Author: hsoi

Gunsmithing

/ hsoi / 7 Comments

Guns are machines, are tools. Like anything, they wear out and need some love. I’ve got 3 of my guns in various states, and it’s kinda interesting.

My Smith & Wesson M&P Shield, my NAA Guardian, and my M&P9.

Shield

I have a S&W M&P Shield 9, one of the early models. It’s been ok, but maybe I never pressed it really hard at longer distances. Some months ago I was shooting it and it was a horrible experience. Up close things seemed ok, but you get to 15-25 yards and shots were all over the place. Surely this can’t be me.

Karl happened to be there at the time, so I had him shoot it. Karl (remember, not just the head of KR Training but also an IPSC/USPSA Grandmaster: read, he knows how to shoot) had the same results. We shot benchrest, various ammo from cheap stuff to quality stuff, and no go. Karl had his Shield with him, so we swapped top and bottoms (his bottom, my top; his top, my bottom). I forget the exact results but one combo had the same problems. So there was some sort of mechanical problem. We did notice uneven wear on the locking block.

So the Shield went back to Smith & Wesson via Hank Flemming (best gunsmith in Austin). Should be covered under the factory warranty. Tho Hank did have to do some work to pull my aftermarket stuff out and put factory stuff back on. Even then, before sending it out Hank shot the gun and replicated Karl and my results.

Upon return, Hank shot the gun and it was shooting like you’d expect it to. Put the parts back in, shot fine as well.

Thing is, all S&W said on the invoice:

Evaluate/Repair

Adjust sights

Passed range testing

No details as to exactly what happened. There’s a big checklist on the invoice about parts, but nothing is checked off if repaired or replaced. So who knows.

A bit annoying to not have full records, but that’s how it goes.

Guardian

After picking up my NAA Guardian .32 ACP at a pawn shop, I really enjoyed shooting it.  It didn’t perform well, but after changing some springs and new magazines, it was much happier. Cool thing is NAA warranties their products for life by any owner. So I had Hank ship them the gun along with a letter detailing my issues and what I was looking for.

Took about a month and a half, but I just got it back.

The invoice?

  • slide
  • firing pin
  • retainer firing pin
  • spring firing pin
  • extractor
  • extractor plunger
  • spring extractor plunger
  • hammer pin
  • follower hammer
  • spring hammer
  • screw handle
  • trigger
  • drawbar spring

All new parts. And polished the feed ramp and chamber.

I think the only original part is the frame. 😉

Thing is, I’m a little bummed about the replacements, at least the new slide. The old slide had some really cool original markings, because my serial number indicates it’s from their early product runs. With the new slide, I lost those, and they did not ship back the original parts with it. I’m a little bummed about that, but whatchagonnado?

Still, the contrast here is seeing NAA detailing all the work done and S&W not.

On both guns, I’ll take them with me to KR Training next time I’m out and run them through their paces to ensure they’re working well. If all is good, I’ll put them back into service.

Other M&P

My main/original M&P9 I think finally needs some love. It’s been my primary carry gun for the past 4 years, with thousands upon thousands of rounds through it, and even more dry fire. I’ve been having some light strikes, had a failure to extract last week, other weird extractions. So I’m having Hank replace every spring in the gun, and give it a once over for any wear and tear, replace anything that needs it, etc.. Just get her happy again.

Take-Home?

If it’s something you trust your life to, be sure to keep it in working order.

Because it is a working tool that can and will wear out, have 1 or 2 (at least) more. Make it the same gun, set up in the same way. That way if you switch between them, you don’t notice and don’t have to “get used to it”. Or have ones similar enough, e.g. an M&P9 and M&P9c, a Glock 17/19/26.

Find a good gunsmith, one you can trust.

Be sure to put your gear to higher tests. Just taking it into the back pasture and plinking is a good start, but running your gear hard is important. Again, if you trust your life to it, ensure it’s in good working order.

 

2016-03-29 training log

/ hsoi

More experimentation.

So it’s a squat day, but not normal squats — front squats. Simple enough, my quads are weak relative to everything else. Sure, I’m weak relative to everything else, but since you have to do assistance work and have it support where you need improvement, well, front squats are what I need. Thing is, they haven’t been that great for me: I hate them. But I was doing them with my feet close together, heels slightly elevated. I went back and looked at some instructional videos from Mark Rippetoe and Dan Green, and really, just squat.

