Author: hsoi

More M&P blarg

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Continuing from my previous blarg on the S&W M&P…

Earlier this afternoon I started a dry fire session. While doing so I noticed along the side of my trigger finger a callus. There’s only one way the skin in that area could be callused: it’s rubbing the frame. I hypothesized it, and I think the callus is pretty good supporting evidence. So yes, if the M&P gives me enough clearance for my fingers, good sign.

I looked at the S&W website a bit. One thing I have mixed emotions on? The magazine release button. It’s reversible, but technically only one-sided. Sure, 99% of my work is my right thumb pressing the left-side button on my XD. Due to the way my fingers wrap around the gun? My left index finger can come in contact with the right-side button… and I have dropped mags. So in a way, to lose the ambi-release is good. But it’s also bad in case I might need it, say in one-handed reloading situations. So, mixed emotions here, but I think the loss will generally be an improvement.

I’m just thinking more and more about switching to the M&P. It’s just fine details at this point. I intend to shoot an M&P again soon to look further into these things.

Combative Pistol 2 – The Ready

/ hsoi

I spent October 23-24, 2010 with Tom Givens of Rangemaster taking his Combative Pistol 2 course, hosted at KR Training. While my general AAR is here, there were some things that came up in class that I wanted to speak about in greater detail. What follows is inspired by something Tom said or we did in class, but is ultimately my take on things and how thoughts gelled in my head. I would encourage you to train with Tom Givens, if you ever have the chance. Reading my blather is no substitute.

Previously I wrote about The Grip. This is relevant to…

The Ready

There’s a position called the “Ready Position.” It doesn’t matter what you’re doing: playing tennis, throwing a ball, shooting a gun. There’s a ready position. What is a Ready Position? That position you’re in so you are ready to do whatever you need to do. If you’re playing tennis, it’s the position you’re in so you are ready to return a serve or volley or hit a groundstroke. If you’re shooting a gun, it’s the position you’re in so if you need to shoot, you are ready to do so.

There are many types of ready positions in shooting. One had the gun extended at arms length but pointed low, say at the target’s belt-line. Another has the gun pulled back, in draw position #3, and may call this a “compressed ready”. Other shooting disciplines can have their own variants. But the bottom line remains: it’s the position where you are totally ready to go.

Why does grip enter into this?

Is your grip ready to go when you are in the ready? Be honest. Mine always wasn’t. What would happen? I’d be in the ready, then when it was time to shoot I’d bring the gun up/out and tighten my grip at the same time, which would cause the sights to shift, and if you look at the correction chart you’ll see how that grip tightening will cause you to not hit your target.

Your grip must be all the grip you need to have from the get go. There is no time nor chance to correct it. When you go to draw your gun, you get all the grip you need on the gun before you remove it from the holster. Do not remove the gun from the holster until the grip is solid and correct. Get the other hand on the gun, grip it fully, then proceed.

But it’s even more than grip, it’s mindset.

All through the CP2 weekend you hear Tom Givens say “DRAW TO READY!” and he means that. But it’s not just “move your gun into the arms out, pointed down position”; in fact, that’s really the least of the concerns. It means you need to move yourself into a Ready Position and everything that means. It means the gun is out in the proper place. It means your grip is solid. It means your eyes are looking in the right place. But most of all? It means that your mind is ready to do the job. You need to draw like you mean it, draw like your life depends upon it because it does. You need to have the mental focus and readiness to handle the situation. If that means to assess, assess. If that means communicate, communicate. If that means move, move. If that means shoot, shoot and shoot well.

The Ready Position is far more than just placement of arms and gun. It’s a whole mind and body state of preparedness to tackle the job before you.

Muscovy Regulation – an update

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This is important for all of my readers to read and act upon.

US Fish and Wildlife regulation CFR 21.54 has caused quite a stir with people who care about muscovy ducks. I mentioned the problem regulation before.

FWS has published proposed changes. From George T. Allen:

We have published proposed changes to the regulations governing waterfowl.  The changes are intended to accommodate activities with muscovy ducks, particularly keeping the ducks for exhibition, or as barnyard animals for personal consumption and egg production.  The changes also address sale of the ducks and their eggs.

You can submit comments by either of the methods highlighted in red in the proposed rule.  Submissions by any other means may not be considered when we prepare the final rule.  Comments on the proposed rule are due no later than 30 December 2010.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

George T.  Allen, Ph.D., C.W.B.
Chief, Branch of Permits and Regulations
Division of Migratory Bird Management
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
4401 North Fairfax Drive, Mail Stop 4107
Arlington, Virginia  22203-1610
703-358-1825     fax 703-358-2272
George_T_Allen@fws.gov

You can find the proposed changes here.

Tobi Kosanke has been active in protesting the changes.

