Podcasts about triangle tactical

Memes: If you haven't been following Triangle Tactical on social media, you've been missing out on all the shooting sports memes that I've been making. Carry Rig: I picked up a new carry rig. I've been rocking a Glock 19 for the longest time but I found myself wanting something smaller while doing dad stuff. The G19 was just getting too heavy and big while carrying the baby carrier, diaper bag, and everything else that goes along with having a little tyke. So, I picked up a Glock 43, and a RCS Morrigan holster to go with it. I'm a big fan. USPSA: New rulebook looks decent, and there's one thing in it that I really like: this USPSA approved ammo vendor program thing.  

I mentioned a theory on the podcast a couple weeks ago about how I expected that higher class shooters would probably pull away from lower class shooters on the shorter stages moreso than the longer stages, but gthat it was just a theory because I didn't want to do the math. Well, I got an email from Louis, and he pulled the data from the different stages at the 2017 Production Nationals and... I was totally wrong.  Louis broke down the stages from Nationals, then charted the median percentage by round count on a chart and it turns out that the median finish from each classification was about the same on all the different round count stages. Louis has been pulling the numbers on some other things with classifications and whatnot and if you want to see them, look in the shownotes for this episode and I'll have a link to his github page with the deets: https://lstange.github.io/uspsa/classification_vs_performance.html (By the way, if you didn't know this, you *should* be able to access all the links and stuff from the podcast shownotes in whatever podcast app you're using. I always tell you to go to triangletactical.net/280 or whatever, that's unnecessary for most of you, all the links should be right in your podcast app in the shownotes for this episode). Why do people quit shooting? Trying to think of people who I know who have actually just quit, vs those who have just not been to a match in a while for one reason or another, but have every intention to shoot again. I've "quit" twice over the years. - Ammo crunch after the 2012 Obama Election - Hardcore burnout after ROing way too much So, I emailed everyone on the Triangle Tactical email list and asked them if they've ever quit shooting, and why. I got a bunch of answers that are pretty wide ranging. (BTW, this is what I like to use the email list for, so if you're not on it, get on it!) Interestingly, a bunch of people emailed me back and mentioned that cost probably makes some people quit, but nobody specifically emailed me back and said that they've quit because of cost. Joe mentioned that he's in Michigan and the winters shut down most of the matches up there. Jason and Khan mentioned time away from family. Some matches take a LONG time to get through, so I can see that. With a baby on the way, balancing matches and practice and family time is going to be something I need to put more emphasis on going forward. Several folks mentioned jobs. Either job loss, or new jobs, or jobs taking up way too much time on the weekends. Aaron actually said that he quit a job because his days off were only during the week and he had to work every weekend so he changed it up to get his weekends off. Quitting because the match near you isn't challenging. Aaron mentioned that quit because a local match jsut wasn't pushing him the way it needed to, took some time off and came back as a USPSA shooter where he's being challenged a lot more, and that's making things better for him. Boring clubs. James mentioned a "looks the same every month" match that was near him years ago that drove him away. A couple folks talked about physical injuries. Things that come from practice like tennis elbow, as well as other injuries that just keep them from shooting. Surgeries, etc. So, with all this said, the reasons that people have quit shooting, lets talk for a minute about what's brought people back: Friends Needing a competitive outlet Something to do with kids as they've gotten older and need more man skills. Noticing that competition makes them want to be more athletic and get into better shape than they were previously. Q&A: "Why is there not a specific division for compact size firearms such as G19, CZ P01 or P07 etc?" Here's the thing: we don't need carve outs for every size of firearm. If we were to do that we wind up with way too many divisions, and things just get silly after a while.  In my opinion, the other reason for this is because most shooters don't want to shoot their little tiny guns in USPSA, at least not long term. 32rd stages with little guns that sometimes don't even hold 10 rounds doesn't really sound like a great time to me. I get that the guns mentioned all hold 10+ rounds, but if we're going to go down the tiny-gun rabbit hole, what about guns like the Shield, XDs, and others? So, with all this said, I think the reasoning here is that USPSA isn't really interested in doing what IDPA does. IDPA has a place for these little guns, and they work really well in that game, because of round count, and because of the concealed carry sort of design of that game.  All this isn't to day that USPSA doesn't have a place for the compact guns you mentioned though. All three guns you mentioned (Glock 19, CZ P01, and CZ P07) are specifically called out as legal on the USPSA Production list. There's nothing keeping these guns from being shot in Production, I see guys shoot Glock 19's in Production all the time.  "Should competitors be allowed to shoot two divisions in the same match? I'm starting to see this a lot locally where people are shooting both handgun and PCC during the match (and paying two entry fees)." No. We have a hard enough time getting shooters to help during the match, so letting someone shoot, then wander off to the safe area to bag a gun and un-bag another one, then come back to the stage, stuff mags full from the gun they just shot, check the gear for the gun that they're about to shoot, then shoot the second gun, then wander back to the safe area to switch back, stuff mags for the other gun, means that this person will NEVER run the timer or work the tablet. They'll NEVER paste target for more than a shooter or two per stage if we're lucky, and then they're taking up more time by shooting the second gun.  With that said, if there's a multi-day match and shooters can shoot different divisions on different days, no problem. There's also a local BUG match that allows multiple entries, and for that match it works really well. The stages are 5rds tops. No reloads, and no holster needed, so you can finish your first gun, bag it, and take your second gun out of it's bag when it's time to shoot. Easy peasy, and it works just fine because there isn't much pasting and resetting to do, so there is time for people to switch guns at that match. 

