We timed my loading from the three different shell holders. The first was from a Tri-Star side-saddle mounted on the gun's receiver. Then I practiced from a Blackhawk forearm shotshell holder on my left arm and finally from a California Competition six-shell, belt-mounted holder, which came from Brownells. While it's important to practice all three methods—as you will use them all in a long stage like that 39-shot shotgun marathon—I found that I was fastest from the forearm shell holder. So when I need only a few shells for a reload in a stage, I go there first.

The next thing we worked on is strategy. I found that I was running the gun dry too often and wasting time before I discovered I was out of ammunition. In fact, one time I shot a popper target that launched a clay pigeon when it fell, only to discover I had fired my last shot at the knock-down target. I watched the clay bird rise and fall and hit the ground intact, as I struggled to load my empty shotgun. That means a penalty for failure to neutralize and another for failure to engage. Other times I would have the gun fully reloaded while still holding loose shells in my hands. I had to waste time putting them back in a holder, or drop them and risk running out of shells on the high-shot count stages.

"Count your shots," Darst told me. "You should know how many are in the shotgun at any given moment. Reload what you shot, so if you shot five, reload five. But remember, that's not always necessary. If the stage only has six targets left and you have four shells in the gun, why waste time loading five more shells? Load two and shoot the targets, but don't miss. If you think you might miss, load three. Always be counting and always be thinking."

Rocking And Rolling With Your Rifle
It's amazing to watch the top competitors with a rifle. Some of them can run close targets so fast the rifle sounds like a machine gun. With so many rifle targets in a match requiring double taps—or in the case of the Coast Guard Academy's match I recently shot in Connecticut, triple taps—it's important to be able to control your rifle and keep it on target. Part of that is in the equipment and in having a good, recoil-controlling muzzle brake. But equipment is never a substitute for skill, and technique is important too.

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