Triangle Tactical - Uspsa | 3 Gun | Idpa | Competitive Shooting

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 t

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

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

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 ex

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 a

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. 

The turn and draw is a pretty standard start position for competitive shooting matches. Generally in a turn and draw, you'll start facing up range, wrists above shoulders, and then on the buzzer you'll turn then draw your pistol once it's inside the 180*, and start engaging targets.  The conventional wisdom about the turn and draw is that you should always turn towards the gun, because the gun then has less movement to make to get on the target. I seemingly makes sense on the surface, but I'm skeptical that the movement of the gun is the important metric.  So, here's what I did: I went to the range, and setup my MGM 10" Steel Challenge plate at about 13 yards. I wanted to be able to score the shooting hit/no hit, and I wanted to make sure that I actually had to use my sights a bit so I didn't just get into the habit of draw-fire-ding without seeing my sights, and about 13 yards seemed to be the right distance for that.  Before I get into the data, here's some of the things I heard about the turn and draw: Th

If you're new to the shooting sports, don't settle on whatever shooting sport you decide to shoot first is. Go shoot a bunch of different disciplines.  The shooting sports are like high school cliques. If you go to IDPA, you'll hear people talk junk about those USPSA gamers. If you shoot USPSA, someone will talk junk about the tacti-fools at IDPA. If you shoot 3-gun, you'll hear someone talk junk about the guys that only shoot one match.  Here's the thing though, and I mean this: Each game has it's own merits. In IDPA, I like that I can be competitive with my concealed carry gun should I decide to shoot it. It's also got smaller gear requirements, shorter stages generally, and the rules allow for some interesting things that you can't really do in USPSA.  In USPSA, I like that it doesn't pretend to be anything but shooting fast and accurate. I'm really motivated by the classification system where after each match, I can see how it's impacted my overall classification score etc. At least in my part of the worl

[powerpress] Long story short, I believe the biggest barrier that we face to advancing gun rights isn't politicians, but swaying the vast majority of the general public who are indifferent, or on the fence about guns.  What I've found is, if you're just a normal person who likes to shoot, and talks about it in a normal way, most folks are pretty receptive.  However, if you're rocking a "Hillary for Prison" shirt and whatnot (i.e. dressed in a way that automatically politicizes a conversation) the general public is going to be much less receptive to your message. If you want to make something "normal" you've got to be normal.  Shirts! Check out this shirt I'm selling over on Teespring. I think it's pretty great, and I'm quite excited about it.  First Match Voicemail: Matt in Indiana sent in a great first match voicemail for this episode, and it made me want to remind everyone out there that I'm here to help.  If you want to get started in competitive shooting, and have questions, hit me up. Shoot me an email

Being the 5th week of the month, and a holiday weekend, I'd usually take a week off from the podcast, but I had some things from this weeks practice session and Sunday's USPSA match that I wanted to talk about. So, on this weeks show, I move away from the usual podcast format, and just give you some top of mind things from this last week.  Patreon If you haven't checked out the Triangle Tactical Patreon yet, you're missing out. The 4th episode of the Triangle Tactical News Blast podcast just released over there this week, and in my opinion, it's pretty good. Patreon is allowing me to do a lot more awesome stuff, so if you can contribute, I'd certainly appreciate it! Patreon.com/triangletactical

Recently a well known tactical trainer dude posted something on Facebook about having an XD pistol malfunction in his classes, and went on to talk about how he's seen a lot of malfunctions from the XD pistols in his classes. (I don't doubt his experience, at all) Of course, a bunch of folks came out of the woodwork defending the XD pistols, and other folks came into the comment thread bashing XDs, and even others came into the thread defending their pistol de jour while calling themselves a "Glock guy" or "Sig guy" or "1911 guy" or whatever.  I'm less grumpy about someone taking a class and breaking a gun than I am about the folks who identify themselves as a "whatever guy" because they're pigeonholing themselves into one brand, when chances are at some point in time, you're going to want a feature that your gun de jour doesn't have. Especially if you practice a bunch.  It's like screwdriver. I carry an expensive one every day at work, because I use a screwdriver A LOT. To most folks, a screwdriver is just a

One of the more common things I hear from people who want to get started in competitive shooting is that they don't have the money.  Before I get going on this topic, I want to make one thing very clear: If you're trying to scratch together the money to eat, now is not the time to get started in competitive shooting.  With that said, I don't think being a regular competitive shooter has to cost a whole lot more than most other hobbies. If you're into hiking, you're going to have gas costs to get you to the trailheads, boots wear out, stoves, fuel for stoves, tent, backpack, etc.  The same thing with cycling. Chains have to be replaced somewhat frequently, chainrings wear out, tires, tubes, suspension work, etc. It all adds up.  So, here's some things I do to save money so I can shoot more: Reloading: When I got started with this stuff, I had more time than money. I bought a cheap, used, Lee Turret press, and all the peripherals I need to get started reloading for about $300 Once that investment was made, I wa

