Q&A catch up with Hornady-sponsored shooter, Scott McGregor
Scott McGregor, who grew up in southern California, is an integrated account manager at the firearms lifestyle magazine Recoil and has been shooting competitively since 2005. After winning several prestigious 3-gun titles, he became a Hornady-sponsored shooter in 2014 and now shares his expertise and experience by helping others to improve, including his talented 12-year-old son.
What disciplines are you currently competing in?
I’m currently competing in pistol, carbine, 3-gun and precision rifle. In 2019 I started to compete in The Tactical Games, I love the physicality and the challenge of shooting while during the midst of demanding activities. In 2020 I qualified to go to The Tactical Games Nationals but came down with Covid-19 a month before the event.
Tell us what you’ve been up to since we last spoke.
Lockdowns and work. I’m just working to get out to more competitions, but as the world has opened up, so have the day job requirements. It seems we’re all back to juggling time.
What competitions have you won in that time, and which are you most proud of?
I haven’t won any for a while, but I was on a roll before 2020. I’ve had some good finishes in the heavy 3-gun division, but as with most sports, the differences between fourth and winning are small. If you make any mistake someone is ready to capitalize on it.
How has your shooting style changed or improved?
I’ve been very focused on the basics. The fundamentals make all the difference.
Tell us about your current competition set up?
In the heavy 3-gun division, I’m shooting a POF Revolution DI that loves Hornady American Gunner 308 155gr BTHP. It is very accurate, and I don’t have to change ammo for long range or up close. My pistol is a Hayes Custom Guns hi capacity 2011 style pistol in 9mm. I feed it Hornady American Gunner 9mm 115gr XTP which always works and is very accurate. I frequently shoot a 10" plate at 100 yards in practice and have hit a torso at 400 yards.
What are your goals for the future?
My goal for the future is to compete as much as possible and share what I’ve learned with others. I love to teach.
What do you think is important to keep our sport alive and what are you doing to encourage this?
It is extremely important to share the shooting sports with new people. I have been working on that for the last few years. Teaching people who’ve never shot a gun before is an amazing opportunity, to foster someone’s interest in shooting and help them have a great first experience is very gratifying. I believe pairing a new shooter with the right platform makes all the difference.
What mental tool do you use under pressure?
Visualization is very important to me and has been for years. Your mind does not know the difference between doing and visualizing. I use it in my training and in my stage plans at a match. I work to visualize a course of fire enough to allow me to run the stage subliminally when the timer beeps. If you do it right, the whole stage happens very slowly and smoothly. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that I’m done with the stage. My Hornady teammate, Jerry Miculek, calls it being “in the moment.”
What challenges did you overcome to get to where you are today?
Many of the challenges we all face. Work, family, time to practice and compete. We are the sum of our experiences, both in life and, in this case, shooting. We have all had a different process with different experiences, but we are the total of that knowledge and those experiences.
What motivates you to continue improving?
I love to shoot. I want to shoot well and keep learning, it’s my happy place.
Tell us a bit about what else you enjoy doing outside of shooting/competing.
I enjoy spending time with family, my dog, hiking, riding motorcycles, horses and working out in preparation for The Tactical Games.
