Guns

This is my box

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Wife went to Costco yesterday, which means lots of cardboard boxes, which means heaven for one of our cats. This cat is obsessed with cardboard boxes.

This morning while I was walking to the kitchen, I saw one cat managed to get a box flipped over on top of her. Cardboard-obsessed cat was nearby, waiting. I flipped the box over to release trapped kitty, and within an instant of the box hitting the floor, cardboard-obsessed cat sprang into the box claiming it for herself. Upon landing in the box, her body language was such that the first thing that went through my head was:

This is my box.

There are many like it, but this one is mine.

My box is my best friend.

It is my life.

I must master it as I master my life.

My box, without me, is useless.

Without my box, I am useless.

With apologies to the US Marine Corps. 🙂

More with the Hip Grip

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

Just did my first car ride with the Hip Grip.

Letting the hook go on the jeans, behind the belt, seems to be better. It lets the gun float around a little more so it can assume a more comfortable position. Else at least with this J-frame against my body, you end up with metal pressing into spots on your leg… like into nerves or veins and cutting off flow. Or just sticking into you and being most uncomfortable. Not fun.

Of course, the downsides are, as I said before, the gun sits lower and is harder to draw. Furthermore, the little bits of shifting around are not ideal. I mean, it’s good to have the gun in the same solid known established place so a draw is “without thinking”… you don’t have to go searching for it. How much of this shifting about is an issue? I have yet to determine that… need more time with it.

Still, it’s been rather comfortable. Sure I know it’s there, but it’s not too bad.

One thing for those wondering.

I don’t expect I’ll have issues with the gun discharging. I admit, it’s possible something could snag and work the trigger, but it’s a remote chance. Still I can’t help but think about it. Of course, a lot of guys would be worried about shooting their manhood. That’s not really my concern. I am more concerned with blowing a hole in my femoral artery. That’s what’s really in the line of fire. There’s that mental hurdle to overcome, no doubt.

The testing continues….

Hip Grip is here

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

My Hip Grip’s arrived in yesterday’s mail.

The Hip Grip’s are one part of the Werner Carry System.

Of course, as soon as I got them out of the package, I put them on my S&W 442 to see how it worked.

They are hard plastic. The plastic does seem fairly durable and tough, but I must admit if I’m going to go this route I’m going to want to have another set in the closet as a spare. The portion that is the “hook” is only so thick, and while it’s fairly sturdy I’m sure with the right amount of force applied to it it can break. How much force? I don’t know because I’m not interested in finding out right now. I would think in daily/regular use it wouldn’t be a problem but who knows how much it will take for them to break. I don’t want this to give the impression that they’re cheap or brittle, far from it. Just that being hard plastic, there’s no “give” and well.. they are plastic, so there’s certainly going to be a breaking point.

The plastic also came out with a few burrs on it from the molding process. No big deal, really. Oh, one nice thing about the hook is it is wide, so those of us wearing thicker belts should be able to hook it just fine.

The grips are slim, mirroring the frame of the revolver almost perfectly. That’s great for concealment. I mean, when this thing is on my belt it almost disappears.Of course, it does mean there’s not much available to grip on, and with an exposed backstrap your palm will get to absorb all that recoil. Still, for the point and purpose of what these are for? It’s all good.

In terms of wearing it, it’s at the “appendix” position, somewhere around 1 or 2 o’clock. I’m still getting used to the feeling of it and finding just what works for me. I did notice something. If I hooked it on my belt, that positioned the snub in a way where it was angled “back”… the muzzle pointing more into my right thigh crease than straight down. This was great for the positioning of the grip and made drawing almost as easy as drawing from a strong-side holster at 3 o’clock. But with the muzzle angled back, it was a little uncomfortable for sitting. If instead I hooked on the pants just behind my belt, that allowed the gun to float around a little more, sink down a little bit, and find its own resting spot. That allowed it to be a lot more comfortable for me to wear, but now the grip was angled parallel to my belt. This was great for concealment and comfort, but now it’s a bit harder to draw. So, I’m still finding what works for me.

I’m actually surprised at how quickly I can draw. Sure it’s not as fast as a strong-side OWB holster draw, but it’s not as ugly fumbling about as say drawing from a pocket holster. Speaking of which, no problems putting this into my Desantis Nemesis pocket holster and working from there.

