Heather Eckhardt: 11 Years on Team Benelli, OA Defense & the Future of Competitive Shooting

We're live at SHOT Show 2026 from the Otis booth — and this one came with an unexpected twist when Cush's identical twin brother, Roo, kicked off the episode. We'll just say the right host showed up eventually.

Heather Eckhardt is a professional 3-Gun competitor with 11 years on Team Benelli USA's Pro Staff. She grew up in a law enforcement household, shot her first handgun at four years old, and built a career at the intersection of competitive shooting and firearms marketing. She now serves as National Vice President of Business Development for OA Defense — and she brought their brand new 2311 Compact to show us exactly what intentional firearm design looks like.

We cover her origin story, what almost made her quit before her very first USPSA match, how the shooting sports community pulls people in and never lets go, and what it's like to shoot out of helicopters for a living. She also breaks down the USPSA classification system — from Unclassified all the way to Grand Master — in a way that actually makes sense.

Real conversation. Real community. This is Off the Beaten Path.

Welcome to Off the Beaten Path. We're grateful to have you join us in these conversations. 

Thanks for listening! Stay tuned in for next weeks episode.

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:15

How are we doing today?

SPEAKER_03 0:16

2026 Shot Show, Otis Booth. We have beautiful guests here, Heather from OA Defense.

SPEAKER_04 0:22

Here with Breezy. What up? What up, y'all? Welcome back. Welcome to the show. Thank you for having us. What are you doing? What the? No, no, it's me. There he is!

SPEAKER_05 0:33

There he is! You were late!

SPEAKER_03 0:35

We had to start the show!

SPEAKER_05 0:36

So sorry, so sorry. Okay, we have the right brother now. There he is! Heather, how you doing?

SPEAKER_03 0:43

Thank you, Ruth.

SPEAKER_05 0:44

Great job, brother. We're gonna head out.

SPEAKER_03 0:49

Yep, yeah, that's fine. Alright, fellas. Alright. That was good. Yeah. That was good. Sorry for the mix-up. Just in case.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

Well, I actually thought he was. You thought he was in. I was like pointing at my watch. I was like, ah, like I made it at 259. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:06

He's probably like, but it was good because we let it sit. We didn't say it right away. Oh, that's Cush's brother. Yeah, yeah. And then he's introducing everyone. He's like, I'm Andrew, Cush's twin brother.

SPEAKER_05 1:15

No, look who it is. So uh yeah, welcome to the show. Welcome. Shout out to Otis. Yeah. Folks, for you who are still in the 1900s, uh, my brother just sat at the at the booth and took my position, and which is okay because he's my identical twin. But now we're gonna kick the show off. So shout out to Otis for opening up this booth to us. Today we have an amazing guest. I've been saying that all freaking week.

SPEAKER_04 1:43

A phenomenal.

SPEAKER_05 1:44

Phenomenal. How about yeah, incredible? Incredible. So, Heather, I was gonna introduce you, but I want you to introduce yourself like every other guest has been doing, because nobody knows you better than you. So, without further ado, go ahead, Heather.

SPEAKER_01 1:58

Uh, is this right to say, hey, my name's Heather, and uh, like to shoot guns? Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 2:03

No way.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

Uh like what? Uh so yeah, so my name's Heather Eckhart, and uh formerly known as Heather Miller, uh, my uh husband and I just we've always been married, but we decided to make it official last year, so people aren't quite used to the to the name change. Um, but yeah, I've uh worked in the industry for many, many years, and I've also been a professional computer.

SPEAKER_05 2:27

Uh it's the it's the fourth show. It's okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

It's okay. I am a professional computer. I like it.

SPEAKER_04 2:35

Yeah, it's good. I'm a PC. Yeah, you're like, I process, my processing is a little down right now, but welcome to marketing, folks.

SPEAKER_01 2:42

That's it. I was like, yeah, we're going on a satellite report.

SPEAKER_05 2:45

Professional competitive shooter.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 2:47

Right? Yeah. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Yeah, I've been uh on Benelli USA's Pro 3 Gun team now for 11 years. Um, you know, I love it. My passion is the shooting sport. That's awesome. And uh I also get to work in the industry that I love.

