Question about shotshell holders - first competition belt

[DD78]

Hello everyone!

Noob here with a couple of questions about shotshell holders.

I have a couple of buddies who are quite good at 3 gun, and have let me check out a couple of different caddies. I've tried out the Invictus Practical, along with the Taccom version. Both seemed to need quite a good tug to get the shells out. My buddy then brought out the Taccom magnetic model and I immediately knew that's what I wanted. It was much easier (require less force) to pull the shells out, and were held in there extremely well. I was actually quite surprised at how well they held in despite coming out so easily.

So from the above block of text, I'm sure you can see that I'm leaning towards the magnetic holders, and my buddy recommended that I get the chest rig, and one additional 8 shell caddy with the same magnetic technology to keep everything consistent.

I'll be weak hand loading, mainly because I shoot right handed, but am actually a lefty in writing and throwing. My right hand is far too clumsy for something like that and I've been practicing weak hand so I might as well stick with it.

How do you all feel about the chest rigs versus just putting everything on the belt. One of the advantages that was shared with me is that once I'm done with it, I can just quickly hit the clip and let it fall off my chest so that it won't get in the way if the next thing I have to do is shoot prone.

If I do the chest rig, and one 8 shell carrier on the belt, I'll have 28 shells on me verses getting three 8 shell caddies and only having 24. As you can see, I'm a bit confused on which direction I should go, so any help that you all can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[charger arms]

I have both. The advantages I see with the chest rig is that it allows me to bend more at the waist and the shells are less likely to "shake" out from running. I normally load from the waist though unless it is one of those 40+ shotshell stages.

I was playing around with the new Taccom manga holder last night. I was shocked it held them in as well as it did. Pulling them out was smooth. I will try it at a couple small matches before I decide finally, but it was definitely nice. I own just about every other Invictus holder and the chest rig is IP.

 

[jtischauser]

Go to a match these days and you'll find a lot of everything. There is one best way to load a shotgun and no best way to carry your shells these days. If you're only going to load with one hand you're likely going to need a chest rig of sorts to carry enough shells for one of those crazy big 35-50 round stages if you're planning to do some majors or big shotgun matches.

If you're just shooting your local club match try as many of the other guys gear and decide for yourself.

I run the following. I have a set for my right hand and left hand so I can load 56 rounds off my belt.

Invictus Practical 12Q, 8Q, 4Q, 4Q then I have a chest rig. At club matches I run the two 4Q's the most and that's what if recommend fir the new buyer for their versatility and speed. You can Space them out nicely and put them anywhere.

I also run a an Invictus chest rig if there is a big stage with mixed buck, slugs, and shot.

 

[DD78]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the information!

Since this is my first year, I'm planning on competing in as many local competitions as I can. My club hosts 4 per year, the ASC 3 Gun series. There are also a few others within reasonable driving distance. I'll be teamed up with some very experienced 3 gunners so I can take their advice on stage strategies.

I've watched the matches at my local club and they're not too shotgun heavy so that should be a good thing, except I don't think one of those will be the first match, which is fine because I'd rather be thrown into the fire right away. People can teach me until they're blue in the face, but I'm a hands on learner. My buddy was teaching me how to run the shotgun, he probably spent an hour showing me, but as soon as I picked it up, it was almost like he didn't even teach me anything. Basically it took me a while to translate what he explained to me into an action.

In the meantime, I have to get at least one shotshell carrier so that I have something to practice with. I may get a belt carrier for the time being, just to get that practice in, but I'll have to go back to my buddies house to try all of his out once more before I order.

I'm guessing that for those REALLY shotgun heavy stages, you probably won't shoot pistols all that much so I can use one of the pistol mag pouch slots for a carrier.

This is getting to be incredibly expensive LOL. It's fine though because shooting on a timer while on the move introduces stress which will show me exactly where I'm the weakest and where to focus my training. I think after I figure out which brand of carrier I find that works for me, and after buying them, I have to start ferreting money away for a Xdm in 9mm.

