Hi Sheepdogs,
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, whoever does not have a sword should sell
his coat and buy a sword.”
– Book of Luke 22:36, New Life Version of the Bible
This is a transliteration of an ancient text. The sword was the standard sidearm
of the time. Jesus is saying that self-defense is more important than staying warm in
the winter. A modern translation would be, “Then Jesus said to His disciples,
whoever does not have a pistol should sell his smart phone and buy a pistol.”
"Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe,
and preserve order in the world as well as property.
Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of their use."
-- Thomas Paine
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***** ***** ***** Software ***** ***** *****
----- Mindset (figuring out the correct way to think) -----
"Better to stay out of trouble than get out of trouble."
-- Tactical Professor (Claude Werner)
"Too Much Situational Awareness?" by Greg Ellifritz
Keep in mind that Greg is a tough, strong, imposing, gorilla. Criminals generally leave
the area when they see him, even out of uniform.
Awareness, Avoidance, De-Escalation, and Escape
"The Element of Surprise: Understanding your Greatest Defensive Weapon" by Salvatore
Excerpt:
"One trend that is universal, however, to the point of being truly consistent,
is that criminals are taken by surprise when victims fight back."
"Just as the majority of good people have a hard time breaking out of the
freeze and acting quickly against an unexpected attack, criminals also have a
hard time dealing with what is out of the ordinary. An immediate force
response from an intended victim is not expected, it is a surprise, and it is
your greatest asset if dealing with criminal violence."
“You are no more armed because you are wearing a pistol
than you are a musician because you own a guitar.”
from Principles of Personal Defense by
Col. Jeff Cooper, USMC, (1920 – 2006 A.D.)
"Nuances of Detecting Danger" by Matt Landfair
Excerpt:
"Look for things out of the ordinary or outside accepted social norm."
"There are no victims, only volunteers.
You volunteer by looking uncertain and afraid.
You volunteer by being, as grass-eaters invariably are,
unprepared to confront the hazards of life."
— Jeff Cooper
"When the time for talking is over" by tacticalprofessor
"That's A Thing Episode 9 Pre-Decisions" by John Murphy
----- Aftermath -----
(You have to be alive to have these problems: criminal and civil liability.)
“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him,
but because he loves what is behind him.”
― G.K. Chesterton
"Don’ts in the news" By tacticalprofessor
Excerpt:
Don’t go outside to investigate noises in the night.
Don’t challenge people who are not on your property.
Don’t shoot someone in the back when he is running away from you.
Don’t make comments on a public forum that you think this
kind of behavior is justifiable and/or commendable.
Please read and act on the information in the article at the link
in the right hand column labeled, "Self Defense Insurance". Leaving your
family destitute because you didn't have the foresight to buy insurance
would be gross negligence.
There is a new entry for FTA, FIREARMS TRAINERS ASSOCIATION.
"If some among you fear taking a stand because you are afraid of reprisals . . .
recognize that you are just feeding the crocodile hoping he'll eat you last."
-- Winston Churchill (via Ronald Reagan)
Discount code KC for 10% off for CCWsafe.
When you wake up in your prison cell after 20 years of incarceration,
you have to be able to say to yourself, "It was worth it. I would do it again."
“Your understanding and consent are not required for someone to take
your life, kill your loved ones, and destroy all you hold dear.”
-- William Aprill
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----- Safety ----- (how to avoid shooting yourself, friendlies, and innocent bystanders)
Jeff Cooper's Rules of Gun Safety
RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED.
RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY.
RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET.
RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET.
"Safe Places?" BY JOHN FARNAM
"PACKIN' HEAVY
MORE THAN 10% OF ADULTS IN 15 STATES HAVE A CCW" BY DAVE WORKMAN
All these armed law abiding citizens make you safer.
Why you need situational awareness at public ranges.
John Farnam's rules to keep you out of trouble:
Don't go to stupid places.
Don't do stupid things.
Don't hang out with stupid people.
Be in bed by 10 PM. Your own bed.
Don't look like a freak.
Don't fail the attitude test.
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----- Training (figuring out the correct tasks to learn) -----
“If you are reading this and can’t put your hand on your defensive firearm,
all of your training is wasted.” -- Col. Jeff Cooper
"Home Defense" by John Farnam
They have fixed their servers, so the videos play without interruption.
"Low Light" by John Farnam
More reasons for not using a strobe.
John advises to turn the light on for about 2 seconds and then to move when
your light is off. I find that it takes several seconds for me to regain my night
vision when I turn my light off, so I keep my light on once I turn it on.
You have to practice and experiment to determine what works for you.
There are no short cuts. You can't rely on the advice of others, because everyone
is different. How good is your night vision? How long does it take for you to get
your night vision back when the light goes out? At what amount of illumination
does your night vision kick in? (You see in black and white, as opposed to color.)
Etc.
The important thing is that you have to search all spaces: in the closet,
under the pool table, etc. Otherwise, you're going to get ambushed.
You need training because:
You don't know what you don't know.
Much of what you know is false.
It's good to the have the answers before the criminal tests you.
-- Claude Werner (paraphrased)
"Concealed Carry: Vehicle Environment Skills" by John Murphy
Excerpts:
"Accept victory and seek cover." (Don't chase the bad guys. They might
shoot you.)
