Loadapalooza presented by NTXLF

Each month the North Texas Lead Farmers host a match called "Loadapalooza". This beastly match lives up to the name with a total of 6 high round stages. We started off with 3 shotgun only stages with a minimum of 30 targets per stage. Then finished with 3 pistol only stages with a minimum of 40 rounds per stage. I was happy with my results on the shotgun stages, reloading practice is paying off. As for the pistol, the Irish Plate Rack and running through doors was exciting and my first time doing so. This match is held every month on the first Sunday at Extreme Tactics and Training Solutions in Waxahachie, Tx. This range is great and getting better by the day! Check out the NTXLF and ETTS web pages on my other links page. I am looking forward to attending next month and am interested to see what MD's Ryan Wilkes and Jeff Livengood have in store for us. Make the trip down to ETTS in January; it will be worth it!

Tac Pro Multi Gun Match

During November I attended the Tac Pro Multigun Match in the small town of Mingus, Texas. Tac Pro is known for their Law Enforcement training facility but they also host two multigun matches a year. The weather was wet and cloudy but heavy rain held off long enough to finish the match. Because of the weather I was only able to capture a few stages on video. I enjoyed the match and stages and will ruturn for their match in the spring. I finished 14th out of 38.

Shooter's Profile- Colt Hatcher

This edition of Shooter's Profile will feature Colt Hatcher. Colt introduced me to 3 gun in the beginning of 2014 and is a great shooting partner, friend, and competitor. Colt possesses a great love for our Lord, his family and friends, and shooting sports. Check out his YouTube channel for match videos.

1)      When did you start shooting? What was your first competition and discipline? 

"I have been hunting and handling firearms for as long as I can remember. I shot my first competition shooting with the ATA (Armature Trapshooting Association) shooting competitive trap. My first competition was at the age of 10 years old."

2)      Provide an overview of the equipment you use and why you chose it. Include any modifications you made and are planning to make.

"I have been a good example of shoot what you have at first and make adjustments along the way. 

Pistol: Smith and Wesson M&P 9 with custom stippling, Dawson precision fiber optic front sight. I have equipped my magazines with the Taran Tactical +5 basepads and will soon have a Speed Shooters Specialties Magwell.  

Rifle: I currently shoot a Bushmaster XM15 with a Luth AR buttstock and NcStar 4x illuminated scope. I just picked up two sponsors Whiskey Arms out of Texas and Bison Armory out of Washington. They are building me a custom rifle. 

Shotgun: Mossberg JM 930 Pro. The lifter has been enhanced to avoid the ever lingering thumb grab. Eventually I will bevel and extend the loading port. I have also done some custom shaving on the forearm.

Shell Caddies: AP Customs QL8 and the AP Customs 4x4

Belt and Components: I currently use a DSG 1.5" competition belt, with Blade Tech holster, Blade Tech Smith and Wesson mag pouches, and a Blade Tech AR 15 mag pouch. I will be upgrading the belt; it is great for pistol shooting however loading it down with heavy 3 gun equipment you need something a little bit more rigid. 

Accessories- Apparel, Glasses, Earplugs/muffs, etc: I wear the Cabelas and 5.11 tactical pants, UnderArmour shorts, BoomerShooter jersey, the ESS Crossbow glasses, and Just For Ears earplugs"

3)      What type of training do you do for your matches? 

"I train everyday in some type of capacity. That may mean dry fire drills in the living room or live fire action at the range. The main issue that I struggle with right now is rapid target acquisition with my pistol. I have several scaled down models of plate racks and anything in my house that would make a good target, then set a PAR time to get my target acquisition as fast as possible. I also run load four drills and set a PAR time and practice loading until I am under that time. Right now I set my PAR time for 4 seconds weak hand and load our of the 4x4 and set a PAR time of 2 seconds for the load 2 method out of the QL8."

4)      What are your goals? (short and long term) 

"My short term goals are: to make it to all 4 3GN regional matches in 2015 and hopefully qualify for the Pro Series Qualifier, I would like to finish in the top 50% of every match that I shoot in 2015. Long Term Goals: Make the 3GN pro series and compete at a high level there, of course I would like to win the $50,000 Rumble on the Range. My overall goal is to be a great advocate for the sport and shooting sports a whole and represent my sponsors in a manner that would make them proud. I love teaching, so I love spending time with new shooters and young kids who are getting into shooting sports, my philosophy, as cheesy as it sounds, is to leave shooting sports a better place than when I competed."

