Shane Schrader on Entrepreneurship, Building Tier One Tactical and Betting on the American Dream | Security Halt! Ep. 467

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How do you go from a small-town kid working construction to building your own premium American brand?

In Episode 467 of the Security Halt! Podcast, Deny Caballero sits down with entrepreneur Shane Schrader to discuss his journey through construction, the 2008 housing crash, entrepreneurship, and eventually building Tier One.

Shane shares how a handshake deal with his hometown bank helped him get started at just 17, what surviving the housing market collapse taught him about business, and why relationships, craftsmanship, customer trust, and community have remained central to everything he's built.

The conversation explores entrepreneurship, business growth, resilience, brand building, American manufacturing, the firearms and tactical industry, and Shane's advice for anyone considering taking the risk to build something of their own.

Listen now. Follow the show. Share this with the veteran or entrepreneur who needs to hear it.
 
Chapters:

00:00 Meet Shane Schrader
01:07 From Farm Life to Starting in Construction
02:11 The Handshake Deal That Started It All
03:16 Family, Work Ethic & Learning to Build
04:26 Surviving the 2008 Housing Market Crash
09:01 Scaling a Business & Learning the Hard Way
12:44 Why Relationships & Community Matter in Business
19:34 Pivoting From Construction Into a New Industry
24:29 Building the Tier One Brand From Scratch
28:18 Quality, Craftsmanship & Earning Customer Trust
34:16 Customer Service, Reputation & Brand Values
39:02 SHOT Show, New Products & What Comes Next

Sponsored by:
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Website: https://specialforcesfoundation.org/
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Transcript

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Passion Versus The Comfortable Paycheck

SPEAKER_01 0:00

You can spend the rest of your life doing something that you're good at, that that makes great money. But if it's not your passion, at some point or other, like you're gonna you're gonna get old and you're gonna have that what if dude. You're gonna have that creep into your life and be like, man, if only I wouldn't just bet on myself and dive in like something I love. Like that's something that I that speaks to me because I'm constantly talking to guys about following their heart and figuring out like what you really want to do, follow your passion. So as a business owner where you decided to pivot and and start something new, because I think everybody has that second breath, that second win where they're like, you know, I've built this. This is incredible bit business, it's doing great. I'm providing for a lot of people. I really want to do this other thing. How did tier one tactical come to be?

SPEAKER_02 0:44

I needed something to challenge me, something that I've never done before. I wanted it to be a passion. I wanted it to be something that I absolutely love to do. Building the rifle sounded sounded like a lot of fun. Sounded like another good challenge that that I wanted to do.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

That Security Halt Media is looking for clients that need video editing. Have them reach out to info at securityhaltmedia.com.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Shane from Tier One Tactical. Welcome, Security App Podcast, brother. How you doing? I'm good, Denny. How are you? Doing well, man. I'm I'm still riding the high of uh being able to go out with you guys and shoot in Montana. That was a friggin' blast. And uh it was great to meet you in person and uh see your passion for you know following your dreams and pursuing something that you truly do love. And I'm like, dude, I I gotta have you on the show because that's something that I talk about all the time. Like you can spend the rest of your life doing something that you're good at, that that makes great money, but if it's not your passion, at some point or other, like you're gonna you're gonna get old and you're gonna have that what if, dude. You're gonna have that that creep into your life and be like, fuck, man, if only I would have just bet on myself and dive into something I love. Like that's something that I that speaks to me because I'm constantly talking to guys about following their heart and figuring out like what you really want to do, follow your passion. So today, man, like I want to talk about everything you did in life and why ultimately you uh pivoted to you know betting on yourself and and going and launching tier one tactical, man.

SPEAKER_02 2:17

Thanks, brother. I appreciate that. Yeah, man. Yeah, I uh I started in construction excavation way back 19 years ago. Damn. You look 22, man. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. Knocking on the door 40.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

What are you doing right that I'm not? Geez, yeah. Yeah, you look very young, man. That's that's awesome. Kudos to you for using sunscreen. Appreciate that.

Getting A $160K Loan At 17

SPEAKER_02 2:45

Yeah, so actually when I was in high school, um bought an excavator when I was 17 and went to the bank, my local bank, and they uh wasn't 18, so I couldn't sign loan documents. And the owner of the bank handshake deal said, uh, I'll give you a $160,000 loan and $140,000 to buy the excavator and $20,000 for working capital. And the day you turn 18, I want you in my office signing paperwork.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Dude, we run this back at 17?