“I have two very large issues with this regulation.  First of all, it regulates a non-migratory domesticated bird that has been kept as both pet and livestock since the inception of our country.  A bird designated as livestock should NOT be regulated by the FWS,” Kosanke said.  “Second, the issues with the Muscovy that the FWS is trying to address are nearly identical to those of the Mallard, which IS a migratory bird.  Like the Muscovy, the Mallard duck is a waterfowl that individuals commonly purchase from hatcheries, has become a nuisance population in some areas, and also breeds with other species of duck, yet there is no national control order for the Mallard, nor are all Mallards in the U.S. required to be marked with leg or wing bands; instead, problems with Mallards are dealt with on the local level.”

The regulation just isn’t right to begin with. It makes no sense. It’s not well-thought out nor well-researched. It’s good that they listened to the people (they’re supposed to… they are serving us) and revised the regulation, but the revisions aren’t good enough.

 

“When the FWS announced that they were amending the regulation, I was very hopeful.  But, unfortunately, while the amendment does address the issues of the bird clubs and livestock industry, both of which heavily lobbied the FWS to not include exhibition birds or poultry raised for meat in their regulation, the largest contingent of Muscovy lovers was ignored,” Kosanke said.  “As it is now written, regulation CFR 21.54 makes it illegal for individuals and subdivisions to maintain their pet duck populations.  It also makes it illegal for counties and cities to place Muscovy ducks on their ponds.”

 

 

Dear Readers: please take a few moments and comment on the regulation.

  1. Visit regulations.gov
  2. Search for docket: FWS-R9-MB-2010-0037
  3. Submit a comment on that docket.

It should take you 5-10 minutes to do. Even if you don’t care about muscovy ducks, I know my readers are folks that care about the state of our government. Inconsistent regulation is unacceptable. Come on you gun guys… you hate stupid laws like these, why should this be any exception?  We lose our freedoms not through sweeping acts, but through little things like this. I know you guys care about freedom and a well-behaved government. Please help out.

Thank you.

 

Who is not in touch with reality?

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The Dallas Morning News has an article discussing cautious optimism at getting concealed carry on Texas college campuses passed in the 2011 legislative session.

What stood out to me in the article was this:

 

But Colin Goddard, assistant director for federal legislation for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, who survived the massacre at Virginia Tech, says allowing guns on campus is a bad idea.

“If there’s someone coming in to shoot a bunch of people in a classroom, you’re already lost,” said Goddard, who was shot four times. “To think you can react and effectively shoot the target … These people have seen too many movies. They’re not in touch with reality.”

 

 

I wonder how many movies Mr. Goddard has seen.

Tom Givens of Rangemaster has had nearly 60 students survive self-defense incidents because they were carrying concealed.

They were able to react and effectively shoot the target.

They were very in touch with reality — that’s why they carried their guns. That’s why they lived.

 

The Smith & Wesson M&P

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Back when I was first deciding on a carry gun, it came down to two choices: Springfield XD, Smith & Wesson M&P.

By all accounts, I liked the M&P, and I bet I would have gone with it. But why didn’t I? It was brand new to the market. It was unproven. S&W had their whole Sigma fiasco, and was this going to be another Sigma? I was buying a gun to bet my life on, so I felt it was better to choose the proven model. Thus I went with the XD.

Now, I’m not unhappy with the choice, but having shot multiple thousands of rounds through it, held it in my hands for a long time, well… I can see how it’s not a 100% perfect choice for me. The main thing? It’s one-size-fits… someone. Now that interchangeable backstraps are all the rage, I can feel how the XD doesn’t quite fit my hand right. The backstraps were a big reason I wanted the M&P. And I have said that if I was buying an XD now I’d buy the XD(m) because of its changeable backstraps.

Over the Combative Pistol 2 weekend, I got to try out an M&P with a trigger kit job by Apex Tactical Specialities. I’m not sure I like it, but I can see the difference. There’s a lot of “springy” takeup, but the distance between that break and reset? Wow. I can see how this can be a fast gun with that trigger. I’d have to shoot such a gun for a while to get used to it, and apparently you can change different parts in the kit to get different feels. So… much playing would have to be done.

As well, Lynn Givens was carrying an M&P. I noticed she had a light texturing job done to her backstrap. I liked it. One thing I don’t like about my XD is the grip isn’t very grippy. But getting something like a stipple job from Springer Precision? even his mildest is too aggressive for a gun carried IWB against the skin. The XD(m)’s grip is better. The job Lynn had? I liked.

Lynn also pointed out something critical. One problem I have (and it was evident all weekend long in CP2) is I shoot slightly left. I know the problem. It’s how my trigger finger enters the trigger guard. It’s the angle of how everything meets, my physiology, my finger enters the guard angled slightly downward angle, and so my finger rides slightly on the frame and pushes it left. But on her M&P? I had no problems. There was no contact. I’d need to do more shooting with the M&P to verify that, but gosh… ain’t that a plus?