5)      Sponsors and people that have helped you out in the 3 gun world:  

"The most important thanks, of course, is to my wife Jenna. She is willing to allow me to chase my dream of becoming a 3 Gun Nation Pro Competitor. I cannot leave out Will Blevins. He has been my shooting partner and teammate for as long as I can remember and is always pushing me to achieve my very best. I would like to thank Bison Armory and Whiskey Arms. They make great products and are just all around good people to deal with. Jeremy Moore at The Shooters Source, when I was just starting to get into 3 Gun I think I asked him 5,000 questions and he was always willing to answer every single one of them. AP Customs, they are always on the cutting edge of product development and listen to the shooters and engineer products that will help shave seconds off your time. Jesse Tischauser, he has been a huge help. It is always nice to have someone that is competing on the level in which you want to compete to somewhat run along beside you and be willing to share knowledge and insights on how to improve your own game. The unique thing about this sport is how competitive everyone is but at the end of the day we are take the time to help everyone improve, we are all like-minded people, who want the best for ourselves, each other and most importantly the sport of 3 Gun." 

October 2014 NTMG Match

During October I participated in the North Texas Multigun Match. This match is hosted at ETTS range (check out my links to see their site).

Stage One: 

A relatively easy stage with lots of targets and options. I should have ran this stage faster but was moving slow this morning. I executed my plan and didn't miss any targets. For practice, I ran the stage after the competition in about half the time. 

Stage Two: 

This was my favorite stage because it required you to move a lot and quickly in order to have a good time. I did well on this stage and again had no penalties. I missed a shotgun target at the end and had to reload quickly. Soon I will add a MatchSaver to my gun in order to quickly reload one shell for these situations

Stage Three:

I choose to use my pistol throughout this entire stage. There were a lot of targets and honestly, about half way through the stage, I forgot my plan. I shot all the targets but it did cost me time. 

Stage 4:

All shotgun!! Using my 870 made this stage difficult. When loading I did not push the pump forward enough to open the port. Then when on the ground it was difficult to pump. I plan on obtaining a semi auto shotgun soon. Any suggestions?

Stage 5:

This was my second favorite stage in this match. 5 pistol targets out of the car and then rifle targets ranging from 50- 215 yards. I love shooting the rifle that I assembled (Check out the bottom of my home page for part description). I had some trouble on the mag change and probably didn't need to because the last 6 targets were a 4 inch plate rack at 100 yards that I went 6 for 6 on!

Thanks for watching and reading. Please leave questions and comments below or shoot me an email and I will get back to you ASAP. 

NTXLF Run 'n Gun October 2014 Match

For the second month in a row, I participated in the North Texas Lead Farmers Run 'n Gun pistol match. After most matches were canceled on Saturday because of rain, I was itching to get behind the trigger. The stage set up was simple yet challenging and entertaining. One thing I learned from this match was that I need to take my time before my run and do thorough walk though.

Stage 1- I was the first shooter of the day. Which I didn't mind, but the downside was that I was not able to see anyone else run the stage. The stage called for 2 hits on the large square and 1 hit on the circle targets from each shooting box, a small popper from position 2, and some small falling plates in position 3. The first couple of shots were off but I got it together after that.

Stage 2- This was a fairly clean run until the end. During my walk though I did not account for when I would change my magazine and for some reason seemed surprised when I ran out of bullets. I also expected the Texas Star to move after my first shot; again I was the first shooter.

Stage 3- This stage was the most challenging for me that day. As you can see, There are lots of targets and many have to be engaged from a certain angle. I was happy with the run because I felt that I planned well and then executed the plan.

Stage 4- This was my favorite stage and the one I ran the best. Only flaw was that I hit the mag release button one target before I wanted to. Overall I had a good match and improved from last month. Results are posted to the right.

NTXLF Run 'n Gun Steel Match September 2014

This was my first time shooting the Run 'n Gun Steel Pistol Match at the Quail Creek Shooting Range hosted by the North Texas Lead Farmers. Ryan Wilkes did an excellent job on all 4 stage designs; they were challenging but fun at the same time. This was the first time I had experienced a swinger and 3 plate Texas Star targets (Stage 1 & 2), shooting bowling pins (Stages 2, 3, 4), and a magazine capacity restricted stage (Stage 3). I enjoyed the match and will be back for the next one!