I'll mainly be shooting 3 gun but also some IPSC type action rifle matches, including hopefully the World Rifle Shoot on team USA next August. I'm going to dabble a bit with some precision rifle matches but I still have a long way to go there.
I'm honored to be on such an awesome team representing some of the best glass available.
Michael
Do you have a regular set of events you attend?
Best of luck.
One cool thing about sponsorship is working with companies on developing and testing new gear.
Amoebus,
basically 3 gun matches are classified as local or club matches, and major matches. The goal is to win or place hi at majors and use the club matches as practice.
Here in Minnesota we have an 8 month league series starting in March and ending in October. Its held at 3 different clubs in St cloud, Forest lake, and east Bethel. There are several other small events throughout the summer here as well.
This year I'll travel to 10 different majors in 8 states and at least one international event.
I have shot at the Forest lake range as they have a 400 yard rifle target.
I used to compete in IPSC way back in the early 80's before rifles got involved... Back then it was just .45 ACPs and 12 gauges, even had a tricked out (for it's time) .45 race gun with compensator and all... It got too expensive to practice with ammo while raising a growing young family at the time so I had to give it up... Had a Dillon progressive press, even melted and molded my own wheel weights lead for bullets, but still got to expensive to shoot everyday... I was shooting a lot back then...
Congrats, it is always special to get selected for your dedication.
IPSC is very rare on the US, its huge all over the world but not here. In the us we mainly shoot USPSA and 3 gun. In fact we had our first ipsc shotgun matches last year to prepare our team for the world shotgun championships in France. My buddy won.
We are having a series of 3 ipsc style rifle matches in preparation for the world rifle championships in August. There is a match in Alabama, Virginia and Oklahoma. I can only make the first and last due to a conflict with the Virginia match.
Ammo can get crazy. I am very fortunate to be sponsored by an ammo company and they treat me incredibly well. I've not gone through my logs but im sure I shot close to 50k rounds last year. In the 6 months before the world shotgun match last year my buddy shot over 75,000 rounds of shotgun ammo.
gFlight. one of the perks of helping test new gear is that you keep it, and that's on top of anything you are owed via contract.
sitting in dance class with my 4 year old daughter but I have a few pics on my phone
my pistol is a custom 2011 from a gunsmith in Missouri called tooth and nail armory. basically think colt 45 acp style but double stack mags and 9mm. I'm limited to 140mm mags for my division and they hold 23 rounds.
I have about 50k rounds on it so it's being rebuilt and I'm having a steel grip installed right now. It's at the finishing shop now getting treated with black nitride
It's a jp enterprises gun built by friends of mine right here in Minnesota.
If you want to be humbled someday go shooting with some good precision rifle guys. I used to think I was a pretty good rifle shot- till I started practicing with those guys
My comp jets would occasionally blow out the lights at our indoor range! Lol
BowSniper's Link
Mike, I have and I most certainly agree. My buddy David does more of that then the 3 gun. He's got a 6.5 rig I shot last year. He doped it up, I slid in and the 12 inch gong at 500 yards was like shooting my deer rifle at 50. It was effortless to hit shot, after shot, after shot. I about halfway upset him telling him that it took little effort in doing so. Which I know is wrong since he had to adjust everything based on the wind and such. But, dang man it was just unbelievable how that gun turned a decent shot into what I was beginning to think was something special. Then he shot......
He set up at his 1000 yard gong and hit it 9 for 10 in rapid succession. At which point I mentally corrected that little thought in my mind that these guys aren't as good as the equipment made them appear. I bet he shot all 10 shots in under 60 seconds. Ding, ding, ding, ding, etc.... It was very impressive to watch. He went and got his gas gun and hit a 400 yard gong like childs play.
He was shooting Nightforce optics but, Bushnell gave him a deal he couldn't pass up. He was able to film himself shooting and the view had through the scope. It was interesting learning how the mil markings and his holding while shooting. It was cool to hear him explain where he was holding and then watching it through a monitor. Cause that thing got to swinging and dinging when he started shooting. :^)
It's amazing what some people can do.
you would see rigs very similar to that today but most guys run 40sw, 38super comp, or 9mm mn major to make major power factor in both single and double stack.
Also you were a trend setter. Most run a frame mounted optic but lately many open division 3 gunners are going to a slide ride so they can run a hooded holster so it doesn't fall out running or doing an obstacle
also most are running steel grips such as mine here... also the grip safety is pinned
Those new machined frames sure do look pretty, and save a lot of work!
Only hand loads, no factory offerings
If you remember way back, USPSA had just lowered the major power factor from 175 down to 165. At that time the popular European 9x21 was ruled to be legal for major. And doing some digging, we found the internal specs of that case are identical to the popular 9mm Luger (9x19mm) here. So if the 9x19 was loaded long to match the OAL of the 9x21, then the internal specs of those two cases are exactly the same! Thus same pressures, and same safety. So we argued that there is no way one should be major legal, and the other not.
We also found some super hot police only +++P ammo (Triton, I believe) to compare. It turns out that factory 9mm ammo is only tested with a short 4" barrel. So we shot the hot factory Triton ammo through a 6" race gun barrel and proved factory ammo can technically make 165 major!
We took some pics, wrote a letter to USPSA headquarters, attached documentation of brass dimensions provided by Starline, and viola'.... the BOD took a vote, and major 9 passed. I believe due to the evidence we were able to submit.
And as Paul Harvey says, THAT is the rest of the story. Lol.
Luckily the 9x21 set the perfect legal precedent for Major-9 in the US! But I wouldn't try it with an ordinary gun. Only for custom race guns with supported barrels, etc.
Before the boating accident many years ago I played a little.
Used 4 grains of clays shotgun powder in my off the shelf .45 1911 to meet power factor but keep recoil down.
Would have liked to have got into it more but I rotate through hobbies too much. Jack of all trades master of none....
