Natalie Foster: I am so happy to do another interview with you! This is a big deal- you guys are on Season Four of the show. How does it feel?

Stephanie Hayden: It’s great! When we first started this so long ago we thought we would do a couple of seasons and it would be fun and then, you know, you would go back to your regular job. But to see that people took to us so well and that they want us to stay around is just phenomenal. It is such a compliment and we are really humbled.

NF: This season has already been such a cool one. The fact that you guys had Chris Kyle come in wanting your dad’s signature and the Red Jacket logo on a gun for his charity is so cool.

SH: Thanks, you know, we always just try to make sure that anything we are doing is putting a positive light on the industry. Having someone like Chris Kyle say that a signature from one of us is actually going to increase the value of a firearm still blows us away. To have someone like Chris ask you for something like that is just unbelievable. It doesn’t even really register. And Chris is such a great guy. He is just so cool to work with.  He is honestly probably one of the funniest good ol’ boys I have ever met. For being the US’s most deadly sniper, that was kind of a surprise for me. He definitely has a really great personality.

NF: That segment between Flem (Glen Flemming) and Chris Kyle in which they discussed PTSD and the process of leaving the military was one of my favorites. Can you give me a little window – a behind the scenes picture of how that happened? Was that spontaneous or was that something they really wanted to talk about on the show?

SH: No, that was just part of their conversation. I have seen that many times before. When guys get together and they have both been through the same thing – it’s like two moms talking about kids, but instead it is two guys talking about war.  They understand each other and it is totally natural for them to get to that place. A lot of the guys who have been through that come out with that same feeling. The friends that you make there are family and it is really hard to let go. So many of them suffer from stress and they go through so much in their own personal lives, too. It was really cool to see the guys come together with that brotherhood and connect like that. It is kind of strange to see two Billy Badass get all emotional, but it is really cool that they talked about it on the show. I hope other veterans got something out of it.

NF: You guys have been so great about the military from the beginning of the show. Your dad was a Marine and, of course, Flem served. It’s really cool to see that you guys continue to honor those who serve for our freedom.

SH: Thanks. This country would not be what it is today without them. There are so many things that these men and women do for us that people take for granted.

NF: Ok, switching gears a little bit, let’s talk about more of your guests. Joe Perry of Aerosmith came on the show. I know you are a fan of his. How was that for you?

SH: That was insane! I have been such a huge fan of Aerosmith since I was a kid. I was born in the 80s and my mom loved all the hair bands, so I grew up listening to Aerosmith and I have never stopped. They continue to put out great music. So when they came down we got to work on a really cool old-school project with them we were so excited. It was a dream come true. And we really got to know them, which was awesome. It was unreal to get to spend time getting to know someone who you grew up thinking was one of the gods of Rock and Roll. They are really just down to earth, great people. For a guy that is such an icon, such a legend to be that down to earth and friendly – it really surprised me. They say that there are stars out there who are still good people, but Joe redefines “great people.” The whole family is really wonderful.

NF: You have met some pretty incredible people because of the show. You’ve had Ted Nugent come visit as well as other music legends. I bet Kris, with his blooming music career, is really excited about that.

SH: Yeah, Kris thought it was incredible. He has been invited to go play with Joe’s son – it is one of those things that he will get to as soon as he gets a moment away from Red Jacket. It has been really cool. Kris has had a chance to meet a lot of the people that he really looked up to in music and it has been awesome. It may not necessarily be the type of music he plays, but he is still in awe.

Ted Nugent chats with Will during his Red Jacket visit on Sons of Guns.

NF:  So beyond Joe Perry and Chris Kyle, this season has already been amazing. What else can we look forward to?

SH: Well, of course, if it hasn’t been released, I cant say anything, but I can tell you that we are building some of the most incredible weapons I have seen lately. You already saw our 57mm recoilless. They used to use it for avalanches. That one was so fun to work on. I mean, how often do you get a snow storm in the South?

NF: Sounds like you guys are having fun down there, as usual. So tell me about how life has changed for you since the show started airing. It was less than 2 years ago that life was kind of normal, right? And now, four seasons in, things are very different. You have a huge fan base, you got married – tell me about how the adjustment has been.