Now that the M&P has been on the market for a while, it’s being picked up as the duty gun in many police departments (Austin PD is now standardizing on the M&P in .40 S&W), Team S&W is winning lots of pistol competitions with almost stock M&P’s (might just have better sights and better trigger, but that’s all), it’s got a lot behind it. So, the one reason I didn’t want the gun? no longer an issue.

All I need now is the money fairy. 🙂

Doggie School – Day 3. Plus, first vet visit

/ hsoi

Today was a busy day for our “poo-vasz”. Yes… our new nickname for her is “poo-vasz” (or “poovasz”, however you want to spell it) since our little Kuvasz seems to think the cat litter box is the dessert tray. 😉

School

Started the day at doggie school. Brought her bed with us so she could start to learn “place”. We started on the basics of introducing the “place” to her last week, but today we wanted to put the command with the bed. We also worked on “sit” and “down”. While Sasha knows these commands already, she needs more discipline with them. For instance, I should be able to say “sit” and leave the room, come back 5 minutes later and she’s still sitting. We’re a ways from that… I can get her to sit, she’ll stay there, but if I get too far away she will want to get up. So we’re working on things.

We also worked on getting the trainer closer to us. He kept throwing food down on the ground, letting her know that he’s a source of good things. Eventually she was sitting on my left, Abel would come up on my right and shake my hand. We’d chat for a moment, good dog, and life was good. Sasha was pretty well-behaved, even with lots of other people and dogs working in the same building/room.

We also received a complement from Abel, that we’re one of his best clients. Why? Because it’s obvious we’re working with the dog. We do work with her every day, a couple of times a day. I mean, why wouldn’t we? We’re paying money for this. We want the dog to be well-mannered. Why would you NOT work with the dog? Why would you NOT do your homework? But I guess most people don’t. Geez.. I’d love to have money and time to waste like they have….

Anyways, I’m pleased with her progress. We’ll be working more on “place”, “sit”, “down”, and introductions with people in the coming week.

But the interesting thing is how well-timed this session was because….

The Vet

….Sasha needed her first trip to our veterinarian.

We’ve had this vet for many years, taken care of all our cats. We didn’t want to go the moment we got home because well… we knew she was a handful and the vet would have to do things like touch her. We just didn’t want to deal with it. But the goal was to have the visit done before the end of the month. So here we are, mission accomplished.

The trip went amazingly smooth. She was cool and mellow for the most part. Alert sure, but didn’t get all crazy or anything. New place, new people, a few other animals, but no big deal. She didn’t want to get on the scale, but I used the technique for introducing her to the “place” and found out she’s gained some weight (good!) and is at 71 lbs.

The first odd sign? When the assistant was moving around getting us into the exam room, she had to walk right by Sasha, even brushed up against her. Sasha didn’t flinch. Awesome! Now, I figure part of that is due to being on neutral ground (no need to protect the area), but still… before she would have had a fit. When the vet came in, she almost took food from his hand.. didn’t like his biscuits.

Here’s the impressive thing. We needed to do a blood draw. Took her in the back, put a muzzle on her to be safe. I’m holding her so Doc can take her front leg and do a blood draw. I’m watching and I see the needle go in, Doc pops a few things off the syringe, then suddenly Sasha jumped. Doc’s eyes were wide open… but not because he got bit or hurt or was afraid. No, he was impressed. You see, when I thought he had stuck her? He hadn’t yet. When she jumped? That’s when he stuck her. What impressed him was her reaction time. He said that in his 40+ years of being a vet, he has seen few dogs with reaction time like that. He was impressed. 🙂

Anyways, we got the blood draw, we got her microchipped. Talked about a few other things with the vet. During the final talk, Sasha did unleash towards one of the assistants. She came into the room quickly, reached over her head towards me to hand me something. Sasha didn’t like that, but the reason is simple: fast, swift, towards me… she was defending me. Good girl. 🙂  You could even see her reaction time there… instant on.

All in all, it was a good trip. Yes, expectation was that it was going to be a difficult visit. But I just kept using all the stuff we’ve been learning at Triple Crown. I had my treat pouch, I used the techniques, I kept the positive reinforcement flowing. It went very well!

We’ll get test results tomorrow.

Sasha is doing well. 🙂

Combative Pistol 2 – The Grip

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

I spent October 23-24, 2010 with Tom Givens of Rangemaster taking his Combative Pistol 2 course, hosted at KR Training. While my general AAR is here, there were some things that came up in class that I wanted to speak about in greater detail. What follows is inspired by something Tom said or we did in class, but is ultimately my take on things and how thoughts gelled in my head. I would encourage you to train with Tom Givens, if you ever have the chance. Reading my blather is no substitute.

