Three Gun?

[newTexan]

Hi guys,

So, time at the range for me tends to be "feast or famine". Case in point, due to work sending me to states that are less RKBA friendly (and that's putting it mildly), plus lots of other things in life being prioritized higher...well, I woke up one day to realize I'd gone about 6 months without shooting a single round. Now, the first trip back to the range was a whole lot of fun, and reminded me that I need to make this more of a priority in case it's ever the only thing between me and a six-foot hole. It also pointed out that gun skills are like anything else, if you don't use em, you lose em.

Enter the little wifey. She suggested that I find some sort of goal for shooting that could drive me and had some suggestions. The one that seems to be the most reasonable is to set a goal to get good enough to try my hand in 3-gun competition in 2013. I'm not a horrible shot now, but certainly not good enough that I'd put myself out there and actually compete. That would make this a good goal overall. It's something to look forward to and it's a good reason to improve. Plus, if you can shoot well enough to try 3-gun, then you can shoot well-enough for other more-important things like life and liberty. I have a pistol, AR-15, and shotgun. What I don't have is a clue on where to start.

Anybody out there ever taken the trip from here to there and have any advice on how to get started?

Thanks!

[n5wd]

I'm not even going to attempt to offer any advice, except to look up the gun clubs in your area to see which have some competitions going that you could visit and ask them for advice.

The real reason for my response was to suggest that if we ever get around to cloning people, perhaps your wife would care to donate some of her 'willingness to let you play' genes to pass along to others! Sounds like you've got a keeper, there!

[gfmun]

What city do you live in or near ?

[newTexan]

Approximately Austin

[Bob Wolff]

In the Austin area you have at least two matches to start your journey.
Mike at Texas Tactical puts on a monthly 3 gun match that is very friendly to new shooters.
http://www.texastactical.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There is a monthly 3 gun match at Best of the West Range north of Austin.
http://texasshootingrange.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My advice to new shooters to three gun are pretty simple:
Always be concerned about safety. Match directors will be very patient with a safe shooter
Don't rush out and buy alot of equipment ubtil you have shot at least a couple of matches. You cannot believe the amount of money I have seen spent on equipment for matches that is only used once.

I'll PM you with my email so I can give you a little more information

Bob
Grand Poobah of all things Multigun at West Houston Shooters Club

[JMPJr]

newTexan, if you end up going, drop me a note; I'll join if I'm available. I'm in the Austin area and also have the interest and means as well as the never-been novice status. It'd be great to meet another Texaschlforum'er.

Bob Wolff - thanks for the advice. Safety first aye aye! I haven't read much about three gun, I know very little... but I *have* seen some folks' rigs. Knowing what I went through with holsters, I can only imagine how much equipment people have purchased to give them the perfect competitive edge.

[Texas Dan Mosby]

but certainly not good enough that I'd put myself out there and actually compete.

Not good enough to compete?

BAH!

Wrong attitude friend. This is the attitude that keeps a lot of folks away from competition, and keeps folks from coming back.

You ARE "good enough" for competition. EVERY shooter is.

Why?

Because you are only competing with yourself. And you will only win OR lose against yourself.

It doesn't matter what shooter "X" does during a stage, it only matters what YOU do. Shooter "X" may have better vision, mobility, reflexes, skill, equipment. That doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is if YOU shoot the stage the best that YOU can. Or better. And if worse, why, and what can you do to improve.

That's the only thing that matters in competition.

It works the same way for self defense too...

Get out and shoot friend. You WILL get better.

[arod757]

I've attended Mike's pistol competitions at the Cedar Ridge Range. The overall feel I got was "if you've got the guns and ammo and play safe, you're more than welcome to shoot." I see no reason the three-gun competition would be any different.

When I shot my first pistol match, there were more than a few newbie shooters. I'm talking people that basically knew how to work their gun and had fired less than 100 rounds their whole life. What happened? The buzzer went off, they took their time, fired at the targets as instructed, had a lot of fun, and got some great experience.

I haven't been to a match in a while myself. I live in Austin now, so I think I'll head over to Austin Rifle and shoot IDPA there this month or in July. I don't see any three-gun scheduled though. JMPJr extended an invitation to meet up and shoot, and I'll do the same. Maybe we can all get together for a match sometime.