If You're Scared to Start PRS, Watch This

What does it actually take to start from scratch in Precision Rifle Series competition?

In this episode, we sit down with Richard and Gage to discuss their journey from knowing almost nothing about long-range shooting to becoming one of the most recognized father-son teams in PRS. From sharing a single rifle during ammo shortages to traveling across the country chasing matches, they break down exactly what they would do differently if they had to start over today.

We discuss:

• How they got started in PRS in 2022
• Building skills with limited equipment and experience
• Why dry-fire practice accelerated improvement
• The calibers they would choose if starting over
• Lessons learned from shooting hundreds of stages
• How mentorship helped shorten the learning curve
• The mental game of competition shooting
• Father-son dynamics on and off the firing line
• Building a business around their passion for shooting
• Advice for new shooters looking to get into PRS

Whether you're brand new to PRS, looking to improve faster, or simply enjoy hearing stories from competitors who have put in the work, this episode is packed with practical advice and real-world experience.

If you're thinking about getting started in Precision Rifle Series competition, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

#PRS #PrecisionRifleSeries #LongRangeShooting #PrecisionRifle #PRSCompetition #ShootingSports #RifleShooting #LongRange #FatherAndSon #PRSPodcast #PrecisionShooting #CompetitionShooting

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome back to another podcast here with Richard and Gage Caples, Father Sunduo. You guys have seen out there shooting matches. We got a great episode for you. Richard, what are we talking about today?

SPEAKER_03 0:10

How to start PRS from scratch and what we would do differently.

SPEAKER_01 0:14

Right on. Gage, any advice for everybody?

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Just go out there, have fun, don't overthink it, and go out and have a good time with you, buddies. Love it.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

This will be a good one, guys. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

You're ready. Okay. Bye.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

All right. Welcome to another episode of the PRS podcast with us today. Richard and Gage Caples. Thanks for coming on, guys.

SPEAKER_03 0:40

Thanks for having us. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Heck yeah. Oh man, you guys have really put some miles on the last couple years. Shooting quite a bit. Um let's talk about it here, right? So um Richard, you've been shooting all sorts of funny stuff, and and Gage, it feels like you're on the cusp of a win here, bud.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Hopefully. Hopefully.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Man, you guys uh you guys have really, really uh been out there a lot. Um, yeah, so let's let's start at the very beginning. Um, Richard, you probably are shooting before Gage, I would assume, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:18

Two matches. So I started shooting PRS in 2022, middle of the season. Um Gage kind of went to the first match with me. Uh two days now. I shot one regional at Texas Precision. And then um the next match was, I believe it was the best in Texas. And then Gage just kind of came to see what was going on. And um we shot that match and then didn't have a clue what I was doing. You know, we're just trucking through the mud, you know, just trying to figure it out as fast as you can. And then um the next match was uh KM. So he went with me to KM and kind of was my caddy, if you will. Um kind of sitting on the fence and the rocks, just kind of watching. And uh we got through with that match, and uh he said, Yep, I'm ready to do this. I said, Okay. And uh so we didn't have uh we had one rifle, one rifle. And uh that was in 22, you couldn't get powder, you couldn't hardly get projectiles. So um uh I had a buddy of mine, Joey, called Tate, was able to get a barrel to action in 308. So we stripped that barrel off, built a BR. So we had one rifle between us. Um so I was like, well, I'll get you a uh production 223 to get started. And we'll just see if it's even what you really want to do. You know, I was having a blast, and I knew he would have a blast at it, but there's also that is like I don't want to throw a ton of money at this right off the bat, which hindsight, I don't even want to think about the amount of money we've thrown at this from the from the start. But um so the next match that we shot was Positional Punisher, I believe. Yeah, yep, that was Gage's very first match. He shot it with a production 223. Um it was uh it was a booger.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

That's not a bad match to to really do it, right? Like because it's probably 10 or 12 mile an hour wind, it's hot out. You get berms behind a lot of stuff, so you should be able to see where you go.

SPEAKER_03 3:29

Yep, we had no, we we we were you can watch videos of it. We were horrible behind the rifle. I mean, just really just green, trying to learn, just trying to soak up as much information as you could from anybody around you. Sure. And then uh the next match that we went to, I think was Hornady. And that was only because I was I was working at the fire station then, and um uh it was uh it was at night or whatever, and George Gardner got on one of the one of the uh Facebook pages, or maybe it was the Hornady page, and said, I've got two free spots to Hornady for anybody that can get here. And I looked, I was like, Well, I go off tomorrow for five days. So I said, uh I messaged George and I said, uh if you got two spots, I think I can be there. And um I didn't realize it was a Friday, Saturday match. I was like, we got time to get there, you know, we'll be able to, you know, kind of take it.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

What is this, like a Thursday night or Tuesday night? No, Tuesday night? Okay, Tuesday night.

SPEAKER_03 4:31

So I called Gage and he goes, if you can get here, you can have them. And I said, Okay. So I called Gage that night and I said, get everything loaded. I'll get off work in the morning, I'll swing by and pick you up, and we'll head up there.

SPEAKER_01 4:44

Wednesday.

SPEAKER_03 4:45

Wednesday.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:46

So I was like, we will uh we'll crash in Albuquerque because my my oldest son lived in Albuquerque at the time. Okay. So I was like, we'll go see them, we'll grab some dinner, um, have a good time. We met them for dinner, and then I looked at an email that came out and said um train up day is at Thursday, which is the next morning.

SPEAKER_01 5:05

Okay, Wednesday night.

SPEAKER_03 5:07

Yes. Yeah, so I was like, we're at dinner in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and I'm reading this, and I'm like, I've got to drive all night.

SPEAKER_01 5:13

We gotta go.

SPEAKER_03 5:15

We gotta go. So we took off. I made it all the way to Moab, Utah, and I told Gage, I said, I've got to pull over and I gotta sleep. So I grabbed my weebad pump pillow in the back seat and I crashed for a solid three hours uh just so I could be get down the road safely. Yeah, uh we wake up, the sun's coming up in Moab, and then we take off. We show up to train up day at what 11 o'clock?