Have you ever been given unsolicited advice at the range? Or, have you ever given it? Podcast listener Michael sent me a message on Facebook with the following message: Hey Lucas, I’ve got an idea for a topic on the podcast that I would like to hear your take on. The topic is unsolicited advice at matches. . For instance the guy that tries to pick apart random shooters match performance and tell them what they screwed up on and what they need to do or BUY to improve their performance. It seems like it’s usually the crappy shooters or old guys doing it to so it’s usually not even good advice. It is my personal opinion that unless someone asks you for advice at a match you don’t give them any. What are your thoughts, see any of this at matches you go to? I do think that most people who give out advice at matches have good intentions, but, I don't think that most people should probably be giving others advice, especially when it's about actual shooting, and not just things like "don't handle your blaster outsi

[powerpress] There are some things in the shooting sports that just suck. Today, I talk about those things. What sucks for you? Let me know in the comments below this post! Anyways, here's my list: Sub-machine gun matches It sounds so awesome, but at the one I observed, people were just spraying and praying, and as someone who embraces the DVC (Speed/Power/Accuracy) thing, it just didn't do anything for me. Carnival stages I like hard shots. If you're a stage designer, make some shots challenging, but don't take every target out of the target shed and use them all on one stage. Just don't. People who say "But it's just a club match?!" Play the game, or don't play the game. If you're going to be there though, play by the rules. Range Officers who are afraid to DQ people who are unsafe. You're not doing the shooter a favor by letting them keep shooting. If safety is really #1, that means it takes precedent above the shooters feelings. If someone does something that's DQable, DQ them.  Gear that Do

If you look at any sport, other than practical shooting you'll notice that people work with a single coach for a long period of time. In practical shooting though, folks tend to work their way up the rankings alone, with just dryfire and live fire practice, and the occasional training class from someone who's a national champion or something. The trouble here is that when you're going to learn from someone who doesn't know you, and might not ever see you again, you're only getting the day or two of instruction, and then it's all back on you. When I was a kid I played a little bit of little league, and I remember our coaches being immensely helpful in making us better players. Our dryfire was playing catch, or practicing pitches, or even the pickup baseball game in the grassy lot behind the local church. Then we got actual coaching from our coaches where they'd help us learn how to practice better, make corrections, etc. Then, the best kids on the team (not me...) would go off to clinics in the summer time whe

If you've been shooting USPSA for any length of time, you've probably heard someone say "Don't draw to steel!" while walking through a stage before it's shot. It's something that's become conventional wisdom in practical shooting, and I think it's complete hogwash. If you approach an array of targets like the ones below, and draw to the steel target first, your time to first shot might be slightly longer, but at the same time, your time to shoot the plate if it's the last target will probably take just as long, so I think it's a wash. So, Here's what I did: Draw to steel on far left then shoot to the right. Mean HitFactor = 8.9833 Draw to paper on far left then shoot to steel on the right. Mean HitFactor = 8.9952 Draw to steel on far right then shoot to paper on the right. Mean HitFactor = 8.5273 Draw to paper on the far right then shoot to steel on the far right. Mean HitFactor = 7.9567 Basically, it doesn't matter. Personally, I think the slight fall off on the last one I shot down to a 7.5 hitfactor was m

I hear a lot of excuses from people about why competitive shooting is bad, or why they won't/don't shoot it, etc. (Actually, I think I hear them less and less because people don't want me to talk about them on the podcast) but anyways... A lot of the excuses I hear are just silly, and a while back I received a bunch of them from the same person: "You have to keep your guns unloaded until you're the shooter." "You have to show clear and hammer down when you're done." 180* rule "If the muzzle is up or down, there's no reason you can't turn around." "Some competitions you can't reload or shoot while moving." When criticizing practical shooting, I think you need to ask yourself what is lost when these things are implemented? What's lost by having people walk around with unloaded guns? What's lost by verifying the guns are unloaded? What's lost by implementing the 180* rule? Nothing.

I remember showing up to my first USPSA match and being kind of intimidated by all of the folks that were there with their fancy shooting shirts, covered in sponsor logos. Patrick in Detroit sent in a question for the Q&A podcast way back in about July of 2016. At the time I promised him that I'd do an episode about his question, and I set out looking for someone to interview who knows more about it than I do. What I found was a little surprising: most people don't really want to talk about the details. So, I've spent the last 9 months or so looking into the different sponsorships by talking to folks at matches, reading things on the internet, and observing. What I've ascertained is that there are 3 basic types of sponsorships in the shooting sports: Free Stuff Contingency Program Team Shooters There's a 4th type of sponsorship that people think exists, but it doesn't really, and that's the "paid professional shooter". Companies have paid spokesman who shoot, but I'm not aware of anyone who just get's p

Treating a Match Like an Athletic Event I used to do a ton of obstacle racing and we would train specifically for the event, running distances, climbing walls, etc And then I would eat well the night before, drink plenty of water and go to bed early. In the morning I’d eat a healthy breakfast with slow carbs to last throughout the day and pack with me plenty of water in a camelbak and some shotblocks for quick carbs out on the course. And I don’t do any of that for 3-Gun matches. This became apparent recently when I was shooting the Dissident Arms Multigun monthly club match near College Station, Texas. So the night before I got to talking with the roommates and stayed up a little too late. And I’ve been running a bit too hard lately so I actually slept through my alarm. I woke up at 7, about an hour late and quickly took care of the pup and hit the road to drive two hours to the match. I sent a text to a pal on my squad to let him know that I’d be late and luckily when I got to the stage it was a 1-gun stage