Guns

Relax the shoulders

/ hsoi

I try to be a laid back person, but I know it’s in my DNA to be pretty “type A”. Physically it’s hard for me to relax… physical tension creeps in all the time. One of the most evident places? The shoulders. I can do this to myself, I can do this to other people all the time. Just say “drop your shoulders”… many people think their shoulders are dropped but when you make them go through the motion, they’re always amazed that they were partially shrugged. Tension.

Recently I purchased a bunch of Matt Burkett’s DVD’s. I just finished watching volume 1. One thing Matt was constantly telling the video’s student was to stay relaxed and drop your shoulders. Also, Matt’s discussion of the drawstroke really hit home with me. You see, I know what the proper and ideal drawstroke should be like, but I’ve been going too far. That is, when you get to position 2, I’ve been drawing it up a little higher than it should be in an effort to get the gun higher so it’s in my visual sight plane sooner. I know not to go too high (e.g. in front of the face), but I was still going kinda high and shrugging my shoulders to do so.

After watching the Burkett video and then doing a dry fire session, I see this is bad… or at least, bad for me.

The main thing is, with the shoulders shrugged I’m just not relaxed. I already know that being relaxed is so important (I know this from my empty-hand martial arts practice, but like I said, being “type A” seems to be wired into my DNA), but I was sacrificing some relaxation for picking up the sights sooner. Trouble is, I wasn’t picking up the sights any faster! What I suspect was happening? As I’d push the gun out there would be wobble as my shoulders would change height, or tension which would lead to some jitter. When I keep my shoulders relaxed, the gun in position 2 and 3 may not be as high, but I’m picking the sights up a lot faster because the shoulders are all the way down and as long as I’m not shrugging them up as I present then the gun is staying in a level plane with no wobble or jitter added by the shoulder movement. And get this… I was doing this dry practice with a snub revolver — crappy sights (compared to something better, like the Dawson target and fiber optic front sight).

Stay relaxed. It’s good for many things in life, not just shooting. I’m going to print out a piece of paper to keep by my dry fire area that says “relax, drop the shoulders”. I suspect this will help my performance greatly.

Austin Rifle Club Vandalism

/ hsoi

Vandalism struck the Austin Rifle Club. Details and pictures here.

While not a major act of destruction, ARC has been combatting a lot of problems lately, especially when it comes to rules compliance.

If you have any information about this, please notify ARC or the Travis County Sheriff.

Comp-Tac Goodies

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

My order from Comp-Tac came in. Lots of goodies. I’ll talk about each piece over the coming days as I get a chance to try things out. I’ll try to have pictures too.

I’ll start off with the mundane.

I picked up a spare Minotaur body. I’ve been using the “slide” bodies for a while because I have Springfield XD-9’s of different slide lengths so when I first bought the holster I wanted that flexibility. Now that I’ve settled on carrying a 5″ gun (yes, concealed carry with a full-sized gun… it’s not hard for me to do), I wanted to move away from the slide shell because it doesn’t protect the front sight. It was OK with the 4″ gun (but not full protection) and the 5″ is fully exposed. So I picked up a proper 5″ body. Slipped it on. Adjusted. Works like a charm.

One thing I noticed. The previously purchased MTAC holster had some issues with how the shell was shaped. This new shell is more like my original MTAC shells, which I prefer. They still expose the magazine release button more than I care for, but it seems reasonably done this time around.

Pictures! All pictures taken with my iPhone, and all are clickable for a larger picture.

That’s the first MTAC I purchased. Been wearing it for about 2 years and you can tell it’s well-worn and conformed to my body. Lots of sweat in there (and I do condition and protect the leather) and still holding up well.

Because I knew MTAC #1 was getting well-worn, I ordered another one some months ago. What you see above is the backing and clips from MTAC #2 but now with the new full-sized shell. This leather backing was less “shaped to my body” than #1, so I figured it’d be a better place to start with the new shell given the leather will now conform differently due to the new shell.

