Caleb Giddings Joins Team Cheaper Than Dirt!

We’re proud to announce today our sponsorship of well known IDPA competitor Caleb Giddings.

Caleb Giddings made a name for himself with his performances shooting Enhanced Service Revolver in IDPA competition as well as his 2010 appearance as a contestant on the History Channel’s reality TV show “Top Shot”. Caleb comes to Cheaper Than Dirt! from the National Rifle Association where he worked as an election coordinator. Caleb has been shooting since he was 8 years old. It was in the US Coast Guard Academy on the collegiate pistol team where he first found that he had more than just a knack for shooting. As a bull’s-eye pistol shooter Caleb laid the foundation for his move into action pistol shooting. His performances at area and national matches regularly place him with some of the best shooters in the nation.

Among his peers Caleb is considered to be a major up-and-coming competitor. He was the 2009 IDPA Indiana State Champion and has the potential to make a serious showing at the 2011 IDPA Nationals. When asked about the partnership Caleb had this to say: “I’m proud to be sponsored by Cheaper than Dirt! Their commitment to supporting the shooting sports at both the local and the national level is fantastic. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to spread that support to both new and experienced shooters!”

Giddings will be doing more than just letting his shooting performance do the talking. In addition to being a talented shooter he is also a published writer for Shooting Illustrated and other major publications. Readers of this blog can look forward to feature articles from Caleb with shooting tips, firearm reviews, as well as ammunition testing and evaluation.

Caleb went on to discuss upcoming ammunition reviews: “Testing ammo is an opportunity that has me fired up. For competitive shooters, hunters, and concealed carry permit holders it’s extremely important that the ammunition you choose for the job be able to deliver the right performance. Whether it’s making a clean kill on a game animal, making the perfect hit on the x-ring, or protecting your family, I’m thrilled to be testing ammunition from Cheaper Than Dirt and helping the shooting community to make informed decisions about their ammo.”

Please join us in welcoming Caleb to Team Cheaper Than Dirt!

Joyce Wilson Takes Us Behind The Scenes at IDPA Nationals

It's nearly the end of September, which means that the season is quickly drawing to a close for many competitive shooting organizations. In fact, the IDPA National Championship is being held this week just outside Tulsa Oklahoma. Two hundred and fifty shooters from 8 nations will converge on the Unites States Shooting Academy, one of the finest training facilities in the central US.

We recently had the opportunity to speak with Joyce Wilson, Executive Director and Treasurer of IDPA to find out about her background in the shooting sports. Along the way we gained an insiders perspective into the history of IDPA and got an exclusive behind the scenes look at what goes on in putting on one of the largest action pistol shooting events in the United States.

How did you first get started with firearms? Actually, I didn't have any experience as a child and didn't grow up around them. My dad had some rifles and stuff like that but he'd never taken me out shooting or anything along that nature. In kind of an interesting way, my background in firearms started with a bad divorce. I went through a bad separation and felt like I needed to get a concealed carry permit. Not that I ever had to use it or anything like that, but I took a concealed carry class where I was living in West Virginia at the time. I got real interested in shooting, but IDPA wasn't actually formed at that point, so I started with a bit of USPSA.

Your interest in firearms has always been from a personal defense standpoint? You never had any interest in competitive shooting before that? Right, I just didn't grow up around competition.

Did you know Bill Wilson or Ken Hackathorn before getting involved in IDPA? No, I didn't. I didn't know anything about either one of them. I had met Ken shortly after they started IDPA simply because of his involvement in USPSA. I knew of Bill only because of the gun shop and obviously was a big fan of "The best firearms in the world" but I had no idea I would ever get to meet him.

What brought about the genesis of IDPA? Well, Bill got started in USPSA, but as the rules when on and time went by Bill and others decided that they wanted a practical shooting sport and talked to USPSA about starting a practical class. When it became apparent that the other USPSA board members had no interest in a practical class Bill and John and Ken decided "Well, we're just going do it on our own". Bill used his contacts in the industry to line up sponsors and organize things and soon had extraordinary success. The sport grew to 15,000 members in the US and 49 different countries.

Wow, that's incredible growth. Why did you make the decision to move from USPSA over to IDPA? Well, USPSA is a lot of fun, but the classification system is kinda cumbersome. Plus, while I enjoyed the game aspect of USPSA I had gotten my concealed carry permit, taken LFI-I from Massad Ayoob, and IDPA was just a natural fit. It was a lot easier to get involved in than USPSA. You could just pick up any gun and a mag pouch and you could shoot a match. With USPSA you needed the right pouch, the right holster, a tricked out gun, lots and lots of ammunition and even more money. At the time, it was just easier to shoot IDPA.

IDPA Executive Director and Treasurer Joyce Wilson in an undated photo.

There was initially some bad blood and negative reactions when IDPA was first started. Do you think any of this came about from those in the industry who felt it was "safer" politically to focus on action pistol shooting as just a sport and not a self defense oriented activity? I don't think that it was so much that aspect of it, I think it was more that some of them just didn't get along with Bill and Ken and the guys. There was a lot of animosity between both sports, and I know even when I first started with IDPA back in 2000 there were some who referred to IDPA as "I Don't Practice Anymore".

As far as I can tell all of that is gone now. Eventually we were basically able to just reopen the lines of communication and we worked real hard to both support each other. We always are in contact to make sure that our major matches don't conflict.

Let's talk about your upcoming National Match this week in Tulsa Oklahoma at the United States Shooting Academy. IDPA is primarily made up of local organizations, correct? Correct.

Do you have qualifiers or area matches leading up to Nationals? We've got lots of different area matches. Many states organize state championships and often times a few conjoining states will join together for an area match. We have required people now to shoot two area sanctioned matches before they apply to compete at Nationals.

How do you select the ranges where Nationals are held each year? We try to move the match around some, but there are only so many ranges that meet the criteria we need to hold the National Championships. They need a number of pistol bays, usually 8 or more, they need to have facilities for scorers and nearby hotels. They also need to be near a major, at least a regional, airport so that competitors can travel to the match.

It doesn't sound like there are many ranges that can meet all of those requirements. Right, exactly and sometimes we have to compromise. We're always looking for new ranges. We put out feelers in the Tactical Journal and the IDPA website asking if anybody knows of a range that they'd like to see the Nationals at to holler at us. It really helps to have a fairly good sized local club on the ground at that range, simply because we need a core group that can help us with logistics like lunches and port-a-pottys for instance. But yes, we're always looking for new places as well.

Tell us a little bit about the USSA range in Tulsa where you'll be holding Nationals this week. We've got 18 stages in the National Match setup on 9 bays. I think we've got 2 or 3 expo bays set up. That range is just gorgeous. It's huge, I don't think we even use half of it. I know they've got the whole steel challenge set up on one set of bays, and then we use like 9 of their pistol bays, and I think they've still got 3 or 4 more. They've got I don't know how many rifle bays. They've got a 360° bay and just beautiful facilities.

What I would call the "clubhouse" which is actually their headquarters is just a beautiful office building that has classroom space that we use for scoring and they've got a wonderful pro shop set up out there as well. Their staff is just wonderful to work with. We love going over there. This will be the second year that we've been there and it just makes it so easy to go there and put this match on.

It sounds like quite the production. How much time and effort goes in to putting on an event this big? It's basically a year long project. The crunch time is probably the last three months before the match, with the last 4 or 5 weeks really being the super-crunch time. We start literally the day after the match is over making sure that we've got a range for next year, where it's going to be, the format of the match, making sure we've got a match director picked out, and basically starting the whole process over.

The logistics have to be a major hurdle as well. You've got competitors coming in from across the globe and have to arrange shipping and receiving for firearms and ammunition too. Right. We actually have competitors coming in from 7 or 8 foreign countries this year. They can't all bring ammo so we arrange to get them ammo or for them to be able to purchase ammo. Even a lot of the local United States shooters that are flying in that don't want to carry ammo because it's just such a pain in the butt to carry ammo and firearms and all that on commercial airlines anymore. They'll pre ship their stuff in as well.

There are just lots and lots of little details to cover, and I'm so so lucky I've got a wonderful staff here at headquarters. They've been doing this for a while and now it just happens and that's way cool.

