IPSC Limited 3-GUn

[fireaway45]

Going to try to make it to some matches this year. Just had a few questions about rifle and shotgun setups. For shotgun, I will be going with a Remington 1100, but what length barrel should I use? How big of a magazine extension should I get? What choles are typically used? Any other modifications I should look at? For rifle, I will use my AR 15, but what type of upper should I go with? What barrel length?

 

[RickB]

You are allowed to load 8+1 in Limited shotgun (IIRC). A 20" barrel and an 8-round tube are approx. the same length. I use cylinder choke, but I've shot a couple of matches where cylinder and birdshot were not enough to knock-down steel that could be engaged only from a single position - that is, you couldn't get closer to the steel to knock it down, you had to take the misses. I know a guy who shot everything - bird, buck, slugs - through a full choke, and it didn't seem to harm anything.
How your rifle is set up depends somewhat on what kind of stages you'll see. The last couple of matches I shot featured 300+ yard shots, and for that, I like the extra sight radius and velocity of a 20" barrel. Another match I shot featured no shots longer than 200yds, and a house-clearing stage, and on that one, a carbine was the way to go (it was fairly comical, watching the Open shooters maneuver their 22" barreled, scoped, bipodded guns through rooms not much bigger than closets, to engage targets at 5-15 feet). If there's lots of long-range shooting, a fast twist (1:9-1:7) and heavier bullets would probably be the way to go. I shoot 55gr ball, as it's fairly cheap, and doesn't punish the steel targets.

 

[Christopher II]

Limited Class shotgun allows 9 rounds in the gun. Not a huge deal, but I like to be able to load 9 rounds with the chamber empty. On occasion, you'll be required to start a stage with the shotgun chamber-empty. Having that extra round in there will save you 2-3 seconds.

Barrel should be exactly the same length as your magazine tube - probably 21-23 inches.

I have the full range of choke tubes, but 90% of the time I shoot Modified. Pattern your gun with the ammo you plan on using, and see what shoots best. You're looking for two things - consistant shot patterns out to 25 yards (dense enough to knock over a Pepper Popper with authority) and 5" groups with slugs at 50 yards offhand. Experiment with your ammo, choke, and sights until you've got those things.

Barrel length for the AR is not super-critical. My match rifle has a lightweight 1-8" twist 18" barrel, and it works great for me. I'd tend to err on the side of too short rather than too long, down to a practical minimum of 16". 55grn. M193 ammo from a 16" tube will take down any target you can expect to see in a match, at any range you can expect to see in a match. I've personally made first-shot hits on a 400-yard IPSC target with a 16" AR carbine.

Limited class restricts you to iron sights only on the rifle. Get good ones. Make sure that you have a good muzzle brake and a good trigger. Make sure your gun runs (this goes for all your guns. A malfunction will cost you the stage.)

Hope this helps some.

- Chris