SPEAKER_00 5:41

I think so. That's perfect.

SPEAKER_03 5:43

That's perfect, right? Yeah, I'm I'm annihilated. I'm I'm just I'm a zombie. So I just got off a 24-hour shift at the fire station and then drove basically 24 hours. And um so I gave him my all I had was a 6BR and a 223. So I said, here, you shoot the 6BR, because I'm not even functioning mentally. I'll shoot the 223 in Hornady.

SPEAKER_01 6:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 6:07

A 223 in Hornady is just not the right caliber. So we had a good time. Um after that one, we came back from that and realized that if we were gonna play this game, we were gonna have to play this game. So we started buying Vargt off Gunbroker because that's the only place you could find it. Oh yeah. I mean, it was horrible. I mean, we had no we we had never reloaded, we had never shot past a hundred yards until PRS. We we grew up, I grew up in East Texas, so we hunted within 60 yards with a 3030 most of our lives.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

Yeah, so that's the way it is in Wisconsin.

SPEAKER_03 6:46

We had nothing. We had no nothing when I say nothing. I loaded a little bit of 308 every once in a while just for a hunting rifle.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

So you had a revoting press.

SPEAKER_03 6:56

I had one, yes. Yeah, and um uh I had a beam scale, nothing to trickle powder with. So um then we went berserk for about a year and just trying to just trying to get caught up. I mean, just to try to slightly get ahead of the curve. Yeah, I don't think we ever did. Um and then we started 23, and we pretty we hit the road pretty hard. I mean, we we shot quite a few matches.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

Let's take a brief break in the show to give a shout-out to one of our partners, Mid-Sell Shooter Supply, official supply retailer of the Precision Rifle Series. Whether you're loading for your next match or stocking up for the season, Mid Sell Shooter Supply has the components, ammunition, and gear precision rifle competitors depend on. They've built their reputation on great customer service, competitive pricing, and keeping the product shooters actually need in stock. Go check them out, midself shooter supply.com. So let's uh Gage, how old were you in 2022?

SPEAKER_00 8:00

14. I was 14 in 2022.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

Uh at so at that point, I mean, what what are you all right? Are you are you playing how are you in sports and doing all this stuff? Or are you just kind of like up? Yeah, yeah, we're gonna go. We're gonna go back. I wanna I wanna get this, we're we're gonna hit on a lot of the father-son stuff, but I wanna I wanna create a picture here of what engages at in life, right? So at at 14, you know, how how active are you in other things at this point?

SPEAKER_00 8:29

So when I was 14, I was homeschooled. I did not play sports in high school because Chicago didn't allow the homeschool kids to play with the high school kids, so I didn't get to do any of that. I basically just fished the neighborhood every every day after school and did that for two years, and then that's whenever I started shooting with dad. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_03 8:55

Yeah, we we pulled him out and we started homeschool engaging sixth grade.

SPEAKER_00 9:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 9:01

So whenever they shut all the schools down for COVID and basically said, you know, hey, go home, here's your tablet. Um we just said ah, we'll we can do this, we can do this better. And so that uh we did that for about a year, and then you know, they kind of opened everything back up, and he said, uh, he goes, I don't want to go back. So uh I mean he was done with school in two and a half hours in the morning, and right, you know, you can go do your own thing. Um so that's the only reason we were able to chase points like we did. Um, I worked a good schedule at the fire department, and we had an RV repair company that I could basically leave when I needed to. Um so we were able to run the roads, if you will.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

That's a that's a pretty ideal setup. And then yeah, I mean, with Gage only really taking a few hours a day to to get schoolwork done and then probably load ammo and practice, right?

SPEAKER_03 9:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 10:00

So in 2022, that I mean you that's the year you said you shot horn at EPRC?

SPEAKER_03 10:07

That was in 22, yes.

SPEAKER_01 10:09

Yeah, wow. Uh so how how much? And you guys are uh where are you located again?

SPEAKER_03 10:14

You're right there by outside of college station, Texas, 30 minutes from Navasota range.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

Yep, yep. So uh were you able to go there and practice much in 2020?

SPEAKER_03 10:26

Well we went and bought a membership and started practicing every Friday. We would go to the range every single Friday. So we'd go if we weren't shooting a match somewhere, every Friday was go practice at the range. Um, but you know, people ask me all the time, you know, they'll pull me over and or pull me aside and say, How did Gage get so good so fast?

SPEAKER_01 10:48

We're gonna get to that. We're gonna get to that. That's uh I'm asking some pointed questions, and obviously practicing every Friday, right? That's a big part of it.

SPEAKER_03 10:57

And then dry fire every night for 45 minutes to an hour. So, I mean, we we built props in the yard, and um I'm I was like, I'm not going out there to dry fire, I'm tired from working all day, you know. You go do what you want, you know. Um and he's out there just dry fired for 45 minutes a night. Uh he's got one impact. Our first impact action is so smooth right now.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

I mean, it's it's basically uh brand new. I know I I don't remember the first impact that I got, but I I probably thought new. I'm like, man, this is a great action, you know. And then like any of the recent new ones I get, I'm like, I'm just gonna sit here on the couch and run this thing back and forth until it is glass, you know?

SPEAKER_03 11:40

Yep. Yeah, I just got one of the new MBK ultralights in, and that is glass from the factory. Okay, it is it's amazing. Right on. I'm considering running it in open.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

Oh boy, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:56

It is so all right.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

So at this point, uh beginning of 23. Okay, are we talking both custom rifle builds now? Yes.