Of course, something like this could never be pulled off without all of the sponsors. Tell us a bit about all of the sponsors you've got this year and how critical their participation is. Oh absolutely. We've got I don't know how many sponsors all together this year and I don't want to name a bunch of names because I don't have a listing of them in front of me.

Let me throw a couple out there, we've got Smith & Wesson as a major sponsor this year- Smith & Wesson is always a huge sponsor...

...and the National Shooting Sports Foundation- Always a huge sponsor, and we're really pleased to see you guys as sponsors this year, that's going to be awesome.

Yes, we'll have a team out there debuting our brand new Cheaper Than Dirt! Warrior Truck set up as part of one of the stages this year. Tell me a bit about the competition and some of the top level shooters we can expect to see make a showing at the match. That's awesome, you know there will be lots of great shooters out there as well this year. We've got a lot of sponsored shooters in the match that I know of, just because I know them personally, but there are lots and lots of talent coming up and there is a lot of undiscovered talent out there.

If I can kinda digress for a bit, that's something interesting about the sport as well. The sport is now 13 almost 14 years old and it's interesting to see how much the level of competency has come up in those years. At the first 2 or 3 Nationals it was really something to have 10 or 15 Master Class shooters. I'm not sure we're not a little top heavy on Master Class shooters this year. I'm thinking that we've got somewhere between 80 and 100, which is huge, and what that tells me is that the sport is maturing and that people's skill level has come up so much. We actually really need to re-look at our classification process, which is something that we're doing.

Speaking of up and coming shooters, does IDPA have a Junior's program? We don't have specifically a Junior's program, which is something that we've kicked around and that we need to do. I know that USPSA has a very active Junior's program. We do recognize a High Junior Shooter at the Nationals, but as far as a mentor program or something like that, we really leave that up to the individual clubs. It's difficult enough for some of the clubs to even just host a match once a month, and to keep adding things on to them to be another requirement makes it even more difficult.

So, we are still looking at a Junior program, but the other aspect is that we just don't have a lot of staff here at IDPA headquarters. There's basically just 4 of us. To add more programs means that we have to add more staff, and potentially means that membership fees have to go up. That's something that we don't really want to do in this economic environment, and we haven't had as much interest in a Junior's program. It's kinda one of those things where the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and until we get more members saying "Hey, I know lots of kids that want to shoot," I just don't see that big of a demand for it at this point.

Still, we've seen the growth of Junior Shooters in USPSA and I think we're seeing more and more come over to IDPA for a change of pace. It's hard to know specifically. We're seeing obviously an increase in membership, but it's difficult to delineate exactly where those people are coming from. I would suspect, possibly because of the increase in competency that yeah, we're seeing some cross over from USPSA and even some cross over from Cowboy Action.

The good thing is that we all try to work together in the industry, and therefore we encourage our shooters to go shoot other disciplines and hopefully the other disciplines encourage their members to do the same.

Image courtesy ActionShootingMall.com

We've really seen, especially recently, that when we do pull together as an industry that we can accomplish incredible things. Exactly, and at this point in time with the political climate, we have got to pull together. Not only the shooting sports but the hunting side and everybody interested in self defense.

For those who can't make it to Nationals you had an IDPA Postal Match last year. Are you doing that again this year? As far as I know, we are. I'd have to double check, that was Robert. He pretty much handles my day-to-day stuff as far as the practical match goes. The Postal Match has gone really well in the past couple of years.

Last year ya'll had over 2,000 entries right? Right. To me, I think that's just neat. It's kind of like a National Match for those who can't make it.

Of course, shooters who want to compete can always just find a local club in their area. Absolutely.

How does one go about finding a local club? The easiest way to find a local club is to just go to our website. Click on your state and look and see what's available. We've got all of the clubs listed along with the club contacts. A lot of the clubs even have their own websites so that you can easily go on and click on that club's website and find out when they shoot and who you need to talk to. You can always call IDPA headquarters too (870-545-3886). We're more than happy to answer questions about where you can go shoot.

Now, on the off chance that somebody can't find a club in their area, how would they go about starting up their own local IDPA club? Well, the first thing they need to do is they need to contact their Area Coordinator and make sure that they've got a Safety Officer class under their belt because all of our club contacts need to be Safety Officer's as well and have taken the class. They don't need to be a Safety Officer Instructor, but they need to have the Safety Officer status. Then they can contact us and we can provide them with the necessary materials and any help that they need in getting the club set up.

I want to thank you for taking the time to talk with us today and we can't wait to see you at the National Match and see what the competition has in store for us. Great, I sure appreciate it. It's been a pleasure talking with you too and I certainly appreciate your support of IDPA.

Joyce Wilson lives in North West Arkansas with her husband Bill Wilson of Wilson Combat.

Team Glock's Randi Rogers

Randi Rogers is one of the younger pro-shooters on the circuit today, but don't let her age fool you, she's got well over a decade of experience. Randy has been shooting since the young age of 11, and started competing in Cowboy Action Shooting with her grandfather who was well known among CAS shooters. Randi took the time recently to talk to us about her background in the shooting sports and give us some valuable tips for anyone who wants to improve their game.

First of all, congratulations on your recent win in Colorado, you managed to post a personal best on your way to winning High Lady at that match. Thanks!

You do a lot of work with the Junior shooters at these competitions, tell me a bit about how you got started doing that. Well, I actually started shooting as a Junior. I started when I was 11 years old and I've been in competition since then. I guess you could say I have a soft spot for Junior shooters because I've been there. Every time I see one I try to reach out to them and try to make them comfortable and give them any tips. I ask them if they have any questions and just try to keep the fire alive because I think that Junior shooters and female shooters are the future of our sport and we want to keep them around as much as possible.

Wow, 11 years old is pretty young to get started shooting. If I recall it was your grandparents who got you started shooting, is that right? Yeah, my grandfather is the one who taught me how to shoot and I actually started in Cowboy Action Shooting. I started there because he shot that at the time. We went out together and I got to spend a lot of time with my grandparents that I wouldn't have normally. It shaped my life and I think made me a much better person.

The shooting sports provided quality bonding time with the adults in your life? Absolutely.

As you came up through the ranks you probably had some mentors, coaches, or role models you looked up to. I would have to say that the biggest mentor I ever had would be my grandfather. His name was Gene Pearcey, and his alias was "Evil Roy" and he coached every shot I shot for ten years. He made me the shooter I am today. After that I always paid attention to those female shooters, Julie Goloski at the time now Golob, Kay Mikulek. I'd see their pictures in the magazines and I just knew some day that that was what I wanted to do. Since then I've met so many great shooters, Dave Sevigny has been my teammate for several years and he's given me so much help. He's really made my learning process as I transitioned into a different style of shooting much easier and given me a lot. There have been so many people over the years it's hard to name them all...

...but your grandfather stands out as the most infuential. Absolutely.

Did you move straight from Cowboy Action Shooting into Steel Challenge matches? Well, what happened is four years ago Glock was in the market for a new lady shooter. At the time I was the current Cowboy Action Ladies World Champion, and they heard my name from a couple of different sources so they came to me and said "We could use a new lady shooter, would you like the job?"

It was way too good of an opportunity to pass up, so I started shooting with Glock. I probably started most heavily in IDPA, but I now do IDPA, USPSA, Steel Challenge, Pro Am, and I currently also to NRA and Bianchi. I guess I started in IDPA but it was all kind of a whirlwind and there wasn't a big time period between starting to do IDPA and doing other things.

Had you ever shot a Glock before that? I had, my grandfather owned a Glock for self protection among other things. He'd take me out and make sure that I knew how it worked, just in case we ever got in a situation where I might need it. I'd shot a Glock, and I really enjoyed it, but I'd never shot one in competition.

Do you carry one for concealed carry now? I do. I do carry for self defense, and I carry a Glock 19.

That's a good sized gun for concealed carry. It is pretty big for concealed carry, but I just feel it's got the best combination of size versus ammunition and power. I've always felt the most comfortable shooting it. It runs like a little sewing machine, I love it.

Do you shoot a Glock 34 or 35 in competition? I shoot both. I actually shoot a 34, a 35, and occasionally a 17, but I most often shoot the 34. The normal division that I compete in is Production, and for Production I think the G34 is just the perfect way to go.