In the less than 24 hours I’ve been wearing it, it’s actually not that bad. Sure you’re aware it’s there, but as the saying goes “to bring comfort, not to be comfortable”. That said, you still don’t want something unbearable. I’m still finding what works for me, but so far this really isn’t bad. I’m liking it so far.

So, I’m still figuring all of this out, but I wanted to post my initial take on this. I’m still waiting for the T-Grip to show up. Once I get that, I’ll put it all together and see how it goes, including shooting. I’ll also be sure to get pictures up later on. Stay tuned….

The Department of Education is purchasing… shotguns?

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

Right from the .gov itself. The US Department of Education is purchasing shotguns. And not just any shotguns:

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) intends to purchase twenty-seven (27) REMINGTON BRAND MODEL 870 POLICE 12/14P MOD GRWC XS4 KXCS SF. RAMAC #24587 GAUGE: 12 BARREL: 14″ – PARKERIZED CHOKE: MODIFIED SIGHTS: GHOST RING REAR WILSON COMBAT; FRONT – XS CONTOUR BEAD SIGHT STOCK: KNOXX REDUCE RECOIL ADJUSTABLE STOCK FORE-END: SPEEDFEED SPORT-SOLID – 14″ LOP are designated as the only shotguns authorized for ED based on compatibility with ED existing shotgun inventory, certified armor and combat training and protocol, maintenance, and parts.

It’s Solicitation Number EDOOIG-10-000004 dated March 8, 2010.

Now, those are some pretty bitchin’ shotguns… I’m envious, especially of their 14″ barrels (your normal citizen can’t possess such a thing). And these are certainly not set up for going dove hunting. No.. these are “fightin'” shotguns.

Interesting that this model was chosen because it needs to be compatible with existing inventory and combat training.

I have to wonder, as are probably you…. what the hell sort of combat does the Department of Education have to involve itself in?

Oh wait, I see…

Place of Delivery:
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Inspector General
c/o: Gary Pawlak, Special Agent
500 West Madison Street – Suite 1414
Chicago, IL 60661

Chicago. Say no more. 😉

Pick one of each

/ hsoi / 11 Comments

OK, I’ll bite on the meme.

One Handgun, One Rifle, One Shotgun. You are able to choose just one of each for self defense with NO modifications.

Note the criteria: for self-defense.

Handgun – I’d go with Springfield XD-9, mostly because that’s what I already have and use and am heavily enough invested in (e.g. lots of magazines).

Shotgun – Mossberg 500 series, probably in 20 gauge and then probably their “bantam/youth” setup. If I was thinking shotgun for self-defense, it’d likely be a “home defense gun”. Around my home I have a mix of right-handed and left-handed people, and the Mossberg is a bit more ambidextrous than the Remington 870. And I’d go with a smaller gun (20 gauge, bantam size) to fit the wider range of potential users within this household.

Rifle – AR, chambered in 6.8 Remington SPC or 5.56 NATO. This is where the meme criteria break down a bit, because when it says “no modifications” well… please tell me what a stock/factory AR would be and does that include building your own from scratch. 🙂   But as for the chambering, I’m falling more and more in love with the 6.8 SPC round and know it’d be good for social purposes as well as light hunting (e.g. may not take a moose at 500 yards with it, but for most Texas game and distances it’ll be ample). The only debate about maybe going 5.56 NATO instead would be how “self-defense” are we talking? like social breakdown? if so, a more common chambering like 5.56 has advantage. Plus I’m still trying to research up on (over) penetration issues with 5.56 vs. 6.8, because the 5.56 is theoretically “safer” in that it should fragment and reduce issues whereas the 6.8 is certainly going to keep on truckin’… but I suspect in this area it really won’t matter as they both have big enough issues.

Snub AAR updated – now with pictures!

/ hsoi

The AAR for the snub revolver weekend with Claude Werner has been updated. Added some pictures and a couple links to some other AAR’s written by another student.

Click here to go see!

Violent carjacking in Austin

/ hsoi

This morning a man was shot in a carjacking in Austin:

Austin police arrived at the 400 block of FM 1327 after a call came into the Austin Police Department at 6:11 a.m. Tuesday.

Police said they immediately discovered a Red Wing Shoes delivery truck stopped on the SH 45 access road with a wounded man standing in front of it.

The man had been shot in the upper right area of his chest, reportedly by one of two people involved in the carjacking.

They don’t know what the deal was. If there was motive, something in the truck of value, or just what. Investigation continues.