SPEAKER_04 3:00

Beautiful. We're just before you walked in, I was like, it it we were at the uh the Woma event, and remember we were out there talking, getting B-roll, and you can hear a steal every now and then, clinking.

SPEAKER_05 3:12

Every now and then, because what's cool about Woma is that they bring in ladies into the space and they have professional that's the real story. Yeah, that's the real story.

SPEAKER_04 3:21

So we're standing there talking, and you know, you hear a bing, bing, bing, bing, and then we just hear bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, we look over, and Heather's standing there.

SPEAKER_05 3:30

I was like, was that you? She goes, Yeah, you know, I shoot sometimes. I just wanted to shoot. Yeah, we're like so let's there's a whole bunch I want to unpack because last season was officially uh an all women's season, so that was by design. We decided women are the most amazing women, our most amazing people in this space. And I don't think there's enough light on y'all. And so part of me asking you to be on this on this podcast is because I know you're a competitive shooter, I know you're a marketing professional in the space, and overall you're a badass. So how do you oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh so how did you get started into shooting sports?

SPEAKER_01 4:14

Uh, you know, so I was I had a really great relationship with my dad. Um, not did, still do. My dad's still around. So love my dad and love you, dad. Uh, but you know, I was raised hunting, fishing, shooting. Uh he, you know, my dad was in law enforcement, so at four year, four years old, I shot my first handgun. Wow. Uh and you know, got really used to shooting, you know. And uh so it was always a big part of my life. And then in my mid-20s, you know, I started to seek out, you know, wanted to get my first concealed carry and you know, wanted to go that route. So I started seeking out training and that introduced competitive shooting to me. And um, you know, I started it and found that it was a a sport that I really liked and really enjoyed. Um, took a while to kind of get get comfortable, uh, you know, as it is with anything. And I just, I don't know. I loved, I love the aspect of being around such a you know, group people from all different types of backgrounds. It's like you go to a shooting match and you've got like an IT guy, a piano teacher, a SWAT cop. Isn't that amazing? Like this whole mix of people, and we're like, yeah, we're just like gun nerds out here enjoying the sunshine and you know, trying to shoot fast and not miss, and then like massive amounts of crap talk with each other. And yeah, I fell in love with it.

SPEAKER_04 5:28

Was there was there one thing, oh I heard you say then you got comfortable with it? Like what what do you think that like bear if I don't want to say barrier, but what do you think that step was that you said, man, I feel I'm I feel comfortable with this now?

SPEAKER_01 5:42

So, you know, there's a stigma around the shooting sports, because like you show up and yeah, it's male dominated, and you're like, oh man, this this is a boy sport, you know, and I maybe had some bad feedback from some guys being like, ah, you know, it kind of it kind of is a guy's sport. And I was like, okay. And so, you know, I finally got my courage together and you know, went to a couple different shoots and started out a little steel challenge here, GSSF matches, uh, shot some IDPA and started getting comfortable. And you kind of like hit your groove. And I met incredible people within the space. And there was a uh Marine down where I uh used to live, and he was like, Hey, like one of my very first USPSA matches. I showed up and I was literally like about to turn around and pack up my gear and take away, like just just drive away. Because I was like, you know, this is uh really, really intimidating. Because I show up as this pack of guys, and I was wit, I was demure back then. Demure. Not now.

SPEAKER_05 6:36

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:37

I was like, oh man, I may have I may have uh really uh uh bit off four that I could chew out. I'm gonna go. And and this guy goes, Hey, he's like, hey, hey, come come here. And he and I started talking to him, and he's like, Why don't you just shoot with my girlfriend and I? He's like, you know, I'll teach you all the ropes and teach you how to be safe. And so I went through and shot with him, and then that's cool.

SPEAKER_05 6:57

Yeah, that's one thing we have all our conversations at the same time. We say that a lot. If you just tell somebody in this space, I don't know what I'm doing, or I'm just getting a started, people will pour it into you. Yeah, and it doesn't matter your own.