SPEAKER_02 3:19

At 17. I've known been banking there my whole life and growing up a farm kid, so he knew I had a decent work ethic.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

And yeah, that's that's how I got started. Dude, let's let's right from the get-go, let's let's dive into this, man. Uh, where was this? Because this seems like a small time, small town Iowa. Yeah, dude, that's American. That's a that's a that's that's missing these days. That's it. I don't think a lot of people have that. I I can think back to when I grew up and and two things. I was not thinking about buying an excavator and building a business at 17. But you know, in in the the small town that I did grow up, I can I can sort of see that happening. Maybe uh I I knew that there were some families that were involved in in that line of work, and there's certainly the the the families that were involved in you know farming and agriculture, but dude, to be 17 and have this, where did this concept come from?

SPEAKER_02 4:25

So my I worked for my grandfather growing up, and he he when he started, he was farmer, got into trucking, and then he started doing residential housing developments. Well, I enjoyed the heavy civil side of things, I enjoyed like being a kid playing with your Tonka toys. Just on a bigger scale. So that's that's what I really enjoyed about it. So um I worked ended up working for him two years still out of high school while just digging basements on the side. Okay, and then once he retired, um I I started going out on my own. I ended up higher in 2007, I hired three employees, and then uh I was still working for him for probably about six months with three guys working for me. And he told me, if you're gonna make this work, you you can't be working for somebody else. So I ended up leaving working for him, and we started bidding on some projects. I had no idea what I was doing. Looking back, I always think, who would have hired an 18-year-old kid to do their jobs for them? I I still don't understand that part.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

But dude, like the you know, any I've I've met a lot of successful people, and the great ones are very humble. And I think like just now, we know we're like four minutes in, and I'm already seeing like the impact of having great role models in your family.

SPEAKER_02 5:53

A hundred percent.

SPEAKER_01 5:54

Like having a a a grandfather, and I would imagine like your father too. Um how was what was it like growing up in that in that sort of family where hard work was still a priority and betting on yourself and believing in something that you could do it? Because man, I tell you, there's a lot of great guys out there,

Grandpa's Work Ethic And Humility

SPEAKER_01 6:15

but that concept of betting on yourself probably wasn't something that was brought to them as kids.

SPEAKER_02 6:21

You know? Absolutely absolutely. And and looking back when I was a kid, my grandpa was hard on me. I mean, everything, everything was old school. I mean, it was hard work. I remember one day growing up, we were probably 15. We we did 1200 small square bales in one day and put them in the barn and we got done, and he goes, That's peanuts. We used to do that by noon. And that's I still remember that to this day. So dude. When I was when I was working for him, it was hard. I uh I was a kid, I thought I thought I knew everything. Um looking back now though, it's the best thing he's ever done to me is be that hard on me. Everything was always my fault, no matter if I was there or not. Just um it got me forward thinking. It really did. And it made me made me have that work ethic that nothing's ever gonna get done for you. You need to you need to make sure you're there doing it. And um start at 5 30, 6 o'clock every morning and work till sundown and start over the next day. Heck yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:35

That's that's the first business owner 101. That's the stuff that like I I we we fall victim to this idea that you have to go get an MBA, you have to go spend money, you gotta go to college to learn how to run a business, how to be and and the reality is like, yeah, those are great skill sets, those are great tools. I'm never gonna knock you for going and getting an MBA. But like if you want to be a business owner, like you have to do work. And there's no college course out there that's gonna teach that. You have to get into it, you have to get involved. 100%. I I thank God that I um I found myself in the path I found myself in where it's a struggle. I've made a lot of mistakes. I think 90% of my the six how we say it, man, I fail upwards. I make a lot of freaking mistakes, but you know, it sounds like you were given the opportunity to learn these mistakes early on as a kid.

SPEAKER_02 8:31

Very much so.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

At like 17 or 18, you're entering the business world with somebody that's got sweat equity and a lot of fucking reps on how to do it, how to get to have somebody that's willing to be there, like, hey, get over your knucklehead. Exactly. That's exactly right. Dude. So take us through those first years, man, on your own. You're you're you're obviously kid fresh out of high school. You got an excavator business. Like, what was it like developing that and growing that on your own? You know, not on your own in the sense that you didn't have mentorship of your family, your grandfather, your father, and those those figures in your life, but putting it all together in the time, you know, in the in the early 2000s, dude, there was a lot going on. There was a uh the housing market collapse, the Iraqi war going on. Like there's a lot of things that impacted your industry in that time period,

Scaling Fast Then Losing 25 Workers

SPEAKER_01 9:25

man.