This is MTAC #2 with full-sized shell compared against the slide shell that I originally purchased with #2. You can notice the obvious length difference, but what’s more important to notice is the “northeast corner” of the shell. Notice on the slide shell how it protrudes further? There’s a bit more of a lip there, which at the time they said was done to help reholstering (if I remember correctly). I never found it helped nor hindered that aspect, but it did make the mouth a bit bigger above the beltline… which could be useful, or could just get in your way. One of the first things I noticed about the new full-sized shell was it lacked this lip. I don’t know why, but I’m happier without it.

Here’s MTAC #1 with the XD-9 Tactical (5″ barrel). You can see how much the front-end protrudes and how the front sight is fully exposed. If you had a factory front sight it’d probably not be an issue, but with my Dawson Precision fiber optic front sight, it could snag on the draw or just the fact it’s exposed to getting banged up. Notice as well the tab fully covering the magazine release button?

And here’s the new one with the full shell. Notice the partially covered magazine release button? They did that because people wanted the ability to drop their magazines while the gun was holstered. I never found this to be a problem, because the XD has an ambidextrous magazine release, so I always just pushed from the other side. But, maybe someone has a custom gun or can’t get back to the other mag release. *shrug*   I don’t like the lesser protection of the mag button, but I’d reason in practice it will work out alright.

6.8 flip flop

/ hsoi

I’ve been thinking more about the 6.8 rifle.

I’m now starting to lean towards keeping it. I can tell because I’ve been thinking about what things I need to get in order to do handloads for it. 🙂

I’m not 100% sure I’m ready to go there just yet. I want to take it hunting and get some results before I really commit. Granted, the results are impressive as it is, but I want to see for myself especially in terms of how it works for my kids. After seeing how Oldest handled the rifle at the range the other day, it’s evident he could handle it. But to go bigger (e.g. .308)? I’m not sure about that right now. So… here we’ll sit for now.

I will say tho, I’ve been thinking about changing the optics.

I’m looking at the Trijicon AccuPoint 2.5-10×56 with Mil-Dot crosshair and probably amber dot (TR22-2). Of course, it’s expensive as all get out (MidwayUSA presently lists it at $825) and then I’d also have to buy a mount (LaRue has something), but the reason for this particular model is hunting in low light or no light situations (e.g. getting that deer just at the end of the day’s time window, hog hunting at night, etc.). It should be ideal for that application.

Class AAR: AT-2A Home Defense Tactics

/ hsoi / 8 Comments

Last night I had the pleasure of attending KR Training’s AT-2A: Home Defense Tactics course.

The class is what it sounds like: a class about home defense tactics. While a some of the material is stuff you get via other KR Training courses (e.g. AT-1A Low-Light Shooting covers “night” and flashlight techniques, some building clearing issues), what makes this class novel is the presentation. AT-2A is not a range course but is held at the home of a student. This changes the presentation and feel of the course. First, the number of students is small due to the logistics of people going around a home. Second, while Karl does instruct and there is “lecture”, the format ends up being a lot more interactive and full of discussion and Q&A — the smaller class size and the nature of the class just lends to that. For example, Karl would take us into a room and discuss a defensible position in the room, and while doing that some furniture might be moved to create a better position, then each student would take up positions and see how they actually worked out, asking questions, discussing pros and cons.

For the homeowner hosting the event, it’s of course very informative because it’s their house getting reviewed and analyzed. As for the rest of us, the techniques remain the same and you go home with a sense of what to look for. Homework is looking at your home and figuring out how it’s going to work. Some spots in the home may be good, some bad, some ugly. Some things may be able to be changed, other things may just be situations to avoid. You learn how to deal with quiet situations, worst-case situations, low-light situations. How to set up the house, how to deal with common criminal activity (e.g. don’t make things inviting, make their life difficult because if it’s hard, most criminals won’t bother… they want what’s quick and easy).

A good class and most informative.

Comp-Tac Service

/ hsoi

I’ve ordered lots of things from Comp-Tac.

I just made another order from them; in fact, it was two orders. The thing was, I originally ordered a few things then shortly after submitting that order I realized I needed something else. I wondered if the orders could be combined. Well, they could but due to their process it would cost $20. However, the lady on the phone said I could add a note in the comment field of my order about the other order and request if possible for the orders to be combined. There was no guarantee of that, but there was no harm in asking.

