Chris Costa, Tactical Lever Action Rifle Class | Dallas, TX March 2022

We had always been a fan of Chris Costa and his Costa Ludus company and approach to tactical rifle training. Additionally, we had worked with Mad Pig Customs to build Costa a couple of custom Marlin 1895 45-70 govt. rifles that he thoroughly enjoyed shooting. So in the Fall of 2021, we approached Costa about whether he'd be game to teach the first ever tactical lever action class and thankfully he said yes. 

We planned the class for March 16, 2022 the day before another four day class that Costa had scheduled  at Extreme Tactics and Training Solutions in Waxahachie, TX just south of Dallas, TX. The ETTS range was perfect and the owners let us use one of their very large bays so the group had a private location with a covered area as well as some old shot out automobiles.  

Next, we set out to find some corporate sponsors to shoot at the event as well as help us pay for the event and that included: Henry Repeating Arms, PrimaryArmsOnline, and Witt Machine Outdoors. 

And we reached out to many of our friends to attend the event and help us to promote it including: Vaughn of the TheManSpot, Rich of Patriot.Rich and SilencerCo; Jade Struck and Rudy Reyes; Shawn from WeLikeShooting; Pat from Pat_RMG_Official; Caleb from Black Rifle Coffee Company; Brian from WolfsPrairieOutdoors; Jason and his team from LouthanGunworks; Jackson from Jack_3gun; Nick from _pewview_ and Brooke from BrookTinyBaby; and TJ from Tactical Shit. 

"This is the first time we've ever done one of these," said Costa. "Since Ranger Point Precision does a lot within the industry in regards to accessories for the lever gun, now we have this new unique-looking gun, which is really an old gun, and I think people are just getting excited about it." Costa, who is a well-known firearms instructor, usually does classes spanning days. 

This was a condensed class designed to introduce the group to using the lever gun in a tactical manner. "I'm actually going to learn how to operate one today because I haven't shot one of these since I was a kid playing cowboys and Indians," said TJ Kirgen, one of the students in Costa's class. Themanspot, Vaughn NeVille, also attended the class. "This gun pretty much won the West," said NeVille. "Why we're not teaching this in schools is beyond my mind." 

The class went well even for shooters far more accustomed to newer rifles. Everyone learned that the lever gun is very capable when it comes to tactical applications. "At the end of the day, it's just a badass fun gun to learn how to run," said Costa. 

Now, we're working with Chris Costa and the group on the next class and event so stay tuned!