I will get back to gear, firearms and defensive mindset posts soon, but, for now I want to touch on a topic that seems to be coming up in the news a lot these days is the idea of implementing "universal background checks" for firearms. In most (but not all) states there is a provision where someone who is legally allowed to own a firearm can buy or sell a firearm to another individual who is also allowed to possess it without the need to go through a NCIC background check. Be advised that laws vary from state to state, and before you are going to buy or sell a firearm through a private transfer you should make sure it is legal to do so. Interstate private transactions are also generally prohibited, and must be done through a dealer, at additional costs to the involved parties.
This is sometimes referred to as the "gun show loophole" even though most guns sold at gun shows are bought from FFL dealers, who must run a background check in order to complete the sale. Every gun I have ever bought at a gun show has had the same background check and paperwork as those bought at gun stores. If someone is selling firearms as a business, they must be a federal firearms licensee (FFL), and must conduct background checks for all sales.
In many parts of the country, private transfers are common. Giving .22 rifles and shotguns as birthday or Christmas gifts when a child shows the maturity to own them is a right of passage for many people. Firearms are passed down as family heirlooms through generations of a family. Hunting or shooting buddies may trade firearms if they need a certain type for an upcoming hunt.
Requiring all of those transactions to go through FFLs is going to add expense to all of them for the persons involved. Aside from that, the NCIC system has in recent times become overwhelmed, on days such as Black Friday there have been hours long delays on the background checks. How is the system going to support all of the additional transactions? Do the systems even have the capability of taking on the additional course load? Is there going to be an option available to do the transfer without an FFL, giving private citizens the ability to call in a NCIC background check?
Aside from worries about the infrastructure that would have to support the new workload, there are other issues. Contrary to what some people believe, there is no registration of guns in most states. After the gun is bought the dealer keeps the paperwork and records. There are actually federal laws, including the Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986, that prohibit the creation of a registration of privately owned firearms. But, how can you enforce a requirement that all private transfers must go through a transfer requiring a background check without having a registration? There is no way to regulate it without a registration, which according to law is not allowed.
Even if the laws were amended to allow for a registration of privately owned firearms, there are by many estimates around 300 million firearms in America. Who is going to build and maintain the database with all of that information in it? How long is it going to take in order to get all that information collected? That project would be a massive undertaking. And criminals still would not register their guns, and would not conduct transfers through a FFL. So the new laws wouldn't effect them at all, they would continue to operate outside the law.
While I do agree that some people should be prohibited from owning firearms, including convicted felons and those who have been adjudicated mentally defective, I don't think that universal background checks are the answer. It is already illegal for convicted felons, those who have been adjudicated mentally defective, and some other classes of people to own firearms. They will just continue to attain them through illegal means, including stealing them, or buying them from someone who stole them from a law abiding gun owner. The idea of "universal background checks" like most gun control legislation, is a feel good idea that will only negatively effect law abiding gun owners, while criminals ignore it.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Thoughts on Semi-Automatic Rifles: Part 2
As promised, I am coming back and looking at some of the issues surrounding semi-automatic rifles in this post as well. While not the most scientific method available for determining how often a type of rifle is used in a crime, the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports do keep track of murders every year, and what weapons are most commonly used. I say not the most scientific, because I realize that firearms can be used in other crimes than homicides, but, I think it provides a good baseline. In 2011 (the full 2012 report hasn't been released yet) rifles (of all types, not just semi-automatics) were used in about 340 homicides out of a total of 14,612 homicides, which means about 2% of them. You can go back to about 1960 in the UCR, and you will see that rifles traditionally are not used to murder people in America. Usually both knives, as well as the hands/feet/fists section is responsible for more murders annually than rifles.
This brings up a very interesting question of why these rifles are demonized so much by politicians and the media, since they account for such a small percentage of criminal firearms use. As I already mentioned in the last post, calling these rifles "assault rifles" or "assault weapons" is inaccurate and dishonest, and the criteria for what designates a rifle as one is generally rather absurd.
The text of the new ban that is expected to be introduced in the legislature has not yet been completely released (remember to be contacting your legislators and telling them to not support any new restrictions on our Second Amendment rights), so I am just going to use the previous ban to show how little sense these bans usually make. Under the 1994-2004 ban, a rifle was banned if it was fed by a detachable box magazine, and had two or more of the following:
This brings up a very interesting question of why these rifles are demonized so much by politicians and the media, since they account for such a small percentage of criminal firearms use. As I already mentioned in the last post, calling these rifles "assault rifles" or "assault weapons" is inaccurate and dishonest, and the criteria for what designates a rifle as one is generally rather absurd.
The text of the new ban that is expected to be introduced in the legislature has not yet been completely released (remember to be contacting your legislators and telling them to not support any new restrictions on our Second Amendment rights), so I am just going to use the previous ban to show how little sense these bans usually make. Under the 1994-2004 ban, a rifle was banned if it was fed by a detachable box magazine, and had two or more of the following:
- A folding or telescoping stock
- A pistol grip
- Bayonet mount (bayonet lug would be the proper terminology)
- Flash suppressor, or a threaded barrel to accept one
- Or a muzzle mounted grenade launcher
It also included pistols that had two or more of the following:
- Magazine that attaches outside the pistol grip
- Threaded barrel
- Barrel shroud that can be used as a forward grip
- Unloaded weight of more than 50oz
- A semi-automatic version of a fully automatic firearm
And semi-automatic shotguns with two or more of the following
- Folding or Telescoping stock
- Ability to accept a detachable magazine
- Fixed capacity of more than 5 rounds
- Pistol Grip
There were also some firearms that were specifically prohibited by name in the ban. For the purpose of this post however, I am just focusing on rifles. So, under the previous ban, this rifle was prohibited:
However, this one would not be:
Both are actually the same rifle, a Ruger Mini-14 ranch rifle, which by the way in not a military rifle. All I did was change out the stock with an aftermarket one. Both versions have the exact same capabilities, it doesn't change how fast the rifle can be fired, or the round the rifle fires (.223 Remington, which is for practical reasons the same round that an AR-15 fires). With a folding stock the overall length is about 8 inches shorter with the stock closed. But, there is still a minimum length that a rifle needs to be in order to not be a class 3 firearm, and even with the stock closed, the rifle is over that length. At almost 30" long, it still isn't concealable. So, I am going to take a look at the features specified for rifles, and offer some reasons why it is good for rifles to have them.
- Folding or telescoping stock: First I don't particularly like folding stocks, and the Mini-14 is the only rifle I have that has one. I don't like them because most of them don't lock up very tight, or allow the shooter a good cheek weld, which means that they generally make the rifle more uncomfortable to shoot. But, a lot of people like the way they look, and if you are in a situation where you want to save space, they can make sense. Telescoping stocks also have value as well. It is a basic fact of life that people come in different shapes and sizes, and because of that, telescoping stocks are a great thing. It means that two different people can shoot the same rifle, and just adjust the stock for a different length of pull, and do so comfortably. I didn't realize that it was a bad thing to be able to customize a firearm to the shooter so that they can have a proper stance and eye relief to shoot it accurately. Full sized stocks are too long for some people to shoot comfortably. It also means that you don't necessarily need to buy a youth firearm for a child to learn on, that he will eventually outgrow. You can buy a rifle with a folding stock, and extend it as the child grows, allowing him (or her) to keep that rifle they are familiar with.
- A pistol grip: I guess some people think that they make a rifle look scary, but for the past 60 or so years, rifles with pistol grips have been around, and commonly available. They actually make a rifle harder to conceal due to the added bulk, so they don't really effect that. If you are strong enough to shoot a rifle one handed with a pistol grip (not something I advocate by the way), then you could do it with a normal stock. It really is just a design that allows you to grip the rifle in a slightly different manner, and does nothing to enhance the capabilities of the rifle.
- Bayonet mount: I have yet to see a single crime report where a rifle with a bayonet is used in a violent crime. If anyone knows of any crimes committed with a rifle that had a bayonet attached in the last century, I would actually be very interested to see it. Bayonets add length to a rifle, and make them a bit more unwieldy in confined spaces, and pretty much impossible to conceal unless you want to cut yourself. Which should be a good thing, right? If telescoping and folding stocks aren't allowed because they make the rifle shorter and easier to hide, then isn't something that does the opposite desired? If a criminal is already using a rifle (which they rarely do anyways), what difference does it make if there is a bayonet or not on the end of it? I would be more concerned about the rifle attached to the bayonet if presented with the threat.
- Flash suppressor, or threaded barrel to accept one: Many rifles, including many bolt actions, have threaded muzzles in order to allow different muzzle attachments to be added. I personally think this prohibition was more about the ability to add a sound suppressor than the flash suppressor, since most sound suppressors use threading to attach. Sound suppressors, by the way, are a Class 3 restricted NFA item, that requires special procedures to purchase, and are already heavily controlled. But, back to flash suppressors. If I have to defend myself at night and am using a rifle, I would like to be able to see after the first shot, which a flash suppressor would help me be able to do. Most also are designed in such a way that gasses are controlled in a way to help reduce muzzle climb. I personally think that being able to control my firearm while I am firing it for the safety of myself and anyone else around me is a good thing.
- Grenade launcher: This is not actually talking about externally mounted launchers, like a M-203, but muzzle mounted devices. Before the advent of the standalone or under barrel style grenade launchers, many rifles had muzzle devices that you could mount on the muzzle of the rifle. Then, using special rounds, you would fire the rifle, and launch the grenade. It is not the most effective method to launch a grenade, because it means you can't use your rifle at the same time. And aside from that, I have never once seen such a grenade available to purchase by the general public, because explosive are very heavily controlled. So really, what difference does an extra inch or two of metal on the muzzle of my rifle make? Some rifles were just imported with them, its not like they add any capability to the rifle without a grenade to launch. Similar to the bayonets, if anyone knows of a muzzle mounted grenade launcher being used to be launch a grenade from a rifle in the last century, I'd be interested to hear about it.
None of these features really has anything to do with enhancing the capabilities of a rifle. They are all cosmetic features that some people don't like the way they look, they think that they make the rifle look "scary." To me it shows the absurdity of banning firearms based on just those features. Although I think firearms bans in general are absurd, because they only effect law abiding citizens and not criminals, so I am sure that I am biased.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Thoughts on Semi-Automatic Rifles; Part 1
I am going to spend probably the next few posts tackling the issues surrounding modern semi-automatic rifles, often given the misnomers of "assault rifles" or "assault weapons." Words have power, they are used to influence how people think about a topic. Some words develop negative connotations, and are then mis-used to confuse those who are not knowledgeable about the topic. So, I will be using proper terminology in this post, and would encourage everyone else to do the same. First "assault weapon" is not a classification for a type of firearm, it is just a term that was made up, probably because it can be used to scare and confuse people. Taking the definitions of the words from the Merriam-Webster dictionary:
Assault: a : a violent physical or verbal attack
b : a military attack usually involving direct combat with enemy forces
c : a concerted effort (as to reach a goal or defeat an adversary)
Weapon:
a : something (as a club, knife, or gun) used to injure, defeat, or destroy
b : a means of contending against another
So, an "assault weapon" is something used to injure, defeat or destroy in a violent physical or verbal attack. That could be pretty much anything, from a fist, to a rock, to a ballpoint pen to a thermonuclear weapon. If you can cause harm with it, it is an "assault weapon".
Assault rifles on the other hand, have an actual definition as a classification of firearms, coined by the Nazis in World War 2. An assault rifle is a select fire, shoulder fired rifle, that is fed by a detachable box magazine, and fires an intermediate cartridge. The major difference between civilian rifles and those used by the police and the military is that "select fire" bit. For those who may not understand the significance of that, a select fire firearm has some sort of fully automatic capability, either truly fully automatic, or a multiple shot burst capability. No matter which setting the firearm has (some have both burst and fully automatic) the gun has the capability of firing more than one round for every pull of the trigger.The vast majority of civilian rifles are semi-automatic only, which means one bullet fired for every pull of the trigger. These rifles can not be easily or safely converted to fully automatic without parts that are strictly regulated and require more stringent background checks than normal firearms purchases. They may look similar to actual assault rifles, but the way they operate and function is different. I did say vast majority of civilian rifles, because there are a very limited number of fully automatic firearms in civilian hands, but they have been heavily licensed, regulated and taxed since 1934, and no more have been made available since 1986. There are a lot of hoops to jump through for civilians to own one of these rifles, and it is a time consuming and expensive process.
