For sheer “Fun with Firepower” it’s hard to beat a 3-Gun match at Raton, New Mexico. You get to play with lots of guns — rifles, pistols, and shotguns — while enjoying great views in one of North America’s most scenic shooting facilities. This past weekend many of the nation’s top 3-Gun aces were in Raton for the 2017 Rocky Mountain 3-Gun World Championship. This was held August 10-13 at the Whittington Center facility. Stages were conducted both on the designated rifle ranges as well as nearby hillsides.
In 3-gun matches, all stages are “on the clock”. Competitors need to be FAST and accurate.
There was a lot of Army black and yellow on the top of the podium, with USAMU shooters winning two divisions, along with the Team Event. SSG Joel Turner won the Open Division and SSG Tyler Payne won the Heavy Metal Scope Division. SFC Daniel Horner placed second in the Tactical Scope Division, while SFC Kyle McMaster finished second in the Tactical Irons Division. All four soldiers teamed up to win the Team Relay Shoot-Off competition to close out the event.
High-tech AR platform rigs are the rifles of choice for 3-Gun matches.
Who wouldn’t like a chance to shoot at the Whittington Ranges? What a backdrop!
Run ‘N Gun at 6000 feet
The Rocky Mountain 3-Gun (RM3Gun) is an action shooting match in the natural terrain of the NRA Whittington Center near Raton, NM. The riverbeds, mountains, trees and rocks provide props for the stages. There are 5 divisions: Open, Tactical Scope, Tactical Iron, He-Man Scope, and He-Man Iron.
RM3Gun is a very physical match, and Whittington’s 6000′ altitude makes things even tougher. The pace, thin air, and terrain challenge competitors’ fitness levels. The match has a healthy amount of long range rifle shooting. The match organizers state: “We try to strike a balance between rifle, shotgun and pistol, but you will definitely have lots of rifle because it’s one of the only places you can shoot as far in such a beautiful environment. Usually, we have some moving/aerial targets for the shotgun as moving targets are what the gun is designed for.”
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On Ammoland.com, there’s an interesting article about the NSSF’s recent 3-Gun Fantasy Camp in Las Vegas. Author Duncan Johnson attended the Camp last month and wrote an “after action report”. He said the Camp was a great experience, and his shooting improved greatly with the expert tutoring from top pros: “If you have ever wanted to try a 3-Gun competition, just go do it, you will quickly find out why this is the fastest-growing shooting sport today. If you are new to shooting and or just getting started in 3-Gun, I 100% recommend you attend the NSSF Fantasy Camp.”
Here are Four Tips/Observations Duncan learned during the 3-Gun Fantasy Camp:
1. Use a Zoom Rifle Optic – “The LWRC 3-Gun ready rifle [provided for the Camp] was topped with a Leupold Mark 6 1-6x20mm riflescope, which made distance shooting much easier than the AimPoint optic [on my own AR]. 3-Gun competitions have rifle stages that can involve distance shooting out to ranges of 500 yards or more. For that reason, most shooters in the 3-Gun TacOps and Practical divisions use magnified riflescopes like the Leupold Mark 6 or the Vortex Strike Eagle.”
2. Use Your Quads and Core Muscles — “There are also a lot of little things that the pros teach you… For instance, some shooters instinctively bend their knees to enter their stance, but once they start firing they tend to follow the recoil with their shoulders and end up leaning back. In order to avoid that, use your quad muscles in your legs to get a solid stance that will absorb more recoil. Also use your core muscles to maintain a strong stance, especially in shotgun stages. The combination of strong quad and core muscles will contribute to controlling muzzle flip and moving onto your next target more easily.”
3. Vision-Based Target Transitions — “Another pro tip from Randi Rodgers on transitioning from target to target with a pistol was using your eyes rather than your sights to switch targets. So imagine it as pull the trigger, the slide starts to come back, using your eyes find the next target, then point with the front sight, find the sight picture, fire, and repeat.”