So I kept my feet flat, fairly “normal” foot positioning. I did work on keeping my chest up and leading with my chest out of the hole. Plus I worked it so the descent was just dropping straight down, not trying to sit/reach back like you do with the traditional squat. Man, what a difference! Today was to be about working up with an over-warmup, then just getting some work sets in. Trying to find technique, figure things out. Really went well. Before if I struggled to keep upright, it was mechanics, not my muscles. Today mechanics just felt natural and good, no fighting things. I did find I was going deeper than I needed to, but I know that’s because with the other front squat form I had to feel like I was going ass-to-grass in order to just be parallel; but here not so much. So I’ll work on that, and other things. But overall, this was pretty good. I could actually like front squats now 🙂

Everything else then was geared as I’ve been wanting to do: just have some fun, chase a pump.

Stiff-legs were trying to get a little “heavy” hamstring work. Frankly I think I got more back work out of it. I may go back to RDL’s.

Leg press was just a work up, then after the last set I did strip sets. I didn’t have 2 training partners to strip off plates for me, but I’d push to failure, rack it, take a plate off each side, then back into the press and crank out what I could. Didn’t really keep track of the reps, just did what I could do.

Extensions and Curls were similar. First, I did them as a superset. Then it was about being slow on the eccentric, getting a squeeze, and on the last set I did rest-pause. Again, didn’t keep track of reps, just a couple rest-pause sets to crank out a little more.

After that, I was pretty spent. I had to do time on the elliptical but just didn’t want to: gassed. But I cranked out what I could, got about 20 minutes, and that’s that.

Not bad day.

  • Front Squats
    • bar x 5
    • 95 x 5
    • 125 x 4
    • 155 x 3
    • 185 x 2
    • 215 x 1
    • 165 x 5
    • 165 x 5
    • 165 x 5
  • Stiff-Legs
    • 185 x 8
    • 185 x 8
    • 185 x 8
  • Leg Press
    • 225 x 10
    • 315 x 10
    • 365 x 10, strip set to 315, 275, 225
  • Leg Extensions
    • 70 x 10
    • 55 x 12
    • 55 x 12 (then 2 rest-pause sets)
  • Leg Curls (superset with extensions)
    • 25 x 12
    • 25 x 12
    • 25 x 8 (then 2 rest-pause sets)

2016-03-28 training log

/ hsoi

Time for a change.

Things aren’t going well. My sleep’s been crap. Work’s been beyond stress. I’m not recovering well. Cut diet isn’t progressing at the desired rate. Nothing’s working. So, instead of continuing down the path, time for changes.

First change. Gym work is no longer Basebuilding. It’s good, but it’s simply not the level of volume I need to support the cut. Both in terms of work done in the sessions, but also work during the week. I was going to switch programming eventually anyways, but I just opted to start today.

Basic approach is hypertrophy stuff. Go 4x/week. Chest/shoulders, legs/lower, back, arms. Arms are important not for bro reasons, but because it provides me with a light day; so it’s still a day of work but it’s hardly a level of work compared to a squat session. Start off with something compound and heavy, work up, then everything after aims to be supportive. About 1 minute rest between sets, and yes, chase the pump. Just have fun. And that’s part of it for me — if I find that I want to just chase something, go for it. I’ve done things where I just did nothing but pullups and chinups until I couldn’t do any more. If I want to do that, do that. Tomorrow I’ll squat, and I want to focus on front squatting, and who knows… maybe I’ll want to front squat until I’m blue so I can work on lighter weight but finding the technique groove. And if that’s all I do, then that’s all I do. I want to have fun, chase the pump, get a bunch of work in, and just do whatever to help support the cut diet.

So with that, today went like this.

Hit inclines to start off. Worked up to a moderately heavy single, then an AMRAP+50%. Nice start. DB bench press next, but lowered the weight and focused on a 2(3)-0-1-0 tempo. I really wanted everything to have that larger focus on the eccentric, and it was good. Think muscle, not movement. Flies were a little light, because I found that fast a tempo was harder to hit on that — need to maybe make it like 4-0-2-1 — yes, really get that squeeze and pause at the top. But whatever the exact tempo, more eccentric.

DB Presses went the same: slower eccentric, really let the muscle work. Then DB lat raises. This was interesting because by the end of the presses I started to feel that weirdness in my neck/traps again. I know that with the raises I’ll tilt my head back a little bit — don’t do that. Just “look down” (not really, but have to think of it that way). That helped a lot. As soon as I finished the raises I immediately grabbed a 10# plate and did front raises until I couldn’t.

I shouldn’t have done triceps work, but I was winging it. After the 3rd set I cranked out what I could then ran the rack down to the 15# DB, getting 3-5 reps per poundage drop. Just go go until I couldn’t, crank as I could.

That’s the stuff I want to do. Just have some fun.

