• Do - Do some YouTube research on different matches. If all you’ve done is read forum posts about different matches, and you’re SURE you know what you want to shoot, because the”other game” has too many rules, go watch some videos of the other games too. Just like with self defense law, most forum posts about matches, and rules and stuff are just plain wrong.
• Don’t - Don’t go spend a ton of cash on competition gear before you’ve shot a match or two. I've seen people buy a bunch of stuff wanting to shoot in a certain division, only to find out the stuff they bought isn't legal for that division.
• Do - When it’s time to buy gear, buy good stuff. I messed around for literally years making sub-par gear, constantly fiddling with things, when I should have just bought stuff that gets out of my way and lets me be awesome.
• Don’t - Don’t take advice about competition from random gun people, or people behind the gun counter about competition gear, matches, etc. Find a higher level competitor to get your advice from. This goes for things like practice, types of matches, gear, whatever else. General “gun people” don’t know jack about competition. Pistol shooters don’t know jack about rifle shooting, what have you. 
• Don’t - Don’t assume a piece of gear is legal for competition just because it’s got “competition” in the marketing. There’s a LOT of this going around and I really wish companies would get their crap together and stop misleading people, or at the very least list what competitions/divisions their gun is legal for.
• Don’t - Don’t try to shoot like the fast guys when that’s not your skill level. I’ve seen several new folks show up to a match, and literally shoot stages completely missing half the targets, but with grand master level times. If you try to shoot faster than you've ever shot to try and roll with the big dogs, you're gonna have a bad time.

The News

A Constitutional carry bill has been introduced in North Carolina.

Gear That Doesn't Suck

Anker PowerCore powerbank. This sucker will re-charge my cell phone almost 10 times. It's a beast, and it's well made, charges fast, and I just generally like it. I bought it in case I lost power for a few days in the wake of Hurricane Matthew, and I've found myself using quite a bit at the range to keep my phone charged, and when using my phone as a wifi hotspot since that's quite the battery drain.

Things that Make You go "ugghhh" at a match

Don't forget to send me a voicemail about things that make you go "ugghhh" at a match. Here's the deets.