With his Foundation Stocks venture, he blends business with his shooting passion, embodying the spirit of the PRS community. In this Q&A, John-Kyle discusses his shooting origins, the lessons learned from precision shooting, his competition setup, and training approach. Read on to learn more…
Tell me a little bit about yourself.
I live outside the small town of Wetumka in Southeast Oklahoma. The first Precision Rifle Series (PRS) match I attended was the 2016 PRS Finale at the FTW Ranch in Texas. I attended as a range officer and was immediately impressed by the individuals and community. Since that first match my family and I have been heavily involved with the PRS, through shooting and sponsorship.
What age were you when you first started shooting?
I remember walking through Walmart negotiating a loan with my father for a Daisy 880 when I was around nine or 10-years old. The neighborhood bird population took a dent after that day. The first rifle that involved gun powder was a Ruger 10/22 my grandparents gave me when I was around 14. My parents did not shoot or hunt so it was really an interest my brother and I picked up from elsewhere. My grandfather gave me a beautiful, never fired Belgium-made Browning A5 Light 12GA in high school, when I asked if he had anything I could use to shoot high school skeet with. It had been a gift to him decades before from a patient he had operated on, neither he nor I knew how nice it was. Thankfully I was kind to it and still have it as one of my most cherished guns today.
The opportunity to translate shooting into hunting did not materialize until I had started dating my future wife. Her family was much more rural than mine and everyone hunted from a young age. In fact, when my father met her father for the first time, he mentioned that I like to hunt as well, to which her father stated “well, he likes to shoot.” I hadn’t earned the title of hunter in that family yet!
Since then, my family and I (wife and five kiddos to date) enjoy hunting anything that is in season, along with a new interest in trapping, spurred on by my eight-year old son. If anyone needs a possum or racoon hide, just look us up.
Who introduced you to shooting?
As mentioned before shooting was really an independent interest of my brothers and mine apart from any family interest. We both shot for enjoyment in middle and high school and shot some local pistol competitions while in college at Oklahoma State University.
While in college I enlisted with the Army Reserve and attended basic at Ft. Knox, KY and AIT at the JFK Special Warfare Center and School (SWCS) at Ft. Bragg, NC. This was followed by language training at the Defense Language Institute (DLI) in Monterey, CA. Multiple weapon courses were taken there and in following schools. None of the courses or application were in specific long range precision shooting disciplines, however fundamentally I am sure each were beneficial to overall firearm discipline.
In regards to the discipline of long range precision shooting the first person to introduce me to the sport was Wade Stuteville, one of the originals in the sport and first PRS champion. My first instruction and guidance was provided by Stuteville, followed by the trial by fire of two-day PRS matches.
What’s been the most valuable lesson you have learned from shooting?
The analogies you can draw from the sport of precision shooting to life are pretty endless. There are numerous variables that come into play when attempting to make contact with a steel plate at 1,000 yards with a 6mm projectile. In order to have the best possible chance to have successful completion of your task, the competitor must control every variable they can, while recognizing the ones they cannot. Acquiring the discipline to consistently repeat the firing process correctly, along with having the mental fortitude and flexibility to adapt to the uncontrollable variables changing, is the key to success.
I believe you can apply this directly to life. Develop the discipline to control the variables you can, with the humility to accept and adapt to the variables you cannot. Too many people stress and complain excessively over the variables they cannot control to the detriment of mastering the ones they can. This goes for shooting and for life!
Why did you choose to specialize in your discipline?
It all began with relationships. My relationships with people already in this discipline led me to seek out a career involving it. In 2016, I and my wife Amy started Foundation Stocks, a rifle stock manufacturing company, and have since been heavily involved in the sport of long range precision shooting. Most of our closest friends and much of our community consists of those involved in this sport. Our family of seven travels across the U.S. shooting matches and developing relationships with wonderful people. The support and genuine care for one another that is present in this sport is something not often found.
What advice would you give to anyone interested in shooting competitively?
Jump in. The community and the camaraderie found in the precision shooting community is unmatched in anything we have experienced before. Everyone is willing to help and you will quickly find yourself making relationships that last long after the match is over.
Tell us about your competition set up.
My competition rig is made up of a Foundation Genesis 2 stock, an Impact 737R receiver, Bartlein MTU barrel spun up by Stuteville Precision in 6BR, Hawkins Precision bottom metal and scope rings, Leupold MK5 5–25x56 scope firing about 4,000 hand-loaded Hornady 110gr A-Tips down range a year. To build positions I use a Wiebad Tater Tot heavy fill bag for positional shooting and an Armageddon Gear full size gamechanger and Harris bipod for prone shots.
How do you prepare for competitions in terms of training and practice?
There are different seasons to life, and most are pretty busy. The season we are in right now, mainly the five kiddos (between six-months and 10 years old) keep us pretty hooked up. We take the full crew to most the matches which means pre-match ritual looks a lot like surviving the before and after match times. Amy and I often say, “the match is great, it is the getting to and coming from that’s the tough part!”
Practice for me looks like two-day PRS matches. For the last few years, we have shot between 13–18 two-day matches a year in conjunction with hosting two ourselves. This leaves the time in between matches pretty full with everyday tasks of running a business and family.
What has been your greatest achievement in your shooting career?
The greatest achievement of my shooting career has been being chosen as the PRS Sportsman of the Year for 2021 and 2022. The goal for our family is that we would be used by Christ to show His love to those we are around. Being chosen for this honour by the PRS community is a gift showing that this goal, albeit imperfectly, is being accomplished.
What goals do you have for the future?
Phew, that is a big question! That we would be used by Christ to draw those around us to Him.
What one person dead or alive, would you love to meet and why?
I would have to say C.S. Lewis. He was an author and theologian who wrote a wide range of books I have enjoyed since I was a young child to this day. To be able to pick his brain over a pot of coffee (or tea since he was British) would be high on my list of best days ever.
How long have you been a Hornady sponsored shooter?
Neil Davies, marketing director of Hornady asked me to join the team at the Hornady PRC in 2022. It again comes down to relationships for me. I had been using Hornady products for years and consider many of the team members friends. The level of support and product development that Hornady provides to our community is rivalled by very few companies and one I am proud to represent.
