The Tucson Two Gun Action Challenge Match runs shotgun matches as a special event from time to time.  The rules and stage design are intended to make it more practical than the shotgun portions of 3 Gun competitions.  Any time a shooter runs empty with the shotgun, they can transition to handgun.  Mag fed shotguns aren’t automatically in open division.  Optics do put a shotgun in open division.  Scoring on paper is the best 4 buck shot hits or the slug hit counting as 4 hits.  With potentially up to 12 seconds being added per paper target, marksmanship with the shotgun and a good pattern is more important than at many other matches.

Shotguns

I shot the match twice.  Once with my Beretta 1301 Comp

And once with my Remington 870

Both shotguns are equipped with Aimpoint Micros in KE Arms mounts.  At this match the 870 had a Vortex SPARC2, but I had to modify the sight to make it work due to the longer front lens housing vs the Aimpoint Micro.

For my ammo I used Fiocchi 3-gun branded buckshot and low recoil slugs.  For birdshot Federal 7.5 shot.

Trooper Gear Shotgun Shell vest.

Videos

With the 1301 Comp I placed first with a 29 second lead over a mag fed shooter

With the 870 I placed 3rd, with 0.2 seconds between me and second place.

I shot all the stages with the 870 first, then with the 1301 Comp.  With the physical nature of a lot of these stages, I thought this would provide a more even balance in comparison between using an auto vs a pump.

Observations

• This match was much less of a reloading race than the shotgun portions of 3 gun matches
• Accuracy with slugs was critical, as was a good buckshot pattern.  The Fiocchi 3 gun loads of Buckshot and Slugs performed great.
• Red dots on shotguns continue to make everything much easier including shooting at moving targets, longer distance targets with slugs, and from awkward positions.  A red dot with both eyes open has all the speed of a bead sight without the dependency on a consistent cheek weld.
• Shooting from different positions is a lot easier with an auto loader.  Pumps aren’t necessarily more reliable, and they require more work from unusual positions.

Overall I liked the format, and I would like to see more shotgun events like this.