the worst part of competative shooting is... (Page 1 of 2)
Best Guntech, Daddy, King of all the wild things.
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Posted: 4/30/2025 12:25:56 PM EDT
| for me, it's loading and unloading the car. |
Redd Bingham
Guntech III
Brownells Inc.
Guntech III
Brownells Inc.
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Originally Posted By thedownzero: 8-10hr time commitment for approximately 5-12 minutes of shooting. That's why I dropped out of action shooting events. It's honestly boring. Now, a high-power match is different. 200 shooters, Starts at 9am, is over by 1pm and you are either shooting or working targets. |
When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.
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Originally Posted By thedownzero: 8-10hr time commitment for approximately 5-12 minutes of shooting. I was driving an hour each way for uspsa. Total shooting time was less than 2 minutes. It was fun but the juice was not worth the squeeze. |
Whoever double-crosses me and leaves me alive, he understands nothing about Tuco. Nothing!
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AT7WE2
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Originally Posted By Girlieman: Laughs in drove from Toronto Canada to Raton NM to shoot 3gun. Also... routinely drove Toronto to Park Mammoth for 3gun etc. Originally Posted By Girlieman: Originally Posted By thedownzero: 8-10hr time commitment for approximately 5-12 minutes of shooting. Laughs in drove from Toronto Canada to Raton NM to shoot 3gun. Also... routinely drove Toronto to Park Mammoth for 3gun etc. Rocky Mountain was a great match. |
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Originally Posted By FALARAK: Rocky Mountain was a great match. *sniff... It certainly was... 'Had the opportunity to shoot so many great events in the US. RM3G Fort Benning BRM3G plus other events at Rock castle FNH 3gun Lake of the Ozarks FNH(?) Peacemaker Loads of other 3gun events in Michigan, Pennsylvania and all those LE PPC matches in NY. 'Can honestly say I only ever ran into one, maybe two jerks. You know.. those guys who don't patch or reset steel. |
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Originally Posted By JerkStore: Dealing with the gear queers Or monthly 2gun match has started attracting a bunch of those guys. Gear queers, tactical Timmy's, LARPERs whatever you want to call them. It's entertaining, for a bit, but then their antics get old and sometimes downright unsafe. 3gun seems to keep those types away, I guess the big scary shotgun is too much for them. |
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Originally Posted By Boisestatefan: Or monthly 2gun match has started attracting a bunch of those guys. Gear queers, tactical Timmy's, LARPERs whatever you want to call them. It's entertaining, for a bit, but then their antics get old and sometimes downright unsafe. 3gun seems to keep those types away, I guess the big scary shotgun is too much for them. Originally Posted By Boisestatefan: Originally Posted By JerkStore: Dealing with the gear queers Or monthly 2gun match has started attracting a bunch of those guys. Gear queers, tactical Timmy's, LARPERs whatever you want to call them. It's entertaining, for a bit, but then their antics get old and sometimes downright unsafe. 3gun seems to keep those types away, I guess the big scary shotgun is too much for them. I didn't know what to use for my first 3-gun match (back in 2002 or 2003) and I wore an eagle tac-vest, safariland drop leg holster. Two double Fobus paddle holsters for mags. Pump action Mossberg 500A, Glock 17, and a run of the mill M4 carbine. My 3-gun friends (that were made at that first match) talked about that for over a decade. 
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Originally Posted By FALARAK: I didn't know what to use for my first 3-gun match (back in 2002 or 2003) and I wore an eagle tac-vest, safariland drop leg holster. Two double Fobus paddle holsters for mags. Pump action Mossberg 500A, Glock 17, and a run of the mill M4 carbine. My 3-gun friends (that were made at that first match) talked about that for over a decade. Lol... I started out using a winchester 1300 defender pump. "Upgraded" to a pistol gripped Benelli M4 then quickly realized... Wrong tool for the job. Bought an M2 and have stuck with it ever since...  Part of the fun... trying out things |
