Guns

The Farnam Drill

/ hsoi / 10 Comments

My quest to sort out “The Farnam Drill”.

Rangemaster

A few years ago I took a course with Tom Givens and Tom had us shoot a really good drill. I believe the drill went something like this:

Target: 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of paper
Ammunition: 9 live rounds, 1 dummy round
Scoring: All rounds must be on paper, within the time limit.
Time Limit: 15 seconds (tho I think in our class, he made it 12 seconds and I recall he did it in something like 8.5).
Starting Condition: 6 rounds and 1 dummy in the gun (so, a live round in the chamber, then the magazine has 5 rounds with 1 dummy mixed in somewhere). 3 rounds in another magazine. Gun is in the holster, concealed.
Procedure: On the signal, draw and fire until empty, reload, then fire 3 additional rounds. Fix the stoppage when it occurs. You must sidestep on the draw/presentation, on the stoppage, and on the reload.

And that’s all there is to the drill. It’s simple, straightforward, and forces you to do just about every sort of skill you’ll need in a defensive shooting context. I really like this drill because of that efficiency.

But this isn’t the Farnam drill. It’s similar, but it’s Rangemaster’s drill.

Updated 2015-10-06: I spoke with Tom Givens. Scroll to the bottom for more information.

Modified Farnam

Some years ago I saw this post that talked about a “Modified Farnam Drill”. Brillanter.com hasn’t been updated in years, but hasn’t gone away, but just in case something gives, here’s a reprint:

Named for John Farnam, this is probably the best general purpose defensive shooting drill that I have seen. This is a good benchmark for measuring your shooting performance and progress. You will need some inert/dummy cartridges, at least two magazines, and a shot timer. The total round count for this drills is eight live rounds and one dummy round. The setup is as follows.

In the Gun:

  • 1 live round in the chamber.
  • 5 live rounds in the magazine. (Some sources say 4 live rounds.)
  • 1 dummy round in the magazine. (Not the first or last round.

In the Reload:

  • At least three live rounds.

The drill is shot as follows:

  • On the buzzer draw and start shooting.
  • Perform immediate action when you encounter a malfunction.
  • Speed reload when you reach slide lock
  • Shoot twice more.

If you followed the directions correctly you will end up with two empty magazines (one on the ground, one in the gun) and one live round in the chamber.

The “standard” is shooting a 8.5″x11″ sheet of paper at 8 meters with a disqualification for a miss. Farnam expects his students to complete this in 18.25 seconds and his instructors to complete it in 12 seconds.

Now for the “modified” part of the drill:

  • Add one second to your total time for each miss. This allows you to capture your progress. It’s not perfect but it is kind of helpful to see improvements.
  • Change the distance. Both closer and farther away.
  • Reduce the size of the target.
  • Add a step of movement on the draw, immediate action, and reload.
  • Add verbal commands throughout the drill.

The people that seem to have the best success at this drill are the ones with the most efficient gun handling. Being able to quickly and precisely clear the malfunction and speed reload will give you more time to get your hits.

You can see how this is similar to the Rangemaster drill, but also different.

But this still was second-hand information with some uncertainty (e.g. “some sources say”). I wanted to know the proper “Farnam Drill” (or at least, verification the above was in fact correct). Alas, Google wasn’t turning up much solid information, as I recounted a few months ago. I mean, what good is a standard if there’s no standard? If there isn’t one true way of doing something and everyone does it a little different, how can you measure progress? how can you accurately compare?

Of course, I should have just contacted John Farnam and asked… but for some reason I felt I should do more homework before bothering him.

Then I came to see…

The Farnam Drill (maybe)

What helps? Looking not just under “Farnam” but also under names like “DTI Pistol Standards” or his book The Farnam Method of Defensive Handgunning, which is where this came from (the “DTI Defensive Handgun Proficiency Test”). But even then, the words and labels are tossed around a bit, and you’ll find two things.

First, I found what tended to be referred to as the “proficiency test”. The follow comes from this compilation of standards:

TDI’s Defensive Handgun Proficiency Test starts with a holstered pistol with one live round in the chamber and four live rounds and one dummy round (inserted at random). The magazine to be used for reloading is in its carrier and is fully charged with live rounds (no dummies). The student starts moving laterally (staying behind the line) at random within a three-meter area, and at the signal he moves and draws, then continues to hold on the 8 X 10 inch target, trigger finger in register. On the next signal, the student moves laterally again before shooting and fires continuously at the target. The shooter must be in continuous movement during his stoppage clearance and reload. Once the gun runs dry, the student reloads and fires two more rounds. Movement is required during the reload. The student achieves a passing score if he or she hits with all shots within the 22 seconds and does not commit any safety or procedural errors. Safety errors include getting a weak hand or arm in front of the muzzle or a trigger finger that enters the trigger guard when it’s not supposed to. Procedural errors cover failing to move when required, incorrect stoppage clearing, incorrect reloading and the like.

Now you can see this is somewhat like the other two, but not really. Then I read another telling over at the pistol-training forums:

Setup: 8×8 target at 8 yds. Gun loaded with 5 rounds (4 live, 1 dummy, position of dummy unknown to shooter). Dummy should not be first or last round. One mag for reload in carrier with at least 2 rounds (drill is 7 shots total).
Start in interview stance. At the command “Start moving” begin moving laterally at random, scanning area (must scan behind you at least once). At second signal, move and draw, hold on target until timer beeps.
At the beep, move laterally and start firing. When stoppage is encountered, reduce it while moving (tap, rack, bang) and continue firing. After last round reload (while moving) and fire 2 more rounds.
*basically if you’re not shooting you’re moving, and your trigger finger must be in register while moving*
100% hits, no safety violations and proper malfunction and reload procedures to pass. Must move during draw, TRB, and reload; must scan before start signal.
Standard: 22 sec.

Seems to be the same thing, just a different way of saying it. But still, some differences. I saw this version:

Farnam Drill (after John Farnam)

Setup: Target is an 8.5 x 11″ sheet of paper at 8 meters. Shooter begins with gun in the holster (concealed), retention strap engaged if holster is so equipped.

Semi-auto: the gun has a round chambered, with four rounds and a dummy round in the magazine. The dummy round may not be the first or last round in the magazine, and the shooter is not to know which round is the dummy. One magazine on the belt contains two live rounds.

Revolver: cylinder loaded to capacity, speedloader on the belt.