My first order was ready to go and marked as “in shipping”, but it never left. I suspected they were going to try combining. Eventually I receive two emails saying the two orders have shipped, then a third email saying that the orders were able to be combined and that we’re refunding the shipping charge from the one order.

So overall it took a day or two longer than “guaranteed”, but I made a special request of them and they were able to fulfill it. So I have no complaints about the turnaround time, and nothing but praise for the special attention they gave to my orders.

That’s the main reason I keep going back to Comp-Tac. Sure, they have good products and without that I wouldn’t bother at all. But what keeps me going back is the high quality of customer service they provide.

Anyway… when the gear shows up, I’ll blather about it then.

Thoughts from Class 8 – Me

/ hsoi

The last BP2/DPS1 class I helped with at KR Training generated a bunch of thoughts in my head. I thought I’d make a small series out of it.

Me

One thing I enjoy about teaching is helping others. One thing I’ve come to learn about myself, it’s that I’ve apparently got some knack for teaching. So I just go with that, and yes, I really like helping folks, especially beginners.

But I must admit. When I teach, I learn a lot myself. It’s probably a big reason why I enjoy going out to KR Training and helping with classes: it’s an opportunity for myself to grow.

I do not attest to being any sort of guru when it comes to well… any subject. Another thing I’ve learned in life is that the more I learn, I realize how little I truly know.

The things I write on this blog? I don’t write it as any sort of authority. I’m just some guy that happens to have a keyboard and Internet access, and for some reason feels a desire to write. For whatever reason, you feel a desire to read what I write. Thank you for it. 🙂

Just note that anything I do write, it comes from sharing what I’ve learned, and how I’m still learning. Many of these “thoughts from class” aren’t so much being written to help you as they are me writing to help myself. I still need a lot of work on my shooting skills. I need to remind myself of a lot of these very things. I’m still trying to grow, trying to improve myself. Still finding my own imperfections and deficiencies and working on them.

My stance on things may change as I learn more and experience more. Very little is gospel. But it’s all just part of the journey, and I guess this is all just sharing the experiences I have and the thoughts in my head… a way for me to remember, a way for me to be accountable, and hey… it’s just fun to write.

But I ask you, kind reader. While I may share “thoughts”, please… smack me if I ever use the word “musings”. 😉

Range Trip

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It’s been far too long since my last range trip. Weather, life, things get in the way. I dream of having my own private range just outside my  backdoor. Working on that, but it’s going take years. But I digress.

I went to the Austin Rifle Club with Oldest today. Here’s a report.

Me

For the longest time I’ve wanted to shoot these drills. So I figured, why not today. I actually didn’t shoot them all, only the first two groups. Reason is, as I was going along, patterns quickly emerged and my issues were made most evident. So after shooting those I just did a bunch of Bill Drills and everything remained. So what was my issue?

First, the draw. I’m decent at getting concealment out of the way, gun out, and on target. But what was I doing wrong? I wasn’t getting on the trigger soon enough. I would draw, gun out there, then on the trigger. Too much time wasted. But it wasn’t just a matter of the trigger finger, it was also a matter of my eyes. My eyes want to see this proper sight picture, even at 3 yards. But at 3 yards there’s a different amount of what you need to see (read Brian Enos’ book), so really I can and should be getting on things sooner and just trusting myself as to the amount that I actually need to see. So after hearing the start buzzer until my first shot, I was slower than I should be. When I pushed myself I did better but there was some cognitive dissonance because my brain was saying “what you’re seeing isn’t right!”  I just have to work to get over it.

Second, I had good cadence in my Bill Drills, but the split times were not where I wanted them to be. So again I pushed myself faster. I got a little sloppier (i.e. all 6 shots weren’t in the A-Zone, or were wildly spread throughout the A-Zone), I shaved almost a tenth of a second off my split times. But I wasn’t as consistent. But I also know this was truly the place where my eyes were hating it. I know I was slower before because I was always working to get that proper sight picture, not the “good enough” sight picture.

So the key things for me are:

  1. Continuing to work on getting on the trigger sooner.
  2. Allowing myself to have something other than the “perfect sight picture”. That I have the “good enough” sight picture for the distance I’m shooting at.