So, jumping into some of the arguments that I have heard against semi-automatic rifles lately, and offering some counter points. "These rifles don't have any sporting or hunting use." That is actually quite false. Aside from the fact that the Second Amendment has nothing to do with sporting or hunting, I have gone hunting with an AR-15, as do hundreds of thousands of other Americans every year. The round is a bit anemic for deer, however, in the great land that is America, there is a lot more to hunt than deer. I have taken my AR-15 out coyote hunting, and for that it is a logical choice. It is accurate, easy to mount an optic and flashlight on for night and low light hunting, the .223 has great ballistics on coyotes, and the fact it is semi-automatic and has low recoil allows for fast follow up shots. The AR-15 is a very common varmint and predator rifle in America, and used by many for hunting. Also, it has taken over the world of high power service rifle competitions. A majority of competitors at Camp Perry for the National Matches now shoot AR-15 variants. It also is used by many competitors in a sport that is called 3-gun. So, the rifles have a use as both hunting and sporting arms.
"You don't need any more than X bullets to defend yourself." I really wish that I had the psychic ability of these people to predict what I may need in the future. If so, I would know when I would need a gun to defend myself, and not show up to the encounter. Nobody knows the future, and what encounters others may face. Last night around Cincinnati there was an armed home invasion that had six suspects (link to the news story: http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/news/local_news/6-suspects-remains-at-large-following-elmwood-place-home-invasion#ixzz2HwfsTfY8). That makes 7 or 10 rounds seem wanting. Anyone who has ever been in a gunfight can tell you that it is not like the movies. It is a very dynamic, chaotic, confusing, terrifying experience, and is very different than standing at a shooting range punching holes in paper. When you start adding multiple threats into the situation, being ham-stringed by magazine capacity limits could get law abiding people killed. Aside from that, what the media calls "high capacity magazines" are actually standard capacity, and have been for the past 50 or so years.
"The Founders couldn't have imagined rifles like this when they wrote the Constitution, they meant muskets!" Well, no, probably not, but, they had just defended themselves against a tyrannical government using munitions equal to or better than those being used against them. Colonists who were able to were encouraged to buy cannons, and a single 1770s cannon round can do far more damage than a single round from a 5.56 rifle. I am also pretty sure that the Founders could never have envisioned the advent of blogging or the internet, but like to think that this post, and all my other ones, are covered by the First Amendment. If not, I guess that I should buy a Gutenberg printing press and use that to share my thoughts with the world. The Founding Fathers were extremely wise men, and they intended for the Constitution to last for generations of Americans. Had they not done so, they would have specified restrictions on our rights based on technology at their times. As an extra historical note, the Pennsylvania long rifles that some Revolutionary War soldiers carried was superior to the issued Brown-Bess musket issued to the British troops. The advent of rifled bores meant that the rifles were more accurate at longer ranges than the muskets.
I think that is enough of a primer to get people thinking, if anyone has any feedback or questions, please let me know. You can either leave a comment on here, or find us on Facebook or Twitter (@lmtactical). The next post should look more in depth at modern semi-automatic rifles, and their uses, and purposes for civilians in modern society.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
The Illusion of Security
I realize that it has been a little while since I have written a new post, life got busy for a bit. But, now that the holidays are over, hopefully I will have more time to post.
With some of the recent tragic events, there has been talk about "gun free zones" and how best for organizations to provide security for people on their property. As someone who spends a good amount of time thinking about personal defense, I have come to a realization. Many in our society have come to accept the illusion of security instead of actual security measures. Now, I realize that any sort of static security is a constantly evolving challenge, since a threat is always going to evolve in order to counter any new security measures. But, that doesn't mean that security measures should not be attempted.
One common way that organizations create the illusion of security is to post a "No Guns" sign, as their state laws allow. They somehow believe that evil will see this door, and stop. Punishments and charges cary state by state for what happens if someone disobeys one of these "No Gun Zones", but are often a misdemeanor. And I am not advocating that any violate these signs. If a business doesn't want me to carry in their facility, that is their right as a property owner, and I respect their property rights, and will spend my money elsewhere. I also prefer obeying the law, because I am a law abiding person. Criminals, by definition, are not law abiding, and have already decided to break the law. If a criminal is going to commit a serious felony, like robbery, or murder, what makes anyone think that they are going to be stopped by a sign that will just add a minor misdemeanor? The punishments for that, if they are even charged with it, are a drop in the pond compared to those for the violent felony that they are going to commit. All that a "No Guns" sign does is keeps law abiding people from being able to defend themselves. Businesses that post these signs say that someone who has gone through the time, effort, background checks and money to be able to legally carry a firearm is apparently not trustworthy enough to carry that firearm the state says they can carry.
I'd like to highlight two places that I have seen these signs, that I think are absurd to illustrate my point. Those are jewelry stores, and banks. A note, it is legal to carry into a bank in Ohio as long as it is not posted, which is different from some states, and no, I do not frequent jewelry stores. But, pretty much every person walking into one of those establishments has some sort of business dealing with valuables that they need to engage in. So, if a bank or jewelry store is posted, a criminal knows that any law abiding citizen is not going to be carrying not only in the building, but also in the parking lot to and from the building. What is that posted bank or store doing to provide security for you in their parking lot? Even if they have a guard inside, the guard probably is not going to be aware of the situation in the parking lot, and have any ability to stop it. Criminals don't obey the law, and generally speaking, look for easy targets. Those signs are a good indicator of where they can find soft targets.
Aside from created the mis-named "gun free zone" (which is only gun free so long as everyone in it is law abiding), a lot of organizations create an illusion of safety by having security guards. Now, I am not attempting to denigrate security guards, it is an often thankless job, with long, boring hours. But, when was the last time you saw an armed security guard at a business? And what good is an unarmed security guard? What exactly is an unarmed security guard expected to do when evil walks into their post, intent or wreaking havoc? That is a very un-enviable position to be in. But are they going to tell the criminal to leave, or radio for help, or try to fight back unarmed for their hourly wage? When did we in this country accept the idea that giving someone a badge and a radio creates a safe environment? And why did we accept that? Are people so scared by the mere sight of a firearm that they can't fathom that firearms in the hands of good guys are one of the best ways to keep them safe? Even just having armed guards can act as a deterrent, forcing bad guys to seek out a softer target elsewhere.
Another very common measure is to install security or surveillance cameras. Which, may or may not be functional, and even if they are, they can do nothing to stop a crime in progress. They might be able to show the police who perpetrated the act in the aftermath, and what exactly happened. But that doesn't help at all during the actual crime. Their use as a deterrent could also be questioned, because they are easy to defeat. A criminal can wear a mask so as to avoid identification from the film, or could just note their locations during a prior scouting mission, and avoid them entirely.
These are just a few examples of how America has come to accept the illusion of security as a substitute for actual security measures. Some people have decided to accept the responsibility of carrying a firearm to provide for their own protection, and the protection of their loved ones. It is a grave responsibility that brings with it the possibility of severe consequences. And just because someone carries a gun does not mean that they should have an inflated ego or false sense of security. A firearm is just one tool in the defensive tool box, and is a tool of last resort. It is not the only answer, and it is always best if the situation can be defused or avoided without the need for a firearm. But, if you need to defend yourself from a violent attack by a determined attacker, it is often the best choice.
All that being said, next time you are just going about your day, utilize your situational awareness skills, and analyze the security measures being used, and how effective they actually are against an evil individual.
With some of the recent tragic events, there has been talk about "gun free zones" and how best for organizations to provide security for people on their property. As someone who spends a good amount of time thinking about personal defense, I have come to a realization. Many in our society have come to accept the illusion of security instead of actual security measures. Now, I realize that any sort of static security is a constantly evolving challenge, since a threat is always going to evolve in order to counter any new security measures. But, that doesn't mean that security measures should not be attempted.
One common way that organizations create the illusion of security is to post a "No Guns" sign, as their state laws allow. They somehow believe that evil will see this door, and stop. Punishments and charges cary state by state for what happens if someone disobeys one of these "No Gun Zones", but are often a misdemeanor. And I am not advocating that any violate these signs. If a business doesn't want me to carry in their facility, that is their right as a property owner, and I respect their property rights, and will spend my money elsewhere. I also prefer obeying the law, because I am a law abiding person. Criminals, by definition, are not law abiding, and have already decided to break the law. If a criminal is going to commit a serious felony, like robbery, or murder, what makes anyone think that they are going to be stopped by a sign that will just add a minor misdemeanor? The punishments for that, if they are even charged with it, are a drop in the pond compared to those for the violent felony that they are going to commit. All that a "No Guns" sign does is keeps law abiding people from being able to defend themselves. Businesses that post these signs say that someone who has gone through the time, effort, background checks and money to be able to legally carry a firearm is apparently not trustworthy enough to carry that firearm the state says they can carry.
I'd like to highlight two places that I have seen these signs, that I think are absurd to illustrate my point. Those are jewelry stores, and banks. A note, it is legal to carry into a bank in Ohio as long as it is not posted, which is different from some states, and no, I do not frequent jewelry stores. But, pretty much every person walking into one of those establishments has some sort of business dealing with valuables that they need to engage in. So, if a bank or jewelry store is posted, a criminal knows that any law abiding citizen is not going to be carrying not only in the building, but also in the parking lot to and from the building. What is that posted bank or store doing to provide security for you in their parking lot? Even if they have a guard inside, the guard probably is not going to be aware of the situation in the parking lot, and have any ability to stop it. Criminals don't obey the law, and generally speaking, look for easy targets. Those signs are a good indicator of where they can find soft targets.
Aside from created the mis-named "gun free zone" (which is only gun free so long as everyone in it is law abiding), a lot of organizations create an illusion of safety by having security guards. Now, I am not attempting to denigrate security guards, it is an often thankless job, with long, boring hours. But, when was the last time you saw an armed security guard at a business? And what good is an unarmed security guard? What exactly is an unarmed security guard expected to do when evil walks into their post, intent or wreaking havoc? That is a very un-enviable position to be in. But are they going to tell the criminal to leave, or radio for help, or try to fight back unarmed for their hourly wage? When did we in this country accept the idea that giving someone a badge and a radio creates a safe environment? And why did we accept that? Are people so scared by the mere sight of a firearm that they can't fathom that firearms in the hands of good guys are one of the best ways to keep them safe? Even just having armed guards can act as a deterrent, forcing bad guys to seek out a softer target elsewhere.
Another very common measure is to install security or surveillance cameras. Which, may or may not be functional, and even if they are, they can do nothing to stop a crime in progress. They might be able to show the police who perpetrated the act in the aftermath, and what exactly happened. But that doesn't help at all during the actual crime. Their use as a deterrent could also be questioned, because they are easy to defeat. A criminal can wear a mask so as to avoid identification from the film, or could just note their locations during a prior scouting mission, and avoid them entirely.
These are just a few examples of how America has come to accept the illusion of security as a substitute for actual security measures. Some people have decided to accept the responsibility of carrying a firearm to provide for their own protection, and the protection of their loved ones. It is a grave responsibility that brings with it the possibility of severe consequences. And just because someone carries a gun does not mean that they should have an inflated ego or false sense of security. A firearm is just one tool in the defensive tool box, and is a tool of last resort. It is not the only answer, and it is always best if the situation can be defused or avoided without the need for a firearm. But, if you need to defend yourself from a violent attack by a determined attacker, it is often the best choice.
All that being said, next time you are just going about your day, utilize your situational awareness skills, and analyze the security measures being used, and how effective they actually are against an evil individual.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Training When the Weather Turns Cold
Here in Ohio it is definitely fall, and the weather is starting to turn colder, which it will continue to do until everything thaws out next spring. So, I thought I would dedicate this post to giving some ideas for how to train when the weather is less than perfect.
The best way to train, is just like you would if the weather was perfect. Cold, windy, overcast day? Great, put on a coat, and go to the range! Not only is it more likely you will be the only person there, so you can optimize your training time, but I am a firm believer in training like you will fight. I will add a caveat here. I understand that some people view firearms as purely for recreation or sport, and don't really think about them as defensive tools. If you fall in that category, then maybe you are content with just shooting when it is nice outside, or indoors.
But, if you carry a firearm for defense, do you just carry it outside when it is 75 degrees and sunny? Then why would that be the only time that you go to the range? The changing seasons bring new challenges to carry a defensive sidearm, and your training should reflect that.
Odds are that you are wearing more, heavier layers of clothing. Have you practiced drawing with those extra layers on? There is a big difference between just sweeping a t-shirt out of the way, as opposed to a winter coat. The winter coat allows you to conceal a full-sized handgun easier, but also complicates the draw. So, go to the range wearing your seasonally appropriate outerwear, and practice drawing, and firing in it. Are the sleeves positioned in such a way that you can move adequately to draw and fire? Or do they restrict your movement?
