Chris Blau (1911 Syndicate)

Summary

The Antihero Podcast - Episode: Chris Blau (1911 Syndicate) Release Date: May 5, 2025

---

Introduction

In this engaging episode of The Antihero Podcast, host Tyler and co-host Brent Tucker welcome Chris Blau, a prominent figure from the 1911 Syndicate channel. Chris brings a wealth of experience from the gun industry, military training, and real estate, offering listeners an in-depth look into his multifaceted career and perspectives on various topics within the firearms community.

---

Chris Blau’s Background

Chris Blau opens up about his lifelong passion for military, law enforcement, and firearms. Growing up with aspirations to become a cop, Chris faced obstacles, notably failing a polygraph test which thwarted his career aspirations in law enforcement. Reflecting on his early challenges, Chris humorously shares:

"Like, I grew up loving military, law enforcement, gun stuff. Like, wanted to be a cop forever. Shocking. Can't pass a polygraph, so never get hired." [00:00]

Despite setbacks, Chris's dedication to his interests led him to pivot into the gun industry. While initially studying physical therapy, he found his true calling behind the gun counter, immersing himself in firearm knowledge and training.

---

Building the 1911 Syndicate Channel

Chris recounts how his fervor for firearms and continuous training laid the foundation for the 1911 Syndicate YouTube channel. A pivotal moment was meeting Jake Ogden during a firearms training class, which sparked the collaboration that would eventually establish their influential online presence.

"When you smoke cigars, do you ever, every now and again, just bring a little bit in the lungs or do you fold? No lungs." [01:05]

Their partnership emphasizes authenticity and expertise, distinguishing their channel in a saturated market. Chris emphasizes the importance of genuine content over superficial engagements:

"We're paying for the video. I'm paying for the ammo. You're getting free marketing." [34:48]

---

Maintaining Integrity in Reviews

A cornerstone of Chris and Jake's approach is unwavering honesty in their firearm reviews. They consciously avoid accepting free products without compensation to ensure their assessments remain unbiased. This ethical stance has earned them respect within the industry.

Chris shares his commitment:

"A lot of YouTubers will get paid a check to, like, do a positive review. Yeah, bro, I'm sorry, man. Like, my thing is, before I got into this, I would watch videos. Some guy would say, Special Operations or YouTuber, hey, this gun product is worth your money. I'd buy it and it'd be, well, I just worked two and a half days to afford this thing that you got free that you told me was good." [35:34]

This dedication to authenticity contrasts sharply with many content creators who compromise their integrity for financial gain.

---

Challenges with YouTube Recognition and Monetization

Despite their substantial subscriber base, Chris and Jake face hurdles in gaining official recognition from YouTube. With over 220,000 subscribers, they have yet to receive the coveted subscriber plaque.

"We're at 220 right now. [...] So YouTube wouldn't give you your, what, you've doubled your hundred thousand subscriber plaque because you're gun related?" [19:35]

Monetization has been another challenge, necessitating a strategic approach to securing sponsors and leveraging alternative revenue streams to sustain their content creation efforts.

---

Gun Industry Conventions: Shot Show

A significant portion of the conversation revolves around major gun industry events, particularly the annual Shot Show in Las Vegas. Chris describes it as a bustling, international trade show akin to "Times Square New Year's Eve," highlighting its role in networking and witnessing the latest advancements in firearms technology.

"It's an international trade show for the firearms industry, [...] There's an absolute sea of never-ending people." [75:27]

They discuss the logistical challenges of such large-scale events and the opportunities they present for meeting industry veterans and showcasing new products.

---

Gun Terminology and Educating Consumers

Chris and Brent delve into the importance of accurate terminology within the gun community. Misnaming parts, such as referring to magazines as "clips," is a common issue that can alienate newcomers and perpetuate misunderstandings.

"Like, bro, first off, the gun industry is the worst at bringing new people into it because of that. [...] We're talking about something that you have zero context to talk about." [39:54]

Chris emphasizes the responsibility of industry professionals to educate consumers without belittling their lack of knowledge, fostering a more inclusive and informed community.

---

Perspectives on Gun Legislation and Second Amendment

A heated discussion ensues around gun control, the Second Amendment, and the potential implications of red flag laws. Chris and Brent express strong pro-Second Amendment stances, debating the balance between gun rights and public safety.

"The right to bear arms shall not be infringed. [...] Shall not be infringed." [47:08]

They explore scenarios where legislation might impact gun ownership, particularly concerning mental health and the fear of governmental overreach. Chris admits to evolving his views over time, advocating for responsible gun ownership and training rather than blanket restrictions.

"I do believe so. [...] I think we should be able to go in and buy firearms. That does not mean that you are now some ghetto gunfighter and you're there to like protect life." [49:25]

---

Advances in Suppressor Technology

Suppressors, or silencers, are another focal point of the episode. Chris provides an overview of the technological advancements in suppressor design and manufacturing over the past few years, highlighting the role of companies like Pew Science in refining the science behind suppressors.

"Suppressor ownership in tech has skyrocketed. [...] There's a lot of suppression tech development because of this." [56:06]

They discuss the balance between functionality and maintenance, noting how improved designs have enhanced reliability and performance, especially in high-round-count scenarios typical of military and law enforcement operations.

---

Future Content and Endeavors

Looking ahead, Chris shares his plans to diversify content on the 1911 Syndicate channel. He aims to incorporate more interview-style segments and on-range discussions, blending his expertise with real-time firearm handling and training insights.

"I'm going to do this because it's what I'm interested in. I want to also see him shoot how good he shoots, how maybe not good he shoots." [84:18]

Additionally, Chris contemplates launching his own channel to further explore niche topics within the firearms industry, ensuring a broader and more specialized reach.

---

Humorous and Personal Stories

Interspersed with serious discussions, the episode is peppered with light-hearted banter and personal anecdotes. Chris shares a humorous childhood memory involving his sisters tampering with his experience watching the Super Bowl:

"Tried to watch the super bowl once. Each one of my sisters, like, sat on one limb and then they tickled me till I peed my pants, took the remote and changed the channel." [102:12]

These stories add a relatable and entertaining dimension to the conversation, showcasing the camaraderie among the hosts and guests.

---

Conclusion

The episode concludes with Chris Blau reflecting on his journey through various industries, from dog training to firearms and real estate. His commitment to integrity, continuous learning, and community engagement underscores the values that The Antihero Podcast champions.

"I cry a lot. I cry a lot." [104:06]

As Chris prepares to embark on new content ventures, he leaves listeners with a blend of insightful discussions and personal reflections, promising more engaging content in future episodes.

---

Notable Quotes

• Chris Blau:
  "I grew up loving military, law enforcement, gun stuff. Like, wanted to be a cop forever. Shocking. Can't pass a polygraph, so never get hired." [00:00]

• Brent Tucker:
  "The criminal or cops. And I just. It so brief as it doesn't play out in society." [54:37]

• Chris Blau:
  "I'm a wealth of useless knowledge." [83:59]

• Brent Tucker:
  "Somebody commented on... just hold the cigars, and you're like, 'nerds'." [37:53]

• Chris Blau:
  "Armed society is a polite society." [53:16]

---

Key Takeaways

1. Authenticity Matters: Maintaining honesty in firearm reviews fosters trust and respect within the industry.
2. Continuous Learning: Chris's dedication to training and education highlights the importance of expertise in the firearms community.
3. Navigating Gun Legislation: Balancing Second Amendment rights with public safety remains a contentious and evolving issue.
4. Technological Advancements: Suppressor technology has seen significant improvements, enhancing both performance and reliability.
5. Community and Camaraderie: Building a supportive network through events like Shot Show and fostering meaningful connections is crucial for growth and collaboration.

---

This episode serves as a comprehensive exploration of Chris Blau's multifaceted career and the broader dynamics of the firearms industry. Through candid discussions and personal stories, listeners gain valuable insights into the challenges and triumphs of operating within this niche community.

Transcript

[Chris Blau]

Like, I grew up loving military, law enforcement, gun stuff. Like, wanted to be a cop forever. Shocking. Can't pass a polygraph, so never get hired. And all my cop buddies are like, we gotta teach you how to lie, dude. And I'm like, clearly telling the truth isn't working.

[Tyler]

No, that's not true.

[Chris Blau]

No joke. Total joke.

[Tyler]

Guys, hold on.

[Brent Tucker]

We're not recording. Wanna buy a raffle?

[Tyler]

Do you wanna buy a shirt to support military nets? People wanna see their sausage get made.

[Brent Tucker]

An appropriate level of inappropriateness. Something happens in my family tonight. The adult divorce isn't be my. My family, my kids. Like, it is first responders that are. That are going to save my. My family.

[Tyler]

They want the culture to be down. They want people to not want to be cops. And the people that do want to be cops are now walking into the job scared to do the job.

[Brent Tucker]

I'm going to try to act like it didn't happen, although we. We all know it did.

[Tyler]

JV team for life. Just everyone stare awkwardly.

[Chris Blau]

At each other. Dun, dun, dun.

[Tyler]

So when you smoke cigars, do you ever, every now and again, just bring a little bit in the lungs or do you fold? No lungs.

[Chris Blau]

I don't.

[Brent Tucker]

And that's. I get that question sometimes I don't really know what it means. Like, so, like, don't like.

[Tyler]

Because you were never a cigarette smoker. Right?

[Brent Tucker]

Right.

[Tyler]

So you. Because so cigarettes, you're inhaling right in your lungs and right back out. And cigars, you're supposed to try to do this, but sometimes people go, like every now and again.

[Brent Tucker]

I mean, I'll take as big as a inhale as I can at times, and I'll sit there and hold it there and slowly release it.

[Tyler]

Oh, so you do inhale.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. Not supposed to.

[Tyler]

Don't tell him what to do.

[Chris Blau]

No, trying to help.

[Tyler]

I'm just trying to help, man. Try to keep you alive longer.

[Chris Blau]

You've already been exposed to enough cancer.

[Tyler]

You both smoke rings.

[Brent Tucker]

No, Drew can.

[Tyler]

Oh, you can.

[Brent Tucker]

And I'm. I hate him for it.

[Tyler]

I can't wait to get the Drew cam. Look at that woman play rap music. Look at that.

[Brent Tucker]

Look at them smoke rings.

[Tyler]

How do you do that?

[Chris Blau]

So you relax your throat. I'm not joking. Because I can do it. That.

[Brent Tucker]

Yes, you can.

[Chris Blau]

So.

[Brent Tucker]

Okay, go on. All right, now. Now I can take you serious.

[Chris Blau]

So you relax. You relax your throat, and then like, you use your cheeks to kind of like just poof a little.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah, like poof a little arrow. Drew, do you concur? How do you do it. I'm different. You are different.

[Chris Blau]

I can't hear you, though. But I imagine it's very simple.

[Brent Tucker]

I can't hear you. Oh.

[Chris Blau]

Oh.

[Tyler]

I did it.

[Chris Blau]

Got it.

[Brent Tucker]

How'd you do it?

[Tyler]

It just literally did what he said.

[Brent Tucker]

You relaxed your throat and you go. Amazing.

[Tyler]

Yeah, you don't really blow out at all. It's just kind of like my neck.

[Chris Blau]

Muscles to force it out a little bit. Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

Concentrate on yours.

[Tyler]

Looks like a leaky chemical plant.

[Brent Tucker]

I. I push it out with actually.

[Chris Blau]

The back of my tongue.

[Brent Tucker]

All right, I'm gonna practice this off camera.

[Tyler]

Out of context, this conversation sounds good on camera.

[Chris Blau]

I'm just like.

[Brent Tucker]

I'll practice this off camera.

[Tyler]

You ready?

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah, I'm ready.

[Tyler]

Welcome back to the anti Hero podcast. Part delta force, part street cop. All truth. I'm Tyler, owner of Refractor Wolf Apparel. Use promo code Anti hero and get yourself 15 off. The best and outsider culture graphic. Oh, damn. I it up. Outsider culture graphic. Tees, stickers, hats, flags, team. I already. I'm just gonna have to go through a slow.

[Brent Tucker]

From the top roll right back.

[Tyler]

The best in outsider culture graphic. Tees, stickers, hats, flags, hoodies, ranger panties, and even beanies. Should have slowed it down. I got a little ahead of myself. I got confident.

[Chris Blau]

You're excited.

[Brent Tucker]

You'll get there. Side side note, that reminds me of, say, like, slow, smooth. And smooth is fast.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, just slow, slow. Yes. Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

I. I always hated Drew. We had this conversation the other day.

[Tyler]

All right, all right. That's the third. You hate that term. You hate.

[Brent Tucker]

Don't judge.

[Tyler]

Don't judge a book by its cover. You said one the other day too. It's a learn something new every day. No. Well, she said some stereotypes or something. I added it to the list. Like, just like, he's like this.

[Brent Tucker]

Oh, let me know when you remember it.

[Tyler]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

Because as soon as you say it, I'm sure I'll be like, yeah, I hate that too. Where were we?

[Chris Blau]

Slow, smooth, smooth.

[Brent Tucker]

And I'm Brent Tucker, owner of that. And I'm Brent Tucker, owner of first responder coffee Company and first responder cigar company. Use promo code FRCC15. That's FRCC15. To get 15% off the world's best coffee and cigars.

[Tyler]

And this episode's brought to you by human performance. TRT. Go to HPTRT.com enter code HERO and get yourself 20% off not only your initial month, but every single month. 20% off. Testosterone is the reason why this podcast exists. I'm convinced of it. A lot of our listeners and have made the switch to TRT and are happy about it and they let us know every day. They use trt. They use hptrt. Myself and Brent are clients. We wouldn't tell you otherwise. So human performance.com or hptrt.com promo code hero 20% off.

