It wasn’t until after a tour of duty in the Navy that Jose Garza II became interested in precision rifles, but five years in he’s competing in national-level events.
WELCOMED ABOARD A relative latecomer to the precision shooting world, Jose Garza II’s been embraced by it, and hugs back. PHOTOS BY JOSE GARZA II
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nlike many of the shooters profiled in these pages, Jose Garza II didn’t grow up hunting and shooting, nor did he harbor a lifelong interest in firearms. His path to competitive shooting and the Precision Rifle Series is a much different one. “I was the son of a single mother working two jobs to provide for her family,” he explains. “I didn’t have a father growing up to teach me about firearms or hunting, unlike the other boys. After high school I joined the Navy, working as an aircraft mechanic on the flightdeck of an aircraft carrier, so no firearms training there either.” It wasn’t until Garza got out of the military and moved home that he started getting interested in firearms
in general. “In my free time I watched a lot of YouTube,” he recalls. “I discovered John McQuay, also known as ‘8541 Tactical.’ He had a whole playlist on precision rifles. I then purchased a Remington 700 SPS AAC-SD 20-inch .308 Winchester similar to what John McQuay had, in an HS Precision stock and Bushnell scope. I purchased Federal Gold Medal Match 168-grain Sierra Match factory ammo because that is what I thought you were supposed to do. Once I had it, I had no idea what to do with it.” After attending a nearby precision rifle class where he didn’t learn as much as he wanted to, Garza researched local clubs and found Texas Precision Matches.
“I reached out to the match director via email, explained that I was totally new, I didn’t know anything, and had limited gear other than a rifle,” he says. “The director assured me that it was OK to ‘just show up!’ so in October of 2017 I showed up to my first match ever. I didn’t know a single soul. As soon as I arrived, I introduced myself to the first person I saw. I explained, ‘I’ve never been here before and I have no idea what I’m doing.’ A gentleman by the name of Tyson Brown giggled, smiled, and said, ‘Right this way.’ He led me to the office where you signed in and paid.” “At the time, you had to pay in cash; I didn’t know that. I had no cash on me and the nearest ATM was too far to get to. It was at this very moment I knew that americanshootingjournal.com 27
