Triangle Tactical Podcast - Competitive Shooting, Mostly

Introduction to the Triangle Tactical Podcast

Last week's podcast was episode 250, so I figured this would be a great time to re-introduce myself to the audience, and have a good place for people who are new to the podcast to get started.

Every now and again I get a question from someone who'd just found the podcast asking where they should start since there are so many episodes in the back catalog that it can be difficult to know where to start, and understand my point of view on things.

Triangle Tactical started after I got the idea that I was going to start blogging on my way home from a competition shooting match in early 2012. I got home, setup a Blogger account, and excitedly told my wife that I was going to start a blog. I think she thought that she would hear about it for another day or two, and then it wouldn't ever come up again.

Well, it's been 5 and a half years at this point, and I'm going stronger than ever, so here we are!

The Basics:

I'm a little different than other "tactical" blogs out there in that I'm probably the least tactical "tactical" blogger/podcaster out there.

I don't really care about gear, unless it solves a real problem for me. A lot of folks are quick to run out and buy the coolest-newest gear all the time, but I really, truly, don't care about it. I've been shooting the same competition gun for 3.5 years, and that's the newest gun I own.

I believe that practice is the only way to get better. Nobody has ever bought a new gun, and suddenly become a Grand Master at shooting. It just doesn't matter that much. With that said, I do think a new piece of gear can help you, if your current gun is actually causing you a problem. (Ex. I dumped all my Gen3 Glocks for Gen4 guns when they came out because the beavertail on the Gen4 guns kept me from getting slide bite and bleeding all over myself when I shoot.)

However, I switched from shooting an M&P Pro 5" to a Glock 34 5" gun and... my shooting didn't really change. At all. This is because both of those guns are good enough, and neither really offered an advantage over the other. I just like the Glock 34 more, and making the switch made me happy.

I believe that competitive shooting is good for you. When I shot my first competitive match, I thought I was a hot dog. I'd been shooting all my life, and I really thought that I had a good chance at winning. I remember when a local Grand Master shot the same stage I had just shot and did it in about half the time, I was shocked.

"How can he shoot that fast?"

"There's no way he can see his sights"

"He's just spraying bullets and hoping he hits something."

LOL. Yeah, then I saw his hits. He hit everything. He was able to do that because he practices.

Range/Trunk Med Kit

On last weeks podcast I ran through all of the stuff that I keep in my range bag, but I neglected to talk about the stuff that I keep in my med kit for the range. I have one kit that stays in my trunk that has stuff for the range, as well as stuff for basic booboos and things that would be useful should I come across a car accident before first responders get there, etc.

• Nitrile gloves
• 2 CAT Tourniquets (I also own a SOF-T Wide tourniquet, but I prefer the CAT for self-aid. I feel like the hooks on the cats are far easier for securing the windlass with one hand than the little triangle thing on the SOF-T Wide.)
  • Also of note here: If you're buying either of these tourniquets, buy them straight from the manufacturers website. DO NOT BUY ONE ON AMAZON! There are tons of fraudulent TQ's on Amazon and you really can't distinguish a fake one from a real one by their listing. The cost is the same, so go straight to the manufacturer.
• Kerlix gauze for wound packing
• SAM Splint - Foam covered aluminum splint for bracing broken bones, etc. Very handy to have around.
• In an easily accessible side pocket, I have a big box of Band-Aid Tough Strips band-aids. These are the best band-aids I've ever used. They stick, and stay stuck, they're fabric, and they're awesome. I don't buy anything else.

I have 2 range bags. One that I call my practice bag, and another that I call my match bag, although they both go with me to both.

Match Bag

This is an old backpack, actually the bag that I took to college with me… 14 years ago. Gun rug fits well in the laptop sleeve, easy to carry between stages, etc.

Gun, mags, outer belt, inner belt, ammo, etc.

Also keep my eyes/ears/extra eyes/squib stick and gun parts box in this bag. I try to keep it fairly lightweight so I'm not trying to drag a huge bag from bay to bay at a match. It's rare that I need more than the above stuff at a match, so I leave everything else in my practice bag in my trunk. If I have something more catastrophic happen, I can always walk to my car and get what I need from the practice bag.