Michigan native and North Carolina transplant Lucas Apps hosts one of the most informative competitive shooting podcasts on the net. He joins Lloyd in today's show to talk about podcasting, competitive shooting, and has advice for newbies who want to get into the shooting sports. Plus a self-defense tip from Aaron Israel, a new Ballistic Minute from Sgt. Bill, and a report from SHOT Show from Mia Anstine. THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY COOK'S HOLSTERS. AMERICAN MADE CUSTOM HOLSTERS WITH A 100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEE. www.CooksHolsters.com Links of Interest Facebook – Colt's New Night Cobra Triangle Tactical Podcast Special Guest: Lucas Apps We are joined today by Lucas Apps, the host of the Triangle Tactical Podcast to talk about competitive shooting, his favorite gun, and how to build a better shooting sport. Ballistic Minute with Sergeant Bill Sgt. Bill has tips for changing guns between seasons as he switches to 1911s from Glocks this year. Aaron Israel of Fundamental Defense Aaron Israel talks about how to be safe at a public gun range. Mia's Motivations with Mia Anstine Mia stopped by the Colt booth at SHOT Show to talk to Darren Scott and look at the new Night Cobra revolver. Prayer of the Week O Lord, we implore You favorably to hear the prayers of Your people that we, who are justly punished for our offenses, may be mercifully delivered by Your goodness, for the glory of Your name; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Savior, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen Our Closing Theme A rockin' rendition of A Mighty Fortress is Our God, performed just for Armed Lutheran Radio by Kenny Gates.