Equally important, do you wear gloves when your hands get cold? When is the last time that you tried drawing and shooting your handgun, or even just shooting your handgun, with those gloves on? Is the trigger guard on your pistol big enough that you can get your gloved finger into position? Do you know how to index your finger on the trigger to pull slow, steady, and straight to the rear while wearing your gloves? What about operating the rest of the controls on your pistol with gloves on? Or performing malfunction drills? Or reloads? If you are going to be wearing gloves, these are things you need to consider.
As the days get colder, they also get shorter. It is not uncommon for people to leave in the morning for work when it is dark, and then get back home after the sun has already set in the evening. If this sounds like your winter, when is the last time that you tried to do any low-light shooting? Does your pistol have night sights or a laser to help you properly index your shots before firing them? Have you taken the time to check the zero if it does? Are you carrying some sort of hand held flashlight to illuminate any potential targets?
These are all things that people who don't live in tropical paradises need to consider as the seasons change, because they should affect your gear, tactics and training. You don't necessarily need to go out to the range in a monsoon, but if you do, more power to your. You will almost certainly be the only person there. But, when we as humans experience discomfort, like being cold, we tend to start to internalize everything, and just focus on our own misery. If you go to the range when you are in such a state of mind, it will force you to stop internalizing, and focus on other things, like firearms safety, and how well you are shooting. So, it adds a little bit of adversity to your range trip, which will help you get outside you comfort zone, and push yourself, to increase your skills.
You can always hop in the car and crank the heater on the way home, so there really is no excuse for not training in less than perfect weather. It will teach you a lot about your gear, and more importantly, about yourself.
The best way to train, is just like you would if the weather was perfect. Cold, windy, overcast day? Great, put on a coat, and go to the range! Not only is it more likely you will be the only person there, so you can optimize your training time, but I am a firm believer in training like you will fight. I will add a caveat here. I understand that some people view firearms as purely for recreation or sport, and don't really think about them as defensive tools. If you fall in that category, then maybe you are content with just shooting when it is nice outside, or indoors.
But, if you carry a firearm for defense, do you just carry it outside when it is 75 degrees and sunny? Then why would that be the only time that you go to the range? The changing seasons bring new challenges to carry a defensive sidearm, and your training should reflect that.
Odds are that you are wearing more, heavier layers of clothing. Have you practiced drawing with those extra layers on? There is a big difference between just sweeping a t-shirt out of the way, as opposed to a winter coat. The winter coat allows you to conceal a full-sized handgun easier, but also complicates the draw. So, go to the range wearing your seasonally appropriate outerwear, and practice drawing, and firing in it. Are the sleeves positioned in such a way that you can move adequately to draw and fire? Or do they restrict your movement?
Equally important, do you wear gloves when your hands get cold? When is the last time that you tried drawing and shooting your handgun, or even just shooting your handgun, with those gloves on? Is the trigger guard on your pistol big enough that you can get your gloved finger into position? Do you know how to index your finger on the trigger to pull slow, steady, and straight to the rear while wearing your gloves? What about operating the rest of the controls on your pistol with gloves on? Or performing malfunction drills? Or reloads? If you are going to be wearing gloves, these are things you need to consider.
As the days get colder, they also get shorter. It is not uncommon for people to leave in the morning for work when it is dark, and then get back home after the sun has already set in the evening. If this sounds like your winter, when is the last time that you tried to do any low-light shooting? Does your pistol have night sights or a laser to help you properly index your shots before firing them? Have you taken the time to check the zero if it does? Are you carrying some sort of hand held flashlight to illuminate any potential targets?
These are all things that people who don't live in tropical paradises need to consider as the seasons change, because they should affect your gear, tactics and training. You don't necessarily need to go out to the range in a monsoon, but if you do, more power to your. You will almost certainly be the only person there. But, when we as humans experience discomfort, like being cold, we tend to start to internalize everything, and just focus on our own misery. If you go to the range when you are in such a state of mind, it will force you to stop internalizing, and focus on other things, like firearms safety, and how well you are shooting. So, it adds a little bit of adversity to your range trip, which will help you get outside you comfort zone, and push yourself, to increase your skills.
You can always hop in the car and crank the heater on the way home, so there really is no excuse for not training in less than perfect weather. It will teach you a lot about your gear, and more importantly, about yourself.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
After Action Report: "The Bulletproof Mind" with LtCol. Dave Grossman
I had the opportunity yesterday to attend a Bulletproof Mind seminar, put on by Buckeye Firearms Association. In my opinion, training doesn't do any good if you don't take the time to analyze and reflect on the experience in some way, hence why I am writing an "after action report."
I will be upfront and say that I was biased in a positive way towards LtCol. Grossman even before attending this seminar. I have had a copy of his book "On Killing" for several years, and it actually traveled with me to both Iraq and Afghanistan. I read it a few times while in the service, once before my first deployment, and then again while I was in Afghanistan. And several others in my platoon read my copy as well, especially in Afghanistan, where we had a fair bit of kinetic contact with the Taliban. And it seemed to do a lot of good for a lot of us, and helped my friends understand what was going on in their heads. So, I already had high hopes for the seminar yesterday.
I am a firm believer that you have to train the "software" just as much as the "hardware" when it comes to self defense. If you are serious about self defense, you use your defensive mindset every single day. You may be carrying your gun every day, but you certainly don't need to shoot it in defense everyday. Your mind is actually your single best defensive weapon, and you can probably avoid or deter the vast majority of threats, just by being alert and observing your surroundings, and recognizing a threat when you see one. So, if all your self defense training consists of is going to the range and punching holes in paper, to me, it is deficient, and you should expand your horizons.
I am not going to try to paraphrase or give away any of what LtCol. Grossman covers in his seminar. But, some of the topics covered include:
- Current threats in society, and some of the causes for violence in society.
- Possible future threats that society will face
- Some of the Psychological aspects of self defense
- Physiological reactions to threats
- The psychological aftermath of a defensive shooting
I really enjoyed the seminar, and got a lot out of it. I think that it was a good reminder of why I go through the daily hassle of strapping on a pistol before I head out the door. If you have been getting lax in your carry habits, it might be a good thing to attend the seminar. I would also very highly encourage any recently returned veterans who have been deployed to combat overseas to attend, as someone who fits that category, I found it extremely worthwhile. I personally also think that it could be quite beneficial to someone who is on the fence about carrying for self defense, or even anti-gun people, if they would attend. I think it could help pull the wool from over their eyes, and see what is going on in society. LtCol. Grossman conveys the information in an intelligent manner without any false bravado, and does an excellent job of keeping the crowd involved and interested.
So, if you have a chance to attend one of these seminars, or anything else presented by LtCol Grossman, I would highly recommend you take the chance. It is just as valuable as a day at the range, and will help round out your defensive training, adding more tools to your tool box. I actually thought the day went extremely fast, and at no point was looking at my watch wondering when it was going to end. I also like that the BFA does this as a fundraiser, it is well worth the money, and I have no problems with giving them money with all the work they have done for us in Ohio, especially the month before an election. You can also pick up his books, or some books he was written forwards or had other input on, up at the seminar without needing to pay for shipping (I bought a copy of "On Combat," and added several more to my wishlist.) And, if you have an old dog-eared copy of one of his books that traveled the world with you you can probably get it signed, and have a minute with him to talk about where the book has been.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Pushing Yourself at the Range
Many of us, myself included, do not get to the shooting range nearly as often as we want to. Of course, if I had my choice, I'd be at the range every day. So, that means that we need to make the most of our time on the range. A caveat here, if you do not have a solid foundation of skills, go back and read my last post, about building up basic shooting skills, before you attempt to push your comfort level. But, if you can consistently hit where you want during slow fire at a static range, then start challenging yourself. Remember that safety is always paramount while you are handling firearms, and all the rules of firearms safety should be obeyed at all times. Also, be sure to obey the rules of whatever range you are shooting at. I am fortunate enough to belong to a private shooting club that is more lenient on what they allow than many indoor or public ranges that don't allow things like drawing from a holster on the range.
So, what are some things you can do to challenge yourself at the range? The easiest that can be done at almost any range is increasing the distance, and/or decreasing target size. Decreasing the target size can fairly closely simulate extending the range you are shooting at. It isn't exact or perfect, as somethings like wind calls, and learning the trajectory of the bullets flight can really only be learned by shooting at longer ranges. But, it still will present more of a challenge. If you have the ability to shoot at longer ranges, then take advantage of that, and work your way out to longer and longer distances. On my last shooting trip, here was one of my shooting positions:
I was shooting a pistol, the Ruger Mark III .22/45, at 50 yards, supported on the hood of my vehicle. Yes, those white things in the distance, specifically the rectangle in the center of the 5 targets, was my target, at this range, with that pistol. I worked my way out to 50 yards during my range time. Everything under 25 yards was done offhand, standing with no support. But, I made sure I had good groups at 7, 10, 15, and 25 yards. For me, I considered good groups to be all rounds within 2-3 inches, while keeping up a tempo of a shot every couple seconds. After I was getting the results I wanted at 25 yards, I decided to move back to 50. I have shot a pistol at 50 yards before, but I was really more of making noise than seriously attempting to make longer than normal pistol shots. I did also allow myself the use of a support device (the hood of my vehicle), while utilizing proper cover for these shots. The odds of ever needing to defend myself with a pistol at a distance of 50 yards, while I have a vehicle handy are probably approximately 0%, but, it seemed like a good experiment. And at any distance, if I can move to cover and support my shooting position, I will. So, how did I shoot?
I fired several magazines from this position, but this was the first one, so it seemed the most fair to put a picture of it up there. All 10 rounds were on the piece of paper, and if you take out the flier at the bottom, it is about a 4 1/2" group, which I am pretty happy with at that distance. I wasn't using premium ammo or anything either, just normal Federal bulk pack high-velocity .22:
So, what are some things you can do to challenge yourself at the range? The easiest that can be done at almost any range is increasing the distance, and/or decreasing target size. Decreasing the target size can fairly closely simulate extending the range you are shooting at. It isn't exact or perfect, as somethings like wind calls, and learning the trajectory of the bullets flight can really only be learned by shooting at longer ranges. But, it still will present more of a challenge. If you have the ability to shoot at longer ranges, then take advantage of that, and work your way out to longer and longer distances. On my last shooting trip, here was one of my shooting positions:
I was shooting a pistol, the Ruger Mark III .22/45, at 50 yards, supported on the hood of my vehicle. Yes, those white things in the distance, specifically the rectangle in the center of the 5 targets, was my target, at this range, with that pistol. I worked my way out to 50 yards during my range time. Everything under 25 yards was done offhand, standing with no support. But, I made sure I had good groups at 7, 10, 15, and 25 yards. For me, I considered good groups to be all rounds within 2-3 inches, while keeping up a tempo of a shot every couple seconds. After I was getting the results I wanted at 25 yards, I decided to move back to 50. I have shot a pistol at 50 yards before, but I was really more of making noise than seriously attempting to make longer than normal pistol shots. I did also allow myself the use of a support device (the hood of my vehicle), while utilizing proper cover for these shots. The odds of ever needing to defend myself with a pistol at a distance of 50 yards, while I have a vehicle handy are probably approximately 0%, but, it seemed like a good experiment. And at any distance, if I can move to cover and support my shooting position, I will. So, how did I shoot?
I fired several magazines from this position, but this was the first one, so it seemed the most fair to put a picture of it up there. All 10 rounds were on the piece of paper, and if you take out the flier at the bottom, it is about a 4 1/2" group, which I am pretty happy with at that distance. I wasn't using premium ammo or anything either, just normal Federal bulk pack high-velocity .22:
Some other ideas if you want to push yourself at the range: Shoot while moving, or after pivoting. Move towards/away from the target, side to side, and at the diagonals (see my note on safe behavior above). Practice drawing and shooting. Practice drills like a double-tap, Mozambique or failure to stop drill. Practice multiple target engagement, where you have more than one target, and need to put rounds on each, in proper sequence, as fast as possible. Shoot with your non-dominant hand. Shoot from different positions than usual, shoot while using cover. Induce stress and fatigue, do calisthenics for 60 seconds before engaging your target.
Really the possibilities are endless, and limited only by your own imagination. But, if all you do is stand static at the range, square to the target, you are never going to challenge your abilities and allow them to grow so that you can use more advanced techniques. So, next time you find yourself at 7 yards, shooting slow fire, consistently putting all your rounds where you want them, find some way that your range allows to spice your range time up, and make the most of it. If you have solid fundamentals, you may surprise yourself.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Walk Before You Run
Shooting is actually a fairly complex activity, there are a lot of small things you need to be aware of and control in order to shoot well. Things like sight alignment and picture, your breathing, your position, trigger control, and follow through. If you don't take the time to build a solid foundation for your shooting skills, you will not be able to advance them to more advanced methods.
