3-gun guys: what gear is the bare minimum?

A belt style shotgun shell carrier will work well. Uncle Mikes make one for around $20. It holds 25 rounds which you just may need for bigger stages. Check Brownells for a belt mounted kydex mag carrier for your rifle mag. They can be had for around $30. Uncle Mikes Kydex holster for your hand gun costs around $20. Uncle Mikes double mag pouch for your handgun magazines can be had for around $20. For less than $100 bucks you can get very serviceable gear that will last for years. If you get hooked, it gets much, much more expensive from there. Just ask me how I know.......

creekerdoug said:

A belt style shotgun shell carrier will work well. Uncle Mikes make one for around $20. It holds 25 rounds which you just may need for bigger stages. Check Brownells for a belt mounted kydex mag carrier for your rifle mag. They can be had for around $30. Uncle Mikes Kydex holster for your hand gun costs around $20. Uncle Mikes double mag pouch for your handgun magazines can be had for around $20. For less than $100 bucks you can get very serviceable gear that will last for years. If you get hooked, it gets much, much more expensive from there. Just ask me how I know.......

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+1. Sometimes if you get a larger shotgun shell holder it can double to hold rifle magazines. Another possiblity, but you would need to check it out, would be to try some of those shotgun vests. Many of them have some deep pockets that might hold work for all three types of magazines. They run about $20 to $30. Don't forget cargo pants as they might work. Again, it's not optimal but it also doesn't cost much. If you really wanna go cheap, you could sew some pockets onto a shirt or a pair of pants to fit things.

At a minimum, here's what you're going to need:

Pistol

• Pistol
• Three-four magazines
• Holster
• Magazine carrier

Rifle

• Rifle
• Two-three magazines. 30 rounders are fine, though if you have a twenty handy, it can be a good idea to toss it in your range bag.
• Magazine carriers. Both Blade-Tech and Safariland make good ones. (or if you have large pockets, you can stash them there for your first match.)
• Sling (Some matches use them, some don't.)

Shotgun

• Shotgun
• Some way to carry twenty-thirty rounds. This is the kicker. If you're looking to avoid spending much money on gear until you're sure you like the game, check your local sporting goods store for a bandoleer or belt with loops for carrying shotgun shells. This will be your best bet. For a low-cost option, a belt/bandoleer is a better idea because pouches or jackets with big pockets will only hold the rounds loose so your loading procedure will basically be "reach into pocket, grab a single shell, examine it to make sure it's oriented correctly, then stuff it in the shotgun." With a bandoleer or belt, the shells are all placed consistently, so you can just grab one and stuff it into the gun.
  
  If you decide you like 3Gun, you'll probably end up ordering some shotgun speed strippers.

If you're that into it, definitely order at least a couple of the shell carriers. They're spendy, but if you buy them onesy-twosy not too bad.

FWIW, I run six of the four-round carrier on my belt and it seems to work fairly well. I don't care for the six-round ones since I can't grab more than four shells at a time, and the last two shells tend to rattle loose anyway.

Also, having the six-round carriers on the front of the belt sucks as they will poke you painfully in the stomach if you bend over.

Some people don't have hands big enough to handle four shells at a time, so they'll use the six rounders and grab three at a time, so you get two reloads out of each carrier. On the rare occasion when I run a six rounder or two, I'll put it on the side of my belt or around the back.

FWIW, I run six of the four-round carrier on my belt and it seems to work fairly well. I don't care for the six-round ones since I can't grab more than four shells at a time, and the last two shells tend to rattle loose anyway.

Also, having the six-round carriers on the front of the belt sucks as they will poke you painfully in the stomach if you bend over.

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This is exactly my experience.

I've never used one or seen one used. When I'm trying to go fast I leave a trail of empty magazines and stuff behind me on the ground. I'm not going to take the time to stow or put anything away except a gun that must be safe and grounded before I move on.

No need for a dump bag in 3Gun, at least at none of the matches I've been to. Generally, as long as you're sticking to your stage plan, you'll know about where to dump a magazine and do a reload.

Justin's list is good. I recommend bringing what you have to your first match and seeing if you can borrow whatever you might need; then buy what you found worked well for you.

He's right that the "throw a bunch of loose shells into a bag or pocket" is a really poor way to do it.

-z

what about wrist reload holders for shotgun? useful?

I have one that I never use anymore. For a stage with a lot of select slug loading I might consider it, but the faster way uses my regular reloading method (load slug shoot shot shoot slug)

If I can plan ahead and there can be a shot target available yes.

For this method to work, when you're doing a walk-through of the stage, take care to note where the slug target is, then make a mental note of where the last target is before the slug target. Tell yourself "before I shoot this target with shot, I will load a slug into the tube, then I will shoot the target with shot, and fire my slug at the next target."

This is the fastest way to go about doing a transition to a slug, but it also has an inherent risk. If you fail to hit the last shot target, you must immediately engage the slug target, otherwise, depending on the match, if you engage the shot target with a slug, the penalty will be anything from a monetary fine, to a large time penalty to a straight up trip to Dairy Queen.

Don't shoot shot targets with a slug,you won't make any friends that way for sure.I shoot the iron sight division (good scopes cost to much $$$) and I don't have to worry about long to short range transition as much.Go and see what everyone else is using,that will give you a good idead of what you need.Have fun!

What you have is the minimum. Any belt hung pouch, like a fanny pack, will do.
"...unless I can use M1 Garand canvas bandoliers..." Ok if you're using an M1 or a 1903. Too limited for anything else. Mind you, I have .243 and .30-06 ammo on 7.62 stripper clips. Not for any kind of shoot. Just because they fit. Amuses me too.
"...I'm probably going to suck at it..." Don't worry about that or placing. It's about having fun shooting and nothing more. All of the shooting games are about having fun.
"...a dump bag?..." A dump means different things to different people. snicker. A dump bag is for your empty cases when skeet or trap shooting. 3 gun is a speed shoot. Just go with what you have or can adapt and have fun.