Shooting Sports

Sierra Bullets has announced its first-ever sponsored shooting team. Teaming up with Alpha Munitions, Hodgdon Powder Company, and RCBS to bring industry leaders together in support of competitive shooters, the collaboration will focus on enhancing performance, precision, and innovation for the future.

In this week’s episode of TFB’s Behind the Gun Podcast, we’re going to have both old and new guests on the show. Today we’re talking about The Proving Grounds Competition now that our guests have had a chance to put themselves through it. Held annually at The Sawmill Training Complex in Laurens, South Carolina—a sprawling 240-acre training facility known for its top-tier tactical courses—The Proving Grounds thrusts competitors into an intense two-day gauntlet. Built around rifle, and pistol shooting, the match doesn’t just test your marksmanship; it tests grit, stamina, and mental fortitude by weaving in climbing, running, weighted carries, and other physically punishing obstacles in addition to many odd shooting positions.

Rimfire shooting has always been the go-to starting point for anyone curious about marksmanship. Whether you’re plinking cans in the backyard, working on precision shots at the range, or dipping your toes into competition shooting, the long-lived and affordable .22LR is easy to shoot, and just plain fun. Now, the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP), in partnership with Lake Erie Arms in Ohio, is looking to bring that same energy indoors with their new CMP Rimfire Rifle League. From what I can gather from the press release below, the new CMP Rimfire League will be perfect for beginners looking for a no-pressure way to try competitive shooting, or seasoned shooters itching for some winter practice. In that case, this new league might just hit the mark for you, and it's one that I hope we get to see spread rapidly to more shooting clubs across the nation.

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! We’ve been talking a lot about firearms and trends from the past lately and today I thought it might be fun to talk about something a bit more modern and a bit more fun in my opinion - precision rimfire competitions. The National Rimfire League or NRL22 is one of the fastest-growing competitions out there. I recently had a chance to chat with a few friends who’ve been competing in NRL22, and after listening to their stories, I thought it might be good to condense and break down some of that info with you here in the hopes that some of you might take up the sport yourself. Whether you’re looking to take the leap from casual backyard plinking or just want a fresh challenge that won’t blow through your wallet, NRL22 might be exactly what you’re looking for.

In TFB’s Photo Of The Day, we’re shooting in the Open Division today, with a Tanfoglio Gold Custom Eric. The pistol is chambered in .38 Super Comp and eats major loads like a blue whale consumes krill. For training, there’s also a 9 mm slide and barrel available - with a suitable recoil spring of course. Why does it carry my name? Well, it doesn’t, since it’s named after the French top gun Eric Graufel during his (long) period with the Italian company Tanfoglio. Eric is now with CZ, and I think he has no less than nine IPSC Handgun World Champion titles in total.

The P320 Max isn’t just another flavor of P320. It was optimized to compete in the USPSA Carry Optics division. It was built with feedback from Max Michel. If you're unfamiliar with Max Michel, he is one of the greatest practical pistol shooters of the modern era. No exaggeration. He has also won many things with the P320 including multiple World Records. I bought one several years ago, and have shot about 8 or 9 local matches with it. Here's my review.

Today’s episode is a bit of a scatter, but after listening to it a couple of times, the jist is Cold War guns. Cold War guns are probably some of the most iconic firearms ever to grace media and are also probably a large part of why many of us became gun nerds in the first place. To help me flesh out this fun topic I’ve brought back on Proving Grounds competitors Matt and Dan to talk about not just their thoughts leading up to the competition, but also what some of their favorite firearms from Cold War era movies are and which ones they’d bring with them to a modern Cold War-inspired 2-Gun match if they could. Please welcome Matt and Dan of The Proving Grounds back to the show!

Photo Of The Day and here’s another M16A4 in action, in the hands of a U.S. Marine as he shoots a rifle bay for the Parris Island Intramural Rifle and Pistol Competition on Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island S.C. I’m not sure what this shooting position might be called, or if you have ideas on what to name it?

