March 2009 3-Gun Match...

So, the first 3-Gun match of the year occurred this past Sunday. An interesting rifle stage, that started with knocking over a steel plate at a distance, then moving to short-range targets with no-shoots in the way. A pistol stage (of my design) that required lateral and reverse movement with some kneeling and prone shooting. And a combined shotgun/pistol stage that included few shotgun reloads, but LOTS of movement.

I did pretty well on the pistol and shotgun stages, other than having my pistol jam two times on live rounds--0nce per stage. (Grrr...) Not sure why, either. Different magazine each time, jammed on live rounds---I'm thinking that in my reloading, there may have been a batch that had 0.1 or so less powder than normal, and just not enough umph to make the slide work properly. Not sure...need to take the gun out and function-check it a few times, including one-handed shooting. We'll see.

The rifle stage, on the other hand----was HORRIBLE. Hit three different no-shoot targets, and actually hit one of those no-shoots TWICE. The second shot didn't count, because it didn't quite cross the perf. Yes, we were shooting at close targets, so the rifle was going to shoot low. But I KNEW that, since I had gone out the previous day and checked my targeting for various distances. While it is true that I didn't hold as high as I should have for the close distance, the main problem was lack of trigger control. On everything past the first shot I just felt like I was jerking the trigger---and of course, I didn't fix the problem, I just noticed I was shooting horribly.

For the shotgun stage, I used my new method of reloading, and it seemed to go well. That being said, however, I only had to reload 8 rounds, so it wasn't much of a test for reloading speed. I did manage to miss one of the distant paper targets (when shooting slugs) which was completely my fault for lack of aim--but the rest went pretty well (except that one of the pistol jams occurred right at the end, and added several seconds to my time).

Just not really an auspicious shooting day. Fun, yes. Good, no.



So, I'll be going back out to the range for some more practice. Of course, I should do that no matter what. :) But in this case, I need to function-check my pistol, and definitely practice my rifle.

I also need to revamp that pistol stage I designed, and submit it for possible inclusion in the Area 3 match later this year. We'll see---it was well-received in this match. Lots of grumbles beforehand, and several compliments afterward.

In related news, my firearms student got herself an AR-15. A little practice with that, some shotgun work, and we'll have her doing 3-Gun next month along with the rest of us. :)