last time out my gun popped out of my USPSA holster when I was running from position to position, and that's a lesson on why the right gear matters. Today I broke out my Safariland belt that was a Christmas present from Linda, put it together, and went out with Aaron & Steve from Hayes Custom Guns. A big thanks to them for again, loaning me a shotgun and a rifle to use for the match. I suppose I need to thank Linda for loaning me her CZ to use as a pistol. In December I was still running the CZ, so Linda bought the gear for me with than in mind.
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| 100 plus degrees, 4th stage of the match...I was burnt! (Stage 3 in Match) |
Before this match, I had exactly 4 rounds thru a shotgun, 2 of them being slugs, so I was more than a little uncomfortable with the idea of shooting shotgun. Plus, my rifle time has been limited too, so it was a lot of worry about gear, being safe, and how to operate the gear. I anticipated I'd finish in last place, and I was okay with it, it was more about getting out and shooting a match. I wish Linda had been able to come with, that was the plan, but about 8pm on Friday night we got a call from the A/C repair company and they were coming out at 8am on Saturday to install a new unit. A/C in 100 degree heat is pretty important, and she volunteered to stay and let me shoot. I'm grateful!
Stage Five
All shotgun, what a way to start. I was loading shotgun off a chest rig, and I admit, I had a few struggles, fun, but I was not convinced. There was a giant Texas star at the end but instead of steel plates, it had clay's. Smart guy that I am, I shot one of the clay's before the R.O. yelled I needed to shoot the activator first. Oh....makes sense. I did have fun. I ran it in about 67 seconds, the top shooters were high 20's, low 30's.
Stage One
Guess what, all shot gun again! There were some laugh worthy moments in this video, I have to admit. I started off looking pretty good, but for some reason the bolt hung up on the 2nd clay, and trying to get that fixed had me completely forget my stage plan, and lose my concentration. I knew there was not clay on the 3rd one, but I still sat waiting for it...dumbass! Then I damn near forgot to load, and I was slow as could be on the load. Here's where the 3 gun rules threw me for a loop, the popper with an activator started a dual clay swinger, but apparently nobody set-up the clay's. I assumed that it would be a re-shoot, it would in USPSA, and that's where they told me to just shoot twice. By then I was completely lost, and forgot to shoot the last popper, and then I forgot the clay being tossed in the air, but, super shotgun shooter than I am (with maybe 35 rounds ever thru a shotgun at this point) I nailed it. At this point, I was starting to like shotgun!
I actually thought that I could have shot two poppers and hit both clay's in the air. That's a little over confident, and I played it smart especially first time I shot clay's, the bigger point was that some confidence was developing.
Stage Two
This was my first stage that utilized all three guns, and I was excited to break the pistol out, little did I know it would be the one thing that completely failed me. Yes, I held the rifle incorrectly, I know it, I was trying to keep my head on what I was doing, and just did not think. Fortunately the gun shot flat, and it did not hurt me, what I wanted to do was improve my splits as I was going, and I did. (Again, less than 50 rounds thru a rifle at this point, and the first rifle stage of the day.) The paper targets were 1/2 size USPSA targets, so they were not big, there were angles, and some hard cover.
At this match you can load up shotgun, so I started with 14 rounds in the gun, I was going to shoot 9, load 4, and finish on the last 9. 18 rounds, 18 shots, I knew I'd have to shoot it clean, and I'm actually pretty happy with the way that I shot it, I ran it clean, and I did it reasonably quickly. I also had a solid load 4, sure, it could have been better if I'd done it more, but it was a clean smooth load. I grabbed all 4 shells correctly, and smoothly managed to get the reload done.
Pistol was a nightmare, and unfortunately I did not figure out the issue until after the next stage. I was shooting consistently low, and had issues with both the plate rack, and the polish plate rack on the stage. Turns out there was an issue with the fiber front sight.
Stage Three
This stage had some IDPA time added for each "Charlie" hit, and we had to have 2 hits on the paper. I was down 2, and had no issues with the rifle. I liked the stage, and we had to "navigate" the clay's that were on the ground while running forward (10 second penalty if you break a clay on the ground) Once again though, pistol kicked my ass. Another Texas Star, and I struggled on the plate rack, in fact I gave up with 2 steel still standing. I saw that the front fiber was actually broken and was moving all over the place, if I'd have pointed the gun straight up in the air, it would have fallen out. I had Linda's range bag with me, and she had no fiber or lighter (lesson to add for next time) so I had to borrow a lighter and temporarily melt the fiber so I could get thru the last stage.
Stage Four
This was an all pistol stage, with 27 pieces of steel, including a start on a Texas Star...the 3rd one of the match. I was slow as hell to start, I shot a popper, watched it go down, shot another, watched it go down, and I was half in surprise, sights fixed was a huge save for me. Then for some reason I started at the bottom of the Texas Star, and rolled 3 straight plates, but then with the rack spinning wildly, struggled to clean it. Dumb mental mistake where I know better. I did a much better job on both the sides I had to run to, and inexplicably left one steel standing for a 5 second penalty. I know I hit it, I saw it move, but evidently I did not hit it squarely because it stayed up. On me.
Conclusions
I can't lie, I had an absolute blast. I thought I would not really like shotgun, but it turns out shooting shotgun was darn near my favorite part of the match. I felt extremely confident shooting the gun by the end, and I would have stayed longer to shoot more shotgun. I loved the clay's flipping into the air, I want to see sporting clay's where they are launched. This is an entirely different element than I'm used to, and it made for an excellent challenge. I had zero issues controlling the gun, or handling the recoil, and when I had the smooth reload (albeit slow) and went 18 for 18, I was thrilled.
Rifle was different with the 1/2 size targets, I really had to focus, and I wish there was some more long range rifle, but apparently there are 2 matches "bay" style a month, and 2 matches that have some longer range (100-600 yard) rifle stages. I like shooting rifle quite a bit, I know I can run faster, but this close, I had to aim at the neck of the USPSA targets to hit center mass, and it was something new trying to do that on targets that were at angles.
Pistol was a nightmare for me today, and that's not what I expected, I actually thought I'd shoot pistol well enough to cruise thru the match, and actually make up some ground I'd lose in other spots. Turns out this was my weak point (and the front sight was a legitimate issue) that I can control, and be in better shape for the next match.
I fully expected to finish in last place, and this may speak to the quality of the other shooters there, but I managed to finish 25th of 41 shooters in my first match. I lost 30-40 seconds with my pistol at least (especially with at least 3 penalties for left steel) and on the first two shotgun stages I lost time just with unfamiliarity with the gun, and shooting it. That would have moved me up 7-8 places at least. Learning how to load shotgun, and shoot the rifle better would have moved me up even a bit more. I'm no 3-Gun pro, but I love the variety of challenges shooting all 3 guns, and I can see a definitely love affair starting with the sport. There are definitely more 3-Gun matches in my future, I really enjoy the sport.
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