INNOVATORS AND INFLUENCERS

1SKYLER THOMAS Two critical experiences brought Skyler Thomas, a former Naval Security Master at Arms, to the shooting-sports retail and training world. First, his mentor Al Clark, a former Navy SEAL firearm instructor and co-founder of Blackwater, imparted to him a deep commitment to sharing and translating leadership skills 2 to the private sector. The second was an epiphany he experienced when he visited a gun store as a professional firearms trainer.

The grumpy old man behind the counter dismissed him with scorn when Thomas asked to see a Glock from the case. The interaction deteriorated from there, and a stunned Thomas thought, “How does this store stay in business? What would it be like for a first-time purchaser? What would that shooter do for training? Go see this guy? No!”

It was a pivotal moment in his life, and it set him on a course to sell firearms, teach firearms training to the public, and to be the type of ambassador for our industry that brings people in.

In 2018, after assembling investors, Thomas founded Freedom Shooting Center by taking over an existing Virginia Beach facility. Although the footprint of the retail-and-range facility was ideal, the existing team wasn’t exactly focused on customer service. He quickly installed his vision, energizing the team and making it clear that he expected all team members to focus on the needs of the customer and that every customer should be treated in a manner that would make them feel wanted and appreciated.

The laser-like focus on customer service and the welcoming environment Thomas has created for new gun owners has helped Freedom Shooting Center thrive in a very competitive arena. Freedom Shooting Center now sees 4,000 customers a week walk through the doors and recently opened its second location in North Carolina.

JASON LONSBERRY

Jason Lonsberry launched Mississippibased APEX Ammunition in 2017 with two hunting buddies, Jared Lewis and Nick Charney. The enterprise started with a few handmade shells created for a duck hunting trip, but it quickly became an obsession to provide wingshooters with top-performing ammunition. APEX Ammunition soon pioneered the commercial application of ultra-high-density Tungsten Super Shot to create hard-hitting, accurate shot loads. Because the APEX team felt there was a huge hole to fill, both in product and in customer service, they started producing TSS loads for the commercial market. As more hunters are learning, tungsten is the gold standard for hard-hitting loads. It is significantly denser than steel, lead, bismuth, and copper. Lonsberry and his team also saw an opportunity to produce superior patterning through precision handloading. And that insight led to TSS shotshell lines for waterfowl, upland, turkey, predator, and deer hunting. APEX also offers the Small Batch Series. Similar to the traditions of small-batch handcrafted whiskeys, APEX will create a “Small Batch” of certain shot sizes or combinations of shot in a very limited run. Under the Small Batch line, APEX also offers a Private Label that allows the customer to select their preferred gauge, shell length, and shot sizes. They then can customize their own shell (under safety guidelines that APEX provides), and they receive their shells in a handwritten custom box with their name and shell recipe on it. As a result of this focus on superior down-range performance, APEX is now able to offer hunters TSS loads in 10 gauge to .410 bore and everything in between.

3DAVID DENG

After immigrating from Taiwan, David Deng settled in Michigan, where he graduated with a degree in computer science from the University of Detroit Mercy. He then spent eight years in heavy truck sales and marketing systems at the Ford Motor Company. The work paid the bills, but he felt he had yet to find his life’s true calling. Having served in both the Taiwanese military police and district police, Deng always had an interest in the shooting sports, an interest that he rekindled while reading firearm publications in the local library. Shortly thereafter, in 1992, working with his wife out of their home garage, he founded Leapers, Inc. The company’s first product was a compact 4x28 riflescope.

Thirty years later, Leapers has become an international powerhouse located in a four-building campus encompassing more than 150,000 square feet in Livonia, Michigan. The facility is not only home to the company’s in-house product design and development teams, but it also houses manufacturing facilities, indoor proving grounds, and an advanced order-fulfillment and distribution center.

With operations in Germany, Taiwan, and China, Leapers now boasts a workforce of more than 350 employees, all of whom work together to produce a selection of more than 700 different SKUs across seven different product lines that range from high-quality optics, handguards, and accessories to bipods, range bags, and more.

As a result, the UTG and the made-in-the-U.S.A. UTG PRO brands have gained wide market recognition across the globe. Now, as part of the company’s celebration of its 30th anniversary, Leapers has introduced INTEGRIX, a new line of higher-tier first and second focal plane optics, further enhancing the company’s well-earned reputation as a provider of innovative hunting and shooting-sports products.