Editor’s Note: A few seasons back, I attended an action shooting seminar taught by Randi, and she explained the “move your eyes” technique. For multi-target stages, this really works. Move your eyes from target to target, and you’ll find your arms automatically “pull” the handgun into position. You still need to get the sights on target, but this method yields create smoother, faster stage runs.
4. Trigger Control and Use of Support Hand — If you don’t have good trigger control and pull straight back, you can move your sights during the shot. This is a common problem with novice pistol shooters. The solution is lots of dry fire training. Duncan found out he needed work: “In my case, the biggest area where I need improvement was shooting my pistol. There were two different things I was doing that will guarantee a missed shot every time with a handgun. When I pull/squeeze/depress my trigger I have a tendency to also pull the gun off target, resulting in a miss to the low left of a target. I [also] over-apply pressure with my shooting hand. According to the pros, pistol grip should be 40% shooting hand, and 60% supporting hand.”
This article originally appears on Ammoland.com, reprinted here under Creative Commons License.
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If you want to see the world’s best multi-gun shooters in action, head to Henderson, Nevada this weekend. Henderson’s Pro Gun Club hosts the 2016 SureFire World Multi-Gun Championships, a challenging day + night, high-round-count match with 16 fast and furious stages. Earlier this week fun matches were held at Henderson, but the main event kicks off Friday, October 21st and runs through Sunday, October 23rd. The main match, with 16 grueling stages, is a real test of shooter and equipment. This unique match combines various Multi-Gun and 3-Gun competition shooting styles, with stages influenced by USPSA Nationals stages, speed stages, outlaw stages, large Ironman-style stages, open-terrain stages, and even low-light night stages (as shown below).
With an extensive prize table and some of the top competitors in the world, this will be one of the most important multi-gun matches of the year. For more match information, visit www.Surefirewmg.com. Match photos and results will be posted on the Surefire Multi-Gun Championship Facebook Page.
While this is an impressive photo of Matt Loganbill shooting last year’s night stage, Surefire lights might actually do a better job illuminating the stage.
Here are two stage maps for this year. Note the number and variety of targets! CLICK to ZOOM.
Ammo A-Plenty — 780 Rounds To Be Fired By Each Competitor Over Course of 16 Stages
The 2016 course of fire includes sixteen (16) stages. All three guns will be used on almost all the stages, except for the night stages. There will be plenty of ammo sent down range this year. Each competitor will be shooting roughly 780 rounds of rifle, pistol, and shotgun ammo:
Rifle: 260 rifle rounds, some 50-yard shots and a spinner. In addition there will be 20 rounds of rifle over the berms with two shots past 350 yards. Pistol: 280 pistol rounds, but there will be many paper and steel options. Shotgun: 200 normal shotgun rounds, plus 15-20 slugs.
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The 2016 NRA World Shooting Championship (WSC) takes place September 15th through 17th, 2016 at the Peacemaker National Training Center in Glengary, West Virginia. The richest multi-gun event in North America, boasting $250,000 in cash and prizes, the WSC attracts the world’s best multi-gun shooters. This unique 3-day multi-gun match tests competitors’ skills across twelve stages sampling nearly every major shooting discipline (rifle, shotgun, and pistol). To be honest, the WSC is mostly a “run and gun” speed game, but competitors still must engage small targets at long range, so genuine marksmanship skills are required.
This year there will be three divisions: Open Professional, Stock Professional, and Amateur. Stock Professionals and Amateurs will use provided guns and ammo. But a 2016 WSC Rule change allows Open Pro competitors to bring their own firearms and ammunition for the match. Allowing the top Pros to shoot their own, optimized match guns should produce faster times and higher scores (plus fewer complaints about off-the-shelf guns that aren’t zeroed or don’t run right).