SH: Well, yes, I am married. Kris is a wonderful father. We do have two kids. A lot of people are asking about babies and the thing is, we are already raising two! So I don’t see that coming any time soon (laughs). We are just both really focused on what we are doing and trying to progress with life. We bought some land and we have been trying to get it ready to build a house. All of that has been a lot of work. And that is just personally. With the job, we have gone from one of those places that a handful of people knew about to this huge company. But things have stayed the same in a lot of ways. It is just a bigger family. That is the way we like to describe it because it still has that home-y feel but now we have more cousins and brothers and so on. The projects are definitely getting more interesting. We have branched out even more than before and it is just always getting better.

NF: How has the celebrity factor been for you? All of you guys have fans who adore you and I know you like to interact with them a lot. Is it fun or challenging or a little bit of both? How do you deal with it?

SH: I would say it is a little bit of both. The thing is, when you are on TV people expect you to be perfect. And we are just people. We are just doing our job. You can’t be perfect no matter how hard you try to be. Other than every now and again when someone chooses to point out a personal flaw, most of the people we meet are just so wonderful and they give you such positive feedback. It reminds you why you do what you do – why you deal with that camera in your face every day. And honestly, we don’t mind having the cameras around. The crew does a great job of staying out of the way – just doing their thing and letting us do our thing. But with the fans, it is always great to spend some time with them and talk to them and see what they think about what we are doing. The kids are my favorite. I got to go to Survival Expo in Las Vegas recently and we met so many kids who watch the show and it was the most heartwarming thing ever. One little girl named Haley walked up to me with tears in her eyes and told me I was her hero. I had to do everything in my power not to break down crying. I am just a regular girl from the South. It just blows you away that people connect with you so much. All Haley could say was that it was so great to see a strong independent girl on TV. I thought about it for a while and I get it, it’s just, who would have ever thought it would be me? And all I can do is to try to be that- to be a good person and to do good things for people and to deserve that admiration. And trust me, you never really feel like you deserve it.

NF: So what comes next? What are you looking forward to for the rest of the year? Any big trips or events going on?

SH: Well, we are actually currently shooting Season Five, so you have plenty more to look forward to. We are trying to go to SHOT show again, in Vegas, which is always fun. I am also trying to get back to Phoenix. I fell in love last time I was there. I have a great friend who lives there who I am dying to go back and see. And I can assure you there are plenty of surprises in store other than that.

Thanks, Steph! Keep up the good work!

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Gun Geeks unite! Meet me at the Discovery channel tonight (Weds, 10.10.12 ) starting at 9pm/8 Central and prepare for greatness!

First, see our friend and champ shooter Taran Butler do his thing with the Red Jacket crew on Sons of Guns:

Taran Butler showing Natalie a thing or two about his competition gun.

Shemane Nugent with Natalie at the 2012 NRA show in St. Louis.

Then watch Ted Nugent’s brand new show, Ted Nugent’s Gun Country.

Look for an interview with Ted’s better half, Shemane Nugent, on our site soon. And let us know what you thought about the shows in the comments section below!

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Me and my brand new AR! (photos courtesy of Joe Meaux and Steve Jobs.)

The building process.

This is the amazing barrel I got from Legion Firearms. You *must* have one of these. The honeycomb/hex cut lightens the barrel significantly. Also keeps it cooler than your average barrel. It is genius.

Joe found a great stock that just happens to have enough room for a tube of lipstick. They say it is for a battery. I say beauty products. Agree to disagree.

Welding practice! Anything on this scrap metal that looks pretty was done by Flem. The rest was my doing. It was a first attempt. Don't judge

Side view. Not quite the finished product yet, but isn't it pretty?

As you may have seen on the show, I recently had a opportunity to build my first AR-15 with the guys at Red Jacket Firearms.  The whole crew was super welcoming, as usual, but this time around I got some technical help and a new gun out of it.

I have to send an enormous thank you out to Andrew at Vuurwapen Blog who did a LOT of pre-build tutoring to help me prep for assembling my first AR. Also, the wonderful team at Legion Firearms who filled my last minute rushed order to get the super cool hex barrel  to me in time for my trip to Louisiana.

There was a lot of behind the scenes fun that you didn’t get to see because of time constraints, but these photos will fill in the gaps.

Joe was a huge help to me in getting everything put together. We had a few squabbles about details including the length of the handguard, sight options, the stock and a front grip. Joe wasn’t always happy with my choices and his judgement won out on more than one piece of the firearm.

