TFB Interview: Kyle Litzie - World Champion - IPSC Rifle World Shoot
This is an in-depth interview with Kyle Litzie, the brand new World Champion in IPSC Rifle. We touch on a wide range of topics, from how he trains to how he tunes his IWI for the ultimate performance, what parts you need and how you can copy his concept.
Background: The 2024 IPSC Rifle World Shoot in Finland is one of the major international shooting competitions organized by the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC). The Rifle World Shoot gathered over 800 competitive rifle shooters from around the world, and put their skills in dynamic shooting to test.
Competitors had to demonstrate speed, accuracy, and precision while navigating 30 diverse stages that included targets between 5 to 355 meters, moving targets, different shooting positions, and various props.
In a series of interviews, TFB will talk to some of the best rifle shooters in the world, and pick their brains about how they configure their rifles, optics, gear and optimize their strategy. They will also share their best tips and tricks on how our readers can improve their own training and drills - hopefully, things that you can apply today and improve your own skills.
If you missed the beginning, please update yourself here: TFB Report: IPSC Rifle World Shoot III - 2024. Our first interview was with Keith Garcia - U.S. National Team, followed by Eirik Larsen - Team HK Norway.
TFB: Congratulations! You’re the winner of the IPSC Rifle World Shoot 2024, and also the first American to win. How does it feel to be a World Champion?
Kyle Litzie: It feels incredible to know that my hard work really did pay off but at the same time it's a strange, surreal feeling. Even a week after winning it really is hard for me to comprehend being the best in the world at the thing I love. I'm hoping eventually it settles in, but for now, I'm just trying to comprehend the win.
TFB: What did you think about the new Finnish Ruutikangas Shooting Center and the 30 stages?
Kyle: Ruutikanagas was easily the best quality shooting range I’ve ever competed at. It truly is a world-class facility and one of few in the world that was worthy of this event. Finland did a fantastic job building the range out and I'm thankful they support sports like IPSC Rifle. In the western US we shoot long-range pretty often, but to shoot over 300 meters inside a bay is really something none of us have experienced in the US.
I will mention I really did love shooting in the forest in Sweden for the 2019 Rifle World Shoot, but not having to worry about tighter than 180 safety angles was great.
TFB: Traveling internationally with guns and ammo can be a bit of a pain. Was it a first-class experience to fly to Northern Finland, or did you run into any funny issues?
Kyle: Well I certainly can't afford first class, haha, but the flight itself was not bad. Finland and IPSC made permits and paperwork super easy. The only trouble I had was with the Finnair airline. My advice to anyone traveling internationally with firearms is to book directly through the airline they are flying with, and only with a direct flight. If they need a layover to get to that airport, book that separately!
TFB: Please tell us about your shooting background. When and how did you begin, and how has your career developed?
Kyle: Rifle shooting has been a lifelong obsession for me. It was all I ever wanted to do from the day I shot a pellet gun in the backyard of my now stepfather’s house (Hi Kerry!). I spent my childhood shooting tens of thousands of pellets in my backyard, then graduated to 22LR and finally to centerfire rifles. I would make trips to the desert or forest to shoot every chance I could and was always trying to shoot faster and more accurately despite not even realizing practical shooting competition existed.
At the same time, I spent over 15 years in competitive paintball. I played for probably 10 different teams over that span and played increasingly larger and higher-level tournaments. All of these skills enabled me to come into practical shooting at a higher level than most. Running and gunning, shooting rifles fast and accurately was something I already felt somewhat familiar with.
I found out about practical shooting by hearing about Red Oktober and all AK matches that were in Utah at the time. From there I branched into different disciplines like USPSA production and limited as well as 2 and 3 Gun competition. Rifle has always been my favorite platform, so when I found out about the IPSC rifle, I made it my main focus in shooting to win a world championship.
TFB: Please describe how you train?
Kyle: I study the sport that I am training for and try to isolate skills that I need to develop. From there I will study top athletes and break down how they do things as well as experiment with the techniques myself and find the best way to execute. I build these skills largely through dry fire and then go to live fire to confirm what I'm training is working. Some skills like long range and recoil control must be worked in live fire so I do try and spend more time on the things I can't exercise in dry training. There are no shortcuts. To shoot at a high level you have to put in the time and you have to love what you're doing - even when you have to run down range 100 meters to reset a swinger 40 times!
TFB: How many rounds do you shoot per year? Can you recommend any special drills for our readers?
Kyle: I am very bad at tracking how much I shoot. Probably a way to save me from losing my mind, haha. I can say the year leading up to rifle world shooting I probably shot around 20k of .223 as well as around 5k of 22LR. I still believe I did more dry fire than anyone in the world and that is why I won. I really do not have much "natural" talent. I just love training with a rifle and put the time in.