SPEAKER_03 12:08

Um both in BR? No, um Gage was in the BR, and then I I didn't we didn't want to buy another barrel. Obviously, you want to spend money when you have one. So I had the 308 barrel that I pulled off the original barrel to action, um, bought another impact, yep, yep, and threw the 308 barrel on there, and I'm like, hey, this is easy. Uh, I'll just run tack, you run um, you run br. And so we did that for a little while. Um I think I won Tac Division at Frostbite in 23. Uh and TAC, I can't remember.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

Um that was the one me and you both did. Yeah, we both went to Frostbite.

SPEAKER_03 12:48

We both went to Frostbite. Um anyway, so I kind of got bit by the TAC bug. And I was like, all right, well, this is fun. I'm having a good time. Um and I mean I'm I'm competitive, but not like crazy, you know, I've got to win at all costs, kind of thing. So I I go out there and have fun, i.e. the lever gun, you know. I'm out there to have a good time, you know, meet meet friends and you know, and and help other people get into the sport because I know what we had to go through to get into this sport. So if I can offer any nugget of advice to anybody, I give it to them. You know, just try to help make the way easier.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

So how I guess let's not I want to ask that question, right? So how what would you give somebody who maybe is you know just finding PRS right now, and you know, this is their 2022 season, right? Where they maybe went to one match and are like, whoa, this is pretty cool. Let's uh let's go check this out. What's a piece of advice?

SPEAKER_03 13:51

One caliber and one caliber only. Buy components for one caliber. Right. So if if if we had to start over again, I would say that we would probably try to run identical calibers and identical setups just to make life easier, not only in the reloading room, but during practice.

SPEAKER_01 14:12

Um using one set of ammo every yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:15

One set of ammo, you know, identical builds, uh, and take a lot of the stress out of trying to run two separate setups. Um, dope that's completely far off from each other. Um, you know, so that would be my one advice if to do it cost effectively, if you will, is to buy one bullet. Burger 105, 109, doesn't matter. Uh buy a bunch of them, you know, and then uh just run just run a dasher for the first two years of your PRS starting career uh and learn as much as you can. I bounced calibers, all I've shot everything from open to sportsman to everything, but I'm I have a different mindset.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

Yeah. Yeah, and that's I think Richard, I think you and I probably you know probably we're on the same page where it is kind of fun to shoot this different stuff, right? Absolutely. Um yeah. Gage, I I I want to ask you the same question. For a 14-year-old that's entering the sport, or we'll say a junior in general, like what's the piece of advice that you would give give that shooter?

SPEAKER_00 15:28

I'm not the best at this part. It's like giving advice part. I'm not the best at it.

SPEAKER_01 15:34

Let me re let me re-ass the question. What would you have done differently back at 14 years old when your dad's bringing you into this sport? Like if you could go back in time, you'd be like, ah, you know, I had this is an awesome time, but if I could just change this one thing, this is what I would do differently.

SPEAKER_00 15:51

I would have rather shot an open gun instead of a 223. Shoot a bat. Right off the bat, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:00

Yep. What caliber do you shoot now, Gage? Uh I shoot a dasher now. Okay. And you started on well, 223, and then you went six BR? Yes, sir. Yep, and uh now Dasher. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:12

You didn't transfer to Dasher until the 24 season.

SPEAKER_00 16:17

Until last year. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:18

That was 25.

SPEAKER_00 16:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:21

Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:22

And we finally I don't know why we were just so I mean everybody you talked to said, you you know, six BR is just as good, you know, and um we probably should have gone to Dasher a long time ago. Wow. For him, for him.

SPEAKER_01 16:35

Yeah. So what what's interesting about some of this advice, right? Like just go Dasher, shoot 105s, you know, 109s, or you know, whatever it is, right? Like, and that's that's a formula that a lot of people uh use and trust and all that, right? And it's it's been proven. Um back when I was coming up through this, like there, you know, Dasher was known to be like super accurate, easy to load for, and all this, but like, oh boy, like you really got to get the magazine right and have feeding and all of this, right? Like they had like one Achilles heel. And I don't know, probably in 20, probably the late teens, maybe 2020, like all that was cured, right? Like we have better magazines now, like you know the the feeding and all that is is a known proven system. Uh, but you know, Dasher versus BR, I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 17:28

Like you can just push it a lot faster. So the the deciding factor for us, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

Do I was gonna ask, it's a 100-150 feet per second difference, maybe, right?

SPEAKER_03 17:40

Yeah, but the the one match that decided it for us for sure, we were shooting a Navasota one day, I believe it was, and it was a wet, rainy uh, and we were pushing the BR probably a little bit on the ragged edge. Um and uh we were we were blowing primers, and so right then we knew we could probably run the same speed in a dasher and be rain safe. Uh we get so much humidity down here that um you can run a regular load in Amarillo and you come down here and it's over pressure. Um so that was that was the main reason we went to Dasher. Um he did very good with the BR. I mean, he had some top threes in regional with with the BR and no issues, and he was still a fairly young shooter. Um, but that that one match where we couldn't finish the match because of an ammo problem is is kind of what threw us over the edge. And and like you said, I remember ordering the spacer kits for the mags to run the dasher. You know, you're you're taking mags apart, trying to use these 3D printed, you know, spacers in there, and then some worked, some didn't. Some didn't, yeah. MDT came out with their um with their BR dasher mags and then GreyOps, which you know came out with theirs. And so now them the feeding is a non-exist non-existent issue. It's not an issue, yeah. It's not anymore. I mean, you they feed everything. Even the that's the only reason why I think we have the arcs in a bolt gun is because of the magazine technology from the dasher allowed us to run the the arcs and bolt guns.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

So uh uh all right. Have you played around with a uh an arc and uh in a bolt action platform?

SPEAKER_03 19:24

So yes, the first barrel that Gage ever cut, he cut me a 22-arc uh hunting rifle. And so that's one of my it's one of my favorite. It's a little tack dragon. Um so that was the first barrel that he ever cut on his own. And um so yeah, it's a 22-arc bolt gun.