Next step: putting a little Duracoat finish on it. Not sure what color yet but I am definitely thinking glitter. This gun is gonna sparkle! I will keep you posted. For now, check out this little collection of photos.

Front view.

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Exhibit A. Ouch.

If you watched the Behind the Scenes episode of  Sons of Guns you may recall a scene in which Stephanie and I head to the range so she can prove that she can handle the Desert Eagle. She owned that moment and I was very proud of her for showing all the haters whats up (hee hee). I, however, did not own the moment. I completely ignored my own instruction and paid for it in flesh.

Here is the set up:

Stupid. In the best possible way.

The camera guys, who are awesome, by the way, asked me to stand to the right of Stephanie and slightly behind her. They felt that was the best camera angle. It would have been fine except for the fact that the featured firearm was the notorious .50 caliber Desert Eagle (see photo). This is a mean gun and the only reason to shoot it, unless you are in the Israeli Defense Forces, is for novelty. I have shot it before and once was enough, I can assure you. If you shoot this thing in an indoor range or are near anyone who is shooting it, you can feel the blast of each shot through your whole body. The concussion from the round is *that* significant.  As you know if you have shot a semi auto pistol, the spent brass casing ejects to the right, right? And where was I standing in the scene? To the right. But I was behind her, you say. Yes, and that would have been fine, except that the Desert Eagle has so much muzzle rise that, as you saw on the show, the shells ended up right on top of me.  That also would have been fine, because I am super duper tough, if you cant tell, except that the burning hot shell found its way down my shirt and singed the bleep out of my skin. See Exhibit A.

Another one hit my arm to a similar effect. See Exhibit B.

Exhibit B

This was not a fun experience, my friends. Probably not as bad as being tazed in the neck two times like poor Kris, but still not pleasant. So what have we learned from this little adventure? Always button that top button and/or wear a top that has a high neck when you are shooting. A scarf will work, too. In fact, I suggest covering as much of your skin as possible when you are shooting to avoid burns like this. Most importantly, any one of these shells could have hit my eyes if I had not worn sturdy, shatter proof eye protection. Eye protection is absolutely key. I would pair a hat with that awesome eye protection (along with your ear protection, of course) even at indoor ranges. If you are shooting with others nearby, brass could come from anywhere and you can not be too careful. Bottom line: Your mom was right. Better safe than sorry. Or in my case, better safe than burned.

The bright side: At least the scar makes for a good story, right?

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Natalie Foster: Hey girl, how are you? I am excited to catch up!

Stephanie Hayden: I am great! I just finished closing on my property – my first one. I am ecstatic!

NF: You should be! That is really big news. It is a little testament to the way that life has changed since the show started, isn’t it?

SH: Yeah, exactly. I don’t even know what to think about it! I told Kris that I feel like I am finally wearing my big girl pants! (laughs) I mean, I have been a business owner for years, but this is a huge step, you know? I am beyond excited.

NF: Good- I am so glad. It is a huge day. And, of course, it happens on the same day that Season 3 premiers, which is totally fitting. So the last we saw, you guys were in Las Vegas and there was some serious stuff going down. You were trying to get a military contract, which seemed to go really well, and then there was some serious drama going on at the shop. What can we expect to see tonight?

SH: Well, they don’t want me to ruin any surprises, of course, but I can tell you that things did go really well with the contract and all of that.  I can’t say that we are signed right now – it is a really long process – but we have made some serious headway with that. It is something that you are probably going to see throughout the next two or three seasons just because it does take a long time for all of this to go through. This is not something that happens in a week. They get to meet you, they get to see the product, they get to see if they want to work with you in that week, but a military contract doesn’t just happen over night.  We have made some really big moves with Academy and we are looking at some other big names, too. Academy got their first shipment and sold out within 48 hours. They are very happy. We are working on a whole support line to go with it all, so there is a lot going on. The company is growing hugely. In fact, in a few weeks we will finally have a retail store open. People have been waiting on that for quite a while and we have finally pushed it through.

NF: Will it be in Baton Rouge?

SH: Yes, it will actually be just a couple of doors down from the Red Jacket headquarters and people will be able to come in and get gear and hats and posters and all of that.

NF: Will we see that on the show?