[Brent Tucker]

And also don't forget about our Thursday night lives. Every Thursday night, 8:00pm Eastern Standard Time. That one's for the boys. It's the highlight of our week. And also our Patreon. We have five dollar and ten tiers. You get behind the scenes access questions to guests, discounts from sponsors, giveaways and a plethora of other things. So please, if you want to continue to support us, consider joining our Patreon. With us today we have Chris Blau.

[Chris Blau]

How's it going, boys?

[Brent Tucker]

Or as I call him, Chris.

[Chris Blau]

There you go. Catchy. Phonetically, that's how it looks.

[Brent Tucker]

Makes me think like the. Was it the Catalina Wine Mixer? Well known as a co host from the 1911 Syndicate channel on, on YouTube. That's. You guys on any other platforms with that or primarily YouTube?

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, we got a Patreon. Stuff like that. Much like audio.

[Tyler]

Audio platforms or just.

[Chris Blau]

No. Yeah, just video on YouTube. Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

Be sure you're speaking to the mic though.

[Chris Blau]

Yep.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah. And. But he's been in the gun world for almost 15 years and currently works for Reed Reardon manufacturer.

[Chris Blau]

Yep.

[Brent Tucker]

Thank you so much for making the trip down here. Coming on the show, it's, it's funny, a lot of people ask me gun questions and then I turn around and I ask you those gun questions.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Tyler]

And then you resell them as my life.

[Brent Tucker]

That is not true. I have to eat crow every time and I feel like I'm letting people down. What I have to tell the same people all the time. I actually don't know that much about all sorts of different guns. Like I know the gun I use. But if you even then if you're going to ask me like the inner workings of the guns I used, you know, I don't know that much about them. Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

And gun guys can get real weird about that.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. And I guess the, it's probably a bad analogy, but you know your race car one. Yep. The one I use about the race car driver. Okay. I mean race car drivers at the end of the day, like they know about engines but if you want to talk to, you know, someone about engines, you need to talk to the mechanic, you know, not, not he just knows how to drive the car.

[Chris Blau]

So he probably knows, right? He probably knows. You know, it's like V12 or what. I'm not a car guy, so I don't know shit about cars. But he probably knows peripherally some information. But that's a great analogy because like I've worked with a lot of guys from your old unit and like you guys kind of have like your specialty that we've talked about is like barricaded suspects. Right, Right. I know guys that get into like, like Dave, but Dave.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

Doing a lot of driving.

[Brent Tucker]

Right, yeah.

[Chris Blau]

So like you guys have other things other than the tools you use. And it's a big misconception in the gun industry. And like gun guys, they're like, right, well, they're at this unit, they should know this. And it's like, dude, it's literally a hammer to them.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah. And, and there are plenty of guys who do know that stuff. But it's not because they're Delta Force operators. It's because they happen to gravitate towards that and they spend extra time doing that and they make the rest of us look bad.

[Chris Blau]

When Bravo's on the team, obviously you're gun guys.

[Brent Tucker]

Right. Or if they go to cdd, you know, and via cdd, they now have to become subject matter experts. And if they fall under the, you know, the division that handles all the, all the guns, they'll learn a lot about gun job.

[Chris Blau]

Our mutual friend Johnny was at CDD near the end of his career. Right. Which viewers probably don't know what CDD is. Right. Combat development attachment.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

Right. Yes.

[Tyler]

I don't know what that means.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, it's kind of like the weapons R and D side of the unit. Right. Fair assessment. The weapons, what like research and development side. Oh, okay. So like if dudes are done being an assaulter, and correct me if I'm wrong here, but if they're done being an assaulter, they still want to stay there. They can go to CDD and help develop weapons.

[Tyler]

Little desk. Desk time relaxation.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Tyler]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

Because not, not everyone's going to go to a leadership position.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

You know, there's one out of three are going to continue to leadership and the other two guys have, have to do something. And that's a. And. But some people want to do that.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

I mean that's, they really look forward to that. And, and I understand why. It's a fun job. It's an easy job. Cool.

[Chris Blau]

Guns help develop stuff. I mean, and it can be anything from night vision to thermal weapon systems to actual weapons.

[Tyler]

What's it like when the most secret entity in our military works with private sector companies, is it, I mean, does that, do all the people involved have to have top secret clearances?

[Brent Tucker]

Like, I don't know. I didn't, I didn't do the job. I'm, I didn't do the CDD job. So I, I would imagine there are NDAs involved. But, but I also believe that has to go to how far, you know, down the line in contracting they, they get to.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, but. And they might not even know they're working for dudes from the unit because they might go out to a manufacturer to ask some questions or like, hey, we're interested in this. They'll ask like, who you're working for.

[Brent Tucker]

Like, I mean. Which is an honest answer. Yeah, Yeah.

[Tyler]

I always wondered how they kept, like, you know, whatever night vision they're using right now, how that's kept such a good secret. You know, like, you can't even, you get bands. Bands get announced that they're going on reunion tours quicker, you know, than anything. So.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah. They, even with, you know, the books and, and the podcast and, and people coming out, you know, more out of the shadows these days than ever before. I would also, even though people talk about that, I would argue. I don't know if that's necessarily true. There's just a, A, a bigger, a broader opportunity to do that. If this opportunity existed in the 70s and 80s, you'd have the.

[Chris Blau]

Yes.

[Brent Tucker]

The same amount, 100%. But even then, guys that come out may say where they worked, but they're always really type lipped about technology.

[Chris Blau]

Yes.

[Brent Tucker]

And that's from both sides of the fence. You make fun of seals if you want, but they won't talk about technology or tactics.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, ttps, technology, emerging technologies. It's all as it should be. If you're going to talk about it. Adversaries have access to the Internet too, so they could hear something that might trickle down.

[Tyler]

John Ryan had that seal that transitioned to a woman and then transitioned back. Do you know who that.

[Chris Blau]

Chris Beck.

[Tyler]

And he was talking about the cell phone technology. He's like, we want to get and hear what you're saying. We will hear what you're saying. There is no. And I was like, damn, I didn't even know that.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, here's, here's the other, here's.

[Brent Tucker]

The other thing I hate and, and the parts of the Internet who are fanboys and haters all at the same time and think they know way more than they do about what's going on and they'll say things like why don't you want to talk about that? Like everybody knows that. Well one, you're a fanboy and that's why you know about it. Not even necessarily mean fanboy in a, in a negative term. Yeah, sometimes I do. It depends on the person. Yeah, but just because it's been talked about doesn't mean you need to continue to perpetuate it. Yeah, there's a lot of people that don't know that. So like those, those are things that we normally don't talk about. Even if it's old technology or even if it's been out there before, there's just, there's no need to put it out on, on, on broader platforms. Yeah, they always get butthurt about that.

[Chris Blau]

Well, I mean a good example of that is Relentless Strike.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah. That's such a good book. I hate to say it's such a good book. I don't know how they, I don't know how they got. It's one thing. Let's talk about like what was it? We have the book. Plight Design sent it to us. Code over country.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

By journalist. Yes.

[Chris Blau]

I can't remember his name.

[Brent Tucker]

Cole. Can't believe I'm forgetting Mark Cole. Anyway, something Cole for sure. It's one thing for him to get into kind of like the inner network of the SEAL community and get a bunch of somewhat secrets or just you know, some dirty laundry and.

[Chris Blau]

Dirty laundry. Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

And get, and get them to talk. He spent years on like on one part of the community and got that this relentless Strike guy got stories from every aspect of jsoc and that's. And in that aspect that's impressive.

[Chris Blau]

Very impressive. Which you know, similarly like, you know, civilian, never served in any capacity but just through certain jobs and like having shocking morals and ethics will open up a lot of doors. Right. But similarly like that guy got into some circles, heard some stories, probably asked some further questions and then put it in a book. And I know when it came out it was like pretty controversial because it was like some of the stuff in their TTPS he even talks about and like that wasn't public knowledge until then. Oh, and so that's, it's a very polarizing book because there's, I mean I'm obviously a fan of special. A fanboy but in a good way especially Operation stuff. Right. I am him. He is, I'll admit it. But like he kind of mentioned some stuff in there and I've read the book, I don't know, two or Three times now. And there's like parts where I'm like, holy smokes. He talked about this because he clearly heard it from someone that did it and then. Which I. That's a double edged sword. Right. Because like, you, in my opinion, you probably lost some friendships that were hard to earn.

[Brent Tucker]

Right.

[Chris Blau]

And lost a lot of trust.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah, I guarantee there was some of that, Some of that done.

[Chris Blau]

But also like, man, talk about a great book.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah. But as a consumer, I appreciate it.

[Tyler]

That's what I was gonna ask you, like. Right, right. All right. So somebody's like, hey, I got all this information, you. You and I. And I obtained it kind of maybe without. Without like exact permission of getting it. And I'm going to. You want to know it. And if you would be like, no, that's not right for me to know. Would you be like, fuck yeah, what is it?

[Chris Blau]

I mean, at this point I'd probably be like, whatever, you know, I probably know the whole story. And I know like four dudes that were there. So like, so usually I just play dumb like, oh, dude, that's crazy, and then just leave it.

[Brent Tucker]

So how did you get into the gun industry? For starters. And as a fun follow up question, you're one of the most selected people I know in the gun industry. And did you ever think, you know, almost 15 years later you would know a plethora of tier one operators, seals and green berets and Rangers? Like, your. Your Rolodex is deep for a civilian.

[Chris Blau]

Weird, right?

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

So like, a lot of mutual friends.

[Chris Blau]

A lot of mutual friends. When I first got into it, like, I grew up loving military law enforcement, gun stuff, like, wanted to be a cop forever. Shocking. Can't pass a polygraph so never get hired. And all my cop buddies are like, we got to teach you how to lie, dude. And I'm like, literally telling the truth isn't.

[Tyler]

No, that's not true.

[Chris Blau]

No. Total joke, guys. Yeah, total joke. But yeah, just like, grew up being a fan of military law enforcement stuff and I was going to college for physical therapy actually and got my first gun job working just behind a gun counter.

[Tyler]

Why didn't you in the military?

[Chris Blau]

So I grew up Mormon and served a church mission for two years. And so that's pretty heavily pushed in like the Mormon culture as you serve a mission. So that was 19 to 21, and I thought about enlisting in the Marine Corps when I first met my wife. And my Marine buddies were like, look, that's a one in a billion chick, so marry her or Marry the Marine Corps. Don't do both. Which is great advice, man. My wife was down. She's like, yeah, do whatever you want. I'll follow you anywhere. Like, she's awesome. But like life just took me a different path. Yeah, but being obsessed with it, getting in the gun industry, starting to meet some reps or. A big thing I did back in the day is I take training classes from special operations guys. Like I have spent an ungodly amount of money taking classes from guys traveling the country shooting. And so I started making connections that way. The gun store.

[Brent Tucker]

Who, who's the first person took a class from special operations? Do you remember?

[Chris Blau]

Oh, dude, it's been forever now. I think one of the first guys was the seal and it was like a one day pistol thing. His name's Jared Ogden. He was, I think he was mentioned on the show recently by another.

[Tyler]

Was it one of those get them on the lives comments, like somebody that.

[Chris Blau]

There'S something like that? Yeah, but it was like a one day pistol class, so nothing crazy. And then from there I was like, huh, people do these classes, huh? So I just started researching and so whenever anyone would come through Phoenix or within like a 12 hour drive, I would pay for the class, drive up there, take the class, shoot for three days. And then eventually these guys started recognizing like, dude, you've been at like four of my classes. I'm like, yeah, dude, like I shoot a ton. This is it. That's my only hobby. It's the only thing I've ever wanted to do in life. Life. And so like literally, morals, ethics, making good connections and just being a good guy. And so yeah, I, I had never worked with anyone from the unit until we started the YouTube channel about five years ago. And we had a guy and he's public, he's been on some podcasts. His name's Jason Beefley. He's.

[Tyler]

One second.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, don't tap. Oh, yeah, sorry.

[Brent Tucker]

Lots of happen.

[Chris Blau]

Sorry.

[Brent Tucker]

I'm sorry. He tried to show you. Oh, that's right.

[Chris Blau]

I thought it was just, I thought.

[Tyler]

It said no fapping.

[Chris Blau]

But he was a mugadishu gu, worked on the 416 project. And so we had him on the channel to talk about that. And that was my first time working with a unit guy. And there is a stark difference working with guys from the Unit, even with Seal Team 6 dudes all the way, like Green Bra, army, the whole nine. And so I kind of like stumbled into like the big leagues working with him and just learned a lot from him. And we Only worked with him for like three or four days, but just. There's a stark difference in the level of professionalism and just humility. That's a big thing. Not for all you guys, but most of the guys are very humble.

[Brent Tucker]

I'm so sorry to disappoint you.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, well, you know, it's all right. But now, like now. Fast forwarding a little bit. Long story short, I think I know like 12 or 13 guys from the unit worked with a bunch of them. Follow on to that. I worked for CGS Suppressors, which had a bunch of former unit guys working there.

[Brent Tucker]

That's. That's where we met. When you were with cgs.

[Chris Blau]

Yep. Me and John met at tt. Yep. TTPOA three years ago, so. And that opened up a bunch of.

[Brent Tucker]

Doors back to 1911 syndicate. Yeah. You got how many followers you guys have?

[Chris Blau]

We're at 220 right now.

[Brent Tucker]

220,000. I love on YouTube.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Tyler]

You have a plaque?

[Chris Blau]

No, no. So they, they wouldn't. This was when there's some weird YouTube stuff going on. We couldn't get a plaque, so. Yeah, exactly. So we just made our own big middle finger to YouTube.

[Brent Tucker]

So YouTube wouldn't give you your. What, you've doubled your hundred thousand subscriber plaque because you're gun related?

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, at the time.

[Brent Tucker]

And, and, and you talk to him and that's literally what they said.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. Jake, my co host, was kind of following up on it, making phone calls and the emails and it just didn't happen.