Gun parts:

• All springs
• Extra striker assembly, not because I think I'll need it, but because for some reason I have one.
• Extra fiber-optic for my front sight. Don't buy this stuff from a gun store, or any gun type place online. Measure the diameter of the F/O rod that your front sight takes with a pair of calipers, and then order like 5' of it from fiberopticproducts.com for like a ridiculously cheap amount of money.
• I think I've got a front sight tool, and a spare front sight. Again, not something I'd necessarily go out and buy, but it takes up no space, I've got it, so why not?

Practice bag 

This is a big, almost too big, MidwayUSA range bag. This bag has a lot of RO type stuff:

• Copy of Ben Stoeger's Skills and Drills. Big book of live fire range drills and stuff that's nice to have when you're on the range.
• A couple cans of the cheapest white paint I can get my hands on. I use it for painting steel targets, and it can be handy for marking shooting areas on the ground, etc.
• Practice magazines - I replaced all my magazines at the beginning of this shooting season, so all my old ones are in my practice bag. The reason for this is, the range that I'm a member of has the finest, siltiest sand that really does a number on magazines, even Glock mags. Since I'm not someone who likes to spend a bunch of time cleaning guns and magazines, I use all my old ones at my practice range and let them get filthy, and then use my new mags for matches at other ranges that don't have the same dusty sand.
• Mechanix Gloves, these are great for setup and tear down. They keep your hands from getting torn up by random staples on target sticks, etc.
• Staple gun, and I keep it loaded with the longest, heaviest duty staples that it will take. I think they're ½" I like the long staples because they go through enough two targets easily, and still have plenty of staple to get into the target stick, so you don't have to worry about your no-shoots falling off in the middle of practice, etc.
• Cheap duct tape is a recent addition to my range bag. I've started wrapping all of my steel target sticks in duct tape to hold them together a little more when they catch a stray bullet in practice.
• Speedo goggle anti-fog stuff. Works great to smear a little on your shooting glasses to make sure they don't fog up on you at a match. It's just a little bottle of a couple ounces, but I've probably had mine for 6 or 7 years and it's still mostly full. I only use it every couple months, and just a couple drops at a time.
• Several sheets of dots. Ben Stoeger has a .PDF of dots that you can print out and I have a bunch of the sheets in my range bag. It's a good drill that will humble the heck out of you if you start getting too cocky.
• Pasters and target tape. If you're not pasting targets in practice, you're totally wrong. Sometimes if I'm shooting some bill-drills or something I'll conserve pasters and only paste holes outside of the A-zone, but otherwise mostly I paste everything, ever run.
• Sunblock
• Big ugly wide brimmed hat
• Shooting shoes, and socks for them. I tend to find myself at the range with flip-flops on, so having these in my range bag is good for me.
• 9v batteries for my timer and chronograph. I hate buying these things because they're expensive. I change the batteries in all my smoke detectors every 6 months, then I save the old batteries and use them up in my chronograph and shot timer. I NEVER have to buy batteries specifically for them anymore.
• Pocket Pro 2 Shot Timer. Just get one of these, and don't get anything else.

Triangle Tactical Podcast Facebook Group

Here's where to find the new Triangle Tactical Facebook group. I want this to be a place where we can all share things about matches, practice, what's going well, things you need help with, etc. 

I think it will allow you to interact more with other podcast listeners in a way that the regular Facebook page doesn't really allow for. 

Experienced shooters have a duty to help new shooters at their first match. 

1. Before the stage brief is read on your first stage, ask if there are any new shooters on your squad. Once everyone knows who the brand new shooters are, and eliminates the concern about giving advice to someone who's been shooting for 10 years, and just hasn't really made any progress. 
2. Match Directors could start a sort of "ambassador" program, where shooters volunteer right in Practiscore to be an ambassador for new shooters, and then maybe they get $5 off their match fee for taking a new shooter under their wing for the day. 
3. It's important to "coach" new shooters before their run on the stage about any 180 traps, some pointers about how to move through certain areas, minding their muzzle on reloads when moving right to left, because DQing new shooters sucks. 
4. I don't think this needs to, or even should rest solely on the RO. The RO has a lot more going on trying to run shooters, score targets, etc, and I think there's a lot of time on a stage for a more experienced shooter to help out while the RO is doing his thing without distraction.