Drill: from interview position (hands at sides, not touching gun), draw and fire into the target. When the dummy round comes up, clear it with tap-rack. Continue firing until you run dry, then speed load and fire the last two shots. Revolvers just draw, shoot all rounds, reload, and then shoot two more.

All shots must hit the target to count, and all procedures (draw, malfunction clearance, reload) must be done correctly. Any miss or any failure to perform the correct procedure disqualifies you.

Par times:

First shot Split times Tap-Rack Reload Total Time
Basic level 25.00
Student Semi-auto 3.00 1.50 3.25 4.50 18.25
Revolver 3.00 1.50 N/A 6.00 18.25
Instructor Semi-auto 2.00 0.75 2.75 3.50 12.00
Revolver 2.00 0.75 N/A 5.00 12.00

All times are measured from shot to shot, and all procedures must be performed in the allotted time to pass. For instructor qualification, the drill must be successfully completed twice in a row.

And while that seems even better, it just adds more murk to the mix.

You want to get yet another version? From the same handgun standards PDF they list the “DTI Pistol Standards”

  • Test uses a standard full size B-27 target resembling the miniature shown on the left
  • Distance will be 8 meters
  • 100% of all rounds must hit inside the target’s 9-ring or break the 9-ring line.
  • Pistol will be drawn from concealment
  • 1st magazine will have 6 rounds, one of which will be a dummy round. The dummy round will not be the first or last in the mag.
  • 2nd magazine will contain at least 3 rounds.
  • Student will start from an interview stance

DIRECTIONS: Draw and fire until the slide locks to the rear. Perform an emergency reload and fire 2 additional rounds. Clear any malfunctions that occur during the test. (dummy round will cause at least one failure to fire)

Student Level Time Instructor Level Time Skill Standard
3.75 2.75 Draw and fire first shot
1.50 (6.0-T) .75 (3.0-T) Average time between 5 additional shots
3.50 2.75 Clear failure to fire caused by dummy round
4.75 3.50 Reload and fire 2 additional rounds
18 Seconds 12 Seconds TOTAL TIME

Confused yet?

Will the real Farnam Drill please stand up?

All of these are close. But let’s turn to The Farnam Method of Defensive Handgunning where the last chapter of the book is titled “DTI Defensive Handgun Proficiency Test”. I’m going to rewrite things slightly, just for format and layout.

Shooter Setup: Interview stance. Gun in holster with retention devices, if any, active. Concealed or in duty rig. Strong hand is not touching or hovering over the pistol.

Weapon Setup – Autoloader: 1 live round in the chamber, 4 live and 1 dummy in the magazine. The dummy is mixed in, but should not be the first nor last round in the magazine, and the exact location unknown to the shooter. Another magazine with at least 2 rounds in it (tho Farnam says it should be fully charged with live rounds). 7 (live) rounds total are used in the drill.
Weapon Setup – Revolver: All chambers loaded with live rounds (regardless if 5 or 6 shot revolver). A speed loader, fully charged with live rounds, and in its carrier. All rounds will be fired, a reload performed, and 2 more live rounds fired. So, there could be 7 or 8 rounds total fired, depending upon the revolver’s capacity. No dummy rounds used.

Target Setup: target is approximately 20cm x 30cm (about 7.87″ x 11.81″), rectangle or oval, steel or paper. Target will be 8 meters (8.74 yards) from the shooter.

Standard/Scoring: Pass/fail. 100% of shots must hit within the time limit in order to pass. Furthermore, no safety errors nor procedural errors in order to pass. A single miss, a single error, fails.
Safety Errors: Shooter’s body parts end up in front of the muzzle. Shooter’s trigger finger enters the trigger guard before the signal to fire, during reloading or stoppage reduction, or when moving.
Procedural Errors: failure to move laterally during draw. Failure to move during stoppage reduction or reloading. Failure to scan prior to the start signal. Incorrect stoppage reduction procedure. Incorrect reloading procedure (e.g. old magazine dropped from the magazine well before new one has cleared the carrier). Incorrect slide manipulation (e.g. hand too far forward, “slingshotting” the slide).

Test:

  • Autoloader
    • Student reports to the line, assumes interview stance, and faces downrange.
      • Command “Start moving”
      • Student starts moving laterally (tho remaining behind the line) at random within a 3 meter area
      • After this command but before the start signal, the student must scan all the way behind them at least once.
    • The start signal is given
      • Shooter simultaneously moves and draws
      • Movement must be lateral and displace the shooter at least 1 meter
      • Shooter continues to hold on target (trigger finger in register) until he hears the timer’s start beep.
    • The timer beeps/starts
      • Before shooting, student must move laterally
      • Student fires continuously at the target.
      • When stoppage encountered, immediately reduce the stoppage then resume firing. Student must be in continuous movement when reducing the stoppage.
      • When the last round is fired, immediately reload and fire two more rounds. Student must be in continuous movement when reloading.
  • Revolver
    • The test is essentially the same, except the first string will be 5 or 6 shots, depending upon the revolver’s capacity.
    • When reloading, all chambers must be reloaded. Still, only 2 shots are fired after the reload.
    • Qualifying times with 5 or 6 shot revolvers are the same, “because the difficulty of accurately shooting the small guns is compensated for by the fact that the shooter is required to shoot 7 rather than 8”.

Qualifying Times: 

  • Student: 22.00 seconds (autoloader or revolver)
  • Instructor: 15.00 seconds (autoloader), 16.00 seconds (revolver)

So there we have it.

I have not (yet) had the good fortune to train with John Farnam, so I can only go upon what I’ve read. It’s well possible that Mr. Farnam has changed things over time. Maybe it was 22 seconds originally then it became 18.25. Maybe it was 4 in the magazine then became 5. I just don’t know. It’s interesting to see such variation in things, where times came from, where procedure came from. And yes, while before I thought I should do some research before contacting Mr. Farnam, I think it may be at the point where it’d be good to ask him if he has any comment. He could provide corrections, authoritative statement of what the drill is, and perhaps if there was evolution or some perspective on these other approaches, maybe he could shed that light.

Nevertheless, I was introduced to this through Tom Givens’ flavor and I think I’ll continue to stick with that. First, I think it’s a slightly tougher version of things because there’s more to do and in less time. Second, since it is what I’ve done before, I already have some baseline data that I can use to track my progress. If you haven’t shot these drills before, I’d say to pick one flavor and stick with it so you can measure your progress over time.