[Brent Tucker]

I know it doesn't matter to you that much. That makes me mad.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, it just does. It's okay. I know. I see the numbers. I know what it is.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah, I, I get it.

[Tyler]

Do they let you run ads? Monetize?

[Chris Blau]

Yes, they. We have worked for the last couple of years to monetize the channel. When we first started, it was like, dude, we'll just do it our own and pay for everything and just figure it out as it's gone forward. As you guys know, this gets expensive. Yeah. So the last couple years, Jake's been working on monetizing the channel, which.

[Tyler]

Yeah, I noticed that. I noticed.

[Brent Tucker]

Was it monetizing it through YouTube or monetizing it through sponsors? So YouTube is putting ads in your content? See, I'm going with that though. They'll make money off of you, but they won't give you a plaque.

[Tyler]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. They have, they do have a, like a low. Another ad company that I work with that's like gun holsters and like. Really. But they have to match them with channels like him because they wouldn't do well with a regular like Sports Channel. And that Sports Channel would lose their mind if they had a gun holster. So they have to like find it. Throughout time. They find good pairs with agencies that you know that work with companies like that fit better.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, yeah.

[Tyler]

JV team for life. As you guys know, we drink way too many energy drinks on the Anti Hero podcast. That's why we partnered with Tasty gains. In this one container of 30 gummies is over a hundred cans of pre workout. This is our new replacement for energy drinks. It's a lot more convenient. Obviously energy drinks you have to keep cold. They taste like warm. I keep these in my gym bag and in my, my, my duffel at work with all my meals in it. And it's just, I mean it's bright colors. You see it, you take it right before your workout. It's perfect. These things taste like candy. So be careful. Listen guys, we wouldn't be suggesting things that we don recommend and take ourselves like the creatine gummies. No one really knows how creatine works. It's the most confusing thing in the world. But yet it's the safest supplement to take and the most effective supplement. Creatine helps your endurance levels and it helps traumatically with recovery. Creatine though is powdery and tastes like and is really annoying to when you're loading it and have to do all this stuff and mix it in your water and then of course if your water is not warm then it doesn't mix well. These things are the definition of convenience right there. Bright colors, put them in your gym bag, put them in your lunchbox. Creatine gummies. This one's blue raspberry. I prefer the, my favorite's the strawberry creamsicle. These are a no brainer. Tasty Gains is a no brainer. Pre workout and creatine, the things you need to lift and get big. So go to tastygains.com use promo code ANTI HERO and get 20% off your order. Oh, the boys over at Ghostbed did it again. They lowered everything on their website, more than half the cost. Now you're going to get even more savings because they took each item, they lowered it more than half and then they're still giving anti hero 10% off. So it used to be 50% off and then they were like, hey, we're just going to cut our prices down. So now when you go on the website, Anti Hero promo code Antihero will give you 10% off ridiculously reduced [e-mail] so go to ghostped.com forward/antihero and get 10 off the extremely reduced prices. These guys are awesome. These guys have been, are. They were our first sponsor. I talk with them all the time. They're big supporters in what we do, what we stand for. Just like all the other podcasts that they, that they help out and they support. If it's, if you got to replace a mattress in the house, if you got to buy new sheets, if you got to buy a new pillow, go with Ghostbed because you're gonna save money. And they help us out so much. They're part of the anti hero family, just like me. And just like you are ghostbed.com forward/antihero or use promo code antihero at checkout and get 10% off your order. Are you tired of using your standard issue flashlight? I know you're still using it because I was still using mine. But I have good news. We've teamed up with Cloud Defensive, the best in the game when it comes to weapons mounted and handheld lights. Go to clouddefensive.com, put in promo code antihero15 and get 15% off your entire order. Cloud Defensive pushing the boundaries and illumination JV team for life.

[Brent Tucker]

The interesting what started 1911 syndicate.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. So again, in a training class, I met this dude Jake for my bachelor party. I took a firearm string class.

[Brent Tucker]

Slow down, wild man.

[Tyler]

Did you do it in full kit chess rig?

[Chris Blau]

But my wife was like, wait for your bachelor party, you're gonna go shoot guns in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of dudes you've never met? And I was like, yeah. She's like, serious question, are you gay? And I was like, why are you gay? And so went and took that class and met this dude Jake at the class and we were just shooting. It was in California, so he doesn't remember this, but middle of nowhere California. We pull up to this hotel and a dude gets out and cry pants. Gets out of his car and cry pants. So I'm like, clearly he's taking the class, right? Right? Yeah, I can, I can do two plus two.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

And so I looked at his license plate and I was like, huh, you're taking the class. How are those 10 round mags? And he like looked at me, he was like, don't follow his fucking laws. And he walked away. I was like, well, pissed that guy.

[Brent Tucker]

Off before the class started, you know.

[Chris Blau]

He doesn't remember it this way. That's okay. The Whole class, it seemed like I just. We avoided each other because I felt like I pissed him off. And the last day we started shooting and he was like, hey, man, look, you're a cool dude. Like, we should exchange numbers. And a lot of these classes, the civilians will exchange info. Like, hey, you train? I train. If we're ever going to another class, let's link up again, you know? So we kept in touch after the class. And back then, I trained canines, so I was doing like, law enforcement, military, personal protection canines, as well as, like, everyday dogs.

[Tyler]

Wait, you get certified in training dogs?

[Chris Blau]

So, yeah, I used to train dogs. Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

Like, man of many talents.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Tyler]

I was to say, did you have a history, like, growing up with dogs or did you say, like, I'm just going to get the cert.

[Chris Blau]

Hated dogs, man.

[Tyler]

You know what, though? You're probably a good dog trainer.

[Chris Blau]

That's exactly why.

[Brent Tucker]

Exactly.

[Chris Blau]

I hated dogs because growing up, whenever they. I'm the only boy in my family, so whenever they'd escape, I'd have to go chase around the neighborhood, pick up their poop. Right? Yeah. First. First day, me and the wife, girlfriend at the time, had bought our first house. Literally the next day, she's like, we're getting a dog. I'm like, sorry, what? Like, I didn't sign on for this. But she won that argument. And I was like, cool, get it trained. I was like, I'm not going to tolerate a dog that has no, you know, no manners. So long story short, we got the dog trained, and the owner of the company was like, you're really good at this because you're not a dog guy. You want a job. And I was like, what's it pay? And so, yeah, for like five, almost six years, I trained dogs while doing gun stuff. So the.

[Brent Tucker]

So when. When you hang out and. And Max is here in studio, does his lack of training disgust you?

[Chris Blau]

No, because he has manners still.

[Brent Tucker]

Look at you, Max. Yeah, look at all their flags.

[Chris Blau]

Like, what? Well, that's funny because, like, all my friends, when we go to their houses, they're like, oh, we got a dog. You used to train dogs. You love them. I'm like, does he have manners?

[Brent Tucker]

No.

[Chris Blau]

Get him out of here, dude. I don't want to be around it because they jump on you, they hit you in the balls.

[Tyler]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

So we, we. We go to canine shows every now and again with, with FRCC and like akc, you know, certified type shows. And let me tell you, those are weird people.

[Chris Blau]

Weird.

[Brent Tucker]

I'm going to offend maybe someone that. That loves dogs. And in fact, they're not all weird.

[Chris Blau]

But.

[Brent Tucker]

But as. As a group, the majority of them, they're. They're a different breed.

[Chris Blau]

Bunch of weirdos.

[Brent Tucker]

No. No pun intended.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. That was a good one, dude.

[Brent Tucker]

Thank you. Yeah, thank you.

[Chris Blau]

Slow clap for that one. Yeah, no, they're like, dog people are weird people.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah, but is that.

[Tyler]

Well, they're not as weird as cat people, so I'll give them that.

[Brent Tucker]

True. But isn't that the same, like, any. Any category that you overly invest your time in, you become weird. No matter how cool the subject is, dogs get overly in the dogs. You're a weirdo. Knives. I like knives. I think they're cool. You ever met someone overly in the knives that wasn't a little bit weird?

[Tyler]

Ever met somebody overly into guns?

[Chris Blau]

100. It's like a joke in the gun.

[Tyler]

Industry, dog people are compensating for something in their life. When they're just like, all about their dog, they're like, what? Like, did you just.

[Chris Blau]

You don't think gun guys are the same?

[Tyler]

Probably compensating. But 100. We all know what for.

[Chris Blau]

Why don't you get a girl beard and get tattoos, bro?

[Brent Tucker]

But, you know. But you're right. I agree with you, actually, to that degree. You'll never treat your gun like. Like it's your child.

[Tyler]

Yes.

[Brent Tucker]

Like, they will treat their dogs better.

[Tyler]

And they'll get mad at you. You say it's not a. That's not a human. It's not a child.

[Brent Tucker]

Right.

[Chris Blau]

I met some gun guys that will do that. Been doing this a long, long time, bro. Yeah. Yeah. Which. That's a. There's a joke in the gun industry that we all have, like, a level of autism. Right. It's just different things. Like, I'm not a World War II gun guy. There are World War II gun guys out there that will spit off facts that will blow your mind. And it's like. Has no. Like, it's not pertinent to this time, but that's their thing, you know?

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah, I can see that. Yeah, I can. I can see it breaking down very specific genres of guns that people get really into.

[Chris Blau]

Weird. Weird. But it's.

[Brent Tucker]

Well, I guess they're still around. I was gonna say it's. It's got to be harder to get overly into something that, as it's older, like, isn't necessarily ready, readily available or around or, like, at some point, they're not even on the market. I mean, it's like there's Always gonna be rich guys and certain guys with those guns. But to get into that, wouldn't it be much easier to get. To get into Glocks? You go to. You go to gun store and. And grab one.

[Tyler]

Simple. And they're universal.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, yeah, no, you're right. And like, that's interesting. Back to your story. So, met Jake. Or back to your question. Met Jake. We were at this firearms training class. He moved from LA to Salt Lake and was like, hey, I'm starting this real estate gun thing. You want to join? And I was getting out of dog training, intrigued. So I was like, yeah, I need a job. Let's figure it out. And so basically the whole YouTube channel is to market for real estate, but for gun, military, law enforcement guys.

[Tyler]

That would be the clientele for the real estate. Okay, all right, I like it. Sorry.

[Chris Blau]

All our clients are gun guys, law enforcement, military, and if you think about it, you're changing duty stations.

[Brent Tucker]

Okay.

[Chris Blau]

We have an agent in your area that can help facilitate the move or the selling. Say you're moving to Salt or Salt Lake or Phoenix. That's me or Jake. We then help facilitate the buying on the other end.

[Brent Tucker]

When you first told me that, I couldn't love that idea anymore. It seems like two separate worlds, two niche almost. Right?

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

And you absolutely connected them.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. Well, think like one of our first clients ever, Jake's client up in Salt Lake was a GRS dude. And so you think, hey, these guys kind of know the job. They know what I do. They're into guns, similar crowds. I'm gonna trust these dudes because I'm not pulling up in a slick back, like BMW with my hair slicked back, dude, I wear combat pants and like a T shirt to go sell houses.

[Brent Tucker]

Wait, so you're a realtor too?

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, yeah. So I'm doing.

[Tyler]

How many per licensings do you have?

[Brent Tucker]

Oh, bro, what are you not telling us? Yeah, this is what we've discussed so.

[Chris Blau]

Far, dude, I've lived, like, the coolest life. I've, like, tons of different jobs, different industries. Been all over the world, like 13 countries, all 50 states. Like, just had a cool life. Wow. Yeah. But done, like, framing, drywall, dog training, gun counter stuff, gun industry stuff. Like, just done a lot of cool stuff.

[Brent Tucker]

So great guy, lots of service, traveler.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

And now I feel bad. Last night when I. On the live, when I called you, I, of course, tongue in cheek, what. What I call you, I was like.

[Chris Blau]

A bag of useless information. Yes. Yeah. A wealth.

[Brent Tucker]

A wealth of useless information.

[Tyler]

A little bit Better than bag.

[Chris Blau]

Useless.

[Brent Tucker]

Right. And your defense, though, we only asked useless information questions. You would. You'd have been there for. For all sorts of questions. Like, it's the gun questions. You've always been there for. For any gun question. Like when you hang out, the lives and people you've. You've been here real time.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

People ask me a. A gun question and I'll pretend to know I just look right to Chris. Chris, what do we think about this?

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, yeah, it's just I'm obsessed with that stuff, so, you know, sticks for whatever. I can't remember what I did yesterday, but I'll remember, like some weird story from Pete blabber's book for the rest of my life. Like, I don't know. You know, my autism is like special operations and gun stuff. I don't know.

[Brent Tucker]

So the 1911 syndicate, you started it. Right off the bat, you connected real estate to guns.

[Chris Blau]

Yep.

[Tyler]

What's the 1911.

[Chris Blau]

Jake is obsessed with 1911.

[Tyler]

I figured it was something like that.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, yeah. And syndicate, it's like kind of a cool name. Is cool, right?

[Tyler]

Nothing. You put syndicate at the end of anything, like, instead of real, instead of realtors. Just syndicate.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Tyler]

Like, I want to buy my house from a syndicate.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. So like our real estate agents all over the country are syndicate affiliates. Right. So.

[Tyler]

Oh, that sounds cool.

[Chris Blau]

Kind of cool. And we. It just kind of works, like with everything that we do in the different groups that we run in. So.

[Tyler]

Nice.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, it was all I'm. I'm like literally 5% of it. It is 95% Jake. And our videographer, crispy. Like, I grow a beard and can shoot a gun decently well. That's about it.

[Brent Tucker]

So how was the growth on the channel? How long have you been doing 1911.

[Chris Blau]

Syndicate were like four to five years.

[Brent Tucker]

Okay. I was going to guess five years.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

Okay, so in five years, has it been a steady growth to over 200,000 or did you see a spike in the beginning, a spike in the end, or just a steady. Just sticking with it, gutting it out?