It's really soft shooting in comparison to the 35. It is very soft shooting, and in Production you aren't penalized for shooting a smaller caliber. If you have a choice, I prefer the 9mm because it's a little bit easier to shoot.

As long as you don't have to worry about making power factor. Exactly.

Are you shooting the Generation 4 Glocks in competition yet? I have actually shot the Gen 4 G17. I shot it at the IDPA nationals where I won High Lady. It's a great gun. I have pretty small hands, and while I've never had a problem with the standard size Glock but the Gen 4 just fits really well in my hands. The biggest thing I noticed when shooting it is that not only does it fit better in your hands but it puts your fingers closer to the controls so that the magazine release button and slide release button are much easier for me to shoot. I don't have to shift my hand as much.

That's pretty important to maintain a good grip. Absolutely, yeah.

Did you use any of the backstraps? I didn't use a backstrap. I used the smallest version which is the frame with no backstrap. It felt fine, but I shot it before I went to the match with both backstraps just to see what it felt like, and I felt comfortable with both but the smallest was obviously best for me.

Let's talk about training for a little bit. I like to get to know how various top level competitors such as yourself train and stay in shape. What does a typical week of training look like? I dry fire every day. I try to dry fire between 15 minutes and an hour, and I do everything dry fire that I would do live fire. I do draws, I do mag changes, and I do movement. Obviously the Glock doesn't reset, but I kinda fake my way through shooting multiple shots.

Then for live fire I try to practice a minimum of twice a week on the range. I usually get out more like four or five [days a week]. Those practices range anywhere from a couple of hours to four hours. I can't usually do more than four hours, especially in the Georgia heat. It's a little bit much for me.

For round count, I practice anywhere from 300 rounds to 600-700. Steel eats up more ammo just because you have to shoot all of those shots. That's just the way it works, you have to shoot more. If I'm practicing for USPSA or IDPA it's usually a lower round count.

I try to do short drills and break things down into the basics because you can set up a stage and shoot it eight times and you'll get better, but you won't know where you're getting better. I like to break things down into small pieces like draws, double taps, and small drills I can look at and see where I'm good and what I need to work on.

I also try to shoot local matches. You can't reproduce match conditions in practice I don't believe. I think local matches are really important so I try to shoot those whenever I'm in town.

Breaking it down into the base components seems like a pretty important principle that allows you to perfect each unique aspect before you string them all together into a complete stage. Yeah, a good analogy I always use is baseball. When you're learning to play baseball, you don't just go out and play baseball games. You practice hitting and pitching. When I practice for shooting, I don't shoot stages, I practice draws and reloads and things like that.

Where do you find yourself spending the most time practicing? What are some areas that you focus on? One of the biggest things I've struggled with for a while is movement. I came from Cowboy Action Shooting where there's not a lot of shooting on the move. That has been a challenge for me over the past years. I try to do drills where you start in one position, shoot a couple of rounds and then run five yards or ten yards and shoot another position. I often work on moving into and out of position, so I'll set up barrels and walls and I'll practice going into position and coming out of it. I'll just try to learn where my limits are and make myself more comfortable with it.

Luckily your teammate Dave Sevigny is one of the best at transitions and movement. Absolutely, Dave is incredible when it comes to moving in and out of position. I watch him whenever I get the chance.

Many top shooters, Dave included, emphasize the importance of having the proper mind set going into a match. I think shooting is much more mental than it is physical. I would say probably 80% is mental preparedness. I think it's very important to visualize the stage prior to shooting it. I think it is important to know what your sight picture is going to look like as well as the target layout, and be prepared so that when you walk up there it's not foreign territory. You need to be as comfortable with it as if you'd already shot it. It's important to look through the positions and visualize your movement so that you're prepared when you get there.

It's so difficult to keep that game plan however. I know I've stepped up to the line before and as soon as the buzzer goes off to signal the start, my mind blanks and the whole plan I had goes right out the window. I would say that, obviously, it starts with experience. The more you practice and the more you shoot the easier that will get. The other thing that I do is I visualize in great detail. I close my eyes and I see the targets, I see the wall, I see the reload going into the gun and so on.

I read something somewhere that if you visualize something in great detail that your mind doesn't know that you haven't done it. If you visualize shooting the stage in detail, you trick yourself into thinking that you've already shot it. That way, when you walk up there if something happens or goes wrong, you know you're comfortable and you feel like you've already done it so it's much easier to bounce back. Other than that, just train to stay calm.

That's pretty important, staying calm. I know it's hard not to panic when you throw a mike or drop a shot and try to rush to catch up. My grandfather nicknamed me "Ice" when I was a kid, because he just couldn't get over how calm I was. If you just try to stay relaxed and remember your sight picture above all else. The more experience you have, the better it will be. That's why I think it's so important to shoot local matches. Even though I've been doing this for years, I still think that there are things I can learn. I know there are things I can learn. You can't give up, you have to shoot all the time.

There are a lot of new shooters out there who read these interviews. What one piece of advice would you give a new shooter? The biggest piece of advice I can give a new shooter is really to just hit your targets. I see a lot of new shooters who go out there and try to push so fast, they want to be Rob Leatham or Todd Jarrett, then they come back with six mikes and they don't understand why their score is so bad.

For all new shooters I would suggest that the most important thing is to get your hits. If you can hit the target, the speed will come as you get more comfortable. You just have to know how to hit the targets and know your limits.

You've even said in the past that while you like to go fast, you prefer to be accurate. I do, yeah. Going fast is fun, but being accurate pays off.

That's a lot of great advice. I want to thank you for taking the time to talk with us, it's been a pleasure. Absolutely! I'd also like to thank you for the interview. I appreciate that, and I'd just like to remind everyone to stay safe and have fun!

Randi lives in Smyrna Georgia where she works for Glock. When she's not at the range, Randi enjoys hiking, biking, rafting, and the outdoors in general.

Cheaper Than Dirt! Interviews Julie Golob

Julie Goloski Golob began her shooting career at a young age under the careful tutelage of her father in upstate New York. Always a bit of a daddy's girl, she soon took to the sport and began participating in matches. She has since rocketed to the top of the sport after proving herself on the US Army Shooting Team, and later again as a sponsored shooter. Julie has long been a role model for Junior Shooters and always takes time to talk to them and encourage their participation in the shooting sports.

We recently were able to interview Julie on her background in shooting as well as learn some tips and tricks for new shooters.

You began shooting with your dad when you were younger. Tell us a little about how that led you to begin shooting competitively. I started shooting at 14, but I can remember going to the range with Dad as a youngster. We had a lot of fun. I picked up brass, taped or helped him call shots with his spotting scope. By the time I was 10, I was working as a range officer with him at USPSA matches. Every August we worked the Miller Invitational. The Miller was one of the top matches on the circuit. Back then there were just a few major matches and all the top shooters came out. Seeing the pros every year and getting their autographs was very inspiring. On our way home from one of the Millers, I can remember telling my dad that’s what I wanted to do. When I turned 14, we both decided that I was ready to shoot my first match.

Sheila Brey used to shoot at the Pathfinder Fish and Game Club and was the first Master classed Ladies shooter. How did she influence your move into competitive shooting? Pathfinder was one of my home clubs in upstate New York. When Sheila shot at the monthly matches, she didn’t just win High Woman, she was in contention to win Overall. She worked very hard and the entire club was pulling for her to win nationals and make master. When she achieved master class it was very big news in our area. She was definitely one of my idols. I thought it was the coolest thing ever when she offered to take me to my first USPSA Nationals in 1994.

What prompted you to make the decision to join the Army? I had been competing all throughout high school. I met the Action Shooting Team’s coach at the 1994 Nationals and received a letter of acceptance to the Army Shooting Team. It was an opportunity of a lifetime that I just couldn’t pass up. The Army gave me a chance to achieve a goal - win a national title, pursue my education and gave me time to decide on a career. WIN-WIN-WIN

In 1999 you were named US Army Athlete Of The Year. How did that award affect your decision to push forward and go pro? Being named an Army Athlete of the Year is very special to me. I had an outstanding competition year and when I was told I had been submitted for review, that in itself was an honor. At the time the US Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) was very Olympic driven. To have the AMU’s endorsement as a non-Olympic shooter was both a surprise and honor. Actually getting receiving the title, I felt like I needed to be pinched.