IPSC World Shoot:

So the IPSC World Shoot starts on Sunday in France. There are about 5ish people that I know of who are regular podcast listeners who are competing in the World Shoot, and I wanted to wish all of you the best of luck, and those of you on Team USA just a little more luck than the rest... 

Make us proud! 

Patreon:

I've had a few listeners express concern about Patreon, and how there have been headlines recently about how they're "banning conservatives", etc.

I like to do my due diligence on things, so I've read a bunch on what happened with the people they have banned, and the thing that really made me feel most comfortable about keeping Patreon as a support model for the show was this episode of the Reuben Report, where he interviews the CEO of Patreon, and actually asks the hard questions. I was satisfied with the answers he received, and it's what really swayed me about keeping the Patreon page active.

https://youtu.be/ofpbDgCj9rw

If you haven't checked out the Triangle Tactical Patreon, I've been doing a VLOG over there about everything I'm doing to get ready for the NC State Championship in a couple weeks, in addition to the NewsBlast Podcast check them out on Patreon. 

 

This episode is based on an email I got from Mike, who is helping to get a new USPSA match started at Low Country Preserve in Tabor City, NC.

What advice would you give to a new match director to make a local match really fun and interesting?

Honestly I think you should lose the focus on fun.

Now, don't take that the wrong way, here's what I mean: USPSA shooters have the most fun at USPSA match. Stick to the rules, build good stages and stick to the rules.

Did I mention that you should stick to the rules?

Nothing will keep the serious USPSA shooters away from your match, like a match that sacrifices the rules in the name of perceived fun.

What are some of the things you have seen done at local matches to make them run more smoothly?

Balance your stages. We've got some local matches that used to be known for getting all backed up, and people remember that, and don't shoot because of it.

If you've got props that aren't 100%, don't use them. Crappy steel that falls out of adjustment all the time, falling steel that has trouble staying on posts, carnival props that take forever to reset, and cause reshoots, etc.

What are some of the things that make one local match better than another?

Submit classifiers asap. We've got some clubs in the area that submit classifiers the next day, and we've got some that might get around to it before their next match next month. Shooters notice, and they talk about it. A lot. I'm still waiting on an 80% classifier from June to be submitted. I think it's gone forever, unfortunately.

We've got one match in the area that built a reputation for having stages that were all 8 shots through a port, to 8 shots through a port to 8 shots through a port, etc. Avoid that.

Decent tablets. This is personal, but nooks suck. iPads are the Cadillac of tablets for scoring, and they really do perform better than anything else. They're expensive though, so don't sweat it if you cant afford them right away. I would say think about making them a part of your growth plan.

Match bucks. It's not much for the range to give away, gives the shooter something to actually win, and gives them an incentive to come back. Next match free for division winners, ten bucks off for class winners, something like that.

Are there any "little things" you like to see at a match that make it better for the shooter (ex. water on every stage)?

Shade. If you don't have shade, find a way to make it. I think more than water, more than snacks or whatever, having shade for shooters is definitely valued.

Well marked safe areas that are easy to get to. IE, I don't want to walk halfway across the range to find the safe area.

Have spare timer batteries in the range box, Don't make us run all over the range looking for the RangeMaster when my timer dies, or have to use someone's awful CED7K from their range bag.

Leave the tablets on each stage, instead of having each squad take the same tablet to each stage. If the tablet stays on a stage all day, and it breaks or something, and you lose all the scores on that tablet, you lose that stage for everyone, but if each squad is taking their tablets from stage to stage, and one breaks, you lose EVERYTHING for that squad, and that's terrible.

During the live chat for last week's Triangle Tactical Q&A Live show Austin asked a question about what to do when a Range Officer isn't doing his job?

Austin asked (I'm paraphrasing here) but basically, what do you do when the RO on your squad lets a shooter slide for breaking the 180?

Apparently a shooter drew before turning on a turn-and-draw, and the shooters on the squad were jumping out of the way when he did it.

In this instance, the Range Officer didn't stop or disqualify the shooter, but instead let the shooter keep shooting, and had a talk with the shooter after the fact.

This is a HUGE problem. 