TFB: Apart from the IPSC rifle, do you compete in any other disciplines?
Kyle: Like I mentioned earlier, I do. I mainly focus on 3 gun and PCSL 2 gun competition in the US. I also compete in USPSA Pistol and AK matches, which are some of the most fun! Kalash Bash, Red Oktober, Cold War and so forth.
TFB: This is The Firearm Blog, so our readers are very interested in guns of all sorts. Can you please describe your rifle and setup in detail, and why you chose those components and furniture?
Kyle: For several years now I have been running IWI rifles. They are solid AR15s and built well from the ground up, and make for a solid base for a competition rifle. The primary upgrades I make are the UNRIVALED Muzzle brake (UB-5.56), Competition Buffer (UDB-M4-C) and Titanium Bolt Carrier (UTC).
I swap the stock for a Dissident Arms Adaptive Stock as well as an adjustable gas block. I prefer the Superlative arms gas block in restrictive mode, also always tune the gun to bolt lock and ignore "ejection pattern" that changes with low mass components.
These 4 upgrades alone absolutely delete the majority of recoil and make for a flat, fast-cycling, responsive and reliable rifle. I use the stock IWI SPR 18" barrel, Timney AR Pro trigger and I run Harris bipods.
TFB: What kind of gas system do you use and why? How do you tune the recoil and movement to perfection?
Kyle: I will only use a rifle-length gas system. I don't want to get super nerdy and go into the details but it makes for a smoother shooting and more consistent rifle. The great thing about the UNRIVALED buffer and BCG is they come pre-set and only need your gas system to be tuned.
Like I mentioned earlier, to properly set up the gas on your rifle you want to adjust until it goes to bolt lock consistently. That means putting 1 round in a mag at a time finding a setting where the gun does not lock and then slowly 1 click at a time opening the gas until it consistently locks open on the bolt catch. Beware that this needs to be checked periodically because gas systems wear over time and will start to leak more gas.
From there I tune my UB muzzle brake but that's a whole different conversation. I'd recommend following our Instagram @unrivaled_technologies to learn more about it.
TFB: Please tell us more about your company Unrivaled Technologies and what you do?
Kyle: UNRIVALED is a company that I started with my friend Zack Smith and we also brought on our smarter friend Russel Curtis to handle all financial aspects that we are too dumb to handle. Our goal is to make the best-performing parts for multiple platforms with the AR15 being our #1 priority.
A lot of the ideas for our parts stemmed from my experience at the IPSC Rifle World Shoot in 2019. I was blown away by the parts that the Europeans had. It was obvious to me that their rifles shot better than anything I had seen in the States and certainly better than what I was running at the time and I made it my goal to engineer something to match or exceed what they had. Fast forward 5 years, and I was able to take the gold running every competition part that we’ve designed. I can't tell you how amazing that feels.
TFB: With your experience, can you describe how to tune an AR15 to perfection? Is there a single component that beats them all? Or would that be like mounting a gigantic turbo and expecting to win the drag race?
Kyle: It really is all of the components I mentioned working in harmony together. People look at low-mass BCGs and buffers and "running the ragged edge", but when they are designed with true understanding and experience that just is not true.
You can get amazing performance and reliability and the only real cost is needing to clean and lube the rifle more often.
Using the wrong components however can turn your AR no matter how good of quality into a jam machine, and I've seen it scare many people off and they go back to "mil-spec" components and will never be able to compete with someone running a setup like my UNRIVALED rifle or many amazing European setups like what Jarkko Laukia makes with Finntac, Hannu Uronen makes with Uronen precision or what Eirik Larsen has done with his Heckler & Koch.
TFB: Let’s say I have a standard AR15 and would like to improve how it shoots and behaves. What would you recommend, and how much would it cost me?
Kyle: The number one upgrade is the muzzle device. I recommend the UB-5.56 (200$ US) for its ease of tuning and effective recoil elimination. From there in order of importance, I would say, Trigger, Stock, BCG (Bolt Carrier Group), Buffer.
TFB: Thanks, I really hope your advice will help our readers get more out of their rifles. Do you have any solutions for PCCs (Pistol Caliber Carbine) or other guns as well?
Kyle: Myself and Zack are collaborating UNRIVALED with a company called Mean Arms to develop what I believe is the Ultimate PCC. Stay tuned and I think you will be blown away by how amazingly flat this PCC shoots and how reliable it is short AND long term. Up until now, PCCs were either blowback - reliable but a ton of recoil - or gas piston or roller delay which makes for a softer shooting rifle, but both have been plagued with reliability issues especially as the round count grows.