Athlete of the Year itself didn’t really have an affect on going Pro. In fact, I never even really thought about it. At that point I had some time left on my enlistment and I wanted to stay in to work on my degree. By 2002 though I didn’t feel I was getting the training time and support I needed and I was ready to get out to pursue other things. The chance to work and shoot for Glock popped up. I was happy to be back shooting and be a part of the industry. Then Smith & Wesson debuted the M&P and offered me a wonderful opportunity to both shoot and do what I love to do – promote the shooting sports.

Oddly enough, my first few year’s in the Army is really what I consider my “Pro Career” time. With Glock and now Smith & Wesson I have a “day job” that keeps me busy. I work in productive training hours, but those first 5 years in the Army, shooting was truly my job.

I’m constantly searching for a training regimen that works well. Give us an idea of what one week’s worth of training looks like for you. I train for specific events. In the off-season I set my goals for the season and establish my schedule. I train based on the matches that I will be shooting. My first major is always the Single Stack Nationals followed by Bianchi Cup and the International Revolver Championships. After that it’s Steel Challenge and USPSA Nationals. Some years are different based on World Championship events like this year’s Action Pistol World Championships.

With my work for Smith & Wesson and being a mom, my training is much more limited than it was when I was in the Army. I spend a lot more time analyzing the areas I need to work on and make sure I incorporate them into my training. The less time I have, the more I know I have to focus. I work to make every round count in practice. I try to get to the range 3-5 times during the week and shoot between 250 and 500 rounds per 2 hour session. The skills I focus on are specific for the event I am training for. For example, if I am training for Single Stack, I work on difficult target arrays, challenging set ups and lots and lots of reloads. I also know there will be an all steel stage and a standards so I make sure I spend time on working the skills needed to excel there.

How important is overall physical fitness such as weight training and cardio in competitive pistol shooting? Physical fitness is very important, especially as a female shooter. I certainly want to win the ladies category, but I also want to do well overall. I know that I am competing against men who have a lot more mass behind the gun, more upper body strength and bigger hands. Spending time in the gym helps me level the playing field. Right now I work out 6 days a week in doing yoga, running and CrossFit. The more I work out, the better I feel on race day.

If there was one thing you’d tell an aspiring shooter to focus on to shave a few seconds off their time, what would it be? One thing I would tell shooters to shave off time is to work on their non-shooting skills too. Competitors often think they need to shoot faster to be better. They rush their shots and that’s when the penalties rack up. Shoot only as fast as you can control the sights. Work on pushing when you move and how you move. Learning the most efficient way to move into a position, to shoot from it and how to exit can make a huge difference in what’s on the timer. Conservation of movement is critical in action shooting sports.

I love shooting, and I love competing in USPSA, IDPA, and 3-Gun, but it’s difficult to be able to afford the amount of ammunition I’d consume if I trained and competed as much as I’d like to. What advice do you have for shooters who want to train more, but can’t afford tons of ammunition? I hear you! It’s all about being smart on how you train and make your bullets count. Everyone is feeling the ammo crunch. Even shooters with the money to buy all the ammo they want and more have faced some challenges this year. Airsoft and .22 training are good options, but you also can’t beat dry firing. Work all the skills you can in dry fire and leave the shooting skills to the range.

You’ve achieved a lot in competitive shooting, becoming the only 5 division Ladies National Champ and the only Triple Crown Ladies National Champ. Tell me, what was it like to grow and develop over time until you became good enough to compete with, and beat, some of the all time greats like Sheila Brey and Kay Miculek? Thanks so much! I am very proud of all that I have been able to accomplish. I have been very fortunate to have had all the right opportunities pop up at the right time and some great role models. I have had so many wonderful shooters to look up to, both men and women – Rob Leatham, Todd Jarrett, Jerry Miculek, Doug Koenig, Kay, Sheila, Kippi Leatham, Sharon Zaffiro (Edington), to name a few. They were my idols growing up.

In my teens I wanted to be like a sponge and take in as much as I could. When I was in my 20’s and shooting for the Army, I shot Open almost exclusively (we didn’t have as many divisions back then). I was putting lots of rounds down range and I wanted to win and dominate. Later, when I started to shoot the other divisions like Production, Single Stack and Limited-10, there were so many things to learn. Being able to shoot different platforms has helped me to become a more well-rounded shooter.

What’s your favorite Smith & Wesson revolver, and why? That’s a tough one! I love my competition revolvers but I have to say my favorite is my J-Frame, S&W Model 442. It’s my carry gun and I know I can depend on it when I need to.

The shooting sports is often viewed as a traditional “males only” sport. How do you think we can help change this perception and bring more women into the world of competitive shooting? That’s something near and dear to my heart. The biggest thing we can do is to share our sport and change the mentality that guns are just for guys. Kippi Leatham, Sharyn Cohen and I founded WomenofUSPSA.com to celebrate the women of practical shooting. There are so many talented women who have paved the way and we have showcased many on the website. We congratulate the winners and commend our hard working volunteers through our blog, Facebook and Twitter. We hope that by featuring the diverse women who shoot the action shooting sports, we encourage others to give it a try. Let’s not be shy about sharing the sport and celebrating shooters!

You recently returned to competition after giving birth to a baby girl back in 2008. How has your new role as Mom affected your schedule and ability to train and travel? Being a mom is certainly my priority. The number of matches I compete in has drastically reduced and I don’t get to shoot many state or area championship. The matches on my schedule are world and national events with very few exceptions. As a mom, I have less time to train too. When I do get to shoot though, I give it 110%. I also strive to set realistic goals. Being a parent makes your realize that life happens. Sure, I want to win every competition I enter, but I also shoot because I love the challenge, setting goals and spending time with great people.

Do you plan on getting your child involved in the shooting sports when she gets older? I would love for my daughter to be a shooter. Both my husband I love hunting and shooting. I can only hope that she does too, but if she doesn’t, that’s ok too. Most of all we want her to know how important our 2nd Amendment rights are and to always defend them with her vote.

How do you respond to people who think that pistol shooting sports should be banned or made illegal, as has been done in the United Kingdom? I ask them to try shooting before they condemn it. Chances are if they have a great experience at the range, they forget their fears and become open to a fun and exciting sport. I am convinced there is a shooting sport out there everyone can love whether its breaking clays, running through action courses or tearing out an X-ring. The trick is getting them to give it a try.

Thanks for taking the time out of your incredibly busy schedule to answer a few questions. Is there anything else you’d like to add? Thanks so much for the opportunity to chat. I enjoy reading the interviews posted here. Thanks for promoting the shooting sports!

Julie Golob makes her home in Glasgow Montana with her husband and baby girl.

Caleb Giddings Discusses Competitive Shooting with Cheaper Than Dirt!

Caleb Giddings is a well known IDPA and USPSA shooter, and has made a name for himself with his performances shooting Enhanced Service Revolver in IDPA competition. He also runs a blog at Gun Nuts Media, and hosts a weekly podcast that is regularly downloaded by over 50,000 iTunes users. Recently he’s appeared as a contestant on the History Channel’s new show Top Shot. We had the chance to catch up with Caleb Giddings and sit down for an interview to discuss how he first got involved in competitive pistol shooting and gain some insights into practicing and training for IDPA and IPSC competitions.

Tell us a little about yourself, did you grow up in a shooting family or did you get involved with firearms later in life?

I got started in the shooting sports when I was 8 years old. My father was a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy for 20 years, and on my 8th birthday he asked me what I wanted to do on my birthday. Instead of choosing a more traditional past time like mini-golf or going to the bowling alley I said I wanted to go shooting. That was pretty much the start of my involvement in the firearms community and the shooting sports.

So, how long was it before you found you had a knack for shooting? When did you really decide to start doing some competitive shooting?

When I was in college at the Coast Guard Academy the collegiate pistol team had open tryouts, and I went down, knowing I liked guns and shooting. So I took the opportunity to do the tryouts and I shot well enough to earn a spot on the team. From there I won some competitions, I won some of our practice matches, and then I started winning a little bit more. I realized “Hey, I like competing, I like winning, and I like guns, this makes a pretty good combination.”

So basically you’ve been competing ever since you got out of the Coast Guard?