Updated 2015-10-06: Yesterday, Lynn Givens made a Facebook posting referencing her performance on this drill. After some back and forthing on it, Tom Givens sent me this formal write-up of the drill (I’ve reformatted it for display here). Because this is Tom’s version of the drill, he’s called it:

The 3M Test

The 3 M’s are:

  • Marksmanship
  • Movement
  • Manipulations

Background

For many years, Larry Nichols was the Rangemaster of the Burbank, California, police department. He devised the original, simpler version of this drill. He showed it to John Farnam probably 30 years ago, and John modified it to fit his curriculum. John showed his version to me [Tom Givens] 20 years ago, and I made changes to fit my curriculum. This is the version we currently use.

Target & Scoring

Scoring can be Pass/Fail, or modified for Comstock Count Scoring.

One silhouette target at 5 yards. For our purposes, we will use an RM-Q scored 5/3. Or a VSRT, scored 5, 4, 3. Or an IDPA target, scored 5/3/0 for the Comstock Count version. If pass/fail scoring, only the highest value hit zone counts.

Procedure

Shooter starts with handgun loaded with 6 live rounds (1 in chamber, 5 in magazine) and one dummy round in the magazine. Dummy is not the top round nor the bottom round in the magazine. Someone else should load the magazine so the shooter does not know where in the magazine the dummy round lies.

Shooter starts holstered, hands in interview stance. On signal, side step, draw, and fire until a malfunction occurs. On the malfunction, side step, fix it, and continue to fire. When the gun runs empty, side step, perform an emergency reload, and fire 3 additional shots.

Shooter must move on the draw, move on the malfunction, and move on the reload. There will be a ten point penalty for any shot that misses the target, on Comstock. If pass/fail, any round outside the highest value zone is a failure.

Score Calculation

Comstock Count Scoring

Possible score = 45 points. Points divided by time = Index. Index X 30 = Score.

Example: 42 points, fired in 12.15 seconds = 3.46
3.46 X 30= 103.8 Score = 103.8
Par Score = 100
Anything over 100 is very good work. Anything over 125 is extremely high skill.

Pass/Fail Scoring

On Pass/Fail scoring, shooter fails if he:

  • Does not move on the draw, the malfunction, and the reload
  • Does not tap the magazine before running the slide on the malfunction
  • Places a single hit outside the highest scoring zone on the target
  • Time limit is 15 seconds for a Combative Pistol student, 12 seconds for instructors.

Additional

This drill tests movement off the line of force, a rapid presentation from concealment, accurate placement of multiple fast shots, a malfunction remedy, and an empty gun reload, all under time pressure. It only requires 9 rounds [,one dummy round], one target, and a timer or stopwatch to test/measure all of these skills.

October 2016 Update

According to a post by Tom Givens himself (in a private Facebook group), there is a new variation on the 3M Test (Tom just started doing it here in the Fall of 2016). From Tom:

Actually, we just started this about 2 classes ago. After the reload, 3 shots to the chest, then 1 head shot to stop the clock. Total of 10 rounds. Par time is 15 seconds for students, 12 seconds for instructors.

Hsoi’s Comments

The 3M Test is almost the same test that I took some years ago with Tom. I certainly recall shooting it on a 8.5″x11″ sheet of paper, and I do believe we shot it at greater than 5 yards (tho if it was 7, 8, or 10, I don’t recall). Still, I think the closer distance and the smaller target, it all evens out.

All in all, I think this is an excellent drill.

Thank you, Tom, for the official write-up.

Why are you choosing and promoting ignorance?

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

The best way to reduce gun accidents is for everyone, not just gun owners, to learn the basics of gun safety.  Yet those in favor of “reasonable gun laws” object to any discussion of including the topic of gun safety in K-12 education, because those most qualified to give that instruction are certified by the NRA, and are therefore The Devil.  Houston just pulled the plug on using the Eddie Eagle safety program in schools for political reasons, even though the Eddie Eagle program is lecture only, does not advocate gun ownership and includes no hands-on time with firearms of any kind.  Invariably those objecting to the teaching of gun safety in school are the same ones that insist that sex education and giving out free condoms is essential because “some of them are going to have sex even though we tell them not to, so they need that instruction”. By the same logic, kids should get gun safety training, since “some of them are going to handle guns even though we tell them not to”.

– Karl Rehn

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed, saw one of those “your friend commented on a post” listings, it was Karl and some sort of “gun control” article, and the above is a copy/paste of one of the comments he made there.

It is very curious that guns are a topic people choose to be ignorant about, and promote willful ignorance of. Sure, you don’t have to be an encyclopedia like the TXGunGeek, and you can certainly hate guns and promote gun bans all you want. But just like abstinence-only education, you kinda have to know something about your topic if you wish to 1. talk about it with any authority (and be taken seriously), 2. to know what it is that you’re abstaining or avoiding. It’s why so many people cannot take priests seriously when they talk about sex or marriage… so you wonder why “pro gun folk” don’t take “anti gun folk” seriously when they talk about guns?

Some knowledge of basic “what to do if you find a gun?” is useful for everyone. Eddie Eagle teaches one simple thing:

  1. Stop
  2. Don’t Touch
  3. Leave the Area
  4. Tell an Adult

That’s it. The whole program is about impressing that mantra into a child’s head so when (if?) they run across a gun, they are going to know what to do: stop, don’t touch, leave the area, tell an adult.

If the child encounters a gun and doesn’t know what to do, what are they going to do? Who knows! That’s the problem. They might leave it alone, they might pick it up. If the child has no idea what to do, this is not a time for them to figure out how to fill in the blank. Or worse, should their idea of what to do with a gun be what they learned from TV? from movies? from YouTube videos? from your stupid redneck uncle? Can you honestly find fault with that 4-step mantra, and say you would not want your child — any child, every child — to know, practice, and enact it? Or are you too blinded by your hated of guns and the NRA?

They keep saying they want to save lives. That if it saves the life of just one child, then it’s worth it. Well, here’s your one:

A very well-informed fifth-grader at Oak Grove Elementary School reportedly followed procedure when he found a loaded gun on the playground at the school Friday.

[…]

Deputy Jay Lawson, the school’s Resource Officer teaches students throughout the year by using the “Eddie Eagle” safety program.

[…]

Just after 10 a.m. Friday, the fifth-grader found a loaded .22-magnum pistol laying near the swing set area on the playground at the school.

[…]

“He went straight down the line. The student identified the weapon, told others to get back away from it and yelled for a teacher,” Gault said. “One, two and three, just what he had learned.”