Everyone wants to go to the gun store, buy a gun, and then go straight to the range, and shoot precisely while hanging upside down on spy-rigging under a helicopter. That actually may be a bit of a stretch, but I think that is the attitude of some shooters. They don't want to take the time and build that solid foundation. But the truth is, if you can't shoot accurately during slow fire, you can't do it during rapid fire. And the same goes for movement, if you can't shoot where you want while you are standing still, you aren't going to be able to do it while you are moving. So, while you may want to go straight to more advanced techniques and skills for self defense, make sure you have the building blocks to do so.
If you don't know how to build those blocks, or you don't know why your bullets aren't going where you want, find someone who knows how to teach others to shoot that is willing to help you. Rifle and pistol shooting share most of the same fundamentals, becoming better at one will help you become better at the other. Shotguns have a few more differences, but becoming a better shooter in any discipline will help you across the board, provided you remember the differences. But some sort of basic instruction will help inexperienced shooters build a solid foundation so that they can move on to more advanced skills.
I can often look at a student's target, and identify what the problem is just by seeing where their hits are at the range. Most of the common issues people have when shooting have tell-tale patterns that manifest themselves on the target, and experienced shooters can diagnose them. If you have problems with more than one of the fundamentals, focus on fixing one of them at a time. Aiming and trigger control are the two that should be focused on first, because they have the largest effect on downrange results, then you can work on breathing, hold control, and follow through, And as you become more proficient in one fundamental, you have to keep practicing that fundamental as you move on to the next one.
Only after you have the basics down, should you worry about things like drawing a pistol from a holster and shooting, or shooting on the move. It is going to take some time, and some rounds downrange in order to get to that point though. But I will cover more about pushing yourself and your comfort zone at the range in my next post.
Everyone wants to go to the gun store, buy a gun, and then go straight to the range, and shoot precisely while hanging upside down on spy-rigging under a helicopter. That actually may be a bit of a stretch, but I think that is the attitude of some shooters. They don't want to take the time and build that solid foundation. But the truth is, if you can't shoot accurately during slow fire, you can't do it during rapid fire. And the same goes for movement, if you can't shoot where you want while you are standing still, you aren't going to be able to do it while you are moving. So, while you may want to go straight to more advanced techniques and skills for self defense, make sure you have the building blocks to do so.
If you don't know how to build those blocks, or you don't know why your bullets aren't going where you want, find someone who knows how to teach others to shoot that is willing to help you. Rifle and pistol shooting share most of the same fundamentals, becoming better at one will help you become better at the other. Shotguns have a few more differences, but becoming a better shooter in any discipline will help you across the board, provided you remember the differences. But some sort of basic instruction will help inexperienced shooters build a solid foundation so that they can move on to more advanced skills.
I can often look at a student's target, and identify what the problem is just by seeing where their hits are at the range. Most of the common issues people have when shooting have tell-tale patterns that manifest themselves on the target, and experienced shooters can diagnose them. If you have problems with more than one of the fundamentals, focus on fixing one of them at a time. Aiming and trigger control are the two that should be focused on first, because they have the largest effect on downrange results, then you can work on breathing, hold control, and follow through, And as you become more proficient in one fundamental, you have to keep practicing that fundamental as you move on to the next one.
Only after you have the basics down, should you worry about things like drawing a pistol from a holster and shooting, or shooting on the move. It is going to take some time, and some rounds downrange in order to get to that point though. But I will cover more about pushing yourself and your comfort zone at the range in my next post.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Some Magazine Basics
One topic that people seem to confuse on a rather regular basis is what is a magazine, and what is a clip. In the picture above there are both magazines, and clips. First are the four magazines, starting from the left, a 30 round AK-variant magazine, a 30 round Magpul Pmag for 5.56 rifles, a 15 round Sig 226 9mm magazine, and a 6 round .45 ACP Glock 36 magazine. On the right side are two clips, a stripper clip holding 10 5.56x45 cartridges, and a 5 round stripper clip holding 7.62x54R for Mosin Nagant rifles. When looking at the two groups above, it is easy to see that there are some differences between magazines and clips.
So, what are the functions of each respectively? The four detachable box magazines are used to hold ammunition in a semi-automatic firearm, and able to be quickly replaced. They are inserted into the magazine well, and remain in place while operating the firearm. The clips, on the other hand, are used to reload magazines. The Mosin Nagant rifle, and the vast majority of other bolt action rifles, have non-detachable box magazines. This means that they are internal to the rifle, and are usually loaded through the top of the action, with the bolt pulled to the rear. Instead of having soldiers try to load loose rounds by hand in the heat of battle, most military bolt action rifles had the ability to be loaded with stripper clips. The bolt was pulled to the rear, the clip placed into some guides cut into the receiver, and then the rounds pushed down into the magazine.
Stripper clips can also be used to reload detachable box magazines. As you can see in the picture above, there are metal stripper clip guides that can be placed onto magazines. Then you insert the stripper clips into the guide, and simply push the bullets down into the magazine. Loading a 30 round AR-style rifle magazine with 3 stripper clips is a whole lot easier and faster than loading 30 loose rounds by hand.
Magazines really are rather simple mechanical devices, but the picture above shows the components, which are common for either pistol or rifle magazines. There is the magazine body, a piece of metal or plastic formed to hold the rest of the components. The magazine follower, which is the usually plastic piece on top of the spring, which is that the last round in the mag pushes against. The spring itself, which may or may not have a plate on the bottom to help keep it level and from binding, and the base-plate.
Even though they are so simple, there are a number of things that can cause a magazine to malfunction. In semi-automatic firearms, a very high percentage of malfunctions are magazine related. The springs can go bad with use over time, thankfully that is usually very easy and cheap to fix. The P-mag follower above is an anti-tilt follower, which is why it has the two long pieces of plastic on the sides. This keeps the follower level while in use, and keeps it from binding, preventing proper feeding. Not all magazines have that characteristic, so whenever possible, it is desirable to get magazines that do. For some magazines you can also buy aftermarket anti-tilt followers. Also, the feed lips which hold the rounds in the magazine at the top, and allow the bullet to line up with the bolt and chamber, can over time spread out due to the constant pressure on them, which can allow double feeds and other malfunctions to happen. Also the base plate can become damaged, and allow the spring and bullets to fall out of the bottom of the magazine, although that is fairly uncommon, unless the magazine suffers a hard impact, like being thrown on concrete.
Hopefully this clears up some of the confusion on the magazine vs clip dilemma, and provided some basic knowledge about one of the important aspects of semi-automatic firearms. Next time you think about asking someone to hand you a clip, remember the picture below.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
AR-15s: Iron Sights vs. Optics
For the purposes of this post, I am mostly going to focus on AR-15 style rifles, but the same can be applied to other platforms. But, if I started straying from that lane, I could have an almost endless blog post, so I will try to stick with AR's. By the way, "AR" does not stand for "assault rifle," it stands for "Armalite rifle." Armalite was the company that first produced Eugene Stoner's direct gas impingement rifle, and the name is now used to describe civilian, semi-automatic versions of the rifle, regardless of manufacturer.
So, one of the first things people want to know when they get a new AR seems to be: "What optic should I put on it?" And honestly, my answer to that question for a new user is usually not to put one on. As I will outline below, I am not anti-optic. I do believe, however, that you should always learn iron sights before you move on to other aiming techniques. That applies to lasers on pistols, as well as optics on rifles. 99% of pistols you pick up will have iron sights. For rifles that percentage is lower because a lot of rifles meant to have scopes mounted don't come with sights. But, if given the chance, you should still learn them, and you should have them on your rifle.
So, what are some advantages/disadvantages of iron sights? First the good, when it comes to the traditional AR set-up. They can be very accurate, in Marine Corps boot camp recruits shoot out to 500 yards with iron sights, at human sized targets, and most get a high percentage of hits. They also are generally easy to make adjustments on for different ranges, and for the wind. Once you get the sights zero'd, you can mark their positions, and it is easy to return to that zero after making adjustments. It is also generally very hard to break your iron sights, they are rather robust, and can take a good amount of abuse. The bad is that with the standard set-up, there is no contrast between the color of the sights, which can make proper sight alignment hard to achieve. Also, since it is a peep style sight, it is hard to shoot accurately with both eyes open at distance, which reduces your field of view. Also, there is no magnification to assist in aiming and target identification. Below is a picture of a typical AR-15 with the standard iron sights and carrying handle
In the last decade, the U.S. military began issuing optics to everyone in combat arms, and in my humble opinion as a former infantryman, that is one of the biggest technological leaps in infantry small arms post World War Two. Particularly the Marine Corps ACOG, which doesn't require batteries, is very rugged, easily compensates for range while helping you judge distance, and has a low power of magnification. For general use, I like the 3-4 power range for most rifles. If you are trying to enter into precision competitions, that probably isn't going to be enough magnification, but, for general use inside 600 yards or so, that should be plenty to get you on target. It is powerful enough that it is useful, but not so powerful it detracts from what modern optics do so well. My rifle currently has a no magnification red dot sight on it made by Aimpoint, however, if I wanted to, I could buy a 3 power magnifier with a flip to the side mount to use in conjunction with it.
So, what is it that they do so well? The first thing is they help with quick target acquisition. Not only do many of them have some sort of illuminated reticle, it means you only have one focal plane to focus on, so there is no sight alignment that you need to take time to line up. You can also usually adjust the brightness and size of the dot, for different conditions or more precise shooting. And in low/no light conditions, the illuminated dot is much easier to use that black on black iron sights, allowing for faster, more accurate shots.
The next advantage has to do with something that is known as the Bindon Aiming Concept. I am not going to even attempt how the concept actually works inside our body, but with a red dot sight the advantages are quickly obvious. With a low magnification red dot or holographic optic, like 0-4 power, if you have the optic in front of your dominant eye, and have both eyes open, you don't really see the optic itself. Your sight picture is basically the dot or reticle floating in the air in front of you, and your hits go where you place the dot on the target. It is hard to explain in text, but very easy to show students, and it is very easy to tell when it clicks for students using optics. The faster target acquisition, better target identification abilities, and full use of peripheral vision are some of the main reasons I believe the military went to issued optics.
So, now for the downsides on optics. First, quality ones are expensive. The top holographic sights are made by EOtech, the top red dots by Aimpoint, and then Trijicon has their ACOG line, which are kind of fiber optic. You can look through their catalogs, but you are looking at spending at least a few to several hundred dollars for one of these optics. Next is that they can break, especially the ones from lower tier manufacturers. Also, the batteries in them can die, although with some it isn't too much of an issue. The Aimpoint I have on my AR-15 has a 50,000 hour battery life on some of the lower settings. And they add extra bulk and weight to your rifle.
Now, the good news, is that as you can see in the picture above, you don't actually need to choose between the two. Many people run both an optic, and what is know as a Back Up Iron Sight (BUIS). A BUIS is a stand alone rear sight, some of them fold, some of them don't, that replaces the rear sight in the traditional carrying handle. I prefer non-folding for most applications, because it is one less moving part to break, and I can transition instantly from the dot, to iron sights. This option really is only available if you have a removable carrying handle. If you have a rifle with a permanent carrying handle, I would recommend sticking with the iron sights. While they do make mounts that allow you to put an optic or scope on the carrying handle, that generally places the sight too hight above the bore axis of the rifle to work well. It also is generally to high to get a good solid cheek weld, and can make shooting a bit uncomfortable. But, back to removable carrying handle rifles, you can have both a BUIS, and an optic. If you want to run a full sized scope, you can still find a folding BUIS that can fit under the rear of the scope, so that you can take the scope of and use it if you need to. But I am of the opinion that you should always have a BUIS in case your optic fails, which also means you need to know how to use irons.
One of the great things about the AR family of rifles is that they are very versatile, and you can adapt them to fit a lot of different roles. From hunting, to target shooting, to high power competitions, to defensive usage. There are hundreds of different sight options for them, and you need to find the one that works best for you. But hopefully this post shed a little bit of light on the options, and will help guide you along the way to selecting the right one for you.
So, one of the first things people want to know when they get a new AR seems to be: "What optic should I put on it?" And honestly, my answer to that question for a new user is usually not to put one on. As I will outline below, I am not anti-optic. I do believe, however, that you should always learn iron sights before you move on to other aiming techniques. That applies to lasers on pistols, as well as optics on rifles. 99% of pistols you pick up will have iron sights. For rifles that percentage is lower because a lot of rifles meant to have scopes mounted don't come with sights. But, if given the chance, you should still learn them, and you should have them on your rifle.