Listen, if you're a Range Officer, and you can't hand down a DQ for a blatant safety violation, you shouldn't be running the timer.

There are several reasons why, but here's a few of them:

• What happens when the shooter does the same thing on another stage, and shoots someone? You're going to have a bad time when it comes out that the shooter did the same thing earlier in the day, and you didn't stop it.
• What happens when that shooter gets used to being allowed a little wiggle room on the safety rules, and then he goes to shoot at another club, or at a State Championship, or even an Area match or Nationals, and gets disqualified. You're not doing him any favors.
• Think about the perspective of all of the other shooters on the squad, who were jumping out of the way when this guy broke the 180. Want to lose all of their respect?

Listen, DQing shooters sucks. It sucks even more when they're your friends, and exponentially more when they're brand new. However, the shooting sports are EXTREMELY safe, because we have these safety rules.

If you can't do it, don't pick up the timer.

Patreon:

Become a Patron!

The Triangle Tactical Patreon is the biggest thing that's supporting what I'm doing with Triangle Tactical. Becoming a Patron at the $5/month level gets you access to the Triangle Tactical NewsBlast podcast and bonus content like the occasional Match Video Diagnosis video (just added one to the Patreon page recently), etc. 

So, if you want to help me do more awesome stuff, click the Patreon button and check it out, I'd certainly appreciate it.

Every week I put together the Patreon Only NewsBlast Podcast, and it seems like every week I get a really great article from the Grand Island Independent in  Grand Island, Nebraska about a shooting competition that's taking place in Grand Island.

It's always about different shooting sports that are taking place in that area, and they've all been cool, and I'd never heard of most of them.

This got me excited because the local newspaper is going positive stories on the shooting sports in a regular basis. 

I want to do more to get exposure for the shooting sports in my area, and I think you should too. Post your videos in places that aren't gun-centric. Let people in your area know that there are matches in the area, and help them get started, and keep the politics out of it. 

Gear that Doesn't Suck

Have a cooler so you can have COLD water on the hottest match days. I think it's silly to spend a ton of money on the "cooler de-jour" that everyone and their brother has, but I've got one of thee regular old Coleman coolers and it works great.

It's got wheels so you can roll it from stage to stage if you like, and it keeps your drinks cold all day. Will it keep stuff cold for a week? I have no idea, I've never needed to keep stuff cold that long in a cooler.

So, in all honesty, it's probably cheaper to buy a cooler locally, than to pay shipping from Amazon, but if you're buying anything on Amazon, I'd certainly appreciate you clicking any of the Amazon links on this website, and I'll get a commission from Amazon for sending you. 

Drill of the Week:

Practice moving and keeping both hands on the gun, and moving with dismounting the gun with your weak hand. See what distances it makes sense to dismount the gun, and what distances it makes sense to stay on it. 

I think everyone is going to be a little different depending on skill level, etc, so you've gotta figure it out yourself. 

Holsters for Competition Beginners:

Everything you need here.

In the live chat for the last Triangle Tactical Q&A show, Austin asked "What's the difference between IDPA and USPSA?"

I didn't have time to get to it in the Live Q&A show, so I thought I'd talk about it here on the main podcast. 

Here's the rundown:

Concealment:

IDPA requires you to have your gun concealed. You'll generally see people using a vest to conceal their gun, but a vest is not required.

USPSA does not require your gun to be concealed.

Divisions:

For the most part, the different divisions in each game are somewhat similar-ish. 

In USPSA there are 7 divisions. This is really high level, but here's the breakdown:

• Production - This is the division I shoot. You'll want to shoot 9mm in Production. You're limited to 10rds in a magazine, and in this division you'll see a lot of Glocks, M&P's, CZ's and Tanfoglio pistols. 
• Carry Optics - This division is for pistols that have slide-ride optics. My advice here is to buy an optic with a GREAT warranty. I've seen a LOT of them break, and they're expensive.
• Pistol Caliber Carbine - Pretty self explanatory. You're generally going to see 9mm AR's, that sort of thing.
• Single Stack - This is a division for 1911 pattern pistols.
• Limited - You can basically do whatever you want to your pistol in Limited, except for have a compensator, optic, or weapon-light. You'll generally see .40S&W 2011 pistols in this division.
• Open - This is the division you probably think of when you think of a race-gun. 2011 pattern pistol, red-dot optic, compensator, chambered in .38Super or 9mm major. 