  • Incline Press
    • bar x 10
    • 95 x 5
    • 115 x 4
    • 135 x 3
    • 165 x 2
    • 185 x 1
    • 135 x 15
    • 135 x 7
  • DB Bench
    • 45e x 10
    • 45e x 10
    • 45e x 10
    • 45e x 8
    • 45e x 7
  • Machine Flies
    • 70 x 12
    • 70 x 12
    • 70 x 12
  • Seated DB Press
    • 35e x 10
    • 35e x 10
    • 35e x 10
    • 35e x 9
  • DB Lat Raises
    • 20e x 10
    • 20e x 10
    • 20e x 6, then immediately grabbed 10# plate and did front raises to failure (about 25 reps)
  • Overhead Triceps extensions
    • 40 x 20
    • 40 x 13
    • 40 x 12, then ran the rack down to 15# getting about 3-5 reps per drop

New CHL-16 (March 2016)

/ hsoi

The Texas Department of Public Safety sent this email to all Texas LTC Instructors:

Attention Instructors:
Please be advised, the current Texas License To Carry a Handgun Laws (CHL-16) 2015-2016 publication dated January 2016 was recently revised due to formatting issues and other minor modifications.  A revised CHL-16 with a new publication date of March 2016 is now available and may be accessed and downloaded at the following DPS website link:  http://txdps.state.tx.us/InternetForms/Forms/CHL-16.pdf
 
Thank you for your continued support of the Handgun Licensing program.
Regulatory Services Division
Licensing and Registration Service
 

(yes, they use Comic Sans for their signature…)

Worth picking up and (re)reading, because laws matter.

No one helped – two sides to every story

/ hsoi

Via Greg Ellifritz, I read an article about 7 self-defense cases and their implications.

In discussing one of the cases:

Finally, you need to be able to handle it yourself: John told us that of some 30 people who witnessed this struggle in a public place, not a single one came forward to help him.

Now, this statement can be taken for what it is: you’re in a struggle, lots of people around you, no one steps in to help, which means yes you are on your own so you ought to be prepared to handle things yourself.

What stood out to me is depending which side of the story you’re in, the fact that “no one helped” gets either condemned or praised. And it’s as if we want it both ways.

On the one hand, people want other people to help. They are of the mind that if I saw something bad happening, I would step in. Certainly this is a good thing, to help someone in need. And if you are the one in need, you’d likely welcome all the help you can get. As well, people often view the fact that “no one helps” as a sad commentary on society today, and thus state that as demonstration that they are not part of that particular societal problem.

On the other hand, often people of this same group discuss the realities of getting involved in someone else’s problem. You could wind up hurt or dead. You may not understand the complete context of the event and could wind up helping the wrong person, or making a bad situation worse. You could cause problems for yourself, and there may be nothing done in return by those involved to contend with your problems brought on by helping them with their problems (e.g. medical bills, loss of job, loss of life, etc.). So it is often suggested that it could be a very bad thing to get involved.

This is something I personally struggle with, because it’s in my nature to want to help people, yet I know if I help it may not have the desired effect and things could wind up worse for those involved and myself. My personal safety and well-being does matter more to me (if I’m hurt, can’t work, die, get sued, etc.; who is going to take care of my wife and children?), but yet I have a hard time standing by and watching others suffer. It’s a tough spot.

At least what’s needed is for us to stop viewing it from just one side. That no one came to help, maybe there’s good reason why they didn’t, and if the tables were turned you may not have helped either (despite your well-intended fantasies to the contrary). Work to understand the complete picture, which from one person’s perspective may have been an incomplete picture thus the choices they made. Work to ensure you can take care of yourself, both in the moment and afterwards. Work to ensure you have full understanding before you plunge headlong. Don’t just work to have good intentions, work to be able to do actual good.

Where do I need more work? weak-hand and 25 yards, of course

/ hsoi / 8 Comments

A couple days ago I posted a simple accuracy drill from Claude Werner (by way of Dr. Sherman House).

Yesterday I was out at the KR Training facilities and shot it.

First, since I was cold – both ways, in that I hadn’t shot yet AND it was in the low-50º’s with a very strong and cold wind – I shot the “3 Seconds Or Less” drill. 19/20 – dropped one of the weak-hand shots. Dang it; my nemesis strikes again.

Then I shot Claude’s accuracy drill. This is with my primary carry gun, a S&W M&P9 (full-size).

  • (3) 10/10
  • (5) 10/10
  • (7) 10/10
  • (10) 10/10
  • (15) 9/10
  • (25) 6/10

Even though 25 yards is not part of the drill, I did it anyways because I know I need more practice at 25 yards.

I ran a few other drills, shot some steel, did some other things.

