Making Shooters Better

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 Instruction, Frank is also a competitive shooter, precision rifleman, handloader, hunter, instructor, and prolific firearms writer with more than 1,100 published articles....

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 service and ultimately becoming a Green Beret with the 19th Special Forces Group. When he returned to structured firearms training, something surprising happened: the...

EPISODE SUMMARY After 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 as a way of life, recognizing and avoiding danger, the difference between force and violence, why instructors must adapt to their students, what happens psychologically when avoidance is...

Summary Wayne 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. From grip and presentation to red dots, reloads, decision-making, and mental readiness, Wayne challenges some of the habits shooters cling to most tightly. Along the way, he explai...

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 explore the uncomfortable but essential gap between firearm proficiency and genuine preparedness. Tatiana began shooting as an adult and quickly discovered t...

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, firearms trainer, author of First 30 Seconds , and a longtime researcher of active shooter events. His work challenges some of the most widely accepted assumptions about...

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 alias “Holy Terror.” Shooting became almost second nature, and over the next 28 years she accumulated more than 85 world and national titles across nine different s...

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 firearms and defensive tactics instructor, international trainer, and the creator of Building Warrior Women®. And her message is refreshingly uncomfortable: Being...

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” Kliem, a nationally recognized expert in use-of-force law, constitutional policing, human performance, and police practices. With more than 30 years in the crimi...

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 transitioned into civilian life, she discovered that leaving the military meant more than changing careers. It also meant losing the camaraderie, structure, and sh...

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 walls of any police department. Dr. Yates brings more than three decades of law enforcement experience to the discussion, including over 25 years in supervision and...

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 Secret Service agent turned forensic psychologist, Mary Beth has spent her career studying human behavior from both sides of the danger equation: the people trying to prevent vio...

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, decision-making, and accountability under stress. Why can two honest people experience the same event and remember it differently? Why might body-camera footage miss the...

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, researcher, and founder of Cougar Mountain Solutions. Erick has spent decades bridging the gap between academic research and real-world violence, earning a reputation as one of the fir...

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 Commando and TEDx Speaker, breaks down the three biggest reasons good people miss obvious threats, even when those threats are hiding in plain sight. Drawing o...

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 discovered shooting as an adult before joining the United States Marine Corps in the wake of 9/11. What followed was a journey through military leadership, corpo...

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 a childhood introduction to firearms led to a 22-year law enforcement career, a passion for competitive shooting, and ultimately the founding of Women for Gun Ri...

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, and equipment, Tim argues that long-term improvement has far more to do with emotional control, self-awareness, and learning how to perform under pressure. In this...

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 journey into competitive shooting, concealed carry, instruction, and Second Amendment advocacy. In this episode, Dakota breaks down why skill in shooting has far...

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 from decades of experience training armed citizens, law enforcement officers, and competitive shooters, Karl explains why minimum qualifications often create false...

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 questions from Part 1 are gone. What replaces them… is far worse. You’ll hear what it’s like to live among prisoners who’ve already accepted their fate… to witness the...

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 standing watch at the American Embassy in Tehran… to being wounded, captured, and dragged into a system he doesn’t understand. This isn’t a typical interview. It’s a sto...

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—pulling out of a garage in Bogotá knowing today might be the day , advising protection teams with lives on the line, and operating with a bounty on her head.  And what she learned c...

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 competence. And that competence… turned into a nationwide movement that’s reshaping how women train, think, and show up under pressure. In this episode, Robyn Sandoval—President and CE...

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 Threat Assessment Specialist Nikki Burgett breaks down how professionals move beyond gut feelings and start seeing behavior with precision. From understanding what...