3 Gun- where to even start??

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Simonw

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Leduc, Alberta
Hi all. Been thinking about 3 gun matches and know nothing about it. From the little research I think CHAS is the only one in Edmonton area who put together these matches.
Currently I am not a member of CHAS, can I still come and watch the match?
Being that I am very new at the whole shooting sport (and suck at it) , do/should I be looking at taking some sort of pistol/rifle shooting courses?
My son is 12, can he participate?(it's actually his idea to try 3 gun)
Any info would be appreciated.
Tia. Simon
 
Well WRAS puts on three gun matches, you can visit us at WRASalberta.com

However our range is currently closed so we are not hosting any matches until at least August at my best guess.

So by default CHAS is the onoy one operating right now.

Sosa
WRAS
 
Simonw said:
Hi all. Been thinking about 3 gun matches and know nothing about it. From the little research I think CHAS is the only one in Edmonton area who put together these matches.
Currently I am not a member of CHAS, can I still come and watch the match?
Being that I am very new at the whole shooting sport (and suck at it) , do/should I be looking at taking some sort of pistol/rifle shooting courses?
My son is 12, can he participate?(it's actually his idea to try 3 gun)
Any info would be appreciated.
Tia. Simon
Click to expand...

I know it's not exactly "Edmonton area" but Peace River is hosting a 3-gun event this weekend. The shoot is on Saturday, but there is a lot of other things going on this weekend as well such as PeaceFest (live music all evening) Jet Boat Races and an Air Show on Sunday. Give me a shout if you're interested in more information.
 
First thing to do is go to a match! Just go! The first one I went to without any equipment because I knew none of my kit was appropriate or even functional for 3-gun competitions. Go early, help them setup if you can and just try to observe everything they do. You will be much better off seeing the action firsthand, then buying your necessary kit rather than buying stuff and learning it's not really appropriate for the type of shooting that's being done. Whether or not you son is allowed to participate is up to the club. As long as he has the maturity to handle firearms safely and do so under pressure (competitions are always stressful) there is no reason why he cannot participate. If this 13 year old girl can do it, no reason your son couldn't.

 
Hey Simonw,

Your two best bets are CHAS (us) and WRAS (Sosa), unfortunately WRAS is in a temporary closure which will hopefully be resolved soon (I was planning a double shoot that weekend!!). If you want to come check out the next CHAS shoot, it is on the 20th. You can get more info on our shoots at www.chas3gun.com as well as check out our Youtube channel at:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNdqbHKwTu9UZ8srZsKHKOA

If you are not a member of CHAS, you just have to pay the guest fee for the range. If you decide to shoot, we have an annual membership fee of $50 and that covers your first shoot. Once annual fee has been paid, regular match fees are only $10. Guest fee if not a CHAS member is $20. That is a CHAS fee and does not go to 3-Gun. If you only want to watch the first match to see if you are interested, that is fine as well.

Here is a promo vid we have for CHAS 3-gun.

Your son is welcome to come out as well. So long as you are ok with him participating, we will have a RSO work with him for the match and get him involved. We like to encourage new shooters of all skill levels to come out and try 3-gun.
 
Nice vid Schecter 81!

To the OP, I highly recommend you get out to an event and just participate. It is highly addictive.

Alberta is not as intimidating as other provinces are and we are always a helpful group.

As Sosa always says: "F*&? it, we`ll do it live!"
 
the end all, be all.... if you contact the people putting on the match you will have guns and gear thrown at you to help you participate.... arrange in advance and they will get what you need. the biggest thing is buy good factory ammo for the guns your borrowing, not norinco.

you can run norinco in your own guns.....

some suggestions for your son is a Remington 870 youth model in 20 guage, ar15 with collapsible stock and something like a glock 19 will fit him good. or a 1911 in 9mm..... if you want him to run rimfire, then get him an M&P/22 and a gsg1911
 
TinkerBell said:
the end all, be all.... if you contact the people putting on the match you will have guns and gear thrown at you to help you participate.... arrange in advance and they will get what you need. the biggest thing is buy good factory ammo for the guns your borrowing, not norinco.

you can run norinco in your own guns.....

some suggestions for your son is a Remington 870 youth model in 20 guage, ar15 with collapsible stock and something like a glock 19 will fit him good. or a 1911 in 9mm..... if you want him to run rimfire, then get him an M&P/22 and a gsg1911
Click to expand...

Wow, I totally missed that in the OP's post. Hell ya, we will look after you if you don't have kit. Most of us are pretty good about loaning out our gear for someone who wants to try it out to see if they are into it before investing a pile of money into gear. The only thing we ask is that you supply your own ammo! And yes, there are some guys who wont let the chicom Norc stuff anywhere near there pretty ARs. I don't really care that much, mine will run no matter what. My STI however is much pickier. If you come out, you will get looked after. Ask for Shane. It looks like there may be a pile of the WRAS guys at our shoot on the 20th as well due to the range closure, so it should be an excellent shoot.
 