SPEAKER_04 7:10

At any level, though, really, you don't even have to be a beginner. Like you're gonna find someone that knows more than you in this space. Yeah, and they're they're willing to pour it into you, and that's amazing.

SPEAKER_05 7:20

So, how old were you when that happened?

SPEAKER_01 7:23

Uh, about about 25.

SPEAKER_04 7:25

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

If I go back to like my first matches, but you know, I really got my big start in USPSA. Um, that was where it really it really started to click.

SPEAKER_05 7:35

When would you consider yourself like a professional? Like, this is me.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

I'd say I went pro when I got picked up by Team Vanelli. Like that was that was like that was like big legals, man.

SPEAKER_04 7:46

We need we need some books, we need some air horns and applause. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 7:50

So how long ago was that that you got picked for team. Wow. So what 10, 11 years now? Yeah. No, so are you more comfortable with shotgun shooting or um yeah, you know, I'm comfortable with all three.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

So uh in three gun, you know, you have to be a master of all three platforms uh with a variety of different uh, you know, different types of ammunition. And so um, you know, it's hard to say which one you like the most, but I love shotgun. I mean, that's why I'm I'm preparing to go to the World Shotgun Championship this year. So um it's my favorite, but I also love handguns.

SPEAKER_05 8:24

That's happening in another country, right?

SPEAKER_01 8:26

Yeah, in Greece. Greece. We just yeah, Becky. Yeah, Becky was just speaking on that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:32

So we're so uh here for the people, maybe the new listeners, even the some some that are with us off the beaten path, we really want to bridge the gap. I say that because we've learned a lot in this space and we're still learning, which is a beautiful thing. Like now, when you say a master, for the people that don't know, like what is the gets you to that classification, yeah, of oh of what well, I'm definitely not a master. Yeah, but like we've heard people say that.

SPEAKER_01 8:58

Yeah, like what is it so there's uh so just like with anything well or a lot of things, there's different uh classifications, and then there's you know, uh as you go through, like um with USPSA, you start at as unclassified, okay, and then you go up to from unclassified to it's been a while. So literally just crawling the rings. You just start working your way up to qualifiers.

SPEAKER_04 9:20

Just okay, shooting, winning, getting more points.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

Is it like a so it's based off of points uh at different matches? So they have qualif qualific uh uh classifiers. Okay. I want to say qualifiers because we're using qualifiers for world shotgun, but for for all intents and purposes for this, it's you have a classification system and you shoot a classifier, and so it is a measured stage where they literally everything from the wall dimensions, everything is set up always the same everywhere in the country. So you could shoot the same classifier in Washington State, somebody could set that thing up in Alabama, wherever you are, and that that store uh that score that you get is a uh it's like hit factor scoring, so it's a balance of your total points and your speed. And so as you go, as you get faster and more accurate and better, you go all the way up to master, and then grandmaster is the uh, and everybody calls him, they'll say, like, oh yeah, man, he's a GM. Yeah. That means you have, and it's like, I forgot, it used to be they'd say that you know, like less than like five percent of shoes that guys like me and Rob would be like, he's the general manager.

unknown 10:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 10:28

Well, we hear that, and I understand, right? I understand more of it, but yeah, I've never had like the understanding of it on a granularity, like how you move up. Yeah, and when you, you know, is it hours, like you said, is it points? Is it that's cool?

SPEAKER_05 10:41

10 to 1,000 hour theory, I think more than applies here. Right, right. Yeah, because you only get sharper and better the more you do it.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

Yeah, and there's guys that decide not to shoot classifiers, and so you'll have some kids sometimes that you know shoots all the time, trains, practices, and they will shoot unclassified, the but they'll be shooting at a master GM level, and they're just like, nah, I don't really shoot the classifiers, or or they'll say, like, ah, I get nervous when I shoot them, and so they'll get like a bad score. But they just shoot unclassified and they'll go out there and just absolutely dominate.