Actually yeah, I started when I was at the academy when I was 18. I’ve been competing on and off for the last 10 years, and then in the last 3 years I’ve really started competing seriously again. It was kinda here and there for a while but really in the last 3 years I’ve really made it, I don’t want to say full time, but I would say I’ve made it a serious pursuit in the last 3 years.

We’ve really seen you come up through the ranks recently with some of your recent wins such as the Indiana State Championship, some of your ICORE performances have been pretty impressive, and you recently shot another competition this weekend, the USPSA Area 5 match. How did you do there?

You know I was a little disappointed with my performance at Area 5, even though it was only my second major USPSA match. I felt going into it that I had a really good chance to place in the top 5. Unfortunately I finished 8th. My shooting, I’ll say that looking at the match critically that my shooting was good. My execution of the plan that I had going into each stage was generally pretty good. My planning before the stage was what was flawed. I didn’t treat the stages aggressively enough and I didn’t take opportunities on them that I should have taken. So, I hurt my score doing that. But, overall, it’s been two major USPSA and two major lessons learned.

You had mentioned that you were going to take a different mental approach going into this match, a little bit less planning and a little more focus on being smooth and fluid and just “going for it.” Do you think that affected your score?

That was what I wanted to do going into the match, and then for whatever reason when I got there I started over analyzing the stages and trying to finesse my way through them. When I looked at my scores afterwards, the stages where I stopped thinking about it, didn’t worry about it, and just went for it were my best stages of the match. The ones where I over-thought it were the ones that really hurt me.

Speaking of getting hurt, it looked like your ego and your performance weren’t the only things that got hurt. Tell me about your calf and what happened there.

I was actually being a little foolish. I was taking some pictures of one of the shooters who was running a .38 Super open gun and I was standing at about a 45 degree angle from a steel plate that was one of their targets. Now, I wasn’t down range of the muzzle, I wasn’t in any danger of getting shot, but just unfortunately the shooter’s position, my position, and the bullet impact resulted in me getting a hot piece of jacket from her .38 Super embedded in my calf, which was really actually quite surprising.

I guess that’s a little reminder to pay attention to the action that is going on and to pay closer attention to those steel plates?

Yeah, absolutely. But I got a great picture of the shooter so it all balances out in the end.

You’ve been getting a lot better at shooting recently. Do you have any role models, anybody that you are trying to learn a lot from, or that you base some of your shooting techniques on? Who is someone that you look up to within the shooting industry?

When it comes to revolver shooting, there is really only one name that everyone says. Jerry Mikulek. Everyone’s goal is eventually to beat him, or at least be as good as him. And while that’s about a million years of practice away from me, a lot of the stuff that I do is because I saw him do it and looked at it and I adapted it to try to fit my style, my speed, and my mechanics. He’s definitely the guy in terms of revolver shooting.

And then, in the actual shooting community, I had opportunity recently when I was a contestant on Top Shot to meet JJ Racaza and Blake Miguez who are both USPSA Grand Masters. JJ is a multiple-time Steel Challenge champion, Blake is a National champion and has won lots of area titles. It was neat for me to meet two guys who are the same age as I am, who are young like me, and yet who are competing at the top level in the sport and to talk to them about their practice and what they do to shoot at that level.

So what do you do to shoot at that level? Talk to me a bit about your training. We see you all over the place, I can’t imagine how you manage to get in range time and training on top of your podcast and your blog. Give me an idea of what one week’s worth of training looks like for you. What does that consist of?

The most important thing that I’ve discovered about training, and this is from talking to people who do this for a living, people who are very good at this, is that the amount of time spent training isn’t as important as the quality of training that you do in that time. It’s much better for me if I have a dry fire practice session, which is huge by the way. I spend more time dry firing than I do shooting actual rounds down range. But if I have a dry fire practice session that is only 50 practice reloads or 50 presentations from the holster, but they’re 50 good presentations from the holster, that beats a 200 repetition practice session where I feel I’m trudging through it. It’s better to have 20 minutes of good practice than an hour of average practice.

So, let’s get down to the details. We get these questions a lot from people who want to get good at shooting competitively. If you’re going to set up a training schedule for somebody are you going to do 5 days a week of dry fire and 1 range session? Walk me through some details.

Sure. I’ll give you what I did this winter during the off-season. During the winter it’s cold here in Indiana, I can’t shoot unfortunately unless I want to go to an indoor range. What I did this winter was, at the end of the year I was an Enhanced Service Revolver Sharp Shooter. So, I went into the winter and I said I was going to dry fire at least two days a week. And I’ll make sure it’s good dryfire, so I’ll practice my trigger control. It doesn’t matter how many repetitions I do, I just want to make sure I have good practice that starts on a good note and ends on a good note.

So for dry fire practice what I’ll do is I’ll hold the gun out in my firing stance and cover the screw on a light switch. So, your average light switch has two screws, one top and one bottom, and I’ll use one of the screws as my point of aim. I’ll try to dry fire as many times as I can without the front sight wobbling off that screw, and it’s difficult, but it really builds up that ability to manage the trigger on a revolver. So I try to do that one night a week. And then another night I would practice reloads. That would be just having the gun out, opening up the cylinder, ejecting a moon clip of snap caps, and then reloading a moon clip of snap caps from my belt. And again, try to do that one night a week.

Then, since this is the winter, in lieu of going to actual matches I put up reduced sized targets in my workout room. So, I have paper targets pinned up on the walls in my workout room, and I would do simulated courses of fire with dry fire. You know, 10 or 20 round courses, where I would have to shoot 6 rounds at three different targets, reload, and shoot 6 more simulated rounds at targets.

That was what I did all winter. I did that from November until February. Then, in February I went out and shot the IDPA Classifier with 2 inches of snow on the ground, and I shot the best Classifier I’ve ever shot with any gun. I shot in the Master Class for the first time in IDPA, and it was primarily because I spent the winter learning to manage the trigger.

My summer time practice is pretty similar. I do two nights of dry fire practice a week, and then if I’m shooting a match that weekend I will try, sometime after the match, to get at least 100 rounds of practice on one of the fundamentals. Whether it’s a reload drill or a transition drill, whatever it is, I try to get 100 to 200 rounds of practice working on a basic fundamental skill.

That’s pretty important to be able to get all of that practice in. I know most of us don’t have thousands of rounds of free ammunition to practice with, so those are some great tips. I know you’re starting to pick up some semiautomatic pistols and work with those for your Quest for Master Class series that you’re doing. How well do the skills gained from these dry fire exercises and training cross over into semiautomatic pistols?

It’s a 100% transition. The only difference between shooting a revolver and dry firing a striker fired semiautomatic pistol like the Ruger SR9C that we’ll be using in the Quest for Master class is that with the Ruger I have to cycle the slide manually in between trigger resets. If you’re shooting a traditional double action auto like a CZ or a Beretta, then you can just use that double action trigger pull.

I actually recommend for people that if you want to practice dry firing, and all you want to work on is your trigger management, go buy a used Smith & Wesson Model 10 or Model 19. They’re still really cheap, you can get a used double action revolver for $150 to $250. If all you want to practice is trigger control that is the perfect gun for it. If you can manage a double action trigger on a revolver, when you go back to shooting your 1911 or your Glock or whatever gun that you’ve got, the trigger will feel like it’s not even there. It’s amazing what that does for your ability to manage trigger pull.

So you don’t think that transitioning from a double action to a light weight single action has any negative impacts?

No. I honestly don’t.

One of the things that I learned from my experience on Top Shot is that shooting is shooting. It all comes down to sight alignment and trigger control. Everything else, you know how reloading a semiautomatic pistol is different from reloading a revolver, that’s just repetition and practice. The most important thing that you can do is get your sights on target and pull that trigger cleanly. If you can do that well with a double action revolver then you can certainly do that well with a semiautomatic pistol.

So, do you do any physical conditioning? How much does it play into your performance as a competitive shooter? How much time do you spend exercising and how do you feel it affects your shooting?

I usually work out 5 to 6 days a week. The schedule that I work out on is, I try to workout 3 consecutive days, take a rest day, work out for 3 consecutive days, and take another rest day. That rotates the rest day through the week so that I don’t get into a set pattern. And it’s difficult when you’re traveling and shooting matches and working full time to get the workouts in. But a minimum of 4 workouts a week is what I try to do, that’s my low acceptable level.

