Superstition Mountain Mystery 3-Gun 2016

I was fortunate enough to get an invite to the Superstition Mountain Mystery 3-Gun, in its 20th year, from Russell Phagen at KE Arms. I got to run the match with staff and other media the two days preceding the full competition. It was a little more relaxed of an experience and we ran through quite a bit faster (with less waiting between stages) as their were fewer squads.

Scoring

Stages

This year there were eleven stages that utilized the standard rifles, pistols and shotguns, but also incorporated things like a Milkor grenade launcher and tripwire “IEDs”. Each stage had a theme and backstory which made it that much more enjoyable (as some of them had an element on humor involved).

Stage 1

Stage 1 was the “Pool Pugilist” and required the shooter to first knock down a dummy with a pugil stick (while standing on a board over a “pool”) before drawing their pistol and engaging targets. After neutrailizing the pistol targets, the participant then retrieved a shotgun and shot a number of falling steel targets with buckshot.

Stage 2

Stage 2 was “Flying Third Class” which involved lobbing a grenade (chalk) through a window (using a Milkor) to engage the first set of targets. Next the participant picked up their rifle and shot both paper targets and steel gongs, before transitioning to shotgun and/or pistol to engage a number of falling steel targets.

Stage 3

Stage 4

Stage 4 was “Inside the OODA Loop”, a rifle only stage. It consisted of 22 rifle targets randomly set to shoot/no shoot for each participant. After engaging all of the paper, the shooter had to mount the bed of a truck and engage some targets out at 350 yards.

Stage 5

Stage 5 was a shotgun only target named “Siege of Firebase Sarah” and was a semi-surprise stage. The shooter had to enter through a heavy steel door and shoot a number of falling steel targets and a few clays (some of which were no-shoots based on how they were oriented). After running the lane, the last three targets were out at 50 yards and required engagement with slugs.

Stage 6

Stage 7

Stage 7 was a “Breach Gone Bad”. Using a shotgun the shooter had to knock down a number of falling steel targets while carrying a slung rifle. After grounding the shotgun in a barrel, the shooter then had to climb an extension ladder up to the top of a scaffold and shoot some paper targets down below with their rifle. After neutralizing the papers, the shooter had to engage a bunch of steel targets at varying ranges from 90 yards out to 250 yards.

Stage 8

Stage 8 was a pistol only stage called “Holiday in Hue”, which was one of the more fun stages, in my opinion. It was a semi-surprise stage set up with six walled corridors with targets at the end of each. Randomly placed on three of the corridors were tripwires attached to “IEDs”. If the shooter activated a tripwire, first time they lost use of support hand, second time was end of stage.

Stage 9

Stage 10

Stage 11

The final stage was a speed shotgun stage. Eight reactive steel targets (one to each side and six dead center). The shooter had to start with hands up, and retrieve their shotgun from a table. Each shooter got three chances, and only the lowest score was kept.

Team Side Match

The competition even had a side match allowing three shooters from a team to work together (simultaneously shooting) to clear a set of falling steel targets and ending by cutting a 2×4 in half, all with pistol.

Observations

Conclusions

For my first actual competition, this was pretty fun. I was not sure what to expect and I didn’t really know anyone there. By the end of the match my squad and I were laughing and joking and ribbing each other like we had known each other for years.

Despite being a bit intimidating, going to a large match was definitely worth it. I highly recommend it if within your means.

[Disclosure: KE Arms did cover my entrance into the match and travel expenses.]