Today on the podcast we’ll be speaking with competitive shooter and friend Wade Reed for an in-depth conversation about the booming world of competitive shooting and its impact on the broader firearms community. This time, we’re diving into some of Wade's latest contributions to the firearms industry, including the development of new rimfire ammunition and fresh variants of his innovative Mark IV Carbine that are set to make their debut at SHOT 2025 which is alarmingly just around the corner. If you’ve ever been interested in getting into competitive shooting, I’ve always recommended starting with rimfire, and in today’s episode, you’ll hear Wade echo that sentiment. He shares his own experiences in shooting sports and as a firearms designer, offering insights into why rimfire is a great entry point for newcomers to the sport.

This is an interview with Sami Hautamäki (FIN), World Champion IPSC Rifle World Shoot in Semi Auto Standard overall and in senior. Like many other top shooters, Sami’s story starts with an air rifle so if you’re a parent, you know what to get your younger ones for Christmas or their birthday. Then be prepared to buy them a .22LR rimfire rifle, and make sure you bring them outdoors to the shooting range or on your next hunt. Who knows, they might end up as successful as Sami? 

Most of you know by now that I’m quite fond of firearms competitions in virtually any form. However, my favorite growing style of competition is of course the two-gun competition where the equipment list is typically more accessible to the average gun owner. Today we’ll learn from Matt and Dan of the Proving Grounds Competition that this is actually a key feature for them when it comes to the key goals of The Proving Grounds. According to Dan and Matt, provided you can afford the ammo and get yourself to South Carolina, anyone with an AR and a pistol and any type of plate carrier is welcome to participate and should be able to be competitive at The Proving Grounds. Today Matt and Dan will fill us in on everything you need to know should you decide to take the challenge for yourself at any one of the TPG competitions that takes place throughout the year.

Taurus continues to expand its wheelgun lineup into upscale new models, with the latest addition being a new gun intended for competitive shooters. The aptly named Taurus 608 Competition just dropped on the market, and it is packed with features to help you win under pressure.

In this video, James Reeves interviews Karl with CZ about the new CZ Shadow 2 Target. The Shadow 2 Target is a derivative of the CZ Shadow 2 that is specifically designed for bullseye shooting. It features a number of changes over the standard Shadow 2, including modifications to the slide, barrel, and a tunable trigger.

Aguila Ammunition’s Copa Mundial event just ended in Saltillo, Mexico. Over 350 shooters came to the event and competed in various shooting matches including sporting clays, five-stand, silhouette, and practical shooting. One million pesos [$17,425] was on the line in prize money as well!

TFB’s series of interviews with top competition shooters continues. Today we’re taking a deep dive into bullpups, as we interview Joe Easter who ran a modified KelTec RDB at the IPSC Rifle World Shoot. But there’s quite more to the story, including suppressors, so let’s begin.

The pursuit of speed is unrelenting. It has captured the hearts and minds of mankind worldwide. I imagine the day after the firearm was invented, someone tried to shoot it a tad bit faster. Throughout the years, there have been many upgrades and iterations to the primitive tool that we call the firearm. What may have started as the Hand Cannon in China in the 13th century has long evolved into a tool that's so distant from its roots, that it's almost unrecognizable.

This is an in-depth interview with Raine Peltokoski, one of the best shooters in the history of practical shooting. The author had the fortune to spend a full week together with him and the Finnish Senior Semi-Auto Team at the Rifle World Shoot. Apart from learning about his background, how he trains and how he sets up his rifle you’ll learn about his Suomi sub-machine gun and why he needs a Lahti L-39 20 mm anti-tank gun. Let’s go!

You may know the KelTec RDB, but you have never seen a bullpup moving quite as fast as this one. These photos were taken during the Rifle World Shoot in Finland, at Stage 19 which seems to have been a lot of competitor’s favorite stage. The competitor is Joe Easter from the U.S. National Team in Semi Auto Standard, and the team managed a silver medal after the Finns. As you can see, the KelTec has been modified, and we’ll get back to those details in a future interview with Joe.

Picture this. It’s 9 AM. The ground is wet with dew. You’re breathing in fresh morning air. The sun is rising in the sky. You are anticipating walking up to the firing line. Instead of thinking about the stage plan, you’re wondering if you packed what you need for your first match.