[Chris Blau]

Tortoise and the hair, bro.

[Brent Tucker]

Steady growth.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. Yeah. We average, like, I think a thousand new followers a week is about the average. And it's been that way for a couple of years now. So.

[Tyler]

Yeah, I said people ask about, like, YouTube and stuff, and I'm like, it's like a giant. It's like a snowball. The bigger it gets, the faster it goes.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. So you just got to keep the momentum.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah, yeah. And.

[Chris Blau]

Which is hard. Not.

[Brent Tucker]

Not to insult anyone's intelligence. But, you know, if. If you're growing by 10, if you have a thousand followers, you know that. That 10 growth is. Is 100 followers. But when you have 10, 000 followers, it's a thousand followers. But the growth rate, you know, stays the same. But it makes it look like a snowball effect. But it's the same steady 10 growth.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. Which is what you want, man. Consistency is key.

[Tyler]

You insulted my intelligence. Just saying.

[Brent Tucker]

No, I did that for Drew.

[Chris Blau]

But, yeah, the channel's opened up a lot of doors. Like I said, we had, you know, the first unit guy on there, Jason, and it's been awesome, man. Like, I get to go shoot guns with my best friend, and we throw it up on the Internet.

[Brent Tucker]

And essentially, you guys do a lot of gun reviews.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. Yeah. And so we. We started off doing, like, everyday gun and gear reviews. So, like, I did a series where I bought, like, all the combat pants on the market, and then we did a video on it. This was early on.

[Brent Tucker]

Right.

[Tyler]

Then we'd get, like, at least donate them to you.

[Chris Blau]

No, so we. We actually purchase a lot of the stuff, so we can say whatever we want.

[Tyler]

Oh, right. So. So that's a kind of, like, underlying rule, is if they send you something, you can't say anything bad.

[Chris Blau]

So the Internet, I mean, I took it. All right. Yeah. No, great question. So it'll work a couple different ways. Like, in the beginning, people would send us guns. We do the review, we'd send them back. Okay. Right. But all the upside is them. Right. We're paying for the video. I'm paying for the ammo. You're. You're getting free marketing.

[Tyler]

All you're getting is a little content.

[Chris Blau]

Right? Yeah. And so, like, as we grew, that slowly changed, where it was like, hey, we'll do the review, but we're keeping the gun. Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

Which it was a man.

[Tyler]

Yeah, it was a gift.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. And that. And that's fair, right? Because again, you're. I know how much it costs you because I've done the manufacturing side. I know how much it costs you to make that gun.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

It is not anywhere close to what filming costs. Like, I promise.

[Tyler]

And the business that we're going to bring you.

[Chris Blau]

Correct. Yeah. Yeah. And so if it's a good review. Right. And so because of that way we've done it, we've earned a lot of respect with certain companies where they're like, hey, these guys are honest. You know, we can get good feedback. I refuse to sell my soul for a dollar, right. So a lot of YouTubers will get paid a check to, like, do a positive review. Yeah, bro, I'm sorry, man. Like, my thing is, before I got into this, I would watch videos. Some guy would say, Special Operations or YouTuber, hey, this gun product is worth your money. I'd buy it and it'd be, well, I just worked two and a half days to afford this thing that you got free that you told me was good.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

How's that fair, right?

[Tyler]

Yeah, it's very noble.

[Chris Blau]

And from day one, Jake has been on board with that. Like, we both see eye to eye on this. Like, we will not compromise those morals. Ethics are like, dude, I'd rather sleep at night.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

Because these dudes are working hard. They're working a terrible job. And just because you were some special operations guy and you're getting a paycheck, bro, I have a big moral problem with that.

[Brent Tucker]

But I think that also is indicative of the growth of your channel. Doing the right thing long enough does pay off. Yeah, it usually takes longer, unfortunately, but it. But it does pay off. Has there ever been a. A review you had to do on a product that was just bad? It was almost so bad you felt bad doing it?

[Chris Blau]

Yes.

[Brent Tucker]

Like, I'm just. I'm just gonna have to be honest with people. Just tear this thing apart.

[Chris Blau]

And. And we tell companies that from day one. Like, we will be honest. Yeah, there was. There's been one or two reviews where, like, it just melted down like a shit show. And so we'll give the. The manufacturers the chance to fix stuff because we get lemons. Right? Like, right, you Even Glocks, you know, most reliable pistol on the market. There's still Glocks that have issues.

[Brent Tucker]

Edit that out.

[Chris Blau]

So.

[Brent Tucker]

No, that's fake news. That's operator error.

[Chris Blau]

You're right. I play dress up on YouTube. So I.

[Brent Tucker]

Your supple hands are causing or inducing these malfunctions.

[Tyler]

Somebody commented on. Somebody commented on one of our. Our Instagram reels. Just segue real quick and said, is anybody address the way these are holding cigars? And I was like, what the hell? And I go. And look, I'm holding one like this. And you're holding one like this just happened. I'll be holding a weird. I was like, only a hater is.

[Brent Tucker]

Going to notice that there's. And. And you. And we can hold. We can hold cigars.

[Chris Blau]

Cool.

[Brent Tucker]

For 59 minutes out of an hour. But the Internet will find that one minute all three of us are holding this thing like. Like, nerds.

[Chris Blau]

And that's across the board. I could have, you know, 40 reloads on a rifle. And we don't edit out mistakes or misses. That's another thing we don't do. Like, like, yeah, we shoot paper. We'll show the target not all the time, but enough to where people are like, oh, we don't edit that kind of stuff out, but I'll flub one reload and I've had 50. Perfect. And people hone in on the one mistake. And you're like, bro, I just gave you an hour's worth of great information. One takeaway. This is funny was I fumbled this reload. So I don't know what you're talking about before.

[Brent Tucker]

I think you might end up on the side of the comment section on this. And. But I don't back away from it. It is what it is. Especially when it comes to an ak. For whatever reason, I have a bad habit of calling it a clip. I understand that irritates the heck out of people, but it's. I don't know why. It's just. It's what I do. It's what I've always done. And they will roast me in the comments section. Like, I can't believe an operator just. Did I just hear that right? Did he just refer to this as a clip? I'm like, I didn't know that was going to hurt your feelings, like, so bad.

[Chris Blau]

That's one of the things in the industry is that, like, so working behind a gun counter, right? Like, people come in because they don't know about guns. They're coming to you because you're the expert, right?

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

And customers would come in and be like, oh, I need a clip for this. And me being just a nice guy is like, oh, yeah, they're over here. And just so you know, you may not know this, but they're called magazines. And here's why other gun guys would be like, if you don't know what this is by now, maybe you should know a gun. And it's like, bro, first off, the gun industry is the worst at bringing new people into it because of that. Right? Like, yeah, you started off at one point not knowing the difference either.

[Brent Tucker]

Right? Right.

[Chris Blau]

So now you have an obligation, responsibility to disseminate that information, not tear people down, because this is in other people's lives. Right. Like, you're obsessed over this clip magazine thing because, like, you clearly have nothing else better in life. And mine's really not a big deal.

[Brent Tucker]

Although no one wants to hear my defense that they're like, there's no good explanation for it. I only do it with AK47s because of the term banana clip.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

Like the slang banana clip.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

I don't call, I don't refer to any other, you know, than that. I don't know why, man. I don't know why I refuse to change it or, or don't. But I'm not going to. And they're just gonna have to live with that. So I can't, I can't wait for our next AK47 breakdown.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

Clip.

[Chris Blau]

Well, and even the hate's good engagement. So keep hating. You're still pushing the algorithm.

[Brent Tucker]

Thanks for the comment.

[Chris Blau]

Because that's one thing we're a little known for too, is we get in the comments sections and we'll like fire back at people because I enjoy it. It's fun. Like you're going to come on my platform that I've spent all this hard, you know, time, effort, energy and talk a little shit. You're going to get some back, brother.

[Tyler]

Yeah, anti hero might not fire back at you, but something from the anti hero camp might fire back at you.

[Chris Blau]

And I find it just fun and hilarious and entertaining. But like some of these guys get so bent out of shape over the small stuff and it's like, look brother, there's way better things to worry about.

[Brent Tucker]

So you're talking about how weird some gun guys can get. And this was something that was new to me because I was in a, let's be honest, in a somewhat sheltered community when it comes to, you know, not being exposed to the gun industry under, like being, being a consumer of sorts, but not really being in the gun industry. And that is there's fringe elements to both left and right. Boy do I know that now. But as a conservative, I've definitely met some weird conservatives, but I've never really met or could really nail down like a fringe conservative. That was really toxic until some of the extreme 2A people got into our DMs and on our comment section on cops and the extreme 2 a community hates cops just as bad as BLM protests.

[Chris Blau]

Oh yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

Like they, they want dead cops. They want their, they want their moms to know that they're happy that they're. That their son died. That is actually a comment that, that, that came across pure evil. I'm like, you guys, like the fringe right can be as you know, but I had to find out the hard way can be really, really toxic.

[Chris Blau]

I mean the far, no pun intended, right, left and right limits of Something you're gonna find some absolute weirdo dude. Like, it is, you're absolutely right. And it, and it's like one that's probably people that had a bad experience with law enforcement, maybe couldn't be a cop. So then it turned negative. Three, they probably don't have friends or family that are actually good cops and doing the job for the right reason. So they just blanket statement it. And like, bro, that is a, that is much like you. It's so confusing.

[Brent Tucker]

And you try to reason with them of sorts. Like they're, they're just embedded, you know, they're so ingrained. And you know, I would just make a comment back like, you know, you, you claim to be A2A company and, and, and, and you support cops. Like, you know, what a joke. To which I say, how many guns do you have? And they're like, I have over a hundred guns. And I was like, did you used to have more? But a cop took them and it was like, well, no, cops never taken my guns. But you're telling me cops are coming for your guns?

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

How many guns did a friend of yours, how many friends do you have? Did any of them ever have a gun taken from them by a cop? And I can't find one that I talk directly to. And I get it. They will tell stories. But again, like those are very rare.

[Chris Blau]

Few and far between.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah, yeah, few and far between. But they act like cops like, Tyler's gonna show up any day now for your gun. I just, I don't understand that mentality.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, because they're drawing the conclusion if anti gun legislation gets passed, it's the cops that are gonna go door to door to get it right.

[Tyler]

And to be fair, I mean, I get why they would think that until they, if they just stopped and ask a question. Have you ever had a gun taken by a cop or go to a cop? Have you ever taken a gun outside of criminal prosecution or it's used in a crime or, you know, I know that we've talked about red flag laws where they'll take them for your mental health, but you get them back hopefully. Yeah. So, but I mean, I've never taken one for mental health. So if I've never done it in nine years, that means that it's not a common thing.

[Chris Blau]

Correct.

[Tyler]

That could have happened.

[Chris Blau]

Of course they're jumping to like multiple post apocalyptic conclusions. Right. Like anti gun legislation gets passed. Tires now showing up on my daughter. First off, I know a lot of cops. I've played this game with them like hey, if that happened, are you going door to door? And not one of my buddies is like, yeah. They're all like, well, first off, I'm not coming to your house, Chris.

[Tyler]

It's the dangerous thing you could do.

[Brent Tucker]

And let's be honest. You don't think cops aren't Pro2A, aren't pro gun. You know, aren't. Aren't on the generally speaking. Right. Right side of. Of being conservative, because that's generally who's going to do the job. That's the type of person that goes and does that job. And you think that person is going to be more than happy to come for your guns. Just not. I'm just not buying. You'll always have the one or two. And then like these stories. But to live your life out of fear that any cop any day now can come for your guns is just a little crazy to me.

[Chris Blau]

They jumped to the conclusion that we saw with law enforcement during COVID arresting people for, like, being at the park. And they're like, well, they just say they're doing their job. So what's going to stop them from just doing their job to take. Take your guns? And I'm like, okay, I get. I can see exactly.

[Brent Tucker]

I can see your argument.

[Chris Blau]

However, hypothetically say that ever happened after the first, like two or three incidents were like, a lot of people unfortunately probably lose their lives of cops going.

[Tyler]

To get guns shot heard around the world.

[Brent Tucker]

Oh, yeah, that's what's gonna happen. Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

Departments are gonna rethink that real quick because one thing too, is like, I own standard firearms. Like, there's civilians that have the licensing for miniguns.

[Brent Tucker]

Okay.

[Chris Blau]

Miniguns, full auto, 240 Bravos, 249s. My buddy just got his explosives license. So, like, how do you get that? Dude, it's. It's all under your ffl. Sot like a standard gun store. But then there's other licensing you can get. So, I mean, my Buddy has like six to 40 Bravos. He has three Dylan miniguns. So, like, again, cops show up to that dude's house, right? Like, that's a bad day if they're there to take guns, Right?

[Tyler]

Is ATF pretty pretty today? It's kind of like a silencer. Is that how they treat it? Like they have to know if it's being moved when, stuff like that?

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, super restricted. It takes a lot of licensing and money. Well, to buy a 24 Bravo is.

[Brent Tucker]

Like, so here's a lot of money. And this is a personal opinion because we have the laws that we have. But at face value, this still does blow my mind a little bit. The right to bear arms shall not be infringed. Do you believe it's a good thing that you have to jump through all these hoops? What constitutionalists would argue is an inherent right.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. So I, I've changed my mind on this over the years.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

So we'll start with that. I'm like a 2A absolutist. Meaning like if, if the government can own nukes and I can, and I can afford one.

[Brent Tucker]

Okay.

[Chris Blau]

And I used to not be that way. If I'm being fully, you know, honest and transparent.

[Brent Tucker]

I actually thought you were going to go the other way for whatever reason.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, I, I've gone a little bit back and forth after, you know, decade plus of doing this when I first started working behind.

[Tyler]

I commend you for that, by the way.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, yeah. We're allowed to change our minds when more information comes in. You are obligated to then change your opinion. Right. If, if that is true information. Right.