IDPA has a few less divisions:

• Stock Service Pistol - Pretty similar to USPSA's Production division. Guns like the Glock 34, Glock 17, M&P, etc. will shoot in this division without many modifications. 
• Enhanced Service Pistol - ESP allows some more modifications than SSP, as well as single-action pistols.
• Custom Defensive Pistol - This is basically the 1911 division, but you can shoot other .45ACP pistols here too.
• Compact Carry Pistol - A division for the smaller guns that people actually carry concealed. It's basically for your S&W Shield sized guns, up to about the Glock 19 sized guns. 
• Back-up Gun - This is or the teeny tiny guns like the Ruger LCP, etc. 

Stages:

USPSA stages can have up to 32 required rounds. This means you'll need to make sure you've got enough magazines to shoot all that. 

IDPA stages are limited to 18 rounds per stage, which means you need a little less ammo, and other gear to get started. 

In USPSA, you're basically presented with a problem, and it's up to you to come up with a stage plan, and solve the problem yourself. 

In IDPA, you'll be told a bit more about how to shoot each stage. "Start here, shoot these targets from here, those targets from there, etc."

USPSA Classifier Updates

Also in the live chat for the last Triangle Tactical Q&A show I had a few people asking me about my thoughts on the announced USPSA classifier updates. I read the entire thread over on Doodie Project, and honestly, I think the whole thing is a big nothing-burger. I think they should be updated frequently, and I don't really have an issue with how it's being done. 

Plug of the Week:

Jessica Nietzel wrote a FANTASTIC article over on the Shooters Mindset blog about subjectivity in RO calls in USPSA. 

DQing new shooter SUCKS. 

DQing you friends SUCKS. 

But, sometimes it needs to be done. Go read it. 

If you're looking to buy a gun for competitive shooting, one thing you may notice is that a lot of gun reviews really aren't helpful beyond telling you what the features of the gun are. 

A bunch of people doing gun reviews just open a box, and fire up the camera. This can be useful for letting you know about features and whatnot, but if you're buying a gun for competition, you're probably going to want to know a lot more than that, especially if you haven't shot your first match yet. 

I'd really love to see a competitive shooting focused gun review channel on YouTube where they actually shoot the absolute mess out of the guns, interview some folks who've been shooting them long term, talk about parts that break (because parts break, it happens), and things that are relevant for competitive shooting from people who are somewhat knowledgeable on the subject. 

I dunno, I spent a bunch of time over the weekend just watching YouTube gun reviews, and I noticed a bunch of stuff in them that just isn't useful to me at all. People tossing guns against things... because... science? "Torture testing", etc. None of it's useful to me at all. 

Podcast Awards:

So, the 2017 Podcast Awards Nominations are open. If you think I'm doing a good job, and want to head over to podcastawards.com, sign up, and nominate me for a podcast award, I'd certainly be grateful. Make sure you confirm your email address, otherwise your vote won't count.

I give a lot of advice here on the podcast, and talk about things as I see them in the shooting sports, but I've found that my perspective isn't always the same as everyone elses, and that's why I love these call-in episodes where you send in your thoughts on a topic.

There's been a lot of talk in the shooting sports world about on-ramps to competitive shooting, and how there's not a great way for new people to get started, especially if they don't already have a friend who is involved.

So, for this weeks podcast, I asked the question: "What's the ONE piece of advice you wish you had received before you shot your first match?"

There is a BUNCH of great information in this episode, everything from what gear you should buy, how you should prepare for matches, and who you should shoot with.

5 things:

The things that you do when you're not shooting can have a profound affect on your shooting. Here's where to get the details on all 5 things. 

Tip of the Week:

Even if you're wearing a giant, ugly, dork hat like me on a hot sunny day on the range, you should still put some sunblock on your face. Apparently the UV rays can reflect off the ground and burn your face anyways... ask me how I know...

I left Sunday's match with a sunburned face, even after wearing my ugly dork hat. Yeesh.

Plug of the Week:

I was on the Firearms Nation Podcast this week, and it was a lot of fun. Check it out.