Given what I observed in DPS2 class, I’d like to make a comment about reloading semi-automatic handguns.

There are many techniques for reloads. Here’s Todd Jarrett demonstrating the most popular:

It’s important to note that Todd Jarrett is one of the top shooters in the world, but notice on the last two techniques (reload with retention, tactical reload). Notice how long they take to do. Consider Todd Jarrett has practiced these heavily, he has minimal chance of flubbing them but is still human and could well flub them.

Now consider yourself. Are you just a private citizen that carries a gun for self-defense? Do you practice at the level Todd Jarrett does? When your life is on the line, do you have the time or desire or motor-skills to deal with fumbling? As well, consider that shit can happen at a moment’s notice and the longer the gun is out of commission well… the longer the gun is out of commission.

The only reload you really need to worry about is the so-called “speed reload.” I was made a believer of that fact at the Combined Skills class. Why is this the only reload to care about? Because it is the fastest reload. It keeps your gun out of action for the least amount of time and gets you back in the fight as quickly as possible. It breaks your concentration as little as possible. Everything about it is less, simpler, the most basic, the essence of reloading. If you did have to do another type of reload it would be what Jarrett called the “slide lock” reload or some may call the “emergency reload” because you’ve run the gun dry. Still, that reload is about the same as the speed reload apart from the need to release the slide.

Watching people in DPS2 you saw all manner of fumbling and fiddle-farting around with magazines. Since cardboard targets don’t return fire or otherwise attack you back, you don’t feel the pressure of needing to get the gun back in the fight as quickly as possible. As we got people to just drop the magazines on the ground and speed reload, it made a huge difference. It’s just a magazine. Let it drop. It can handle it, and if it doesn’t then perhaps you need new quality magazines or a gun that doesn’t only have cheap magazines available for it. Yeah it might get dirt in it, but hopefully your gun is reliable enough to handle some dirt.

Practice like you fight, and hopefully then you will fight like you practice.

I had put time into other reloading techniques, like reload with retention or tactical reload because I could see they were more involved motor skills and thus needed more practice. Sure I practiced speed reloads but it seemed so simple that I didn’t practice it a whole lot. It still is simple, but given my personal goals I see little reason to practice any other reload. So the time I spent practicing those other reloads I’ll just now spend on speed reloads or other more relevant skills. Again note this is due to my personal goal set. Your goals and situational requirements may be different and may require the application of other reload techniques. Train accordingly.

I spent all of yesterday at KR Training helping with classes.

Three classes were being run: Basic Pistol 1, Defensive Pistol Skills 2, and AT-1A Low Light Shooting.

BP1

I think I enjoy the Basic Pistol classes the most. The teacher in me has always been drawn to beginners. When I taught Kuk Sool, I enjoyed working with  white and yellow belts and often was the designated “go-to” man for doing introductory lessons. When I was teaching kids in Cub Scouts or Boy Scouts, it was great to work with kids just learning the basics. If you can help people lay a good foundation, they’ll have something solid to build upon, so beginner stages are very important.

There were a wide range of people in the class, from young college students to an old grandmother… probably in her 70’s or 80’s (she was a hoot). Men and women, various ethnicities (black, white, Asian). I always point this out about the BP1 classes because people like to stereotype gun owners as old white male knuckledragging rednecks, and it’s simply not the case as the composition of these classes demonstrate.

The class ran well, people had fun. We’ll see where they go from here.

DPS2

Defensive Pistol Skills 2 is a recent addition to the course catalog, building upon the skills in DPS1. Skills such as reloads, dealing with malfunctions, moving and shooting, basic use of cover/concealment.  Class started a little slowly as we had to bring people onto the same page, but in the end it worked well. There was some discussion on reloads and it’s something I’ll talk about in another posting. All in all, people did alright.

The real fun part of the class is what’s done at the end. There’s a scenario set up (akin to an IDPA/IPSC) that folks got to run through. There was also a course of fire shot for score. The score doesn’t truly amount to anything more than showing you where you lie in your skills and what you may need to work on.

Big things to take from this course: you don’t want to get too close to cover, get the gun in play and keep it in play, slow down and get good hits.

AT-1A

Foo.c came out for this course. I didn’t get to talk with him much since he was in class and I was helping run things. This is always a fun and informative class because shooting in the dark is fun. You get to see how much muzzle flash your ammo makes, you get to play with toys like flashlights and lasers. And for many, this is the first time they have to do some stuff that does not involve shooting but just using their head. I remember the first time I did that scenario and what a sobering experience it was. The bottom line: is it worth dying for?

Other Stuff

As expected, I saw a lot of the same people I see at these events, which is always good.

I also got to meet a couple people.

I got to meet RevolverRob. Nice guy (tho his girlfriend needs a better car *grin*). Rob did pretty well. He was a little slow moving at the start of drills in DPS2 (i.e. you gotta pick up your feet and move, draw faster, shoot faster… this is your life in the line!). But he did soon find his feet and as the day wore on he really picked up and was shooting well: you could see the improvement in how he was addressing the drills and in the holes on the paper. Yeah he kept missing one steel plate as we ran through a scenario in AT-1A, but that’s OK because it served as a teachable moment. If I remember correctly, he was using the Harries technique and it just wasn’t working because it was shadowing his front sight instead of illuminating it. When he repositioned to use a cheek/neck index (what KR prefers), the sights were properly illuminated and the steel plate went ping. Rob, you did well in class and it seems it was a good day for you.

I got to meet Leslie Buck. I knew he had been coming to KRT for firearms training, and so I was hoping to run into him sooner or later. So there I was in the classroom, this man walks in with a Pekiti Tirsia Kali t-shirt on, he introduced himself and I must admit… I got a little giddy inside. 🙂 It was very much my pleasure to meet him. What impressed me so much was his attitude. He was so kind, nice, humble, courteous. The man had no (evident) ego. He came with a mindset to learn. You could see it when he was on the line: warrior mindset, student mindset. He’s not a bad shot either, just needs to send that new XD off to Springer Precision. 😉  I asked about training Kali/Silat with him, and while due to logistics I cannot train with him on a regular basis, I’m more than welcome to come to various seminars and such that he puts on. I’m certainly looking forward to such things as my schedule permits.

I also got to shoot some .38 defensive ammo in low light to check out the flash signatures. Unfortunately we ran out of time and I wasn’t able to run everything I brought, but we ran CorBon DPX 110 grain, Buffalo Bore 158 grain LSWC (20/20c), and Federal Premium Nyclad 125 grain. All 3 certainly had ample muzzle flash, but to our surprise the Buffalo Bore exhibited the least flash of the 3: we expected it to have the most. I would say the Federal had the most flash, the CorBon in the middle. We tried to capture it on film but not a lot made it… it’s just tough to time it. I did want to try Gold Dot 135 grain but didn’t get a chance too. RevolverRob offered up some Remington R38S12 but again no time…. that I would have been very curious to see. My guesses would be the Gold Dot would have very low flash and the Remington would be rather visible since it’s just “Remington Express”.

A good day. Long day. But a good one. Weather was gorgeous. I can’t complain.