What do I need to work on? Same as usual: weak hand, and 25 yards. And probably weak-hand at 25 yards too. 😉

I have been focusing on them. On weak  hand, it’s grip, finger placement, then pressing instead of yanking. In fact, on one-handed work in general, I am constantly reminding myself to keep my grip strong: thumb wrapped down and actively involved in the grip, and pinky crushing things as much as possible (involving the pinky matters a lot in a strong grip).

On the 25 yards I did observe and validate something I’ve been seeing in my dry fire practice: sight alignment. At 25 yards you really need that “type 4” sight picture (see: Brian Enos), everything has to be perfect. I know I’ve had some problems seeing the sights crisply during dry practice and that translated into live practice — where I was able to see the sights better. Still mulling through all of this in terms of what to correct, but it was enlightening. For sure, the 25 yards was all about sights and that I was less than perfect with that picture.

In other news, I think I’m going to have to swap out this gun and take it to the gunsmith. I think it’s just time for some love and care (e.g. new springs, new extractor, deep ultrasonic cleaning, etc.). I’ve been seeing little things here, little things there, and some things that happened yesterday pretty much clinched it.

Well, I know what my dry fire will be consisting of for a while. 🙂

BACK AT IT AGAIN WITH THE ACCURACY DRILLS!  The Secrets of Highly Successful Gunfighters, and the Tactical Professor’s Baseline Establishment

/ hsoi / 7 Comments

An excellent drill from Claude Werner, by way of Dr. Sherman House.

This isn’t about how badass you can be. It’s about how good you can be. The beauty of this drill is there is no time-pressure, and thus really no pressure overall. Can you do this? It’s not necessarily hard, but it will show you where you need work. I haven’t shot this yet, but I am pretty sure my work will come at 25 yards (and perhaps 15).

I also like the approach of using different guns for this. You might just see where X gun really isn’t that good, or perhaps it means you need more practice with that specific gun. While this drill wasn’t involved, it was in shooting the same drills with my M&P9 vs. my S&W 442 vs. my M&P Shield that basically told me it was time to give up the snub as my BUG and take the Shield a little more closely. When I get my NAA Guardian back from the factory, it’ll be curious to try all of this out with it.

Really, this is a good diagnostic drill to help you understand where you are, and where you need more work. It helps you vet your gear too. Challenge yourself — it’s how you get better.

Sherman A. House DDS's avatarCIVILIAN DEFENDER

img_2379Mark Luell of, “Growing Up Guns,” (left) Darryl Bolke (middle) and myself (right), at the 2016 RANGEMASTER Polite Society Tactical Conference.

As I’ve already written about in the past few posts, I recently attended the RANGEMASTER Polite Society Tactical Conference.  One class I attended there was presented by Darryl Bolke of Hardwired Tactical Shooting, from Dallas TX.  The lecture was entitled, “The Secrets of Highly Successful Gunfighters.”

Darryl talked about the legendary lawmen, of both the distant and recent past.  Some of these men had been his mentors, and he made careful notes  of the skills he observed these men to have in common.  A common thread through all of these men was their capability to deliver extremely accurate fire, under the threat and pressure of tense situations AND/OR incoming gunfire!  Having the ability to deliver, on demand, gunshots to either the fist-sized vital zone of the upper chest, or…

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2016-03-23 training log

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Pfft.

Jack shit, and not even a good one at that.

Felt crappy this morning. My sleep hasn’t been great, work has been a massive source of stress, so I was drag-ass out of bed. Thought about skipping the gym entirely, but no… gotta go through. But I did decide to do a “Jack-Shit” approach (and then reduce my carb intake today) so I don’t dig a deeper hole to recover out of. Just do the squat work, 30 minutes on the elliptical, and call it.

As I started squatting, I felt a little better and thought about working up to my EDM because sometimes you should do that. I really don’t know why I did — I shouldn’t have. I felt bad, poor day, not recovering well, why would I think this was a good idea? Still, I did. And I failed. I put 305 on the bar, hit the hole, not sure I hit depth because I could tell it wasn’t going to happen… started to come out of the hole, got a few inches and just stuck… stuck… stuck… couldn’t make it move… so I dumped the bar. Not happy, but not too upset because I’m not surprised. I had good setup and mentality going into it, but it just wasn’t there physically. I’m not yet going to chalk it up to diet strength loss, but rather just feeling like shit, bad day, not recovering, etc..

After I dumped it I just hit the elliptical. No 5×5 work sets. My back didn’t feel too hot after the bar dump, so why risk more problems for myself

It was what it was.

  • Squat
    • bar x 5
    • bar x 5
    • 150 x 5
    • 175 x 4
    • 205 x 3
    • 225 x 2
    • 265 x 1
    • 285 x 1
    • 305 x miss