198 — Precision Rifle Shooting

Ever wonder what it's like to be one the fittest people in the entire world? Maybe, but have you ever considered what it takes to reach that level, and then transition that status into new endeavors? Well, our own Jeremy Stone visited world-class CrossFitter and Tactical Games National Champion, Jacob Heppner, to find out.

This episode of the podcast airs from an “undisclosed location” in the Pacific Northwest, probably meaning Washington State and likely near some Sasquatch village.

It’s podcast time again, and this month Gun Mag Warehouse’s Jeremy Stone sits down with 2-time National Three-Gun Champion Jack Copeland. The podcasts are always fun and informative, and this one is no different. Jeremy and Jack talk about much more than Three-Gun in their hour together. Here’s a brief rundown of their conversation to prime you for the podcast itself. But make certain you give it a listen. These are just the high points. Jack Copeland is a 2-time Three-Gun National Champion. (jack_3gun Instagram) Olympic Gold Medals and National Championships Jack shot his first competitive match at age 14, which, not-so-coincidentally, was the same age he started training with 5-time Olympic Gold Medalist shooter John McNally. Jack has always loved guns and shooting. He had just bought a Glock 17 at a gun show and stopped by McNally’s booth to look at the latter’s upgraded Glock trigger. It came out that McNally offered training and Jack’s Dad made it happen. So, they shot 1,000 rounds every weekend for a year.  Awesome parenting, right there, Mr. Copeland. Jack has competed in many categories, and even joined the US Modified Team at the 2018 Shotgun World Championships in Paris. That’s Paris, France, not Paris, Texas, in case you’re wondering, though the Lone Star version is a nice little town. Jack performed very well, placing 80th in a field of 700, despite getting a “zero” on one stage thanks to an ill-timed squib load. Jack also shot with the Russians and Ukrainians in Paris, and he has some interesting comments on that. Jack’s favorite category, though, is Three-Gun. He says it’s more exciting. “I want to run through a course of fire and have my rifle slung behind me, and my pistol, and carrying my shotgun.” Jeremy, as a newer competitor, acknowledged Jack’s preference, but also notes how he likes the simplicity and structured setup of Steel Challenge matches. A Welcoming Community Jack allows that shooting Three-Gun can be scary at first, but he emphasizes how nice the entire community is, especially compared to what he calls “purist” competition circuits. Not that those circles are complete snobs, but the vibe is different. Jack relates how another competitor once loaned him an $8,000 pistol to shoot a stage when his Glock wouldn’t cycle his reloaded ammo. (jack_3gun Instagram) Jeremy agreed that competitive shooters are very welcoming, citing his first Precision Rifle match, where he says most everyone was excited by his interest in their sport. Similar to Jack’s experience, another shooter offered to let Jeremy use his rifle. Great stuff. Jeremy also talks about the obstacles to entering the sport, saying they are almost always self-inflicted. But that same PRS shooter told him that “There’s always a reason not to start. You can always come up with something that’s gonna stop you. But if you come out here and shoot, people will lend a hand.” Now that he’s established, Jack says he’s very selective about the matches he shoots. He particularly likes Jerry Miculek’s Three-Gun match. He mentions several reasons why, but a big one is that “It’s a great group of people.” Jack says he wishes professional shooting paid better (don’t we all). Jeremy notes that most shooters pay for their own gear and equipment, though some stuff is discounted. “They’re not just handing out rifles to guys who want to shoot,” he says. “Ask me how I know.” The Importance of Quality Training This part of the podcast kicks off when Jeremy says the time and expense of training also keeps people from entering competitive shooting. “But starting and moving somewhere is better than doing nothing.” Jack agrees, saying he believes in training, even if it’s just a small local course. Do what you can and build from there. (jack_3gun Instagram) Jack talks about how he’s worked for several companies, but he always teaches fundamental shooting skills. If you find a course teaching good fundamentals,