Don't get out of your car in a road rage situation with your kid strapped
into the car seat in your car.
Leave your windows up. Lock your doors. But, that's not enough, you
have to have a gun. Otherwise, the bad guys will pull you out and beat you
to death.
"Training To Win" By Chad Winkler
“The secret of success is this.
Train like it means everything when it means nothing – so you can
fight like it means nothing when it means everything.”
-- Lofty Wiseman
"Fundamentals of Pistol Shooting (Part 1)" by tacticalprofessor
"Fundamentals of Pistol Shooting (Part 2)" by tacticalprofessor
"Friday Fundamentals (Segment 3) Properly gripping an autoloading pistol" by tacticalprofessor
Claude Werner teaches a bent wrist with thumbs forward on theory that
"The wrist is most stable when it is extended downward."
Tom Givens teaches a straight wrist with thumbs up on the theory that
a straight wrist gives a stronger grip, better for weapon retention.
This list could go on for pages, but you get the idea. You have to
take classes to learn best practices and then you have to decide what
works for you.
"Can't find the dot? Here is how to correct this problem!" by Brian Hill
I read "Be Fast, Be Accurate, Be the Best" by Bill Rogers. The first
half of the book is historical and biographical. The second half delves
into techniques for "reactive shooting". Allow me to point out some
philosophical and doctrinal differences from what I am used to. (Things
that I will seriously consider.) I studied psychology at the Columbia
University Psychology Department, so I kind of know what I'm talking
about in my comments below.
Page 63, My interpretation of Rogers' writing is that he considers
speed as paramount. I think that precision is paramount because every
miss is destroying property, injuring innocent bystanders, maybe killing
them. (As Bill Hayes points out, it's "Rogers Shooting School", not
"Rogers Self Defense School".)
Page 69, "Cooper promoted a support hand grip that placed the forefinger
in front of the trigger guard of the pistol."
I have never read or heard of this, ever. All photographs and videos that I have
seen of Jeff Cooper show him with his left index finger under the trigger guard.
The checkering on the front of trigger guards is a design feature to appease
the U.S. State Department import requirements. Pistols have to have so
many "features" in order to be imported into the U.S.
Page 74, the photo shows and the text says that the shooter should have
his trigger finger on the trigger guard. This is extremely dangerous, as any
startle response will cause the trigger finger to slip off the trigger guard and
hit the trigger. All of the gun schools that I have attended teach, "trigger
finger on the frame of the pistol". Massad Ayoob teaches, as high up on the
frame as you can.
Page 75, second paragraph, 3rd line, Rogers teaches holding the pistol
with the thumb touching the middle finger. Holding the pistol as one would
hold a hammer (as Massad Ayoob puts it). This induces an involuntary
milking of the grip, as milking the teat of a cow. All of the gun schools that
I have attended (such as Rangemaster), teach thumb high to avoid this
involuntary milking action (and to keep the writs straight to maintain a strong grip).
Page 76, second paragraph, Rogers teaches to use the hand corresponding
to the dominant eye. In particular, he tells right handed shooters to shoot left
handed if they are left eye dominant.
The left side of the body is controlled by the right hemisphere of the brain.
The right side of the body is controlled by the left hemisphere of the brain.
Left or right handedness corresponds to the way the opposing hemisphere is
hard wired.
Eye dominance is different. The left field of vision of both eyes is processed
by the right hemisphere of the brain. The right field of vision of both eyes is
processed by the left hemisphere of the brain. Eye dominance is perceptual,
not physiological, and so can and does change with stress or change in visual
attention. As in "inattentional blindness".
So, I think Rogers' instruction is wrong on many levels.
Page 77, Rogers advocates a response to stimulus shooting within 0.5
seconds. The typical reaction time to an unanticipated stimulus could be as
much as 4 seconds. So, his paradigm is shooting much faster than a typical
human can think. [Out running your headlights. Out running your GPS.
Etc.]
Page 78, middle of first paragraph, Rogers advocates pressing the trigger
before the sights are on the target and before the shooter has decided to shoot,
or at least before the shooter has enough information to decide whether or not
to shoot. This is very dangerous and counter to what is taught in every gun
school that I have attended. (But, I'm sure it gets the shot off sooner.)
Page 78, middle of second paragraph, Rogers says that the shooter is
reducing the weight of the trigger by staging the trigger. This is false. There
is no trigger that I know of that has a displacement to weight function where
the trigger weight decreases when the trigger is pressed. Quite the opposite
is true of every physical spring and every trigger mechanism that I know of.
Page 81, "Remember, in reactive shooting, you have already initiated
the trigger pull well before the muzzle is aligned on the intended spot."
This violates
RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER
UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET
-- Jeff Cooper
Excerpted from: The Modern Technique of the Pistol, by Greg Morrison,
Gunsite Press, Paulden, Arizona, ISBN 0-9621342-3-6,
Library of Congress Number 91-72644
So, I think this is an unsafe technique.
Page 90, third paragraph, 3rd line, ". . . with both eyes open."
Anytime a person shoots with both eyes open, he will get a double image.
Shooting with both eyes open runs the risk of shooting at the wrong
image. For a shooter intending to aiming with his right eye,
using the wrong image will cause misses way off to the left.
For a shooter intending to aim with his left eye, using the wrong
image will cause misses way off the right.
