3GN Spotlight: Bruce Piatt
He’s one of the most accomplished action shooting competitors of all time, with wins at seemingly every major competition, including Bianchi Cup, DPMS Tri-Gun, The Masters and USPSA Multi-Gun Nationals. He’s even a five-time winner of the old Soldier of Fortune match—what many consider the original 3-gun “major.”
Throughout this tremendous shooting career, however, Piatt has remained active duty law enforcement in his native New Jersey, working everything from patrolling the streets to training the next generation of officers. Today, Piatt stands not only as a top competitor, but also an ambassador for the entire firearm industry.
Piatt capped his 2010 campaign with a second place finish in the 3-Gun Nation Championship, and a $10K payday from US P.A.L.M. However, an injury-plagued off-season stole away that momentum, and now Piatt is a “game time” decision heading into Event 3 on the 2011 FNH USA 3-Gun Nation Tour: Superstition Mountain Mystery 3-Gun...
3GN: You’ve had a challenging off-season. Tell us about your injuries.
BP: To make a long story short, while working my police job, I had to deal with a guy that didn’t want to be taken into custody. Needless to say, he fought, he was taken into custody, but at the end of the day, I suffered a tendon tear in my left thumb. Taking care of the tendon repair was priority but soon after the tendon reconstruction, I realized my shoulder was messed up as well. X-rays and MRI’s revealed that shoulder surgery was needed as well. March 3rd, I went under the knife for a torn bicep tendon, bone spur impingement repair and some fine tuning of the rotator cuff and Labrum. While this sounds bad, the doctor tells me this could have been much worse. I’m writing this eight days post-op, confident that I will be back on the shooting circuit, good as new in short order.
3GN: You couldn’t shoot FB3G, now Superstition is coming up, where you again could be out. Are you having 3-gun withdraws yet?
BP: I’ve already booked the flight for Phoenix and plan on shooting SMM3-Gun. I’m keeping my fingers crossed but I think it’s going to be a last minute decision if I’m strong enough at that point. You ask about 3-gun withdraws … when the injury first happened I thought I’d be able to catch up on all my gun projects, reloading, and be able to get my “gun room” finally cleaned up. Well, I’m here to tell you, you can’t get much done with one hand. I finally got stir crazy enough that I broke out by Bullseye guns and started attending local 2700 matches. I’m enjoying the challenge, but yes, I’m having serious 3-gun withdraws.
3GN: When will we see you back in action?
BP: Let’s hope I’m good to go come SMM3-Gun. If not, then my goal is either the Blue Ridge or West Point 3-gun matches in April.
3GN: Tell us about your day job.
BP: For the past 24 years, my full-time job has been a police officer in the Montvale, New Jersey Police Department. During my career, I’ve been assigned to handle normal rotating shift patrol duties as well as Field Training Officer, Warrant/Fugitive Officer, Tactical Team Coordinator, Firearms Training Officer, IT/Communications Coordinator. My recent promotion to Patrol Sergeant has me busy running a patrol squad while juggling the additional duties of the Coordinator for the Borough’s Office of Emergency Management. For a few weeks throughout the year I am assigned to the County Police Academy where I assist in teaching all of the Advanced Firearms classes as well as the Instructor Certification classes.
3GN: As a trainer, you pass your marksmanship skills on to other officers. How rewarding is that?
BP: I have to admit, teaching LE or Military classes have been the most rewarding things I have ever done. Even after CCW classes, I walk away feeling better than teaching any competition class. Considering that what I offer the students may mean the difference their personal safety makes me feel that the day spent on the range has not gone to waste.
3GN: Do you wish more cops would get involved in the competitive shooting sports?
BP: The majority of new police recruits in my area spend at least two years in college preparing for an LE career yet they show up at the Academy having never fired a gun. This fact, combined with the large percentage of police officers that consider their mandated firearms qualifications … adequate, makes me wish more officers would compete in shooting sports. While I’d prefer one of the “action” type shooting events (IPSC, IDPA, 3-gun), having them more active in any type of shooting is a plus.
