Quote of the Day

Russell Phagan has never met a shooting sport rule he didn’t want to push. From building out the Brutality match series with InRangeTV, to founding FAST (Firearms Action Shooting Trials) as its own standalone series, to his day job as Director of KE Arms, he’s spent two decades finding the edge of what a “practical” gun match can look like — and now he’s found a new one. FAST’s newest division is Auto-Rifle: full-auto and forced-reset-trigger rifles, competing on the same stages as everyone else, for the first time in a mainstream two-gun series. The division debuts at FAST-ID in Parma, Idaho, this October, presented by X-Tech Tactical, with Red Right Hand sponsoring a dedicated Auto-Rifle stage where every competitor — regardless of division — gets to run a belt-fed gun. Russell returns to break down why FAST is willing to build rules around FRTs when most series won’t. 

Luke C.
August 27, 2026
TFB Behind the Gun #232: FAST Auto Rifle Division ft. Russell Phagan | thefirearmblog.com

Via email from Peter who writes:

It’s not your “full auto high school competition” but it’s sooner than 2032.

This is in reference to my vision of seeing machine gun competitions in high schools by 2032 being realized.

Very cool!

I had not thought of bending the criteria of my vision a little by calling a forced reset trigger a machine gun. It’s tempting but I think I will keep pushing for the real thing.

As it is within a one-day drive of my underground bunker I might attend some time to observe the format and think if something like that could be used or adapted in a high school competition.