SPEAKER_01 19:41

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 19:42

So took an awd with it, I don't know, four months ago in uh West Texas.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

That's cool. Yep. All right, so we kind of we're gonna bounce around. Yeah, we we we bounced, we bounced a gauge now cutting barrels. Yeah. So let's go back. All right. Okay. Have you guys always had like a machine shop or a lathe or whatever sitting around, or is this part of your PRS journey?

SPEAKER_03 20:08

Well, I guess we'll back up even more. So now we're into the end of 23, and now we have three of us shooting. Myself, Gage, and Christy wanted to shoot now.

SPEAKER_02 20:20

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 20:20

So um, Tate Streeter loves us, you know, just buy more actions, you know, just keep buying actions. Um so Christy's like, if I'm going out there with y'all anyway, I'm gonna shoot. And so we couldn't do this if it wasn't for Christy, because I'm gonna tell you right now, whenever we say, hey, we're headed off to Pennsylvania tomorrow for a match, he's like, have fun, you know, see you when you get back. You know, um, that's cool. No, no, no gripes, no nothing. Um, she's like, Y'all go have fun, go go make memories, go do father-sons, you know, and so um she wanted to start shooting, so I was like, man, I gotta figure out how we're gonna pay for this, you know, because I mean you're you're a thousand dollars in two-day entry fees uh every weekend, you know, or every two-day match. And then you've got uh 900 rounds of ammo we gotta get loaded. I mean, it's just it's just it multiplied. You know, you think it just doubles, it doesn't double, it it quadruples.

SPEAKER_01 21:24

And so it's a lot of feet pictures, Richard.

SPEAKER_03 21:28

And you don't want to see those, they're not they're not worth it. Um somebody does. Um, so I was like, man, we gotta figure out a way to uh pay for this. Um so that's how we came up with cable's precision. And I was like, man, we gotta figure out what we're gonna do. We've got to be able to we gotta be able to make some money and ride some things off if we're gonna if we're gonna do this.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

Yeah. Um Gage was starting. Go ahead. At least at least just get closer to even, right? It gets close.

SPEAKER_03 21:56

I don't think we'll ever even. Yeah, at least get closer to uh to getting it out of the uh red. And um so then um the bag wax uh rebel rooster was around and then they went vacant for a couple of years and um I worked on the hazmat team in the city of Houston or for 15 years of my career. Uh and I said uh I can I can I can make bagwax.

SPEAKER_02 22:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:26

And uh 15 iterations later, we had a product okay. It's not near as easy as I thought it was gonna be. So we just that's how Caples Precision got started uh was with uh the bag wax. Once they kind of went out and you couldn't get it anymore, I just I saw that there was a need for it, so we jumped on it.

SPEAKER_01 22:47

Got it.

SPEAKER_03 22:48

Um we've come out with a bunch of other stuff too, but uh that was the main thing to to try to help offset some of the costs because it was getting really expensive. I mean, three of us away on a weekend to twisted barrel, I mean, you're looking at five thousand dollars just.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

That's that's a number that yep, yep.

SPEAKER_03 23:06

So it's like, okay, we gotta we gotta offset some of this. So that's how that started. And then Christy, you know, she likes to shoot, but she'll pick her matches. It's not too hot, there's no chance of rain, you know. So she was she's a fair weather shooter. I've turned into a fair weather shooter uh along with her. So she shoots more two days than we do now.

SPEAKER_01 23:28

It's hard to be fair weather though when you live in Texas, because you gotta, I mean, I uh it seems like it rains every weekend down there, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:36

You know, absolutely. We shot the gas gun show Spring National two weekends ago in the rain. So I mean it's like it's just what it is.

SPEAKER_01 23:44

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 23:45

So yep.

SPEAKER_01 23:47

So then uh so 2023, you guys buy a lathe?

SPEAKER_03 23:50

Is that uh no? We the we um Gage, uh you know Zane from South Texas or Zayn Coon. Um Zane and Coon, uh Zane and Gage are good buddies. Uh they shoot together a lot. So Zayn kind of took Gage under his wing and has been doing an apprenticeship. Um he'll go there for a couple weeks and then come go cut, learn, come back, and then go back for a couple of weeks, learn some more. Um, so the lathe's not even here yet. It's due in in a week, week and a half. Okay. So he's been going to South Texas Armament and you know, learning. And I I take I send him barrels to practice on.

SPEAKER_02 24:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:25

Um so uh yeah, the FFL's still not in yet. So I mean it's just a it's a nightmare. I mean, to to to uh get into the gun industry, you've got to have six months of shop built before you can even turn a single thing. So it's uh that's why I haven't been chasing points this year. Um I had to build a shop and the gas gun show uh is taken off. So that's kept me super busy. Um Taylor Crabtree and I are partners in the gas gun show. Um and building this shop for a lathe, and so it's just been I've that's why I've been shooting lever gun. I think I don't think I've shot the same division at any two day this year yet. So I'm just out here for a good time, letting him chase points. Um and I'm trying to do the honeydews.

SPEAKER_01 25:17

There you go. There you go. So I mean, I love hearing this because it it you you've never been more committed than you are right now.

SPEAKER_03 25:27

Commitment's an understatement.

SPEAKER_01 25:29

No joke. No joke.

SPEAKER_03 25:31

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 25:31

Let's take a brief break in the show to give a shout out to one of our partners, Mid-Sell Shooter Supply, official supply retailer of the Precision Rifle Series. Whether you're loading for your next match or stocking up for the season, MidSell Shooter Supply has the components, ammunition, and gear precision rifle competitors depend on. They've built their reputation on great customer service, competitive pricing, and keeping the product shooters actually need in stock. Go check them out, midself shooter supply.com. All right, Gage. So you're shooting shooting Dasher as uh as of the 2025 season. Um, and I would say last, I mean, last year you really like increased velocity, right? Like as as you shop more, it seemed like you're getting closer and closer and closer to that win. Um finished finished the 25 season with a bullet, too, didn't you?