One thing to note about carjackings. If it happens, one of the best defenses you have is under your right foot. Hit that accelerator pedal and GTFOOT.

Note as well, there were two scumbags involved.

Changing again

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Summer of last year I stopped my Kuk Sool practice.

It’s become evident to me based upon the past few months that my current “traditional” martial arts study is also going to go on the shelf for a bit.

My current study is under Ray Parra. Ray teaches Kali, Silat, Jeet Kune Do, Thai Boxing. It’s basically Ray’s blend of things and it works quite well. The study of it? Great. Ray’s a great guy, good teacher, good school, good curriculum. I like how they actually roll, hit, spar, throw down, and so on. The philosophy is very much in line with my own. It’s a friendly and useful environment. I really like how everything is done there. My backing away has nothing to do with Ray or anything like that.

Man, this sounds like trying to break-up with a bad girlfriend:

“It’s not you, it’s me.” 🙂

But that is the truth. Nothing about this decision has anything to do with Ray or what he teaches, his school, or anything of the sort.

It is me and what’s going on in my world.

On the one hand, I’m feeling spread too thin. Too many things going on in my life, and I just cannot give them all the attention they need. I’ve got some new endeavors, things with my kids, current pressures at work, all sorts of little things that add up. When the day is still only 24 hours long well, only so much you can cram in. Something has to give.

I don’t want to give up martial arts, because it’s something I enjoy. So I am not giving it up entirely, just the formalities. Fact is, if I can’t make it to class on a regular basis due to whatever reason, then I’m just fooling myself and wasting my money. So that’s what I’m removing. I will still practice on my own. I will still keep up skills as I can. Later this year Leslie Buck will be holding seminars on edged weapon defense; arrest & control / baton tactics; and weapon retention, disarming, and improvised weapons; it’s my plan to attend these seminars. I know I will also continue to have on-and-off private sessions with Kuk Sool instructors. So my empty hand work will not go away entirely, it just won’t be a focus.

What am I going to focus on?

Handgun.

Continue to take instruction. To dry practice every day and get to the range as often as I can (once a week would be ideal, but schedules aren’t always conducive to that). To shoot more competition (haven’t shot lately due to schedule conflicts). I want to really excel in this area, and to do that requires focus and dedication.

So martial arts aren’t leaving my life, just another evolution… just another step along the journey.

Corrected Rangemaster Level V Handgun Qualification Course

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

I shot the Rangemaster Level V Handgun Qualification Course…. or so I thought.

When I saw the listed course it did look like a Rangemaster course, but doing the math on the course didn’t add up. So I dropped a line to Tom Givens to ask. He sent me the corrected course:

  1. 3 yards – Draw and fire 3 rounds. 2.5 seconds. Repeat.
  2. 5 yards – Draw and fire 5 rounds, dominant hand only. 5 seconds.
  3. 5 yards – Start at (low) ready and fire 5 rounds, non-dominant hand only. 5 seconds.
  4. 5 yards – Draw and fire 3 to the chest and 2 to the head.5 seconds.
  5. 5 yards – Draw and fire 3 to the chest and 2 to the head, dominant hand only. 6 seconds.
  6. 7 yards – Draw and fire 5 rounds. 5 seconds.
  7. 7 yards – Start at (low) ready, 3 rounds only in gun. On signal, fire 3 rounds, reload, fire 2 rounds. 8 seconds.
  8. 10 yards – Start at (low) ready, stove-pipe malfunction in place. On signal, fire 2 rounds. 5 seconds.
  9. 10 yards – Start at (low) ready, dummy round as top round in magazine (live round in chamber). On signal, fire 2 rounds. 7 seconds.
  10. 15 yards – Draw and fire 3 rounds. 5 seconds. Repeat.
  11. 25 yards – Draw and fire 4 rounds. 8 seconds.

There are 50 rounds total, 250 points possible, 200+ to pass.

According to Tom Givens, on an RM-Q2 target the rings are scored 5, 4, 3, and that would work on an IPSC target.

To understand the context of this course, it is fired during the Rangemaster Level V class as a progress check. According to Mr. Givens, 90% or better is pretty good performance.

Big thanx to Tom Givens for sending me the corrected information and fielding my questions about the course.

Gunsite and Rangemaster standards

/ hsoi / 7 Comments

Did a little shooting today. No strict practice. I wanted to run a couple standards against a timer and see how I do.

