Yep. Always do shotgun quake near the end of Firearms.
Yep. Always do shotgun quake near the end of Firearms.
Formerly known as xpd54.
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Not Cadets by any means, but I had the opportunity to take some teens to the shooting range a couple years back that were not familiar with guns in general for the most part. They were all from Mexico and a couple had held a revolver before and that's all. After going over all the basics with them they got to shoot several different semi auto handguns and revolvers along with my 1201FP shotgun. They really liked shooting the shotgun!
Honestly the reason I've avoided shotguns for so long is that (to me) they just look like a right pain in the rear to operate. I finally had to bite the, er... shell, and get one for 3-gun, and my suspicions have been confirmed. I can feel the hairs turning gray while I'm reloading, which I also have to do far more often than with the rifle or pistol. Add to it that the action works a little differently than my rifle (or any other gun I've dealt with, for that matter) and I just don't like it. I used my pistol on the steel targets whenever I could, even if it meant firing more shots, because I could reload the pistol very quickly.
I just keep asking myself "why aren't box-magazine-fed shotguns more popular?"
"Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire." - R. A. Heinlein
Do you quad load or load-two? I learned load-two early on and use it for most things these days. The only downside to most of the multiple shell load techniques is that they require dismounting the gun from the shoulder which is a combat shooting no-no, unless you are behind cover. Which is one place where 3-gun exposes itself as a game...
Well...because cost. Because hunting guns are limited to 3-shot capacities during hunting season. Because shotgun shells get squished when stored in box magazines for even moderate time periods. And because single-stack magazines aren't that reliable overall...I just keep asking myself "why aren't box-magazine-fed shotguns more popular?"
Last edited by RevolverRob; 10-29-2017 at 11:30 AM.
When I was a cadet (prior to rifles aside from lever actions being a thing) I took the shotgun training very seriously, since if the SHTF, the shotgun was accessible to me. We had 11-87’s and 870’s, and I loved them. Still do.
Although I’m sure it’s not PC to tell the cadets that if their FTO catches a round in the heat of battle, that they’re supposed to fight back, by any means necessary. I mean, I hope they do, but I’m guessing it’s an, “unwritten,” rule.
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Uhh... well, I was single-loading. From the cargo pocket on my shorts.
I should add that last week, in addition to being my first 3-gun match, was the first time I'd handled a shotgun other than one round of sporting clays many years ago.
At least for next time I've purchased an extension tube and some shell holders (stock and receiver mounted). I might look at double-loads later on.
Darn.
If I develop any skill at hitting flying clays I'm real tempted to get a Saiga or one of those Turkish AR-looking shotguns just to see what looks I get...
"Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire." - R. A. Heinlein
Like all things in life, shotguns take practice. And arguably to run them well, they take more practice than a rifle or handgun. And 3-gun takes a ton of dry practice to get the motions down, period. The shotgun is for most shooters the place where they can improve the most.
I recommend looking at load-two or quad-load and pick it up soon'ish if you start to take 3-gun seriously. Load two, is an especially useful technique that applies to virtually all tube-fed guns and is pretty easy to implement overall. But again requires dismounting the gun from the shoulder. The load-two approach shown below is my preferred one, where you roll the gun up onto the shoulder and load two with the strong hand. I prefer this, because I do a lot of strong hand reloading with a revolver anyways, so it feels more "natural" as it were.