SinistralRifleman

GWACS Armory Sponsored me for the 2013 Superstition Mountain Mystery 3 Gun Match. I shot Wednesday and Thursday with the range officers so I could exhibit in the vendor tent while the match was going on.

I was originally planning to compete in Open division, but a last minute equipment problem necessitated that I switch from Open to Tac-Limited. I had spent the last several months training with my open division equipment, so this was a significant change for me only 3 days before the match. I prefer to use everything I will use for major matches for several months leading up to them to reinforce familiarity with it and gain confidence in what I can do with it.

I borrowed a friend’s Mossberg 930 JM and was able to shoot 50 rounds of birdshot through it, cleaned it, and fired 15 more bird and 15 buckshot to verify function. Coyote Tactical made me a new rig for my California Competition Works shell caddies

I swapped out the Leupold HAMR/Sparc Combo on my rifle and put an Aimpoint T-1 Micro in it’s place, and zeroed it at 50 yards.

I used my Glock 34 with Warren/Tactical Sevigny sights, which are the most accurate pistol iron sights I have ever used. However I had not shot an Iron sight pistol in several months, so I resorted to some dry fire practice at home.

The videos here are in the order in which I shot the stages. I make note of that because by the end of the match I was shooting much better than at the start. There were two reasons for this;

1) Stages at major matches like SMM3G are typically more complex than club level events, so it can take me a couple stages to get in the groove of shooting them vs the type of stages I am used to.

2) The necessary last minute division change and ammo situation caused by the ongoing great panic buy of 2013 had left me in a position where I simply could not practice the way I had in years past. I was shooting better by the end of the match than at the start, simply because I was getting acclimated to the particular guns I was using.

Some people may not notice a difference, however I could feel it shooting the stages as the match went on. I think other competitors without ammo company sponsorships are probably experiencing similar problems, and if not they will be soon if ammo supplies do not stabilize.

Overall it was a fun match and the stages were unique and challenging. I liked the option to choose which guns to use on many of the stages.

Thanks to:
GWACS Armory for the slot.
Stephanie for being an awesome girlfriend and bringing me lunch while I was stuck on the range for 12 hours
Tom for loaning me his 930JM to use in Tac Limited last minute
David of Coyote Tactical for making my shell carrier rig last minute
Whiskey Two-Four for the cool guy velcro patch hat

Results are in for SMM3G 2013.

Competing against the best 3 gunners in the country, I was 13th/37 in Tac Limited with 649 match points (1100 possible). This a new personal best for me at this match. The last time I competed at SMM3G I was 24/48 in Open in 2010.

Congrats to all the division winners. Full match results here: http://smm3gun.com/results.htm

5/14 Open Division, 6/63 Over All

8/45 and 4/8 Open at this one.  I had some equipment issues on the pistol stage (not shown) that cost me.