Episodes

Life is full of competition. In fact, in the grand scheme of things, all of life is a giant competition for resources and reproduction. Entire species either prosper or go extinct on the macro level due to their collective abilities to compete in an ever-changing environment. Nations, businesses, and people operate in a similar way. And so should you.

Mike Keenan is a professional shooter sponsored by Alpha Munitions. I first got connected with him via Jeff Gurwitch, who I recently interviewed to discuss the link between competition and tactical shooting. I mentioned to Jeff that I was very interested in pursuing PRS-style precision rifle competitions and asked if he knew anyone I could talk to. Mike was the answer. My goal for this interview was adopting a beginner’s mindset, which wasn’t all that difficult seeing as I’ve never actually comp...

It's Episode 25 of Everyday Marksman Radio! That's a bit of a milestone, as we're one-quarter of the way to 100 and most podcasts don't make it past 7 episodes. To do something a little different, we've got an ask me anything episode, with questions supplied by you guys and asked by my wife, Allison. Be sure to check the full show notes at everydaymarksman.co! I hope you enjoy it!

Jeff Gurwitch served in the US Army for 26 years, with 19 of those being in Special Forces. Jeff has multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and has seen the gamut of fighting styles from close quarters to long-range mountain fighting. He's also been a competitive shooter for over 15 years, competing in USPSA, IDPA, and PRS. On top of that, he also publishes articles for Defense Review and SWAT Magazine. While his tactical credentials are certainly impressive, I wanted to use this interview to in...

Have you ever been frustrated by not achieving your goals? It doesn’t really matter what the goal itself was. Perhaps it was [another] weight loss target, or putting in some extra hours on a hobby. We’ve all had that moment where it just fell apart. It sucks. Today I want to talk about the number one reason than this happens. It’s not going to be some quick fix that anyone can sell you, it’s not a book, or some slick goal-setting method. Nope, it’s just good old fashioned accountability. This is...

a href="https://www.everydaymarksman.co/support/">Support This Podcast Rate This Podcast It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that I’m a pretty big gear nerd. I’ve got more backpacks than I have places to put them, enough load-bearing equipment to supply a fire team, and a large crate full of survival kit. On top of that, I’ve always had a passing interest in learning to “roll my own” equipment with a sewing machine and raw materials. A while back, a comment popped up in one of my articles abo...

Support This Show I hate losing. Depending on the circumstances, my competitive drive can be a detriment or a benefit. Because of that drive, I have to constantly be mindful of keeping a focus on the right things in life rather than diving down the rabbit hole of comparison and number chasing. What does that mean? Well, that’s what we’re getting at today. I don’t have a whole lot of notes for you on this one. I’m not going to lie, I’ve had a bit of a week. Maybe even two weeks. From time to ...

Support this Podcast: everydaymarksman.co/support If you aren’t familiar with the famed military SERE school, it stands for Survival Evasion Resistance & Escape. It’s the school they send people to when there’s a higher than normal chance they might be caught behind enemy lines. Today I’m talking to Mike Moore, a former SERE instructor for the US Army Special Forces SERE school. While we don’t get into the evasion, resistance, and escape portions, we do spend a lot of time talking about surviva...

Support this show at: www.everydaymarksman.co/support "Vanity. It’s possible that one of the reasons you got on the path of mastery was to look good. But to learn something new of any significance, you have to be willing to look foolish. Even after years of practice, you still take pratfalls. When a Most Valuable Player candidate misjudges a ball and falls on his duff, he does it in the sight of millions. You should be willing to do it before your teacher and a few friends or fellow students. I...

In this episode of Everyday Marksman Radio, I interview Derrick Bartlett. He has an incredible history with law enforcement sniping and now serves as the director of Snipercraft and President of the American Sniper Association. This is just a short snippet from his biography at the National Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors Association: Derrick Bartlett is a twenty-eight year veteran of law enforcement. In Illinois, he spent eight years on SWAT, both as an entry operator and sniper. As a memb...

Support our Podcast: everydaymarksman.co/support Today I want to talk about the idea of being armed in modern society. Too many of us think that owning guns and being armed are the same thing. But they aren’t. Being armed is a choice that comes with a very different set of responsibilities, mindset shifts, and expectations. This episode is at least partially inspired by the ongoing events here in Virginia. By now you’ve heard of the lobby day rally, where over 20,000 citizens assembled to let th...

Support Our Podcast: www.everydaymarksman.co/support/ In today’s episode of Everyday Marksman Radio, I’m talking to an old friend of mine, Garret Glover. What makes Garrett interesting is not that he’s my friend, though. It’s that he has managed to strike a balance between his career as an active duty Air Force officer, planning a wedding, getting his second master’s degree, running a side business, and still compete as a bodybuilder. So where does he find 36 hours per day to fit all of this i...

