Physically demanding matches with long par-times and a ton of shooting are what drew me to 3-Gun back in 2011. More shooting, more time on the clock, more problems to solve and some shenanigans for good measure.
I sit down with two guys well versed in shooting difficult matches, Adam Maxwell & Josh Tarrant. And we bring in someone new to the big-stage game, Josh Froelich. Together we talk about what to expect from these big style matches, how to prepare for them and why you should definitely put at least one on your match schedule.
Listen in and let us know in the comments below what we got right & what we missed. Do you agree or disagree with our findings?
When I first moved back to Texas Jay Christiansen said I should go check out STI International sometime. I'm always game to go check out a factory, especially one that makes gun parts so I told him to hook it up!
When the day came, James Gill came on out and after a factory tour with Tony Pignato (STI's new marketing guy) to see how all the parts and pistols are built, we headed over to the range.
I tossed rounds down range as fast as Jay could load magazines, trying out the new Staccato Carry, the STI Combat Master, the Omni and several other fun shooters.
Then James, Jay and I headed to the conference room where we started chatting about 3-Gun, hit the record button and didn't stop until we were hungry. Consider this episode a "current state" of 3-Gun because we touch on a wide range of topics, even taking questions from the 3-Gun Show audience.
This is episode 232 where the never-ending gear quest that is 3-Gun brings us around to discussing how to select a 2011 pistol. What features to look for, why certain ones are desireable and what to avoid. This is a round table discussion with several great friends of the show, Adam Maxwell, Travis Vogel and Josh Tarrant.
The 2011-style pistol is the number one platform I see at major matches. Now club matches it is a bit different, you’ll see all kinds of $500 polymer pistols there. But major matches are ruled by 2011’s.
It is interesting if you look at 3-Gun vs USPSA. In USPSA each division has different rules and different guns accel at those rulesets. CZ’s, single-stack 1911’s, revolvers and 2011’s all play here.
But with 3-Gun our ruleset basically stipulates USPSA Limited Divison style rules for both Tac Ops and Limited and Open is open. This means that the raciest of race guns in each division end up being a 2011 style pistol.
Jeff Cramblit is one of the OG's of Practical Shooting and you'll have to listen to the show to hear what Jeff says that means.
When I started shooting, Cramblit was one of those names that was always attached to technique or methodology and it was great to have Jeff on the podcast to hear about the old days straight from the guy that lived them.
One fun part about this podcast is to hear how human all of our heroes are. We like to build them up in our minds and be nervous to talk to them or approach them at matches but right at the start Jeff tells the story of his gear setup for his first match and I know we can all relate to it.
Then we get into the origin of the Pro-Am, developing tactical advantages for our nation's warriors and my favorite topic; silly-long shotgun magazine tubes.
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Thanks for listening! Thank you to Jeff for being such an awesome guest on the podcast!