SPEAKER_05 11:10

Yeah, wow. Yeah. So okay, that's cool. Um, that that's actually really cool. So you've been now a professional shooter for what's that, 11 years, we said. And how'd you get into the space? Was it because of your shooting or yeah, uh like into like the the the business side of shooting?

SPEAKER_01 11:29

Oh, as far as the business side? So uh it was actually some uh back in the day, relocated to an area I was looking for a job, and it just so happened that a uh marketing firm called Lorge Laura Burgess Marketing was located in the town that we were living in.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

And uh I just kind of looked it up and was like, wait a second, like how is it this tiny, tiny town in the middle of North Carolina has a firearms marketing agency? And so I hit up Laura and she was super kind. Did not know she was like a legend within the industry. Like she did PR for everybody, like her, like her fur was responsible for getting IWI on the cover of American Rifleman, like back in the day. No way, and just you know, awesome, awesome lady, and like her her and her daughter, and so, anyways, they took me under their under their wing, and that was my first uh career move actually into the industry as far as the job space.

SPEAKER_05 12:21

And how long have you been in the industry?

SPEAKER_01 12:23

Uh since since 2014.

SPEAKER_05 12:26

Wow, we need to let up some airborne for that. Yeah, some airborns. Now, um, obviously, so when we met, you were at a different company that will not be named. But today, you're sitting here and I see on your badge OA Defense, right? And she brought and she brought uh yeah, she brought a really cool looking piece. That is a nice tell us tell us about this.

SPEAKER_01 12:49

Yeah, so and I have no idea where I should hold this. I don't can you guys have to go to the case. Yeah, you can hold it to this camera and then I'll grab it and hold it.

SPEAKER_04 12:55

I'd say hand or are you gonna point at things and describe it? Or okay. So yeah, here you go. Yep. Point at this point. Here's your right there? Yep.

SPEAKER_01 13:03

Okay, great. And so, like, have to hold it up.

SPEAKER_04 13:06

Yeah, hold it out, that's fine.

SPEAKER_01 13:07

Hold it out like this. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_05 13:08

That's perfect.

SPEAKER_01 13:09

Cool. Uh, so my company, uh well, not my company, I don't know.

SPEAKER_05 13:14

The company I work for now.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

The company I work for. So uh I'm the national vice president of business development for OA Defense, and this is our 2311, and this is what we just launched for SHOT Show 2026, is the compact version of our Pro Elite handgun. So it's uh aesthetically beautiful gun, but also a very, very awesome shooting, super reliable platform. So uh the 2311 is an evolution of the 1911 platform where uh it accepts uh 320 magazines.

SPEAKER_02 13:46

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

Uh it has a linkless barrel system, it has a series 70 trigger, which for all the all of the 1911 geeks out there, that's that's the game is a good one.

SPEAKER_04 13:55

Oh, it is butter. Yeah, that trigger is.

SPEAKER_01 13:58

And what's so cool about ours is it's actually drop safe. So a lot of people will have to go to a series 80 trigger uh to get it drop safe. And we put our engineers put the magic behind this that actually made it drop safe. And it uh we've removed the grip safety, so you don't have to worry about the grip safety getting in the way. Uh, but it still has a uh obviously the firing pin's been removed, so this thing is completely inert. Uh but it has ambidextrous safety and controls.

SPEAKER_05 14:27

Look at that. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

Uh fully ambidextrous slide stop. Uh, you can also swap the mag release on either side. Nice. And it also has, in competition, we always called it a gas pedal. Yeah. But it also has a thumbrest on either side. Uh the Pro Elite models, you can actually modify it so you can make it a little bit bigger, or if you want it flush on one side or the other, you can have that. It's got lightning slide cuts to remove some of that reciprocating mass, and it also has ports to uh relieve some of that gas pressure. So super flat shooting, really nice, clean, crisp sugar uh trigger, and it's just I mean, it's a shooter.

SPEAKER_05 15:05

And that dovetail looks like it's a little bit more than a cushion. Look at this, folks. Let me just stop. Look at that. Let's take a look at that. That is gorgeous.