SPEAKER_00 26:23

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

Yep. Uh what what place were you at the end of the season? I believe in ninth. Yep, black bullet territory. I love that. Um, and and you know, a lot of us have been talking, it's just a matter of time for you know, until you get yourself a win here. Um all right. How much practice? It's more than 45 minutes dry fire a night, right? Like, how much practice actually goes into this for you?

SPEAKER_00 26:53

I try to shoot a bunch of I shoot a bunch of one days just to help out new shooters and to do practice at the one days. I'll just load up a random load just to test the morning of and shoot that and basically just practice reading the plate with that with whatever it is, and that's pretty much all I do for practice. If I have a free weekend where I'm not doing anything, I'll go out to CCC and just go out with a buddy and shoot make a makeup stage, and that's pretty much all.

SPEAKER_01 27:24

Okay. Yep. Um using one day regionals as practice, and uh, and a lot of guys in the in the series do that. What um do you take a different focus when you're there? I mean, or are you like I'm gonna win this match? Like, and that is like you're just trying to execute stage by stage, or is it um an actual practice sort of look at what you're doing, right? Like, you know what, I'm gonna try. You know, like for me, for the longest time, tripod rear was was not something I was very proficient with, right? So any opportunity at a one-day regional, I'd be like, Yep, I should probably this I should be practicing tripod rear, and I'm gonna use this opportunity. How how do you take that approach?

SPEAKER_00 28:08

I do kind of half and half. I do the same mentality that I go with at a two-day match, and then I do half of it where I just find a prop that looks really weird and I try something new on it. If I don't like it, I know I'll practice that more after the match, and pretty much that's all. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 28:28

What uh who who would you say are, you know, obviously Richard, but who who are some mentors in the community that you've really had an opportunity to learn from and um you know shoot with?

SPEAKER_00 28:43

Zane is definitely one of them. I shoot with him as much as I can just because me and him are we treat each other like we're older brothers, like we're siblings. I like that. Uh Ryan Adams was one who helped me out a bunch when I was just starting. He would take videos of me at one day's and show me them and tell me this is what you need to work on, tell me how to work on it. Okay. Tongue, Nathan, he's definitely one of the other ones that helped me out a bunch.

SPEAKER_01 29:13

Yep. What are some of the things that uh, you know, like what's what's the biggest thing that, you know, working with some of those guys, like, you know, like the biggest aha moment that you had, maybe that went from like shooting here to like, man, now I now I got something. I'm gonna I'm gonna put that to to practice.

SPEAKER_00 29:36

It would probably be at the first Anderson Outlaw match that I shot with Ryan. He took a video of me shooting the PRS barricade, and I was slapping the trigger like it owed me money. And that was the big moment where I realized that's why I'm missing so much.

SPEAKER_01 29:54

Okay. I mean, probably just missing left, right, left, right, and like inconsistent.

SPEAKER_03 29:59

So he made Clay Blackhead's trigger pull look amazing.

SPEAKER_01 30:05

Yeah. That's funny. So uh you're given a piece of information like that, right? Uh, which I think is a fantastic way, right? Like you have somebody that you know and trust actually record you shooting. Uh what what do you do with that information now? I mean, is that like, oh man, I'm gonna go home and fix this? Like, how how do you how'd you take that, digest it, and make it make it what you are now?

SPEAKER_00 30:32

Uh have them send it to me after the match, and then I'll watch that the whole way back to the house, no matter how long the drive is, watch it, and then when I get home, I'll go to the prop that we have outside, I'll do the dry fire, feel the trigger, and then I'll do it do that.

SPEAKER_01 30:51

Did you did you notice right away, like after that dry fire session and like your next match, or was it something that you had to like consciously think about?

SPEAKER_00 30:59

For a while it was something I had to c I had to think about a lot on the clock. It was like make sure I have a good trigger press. Now it's natural now, or I don't think about it as much.

SPEAKER_01 31:11

Okay. Yeah, and looking at your results this year. Uh Gravestone, you were fourth. At Loupold Steel Classic, you were third. Box Canyon, you were second. Is that a complete list of matches so far?

SPEAKER_00 31:27

Yes. No, I've shot three more this year.

SPEAKER_01 31:31

Yeah, yeah, I don't. Yeah, I mean, the website is right in transition, should be going live here any day now, and all that'll be.

SPEAKER_03 31:41

I was looking at the old one there, but um so the the joke, Ken, as you know, is he's a bearded junior. Okay, yeah, we were there.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

Yeah, all of a sudden that beard shows up this year, and he's this is your last year shooting junior, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 31:58

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_03 31:59

Yeah, his mother and I fought him last year, all year most of the time, with to to to shave it and not grow a full beard. And uh, you know, so people come up to me and you know, they they joke when they say it, but they're like, man, Gage doesn't need to be shooting junior. You know, he should have quit shooting junior at 17. And let let some of these other juniors, you know, win a trophy. And you know, I was talking to uh Sam Millard this year at Shot Show.

SPEAKER_01 32:32

Yep, and um I told him, I said, the greatest uh Jake was a dominant shooter for a long time, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:39

Yeah, so in all of 22 and 23, Jake Millard was probably the greatest influence drive for him to get better because Jake was just constantly winning top junior, top junior, top junior, top junior. And uh that's what I was telling Sam at shot. I was like, you know, all these other kids that they're driving to beat him now, you know, and which is good. I mean, it's gonna make them try harder, it's gonna make them put in more reps, you know. And I was like, Yep, uh, just shoot it another year. You get one more year as a junior, and then you're done. You're you're up there with the rest of them. But um, yeah, I we get that a lot, you know. Oh, he doesn't need to be shooting junior. And I'm like, man, it's really helping the other juniors out to be better, you know.

SPEAKER_01 33:24

It probably is, yeah. Yeah, it it gives them something to shoot for and a little drive and that type of thing, right? Allison Zane was that way. Yep. Uh Jake Millard, yeah. What uh do you have any goals of getting a win before aging out? Like, is that part of your uh of what you're shooting for?