If you’re local to me, listen up. If you’re not local to me, just bear with me or skip ahead 30 seconds or so. At the end of the year I’m killing the Triangle Tactical competitive shooting calendar on the website.  There are a couple of reasons for this: It costs more than a hundred bucks a year for the software to keep it running. Not a huge deal, but it’s a factor. The time to keep it running is substantial. I can’t seem to keep it accurate. Matches start and stop even when they’re super local to me, and I don’t find out about it, and I don’t want people to get sent to a match somewhere and not have there be a match that day. I received a good bit of feedback on last weeks podcast. A bunch of Match Directors contacting me saying “yes, Lucas, you’re almost exactly right!” So, I want to dig into this a little more in the near future. It’s basically the “off season”, or at least the slow season for most of the country right now and I think this is a good time of year for most matches to startt putting things in place to make changes if they need to, so I want to dig into this a bit more. Also, maybe I didn’t make it clear, but I don’t have any issue with for profit matches. I’m a big fan of free markets, and if someone can figure out a way to run good matches, keep shooters happy, and make some money, I’m all about it. Personally, I think getting paid a good salary to run matches would be a great way to avoid burnout on the behalf of the MD. If it were my full time gig to run matches, I think I could pull that off for a while without getting completely burned out. However, sometimes with a part time gig, you just get burned out to the point that you just don’t want to do it, even one more time. I used to literally get paid to shoot guns. Like, the coolest newest guns, as soon as they came out. Most of you are probably thinking that that sounds like a dream gig, and in the beginning it was. I named the rate that I wanted to get paid, and was given the new guns and a bunch of ammo, and sent off to the range to do my thing. However, after a while, shooting just became monotonous and boring.   I’m still unbelievably appreciative of the company for thinking of me when they wanted someone to do this for them, but it just became a thing that I got tired of, and I think that’s exactly the same thing that Match Directors can go through. Because it’s a part time thing, and because it’s not a major source of income, it can just become monotonous over time, and you just dread it. I also received exactly 3 messages from concerned listeners, and one Match Director regarding another thing that I think is worth addressing: “Jersey Wearing Complainers” It was brought to my attention that there’ a certain type of shooter that MD’s absolutely hate, to the point that some of them will just walk away and never run another match, solely because of a couple shooters: the jersey wearing complainers. This is really interesting to me, because it’s something that I don’t see. I wear a jersey (with my own business on it, mostly so listeners can find me at matches, and partially to promote what I do) but I’m not representing anyone with it, but myself. I am Triangle Tactical, and it’s just me. But, I do frequently shoot with a bunch of other shooters who wear jerseys, and I don’t really see this. It sounds like the jersey wearing complainer has become a rampant thing in the shooting sports, and it’s something that needs to be addressed. I don’t have the answers, so I’ll just say this: If you’re a shooter, and you’re not impressed with a match, absolutely deliver your feedback to the Match Director, but do it in a way that’s actually constructive. If you’re idea of delivering feedback about a match to someone is to make anonymous forum posts, or just being a dick, don’t bother. I don’t know about you, but if I’m unhappy enough about something at a match, my goal is to improve that thing so that it can suck less in the future, or at the very least figure out why it was done that way, so I’ll at least have a little more understanding as to why it is the way it is. I think if you’re unhappy with something, you should absolutely bring it up to the MD. If you’re unhappy with it, chances are other shooters are unhappy with it as well, and if nobody says anything about it, it won’t improve, registration for the match will start to fall off, and the match might go away completely. On the flip side, if you’re a dick about it, the MD could throw his hands in the air and quit too. There’s a balance here. Just don’t be a dick.

I'm not sure if it's because it's nearing the end of the traditional "shooting season" or what, but I've been talking to a few different people about how their match director is about to quit, or they themselves are a match director, and they don't know what to do because they're totally burned out, and they're not sure how to keep that burnout away.  So, on Sunday I released a survey trying to gather some data on what is killing matches.  First, I asked respondents to rank the health of their local match.  The average (mean) score was 7.6. This is exceptionally high, but remember this survey went to shooters, not just match directors. A lot of shooters may not be fully aware of all the things going on with their match. The second question was asking about the biggest issue effecting their local match.  I got answers from people in paragraph format, because I wanted them to really tell me what was really going on. Because of that, I did have to take some liberties when categorizing the comments, but here's what I came up with: 43% of people who responded to this question said that the biggest issue was that there weren't enough volunteers. 27% mentioned something about the host club either being hostile to matches, or something like that. 8% mentioned that they didn't have room to grow.  The third question was asking about what the biggest thing is that's helping your match thrive. 32% of answers mentioned having plenty of volunteers. 17.5% mentioned having a great host club. 35% mentioned something about great stage designs, or things like that (which, if I can make a reach, probably come from having a lot of volunteers...) Plug of the Week: A little piece on the USPSA Facebook page about using the correct range commands.  The Complete Privacy and Security Podcast. Definitely worth a listen.  Join the Super Squad! If you want to help me do more awesome stuff with Triangle Tactical, consider pledging a couple bucks a month, or becoming a Super Squad member at jointhesupersquad.com.