I really believe that being in good physical condition helps you shoot better. If you look at the top shooters, especially in USPSA right now which is such a physical fast paced game, guys like Dave Sevigny and Ben Stoeger, they’re all in great shape because they’re athletes. The ability to do 50 pushups means that you can hold your arms out longer than someone who can’t. It means that you can move that gun faster from one target to the next target than someone who isn’t in that good of physical condition.

So, while it’s not as important in the shooting sports as it is to be in good physical condition if you’re a basketball player or a football player, it definitely helps your performance. It speeds things up just a little bit.

So, in addition to all of the physical aspects of shooting, it’s also quite a bit of a head game. How do you maintain mental focus, and is there a way to practice that so that when it comes time, when you’re under pressure and when the buzzer sounds, you’re focused and quickly and easily able to maintain the mental discipline you need to be fast and be accurate?

The big thing that really does set the top level shooters apart is that they are able to make a plan, stick to the plan, and execute that plan almost flawlessly. I’m not anywhere near their level as was evidenced by this last match. I had some serious mental errors that were what really cost me a better finish at the match.

So what type of training gives those guys the ability to do that? It’s the little things. It’s trying to stay focused on the minutia without being so focused on it that you lose sight of the big picture. Me personally, I like to play mind games. Brain teasers and puzzles. Things that make me think and look at problems from other angles. That kind of mental exercise absolutely applies when you’re shooting a stage. If you can look at a crossword puzzle or a brain teaser and analyze it and break it down and solve it you can analyze a course of fire and break it down and solve it as well.

If there was one thing you’d tell an aspiring shooter to focus on to shave a few seconds off their time, what would it be?

If someone was looking to shave a few seconds off of their time in one of the action disciplines such as USPSA or IDPA, I would say the biggest thing you can do to cut that time down is, don’t think about your reloads, but practice your reloads. Practice your reloads until it is a fluid motion. If you look at pictures of people like Dave and Bob and other top level shooters, you’ll see on their reloads that the empty mag, the mag that they’re ejecting, is still falling to the ground by the time they’ve got their reload inserted into the gun. That’s the kind of speed that can really help cut time off of your stages because that reload is the only time when the gun is down. You’re not shooting when you’re reloading. So that’s a big way, at least in my opinion, to cut some time off of your stages.

The other thing that I might say that actually might be even better advice would be to practice seeing the targets. What I mean by that is, when you’re looking at your sights, and you have an array of three targets in front of you, the best way to get fast is to look at your sights, shoot the shot you need at the first target, look at the next target, move the gun to it, look back at your sights, shoot it, look at the next target, move the gun to it, look back at your sights, and shoot it. The ability to “see fast” is what will make you faster on the course of fire. And that’s something you can only do with repetition.

So, sight picture, being able acquire that sight quickly, is that what you’re talking about?

Yes, absolutely. It’s hard to explain “seeing the whole field,” if anybody out there has ever been a high school football quarterback they’ll really understand what I’m trying to express.

I think I get the picture… What you’re trying to say is that you’ve got to be able to have a mental image of what is going to happen before it actually happens. You’ve got to get that sight picture, quickly and then transition to the next sight picture without hesitating, without having to stop and focus. Does that sound right?

Absolutely. You want to see sight picture, target, sight picture, target, sight picture, target, and you want to be able to do that as fast as possible.

So maybe practice using dry fire using targets set up, much like you have them in your workout room, that would be a good drill.

Yes, that’s one of the dry fire drills that I did over the winter.

Well, I appreciate you taking the time to give us some tips and insights into training and practice.

No problem, hope to see you on the range sometime!

Images courtesy of Gun Nuts Media.

Cheaper Than Dirt! Interviews History Channel’s “Top Shot” Contestant Caleb Giddings

Caleb Giddings is a well known IDPA and USPSA shooter, and has made a name for himself with his performances shooting Enhanced Service Revolver in IDPA competition. He also runs a blog at Gun Nuts Media, and hosts a weekly podcast that is regularly downloaded by over 50,000 iTunes users. Recently he’s appeared as a contestant on the History Channel’s new show Top Shot. We had the chance to catch up with Caleb Giddings and sit down for an interview to discuss his role in the show and get some behind-the-scenes insights into the making of the series.

Cheaper Than Dirt: Hi Caleb, thanks for taking the time to talk with us. I know you’re very busy. You’re a cable TV star now on the History Channel, seen by millions of people once a week at night in their homes. Congratulations on making the show!

Caleb Giddings: Thank you.

I know we can’t talk a lot about because there are still episodes coming up, but tell me about the episodes that we’ve seen so far. You’ve kind of been in the background, but I think that’s probably a good thing since it means that you haven’t been put up for elimination yet.

Absolutely. You know, it’s funny, the first two episodes that you’ve seen, you don’t see a whole lot of Blue Team. The second episode you see a little more of Blue Team, the team that I was on, but I’m definitely in the background and I don’t have a problem with that because so far my television existence has consisted of me making two tough shots under competition, and generally not being the nail that stands out. And like I said, I’m okay with that.

There is a lot of content on History Channel’s website which is http://www.History.com/Shows/Top-Shot, a lot of behind the scenes stuff features Blue Team, and I’ve got actually a pretty good amount of screen time in the “Anatomy Of The Shot” series that they have where we break down Blue Team’s first two wins.

I actually had a chance to go on line and view those, and there is definitely some good content there.

You’ve got the Gun Nuts Media blog and your Podcast, obviously you’ve been around media for a while, and firearms as well. Was this just the perfect storm that you decided that you just had to apply for Top Shot? What was your motivation for going through the application process and taking 30 days off of work to go and try to do this? What prompted you to do all of that?

Well, what’s funny actually was that I got an email from Michael Bane who produces TV shows for Outdoor Channel and also is producing The Quest for Master Class for Downrange TV, he sent me an email of the press release from the production company that did Top Shot and said “Hey, what do you think of this? I think you should try out for it.” I will be 100% honest, my thought process at the time was “Oh yeah, that sounds cool.” I sent off the preliminary application which was essentially a blurb about “why I’m so great” along with some pictures and a video of me shooting a 6.5 second El Presidente drill. The casting crew called me back and we did the formal application process. I ended up in California for the interview and the next thing I knew they called me and said “Hey! We want you to come on the show.”

Did you ever actually expect that you’d get picked?

Actually, I never did. I never thought that I was going to be one of the guys that they would pick. My wife thought I was, which is funny because she’s the smart one. But I never really thought that I would be one of the final 16 contestants chosen out of literally thousands to make the cut for the show, and I was honored and a little humbled by it when I saw the assembled cast of characters.

How intimidating was it to show up there and see who you’re up against, to see Mike Seeklander and J.J. Racaza and some of the other competitors there? I mean, there are some serious names on the show, including USPSA Grand Masters. How intimidating was that and how did you deal with that?

Well, I will say it was nice to see that Blake and J.J. were going to be on my team. That definitely helped with the mental aspect of having to worry about them in terms of competition. You know, it’s an individual competition eventually and it always will come down to one on one. At the same time, after the first challenge, where we shot the World War II era rifles, and it wasn’t like anything that we were used to, and after subsequent challenges which you’ll see in upcoming episodes, I wasn’t worried about it anymore. What I realized was that I came to this show to compete in a shooting competition, to compete in a competition of my athleticism and my marksmanship skills, and that I would much rather stand up head-to-head against any one of these guys, whether it was Blake or J.J. or Iain, or any of the competitors on the show, and test my skills against them whether it was with a pistol or a tomahawk or a bow and arrow. That’s what I came there to do. I came to test myself against the best, and if the best aren’t there, what’s the point?

On some of the promo shots we saw you with a slingshot, and I know on one of the upcoming shows you’ll be shooting a bow and arrow. Did you have any indication going into the show that this would be more than just firearms?

We knew going in that it would be different. The last night before the show the producers had a meeting with us and said that they wanted to remind us that this wasn’t going to be like anything we had done before. This was their shooting competition that they had designed, and so it wasn’t going to be a USPSA match, or an archery match or a High Power rifle match. So, I think that helped us realize that this was going to be something unique.