I was taught and teach to close the non-aiming eye for the fraction
of a second that it takes to release the shot, ensuring that the shooter
does not have a double image.
Page 91, 3rd paragraph, "This is part of my whole program to train
the subconscious not to react to an OPE caused by pulling the trigger
of a weapon."
OPE is the same as report, the BANG! from the pistol. (Why coin
a new term for a well defined English word?)
Involuntary reactions to the recoil and report are not subconscious
responses. They are autonomic nervous system responses.
Theoretically, one could train them out of your system. But, that is a
bad idea on many levels. Autonomic nervous system responses serve
a good purpose for your survival. You want your hand to jerk away
from something hot so you don't get burned. You want your eyelids
to close when something approaches your eyes to protect your eyes.
Etc.
The way to defeat autonomic nervous system responses for the
purpose of shooting is to strive for and achieve a surprise trigger break.
Page 94, "Since your mind knows when a dummy round is coming
it is more likely not to flinch."
Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the dummy round? If not,
what is the purpose of mixing dummy rounds in with live rounds?
Marcus Wynne and Carol Martinson
Check out the case studies, downloadable PDF files at bottom of page.
"Training is NOT an event, but a process.
Training is the preparation FOR practice".
-- Claude Werner
*************************************************************************
----- Practice (how to get good at that task) -----
Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
From an email by Mike Ox --
Real life isn't static.
And real fights don't look like the "average engagements" we read about and practice for.
They don't look like standards, qualifications, or drills. They're chaotic, unstable, and
unpredictable.
Which is why it's so critical that you figure out things like:
> How far can you lean around cover before you lose your balance?
> How long does it take you to pop out over, around, or under cover,
fire an aimed shot, and pop back?
> How do you engage targets in a 360 degree environment more effectively
(something you can't safely learn or practice at your local range).
> How fast/accurate can you shoot on the move and how do you get better?
> How do you shoot better after being knocked to the ground?
Or after just making the move from standing to sitting on the ground?
Most people don't find out that they've got a problem in one of these areas
until they're in a fight for their life, behind the curve, and realize that their current
situation is NOTHING like what they trained for. But when you take solid
fundamentals and then start pushing your limits . . . with speed, balance,
position, distance, precision, orientation, movement, light, stress, etc. you do
3 really important things:
>1. You learn and internalize what your limits are and become familiar
with the feeling of shooting from awkward positions/situations.
>2. As you find your limits, you'll expand your limits. You'll be able to make
accurate shots from positions/situations that used to challenge you.
(This is especially important for people who have nagging injuries preventing
them from being as fast & mobile as they used to be.)
>3. When you find yourself in a high-speed shooting situation . . . whether it's
competition, force-on-force, or a life and death situation, you'll be more
comfortable, have less hesitation, and perform better.
Why practice?
"To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment
when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and
offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique
to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if
that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that
which could have been their finest hour."
-- Winston Churchill
"Be careful what you practice.
Because you will do in combat whatever you have practiced,
no matter how ridiculous."
-- "Shooting in Self-Defense" by Sara Ahrens
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----- Strategy (deciding on the end state and how to achieve it) -----
How do you win a gunfight?
Don't be there.
-- John Farnam
----- Tactics (tasks that you should strive to be able to do in support of your strategy) -----
You win gunfights by not getting shot.
-- John Holschen
"Home Defense Tactics: Tips For Home Defense" by Dave Z.
----- Techniques (ways to execute a given task, skill, or tactic) -----
"Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it."
-- Bruce Lee
"Skill Set: Follow Through for Defense" by Tiger McKee
"6 Dead Giveaways That You’re Armed" by Sam Hoober
Make sure your pistol is unloaded before any dry practice.
Please practice your presentation from your holster to the target in a mirror.
You will get immediate positive feedback. You will automatically correct
errors in your form. (Head erect. Shoulders down. Pistol up to your line of sight.)
If you don't practice in the mirror, your form will be all jacked up.
And no matter how much your coach or peers tell you that you are all hunched
up and twisted, you won't believe them, because the position will feel good to
you. Trust me, I have coached shooters at the Olympic Training Center in
Colorado Springs, CO as a level 3 coach. False beliefs are impossible to
change without immediate objective feedback, which the mirror provides.
"The Surreptitious Draw: A Neglected Skill" by Salvatore
"It's not daily increase but daily decrease - hack away at the inessentials!"
-- Bruce Lee
*************************************************************************
----- Education -----
"You will never get smarter or broaden your horizons
if you're unwilling to learn from others and read."
-- Becca Martin
"True History of Assault Rifles" by Liberty Doll
"Causes of Gun-Related Deaths in the US: Beliefs vs. Reality" by David Yamane
Excerpt:
"The story included a GIF that highlights a fascinating discrepancy between
what Americans think the main causes of gun death are (murder, mass shootings)
and what the reality is (suicide)."
"What we know about the increase in U.S. murders in 2020"
by JOHN GRAMLICH, senior writer/editor at Pew Research Center
Excerpts:
"The year-over-year increase in the U.S. murder rate in 2020 was the largest
since at least 1905 – and possibly ever."
"The percentage of murders that were solved – known as the “clearance rate” – declined
from 61% in 2019 to 54% in 2020."
"Americans remain far less likely to die from murder than from other causes,
including from suicide and drug overdose."
