Making Shooters Better

Summary:

What if trying harder is actually making you a worse shooter? USPSA Grand Master Riley Bowman joins Terry Vaughan to explore the psychology of peak performance, why overthinking sabotages our shooting, and how mastering visual awareness and achieving a flow state can unlock skills we already possess. Discover how to train smarter, manage pressure, and finally get out of your own way.

Episode Description:

What if the biggest thing holding back your shooting performance isn't your grip, your trigger press, or your equipment, but what's happening between your ears?

USPSA Grand Master and championship-winning competitor Riley Bowman joins host Terry Vaughan for a fascinating conversation about the psychology of shooting, visual awareness, and why trying too hard can actually make us perform worse.

From his early shooting experiences to becoming one of the industry's respected firearms instructors, Riley shares the breakthrough that transformed his approach to performance: learning to stop overthinking and trust the skills he's already developed.

Together, Terry and Riley challenge traditional training assumptions, explore how to achieve a flow state, and discuss why understanding yourself as a shooter may be just as important as mastering the mechanics.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• The Flow State Advantage: Why conscious effort can interfere with skills you've practiced thousands of times, and how to get out of your own way.
• Train Your Eyes, Not Just Your Hands: How visual awareness, target focus, and processing information can dramatically influence shooting performance.
• Rethinking Traditional Instruction: Why Riley believes starting new shooters with red-dot optics rather than iron sights may accelerate learning.
• The Psychology of Pressure: How negative self-talk, performance anxiety, and fear of failure can sabotage your abilities.
• When Everything Goes Wrong: What Riley learned about managing distractions after his vehicle caught fire less than 24 hours before a major shooting competition.
• One Drill to Take to the Range: A practical shooting assessment designed to challenge your visual focus, decision-making, accuracy, and performance under time pressure.

Whether you're a new shooter, an experienced competitor, a firearms instructor, or someone who carries for personal protection, this conversation offers practical insights into how we learn, why we struggle, and what it takes to perform closer to our true potential.

Because becoming a better shooter isn't always about trying harder. Sometimes, it's about learning when to stop thinking and let your training take over.

Connect with Riley Bowman:

Website: https://www.rileybowman.com
Concealed Carry: https://www.concealedcarry.com
Instagram: @rileyconcealedcarry

Discover Laser Ammo training solutions:
https://www.laserammo.com

Enjoyed the episode? Like, subscribe, and share Making Shooters Better with someone who wants to take their training to the next level.

Real Stories. Real Strategies. Real Skills.

Summary: Are you training to become a better shooter, or preparing for what might actually happen when everything goes wrong?

Former law enforcement officer, EMS professional, and Haley Strategic firearms coach Ben Bergamini joins Terry Vaughan to explore the difference between firearms proficiency and real-world readiness.

Drawing on decades of experience across athletics, emergency response, and firearms instruction, Ben shares why shooters avoid practicing their weaknesses, what separates effective training from simply burning ammunition, and how teamwork, medical preparedness, and consistent habits can make the difference when lives are on the line.

From the alarming reality of officers passing up free firearms training to the lifesaving importance of knowing how to stop a catastrophic bleed, this episode challenges listeners to reconsider what it truly means to be prepared.

Episode Description: Being a good shooter doesn't necessarily mean you're prepared to survive a real-world emergency.

How do you know whether your firearms training is preparing you for a genuine threat, or simply making you better at the things you already enjoy?

In this episode of Making Shooters Better, Terry Vaughan sits down with Ben Bergamini, an experienced firearms coach with Haley Strategic whose background spans Division I college football, law enforcement, emergency medical services, and tactical medical training.

Ben brings a perspective shaped by years of teaching, responding to emergencies, and learning firsthand why the most important skill in a crisis isn't always the ability to pull a trigger.

In this conversation, we explore:

Shooting proficiency vs. real-world readiness: Why being fast and accurate doesn't automatically mean you're prepared for a defensive encounter.

The fundamentals experienced shooters still get wrong: How stance, grip, and deliberate practice form the foundation of consistent performance.

The training complacency problem: Why just three officers out of a department of 75 took advantage of a free opportunity to practice with their firearms.

What emergency medicine teaches us about survival: Why Stop the Bleed training, tourniquet proficiency, and CPR belong in your personal preparedness plan.