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.

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.

This week:  We interview Lucas Apps – blogger and podcaster from Triangle Tactical https://triangletactical.net We found out how Lucas got started shooting, what he'd do as KING of all shooting sports, and some of his thoughts on training and getting started in the sport of USPSA.  Be sure to check out his website, his podcast and his guide on How to Get Started in Competitive Shooting https://triangletactical.net/get-started-competitive-shooting/ Elizabeth went to Front Sight Alaska https://www.frontsight.com/alaska/ for a Girl and a Gun event.  Bill shot a USPSA match at Snow Shoe Gun Club http://www.snowshoegunclub.com/ and ran a 3Gun match at Birchwood Recreation and Shooting Park http://brspclub.com/ Also mentioned:  Ben Stoeger, Andrew Brenca, IDPA, HK, CZ, Tanfoglio, Glock, and the Springfield Range Officer. Music courtesy of Spaztic Productions – thanks Spaz!  http://www.spazticproductions.com/ If you have a story or would like to nominate someone to tell their shooter's story email bill@alaskagunschool.com or elizabeth@alaskagunschool.com

[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 Doesn't Suck As I've mentioned many times, this podcast keeps running because of my affiliate links with Amazon.com. All you've got to do is hit an Amazon link here on Triangle Tactical, then make your purchase on Amazon, and I'll get a kick back from Amazon for referring you.  I spent a big part of last weekend re-doing the Gear that Doesn't Suck page that's got all of the Gear that Doesn't Suck items on it from the last year or so of podcast episodes. Check it out at triangletactical.net/doesntsuck. Listener Q&A Brandon on Facebook just bought an XD 2 weeks ago, and wants to start dryfire. Rick in Michigan is browsing new guns, and wants to know what he should look at for a competition gun. Sean on Facebook asks about where to buy USPSA targets for practice.  If you've got a question, shoot me an email (and you can get to the front of the line if you attach a voicemail) at luke@triangletactical.net

A common question I get from people who are somewhat new to shooting (or at least new to practice) is asking what they should be practicing. Sometimes folks even buy a book of drills, and don't really know where they should get started with those drills. I don't think there's a "right" answer to this question, but I'm going to tell you what I do: Take some notes right after shooting a match. What felt good? What felt sucky? What did people compliment you on? (the last one is a good ego boost too) Review your match video. You are filming all of your matches, right? If your not, you should be. Your phone probably takes good enough video, so just turn the camera on, and hand it to whoever is standing closest to you. It's not weird. You don't have to publish the video anywhere, and you don't have to let anyone else see it, but you can go through the video and see the things you're doing well and doing poorly. Here's a few things you can look at: Match video diagnosis series Look at your Practiscore results. After Saturday's match, I left thinking that I only had one Mike (miss) for the day. Looking at Practiscore later, I had 6. 6 is not okay, at all. So that's definitely something I need to work on. The News Walther is putting up cold, hard cash for winning major matches with your Walther pistol. THIS IS AWESOME! It gets people talking about their products, and it may get Walther fanboys interested in shooting competition. I love it. There were a bunch of "mainstream" news articles last week about how the House Republicans had voted to strike down some sort of background check bill, when that wasn't the case at all. Turns out, they reversed an Obama policy regarding SSI recipients who have their finances managed by social security not being allowed to own guns. It was a BS policy that, in my opinion, was completely unconstitutional... but the media didn't report that. Things That Make You Go "Uhgggghhh" At a Match Next month I want to do another listener only show. In the past we've done "What has competitive shooting done for you?" and "Your 2017 Goals", and next I want you to tell me what makes you go "Uhhhhhhggghh" at a match. Could be a match administration thing, could be something other shooters do, or it could be something you do yourself. Lets have some fun with it. I'd like to air this episode the first week of March, so hurry up and send in the voicemails! Leave a voicemail from your computer 781-7BULLET  (781-728-5538) to call the Triangle Tactical voicemail line Record it however you want on your phone, and just email the file to luke@triangletactical.net