SPEAKER_02 9:25

So I started in 07, which market was still really, really good. Yeah, and then 08, the how the housing market crash.

SPEAKER_00 9:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:34

Being in the Midwest and and being small helped out a lot. The Midwest, I mean, we see we definitely saw a dip, but it was not near what some of the major cities saw. So having three guys, it it wasn't that hard on me at that point. I tried to expand too fast. So I've had a lot of I've had so many learning lessons. I could I could write a book on learning lessons.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

Take us through that, man, because that's something that you know we we um we learn about the hard way. I certainly have. I've struggled with scale. I remember it is it is, and it's it's the quickest exact, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 10:17

So we went uh by 2010, we had right around 30 employees, and we growing really fast. I ended up outgrowing that bank that helped me start, but so we ended up going to a bigger bank. Um and they the banker that helped me at that point then he was great follow-through. 2011 we we were up in employees, and like I said, around that 30 mark, I had uh had a couple guys that I put a lot of trust into and I didn't really vet very well. And we had a huge um company miscommunication, I will say. Had wrong people in the wrong places, and we ended up losing 25 guys. So 2011 and 12, I bid our first job that was over a million dollars, which at that point just seemed crazy.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

Did so time out. Timeout. Dude, how do you go from like let's let's walk through that? You you lose 30 or you lose 25 employees. Like, for a lot of us, thinking as we're following the story is like, oh shit, like it's done. You've grown so big, you lose all these employees, like how do you keep the ship afloat? And then how do you go from that to like bidding on a million-dollar job?

SPEAKER_02 11:56

So that was the million-dollar job was right before. And over the next two years between the two years, I lost almost a million dollars. So I am upside down, no employees, and talk about uh talk about a learning lesson, an expensive one.

unknown 12:15

Dude.

SPEAKER_02 12:17

So again, back to such a great strong banking relationship. Um, they stood behind me and said, we'll give you a couple years to get back on your feet. Don't make any principal payments, just make interest payments. Which uh which is really what what saved me.

SPEAKER_01 12:37

Dude, that is that is American as it gets. I I can't think of I've I've never heard a bank be willing to do that.

SPEAKER_02 12:46

That is again lucky small town, Iowa.

SPEAKER_01 12:52

I'm moving to Iowa. But this is the the amazing thing about this, it just goes to show you, man, like community. Like relationships. These are the things that aren't being talked about, and and we're losing that. We're losing that across America. The trust isn't there anymore in big cities and bigger communities. Individuals aren't willing to bet on entrepreneurs, not just veteran entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs in general, individuals with the American dream in mind. Like, that's a sad part. Like, this is an incredible testimony to what it uh what it truly takes to like be successful. Having people that are willing to go in your corner and say, hey, times are tough. Here's a strategy. Here's what we're we're willing to come to the to the plate and and stand here with you. Like, let's can we do this together? Like, a lot of times, man, like that's what we need, but we're I'm I'm looking at a country that's that's losing that, man.

SPEAKER_02 13:54

They are, they are, and and Danny, one thing too, um, it's just honesty. I think that's what a lot of it is, is a lot of people are afraid to admit when they make a mistake, and just you know, there there are people out there that want to help, that they care, they believe in you. Yeah, but if you can't admit when something's wrong or when you're failing, it's uh it's a fluff that people see right through.

SPEAKER_01 14:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:25

So that that was one of the hardest things for me is just putting my tail between my legs and just going in there and saying, look, I I'm in a world of shit right now and I need help.

SPEAKER_01 14:39

It's true, man. Like you um you get to that point where it's um and you're right, man. A lot of us have that idea that like if I just fake it, and I you see so many Netflix documentaries and and TV shows where they

Admitting Failure And Earning Trust

SPEAKER_01 14:55

you know dive into the downfall of a business, and at some point there's some executive, some business owner that will look at the camera and be like, I knew things were going south, but I didn't say shit.

SPEAKER_02 15:08

Didn't say anything. That's exactly right.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

Oh man. So what was it? Um what was it like getting there talking to those guys and getting that like, hey, you don't have to pay the principal, work through the interest.