3GN: How long have you been shooting competitively?
BP: My life in shooting started when I was just a kid. When I was 10 or 12, I hounded my father to take me hunting. He agreed but said that if I were to shoot … I would shoot safely. He signed me up for a local NRA Junior 4 Position Smallbore Rifle Program. Those classes led to 4 position competitions and as the juniors were leaving, exposure to the adult handgun leagues. I was hooked. However, during the high school years, girls and cars have a way of distracting young men, so it wasn’t until I was 20 or so that I started to grow my gun collection and eventually my entry into the major match circuit.
3GN: What got you into the sport?
BP: Like I said earlier, my initial entry into shooting was the 4 Position Smallbore and then NRA Bullseye. Once I was exposed to IPSC/USPSA, I was hooked on handguns. I did everything I could to attend as many matches as I could. It wasn’t until my police job that allowed me to have enough free time to travel the country competing in all the major matches of the late ‘80’s, early ‘90’s. I did the Steel Challenge, Bianchi Cup, The Masters, USPSA Nationals, The Sportsman’s Team Challenge, and of course the SOF World 3-Gun Tactical Match—the granddad of all 3-gun.
3GN: Why 3-gun?
BP: There were very few 3-gun matches when I first started. Locally, there was the Miller Invitational in upstate NY. The Miller was primarily a 10-stage USPSA pistol match with two stages of rifle and two stages of shotgun. They awarded an aggregate award for those that chose to shoot all three. The Miller soon became “the” match to attend on the East Coast. Before I started shooting, the SOF match was the largest paying match in the country. Some of the early winners walked away with over $20,000. In the early ‘80’s, if you were a shooter, there were maybe five big matches for the whole year. SOF was the place to be if you wanted to be a top shooter. By the time I started SOF in 1989, the prize money was down but it was my favorite event of the year. The SOF philosophy conflicted with that of IPSC/USPSA culture of the day and therefore, so did the scheduling of the USPSA Nationals and the SOF World Tactical 3-Gun Championship. Having a new sponsor at Caspian, I needed to attend the USPSA Nationals. Luckily, about every other year, the matches didn’t conflict, allowing me to shoot both. I was fortunate enough to be one of only two people ever to win five SOF World Championships, a feat that I am very proud to have attained. Anyone who took part in any of the SOF matches knows how unique these matches were and just how challenging they were.
3GN: Who has been the most influential in your shooting career?
BP: In my early days of small bore shooting, I idolized the accomplishments of Olympic Champion Lones Wigger, National Bullseye Champions Jim Clark Sr. and Bill Blankenship. Seeing these men revolve their entire life around shooting seemed like a dream at the time. Once I was exposed to the “new for the time” action sports of USPSA and the Bianchi Cup, shooters like Rob Leatham, Brian Enos, and Michael Plaxco were the only ones to watch. I was a lowly B-class USPSA shooter at the time and seeing those guys dominate the shooting events and making a living while doing it, re-sparked those dreams I had during my small bore days. One sentence from my father changed my life. One day, I was watching a Lenny Magill video of an early Bianchi Cup match when I must have been enviously studying how Enos was doing so well, when my father passed by the TV and in passing said “he puts his pants on the same way you do every morning … you can do the same thing if you really wanted to.”
3GN: What are your shooting strengths?
BP: I think one of my most important strengths in shooting is focus. Whether it’s focus on trigger control, focus on controlling your nerves, or focus on shooting my own game, it’s the mental focus that I am fortunate enough to be able to control and apply on match day.
3GN: Where can you still improve?
BP: Improve? Everywhere—that’s the beauty of shooting. You can always do it better. In 3-gunning, I need to work on being faster. Faster on my feet, faster reloading the shotgun, and faster on the trigger. Because my background and so much of my shooting successes have been from shooting accurately, it’s difficult for me to shoot on the edge of being out of control, which is what I need to do to get faster. This is a struggle for me.