Lucas Apps does the Triangle Tactical podcast about competitive shooting. The podcast serves the North Carolina Research Triangle and beyond with firearms and outdoors news, self defense, and competitive shooting content. Lucas' goal is to be a resource for shooters, concealed carriers, and outdoorsmen and women in the NC research triangle. Well his podcast lead to a phone call, and on the other side of that phone call was an opportunity from someone who had heard his podcast. Would you like to get paid to do something you'd do free? Click the player to hear this story. Check out Lucas's show at triangletactical.com Click Here to subscribe to the show and never miss an episode. Ready To Start Your Podcast? Check out the School of Podcasting  

Most common thing I heard from people who are somewhat interested in the idea of competitive shooting is that they aren't good enough. - If you can draw the gun, and walk around without pointing it at yourself or anyone else, and can do basic malfunction clearance, you have the skills needed to get started. That's not to say that you're "good enough" though. When you start, you're going to suck at it. It's that way with ANYTHING you do in life, so accept it. - When I started cycling way back when, I was awful. When I picked it up again last fall, I was awful again. I'm still not great, but the more time I spend on the bike the more I'm learning and honing my skills. - It was the same when I really took up shooting as a hobby. When I started I didn't have a clue what my sights looked like when the shot broke, and if I shot 10 rounds, and 5 of them were in the center of the target, and 5 were low and left, I couldn't tell you what was different on those shots. Now? I'll still pull a shot low/left now and then, but I know the very instant that the gun goes off that something went wrong. Because I've put in the time and practice to learn these things. - There's a Swedish Psychologist named K Anders Ericcson who's literally wrote the book on this stuff. I haven't read the book yet (literally ordered it while working on these shownotes) but I've listened to him interviewed on the Freakonomics podcast a while back, as well as heard him referenced in many different audiobooks about mastery and things like that, and basically, the way I understand what I've heard about his research is that some people are born with somewhat of an advantage in their given field, but for the most part, if you want to master something, you've got to put in the work. Not just "work" but deliberate practice. So, if you know you're going to suck at competitive shooting when you start, why should you start? I've found it to be incredibly rewarding for several reasons: 1. Not to sound cocky, but I've become one of the better shooters out there. If you put me and 10 random gun owners on the range, and have us shoot for accuracy with a handgun, I'll finish near the top, because I've practiced a LOT more than the average person. 2. I've built a level of confidence in myself, my gear, and my abilities that I didn't have before I became a competitor. Certainly before I was a competitor I would pretend I had confidence when talking to my buddies about shooting, but now that I shoot a lot, practice a lot, and know what I'm capable of (with the numbers to prove it) I'm very confident should I ever need to use my gun for self defense. 3. I've got to meet some of the best in the world at my craft. If I were a runner, I probably wouldn't meet Usain Bolt at a random 5K in North Carolina. If I were a competitive cyclist, the chances of rolling up to the line with Chris Froome just wouldn't happen. BUT, there's something about competitive shooting that's different. When we invited Chris Tilley to come over to Ben's house, and record a podcast around his kitchen table, he was happy to do it. When you roll up to the starting position and Todd Jarrett has the timer, chances are he's going to drop some knowledge on you at some point if he thinks you need it. When we had Ben Stoeger on the podcast, he invited us into his hotel room to record it. These are world class shooters, all of them, and they're available and approachable. When we interviewed Tilley one of the things he said was that he loves teaching brand new shooters how to shoot. Not the A class guys who should practice more, and make excuses for not doing it, but the people who have never shot before. I think that's freaking cool. All this to day: if you've EVER wanted to try competitive shooting, do it. If you've ever wanted to gain more confidence in your shooting, try competition. If you've ever heard that competitive shooting will get you killed on the streets, come try it, and if you're just looking for something to waste your Saturday's on, we'll see you on the range. Gear that Doesn't Suck: If you're looking to become a better shooter, you need a shot timer. If you're shooting drills on the range and you're not timing them, I think you're wasting ammo. Just get a Pocket Pro 2 timer, and be done with it. The News Mike Vanderboegh passed away this week. He was a fervent 2A supporter, and he did a lot of good work. I'll miss him. There were reports of an Active Shooter at Crabtree Valley Mall here in Raleigh in Saturday. At this point on Sunday there are a lot of conflicting reports from witnesses, some saying they heard a shot, some saying they heard 4 shots, others saying they heard 12-14 shots. The police still say they don't have any evidence of any shooting taking place. While it was all going down, apparently some dude approached the mall dressed in camo, carrying a rifle, and said that he was there to help the police. Contact There's a new way to contact the podcast. If you want to send in a voicemail through your phone, just dial 7817-BULLET and you'll be connected to the Triangle Tactical voicemail line. Boom.