Training for your weaknesses: Why Ben continues taking other instructors' classes and deliberately practices the skills he finds most difficult.

Teamwork under pressure: What responding to serious emergencies has taught him about communication, coordination, and preparation before a crisis unfolds.

Making training part of everyday life: How busy professionals and parents can develop consistent, purposeful practice without unlimited time or money.

We also discuss the differences between competitive shooting and defensive firearms training, how an EMS team prepares before arriving at an emergency, and why having the right equipment means very little if you haven't practiced using it.

The takeaway? Real preparedness isn't simply about owning a firearm or becoming proficient with one. It's about knowing your limitations, developing practical skills, and making training a deliberate part of your life.

Social for Ben: https://www.instagram.com/bergmedhsp/

Website: https://haleystrategic.com/train

About Making Shooters Better

Presented by Laser Ammo and hosted by former Royal Marine Commando and TOP SHOT season 4 alum Terry Vaughan, Making Shooters Better brings together experienced shooters, instructors, and subject-matter experts to explore practical strategies for becoming safer, smarter, and more capable.

If this conversation challenges how you think about training, share it with a fellow shooter or instructor, and subscribe for more conversations designed to help you train smarter.

Summary:
Are you genuinely improving your skills, or simply getting better at practicing what you already know?

In this episode of Making Shooters Better, retired U.S. Army Master Sergeant and Special Forces veteran William “Will” Thornton joins Terry Vaughan to explore why meaningful improvement requires more than repetition and experience.

Drawing on his journey from the 82nd Airborne to Special Forces selection, along with decades of leadership and coaching, Will shares lessons about mental preparation, overcoming setbacks, testing our confidence, and the importance of remaining a lifelong student.

From the shooting range to everyday life, this conversation challenges us to recognize our limitations, embrace opportunities to learn, and ask ourselves whether our training is actually making us better.

Episode Description:

Are you training to improve, or have you simply become comfortable doing what you're already good at?

It's an uncomfortable question, particularly for experienced shooters. We develop skills, build confidence, and establish routines. But somewhere along the way, it's possible to confuse familiarity with genuine improvement.

In this episode of Making Shooters Better, host Terry Vaughan welcomes retired U.S. Army Master Sergeant and Special Forces veteran William “Will” Thornton for a conversation about preparation, mental resilience, and what it takes to keep growing.

Will's remarkable military journey took him from the 82nd Airborne Division to Cold War Berlin, where he witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall, and eventually through Special Forces selection and into 3rd Special Forces Group.

Along the way, he discovered that physical ability and experience are only part of the equation. Mental preparation, adaptability, humility, and a willingness to learn from setbacks can be just as important.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why repetition doesn't necessarily translate into improvement.
• How confidence can become a liability when our abilities go untested.
• The role of visualization and deliberate dry-fire practice in developing shooting skills.
• Why adding appropriate challenges to training helps us recognize our limitations.
• What failure teaches us about resilience, discipline, and personal growth.
• Why learning from people who are better than we are can accelerate improvement.
• How to remain adaptable and open to learning throughout life's inevitable transitions.

Today, Will is the founder of The Unlimited Well Group, where he helps individuals and organizations navigate change, recognize their potential, and pursue meaningful growth.

The takeaway? Becoming a better shooter isn't simply about spending more time practicing. It's about making that practice count, challenging our assumptions, and having the humility to recognize that there's always something more to learn.

Connect with William Thornton

Website: https://theunlimitedwell.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-thornton-acc-b3979b2a/

About Making Shooters Better

Presented by Laser Ammo and hosted by former Royal Marine Commando and TOP SHOT Season 4 alum Terry Vaughan, Making Shooters Better brings together experienced shooters, instructors, and subject-matter experts to explore practical strategies for becoming safer, smarter, and more capable.

If this conversation challenges how you think about training, share it with a fellow shooter or instructor, and subscribe for more conversations designed to help you train smarter.

Summary: What if the training that makes you feel prepared is actually giving you a false sense of confidence?

In this episode of Making Shooters Better, host Terry Vaughan sits down with 2025 ILEETA Trainer of the Year Duane Wolfe to expose the dangerous gap between practicing shooting skills and performing when your life is on the line. From the hidden pitfalls of scripted training and competition shooting to the physiological effects of stress, Duane explains why knowing how to shoot is only part of the equation, and how realistic, unpredictable training can reveal weaknesses before they become deadly mistakes.

