Making Shooters Better
Making Shooters Better is where real shooter stories turn into smarter training and preparation for everyone. Each episode dives into the journeys, wins, and lessons of competitors, instructors, and innovators from across the firearms world.
Hosted by Terry Vaughan—former British Royal Marine Commando, Top Shot competitor, and firearms instructor—this show delivers more than talk. You’ll get the mindset, methods, and motivation to train sharper and perform better, on and off the range!
Episodes
45 episodes
From TOP SHOT to 1,100 Articles: What Frank Melloni Learned That Can Make You a Better Shooter
What actually makes someone a better shooter?Frank Melloni has spent more than a decade answering that question from nearly every angle in the firearms world. A Top Shot Season 4 competitor and president of Renaissance Firearms Instructi...
The Dangerous Difference Between Confidence and Competence
You can shoot regularly and still not be training.Kyle Johnston learned that firsthand.After serving in the Marine Corps, Kyle spent nearly a decade building a successful career in filmmaking and media before returning to military...
Before You Carry a Gun, Make These Decisions
EPISODE SUMMARYAfter decades of teaching defensive firearms and tactics, John and Vicki Farnam argue that becoming harder to kill has far less to do with simply becoming better at shooting.We explore preparation...
Your Gear Isn’t the Problem: The Skills That Actually Matter in a Gunfight
SummaryWayne Dobbs has spent nearly five decades teaching people how to shoot, but his message is not really about shooting.It is about the gap between owning good equipment and actually being prepared to use it well.
Proficiency Is Not Preparedness: Training for the Life You Actually Live
What happens when everything you've practiced works perfectly on the range, but the real world changes the rules?Tatiana Whitlock, National Director of Training for A Girl & A Gun Women's Shooting League, joins Terry Vaughan to explo...
The First 30 Seconds: Why Active Shooter Response Must Change
What actually happens in the first 30 seconds of an active shooter attack?According to Ed Monk, that question should sit at the center of every active shooter response plan.Ed is a retired Army officer, law enforcement officer, fi...
Stop Trying to Pull the Trigger Faster: How Elite Shooters Improve Their Speed
What happens when two elite competitive shooters reach the top through completely different paths?Randi Rogers began shooting at just 11 years old alongside her grandparents in Cowboy Action Shooting, competing under the unforgettable al...
The Armed but Unprepared: Why Shooting Skill Isn’t Enough
What if the biggest weakness in your personal protection plan has nothing to do with your shooting?Lou Ann Hamblin has trained thousands of shooters during a career spanning more than 30 years. She is a retired police officer, longtime f...
Lethal Force: You Had Seconds. The Prosecution & the Jury Have All the Time in the World
What happens when a decision made in a fraction of a second is later examined for months, or even years, by attorneys, experts, judges, investigators, and jurors?In this episode of Making Shooters Better, Terry sits down with Lewis “Von”...
You Don’t Have to Be the Best to Belong: Army Veteran Viviana Morales Kolb
What happens when the uniform comes off, but the need for mission, community, and purpose remains?Viviana Morales Kolb served twelve years in the Army, including time as a preventive medicine specialist and drill sergeant. But when she t...
When Good Cops Hesitate, Bad People Win
In this episode of Making Shooters Better, Terry Vaughan sits down with Dr. Travis Yates for a frank and deeply important conversation about what is happening inside modern law enforcement and why the consequences reach far beyond the ...
The Mind Behind the Threat: Psychopaths, Stalkers, Violence, and the Myths That Keep Us Vulnerable
What do dangerous people teach us about human behavior?Dr. Mary Beth Wilkas Janke returns to Making Shooters Better for a deep, fascinating, and at times unsettling conversation about the mind behind the threat.A former S...
Your Vision, Brain, and Memory Will Betray You. Here’s How to Prepare Anyway.
In this episode of Making Shooters Better, Terry sits down with Brian Baxter, combat infantry veteran, retired Texas State Trooper, and CEO of Force Science, for a conversation that changes how you understand perception, memory, decisi...
In a Gunfight, Your Greatest Weapon Isn't Skill. It's Cognition.
Can you trust your training when everything goes wrong?In this episode of Making Shooters Better, Terry Vaughan sits down with Erick Gelhaus, retired law enforcement officer, military veteran, firearms instructor, researc...
The Bad Guy Decides When. You Decide How Soon You Notice.
Most people think situational awareness is about constantly scanning for danger. The reality is far more interesting and far more important: it's about recognizing danger sooner.In this solo episode, Terry Vaughan, former Royal Marine Co...
Marine. Attorney. Instructor - Brian Taylor's Journey Post 9.11
Brian Taylor has spent his life studying firearms from three very different perspectives: as a Marine infantryman, an executive protection professional, and an attorney.Raised in inner-city Chicago with little exposure to firearms, Brian...
Why You're Your Own First Responder | Dianna Muller
Dianna Muller has spent her life around firearms, but her path from police officer to professional shooter to one of the most influential voices in the Second Amendment movement was anything but planned.In this episode, Dianna shares how...
Tim Herron–IPSC World Shoot Gold Medalist: Why Most Shooters Never Reach Their Potential
Multi-division USPSA Grand Master and IPSC World Shoot Gold Medalist Tim Herron joins former Royal Marine Commando Terry Vaughan for a deep dive into the hidden side of shooting performance.While most shooters focus on speed, accuracy, a...
After Being Threatened by a Criminal, She Refused to Stay Vulnerable
After reporting a crime and being threatened by the suspect afterward, Dakota realized something uncomfortable: owning a firearm without truly knowing how to use it wasn’t enough. What started as hesitation around guns eventually became a journ...
Most Armed Citizens Prepare for the Range… Not the Fight
In this episode, firearms instructor Karl Rehn joins former Royal Marines Commando Terry Vaughan for a brutally honest conversation about the dangerous gap between shooting skill and actual survivability in a violent encounter.Drawing fr...
Part 2 Captured: One Marine's Fight to Survive the Iranian Revolution
What happens after hope starts to slip?In Part 2, Ken Kraus takes us deeper inside one of the most feared prisons of the Iranian Revolution—a place where time disappears, rules don’t apply, and survival is no longer guaranteed.The...
Part 1 Captured: One Marine's Fight to Survive the Iranian Revolution
What happens when the post you’re sworn to protect becomes the place you’re taken from?In this first part of a two-part episode, former U.S. Marine Ken Kraus takes us inside the opening moments of the 1979 Iranian Revolution—from standin...
She Had a Bounty on Her Head in One of the World’s Most Dangerous Cities—What Kept Her Alive Isn’t What You Think
This episode isn’t about the Secret Service.It’s not about psychology.It’s about who you become when pressure shows up uninvited.Dr. Mary Beth Wilkas Janke has lived in environments where hesitation has consequences—pullin...
She Was Afraid of Guns… Now She’s Leading a Movement Changing Who Shoots—and Why
She didn’t grow up around guns.Didn’t want one in her home.And for years… she fought against the idea entirely.Then one moment changed everything.What started as fear turned into curiosity.Curiosity turned into compete...
How Behavioral Threat Experts See What Others Miss (And How to Start Seeing It Yourself)
Most people rely on instinct when something feels off—but instinct without clarity doesn’t lead to action. And if you’re carrying a gun but don’t see the threat coming, it doesn’t matter what you’re carrying.In this episode, Behavioral T...