Getting Kitted Out

[Baby Seal Club]

Alright being completely new to this sport I could use some help figuring out what I should get to round out my guns and gear. My budget for initial gear purchase is $2400 and I would like to start with shooting iron sights/red dot to start in tactical limited.

I currently have:
* Sig 229 9mm 13 round mag version with 8 mags and Safariland Shroud holster or pancake leather holster
* Basic AR w/iron sights and 3 Pmags
* Peltor Comtac II electronic ear pro
* Various forms/colors of eye pro
* Molle chest rig and drop leg with rifle and pistol pouches
* 2 rifle bag and tons of backpacks.

From my research here is what I was looking at purchasing:

* Shotgun and mods
* Dummy Rounds for loading practice
* Shotgun shell caddies
* Belt system w/mag carriers
* Proper foot wear
* Shot timer for practice
* Other things I don't even know I need

My thoughts were to upgrade my pistol to a sig P320 (I like Sig a lot and they have air rifle/pistols for backyard training) and pick up something like a Stoeger M3000 or a Mossberg 930 JM Pro and then round out the rest of my gear with the remaining funds, but am completely open to any/all suggestions.

The other idea was to suck up having a 13 round pistol and spend the pistol money to get a better shotgun.

All thoughts are welcome as is any advice on where to shop (I am patient so I am willing to wait more time to spend less money).

Cheers,
Ansel

 

[Matt1911]

Keep the current pistol and rifle for now and get a Benelli M1, have it wirkes over by Benny Hill and get some invictus shotgun caddies.
A lot of competitors wear Solomon speedcross shoes.

 

[Brandon Deem]

Personally I would completely forget about shoes and a timer. Those 2 things won't make or break your professional shooting career any time soon.

First priority is a shotgun, and any type of way to hold shells. By no means does it have to be a "3 gun" shotgun. I ran for a year with my duck hunting shotgun. Beretta a400 with the plug removed. 4 in the tube and 1 in the chamber. Sure made stage plans easy, shoot 4 load 4, repeat.

From there I would look at belt systems. The best way to do that is to go matches. Everyone likes something different and it helps to see and handle them first hand. EVERYONE will let you check out their gear.

Keep in mind, your not going to win. For a long while, if ever. The purpose is having fun. No one will bat an eye if you wear the tacticool, or even stuff magazines in ur pockets. Shell caddies can ALWAYS be borrowed.

Be open, have a good attitude, and ask questions.

Also look at the boomer shooters contingency program. If you're going to shoot anyway, you might as well take a chance at winning some great prizes from some awesome vendors.

 

[Brandon Deem]

Oh and these dummy rounds, skip the aluminum ones. They don't feel right.

http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/general-gunsmith-tools/cartridge-dummies/12-ga-shotgun-dummy-rounds-prod67708.aspx

 

[twss]

13 round mags would work for pistol, but it may be a good idea to grab at least one 226 mag with a base pad. That would be fairly low cost and put 21 or so rounds in your pistol to start. A 13 round mag after that should handle 99% of 3 gun stages well.

 

[Baby Seal Club]

Keep the current pistol and rifle for now and get a Benelli M1, have it wirkes over by Benny Hill and get some invictus shotgun caddies.
A lot of competitors wear Solomon speedcross shoes.

Thanks Matt, what's the best place to buy one and what's a preferred barrel length or are there any to avoid? Also, if the best place is not local, who's the best to have it shipped to?

 

[Baby Seal Club]

Personally I would completely forget about shoes and a timer. Those 2 things won't make or break your professional shooting career any time soon.

First priority is a shotgun, and any type of way to hold shells. By no means does it have to be a "3 gun" shotgun. I ran for a year with my duck hunting shotgun. Beretta a400 with the plug removed. 4 in the tube and 1 in the chamber. Sure made stage plans easy, shoot 4 load 4, repeat.

From there I would look at belt systems. The best way to do that is to go matches. Everyone likes something different and it helps to see and handle them first hand. EVERYONE will let you check out their gear.

Keep in mind, your not going to win. For a long while, if ever. The purpose is having fun. No one will bat an eye if you wear the tacticool, or even stuff magazines in ur pockets. Shell caddies can ALWAYS be borrowed.

Be open, have a good attitude, and ask questions.

Also look at the boomer shooters contingency program. If you're going to shoot anyway, you might as well take a chance at winning some great prizes from some awesome vendors.

Thanks for the great advice and being nice enough to tell me I'm not a Ferrari..... And the shoes will probably not make me better, but they'll probably save me some skin, though it will probably deny you some great youtube videos. Wearing GI and Danner boots I've lost more hide on more surfaces than I would ever care to admit. Oh and thanks for the dummy round link. Those are going to be my new best friends so I'm not holding everyone up going now which end goes in the shotgun and where?

 

[drmitchgibson]

Stay away from shell caddies and get a load 2 or quad load setup. Borrow a shell caddie if you ever need one.
Sig 320 is a good idea, since you prefer Sigs. Mag extensions will take you where you want to be. You want 1 or 2 big mags, but not too big on the pistol. The mag length rules are a dumb afterthought.
Get a holster with retention, and think about covering the rear sight. Too much exposure and you'll be dragging your sights through gravel if you have to crawl during a stage.