GunMag Warehouse’s Jeremy Stone is back with an interesting new podcast after a short hiatus. This month, Jeremy takes on long range precision shooting with Adrian from Sidewinder Concepts. Adrian is a former US Army sniper who wrapped up his service in June of 2022. This month, Jeremy talks with Adrian, a former US Army sniper who now runs Sidewinder Concepts. (instagram.com/sidewinder_concepts) Sidewinder Concepts is based near Houston, Texas and the fledgling company is already making waves, even though it’s been mostly word-of-mouth so far. Jeremy heard about Adrian and Sidewinder through Milspec Mojo, who appeared on the podcast last December. Mojo was a recently qualified police sniper, and guess who trained him? That’s right. So, Jeremy decided he needed to talk to Adrian himself. Immediate Positive Results Jeremy spent a day training with Adrian and, though he admits he’s “not a sniper” after that day, he did see good results. Adrian promised Jeremy that he would hit a 1,000-yard target in the first box of ammo. He was as good as his word, as Jeremy rang the steel on the 12th round. “I hit that steel at 1,000 yards, so I felt pretty good the rest of the day,” he noted. “I was like, okay, dial it back to 500…easy.” Adrian says instilling that early confidence is part of the program. “That’s kind of the whole point about why I have guys do that. It’s to build that confidence and show that the equipment works…and essentially get those nerves out, like right out the gate. So, it’s like, ‘I hit the furthest target…then everything else should, in theory, be easy.’” (instagram.com/sidewinder_concepts) Jeremy notes that, even at 1,000 yards, the 6.5 Creedmoor bullet he was shooting was still 200 or so yards from the transonic range. In case you aren’t familiar with the term, transonic refers to the point where a bullet decelerates back through the sound barrier. This deceleration can cause destabilization beginning at about Mach 1.2. But, then again, the bullet might continue on to its target. There are many variables, but the transonic phenomenon is a real thing that can disrupt longer shots. Adrian notes that, within the bullet’s supersonic range, that is before it decelerates, the main adjustment is for wind, once you have the drop numbers figured. In Jeremy’s case, the wind calls involved some guesswork based on the flags near the target, though Adrian expands on that and says he took “more of an educated guess, or a SWAG (Scientific Wild Ass Guess), based on the flag, surrounding vegetation, and the mirage to send the first round. After that, all they had to do was identify the miss, make the correction with the reticle, and re-engage. Technology Helps Jeremy says he was worried about giving Adrian bad data, since accurate adjustments depend on it. But Sidewinder also uses a trigger cam that allows its instructors to see exactly what the shooter is doing, all but ensuring accurate feedback. Adrian says the camera is especially useful when training new shooters who may not know what feedback to give. He says the camera also serves as an “integrity check” for students and for the instructors as they demonstrate teaching points. Finally, the camera tells the instructor whether the students understand their reticles and are using them properly. (instagram.com/sidewinder_concepts) Perceptions and Reality Jeremy says that he “was pretty intimidated by the whole process, and most of that came from my own perception.” He was nervous because he thought he needed a $4,000 to $5,000 dollar rig to shoot long distance successfully. But he only had about $1,500 in his rifle, scope, and everything else. Even at $1,500, it’s technically a “budget rig,” even though that’s big money to many folks. But Jeremy learned that his “budget rig” worked just fine and he didn’t have to break his bank account to go shoot. “No,” Adrian agreed. “There are solid factory options out there.

GunMag Warehouse’s Jeremy Stone is back with another entertaining and information-packed Mag Life Podcast. This month, Jeremy sits down with YouTube gun guy and real-life cop, Milspec Mojo. Mojo is widely known as one of the top firearms guys on the internet, especially when it comes to fundamentals. Those fundamentals translate into lightning operations skills, meaning that he’s a good resource to watch if you want to improve your shooting and gun handling. Milspec Mojo is one of the top gun guys on YouTube. (Milspec Mojo YouTube Channel) Instagram and Garand Thumb Mojo started off on Instagram, where he is still very active, but his YouTube channel took off when he started working with YouTube icon, Garand Thumb. As he got further into the training aspect of firearms, Mojo found that he has a knack for teaching. He loves training other people and has developed a style in which he and his friends actually train one another, even if he is the impetus behind it all. Jeremy agrees, talking about how much fun he had at his earlier session with Mojo and his team. Mojo says it’s important to train with likeminded people who want to get better. Surround yourself with folks like that and you’ll get better. That leads to the experience of everyone training everyone. Jeremy agrees that most people want that kind of situation. Jeremy observes that not all cops train regularly. Mojo says that it is a problem in the law enforcement community, but he qualifies that by saying he’s not married and doesn’t have kids. If that happens down the road, his priorities may shift. Mojo also says that, while shooting is an important skill for law enforcement officers, other skills are also very important and maybe even more so. He talks about social skills like talking to people and making your point without sounding like a jerk. De-escalation and talking your way out of a gun fight. Defensive tactics and being physically fit are also big. All those together are probably more important for a cop than pulling a trigger, but he also says that pulling the trigger is a skill that cannot be allowed to lapse. Mojo has to pay for most of his extra training himself, as do most other cops. (Milspec Mojo YouTube Channel) Much of the less-than-ideal training can be attributed to budgetary factors made worse by the ill-conceived "defund the police" movement. Agencies simply don’t possess the ammo budget to have cops train properly. If they want extra training, they have to pay for it themselves. Jeremy notes that many departments require cops to provide their own patrol rifle if they want to roll with one. Mojo says he is very fortunate that his agency provides them with some great weapons. Back to Training Jeremy returns to his range session and says he enjoyed it because he felt like he learned something and got better. He asks Mojo what he thinks is the best way to know what you’re not good at. He then answers his own question by saying it’s shooting with other people. Mojo agrees and says that shooting on camera helps too. Those things force you to home in on individual skills to learn where you’re lacking. Mojo says you have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, meaning you have to accept that you need improvement and be able to accept and learn from constructive criticism. You have to lose your ego to get better. He has hundreds of video hours that he watches, trying to see what he can do better. Mojo Doesn’t Shoot Competitively…Yet Jeremy asks Mojo about shooting competitively, to which Mojo replies that he hasn’t done it seriously. He did shoot a couple of matches, in which he did very well using a stock rifle and a Beretta M9A1 against guys with custom rigs. Mojo says that he probably should compete, despite some law enforcement criticisms that competition is “gaming” and doesn’t translate to the real world. Mojo says he used to buy into that but has changed his mind. He says he constantly games scenarios at work,

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What are the benefits of precision rifle shooting? How do you get started and how do you grow in it? Listen in for these answers and more.