"Bullet Resistance of Typical Suburban Homes" by Don Shift
Excerpts:
"Just because you can’t see your target doesn’t mean that your bullets won’t hit him.
If you need to kill someone and they are hiding behind something, odds are you can try
shooting through it. Cinder blocks appear to be solid and capable of stopping bullets,
but they aren’t."
"Your suburban home will not offer true cover."
"Gun ownership is rising: Here’s why" by Kim McGrath
Excerpt:
"Negative outcomes with guns are often tragic,
but given the number of guns and gun owners we have in the U.S.,
they are quite rare."
"Stuart Firestein: The pursuit of ignorance"
Excerpt:
"You always get what you screen for."
"When we are testing, are we evaluating or weeding out?"
"Education is not about filling buckets. It's lighting firers."
Bio,
(No, I didn't know he was a Columbia faculty beforehand.)
"Slaying the Parrot with Erik Lund"
"That Weems Guy" by Lee Weems
Excepts (paraphrased):
Racking the slide rather than pressing the slide release tab is because the
slide might not be locked back, and it is essential to use a technique that works
in all conditions. Gross motor skill vs. fine motor skill has always been a silly
argument.
Shooting faster, while allowing the shot group to open up, is always a judgment
trade off. Shooting tight groups on the range is good, because in the real world
everyone will be moving, so you won't have tight groups.
"The combative applications of competitive processes." -- Mike Seeklander
You have to know the capabilities and limitations of night vision systems,
so you can train your guys on how to use them, and so your guys will know
how to deal with the enemy using them.
You have to know red dots to teach them. You have to know left handed
techniques so you can teach them. You have to know revolvers so you can
teach them. You have to know double action techniques, so you can teach
them. Because they are out there and they are not going away.
Demo everything. Demo slowly.
There is no universal terminology or technique. Demonstrate everything.
Messing up a demo is no big deal. Diagnose what you did wrong. Ask the
students to diagnose what you did wrong.
"If you've got a 2 second skill, the 1 second window of opportunity is not
the time to deploy it. If you've got a 1 second skill, the 2 second window is
the time to go." -- John Murphy (paraphrased)
The arguments that closing one eye to shoot is bad, are nonsense.
Look at what you're doing. Looking around instead of looking at what
you're doing is wrong.
Tactical reloads during a lull in the gunfight? What's a "lull"? Informed
discussion worth considering. Tactical reload when you feel safe.
There are guys out there who don't critically think. They just parrot what
they have heard.
Don't be a damn parrot. Develop your craft. Be an instructor who critically
thinks. Express what you want with appropriate words and concepts, do the
demos to support them, and stop trying to develop stuff in a square range.
Think about the real world and consider what mimics it here on the range.
ALLFIRE DYNAMICS
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum." (I think, therefore armed am I.)
-- John Farnam
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***** ***** ***** Hardware (which includes you) ***** ***** *****
"I would like to see every
woman know how to handle
guns as naturally as they
know how to handle babies."
-- Annie Oakley
----- Gear -----
“Mission drives the gear train.”
-- Pat Rogers
If you're carrying any pistol with a thumb safety, you have to have safety
levers on both sides of your pistol. Otherwise, you won't be able to thumb
the safety with your left hand only in a high stress situation when you need to.
If the safety is too small for you to easily thumb, replace it with an extended
thumb safety. And then keep your thumb on top of it as part of your manual
of arms, as part of your grip. You have to keep pressing it down, otherwise
something will bump it, and you won't be able to fire.
Don't put extended magazine releases or extended slide locks on your pistol.
They will prevent your pistol from functioning correctly in combat.
They will drop you magazine when you're trying to shoot. They will lock your
slide when you're trying to shoot. Yes, it's Murphy's Law. Like the
Law of Gravitation, Murphy's Law always operates,
whether you believe in it or not.
"Fail-Safe" by JOHN FARNAM
"Design Errors!" by JOHN FARNAM
If you can't get your little finger on your grip, your grip is too short. Get a
full length grip. Otherwise, you won't be able to manipulate your pistol correctly.
You won't be able to retain your weapon when the bad guy attempts to take it
from you. You won't be able to shoot accurately, if the grip is too short,
because it is your little finger that provides the leverage to prevent muzzle flip.
"How Often Do You Clean Your Guns?" by Matthew Maruster
Excerpt:
"I've found that, in general, quality guns will run even if they are filthy.
Lubrication is far more essential to keeping the gun functioning than being
so clean that you're ready for a white glove test."
---
If you believe your life and the lives of your loved ones depends on your
tools working properly, your tools are always clean and lubricated.
Pistol, car, boat, etc.
Please clean your equipment (even if new) before using.
That way you won't get sticky price tags on the magazines
causing malfunctions.
"My Favorite CCW Belt" by Greg Ellifritz
Galco Gun Leather
20% discount code: GIFT20
Galco Gun Leather, BELT HOLSTERS
25% discount code: OWB25
Target Sports USA
Wolf Performance 9mm Luger Ammo 115 Grain FMJ Steel Case,
box of 50 rounds for $15.99 which is $0.32 Per Round
Russian ammo with steel cases.
Tufloc gun racks
I haven't used one, just looks interesting.