The Courses

Gunsite 250

It’s been hard to find a clear description of the Gunsite 250 standard. For instance, what target? I figure from a holster, but open carry or concealment? Is there a particular scoring, or just you “hit in the right spots” else it’s a miss? So I just filled in the blanks for myself and this will be “my standard”, if you will. Even if this winds up not being exactly like the Gunsite standard, well, this is the course I shot.

I shot at a home-make IPSC target. I get lots of cardboard from UPS deliveries or Costco or wherever, so on pieces big enough I keep them and trace out my own IPSC target at the official size. It’s cheap, and works with that “reuse” portion of recycling, and then I can still recycle it when I’m done. 🙂  I shot my Springfield XD-9 Service from an IWB holster, drawing from concealment (t-shirt, pulling it upwards). No race, no gaming, like I carry.

From what I can tell, the standard looks like this:

  1. 3 yards – 1 head shot in 1.5 seconds
  2. 7 yards – 2 rounds to the body in 2.0 seconds
  3. 10 yards – 2 rounds to the body in 2.0 seconds
  4. 15 yards – 2 rounds to the body, standing to kneeling, in 3.5 seconds
  5. 25 yards – 2 rounds to the body, standing to prone, in 7.0 seconds

I couldn’t get to 25 yards nor go prone, so #5 was shot standing to kneeling at 20 yards.

My times:

  1. 1.72 seconds
  2. 2.3 seconds
  3. 2.39 seconds
  4. 3.39 seconds
  5. 4.63 seconds

Not bad, but not great. I also didn’t get 100% A-Zone hits. On the whole you can see I’m running just a couple tenths of a second slow. I’ll analyze in a moment.

Rangemaster Level 5 Handgun Qualification Course

This is the way I found the test. While the description only said “fired on an RM-Q2 target”, given the nature of the Rangemaster classes I’m going to assume this course of fire also assumes things like a concealment draw, carry guns (i.e. not race guns), and so on. I shot this using the same equipment and setup as above, including using an IPSC target instead of the RM-Q2.

  1. 3 yards – draw and fire three rounds in 2.5 seconds
  2. 5 yards – draw and fire 5 rounds with dominant hand only, in 5.0 seconds
  3. 5 yards – from low ready, fire 5 rounds with the non-dominant hand only, in 5.0 seconds
  4. 5 yards – draw and fire 3 to the chest and 2 to the head in 5.0 seconds (the write-up I found didn’t say “dominant hand only”, but I shot it that way because the next string did explicitly say “non-dominant hand only”, thus I figured this string must be dominant hand only).
  5. 5 yards – from low ready, fire 3 to the chest and 2 to the head with the non-dominant hand only in 5.0 seconds
  6. 7 yards – draw and fire 5 rounds in 5 seconds
  7. 7 yards – start at ready, fire 3 rounds, reload, fire 2 more rounds, in 8.0 seconds
  8. 10 yards – start at ready with a stovepipe malfunction in place. Clear the malfunction and fire 2 rounds in 5.0 seconds
  9. 10 yards – start at ready with a dummy round at top round in the magazine. Fire 2 rounds in 5.0 seconds (my assumption here was a live round in the chamber, so bang, click, tap-rack, bang).
  10. 15 yards – draw and fire 3 rounds in 5.0 seconds
  11. 25 yards – draw and fire 4 rounds in 8.0 seconds

Supposedly the total possible score is 250 with a 200 to pass. Trouble is, I can’t figure that out. If my math is correct, only 44 rounds are fired, and assuming 5 points for each proper hit, how do you get to 250?

Updated: Here’s the proper course.

Nevertheless, I had only 3 non-A-zone hits: 2 were in string #5, the 2 to the head with the weak hand (they were just below the A-Zone), and then one Charlie. My times:

  1. 2.16
  2. 4.110
  3. 4.05
  4. 4.41
  5. 4.23
  6. 3.30
  7. 4.60
  8. 3.37
  9. 4.04
  10. 3.71
  11. 6.28

Seems acceptable, but more analysis in a bit.

Bill Drill

I didn’t plan on doing a Bill Drill but I figured why not and ran it. Target at 7 yards, from concealment, same equipment and setup as the above. I did 3.03 seconds.

Analysis

I’m no Rob Leatham, but I’m happy to see I’m improving.