 

[Baby Seal Club]

13 round mags would work for pistol, but it may be a good idea to grab at least one 226 mag with a base pad. That would be fairly low cost and put 21 or so rounds in your pistol to start. A 13 round mag after that should handle 99% of 3 gun stages well.

Rock on!! You have no idea how excited I am to know I can keep my pistol and still have extra capacity. I was sad to think I would be changing it anytime soon.

 

[Baby Seal Club]

Stay away from shell caddies and get a load 2 or quad load setup. Borrow a shell caddie if you ever need one.
Sig 320 is a good idea, since you prefer Sigs. Mag extensions will take you where you want to be. You want 1 or 2 big mags, but not too big on the pistol. The mag length rules are a dumb afterthought.
Get a holster with retention, and think about covering the rear sight. Too much exposure and you'll be dragging your sights through gravel if you have to crawl during a stage.

I think my Safariland shroud should work well then and I have a lot of practice with it. We switched to those from an Uncle Mike's when a guy lost his gun out of a helicopter.... If I have the money left over I may still buy a 320 cuz as you noticed I like Sig and I hear it has a pretty nice trigger and I like Sig.

Will there be much crawling? I have knee pads, but might need to get some new elbow pads.

 

[Matt1911]

Thanks Matt, what's the best place to buy one and what's a preferred barrel length or are there any to avoid? Also, if the best place is not local, who's the best to have it shipped to?

Check gunbroker. 24"-26" is ideal. You'll hear some say get 21", but I see the 21" not have the knock down power on steel at distance like a 24 or 26 does.
I use 26"
Sooner state pawn is good with transfers and they only charge $10 last I heard.

 

[drmitchgibson]

Will there be much crawling? I have knee pads, but might need to get some new elbow pads.

Not really, but every time you go prone you crawl just a little bit. Going prone is a reality. Protect your pistol.

 

[Baby Seal Club]

Check gunbroker. 24"-26" is ideal. You'll hear some say get 21", but I see the 21" not have the knock down power on steel at distance like a 24 or 26 does.
I use 26"
Sooner state pawn is good with transfers and they only charge $10 last I heard.

So I was able to pick up a 26" 12 gauge M1 for a decent price on gunbroker saving a few hundred over used guns say at Cabelas that had far less included stuff. Came with 5 chokes and looked like everything it originally came with plus case. So thanks for the advice there.

Sooner was really easy to work with and now I am patiently awaiting for my parcel to arrive.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Baby Seal Club]

Keep the current pistol and rifle for now and get a Benelli M1, have it wirkes over by Benny Hill and get some invictus shotgun caddies.
A lot of competitors wear Solomon speedcross shoes.

Which/how many of the Invictus caddies should I pick up?

 

[Matt1911]

Which/how many of the Invictus caddies should I pick up?

A good rule of thumb is to have as many shells on your person as the stage has in it, so if somebody puts up a 28 round shotgun stage (it used to happen pretty regularly), you want 28 rounds on your belt plus what's in the shotgun.
Quad loading is the most popular method right now so check those out.

 

[Glock_21]

Taccom is a good option for caddies as well. Check out all of the offerings from Make Ready Pro Shop.

http://www.makereadyproshop.com/shooting-belts-mag-pouches/?sort=priceasc

The best way to decide is to show up at a match and see what everyone else is using. Most will be more than happy to loan you gear.

 

[Brandon Deem]

Which/how many of the Invictus caddies should I pick up?

16 (2x8) will suit you for a good while. There will always be someone with a chest rig you can borrow for the bigger stages.

 

[Baby Seal Club]

16 (2x8) will suit you for a good while. There will always be someone with a chest rig you can borrow for the bigger stages.

Cool. Got a couple of 8's from makereadyproshop.com. Was a super easy transaction and Wall even took some extra time to give this newb some pointers which was really nice.

 

[Baby Seal Club]

After figuring out there was this tiny red shipping plug I was finally able to assemble my new to me M1.

View attachment 12224

Everything looks fine during a casual inspection and it seems to operate just fine. All of the chokes were present (stamped F, IC, M, IM and CL). Barrel looks nice and clean as do chamber and bolt. No obvious signs of wear.

But being completely new to shotguns wanted to make sure there was nothing I am missing.

So, before I send it off to Benny, anything specific I need to check on it?

 

[Matt1911]

After figuring out there was this tiny red shipping plug I was finally able to assemble my new to me M1.

IMG_0862.JPG
Everything looks fine during a casual inspection and it seems to operate just fine. All of the chokes were present (stamped F, IC, M, IM and CL). Barrel looks nice and clean as do chamber and bolt. No obvious signs of wear.
But being completely new to shotguns wanted to make sure there was nothing I am missing.
So, before I send it off to Benny, anything specific I need to check on it?

Just send it off. If there's anything out of place, Benny will catch it.