Rio Salado: Multi-Gun/Long-Gun Matches In April

Here is what we have in store for you at Rio Salado during April:


Tactical Shotgun and Pistol Caliber Carbine Match: Wednesday April 4th
A tactical shotgun and pistol caliber carbine match will be held on the first Wednesday this month on the pistol bays. Shooter meeting at 3:45pm, registration starts at 4pm with last signup at 6pm. Match Fee is $14.00 for members or $16.00 for non-members. New shooters should come in time to attend the New Shooter Orientation just after 4pm before they shoot. The match format will be practical scenario-based and similar to what you would encounter at a 3-gun match, except that you only need to bring one gun - you choose either shotgun or PCC. There will be separate divisions for shotgun (Open, Limited and Pump) and carbine (Optic and Iron). Any tactical shotgun suitable for 3-gun competition will work well in this match, or you can shoot a pistol caliber carbine (straight walled pistol calibers only please - .22LR is OK). Check out the match rules for more details. Also, check out this video of a recent match.


Multigun/3-Gun Match: Saturday April 14th
A multigun match will be held on the second Saturday this month. Now we are into summer hours, registration starts at 7am with last signup at 8:30am; register at the Practical Pistol stat shack. Match Fee is $14.00 for members or $16.00 for non-members. New shooters should come in time to attend the New Shooter Orientation at 8:30am before they shoot. We run this match under IMA rules. To get a feel for what to expect, check out the videos from our previous matches. Our usual format is 3 short-range shotgun and/or rifle stages, plus 1 long-range rifle stage. We usually try to include a small amount of pistol too so folks can practice their transitions, but this is always optional. Bring 150 rounds of rifle ammo, 50 shotgun birdshot (#6bird or smaller), 25 rounds of buckshot (12ga=00, 20ga=#3buck) and a few boxes of shotgun slugs just in case.

A few of you are already following us on Twitter (@RioSalado3Gun). Sign up to stay informed of all the latest match news. Coming to multigun matches can be daunting for a first-time participant, but rest assured you are completely welcome no matter your skill level or equipment - just take it easy and concentrate on being safe for your first match. Feel free to download our Introduction to 3-Gun training material. If this is your first time trying multigun, just bring whatever kit you have - DO NOT SPEND ONE RED CENT ON NEW EQUIPMENT UNTIL YOU HAVE A MATCH UNDER YOUR BELT. If you are short of equipment, there is usually someone willing to loan you something to get you through the match. Anyone who wants me to walk them through their first match, stage by stage, just shoot me an IM and I will be more than happy to do so.


Tactical .22 Rifle Match: Tuesday April 10th & 24th
The "tactical" .22 rifle/carbine matches will be held on two Tuesdays this month, starting at 5:30pm with last signup at 7pm. Match fee is $7 for members or $10 for non-members. Location is the Smallbore Range right behind the Activity Center. The rules are simple: it's a straight time match with penalties for misses. Pretty much any .22 rifle is OK - the most popular guns are AR15-clones and Ruger 10/22s. We have two divisions: iron sight and optical sight. Our typical match format is two stages shot twice each: two runs on a "long range" stage out to 100yards, and two runs on a short-range hoser stage. Check out this video of a typical match. This match is more fun than a barrel of monkeys... bring a bulk pack of .22LR ammo (you will shoot at least 200 rounds) and enough magazines to hold at least 50 rounds at a time, and you will leave with a smile a mile wide.

Woo hoo! I will be in town for these, *and* the subgun match. Hope I remember how the trigger works....

REMINDER: The Tactical .22 Carbine match is on tonight, starting around 5pm on the Small Bore range.

The 3-gun match is on Saturday. Start time is 7am. I suggest you come promptly and allow a few minutes extra travel time as Usery Pass Road with be a Charlie-Foxtrot due to a bike race.

How long does it take to go through the .22 matches?

ETA - if there before 7am on Saturday, will you miss the bike race?

You can shoot the .22 match in an hour if the crowd is not too big.

My understanding is that the road restrictions on Saturday kick in at 7am, so if you aimed to arrive a bit earlier you should avoid the worst of the delays.

How hard is it to knock down the "buckshot" plates with say a 147gr 9mm? Do I have no chance with one shot even if I hit it in the top 1/6 or so?

