I shot my 2nd 3-gun match this morning and learned some more important lessons (well - these are really all things I should know by now, but a heavy dose of reinforcement never hurts!):
1. Never take an unproven weapon to somewhere you might need to rely on it. Last Saturday I was having some trigger reset troubles on my FAL carbine and put a new polished trigger group in the gun. In hand cycling I could not make it fail (and it felt just GREAT), but couldn't get to the range to test it with live fire before the match. Mr. Murphy, however, showed up on the first course of fire and helped the hammer ride the bolt forward, in effect making me have to clear five different failures within the first few steps of the match (in a gun that NEVER failed before I started "improving" the trigger). I also learned in the shotgun stage that # 7 1/2 shot is not enough to reliably knock down the heavy steel targets they were using. I used twice as much ammo (and a much longer time) than I should have, but I finally got them all down. If I would have brought #4 shot (or tested my loads on steel) I would have been fine.
2. There is only ever one shot. I let the failures of my carbine get to me and instead of thinking about each shot I was making I was still stewing over the carbine failures and letting it piss me off. I rushed the pistol portion of the same stage and had a failure to neutralize (stiff penalty). In the next stage I was still focusing so much on whether or not my carbine would fail again I was not making the 100yd hits on steel I needed to in this stage. Missing frustrated me, and it made matters worse. Neither the shot I have already made (or missed) or the upcoming shots I'll have to make should have been in my mind - only the shot I was making right then. I rushed the pistol portion of the stage again (still frustrated) and had another failure to neutralize because I was not examining the targets closely enough - I mistook a "bad guy" for a "hostage" and didn't touch him.
3. Don't unload your gun before you're finished shooting.
In the shotgun stage we were required to unload completely and "show clear" before putting the shotgun down and transitioning to the pistol for that phase of the stage. Being preoccupied with my steel difficulties I cleared the gun with 8 "bad guys" still staring at me and had to pick up rounds off the ground around me to finish them all (DDDDUUUUUHHHHHH!!!!!).
Anyway - better to make mistakes while playing a game than when it really counts. Some of the issues I had were "gaming" issues that wouldn't matter when it came down to it - within 25yds either 7 1/2 or 4 shot will take someone down just as well, and most of the failures to neutralize were because one round hit centermass and the other (two hits required per target) hit in the abdomen or shoulder or something. Real life says you shoot until they're down, and cardboard targets just don't tell you how to do that. Still no excuse for my performance, but then again that's why I'm shooting these "games" - to learn. I have read about all of these things many times but it just doesn't sink in until you've tried it.
Anyway - hope as many people get out to try 3-gun as possible. It's the most fun you can legally have with a shotgun, rifle, and pistol!
1. Never take an unproven weapon to somewhere you might need to rely on it. Last Saturday I was having some trigger reset troubles on my FAL carbine and put a new polished trigger group in the gun. In hand cycling I could not make it fail (and it felt just GREAT), but couldn't get to the range to test it with live fire before the match. Mr. Murphy, however, showed up on the first course of fire and helped the hammer ride the bolt forward, in effect making me have to clear five different failures within the first few steps of the match (in a gun that NEVER failed before I started "improving" the trigger). I also learned in the shotgun stage that # 7 1/2 shot is not enough to reliably knock down the heavy steel targets they were using. I used twice as much ammo (and a much longer time) than I should have, but I finally got them all down. If I would have brought #4 shot (or tested my loads on steel) I would have been fine.
2. There is only ever one shot. I let the failures of my carbine get to me and instead of thinking about each shot I was making I was still stewing over the carbine failures and letting it piss me off. I rushed the pistol portion of the same stage and had a failure to neutralize (stiff penalty). In the next stage I was still focusing so much on whether or not my carbine would fail again I was not making the 100yd hits on steel I needed to in this stage. Missing frustrated me, and it made matters worse. Neither the shot I have already made (or missed) or the upcoming shots I'll have to make should have been in my mind - only the shot I was making right then. I rushed the pistol portion of the stage again (still frustrated) and had another failure to neutralize because I was not examining the targets closely enough - I mistook a "bad guy" for a "hostage" and didn't touch him.
3. Don't unload your gun before you're finished shooting.
In the shotgun stage we were required to unload completely and "show clear" before putting the shotgun down and transitioning to the pistol for that phase of the stage. Being preoccupied with my steel difficulties I cleared the gun with 8 "bad guys" still staring at me and had to pick up rounds off the ground around me to finish them all (DDDDUUUUUHHHHHH!!!!!).Anyway - better to make mistakes while playing a game than when it really counts. Some of the issues I had were "gaming" issues that wouldn't matter when it came down to it - within 25yds either 7 1/2 or 4 shot will take someone down just as well, and most of the failures to neutralize were because one round hit centermass and the other (two hits required per target) hit in the abdomen or shoulder or something. Real life says you shoot until they're down, and cardboard targets just don't tell you how to do that. Still no excuse for my performance, but then again that's why I'm shooting these "games" - to learn. I have read about all of these things many times but it just doesn't sink in until you've tried it.
Anyway - hope as many people get out to try 3-gun as possible. It's the most fun you can legally have with a shotgun, rifle, and pistol!