How to Win the World Shooting Championship
As first published in the NRA Blog, here are competition tips from reigning overall NRA World Shooting Champion Bruce Piatt, and Dianna Muller, the top female competitor at the 2015 WSC:
“The format at the NRA World Shooting Championship is unique in that you don’t know what you have to shoot until you show up, so training for the event is a little difficult. My advice is to pack some good eye and ear protection, bring an open mind, be prepared to listen to the stage descriptions, figure out the best way you can take the guns they provide, and post the best score you can. When the match supplies all the guns and ammo, all you have to do is deal with ‘the performance’. This is the most level playing field in the shooting sports — anyone from around the world can come and play.” — Bruce Piatt
“The NRA World Shooting Championship match is such a different breed — it’s really a difficult match for which to prepare! Over the past two years, I’ve learned to relax. I focus on relaxing in my own sport, because when you focus on the expectations over the procedure, it usually never works out in the shooter’s favor. The same goes for this match. You are tackling disciplines outside your expertise and using guns you aren’t familiar with, and that can really rattle your nerves if you don’t prepare for that mental challenge. But you can use this match design to your advantage. Remove all expectations, because, who is great at ALL the disciplines (besides Jerry Miculek)?! Give yourself some room to be ‘not so great’, focus on the fundamentals and try to enjoy the match. It is kind of liberating throwing everything to the wind and seeing how you stack up against all kinds of shooters! Coming from such a gear intensive sport as 3-Gun, I really enjoy walking up to 12 different stages and shooting guns and ammo that are provided. Although there may be issues with that format, it’s a great way to level the playing field, get down to brass tacks and see who is the most well rounded world champion shooter!” — Dianna Muller
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This Wednesday, July 6th, Shooting USA features End of Trail, the Cowboy Action World Championship. Hosted annually at the SASS Founders Ranch in New Mexico, End of Trail attracts over 700 shooters, hailing from 50 states and many foreign countries. The event is part shooting competition, part family reunion, and part Wild West jubilee. SASS, the Single Action Shooting Society, is one of the most popular shooting organizations on the planet, having issued over 90,000 member badges. This special Shooting USA broadcast of the 2016 End of Trail airs at 8:00 PM, 11:30, and 2:00 am (Thursday) Central Time on the Outdoor Channel. This year’s End of Trail took place June 16-26, 2016.
Past Champions Randi Rogers (“Holy Terror”) and Spencer Hoglund (“Lead Dispencer”)
If you like multi-gun competition, you’ll enjoy watching Cowboy Action Matches. The top male and female shooters are experts with three kinds of firearms: Lever Rifle, Single-Action Revolver, and Shotgun (which can be a double-barrel side-by-side, or a pump, or even an 1887 lever-action). Generally speaking the guns must be originals or reproductions of pre-1900 designs to be used in competition (however 1911-style pistols are allowed in “Wild Bunch” side matches). A typical stage will require 5 shots from each of two six guns, ten rounds from the rifle, chambered in a pistol caliber, and 6 to 8 shotgun rounds.
24 Rounds from Four Guns in under 13 Seconds
To give you an idea of the action you can see on Shooting USA, here is a video of past world Champion Spencer Hogland, aka “Lead Dispencer”. In this video, Spencer fires 24 rounds, with four guns, in just 12.81 seconds (look at the timer in lower right corner). Spencer shows blazing speed with his lever gun and note how quickly he loads his shotgun. Fast loading is key to a successful stage run. Unlike modern multi-gun comps, normally Cowboy Action Shooters must start with empty shotguns.
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The 20th Annual MGM Ironman Match was held in Parma, Idaho earlier this month. Over 250 shooters vied for honors at this ultra-challenging event. The “OLHOT” (Open, Limited, Heavy Optics, and Trooper) classes competed June 5-7, while a Scoped Tactical Match followed June 9-11. Present were top pros, privateers, juniors, ladies, plus elite military and LEO teams. This very demanding 3-Gun event features ten tough, high-round count stages, including a signature zip-line descent from a tower. Without question, the MGM Ironman is one of the toughest shooting matches on the planet.
Watch POV view of the Zipline Stage at 2016 MGM Ironman:
Father and Son Duo Dominates 2016 Event
This year’s OLHOT match was definitely a “family affair” for the Gibson clan. In the Trooper Division, 17-year-old Wyatt Gibson won convincingly, finishing 138 points ahead of the next-best shooter. Meanwhile Wyatt’s father Travis Gibson won the Open Division. In true ‘Like father, like son’ fashion, Travis dominated the Open field, finishing 121 points ahead of his closest Open-class competitor.
