Triangle Tactical Podcast - Competitive Shooting, Mostly

Gear that Doesn't Suck

This week we talk about the Safariland ALS retention holster. If you need retention, this is the holster to get. The release mechanism uses your thumb in a very natural motion to release the pistol from the holster. It's high quality, and something you should definitely consider if you're an open carrier, or just feel like you need more retention.

You can get the Safariland ALS here.

The News

Some fools were "open carrying" in Georgia last week. Carrying a shotgun, racking rounds into it, loading it, etc. In Walmart. They're lucky they didn't get shot. I'm not a fan of carrying to make a statement, so I think what these guys did was utterly stupid.

Last week we mentioned that LuckyGunner won their court costs back after being sued by the Brady Bunch. They've decided to take that money (approx. $111,000) and donate it to pro-gun groups. How great is that?

Plug of the Week

Ben plugs the Active Response Training blog this week. You can find the blog at http://www.activeresponsetraining.net.

Dryfire Drill of the Week

Practice some unloaded table starts. Pistol and mags on the table, on the buzzer pick them up, load the pistol, and engage a target with 2 rounds. It's a skill that came up in this weeks classifier that I haven't practiced in a long while.

Contact

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This week Ben and I have a discussion about the upcoming race for USPSA President. Up to this point, I haven't really cared about it much, as I generally feel that things are going just fine with the sport, and as a somewhat casual shooter, I can't think of what needs to be fixed. Ben however has a much deeper understanding of these things than I do, and explains to me (and you) why it's important, and who is running on which platform, etc. I'm actually interested now, and I think even if you don't shoot USPSA, you'll find the discussion interesting.

Housekeeping

We apparently forgot to mention this on the podcast, but Ben and I were interviewed on the Action Shooting Radio podcast a few weeks ago. We talked about how to stay motivated to practice, and I thought it was a pretty good episode. You should check it out, it's episode 45 of their podcast. You can find them in iTunes here, Stitcher here, and the regular podcast feed address is here.

Gear That Doesn't Suck

We get asked a lot about getting into reloading, so this week for Gear that Doesn't Suck, Ben and I talked about the reloading press that we've both started with (and as of the release of this episode still use, although Ben is upgrading to a Dillon 650 in the near future).

We both use the Lee 4-hole Turret Press, and we both have loaded a lot of ammo on our respective presses. I'l closing in on 7000 rounds on mine, and Ben figures he's somewhere up around the 20,000 round mark on his. It's not the best press, or the fastest, but it'a a great starting point that's faster than a single stage, and has less of a learning curve than a progressive press.

As mentioned in the podcast, I put together a list of all the beginner reloading stuff we recommend, and you can find it here.

The News

NC House Bill 562 left the NC House this past week after having so many amendments added to it that I can't even tell you what's still in the bill, and what isn't. You can check out the amendments here.

The Brady Bunch has been ordered to pay the legal fees of some businesses that they sued after the Colorado theatre shooting.

There was a terrible shooting in a church in South Carolina this week. Folks that are both pro- and anti-gun have been politicizing the issue. It's not okay to politicize it, no matter which side you are on. Also, if you haven't already, check out this episode of the American Warrior Society podcast where Mike Seeklander interviews a man who intervened when some scumbags were planning to kill everyone in his church.

Just months after an Uber driver intervened in a mass shooting in Chicago, and everyone praised Uber for their policy of following state and local laws regarding guns, they seem to have quietly changed their policy on the issue, banning guns for both drivers and passengers using Uber.

Tip of the Week:

When you're shooting a major match, don't just sign off on your score sheet and forget about it. Take a minute to verify everything is correct before you put it away, because once you sign it, it's final.

Contact

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- (919) 295-6128

Last week I was in Northern Michigan and I had a conversation with my Uncle about competitive shooting. He said that shooting a stage himself, and then having a friend shoot the stage after him wouldn't really interest him, but if there were some type of "man on man" type comeptition where more than one person was on the firing line at a time and they were shooting to both complete a goal against each other at the same time, that he would be interested in getting involved in a competition like that.

Gear that Doesn't Suck

At the H2O Fowl Farms IDPA match this weekend it was standard North Carolina summer weather: HOT.

A friend showed up to the range with a instant canopy for our squad which was completely awesome to give us some shade between shooting and pasting. Here's a Coleman one on Amazon that you might want to consider for your range trips during the summer months.

Coleman 10 x 10 Instant Canopy

The News

Apparently MTV has an NC based reality show (I had no idea) and the star of the show posted a picture online of her baby in it's bed, her man feeding the baby, and a pistol on her nightstand. People online apparently lost their freaking minds over the picture, not realizing that the child is an infant, clearly not capable of gaining access to the firearm. The picture, and her interview with TMZ are available here. Watch the video, it's worth it.