Grip

Tom Givens said something in class that made the light bulb in my head turn on.

You see, I’ve struggled with grip. It’s due in part to the shape of the gun grip, the size of my hands, and then everyone and their mother having a theory on grip. Todd Jarrett and his “grip 20% harder” kung-fu grip. Bill Rogers and gripping hard and being solid like a 2×4. Then Brian Enos and his neutral gripping just enough for consistent recoil. And the list can go on. I’ve been trying them all with varying levels of success.

Now I will say, while everyone has a different flavor on it, they all are striving for the same thing: consistency. You want the gun to behave in a consistent manner, where it goes bang, the gun moves due to recoil, then comes right back to where you started, then bang and recoil follows the same path as before, then comes right back to where you started, and so on. There’s no need to hunt for the front sight because your eyes never left that focus point and the gun comes right back. So, the “right grip” is one that’s consistent.

But there was something about the way Tom described it that just gelled for me.

Look at the shape of a gun grip, especially if you have a plastic-framed double-stack gun (Glock, XD, M&P, Sig, etc.). The shape is like a rectangle with the corners rounded off. It’s not a circle. Now, how do you grip a baseball bat? The bat is circular and when you grip it your grip pressure is evenly spread all around the bat… it’s a circular grip. Now, how do you grip pliers? Your hand works more like a clamp, exerting just a “front to back” pressure. It’s a little hard to describe, but try it. The pressure your hand exerts holding a baseball bat vs. holding pliers are two different things.

Grip the gun like pliers. Your strong hand (right hand, for me) should clamp the gun’s grip like pliers, exerting that front-to-back pressure. Not a “round” pressure like a bat.

Now your weak/support hand (left hand, for me). The tendons in your hand are joined, thus when you move your trigger finger, your other fingers move as well. Due to that, moving the trigger causes your other fingers to move thus cause your gun to move in unwanted ways. This is where a good trigger job that minimizes pull weight and travel distance makes a big difference. Setting that aside, what your support hand can do to help reduce this? When your support-hand fingers wrap around your strong hand, depress those support fingers atop your strong-hand fingers and tendons (on the back of the hand) like those support-fingers were pressing guitar strings. Just clamp down on them. That helps minimize the sympathetic movement.

Strong hand gives front to back pressure, support hand gives left-right pressure. Each hand is exerting pressure along a unique axis with no overlap. You still have to have a very strong white-knuckle grip, but it’s the way/direction that grip pressure is applied.

For some reason, that explanation turned on a light bulb in my head. I tried that grip all weekend, and it made a huge difference. YMMV. That felt “right” to me. It felt awkward because I wasn’t used to it, and my forearms are pretty sore now from gripping the hell out of the gun all weekend. But there we go! I’ll be working with this grip for a while to see where it takes me. So far tho, so good.

But here’s one key thing: always perform this grip. The moment your hands come together at position 3 of the draw, you should have this grip going, including all that white-knuckle pressure. You don’t relax it until you’re putting the gun back in the holster. For me, I need to get better about this in dry fire practice. Some time ago I realized that my brain wasn’t caring about grip pressure in dry practice because my brain knew it was dry and thus no recoil and thus no reason to exert. I’ve been working to overcome this, but still would find my grip fading because I’d be thinking about whatever it was I was working on, which wasn’t grip. But now I have an explicit grip technique to focus on, so I will do my best to work on that in dry fire, in live fire, always.

Cosmic, dude

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Yesterday I was about 60 miles from home.

In the middle of the afternoon something told me to look at my hand. I did.

“OMG! I lost my wedding ring!”

I’m checking my pockets. I’m looking on the ground. Hogel notices something is amiss and asks. He helps but no luck, suggests that it might have gotten picked up since Karl just ran the brass picker around the grounds. I ask Karl if he’s seen my wedding band. By now, others are overhearing and word is spreading that I lost my wedding ring.

Then someone notices a key problem.

I’ve been looking at and holding up my right hand.

Of course, my wedding band is on my left hand, and is still there.

I feel silly. Every has a good laugh at my expense. But we just roll with it and move along. I just brushed it off as being 2 days of working hard and I’m starting to get loopy.

We take a break and go inside. I sit down, pull out my iPhone. There’s a text message from Wife.

BTW, diamond fell out of wedding band. Oldest noticed. Ugh.

I check the time stamp. It was about the same time as when I had my little wedding ring incident. I share it with everyone… we have a little “ooo… cosmic” moment. 🙂

Wife loses something with her wedding ring, I end up noticing a loss with my wedding ring… or something like it. 60 miles away.

I’ve heard of things like this happening with twins, where one can feel the other’s pain or sense what the other is thinking, and that it’s not really limited to twins but anyone with a truly close connection.

I don’t know. Could just be massive coincidence, but still… kinda interesting.