Description: You've practiced your draw. You've worked on accuracy. You've run the drills. But what happens when the threat doesn't follow the script?

Most firearms training begins with an enormous advantage you won't have in a real confrontation: you already know what's coming.

That knowledge can make you faster, more accurate, and more confident. Unfortunately, it can also convince you that you're prepared for something you've never truly experienced.

In this episode of Making Shooters Better, host Terry Vaughan welcomes Duane Wolfe, a retired Minnesota peace officer, veteran firearms instructor, longtime Police1 columnist, and 2025 ILEETA Trainer of the Year, for a revealing conversation about the difference between performing on the range and responding to real-world violence.

With more than 25 years in law enforcement and 28 years as a full-time instructor, Duane has spent decades examining what happens when training meets human physiology, unpredictable threats, and life-or-death decisions.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• The danger of "training clairvoyance": How predictable drills create unrealistic expectations about your ability to recognize and respond to an attack.
• Why shooting proficiency isn't the same as survival readiness: The critical differences between marksmanship, competitive shooting, and defensive performance.
• Feed, Read, Succeed: Duane's framework for recognizing behavioral warning signs, interpreting threats, and connecting perception to appropriate action.
• What stress actually does to your performance: How physiological changes can affect vision, reaction time, cognitive processing, and shooting mechanics.
• The importance of unscripted training: Why reactive targets, realistic scenarios, and force-on-force exercises can reveal weaknesses conventional range practice may never expose.
• Lessons from real-world violence: Duane recounts being assaulted during a DUI arrest and explains what the encounter taught him about warning signs, distance, and reaction time.
• Training your mind as well as your body: How breathing techniques, stress regulation, and realistic repetition can support clearer thinking and better responses under pressure.
• Why training smarter matters more than simply training harder: How instructors and individual shooters can better prepare for the unpredictable while maintaining critical skills over time.

Along the way, Terry and Duane challenge some deeply held assumptions about firearms training, including whether competition actually improves defensive decision-making, why qualification scores can be misleading, and how seemingly small changes to training methods can produce meaningful improvements in performance.

Perhaps most importantly, Duane introduces a question every firearms owner, instructor, and law enforcement professional should consider:

Are you training to respond to what actually happens, or simply getting better at responding to what you already know is going to happen?

Because the time to discover your training has limitations isn't when someone's trying to kill you.

It's before.

Connect with Duane Wolfe Duane Wolfe | LinkedIn

Find Duane on LinkedIn to learn more about his work in law enforcement training, officer safety, and performance under pressure.

About Making Shooters Better

Real Stories. Real Strategies. Real Skills.

Presented by Laser Ammo, and hosted by former Royal Marine Commando and TOP SHOT season 4 alum Terry Vaughan, Making Shooters Better brings together experienced shooters, instructors, and subject-matter experts to explore practical strategies for becoming safer, smarter, and more capable.

If this conversation challenges how you think about training, share it with a fellow shooter or instructor, and subscribe for more conversations designed to help you train smarter.

What actually makes someone a better shooter?

Frank Melloni has spent more than a decade answering that question from nearly every angle in the firearms world. A Top Shot Season 4 competitor and president of Renaissance Firearms Instruction, Frank is also a competitive shooter, precision rifleman, handloader, hunter, instructor, and prolific firearms writer with more than 1,100 published articles.

In this episode of Making Shooters Better, Frank and Terry Vaughan reunite fourteen years after Top Shot to talk about the lessons that only come from experience.

They explore the strengths and weaknesses of being self-taught, why good firearms instructors never stop learning, how competition can expose weaknesses under pressure, and when better gear genuinely improves performance versus simply masking a training problem.

Frank also explains what precision shooting and handloading can teach us about consistency, how measurable drills help track real improvement, why dry fire matters, and why shorter, more frequent training sessions may be more effective than spending an entire day at the range once a month.

If you are interested in firearms training, competitive shooting, precision shooting, dry fire, handloading, or simply becoming a more capable and thoughtful shooter, this episode is packed with lessons you can apply to your own training.