So, what are some advantages/disadvantages of iron sights? First the good, when it comes to the traditional AR set-up. They can be very accurate, in Marine Corps boot camp recruits shoot out to 500 yards with iron sights, at human sized targets, and most get a high percentage of hits. They also are generally easy to make adjustments on for different ranges, and for the wind. Once you get the sights zero'd, you can mark their positions, and it is easy to return to that zero after making adjustments. It is also generally very hard to break your iron sights, they are rather robust, and can take a good amount of abuse. The bad is that with the standard set-up, there is no contrast between the color of the sights, which can make proper sight alignment hard to achieve. Also, since it is a peep style sight, it is hard to shoot accurately with both eyes open at distance, which reduces your field of view. Also, there is no magnification to assist in aiming and target identification. Below is a picture of a typical AR-15 with the standard iron sights and carrying handle
In the last decade, the U.S. military began issuing optics to everyone in combat arms, and in my humble opinion as a former infantryman, that is one of the biggest technological leaps in infantry small arms post World War Two. Particularly the Marine Corps ACOG, which doesn't require batteries, is very rugged, easily compensates for range while helping you judge distance, and has a low power of magnification. For general use, I like the 3-4 power range for most rifles. If you are trying to enter into precision competitions, that probably isn't going to be enough magnification, but, for general use inside 600 yards or so, that should be plenty to get you on target. It is powerful enough that it is useful, but not so powerful it detracts from what modern optics do so well. My rifle currently has a no magnification red dot sight on it made by Aimpoint, however, if I wanted to, I could buy a 3 power magnifier with a flip to the side mount to use in conjunction with it.
So, what is it that they do so well? The first thing is they help with quick target acquisition. Not only do many of them have some sort of illuminated reticle, it means you only have one focal plane to focus on, so there is no sight alignment that you need to take time to line up. You can also usually adjust the brightness and size of the dot, for different conditions or more precise shooting. And in low/no light conditions, the illuminated dot is much easier to use that black on black iron sights, allowing for faster, more accurate shots.
The next advantage has to do with something that is known as the Bindon Aiming Concept. I am not going to even attempt how the concept actually works inside our body, but with a red dot sight the advantages are quickly obvious. With a low magnification red dot or holographic optic, like 0-4 power, if you have the optic in front of your dominant eye, and have both eyes open, you don't really see the optic itself. Your sight picture is basically the dot or reticle floating in the air in front of you, and your hits go where you place the dot on the target. It is hard to explain in text, but very easy to show students, and it is very easy to tell when it clicks for students using optics. The faster target acquisition, better target identification abilities, and full use of peripheral vision are some of the main reasons I believe the military went to issued optics.
So, now for the downsides on optics. First, quality ones are expensive. The top holographic sights are made by EOtech, the top red dots by Aimpoint, and then Trijicon has their ACOG line, which are kind of fiber optic. You can look through their catalogs, but you are looking at spending at least a few to several hundred dollars for one of these optics. Next is that they can break, especially the ones from lower tier manufacturers. Also, the batteries in them can die, although with some it isn't too much of an issue. The Aimpoint I have on my AR-15 has a 50,000 hour battery life on some of the lower settings. And they add extra bulk and weight to your rifle.
Now, the good news, is that as you can see in the picture above, you don't actually need to choose between the two. Many people run both an optic, and what is know as a Back Up Iron Sight (BUIS). A BUIS is a stand alone rear sight, some of them fold, some of them don't, that replaces the rear sight in the traditional carrying handle. I prefer non-folding for most applications, because it is one less moving part to break, and I can transition instantly from the dot, to iron sights. This option really is only available if you have a removable carrying handle. If you have a rifle with a permanent carrying handle, I would recommend sticking with the iron sights. While they do make mounts that allow you to put an optic or scope on the carrying handle, that generally places the sight too hight above the bore axis of the rifle to work well. It also is generally to high to get a good solid cheek weld, and can make shooting a bit uncomfortable. But, back to removable carrying handle rifles, you can have both a BUIS, and an optic. If you want to run a full sized scope, you can still find a folding BUIS that can fit under the rear of the scope, so that you can take the scope of and use it if you need to. But I am of the opinion that you should always have a BUIS in case your optic fails, which also means you need to know how to use irons.
One of the great things about the AR family of rifles is that they are very versatile, and you can adapt them to fit a lot of different roles. From hunting, to target shooting, to high power competitions, to defensive usage. There are hundreds of different sight options for them, and you need to find the one that works best for you. But hopefully this post shed a little bit of light on the options, and will help guide you along the way to selecting the right one for you.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Selecting a Home Defense Shotgun
For well over a century now, one of the go-to firearms for home defense has been a shotgun. Over that time, a large number of myths have developed about shotguns, and their effectiveness and use. I am hoping in some of my future posts to address some of those myths. This post is going to focus on some of the characteristics you should look for in buying or assembling your own home defense shotgun.
Shotguns generally have two main uses in modern times. The first is for different types of hunting, and different types of clay pigeon shooting, like trap, skeet, and sporting clays. The second is for defensive use, either by law enforcement and the military, as well as by civilians. While you could take a shotgun suited for hunting and use it for defense as needed, that is not ideal, and neither is the reverse. Hunting/sporting shotguns can be any style of action, semi-automatic, pump, and break actions including side by sides and over-unders can all be found to fulfill this role. You can also on occasion find bolt action shotguns designed for deer hunting, which are kind of odd-balls, and don't really fit in with the rest of the types of shotguns. Common features on these shotguns regardless of actions include long barrels, usually over 26 inches, interchangeable choke tubes, and a small magazine capacity. Many jurisdictions limit the number of rounds a hunting shotgun can hold, often to three rounds. So, even though a standard Remington 870 pump action shotgun can hold 5 rounds, the magazine tube needs to be plugged in order to legally hunt. Be sure if you intend to hunt, you know the firearms laws and restrictions for the jurisdiction you intend to hunt in, because they vary throughout the nation. They also usually have simple sighting systems, like a plain bead front sight.
Defensive shotguns have different traits that make them more suitable for the role. They generally have shorter barrels, usually between 18.5 inches, and 20 inches. The shorter barrel makes the shotgun more maneuverable indoors, as well as helping clear doorways because there is less out in front of you for someone to grab, or for you to accidentally have sticking into a room, giving away your position. They also have larger magazine capacities where allowed by law, sometimes up to 8 rounds for a tube magazine, or 10 rounds for a detachable box magazine. The larger capacity does add some weight at the front of the gun, but doesn't add much bulk, and allows you to stay in the fight longer before reloading. They often do not have interchangeable choke tubes, and generally have a fixed choke, which has one of the more open patterns, like Improved Cylinder. There isn't a need for different chokes on a shotgun like this, because their intended use is usually at very close range. They can have more complex sighting systems, like rifle sights, night sight beads, or ghost ring sights. They also may have a weapon mounted light, and some way to carry spare ammunition on the shotgun. Below are some examples of home defense shotguns, a semi-auto Mossberg 930 SPX, pump action Remington 870, and a side by side Stoeger Coach Gun.
While you can use a hunting shotgun for defense, or a defense shotgun for hunting, it is not ideal to do so. It is possible to have one shotgun, and modify it for either use. This is easiest accomplished with a pump action shotgun. The two main contenders on the market today are the Remington 870, and the Mossberg 500. If I was only going to own one shotgun, it would be one of these two. As they come from the factory, both usually have a 26 or 28 inch barrel, and a 5 shot capacity. Both companies also have different grade shotguns, which get more expensive with the upgrades. The biggest difference between the base model 870 Express, and the 500, are the locations of the controls, including the safety. So, if you are looking for a shotgun, try to get your hands on both, and see which controls work best for you.
The base model is already set up pretty well for most kinds of hunting. The barrel is long enough to swing well and provide good patterns, and the shotgun often comes with a magazine plug to reduce capacity for hunting. You can also find 18.5 inch barrels for both of these shotguns readily available. By removing the plug, and swapping the longer barrel for an 18.5 inch barrel, you have a good choice for a home defense shotgun. That way you have one shotgun that can fill pretty much anything you need it to, with just the change of a barrel, which can even be accomplished without tools, in under a minute. If I was going to own just one shotgun, the above set up is what I would use.
There are a plethora of accessories on the market today for defensive shotgun, but I like to keep mine rather simple. I add a sling, a light source, and some way to carry extra ammo, and leave it at that. I covered weapon mounted lights in a previous post, but I think they serve a good purpose on a home defense shotgun, and are a good investment. You do need to ensure you buy a quality light and mount that will be able to withstand the recoil from a shotgun. And position the light in a place where you can activate it using your normal hand position during firing. They do make some excellent fore-end replacement units for pump action shotguns that allow you to operate the light with your forward hand, while cycling the weapon even.
For holding extra ammo you can add a side-saddle, which my 870 has, on the side of the reciever, or an elastic buttstock sleeve. Both work relatively well, and the elastic sleeve is not model specific. The slings that are designed to hold extra shells generally don't work, because they prevent proper sling use, as well as adding a swinging pendulum of weight under the shotgun that disturbs your aim. But, a quality sling that allows you to use your hands while maintaining control of the shotgun is a good idea.
I prefer the standard style buttstock on my shotgun. Most of the folding stocks I have encountered don't have a very tight lock up, and make noise and don't provide a good cheek weld. Similarly, I don't like pistol grip only stocks. You lose the ability to properly sight the shotgun, and it intensifies recoil. They look really cool in the movies, and have limited real world use for breaching shotguns, but for home defense, I like an actual buttstock that allows me to get a good cheek weld, distributes recoil throughout my body, and lets me use the sights on my shotgun. And fore-ends with pistol grips tend to feel a bit awkward to cycle, and add extra bulk to the shotgun.
I also don't like lasers on shotguns. With most shells, a shotgun fires a pattern of pellets, which spreads with distance. Unless you are shooting slugs, which have major over-penetration concerns for home defense, a laser is just going to give a general idea of where you will hit. Keep your home defense shotgun as simple as possible, it doesn't need a whole lot of bells and whistles. In fact, bells and whistles may detract from it's usefulness.
Which brings me to my next point. In the picture above, one of the shotguns doesn't look like the rest. That shotgun is a Stoeger Coach Gun. Some people may say that it is obsolete as a home defense shotgun in the 21st century, I would disagree with them, but there is a caveat. The advantage of a coach gun is that it's overall length is short, even shorter than my pump or semi-auto with their short barrels. It is also much lighter weight than either of the other two. And, since it has dual triggers, if you want or need to, you can shoot both barrels at once. Which brings me to my caveat. The reload of this style shotgun is rather slow, requires fine motor skills, and it has a very limited capacity of two shots. So, if you are going to use a shotgun like this for home defense, have something to back it up, like a defensive pistol, so after the first two rounds are fired, you can transition to something with more capacity if needed. This is a technique that goes back to at least the post-Civil War era in America, with a short side by side shotgun to begin an engagement, backed up by a handgun.
Hopefully this answered some of your questions about selecting a home defense shotgun. In future posts I hope to explore some related topics, such as shell selection, as well as addressing some of the myths surrounding shotgun usage. If anyone has any questions or comments, feel free to post them, and I will try to address them as soon as possible.
Shotguns generally have two main uses in modern times. The first is for different types of hunting, and different types of clay pigeon shooting, like trap, skeet, and sporting clays. The second is for defensive use, either by law enforcement and the military, as well as by civilians. While you could take a shotgun suited for hunting and use it for defense as needed, that is not ideal, and neither is the reverse. Hunting/sporting shotguns can be any style of action, semi-automatic, pump, and break actions including side by sides and over-unders can all be found to fulfill this role. You can also on occasion find bolt action shotguns designed for deer hunting, which are kind of odd-balls, and don't really fit in with the rest of the types of shotguns. Common features on these shotguns regardless of actions include long barrels, usually over 26 inches, interchangeable choke tubes, and a small magazine capacity. Many jurisdictions limit the number of rounds a hunting shotgun can hold, often to three rounds. So, even though a standard Remington 870 pump action shotgun can hold 5 rounds, the magazine tube needs to be plugged in order to legally hunt. Be sure if you intend to hunt, you know the firearms laws and restrictions for the jurisdiction you intend to hunt in, because they vary throughout the nation. They also usually have simple sighting systems, like a plain bead front sight.