Sig Sauer is sponsoring a top fuel dragster. On the surface this isn't really much of a news story, but it's just another way to show that Sig is really in touch with shooters. From the development of all the cool silencers they're making, to the newly announced Sig shooting team, to the P320 that's the new hotness, it really seems like they're killing it lately.

Sponsor

This episode was sponsored by The Blue Bullets. They just announced some new bulk discounts, and shipping deals that you should check out if you're looking to buy some new bullets for competitive shooting. Don't forget, you can save even more with the code "triangle" at checkout. They're Glock friendly, Open gun friendly, and they're made right here in NC (but offer free shipping on most orders) to anywhere in the US.

Plug of the Week

Andrew Tuhoy of Vuurwapen Blog has launched a new podcast. The first episode is about the proposed ITAR regulations on the restriction of firearm "technical data" on the internet. It's a frightening topic, and one that needs to be shared. You can check out Andrew's blog post about it here, and his show is in iTunes here.

Contact:

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This week, we catch up with Bob (formerly known as "the new shooter"). We first talked to Bob back on Episode 30 after he'd just shot his first match, caught up with him six months later on Episode 54 to talk about progressing as a competitor. Most recently, we brought him in to help us with Episode 100, our PPQ vs VP9 shootout.

Today, he's back to talk about shooting competition even if you don't practice all the time like Ben and Luke. He has some thoughts about fitting competition in to life with family and other time commitments. He also talks level of participation, current level of skill, and how to enjoy shoot matches even if you're not planning to try and make Master class.

The News
The main news story this week is Oklahoma passing a bill to allow authorized staff in K-12 schools to carry concealed at school. It still requires extra training and may not be adopted by all schools or school districts, but it's an excellent move forward for good guys with guns to stop bad guys with guns, especially protecting our children.

Tip of the Week
Don't forget to take yourself in to account in your evaluation of gear. Sometimes, especially for older shooters, it's important to make sure your gun, holster, sights, trigger, grip, and everything else still work for you over time. Whether you're getting smarter by learning better techniques or older with achy joints, it's always worth it to pull the carry gun out and dry fire every once in a while.

This week we talk a bunch about mental game for competitive shooting after getting a great email about it from a listener.

Gear that Doesn't Suck

George Leonard's Mastery - Ben talks about the book and why you should have it, and be continually reading it.

Sponsor

This week's show was sponsored by Andrew Branca's Law of Self Defense. Head over to his website and save 10% on books, seminars, and webinars when you use the code triangle at checkout. http://www.lawofselfdefense.com

The News

171 concealed carry permits were revoked in Ohio after it was found out that the instructor wasn't teaching the classes, but instead just signing off on the certificates. No bueno.

Charlotte, NC police are noticing a trend of vehicles with gun related stickers getting broken into. Something to think about.

Tip of the Week

Don't let strange stage props get in your head. Last week we watched some people melt down while shooting a clamshell target at the Shoot2Live IDPA match, and it's something we've both seen in the past with things like cars, odd start positions, and of course, the dreaded Texas Star.

Contact

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- Voicemail Line (919) 295-6128

This week we wrap up a bunch of news stories that have been occupying our time over the last week. 

The Supreme Court rules that felons don't immediately lose ownership of their guns upon conviction. They can find someone else to take custody of them and sell them, etc.

The concealed carry law in Washington DC had a key provision struck down by Federal Judge Scullin. The part of the law that said applicants for a concealed carry permit must have a just cause for requesting the permit is what he went after, saying that is unconstitutional.

USPSA Grand Master turned Louisiana State Representative Blake Miguez is working on an actual gun safety bill in the state. It's passed the LA state house so far. 

PoliceOne posts a really derpy article about competitive shooting. "The reason being they aren't realistic and cause the shooter to form extremely bad habits that can get them killed on the street." Yawn.

The Boy Scouts of America ban squirt guns (Auto-play ads in the link). Listen, if your Boy Scout troop is organizing squirt gun fights, you should find a better troop that's actually teaching your son to be a good citizen. I was a Tiger Cub, earned my Arrow of Light, and eventually Eagle Scout and I can't say we ever played with squirt guns. It's a non-issue.

A Mississippi man was approached by two criminals with guns, and forced to drive them to an ATM to get cash. Afterwards, the victim was able to get access to his own pistol and fatally wound one of the criminals, and the other is on the loose. Word on the street is that the victim in this case is a USPSA competitor who was on his way to the Mississippi Classic USPSA match that morning. Bad guys had a failure in their victim selection process.

Dry Fire Drill of the Week:

In honor of Blake Miguez in the news section above, this week's drill is the Blake Drill. Here's Angry Matt explaining it.