[Brent Tucker]

Sometimes it's more information and sometimes it's just growing older and maturing and maturing and seeing more of the world and have a better understanding of the world, you know, several, you know, inputs that can make you do that.

[Chris Blau]

But yeah, when I first started in the gun industry, I was like, everyone should have guns. And then after like a month, I was like, I love those dudes.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah, yeah.

[Chris Blau]

And then you take a step back and you mature and you realize it's an information and training issue. Right. Like we should be able to go in and buy firearms. That does not mean that you are now some ghetto gunfighter and you're there to like protect life. And you see it when guys start concealed carrying, ego inflates a little bit. They start like, oh, I'm carrying a gun now. And it's like, hold on, brother. You need like X amount of training. I think not necessity wise. Again, the, the 2A extremists are going to get weird with this. But like, I'm not saying it should be mandatory, but this is a tool simply used to take life. Whether that's you're a good guy.

[Brent Tucker]

That's true.

[Chris Blau]

It's one function.

[Brent Tucker]

Right.

[Chris Blau]

And some gun guys will be like, oh, it's a sporting rifle or it's for. You're still taking life. You're just doing it in a good way or bad way. That's it, dude. So like, if we break it down to that, you as a gun owner should then want to Be responsible enough to know how to use that tool, train with that tool, be proficient with it. Not everyone does that. But they still have the right to own a gun.

[Brent Tucker]

Exactly.

[Chris Blau]

So that's, it's an interesting conversation, but.

[Brent Tucker]

That goes from right to own a gun to a little bit. Back to the original question that so they, you may have answered, but do they have the right to own any gun? Should that say for that same guy that you said at the beginning, like, I don't know if everyone should have a gun. Can that same untrained jackass be able to own a 240 Bravo?

[Chris Blau]

I do believe so.

[Brent Tucker]

Also, it's a tough question. I, I agree with you.

[Chris Blau]

What goes back to training and what.

[Tyler]

About the mentally ill?

[Chris Blau]

So, yeah, so that.

[Brent Tucker]

Ooh, that's a good question.

[Chris Blau]

I haven't dove into this a lot, but having a bunch of veteran friends talking about red flag laws, mental health issues, like, that's an interesting one because the big worry is red, red flag laws get passed and then that momentum keeps going. And then maybe an ex girlfriend, an ex wife, bad divorce is like, hey, my husband has guns and I'm scared for this reason. So then law enforcement is able to justify.

[Tyler]

Are you telling me the government's not going to give up control?

[Chris Blau]

That shocking, right? Well, yeah, once they take it, they kind of don't give back.

[Brent Tucker]

Here, here is the. When you say, what about the mentally ill ill? And this is where, this is where the lines get. Get blurry.

[Chris Blau]

Yes.

[Brent Tucker]

Because it sounds like, like anything, it's. You can actually go back to the no fly list argument. Like, hey, like terrorists. No fly list terrorists. Let's do it. Until. I believe it was Rand Paul. I watched him talk about it and he's against it. I'm like, how can this guy be against terrorists on a no fly list? And his argument was this, you know, at the time, do you know who the number one, I gotta word this. Right. But concerned group of people that they believe are gonna be terrorists were veterans at the time.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

And so that's where the line goes. And so now if, if something happens and our government continues to which. Which it was doing and you know, when you had Biden and then, and then if we'd have Kamala and that keeps going and we have white combat veterans as a terrorist organization, they're now on the no fly list. And so the problem is who, who designates who's on that list, who's in charge of it? So go back to mentally ill. And this is a valid question. What Happens when PTSD is mentally ill and now all your veterans can't own firearms. And that's actually as a veteran, I know other veterans would be like, oh, I'm a veteran, you know, I should absolutely be able to have a gun even though I have ptsd. Well, I don't know. If you don't know that you're not in Iraq anymore sometimes and you, and you think you are, then maybe you shouldn't have a gun. And it's, it's, it's a tough conversation. But what happens when they put PTSD controversial on, on the mentally ill list? That and it's not so cut and dry. Yeah.

[Tyler]

And how would they do it? Everything's covered under hipaa. So how they would have to have a program where now they're managed. They're able to get your medical records in order to. And tons of people have an ever 18, 19 year old school shooters. They're not diagnosed for the most part. You know, they just.

[Chris Blau]

A lot of them are on SSRIs. So.

[Tyler]

Right. Should we. If you're on that, do we blanket it?

[Brent Tucker]

You know, and this. And I think kind of what we're talking about is really what goes back to what they argue on the blanket term of common sense. Gun laws.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

But again it's really.

[Chris Blau]

Who's common sense? Right.

[Brent Tucker]

Right. It's a slippery slope. So when I entertain these ideas and I'm more than, more than willing to listen to the other side and, and when they have really good arguments, sometimes I don't even have a good answer for it. And thankfully I listen to people smarter than me and I eventually take that argument and I put it to someone smarter than me. Like, well, here's the problem with that. I'm like, oh, okay, you're absolutely right. And I go back to. I'm an absolutist. Like shall not be infringed. That is the only answer.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. If you have enough money the whole time. If you have enough money to buy an A10 Warthog. Are you kidding me? Is that not the most American.

[Tyler]

It all boils down to. I'm a firm believer. And we are more safe when we have more guns.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. And armed society is a polite society.

[Tyler]

Yes, exactly. Everyone, when everyone's like this, like, like.

[Brent Tucker]

Hey, what's, what's the. You ever see the comedian? He's like, what's the first thing our, our founding father said? You can say what you want. You say anything you want. Like it's regardless. What's the second thing they, they they.

[Chris Blau]

They to defend that was.

[Brent Tucker]

You can say anything you want but you better carry a gun. I wonder somehow if that was connected or not.

[Chris Blau]

But it's the first regardless by the second. Yeah that's the thing. The first is protected by the second. Right. And absolutely. And you. I mean we can see it in real time in states that have a lot of gun control laws. What's the crime rate look like in 2013? Arizona passed constitutional concealed carry. So anyone 21 or older without a permit can conceal carry or just went to that. Yeah. Crime dropped. I. It's been, it's been a while. I want to say crime dropped like 20 to 30%.

[Brent Tucker]

And and the, the weak point of their argument is always this with gun control and they just, they have no answer for it. Is anywhere in the United States where just like what you said, the most strictest gun control laws, New York City, Chicago, Detroit. There's gun violence problems in all of those cities. And now who's the only person that can have a gun?

[Chris Blau]

Criminal.

[Brent Tucker]

The criminal or cops. And I just. It so it, so it doesn't, it briefs well but it does not play out in society.

[Chris Blau]

No. I mean I've traveled the country doing this flying with guns a lot. Like I'm well over 150 to 200 fights with firearms. Right. Like it just flying everywhere. And dude it is constant across the board. The states that have less gun control people are nicer, things feel safer, things feel cleaner. Everyone's just a little bit more respectful because again like if I'm in a restaurant I feel like being an a hole. I don't know how many of these dudes are carrying a gun. Whereas a state where it's illegal or hard for civilians. And I'm a bad guy.

[Brent Tucker]

Right?

[Chris Blau]

Well I know hey I'm a bad guy. So I'm not. There's no last time criminals followed the law. Why they're criminals. Right? Right. Pretty simple. So they're not going to follow it. But law abiding citizens are in fear for their rights and their freedom. So they don't.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

So it's just, I mean it's shooting fish in a barrel.

[Brent Tucker]

Like let's, let's transfer over because and where we met your, your time with cgs, did you know anything about suppress. You probably knew like you're, you've been in the industry peripherally. Pretty right. When you got into that did you really get your eyes open to like the science behind it and how, how complex Silencers are weird. They're actually really simple and really complex at the same time. And silencers can be true. That's right. And silencer technology is actually, I would say probably the next. In the last. And you correct me, I want to hear the next three to five years has really skyrocketed. Yeah. Taken that jump. Talk to us a little bit about that suppressors technology and your time in the.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. So before. I'd say in the last three to five years, suppressor ownership in tech has skyrocketed. Before that, it was basically the same technology for the last like 30, 40 years before that. Right. And I knew friends that had suppressors. I got my first suppressor probably eight or nine years ago as a surefire. Right. Just because that's what everyone was running at the time.

[Brent Tucker]

And it's a classic. It works.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, dude. Bomb proof. That's great.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

Like literally, like, I mean, you know, you guys shoot a ton and like. Yeah. You guys will outshoot suppressors, which takes anywhere between 50 and 70,000 rounds.

[Brent Tucker]

Yep.

[Chris Blau]

And I know guys from the unit who would outshoot like four to five suppressors a year.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

Right.

[Tyler]

Wait, suppressors only shoot 50 to 70,000 rounds?

[Chris Blau]

It depends. That gets a little complex. It depends on your muzzle device you're using. Because if you use a brake, it pushes all the gases and pressure to the sides where a flash hider pushes it forward. Right. So if you're using a flash hider on most suppressors, that first baffle, you'll see like, almost like water jet divots in that first baffle from that pressure going down the tines of the flash hider and it wears out. That baffle a break, which is what most you guys would use, will push out the sidewalls over time. And we're talking, you know, high round count, really hot suppressor, thousands of rounds. Your average civilian will never shoot out a suppressor. Never. Like, I, I would be shocked if I ever shoot one. Right. And I shoot a lot. But back to, back to your original question. So new suppressor just working behind a gun counter, but like surface level knowledge.

[Brent Tucker]

Right.

[Chris Blau]

Right around that three to five year mark, there's a company called Pew Science.

[Brent Tucker]

Love it. Love the name.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, Pew Science, great name.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

And he is like a explosive. I, I can't remember his day job, but he does like high level engineering stuff for like explosives. So he knows how to test pressures and where the pressure goes and stuff like that. So he set up a scientific suppressor testing system. And as soon as he started doing that at the same time, suppressor companies started getting into 3D printing. Suppressors from titanium and inconel is another material. When you 3D print, you can make weird geometric shapes in there that you can't make by traditional manufacturing. Right. Just because tools and CNC machines can't get that weird angle. Right. So right in line with that, from my opinion, my experience, suppressor tech in the last three to five years has just exploded. And now you see, guys, I mean, there's maybe like 20 suppressor manufacturers five years ago, there's like 200 now. Like, everyone's doing it because it's just easier. Now we have the data and science to back like what we thought suppressors were doing. We now know exactly what they're doing because of pew science. And so, yeah, yeah. In the last three to five years, it's blown up. And then I got into CGS right around that time. So, like, I'm not saying I'm like an expert with suppressors, but I would. I know more than your average dude. And I've. The other part of this too is I've learned more about gun stuff or. Sorry, I've forgotten more about gun stuff than most people will ever learn. Yeah, there's stuff that I forget that is like base level stuff that some guys are like, you don't know this. And I'm like, well, at one time I did it.

[Tyler]

I'm too busy learning advanced stuff.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. And it's not even that. It's just like, dude, there's not a lot of room up there, man. Yeah, so like, I gotta delete something to remember something fair, you know? But yeah, so with suppressors getting back to cgs, that was started with, you know, a couple guys from the unit, their experience with some engineers building suppressors and like they were the game in town for 3D printed flow through kind of style suppressors.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

Now everyone's kind of doing it along.

[Brent Tucker]

Those lines of, you know, the progression of. Of guns and science and technology. I'll. I'll start this on a surface level which is, I think what I would say the. And we probably walk this back to probably maybe 10 years ago. This has really been proliferated throughout the civilian market. And it continues to grow as those people have touch points to other people, is that bullets don't do exactly what we thought they did. And basically the algorithms of the flight of bullets, like ballistic calculators, A lot about shooting that we thought we knew we thought it did, wasn't necessarily true. It wasn't completely false. But when you're talking about extreme Distance and everything having to be right. Shooting has taken a big step forward as well. That I would say was stagnant for 20 or 30 years. But most of that, I think, has to do with the knowledge and the flight of the bullet. And a little because of that, there's a lot more bullet options out there because of that. Is. Would you agree that the technology and the understanding of the flight of bullet has been the. With suppressors the next biggest step, or is the gun industry themselves, like the inside working of guns, the barreling, whatever it may be on the inside, also took a massive leap forward because I wouldn't know as much about that.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, man, that's an interesting question. I think the last 20 years of war have advanced all of that at the same time in real time. We learned more about ballistics, what ballistics do, what rounds do what on a hard target, soft target. That's why you see different rounds for different units. Right. I think this is something I'd probably have to research a little bit more. So I don't want to speak out of turn, but I have not learned as much information on what a suppressor does to, like, like the flight path of a bullet. I know it does affect it. I've heard a couple different things, but that's something I'm probably gonna have to research a little more for you.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah, yeah.

[Tyler]

I don't want to miss so many variables.

[Chris Blau]

So many humidity, so many. Elevation is a big one, depending on distance. The Coriolis effect. Right.

[Tyler]

The gun, the round, the suppressor.

[Chris Blau]

Got it.

[Brent Tucker]

You know, you.

[Chris Blau]

Does it flow through, is it not?

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah, you say that, you know, that that war, you know, really brought on a lot of this technology. I'd actually probably disagree with you on that. I think the civilian market has actually been what's really grown it. If we really think about the first person to really challenge the trajectory of a bullet has to be Todd Hodnett with accuracy first. And he was pounding. He was pounding. What's from them for beating a dead horse on it? No, like, put the siren out. He was sounding the alarm. Gosh, he was sounding the alarm about that.

[Tyler]

What's his background?