Connect with Frank Melloni

Renaissance Firearms Instruction: 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/renaissancefirearmsinstruction/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=renaissance%20firearms%20instruction

Muck Rack: https://muckrack.com/frank-melloni

Website: Renaissance Firearms Instruction

Writing:

American Rifleman
Hook & Barrel
Guns & Ammo

Topics discussed

Firearms training
Shooting fundamentals
Competitive shooting
Precision rifle shooting
Handloading and ammunition
Dry fire training
Gear versus skill
Instructor development
Top Shot Season 4

You can shoot regularly and still not be training.

Kyle Johnston learned that firsthand.

After serving in the Marine Corps, Kyle spent nearly a decade building a successful career in filmmaking and media before returning to military service and ultimately becoming a Green Beret with the 19th Special Forces Group.

When he returned to structured firearms training, something surprising happened: the shooting ability he thought he had began falling apart as soon as speed, movement, timers, and pressure entered the equation.

In this episode of Making Shooters Better, Kyle and Terry explore what separates purposeful training from simply putting rounds downrange.

They dig into:

• Why firearms skills are far more perishable than many shooters realize
• The difference between shooting for enjoyment and training for improvement
• Why goals, drills, timers, and measurable data matter
• How pressure reveals weaknesses that static range shooting can hide
• Why dry-fire and at-home training can dramatically improve consistency
• The value of discovering what you're bad at instead of repeatedly practicing what you're already good at
• Why tactics and techniques should remain adaptable rather than becoming doctrine
• The strange difference between the shooting community online and the one you'll actually meet at the range
• Why experienced shooters have a responsibility to help newcomers rather than intimidate them
• How Kyle balances training, military service, family, and his work with Unit Solutions

Kyle’s experience offers a useful reminder for shooters at every level:

Going shooting proves you can pull the trigger. Training tells you what happens when things stop going according to plan.

EPISODE SUMMARY

After decades of teaching defensive firearms and tactics, John and Vicki Farnam argue that becoming harder to kill has far less to do with simply becoming better at shooting.

We explore preparation as a way of life, recognizing and avoiding danger, the difference between force and violence, why instructors must adapt to their students, what happens psychologically when avoidance is no longer possible, and why some of the greatest victories in defensive training end without a shot ever being fired.

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

The hardest decision in a gunfight may need to be made years before the gunfight ever happens.

John and Vicki Farnam have spent decades teaching armed citizens, law enforcement officers, and instructors around the world. But their philosophy of preparedness reaches far beyond marksmanship.

In this episode of Making Shooters Better, former British Royal Marines Commando Terry Vaughan will ask John and Vicki to examine what it really means to be prepared.

Why does John believe avoidance deserves more training than confrontation?

Why does Vicki begin by asking students whether they truly believe they are worth protecting?

Can observation actually be trained?

What separates healthy vigilance from paranoia?

Why can technically competent shooters still be dangerously unprepared?

And what happens when all the avoidance, awareness, judgment, and preparation in the world still leaves you with one unavoidable decision?

Vicki also shares the remarkable story of the 700-pound wild hog that charged her, the shot she ultimately had to take at roughly three feet, and what the experience taught her about the purpose of training under pressure.

We also explore how firearms instruction itself can fail students when instructors teach the technique they know rather than the person standing in front of them, including lessons Vicki learned while helping instructors better communicate with female shooters.
And perhaps most importantly, John explains why hearing from a former student who walked away, kept quiet, chose different friends, or simply decided not to go somewhere can mean more to him than hearing about a shooting his training helped someone survive.

Because the ultimate purpose of defensive training isn't winning gunfights.

It's making better decisions before one ever begins.

Summary

Wayne Dobbs has spent nearly five decades teaching people how to shoot, but his message is not really about shooting.

It is about the gap between owning good equipment and actually being prepared to use it well.

From grip and presentation to red dots, reloads, decision-making, and mental readiness, Wayne challenges some of the habits shooters cling to most tightly. Along the way, he explains why fundamentals matter more under pressure, why some impressive range skills may have limited defensive value, and why the most important tool in a fight is still the one between your ears.

Episode Description

What if the biggest thing holding back your shooting isn’t your gun, your optic, or your ammo?

Wayne Dobbs has spent 46 years training shooters and 25 years in law enforcement, and he has some strong opinions about what actually matters when performance stops being theoretical.