This is an in-depth interview with Kyle Litzie, the brand new World Champion in IPSC Rifle. We touch on a wide range of topics, from how he trains to how he tunes his IWI for the ultimate performance, what parts you need and how you can copy his concept.

Welcome to another Photo Of The Day! Here’s Johan Hansen from the Swedish National Team, shooting one of the stages at the Rifle World Shoot in Finland. After some rough days on some of the long-range stages, he fought back and ended up on the podium after Todd Jarret and Jerry Miculek in Super Senior.

The French Army sent a souvenir from the 2024 Summer Olympics, and because we like firearms it’s a pretty good share for the readers of TFB’s Photo Of The Day. There are at least four Heckler & Koch HK416F rifles in this image, with both EOTech and Aimpoint sights. I spot more empty holsters than Glocks. Can you see it as well? (Hint: second from the left).

This is an in-depth interview with Eirik Larsen of Team HK Norway, touching on a wide range of topics from how he trains to how he tunes his Heckler & Koch for success.

The 2024 IPSC Rifle World Shoot in Finland is one of the major international shooting competitions organized by the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC). The Rifle World Shoot gathered over 800 competitive rifle shooters from around the world and put their skills in dynamic shooting to the test. Competitors had to demonstrate speed, accuracy, and precision while navigating 30 diverse stages that included targets between 5 to 355 meters, moving targets, different shooting positions, and various props.

For over a week, the IPSC Rifle World Shoot III 2024 has been going on in northern Finland. The location was the new and enormous Ruutikangas shooting range, situated near Oulu. Over 840 competitors and Range Officers participated in this huge event, with over 5 days of shooting and 30 challenging stages. As could be expected, Finland offered a match with rifle-long distances, and a lot of free-handed shooting. If you weren’t moving, the targets often did. There was not a lot of shooting on the move, and most of the time the stage was built so that you could not use a support or a long bipod. And if you did, you ran into other disadvantages later in the stage.

Join  @JamesReeves  of TFBTV as he teams up with Ziga of Polenar Tactical and Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons to compete in the Czech Combat Tactical Competition. In this video, James rates all the guns and gear he used during the competition, providing in-depth reviews and insights. Featured items include the H&K MP5SD, CZ Bren 2, CZ P10F pistol, Aimpoint CompM4, Aimpoint Acro, and 5.11 gear. Discover how these firearms and accessories performed under competitive conditions and which ones stood out.

Photo Of The Day with some images of what shooters should do a lot more often - shoot rimfire suppressed. It’s very fun and (used to be) an inexpensive way to get a lot of training, without creating too much noise. In many ways, rimfire can be a great way to try out and perfect new shooting styles, like shooting on the move - which is very difficult as the rifle keeps on moving and bumping into your shoulder and other body parts.

In our continuing coverage of Lynx Brutality 2024, we’re bringing back Les Winner of Polaris Logistics. Les, as many of you know, does a lot of work behind the scenes at each Brutality match, often helping competitors transport their firearms across the globe in the most hassle-free way possible. In addition to trafficking arms, Les also spends a lot of time on his own YouTube channel -  Pegasus Tests - testing out tons of different styles of modern and retro military gear. Today Les and I discuss some of his favorite firearms from Lynx Brutality 2024, as well as some of his other observations about this match, and others like it after having been through the Lynx gauntlet himself a couple of times now. Please welcome back Les Winner to the show!

Today’s guest is one of my good friends and a longtime friend of TFBTV from way back in the Alex C days of the channel. We’re of course talking about Calvin Truong aka Phúc Long or Firepower United on his YouTube channel. While most of what Calvin does is mostly or entirely satirical, Cavin is in reality a very impressive and accomplished shooter not just here in the US but internationally as well. Calvin and I have participated together in Finnish Brutality in the past and today he’s here to talk about his experiences at Lynx Brutality 2024 in Slovenia. While the tales that Calvin has for us today are hilarious, they’re also cautionary tales for anyone who is interested in attending these types of events. So have a seat, buckle up, and knock back a drink or two as Calvin and I catch up over Lynx Brutality 2024.

The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) is all about learning to shoot straight, right? Well, this year’s CMP National Matches at Camp Perry are going to be a bit different, with beach parties and movie nights thrown into the mix, once the range time is over.