Support the podcast: everydaymarksman.co/support I have used this quote in my signature block for years. The context of the statement is interesting because he made it in reference to the importance of physical fitness and high morale, both things that I also prioritize, but I’ve always thought it spoke to something a little deeper. Today’s episode is about the tactics of AR-15 marketing in particular, but what I’m saying applies just as much to all firearms and tactical marketing in general. Th...

Allison didn’t grow up around firearms. In fact, she never even thought about them or noticed them, save for the occasional action movie. By the time we met when I was on active duty, I had a small collection that I generally didn’t talk about with anyone except for showing off at social gatherings. I certainly didn’t tell her about it for fear of scaring her off. It all came to a fateful head one night while she was tending to our newly adopted puppy and sleeping on the floor next to the crate....

Ididn’t want to record this episode. As you know, I try to keep my opinions to myself when it comes to politics. But, sometimes the very thing you are interested in becomes political. With everything that is going on with the recent special elections in Virginia, I can no longer avoid the topic. Today I’m touching on gun control. But this isn’t the same rant you see all over gun boards everywhere else. I want to touch on how this happened, and what you should keep in mind for your own battles in...

Ireally enjoyed this interview with Linda Miller and Keith Cunningham. Together, they wrote Secrets of Mental Marksmanship, How to Fire Perfect Shots. In full disclosure, they sent me a copy of their book well ahead of the interview so I could review it and ask questions. Linda was a member of Canada’s National Shooting team and won medals in the Mexico World Cup, Commonwealth Games, Cuba world cup, and later became the first woman to win the Ontario Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for full-bore sho...

Today’s episode is simple: I wanted to talk about a recent experience taking two new shooters to the range for the first time. I think this is one of those pivotal moments in peoples’ lives, and we should strive to get it right for their first time. I know I’ve made mistakes in the past, and I’m sure you have as well. But that shouldn’t stop you from trying your best to make sure that others have as an incredible experience as you can deliver for their first time. In this episode, I share the st...

For the 10th episode of Everyday Marksman Radio, we’re starting something new. From time to time, I want to bring on members of our own community that you see posting in the comments or in the forum. One of the most rewarding things I've gotten to do while running this site is have conversations with a variety of people. And while interviews and discussions with the experts is always fun and interesting, it’s the conversations with readers like you that really excite me. It doesn’t matter if it’...

"In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." - Dwight D. Eisenhower I have always liked this quote because it speaks to the heart of obtaining successful outcomes. Today, we’re talking about goal setting and the process that I use for setting goals, planning their success, and what to do after you reach it. Today’s episode covers three topics. Each of the focus on some important aspect of setting and achieving goals. First, we’ll talk about...

Russell Miller is a triple-distinguished competition shooter as well as a former special operations officer. He’s spent an enormous amount of time coaching snipers and precision shooters, and today he’s our guest on the show. In this episode, we cover a lot of ground between the world of competition shooting and tactical precision marksmanship. Russ shared some very pointed criticism of US Army marksmanship training. Some of the main topics I think you’ll enjoy focus on getting started in rifle ...

Show notes for this episode are found at www.everydaymarksman.co/7 Today we're discussing four recurring gun-culture characters: Tactical Timmy, Boogaloo Bob, Fuddy Fred, and Sheepdog Shane. While these caricatures are obviously stereotypes and shouldn't be taken too seriously, there is still a bit of truth to them. Part of the reason I started The Everyday Marksman, to begin with, was battling my own internal Tactical Timmy. Each of these characters represents some faction of the gun-owning ...

Complete show notes at everydaymarksman.co/6 I recently got the chance to speak to Dr. Whitfield East, the research physiologist for the US Army Center for Initial Military Training (CIMT). You’ve probably never heard of him, but he is responsible for leading review and analysis of military physical fitness training for the Army. More importantly, he’s a key player in developing the Army’s new Combat Fitness Test. Links Related to This Episode My article on Tactical Fitness Dr. East’s review ...

Full show notes at everydaymarksman.co/5 This episode of Everyday Marksman Radio is a bit more improvised than what you’ve heard so far. I’ve been doing a lot of writing, talking, and interviewing about the guns and shooting side of the house. For this session, I wanted to pivot a bit more towards the survival and skillset side of things. In this episode, I’m going back into some of my adventures to talk about two in particular. One was a fantastic three-week canoe trip through Northern Canada,...

Full show notes at: www.everydaymarksman.co/revolver You know, I’ve never thought about it much but I know very little about revolvers. As someone who is a confirmed ballistics and firearms nerd, I’ve never actually learned anything about an entire class of firearms that dominated the personal defense scene for most of modern history. My guest on the podcast today, Justin Carroll, is here to help with that. Justin is a former a US Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance member turned personal digita...