SPEAKER_00 33:45

Yes, sir. That is one of my goals for this year.

SPEAKER_01 33:47

I love that. I love that for you. I love that. Um, all right, let's talk about shooting together, father-son. Um, I'm assuming at the beginning in 2022 and 2023, you guys talked quite a bit, right? Like while you're shooting, figuring stuff out together, right? And then at some point, was there a transition where like, all right, I can't teach him anything, anything else, or he's teaching me, or yeah, how did that go?

SPEAKER_03 34:14

That was pretty soon. Um that was pretty quick and in our shooting together. Um I would say we went to JTAC training. Yeah. Um, like I said, we were I'm uh I'm just a fireman. So, you know, I called Tate and I said, Hey, do y'all have one of those father-son? Buy one, get one half offs. And you know, I said, I'd love to, I'd love to come to JCAC. I said, but I'm gonna get Gage in there regardless. So I may just have to put him on an airplane and fly him up there if somebody can pull him off an airplane in Oklahoma City. Um, I'll ship the rifle. And he's like, No, we can probably work something out. And he said, Yep, come on. And so um Tate Streeter has probably helped out Gage probably more than anybody in the PRS community. Um if Gage needs something, Tate is gonna be there saying, Hey, I got you.

SPEAKER_01 35:08

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 35:09

Um, and so he's probably one of the biggest influences, you know, to help him push to be who he is as a shooter. Um so uh we went up to JTAC. After JTAC, I couldn't catch him.

SPEAKER_02 35:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 35:23

JTAC was a lot of information that I was still steadily processing six months after the class. Yeah, Gage picked it up immediately and was able to apply it immediately to his game, you know, and so after that, there was there was no, I couldn't touch him again. So um we squatted together almost all for the first couple, three years. Now sometimes we'll squat together. Sometimes I'll go help somebody with a gas gun or something like that, you know. But um, I will say that shooting with a father and son is both awesome and it's also difficult, um, especially in the beginning when you don't have your mental game locked down. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 36:09

You mean as a shooter and trying to be a father's yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:14

So I would get up there and um and I'd be shooting and I'd have a bad stage. Well, not only did I have a bad stage, but so did he, because he just watched me have a bad stage, and so, and vice versa, he would have a bad stage, then I would have a bad stage. And so as you progress as a PRS shooter, you you learn to deal with that mental aspect of it of just put it out of your mind, you know, just move forward.

SPEAKER_01 36:40

Follow your process.

SPEAKER_03 36:41

Yeah, follow your process. Next stage is a brand new match. Um, yeah. So in the beginning, it was difficult, you know, because we were both struggling, and um, and he was he was a better shooter than I am from the get-go. Um, but uh yeah, he'd have a bad stage or I would, and it'd mean it'd be like it'd take us two or three stages to climb out of that.

SPEAKER_01 37:02

So what would you what would you tell a you know, a father-son or you know, father-daughter, mother-son, whatever the situation. What would what would you tell that family, like, hey, it took us a while to figure this out, but like, you know, here's a piece of advice for you.

SPEAKER_03 37:21

In the beginning, use every stage as a learning, you know, obstacle. Okay, you're not gonna have a bunch of perfect stages, you're gonna have a lot of mess ups. Immediately come off that stage instead of being disgruntled or or mad at yourself, um, talk to each other. Hey, what did you see that I could do better? What did what did you see that, you know, vice versa. Um basically break it down as an after-action plan. We just shot a stage, we had an issue, let's sit right there and work it out. What could we have done better? And that helps you to put it out of your mind. You know, instead of being mad about it, you're you're working on you want to get the dog. Yeah, I yeah, the shop dogs go crazy with the uh squeaker. Um, I love it. So it helps you to um to process what just happened so that way you can move past it easier than than sitting there and dwelling on it.

SPEAKER_01 38:18

Um, sounds like this is very therapy therapeutic, right? Like, or uh it's it it helps build a relationship too.

SPEAKER_03 38:29

Oh absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 38:30

Were you were you having conversations like this with Gage prior to the PRFs? Yeah, I mean like where you guys are super engaged with one another working through things?

SPEAKER_03 38:41

Absolutely. Um Okay. I'm uh you can ask all three of my kids. Uh Gage is the baby. Okay. So you can ask all three of them that, yep, I'm uh I'm pretty tough when it comes to uh parenting. I don't cut I don't cut them any slack. And Gage will tell you right off the bat that there is no slack given. Um you're gonna you're gonna own everything you do, you know, whether it's good or bad. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 39:07

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 39:08

So um so yeah, we we've had a pretty close relationship. Before PRS, we uh we did a lot of offshore fishing or bay fishing. So we had a we had a camper that we left at the coast. Um we just hauled the boat back and forth every weekend, you know.

SPEAKER_01 39:23

That's cool.

SPEAKER_03 39:24

And so we just that's all we did was fish. Um and then PRS took that hobby and threw it by the wayside.

SPEAKER_02 39:31

No, yeah, you had to be able to afford that.

SPEAKER_03 39:34

You cannot do both and pursue points. There's just no way. Um we we tried to do it for about a year and we're like one's gotta go because you they either both suffer or you know, you gotta you gotta pick one or the other. Yeah. Um but yeah, so no, that's we've but to be able to jump in the truck and drive two days to a match, um, that's just you know, it's not a lot of parents get to do that. So, I mean, that's a blessing in itself. I get to spend two days we're talking about PRS, we're talking about shooting, you know, what do we like about this match last year? What did we mess up on? What can we do better? Um, and just try to improve our performance from the last time we were there. And so uh we've got to see, you know, places that I normally wouldn't see, you know, just because shooting PRS. Um last year we um he he was a senior, so we took the war um match in Pennsylvania. We went we went to New York, we went to Washington, DC, we went to Philadelphia, let him see all the whole you know, American history side of that. We spent three weeks on the road, you know. That's awesome. Most people don't get to do that, you know, spend three weeks and go shoot matches the whole time while you're gone. Um, and then a wife at home who says, yeah, go have fun, you know. I'll see you when you get back.