SPEAKER_04 15:14

That grip is beautiful. Oh, beautiful firearm.

SPEAKER_05 15:17

I don't want to flag your bottom.

SPEAKER_04 15:18

Yeah, it's all right.

SPEAKER_05 15:19

It's all no, that feels nice. Yeah. Is it the magwell, the flared magwell? Really?

SPEAKER_01 15:26

Flared magwell.

SPEAKER_05 15:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

Um, and so we feels great. Yeah, yeah, and we ship it with the magpull A mags. So really nice mags, extended magazines, flush fit mags, and uh, and I love it. The everybody was a huge, huge fan of the Pro Elite when we launched it last year. So, of course, this year we had to bring out the compact version. Uh and yeah, Range Day.

SPEAKER_05 15:49

Yeah, it has a nice weight to it too. Yeah, that's a that's a nice piece. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 15:54

Like the feedback at Range Day was wild.

SPEAKER_05 15:56

Well, I believe it.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

Yeah, I believe it's so fun to shoot.

SPEAKER_04 16:00

Yeah, I love the ported. It's everything y'all did, it makes sense.

SPEAKER_05 16:03

It seems really intentional. And I know that sounds funny because obviously, yeah, when you're designing something, there does need to be intention behind it, but you there's so many products on the market.

SPEAKER_01 16:14

Exactly. It's it's one of those things that's when you say intentional, and that's um that's the big thing with our company, and everything that we're doing is like we want it to not just look cool, it needs to shoot. And so it's you know, we're all that's the our company, we're all shooters.

SPEAKER_05 16:33

Yeah, that's cool.

SPEAKER_01 16:35

Every bit from the text, people are like, it's like a really cool looking texture. We're like, yeah, but it also makes it extra grippy. Uh, you know, the slide cuts, everything about this is to just make it flatter, easier to shoot, more reliable.

SPEAKER_05 16:47

I can feel the weight on the barrel, or at least on the front end of the gun. So yeah, that does allow for a flatter shot. And, you know, as my you don't know this, but Rob always makes fun of me because I like the word ergonomic when it comes to things that are actually ergonomic. But I made a post one time because I'm not one to typically like you know, uh co-sign anything, but I found a bag one time and I was like, man, I felt like I had to tell people about it, and I get this text, like a couple hours later it says, really, bro? Dot dot dot ergonomic.

SPEAKER_04 17:21

Well, it was funny because we all just roasted them randomly for it.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

Like, yeah, it but it's in your vocabulary, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 17:27

But it's it's really ergonomic. It's it's feels great in the hands. It's sleek too, man. Like that's a good looking. I normally would not carry a 1911, but that's actually nice enough to we're like, yeah, I'd probably carry that thing. Especially since it doesn't have that uh that that faulty trigger. Imagine you drop it.

SPEAKER_01 17:48

I was gonna say it was like something my husband always says. He's like, Why are you dropping your pistol, man? Yeah, yeah. If he's like, if you don't drop your pistol, you don't have to worry about it.

SPEAKER_00 17:56

Like, uh, but what if?

SPEAKER_04 17:57

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_05 17:59

Let's see. Have I ever dropped my pistol?

SPEAKER_04 18:01

I've mine flew out of my truck one time. I kind of almost half kick saved it. I don't know if that was a great idea, but I was just like, just so the direct, you know, I like rerouted it a little bit. That's awesome. So have you shot this this?

SPEAKER_00 18:15

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:16

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh, you betcha.

SPEAKER_05 18:19

Oh, you betcha. Don't you know, Bobby. Yeah, don't you know yeah. Yeah. Bobby with the big head and the big feet. That's it. Yeah. So how do you like it? Would you put it for your comp competitive shooting?

SPEAKER_01 18:31

Yeah, so I like for for me, it's gonna be the full size. Yeah, uh, because I just I like that long.

SPEAKER_04 18:37

And what's the difference just for people like four inch and five inch? Four inch and five, yeah, okay, that's it, really.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

Yep, so essentially kind of that the commander size. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:45

Okay, but pretty much everything else is identical.

