Inside the First Seven Devils Invitational at Hat Creek - After Action from 2nd Place Team | Ep 019

Two tenths high at 722 meters on a zero you verified the day before. Forty mile an hour winds, angles steep enough to run a tripod head out of travel, and one target that ate a mag and a half before it went down. That was day one at the inaugural Seven Devils Invitational at Hat Creek.

Phillip Velayo sits down with John Phillips, a longtime team sniper competitor and his partner on Team Kahles, the morning after the match. Over five days and seven stages they cleaned all 3 days, outshot the winning team by two points, and still finished 2nd overall on movement time. This is the full after action: what worked, what didn't, and what they'd change.

FIND OUT DETAILS ABOUT THE COMPETITION:
https://sevendevilsinvitational.com/

In this episode, we cover:
- How John went from a one-hit first PRS match to running team sniper matches full time
- Why structured training beats figuring it out the hard way
- What makes team sniper matches harder than PRS and NRL Hunter
- How the Seven Devils Invitational was scored: targets, movement points, night and pistol stages
- Why they chose shooter-spotter, and when they switched to shooter-shooter
- What Hat Creek's wind and angles do to your data, and why aggressive wind corrections pay off
- Calling a final wind hold instead of a correction
- How to get better at finding targets and talking your partner on
- Binocular setups for team matches
- Top 3 pieces of gear for Hat Creek: Kestrel, weapon-mounted laser rangefinders, and tripods
- A laser rangefinder breakdown: 905 vs. 1550 nm units
- First impressions of the new Kahles K328i and K540i

Whether you're a PRS shooter, an NRL Hunter competitor, or thinking about your first team sniper match, this is an inside look at what it takes to compete at one of the hardest venues in the country.

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⏱ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – Cold open: "Hit one target all match"
00:41 – Round two of the Seven Devils debrief
02:50 – John's background: from high power to team sniper
04:51 – His first PRS match and data from an ammo box
06:42 – Finding a mentor and working macro to micro
09:36 – Taking a class vs. doing it the hard way
12:28 – Team matches vs. PRS and NRL Hunter
14:54 – What the Seven Devils Invitational is
16:26 – Getting the call from Kahles, and thoughts on sponsorship
20:11 – "What can you provide for them?"
23:31 – How Phil and John got paired up
25:39 – Arriving early and a full day of train-up
28:48 – What John looks for in a teammate
30:18 – Going from solo shooter to team shooter
32:10 – Teams that solve problems without talking
33:53 – Check-in day at Hat Creek
37:35 – How the match was scored
41:02 – Movement points and a thank-you to the ROs
43:20 – Rifles, ammo and the game plan
48:20 – Why shooter-spotter was the right call
50:43 – Arm boards, target packages and talk-ons
56:21 – Day 1: cleaning stages 5 and 6
58:52 – Expectations: the angles and the wind
59:40 – Two tenths high at 722 meters
1:02:00 – Advice for shooting Hat Creek
1:04:07 – Know your tripod
1:07:12 – Studying the map before the stage
1:08:04 – Stages 1 and 2: "Dust and adjust"
1:11:23 – Wind gradients and aggressive wind corrections
1:12:14 – Switching to shooter-shooter when Team 13 closed in
1:13:36 – Where they stood after day 2
1:14:49 – Calling a final wind hold, not a correction
1:17:19 – Day 3: stages 3 and 4
1:20:15 – How to get better at finding targets
1:23:37 – John's binocular setup
1:28:00 – Splitting up targets to save time
1:29:52 – Final day: stage 7 and the unknown-distance stage
1:34:10 – Larry and Nolan take the win
1:34:35 – Sustains and improvements
1:37:20 – Wind calls and building a position to see your shot
1:39:30 – Top 3 pieces of gear
1:43:14 – Laser rangefinders: 905 vs. 1550 nm
1:49:57 – Starting out with an Arken
1:52:06 – First impressions of the new Kahles K328i and K540i
1:54:30 – "There's no free lunch"
1:56:52 – Why Phil would run the K328i next time
1:58:29 – What made Seven Devils different
2:00:33 – Fitness prep and wrap-up

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Precision Through Chaos.