Stage 4 gives the competitor the option of engaging 15 falling steel targets with shotgun buckshot, shotgun birdshot and/or pistol. The steel is calibrated to fall for sure with buckshot (12ga=00, 20ga=#3 buck). It may or may not fall with birdshot or pistol - there will be no reshoots if steel does not fall from birdshot or pistol hits.

To answer your specific question, when I tested our buckshot plates a while back, I was able to drop them with multiple, well-timed 124gr 9mm hits from an M&P9 Pro. I can't say whether your pistol loads will drop the buckshot plates, nor whether it will be faster than running the shotgun - roll the dice

What's the biggest birdshot we can use? #6?

Correct

I want to get to one of these tactical .22 matches, I've never shot a match out there will I need to do some kind of safety course first? Also will I have issues with seeing the target in low lighting with a fixed 4x scope?

There is no formal class, but there are obviously safety rules in place to let folks "run and gun" safely. This match is a good way for newbies to start in the action shooting sports. I suggest you bring your (unloaded) .22 rifle, enough spare magazines to carry 50 rounds, and 200 rounds of ammo to the next match, and tell the match director it is your first match... he will most likely be able to assign an experienced shooter to walk you through the match safely and enjoyably.

You will be able to see the targets just fine - they are painted white and lit with floodlights.

Subgun match tonight wa fun, it's been a while since I had been to one. Nice to see I still remember which way to load the mags...

What's the elevation at the range? From googling I'm getting anywhere between 1100 and 2100 ft?

Bring buckshot, do not bother with pistol. You may be able to do it (I was able to knock some down before myself) but it is definitely slower.

I use 1250ft in my ballistic calculations.

Match video is up on YouTube

Great match as usual. Probably the last "nice" weather we'll see for too long.

Results are online

Is the .300 blackout legal for the "Heavy Metal Limited" division?

That is a really good question. Technically .30 cal however mags are limited to 20 rounds max for heavy metal.

Don't forget you will need a pump shotgun (limited) and .44/.45 cal handgun.

Yes, if you can make a power factor (bullet weight x velocity/1000) of at least 320, then any .30 caliber rifle will work (300 Blackout, 7.62x39, 7.62x40WT etc.). This means, for example, driving a 125gr bullet at 2560fps. I anticipate this will take a long-ish barrel... SBRs need not apply . Ask Kevin mentioned, you would also have to comply with the other HML division rules (20 rounds max in each magazine, pump 12ga shotgun, .44/.45 caliber pistol making 165PF etc.) .

I have a rules question-

Say I have a vertical grip on my rifle attached midway up the handguard. Is this a "supporting device" as stated in the IMA rules quoted below?

"5.3.3.3 Supporting devices (bipods, etc.) are prohibited."

Like this-


edit: or the Noveske k9?

No, we do not considereither of those to be supporting devices at Rio Salado. IMHO they are not a good idea for 3-gun either, but that's not the question you asked.

Thanks, I'm trying to figure out if I want to get rid of my stubby VFG, and if it was bumping me to open that sure would take care of my decision. I put it on there initially (super newbie) because I liked having a point to index my grip around the handguard from (eg. not using it like I'm grabbing a pistol grip). Also I sometimes use/used it to support/wedge myself from a shooting port on a long range stage. But now I just don't know.

None of the real pros use one do they?

I would say whatever is comfortable to you. On shorter forends I don't feel comfortable holding it like I do when I have a long forend and thus have a VFG on my carbine.

ETA - Having my hand on the magwel doesn't give me the stability I get having my hand further out.

A few do run a VFG (Ted Puente springs to mind), but definitely in the minority. Most top 3-gunners have found that a neutral grip on a plain free-float tube is the fastest for them - a longer handguard that allows the support hand to be placed closer to the muzzle has also been found to speed up target transitions. Anything hanging off the handguard risks snagging on props etc. which slows you down.

As for the K9-type devices, most props/walls/barricades are just too wobbly to make these worth the extra weight and bulk. We had a couple of folks try digging them into shooting ports on the car on Stage 8 at SMM3G - each time they fired, the gun jumped down about half-an-inch and hilarity ensued.

Alright I'll give it a shot without the grip, can't hurt much.

If I wanted to shoot the USPSA Hosemasters this Saturday do I need to be a member of USPSA currently? Or can I show up and run like it's another match (aside from USPSA rules and such)?

You do not have to be a member. I've been a member on and off over the years. I like the idea of not being a member and classified so nobody can claim I am sandbagging.

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