Wow. Thanks for all the info and offers. I will definitely come out on the 20th to watch for sure. It does look like you will have a very busy and full day on the 20th. My son is 12 and he has been shooting my 9m and buddy's 12g without any issue so I think we will just share same kit if we decide to do it.
So most of you 3 gunners just start by showing up? No special training require? I thought you need to take some sort of course to use holster, no?
 
Simonw said:
...
So most of you 3 gunners just start by showing up? No special training require? I thought you need to take some sort of course to use holster, no?
Click to expand...

Depends on the range and club involved. CHAS and WRAS are both "just show up" kind of operations.
 
Simonw said:
Wow. Thanks for all the info and offers. I will definitely come out on the 20th to watch for sure. It does look like you will have a very busy and full day on the 20th. My son is 12 and he has been shooting my 9m and buddy's 12g without any issue so I think we will just share same kit if we decide to do it.
So most of you 3 gunners just start by showing up? No special training require? I thought you need to take some sort of course to use holster, no?
Click to expand...

When you get into the indoor ranges and some of the major leagues like IPSC and IDPA, they usually require Blackbadge or equivalent for holster use, but both CHAS and WRAS do not require that for holster use. We do however expect proficiency. If you are doing things unsafely (holstering with finger on the trigger, holstering without the safety on as applicable, sweeping) you will be required to stop and take additional training before continuing to participate. (At CHAS) Sosa can comment on WRAS expectations. CHAS does run re-holstering during a course of fire, but we take the time with the RO to ensure the safety is on and finger of the trigger. With a new shooter, we will clear the firearm in a stage of fire prior to re-holster. We are less competition driven in this aspect to encourage new shooters to get involved while practicing the practical skills used in firearms handling.

CHAS includes:
- slings
- drawing and reholstering within the stage
- transitions from carbine/shotgun to pistol and back
- extended ranges up to and including 300-500m carbine
- stages are generally set up to be longer engagements with higher round counts that typical 3-gun stages. We aim for maximum load outs and 45sec-90sec COF. Some shooters will take longer.
 
Simonw said:
So most of you 3 gunners just start by showing up? No special training require? I thought you need to take some sort of course to use holster, no?
Click to expand...

I started out by running a 3 gun match.:)

Peace River and Fort St. John are both "just show up" events, too. In general, it's pretty easy to share long guns between shooters, but it really helps if each have their own pistol.

Over the years we've had shooters as young as 12 and many who've never drawn from a holster before. If the new shooters listen to the SOs, can follow the 4 safety rules, and go at their own speed, there's never a problem.
 
Training is good but the right attitude is more important. Take your time, bring your own ammo and someone will probably loan you a gun or two if needed at most matches. The hardest part is usually showing up the first time!
 
Well. Thanks for all the advise again. I will definitely be showing up on the 20th but I think for now I am just going to watch.
I have my own pistol and I have been eying up several Ar15. Any specific item I should be looking for in an AR? I have to buy one then realize I should have bought one with ???? Sorry for all the questions and thanks for your patient.
 
Simonw said:
Well. Thanks for all the advise again. I will definitely be showing up on the 20th but I think for now I am just going to watch.
I have my own pistol and I have been eying up several Ar15. Any specific item I should be looking for in an AR? I have to buy one then realize I should have bought one with ???? Sorry for all the questions and thanks for your patient.
Click to expand...

Really depends on your budget. You can start with a lot of the cheaper ones and build up to a great 3-Gun rig, but to do it over again, I would have probably just bought the Stag 3G. 3-gun ready out of the box for about $1800. Daniel Defense has a nice V7 I think with the round hand guard. Oneshot has a pile of VERY nice Adams Arms. It really depends on how much you have to work with. On the cheaper end, the Windham or Core stuff is a great start.

DONT ANYONE DARE SUGGEST NORC!! Buy the time you start replacing the hand guard, trigger, sights, comp, etc. you could have just bought something closer to the configuration you were looking for. Come out and see what we are running and we can give you a better idea of why we run what we do. Light weight is probably the most important, followed by a decent comp and trigger.
 
Another consideration is determining how much you will shoot and how competitive do you want to be. If you are only going to shoot two or three club level matches you may not need all the bells and whistles. If you are going to travel to shoot more matches in a year and you want to be more competitive you might want to spend more initially.

The club I belong to the guns vary from out of the box Norincos and SKS's with cheaper optics to Daniels Defense, ATRS, and Knights Armement fitted with Acog and other high end optics. Price probably rages from $400 to $5000 total. The club also offers rimfire class as a cheaper option. You can tell who is out to win and who is out for fun. If you may potentially shoot off the range then you may want to explore non-restricted options for the rifle.
 
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