SPEAKER_01 18:48

Everything else is exactly the same.

SPEAKER_04 18:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 18:49

And what are the names of it?

SPEAKER_01 18:50

Because I just heard you say commander size and oh, it's just like like 1911 old old school lingo, but yeah, the four-inch and the five-inch. Okay. So if you say like a commander size, people always know that's about for like people that within the 1911 is kind of horrible.

SPEAKER_05 19:05

Yeah, because you know what? That actually is a very niche community. Oh like the 1911 has a cult following. 100%. Oh, it does, it does.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

And I uh I actually had uh Steve Comas in the booth uh the other day.

SPEAKER_05 19:17

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:18

And uh, you know, he's he's just the sweetest man, and he was he he sat there and he and then you know he wrote the book on nine millimeter, and he's he was like, Oh wow, he's like, young lady, I I really want to see inside that gun. And I was like, Well, I was like, unfortunately with this place and all these cameras, I was like, we'd have to take you into the office there to show you. But unfortunately, we're at a meeting. But I was just I'm like, dude, I'm talking to Steve Coleman about our trigger, and he was like, This is incredible. He's like, I really want to see the inside. He's like, I want to see the main spring housing. He's like, I want to see what's all inside this. And I was like, Yeah, it's it's truly remarkable.

SPEAKER_05 19:52

I love how knowledgeable our space is because like some of the stuff, there's still I I've said this during our first season, but there's there's still times like I don't even know what some people are talking about. Because I am an enthusiast, I do love firearms, I definitely love the Second Amendment. I think we all have a right to bear arms. But like there's just certain things like I just don't know how to nerd off about. Like, I'll like like if I see a 1911, everyone knows about the trigger. That's like, right? But like, how the heck would I mod it? Right? Like, I don't I I have no and you see so many versions coming out, it's like there's a wealth of information out there, you're just like, what the hell? So to here he walks by and he knows it inside and out. Yeah, it's just a matter of like diving in and getting to know it. Yeah, and that's really cool.

SPEAKER_01 20:40

It's uh it's truly special because you know, I obviously like you wouldn't recognize him. Yeah, and then uh it was like as soon as I mentioned it to our gunsmith, I'm like, yeah, and like Steve's in the booth, and like told him he goes, Oh, I was like, I want to go shake his hand. But you know, and it's like so many of the so many companies, and there's so many amazing people here that are literally like the original gangsters. They were figuring this stuff out, writing all the books about this stuff, and you watch like these evolutions of like a very old, very incredible platform of the 1911, and everybody loved it. Like John Browning was a bloody genius when he was up there. Absolutely, and so there's you know, but it's like same as what you're saying. Like, I've I've been in the industry and I love shooting, but like I talk to people and it's yeah, they've gone so many layers deep. I'm like, what?

SPEAKER_05 21:25

Yeah, yeah, and it's amazing how you just pick up stuff because there's stuff that I've learned in the last six, seven years just from having conversations, right? Yeah, but being in the space and actually, you know, we work media, shooting these firearms, sitting down and talking with professionals, and then we're on the marketing side of the business, so we have to know what we're marketing. So that that's that's a must, right? And we've we've been owning firearms since we were teenagers.

SPEAKER_04 21:52

Right? We can, it's cool. We're walking the floor, picking this up. But to actually get out there and use it. And when you realize you're knowledgeable, right?

SPEAKER_05 22:00

Like, oh you hear a newbie say something like, I don't know, and then you're like, Oh no, actually you want to do this. And it's like, oh shit, I learned something. Yeah, I learned something. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's cool. And it's cool to hear that you still you're still like twenty years in and you're You're learning shit. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

Oh yeah. Yeah. You know, it's like I, you know, I started you know helping out here and there in the industry before I started working for Laura. And I would, you know, do a little marketing here, a little social media there, but never like an official capacity. Cause I felt like I didn't know enough. Oh, yeah. To like really get in there. And then it was like, you know, somebody gives you a shot and you go that same with competition shooting. You know, you get an opportunity and you decide to pursue it. And everyone is so nice. They're just, I don't know. That's why I love this this community, because they will continually provide you resources. Just ask. And it's like, and you know, because we all we're, you know, just like you asked like a car guy about his car. Oh, he's gonna be like, let me show you.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

And we pick up about my car.