SPEAKER_02 15:23

Like it was it was a really good feeling to know that my banking team was behind me. Um just that they believed in me personally, not necessarily what was going on. Yeah. Um it was uh I knew at that point it was gonna be it was gonna be a longer road. And there was gonna be a lot of hours, seven days a week getting back to where we needed to be.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

Yeah. Yeah, it's it's it's um it's the time to get to work, get back to it. It is.

SPEAKER_02 15:54

So then going through hiring process again, I was a lot more strategic on who I who I brought on. Yeah. And we were able to we were able to have a couple really good years after that. And we got back up trying to think here, I would say I'd say within the first two years, we were probably back up around that 30 person um count. I would say between 30 and 50 employees was probably 30 and 40 was probably my hardest point. It was that kind of in-between point where we don't uh we had a lot of equipment, a lot of overhead, but we didn't have the guys to perform enough work in the field to cover the overhead we needed. Our overhead, um our overhead really hasn't changed a whole heck of a lot between 40 and 100 employees. So it covers it makes it a lot easier to cover your overhead

The Overhead Trap In Scaling

SPEAKER_02 16:55

when you still have the same amount of office personnel for 30 guys compared to 100.

unknown 17:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:02

So we uh in 2023 we were we were right around 100 employees.

unknown 17:09

Dang.

SPEAKER_02 17:10

And then uh we did a restructure, it worked out a little bit slower and did a restructure, and uh we're down, we're right around 70 right now, which is ideal for us. We're still doing about the same volume. Um, but uh our employees are amazing. We our team is just it's what built the company.

SPEAKER_00 17:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:33

So we have we have some guys in the office that they handle all the day-to-day stuff on the excavating side, and then our field guys are just phenomenal. Most of our foreman have been with us for eight to ten years, and they uh they kill it.

SPEAKER_01 17:52

Looking back at this journey, like here's a kid walking into a bank at 17. I want to get an excavator, and now where you're at today with this, like you're you're providing livelihood for a giant team. Like I couldn't like I couldn't imagine when I first started having workers and then getting, you know, my first couple remote workers, like and uh I feel accomplished at four. They're living great lives in uh in in their in in where they live, and uh it's incredible. But dude, like just sitting down here and unpacking that, man, like this is the incredible thing about American business owners, entrepreneurs, the impact they have in their communities. These are people that are able to put food on the table, plan for vacations, provide for the kids' education, support their local community, like this is the incredible part of being a business owner. The impact you have right where you're living. And yeah, dude, like if you can have a cool car, if you can go on a wonderful trip with your family, that's great too. But when you go to church or when you go to when you go to dinner with your family and you see the people that you work with and that work for you, and you see their wins, their milestones, like that's incredible, man. Like that's the American spirit right there, dude.

SPEAKER_02 19:27

It is, it really is. So I've been I've just been so blessed any of everything. Um living in a great area, great family. Um I just I couldn't ask for any more.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

Dude, it it's it's incredible to hear these stories of success, but it it goes back to understanding that success isn't always you know something that's consistent, that just you have you you hit something by chance or luck, and you uh and it's just great and it's perfect every single time. The reality of it is it's waves, man. You have success. Yeah, you have things that go right, and then you have things that go incredibly wrong, but you stick through it, man. And and uh the one thing that I want to dive into is that moment in your career as a business owner where you decided to pivot and and start something new because I think everybody has that second breath, that second win where they're like, you know, I built this, this is incredible business, it's doing great, I'm providing for a lot of people, but I really want to do this other thing. How

Meeting Tyler And Starting Tier One

SPEAKER_01 20:40

did tier one tactical come to be?

SPEAKER_02 20:43

So, funny story. I was uh I was wanting to redo the screen and porch on my house.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

That has nothing to do with guns.

SPEAKER_02 20:55

Exactly. So a friend of a friend introduced me to Tyler, who's my business partner in tier one. Yeah. And he does residential construction. So he came over and gave me a quote on the deck and uh got to talking. He was former army, he was in the ranger regiment, and then just started talking about guns. Well, I have a gun range in my basement, just a pistol range.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

Well. So now we're talking.

SPEAKER_02 21:27

So he he he had to see that. I I should uh mind if I flip this camera. Yeah, yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:33

So here is the range here. Immediately jealous. Immediately. And then here's uh there's some of my uh my collection there.

SPEAKER_01 21:49

I just want to take a tactical pause to let the audience know. Um if you have any interest in starting an excavating business, this is your sign to start it now. Sooner rather than later. Immediately jealous. Holy cow, dude.