I'm so happy with the platform I'm going to start shooting PCC. I always said I would start to compete in PCC when there was a good option that shot flat and was reliable.
TFB: Did you bring a spare rifle to the competition, and does it differ in any way from your primary setup?
Kyle: Only to World Shoot, otherwise I just bring a spare BCG. My backup rifle was my training rifle and is IDENTICAL to my match rifle besides the fact that it has 30x more rounds on it.
TFB: What kind of main optic do you use, and which reticle do you prefer?
Kyle: I use the Vortex Razor Gen2 E 1-6 with the JM BDC reticle. I mount that on the Vortex Precision Cantilever mount. I find the Razor to have the best dot of any scope I've used. It's extremely bright and the eye box is super generous. It's just fast, clean and easy to use. I prefer the BDC reticle because it removes a lot of memorization of random holds and when set up properly works with most any 69-77g load. I also prefer the First Focal Plane reticle so my reticle doesn't get too thin at 1x. I don't mind that I can only use the BDC at 6x because if I need to use it, well then I'm probably going to want to be at 6x anyways.
TFB: Do you click for each stage, or do you use a set zero and do holdovers?
Kyle: In the US, I just set my reticle BDC to work for 300, 400, 500 and 600 yards and don’t dial much but for IPSC, I often dial for the farthest target on the stage or dial to find an easy hold for all the targets on the stage. In the US I zero at 100 yards in Europe I zero at 100 meters. From the zero I will often dial a few clicks up to line up things in my reticle properly.
TFB: Do you use a secondary red dot?
Kyle: I run the Vortex Defender ST as my secondary and zero it at the same distance as my rifle. It has a clean dot, a big window and holds zero.
TFB: What kind of ammunition do you use? Do you reload?
Kyle: I used 100% hand loads for training and world shoot. My friend Mike Bauer processes brass for me and does a fantastic job (If you live in CA please reach out to Mike on Instagram if you would like brass!). My training ammo was the same beat-up brass I re-cleaned and processed as many times as I could.
My match brass was Norma factory new. For my training 55g load I use whatever bullets I can get for cheap. For the match, I settled with Nosler 55g Ballistic tips and they really shot fantastic out of my SPR.
I used Hornaday 75g BTHP for my long-range loads. For my 55g loads, I used 22.0g of N130 and for my 75g load I used 22.0g of N133 - not sure if you’re supposed to but worked for me!
TFB: I find shooting on the move with a rifle quite difficult. Do you master the technique, and how do you do it?
Kyle: For the IPSC rifle, I do very little shooting on the move training. I find that targets need to be inside the 15-meter distance to even make it worthwhile for the most part. In the US I do it way more in time plus scoring where I do not need to hit the A zone. The technique is complex but it boils down to timing your shots in between your steps. Ideally 2 or more shots in between each step.
TFB: How are your off-hand shooting skills? How far out can you reliably take shots with reasonably good hits (A or C) on an IPSC Classic target?
Kyle: Off-hand shooting is one of my strongest skills and it took a lifetime to develop. I can confidently shoot A zone hits on a 100-meter IPSC target and at a pretty fast cadence. What is even harder is dealing with moving targets like swingers at 50 plus meters, and even there I have a level of confidence.
TFB: Is it weird to move from 3Gun/USPSA to IPSC rules, and what would you say are the biggest differences?
Kyle: The scoring is the biggest difference. Switching from 2 hits anywhere to Hit factor takes some switching of mental gears but I never found it difficult to switch between. In my opinion, Hit factor is superior.
TFB: What do you think about the electronic Kongsberg targets? Are they the future for long-gun competitions, or would you prefer some other targets?
Kyle: I think they are awesome. I really was surprised by how accurate and reliable they were. I’d love to see more of them in the States and I could even envision an entire match in the future where all the targets are of that style and require almost no reset.
TFB: How did you prepare for the World Shoot, and how did it help you during the competition?
Kyle: I really looked at preparation as a battle within myself on multiple fronts. I put every bit of mental focus and physical energy I could into it and it paid off. I really dove deep into everything from weight lifting, agility training and diet to methods to maximize my sleep, increase mental clarity and shift my circadian rhythm to match the time zone in Finland.
TFB: What were your highlights during the match?
Kyle: My first highlight was shooting first on the first stage which happens to be stage 7 with the fast lateral moving targets. I was able to completely harness my mind and shoot it calmly and focused. Getting all my hits was an added bonus. Other highlights were just the comradery with my American team - AJ Anthony, Joe Farewell and Daniel Horner. It was awesome collaborating with those guys to do everything we could to take home the gold and to hear my teammates cheering after a good stage.