3GN: You cashed a $10K check for coming 2nd in the 2010 3GN Championship. How did that feel?
BP: It always feels good to do well at a match. The $10K check was a definite plus. Thinking back on it made me realize, the timing was perfect. It was the end of a season that I really didn’t do too well. Every once in a while it’s nice to get a nice payday. A big reward, whether it’s a nice trophy, engraved gun, or a big check, it acts like a mental motivational bank you can think back on while you’re training for the next season or next big match.
3GN: You’re known as a bit of a shoot-off specialist. Why do you have so much success in that format?
BP: I think it’s a mix between the years of match experience and my ability to focus. Winning a shoot-off isn’t just “who’s the fastest,” especially the 3-Gun Nation Shoot-Offs, where you use loaner guns. Many top shooters do well at matches from their ability to shoot fast. With their trick guns, that they are well practiced with, it’s like second nature. That’s where they get their speed from. Put a new gun in their hands and they have to go back to thinking and adapting to something new. Being able to adapt to the new guns, focusing on making your hits, sights, trigger press, having the mental patience to take the time necessary to make the hits, that’s what it takes to do well in shoot-offs.
3GN: Some say anyone can win a shoot-off, that’s its too random. But we see our list of winner thus far as pretty stout. What’s your take on the shoot-off format as a venue for displaying shooting skill?
BP: Depending on the layout of the shoot-off, some can be pure luck or random. Say it’s a short distance pistol shoot-off where it’s a one loss and you’re out. With this type of format, someone that has nothing to lose can just go flat out, red line the speed, and pull off a win over any top shooter. With the 3-Gun Nation Shoot-Off format, where there is some distance and smaller targets, you can’t just “get lucky” and hit the targets. You need to be a good, well balanced shooter, to do well.
3GN: Who is the best 3-gunner in the country?
BP: With the match results laid out in different classes, it can be difficult to see, but without a doubt in my mind, Daniel Horner is the best 3-gunner in the world. Physically fit, well prepared with logistics and ability, and he is fully capable of breaking down stages into the fastest way to compete the task. Daniel will be the one to watch for some time to come.
3GN: What’s your most satisfying win to date, and what do you want to win most, but haven’t yet?
BP: Sticking to our 3-gun theme of the interview, getting into the finals at the 2010 3-Gun Nation Season Finale was very satisfying for me. The 2010 3-gun season was personally frustrating for me. I struggled to do well at some matches and didn’t. I had one match with a couple of gun problems that added precious seconds to my time. Just enough to push me out of the top. One match, I made top four and should have been in the Shoot-Off, however, the statistician made some errors, omitting my name from your list. The Blue Ridge match, I was on fire, shooting five flawless stages topping everyone in my squad … just before the hurricane hit and forced the cancellation of the match. I couldn’t get into one of the $5K Shoot-Offs all season, all the while knowing I had a good shot at winning. So, making it to the final in Las Vegas and losing to Daniel was definitely a thrill for me. Like I said earlier in the interview, the timing was perfect.
3GN: You’ve been at this a while. How has the 3-gun game changed during your career?
BP: Besides the obvious growth in popularity, little has changed in the game of 3-gun. There are a few matches that, in my opinion, have created shotgun stages that are too big, changing a “shooting match” into more of a “reloading match.” While some matches create stages that are more of who can “run” faster, rather than who can “shoot” faster. These are just some personal complaints that in actuality have made these matches what they are. I still continue to go to these matches and encourage people to do the same. After all, as long as you’re shooting, you’re probably having fun.
3GN: What do you think needs to happen in the sport today?
BP: I think this sport needs … I think 3-Gun Nation needs … a network time slot right between a major NASCAR event and a BASS fishing championship!
3GN: Will we see Bruce Piatt in the money again on the 3GN Tour?
BP: Lord willing, my friend … I’ll be there.
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