This year’s aptly-named Ironman was particularly tough with triple-digit temps and strong winds. Over the course of three grueling days, competitors completed ten tough stages, shooting in excess of 1100 rounds per shooter over the course of the match. EVERY stage required the use of ALL three guns with 100 or more rounds. The average time spent shooting on each stage was about seven minutes. The Ironman is long, intense, and you shoot till you drop! Mike Gibson, the founder of MGM Targets, and the “inventor” of the Ironman, has said: “This match isn’t for weenies or crybabies”.
The week-long Ironman event is broken into two, 3-day sessions, with five different divisions. The OLHOT (Open, Limited, Heavy Optics, and Trooper) sessions ran June 5-7. During the second segment, held June 9-11, 120 Scoped Tactical shooters took on the same demanding course.
MGM Ironman Has Unique Stage Designs
The MGM Ironman is an intense test of both shooter and equipment. Participants shoot a variety of classes and various scenarios including shooting from the back of a moving vehicle, from a 20-foot tower, while driving a golf cart, and while carrying a dummy.
Of course there are plenty of MGM-made reactive targets (photo right). The MGM Ironman regularly offers unique and demanding stages including firing a pistol from a zip line, and plunging down a steep slide from a 30 foot tower, rifle in hand. One stage involves carrying an 80-lb dummy over 100 feet and lifting it to the top of a six-foot platform before climbing it to engage rifle targets at distance. With creative and challenging stage designs and high round counts, he Ironman is truly a unique match.
Here is a video from the 2010 MGM Ironman. It shows many of the multi-gun stages, including the Zipline stage, filmed from multiple camera angles.
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Getting started in the shooting sports can be intimidating, especially for women. Thankfully, there are many training resources available. NSSF has compiled a series of target shooting tips for women, by women. These tips, presented by instructors Deb Ferns, Kay Miculek, and Lena Miculek-Afentul, cover basic shooting methods and safety. Topics include pistol grip, stance, eye dominance, and ear protection. These tips can benefit any novice shooter, not just the ladies.
Rifle Stance and Hold (for Action Shooting)
Champion 3-Gun shooters Kay Miculek and Lena Miculek-Afentul demonstrate rifle stance basics and how to properly hold an AR-platform rifle for action shooting.
Grip and Stance for Pistol Shooting
Mother/daughter team Kay Miculek and Lena Miculek-Afentul demonstrate proper grip and stance for shooting semi-automatic pistols in action disciplines.
Eye Dominance (and Hand/Eye Cross-Dominance)
Learn how to identify your dominant eye. Kay Miculek, a cross-dominant shooter, explains how other cross-dominant individuals can maintain a proper sight picture.
Ear Protection — Double-Up for Safety
Babes with Bullets Director Deb Ferns says the most common complaint among new shooters is, “It’s too loud!” Deb recommends “doubling up” — wearing muffs OVER soft foam earplugs. That’s “sound advice” for any shooter.
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Thinking of getting started in 3-Gun competition? In this NSSF video, Top Shot Finalist Chris Cerino reviews the hardware you’ll need for multi-gun matches. Chris talks about carbine configurations — including barrel, handguard, and optics options. In reviewing shotguns, Chris discusses shotshell caddies and the high-capacity extended tubular magazines now available. Cerino also demonstrates pistol techniques and explains the key features of a belt/holster rig for 3-Gun competition.
Gun Control — Tips on AR Shooting with Jerry Miculek
In another NSSF video, pro shooter Jerry Miculek provides tips on handling an AR-type rifle in 3-Gun matches. First, Jerry recommends a slightly forward stance, with your nose over your front toe. Second, it is important to have a consistent trigger pull. No matter how good your sight alignment, Jerry cautions, you can miss the target with a sloppy trigger pull. Finally, Miculek recommends placing your non-trigger hand well forward on the handguard. That provides better balance, tames muzzle rise, and gives you better control over the rifle for quick follow-up shots. Some shooters use a low hand position on the magwell, but Jerry says that makes the AR-15 feel top-heavy. Having your support hand out front on the handguard lowers the AR’s perceived center of gravity, allowing faster transitions for better stage times.
