What Is 3-Gun Shooting? A Beginner’s Guide to Multigun

Last updated May 2026 · By Nick Hall, multigun competitor

3-Gun is a shooting sport where you run a rifle, a pistol, and a shotgun through a single course of fire, transitioning between all three against the clock. It’s the decathlon of the shooting world: athletic, gear-heavy, and a blast. You engage paper, steel and clay targets from 1 to 500 yards, and the shooter who hits the most targets in the least time wins. Tactical is the most popular division, and you can start with a standard AR-15, a 12-gauge shotgun and a 9mm pistol.

3-Gun, also called multigun, is the most athletic and arguably the most fun discipline in the shooting sports. One stage might have you engaging close pistol targets, transitioning to a rifle for distant steel, then a shotgun for an array of clays, all on the move and all on the clock. It looks intimidating, but it’s one of the most welcoming corners of the sport, and this guide explains exactly what it is, how a match works, and how to start.

One important clarification: 3-Gun the sport is completely different from a home-defense “three-gun kit,” which simply means owning a pistol, a shotgun and a rifle to defend your house. This article is about the competition. If you came looking for the defensive setup, see our home defense 3-gun kit guide instead.

What Is 3-Gun Shooting?

3-Gun is a competition where you use three different firearms in a single match: a rifle, almost always an AR-platform modern sporting rifle, a pistol, and a shotgun. The name multigun is often used interchangeably, and some matches add more guns or stages, but the core idea is the same. Instead of mastering one gun, you’ve to be competent and fast with all three, and you’ve to transition smoothly between them under time pressure. That blend of athleticism, gun handling and problem solving is what makes it so addictive.

It grew out of practical shooting and shares a lot of DNA with USPSA, just with three guns instead of one. If you want the full landscape of shooting sports, my complete guide to competition shooting compares every discipline.

How a 3-Gun Match Works

A 3-Gun match is built from stages, and each stage is a course of fire that usually requires more than one gun. You might start with a rifle on distant steel, dump it in a barrel, draw your pistol for close paper, then grab a staged shotgun to clear a rack of clays, all while moving through the stage. Targets range from paper and steel to clay pigeons, set anywhere from one yard out to 500 yards for the rifle. Some targets are no-shoots, and hitting one earns a penalty, so you can’t just spray.

You’re scored on a blend of hits and time, and the shooter who hits the most targets in the least time, after penalties, wins. A local club match typically runs four to six stages over five or six hours, while a major match spans two or three days with nine to twelve stages. It’s a big day, but the downtime between stages is where you make friends and trade gear tips.

3-Gun Divisions Explained

Divisions keep the competition fair by grouping similar equipment. Here are the main ones you’ll run into.

Division	Rifle optic	Notes
Tactical	Magnified optic allowed	Most popular, stiffest competition
Limited	One unmagnified optic, no bipod	Hand-loaded shotgun, no detachable mag
Open	Anything goes	Race guns, compensators, magnified optics, big shotgun mags
Heavy Metal	Iron sights only	.308 rifle, 12-gauge pump, .45 pistol
PCC / Pistol Caliber	Varies by match	Pistol-caliber carbine in place of the rifle in some formats

Tactical is the most popular division and where the stiffest competition lives, since a magnified optic on the rifle helps at distance. Limited keeps things simpler and cheaper, and Heavy Metal, sometimes called HeMan, is the old-school iron-sight challenge for shooters who like it hard.

What Guns Do You Need for 3-Gun?

The beauty of 3-Gun is that you can start with reliable guns you may already own. You do not need competition-specific hardware to shoot your first match.

• A rifle. A standard AR-15 in .223 or 5.56 with a red dot or low-power variable optic is the default. See my best 3-Gun rifles roundup, or the general best AR-15 rifles guide.
• A shotgun. A reliable 12-gauge, with a semi-auto strongly preferred over a pump for speed in most divisions.
• A pistol. A 9mm handgun, ideally with a few magazines and a good holster, like the guns in my best competition pistols picks.
• Mag pouches, a belt and a way to carry shotgun shells. Caddies and a sturdy belt keep your reloads fast.

Dedicated 3-Gun rifles get lighter, longer and more comp-equipped as you climb, but a quality AR-15 you already own will get you on the line and competitive in Tactical or Limited.

How to Get Started in 3-Gun

Getting started is simple. Find a local range that runs 3-Gun or multigun matches, sign up on Practiscore, and go watch one first if you can. Tell the match director you’re new and they will pair you with a squad that helps you stage your guns safely and learn the commands. Bring your three reliable guns, plenty of ammo for each, eye and ear protection, and a willingness to shoot slow and safe on day one. My guide on how to start competition shooting walks through your first match step by step.

The Bottom Line

3-Gun is the most athletic, gear-rich, flat-out fun game in the shooting sports, a sprint through rifle, pistol and shotgun targets that rewards being a well-rounded shooter. You don’t need a safe full of race guns to start, just a reliable AR-15, a 12-gauge, and a 9mm, plus the nerve to try it. Find a local match, shoot it slow and safe, and you’ll understand the addiction by the second stage. New to competition? Start with my complete guide to competition shooting.

Frequently Asked Questions