Defensive shotguns have different traits that make them more suitable for the role. They generally have shorter barrels, usually between 18.5 inches, and 20 inches. The shorter barrel makes the shotgun more maneuverable indoors, as well as helping clear doorways because there is less out in front of you for someone to grab, or for you to accidentally have sticking into a room, giving away your position. They also have larger magazine capacities where allowed by law, sometimes up to 8 rounds for a tube magazine, or 10 rounds for a detachable box magazine. The larger capacity does add some weight at the front of the gun, but doesn't add much bulk, and allows you to stay in the fight longer before reloading. They often do not have interchangeable choke tubes, and generally have a fixed choke, which has one of the more open patterns, like Improved Cylinder. There isn't a need for different chokes on a shotgun like this, because their intended use is usually at very close range. They can have more complex sighting systems, like rifle sights, night sight beads, or ghost ring sights. They also may have a weapon mounted light, and some way to carry spare ammunition on the shotgun. Below are some examples of home defense shotguns, a semi-auto Mossberg 930 SPX, pump action Remington 870, and a side by side Stoeger Coach Gun.
While you can use a hunting shotgun for defense, or a defense shotgun for hunting, it is not ideal to do so. It is possible to have one shotgun, and modify it for either use. This is easiest accomplished with a pump action shotgun. The two main contenders on the market today are the Remington 870, and the Mossberg 500. If I was only going to own one shotgun, it would be one of these two. As they come from the factory, both usually have a 26 or 28 inch barrel, and a 5 shot capacity. Both companies also have different grade shotguns, which get more expensive with the upgrades. The biggest difference between the base model 870 Express, and the 500, are the locations of the controls, including the safety. So, if you are looking for a shotgun, try to get your hands on both, and see which controls work best for you.
The base model is already set up pretty well for most kinds of hunting. The barrel is long enough to swing well and provide good patterns, and the shotgun often comes with a magazine plug to reduce capacity for hunting. You can also find 18.5 inch barrels for both of these shotguns readily available. By removing the plug, and swapping the longer barrel for an 18.5 inch barrel, you have a good choice for a home defense shotgun. That way you have one shotgun that can fill pretty much anything you need it to, with just the change of a barrel, which can even be accomplished without tools, in under a minute. If I was going to own just one shotgun, the above set up is what I would use.
There are a plethora of accessories on the market today for defensive shotgun, but I like to keep mine rather simple. I add a sling, a light source, and some way to carry extra ammo, and leave it at that. I covered weapon mounted lights in a previous post, but I think they serve a good purpose on a home defense shotgun, and are a good investment. You do need to ensure you buy a quality light and mount that will be able to withstand the recoil from a shotgun. And position the light in a place where you can activate it using your normal hand position during firing. They do make some excellent fore-end replacement units for pump action shotguns that allow you to operate the light with your forward hand, while cycling the weapon even.
For holding extra ammo you can add a side-saddle, which my 870 has, on the side of the reciever, or an elastic buttstock sleeve. Both work relatively well, and the elastic sleeve is not model specific. The slings that are designed to hold extra shells generally don't work, because they prevent proper sling use, as well as adding a swinging pendulum of weight under the shotgun that disturbs your aim. But, a quality sling that allows you to use your hands while maintaining control of the shotgun is a good idea.
I prefer the standard style buttstock on my shotgun. Most of the folding stocks I have encountered don't have a very tight lock up, and make noise and don't provide a good cheek weld. Similarly, I don't like pistol grip only stocks. You lose the ability to properly sight the shotgun, and it intensifies recoil. They look really cool in the movies, and have limited real world use for breaching shotguns, but for home defense, I like an actual buttstock that allows me to get a good cheek weld, distributes recoil throughout my body, and lets me use the sights on my shotgun. And fore-ends with pistol grips tend to feel a bit awkward to cycle, and add extra bulk to the shotgun.
I also don't like lasers on shotguns. With most shells, a shotgun fires a pattern of pellets, which spreads with distance. Unless you are shooting slugs, which have major over-penetration concerns for home defense, a laser is just going to give a general idea of where you will hit. Keep your home defense shotgun as simple as possible, it doesn't need a whole lot of bells and whistles. In fact, bells and whistles may detract from it's usefulness.
Which brings me to my next point. In the picture above, one of the shotguns doesn't look like the rest. That shotgun is a Stoeger Coach Gun. Some people may say that it is obsolete as a home defense shotgun in the 21st century, I would disagree with them, but there is a caveat. The advantage of a coach gun is that it's overall length is short, even shorter than my pump or semi-auto with their short barrels. It is also much lighter weight than either of the other two. And, since it has dual triggers, if you want or need to, you can shoot both barrels at once. Which brings me to my caveat. The reload of this style shotgun is rather slow, requires fine motor skills, and it has a very limited capacity of two shots. So, if you are going to use a shotgun like this for home defense, have something to back it up, like a defensive pistol, so after the first two rounds are fired, you can transition to something with more capacity if needed. This is a technique that goes back to at least the post-Civil War era in America, with a short side by side shotgun to begin an engagement, backed up by a handgun.
Hopefully this answered some of your questions about selecting a home defense shotgun. In future posts I hope to explore some related topics, such as shell selection, as well as addressing some of the myths surrounding shotgun usage. If anyone has any questions or comments, feel free to post them, and I will try to address them as soon as possible.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Thoughts On Taking Cover
I realize that it has been a couple of weeks since the last post, but hopefully things have settled down for me enough that I can get back to my post a week goal.
In this post I am going to go over something that needs consideration relating to having a defensive mindset and situational awareness. And that is the difference between cover and concealment.
Concealment is a barrier that obscures you from the threat. If you are hiding behind a bush, or an interior wall, then you are behind concealment, not cover.
Cover is a barrier that protects you from the threat. If you are behind a mound of packed dirt, a cinder block wall, or the engine block of a vehicle, then you are most likely behind cover. Now, take note that I said most likely. That is because firearms come in a wide variety of powers. What provides you cover from a .22LR, may not be able to protect you from a 12 gauge slug.
So, what constitutes cover is a changing concept, and also cover can deteriorate with repeated hits. But, generally speaking, if there is a threat trying to shoot you, you should get behind the most solid piece of cover possible, and then evade or engage accordingly.
What I am not advocating is to sit there and try to determine what type of gun you are being shot at by, and then looking for appropriate cover, because there isn't time for that. But, a lot of what is used as cover in TV and the movies, is actually concealment. A car door is really just a couple pieces of sheet metal with some trim and glass, and can be penetrated with many handgun rounds. A wooden table or couch are definitely concealment, as is an interior wall, and most doors.
Some things that generally make good cover are packed dirt (there is a reason the military still uses sandbags), concrete, thick gauge metal, and thick trees and pieces of wood. Be aware of the threat of ricochet with any of the hard surfaces as well.
Pretty much the worst thing you can do if there is a lethal threat, is stand still. It can greatly increase your chances of survival if you move, especially towards cover. Concealment is better than standing still, but not as good as cover.
So make sure you understand the differences between cover and concealment, and learn how to recognize what cover is. If you have the opportunity, you may want to run some tests to see what kind of things qualify as cover, just make sure you do so in a safe manner. Also, you can check out the link to the "Box O' Truth" he has a lot of tests on penetration capabilities of different rounds, that may be rather eye opening.
In this post I am going to go over something that needs consideration relating to having a defensive mindset and situational awareness. And that is the difference between cover and concealment.
Concealment is a barrier that obscures you from the threat. If you are hiding behind a bush, or an interior wall, then you are behind concealment, not cover.
Cover is a barrier that protects you from the threat. If you are behind a mound of packed dirt, a cinder block wall, or the engine block of a vehicle, then you are most likely behind cover. Now, take note that I said most likely. That is because firearms come in a wide variety of powers. What provides you cover from a .22LR, may not be able to protect you from a 12 gauge slug.
So, what constitutes cover is a changing concept, and also cover can deteriorate with repeated hits. But, generally speaking, if there is a threat trying to shoot you, you should get behind the most solid piece of cover possible, and then evade or engage accordingly.
What I am not advocating is to sit there and try to determine what type of gun you are being shot at by, and then looking for appropriate cover, because there isn't time for that. But, a lot of what is used as cover in TV and the movies, is actually concealment. A car door is really just a couple pieces of sheet metal with some trim and glass, and can be penetrated with many handgun rounds. A wooden table or couch are definitely concealment, as is an interior wall, and most doors.
Some things that generally make good cover are packed dirt (there is a reason the military still uses sandbags), concrete, thick gauge metal, and thick trees and pieces of wood. Be aware of the threat of ricochet with any of the hard surfaces as well.
Pretty much the worst thing you can do if there is a lethal threat, is stand still. It can greatly increase your chances of survival if you move, especially towards cover. Concealment is better than standing still, but not as good as cover.
So make sure you understand the differences between cover and concealment, and learn how to recognize what cover is. If you have the opportunity, you may want to run some tests to see what kind of things qualify as cover, just make sure you do so in a safe manner. Also, you can check out the link to the "Box O' Truth" he has a lot of tests on penetration capabilities of different rounds, that may be rather eye opening.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
A Secret For Getting a Good Deal on Pistols
Firearms are a very front-end heavy investment, and there is no way around that. For a self defense handgun, I truly believe that you should buy the best pistol you can afford, after all, you are depending on it to protect your life if you ever need to use it. Pretty much all of the firearms from reputable makers that I would feel comfortable carrying for defense, are in the $350 and up range, with a couple of exceptions. And for someone who isn't a "gun person" that sounds like a lot of money to spend on a pistol.
But the truth of it is, that a pistol from a reputable manufacturer is going to be better made, and have better features. It will be constructed of better materials, and probably has a good warranty from the maker (you can verify this before buying by seeing what the manufacturer's warranty policy is). And a firearm from a reputable maker will last a lifetime of shooting for the average user. So, if I have a $400 handgun, that I use for 40 years, it works out to under a dollar a month of use. Which is why saving up and buying a quality handgun is always a good idea.
Now, a lot of the more common and popular handgun brands cost five hundred dollars or more, with several thousand dollars being possible. And that is a lot of money to spend on a handgun, I understand that. So, I have found a way to get quality made firearms at a much lower cost than retail for a new gun. Within the used gun market, are what are known as "police trade in guns," and these are often some of the best buys you can make.
When a police department decides to switch out firearms platforms, often their old duty guns get sold to dealers at low cost. This means that these batches of police trade ins are comprised of firearms that have been in common use with law enforcement in the past decade. This isn't just limited to pistols either, I have also seen police trade in batches of Ruger Mini-14's, and Remington 870 Police shotguns. I have also seen most of the sidearms that people commonly want for defensive purposes, like pistols from Sig Sauer, Glock Smith and Wesson semi-automatics and revolvers, Beretta and Kahr. These firearms often sell cheaper than a normal used gun of the same model, because the dealers buy them in bulk. Often they sell for half or two-thirds of the new price. For example, in the past I picked up a $1,000 Sig 226 in 9mm for five hundred dollars. A lot of these pistols also have night sights on them, because they were used by police departments, and while they aren't as bright as new night sights, they are often still usable.
There are a few downsides to the police trade in firearms. First of all, is that they generally have some finish wear. These pistols have generally been carried a lot, and shot very little (usually only for yearly qualifications), so they have holster wear. I don't really have a problem with these, because my firearms are tools, and they are going to acquire holster wear from use. The other main problem is that you don't really get choices on what options you get. If you go on Sig Sauer's website, you will see that they have a lot of different trigger styles, and upgrade packages for the 226. The 226 that I bought was the normal variant, with their traditional DA/SA trigger. So, if you want a particular upgraded model, police trade ins probably aren't for you. You also don't know how many rounds the pistol has had through it, and every so often springs do need replaced in pistols, especially your recoil spring. But with the money you save, you can spend a few dollars for a new recoil spring. Another issue is that usually larger dealers buy up the batches of trade ins, so you either need to live close to them, or pay a transfer fee to your local gun store.
Overall, I have found police trade ins to be an excellent value, and a way to buy pistols that I may not be otherwise able to afford. I can tolerate some finish wear and needing to replace a couple of springs, in able to get a great functioning and shooting firearm. And here is a picture of some of my favorite police trade in pistols: The top row is a Smith and Wesson Model 64 revolver, and the aforementioned Sig 226 9mm (you can see some finish wear on the muzzle end of the slide) and the bottom row is a Glock 36, and Sig 220. Notice that with the Glock finish, and the stainless steel on the Model 64 the finish looks fine.
But the truth of it is, that a pistol from a reputable manufacturer is going to be better made, and have better features. It will be constructed of better materials, and probably has a good warranty from the maker (you can verify this before buying by seeing what the manufacturer's warranty policy is). And a firearm from a reputable maker will last a lifetime of shooting for the average user. So, if I have a $400 handgun, that I use for 40 years, it works out to under a dollar a month of use. Which is why saving up and buying a quality handgun is always a good idea.