SH: Yeah, you will definitely see some of that on the show, but it will be after this season. We have not filmed any of that yet.  This whole season is pretty much… well, lets put it this way: that explosion you saw on the Vegas episode has a serious aftermath. This entire season is pretty dramatic. You will get to see some incredible people come through – it is going to blow your mind. We have gotten the chance to work with some huge names. It has been amazing. You will definitely see some fireworks and bombs go off inter-personally. They are advertising this as the season of drama and I know everyone says they hate the drama, but that is life, ya know? There are some pretty big things that have happened and there is talk (giggles) of other big things happening.

NF: So any hints on the Kris front that you would like to share with my readers?

SH: Well, the only thing I can say is that we are still together and we are still very happy, of course. Everything is going really well with us.

NF: I mean, we left off at a wedding chapel. That is a huge deal! What happened after that?

SH: Yes, well, that was one of those spur of the moment things that was thrown at us. I mean, we had joked around about it here and there and then all of the sudden we got pulled up to a chapel. It kind of took us both off guard. Look, it is a huge step and it is not something that you just want to fall in to. It is something that you want to be absolutely sure of and tonight you will find out what we thought about that.

NF: On the Discovery website they mention a couple of those visitors you talked about earlier, Jesse James and Joe Perry from Aerosmith. What was it like having them come to Red Jacket?

SH: When Joe Perry came in I was absolutely floored. I have always been a huge Aerosmith fan -  there was no greater person who could have walked through that door. I have wanted to meet him all my life! His wife was so nice and she taught me a lot about how to navigate this industry. We have caught some flack for having Jesse James come on the show and I can tell you this much as someone who is on a reality show – don’t judge a person when you don’t know them. He is a really nice guy and we had a lot of fun. He is welcome back at any time.

NF: So since you guys have been off the air it seems like you have been traveling quite a bit – where have you been and what were some of the highlights?

SH: Well, we were in Las Vegas for the SHOT show, of course. That was blast. Then we went to Washington, DC to meet all of the behind the scenes people who work on Sons of Guns at Discovery. It was so great to meet them and I had never been to DC before, so it was pretty incredible to see all the monuments and do the sights. Then this last week we got a really small break from filming so we decided to head to Phoenix, which was wonderful. We spent some time at the zoo We got to go rock climbing and went out to Lake Pleasant and just relaxed at the resort a bit.

NF: So are you guys having a viewing part or anything like that for the premiere of season 3?

SH: We are! For any of the locals, head over to the Londoner Bar & Grill. We are having a party! Come by, watch the show with us and have a few beers.

Let me know what you think of the new season in the comments below!

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NF: OK, there is a lot going on over at Red Jacket. Fill me in, sister!

SH: Yes, there is a lot happening. We are pretty excited. The first thing I want to let people know about is the contest we are doing. If you want to participate, you write in to Discovery with your idea for a gun build. We will look through all of them and decide on the winner. That person will have their gun idea built by the guys at Red Jacket for an episode.

Red Jacket is also going to be doing a contest of our own to give away a pair of tickets to the annual Birthday Bash, which is Will Hayden’s Birthday party. The winner gets meal tickets, ammo, and things like that. They are gonna get the works: hang out with the cast a bit and shoot all the guns- all that good fun stuff.

NF: Cool! When is that?

SH: Birthday Bash is the first weekend of June every year. It is very hot, but it’s worth it!

NF: That is super cool! The Birthday Bash is legendary. I have seen so many pictures of you guys having a ton of fun. People who go always talk about how much fun it is. How can people enter the contests?

SH: Keep your ear to the ground on that one. We are not announcing the details yet, but we want to make sure everyone knows that it is coming up very soon.

NF: Great – So let’s talk about the show. What on earth is going on? There are some rumors swirling and I need you to nail some of this stuff down for me.

SH: Right, so as far as the episodes go, they named the final episode ‘Wedlock and Load,’ which has had everyone kind of jumping on it and thinking that they know what is coming. It definitely gives the impression that something is kind of going on with me and Kris, but I mean… really?? Let’s put it this way, don’t you think that is a little fast? Marriage is not something you just jump into without thinking – you have to be absolutely certain. And that takes some time. So you have to wait to see what happens. You will really just have to hang on and keep your eyes open. You’ll find out soon enough!

NF: Wow! Sounds like there is a twist in there. What else can you tell us about it?