SPEAKER_02 22:08

So this was uh this was my uh this was just definitely a passion of mine. I've always enjoyed firearms. So when we got talking about that, he was he was asking, I gotta go see that range.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:23

So we came down, we shot a little bit, and then out at my farm, I have I have enough room to shoot. So we threw up some steel targets and we're shooting every weekend.

unknown 22:33

Nice.

SPEAKER_02 22:34

Well uh we'd have guys around that we knew that would come out and shoot with us all the time. I didn't know a ton about firearms. I I just I was just an enthusiast, that's it.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:47

So Tyler helped me build build an AR, so we were buying a CAC upper, radium lower, putting guys landernals, Timney Trigger, and building these Frankenstein rifles. And because we never really loved one in particular. So uh you get done with building that thing and you got five thousand in just a platform. That's without any optics.

SPEAKER_00 23:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:17

So we'd have people come over and shoot with us, and they're like, I love your rifle. Can you build us one? And like, well, we can, but without any optics, it's it's five grand. And like, oh, never mind.

SPEAKER_00 23:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:34

So uh we got to we were just kind of brainstorming ideas, and um I was like, let's build a rifle way out there, and uh let's try and hit $2,500 price point for an ultra premium rifle.

Engineering A $2,500 Ultra Premium AR

SPEAKER_02 23:55

And that was our goal behind the whole thing. So this started two years ago. And we brought on an engineer and helped us do designing. We've had uh we've had three renditions of our rifle now. So it's taken a year and a half to get engineering done to where we were actually confident with the product, and we did not want to release anything before before we were 100% on it.

SPEAKER_00 24:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:24

So six months ago, we were finally able to get some product out and get it in some hands, and this is all new to me, man. Building the brand, something I've never done before. We go before you go and you just bid on a job, and if you're low bid, you get it, and then start relationships, and at that point, then every every company I've ever built and worked on is relationship driven. So we we started that, we started started manufacturing these, but I can do the engineering, I can do the building. I don't have the marketing, I don't have, I don't even know what it first thing is start to starting a brand.

SPEAKER_01 25:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:11

So we had through personal connections that I had, they introduced me to a few friends, and then a guy came up to her at our shop and said, You need to meet Casey Maxon. So Casey came up and immediately him and I hit it off, and he told me about Warrior Rising. Love the concept. Um Veterans coming back trying to start a business. I mean, that that is something that hits near and dear to me. So Casey, Casey and I became pretty good friends, and we supported uh Warrior Rising at the Iowa event here last this past spring. And just from that, meeting connections and then getting the chance to go out to Montana meeting you. Um I've just been put in a really good position with you guys to help connect and get to meet people. And like I said, everything I've ever done is relationship-based. Yeah. So that is uh I guess take a step back, uh being able to step out. I such good employees on the excavation side that they run all the day-to-day stuff, and I needed something to challenge me, something that I've never done before. But I wanted it to be a passion. Yeah. I wanted it to be something that I absolutely love to do. And building building the rifle sounded sounded like a lot of fun. Sounded like another good challenge that that I wanted to do. Huge market space. Everybody and their brother builds, and they are, right?

SPEAKER_01 26:54

There are a lot. There are a lot of people. Um, but there are also a lot of people that um they're they're willing to put a product out there that um isn't as good a quality. That's the thing. Um, and they don't last long. There, there's like I've seen a lot of guys pop up and and and disappear. Um I'm not gonna say names. Um there's some funny situations. Guys get out there, and oftentimes I see it from like the special operations community because it's easy to say, like, oh, I'm a special operator, I'm gonna build a rifle or a pistol brand. And they get real quick notoriety, or it's like a flash in the pan, and then before you know it, it's like the the quality, the build quality isn't there. You have catastrophic failures on a range, and nothing's more embarrassing than sending out a weapon system to somebody that has a prominent YouTube channel and that thing being like destroyed in front of like 100,000 people. Um not saying any names. Uh just believe that. But yeah, man, it is a it is a a space where there's a lot of competition. But I will say this, man, what you're putting together, I mean, just at the shooting uh uh at the event we we were together at, um, everybody was in love with that rifle. Everybody wanted to come shoot with you and and and put some rounds down range. And I think it speaks for itself. When you have a product that's good and people don't want to let go of it, and people want to shoot some more, like kind of says something.

Hand-Fit Machining And No-Upgrade Builds

SPEAKER_02 28:30

I appreciate that. One of our main things is the quality of machining.

SPEAKER_01 28:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:35

So you you grab 90% of AR rifles right now, and you can take the upper and lower, and you you can wiggle them in between.

