A1MG - Stage 9: "Get 'Er Done" (Gordon Baladad)

The point of "Multigun" competition (MG), rather than "3-gun" competition, is that the competitors may be required to demonstrate their profeciency with two or three firearms in a single stage.

In the USPSA 2007 Area 1 Multigun Match, all three firearms types (Pistol, Shotgun, Rifle) were used in only two stages:

Stage 4: Draining the Swamp

Stage 9: Get 'Er Done

It's difficult to choose 'the most excellent stage' between the two.

Essentially, Stage 4 pre-positioned the three guns 20 yards away from each other, and featured relatively close targets for each gun. The competitor had no choice in determining the order in which he would use each firearm to engage the appropriate target arrays, but there was a lot of movement involved. Essentially, that 'lot of movement' was running as fast as you could from position "A", where you had just used your pistol, to position "B", where you used your shotgun, and thence to position "C", where you used your rifle to finish the stage.

The distance between competitor and target was about 10 yards for pistol (large, cardboard Metric targets), 15 yards for shotgun (Steel plates), and 15 to 25 yards for rifle (more large, cardboard Metric targets).



In a dramatic comparison, Stage 9 put the competitor in a 'structure' (designed to look like an 'airplane', if you had a good imagination' and put all three firearms in boxes within easy reach. The competitor never moved out of the 'airplane'. In fact, it was theoretically possible to shoot all three arrays without moving your feet.

You use your pistol to engage 4 IPSC 'Metric' targets at 20-25 yard range. Some of the targets were partially obscured with white 'penalty' targets.


You use your shotgun to engage 8 steel plates (Pepper Poppers, US Poppers, heavy 'tombstone' plates and a single 8" round plate) at about 15 yards.

And you use your rifle to engage 6 'flasher' steel plates at varying ranges. At about 75 yards there are four targets ... an 8" steel plate, two 12" steel plates, and a US Popper. At about 120 yards there are two 12" steel plates. (I'm guessing at the actual target dimensions, but that's what they looked like from the shooting position.)

The difference between the two stages is that Stage 4 featured relatively close, relatively easy targets with movement between each array and the choice of sequence of target array engagement was fixed; while Stage 9 featured much more distant targets, no movement (other than whether to shoot sitting down or standing up) and the competitor was allowed to choose the order in which he engaged each array.

In the actual event, the target selection and distance on Stage 4 did not seem particularly challenging, speaking as a casual observer. The stage clearly provided an advantage to the competitor who could most quickly move (run!) from one position to the next.

On Stage 9, however, the ability of the competitor to run fast was never tested. The only skills involved were the ability to change from one gun to the next, and the ability to actually hit the targets accurately in the shortest possible amount of time. The fact that this stage design required the competitor to engage all targets from a single 3' square structure tested most rigorously the ability to actually SHOOT.

More, it also required the competitor to choose the tactics which most closely suited his individual skills set. The competitors had to actually THINK about what they were going to do, when they were going to do it, and the way in which they 'abandoned' one gun and picked up another may have an influence on the amount of time needed to complete the stage.

For example, if the competitor chose to shoot the rifle first, it may be awkward to 'abandon' a rifle with a fixed bipon in the same box in which the shotgun rested. Would the shotgun be tangled in the rifle bipods? In that case, it may be better to shoot the Shotgun first, and pick up the Rifle later.

On the other hand, as long as you are already sitting down, it might be better to shoot the Rifle first. If no bipod is involved, it may be a smooth and efficient thing to change guns while standing up, going directly to the Shotgun and finishing off with the pistol.

On Stage 9, I saw competitors using all tactical variations in the order in which they used each firearms, and not all of them were as advantageous as the shooter had obviously hoped they would be. I saw one "heavy-metal" shooter using an iron-sighted .308 finish with the rifle targets, use nearly 4 minutes to NOT get all the rifle targets, to the point where he had sweated into his eyes and quit without hitting all the far targets. He threw up his hands, tossed his earmuffs and hat, and buried his face in a towel to get rid of the perspiration stinging his eyes.

Here is a video of one Tactical shooter, Gordon Baladad, who chose to shoot Rifle/Shotgun/Pistol. it worked well for him, and I was able to film from a position right behind the 'airplane'. The video will serve to show what it's like to shoot this stage.


Note that these videos are also available here in the original WMV version on Jerry the Geek's Video Shooting Gallery. This video is a 10mb download