Contact:

 ## Contact:

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We've recieved so much awesome listener feedback this week that we couldn't help but make an episode out of it. 

Gear that Doesn't Suck:

Kershaw Skyline - Ben's summer knife. Thin, lightweight, and pretty good. It's not a top of the line knife, but it get's the job done. He took the clip off his and it just rides in the bottom of his pocket. 

The News:

Last week we talked about the Garland, TX shooting, where at the time the news said that the bad guys with rifles were taken down by a single officer with his duty pistol. Now it's coming out that the officer engaged the jihadis, but was quickly backed up by the local swat team that was on site for the event. 

Everytown has begun running a bunch of ads on TV here in NC against HB562 where they make it sound like it will eliminate all background checks for handgun sales in the state. More here.

Plug of the Week:

A recent episode of Ballistic Radio with Claude Werner as the guest. They talk about a lot of stuff regarding mindset, practice, and standards. We both liked it.

Contact

- [email protected]

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- (919) 295-6128

Gear That Doesn't Suck

Streamlight Stylus Pro - Great little flashlight for everyday usage. It's small, well put together, and the batteries last a long time. It's not a flashlight that'll turn night into day, but it's bright enough. Nice form factor.

Main Topic

3 big announcements this week. 

1. We're doing another run of t-shirts. This time they're lightweight athletic type shirts which are great for wearing while shooting in the summer. You can find them at triangletactical.net/shirts. They're $20 plus shipping, with a blank front, and the Triangle Tactical logo on the rear. 

2. We're going to start opening up some slots for advertisers on the podcast. If you have a product or business that is 1. relevant to our audience, and 2. doesn't suck, hit me up at [email protected] and we can talk.

3. The biggest news is that we're going daily with the podcast. Actually, we're launching a completely separate podcast which I'm calling Triangle Tactical Q&A. We're running out of time in the regular show to give everyones feedback and questions the attention that it deserves, so we'll be answering them in the new Q&A show. It'll be in iTunes soon, but for now you can subscribe to the feed at http://www.triangletactical.net/feed/qna

The News:

Garland Texas jihadi attack. Two scumbags attempted an attack on some sort of Mohammed cartoon drawing contest. They had rifles, but were stopped by a Garland police officer with a .45ACP Glock.

Cody Wilson of Defense Distributed is collaborating with the Second Amendment Foundation to sue the State Department for making Wilson take down his plans for the 3D printed "Liberator" pistol.

Plug of the Week:

"The Way of the Gun" Episode of the American Warrior Society Podcast. Mike Seeklander hosts this new podcast interviews Tom Givens about handguns.

Contact

- [email protected]

- [email protected]

- (919) 295-6128

This week Ben and I talk about the importance of practicing little things, in small steps, one at a time. Seems like there's a divide among the shooting community where some trainers tend to have students practice large, complex drills, and other folks (generally the more competition minded) tend to break things down a bit more. We've both found that breaking things down for a bit, and then putting them back together tends to work well.

Gear That Doesn't Suck

New segment this week! We get asked a lot about different pieces of gear, and what our thoughts are on different things, so we're going to be promoting a piece of gear on every show that we've used and can recommend. This week we talk a bit about the Howard Leight Impact Sport Electric Earmuffs that we've both been using for a few years. They're inexpensive, rather durable (I finally broke mine after about 4 years of use) and they work well.

The News:

Some guy shot himself in the restroom at a Chick-fil-a. Apparently his Glock "went off" while he was pulling up his pants. Don't fiddle with your blaster in the restroom, leave it holstered.

A heroic High School teacher tackled a school shooter. Interesting that he was able to get into position to do it, and took the initiative to do it. Bravo.

H562 (The big omnibus firearm bill working it's way through the NCGA) is still alive. There's a good read about it here, which I reference in the episode.

Contact:

- [email protected]

- [email protected]

- (919) 295-6128

When people get into competitive shooting, they inevitably fall into the trap of buying more gear to try and get better, instead of putting in the time to practice and become a better shooter. We've both been down this road, and now that we're on the other side of it we've realized that for the most part, the modifications just aren't worth the money invested. However, there are a couple modifications that you'll probably need on most guns that you choose to shoot in competition.

- Sights. With the exception of just a couple pistols, most guns will need a set of sights to really be competitive. Ben says that you really can't spend too much money on a good set of sights. They're the only thing you're looking at on the gun when shooting it, so they're pretty important.

- Trigger. Basically, you need a trigger that doesn't suck. It doesn't have to be this super tricked out such and such that the elite tactical III% operators use, it just needs to be good enough. Short-ish, crisp-ish, somewhere under 5-6lbs is a good baseline.

That's really about it.

Contact:

- [email protected]

- [email protected]

- (919) 295-6128