Should you shoot a 3 Gun competition with a pump shotgun every now and then?
In short, my personal opinion: Yes.
Its been my observation that most shooters are relatively slow operating a pump shotgun. This may be because many people grew up using semi-automatic shotguns from a young age. Personally, I grew up using a pump so when I shoot a pump shotgun, my front hand automatically pumps the next round into the chamber instantly the moment my previous shot is fired. I don't have to think about it at all...it simply happens. As a result, I am as fast with a pump shotgun as many shooters are with a semi-automatic shotgun. However, that being said, I am definitely still much faster with a semi-automatic than I am with a pump action shotgun so I am not advocating dropping the use of a semi-automatic shotgun altogether.
But having a semi-automatic shotgun in your time of emergency is the ideal scenario and what if one doesn't turn out to be available? What if you find yourself in a personal defense situation and all you can get your hands on is that cheap pump action shotgun in your bedroom closet?
I guarantee that if you ever find yourself in that situation, you are going to be cursing yourself for having rarely practiced shooting rapidly with it in a speed oriented stressful scenario.
This is literally what 3 Gun competition is all about: practicing shooting each of your weapons in a fast paced environment involving multiple targets all while your adrenaline is pumping through your veins to the max.
This leaves us with a simple lesson... if you think you'd ever find yourself shooting a particular weapon that you own in an actual life threatening defense situation then you should probably shoot a 3 Gun competition with that weapon every now and then. Maybe you won't win the 3 Gun competition that you shoot your pump action shotgun in...but honestly were you going to win the competition anyway? Plain and simple, if you want to be good using a weapon rapidly when it counts then you've got to practice using that weapon rapidly in advance. You've got to know that weapon like the back of your hand so that everything is already internally programmed into your nervous system in the critical moment when there's no time for conscious thought and you have to react correctly and quickly to save your life.
That's the long answer...so go pull out that old pump action and use it at your next 3 Gun competition. Even if you're the only guy out there using a pump...so what. You're training yourself wisely and its worth it.
Its been my observation that most shooters are relatively slow operating a pump shotgun. This may be because many people grew up using semi-automatic shotguns from a young age. Personally, I grew up using a pump so when I shoot a pump shotgun, my front hand automatically pumps the next round into the chamber instantly the moment my previous shot is fired. I don't have to think about it at all...it simply happens. As a result, I am as fast with a pump shotgun as many shooters are with a semi-automatic shotgun. However, that being said, I am definitely still much faster with a semi-automatic than I am with a pump action shotgun so I am not advocating dropping the use of a semi-automatic shotgun altogether.
But having a semi-automatic shotgun in your time of emergency is the ideal scenario and what if one doesn't turn out to be available? What if you find yourself in a personal defense situation and all you can get your hands on is that cheap pump action shotgun in your bedroom closet?
I guarantee that if you ever find yourself in that situation, you are going to be cursing yourself for having rarely practiced shooting rapidly with it in a speed oriented stressful scenario.
This is literally what 3 Gun competition is all about: practicing shooting each of your weapons in a fast paced environment involving multiple targets all while your adrenaline is pumping through your veins to the max.
This leaves us with a simple lesson... if you think you'd ever find yourself shooting a particular weapon that you own in an actual life threatening defense situation then you should probably shoot a 3 Gun competition with that weapon every now and then. Maybe you won't win the 3 Gun competition that you shoot your pump action shotgun in...but honestly were you going to win the competition anyway? Plain and simple, if you want to be good using a weapon rapidly when it counts then you've got to practice using that weapon rapidly in advance. You've got to know that weapon like the back of your hand so that everything is already internally programmed into your nervous system in the critical moment when there's no time for conscious thought and you have to react correctly and quickly to save your life.
That's the long answer...so go pull out that old pump action and use it at your next 3 Gun competition. Even if you're the only guy out there using a pump...so what. You're training yourself wisely and its worth it.