SH: There are some serious twists and turns through the next two episodes. You are going to be on the craziest roller coaster ride ever. And the moment that you think you have got it figured out or the moment that you think you know what happens, you are going to be totally blown away. Even in the beginning of next season – when this season ends and you think, “Ha! I knew this was going to happen.“ The beginning of next season is going to blow you away again. It totally knocks everything that you thought was final completely off the rails.  It has been an interesting couple of months for us, really. You know, there is a lot that people think that they know about us because of spoiler alerts on the internet and all of that.  Some of it is real and some of it is definitely not. There is a lot floating around and let’s just say that nobody has got a real clue of what is going on. They all think they know, but they really don’t.

There will be a lot of tense moments, but also some really happy, interesting moments, too. The guns that we have worked with in the last couple of episodes- the ones that they will be showing – were just incredible.  The next episode actually shows you the weapon that I told you about when I said I finally shot something that scared me.  I cant tell you what it is yet and I am just dying to share, which is one reason I will be with you, Nat, live on the Girl’s Guide to Guns facebook page answering questions so that we can talk about anything that anyone wants to know.  I will be online to clear up any misconceptions or the way things came across to people. I just want to really reach out and kind of go over some of that stuff.  Of course, I cant give away the next episode – I can’t give away spoilers, but I will do my best to answer all the questions.

NF: Cool- I am super excited about that. So…is it just me, or was this a really short, fast season?

SH: Good question- this season break is only going to be a month. We are breaking, but we are not breaking for long.  It is a paperwork thing. They didn’t really want to break us but they kind of have to.  We will right back on the air in February.

NF: Oh, good. We need our Sons of Guns fix!

Steph showing me the full auto suppressed 9mm

SH: You won’t be waiting too long. Also, we get a lot of remarks of people saying that they don’t want to see the show turn in to OCC or to become super drama- filled. But I definitely want people to keep in mind when they are watching these next couple of episodes that there is a lot of tension and there is a bit of drama, but it is not here to stay. We are all a family and family does go through really big things together. Sometimes it just happens – there is drama there. People get upset. People say things that they might not really mean. People react in ways that are completely out of their character when these things happen. Just stick with us and know that we are a family and we are going to do whatever it takes to push through at all times. No matter what happens. If something happens that upsets you, just understand that everything happens for a reason.

NF: Wow – I am officially intrigued! I will definitely have some questions lined up for you when you do the online interview this week.  Now, I understand you guys are going to go on tour, too. What is the story there?

SH: Yep, we will be doing meet and greets at different Academy stores around the country. We have plans to do a full US tour and we are very excited to get out there and meet some people!

Sounds like some pretty exciting stuff all the way around!  If you have questions of your own for Steph, you can ask her live on the Girl’s Guide to Guns facebook page on January 12 at 1pm Central time.  You can also leave questions for her in the comments section below.

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Photo by Brandon Lippard

10pm: Phone rings. It’s Boyfriend. He asks if I want to come to New Orleans and see him while he is working on the movie down there?  “Sure,” I say. I have never been to Louisiana and it would be nice to see him for once in the last like, three months. “Wanna come tomorrow?” Um…. why not? We bloggers have flexible schedules. Let’s do this. Crawfish and beignets, here I come!

Next day 10am: I am now on the flight planning fun things to do while I am in Louisiana. “I don’t know a soul in that state – oh, wait! Yes I do! I wonder how far Baton Rouge is from New Orleans. Hmm… maybe I can go and finally meet Stephanie from Sons of Guns. I have talked to her several times by phone. I feel like I already know the girl. Sure would be fun to surprise her…”

A day or two later the movie Boyfriend is working on happens to be shooting near Baton Rouge.  I figure, what the heck, why not drop by and say hello? Who knows if she will even be there? Might as well try my luck.  There was no way to know that a few hours later I would be shooting guns in their private firing lane and that the producers would end up taping a segment of our little get together. Turns out I was just as surprised as Stephanie!

As any gun girl will tell you, when they meet another of our kind there is an instant kinship between the two of them. A sidearm sisterhood, if you will. I knew Steph and I would be fast friends, but I could NOT believe Stephanie offered to let me shoot some of the Red Jacket guns. That was the last thing I expected.  In case you missed the episode, I shot the Red Jacket 1911 (handgun), Steph’s own personal AK-74 Tantal (blue rifle), and Will’s suppressed fully automatic 9mm  (black rifle).

