FLSC/MN3GG 3-Gun Match - September 7, 2013

[-=VILLY=-]

66 shooters total in today's match. The day went a little long and the temp was definitely up there. The scores are done and Jay has them posted up on the MN3GG website.

A big thanks to Ron and Dawn and the Forest Lake Sportsmen's Club for hosting the match. Both Ron and Dawn, along with Adam, went out of their way to make this a great match. From setting up most of the stages ahead of time, building a roof-top prop, and providing lunch, they were a great host. The club is a great facility that gives us a lot of opportunities to further our sport. We (MN3GG) are proud of the partnership we have with the club and we look forward to planning the next match there.

I also want to thank Chris Vandenberg for delivering the scoresheets to my house after the match. I had to leave before everyone was done shooting so I could get to my sister's wedding rehearsal and dinner. This allowed me to get the scores done when I got home and get them to Jay for posting.

Thanks to all that attended the match and continue to support us and the sport. Thanks to the guys on Squad 1 for being a proficient and hardworking bunch, and for tolerating me having to drop in and out to take care of other match stuff. Same goes for Squad 3 who I joined for a bit. Also thanks to Squad 2 as I caught up with them as they finished the jungle run which I needed to shoot. I asked for the RO to run me through and I would reset the stage myself after, but they all stayed to get me through and reset the stage. I've said it before and I'll say it again, 3-gunner are the best and most enjoyful bunch of folks to be with. It is one of the biggest things that keeps us committed.

[NPayne]

I want to thank Ron and Dawn Westberg and the Forest Lake Sportsmen's Club for hosting this event. This is a very impressive facility and I only hope that this becomes a regular site for MN 3 Gun Group matches. I would also like to thank Jay and Jomar for putting everything together and thank Adam for all his hard work and input in this match.
It was a beautiful, sunny day (I swore I wouldn't complain about the heat this summer after all the snow in April and May) and I'm glad I got to spend it shooting with some great people. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, my favorite thing about 3-gun is the people. Squad 2 was an excellent example of the high quality of the people in this sport.
Not only did the shooters on our squad perform extremely well and handled their weapons with proficiency, they also worked very hard in reset. The great thing was, we had fun in every aspect of the match, including reset. My favorite part of the entire match was when Jomar sent us to the clubhouse after stage 6 to get a bite to eat and relax, but asked that one of our guys stay behind to RO him through the stage and he would reset it himself afterward. Every single person on Squad 2 volunteered to stick around and reset the stage after Jomar's run. I was extremely proud to be a part of this squad and hope to shoot with you all again in the future.

[fabb600]

Despite the heat and lack of a breeze it was a really fun match. Thanks to Ron and Dawn and FLSC for hosting. The jungle run stage was something new for me during a 3-gun match so that was a fun change - and I actually nailed both slug shots which was a nice bonus on that stage! My 50yd zero calculations didn't work out at all @300yds in the real world - at least with a red dot and heavy breathing heh..!

I had a a great time with a bunch of great guys in squad 2. Everything ran smooth, resets were quick and I learned some new lessons along the way. As usual, I can't wait 'til the next match!

[Payne]

NPayne and fabb600 hit it on the head. A great match made better by a great squad. Some of our shooters worked all night the previous night, drove 3 hrs. to make the shoot, knowing they had a 3 hr. drive home and another night shift waiting for them, Wow!

First, thanks to Ron and Dawn for being such gracious hosts, FLSC for hosting the match (I would love to see this venue a lot more in the future), and Ron, Dawn, and Adam Maxwell for getting much of the setup completed the day before the match. Squad 2 - as Nathan stated above - awesome squad.

I feel this match wasn't just about who could be the better shooter on a given day, it was more about who could survive the match with the fewest mistakes. With the heat, sun, dehydration, complex courses of fire that literally took seconds to complete, there was no room for error. I saw several smoking runs that turned into a crash and burn stage for the shooters because of a forgotten mandatory reload. The 3-gun shooting skills were definately tested on this day.

[shooter115]

..... that turned into a crash and burn stage for the shooters because of a forgotten mandatory reload.

Throw me in this group

[J.Schmitt]

So did I.

[jonahk]

I don't know what's worse - forgetting the reload or throwing your mag into the sand during said reload...

Amazing how one mistake in a stage like that can cost you the match. Blah.

[-=VILLY=-]

A couple of things I wanted to cover about this match:

First, it was a long day. But that was expected to be so as we had 6 stages (or 4 long stages). We needed to get our six 3-Gun Nation classifier stages submitted before the end of the year and we took this opportunity to do so. To keep things flowing well and to limit back-ups on the stages, we added 2 long courses. Those 2-3 minute run stages are what you would see at a major match. In the end, it all flowed pretty well.

I saw a few shotguns with ported chokes. I spoke with those folks and some said that they had asked some shooters about them but did not get a good answer. Our rules states that no compensators or porting of barrels are allowed outside of Open Class, and a ported choke is technically a compensator and is part of the barrel. Since it was almost the end of the day and some did not have any other chokes, I decided to let it go. But for future reference, if anyone has questions about the rules, they need to see me or Jay.

For those of you itching for some more shotgun jungle run action, Forest Lake Sportsmen's Club is hosting another Tactical Shotgun Match next Sunday, September 15th. Ron and crew sets up a very fun and challenging match. A match announcement will be out on this forum shortly.