The gun was on the playground. It was loaded. The article reports it was a .22 Magnum American Arms, which are little derringers without a trigger guard — that is, if the child picked it up, likely he would have fired it. If the child had to tell others to back away, that means there were lots of kids out there playing (recess, I suppose). Yeah… it’s well likely a child could have tragically died that day, but thankfully at least this one child wasn’t suffering from ignorance. Worth it.

If the kids are older, or even for your adults, then a short course like the NRA’s Home Firearm Safety is more appropriate. It’s a classroom-only, non-shooting course. You learn about gun safety, you learn about the primary causes for gun accidents (ignorance, carelessness), a little bit about guns themselves (parts, nomenclature), how to safely and securely store guns, and probably most important — how to safely unload a gun. Consider the teacher on that playground, wouldn’t this knowledge be useful for them?

Please. If you care about “saving the children” as much as you claim, if you want to reduce the number of “senseless gun deaths”, then don’t accept nor force the children to be ignorant. You can campaign for gun bans. You can hate guns and the NRA all you want. But by the very nature of your fight, you will come in contact with guns, and the best thing you can do to keep from being one of the very statistics you wield is to learn how to be safe with guns.

Top 10 Reasons for Gun Violence

/ hsoi

PoliceOne.com did an extensive survey on guns and gun violence, and as a part of that tried to ascertain what the causes are for the violence.

There’s no one answer, and this question was fairly divided with no overwhelming majority. But if you look at the reasons, a lot of it points back to our state of mind.

The degradation of our family and social structure, of kids growing up without much family so they look elsewhere for family… like to gang culture. Or the lack of parental filtering on things like TV, movies, music, and video games, to help a child put them into proper perspective.

We can even look at general social degradation, with how “news media” works to be another form of (morbid) entertainment, sensationalizing, driving and motivating copycats to achieve a higher body count so their names will be remembered forever.

Most shooters suffered from mental illness, but look at how we treat mental illness and those who suffer from it. And the prevalence of drugs like Xanax… it all goes together.

So really, much of it comes back to our state of mind.

Think about it.

We’ve had guns all along. We didn’t always have horrific shootings and violence. So guns are a common denominator in both situations, so we can factor it out. What are we left with? That’s where we should be looking.

Break your fixation – scan

/ hsoi

Ever get fixated on something?

Notice how your fixation enables you to collect a lot of data about whatever you are fixated on? That’s good.

Notice how your fixation denies you data collection about everything else around you? Well, you probably didn’t notice because you were fixated on something. 🙂  And that’s potentially bad.

Of course, for fixation to be good or bad depends upon circumstance and context. In a personal defense context, it can be a bad thing. Why? Well, if you get fixated on one thing, missing out on others could cause you greater hurt.

For example, if you are driving and get fixated on the accident on the other side of the road, your rubbernecking may prevent you from noticing the car in front of you just stopped… and now you have your own accident as you rear-end the the car in front of you.

Or, you get focused on that one guy acting strange, and you don’t notice his buddy sneaking up from the other side to whack you on the head.

We get target-fixated. That’s a human thing to do. What we must do in response is realize when we are getting fixated and break the fixation.

Scanning is a fundamental tool to break fixation.

Think to yourself “SCAN! SCAN! SCAN!”. We yell this a lot during Defensive Pistol Skills 1 classes at KR Training. Notice it’s in a “level 1” defensive skills course. It’s that fundamental a skill. It’s that important to learn how to break your target fixation. It gets you off whatever you are fixated on and resumes your consumption of information from the world around you. It doesn’t stop paying attention to whatever you were fixated upon, it just resumes paying attention to other things as well because there may be something else that demands your attention. And then you’ll get fixated again, and then you’ll need to break that fixation again.

Scan. Scan. Scan.

What motivated me to write this was walking to the gym the other morning. It’s early morning, dark. It’s rare to see other people out, so when I saw this guy walking further up the road from me, of course it caught my attention and my guard went up. He was walking the same direction I was, so I didn’t feel any sort of immediate threat, but I paid attention. Then I broke attention and started to scan, because I felt myself getting fixated on him. He drifted to the other side of the road, and I did the opposite, working to keep distance between us. He kept slowing down, and tho that caused me to close distance (I kept my same pace), I realized he never once looked up, never once looked around despite the fact I was getting closer – my footsteps were obvious. Eventually he turned right, into a park, and kept on walking. Never once looked my way. And as I realized he was just some dude walking somewhere, I couldn’t help but think his total obliviousness to me could have been dangerous for him — what if it was some bad guy coming to mug him?

Then as I passed him I took one last look over at him as he was walking away… and I saw how fixated he was on his smartphone.

More grip help

/ hsoi

When I wrote about ways to help improve grip for shooting, I forgot to mention a few things.

Extend the Index Finger

When we grip things in our daily life, we normally grip with our whole hand: all fingers and thumb involved. Think about how you’d grip a baseball bat or a hammer.

Of course, some things we might grip differently when we know we need a lighter grip, like how we might extend a pinky when we hold a champagne flute.

Think about how you grip a handgun. Your strong hand isn’t wrapped around the grip of the gun, but rather your index finger is extended. Where does your grip come from then? The last 3 fingers: middle, ring, pinky. Your weak/support hand may not extend its index finger, but still it’s grip must primarily come from those bottom fingers as well because it’s that pinky that really applies the counter-torque in grip technique.

Interestingly, this falls very well into the notion of “ki finger” (Google if you’re curious for more on that topic).

So when you work on your grip exercises, certainly work on whole-hand grip. But add variations where you extend your index finger (just point it straight out, like you’re making a “gun” with your hand/fingers) so you really add emphasis to your bottom 3 fingers in your grip work.

Mind Thumb Placement

When I’m at the gym, I no longer do direct work for my grip. It’s mainly an economy issue, because at least right now my grip is not something that back progress in my main lifts. I work to ensure I get grip work in everything I do where I can. That is, squats really won’t help with grip work, but deadlifts do. I get a lot of work on my grip when doing things like pull-ups and lat pulldowns. The trick is to ensure you are gripping hard and proper throughout the whole of that exercise; don’t let your fingers slip down to where they are barely hooking onto the bar, but grip and squeeze hard and make gripping part of the greater movement. Economy.