Thanks again for the information guys! I'm glad that I found this forum because just going through some of the threads, I've been learning a lot.

 

[DD78]

So just a quick update:

I ended up picking up the Taccom MG Chest Rig and added on one additional 4 shell holder for it giving me a total of 24 shells on the chest. I also grabbed an 8 up MG quad for my belt in the event that I need slugs or buck, or just more shells.

I went to my very first match on Sunday and had a great time. The chest rig worked great and I was glad that I went out to practice on Saturday because it helped quite a bit.

The stage we started on had a 5 plate rack at about 15-20 yards, 3 rectangular steel plates, and a star. I was shooting a Beretta 92FS which was a big mistake because for whatever reason I don't shoot that gun well. Anyhow I went to war with those targets and it took me 60 rounds to get through them. Then after grounding the pistol, you ran over to shotgun which consisted of about 9 knockdown poppers. I ended up timing out about halfway through those and didn't even make it to the rifle targets. It was a lesson learned the hard way. Next time I know that if I have trouble with something, after a few attempts, just move on. Leaving the targets would've costed me 5 seconds apiece instead of 15 seconds for each target I didn't even engage. Aside from that I did pretty good for a first match. In order of strength, I figured my strengths would be rifle - pistol - shotgun, but they ended up being rifle - shotgun - pistol. I ended up placing 45th out of 58. If I didn't screw up that first stage I probably would've been in the lower 30's.

In light of the pistol issues, I ordered an XDM 5.25 in 9mm yesterday and will be bringing it over to my buddy who's a gunsmith to have him get it all raced up.

When all was said and done, I had a great time and cannot wait until the next match. The chest rig worked out great and I managed to not screw up my quad loads. It was also awesome shooting with great shooters the whole day. There was one kid who was about 18-20 years old and I think he came in first place. He was running those stages like a boss.

 

[Burk Cornelius]

It was a lesson learned the hard way. Next time I know that if I have trouble with something, after a few attempts, just move on.

This is a hard lesson to learn...for everyone

 

[DD78]

This is a hard lesson to learn...for everyone

My buddies that I was shooting said that they purposely didn't say anything while I was sitting there struggling because that would ingrain that lesson. It did lol.

I sat there getting more and more pissed because the targets weren't particularly hard to hit, but the fact that I couldn't figure out how to adjust just made me more angry. It was good to get that out of my system so that it'll never happen again.

One thing that everyone there recommended to me was to also start shooting USPSA to work on my pistol skills. They said that I sort of started 3 gun the opposite of how most people do in that most people come from IDPA or USPSA and are accomplished pistol shooters. I'm good with long guns but with pistols, the best I can do is hit human sized targets or combat accuracy.

I think that the one thing I should have done differently is not have had that 4th mag in my back pocket because that costed me more time LOL. Not having that last mag of 15 rounds could've potentially given me enough time to finish the shotgun and rifle targets. The rifle targets would've taken me no longer than 5-8 seconds to hit.

 

[Brandon Deem]

On the magnet holders. I have a magnet chest rig that I absolutely love, plus standard taccom carriers. You may want to look into at least one 8 round "normal" clip caddy. If you get to a stage where you need mixed loading, slug, bird, buck. All the shells are different lengths. Even if they are 2 3/4, they aren't identical. It's a pain to adjust the magnet holders over and over. Now I run bird on the chest and everything else in clip style on the belt.

 

[DD78]

On the magnet holders. I have a magnet chest rig that I absolutely love, plus standard taccom carriers. You may want to look into at least one 8 round "normal" clip caddy. If you get to a stage where you need mixed loading, slug, bird, buck. All the shells are different lengths. Even if they are 2 3/4, they aren't identical. It's a pain to adjust the magnet holders over and over. Now I run bird on the chest and everything else in clip style on the belt.