[Brent Tucker]

Civilian farmer. Right. He's very country, but actually think he's. He has a technical background, actually. Okay, Yeah, a very technical background, but he was the one who challenged that. And when it comes extreme long distance, you know, like king of the mile and things like that, like anytime, the civilian market, you would think the government has all this money to do research and development, and they kind of do but they need a, a cause to do it. They kind of just don't do it on their own. I really think it was the civilian market of long range shooting. And anytime, and anytime you get the free market involved in something, there's money to be made. Yeah, you know, that's why, that's why I love capitalism. You know, there's where the infusion of money came in. There was money to be made. You didn't have the same old, same old mindset of, of old school military snipers. Like this is just the way it's always been. You got guys that are questioning everything to get ahead of the next guy in a competition. And I think a lot has to do with the, the civilian side of, of the technology advancements and, and bullets and, and guns and what they do and don't do.

[Tyler]

JV team for life. And of course we got to give a shout out to our boys in 09 holsters. Custom built ruggedized duty gear made in the USA for cops, by cops, a Leo and veteran owned small business. They do an upgraded solutions for duty gear including cases for portable radios, body cameras, tourniquets and pretty much everything you need to carry on duty. So go to 09holsters.com and use promo code ANTIHERO10ZULU9. That's ANTIHERO10Z9 and get yourself 10% off your order.

[Chris Blau]

Revenge is an act of passion. Vengeance is an act of, of justice. Injuries are revenged.

[Brent Tucker]

Crimes are avenged.

[Chris Blau]

Almost a century ago, big pharmaceutical companies.

[Brent Tucker]

Re engineered medical school curriculum and faculty with one goal.

[Chris Blau]

Putting profit before progress. Anyone pushing back against the medical matrix they carefully crafted was threatened, silenced, censored, financially ruined or worse. They are the problem. We are the solution.

[Tyler]

Engage.

[Brent Tucker]

Initials Mike Juliet Alpha.

[Chris Blau]

You're clear to engage with weapons. You're clear to engage with weapons.

[Tyler]

JV team for life, I'd say.

[Chris Blau]

I think it's probably a healthy mixture of both. Maybe I should have said that starting off the bat because.

[Tyler]

No, you stand firm.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, well, it was actually I was going to say that and Brent interrupted me.

[Tyler]

You could say, why does the civilian side produce such good results and produce such good, what would you call that data and you know, research and development data. But why? Yeah, because we're going to war.

[Chris Blau]

So that's it. That's where I was going to draw the conclusion. Like, you know, pair those two things like there's a war going on, civilian companies know, hey, government's putting out contracts.

[Brent Tucker]

For this weapon, right? There's the crossover there.

[Chris Blau]

Hey, that's a $300 million contract.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

I don't know anything about long range stuff, but I'm gonna, for $300 million.

[Tyler]

I'm gonna act like I do 100%.

[Chris Blau]

And so I think it's a, it's a healthy dose of both. I mean, the 416, that was HK, right?

[Brent Tucker]

Right.

[Chris Blau]

They were approached by the unit to develop this gun with these certain standards and what they wanted out of it. Now they are a defense contracting company and they primarily sell to militaries, but also it's a civilian owned company. So in conjunction with civilian owned company, government contracts, a unit approaching them, they all work together to develop, in my opinion, one of the best rifles ever made.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

Ever.

[Brent Tucker]

I loved it.

[Chris Blau]

And people's complaints are it's heavy and gas. You know, I'm like, okay, that's because it needed to last for a long time and shoot any ammo in any condition.

[Brent Tucker]

So here's, here is one good argument to that. And even, you know, in special operations, nobody likes change. We say we do, but like when you get, when you get, say we do. We say we do. But when you get emotionally attached to your gun, you know, it's like you don't want a different gun. The 416 is superior to the M4. It's just. It, it is. But the argument a lot of guys had was my M4 is lighter and my M4 never malfunctioned and never. And was never a problem. So why, why are we out here, you know, coming up with a solution that, that isn't a problem? And that's, and that's a valid question. Because it's not like the 416 shot longer, shot straighter. It was just a more dependable gun.

[Chris Blau]

Lasted longer.

[Brent Tucker]

It did, yes. What's going to last longer by, by its mechanism of, of being a piston. Piston driven gun. Thank you. But that's what makes it heavier.

[Tyler]

Yeah, but so is it more. Is it reliable? Not in the sense that it. There's no malfunctions, but it's more reliable in the senses. How?

[Chris Blau]

More. Less malfunctions because of the piston operating system.

[Tyler]

So it's less malfunctions than an M4. I mean, in theory.

[Brent Tucker]

In theory. And that's what they say. And, and, and they, they are. And I'm sure they're right. I would go back part of the. More the longevity of it if you really want to, because here's the other variable. Half the time I'm pulling this number out of my ass, but half the time your Your gun malfunctions. It could, it could very well be your magazine.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. And a lot of malfunctions are magazine.

[Brent Tucker]

A lot of malfunctions are magazine related. Just. But no one to say it it that it doesn't malfunction as often makes you feel like the M4 malfunctions at a higher rate. Well, I've just, no one's really had problems with the M4 being dependable and, and being dependable in a sandy environment.

[Tyler]

To your, to what you're saying. Always be wary of someone who's introducing the private sector into what you do because there's always more likely than not they're establishing a connection, they're developing what they're going to do on their 18 year mark in two years they're going to go work for this company. So I always say be wary of. If we are a squad and you got these guys and I got to try it out and we're like, I don't know, is it worth it? And you're like, yeah, I would be weary of you because of, of some kind of bias that you might have.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. And maybe some nepotism in there. Like, hey, you're gonna get out, we're gonna get you on the board, you're gonna be making some money. I mean, happens all the time, sadly.

[Brent Tucker]

Happens all the time, sadly.

[Chris Blau]

Even it, even it where you used to work and it, it's heartbreaking but also it just is.

[Brent Tucker]

And, and I did say that, you know, capital, you know how I'm a fan of capitalism. It's not perfect. It's not perfect. It's just better than the alternatives, without a doubt. And here's usually what'll end up having to happen though. Yes, they can sway that. And I'm not naive. Like there are ways around the system, but in the day it's going to go to get a sole source contract is so hard, so hard it's almost unheard of in this particular market where there are complete, where there are definitely other competitors. So he can get, he can definitely get that gun or that whatever it is into the, into the competition. But at the end of the day it's going to have to go against five, six, seven other guns and it's going to have to legitimately outperform those guns to, to win the contract. Yep, I say that. And even there, there's, I can argue with my, I can argue with myself about that. You can set up competitions for strengths of one guy.

[Tyler]

Always, this is always the government doing all of this. The government owning all of the guns companies. The government. I'd rather go to the private sector.

[Chris Blau]

Right. Yep.

[Brent Tucker]

Which is the first time I really, I guess, thought of it. And it's obvious now thinking about as we talk about it, but what I love is every single gun I've ever carried in my military career was a private sector gun that the government just happened to buy. But it was all private sector that. That outfitted us. And that's the way it should be.

[Tyler]

Yes, exactly.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Tyler]

Keep that war machine going, baby.

[Brent Tucker]

That's right. That's where the competition, you know, comes from. It's not again, it's not even that. Not a perfect system, but I never felt like I left the wire with. With substandard equipment.

[Chris Blau]

It's awesome.

[Brent Tucker]

But I wasn't a marine, so. Well, yeah, true, dude.

[Tyler]

Amen.

[Chris Blau]

I mean the, the Marine Corps infantry just got M27 IRS, which is a 416 variant.

[Brent Tucker]

Okay.

[Chris Blau]

PECS and I think it's PVS31 Alphas.

[Tyler]

So what the army just get then? Because it just went down.

[Chris Blau]

Exactly. The army got. I think it's the new Sig rifle and 277 Fury and some other stuff. Right. But I'm so glad the Marine Corps is getting like legitimate hard use gear because like, dude, those guys make do with less all the time. But Back to the 416 real quick. Yeah. So the issue was when you start chopping barrel links on a standard direct and P management M4, it starts having cycling issues. Right.

[Tyler]

Okay.

[Chris Blau]

Also with the standard M4, especially shoot and suppress, you get a lot of that carbon and like gases shot back into the upper receiver where an HK system with the piston stops that to a degree.

[Tyler]

Okay.

[Chris Blau]

So less carbon and fouling is getting back into the system because the piston stops it. And then as you chop down barrel links back then piston systems just seem to be more reliable. And we're talking 2004 to 2006 time.

[Tyler]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Chris Blau]

So now also at that time there's only like five or six, probably more. 20 civilian companies that were doing M4 variants that were direct impingement because of the war. Now we see there's 500 AR manufacturers. Yeah, right. I mean, they're like literally like they're everywhere. Yeah, right. To a degree that's almost annoying because there is not a lot of innovation. It's kind of the same thing.

[Tyler]

Yep.

[Chris Blau]

But that's really where the, the 416 shined was that time period trying to fix a certain problem for this unit. Short barrels shoot and Suppressed a lot in adverse conditions. And so like 416 hit that mark 20 years ago. It's still in service today. It's going to be in service for a long time. It's just a phenomenal weapon system.

[Brent Tucker]

Last time I saw you was this reminded me because you talked about how many gun companies there are and that with that particular gun. Have you ever been to Shot Show, Tyler, you got to go. Once I say that from a person who kind of hates Shot show, everyone.

[Tyler]

Should go watch I hate Shot show.

[Brent Tucker]

And I'm going to arrest you for that. Okay. I probably deserve it. The going to Shot show blows my mind. It does. I like how are there this again. I'm. I'm nowhere near like the subject matter. Subject matter expert that you are. But at this point, being out and being exposed a lot more. I know a lot more gun companies than I used to and I still show up to Shot show, going to booth after booth after booth going, I never even heard of these guys. And that booth cost, even on a small level, 30 to 50 grand, you know, to be there and easily gets up into the quarter million mark. All day I'm like, if I haven't even heard of you and you're dropping, you're on the main floor with a, with a big.

[Tyler]

You must be doing well.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

And that's what I don't.

[Chris Blau]

Or a lot of debt. Yeah, right.

[Brent Tucker]

I don't know if they're doing well or this is like their last ditch effort to be like, hey, if people just knew more about us, you know, we're. We're gambling all. We're gonna hit it big. And I don't see them next year. But even if I don't, there's more. Apparently there's someone that's more than willing to fill their shoes. It's just, it's crazy how many manufacturers are out there.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. I mean I've been to Shot show now this year is my 11th year in a row. You missed one? I think I missed one. Yeah. Missed one or two. Yeah. That was when I was training dogs that week. You were like, both those years. I think it was one or two years when I was training dogs. I couldn't get passes at the time. I was like, oh, dude, I've been before. It's not a big deal. And then the fomo, like all the dudes posting stuff, I'm like, man, I'm not there.

[Brent Tucker]

But I don't know if I'll do a good job describing it. But most people don't Understand, shot show isn't a show that most like shows or conventions you go to. Anyone can show up just as a, as a fan.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

Just open to the public. Shot show is very much not open to the public. Like so you have to be a vendor or like in the industry. Yeah, you have to be in the industry. So if you can't connect to two shot show that you're a vendor or you're connected to the industry, they will, they, they will not give you a pass. And they will find a reason. Not like they're not just giving away passes like you have to legitimately and it's make that connection.

[Tyler]

It's still as big as it is and still.

[Brent Tucker]

How many people do you think going to Vegas?

[Tyler]

I would compare it to Times Square New Year's Eve. A logistical nightmare that it might like they're probably. Do you think they plan like, do you think 2026 or 2027 is already being planned because of all the contracts are done for this next year?

[Brent Tucker]

I'd imagine it's such a beast.

[Chris Blau]

Logistical nightmare.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah, it's just a sea of, it's just a sea of never ending people.

[Chris Blau]

Never ending. And the big reason is it's international too. Right. So that's a big reason why it's big is it's international. So you'll get foreign militaries that come to shot show to meet with vendors or try to get contracts for guns or the international side of exporting firearms is crazy.

[Brent Tucker]

Oh, and you can't sell anything at shop. So if you see something you like, you're like, oh, I'll buy one of those. They can't sell anything. It's just a display display.

[Chris Blau]

And you can place orders or meet with a sales guy who will either come out to you or the unit will go out to them and discuss what they need. Right. But yeah, you can't buy anything there. And if you're caught selling stuff, there's like repercussions for it. So. But I'd say, what do you think, 100,000 people?

[Brent Tucker]

I was, I was actually gonna say maybe a little more. Yeah, it could easily be 150.

[Chris Blau]

But again, it's international.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

So that's a big reason. Nra, which is open to the public and not so much an international trade show for the firearms industry, is far less people. And it's actually a lot of fun because there's just less people and like going up to talk to my guys at different manufacturers for stuff. Like they're kind of bored there.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

Because It Shot show, there's a hundred thousand plus people asking them the same five questions.

[Brent Tucker]

So I actually, we haven't been to the NRA show yet, but we've. We. We want to make it this year.

[Chris Blau]

I think it's in Atlanta this year.

[Brent Tucker]

Drew, do you remember where it is? We looked at it on the schedule. I think it is in Atlanta.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

I think it's closer. We looked at it like, oh, it's. It's in the Southeast.

[Chris Blau]

Sounds. Sounds right?

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. Last year was Dallas. I think this year. Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

And last year was Dallas. That's right. Okay.

[Chris Blau]

It's a great show. Yeah. Far less people, just less stress than Shot Show. But also, this is why I'm going to roast. You guys will say that that have been to Shot show, even just one, two, three times, like, oh, man, I hate shot Show. Yada, yada, yada. Here's the thing. It's not open to the public, so there's people that would die to be able to go once. So again, me being the gun counter guy, right. I'm always thinking of the consumer. Like, there's guys that would kill to be able to go to Shot show just for a day. And this is your fifth, sixth, seventh year. And so you're over it. I can see why you're over it. It's a lot. But also, my favorite thing is all my buddies from all different militaries all around the world are in town for one week, so I get to see all the boys.

[Brent Tucker]

That is the best thing about Shot show. Getting to see old teammates. I know several, like, unit teammates and Green Beret teammates there that had no idea we were going to be there. Which is kind of crazy to think that you'll run into someone you know there with 150,000 people. But it happens.

