At SHOT Show 2026, I caught up with Jason Schaller, the Rogue Banshee. He’s been hard to catch up with to have on the show. He lives in Montana, and I haven’t made it there yet. Special thanks to Michael Schwartz (RSWC #153) for letting us use his stagecoach for the show.
Jason grew up outside of Philadelphia. His dad had him shooting by age 7, going from BB guns to .22, then to .357. When he turned 21, he bought a GLOCK 17 and joined the GLOCK Shooting Sports Foundation (GSSF). He got his father into the GSSF, and they used to compete. When his father passed, he let it go by the wayside. Years later, he was married, he bought his wife a gun and got her into the GSSF, but it wasn’t something that kept her interested, so he kept going by himself. With time and age setting in, he’s doing more steel challenge shooting.
For 10 years, Jason was a “kitchen table FFL”. He was doing cerakoting for people, but he charged people to take the gun apart and reassemble it. It was easier for him to make a video of taking the gun apart and sending his clients the video so they could disassemble and reassemble it. That’s how his YouTube channel started. At one point, the ATF agent came in and told Jason he was selling 2.3 guns per day. The kitchen table activity was able to fund the channel.
With the YouTube channel, everything he does is educational. When things changed politically, he noticed more videos were being watched, particularly the 80% builds. When the frame and receiver rule hit, everyone wanted to watch the videos while they could. After a while, he started doing some reviews, and those were doing well. But since he was doing some gunsmithing and building, he had some sponsors. Interviews were another thing he started doing on the channel.
Finally, he started getting pushback from the video-hosting website for “selling items.” Eventually, he had to part ways with the sponsors, as their items were the things he was getting channel strikes for. To avoid strikes, he started the For The Love of Guns Podcast. Having some Toastmasters experience, he was good at talking and connecting with others. He’s finally figured out that deep cleaning is the key to keeping the channel running smoothly.
During an interview talking about outdoor mentorship for women, he received yet another strike. All the stuff he was doing, the reviews, the interviews, and the gunsmithing, is done on the same channel. YouTube started taking down 30 episodes a day. He was getting hammered with two strikes, and they were keeping them on the record. Revamping the show and layout, he’s turned it into a deep-cleaning channel. Despite the issues, he loves doing the channel and having an outlet.
Some Montana state senators were upset about the 80% content he was producing. They wrote a letter to YouTube to take the content down. The next morning, Jason noticed his numbers were down. He wrote to his senators, and they did almost nothing. Then he decided to write to the Montana AG Austin Knudsen, who likes suing the federal government. None of the videos were doing anything illegal; YouTube just didn’t like them. AG Knudsen ended up sending a Schoolhouse Rock video explaining to the other senators how bills become laws.
Jason’s channel really is a useful resource for the community. He’s got all kinds of content and a wide variety of projects he’s done. And he’s had to fight the powers that be. All the while, keeping a good attitude about the battles. During the day, he works in IT security, so he’s pretty handy with tech. And that job gives him the ability and skill to know he has to find the limit, and the way around what they don’t want content creators to be doing.
Favorite quotes:
- “When political turmoil hits people are hitting my videos.”
- “The firearm transfers were paying for the YouTube channel.”
- “I have a long time to build a business to retire.”
About Riding Shotgun With Charlie
Riding Shotgun With Charlie isn’t about firearms. It is about having an intimate conversation with 2 people talking. You’re the fly on the rearview mirror. Many of the passengers are involved in the firearm community.
This is a more intimate conversation than a phone, radio, or Skype interview. You get to see the passengers. And you’ll see where the road and the conversation take you!
www.ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com.