SPEAKER_01 40:55

So, what are the what are some of the best memory? I'm gonna ask both of you guys this. Richard, you go first. What's what's probably your most favorite memory over this last four years of of shooting together and traveling and and dealing with the weather and you know the obstacles that PRS throws at you? What that's easy for me.

SPEAKER_03 41:16

Um so we um we've befriended uh or we're real real good friends with some Australian shooters, Ashley and Luke, um, Wade and Josh. Uh they come over here, they have a place to stay at the house, they can reload here and then go shoot matches or whatever they need to do. Um but when uh it was the 25 finale, uh we we didn't have any idea where he was gonna finish in the season. And the Australians had already done all the math and figured it up and sent me a text message and said Gage got night for the whole season. So that was pretty cool to watch. That I mean I've watched him grow up for the last three years striving to shoot these matches, you know, and then to come out from squad, I think three uh all the way to a ninth place bullet was uh pretty impressive to watch.

SPEAKER_01 42:09

Six at the match. I think it was sixth at the match overall. Yep. And then yep. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 42:13

Yeah, by day two of the finale, I wasn't even paying attention to my course of fire. I had my binders. Thank goodness War was kind of like a U.

SPEAKER_01 42:22

Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:23

So no matter where I was at, I could watch him shoot from my squad because I was in a different squad, I was in the gas gun squad. So day two, I spent more time watching him shoot than paying attention to what was going on when I was supposed to be doing. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 42:39

That's awesome. Gage, how about you? What's what's the best memory over the last four years that you could put your finger on?

SPEAKER_00 42:45

It's between two matches. It's either between the 2023 frostbite, which was the first match that me and dad both came home with a trophy, or the 2025 finale, where we both came home with a bullet. It's between those two.

SPEAKER_01 43:00

Yep. That's a pretty awesome experience to be able to share that with your dad. That is cool. Absolutely. What so let's let's uh any any other advice or or I guess like what what is your goal now as father-son, you know, uh to continue competing. It I mean, do you have any? Obviously, gauge is on the cusp of a win, very likely taking home a bullet this year. Richard, you're kind of bouncing around shooting these other divisions. Do you guys have any other shared goals going forward?

SPEAKER_03 43:40

Make cable's precision successful.

SPEAKER_01 43:42

Yeah, there you go.

SPEAKER_03 43:43

So yeah, when we started it, we put the company in his name, um, because I was still working full time. So um so it's all his. So, but um just to try to make that successful, a successful endeavor. Um we get to work together every day. That's why. While we're here on a Monday morning at noon, getting to do a launchful podcast. Um, so we work together every day in this endeavor. Um, and that's another blessing is uh I get to do that. I'm retired now, so yeah, um I can do that and spend time with him and um and help him grow this business and kind of be a mentor to him in the business aspect of it versus just being a father because now we're now we're basically co-workers. He's 18 now, he's on his own. So, you know, he's he's uh he has to he has to pull his own weight now. No more freebies, no more free lunches.

SPEAKER_01 44:35

Yep, yeah. What a cool opportunity to to learn business and do something you're passionate about, right? Absolutely and and to do it together, right? Like I there's gotta be some days where and you can be honest, your gauge, right? Like, there's some days where it's just like, what am I doing here? Like, I could use just a minute away from dad.

SPEAKER_00 44:56

Yeah, there's some days like that, but later on in the day we're back to being normal. Yep, normal, okay.

SPEAKER_03 45:04

Yep, cutting up, making fun of each other.

SPEAKER_01 45:08

So love it. Love it. Any other advice for any any you know, parent and child shooters that you guys can you can pass on here?

SPEAKER_03 45:21

Get out there and do it. I mean, just get out there. If if the club has loaners, go do loners. Um, get out there and do it, get out there and experience it. Um when you feel that when you hear that first impact, I mean it's you're hooked. Um, my very first uh regional match that I ever shot, I started a stage on a PRS barricade. And I'm not gonna lie, I don't know how I hit the target. I was so nervous and the retica was moving. There was no plate wobble, it was sky dirt 10 foot in front of me, you know. And uh I sent that first shot and I heard impact and I was like, oh man. And it really is the rest is history. It's all it takes is you know that one impact and you're hooked. Um I mean, it's a great, it's a great community. Um, I've never I've met some of the best people I've met in my life, some of the best friends I have in my life are in PRS that I've made in the last four years, you know. So um the sport alone, but just the camaraderie is is worth it, even without the competing part of it. Um so get out there and do it, make friends, have a good time. Um, don't take it too serious. Um, you know, uh, you can do, I think you can do it, take it too serious, and then it becomes not fun. Everybody talks about you know this PRS burnout. You know, if you just get out there and you have a good time and you're enjoying yourself and not pushing yourself to just to the brink of you're it's it's fun.

SPEAKER_01 46:59

You you're not gonna burn out, you're gonna have a where it's make or break it, you know.

SPEAKER_03 47:04

Yeah, this it's not a make or break sport.

SPEAKER_01 47:06

I uh you know burnout, I think, was talked a lot more about like two years ago than it is today. I I think there is I think I think there's been a turn where there's maybe some more people that are just there to have fun. You know what I mean? Do you feel like do you feel like the burnout conversation is happening less? You know, because maybe there's to me it seems like there's more people that have have transitioned to like, yeah, I know if I took this, if I if I am all in, this is all I'm doing, like I am gonna burn out. You know what? I'm just I'm gonna have fun with it, right?

SPEAKER_03 47:50

Yeah, so for the last three and a half years, this is all we've done.

unknown 47:54

Right.

SPEAKER_03 47:55

And we don't play golf, we don't, yeah, we we shoot PRS. We're in here loading, we're in here um building rifles, putting a new gun together. Um that's all we've done, you know. And um and and where I'm at, I'm I'm having fun. You know, this is this is a good time. Yeah, I have more fun building a gun that's oddball to go shoot at a match than trying to go win open. Yeah I I don't I can't I couldn't tell you where I hit on plate. I know I hit the plate, you know, and I'm and I'm okay with that.