4

5JON AND SARAH HAUPTMAN

Jon Hauptman started PHLster in 2010 in his spare room by accident, after posting a bunch of Kydex holster instructional videos on YouTube. Sarah, who was a competitive shooter and 2A activist when they first met, joined PHLster in 2020 when the pair married. Together, they now create some of the most innovative concealed-carry holsters on the market. Their piece de resistance is a no-belt-required concept for popular inside-waistband carry. Now in its second generation, called the Express, the ground-breaking PHLster Enigma isn’t a bellyband, isn’t a belt, and isn’t just a Kydex holster. Instead, it employs components or concepts of all.

This system of carry employs either a house-made or user-provided Kydex shell, a nylon belt and leg “leash,” plus a laser-cut polymer textile faceplate that attaches to the holster and holds it snug to the body. Worn IWB, the Enigma is the first carry method that consistently delivers on the promise of deep concealment, even under gym shorts and yoga pants, while also offering security and relatively quick access to the firearm.

PHLster’s invention also is a testament to the power of community. The Hauptmans’ “concealment workshop” Facebook group, a curated, educational online community that acts as an informal skunk works, has allowed the pair to benefit from thousands of user-submitted photos and comments. This impressive body of knowledge about how IWB holsters tend to interact with nearly every body type and lifestyle, along with their own in-house research, guided the design of Enigma. The result is an innovative holster that delivers both comfort and true concealment.

Furthermore, the daily engagement with the concealed-carry community helps PHLster maintain an open-source commitment to concealed-carry knowledge and best practices that benefits the entire concealed-carry community.

CHRIS BAUMBACH

Chris Baumbach, current products technologist with Springfield Armory, first learned the ins and outs of shooting and firearms in his time as a U.S. Marine, serving with the 26th MEU 2002-2003 MSSG 26 Engineering Platoon. After earning an Associates in Science degree in Computer Aided Design (CAD) from Hamilton Tech in Davenport, Iowa, he applied his passion for firearms and firearms design to a career with Springfield Armory, which began in 2007.

Starting as a CAD draftsman/documentation specialist, Baumbach found himself playing an important role in the development of many of Springfield Armory’s most popular firearms. Over his nearly 15 years with the company, he has worked on 1911 and M1A engineering and manufacturing as well as the SAINT line.

More recently, he was heavily involved in the development and design of the Model 2020 Waypoint, the company’s first bolt-action hunting rifle in the modern era. As the lead engineer on this two-year project, a lot of Baumbach’s work was centered around the adaptation of custom firearm features into a production setting. Doing so allows Springfield to offer a very high-end product with custom-level features, but at a production-grade cost. The Model 2020 is a perfect example of this.

Baumbach has numerous patents filed on the Model 2020, the SAINT, and several other Springfield offerings. In addition, he has either designed or brought from concept to production the SAINT Edge billet lower, a muzzle brake for the SAINT Victor rifle, the XD-M Elite extended magwell, and the 1911 Tactical Rack rear sight.

6KEVIN DIXIE

Kevin Dixie is the owner-operator of No Other Choice Firearms Training (N.O.C.) and the founder of Aiming For The Truth, a six-pronged approach to healing broken families and strengthening the community bonds of neighbors in order to improve their lives. Raised in poverty and hardship in St. Louis, Dixie sought to better his community by challenging people to turn away from negative actions.

At the age of 21, he joined the Saint Louis City Police Department where, in the Prisoner Processing Division, he was properly introduced to firearms. Once he began to train professionally with guns, he realized that the civil rights for which he advocated included gun rights as well. His epiphany? The Second Amendment is the shield that protects all other civil rights. He has been an untiring advocate for gun rights ever since.

The N.O.C. training regimen includes rifle and handgun instruction for beginner and expert alike. New gun owners will find that N.O.C. provides a welcoming, non-judgmental environment for students that may never have previously handled a gun. N.O.C. also offers the EVOLVE program for more experienced shooters. This course is designed to get participants to understand proper EDC gear, holster positioning, and draw techniques.

Dixie notes that N.O.C. Firearms Training is much more than a firearm and self-defense training company. It is an agent of change with a mission to help people understand that freedom, prosperity, and liberty are for all Americans. As he says, “We’re more than guns. We are a community.”

As an OEM partner, Brunn and Team XS offer engineering expertise, turnkey production from bar stock to final surface treatment, and tritium installation, all from their Ft. Worth, Texas, facility. Their world-class sight solutions, agility, and ability to meet supply-chain needs, along with the willingness to make small or large runs for just-in-time delivery, make XS an ideal partner, allowing gun companies to focus on their core competencies.

