Colt 3-Man 3-Gun

[TheRoland]

The last couple of years, we've had a few people go to the Topton 3-Man 3-Gun match in PA. This year, the match is sponsored by Colt (and others) and is a two-match series (with the second in West Virginia.) Enos thread here.

I'm going this year, on a team with jar and a non-NESer. Anyone else going? There's still time to get applications in, I think!

 

[TY43215]

The last couple of years, we've had a few people go to the Topton 3-Man 3-Gun match in PA. This year, the match is sponsored by Colt (and others) and is a two-match series (with the second in West Virginia.) Enos thread here.

I'm going this year, on a team with jar and a non-NESer. Anyone else going? There's still time to get applications in, I think!

As much as I enjoyed the match last year, the change in format and dates made it a no go for me. Hope you guys have a great time at both.

 

[Dan S]

The last couple of years, we've had a few people go to the Topton 3-Man 3-Gun match in PA. This year, the match is sponsored by Colt (and others) and is a two-match series (with the second in West Virginia.) Enos thread here.

I'm going this year, on a team with jar and a non-NESer. Anyone else going? There's still time to get applications in, I think!

Two friends and I have shot the previous two team shoots. Adding the match in West Virginia added a days travel, and that match is over 2 days, rather than one. Our team decided to pass on it this time.
Oh, if 3 guys in their late 50's and early 60's can finish 6th & 7th, you young guys should really kick butt!!

 

[scottb]

I'll be at Topton and Peacemaker.

 

[jar]

We have a lot to work on performance wise, but we had a blast at the first match. Can't wait for WV.

 

[Dan S]

We have a lot to work on performance wise, but we had a blast at the first match. Can't wait for WV.

Yup you do need work. Welcome to 3 gun.

 

[jar]

Yup you do need work. Welcome to 3 gun.

At least I hit all 8 of my 200 yard targets.

Biggest things I need to work on are shooting small targets with the pistol and everything about the shotgun. I missed some easy shotgun targets, which leads to extra loading. Also, you can clearly see the recoil tossing me all over the place.

 

[Dan S]

At least I hit all 8 of my 200 yard targets.

Biggest things I need to work on are shooting small targets with the pistol and everything about the shotgun. I missed some easy shotgun targets, which leads to extra loading. Also, you can clearly see the recoil tossing me all over the place.

Lean into the shotgun. It will help. What choke are you using?

 

[jar]

Lean into the shotgun. It will help. What choke are you using?

Briley extended Light Modified.

 

[Dan S]

Briley extended Light Modified.

Try Improved Cylinder if you have clays. I've been using IC for trap.

 

[jar]

The ones that gave me trouble were little 3 inch plates on stands. With clays, a few pellets is enough. With these, you had to get the meat of the pattern on them. I'm going to try to get some to experiment/practice with.

 

[Dan S]

The ones that gave me trouble were little 3 inch plates on stands. With clays, a few pellets is enough. With these, you had to get the meat of the pattern on them. I'm going to try to get some to experiment/practice with.

At least 3" plates are cheap.

 

[TheRoland]

Most of my pistol and rifle went alright, but missing shotgun targets killed me. Most of my shot hit (major exception in video) but slugs were horrible. Both shot and slugs hit ridiculously high from my shotgun, which I promptly forgot when the buzzer went off. My favorite point in this video is missing so much shot i had to reload twice, then running out of slugs.

Then, on stage 6, I promptly missed six 6" poppers at 200 yards, kneeling. I spend a ton of time at HSC's 300 yard range shooting 6" plates, so this was extremely embarrassing when I couldn't do it in a match.

Going forward, I'm doing *something* about fixing shotgun POA/POI, buying a bunch of slugs to practice more, and spending most available time shooting 200-300 yard rifle from positions other than prone. We may build our own VTAC barricade to practice on.

At least we had fun and didn't get DQed.

 

[TY43215]

Briley extended Light Modified.

Try getting on a pattern board with all the chokes you have and the ammo you use. Check at the distances you think you need.

The Pattern board made me realize LM was good but IM was better for longer shots and at times spreader ammo was even better

 

[jar]

Photos from the WV match:

 

[jar]

Cont'd:

 

[jar]

More:

 

[jar]

Last one:

 

[Dan S]

Wow, even the Open prize table was generous!
Dean puts on a really good match, this appeared to be a couple steps above.

 

[TheRoland]

Wow, even the Open prize table was generous!
Dean puts on a really good match, this appeared to be a couple steps above.

It was really a fantastic match, and has me hooked on 3-Gun pretty well.