Now, a lot of the more common and popular handgun brands cost five hundred dollars or more, with several thousand dollars being possible. And that is a lot of money to spend on a handgun, I understand that. So, I have found a way to get quality made firearms at a much lower cost than retail for a new gun. Within the used gun market, are what are known as "police trade in guns," and these are often some of the best buys you can make.
When a police department decides to switch out firearms platforms, often their old duty guns get sold to dealers at low cost. This means that these batches of police trade ins are comprised of firearms that have been in common use with law enforcement in the past decade. This isn't just limited to pistols either, I have also seen police trade in batches of Ruger Mini-14's, and Remington 870 Police shotguns. I have also seen most of the sidearms that people commonly want for defensive purposes, like pistols from Sig Sauer, Glock Smith and Wesson semi-automatics and revolvers, Beretta and Kahr. These firearms often sell cheaper than a normal used gun of the same model, because the dealers buy them in bulk. Often they sell for half or two-thirds of the new price. For example, in the past I picked up a $1,000 Sig 226 in 9mm for five hundred dollars. A lot of these pistols also have night sights on them, because they were used by police departments, and while they aren't as bright as new night sights, they are often still usable.
There are a few downsides to the police trade in firearms. First of all, is that they generally have some finish wear. These pistols have generally been carried a lot, and shot very little (usually only for yearly qualifications), so they have holster wear. I don't really have a problem with these, because my firearms are tools, and they are going to acquire holster wear from use. The other main problem is that you don't really get choices on what options you get. If you go on Sig Sauer's website, you will see that they have a lot of different trigger styles, and upgrade packages for the 226. The 226 that I bought was the normal variant, with their traditional DA/SA trigger. So, if you want a particular upgraded model, police trade ins probably aren't for you. You also don't know how many rounds the pistol has had through it, and every so often springs do need replaced in pistols, especially your recoil spring. But with the money you save, you can spend a few dollars for a new recoil spring. Another issue is that usually larger dealers buy up the batches of trade ins, so you either need to live close to them, or pay a transfer fee to your local gun store.
Overall, I have found police trade ins to be an excellent value, and a way to buy pistols that I may not be otherwise able to afford. I can tolerate some finish wear and needing to replace a couple of springs, in able to get a great functioning and shooting firearm. And here is a picture of some of my favorite police trade in pistols: The top row is a Smith and Wesson Model 64 revolver, and the aforementioned Sig 226 9mm (you can see some finish wear on the muzzle end of the slide) and the bottom row is a Glock 36, and Sig 220. Notice that with the Glock finish, and the stainless steel on the Model 64 the finish looks fine.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Weapon mounted vs. handheld light sources
As a civilian, it is very important to be able to identify a threat before you engage your target. The majority of civilian defensive conditions occur in low-light or night time settings, so having some sort of illumination device handy is important.
Night sights and lasers can both be great additions to a defensive sidearm. Night sights contain a small amount of a substance called Tritium in them, which glows in the dark. That allows you to obtain proper sight alignment, even in the dark. Another added side effect is that if you have them on your nightstand gun, you can use them as a reference point in the middle of the night to know where the pistol is, without the need to fumble around blindly. The main downside is cost, but usually for $100-150 you can get a set installed on your pistol, and they also make rifle front sight posts and shotgun beads with tritium. The other downside is that they don't last forever. Tritium has a relatively short half-life, and so the sights dim over time, and need replaced after 10 or 15 years or so.
Lasers can also have definite advantages for defensive use. They make a very visible aiming point on your target, and you don't really need to worry about sights. In target range practice, you should work on mastering aiming with sights before you rely on the laser, but, in at the average ranges in a defense scenario, a laser is a definite advantage. They also have their downsides. They are more expensive than night sights, and run off batteries, which can fail when you need them most (which is why you should know how to use your iron sights too). Also, due to the trajectory at which a bullet travels after it leaves the barrel, which is some variation of a parabolic arch, the laser is only truly on target at a set distance. Aside from that set distance, some sort of Kentucky windage is needed.
Now that I have covered some basics on those sighting aids, back to illumination sources. You have two main options, a weapon-mounted light (WML), or a handheld flashlight, both have advantages and disadvantages, which I will cover. I am not going to attempt to convey proper methods for using/holding flashlights in this post, that is something best covered in actual training.
The handheld flashlight is the simpler of the two. Some traits that you want to look for if you are going to buy a flashlight for defensive use are a momentary switch, something durable, with a long battery life. Surefire, Streamlight and Fenix all make suitable flashlights. You want something small and light enough to carry and conceal, but not so small that it isn't bright enough to use. For reference, I often carry a Surefire 6P LED, or a G2. I prefer flashlights with tail end on/off switches, I find them easier to manipulate properly. I like them to have a temporary on/off, and as well as a constant on/off capability. That way I can use light sparingly if needed, or leave it on without my hand cramping up from holding it too long. The main disadvantage of a handheld light is that you need to modify your grip on whatever firearm you are using, be it a handgun or a long-gun. It is also one more thing that you need to carry and control. But it can also serve as an improvised weapon in your off-hand, for using hammer-fist strikes or a similar technique at close range. Also, with the brightness of modern hand held flashlights, you can use them to temporarily blind/disorient the threat.
WML's seem to be more en vogue these days, sticking with the current "tacti-cool" craze in the firearms industry. The advantage to them is that they let you keep both hands on your firearm for a more solid grip, if they are set up properly, you don't even need to modify your grip. And it keeps everything contained in one package, there is nothing additional you need to grab. One downside is that if you mount a WML on a pistol, it adds bulk and weight onto the sidearm. If you are carrying the pistol concealed, that is a big consideration. Make sure that you function test your sidearm with the light on, it order to make sure that it operates properly with the different balance and weight distribution. You also need to get a specially made holster in order to fit the combo, because you aren't going to have time to put the light on the gun in a lethal situation. This adds cost, as well as makes concealment more difficult. For long-guns, WML's make more sense to me, mounted far forward to reduce barrel shadow, and in a position where I can either operate the tail switch with my forward hand, or with a pressure switch running back to where my hand normally is, or both. Pressure switches can be great, but they can fail, the wiring can go bad, and they have a higher likelihood of getting bumped accidentally when you don't want them to. However, either on a pistol or long-gun, you need to make sure you buy a quality light that is capable of absorbing repeated recoil without damaging the bulb and internals. This is especially true for a light you are going to mount on a gun with a high amount of recoil, like a 12 gauge shotgun.
But, the major difference between the two, and biggest disadvantage of the WML is this: you have to point your gun at something in order to illuminate it. If that thing is a threat, then that is okay. But if that thing isn't a threat, then it is a major issue to muzzle someone or something with a loaded firearm. A cardinal rule of gun safety is "don't point the gun at anything you aren't willing to destroy." And if you are searching into dark corners with a WML, you are almost certainly violating that rule. A handheld light can be used independently of the firearm, you can scan the whole area while keeping the gun pointed in a safe direction. You can illuminate an area in a non-threat scenario, without pulling out your sidearm. Or by using proper technique, you can use a handheld light to illuminate the area your muzzle is pointing.
I do believe that both systems can serve an important role, but you need to be cognizant of which one is proper for your situation. When I am out and about, I usually have some sort of handheld light on my person, and use it fairly often for simply illuminating something. But, at home, my defensive long-guns have WML's on them, which I have trained to use during my time in the Marines, but I also keep a handheld light handy, and which one I will use depends on the situation.
Being able to identify your target, and also being able to control your muzzle are both very important in a high stress threat situation. I think that having some sort of light source handy, at least during low-light or night time is a good idea, for more reasons than just defensive use. I hope this has been informative, as always, if anyone has questions or comments, please feel free to contact me. Shoot straight.
Night sights and lasers can both be great additions to a defensive sidearm. Night sights contain a small amount of a substance called Tritium in them, which glows in the dark. That allows you to obtain proper sight alignment, even in the dark. Another added side effect is that if you have them on your nightstand gun, you can use them as a reference point in the middle of the night to know where the pistol is, without the need to fumble around blindly. The main downside is cost, but usually for $100-150 you can get a set installed on your pistol, and they also make rifle front sight posts and shotgun beads with tritium. The other downside is that they don't last forever. Tritium has a relatively short half-life, and so the sights dim over time, and need replaced after 10 or 15 years or so.
Lasers can also have definite advantages for defensive use. They make a very visible aiming point on your target, and you don't really need to worry about sights. In target range practice, you should work on mastering aiming with sights before you rely on the laser, but, in at the average ranges in a defense scenario, a laser is a definite advantage. They also have their downsides. They are more expensive than night sights, and run off batteries, which can fail when you need them most (which is why you should know how to use your iron sights too). Also, due to the trajectory at which a bullet travels after it leaves the barrel, which is some variation of a parabolic arch, the laser is only truly on target at a set distance. Aside from that set distance, some sort of Kentucky windage is needed.
Now that I have covered some basics on those sighting aids, back to illumination sources. You have two main options, a weapon-mounted light (WML), or a handheld flashlight, both have advantages and disadvantages, which I will cover. I am not going to attempt to convey proper methods for using/holding flashlights in this post, that is something best covered in actual training.
The handheld flashlight is the simpler of the two. Some traits that you want to look for if you are going to buy a flashlight for defensive use are a momentary switch, something durable, with a long battery life. Surefire, Streamlight and Fenix all make suitable flashlights. You want something small and light enough to carry and conceal, but not so small that it isn't bright enough to use. For reference, I often carry a Surefire 6P LED, or a G2. I prefer flashlights with tail end on/off switches, I find them easier to manipulate properly. I like them to have a temporary on/off, and as well as a constant on/off capability. That way I can use light sparingly if needed, or leave it on without my hand cramping up from holding it too long. The main disadvantage of a handheld light is that you need to modify your grip on whatever firearm you are using, be it a handgun or a long-gun. It is also one more thing that you need to carry and control. But it can also serve as an improvised weapon in your off-hand, for using hammer-fist strikes or a similar technique at close range. Also, with the brightness of modern hand held flashlights, you can use them to temporarily blind/disorient the threat.
WML's seem to be more en vogue these days, sticking with the current "tacti-cool" craze in the firearms industry. The advantage to them is that they let you keep both hands on your firearm for a more solid grip, if they are set up properly, you don't even need to modify your grip. And it keeps everything contained in one package, there is nothing additional you need to grab. One downside is that if you mount a WML on a pistol, it adds bulk and weight onto the sidearm. If you are carrying the pistol concealed, that is a big consideration. Make sure that you function test your sidearm with the light on, it order to make sure that it operates properly with the different balance and weight distribution. You also need to get a specially made holster in order to fit the combo, because you aren't going to have time to put the light on the gun in a lethal situation. This adds cost, as well as makes concealment more difficult. For long-guns, WML's make more sense to me, mounted far forward to reduce barrel shadow, and in a position where I can either operate the tail switch with my forward hand, or with a pressure switch running back to where my hand normally is, or both. Pressure switches can be great, but they can fail, the wiring can go bad, and they have a higher likelihood of getting bumped accidentally when you don't want them to. However, either on a pistol or long-gun, you need to make sure you buy a quality light that is capable of absorbing repeated recoil without damaging the bulb and internals. This is especially true for a light you are going to mount on a gun with a high amount of recoil, like a 12 gauge shotgun.
But, the major difference between the two, and biggest disadvantage of the WML is this: you have to point your gun at something in order to illuminate it. If that thing is a threat, then that is okay. But if that thing isn't a threat, then it is a major issue to muzzle someone or something with a loaded firearm. A cardinal rule of gun safety is "don't point the gun at anything you aren't willing to destroy." And if you are searching into dark corners with a WML, you are almost certainly violating that rule. A handheld light can be used independently of the firearm, you can scan the whole area while keeping the gun pointed in a safe direction. You can illuminate an area in a non-threat scenario, without pulling out your sidearm. Or by using proper technique, you can use a handheld light to illuminate the area your muzzle is pointing.
I do believe that both systems can serve an important role, but you need to be cognizant of which one is proper for your situation. When I am out and about, I usually have some sort of handheld light on my person, and use it fairly often for simply illuminating something. But, at home, my defensive long-guns have WML's on them, which I have trained to use during my time in the Marines, but I also keep a handheld light handy, and which one I will use depends on the situation.
Being able to identify your target, and also being able to control your muzzle are both very important in a high stress threat situation. I think that having some sort of light source handy, at least during low-light or night time is a good idea, for more reasons than just defensive use. I hope this has been informative, as always, if anyone has questions or comments, please feel free to contact me. Shoot straight.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Why Do I Need Extra Ammo?