And yet, we still saw some USPSA style stages like in the last episode with the Berettas they had the zip-line on the Iron Man inspired elimination match. Were you or some of the other competitors not up for elimination disappointed that you didn’t get to enjoy some of these stages?

You know, when we found out about the zip-line, I know I wanted to shoot it, but at the same time I was glad that I didn’t have to shoot it. It’s that battle, because we’re all competitors and we want to go out and compete and we want to win. We want to stand on the line, and just speaking for myself, I know that if I ever got called for an elimination challenge I wanted to stand on the line and take that opportunity to prove my skills. So yeah, I wanted to shoot it but I was also glad I didn’t.

I also have to say, I’m really glad I didn’t have to shoot 600 yard rifles against Kelly.

He definitely impressed a lot of the older shooters with his skills, I think he was dismissed early on. How did that change the dynamics when he came back the winner and Seeklander, who’s a very experienced High Power rifle shooter, got sent home?

I think the biggest change in the house dynamic was, after that we realized that this was going to be a head to head competition, and that it didn’t necessarily matter that J.J. was a USPSA Grand Master because I might throw a tomahawk better than he does, and it doesn’t matter that I was an IDPA Master Class shooter because Kelly shoots a better rifle than I do. That, I think, was what really cemented in our minds that anyone could win this competition. It wasn’t just going to come down to the USPSA Grand Masters or the law enforcement guys or the Marine Corps guys, that it really was anyone’s game.

So, going into this, did you do any special training?

Before the actual competition, I can’t say that I did. I did actually work out more. I knew that the competition was going to have a physical element. So, I actually spent a little bit more time on physical training and conditioning than I did on shooting. I actually ended up gaining some muscle before I went on the show so I felt pretty good during the show, I felt pretty strong. That was the bulk of my training before the show.

Many people have talked about the show, referring to it as “Survivor with guns.” Did you come in with any strategies for the social aspects of the game, such as for when it came time to vote someone into an elimination challenge? What were your social strategies for making friends, making alliances, and that sort of thing?

My social strategy in terms of making friends was to make friends with people I would have been friends with outside of the show. I ended up forming good friendships with Blake and J.J., just because they were guys my age and we had similar interests. That was kind of a natural relationship for me. As far as the Survivor-esque aspect of it, because of my personality and because of who I am I do have a distaste for the Survivor type politics. I won’t hide from that.

What I decided was that I would stick to the saying “You are only as good as your last performance.” If we ever got to an elimination challenge I would vote for people who did one of two things: who were either hurting our team dynamic and hurting our ability to win, or who had the poorest performance in that challenge. I wasn’t going to vote for people because I didn’t like them, or because they smelled bad, or because they drank the last drops of milk out of the fridge. To me it was always a shooting competition. And if I had a poor performance in a challenge and I got voted into an elimination challenge, I welcomed that as an opportunity to shoot my way out of it.

How were things behind the scenes? It seems like there was a lot of down time in between shooting stages. There’s so much going on there that we don’t get to see; tell me a bit about that.

As much as I can tell you, there is a lot of fun. You put 16 people in a house and you’re going to see personalities and you’re going to see shenanigans. For example, the dart league. They gave us a dart board as recreation, something to do in our down time. Problem was, nobody knew how to play darts. We didn’t know the rules for darts. So, we just took the dart board and decided we’d score it like a USPSA target, with the outer ring being a D hit worth 1 point, the inner ring was a C hit worth 3 points, and then the bulls eye was worth 5 points. We played a lot of darts. We even had the first official tournament the night of Mike’s elimination, and we called it the Mike Seeklander Memorial Dart Tournament. So, it was a real neat experience and showed the creativity of some people finding ways to amuse ourselves during the down time. A lot of fun was had.

One of the things you don’t really get to see on the show, unfortunately, that you only get a snippet of in the second episode, is when we hung up Mike’s jersey. I really wish they had spent more time on this in that episode. That wasn’t staged. That wasn’t something where the production staff told us as the contestants “oh yeah, go get his jersey and hang it up.” That was something that we came up with that we wanted to do to honor, not just Mike, but anyone else that would be eliminated from the show down the road. And you’re going to see that theme repeated, of the integrity and character of the people on the show throughout these upcoming episodes.

That’s one thing I found interesting about the show is that, shooters by and large are a very generous, kind, and upstanding lot. I’ve been to competitions where somebody had gun that had broken, and fellow shooter stepped forward to loan them their own gun, just so that they could compete and have a chance to beat them, or be beaten by them, fair and square. That seems to be a theme among the shooting sports I’ve noticed. How did that affect the drama and interpersonal conflict on the show? Do you feel that there was less drama and conflict on the show due to how upstanding most participants in the shooting sports are?

I will say that one of the things that I like about the show is that it does show that shooters are people. You’re going to see personality conflicts. I’m a normal guy, I get mad, I get in arguments with people, and I can make mistakes. You hear from gun control people all the time that “guns are dangerous and somebody with a gun is going to go crazy and kill people.”

But what is really interesting about the way we act is that, even on the show when tempers got high and when personality conflicts flared up, there was never any violence. It wasn’t like Ultimate Fighter where people were punching each other or throwing each other through walls. We understand that as angry as you get, violence is not the answer to a personality conflict.

Yeah, people get a little fired up. But the way that we conducted ourselves showed the character that we had.

And yet, the drama that was there still brought a mass appeal to the non-shooters in the audience. Talk to me about that. You do a lot of media, and I’m sure you have some motivation for bringing firearms into the mainstream and normalizing firearms once again. How do you think the show is going to affect that and what motivation did you have for that to participate in the show?

One of my biggest motivations for the show was to treat it as an extension of Gun Nuts Media. My mission statement with Gun Nuts Media has been to create a place where the shooting sports are like ESPN. That’s ultimately what I would like to see, USPSA coverage on ESPN, and part of my desire to go onto Top Shot was to take a step towards that goal. Because it’s presented in a Survivor-esque format of people living in a confined space, and the voting and the social and political aspect of it appeals to people, and yet they are still watching a shooting show. My liberal friends are now watching this shooting show, and they’re enjoying it partly because there are compelling people on this show.

We’ve only seen two episodes so far, but one thing that has struck me is that we haven’t seen any “evil black rifles” or iconic “assault rifles”, they have been mostly historical or widely accepted defensive weapons such as the Beretta 92F and the Mosin Nagant… Did the production staff make a conscious decision to leave out any potentially offensive rifles like that?

Well, I can talk about this because it’s actually in my bio video. If you watch my biography video on History.com/shows/top-shot you’ll see footage of me shooting an AR-15 rifle wearing my Blue Team uniform, so the AR definitely is going to make an appearance in an upcoming episode, and it’s a pretty cool challenge when we get to see that AR.

I don’t think History was shying away from anything for politically correct reasons. I think that their overarching concern was to make “cool” TV. They realized that lots of people, not necessarily in California, but lots of people have bought these rifles and it’s not a weapon of “mass destruction” for people who own them, it’s like a golf club. When you see that episode with the AR-15 I think people are going to be really pleased with how that episode is going to turn out.

Do you think the production staff or the History channel has a stance one way or the other on gun rights or how they portray it, or was this just TV for TV’s sake and they just happened to choose firearms as their venue?

I really believe that after working with the production staff, the people who were actually filming us and working us on a day to day basis, many of whom had never been exposed to firearms before and they came away from some of the experiences thinking guns are cool, which is a net win for us. I really believe that the idea behind this was that someone realized that guns are very popular, and they wanted to do a reality TV show and they were like: “Well, Survivor is cool, let’s do Survivor with guns.” And that’s actually a good thing, I think that’s a phenomenal step in the right direction for us when firearms are treated in the mainstream media as no different than anything else. When you turn on your TV and watch Top Shot and you see a challenge where people are shooting the standard service sidearm of the US Military through glass filled tubes, and that’s the challenge and that’s treated in the same light as people crawling through the mud and eating bugs on Survivor, I think that’s a good thing because that’s a mainstream acceptance of what we do.

Regardless of what anyone says about it being “Survivor With Guns”, that’s actually a great thing.

You can watch Caleb Giddings on new episodes of Top Shot every Sunday nights on the History Channel at 10pm Eastern, 9pm Central.