SPEAKER_01 28:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:44

Or you get the ones that you don't have any any play in between, but you can't push pins out.

unknown 28:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:50

So what we've really strived in is I always refer to it as the 2011 of AR-15s. So when they come off the machine as a billet, we assemble the upper, the lower of the handguard. Every joint gets gets hand sanded, the pins get reamed by hand. Um, and then each the upper, the lower, and the handguard are all serialized to the same. So then when they go out to coating, when they come back, we have a serialized set, and that set gets put together. So that way when you grab our rifles, everything's a perfect fit. It's perfect in line, nice and tight. The pins you can still push out with your finger. Um that's what we've really strived in, is just the quality of the product.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

Yep. And that's what's um the inconsistencies out there. You see it. Even in some big name brands, um, you see the inconsistencies. And I think that that what you just described as something that it is not only the right approach, but holy cow, that takes a lot of love, time, and effort, brother. It it does. It does. That is not an easy thing.

SPEAKER_02 30:03

So we've wanted to hit like every top-tier um component on the rifle. So, for example, our barrels. Our barrels are heavy profile, but we've dimple fluted them, and we can get our weight down on an 11.5 inch down to within 0.2 ounces of an M4 contour.

unknown 30:23

Dang.

SPEAKER_02 30:24

So we're getting the heavy, the durability of the heavy profile, and then yet the lightweight plus the heat dissipation from all the additional surface area with the dimpled rifle. Our dimpled barrel, I'm sorry. And then uh our triggers are being made out in Arizona for us. Um they are they're a two-stage, very short reset quick trigger. So for quick shooting CQB, they are they're fun. They they run.

SPEAKER_01 31:00

I want to be fast, Ricky Bobby. Yeah. That's that's right. That's right. That's I love that. That that's um because the one thing that I always complain about is like you spend a lot of money on a rifle, and the last thing that I want to do is have to spend more money on additional upgrades. And we've we've justified that for years, for eons. I did it when I was still on a team. I'm like, oh, I'm gonna get this friggin' Geisley Upper, I'm gonna get this, and then, but then I'm gonna pour money, and it's like, dude, at the end of the day, like, it was nice when you had uh Uncle Sam's money and Purdue's money to spend. Like, let me tell you, let me tell you, when you get out and you don't have that pro pay and you don't have that hazard duty pay and you don't have the free fall pay, and I mean you're gonna miss it. You're gonna have to work extra hard to make that disposable income again. Um, because uh there was a lot, there was a period in time where I didn't I didn't uh think twice about putting an order for a suppressor or for some new triggers uh nowadays. It's like I'm I'm a little bit more tighter with the budget. So yeah, I don't want to have to pay additional money when I buy an awesome rifle. I want to make sure that I get it and I'm able to enjoy it right off the bat. Like that's the thing that's like really insane to me that people are still having to deal with that issue in no 2026. Like we just order the rifle we want and get what we need right off the bat.

SPEAKER_02 32:22

So that that was kind of our whole goal as as we were building these Frankenstein rifles. We were we were taking all these parts and putting them together. That's what we didn't want people to have to do anymore. Yeah, we uh we wanted to send our rifle out, just our standard rifle, and it has every part that you want on it already. So just like that, the trigger, the bolt carry group, everything in that rifle is premium product. So it's something that you would go and look for and then put on your standard standard rifle.

SPEAKER_01 32:57

Heck yes.

SPEAKER_02 32:58

We do still send them out with A2 bird cages just because there are a million products on the market for what muzzle devices are, yeah. And there's no need adding anything but a $3 muzzle device on the end of it.

SPEAKER_01 33:13

Yeah. I I think that's one thing where like you're gonna get people to have their preference of choice. They're wanting they're gonna want specifically to add different things to it. I'm not I'm not gonna knock you on that. That makes sense to me.

Storytelling, Values, And Standing Behind It

SPEAKER_01 33:31

Oh. So like when it when it comes to this endeavor, we were talking about marketing and and building a brand. Like, has that is that the one thing that you've struggled with the most, or what are some other things that as you're still in this is relatively new endeavor, what are some of the other things that you've had to kind of like go back to a drawing board and maybe be like, all right, like I need to get additional reps in doing this?