Only a few of our stages actually went well, but even the ****-ups were really fun (which doesn't seem to always be the case). There's a ton of stuff we need to practice for next time (shooting the shotgun, reloading the shotgun, slugs with the shotgun, not running out of ammo for the shotgun, etc).

The Open Prize table was genius. I'm not sure if they intended to shoot Open, or put too many shells in a shotgun or what, but the table seemed a good consolation.

 

[MFP4073]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing those Jeff.

 

[TY43215]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing those Jeff.

Saw the results, ScottB from here and his team mates #11 over all and they even won a stage. Congrats to all that attended. Wish I could have gone.

 

[jar]

Saw the results, ScottB from here and his team mates #11 over all and they even won a stage. Congrats to all that attended. Wish I could have gone.

Nice. I saw them finish well, but didn't realize they had a stage win. Nice job guys!

 

[DrNVP]

what kind of optics did you guys use on your rifles? Do you pretty much need magnification or can a 1x red dot suffice?

 

[jar]

We all ran 1-4x optics. Two Meoptas (one newer ZD, one older KD) and a Burris MTAC. The 1-4 (or 1-6 or 1-8 if you're richer than me) is the way to go for tac optics. A 1x red dot would probably have been tough at 260 yards. For most local matches around here, a 1x dot would work.

 

[TheRoland]

A 1x red dot would probably have been tough at 260 yards. For most local matches around here, a 1x dot would work.

This. I originally intended to run a 2MOA Aimpoint dot, but lost my nerve when we heard there was 200+ yards in the first match. It was a good thing, too; the West Virginia match had poppers I couldn't even see without magnification.

Interestingly, in this match, at least, I only used 1x on a single stage, as there was almost no close-range hosing. A 3-9x would have been fine.

I've shot a couple years of USPSA rifle matchs around here, and 1x was more than sufficient for the job there.

 

[TY43215]

We all ran 1-4x optics. Two Meoptas (one newer ZD, one older KD) and a Burris MTAC. The 1-4 (or 1-6 or 1-8 if you're richer than me) is the way to go for tac optics. A 1x red dot would probably have been tough at 260 yards. For most local matches around here, a 1x dot would work.

I used a Trijicon reflex with a 4MOA amber dot at Pelham because I wanted to. I got my hits on the long shots but I struggled. I have a Burris XTR 1-4 that would have been much better.

I am currently looking into a Trijicon Accupoint TR22-2 Amber dot with Mildot cross hair reticle. 2.5 to 10. Going to try to talk my rep into ordering a sample in for me to try

 

[TheRoland]

I am currently looking into a Trijicon Accupoint TR22-2 Amber dot with Mildot cross hair reticle. 2.5 to 10. Going to try to talk my rep into ordering a sample in for me to try

Consensus over at Enos seems to be that 1x is critical for hosing stages, but I could have shot this series without ever dialing down past 2.5x without pain. That might be interesting to try, especially if you know you're going to be doing 2-3 MOA targets or targets partially hidden.

 

[TY43215]

Consensus over at Enos seems to be that 1x is critical for hosing stages, but I could have shot this series without ever dialing down past 2.5x without pain. That might be interesting to try, especially if you know you're going to be doing 2-3 MOA targets or targets partially hidden.

I shot Topton last year with my 1-4. Another shooter friend shot Topton with 2-somnething with the Duek sights for the short stuff. Now, he is a MUCH better shooter than I am but he went 1 for 1 on the 200 yard stages using higher power.

As for what the discussion is on Enos, Everyone has opinions but many there still go latest and greatest as soon as it comes out. The skill of the shooters posting is much higher than my skill levels. At my stage in life, I am trying to supplement fading sight and need a little more power at times. When I shoot close, I use 1X. When shooting longer shots past 50 yards I usually dial it up to 4X.

On that note, I will be trying out my HiViz Turkey sights for my 11-87 this weekend with my new VCS barrel

 

[TheRoland]

At my stage in life, I am trying to supplement fading sight and need a little more power at times. When I shoot close, I use 1X. When shooting longer shots past 50 yards I usually dial it up to 4X.

I'm right there with you. I hit all the 200+ targets this time, but I can't help but wonder if seeing more would have helped do it faster. I certainly couldn't see my misses clearly at 220 and 260 yard targets.

Shotgun sights are a sore point for me too; mine are way too short, and I have to aim at the target stand (or flinch very hard) to hit. Time to play with the stock shims... Hope yours work out. Do you shoot Open, or is the VCS un-ported?