[Tyler]

You got to make plans to meet up.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah, you can, but you kind of don't. Like, you will run into them. Them. Now, don't get me wrong, there's plenty of people there that I left last year and found out that they were there. I was like, I didn't even know you were there. But it is crazy in that aspect. It is. That is the only thing that I look forward to is, Is.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

Meeting up with old friends.

[Chris Blau]

Oh, it's my dude.

[Brent Tucker]

And the circle bar for just a little bit.

[Chris Blau]

Circle bar, yeah, yeah. And then the other side of it, too, is some guys will be like, oh, I hate Shot Show. You can't get any work done there. I'm sorry. That's on you, brother. Because I'll plan a whole year of content in seven days. An entire year. So you're just not working. Yeah, I'm sorry. That's. It's just what it is.

[Brent Tucker]

I'll say that. And the. For us and an anti. An anti hero wasn't going necessarily for anti hero. That was something we kind of added on to it because we were there. And Vanessa went with me. Is sort of realizing the amount of legends that are there at shot show and big names. I was like, we actually should have came here just, just to get face to face some of these guys. I'd love that person to be on the show. I'd love for that person to be on the show. And we could get a lot of work done in that aspect with us.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. Both law enforcement and military because there's a ton of law enforcement units, you know, federal and civil. What's like municipal, Federal, Municipal, local. Local. Yeah. Guys there. And again, like I was walking around.

[Tyler]

Real law enforcement 2 shop shows ago.

[Chris Blau]

And ran into Aussie SAS dude that I know and I'm like, dude, what are you doing here? And he's like, mike should have called you mob ad. And I'm like, dude, why are like.

[Tyler]

Put another shrimp on the bob, dude.

[Chris Blau]

I think those are my favorite guys I've worked with.

[Brent Tucker]

They're funny. They're the funny dudes.

[Chris Blau]

They're the best. I, I brought one of them to the house to meet the wife and she's like, well, first off, that's the most handsome dude I've ever met in my life. And then as soon as he opens his mouth, it's like an Australian angel just singing in my ear. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, he's a good looking boy. Yeah, fun dude.

[Brent Tucker]

They got that going for him. Something we don't have going force as Americans. I don't think you, you, you're a world traveler. I don't know if I've ever showed up. And he's like, oh, I love your American accent. More like American women love British accents. Love, love almost any other accent other than their own.

[Chris Blau]

Asian countries maybe.

[Brent Tucker]

And Asian might, might, might love your accent.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

I think just because you're American. Right, right. I think they love your money.

[Tyler]

I think I heard wrong, dude. Lady, I heard Australian girls love American guys because Australian dudes are assholes.

[Chris Blau]

Oh, dude. So all my Aussie SA buddies are like, I might when you come down get a hall pass from the old lady.

[Brent Tucker]

They're like, you've spent some time with some Australians.

[Chris Blau]

They're my favorites, dude. They're just so much fun. But I was like, what? And they're like, dude, you'll go to a bar and just a chick just because you're American, like, it's good to go. And I'm like, I've been married for a long time.

[Brent Tucker]

Right.

[Chris Blau]

Maybe you won't do that, buddy. And they're like, mate. Yeah, probably shouldn't do that.

[Brent Tucker]

That was one place I was hoping the government would send me on their dime because it's so far away. There's no cheap Australia.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

There's no cheap way to get there. It's. It's so expensive. And I. But I still now have to pay for it. I got. I will go to. It's on. It's on my bucket list. I will go to Australia.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, we'll go together. Yeah. I got the guys I know are out of Perth.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah. Okay.

[Chris Blau]

And so they're always like, dude, come down, make sure you, like, book, you know, two weeks and we'll take you in the outback and we'll just like overland it. And I'm like, first off, wrong, dude.

[Brent Tucker]

Sounds like work.

[Chris Blau]

I want to be two showers every night. Like, I don't want to. I don't want to rough it. And when you go, let me know. All right, let's do a boys trip because I need to get down there.

[Brent Tucker]

Can I get into one fist fight with a kangaroo?

[Chris Blau]

Absolutely.

[Brent Tucker]

Just. You remember that video, that dude punching that kangaroo could have grabbed his dog.

[Tyler]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

Epic. Right, dude? Right? Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

But I don't want to go bare knuckle with him. I'm not Mike Perry. Can. Can we, can we slip some gloves just on him? Yeah, can we slip some gloves on him just, just in case I underestimate him or ring his bell and then run.

[Chris Blau]

Just get one good hit and then let's bounce, man.

[Brent Tucker]

That. That same video with that. With that KG back too and almost kind of bowed up.

[Tyler]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

They're freakishly muscular.

[Tyler]

Yeah. Or that one at least.

[Chris Blau]

No, adult male kangaroos. Are Vinny and Jack not the nicest.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah, they do it like kangaroo push ups. Why are you so muscular?

[Tyler]

There's a meme that was like, kangaroos are just deer on trt.

[Brent Tucker]

That's perfect, dude.

[Chris Blau]

That's exactly what it is. And the guys would tell me they have an aboriginal little stew that's made out of kangaroo tail that they really enjoy. And I was like, what? And they're like, we don't need any other part. But like the Aborigines make A kangaroo stew with the tail and it's the.

[Tyler]

Rest of the kangaroo.

[Chris Blau]

Probably just leave it. I mean, they're, they're infested.

[Brent Tucker]

Oh, maybe there's this.

[Tyler]

Is it a nuisance animal?

[Chris Blau]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

Really? Yeah, that's what, that's what they told me. I was joking with the, the SAS guys about going there. I was like, I want to shoot a kangaroo. So I don't know if that's offensive because it's like, because it's.

[Chris Blau]

Because I know that video, bro. Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

So you're not national animal. Like, oh, no, they're like rodents. He's like, he's like, you want to kill a kangaroo? We can do that on night one.

[Chris Blau]

You know the hog issue in Texas.

[Tyler]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

It's similar with kangaroos in Australia.

[Tyler]

Okay.

[Chris Blau]

All right. And then also camels. Did you know that?

[Tyler]

In Australia?

[Chris Blau]

Yes. So I didn't know this either. And they're like, mate, come on out. We'll blow up a kangaroo. We'll blow up a. What did I just say? Camel with a 40 mike. Mike. And I'm like, what? And they're like, yeah, they're infested there because I guess there's not a ton of natural or natural predators.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Tyler]

And so I would think there's a lot of natural predators. And in Australia. Well, they just know like nothing big enough.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

Water. Right. Because of crocs and stuff. But other than that, like, I guess kangaroos and camels are an issue there. And then cats. Did you know that too?

[Tyler]

Like big cats.

[Brent Tucker]

I feel like the more we talk about this, the more, the more animals you're going to come up with. Now we're up to three, dude.

[Chris Blau]

We have hunting magazines out here for like, you know, deer and moose and stuff. They have the same thing, but for house cat size cats that are just infested in places. So one night when you get a wild hair up your ass. Yeah. They full on like have to call feral cats because they're just overrun there. So we can go kill some cats, some camels, some ruse.

[Brent Tucker]

So you see what I mean when I said you're a wealth of useless knowledge?

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, sorry.

[Brent Tucker]

All right.

[Chris Blau]

Jake says the same thing on the show. He's like, why would you know what this is? And I'm like, we were talking about werewolves or something. I wish it like benefited me or made me money in some way, but.

[Brent Tucker]

Well, we appreciate it. Yeah. The. What's, what's next for you?

[Chris Blau]

Next. So the syndicate channel is changing a little bit. Okay.

[Tyler]

Really?

[Chris Blau]

It has it started off with like regular traditional modern day gun and gear reviews. And as we've. You can only beat that dead horse, like, so many times. Jake's gotten into some more niche stuff like revolvers, some old school stuff, and that's just kind of not my lane. So I'm not going to be going up as much to film because it just doesn't make sense to have me stand there in a video like an idiot. Right. If I'm not going to contribute.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

So I'm not going up as much. But also, Jake floated out this idea of me starting my own channel this year to. To start doing some other stuff. And similar to you, I have access to guys and they want to share some of the information. So it'd be a mix of like gun gear reviews, maybe some interview stuff. I want to go to some training classes and film it for some guys. So that's kind of next on the horizon for me.

[Brent Tucker]

Can you call it the syndicate? Just keep the word syndicate in there somewhere. We, as we established, it's too cool to drop, right?

[Chris Blau]

No, no, I'm just. It's going to be my name, dude. Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

All right. Yeah, the. Oh, I. I want to do a retraction, actually. I said, I don't know how you want to, like, be difficult, do old guns. It may not even make me more hard. Hard to get a hold of. Like, why would you do that? Just stick with something that's readily available. Then I thought about cars. I'm a car guy.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

I'm like, old cars, old Corvettes that aren't readily available. That's what makes them cool.

[Tyler]

I had a dream last night. I bought a 1970 Chevelle and I had ordered it with a red. With a red stripe on it. And I was like, never mind, never mind. All black.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Tyler]

It was such a black. Oh, level cars.

[Brent Tucker]

Is. Is that your dream car?

[Tyler]

I think so.

[Chris Blau]

Dude, coming in hard with those puns today, dude. You're like two for two.

[Tyler]

Thank you.

[Chris Blau]

Thank you.

[Tyler]

You stood at the camera for like.

[Brent Tucker]

I was looking at Drew. I wanted a bigger reaction from Drew. I don't know if he got it at first. Drew's always my dad, joke hype man. Drew always appreciates.

[Tyler]

Podcast. Podcast it out.

[Brent Tucker]

But. But that was a pun. That was a serious question. Is that your dream car?

[Tyler]

I think so. It's compact enough. It's not big, like a. Like a Charger. I just think it's a. Looks good, you know, because you can't find GTOs anywhere like that. Like the Punisher one.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah. So did you ever see Dave Chevelle?

[Chris Blau]

Dave Chevelle.

[Brent Tucker]

Dave's.

[Chris Blau]

No.

[Brent Tucker]

Oh, he has a Chevelle he's had since he was like, a. In his 20s. He's been working on kind of his whole life, and it's badass.

[Chris Blau]

He's ripping around in, like, new school Camaros when I was there.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

He's a savage behind a wheel, dude.

[Brent Tucker]

I can only imagine. He was. He was savage then at the unit, and I'm sure he's learned a ton. Yeah. Now that. That's his. That's his. That's his focus.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. Dude can shoot, too. I had a great time working and training with him.

[Brent Tucker]

Would that. Would that be some of the content you're thinking of is going down there? And. And. Well, yeah, we'll say his name. He's out. Yeah. Has his own company. He does there. Dave Bush, and his company is.

[Chris Blau]

Rogers. Rangers.

[Brent Tucker]

Rangers.

[Chris Blau]

I was gonna say Rangers Rogers. And I was like, yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

But he. He does tactical driving and does some shoot. Focused on driving, defensive driving and those tactics. But he's. He's great. I think he's. So. He doesn't want to be rich and he doesn't want to be overloaded with work. And I don't even think he's looking for. For new work, but for. You guys are out there looking for an amazing driving class if you can fit into his class. Yeah, everyone's ever been to it. Loves that class. But I. That was just free advertisement for Dave. The. Would those type of courses be things you're talking about? Going. Going filming?

[Chris Blau]

Yep. Yeah. Doing that, like, just with instructors. Like, hey, want to come out? Want to film the class? It might get you a couple students in your class, but really it's content for me, you know, at the end of the day. And it's also what I enjoy. Like, I love going to classes, meeting dudes, just getting out, shooting on the range.

[Tyler]

You should go to classic, like, how you do product review, except you do class review for one free ticket. You go to the class, you sit down with the instructor owner, and you have a podcast.

[Chris Blau]

You nailed it, dude.

[Tyler]

Dude, that's a traveling podcast.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. There's another thing. I almost don't want to talk about it on here, but I think it'll be all right. We'll say that I was the idea originator. Right. A lot of guys will do podcasts like this. Like, sit.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

I want to do, like, a shoot and podcast at the same time. So we're on the and just think of this. No, no, not, not crazy like that, but like very similar to a sit down podcast, but we're on the range. So like while we're jamming mags. So what was childhood like?

[Brent Tucker]

You know, I like that.

[Chris Blau]

What was your favorite drill that you like to shoot when you're operational? And why? Tell me the why. Yeah, and then we go do that and then come back and be like, all right, so like you started off infantry, where to go from there and do like a podcast style interview, but live on the range.

[Brent Tucker]

And you could even shoot and talk. Yeah, we slow shooting. I shoot and talk all the time. I think, I think it'd be really cool.

[Chris Blau]

Well, and who wouldn't want to see that? You know, me and Brent Tucker on the range shooting, talking about your background. And then also like, again, I'm a nerd for this stuff, so maybe it's just me that's interested in it, but I'm going to do this because it's what I'm interested in. I want to also see him shoot how good he shoots, how maybe not good he shoots. And then also hear about his background.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah. How. How poorly does Adult Force Operator shoot after. After that many TBIs. This is the drastic difference the, the fall of a man.

[Chris Blau]

Not.

[Brent Tucker]

Not to that level. That'll be the. That'll be the Reddit what they need. That'll be the 20ammo. Yeah, yeah. That'll be the title of the show.

[Chris Blau]

Well, it's not only that, like you, you go self deprecating with it.

[Tyler]

Downfall of a Man podcast.

[Chris Blau]

I.

[Brent Tucker]

You'll get me and Andy. Me, Andy, don't take ourselves that serious.

[Chris Blau]

You also don't have a unlimited budget for ammo time, training and everything. Right. Like, at the end of the day though, take a guy like you've been out for a little bit, not shooting as much, you will still perform better than 99.9% of people out there. And then that bar is even lower. Like, I shoot a decent amount. I'm not the best shooter in the world. I'm not the worst. Shoot with a lot of people. Better than a lot of people. Not in an ego way. It's just again, time, effort, energy. I have spent my life savings doing this. So like you would hope I'm somewhat proficient with.