SPEAKER_02 33:56

Definitely on the marketing side, but it's going into the AR market. We we definitely need we need to tell a story about who we are, why we've built this and get that out there because most rifles will run anymore. Um and I think a lot of times what things come down to anymore is the company, who the people are behind the company, who your morals are, what your morals are, what you believe in. Are they a good company? The people that are working for them, do you want to support their families? Um I think that has a lot more to do with this world we live in right now, anyway. Um I want to surround myself with good people. I Christian at heart, been a Christian my whole life. Um I just I want to surround myself with good people.

SPEAKER_00 34:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:53

And I I'm not here just to make a dollar. I I want uh I want this to be a good brand, a good company long term. And I'm not gonna say we're not gonna have failures, but I want the company to be known that if there is a problem, pick up the phone. We'll one of us will answer, we'll have your rifle fixed for you, no questions asked. So we stand behind whatever we build, and again, we feel we are the top, top line of product.

SPEAKER_01 35:25

Heck yeah, dude. And and I think ultimately that's why we're it's only a matter of time before we see you guys at the at SHOT Show. It's only a matter of time before we start seeing your names and your brand up there with the big dogs because you do care. It's a hundred percent authentic, and you see it in the way you approach coaching and talking to somebody on a range, dude. Like when I've seen other people, you know, introducing their products, they they're not approachable. Yeah, you know, at the range is probably one of the most intimate moments where you can get somebody on a gun, talk them through your product, and and just let somebody experience it, have fun with it. Some people take themselves way too serious, and they want to be seen as this authority figure in the gun industry, and like this, yeah, yeah. Like they're too cool for school. Like, that's not needed, man. Like that's not what you're doing is the the right approach, man. Letting people enjoy a high quality, man. I'm telling you, the amount of people I saw that day thrilled to shoot and be at that lane with you, like it was incredible, dude. It speaks to your your genuine ability to connect with your customer base, man. And uh some people don't have that. Some people have to get coaching on it.

SPEAKER_02 36:48

Well, th thank you. I I do appreciate that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:52

And and when it comes to building ARs, that's uh is that just one facet? Are you guys uh you know building long guns? What are you what are some of the other things that you're able to

SHOT Show Plans And How To Help

SPEAKER_01 37:05

bring to the market with tier one?

SPEAKER_02 37:07

So right now we are just building the ARs. We're very small. We have two full-time employees plus Tyler and I. So very, very small. But we can we just added another machine to our to our shop. So we should be able to push out about 3,000 rifles a year, the way we're set up right now. Um but goal here for the next 24 months is we do want to start working on a long-range precision rifle.

SPEAKER_01 37:37

Ooh, now we're talking. Heck yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:40

So thinking we're probably gonna start with 300 PRC. So that is uh that's in the works right now, but uh wanted to get this AR platform off the ground, get a name built, and have some recognition before we start that. You mentioned you mentioned shot, we have a booth on at Caesars this year. No shit. We do, we were only able to get a 10 by 20, but we are on Caesars this year.

SPEAKER_01 38:07

Dude, that's still on my bucket list of things to do, man. There there was a time when um dudes in in in group uh in SF would you just randomly get um tickets to go, and you'd always hear about it, like, oh, you know who's you know, what's his name's going to SHOT Show for free? I'm like, holy shit. Like, should give that stuff away. I'm like, yeah. And uh no, never, never made it down to the uh thing. You always heard about these mystical tickets, and then when I got out, I didn't realize how expensive it was to have a booth at SHOT Show. And holy cow, dude. It's unbelievable, ridiculous, ridiculous. Um, and I know some guys that their whole their whole tactic is they just go and hang out at uh one of the bars down there and they do business for like adjacent to right outside Shot Show. And I'm like, that's smart. That is definitely get started. I don't have a dog in a fight. I'm not I'm not involved in the gun industry. I'm a big fan. Uh so if anybody wants me to do a live podcast one of these years, uh hit your bro up.

SPEAKER_02 39:19

I I'd love to bring hey, we can bring y'all this year, tier one guest.

SPEAKER_01 39:24

Oh man. It is it's insane, man. Like that is one of the biggest events in uh I would say for for the gun industry, it's like the largest event, man, especially the activations, the range day, like all the stuff, like getting getting there a hundred percent where you guys belong. And and I mean having met you and no now knowing you, like I see this as being the beginning of like that the next stage for you guys. Because once people see you, they meet you, they engage with your product, you're gonna have a lot of individuals that like, okay, I want to get involved. I I want to be able to promote this. Um, so yeah, dude, I I think it's only a matter of time before you guys blow up, and I'll be able to say, like, I called it. Freaking called it. I appreciate I appreciate that. I appreciate that. So, what else do you guys have on the docket? Shot show's a huge thing, man, but what else?