When you do this, try to see what you can do about your thumb placement. Now doing a max effort movement like a deadlift, you might just need to grip in whatever way is strongest. But when you’re doing assistance work, like say lat pulldowns, you can fiddle with your grip to work it. Note where your thumb wraps onto your fingers. If you’re like most people, your thumb likely overlaps your index and/or middle finger(s). This is a strong grip. Instead, try shifting your thumb over so it overlaps your ring or pinky finger. Try it right now. Make a fist with your thumb falling “naturally” over your index/middle finger and clench hard; feel where and what muscles tighten up. Relax, shift the thumb over to your ring finger, and clench again. Feels different? Different forearm muscles involved? That’s what you want: those wrist flexors.

A simple shift in where your thumb closes makes a difference. This isn’t to say that’s where the thumb should be placed when gripping the gun and shooting, but for strengthening purposes, it’s useful.

 

Your safety is more important

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

A number of things came together this week that inspired me to write this. Yes, this is a little long, but I care about your safety — and I hope you care about your own safety — so please read the whole thing.

We start off with yet another “high speed, low drag operator” that will train you to be the ultimate badass. Alas, the video has been pulled from YouTube, but the ENDO post summarizes it pretty well.

Then TLG recounts a muzzle direction experience. That post was inspired by this post at GunNuts. And yes, I’ve had muzzles pointed at me. First time it happened, I chewed them out pretty harshly, and just like Tim @ GunNuts tells, people don’t get it. I’ve also had it happen during my teaching at KR Training, which somewhat comes with the territory but thankfully 99.9% of the people that do it turn white afterwards and I think walk away with the sober realization of their safety violation and what could have been. So while it wasn’t a fun way to teach a lesson, if serves as a lifetime reminder to adhere to “the rules” then I’ll go with that (tho I really don’t prefer that as a teaching tool).

I also recall a good friend telling me a story about a class he took from high-profile national-level instructor. During the class the instructor was called out on his poor gun handling, and he got “big boy defensive” about things as he made excuses for his violations.

Then there’s stuff like putting photographers downrange, be it Chris Costa or James Yeager. Gabe Suarez does some wacky things too.

WTF?

Let’s go over the rules again.

First, we have Col. Jeff Cooper’s rules (source: Jeff Cooper, Commentaries, Vol. 11 No. 4, 2003):

  1. All guns are always loaded. Even if they are not, treat them as if they are.
  2. Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy. For those that insist this particular gun is unloaded, see Rule 1.
  3. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target. This is the Golden Rule. Its violation is directly responsible for about 60% of inadvertent discharges.
  4. Identify your target and what is behind it. Never shoot at anything you have not positively identified.

Then we have the NRA’s rules:

  1. Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.
  2. Always keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.
  3. Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.

Whichever ruleset you follow (if you want commentary on that read this and this), there’s no question the above examples have some serious rules violations.

Why do we have these rules? To keep people safe. You know what? It’s not necessarily to keep YOU safe, but certainly for the safety of those around you since most of the time that muzzle is pointed at not-you. Do you want to hurt someone? Do you want to kill someone? Do you want to ruin the remainder of someone’s life, or deprive them of it? especially if that person is someone you love and care about? Can you handle living with the burden the rest of your life? Can you handle the lawsuits? Can you handle the bills? Can you handle being crucified by the press and the public? If you cannot handle these things, then you cannot afford to violate the rules; in fact, even if you can handle these things, you still cannot afford to violate the rules . I don’t care how high-speed-low-drag you are, I don’t care how safe you think you are (because you probably aren’t).

Yes, that means me too… I’ve violated rules, and still kick myself for it. But that’s the thing: we’re human, we will make mistakes. We must do all we can to avoid making them, but part of the way the rules work is if you follow all of them but something goes wrong be it your humanness or Murphy’s Law, then damage is still minimized. Finger on the trigger but muzzle in a safe direction? Well, it’ll be loud and likely the floor or something got damaged, but no life was lost. This is not license to violate any rules; merely a layer of protection.

So why is it so many people — check that, instructors — think it’s OK to knowingly break the rules? Ben Goldstein, the guy from the first linked-to-post, defends his rules violations:

But, to rest the point, never would there be an instance of an instructor or a shooter walking in front of a loaded firearm. Note the word “loaded”. In my sessions, we first check our own weapons, then we double buddy check (check the shooter to the left and right of you), and then I check each weapon on the line, any and all magazines, any and all backup weapons and backup mags, and then, and ONLY then, is the line considered dry. Do I break Rule number 2 of the firearm safety rules? Yes, sometimes I do. And I have been working on trying to blend absolute focus on each individual with NOT breaking Rule number 2, and it is a work in progress. Being in front of a student helps me instruct and them learn, and there are advantages and disadvantages to this method.

As Col. Cooper himself wrote: “For those that insist this particular gun is unloaded, see Rule 1.”

What are you teaching your students? That it’s OK to point guns at people (VCA’s aside)? That the rules are OK to violate at some point? At last weekend’s defensive knife class we were talking about such intensive safety protocols as used in shoothouses, simunitions training, force-on-force, and other such things. And you know what? Trying to blend all the absolute focus you want, but bad shit still happens. It is not OK to violate the rules, and it is not OK to talk about the rules then disregard them. Students will learn more from your example than your words.

These poor choices and behavior often get defended with the instructor (or their defenders) saying how the instructor asked if anyone had a problem with them violating the rules. For example, “I’m going to stand downrange while you shoot, does anyone have a problem with this?” And a typical response is that no one raises their hands, no one speaks up. As if somehow that’s justification for this behavior.

Do you know why the students aren’t speaking up?

Read this article and pay attention to: #4, our tendency to conform; #5, our herd mentality; and especially #6, that we depend upon authority figures to make decisions.

Professor Milgram interpreted the results of his sobering experiment as saying that people in stressful situations who don’t feel like they have the ability or expertise to make decisions will leave the decision-making to the group and its hierarchy, and that when they obey someone else’s orders — even orders that violate their own conscience — they no longer feel responsible for their own actions, believing they’re just a blameless tool of an authority figure.

That’s precisely what we have in a class. If you are coming to a class, you are admitting you don’t know something but wish to learn. Thus you go to someone that knows. So we immediately have a hierarchy of the instructor above the student. Plus it’s evident this instructor has some “dangerous” skills and knows how to deal with it (at least, in the eyes of the student), so thus if the expert is OK with being downrange, if the authority figure blesses this behavior, it must be OK… and I don’t want to be the asshole that speaks up and ruins it for everyone else, then gets cast out of the group, I’m nervous enough and stressed enough already, etc.. So really, that no one speaks up is not a surprise and really isn’t any sort of defense that this rules-violating behavior is acceptable.

So I write this to say to students: speak up.