[Tyler]

When you put it that way.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, right.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah, Exactly.

[Chris Blau]

I mean, 2017, I took eight classes from six instructors and shot like 17,000 rounds. Your average civilian shoots two to 300 rounds a year.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Tyler]

Your average gun toting civilian.

[Chris Blau]

Correct.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah. I believe that.

[Chris Blau]

And again, just working behind the gun counter like. Like, oh, you. You need this because you shoot a lot. Oh, I shoot a lot, man. Yeah. We're talking like, thousand. 2,000 rounds a month. And they're like, no, like 200 rounds a year. I'm like, oh, but okay, let's.

[Brent Tucker]

I mean, let's also be honest. It's an expensive sport.

[Tyler]

It is. You're preaching the fire expensive fast time for sure, bro.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, Shoot like you buying that ammo bill for 2017. And even with the channel, you know, I buy a thousand rounds for review, and we shoot, you know, a couple hundred depending while we're filming the video. Like, did I drop a lot of cash on ammo, man? And it's just my only hobby's guns. I don't. I'm not into cars. Not really anything. So any of my free money just goes to guns.

[Brent Tucker]

Do you do any ammo review on. On top or you keep it keeping guns?

[Chris Blau]

So I want to do that. You're. You're, like, way ahead of me on this. I'm not a good enough shooter to do that. So what I want to do is get someone that. It is break down the process of how you test ammo, what you're looking for. What do you want ballistically, and have that subject matter expert educate me as well as get that information out there.

[Brent Tucker]

Very cool. The. We'll edit this out because the hamster fell off the wheel. Got your question, and I'm back.

[Chris Blau]

Okay.

[Brent Tucker]

The. All the classes you've been to. Maybe can't. Maybe. Maybe it's a too difficult question to say, like, who's the. What's the best course you've been to? Because I'm sure that. I'm sure that's a stuff. Hopefully there's been several. Yeah. But if you had to say. Or top three, what are some of the best courses you went to? Those. Those people's names should. Should be out there.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. And they are. They are.

[Brent Tucker]

Or people, listen, should know about it so they don't have to guess. Like. Like you had to do.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, yeah. Right. Because I paid a lot of money for classes where I learned a lot of what not to do, which. Which I would argue is more valuable. Right. Because I learned, hey, this guy did it with his background. But I also talked to this guy with a similar background. He says, this is why and. Right.

[Brent Tucker]

But those can't be your first courses because you don't know any better.

[Chris Blau]

Correct. Correct. So one of my favorite instructors over the last couple years Is his name is Buck Doyle.

[Brent Tucker]

Okay.

[Chris Blau]

He owns Follow Through Consulting. He was a force recon guy at the height of gwad and like, not only was the class good, the information was good, the way he teaches was good. And like it was a more serious class in a good way. Like he's a pretty serious guy. And so like, there's just a lot of. We're getting after it. We're shooting. Here's the why. Where at some classes. Like some of these guys have become celebrities within the gun industry. So there might be a lot of like downtime of old war stories. And Buck does none of that. Yeah, I think he, he shared one story and it was when he got shot. I believe it was his left arm. And he was like, I don't care how tough you are, you get shot, you're no longer tough, brother. Like, you're not Rambo, I promise you. You and I think you've said similar things, like you got shot and you're that. No, but you know what I'm saying, your arm hurts so bad, you're. You're done, right? Like, I mean, you're passing out on Xfield, right?

[Brent Tucker]

So like, you're done.

[Chris Blau]

He just a great class. I learned a ton. It was a private class, but we did some distance rifle stuff. So like you'd push 5, 5, 6 out, you know, 800, 900,000 meters. So that's super mind blowing for a lot of people because they're only shooting 5, 5, 6 and they've only been told that it's effective within like, like, you know, 150, 200 meters. Most civilians won't shoot past 50, so like just to be able to see that. One of my favorite classes. What's another good one for red dot stuff?

[Brent Tucker]

Okay.

[Chris Blau]

Because red dots do have a learning curve going from iron sights to red dots. Right. I wanted to throw that in the trash when I first started doing it. And then I talk about a pistol. Yeah, yeah. Because it's hard, dude. Like it. I don't care how good your fundamentals are, just things are going to change slightly.

[Brent Tucker]

It's not that I'm not a dry fire fan. I am. I understand how important it is. But to say for me, it would be ingenuous for me to say, oh, I'm a dry fire fan. Like, Brett, how much you dry firing? Almost none.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

So but when it comes to a red dot and the familiarization with the red dot and that learning curve, I now that I hate that. That excuse, you know, or like how long it Takes someone to be good with the red dot. That is pure dry fire.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

That is just bringing the time in, up, up, up to your line of sight. Like that is just that. Don't spend, don't spend 500 rounds on, on, you know, of, of bullets on.

[Chris Blau]

On that to learn the presentation.

[Brent Tucker]

Right. And people do it all the time.

[Chris Blau]

It's.

[Brent Tucker]

And it's crazy to me. That's you. You should probably spend a week with your pistol dry firing every night before you go out on, on the range.

[Chris Blau]

And then this was probably the next best class I've done. A former unit guy, Mike Pinone. Yeah. He's got one eye. Okay. He lost his dominant eye in a breaching accident. Right. So he shoots a red dot better with one eye than any of us ever will with two eyes. And like, his class, just the way he instructs. Mike is a very intense individual and breaks everything down to like the nth degree and then gives you the why. Also, one of my favorite instructors, anyone.

[Brent Tucker]

That'S going to go to a tactical class, and you've said this a couple times, and the reason is how important is. And it sticks with you. Some people will just go out and show you what to do.

[Chris Blau]

Yep.

[Brent Tucker]

But let me tell you, a great instructor will tell you what to do, and then he will follow it up with the why behind it. And the why is just as important as telling you out.

[Chris Blau]

More important.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah. What to do and when you understand what to do and the why behind it, that's when you can really go to other courses and be like, I'm not. And this isn't me saying, like, just go, you know, to those guys just like you. I'm a big fan of people going to two other courses.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

But go to those other courses, learn the why behind it. And that course doesn't mean whatever they teach, you're going to take. Here's the other fallacy. I think people go to their courses, go to different course and said, I'm going to take. Now I'm a student of this, and I'm going to take 100% of what he's putting out. There are so few courses, so few courses that are truly, like 100% worthy. Yeah. Some of them are, are just great dudes. All the other ones, you probably only take about 10% of. Of what, of what they, they put out. But that 10%, it can, you know, can be the difference.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. Yeah. There's a lot of, like, golden nuggets in that 10%.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah. And so, and they could be Saying the same. They could be teaching kind of the same thing the other guy taught. They just said it in a different way that. That gives you that. That moment. Like, okay, I get it now.

[Chris Blau]

Now. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I. I've had moments like that in class where it's like, dude, I've taken this basic pistol class from like seven different people.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah.

[Chris Blau]

But the way you described it, showed it and told me the why it clicked. And now all those previous six classes are enhanced a little bit because I can apply that to them.

[Brent Tucker]

Do you know Frank Proctor is.

[Chris Blau]

Dude. I've wanted to train with Frank from day one.

[Brent Tucker]

Frank Proctor is one of those guys I haven't seen in years. No, we were on the same deployment, though. We're in the same company. Me and I ran into him at shot show.

[Chris Blau]

Did you.

[Brent Tucker]

And I haven't seen Frank in years. It was so good seeing Frank. Frank's one of my favorite people. And when I watch his videos, he. Not only is he a grandmaster and. And can shoot almost anyone. The way he expl. I love the way he explains things. It makes it very digestible to. To almost anyone.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, you.

[Brent Tucker]

You want to get in the frame, Proctor.

[Chris Blau]

Oh, bro, I. Every time he post class, I'm like, okay, tonight I'm going to jump on. We're going to do it. They're sold out, dude. Like, you know, he's phenomenal instruction. I would love to not only meet him, but take one of his classes. And like, big thing Frank pushed is in between target transitions, throwing your safety on. Right? And he's like, I don't. I don't know if the battle is going to change in this transition. My safety is going back on. And this was like maybe eight or nine years ago. He put out a video on that. So I started doing that, like, dude, safety manipulation. He's awesome with it. And he can run a gun. Dude.

[Brent Tucker]

Dude. That is something that I would somewhat.

[Chris Blau]

Argue, but situationally dependent.

[Brent Tucker]

Situationally dependent. But I. I would argue of sorts, like, for, like, certain things. But those are the weird. Those are the weird things that guys will die on that hill. And you can say that. And if that's how. That's how you and Frank, who I highly respect works, it works. And that's the other weird thing about the. The tactical communities. They will die on. On hills. Needlessly. Just needlessly. And here's just a high, high.

[Chris Blau]

Ready? I was just confused.

[Brent Tucker]

High port, low port, guys. Yeah. When I go train SWAT teams and if we're having this discussion that Means you're doing everything right. I have an opinion on it, but, you know, it really doesn't matter. But guys will die on that hill. Oh my God. And, and they will screw so many other things up and want to argue about that, like, let's not even. Let's not. Let's not argue about that.

[Tyler]

Yeah, I look cool, man.

[Chris Blau]

Well, your fundamentals are so, like, I don't know why you're worried about where the muzzle's getting pointed because, like, you're not doing good. And again, I'm a civilian right with this, but been able to shoot and train with a lot of you guys. So, like, feel like I know a little bit. The one thing with the gun industry with stuff like that is it's also people who have low investment but high opinion. So you've not taken a class, you've not worked with guys. You, you're self taught, which is fine. There's nothing wrong with that. But you're talking about something that you have zero context to talk about. So then when they give the example of like, well, SEAL team six does high port, other guys do low port. And I'm like, okay, you're neither. Right? You're neither. And like, bro, you can't land rounds on a target at 100 meters. So like, I think that we're worried about something that you shouldn't. Me. My opinion, for whatever it's worth, is a larper, right? A YouTube larper like we were talking about last night. Yeah, I dress up tactically for the Internet. I'm always low port. And one of your guys, Jason, was talking to me about it and he spent like 15 plus years at unit. I think more like 17 or 18. I'm like, you ever be. Were you ever in a situation where you go high port? And he was like, hey, this is just my experience. Another thing working with you guys, like, this is my experience. Mine alone. Someone might have a different answer. But I've never been in a situation where I need to go high port.

[Brent Tucker]

I can't think of a situation I ever had to.

[Chris Blau]

And guys will tell me like, well, what, what about you're in a stack about to enter a room. I'm like, okay, so would you rather shoot your buddy in the back of the head or in the foot? And every time they're like, huh? One guy tried to tell me vehicle stuff and I'm like like, well, get out of the vehicle first. One like, don't fight within a car because it's a bullet magnet. And the fact that that's argued is ridiculous, but it's all low port for me. There literally is no justification in my head. Working with all the guys, Seals unit dudes, Green berets, Army Rangers, all of them. Low port.

[Brent Tucker]

What? How did Scott put it in the last podcast? Those type of people, they. They Major. The miners.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah.

[Brent Tucker]

Is how he put it.

[Chris Blau]

Like.

[Brent Tucker]

Yeah, that's. That's absolutely right. The. Well, Chris, thanks so much for coming on. You gotta leave us with a funny story.

[Chris Blau]

Funny story. Oh, we were talking about this yesterday. We were talking about sports and I'm not like a sports guy at all. And you would think, you know, six'four like, big dude should be into sports. When my dad moved down, I have four sisters and then my mom. Right. So, like, I tried to watch the super bowl once and I remember this story. I've told this in front of my family. They have not corrected me on it.

[Brent Tucker]

Okay.

[Chris Blau]

Tried to watch the super bowl once. Each one of my sisters, like, sat on one limb and then they tickled me till I peed my pants, took the remote and changed the channel. So, like, I think I was a little bit older at the time. Like two, you know, in mid teens and yeah, it was like the most embarrassing thing ever. But like, love my sisters. They're awesome. Like, yeah, that's probably the funny story I got for you.

[Brent Tucker]

I don't know how many sisters you have.

[Chris Blau]

Four.

[Brent Tucker]

And you in the middle, oldest, youngest.

[Chris Blau]

I have one older and then it was me. And then there's seven, nine and 11 years between me and my three baby sisters.

[Brent Tucker]

Okay.

[Chris Blau]

Like, I changed diapers, like, bottle fed them, like, did everything. Like, they're awesome. They're great young women off in the world doing great things.

[Brent Tucker]

The. Now I got just a few more questions.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah, let's go, dude.

[Brent Tucker]

Because I have a son who's the youngest, so he's got three older sisters. And people say this all the time, but you would know this. Do you feel like because of your experience with your intimate experience with girls growing up. Yeah. That you were better prepared to date because you understand women, dude.

[Chris Blau]

To the degree that my wife is even. Like, I hate how good you can communicate with women because I can never win an argument.

[Tyler]

Oh, that's good.

[Chris Blau]

Right? So, like, dude, there's great.

[Tyler]

Well trained.

[Chris Blau]

Yeah. Yeah. Like, even all her girlfriends are like, you're so lucky. Because Chris, like, he just gets women. And I do. Like, it's. I hated it growing up. Of course, being a boy, looking back, it's the best thing ever, man. Get along great with women. Me and my wife have a great relationship, and it's all probably because of that. I mean, they wouldn't let me be the stinky boy, so if I ever smelled at all growing up, they'd be like, you get in the shower now. And because of that, dude, I put on deodorant, like, three times a day, and I showered twice a day.

[Tyler]

Did you take any female S traits with you into your adult?

[Chris Blau]

I cry a lot. I cry a lot.

[Tyler]

Even touches his emotions. I like it.

[Chris Blau]

I'm not joking either, dude.