Deburr the pistol, otherwise the user will get their hands cut and require
Band-Aids and medical tape to continue the training. Yes, such action will
reduce the resale value of the pistol to the ignorant, but the educated will
appreciate the deburring job. For years I have used hand tools, metal files
on metal parts and wood files on plastic parts. But lately, I have been
preparing a lot of pistols for students and customers. So, I bought a
Dremel tool today, 17 November 2021. (Use high speed and light pressure.)
All sharp points, everywhere on the pistol should be smoothed out, including
corners of sights. The square edges of the sight will be visible to the shooter.
The sharp corners are not necessary.
Even if sharp protrusions are not noticeable when the pistol is assembled,
they will cause problems during field stripping, cleaning, and assembly.
Polish all bearing surfaces: (a fine grain polishing compound is useful)
The face of the slide that rubs against the case when the slide is moving
forward.
All surfaces that contact the cartridge when feeding from the magazine
into the chamber.
All bearing surfaces of the trigger mechanism. (No, this is not gunsmithing.
You're not cutting any metal. You're just polishing surfaces.) This will make a
world of difference in the feel of the trigger. (If you're sensitive enough to
feel it. If the trigger sear surfaces aren't already polished.)
All bearing surfaces of the rails that the slide moves along.
All bearing surfaces that move the chamber down when the slide moves
backward, and that move the chamber up when the slide moves forward.
The wear marks on the pistol should be smooth and spread out. There
should not be any scratches or gouges. If you see scratches or gouges,
smooth out the offending protrusions.
Surfaces that are smooth (on a fine macroscopic level or microscopic level)
will not allow carbon and dirt to accumulate on the surface. The will stay clean
longer and will be easier to clean.
“Your car is not a holster.”
-- Pat Rogers
----- Technical / Maintenance -----
"Real fights are short."
-- Bruce Lee
"Massad Ayoob's Pros and Cons of Red Dot Optics for Every Day Carry Handguns:
Critical Mas Ep. 08" by Wilson Combat
If the iron sights are co-witnessed with the red dot sight, where in the window are the
iron sights? When co-witnessed, how much of the window do the iron sights obscure?
Cat Trap defogger.
The big advantage is being able to focus on the target. Focusing on the target with
iron sights guarantees a miss.
Chapman version of the Weaver position. Firing side arm locked out and pushing.
Support side arm bent at the elbow and pulling.
"How a Shotgun Works" by Matt Rittman
"How a Glock Works" by Matt Rittman
"NOSEDIVE AND FEED ANGLE IN THE 1911 .45 ACP" by BRAD MILLER
"Colt’s Manufacturing Company Issues Voluntary MSR Recall"
Primary source,
"Incident at Ottawa-area range prompted special forces to pull SIG Sauer P320 pistols out of service"
by Murray Brewster
"The shorter the fight, the less hurt you get."
-- John Holschen
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Instruction ***** ***** *****
Colonel Robert Lindsey to his fellow trainers:
"We are not God's gift to our students.
Our students are God's gift to us."
----- Instructors -----
Remember, the students who require the extra effort are the ones who need us the most!
-- John Farnam
Small thin pistols may be good for concealed carry, but they are not good for
training. If you provide loaners for your students, you should have full size pistols
with adjustable grips. Bigger is easier to manipulate. The student must be able to
get all of their fingers on the grip. The little finger floating in space is wrong.
If you teach, you need to carry general liability insurance (in case something bad
happens) and professional liability insurance (in case someone sues you for something
that you taught the student to do). The two big players in the arena are:
Lockton (the NRA recommendation)
and
FTA, FIREARMS TRAINERS ASSOCIATION,
You need to read the fine print because there are all kinds of policies with different
caps (maximum amounts that they will pay) and different exclusions (conditions under
which they won't pay).
Ask your insurance agent. She may be able to beat the big guys.
Everyone is different. Some people don't have significant autonomic nervous system,
ANS, responses (They don't flinch. They don't anticipate events and so don't react to them.
They don't tense when exposed to shock such as concussion. They don't get motion
sickness. They don't get excited or panic when you tell them you're pregnant. Etc.),
so they don't teach the 'surprise trigger break'. Because it doesn't make sense to them.
The purpose of the surprise trigger break is to defeat autonomic nervous system
responses to the report and recoil of the firearm. For those who have ANS responses,
the surprise trigger break is essential to allow them to get accurate shots on demand,
every time, by delaying the ANS responses until after the bullet has exited the muzzle.
As we learned in Lee Weems' Instructor Camp, "Your students are not you."
Another problem is that being a good shooter and being a good instructor are two
entirely different skills. They are not necessarily orthogonal, but they are usually
independent. A good shooter may not understand what he is doing. So, he may not
be able to explain what he is doing to a student. (This is actually very common.)
He may think he is doing a task in a particular way, but he doesn't know what he
is doing because he has never viewed a high speed video recording slowed down
and analyzed frame by frame, as we do at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado
Springs, CO. So, he's teaching his students a technique that he believes is correct
because it works for him. But, he's not using the technique.
Superstitious beliefs are difficult to discover and hence difficult to change.
Clint Smith says, "Every time I teach a class, I discover something that I didn't know."