Thanks! That kind of confirms what I was thinking the night before the match. I read that there would be some slugs, about 4 of them in the match so I took my slugs and tried them out in the 8 round caddy and they wouldn't fit. I went ahead and adjusted them, but then I thought to myself how inconvenient it would be to need that extra caddy for birdshot and have to sit there with a screwdriver messing with it. I'll order one of the clip styles from Invictus just so that I can leave that 8 shell magnetic one set up for birdshot.

Good Lord, now I'm addicted to 3 gun. I wish there was a match in my area every week because I'd be there lol.

 

[poopgiggle]

It seems like one of the major stumbling blocks to people getting started in 3-gun is figuring out wtf to do for shotgun. I see a lot of questions about
shotgun on this and other forums. I'm trying to assemble a basic ***** shotgun setup right now and I know how to Google and it's still a little confusing.

Maybe some of the posters who have been there and done that could assemble a FAQ for this? Like, break it down into 1) How to get through your first match
with stuff you probably already have, 2) budget options to get you by while you save up for a competitive rig, 3) full Jesse Tischauser-spec
competitive rig.

Maybe there isn't a reasonable "tide you over" option and you just have to pony up for a TWINS system or whatever.
It would just be easier if all that information was in one place.

 

[DD78]

It seems like one of the major stumbling blocks to people getting started in 3-gun is figuring out wtf to do for shotgun. I see a lot of questions about
shotgun on this and other forums. I'm trying to assemble a basic ***** shotgun setup right now and I know how to Google and it's still a little confusing.

Maybe some of the posters who have been there and done that could assemble a FAQ for this? Like, break it down into 1) How to get through your first match
with stuff you probably already have, 2) budget options to get you by while you save up for a competitive rig, 3) full Jesse Tischauser-spec
competitive rig.

Maybe such a thing exists already but I just haven't found it.

I agree because I just went through this exact thing. Had I not found this forum, and had friends who've shot 3 gun for a long time, I still would've been confused.

 

[jtischauser]

I'll do a YouTube video of me taking my 870 out of the safe along with my sporting clays shotshell pouch and my shotgun shell bandoleer, shooting a match then selling my 870 and all the other stuff I thought was useful shotgun guns and gear. Then get online, buy a Stoeger M3000 and watch my own videos on how to open its loading port.

 

[jtischauser]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THfnFs-y8ac&sns=em

 

[DD78]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THfnFs-y8ac&sns=em

Those videos are awesome!

 

[Bryan Hoover]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THfnFs-y8ac&sns=em

This wins the internet!!!!
ðŸ˜'ðŸ˜'ðŸ˜'ðŸ˜'ðŸ˜'ðŸ˜'ðŸ˜'ðŸ˜'ðŸ˜'

 

[poopgiggle]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THfnFs-y8ac&sns=em

On the one hand, sitting through a 10 minute xtranormal video to get information isn't ideal.

On the other hand, you call out people who say "shotty" and that cannot be done enough. (Do people who call things like trigger work "mods" next)

 

[jtischauser]

On the one hand, sitting through a 10 minute xtranormal video to get information isn't ideal.

On the other hand, you call out people who say "shotty" and that cannot be done enough. (Do people who call things like trigger work "mods" next)

That was entertainment with a message kinda like sesame street but for men.

 

[Gfercaks33]

I'll do a YouTube video of me taking my 870 out of the safe along with my sporting clays shotshell pouch and my shotgun shell bandoleer, shooting a match then selling my 870 and all the other stuff I thought was useful shotgun guns and gear. Then get online, buy a Stoeger M3000 and watch my own videos on how to open its loading port.

I'm going to be stubborn and try my first match with my 870 that way when I see how bad I am I can justify buying a new shotgun.

 

[JLDynamics]

Try the Johnny Clip 2x4

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01HOPBR8C/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468103670&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=johnny+clip&dpPl=1&dpID=51KbhdNB7GL&ref=plSrch