Behind the scenes facts:

• That 1911 that I shot was the first one the guys at Red Jacket ever made.  The prototype officially belonged to one very famous guitar playing, rope swinging hunter who will remain nameless but may or may not have Cat Scratch Fever, ifyaknowwhatImsayin. The gun was packaged and ready to ship out to Mr. Fever when I showed up. Joe and Vince generously unpacked it and let me try it out.
• I swear it was about 1000 degrees on that range. I felt like I was going to melt that day. Steph and the crew took it like champs, but this Cali girl was about to pass out. We will call that excuse #1 for my poor aim.
• All those costumes on the walls of the foyer/office have some serious meaning to Will. He has used them in historical war reenactments. Steph has said in the past that she learned more history from those reenactments than they ever taught in school.  Steph and I *might* have kind of sort of played around with those items just to get a rise out of Will. What can I say? Red Jacket shenanigans.
• I got some time at lunch to visit with Steph and the rest of the staff. They are the friendliest, most warm-hearted group of people you could meet. They made sure I was well taken care of the whole time I was there.
• I shot TERRIBLY with the full auto. It was not a difficult gun to control at all, but the fumes from the burning lubricant gave me a little trouble. What can you do? Will likes his guns souped-up. Can you blame him?
• The whole cast signed my (somewhat pitiful) target, which I fully plan on framing anyway. Kris and Vince joked that I would have killed the hostage with the full auto rounds that ended up on the top left side of the target.  A little practice might be in order.
• They are super rigorous about safety at Red Jacket. With all those camera and sound guys around, it is very important to do things exactly the way they tell you to do them so they can get the shots they need without injury or hearing loss to the crew. This is not your typical safety routine.  It made me a little nervous shooting there at first because I was a tad bit thrown off and I didn’t want to break any of their safety rules.  Let’s just go ahead and use that as excuse #2 for my less than stellar shooting that day, shall we?
• Funny thing- that visit occurred just 3 days before my birthday. It was quite literally the best birthday (and now New Years) present EVER. Thank you, Red Jacket!!

I absolutely meant what I said about my time at Red Jacket being a dream come true. I think we in the gun community owe a lot to shows like Sons of Guns, Top Shot, MythBusters and others for bringing firearm education back to the forefront of American and Canadian pop culture. It was a thrilling experience to be a small part of a show that has introduced so many would-be gun skeptics to the fun and historic side of firearms. I look forward to connecting with all of those guys again at SHOT show in January.

So what did you think of the episode? Got any questions? Leave them in the comments box and I will answer as soon as I can.

Photo by Brandon Lippard

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NF: Ok, Steph, so the first thing I get asked about all the time is you and Kris… what can you tell me?

SH: I can’t talk about that really. I can tell you that he still works at Red Jacket. Other than that, you will just have to see how it plays out.

Nat and Steph at Red Jacket

NF:  Tell me about the new season, What have we got to look forward to?
SH: There have definitely been some changes around here. You will get to be introduced to a few new characters. You are going to actually get to see some of the other shop guys and things like that. We’ve got some pretty cool guests that have come in.  I can’t really disclose names. We have to keep a lot of this stuff under wraps – can’t give anything away too soon. We have some very big things going on. We are looking at getting a military contract for one of our guns, which is incredible. We are still in the works on that, but it is definitely coming. Honestly, it is hard for me to keep up with all we have done. There is just so much! You will get to see some of our new product lines that we have put out. There has really been a lot of growth within ourselves as a company.

NF: Have you guys been working on the bigger stuff or the small stuff?

SH: You know, it is a really good mix. I got to see some really cool older weapons come in. You get to see dad do another restoration. He doesnt get to do a lot of those so it is cool to see him take it from a pretty ugly chunk of wood to a magnificent looking weapon. We actually had a pro trick shooter come out with that one, which was very cool. We have a very big change – the characters that are here, that you are used to and that you love have had some major changes. We definitely are keeping some surprises rolling for you.

NF: You guys always do.

SH: We try to. And actually, at the very end of this season that you are about to see you will see some very big news around here as far as my family is concerned. You’ll get to see that – there is definitely going to be another cliff hanger at the end of the season that I am sure the audience is going to be very interested in.
Oh, and I actually shot something – I can’t say what it is – but let me tell you, it is one of the first times in a long time that I have actually been scared to fire something. There are definitely going to be some bigger explosions this year, too, so that is fun. Any time you can get bigger booms, ya know…

NF: I agree! I want to see some explosions!  So it sounds like you guys have definitely had your hands full.