In the class that I am presently teaching, one of my students (who is a retired nurse) taught
me how to correctly pronounce "decubitus" as in lateral decubitus (lying on your side
while shooting). Other instructors us the terms "urban prone" or "sideways prone", which
of course are wrong. Prone is lying on your stomach. Supine is lying on your back.
Lateral decubitus is lying on your side. Which is useful for shooting under cars and
around corners while keeping most of your body behind cover.
"Saudi women flock to GUN ranges as new-found freedoms in the conservative Gulf state
that allowed them to drive now let them handle weapons" by STEWART CARR
My, how things have changed. Amazing what you can do in an absolute monarchy.
In hard core Islamic cultures, women are not allowed to teach men. And men may
not interact with women other than their wives, sisters, and mothers (or other close
relatives). So, you have to find male instructors for a male class, and female
instructors for a female class. But, as you see, at least in the big cities like Riyadh,
such is starting to happen. Sometimes we win!
"Using Blanks in Scenario Training" by Greg Ellifritz
Greg's recommendation, don't use blanks in training.
If you are teaching deaf students, use your flashlight to light up the student's
target to signal him to start the drill. If your flashlight isn't bright enough to do
this in daylight, get a real flashlight.
Make an effort to learn American Sign Language. You don't have to. It is
possible to communicate with printed (not hand written, nobody can read your
hand writing) flash cards. It's not that hard to get a sign language interpreter
to help you with the class. But, the effort on your part will make a world of
difference.
Unfortunately, there are dialects of sign language. So, even if you learn
ASL, you might not be able to communicate with your students. Especially in
the rural Southern United States.
Keep a positive attitude and keep trying. This is what Jesus means by
store up your treasure in heaven, not on Earth.
I had a "discussion" with another instructor about how some instructors
don't have the high stress (not necessarily combat) experience to know that
a technique is stupid. So, they teach it, because academically, it makes sense
to them.
He said he never had an instructor tell him that the instructor had ever
pissed or shit in his pants. I said, that means that either the instructor has
never been in a high stress situation, or he has been in a high stress situation
and is too embarrassed to admit to you that he shit himself. Which is stupid,
because as Sara Ahrens says, tell the cops that you shit yourself because
that proves you feared for your life, which justifies your shooting. (proof
of subjective reasonable fear, not necessarily objectively reasonable fear)
I've always been happy to tell people how I've gotten erections, pissed
on myself, shit on myself, and had my legs shaking uncontrollably after
killing someone (and often before the killing). Of course, no one will listen
to my war stories unless I'm buying the drinks.
Be careful what you teach.
Because your students will do in combat
whatever you have trained them to do,
no matter how ridiculous.
-- "Shooting in Self-Defense" by Sara Ahrens
----- Andragogy -----
An instructor should not expect any learning to take
place the first time new information is presented.
-- "Building Shooters" by Dustin Solomon
If you're going to teach a technique, you must be able to answer the question, WHY?
I teach closing your non-aiming eye for the fraction of a second that it takes to fire the
shot. The following (below) is my reasoning. Compare it to the reasoning of those who
teach keeping both eyes open when firing the shot. And decide. Yes, you have to come
to a conclusion. Decisiveness is a character trait. If you can't decide, you can't commit
to a course of action. Wishy-washy teaching is worse than incorrect teaching.
"It is better to be wrong than to be vague." -- Freeman Dyson
Because if you are wrong, you can be corrected. If you are vague, no one can help you.
---
Aiming with both eyes open causes the shooter to see a "double image".
You can prove this to yourself by sticking your thumb up at arm's length,
place it over a distant target, focus on the target and you will see two thumbs,
focus on your thumb and you will see two targets.
So, if you are focused on the target and using the wrong front sight
image, you will miss the target. If you are focused on the front sight and
use the wrong target image, you will miss the target.
The shooter won't automatically use the image from the dominant eye,
because eye dominance is perceptual, not physiological. So, it can and does
change with stress and attention. Eye dominance is not necessarily left
or right. It can be 50% - 50%. It can be 70% right - 30% left. Etc. Everyone
is different. Any time a person aims with both eyes open, he will get a
double image.
Assuming a hard focus on the front sight (because target focused shooting
is stupid. See next paragraph.), a person using his right eye to aim, who uses
the wrong target image will be shooting way off to the left (damaging property,
injuring innocent bystanders, maybe killing them). A person using his left eye
to aim, who uses the wrong target image will be shooting way off to the right.
This is why it is essential to eliminate the double image by closing the non-aiming
eye. Murphy's Law says that anything that can go wrong will go wrong,
at the worst possible time. So, the person shooting with both eyes open will
be shooting at the wrong image, and hitting unintended objects. No such thing
as a miss, only unintended hits. "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."
So, we must eliminate anything that can go wrong from our weapon system.
So, the non-aiming eye must be closed.
Visual focus is equivalent to mental concentration. You are concentrating
on whatever you are visually focused on. If you focus on the target, you
won't notice the front sight. The front sight will wander off the target and
you'll never notice it. Such is "inattentional blindness". So, you will miss
the target. If you don't understand inattentional blindness, view this video,
There is nothing natural or instinctive about shooting. Shooting is a
specialized skill peculiar to a specific tool. Comparing shooting to any
other day-to-day operation in normal life is incongruous.
The shot process for ensuring you hit every time on demand:
Sight alignment -
With a correct grip, align the sights. With iron sights, this means keeping the top
of the front sight level with the top of the rear sight and keeping the front sight
centered in the rear sight notch.