SPEAKER_02 40:19

We were able to get a range uh lane at Shot Show too this year. So I we uh we went all we went all in. So that's been our biggest thing is uh is range day. We had we went to goals this year, and that was huge for us. We had a lane at goals, and someone picks up that rifle and then they shoot it and they turn the smile on their face. That that's what makes it for me. That that is what makes it for me.

SPEAKER_01 40:47

Yeah, that's that's what locks it in, man. That's what locks it in. Um I'm telling you, dude. The more of those range days. Um are you guys going to MCon?

SPEAKER_02 40:57

Um I think we are. I talked to Casey yesterday. I think we are gonna try and be there, yeah. And uh yeah, I don't think Casey's gonna be there, but it sounds like Ben Bunn is gonna be there. Your boy's gonna be there. You're gonna be there too.

SPEAKER_01 41:10

I'm gonna be there, and I want I want you guys to be there shooting that rifle so I can capture it in full HD. Uh that that's gonna be an incredible, incredible friggin' range day. I have, I mean, everybody's gonna be there. Um, I'm excited for that. I mean, it's no, it's not, it's not shot show, but I'm dude, I MCON is an incredible event. And uh I dare I say, I think their their range day is gonna be even better. I said it shot show. If you want me to change my mind, shot show, then bring me out to your range day. That's right, exact exactly. Yeah, dude, it's gonna be a blast. Um, I'm excited for this one. When I saw the uh the the email come across that we were gonna be going there, I was like, oh hell yeah. I'll figure out a way to get Casey out there. K Casey can't miss out on this. I know. He told me yesterday he had something going on. So we're gonna we're gonna change his mind. Uh the guy, the guy needs to be out there. We need the boys out there. We need another boys' trip. Um, talk to the big boss. That's right. Jason, what are you thinking? Make this happen. Make it happen. Dude, I can't thank you enough for being here, Shane. If people want to check you out, if they want to back the store, if they want to come visit, or just follow you guys on social media, where can they go?

SPEAKER_02 42:34

Yeah, to uh tier1tactical.com is our website. You can order everything off of there. Um on Instagram, just tier one tactical. Um we have we have there and then Facebook. Um do not have anything on YouTube yet. We're working on that. I need to get something up on YouTube channel.

SPEAKER_01 42:53

Heck yeah, yeah. We need to get you connected with some influencers to shoot this thing.

SPEAKER_02 43:01

We do 110 SASS just ran a 25,000 round count through it that he just posted that on Sunday. So that was a good video for us.

SPEAKER_01 43:11

Let's go, dude. Heck yeah. That's what I'm talking about, dude. Well, guys, you know the spiel. Head on over to the episode description, click those links, get my guy a follow, order a rifle or two, send one to me. I know I'm not gonna stop you. I've got a local FFL dealer. I'll send you the spiel. I'd greatly appreciate it. But no, seriously, do me a favor, follow Shane, support Tier 1 Tactical. Um, go to their social media, follow them, give them a like, give them a share. If you're in the Iowa area, stop by, say hello, give them some business, because this is what the American dream is built on helping other Americans achieve their dreams and supporting a good cause, man. Because let me tell you, there's there's uh two things that I believe in. Um, you know, and the Second Amendment is one of them. The the for the first one being that we can all live a better life if we're just willing to you know follow God. But I'm not gonna push that on you. That's another episode. But um a big Second Amendment believer, big fun, big believer in finding individuals like Shane and giving them a platform because uh the American dream is live and well out there, folks. And uh this living proof right here, man. If a 17-year-old can walk into a bank with a sound business proposal and strategy and then build a successful business and go through the trials and tribulations out that go through that and still make it and still decide to do another business, like who's to say you can't do it? So take a lesson from Shane and be willing to dive into your your dreams and build something because uh don't be sitting there thinking about building somebody else's dream and financing them and and every day sit there and dream and think about something that's sitting there in the back of your mind that you want to launch. Today's the day. Start diving into a business plan. And if you're a veteran, reach out to Warrior Rising. It is by far the easiest thing to start you off on the right path to towards owning your own business. Uh, link in bio, lick in the episode description, reach out to Warrior Rising. So Shane, again, thank you so much for being here, brother. And to everybody tuning in, thank you. And we'll see you all next time. Thanks, brother. Appreciate it. Absolutely, man.