SPEAKER_05 22:58

Have you seen my Shroy piping screen? You're like, would you look at the F. Would you just look at it? Would you just look at it? So, um, all right. So there's a couple things that I wanted to go ahead. You go first. No, no, no. Go ahead. No, you go ahead.

SPEAKER_04 23:09

Where are we at? Where are we at with it? I was just looking at this. Look at that.

SPEAKER_05 23:12

23 minutes. Damn, time lies. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:15

Well, that's why I was in. I would just want to make sure like we people know where to find y'all, you know, how to get these.

SPEAKER_05 23:20

Well, yeah, before we start wrapping this thing up, there are a few questions I want to ask. Okay. What is your favorite style of shooting? Like, are you a tactical person? Do you like training for home defense? Or is it just like I'm strictly competitive, so I'm always training?

SPEAKER_01 23:34

Uh, so you know, I've taken a few, you know, I started out taking tactical classes, and now like my my love is competitive shooting. I love to run and gun and do, especially as a civilian, like to do things that I never imagined I would be able to do. It's like I have literally climbed rock walls to shoot out of barns, shot out of moving vehicles, out of helicopters, all these wild things. And so, like, I love the shooting sports because it's like it takes you places.

SPEAKER_05 24:01

Yeah. You ever feel like with your friend group, like, holy shit, I I get to do some really cool stuff working in this movie. No doubt.

SPEAKER_03 24:08

That's how we feel. Let's look what we're doing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're sitting here.

SPEAKER_04 24:11

Like, praise God. We're sitting in the middle of Shot Show at the Otis booth doing, you know, talking about all this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a blessing.

SPEAKER_01 24:17

It's true, it truly is a blessing. And I I thank God every day for the all the opportunities I've I've been given. And it's like, you know, and uh the company OA defense, you know, we've and it's truly it's like our our guns are really cool and we're and it's only gonna get cooler, but the people, the people behind it are absolutely amazing. That's all. And so I encourage people, I know we're wrapping the show up, but our booth is 70143, and we're in the Caesars Forum. And I really want you guys to come over and meet the team. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:44

Because I mean that ah, we talked about before the show, you know, before we turn cracked the mics, like you were saying, yeah, I could see it, and you're like, yo, this team, like we're all we all fit, we all work, like the passion, the everything's a bit like putting up a well oil machine on the percent. She's like, these it it and right, it all comes out in the city. You can literally see it.

SPEAKER_05 25:05

You can feel it too. Yeah. So I guess now that we are headed towards the direction of wrapping this thing up, tell people where they can find you guys.

SPEAKER_01 25:12

Yep. So uh, so obviously, here at the show, we're in the Caesars Forum, 70143. Uh, but you can find us at Oadefense.com. Yeah. Uh, you can also find us on Instagram. We got a lot of great content coming out there for you guys. You're gonna get to see uh all the stuff from the industry day at the range. Uh so we got a lot of great stuff coming. So let's go. People are gonna want to pay attention because 2026 is gonna be an exciting year for OA.

SPEAKER_05 25:37

I was just about to ask, what else do you have in store for 2026?

SPEAKER_01 25:40

Oh, what did you like to know?

SPEAKER_05 25:43

Ladies and gentlemen, I want to say thank you for tuning in to this episode for this shot show season. Um, it's been an amazing four days of uh interviewing amazing people, and today is no different with Heather. So, shout out to Heather, shout out to OA Defense, shout out to Otis for opening up the booth and allowing us to record here and uh do all the social things like, share, subscribe, tag a friend, send it to your mama, your daddy, your kids, your your friends, friends, all all the good stuff.

SPEAKER_04 26:12

You don't even like just send it. Yeah, just send it out there.

SPEAKER_05 26:14

Yeah, send it and thank you until next time.