I can work on the trigger in dry practice. The other will require a lot more live practice. In that, what I’m going to have to do is just shoot faster and see what I see. I have to get my eyes used to seeing whatever they see for that fast and accurate shot so they can start to say “OK, THAT is a normal sight picture for this distance”.

I also started my practice and ended my practice doing slow groups at 25 yards. That’s a good thing, and I need to make that habit for every live fire practice I do.

Anyway, didn’t have to blow through a lot of ammo today to get what I needed to get. So, this was all good. Aside: I was shooting my reloads and about 5 of my first set didn’t want to go bang. The primer would dent, but nothing happened. I’d load and shoot them again and sure enough bang… but I don’t know why these were problematic. Had no problems after those in that one magazine. Not sure what gave. I’m almost through my stockpile of stuff loaded with Berry’s bullets (probably next range trip I’ll be done and into shooting the Precision Delta’s).

Trigger Job

That trigger job? Ran about 50 rounds through the gun, slow and fast. Ran like a champ. Yes, the trigger feels slightly different from the first trigger job, but it’s still pretty good. Needs a few hundred more rounds before I’ll say it’s reliable, but so far so good. I didn’t want to spend too much time on my things because I wanted to give Oldest some time.

Oldest and the Buckmark

Oldest loves shooting that Buckmark. We set up 3 6″ paper plates at 10 yards, stacked in a column. He started with some slow fire on them. I eventually had him try moving between the targets, so shoot at the bottom, then shoot at the middle, then the top one, then the middle one, and so on until the magazine was dry. He liked that. I also had him work on trigger reset and steady cadence. He had a lot of fun and he’s improving. Still not drilling a single ragged hole, but things are tighter than before and he’s getting better in his stance, grip, trigger, and other things. I think we may need to work on sights a bit, but so long as he’s enjoying it and improving, that’s all that matters.

The 6.8

So remember how the last time I took the 6.8 rifle out it shot like shit? I haven’t touched the thing until today.

First, I wanted to recheck the zero. I set up a target at 100 yards. Oldest spotted me. There was a bit of a breeze, but still I grouped about 1.5″ at 100 yards, just to the left of and slightly above center. Good enough for me given the conditions. I hadn’t adjusted a thing since the hunt. So why in the world did I miss so badly at the hunt? Who knows. Maybe I screwed up in figuring out the holdovers. Maybe there was some cosmic destiny to get me to shoot a buffalo (because if I had nailed the deer I’d be eating venison, not buffalo). Who the heck knows. I’m going to chalk it up to me screwing up somewhere (or cosmic destiny). I do plan to take the rifle to the local indoor range and try it out again at 100, 50, and 25 yards to try to get another bead on things. I am also giving thought to changing the zero from POA=POI @ 100 yards to maybe a 50 yard zero or something like 1.5″ high at 100. Something like a RIBZ for 6.8 that would allow me to put the crosshairs center on whatever I want to shoot from 0 to 200 yards and get it within 2″ on either side of that center. Have to do some math.

Second, I wanted Oldest to shoot it. Getting the 6.8 was motivated in large part to have something more manageable for the kids to shoot. Plus, Oldest recently has expressed more interest in going hunting, but he’s gotta shoot something bigger than that Ruger 10/22 if he’s going to do that. In the past he’s expressed the noise as the reason for not wanting to shoot bigger stuff, but he was willing to give it a go.

He only shot 5 shots, but that was enough. He said the noise actually wasn’t too bad, but the recoil surprised him a bit. That’s understandable given it’s the first time he’s ever felt anything like that. He shot off the bench at 100 yards (since we were already on Range “C”) and he was able to get his shots on paper in an 8″ circle, tho certainly at the edge of that circle. For a first time? I’ll take it. I think what he needs is some dry practice to get used to the notion of rifles, plus some work back with the Ruger 10/22 to deal with rifle shooting technique (e.g. inhale, hold it, break the shot, exhale). Adding ear plugs to the ear muffs may help too. I also need to start looking at reloading 6.8 so I can have some inexpensive (relatively speaking) plinking rounds.

Sum

So, it was a good day at the range. I learned what I need to work on. I got to try out the trigger job. I got to check on the 6.8. Oldest got to do some shooting and try out a bigger rifle. And we got to spend time together (and have Sonic for lunch!).

Good times.