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.
I think crew served weapons as a team sport has promise. From a standing start, deploy a tripod mounted machine gun. engage a target, shift fire, cease fire, shift position, shoot again, then break down the gun.
Teams would be scored on speed, accuracy, and possibly technique. Bonus points could include a barrel change or stoppage drill
“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.”
Is “the real thing” better? I’ve been looking at FRTs, and it actually seems like a remarkably simple component both in installation and function. Is the theory they’ll be less reliable over time/wear down faster? And are “real” full autos built differently in some fashion (e.g. barrel strength, receiver/bolt strength) to handle the higher firing rate?
Good question. Many full autos are open bolt – the trigger releases the bolt, stripping a round from the magazine (or belt), inserting it into the chamber and firing the moment the bolt closes, process repeating until the trigger is released or the magazine empty.
This open-bolt process is used because the heat of firing retained in the metal around the chamber can cause a chambered round to “cook off” firing a round unintentionally or causing the firearm to “run away” uncontrollably.
Would carbon fiber help that? I was researching replacement barrels for my Ruger Precision, and came across these:
https://proofresearch.com/barrels/ar-type/
…but it seems to me the carbon’s all around the barrel, not the chamber. So not clear to me that you’d get much heat sink capability unless the chamber itself were carbon? Sorta makes me wonder why we don’t have receivers with heat sinks over the chamber, and then use heat sink paste to mate them when you assemble….
Open bolt tends to be less accurate than closed bolt due to the bolt hammering into the chamber/receiver as the weapon fires, but the airflow cools the chamber (and the brass casing being ejected carries some of the heat with it) which is why it’s used in almost every heavy and and light MG.
I think closed bolt full auto or FRT would be fine for a limited number of 3-5 round bursts within a given time frame, and a bit of area suppression if in a group of shooters where that task rotated quickly (Bobby lays down suppressive fire for 2 minutes, then waits for his weapon to cool down while Jimmy lays down the fire, ect, ect).
I suppose one could come up with a Rube Goldberg water cooling system for the chamber, but that adds weight and complexity.
The better solution?
Get rid of the bloody NFA and use fire control components/designs that addressed this issue perfectly.
The FG 42, the CETME Model A, the FN SCAR-H, and the ArmaLite AR-100 all addressed this and could be fired open OR closed bolt depending on rate of fire needed.
We don’t need to reinvent the wheel.
Be need to repeal the idiotic law that prevents us from buying the “wheel”.
So what I hear you saying is, “FRT is fun for a little while, but your gun isn’t going to like it. If you want lots of BRRRTTT BRRTTT action, you need open bolt/full auto.” Correct? So maybe save the money and don’t bother with the FRT? There’s always Vegas for those full auto fun times….
BRRTTT BRRRTT is fun, but I’d like to keep my guns functional/not broken….
FWIW the Browning M1917 and M1919 machine guns fire from. a closed bolt and have a good reputation. As an aside this allows specialists to make semi-auto M1919 conversions that do not require tax/registration.
@John Schussler (not sure why, but the reply button was missing from your posts)
“BRRTTT BRRRTT is fun, but I’d like to keep my guns functional/not broken….” That’s not what is likely to happen. What could happen if you tried to use a closed bolt with an FRT as if it were a belt fed open bolt is that you could get hot enough to start “cooking off” rounds as soon as they chambered.
Also the rate of barrel wear increases as the barrel temperature goes up.
It should be noted that the M16/M4 also has these issues when fired full auto for extended periods of time. There’s even a table about this -https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/3-22-9/c02.htm#t2_1.
You’ll see at the bottom “Sustained”. That’s the rate of fire at which the weapon will never overheat.
You can also see that simple “mag dumps” in semi automatic can overheat the weapon, full auto/FRT just does that faster.
So there’s absolutely nothing wrong with running an FRT as long as you know the weapon and how to operate it properly.