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A quarter million bucks in cash and prizes — that’s what’s up for grabs at the NRA’s World Shooting Championship (WSC) next month. This unique, multi-discipline event is the world’s richest shooting match, with $50,000 worth of cash awards ($25K to the winner) plus a monster $200,000 prize table. Competitors don’t even have to bring their own firearms — sponsors provide ALL guns and ammo.
The WSC, slated for September 24-26, at the Peacemaker National Training Center in Glengary, WV, is a multi-stage match involving 12 shooting disciplines over three days. Nearly all the firearms shooting sports (except benchrest and air rifle) will be showcased, so competitors must be skilled with rifle, pistol and shotgun. Speed is paramount. Although there are some accuracy-oriented stages, this is predominantly a multi-gun action match “on the clock” with relatively large, close targets.
The top WSC pro shooters, such as last year’s WSC winner SFC Dan Horner of the USAMU, are all seasoned 3-Gun competitors with blazing shot-to-shot speed and the ability to make rapid transitions from one gun to the next.
Reigning WSC Champion SFC Dan Horner is wicked fast. (File Photo, not from WSC).
All firearms and ammunition will be provided. This alleviates the need for shooters to purchase expensive new equipment and competitor travel costs are greatly reduced (since shooters won’t have to haul an arsenal of arms plus ammo). Think you’ve got what it takes to win? Then you can still register by visiting the World Shooting Championship Registration Page.
Here are the stages at the NRA World Shooting Championship:
Colt’s Maggie Reese with wicked-looking Vepr long-magazine shotgun.
North America’s top female action shooters converged on St. George, Utah recently for the Brownells Lady 3-Gun Pro-Am Challenge West Match. Dozens of competitors from the USA and Canada attended this event which featured some amazing stages. Check out the video of the Roller Coaster Stage — bet you never saw anything like THAT at a shooting match before. (This Roller Coaster side-match raised funds for Urijah Smith, a two-year-old boy suffering from cancer.)
Watch Roller Coaster Stage at Lady 3-Gun Pro-Am Challenge West:
Maggie Reese, one of the nation’s top female 3-gun shooters, recently signed as a factory-sponsored Team Colt shooter. It seems that blue and white suits Maggie just fine. Maggie just won the Ladies Open Division title at the Superstition Mountain Mystery (SMM) 3-Gun match in Mesa, Arizona. This marked the third time Reese finished as “High Lady” at this competition. Maggie told us: “The SMM 3-Gun is a competition I’ve gone to since the start of my shooting career, and it’s always a pleasure to go back.”
Photo credit: Yamil Sued
Reese used a Colt LE6920 for the rifle portion of the SMM 3-Gun. “There was a lot of accuracy involved in this particular match,” said Reese. “Having a dependable rifle made all the difference in trusting my shot placement.”
The stages also included distance targets up to 350 yards, along with some unique challenges. One stage had competitors strapped to a chair that was rotated to a 90-degree angle (See video below). “Shooting sideways was a fun experience,” said Reese. “Body placement was so important for this stage, along with being comfortable with your rifle. Up next for Reese is the 3-Gun Nation Pro Series Event in Tulsa, followed by the USPSA Multi-Gun Nationals on April 16 in Las Vegas. To follow Maggie Reese and other Team Colt members this season, visit Facebook.com/ColtFirearms.
Superstition Mountain Tilting-Chair Stage (Benny Hill style)
This video, by Brett Russo, features Jamie Franks, Taran Butler, Craig Outzen, Maggie Reese, Peter Jonasson, Chris Cheng, Jessica Hook, and others.
Here is Maggie with other shooters at SMM 3-Gun. Can you name the people in the picture?