With red dot sights, this means keeping the dot centered in the window.
(Yes, as a matter of fact it does matter. The physics of optics is not something
you can change with advertising propaganda.)
Sight picture -
With iron sights, striving to keep the top of the front sight on the intended point
of impact with a hard focus on the front sight. (Strive to see the scratches on
your front sight.) Close your non-aiming eye to eliminate double images.
With a red dot sights, striving to keep the dot on the intended point of impact.
Trigger control -
Touch the trigger. Take the slack out of the trigger. Smoothly increase pressure
on the trigger without intentionally firing the shot. Let the pistol fire when it
wants to. The surprise trigger break will defeat all autonomic nervous system
responses to the report and recoil.
Follow through -
Keep pressing the trigger and keep aiming, until you get your second sight picture
after the shot. Only then should you reset the trigger. Follow through ensures
that you hit your intended target. Without follow through, it's just luck. With
follow through, you are in control.
Yes, I know this seems to be a long complex process. But, with practice
it will compress in time and become very fast. Of course, the overridingly
important thing is that you will hit your intended target every time, on demand.
And that is more important than speed, because you can never miss fast enough.
I teach the Weaver platform. My reasons for teaching the Weaver are as follows:
1. It places your support side arm in front of the vital organs in your torso, making
it more difficult for the enemy to strike your heart and lungs. (For those of us who
do not regularly wear body armor. If you are wearing body armor, it makes sense
to present the front of your armor to the enemy and not expose the side of your
armor. That's why police are taught the isosceles position.)
2. It is the same stance for pistol and long gun. So, transitioning between the two
is easier than with other positions. We expect to transition.
"The purpose of the pistol is to give you time to get to your rifle." – Jeff Cooper
If the forest is too dense to maneuver a long gun, or the building's passages are
too narrow for a long gun, or the tunnels are too small for a long gun, we will
transition to our pistol.
3. It allows the shooter to pull with the support side arm bicep. If the support side
arm is out straight (as in the isosceles stance), you can't pull with the
support side arm. You have to pull with the support side arm to prevent the muzzle
from flipping up on recoil. If the muzzle flips up on recoil, it takes longer and is
harder to get the sights on the target for the second and subsequent shots.
4. It looks more aggressive to the enemy (a significant psychological advantage)
because it is a fighting stance similar to a boxing stance. The body language says,
“I am ready and willing to fight.”
5. It reduces the width of the target that you present to the enemy. This has a
strong psychological affect on the enemy as it makes his target smaller and thus
reduces his confidence in hitting his target.
6. It gives the shooter a supported position when the shooter transitions to the
kneeling position or the squatting position.
7. The Harries flashlight technique uses the Weaver stance.
8. It flows naturally from the interview position that you assumed, because you
were aware of the situation, because you were in condition yellow when the enemy
started the incident.
I also teach the Isosceles platform and have a similar list for it. As should you,
if you are teaching it. You must be able to answer the question, WHY?
Lee Weems conducts an Instructor Camp in which he strives for
a "doctrine free" course. Of course, that's impossible, because
anytime you teach anything, you are teaching in accordance with
some doctrine.
"The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other.
Without collaboration, our growth is limited to our own perspectives."
-- Robert John Meehan
*************************************************************************
***** ***** Legal ***** *****
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.
It is wholly inadequate for the governance of any other.
-- John Adams, October 11, 1798
"NO TYPICAL SELF-DEFENSE PROSECUTION" by Justin Collett
“Is there no virtue among us?
If there is not, we are without hope!
No form of government, existing nor theoretical, will keep us from harm.
To think that any government, in any form,
will insure liberty and happiness for an dishonorable population
represents the height of self-deception.”
-- James Madison, 1788
"Recognizing and Controlling Courtroom Tricks" By Calibre Press
An article about the Kyle Rittenhouse case by LAURA COLLINS
Not noted in this article, but reported earlier, one of the jurors was dismissed
by the judge because she said that she took the 6th Commandment,
"Thou shall not kill.", literally. How sad that she would believe such an obvious
mistranslation of the Bible. How sad that she would believe that God would say
such a theologically and logically inconsistent thing. May I invite your attention
to the article "Lost in Translation" by Tom Givens on page 2 of the January 2016
Rangemaster newsletter at,
The correct translation is "Thou shall not murder.", an entirely different meaning.
As God told the Israelis in the Old Testament, there are a lot of people
that need to be killed, go out and kill them.
Never think for an instant that propaganda doesn't run rampant.
Why do you think it's called the King James Bible? Because King James
commissioned it to advance his agenda. It's not the same as the Bibles
commissioned by the Popes in Rome or Constantinople. Who had their
own agendas.
(The different Bibles don't even have the same books. Apocrypha. Etc.)
"Law of Self Defense" by Andrew Branca
Free of charge. Just pay shipping.
Educate yourself. So, you don't spend the rest of your life in a cage.