If someone — especially the instructor — is being unsafe, speak up. If you don’t feel right about something, speak up. What’s the worst that can happen? If the instructor is worth their salt, they will humbly accept the correction. As well, the instructor might have to ask you to trust them and you go with what they say. Why? Well, the nature of a firearms class is going to be stressful and is going to push you outside your comfort zone. To some extent, you need this and have to go through it to help you achieve your goals. But you have to know if you feel uncomfortable just because it’s new and unknown, or because you know this isn’t right and you know it’s a violation of the rules.

You also have to look at the whole of the instructor. Are they humble? Are they working to build and earn your trust? Or are they trying to be a hot shot? Do they disregard your voice, even if it’s a dissenting one? Do they lift you up, or do they put you down? Are they more concerned with showing off their macho, or with helping you achieve your goals?

In the end, if something doesn’t feel right, you do NOT have to do it. You can sit out. You can ask if someone else can go first, or for the instructor to demonstrate, if it helps for you to see it before you do it. And in the end, if ultimately something isn’t right, you can leave the class. I cannot say how the instructor/school will handle it, if you’ll get money back, or whatever. But ultimately don’t worry about that, because your safety is more important.

If you are at a gun range and see someone breaking the rules, call them on it. Report it to the range safety officer. If worse comes to worse, just pack up and leave.

I know it won’t be easy to do this, but nothing in life worth having is easy — and your life and the lives of those in classes with you are worth it. The safety rules do not have exceptions (what part of “always” do you not understand?). As an instructor, we need to not just teach by our words, but also by our example. Our safety is more important.

The Greatest Caliber Ever!!1!111!!!!

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

A couple days ago I received an email from Mark @ ammoforsale.com. I will say, it was nice that it wasn’t a form email out spamming the gun blogs — he commented on my grip post. No idea if he really reads the blog or just saw the one post enough to send the email… but whatever. It shows he made a little personal effort instead of being a spam-bot.

He wrote:

I’m writing in hopes of putting something on your radar – we just wrapped up some videos featuring “The Greatest Caliber Ever”. (Spoiler alert – they’re all the greatest)! If you get a chance, I’d love to hear your thoughts:

9mm: http://www.ammoforsale.com/9mm-ammo-for-sale#video
.223: http://www.ammoforsale.com/.223-ammo-for-sale#video

Each of the videos has an easy embed code; you’re free to share them with your readers if you think the short videos are worthy and something they would enjoy.

And while they do have embed codes, I can’t embed them here. Oh well. You should click on them anyways and drive traffic to their site… which is the point, isn’t it? 🙂

I don’t often post things like this, but the videos were short, funny, and well-produced. Don’t take it too seriously. 

A little humor for your day.

AAR – Defensive Knife Workshop with Chuck Rives

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

On May 19, 2013 I attended a 7-hour Defensive Knife Workshop with Chuck Rives hosted by KR Training.

About Chuck:

Chuck Rives is an Affiliate Instructor, for Mike Janich’s Martial Blade Concepts. Chuck has been a martial artist for about 30 years. Chuck lives in Amarillo, Texas and is an Emergency Manager for a Federal Government Agency. Chuck teaches knife, and defensive tactics regularly to peace officers and corrections officers.

So, Chuck knows his stuff. Chuck’s been coming to KR Training for a while to host shorter classes, and I’ve wanted to check out his classes for some time but just haven’t been able to for one reason or another. But this class I didn’t want to miss because 1. it was a full day, 2. it was also going to have Allen Elishewitz. Alas, Allen was unable to make the class, but that really didn’t detract much because Chuck ran a great class with much to teach. You may know who Michael Janich is, as he’s been a part of the TV show The Best Defense for some time now. While I’m not a huge fan of a lot of the “training” TV shows out there, I am a fan of Michael’s and what he teaches is solid. What Chuck teaches isn’t pure MBC curriculum, Chuck is an Affiliate Instructor of MBC and is highly recommended by Janich.

The knife work is founded in Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) style and concepts. Consequently, it’s logical, simple, and effective. What Chuck has put together for this 1-day workshop provides a basic foundation of simple concepts and techniques that almost anyone can use to defend themselves with a knife.

The workshop started out with a discussion of self-defense, what defensive knife work is (this isn’t dueling, it’s not Westside Story). Some talk about knives themselves in terms of construction and blades. Then a live demonstration of various knives via “Pork Man”. Watch this video:

That’s Michael Janich, and the first 3 minutes or so give his background, followed by some useful footage of actual knife attacks (close, swift, aggressive, brutal), and finally the “Pork Man” demo. What you can see is that knife attacks can be ugly, even with small/short blades. One thing that Chuck’s demo showed that the YouTube video doesn’t, is how blade shape/construction matters. Chuck had a knife that looks evil and threatening — it’s big, black, looks “tactical” and “scary”. But actual cutting ability? It was pretty poor due to blade and edge shape. Then some smaller, less threatening looking knives did far worse damage, but again it was due to superior shape and edge. There’s a lot one can glean from such a demonstration.

After Pork Man, we had discussions of targeting, stance, deployment, grip, and then angles of attack. Again, if you’re familiar with FMA, these angles of attack are familiar. I won’t give away all that Chuck teaches — you’ll do better to learn from the teacher. But if you’re a student of Kali or Arnis or Escrima, you probably already know what’s going on here. Basic blocks and attacks, all based upon the same/similar concepts. At first, it seems like you’re learning a lot, then you realize as the day goes on that you’re learning the same thing and it doesn’t seem like much, and that’s the great thing about it — it’s simple, it’s less to learn, but yet it’s effective regardless. This means when the flag flies you have less of inventory to hunt through for a response, which means a faster response. Good thing.

What Chuck taught was simple and effective, but there’s no question you cannot just take the class then forget about it. You are going to need to practice these things to get them smooth and reflexive. When practicing these, I found myself a few times with brain fade and reverting to techniques I already knew from past martial arts experience. What was soberingly evident? Chuck’s techniques strive to get you on the outside of your attacker, which is generally a safer place to be, especially when a knife is involved. So much of what I learned in the past? Works to get you inside your attacker and keep you there. Really, there’s no one right place because inside and outside can have advantages and disadvantages, reasons to want to be there and reasons to not want to be there. It was just an interesting contrast to have Chuck’s material presented, which focused on getting outside, and finding myself at times reverting to old habits which want to keep me inside.