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Originally Posted By Girlieman: Lol... I started out using a winchester 1300 defender pump. "Upgraded" to a pistol gripped Benelli M4 then quickly realized... Wrong tool for the job. Bought an M2 and have stuck with it ever since... Part of the fun... trying out things Originally Posted By Girlieman: Originally Posted By FALARAK: I didn't know what to use for my first 3-gun match (back in 2002 or 2003) and I wore an eagle tac-vest, safariland drop leg holster. Two double Fobus paddle holsters for mags. Pump action Mossberg 500A, Glock 17, and a run of the mill M4 carbine. My 3-gun friends (that were made at that first match) talked about that for over a decade. Lol... I started out using a winchester 1300 defender pump. "Upgraded" to a pistol gripped Benelli M4 then quickly realized... Wrong tool for the job. Bought an M2 and have stuck with it ever since... Part of the fun... trying out things Yep. I picked up a lot of my gear on prize tables over the years too. I won an ACOG at RM3G, and soon after started picking up firearms at each comp. I picked up a Mossberg 930 when Miculek started shilling for them..... it was a POS that always failed at the worst possible time. The FN Sometimes Loads Properly's failed all the time around me, and were heavy, so I nixed them. Don't even get me started on the Remmy VersaCraps when they first came out. Remington sponsored a big match and we had one of their new shotguns on a stage as a prop gun. That pretty much ensured that NOBODY would ever buy one, it failed about once per competitior just trying to spit out 8-9 shells. I ended up finding a Benny Hill tuned M1, and used that for almost 15 years before I gave up the sport. I stayed with Glock.... a tuned up 34. All my buddies had 2011's and damn they were smooth but they also turned into salt shakers from time to time. The new mags are a MASSIVE improvement and now I own one. My 3-gun rifle is still my favorite rifle I have ever owned. JP cryo barrel, American Gold trigger, JP LMOS. But boy did a try a lot of stuff over the years. |
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Originally Posted By John-in-austin: Now, a high-power match is different. 200 shooters, Starts at 9am, is over by 1pm and you are either shooting or working targets. |
"Technique isn't something that can be taught. It's something you find on your own." - Bunta Fujiwara
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For me the worst part was the time. My local match was 2 hours away. If you help set-up and tear down, it pretty much burned a day. Area matches 7+ hour drive. Nationals in Illinois. MGM in Boise. For a long time I was pretty driven, then it gradually became more chore than fun. Plus, the wife and kids weren't really into it. |
Turns out, it was a different elephant.
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Despite the time & cost I still lug around all the gear for 3gun No other shooting sport where you can run a shotgun like that, and thankfully there's an active set of clubs with multiple monthly matches in my area There's a few major matches like RM3G or SMM3G worth doing at least once My local USPSA matches are a clown show, just like the organization, and I'm not planning on doing many this year or renewing my membership |
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For me, ultimately the worst part of competitive pew is that it really looks like it's going to end. Sale/transfer of handguns... Banned ARs... Banned Anything you could maybe use instead of an AR... Banned. 'Looks like all semi autos are soon to be... Banned. I think "if" we're lucky all we'll have left are .22 bolt guns and Over/Unders for trap. I hope y'all realize how fortunate you are yo have that 2A... |
Best Guntech, Daddy, King of all the wild things.
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Originally Posted By stiglitz_actual: Despite the time & cost I still lug around all the gear for 3gun No other shooting sport where you can run a shotgun like that, and thankfully there's an active set of clubs with multiple monthly matches in my area There's a few major matches like RM3G or SMM3G worth doing at least once My local USPSA matches are a clown show, just like the organization, and I'm not planning on doing many this year or renewing my membership |
Redd Bingham
Guntech III
Brownells Inc.
https://lnk.bio/Redd_BrownellsGT
Guntech III
Brownells Inc.
https://lnk.bio/Redd_BrownellsGT
Best Guntech, Daddy, King of all the wild things.
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Originally Posted By LineOfDeparture: For me... it's being terrible. |
Redd Bingham
Guntech III
Brownells Inc.
https://lnk.bio/Redd_BrownellsGT
Guntech III
Brownells Inc.
https://lnk.bio/Redd_BrownellsGT
Best Guntech, Daddy, King of all the wild things.
Joined:
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Originally Posted By FoxValleyTacDriver: 12 hour day for 5 minutes of shooting. |
Redd Bingham
Guntech III
Brownells Inc.
https://lnk.bio/Redd_BrownellsGT
Guntech III
Brownells Inc.