SH: Oh Yeah, we like to mix it up. We have definitely kept with tradition. You are going to see a lot of different variation in types of weaponry. We are definitely pushing our limits. We have got new licensing that basically allows us to just do more things. Like I said, we have got some interest from some very cool people so you will definitely see some great guests.

NF: Ok, now on a personal note, we are in the middle of the holiday season now. Are there any Red Jacket traditions that you guys have or maybe just Hayden family traditions – anything like that that you care to share?

SH: We always hold a Christmas party for everybody around here. That is our big tradition. I have already got my tree up – that is my Black Friday tradition. I like to get everything all decorated and stuff like that. Business-wise one thing that I am looking forward to is that my clothing line will be coming out.

NF: That is huge news!

SH: I am very excited about it. I have been finalizing designs and working closely with my team on getting that exact look that I want. Right now we are sticking to a lot of the girls t-shirts, but they are not going to be what you are used to seeing on the Red Jacket site. I went heavy on graphics and I have been really careful with different cuts and sizes and things like that. We are going to get something a little different out there just to get it rolling and then we are going to be getting in to everything from sleepwear to blue jeans and swimwear.

NF: This is so exciting and I know lots of people will want to know when and where we find these things. Is it going to be online?

SH: It is going to start online – on my website. We are working out which stores we want to put it in, but I definitely want Academy to have it sometime after Christmas.

NF: Wow! What a year it has been for you guys!

SH: It has been a roller coaster! Any time you have extreme growth like this you are going to have your ups and your downs but we are still the regular little shop that you met in season one. We are just getting thrown into this huge corporate world and just trying to keep up, you know? Honestly, I think we have done a pretty good job of it.

NF: It sure seems like it. What else can we expect out of this season?

SH: Well, as far as me personally, you are going to get to see a different side of me. I have definitely grown in to a different person over this last season. With all the things we have been doing I have basically taken it upon myself just to better myself – to do more not only with the things that I do in business, but also in my general appearance. You are definitely going to see a new Stephanie.

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Well it’s about time!! Our dear friends over at Red Jacket Firearms are launching a merch line. We’ve definitely got to get in on this- love that range bag. Check it out!

Dallas – Not just for NRA anymore, as fans of hit TV show grab gun-inspired gear on RJFGear.com

Have machine guns gone “mainstream”? As stars of one of America’s hottest TV shows, Will Hayden and his team at Red Jacket Firearms, a small gun shop that packs a punch in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, know first-hand how popular the firearm culture is becoming among mainstream audiences. To that end, the group is bringing fashion and firearms together with a line of men’s wear, women’s wear and accessories on the company’s new website, www.RJFGear.com.

“Sure, it’s the guys who grew up loving guns, and military guys and more,” said Hayden, founder and owner of Red Jacket Firearms. “But it’s also grandmas and tech geeks, young and old, people from every background and all parts of the country. This show has shown us that a love of guns is something that is touching a lot of people. It’s something we’ve known for a long time — but even Red Jacket is surprised by the very warm reception that the American people are giving us.”

A firearms phenomenon, perhaps? The numbers certainly tell the tale, as the hit TV show centered on Hayden and his crew at Red Jacket Firearms, the Discovery Channel’s “Sons of Guns,” recently debuted its second season as the number-one, non-sports primetime cable program for men ages 18 to 34. The show is a phenomenon across all demographic segments, pulling in women and families, too. While “Sons of Guns” focuses mainly on the high-end, unique firearms Red Jacket Firearms builds, it’s also an inside look at the family of employees at the small Louisiana gun shop, and a peek inside the gun culture that drives their lives and business. America can’t get enough, as the show has locked and loaded a second hit season.

Pairing fashion with firearms is next up in Red Jacket Firearm’s arsenal, as the group launches RJFGear.com to offer fans gun-inspired gear. From men’s wear to women’s wear, accessories and more, “Sons of Guns” show fans, general gun-lovers, and those inspired by the firearms phenomenon will be able to find trendy designs that speak to their love of guns.

To read the entire article, click below:

https://dallas.dbusinessnews.com/shownews.php?articletitle=High%20Caliber%20Meets%20High%20Fashion:%20Red%20Jacket%20Firearms%20Fuels%20America%E2%80%99s%20Obsession%20with%20Guns;%20Launches%20Website%20featuring%20Gear%20for%20Gun-lovers&newsid=242470&type_news=latest&s=sbcn

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