"Range Officers need to remember everybody is there to have fun." Is that a true statement? Maybe, but I think "fun" is defined very differently for different levels of shooters. Some folks get their fun by just showing up and shooting, and others have fun by playing the game within the rules (sometimes pushing them as far as they can) and others have fun by shooting to the best of their ability, and winning.  For me, it's changed over the years, and it's something that makes me appreciate a range officer who just enforces the rules, per the rulebook. I think some people are under the impression that some rules shouldn't be enforced/don't need to be enforced at a club match, and I don't agree with that at all.  Shirts! There's a new run of Triangle Tactical shirts going on right now at Teespring.com. I think this is the 4th time I've used Teespring, and I'm really excited about this newest run of shirts. They're available from today (7/4/2016) until 7/14/2016. If you want one, head over to Teespring.com to place your order. The News I've been reading a bunch of headlines saying something to the effect of "California bans most handguns!". Yes, a package of really bad bills were passed and signed into law by the Governor in California, but this rhetoric that "most handguns" were banned isn't exactly factual.  The bills in question are SB880 and AB1663. Here's what they both say: (4) A semiautomatic pistol that does not have a fixed magazine but has any one of the following: (A) A threaded barrel, capable of accepting a flash suppressor, forward handgrip, or silencer. (B) A second handgrip. (C) A shroud that is attached to, or partially or completely encircles, the barrel that allows the bearer to fire the weapon without burning the bearer’s hand, except a slide that encloses the barrel. (D) The capacity to accept a detachable magazine at some location outside of the pistol grip. So, if the handgun is semi-auto, has a detachable magazine AND one of these other features, it will now be an "assault weapon" in California. I fell guilty with the headline thing too, it pays to actually read the bills when this stuff is happening.    Plug of the Week   I wanted to shout out to Dawson Precision for their awesome Perfect Impact Promise. I bought some adjustable sights back in February or March and I couldn't get them to hit just perfect. This week I called them up, told them what's going on, and within a few minutes I had a shipping confirmation on a new front sight that should get me right on target. If you need sights, I recommend Dawson Precision. They're not a sponsor of the podcast (although I'd love to have them) but they do good work. Highly recommended.   