I hear this question on occasion from students: "Why do I need to carry spare ammo? I'm a great shot, and I don't go to bad parts of town, that just seems like too much trouble." So, in this post I am going to try to shed some light on why I believe it is prudent to carry spare ammunition for your defensive sidearm.
The first reason is that you really do not want to run out of ammunition in a gun fight. That is one of the worst things that can happen. If you are already developing a defensive mindset, and becoming aware of your surroundings, and carrying a pistol for defense, concealing an extra magazine or two really isn't any harder. Especially if you are carrying a snub nosed revolver, or a sub-compact semi-auto that has a capacity of 6 or more, this applies. You may be able to put all of your shots in the 10 ring at a static range, and that shows you have the fundamentals of shooting down very well. But life gets a lot different when there is someone shooting at you, with bullets cracking over your head, and your body gives you a massive dose of adrenaline and other chemicals into your blood stream. You get tunnel vision, you lose fine motor skills, you focus on odd aspects of what is going on, your heart-rate increases, you get out of breath easily. You should be moving, and your target is likely moving. That makes it significantly harder to be able to put your bullets where you want them. Additionally, you don't know how many threats you may face, it could be a sole attacker, but criminals rarely work alone. And there is no guarantee that one or two rounds will stop each threat, and you should shoot until the threat is stopped.
This is one of the reasons that you should push yourself in training, and take yourself out of your comfort zone. If your range lets you practice draws, shooting on the move, magazine reloads and malfunction drills, take advantage of that. Don't just stay static on the range and punch holes in paper. That way you can learn how to do complex things while under stress.
So, maybe you have a high-capacity semi-automatic handgun you carry, and you read that last paragraph thinking "If 17 rounds doesn't get me out of the situation, nothing will." Well, that is your opinion, however, with any box-magazine fed gun, the magazine is usually the weakest link in the cycle of operation. Magazines are mechanical and work based on springs, which means they can fail. And with a non-working magazine, your semi-automatic just turned into a single-shot pistol. The majority of malfunctions in a semi-automatic are magazine related. Or what if your magazine release latch somehow got pushed in during all the stress, and your magazine goes flying onto the deck? It is a lot easier to grab a new magazine from your waistline than scrambling in the mud for it. Or if the base-plate got knocked off of your magazine while grappling on the ground, and the spring, follower and bullets are now in the mud too? If for some reason your magazine or ammunition has failed, often the best solution is to replace it. So, having a spare magazine or two to reload with is an excellent idea.
So, maybe after that paragraph, you are thinking "I carry a revolver, so that doesn't apply to me!" In which case, refer back to the earlier paragraph, because you probably have a 5-6 round capacity. If you are in the revolver category, it is probably also a good idea to carry your spare rounds in some sort of device made to hold them. There are speed loaders, speed strips, and moon clips, and you need to find what works best for you, but all of them make the loading process much faster and easier. You don't want to be fumbling around in your pocket for loose rounds while you are reloading in a threat situation. For a revolver spare ammo is usually carried on the strong side, in order to facilitate a proper reload, as was taught to the military and police for decades.
For semi-automatic carriers, usually just taking a magazine and throwing it in your pocket is not ideal. The reason for that is that it means the magazine will not be in a consistent position when you grab it. Having your magazines in a consistent position will help make your reloads a lot faster. That way you can build solid muscle memory and know what your body needs to do in order to reload quickly. So, your magazines should be in a magazine carrier, preferably on your weak side, to facilitate a smooth reload. I usually buy double magazine pouches, and carry two spare magazines. That is a personal choice, and I decide if I am going to conceal one magazine, I can conceal two. But there are single magazine carriers available. An additional advantage of having the spare magazines on the weak side of the waistline is that it helps balance out the weight I am carrying, and actually makes it more comfortable for me to carry a full sized pistol. With just the pistol on my belt in a holster, after half a day or so, sometimes it gets uncomfortable, with the magazines opposite the pistol, I don't notice the weight all day.
I believe it is prudent for someone who takes defense seriously to carry at least one reload for their firearm. I don't think that as a civilian I need to carry the hundreds of rounds that I used to carry as a Marine infantryman in combat zones, however, a spare magazine or two still makes a lot of sense. If you have any comments or questions about this, please feel free to contact me or leave a comment.
EDIT: As a response to a comment below, questioning the viability of situations that would require more than 8 rounds, here is an addendum:
Steve,
Thank you for taking the time to read and respond.
Maybe it isn't the far fetched scenario of having to stare down 9 guys like Snake. Maybe it is one guy that is high on some strong drugs, like PCP, or a determined attacker.
The man who was supposedly on bath salts and eating another man's face was shot 4 times before the threat ended. And since a police officer shot him, it is fairly safe to assume it was with a service caliber weapon and modern hollowpoint ammo.
In the 1986 Miami FBI shootout, one suspect was shot 6 times, the other 12. That event is what prompted the FBI to go to more powerful, higher capacity pistols than the .38 revolvers most of their agents carried.
David Brown Jr, in Dallas Texas, killed one police officer and a bystander, before he was shot 9 times and killed by another officer. He was high on PCP. Once again, multiple rounds from a service caliber and defensive ammo.
I am aware that all of those examples are police shootings, and maybe you think they don't apply because of it. But, for information about performance of modern defensive ammo, that is one of the best sources. But one, or two determined attackers, or attackers high on something that makes them feel no pain, can easily take multiple shots before the threat is over.
Shot placement is key, but it is very hard to put a shot in the right place while moving away from the threat and towards cover, and with all that physiological stuff I mentioned before going on. The areas of the human body that need to be shot for instant incapacitation are rather small.
Some states do have a duty to retreat, and those requirements differ from state to state. And since I am not a lawyer and can not give legal advice, I am not going to comment on what the law may or may not say. Lethal threat scenarios are too dynamic and fluid to make a judgement call on something like that unless you have all the information.
But, I think that assuming the 6,7,8, rounds in your pistol is enough may be wishful thinking with the behavior some drugged up criminals exhibit.
I do agree that other sorts of training are very valuable as well. As a trainer, I am constantly looking for ways to improve my own skills. "If the only tool you have is a hammer, pretty soon everything starts to look like a nail" applies here. Beyond all the firearms disciplines, firearms retention, open hand skills, defensive knife skills, and improvised weapon skills are all excellent additions. And of course, developing an acute defensive mindset is the more important defensive training of all.
Thank you for your response. If you like what you read in my blog, feel free to share it with your friends. Hopefully this helped clear up any issues you had. Take care.
The first reason is that you really do not want to run out of ammunition in a gun fight. That is one of the worst things that can happen. If you are already developing a defensive mindset, and becoming aware of your surroundings, and carrying a pistol for defense, concealing an extra magazine or two really isn't any harder. Especially if you are carrying a snub nosed revolver, or a sub-compact semi-auto that has a capacity of 6 or more, this applies. You may be able to put all of your shots in the 10 ring at a static range, and that shows you have the fundamentals of shooting down very well. But life gets a lot different when there is someone shooting at you, with bullets cracking over your head, and your body gives you a massive dose of adrenaline and other chemicals into your blood stream. You get tunnel vision, you lose fine motor skills, you focus on odd aspects of what is going on, your heart-rate increases, you get out of breath easily. You should be moving, and your target is likely moving. That makes it significantly harder to be able to put your bullets where you want them. Additionally, you don't know how many threats you may face, it could be a sole attacker, but criminals rarely work alone. And there is no guarantee that one or two rounds will stop each threat, and you should shoot until the threat is stopped.
This is one of the reasons that you should push yourself in training, and take yourself out of your comfort zone. If your range lets you practice draws, shooting on the move, magazine reloads and malfunction drills, take advantage of that. Don't just stay static on the range and punch holes in paper. That way you can learn how to do complex things while under stress.
So, maybe you have a high-capacity semi-automatic handgun you carry, and you read that last paragraph thinking "If 17 rounds doesn't get me out of the situation, nothing will." Well, that is your opinion, however, with any box-magazine fed gun, the magazine is usually the weakest link in the cycle of operation. Magazines are mechanical and work based on springs, which means they can fail. And with a non-working magazine, your semi-automatic just turned into a single-shot pistol. The majority of malfunctions in a semi-automatic are magazine related. Or what if your magazine release latch somehow got pushed in during all the stress, and your magazine goes flying onto the deck? It is a lot easier to grab a new magazine from your waistline than scrambling in the mud for it. Or if the base-plate got knocked off of your magazine while grappling on the ground, and the spring, follower and bullets are now in the mud too? If for some reason your magazine or ammunition has failed, often the best solution is to replace it. So, having a spare magazine or two to reload with is an excellent idea.
So, maybe after that paragraph, you are thinking "I carry a revolver, so that doesn't apply to me!" In which case, refer back to the earlier paragraph, because you probably have a 5-6 round capacity. If you are in the revolver category, it is probably also a good idea to carry your spare rounds in some sort of device made to hold them. There are speed loaders, speed strips, and moon clips, and you need to find what works best for you, but all of them make the loading process much faster and easier. You don't want to be fumbling around in your pocket for loose rounds while you are reloading in a threat situation. For a revolver spare ammo is usually carried on the strong side, in order to facilitate a proper reload, as was taught to the military and police for decades.
For semi-automatic carriers, usually just taking a magazine and throwing it in your pocket is not ideal. The reason for that is that it means the magazine will not be in a consistent position when you grab it. Having your magazines in a consistent position will help make your reloads a lot faster. That way you can build solid muscle memory and know what your body needs to do in order to reload quickly. So, your magazines should be in a magazine carrier, preferably on your weak side, to facilitate a smooth reload. I usually buy double magazine pouches, and carry two spare magazines. That is a personal choice, and I decide if I am going to conceal one magazine, I can conceal two. But there are single magazine carriers available. An additional advantage of having the spare magazines on the weak side of the waistline is that it helps balance out the weight I am carrying, and actually makes it more comfortable for me to carry a full sized pistol. With just the pistol on my belt in a holster, after half a day or so, sometimes it gets uncomfortable, with the magazines opposite the pistol, I don't notice the weight all day.
I believe it is prudent for someone who takes defense seriously to carry at least one reload for their firearm. I don't think that as a civilian I need to carry the hundreds of rounds that I used to carry as a Marine infantryman in combat zones, however, a spare magazine or two still makes a lot of sense. If you have any comments or questions about this, please feel free to contact me or leave a comment.
EDIT: As a response to a comment below, questioning the viability of situations that would require more than 8 rounds, here is an addendum:
Steve,
Thank you for taking the time to read and respond.
Maybe it isn't the far fetched scenario of having to stare down 9 guys like Snake. Maybe it is one guy that is high on some strong drugs, like PCP, or a determined attacker.
The man who was supposedly on bath salts and eating another man's face was shot 4 times before the threat ended. And since a police officer shot him, it is fairly safe to assume it was with a service caliber weapon and modern hollowpoint ammo.
In the 1986 Miami FBI shootout, one suspect was shot 6 times, the other 12. That event is what prompted the FBI to go to more powerful, higher capacity pistols than the .38 revolvers most of their agents carried.
David Brown Jr, in Dallas Texas, killed one police officer and a bystander, before he was shot 9 times and killed by another officer. He was high on PCP. Once again, multiple rounds from a service caliber and defensive ammo.
I am aware that all of those examples are police shootings, and maybe you think they don't apply because of it. But, for information about performance of modern defensive ammo, that is one of the best sources. But one, or two determined attackers, or attackers high on something that makes them feel no pain, can easily take multiple shots before the threat is over.
Shot placement is key, but it is very hard to put a shot in the right place while moving away from the threat and towards cover, and with all that physiological stuff I mentioned before going on. The areas of the human body that need to be shot for instant incapacitation are rather small.
Some states do have a duty to retreat, and those requirements differ from state to state. And since I am not a lawyer and can not give legal advice, I am not going to comment on what the law may or may not say. Lethal threat scenarios are too dynamic and fluid to make a judgement call on something like that unless you have all the information.
But, I think that assuming the 6,7,8, rounds in your pistol is enough may be wishful thinking with the behavior some drugged up criminals exhibit.
I do agree that other sorts of training are very valuable as well. As a trainer, I am constantly looking for ways to improve my own skills. "If the only tool you have is a hammer, pretty soon everything starts to look like a nail" applies here. Beyond all the firearms disciplines, firearms retention, open hand skills, defensive knife skills, and improvised weapon skills are all excellent additions. And of course, developing an acute defensive mindset is the more important defensive training of all.
Thank you for your response. If you like what you read in my blog, feel free to share it with your friends. Hopefully this helped clear up any issues you had. Take care.
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