I have been competing in action shooting sports for quite a while and over the past few years I have gotten pretty deeply immersed in the sport. I have competed in just about all action shooting sports except for Cowboy action. I have competed in IDPA, USPSA, ZSA and 3 Gun matches. I have had the chance to compete in the IDPA’s Carolina Cup match a few times, I have competed in all levels of USPSA matches, from the local Sir Walter monthly match all the way to the Single Stack and Revolver Nationals in 2013, and of course I am the VP of ZSA and I help run, design and build ZSA matches here in the NC area. The only one left is 3 Gun matches, which is really where this series is heading.

We at ZSA hold our form of 3 Gun, zombie style and we have held some really good matches over the past few years, we had the first VA state ZSA 3 Gun match, We held out Southern Fired Zombie Gauntlet match this past July 4 weekend, and we had some very high level shooters show up for that. Other than ZSA matches I have competed in a few Tarheel matches, and last year I competed in the Blue Ridge Mountain 3 Gun match.

The BRM3G match is, from what I have heard, one of the toughest 3 Gun matches in the country. The stages are pretty big, and by big I mean there is a long course of fire from start to finish. Also they have pretty high round counts per stage. If memory serves me right, it was 565 ish rounds for the match, and that was only 9 stages.

Pic A

So back to the point of my blog, This series of posts is to show all my friends my road to the 2013 Blue Ridge 3 Gun match, and my quest to place in the top 15 in my division. So speaking of divisions, last year I ran in the Tactical Irons class, which the rules were a bit weird to me since I was allowed to run a red dot sight in TI, but other than that I have realized that I put myself at a great disadvantage compared to the rest of the competitors. This is because, yes I was running a red dot on my rifle, but that is where my competitive advantage stopped. I ran a 12ga pump Benelli shotgun with a smooth bore barrel, so that means there is no choke, then I ran a single stack 1911 pistol. Even though I shoot the 1911 very well, I was competing against guys with M&P and Glocks with 17 rd 9mm mags. Even with all that, I still ended up placing 14^th out of about 30 shooters in TI, not too shabby.

Well this year is going to be a bit different, some of you may have seen me out at the ZSA 3 Gun matches with my new gear, well you aint seen nothing yet :).

This year I plan on competing in the Tactical Optics division, this division you can run one powered optic on your rifle.

So let’s get to the fun stuff, the gear. Picture A is what my rifle looked like last year; I started out with an Elite Arms AR15, 16” stainless barrel, flat top receiver and a M4 collapsible stock and a quad rail fore grip. I changed out the lower receiver for a Double Star “Zombie hunter” lower. I added a Magpul grip and angled fore grip. I bought a copy of a Aim point red dot, I did not want to spend the money till I figured out what I wanted to do with the rifle. Not too bad right, well it did the job for a while. At the BRM3G I won a Nordic light weight fore guard and a Ergo grip. So the transformation began, I put the ergo grip on and it is pretty good. I had to get a low profile gas block to fit the new fore guard as well as a PWS muzzle brake. So that began my journey to what it has become today. Today it is a little different, as you can see from Pic B, I have changed out the collapsible stock for a full rifle length skeleton stock, this is a light weight stock that uses a A2 buffer tube. I have also added a JP coolly compensator. So as of this writing I have not shot the rifle with the stock or brake yet, but I have shot some like it and it is going to be loud, but the important thing

is to stay on target and get fast shots off. The last main mod I have added is the Trijicon Accupoint scope. This is a 1x4 scope and is truly amazing. I have the green chevron reticle, so you set it to 1x and it is just like a red dot, put the tip of the chevron on your target and you are good. I sighted in at a 200yd zero, so from 10 to 250yd I hold center and I am hitting within a 6” circle. For longer just hold a bit more of a 12 oclock hold and you are good.

The last thing I wanted to mention about my 3 Gun gear in this part was the Shotgun. I have not done much in modification to the shotgun, I just replaced it completely. I was able to pick up a Mossberg 930 JM Pro with a 24” barrel, this allows a 9+1 capacity and with it being gas driven it is very fast. Mossberg did a great job on this shotgun, all the controls are large, and the loading area was widened and chamfered to allow a clean reload. I am very happy with it and don’t plan on doing any modification, it runs great right from the box.

Next installment will be the pistol; I am going to be using a Para P14-45. Follow along as I build it as a USPSA Limited gun and my new 3 Gun pistol.