In this episode, Wayne breaks down why grip is so often misunderstood, how poor presentation can make a red dot slower instead of faster, why shooters may be overtraining certain skills, and what mental preparedness really looks like before a defensive encounter ever begins.

This conversation goes well beyond technique.

It is about building a repeatable process, understanding what your gear can and cannot do, and preparing for the moment when your expectations collide with reality.

What happens when everything you've practiced works perfectly on the range, but the real world changes the rules?

Tatiana Whitlock, National Director of Training for A Girl & A Gun Women's Shooting League, joins Terry Vaughan to explore the uncomfortable but essential gap between firearm proficiency and genuine preparedness.

Tatiana began shooting as an adult and quickly discovered that mastering marksmanship was only the beginning. Her pursuit of defensive training eventually exposed a much bigger challenge: learning how to apply technical skills inside unpredictable environments involving movement, judgment, family members, changing conditions, and consequences that cannot be reset with another run of the drill.

In this episode, Terry and Tatiana explore what she calls "training in context," including why shooters should train for the bodies they have and the lives they actually lead rather than some imaginary version of themselves.

Tatiana also explains why skill development must evolve as we age, recover from injury, change lifestyles, become parents, change vehicles, move homes, or simply discover that the shooter we remember being isn't necessarily the shooter standing on the range today.

The conversation takes an especially powerful turn when Tatiana shares an attempted home invasion she experienced while her children were inside the house. That event forced her to reconsider concealed carry entirely. Her conclusion: the firearm may belong to one person, but preparedness must involve the entire family.

They discuss how families can build awareness and emergency responses without creating fear, why gamifying situational awareness can make children active participants in their own safety, and why a concealed carrier cannot afford to manage both a threat and an unprepared family simultaneously.

They also examine the responsibility of firearms instructors: adapting technique to the individual rather than forcing every student into the same physical mold, teaching students to process information rather than simply perform drills, and creating training experiences that expose limitations without destroying confidence.

Because the goal isn't merely to produce someone who shoots well under familiar conditions.

It's to develop someone who can think, adapt, recognize, decide, and perform when those conditions disappear.

In this episode:

• What "training in context" really means
• The difference between firearm proficiency and real-world capability
• Why fundamentals are universal but their application is personal
• How aging, injury, parenthood, and lifestyle changes affect defensive skills
• Why shooters need training that occasionally humbles them
• The danger of confusing range performance with preparedness
• Why concealed carry is a family skill
• Preparing spouses and children without creating fear
• Developing situational awareness through games and everyday experiences
• Why instructors must adapt techniques to individual students
• Training the brain to recognize, process, communicate, and respond
• Why the best defensive training prepares you for uncertainty rather than rehearsing a perfect script

Tatiana's message is ultimately simple but demanding:

Proficiency with a firearm is not the same as preparedness. Train for the life you actually live, because that is where your skills may someday have to work.

What actually happens in the first 30 seconds of an active shooter attack?

According to Ed Monk, that question should sit at the center of every active shooter response plan.

Ed is a retired Army officer, law enforcement officer, firearms trainer, author of First 30 Seconds, and a longtime researcher of active shooter events. His work challenges some of the most widely accepted assumptions about how schools, churches, businesses, and public facilities prepare for mass violence.

In this episode, Ed explains why active shooter events are fundamentally a time problem, with victims potentially being shot every few seconds before law enforcement has even been notified. He challenges traditional lockdown policies and the familiar Run-Hide-Fight model, arguing that waiting for outside help can carry an enormous human cost. 

We also explore why people often fail to immediately recognize the sound of gunfire, the psychological barriers that prevent ordinary people from acting, and why someone already at the scene may be the only person capable of stopping an attack quickly enough to dramatically reduce casualties.

For armed responders, Ed goes even deeper.

He explains why active shooter response is very different from the typical close-range defensive encounter most shooters train for, why every shooter needs to understand the limits of their own accuracy, and why in a crowded public space there are no true “misses,” only intended and unintended hits. He also introduces the mental battle he calls “the monkey”, the overwhelming pressure to shoot faster than your actual ability allows. 

This is not a comfortable conversation.

It is a conversation about what happens when prevention has failed, innocent people are being murdered, and someone has to act.

For anyone responsible for protecting a school, church, workplace, public venue, or family, this may be one of the most important episodes of Making Shooters Better yet.