Welcome to today’s Pro Tip. What we are going to cover here, I think, is a very much overlooked aspect of multi-gun and that is the correct way to stage and to transition into your rifle and your shotgun. So let’s start with the rifle..

Let’s talk about the staging of the rifle here. There’s a lot of options available to the shooter and what you want to do is, in your walk through, you really want to pay attention to your stage description. So we are going to assume that anything here is freestyle.
 

I am going to put my rifle up in a position that I can grab it very easily. I have it resting on the mag well and I have a bipod on the front, so that makes it a very stable and very safe position to leave it. I am going to also assume that I can start with my magazine in any position that I want for me. What I would like to do is have both of them available without encountering any interference.

You notice that my pistol grip is completely off of the supporting table. My magazine is available so when I grab the two of them, I can grab both of them at the same time, and that is important.

So, on the timer I can grab both of them at one time. Grab them, come together with them, and hit the bolt release as you are coming into the target zone.

When I go for the gun here, I go for the rifle. I get both hands in motion. I can roll it and I am looking right into the magazine opening. I want to get this ammo in here as fast as I can. If I have a target set up, I have to get it loaded as fast as I can.

If I have a little bit of a run, say 10 yards or so, I am just going to grab the rifle and the magazine, and take off with it, and load it somewhere in that 10 yards. But right here on this scenario, the targets are extremely close, so it is important that I get these two together as soon as I can.

I have just fired my rounds and I am transitioning over to the dump box, this happens to be a drum. The first thing I do guys, as soon as I finish shooting, flip the safety on. That’s number one, if you are transitioning from target to target, box to box. If there is any distance involved, you always want to flip the safety on.

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I chose this extended magazine to show you there is just about enough room to make it into the drum. I’ve seen a lot of these magazines broken. Remember this is not the only stage of the match. You are going to have to shoot this equipment later on and, if you damage it by dropping it into this drum, you are putting yourself out of the race. So when I am going for a drum, I am actually looking at the top and the bottom so I am not hitting it left or right, high or low. You will notice also when I am doing it, I will have a tendency to drop it in there, instead of throwing it, so I am going to kind of ride it in there a little bit and then leave it.

Let’s move to the shotgun. It’s quite different from that table of course. It’s on an angle, so it gives the user less options on how to stage correctly. To me this would be the fastest and probably the most consistent. What I have to be aware of is, when I have it set like this, is if I come into this box really hot, and I am running, and I hit it. It’s not going to be a good setup. So that is something you have to do when you do your walkthroughs. Realize what are the strong points, and what are the weak points, and choose what is going to work for you at the time. So if I am running 20 yards and I am coming in here sliding and I hit the prop and I knock the gun over, I haven’t gained a thing.

Something to consider, when you are setting up your equipment. What is going to be effective and fast 100% of the time.