Part 3:

Technique:

Part 1 | Part 2

Technique is far more important than equipment.

The rifle shooter needs to master a wide and varied skill set. A 3-Gun course of fire may require a hit on a full sized IPSC target at one yard distant at one moment and then a MGM plate at 250 yards the next. It is of upmost importance that you have rock solid zero. Establish a solid zero on your rifle and check it often.

I recommend that you zero your rifle at 200 meters (about 220 yards) for all-around use, but many zeroing systems will work such as a 100 yard, or a 50/250 yard, or even a 25/300 yard zero. Whatever system you use, you need to know the hold-over and the hold-under from 0 to a minimum of 350 yards. When you zero the rifle, shoot groups at different distances and learn to build an accurate shot.

I typically zero from the prone position, resting the rifle on the magazine, because that is the position that I will usually be engaging the most technical rifle shots under match conditions.

After establishing your zero, practice all of the shooting positions: prone, sitting, kneeling, squatting, offhand, and any variation that you might encounter. Practice using props as rests and master “reverse kneeling.” Reverse kneeling, unlike a standard kneeling position, uses the primary-side knee to support the primary-side elbow. The support hand holds the rifle to the barricade and the support-side knee is on the ground. The position is nearly as stable as prone and much faster to get in and out of.

Practice offhand shooting until you can consistently get your hits on target at a minimum of 100 yards. You should be able to shoot on the move out to 25 yards. Work on moving the rifle in and around props, hallways, barricades, cars, and other obstacles. Your goal is to “drive” the rifle rapidly between targets.

Daniel Horner made an interesting comment when I interviewed him in preparation of this article. Daniel said, “forget the clock.” He recommends learning how to get your hits first, especially with the rifle.

My biggest piece of advice is similar. The key to shooting rifle stages is to learn how to call your shots. By reading the sights, you should know that you have fired a good shot before the bullet has left the barrel. If you call a good shot, move on to the next shot and do it rapidly! If you call a bad shot or are unsure, make up the shot, rapidly. Don’t wait for the RO to call a hit, you should know what happened, you are the one driving the gun.

Pistol:

The pistol skills differ little from USPSA, although International Multi-gun scoring allows for much sloppier shooting. Your pistol equipment may differ from a typical USPSA match because 3-gun often requires the shooter to move through some very physical courses with the pistol holstered through much of the course. The holster must have good retention or you could face a DQ for a dropped firearm. Likewise magazine pouches and shot shell holders must have sufficient retention to maintain control of your equipment. Minor power factor 9X19mm handguns rule the roost in non-USPSA matches.

Shotgun:

When it comes to 3-gun shotguns reloading is where a match is won or lost. Practice reloading, and then practice some more.

There are several shotgun loading techniques: primary-side off-shell caddies, support-side off-shell caddies, primary-side off the gun and/or armband holders, and other configurations. Pick one or two or all of them, but whatever you do, master loading the shotgun. Most shotgun courses of fire are fairly straightforward but in any course of more than 10 or 15 rounds, you will spend more time loading the shotgun than actually shooting the shotgun. The more you can whittle away at this dead time the better your results will be.

A 3-Gun shotgun course typically falls into a few different categories: coarse shooting on static clay or steel targets, slug shooting, and an ever increasing trend to include sporting clays style shooting and combinations of all. When shooting static clay or steel that is relatively easy, you need to push your speed. But don’t miss as you will lose time loading to make up the shots.

Slug targets require more time and focus. Your shotgun zero can be impacted by resting it on barricades, don’t ask how I know this, you need to experiment beforehand to compensate or avoid resting it on barricades.

Go to the skeet or sporting clays range with your practical shotgun to practice flying clays even though your practical shotgun may get some looks. If you can, practice skeet the way you would shoot 3-gun, if you miss, make up the shot!

A note about the psychology of shotgun shooting. Shotguns have more recoil than pistols or rifles, and can get the better of a shooter. You need to drive the gun, not let the gun drive you. Shoot with an aggressive stance and control the gun. Use your body weight, lean into it, stick your butt out, accept the recoil, and mow those poppers down. Did I mention to practice loading?

Observations on types of budding 3-gunners

In our experience, 3-gunners come from one of several backgrounds. Each type brings with them some advantages and some disadvantages. Understanding this at the beginning can go a long way in making you a better competitor.

#1 The Pistol Shooter

The first type of budding 3-gunner is the action pistol shooter from a USPSA or IDPA background who wants to try their hand at 3-gun. This shooter usually has an excellent handle on the gun-handling and stage strategy aspects of the sport as well as an understanding of the impact of time. The primary weakness of these shooters is accuracy.

Many USPSA/IPSC shooters get by without really learning how to build an accurate shot and may regularly compete in matches where 15-20 yards is a long shot. These shooters tend to suffer greatly when it comes to the technical rifle shooting commonly encountered in major 3-gun matches. You simply cannot hose down 200 yard rifle targets or 100 yard slug shots.

Our advice to these shooters is to work on learning how to build an accurate rifle shot. Shoot groups. Shoot at 100, 200, and 300 yards. Once you can make the hits, focus on speeding things up.

#2 The Bullseye Shooter

Our second type usually comes from a high power or small bore background. The good news for this shooter is that 3-gun will never challenge you with a shot that is more difficult than anything you’ve engaged in your own sport.

The bad news is that there is a clock running, there is no prep time, and rarely any par times. You can already make the difficult shots, so learn how speed up the process and make it more efficient.

The bullseye sports teach the shooter how to build an accurate shot on demand. But they do so in a stylized way. The high power shooter masters offhand, sitting and prone with a sling, however high power does not require the shooter to make decision such as “which position should I use for this shot?” or “should I put my scope on 2X or 5X for that shot?”

3-Gun is far more freestyle, work on expanding your game. Work on breaking down stages. Watch how other shooters strategize and ask them why they did what they did.

#3 The “Tactical” Shooter

The third type of shooter is the shooter who has attended a tactical shooting school such as Gunsite or taken classes from instructors such as Kyle Lamb or Jeff Gonzalez. The tactical shooter usually has a decent handle on gun handling and building an accurate shot.

The primary weakness of the tactical shooter is failure to understanding scoring systems and stage strategy, as well as the impact of time. While a class may prepare you for a gunfight, that does not necessarily translate into shooting a stage well.

This type of shooter needs to break out of the “class” mentality, shoot some matches, and understand the true impact of time. Work with a shot timer and look at stages. Learn to play the game and learn where you can pick up time. Focus on efficiency, not merely going fast.

Conclusion:

If you have a rifle, pistol and shotgun, get out and shoot some 3-gun. Be sure to get a solid zero on your rifle, get a good holster for your pistol, and practice loading your shotgun, then go shoot a match.

I’m sure you will find that the competitors are friendly and helpful. But most importantly, get out and shoot!