Millisecond Molly: Cheaper Than Dirt! Interviews Molly Smith

She’s only 14 years old, but she’s one of the fastest shooters on the circuit. I first ran into “Millisecond Molly” at the annual Gun Blogger Rendezvous in Reno Nevada where we had a small Steel Challenge match. To say this young woman is fast would be an understatement: she blew us all away! When she finished shooting the first stage, “Smoke and Hope” I’m pretty sure every competitor there was speechless. We just couldn’t believe how fast she was! Molly Smith may be the youngest shooter on Team Smith & Wesson, but she’s no slouch. She easily holds her own in Ladies class competition against the likes of Julie Golob, Kay Miculek, and Annette Aysen.

After seeing her performance on the range, I had the chance to get to know Molly a little better and asked her if she’d let us do an interview with her to get some insights into competitive shooting from the perspective of a Junior shooter. Despite her busy schedule filled with school and competitions, she found the time to sit down with us and answer a few questions.

Cheaper Than Dirt: I know you’ve got a busy schedule, but I wanted to thank you for taking the time to answer some questions for us.

Molly: Yes, I have been out of school for two weeks and have already shot two major matches in that time, the Bianchi Cup and the IRC. Both were great! It promises to be a fun and exciting summer.

How did you get into shooting?

When I was a lot younger, I always wanted to play air soft guns with my brother and his friends; there were no girls on my street to play with so I worked really hard to keep up with the boys. About 2 years ago, I went the SLOSA range with my dad and brother. Honestly, I didn’t even want to be there, but I tagged along. We went to the rifle range, and there I met a really nice man who became my friend, Jeff. He was the RO at the time, and as a greeting, he teased me, saying that I would not be able to shoot. So I took his challenge and he let me borrow a rifle and I shot, and shot, and shot some more. I was hooked. I met other people at the range who wanted to teach me how to shoot better and I learned. Even now, I try hard to listen to what people want to teach me about shooting. Not everything works but I’m always interested in learning ways to improve my skill. Besides, I hear the funniest shooting stories!

What do your non-shooting friends think about you shooting competitively?

My non-shooting friends actually like that I shoot competitively. Many of their parents have asked me to show them how to shoot. My friends and even my principal and teachers are interested in my competitions; sometimes they come and watch me. I have been blessed to have so much support with this sport. I can honestly say that no one has ever been negative towards me about shooting competitively, and that is a really good thing. I think that any negative thoughts stopped in their mind when they realize that I am a young girl who’s doing what she loves.

Photo by Dave Wilson

Is there any one person in particular who you look up to as a shooter? Who are your shooting heroes?

Julie Golob is a role model for all women in this sport. She is always a lady. I like that. She always has a smile and a kind word for and about everyone. I met Vera Koo about a year ago and she is amazing; I think that she is a hero for all women shooters too. Hard to believe that as beautiful as she is, she’s a grandmother! 20 plus years ago, she started shooting. Her children were grown and she decided that she would like to learn how to shoot. Her perseverance in a sport that was, back then, not a typical sport for women, was incredible and she became a champion! Everyone admires her. She is so focused and exact when she shoots. And then there is Annette Aysen. I have known her nearly from the very first time I ever shot. She didn’t know me but I watched her shoot the 1st year she won the IRC, and I was so impressed, she seemed to float through the stages, she is an amazing shooter with a limited revolver (hmmmmm…guess what I shoot? A limited revolver!) And then there is Yamil Sued. He is a shooter and his also a photographer! He takes awesome pictures, he is not afraid to get dirty or sore muscles, (I’ve seen him in some pretty strange positions). He shoots really, really well and he has fun. I think, he has more fun than any shooter I have ever met. He just suggested this past weekend that I learn the “hand jive” dance from Grease… I guess my “happy dance” was getting old. Well, his enjoyment of the sport, the people and his art makes me happy every time I see him. That is a role model for sure.

What’s the best thing about shooting for Smith & Wesson?

Hmmmmm, lots of things, did you know if you turn the Smith & Wesson emblem upside down you have my initials? Ahhhh… serendipity! I like the history of S&W, they have been around since 1852, back then Mr. “Horace” (great name) Smith and Mr. Wesson started a company producing a lever action pistols they called their company the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company (another great name), a few years later they became Smith & Wesson. I personally feel great pride when I wear their shirt because of their long history, their superior product and their extremely generous support for all types of shooting events. Also, all the people from Smith & Wesson that I’ve met so far have been extremely nice and generous to me! It really makes me feel like I’ve been adopted by the Team S&W Family!

Is there a Steel Challenge stage that you really enjoy? What about one that you dislike, or that is particularly difficult?

“Outer Limits” is my favorite and most disliked stage of all. I am not very big and it takes me a lot of steps that are coordinated to get to the other box. My rhythm needs some work. Jim O’Young taught me how to do the “Moon walk” in his front yard no less and hoping I would get some rhythm. It helped, I have steadily seen my scores on “Outer Limits” get better and better.

As a young woman shooter, do you ever get hassled by the boys? (and what does it feel like to beat them all?!)

I don’t get hassled by the boys, all the boys that I have met have been really nice. I get hassled by the adults (in a good way) they laugh when I beat them, but it is all good hearted. The worst is when the adults think I’m a boy. With my big hat on and the glasses you really can’t see my face. I have been called “son” a few times!!! I don’t like that. But more than being mistaken for a boy, the boys and men treat me like their little sister! Even the few who do mistake me for a boy are still incredibly nice! I love it!

What’s your take on the shooting industry incorporating a lot of pink into their products to market towards women? Would you own a pink gun?

Yes! And I do own a pink gun…I have an incredible Tactical Solutions Big Pink X-ring! I think by making products in more appealing colors it will draw interest in the sport. Women and kids can see themselves holding the colorful “sporting implements” and realize it is not an all “Gun Metal Grey”-boring sport. Colorful guns for colorful people.

Besides shooting, what are your other hobbies?

I like to read, write stories, run cross country, and spend time with my friends…regular kid stuff.

In the future, where do you see yourself going in terms of a career and how do you see your involvement in the shooting sports affecting this?

Right now, I have such wonderful opportunities to meet people from all over, all types of professions and people that don’t shoot but are involved with the shooting industry and those that shoot too. I think it’s interesting to see such a variety in the shooter’s career choices. Did you know that my dentist frequently RO’s the matches I participate in? That was pretty weird at first. I know I want to go to college and have given my future a great deal of thought. Something in the shooting industry, maybe a journalist or a reporter. The medical field also seems pretty interesting, considering that I’m the “daughter of a nurse”. I would love to be able to talk to people and educate them about what they are seeing and feel that my enthusiasm for the sport would reflect the sport well. I think that would be a nice career!

How do you think we as a shooting community can encourage other young women (and men) to become involved in the shooting sports?

With any sport there is always the opportunity to convert those who have never had an interest in it prior. This is very true for shooting. I live in California, (where gun-fear seems to be really big) but I have always been around guns. I was not taught to be afraid of them, many people (men and women) are simply afraid of them. They are afraid to hold them, to pull the trigger. Wouldn’t it be fun to have a “Welcome To Shooting” class start out by giving them simple gun parts and have them build a gun? I know my mom would tell you that matches should cater more to the children. A cool break room with cookies and milk, nutritious snacks is what she would say. And that’s really important! We need the “soccer moms” in the shooting community, because if you think about it, with any sport with kids, there’s always the support of their parents behind the scenes.

You’re very inspiring to young women everywhere – if you could tell them one thing, what would it be?

I would stress that this sport is safe. It’s really safe! Holding a gun can be very intimidating at first, if you learn from the start about gun safety the fear goes away, and then you can be confident. Learn to safely handle a firearm, that’s the most important thing, then you can have fun!
This is what I do a lot of times when women and children come and watch me shoot. It seems that they always say how hard it would be to hold a gun because their hands are so small…that is an old excuse. I chuckle and hold my hand up to theirs, I have very tiny mitts! 3rd graders have bigger hands than mine and I do just fine holding my revolver. Once they see my hands they begin to make a connection that if I can do it, they can do it too!

Molly is a member of the Smith & Wesson shooting team. She lives in California with her parents who help her compete in major matches across the nation. Be sure to check out her blog, The Molly Minute, for more information, photos, and videos.