SPEAKER_01 48:31

You know, we don't have we don't have 18-year-old eyes, right?

SPEAKER_03 48:34

So, you know, Gage, we'll be sitting there on a Friday and he'll be like, Did you see where you hit on the plate? No, I didn't see where I hit on plate, you know, and he'll tell you exactly where you hit on plate. And I'm like, well, that's good for you, buddy. You know, I'm out here having a good time and I'll send five more at it and hit it three out of five times. But um it's the mindset of what you're going into. I mean, if you're if you're uber competitive and you have to win at all cost, then this sport is gonna burn you out. Um because it's it's um you could be the golden bullet winner one week and then the next week you're 40th at a match. Why is that? Because there's too many variables, you know. No, it it's the top of the the top guys are always gonna be upper at the top, but I mean, there's always something. I mean, there's always something that can that can hem you up, and you're like, oh man, that's like you know, oh he's washed up. You know, that's the joke you hear all the time now. Everybody's washed up, you know. Yeah but um and then they come right back around, you know, it's just the way it is. Um, but yeah, don't don't take the sport too seriously. Go out there and have a good time, is what I would tell anybody, especially father-son, father-daughter, mother, father, whatever. Yeah, uh, just go have a good time.

SPEAKER_01 49:51

Yep. Gage, how do you how do you approach the sport? I mean, are you uh uh like when when you know I I watched a shoot at Gravestone, I think you shot all weekend in a pair of hey dudes and jeans, you know, and it looks like you're relaxed and having a great time. I mean, is that is that part of it? Like you just hey, I know I'm gonna I'm gonna have some wins, but I just can't take it too seriously. What's your approach?

SPEAKER_00 50:15

I don't take it super I take it seriously, but I don't take it over seriously. That's why I'm always wearing hey dudes at every match, comfortable pair of blue jeans. If it shows it'll be muddy, then I'll wear actual shooting stuff and all that. But other than that, I'm just out there having fun, relaxing, cutting up with friends that I haven't seen in a while. Right on.

SPEAKER_01 50:38

Have you always had that approach, or has that been something over the last year or two that you've something over the last year or two?

SPEAKER_00 50:44

I remember in 2024 is when I was over serious about it, and it was uh my struggle year.

SPEAKER_01 50:52

Okay. So would you say that going out and having fun and and and just you know focusing on the process is has been I mean, it's changed the game for you?

SPEAKER_00 51:03

Yes, sir, definitely.

SPEAKER_01 51:05

Awesome, awesome. Yeah, that's uh hopefully there's people that that hear that and take that, you know, take that to heart. Because I think I can say, at least for me, um, you know, there were there were times where I had like really big aspirations, get better, shoot better, you know, do all the JTAC stuff, which is a fantastic program. I've been to KM a couple times. Um but then it was when we took ownership of the PRS that like I never got nervous anymore at a state. I knew that like I'm never gonna, I'm never gonna reach my potential. There's more to this sport for me than trying to be, you know, super good. So and as soon as I as soon as I fell into that, it was like, yeah, it's a lot of fun. You know, I don't have any expectations of me. And and I started shooting better, you know. Uh not all the time, but I still have some matches where maybe I don't take it seriously enough. And then you know, drops seven out of ten. You know.

SPEAKER_03 52:04

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 52:06

Yeah. It is a fun sport, and and people should should remember that, you know? Yeah. Uh any any last minute things here before we jump off? Shout outs to mom. That's a good poison start.

SPEAKER_03 52:21

Yeah, no, if it wasn't for Christy, we couldn't we couldn't play this game the way we play this game. I can tell you that right now. Uh, they tell you when you when you pick your wife, marry, marry a good one, we got a good one. You know, so um anything we need, she doesn't look at the credit card bill. So, you know, it's as long as it's paid. Well, you know, at the end of every month, she's fine. She doesn't complain.

SPEAKER_01 52:45

So yeah, she's a good one for sure.

SPEAKER_03 52:50

Absolutely.

unknown 52:51

Awesome.

SPEAKER_03 52:52

And she'll come RO a match in the middle of the night when RO gets fired. I mean, that's just the kind of person she is.

SPEAKER_01 52:57

So I where yeah, I've seen her a couple times at matches, RO and taking pictures and doing all the stuff, right? I mean, she's there to help the community, you know. Absolutely. Yep, that's all right.

SPEAKER_03 53:09

She'll babysit whatever you need her to do. She'll she'll she would be happy to do it.

SPEAKER_01 53:14

Do uh she ran check-in for us too, I think. Two years in a row, didn't she?

SPEAKER_03 53:18

For the uh yeah, I think she's doing uh, yep, and I think she's doing check-in at worlds this year.

SPEAKER_01 53:24

So there you go. There you go. So might be the next one.

SPEAKER_03 53:27

Looking forward to worlds this year.

SPEAKER_01 53:29

Heck yeah. A couple hours down the road from you guys.

SPEAKER_03 53:32

Yes, it was a little closer this time.

SPEAKER_01 53:34

Yeah, yeah. Yep. Awesome. Well, man, it's great talking with you guys. Uh, Gage, I hope we have you on here soon for the PRS show, and we're talking about your first win uh as as a junior.

SPEAKER_03 53:47

It's gonna happen.

SPEAKER_01 53:48

Um I think the rest of the world believes it as well. Like we're all confident it's coming soon for you, Gage. So yeah, um he's too consistent.

SPEAKER_03 53:58

He's too consistent.

SPEAKER_01 54:01

Right there. Right there. Awesome.

SPEAKER_03 54:05

Well, thanks for having us on very much. Thank you, Mr. Champ.

SPEAKER_01 54:08

Yep, thank you guys. We'll talk soon.

SPEAKER_03 54:10

Bye bye.