This weeks episode is sort of a companion from this blog post that Ben wrote last week. You should go read it, it's really good. We've both seen good shooters, and shooters who have the potential to be good fall out of the sport due to burnout over the years. It's probably helpful to know what burnout is, and how to avoid it.  The News: Virginia was set to revoke concealed carry reciprocity with a bunch of other states on 2/1/2016 but it looks like the Governor has made an 11th hour deal with Republicans in the state to reverse course and keep all of the previous reciprocity agreements.  USPSA had a Board of Directors meeting right after SHOT show, and they made some changes to the Carry Optics division rules. Here are the approved changes from the USPSA Down Range email that went out last week: The changes for Carry Optics Division will make it truly unique from other divisions, and will include: Authorization for all levels of USPSA and Steel Challenge Expanded stippling, contouring and texturing of the grip frame to include undercut trigger guard and grip reduction Expanded slide profiles to include serrations and cosmetic cuts not completely through the slide Increased weight limit of 45 ounces, including optic and empty magazine, allowing more pistols to compete Required use of a slide-mounted optic, prohibiting guns without an optic. Facebook bans gun classifieds. Meh, it's their house, so we play by their rules. Some people are all up in arms about this, but I'm not. It's a crappy medium for a classifieds site anyways. Have you seen the new Armslist website? It's beautiful. Gear That Doesn't Suck Not a super tactical, or gun related product, but something I use in my range bag to keep things organized and dry. Back when I used to mess around with Geocaching quite a bit, I found that these Lock-n-lock boxes are awesome because they are completely waterproof. I have some that have been hidden outdoors for over 5 years now that are still completely dry. Mine holds my timer, gun parts, holster parts, spare fiber optic rod, and Triangle Tactical stickers so they don't get damaged or wet in my range bag. No worried about the lid coming off or my stuff getting wet.  (Yes mine is painted green, it was once a Geocache hidden in the woods.) Contact luke@triangletactical.net ben@triangletactical.net

It’s been a while since we’ve really explained any of the sounds that we play regularly on the show, so we decided to take a couple minutes this week and go through them and let y’all know what they actually are. Q&A Podcast We’re still mailing out Triangle Tactical stickers if you send in a voicemail question for the Q&A podcast. Go to traingletactical.net/voicemail to find out how to do it. Shirts We’ve got another run of T-shirts and hoodies going on right now. If you want one, go buy one before November 19th, 2015. triangletactical.net/shirts The News An Amish man is suing the government because it’s against his religion to have his picture taken, and he needs a picture ID to buy as gun from an FFL.  A single feature “assault weapon” ban was introduced in Wisconsin. This thing is just sad. A stabbing at a California college was interrupted by a good guy without a gun. It was then stopped by good guys with guns. Tip of the Week Ben’s been experimenting with making visually distinct dummy rounds again. He’s now usingBrass Black and Montana Gold bullets to make all black dummy rounds for dryfire that are visually distinct from real ammo. Here’s the post he wrote about it a while back.

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 luke@triangletactical.net 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 - luke@triangletactical.net - ben@triangletactical.net - (919) 295-6128

Full shownotes are forthcoming. Basic rundown of this episode is this: We recap the Gun Powder Gals IDPA clinic that we helped with on Saturday, we look at a couple of bills that have been introduced in Texas that would allow for open carry, and constitutional carry, Ben reviews the Steve Anderson class, and we go through some listener feedback. You can order your Triangle Tactical shirts until about 10PM on Monday 11/17/2014, so you officially have less than 24 hours. Go get one or three! Check back to this post as the day goes on, I'll be updating it throughout the day.

One of the most common questions that Ben and I get from people interested in competitive shooting is about what division they will shoot in with their particular pistol. It seems that there’s an abundance of concern placed on getting into the correct division for their first match, and when it comes down to it, it doesn’t really matter what division you shoot in for your first match, because the chances that you will be competitive in the match are very slim. Housekeeping Andrew Branca is offering a coupon code for Triangle Tactical listeners for his new Law of Self Defense webinars. Use the code “TT” when signing up for the webinars and get $10 off. More here. The News A feminist video game critic cancelled her appearance at a Utah university after receiving massacre threats. That’s the headline we’ve seen all over the internet, and it’s not wrong, but it’s not telling the whole story either. She did apparently receive some baseless threats, but she really cancelled her appearance at the university after the campus police refused to ban concealed carry during the event. Utah law doesn’t allow the police to do so, and they decided to follow the law. People in Chicago are opposing the opening of an indoor shooting range because it’s within a mile of a school – like bullets radiate out of indoor ranges in all directions creating unsafe conditions from people in all directions… Contact Voicemail line (919) 295-6128