Was there anything bad about the day? Well, it was hot, sunny, windy, which really took a lot out of you. In the later afternoon we probably should have taken it back inside, cleared the room, and continued working in there. But Chuck was good about taking breaks, cooling off, getting water. It’s good when instructors aren’t just attentive to material, but also these other realities and necessities of teaching. I do wish there was more way to apply the techniques, like some FoF scenarios. But I’m not sure logically how that could be worked out. I know in past martial arts study we’ve done things like get a red magic marker and white t-shirts, so it doesn’t hurt too much but it also shows the damage done. But that’s also probably too much material for one day (2 day course? Maybe a “Level 2” workshop that starts with a review of this material, adds a few more things, then spends the afternoon in FoF?).

One thing I kept thinking about was my past defensive folding knife training with Insights Training. I thought Insights’ work and Chuck’s work went well together. It’s cool when you have different people with different backgrounds and different courses that wind up in essentially the same place. I don’t think one replaces the other, but they do complement. For example, both came down on about the same side of knife selection (Chuck with a Spyderco Endura, Insights with Spyderco Delica). I still like Insights’ approach of two knives, one in each pocket. I thought Insights did more to cover drawing and getting the knife into play, and discussion of that importance. But it’s interesting how Insights tended to focus more on being in the fight then getting your knife; Chuck spoke a lot about how you can get the knife ready before the fight is on. Insights seemed to have a bit of “gun as your primary” tendency, whereas Chuck acknowledged the knife may have to be your primary and how to treat it in the face of that or NPE’s. Insights focused on a few simple but different techniques. Chuck focused on a few simple but similar techniques. However, application was different. For example, Chuck addressed distance, getting outside, and getting away. Insights had a solution for the clinch and being caught in close. Both focused on targeting to disable your attacker so you can get the fight to stop and/or escape. Insights had a stance where your knife-side was back (thus your “empty hand” was forward). Chuck put your knife forward, so your empty hand wasn’t just a target. On this last point, I think Chuck’s position is more sound, either when attacking with or defending against a knife (so long as you have one too); but that’s going to be very hard for gun folk to learn since so much gun technique is about keeping your gun side away from the attacker. Anyways, I don’t think either group has a monopoly on knowledge and technique. Both present sound solutions, and I think they do far more to complement and augment each other.

Not only did I pick up on direct course material, but I took home some other things. First, I still feel good about choice of Spyderco Delica. They are fast to deploy, solid, and you just don’t have the fumble factor that other folders suffer from (e.g. due to pins; the big hole really helps with thumb deployment). They have good design, and aren’t too expensive such that if you have to lose or ditch the knife, life goes on. Still, a folder isn’t as good as a fixed-blade, and Chuck had a technique that was so simple towards carrying and deploying a folder that I’m going to experiment with it for my own carry. I also picked up on some things for my own teaching (“Tony Chin”). I liked Chuck’s style: very personable and friendly, very passionate about this material, and you can tell he really wants to take the time and care to ensure people learn and grow.

If you care about personal defense, you should care about the knife. If you choose to carry one, you ought to know how to use it. To know how to cut veggies in the kitchen is one thing, but to know how to defend yourself with it is another. But even if you don’t carry one, you’d do well to get some training in how to defend yourself against a knife. Yes, a gun can be an effective defensive tool, but you first need to get your gun out. Being able to perform a few simple movements (again, the FMA-based techniques can work for you if you have a knife in your hand, a club in your hand, or empty hands) to stave the initial attack, get to the outside, and buy you the time to get your gun out… well, there’s much to be said for such knowledge and ability.

I look forward to training with Chuck again.

On one final note, I’d like to give some love to my friend, Shawn Hatcher of Hatcher Knives. Shawn came out and was my training partner for the day. He was kind enough to fashion a trainer version of the REH out of some G10. We spent the afternoon beating each other up, overthinking together, and having a grand time. I must say, Chuck’s techniques are more directly suited for a forward-type grip, so I did use my Delica Trainers for much of the class. But I did use the REH trainer when I could to see how it would convey. Because the REH is designed with a reverse edge and also to typically be held in a reverse-grip, I found myself thinking WAY too much about technique application. But on the same token, most of Chuck’s techniques became even more ugly due to the hooking motion. Yes, some techniques wound up just striking the blunt back-edge of the REH, but as you followed through with the technique… yeah, fun stuff. Shawn took the REH home with him — going to add some “version 1.2” refinements. The joys of custom knives! Shawn’s really evolving as a knife-maker, and if you’re in the market, you should give him a try.

I’ll just leave these right here

/ hsoi

Catching up, clearing things out of my queue.

I know the gun debate isn’t the hottest thing on 24/7 “reality news TV”, but it’s still around and won’t go away any time soon.

I wanted to share a few things worth reading.

First, a gentleman named Rick has a series of “thoughts on the current gun debate”. Last I checked he had only 4, but as of this writing he’s up to 9.

It does appear part 9 is the end, since it says “summary”. I admit I have not read all of this because I’ve just been swamped. But what I did read seemed like a deep investigation of the topic, looking at data, at arguments, at debate. If nothing else, it seems like a meaningful read.

Second, a blogger named Kontra writes a letter, “Dear Gun Control Democrats: 6 Ways to Make a Better Argument“.

I write this letter as someone who is politically far left of center. You and I have a lot in common, though you may not want to admit it by the end of this article. I think it’s time we had a talk….  But I’ll be honest with you: I watched the Senate votes live on Wednesday, and when these gun-related bills were defeated, I literally celebrated. Obviously, you and I have a lot in common, but plenty to differ on. And that’s kind of what I want to talk to you about.

This isn’t about gun-control per se, but more about public relations and communication. It’s about why the “Democrat gun-control agenda” failed — and will continue to do so — because you are sending the wrong message, have the wrong marketing. Really, it’s a good read regardless of topic or “side”, because it’s really about communication… and why yours has failed and no one believes you any more.

Hopefully you have a little more time on your hands than I do. Read on.

Mixing lead and iron – improving grip for shooting sports

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

Guns. Lifting weight. Lead. Iron. Both heavy metals. Both topics for me, but rarely do I mix them.

Ed, this post is for you. 🙂

After last Saturday’s class, Ed and I (we carpooled) stopped at the Bastrop Buc-Ee’s for gas and some food. Ed asked me about ways to improve his grip.

“Deadlift”.

Not really going to work for Ed. 🙂  But truly, that’s what has helped me so much in my grip. When you’re holding 365# in the air, you better have a good grip. Other things have helped too, like hammer curls, and just ensuring I grip/squeeze when I’m lifting and don’t just let my fingertips barely hold on.