In keeping with their customer-centric approach, XS designs and builds tools to make sight installation and gunsmithing easier. Their Gen2 Armorers Block for AR upper and lower receivers is virtually a one-size-fits-all solution. The ingenious Glock Sight Pusher Tool with inline press design delivers an open view and requires less force for installation. This tool works with standard and optic-height sights on all Glock generations and models (excluding 42 and 21). XS also offers a 30-day satisfaction guarantee and a 10-year warranty on their products. Brunn holds a B.S. degree from Texas A&M and an MBA from Wake Forest University and leads the company’s community volunteer efforts, including Meals on Wheels deliveries.

7KELLIE BRUNN

Kellie Brunn, co-owner of XS Sights, returned to Texas in 2016 to help run the family business after working in North Carolina for Eaton Corporation’s electrical division for 15 years. Under her leadership, this second-generation, women-owned family business has grown exponentially—driven by the mission to “Empower the Good Guy.” Here, the idea is to help users of its products be more prepared, confident, and shoot better through the company’s innovative solutions and functional weapons upgrades. Whether it’s products like XS’ popular DXT2 Big Dot for individuals or customized solutions for industry partners, XS believes it is the night-sight company.

8CLARK VARGAS

Some 30 years ago, Clark Vargas had a vision. He saw a world of carefully designed and engineered shooting ranges that would offer recreational shooters a first-class experience. At the time, it was uncommon thinking shared by only a few other fellow believers in the industry. But as a master marksman (a skill he developed while serving in the U.S. Army and from participating in high-power rifle, conventional shotgun, rifle silhouette, NRA action, and IPSC-style pistol competitions) and owner of an engineering consulting firm, he had the talent, the tools, and the means to act on his vision. The result of his out-of-the box thinking was a new generation of innovative facilities that has allowed the industry to not only grow, but to thrive.

In the process, he encouraged owners of potential shooting ranges to “think big” and look deep into the future with the aim of not only providing an unrivaled shooting experience for current shooters, but to consider (and accommodate) the different needs of the next generation. As he says, this master plan idea allows the owners and operators of shooting ranges “to support the future needs that they don't realize they're going to have.”

As a result of his efforts, modern shooting ranges continue to push the boundaries of the shooting experience. From turning targets to increasingly complex tactical setups, ranges offer training opportunities unheard of just a few years ago. At the same time, massive shooting sports complexes are sprouting up across the country. Shooters can thank Clark Vargas for helping usher in this golden age.

9J.J. REICH

J.J. Reich worked as an information technology programmer and consultant for six years after graduating college in Wisconsin with a degree in Business Administration and a minor in Speech. In 2003, he switched industries and became a program coordinator and writer for North American Hunter and North American Fisherman magazines.

In the summer of 2010, ATK hired him to write marketing materials for shooting accessory brands such as Weaver Optics, Gunslick, Outers, and Champion Target. Two years later, Reich moved to the public relations team to work on the Federal Ammunition brand. In 2015, ATK spun off its consumer division to newly created Vista Outdoor. Reich is currently senior manager of press relations for its ammunition brands of Alliant Powder, CCI, Federal, HEVISHOT, and Speer.

Reich works directly with editors and writers to supply them with new product sheets, product description articles, high-resolution images, and other assets. He also drafts and manages brand press releases, connects media members with interviews of various company personnel, and manages the company’s media site. The high quality of his work shows in the thousands of articles published every year for Vista Outdoor’s ammo brands.

Most recently Reich was instrumental in helping to compile, create, and publish a 104-page special interest magazine and a 244-page hardcover coffee table book, both of which celebrate Federal’s 100th Anniversary. In the months that led up to the publication of these projects, Reich worked as a coordinator, researcher, writer, and editor. 10 BUTCH WHITING Butch Whiting is the co-founder and CEO of Kryptek Outdoor Group, a globally recognized, Idaho-based company that specializes in high-performance technical apparel and gear for both civilian and military markets. The soul of the brand is accurately captured in its slogan, “Battlefield to Backcountry.” Alongside fellow co-founder and combat veteran Josh Cleghorn, Whiting designed a cutting-edge camo pattern based on the camouflage netting first used by U.S. Armed Forces in WWII. Kryptek’s proprietary camouflage patterns were developed specifically for the U.S. Army and are selectively used by U.S. and Coalition Special Operations. The company’s products feature the only camo on the civilian market extensively tested by the U.S. military; the pattern was a finalist in a global search during the U.S. Camo Improvement Effort. The eye-catching, edgy, and unique look of Kryptek Camo caught the attention of backcountry hunters and tactical teams and has appeared in several video games and numerous movies.

Following an 11-year career with the U.S. Army, where he separated as a decorated Major, Whiting’s military leadership experience translated well into the civilian business world. He is a skilled public speaker who has spoken about his experiences, including transitioning out of the military, starting a business, and building a brand.