Three Gun Gear: MGM Ironman Phase One

But if I had to wake up and shoot tomorrow morning: here’s what I would bring.

I have more experience with this rifle than all my other firearms combined. Using it for 3 gun is a no-brainer for me. The key differences from a factory rifle are the Ares Armour tuned muzzle brake, the short optics rail, and the Vortex Razor 1-6x optic. The only serious change I anticipate to this rifle before I shoot the MGM Ironman is the addition of a Timney Trigger pack. I was very impressed by my hands on with them at Shot Show 2014 and cannot wait to put one in my gun.

I love that the 941 matches nicely with the Tavor (because guns are all about fashion and matching don’t ya know) but also that it is built on the rock-solid Cz 75 design. I find the natural high grip of the Jericho suits me well, as does the slightly enlarged slide release. I’ve been told before that the slide-safety is a “deal-breaker” for some people. I think I can accommodate that as long as I’m training for it. I might add Meprolight sights in the future, and am always looking at new holster options. The hardest thing for this pistol will be making sure I have enough proper capacity magazines to be competitive. Canadian magazines are pinned to ten, and I’m not keen to make mid-air mag-changes on the zip line.

This is where I really anticipate change. Right now the Hatsan pump-gun gets the job done, but it’s not competitive. I like the single fiber-optic sight and like the magazine capacity, but I feel limited by the 18.5″ barrel and the manual action. I am actively hunting for a semi-auto right now. I like the idea of a Fabarm SAT-8 (I am already very accustomed to Fabarm controls) but want to stay away from ghost ring sights. I’ve been impressed with the Remington Versa Max, and of course drool over Benelli’s every time I’m in a gun-shop. I wish there were more magazine fed options in Canada, as the Saiga 12 (aka jam-o-matic) is prohibited as a Kalashnikov variant. I’m curious for a little hands on time with an Adkal MK 1919, as one of the few semi-auto mag fed guns that is available on both sides of the border. I hope to have a new shotgun picked out by April.

I have a full article about how my belt is practical not tactical, but it bears some mention here because it’s still only in its 1st phase of readiness. Right now my belt holds 5 pistol magazines, 3 rifle magazines, and has only an OSOE carrier for 12 shot-shells. I need a caddy of some sort asap so to improve my shotgun loading. The rifle magazines are divided between Tasmanian Tiger pouches and HSGI tacos so that I can keep 2x pmags and an extended 40 round pmag in sequence at the same height. A few things about this belt: I wear it backwards to keep all the important stuff up front, and I weave the inner belt in and out of the molle belt to accommodate molle and 2” webbing equipment.

I’d ballpark that there will probably be 2 more postings like this one as I lock in the exact firearms I’ll be bringing with me to shoo the MGM Ironman. You can find them all in the 3-Gun category!