Pocket-Size FAST Course Lets Shooters Test Skills at CANCON West
Russell Phagan built a scaled-down Firearms Action Shooting Trials stage at the Boulder Rifle & Pistol Club in Boulder City, Nevada, during CANCON West 2026. The miniature course let attendees sample the kind of problems FAST matches throw at competitors. Phagan runs FAST as a time-based competition, and the compact layout gave shooters a low-cost way to see how a full match works before they pay entry fees and burn a weekend on the road. The stage also showed how Phagan designs a course to test more than raw accuracy. Shooters who want to understand the format should look at the stage design before they commit to a full match.
Key Details
The facts that matter from the event and the FAST series:
- Event: CANCON West 2026, held at the Boulder Rifle & Pistol Club in Boulder City, Nevada.
- Format: Time-based 2-Gun matches covering rifle and pistol, plus rifle-only events.
- Terrain: Stages use natural terrain and include physical challenges.
- Distances: Rifle targets out to 500 yards, pistol targets out to 100 yards.
- 2026 season stops: Arizona, West Virginia, and Idaho.
- New division: FAST debuted its Auto-Rifle division in 2026 for registered machine guns and rifles equipped with forced reset triggers (FRTs).
- Founder: Russell Phagan has competed in 3-Gun since 2002, helped create InRangeTV's Brutality match series, and launched FAST in 2026.
- Other roles: Phagan serves as VP at KE Arms and posts match footage and gear reviews on his @SinistralRifleman YouTube channel.
Background
Multi-gun practical shooting grew out of the idea that a rifle, shotgun, and pistol should all be tested in one timed event. 2-Gun drops the shotgun and keeps the rifle and pistol, which makes it a sharp test of transitions and target management. FAST sits in that lineage but adds natural terrain and physical movement, which pushes competitors past the flat, engineered bays common at many clubs.
The Auto-Rifle division sits on a legal fault line. Registered machine guns are lawful to own only if they were registered before the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986 closed the civilian registry, and transfers still require ATF approval and the $200 NFA tax. FRTs have a more contested history. In 2023 ATF classified forced reset triggers as machine guns, and the manufacturer Rare Breed Triggers sued. In 2025 the Justice Department moved to settle that case, and ATF began reconsidering its classification. The Supreme Court's 2024 decision in Garland v. Cargill, which struck down the bump stock ban, also shaped how courts read the statutory 'single function of the trigger' language that governs these devices.
Why It Matters for Gun Owners
Anyone shooting FAST in Nevada, Arizona, West Virginia, or Idaho should understand the difference between a standard rifle and a machine gun under federal law. Registered machine guns carry paperwork requirements, and FRT-equipped rifles carry a legal question that the ATF has not finally settled. Before you bring either to a match, confirm the current ATF position in writing and keep transfer documents, approval letters, and receipts in your range bag. Check the host range's rules on full-auto and select-fire guns in advance, because some clubs restrict them even when the law allows them.
Beginners should use the compact format as a practical test. A miniature stage shows whether you can hit targets at distance, move with a loaded gun, and reload under a clock without tipping the gun into an unsafe position. Those skills transfer directly to a full match. Watch for range-day rules on muzzle direction, barricade work, and the physical requirements of uneven ground. Bring water, eye and ear protection, and a holster or sling that fits the terrain.
DownRange Analysis
Under Bruen, the government must show that a regulation fits the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation. A timed rifle and pistol course is ordinary, lawful sport. The legal risk sits in the machine gun definition and in how ATF applies it to FRTs, not in the match format. A court applying Bruen would look at whether the government can justify a ban on FRT-equipped rifles with historical analogues, and that analysis is far from settled. Until it is, treat the Auto-Rifle division as a legal question, not a settled fact.
The market signal is clear. Practical shooters keep buying gear that serves multi-discipline matches, including timers, mag carriers, and steel targets. A portable course like Phagan's can also feed the sport by pulling in shooters who would never sign up for a full weekend. If you want to start, shoot a local match first, bring a rifle and pistol you already own, and skip any gun whose legal status you cannot document. Verify your paperwork, then go shoot.