https://lnk.bio/Redd_BrownellsGT
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People complaining about “gear queers” is hilarious. Who cares what other people shoot. Let them larp and have fun. You have an AR15 account and you’re not a gear queer? lol ok The people complaining about too many type A personalities? Why bother just shoot your match and have fun. The people who complain about type A personalities are type A personalities themselves. Type A personalities aren’t a bad thing. People who complain about other people are the actual problem. Sometimes you don’t get in the best squat. Mind your business and focus on the match. You sign up to shoot matches to TEST your skill. See how you stack up against others aka competition. Matches are used to see your weak spots and train. Higher level matches are to see how you stack up against people who work hard to fix delinquent issues. The time issue is a bit rough, but during that down time make friends, learn from others, shoot the shit. Competition shooting is like playing 18 holes of golf except it’s with guns. If it’s not fun anymore, don’t do it or take a break. |
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The worst part? Mikes. Second worst part is not starting the match until 10;00 or 11:00 - I’d love to roll out to the first stage about 7:30 am and be done before 11:00. Everything else is gravy, especially joking around and shooting the shit with buddies (or strangers) during the match. |
Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
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For me? They don't bother me much but would have to be the sitting around waiting. I end up volunteering to do a lot of stuff to keep me busy. I'll run the timer, the tablet, paste, help the old guys. Keeps the time between stages from being boring. The constant arguing over rules can become exhausting. We have one guy at one of the clubs that he eats, drinks and breathes IDPA. He can be a bit much for me. I don't always squad with him thankfully. When I do I just tough it out and when I don't I count my blessings. He's not a bad person either. Just takes it very seriously. |
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Originally Posted By JohnMH92: People complaining about “gear queers” is hilarious. Who cares what other people shoot. Let them larp and have fun. You have an AR15 account and you’re not a gear queer? lol ok The group I used to shoot with always used USPSA rigs, no matter what match was called. IDPA back-up gun match? Race gun rigs, powder puff loads, 5 weighted magazines on the belt, no concealment. I was shooting a 642 with +p ammo. I pointed out that the match was posted as a back-up challenge and the head gear queer running the match told me that he just wanted everyone to have fun so gear didn't matter. I asked if scoring shouldn't matter either and he got pissed. My scores were at the bottom because I actually shot the match as it was intended to be shot. The range changed ownership a few years later and the new owner threw those guys out after a couple matches. They kept running off new shooters and acting like they worked at the range. Word got out to other nearby ranges and last I heard they had to move to a range an hour west of town. Good. I hope they all stub their toes on a daily basis. |
Better than you
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Originally Posted By dogsplat: I was driving an hour each way for uspsa. Total shooting time was less than 2 minutes. It was fun but the juice was not worth the squeeze. Originally Posted By dogsplat: Originally Posted By thedownzero: 8-10hr time commitment for approximately 5-12 minutes of shooting. I was driving an hour each way for uspsa. Total shooting time was less than 2 minutes. It was fun but the juice was not worth the squeeze. 3gun, 2gun, USPSA, IDPA, 22 match, etc. I would shoot them all. I enjoyed talking and hanging with different shooters, spending time outside, you name it. Then I had kids....I havent shot a match in 7yrs. But at current prices, I am not sure I could afford to shoot the 10k rounds a year I was going through. |
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Originally Posted By Boisestatefan: Or monthly 2gun match has started attracting a bunch of those guys. Gear queers, tactical Timmy's, LARPERs whatever you want to call them. It's entertaining, for a bit, but then their antics get old and sometimes downright unsafe. 3gun seems to keep those types away, I guess the big scary shotgun is too much for them. Originally Posted By Boisestatefan: Originally Posted By JerkStore: Dealing with the gear queers Or monthly 2gun match has started attracting a bunch of those guys. Gear queers, tactical Timmy's, LARPERs whatever you want to call them. It's entertaining, for a bit, but then their antics get old and sometimes downright unsafe. 3gun seems to keep those types away, I guess the big scary shotgun is too much for them. Its funny because I spent my first 2yrs shooting with cheap and no gear. I used a fobus holster and mag carrier, I shot rifle matches with mags in my back pocket, I shot shotgun stages with cargo pants pockets full of shells. I even shot borrowed guns from time to time from some awesome people at matches. Every match of every type, there is always at least 1 guy who is kitted out to no end. And if you see him the next match, he has something new. More concerned about some internet lore related to his red dot then his own experience and proficiency with it. BUT if they are having fun, who cares. Sometimes I would use a simple chest rig in matches, mainly because I used it as training in my match. |
Losing 10 points by .2 seconds when the electronic targets cut off. . .  Next is managing costs. My oldest son shoots Highpower. Next year becomes an increased focus on Long Range/Palma as he'll be shooting on the U.S. National Rifle Team's Under 25 "Young Eagles." Younger son wants to start Highpower next year. Both shoot 4H .22 rimfire. I didn't need retirement money. |
3rd Place NRA XTC Nationals (2nd loser), President's 100 - Distinguished Rifleman - NRA/CMP High Master: XTC. NRA High Master: Mid-, Long Range.
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Originally Posted By heavily_armed: Watching grown men dance their way through a walkthru planning every step, target, and reload. Nauseating. This one gets me too. Seems like those who make a big show of it shoot the worst. I’ll stand back and just visualize my way through it. |
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Originally Posted By FALARAK: I didn't know what to use for my first 3-gun match (back in 2002 or 2003) and I wore an eagle tac-vest, safariland drop leg holster. Two double Fobus paddle holsters for mags. Pump action Mossberg 500A, Glock 17, and a run of the mill M4 carbine. My 3-gun friends (that were made at that first match) talked about that for over a decade. My first was in shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. It became a tradition. I was definitely antitactical. The type A guys usually chill out after you shoot with them a couple times. One even laughed at himself for stepping over a limit line. |
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Originally Posted By Girlieman: Lol... I started out using a winchester 1300 defender pump. "Upgraded" to a pistol gripped Benelli M4 then quickly realized... Wrong tool for the job. Bought an M2 and have stuck with it ever since... Part of the fun... trying out things I bought an m4 clone for 3gun. Yes, wrong choice. As soon as I switched to my Winchester SX3 duck gun I started cleaning the shotgun stages. |