"Info Graphic" by Andrew Branca
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,
the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
-- Second Amendment, U.S. Constitution
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Survival and War Stories ***** ***** *****
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Dr. Sherman House
"Some Preparedness Activities You Should Do In The Next 30 Days" by Paul T. Martin
" “Old Jack” Hinson: Civil War Sniper Back When Sniping Wasn’t Cool " by WILL DABBS
Excerpt from Docent at Practical Eschatology
John W. “Jack” Hinson was born in 1807. A wealthy Scots-Irish farmer in Stewart County,
Tennessee, Hinson was known as “Old Jack” to his friends. He was a prosperous slave owner
who attempted to remain neutral in the face of the brewing Civil War. He lived on his tobacco
farm with his wife and ten children and was known for his temper.
When the Federal General U.S. Grant rolled through the area with his army, Jack welcomed
him into his home. In February of 1862 Grant moved on to attack Fort Donelson and Fort Henry.
As he departed, however, Grant left a Federal garrison behind.
“Bushwhackers” was the term applied to unconventional guerilla fighters who attacked Union
forces from positions of concealment. In the fall of 1862, Hinson’s sons 17-year-old Jack and
22-year-old George were out deer hunting near their homestead. They came across a Union
detachment that mistakenly took the two boys for bushwhackers. The Federal soldiers tied the
two young men to trees, shot them to death, paraded their bodies around town as a message to
others, and then stuck their heads on the gateposts back at the Hinson homestead. This turned
out to be a really bad idea. . . .
At age 55 Jack Hinson sent his family away to safety and contracted with a local gunsmith to
build him a very special .50-caliber Kentucky Long Rifle. This custom-built weapon sported a
41-inch barrel as well as set triggers and weighed a whopping 18 pounds. Hinson used this
weapon to engage in a one-man sniper war against the occupying Federal troops. He sniped
Union soldiers both in garrison as well as in military columns and transports. He also engaged
Union gunboats while they were slowly plying the waters of the Cumberland and Tennessee
Rivers. His first two victims were the Lieutenant and Sergeant responsible for murdering his
two sons, both shot cleanly from ambush.
Using that obsolete muzzle loading long rifle “Old Jack” Hinson accumulated more than
100 kills. He sniped Union naval personnel off the decks of their warships and shot men out
of the saddle as they passed by in supply convoys. His longest confirmed kill was nearly half
a mile. Ultimately units from four different Federal regiments tracked him unsuccessfully.
Hinson was never apprehended by Union forces. He died at home, of natural causes,
on April 28, 1874.
Now here is an enlightened perspective on Kyle Rittenhouse.
Hat tip to Mark Fitzhenry.
"If you stay fit, you do not have to get fit.
If you stay trained, you do not have to get trained.
If you stay prepared, you do not have to get prepared."
-- Robert Margulies
*************************************************************************
***** For our friends behind the Iron Curtain / Bamboo Curtain / Woke Curtain / Communist Curtain *****
"Good habits and skill beat luck every time."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
SmashWords.com tells me that persons in Brazil, Canada, United Kingdom, France,
Greece, Mexico, Germany, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, Colombia, Japan, Spain,
Czech Republic, as well as the United States are using my Defensive Pistol material.
That's gratifying. But, what really turns me on is persons in foreign lands writing to me
to ask questions. Wow, talk about an ego boost.
SmashWords also tells me that the channels used to get my materials are:
Amazon, Apple, Baker & Taylor's Axis 360, Barnes & Noble, cloudLibrary,
Gardners Extended Retail, Kobo, Library Direct, Odilo, OverDrive, Scribd.
Yes, you too can reach out across the world to spread the gospel of Defensive
Pistolcraft from the comfort of your living room.
" 'The View' host says she owns a new gun and audience laughs...
Until they realize she's serious . . . "
by Langley Outdoors Academy
"It's about who is laughing at you when you embrace your rights."
"Computer science has nothing to do with computers or science."
-- Donald Knuth (the K is pronounced, it's German)
Because computer science is pure mathematics.
Information wants to be free.
"Bad Furniture"
The wardrobe has lost a lobe,
The blender has gone on a bender,
The pouf is rather uncouth,
The armoire is not for moi,
The icebox is full of rocks,
The credenza has influenza,
And worst of all,
The encoignure is full of manure.
-- Neil J. A. Sloane
Yes, this is the Neil Sloane as in "The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences®"
"Your character is what you do when no one is looking."
-- Thomas Jefferson
"Handbook of Applied Cryptography"
by Alfred J. Menezes, Paul C. van Oorschot and Scott A. Vanstone
"Computer Security and the Internet: Tools and Jewels"
by Paul C. van Oorschot.
144^5 = 27^5 + 84^5 + 110^5 + 133^5
L. J. Lander and T. R. Parkin,
"A counterexample to Euler's sum of powers conjecture",
Math. Comp., 21, (1967), pp 101-103.
Let's go Brandon!
Random, not pseudo-random, and unique. 1024 hexadecimal values in the range 00 to FF.
Initialization vector name Dulcinea.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“In the long-run, there is no such thing as ‘luck’.
However, the short-run is longer than many individual lifetimes!”
-- Anon
It is an old tradition to hide information in poems.
Semper Fidelis,
Jonathan D. Low
Jon_Low@yahoo.com
The Warrior's Prayer
Dear God,
Please give us discernment to distinguish friend from foe from innocent bystanders.
Give us clear vision so our aim is true.
Give us calm so we execute correctly.
Give us spiritual maturity so that we stop the enemy's attack
without excessive force, without revenge.
In Jesus name, Amen.
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