I shot this cold. Just set up the targets and off I went. I only let off 2 shots prior to starting so I could ensure the shot timer was working (more on that in a bit), and then those weren’t even trying… just for the noise. The Gunsite 250 wasn’t that good, but it all came down to a simple thing: I need to get faster and more efficient. I need to get simply faster. The primary place for this is my draw; concealment draw is just slow but I know I can get quicker with even more practice. Speed can come in other ways like just getting my brain to shorten the reaction time between when my eyes see the “good enough” sight picture for the distance I’m shooting at, my brain processes that, then brain tells trigger finger to move. That’s just going to take more live fire to get there. The efficiency part comes with compounding movement, like getting on the trigger sooner.

The thing is, I didn’t go into shooting this with any particular mindset… just shoot. What I saw is some improvement areas from long ago are becoming natural. What I also saw was the recent improvement areas are not yet natural. This goes back to what I’m working on now, which is getting the finger on the trigger sooner and working to just generally speed up. Dry fire can help me with the draw speeds and getting on the trigger. I will need live fire to help improve my eyes and brain processing.

I am happy with how I shot. I had a couple true “WTF” moments, especially with the malfunction drills, and my body just moved… no thinking, just doing. I am also really happy with my 15 and 25 (well probably 20) yard performance; it’s just applying fundamentals of trigger control and sight picture, and not going too fast. But I know I can do better. Accuracy is good enough, so for now I’ll work more on speed: getting on the trigger sooner, improving draw from concealment times, and so on. Yes more dry fire is in store, but I also need more live fire practice than I’ve been getting.

To me, the key for today was to continue to establish hard data points for myself, and to shoot some courses of fire I haven’t shot before. Practice practice practice, then shoot them again. Work to beat the par times and shoot them 100% clean. Quantified performance is useful.

Updated: for later reference, how to improve split times.

Other Tidbits

Snake Loads

Some time ago foo.c gave me a bunch of old .38 ammo, and included in them were about 8 .38 Special shotshells. Check out what The Box O’Truth has to say about them. I’ve been curious to try them out. I don’t think they’re good for anything except as snake-loads. Given the place I was at today is known for having venomous snakes about, I not only had my snake gaiters on but figured to load my snub revolver with these loads.

Before packing up, I shot two of them to see how they would perform. Both shots were on cardboard out of my snub revolver, one at 3 yards and one at 5. They shot fine, but the pattern is very wide. I would say, at least out of this snub, that 5 yards is kinda pushing the limit for a pattern that hopes to hit a snake on the ground… 3 yards is perhaps even a bit much, but that pattern did seem to be “hand sized” (my hand, spread out). Not horrible. Certainly I plan on carrying these things in my snub when I go into the field… I see no reason not to.

SureFire Shot Timer

SureFire made a free shot timer for the iPhone. I tried it once before but it failed miserably where a real shot timer succeeded. My guess? We were shooting under a tin roof and all that echo created too much noise. Probably could fiddle with adjustments to get it just right, but meh… didn’t bother at the time.

Today I was out in the open country: nothing above me but blue sky. Furthermore, there was no one else around, no other shooters, no other sources of noise. So I figured this would be a good “ideal situation” to try out the timer again.

I fired one shot, it didn’t pick up, adjusted the sensitivity to 100% and it picked it up, so I left it there. I used that timer in all of my work today. Just set it to beep for a random start, then I’d shoot. It recorded all the shots and split times just fine. Even caught some slide racking a couple times. I’m pleased.

One thing I noticed was the difficulty in finding the start button. I’d find the button, press, search the screen with the sun glare to ensure it started, then I’d get ready to shoot. While I was shooting I found this annoying because it rushed me. There were more than a few times I would finish verifying it was running (and of course that meant maybe a second went by), look at the target and then immediately heard the beep… I wasn’t ready! It was a little irritating. But looking back on it now, I’m glad it did that because it added a dimension of pressure and stress to me… it took away my ability to have a 100% clear head that was 100% “game focused”. I didn’t have time to start the timer, then clear my head and settle in ready for the buzzer. No, I had to get right to shooting. I’m glad it happened, and I’m glad it annoyed me, because it gave me what I needed: pressure.

Anyway, I’m happy with the timer, especially given it was a free app. For now I’m going to continue using it instead of buying a dedicated timer. It’s “good enough” for my needs. I’m sure eventually a dedicated timer will be purchased, but meantime there’s other things that need my financial attention. 🙂

Daughter

Daughter came with me for all of today (setting up the game camera, filling the feeder, shooting… she would tell me the course of fire and record my times). It was good to spend time with her. 🙂