Advice needed: 3 Gun shotgun tips

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Still alive

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Hey guys,
Signed up for my first 3-gun match at the BC Redneck.
I'm very familiar with AR and handguns and competing with them.
However, I have very minimal experience with the shotgun component.
I have a Mossberg 500 extended tube pump with a AR style pistol gripped buttstock. And a RDS.
I realize this puts me in Open.
I don't have any shotgun caddies or bandoliers etc. I plan on using a dump pouch to reload for my first match. I really don't want to spend the cash on shotgun paraphenalia as I'm not sure this is my thing yet.
Questions:
Do any of you 3-gunners use a dump pouch to load?
If you do, what tips do you have for quicker reloads with one?
Should I remove the RDS so I don't handicap myself further? Or just go with it and learn from the experience?
If so, will a ghost ring rear and a FO front work well?
I'm doing this for fun and experience. I shoot IDPA and not IPSC so relative speed is already not a factor for me.

Thanks for any tips and advice!
Cheers!
 
I would recommend going basic on the shotgun sights. No rear and just a bead, post or fiber front. But if you are familiar and comfortable with the RDS then it makes some sense to leave it on.

I'm not aware of a fast way to reload from a pouch.
 
I use a Remington 870 Tactical and carry my ammo in a dump pouch. This will slow you down compared to other proper methods of carrying shot shells since you can end up grabbing the shells backwards or not quite set in your hand for efficient loading. I shoot for my own entertainment so this handicap does not bother me.

Don't wear your dump pouch in front of your leg, when running or going to the kneeling position you can knock the shells out of the pouch unless it has some sort of closure on it.

Have at least one other method of carrying shells if there is a requirement to carry rifled slugs. If you put shot shells and slugs on n a dump pouch you may accidentally load a slug to engage one of the close in targets that's meant to be engaged with a shot shell. This can cause problems with damaging targets. Even if you throw the slugs in a pocket that will work.

I use the sights that came on the shotgun and don't have any problems with them. RDS is fine if that's what you are used to. I tried a Vortex Sparc RDS once put didn't really like it. With an array of clay pigeons I found it hard to go from pigeon to pigeon quickly and the pigeon throwers that were connected to the poppers were a challenge since the pigeon went vertical and had a very short flight time. More practice with it before hand would have helped.
 
My biggest handicap (other than a general lack of trigger time and equipment failure) stemmed from slow AF shotgun reloads. I'm a total newb, but I'd suggest a belt or shell holder on your shotgun at a minimum to separate your target loads from your slugs and orientate the shells in the same direction so you get some repeatability when reloading.

I really like the double stacked shell holders most guys run on their belts but I think those are pushing 200 beans after tax and shipping.
 
Thanks adamg and armycat,
Armycat,
I'm on the same wavelength here. Shooting for entertainment and experience.
My dump pouch is secured behind my belt mag holders on my left so no issues there.
Having not shot 3-gun, are there actually stages where slugs and target loads are shot in the middle of a stage? I've shot a match where the slugs are loaded first and on the reload, target loads are used to complete the course of fire.
Believe me, I'll be practicing before the match, including shell holder reloads over and under! I still have time to install a FO front if the RDS gets in the way! It's huge!
 
Longshot84 said:
My biggest handicap (other than a general lack of trigger time and equipment failure) stemmed from slow AF shotgun reloads. I'm a total newb, but I'd suggest a belt or shell holder on your shotgun at a minimum to separate your target loads from your slugs and orientate the shells in the same direction so you get some repeatability when reloading.

I really like the double stacked shell holders most guys run on their belts but I think those are pushing 200 beans after tax and shipping.
Click to expand...
Which is why I'm staying away from them! I want to try 3G before thinking about spending more $ on another aspect of this hobby!
Besides, $200 can go a lot towards practice ammo!
 
If you have no intention of buying or borrowing shell holders for your match, and will be using the dump pouch, the way I would do it is as follows:

Dump your shotgun shells on a a table and then put them back in the box so they are all facing the same way.
tear the top flaps of the box off, so the box creates your shell holder
Put the box in your pouch so the rims are touching you and the crimp is facing outwards
EDIT: actually, thinking about it some more, shells pointing in or out will depend where on your body the dump pouch will be.
You will have to try both ways and see what works best for you and which way gives you a more comfortable grab
Trying to visualize it, I think it might be better to have them crimp in.

Practice the loading technique in the following videos so your squad mates don't end up falling asleep waiting for you to load your shotgun: :)

With the shells oriented the same way, you should be able to grab 2/3/4 shells at a time and get them in the gun
As for slugs or buck shot, separate those from your bird shot. side saddle or back pocket and use as needed.

[youtube]IaElhPSONF8[/youtube]

Other hand in case you have more dexterity with the strong hand
[youtube]3eV5Cf5qc0A[/youtube]

[youtube]I1TTr25YYuw[/youtube]
 
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Unless you intend on missing a lot, most courses of fire won't need you to carry 25 extra shells on you, plus what is in your gun at the start.
You can probably get away with 20 in the box or something along those lines.

You'll have to see the stage description when they are published, and make a judgement call

Then stuff the pockets accordingly.

Or find a box or other device that meets your needs better that fits in your dump pouch.
 
pauls said:
Unless you intend on missing a lot, most courses of fire won't need you to carry 25 extra shells on you, plus what is in your gun at the start.
You can probably get away with 20 in the box or something along those lines.

You'll have to see the stage description when they are published, and make a judgement call

Then stuff the pockets accordingly.

Or find a box or other device that meets your needs better that fits in your dump pouch.
Click to expand...

I think the most we've ever done here is 34 or 35 rounds on a shotgun only stage. Range limitations force us to have one stage of five that's shotgun only.

There were full minutes difference in time between the guys using dump pouches and those with twins or quads setups.

That is fairly atypical, though.
 
Still alive said:
Having not shot 3-gun, are there actually stages where slugs and target loads are shot in the middle of a stage? I've shot a match where the slugs are loaded first and on the reload, target loads are used to complete the course of fire.
Click to expand...

Completely up to the club and the individual match director. I've seen stages where the slugs were first or last. When I was in Medicine Hat I ran a stage where the slugs were in the middle only because it's something a lot of people don't do. I would say slugs in the middle is uncommon.

During one of our league nights we had a shooter miss a steel target for a low port on their last round. He reached into his dump pouch and loaded a slug which cause significant damage to the target which was only about 7 meters from the barricade.
 
Last 3 years at the Redneck, slugs were not mixed with shot, IIRC. Now that I've said that, I can almost see the stage designers rubbing their hands and laughing maniacally....
 
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