TFB: I agree stage 7 was great fun, with a lot of tension and nervousness before I shot it. For reference, here’s how I planned to shoot the moving targets. Because the targets are moving you need to aim ahead, which includes aiming at the brown no shoot, to be able to hit the third white target. For me it worked out, but I was probably a bit low.
TFB: And your worst stage?
Kyle: My worst stage was the stage with 2 plate racks with 5 steel each. After planning to shoot it offhand I made a last-second decision to use a kneeling bipod - all because Kim Leppänen (Finland) absolutely destroyed the stage right before me, using his kneeling bipod and I was like damn I need to switch because I can't keep up with that time. That was a bad idea. I hadn't properly planned the stage out with the bipod and it led to a very choppy and slow stage.
TFB: Did you at some point feel confident that you were going to win, or was it a battle to the end?
Kyle: I didn't even check scores and I still can't believe I won. I only asked my teammates if I should push harder and they always said "Keep doing what you're doing".
TFB: Please tell us about your and the American team’s strategy during World Shoot.
Kyle: Our strategy was to just shoot consistently. None of us were going for stage wins; we just wanted to shoot what we could see. For long-range stages, Daniel would set up a spotting scope and assist us with wind calls which was a big help and Daniel is one of the best in the world at calling wind.
TFB: If you got to shoot the same World Shoot match once again, what would you practice more or do differently?
Kyle: I think I would build a bit more confidence with the kneeling bipod in certain situations and I'd also try to lose more weight. Training is a tough balance of eating enough to recover and have energy while keeping the weight off, so for me and my crappy metabolism, it's always a struggle to stay lean.
TFB: Please tell us about your sponsors and how they help you?
Kyle: For Rifle World Shot IWI and Dissident Arms were super gracious and decided to work together to cover my flight and rental for the match and I can't thank them enough. IWI also provided my rifles, dissident provided my stocks and Vortex has been amazing to me for years now and keeps me outfitted with all the optics I need to compete. Taran Tactical also helps me where they can and I was using their magazine base pads that have always been fantastic. Outdoor Research also decided to support me with clothing and I can't say enough good things about their products, it's on the same level as North Face or Patagonia and they are willing to support someone like me shooting guns! PRO2 Customs made my magazine pouches and I guess in a way I also sponsor myself through UNRIVALED as well and can always grab parts from a new batch!
Myself and Zack have assembled every buffer that has ever been sold and packaged every brake and carrier!
TFB: Do you carry? Can you describe your EDC and what made you choose that particular gun and holster?
Kyle: I carry depending on the situation and when I do I use my Smith & Wesson M&P Shield with a LAG or Pro2 Customs Holster.
TFB: Do you have any special guns in your collection?
Kyle: I have a few. One that is really notable is my first 22LR that my mom got for me when I graduated middle school. It is a CZ bolt action and has always been unbelievably accurate. Shooting that rifle was a big part of what made me fall in love with shooting and shooting it today always reminds me of how I felt all those years ago.
TFB: The IPSC Rimfire and PCC World Shoot is up in 2025. Are you going to be there? What’s next?
Kyle: I’ll be there and if all goes according to plan, I'll be shooting a UNRIVALED Mean Arms Bearing Delay PCC.
TFB: Is there anything I forgot to ask you, that you would like to tell us?
Kyle: I'd Just like to thank my girlfriend Paige. She came out to the range every day of the match and supported me every step of the way. She was literally a one-person pit crew from the morning waking up before me to make coffee to keeping me fed at the match.
I'd also like to thank my mom and stepdad Kerry for supporting me in my obsession with guns and all the years when I lived at home and used the house as a dry fire course haha. Also my dad and stepmom Cathy for supporting me in my endeavors and never trying to turn me away from my dreams in shooting. I love you guys, thank you.
Also thank you, Erik, I appreciate you reaching out to me for this and I hope some people enjoy this and maybe learn something.
TFB: Thanks, and again congratulations on the win! It’s been our pleasure, and I really hope our readers get a lot out of this and other interviews. It’s all about sharing the knowledge of great products and tactics during competitions.
Unrivaled Armory LLC can be found here: www.unrivaledproshop.com
Ex-Arctic Ranger. Competitive practical shooter and hunter with a European focus. Always ready to increase my collection of modern semi-automatics, optics, thermals and suppressors. TCCC Certified. Occasionaly seen in a 6x6 Bug Out Vehicle, always with a big smile.
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