  Luke is a young man who has loves competitive shooting and his podcast features news for gun enthusiasts with a splash of politics. http://www.triangletactical.net/category/podcast-2/ ()First Impression: Website Their WordPress theme is from Cyber Chimps and it was simple and easy to read with just a few touches of advertising. You have to click on a post to get to a player. For me I would use blubrry.com or podtrac.com to get a player for people to click on toe listen to one (or more) episodes without clicking on a post. I prefer them to open in a new window for those people who listen at work. First Impression: Podcast http://podcastreviewshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/noalbumart.jpg ()We listened to episode 48, and the show starts off with some high energy music. The host Luke brought some energy to the microphone. For me, I hate music for the sake of music. So you could go to a site like fiverr.com and get some affordable voice over (or check out http://www.schoolofpodcasting.com/mrc (Music Radio Creative )). They had a bit of “chit chat” at the beginning that was barely gun related (but it was short). Both hosts have good voices, their audio sounds good. The bad news is they have the dreaded blue music note of death. This means you are not adding your ID3 tags before you upload your file to libsyn. Do You Like Guns? I am not a huge guns person. I can take them or leave them. Consequently, I am not their target audience (a point I repeat too often in the episode). They use a lot of jargon that I have no idea if they know what they are talking about. They seem to have an active Facebook page (620+ likes) and 17 five start reviews in iTunes. Their audience seems to think they provide a no jargon, straightforward approach. If you are pro gun, and are interested in competitive shooting, this is the podcast for you. Don't Assume Too Much While I may not be there target audience, don't always assume people have read your blog, or heard the latest news. You can always give a quick two sentence paraphrase of the top story before giving you opinion. Say No To Feedburner I didn't mention this on the podcast, but I see their feed is being run through Feedburner. This was a good idea in 2005, but not in 2013. You're using Blubrry, use that plugin for your feed as well. Check Out the Podcast You can find them at http://www.triangletactical.net. You can subscribe to the https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/triangle-tactical-guns-gear/id677946602?mt=2&uo=4&at=10l5Go (Triangle Tactical – Guns | Gear | Concealed Carry | Competitive Shooting)

  Luke is a young man who has loves competitive shooting and his podcast features news for gun enthusiasts with a splash of politics. First Impression: Website Their WordPress theme is from Cyber Chimps and it was simple and easy to read with just a few touches of advertising. You have to click on a post to get to a player. For me I would use blubrry.com or podtrac.com to get a player for people to click on toe listen to one (or more) episodes without clicking on a post. I prefer them to open in a new window for those people who listen at work. First Impression: Podcast We listened to episode 48, and the show starts off with some high energy music. The host Luke brought some energy to the microphone. For me, I hate music for the sake of music. So you could go to a site like fiverr.com and get some affordable voice over (or check out Music Radio Creative ). They had a bit of “chit chat” at the beginning that was barely gun related (but it was short). Both hosts have good voices, their audio sounds good. The bad news is they have the dreaded blue music note of death. This means you are not adding your ID3 tags before you upload your file to libsyn. Do You Like Guns? I am not a huge guns person. I can take them or leave them. Consequently, I am not their target audience (a point I repeat too often in the episode). They use a lot of jargon that I have no idea if they know what they are talking about. They seem to have an active Facebook page (620+ likes) and 17 five start reviews in iTunes. Their audience seems to think they provide a no jargon, straightforward approach. If you are pro gun, and are interested in competitive shooting, this is the podcast for you. Don’t Assume Too Much While I may not be there target audience, don’t always assume people have read your blog, or heard the latest news. You can always give a quick two sentence paraphrase of the top story before giving you opinion. Say No To Feedburner I didn’t mention this on the podcast, but I see their feed is being run through Feedburner. This was a good idea in 2005, but not in 2013. You’re using Blubrry, use that plugin for your feed as well. Check Out the Podcast You can find them at http://www.triangletactical.net. You can subscribe to the Triangle Tactical – Guns | Gear | Concealed Carry | Competitive Shooting