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In his Guns & Ammo Blog, Top Shot (Season 1) Champion Iain Harrison explains how to get started in 3-Gun Competition. Iain begins with some very practical advice: “Don’t worry too much about the gear. Spending a ton of money to get into the game, only to discover a few months later that you want to head in another direction, is a surefire way to alienate your significant other…. Go shoot what you have, even if it’s not ideal; you’ll learn much more about what works and what doesn’t by shooting in a match than you ever will by reading blogs like this.”
It’s obvious that you’ll need three firearms — pistol, carbine/rifle, and shotgun. But Harrison explains you don’t have to go out an get the most expensive (or complex) weaponry. For the rifle/carbine segment, Harrison says: “A vanilla AR15 with a low-power variable scope is a good place to start. Pretty much any flat top AR15 [will do].” For a scattergun, yes it would be nice to have an exotic Benelli M1 Super 90, but a low cost semi-auto from Remington, Winchester, or Mossberg will be competitive. And many guys start off with their “old reliable” Rem model 870 pump shotgun. Harrison explains: “Add an extended mag tube to the Remington 1100 lurking in the back of the safe and you have the shotgun component covered, though if you’d rather run your trusty pump gun… that’s cool too.”
Choice of Pistol and Caliber
The best handgun brand and caliber is really a matter of personal choice. You want a “dead-nuts” reliable pistol, for which you can get affordable accessories (holster, mag pouches, high-cap magazines). Glocks, 1911s, HKs, Sigs, S&W M&Ps are all popular. As for caliber choice, Harrison notes: “Most guys run 9 mm handguns as the capacity advantage over a .40 or .45 is significant, but whatever you choose, your holster is as important as the piece it contains. Bump a loaded pistol out of your holster in the middle of a stage and you’ll be going home early.”
Video Shows Highlights from 3-Gun Nation 2011 Championship
In his Guns & Ammo Blog post, Harrison also give advice about 3-Gun optics and he lists particular firearms models that are favored by competitors. Learn more about these topics by visiting the 3-Gun Nation website. When it comes to gun shopping, Harrison does advise to “buy new” — that’s because active 3-gunners fire so many rounds in practice and competition that they really can wear out their firearms. Click Here to read Harrison’s full Getting Started in 3-Gun Blog article. While visiting GunsandAmmo.com, check out Harrison’s amusing Top Five Reasons to Try 3-Gun. Here’s Reason Number One: “It’s sexy. So sexy in fact, it’s the only shooting sport with its own TV show!”
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“The NRA World Shooting Championship match is such a different breed — it’s really a difficult match for which to prepare! Over the past two years, I’ve learned to relax. I focus on relaxing in my own sport, because when you focus on the expectations over the procedure, it usually never works out in the shooter’s favor. The same goes for this match. You are tackling disciplines outside your expertise and using guns you aren’t familiar with, and that can really rattle your nerves if you don’t prepare for that mental challenge. But you can use this match design to your advantage. Remove all expectations, because, who is great at ALL the disciplines (besides Jerry Miculek)?! Give yourself some room to be ‘not so great’, focus on the fundamentals and try to enjoy the match. It is kind of liberating throwing everything to the wind and seeing how you stack up against all kinds of shooters! Coming from such a gear intensive sport as 3-Gun, I really enjoy walking up to 12 different stages and shooting guns and ammo that are provided. Although there may be issues with that format, it’s a great way to level the playing field, get down to brass tacks and see who is the most well rounded world champion shooter!” — Dianna Muller
MGM Ironman Has Unique Stage Designs
The stages also included distance targets up to 350 yards, along with some unique challenges. One stage had competitors strapped to a chair that was rotated to a 90-degree angle (See video below). “Shooting sideways was a fun experience,” said Reese. “Body placement was so important for this stage, along with being comfortable with your rifle. Up next for Reese is the 3-Gun Nation Pro Series Event in Tulsa, followed by the USPSA Multi-Gun Nationals on April 16 in Las Vegas. To follow Maggie Reese and other Team Colt members this season, visit 
In his 