What it comes down to is: if you want to get good at something, you have to do that something. If you want to get good at boxing, you have to get in the ring and box. Certainly tho, you can do boxing-like things to help your boxing. For example, jog/run medium distances to bring up your endurance so you can go 12 rounds, but sprints won’t contribute a whole lot to your ring performance. So if you want to get better at gripping, you have to grip things.

That said, grip isn’t a simple thing. There’s crushing, there’s pinching, and there’s holding (supporting). There are fingers, there’s your thumb, there’s forearm muscles that work in various directions. There’s really a lot in here, but to keep the discussion focused, I’m going to look at gripping a handgun and possible ways to improve your grip on your gun to help with recoil management.

No, I’m not an expert here, nor is this any sort of training program. I’m just thinking aloud based on my knowledge and experience.

When you’re gripping a gun, you’re doing so because you need to shoot it. When you shoot it, there will be recoil. You cannot stop recoil, only manage it. There are numerous ways to help manage that recoil, and I’m going to focus on one: your grip.

I’ve read many ways about how to grip the gun. There’s the Weaver Stance with it’s push-pull dynamics. Brian Enos talks about squeezing the grip itself but with neutral “directional forces” (if you will) so the gun isn’t being pushed or pulled in any direction. Tom Givens said something to the effect of the strong/trigger hand gives a “front-to-back” squeeze and the weak/support hand gives a “left-to-right” squeeze, thus together it’s a strong “box” of inward pressure. Massad Ayoob refers to the “crush grip” where you squeeze so hard until you start shaking then back off just to the point where you stop shaking. When we teach out at KR Training, Karl Rehn came up with a nice analogy of “Homer choking Bart“.

While everyone has a different way of approaching it, it really boils down to you need to grip and grip hard.

Trouble is, when you grip hard, you can’t grip for long. Muscles will get tired, and when they get tired, your grip is going to loosen. Given this, what it tells me is two things need to be focused on for improving grip for shooting handguns: 1. strength, 2. endurance.

Note, I’m setting aside other grip issues and problems. For example, if your hands get sweaty, that’s going to make it harder to grip things. You’ll have to find some other way to manage that, but one way? Grip even harder. 🙂  Point being, there are other problems one can have with their grip, like sweaty hands or gun fit issues, and those are outside the scope of this writing.

Ed mentioned to me he was working on it by taking a ball and squeezing it. I think that’s a good approach, but after a while it won’t be enough. The problem? After a while, it’s no challenge to you. You can squeeze it to death, you can hold it until you stop from boredom before exhaustion. Continuing to squeeze that ball won’t allow you to progress. Ed knew I had previously mentioned the Captains of Crush grippers, but honestly? They feel like more of an assistance exercise than a primary. That is, if you want to get good at gripping a handgun, you need to grip a handgun or what most closely resembles that (since “working out” with a gun has other safety and social issues).

The CoC grippers are very good at developing crush strength. But I’ve found it’s within a particular range of motion. It’s a… clamp for lack of a better term. Using these grippers doesn’t involve my whole hand, my whole forearm, my fingertips, my pinky — because the pinky is so heavily involved in recoil management. So, I look at grippers as more “assistance work” than main work. Nevertheless, I see much benefit in using equipment like this. First, if you can close a CoC #1 or #2 gripper? you’ve got a decently strong grip. If you can close a #3? I think you’ll be find holding on to a handgun. If you can work these, you’re still going to have a very strong crush grip, which is important. Second, these CoC grippers offer progression. Frankly, this is key.

The problem with Ed’s ball is that once he’s mastered it, what do you do next? I’m sure you can find “stronger” balls to work with, but what sort of progression is there? can you measure it? can you be certain of it? With a set like the CoC’s, you can know precisely where you are, what you’re doing, and where to go next. If the “S” is easy, move to “T”, when the “T” is easy, move to “1” and so on. You can know what you’re doing, and you can certainly progress. Because if you want to get stronger, you have to keep working with greater resistance.

But don’t think with the grippers that you have to work on crushing the #3. How about getting the “S” model and holding it closed for 30 seconds? That’s the second part: endurance. When you shoot, you don’t draw and shoot 1, you’ll be shooting more. Take a class and how much are you shooting? If you’re shooting an IPSC or IDPA match, how long does the stage last? No, you don’t need to hold on for 5 minutes, but 10 seconds isn’t uncommon, maybe up to 20. In fact, you might consider it broken apart. Maybe you shoot for 5 seconds, run to the next position, shoot for another 5 seconds, run to the next, another 5, and so on. Maybe you could crush the gripper all the way closed, hold for 5, release for 2-3 seconds, crush and hold for 5, etc..  That is, work to replicate the conditions you’ll be shooting under. If that gets easy, move up to the next gripper.

There are also these things called the IronMind EGG. There’s lots of similar products. But here the point remains that there’s different models for different levels of resistance, and it provides more of an overall crush feel in your hands — fingertips are going to get involved. Crush it — Homer choking Bart — and hold for 20 seconds. Do this over and over. Build up the crush strength, build up the endurance. I think products like these can provide a more “handgun-grip-like” setup and thus could work better as a “primary exercise”. There are also foam grippers on the market that are more rectangular in shape, perhaps with finger grooves. That’s very similar in size and shape to a double-stack striker-fired handgun’s grip — grip it like the gun.

(Note: I’m not a shill for IronMind or CoC… just like their CoC grippers; never held their EGG product).

I will say tho, I think the biggest part of improving your grip while shooting is the mental aspect.

You just have to make the mental effort to focus on your grip.

When you are working with grippers or crush balls, you have to grip hard… then grip harder…. and harder. You are going to get tired. Muscles are going to want to relax. You must tell yourself to grip harder. You must make your muscles grip harder. It’s a mental thing. We will lose our grip without even thinking about it, so if instead you can train yourself to progressively grip harder, the hopeful end result is a maintenance of a steady grip, not a slowly loosening one. This will require you to be mentally engaged in the grip work, not just mindless crushing.

Next time you go to the range? Don’t work on drills, don’t work on your accuracy, or your speed. Work on your grip. Pick some drills like a Bill Drill. Don’t worry about the target or your speed or whatever so much (of course, do be safe, do ensure all rounds impact the backstop, etc.), just focus on your grip and crushing the hell out of the gun the whole time. Experiment with different grip strengths: maybe you crush the unholy hell out of it, maybe you back off 10%. What if you crush like hell with your support hand but have just a “good grip” with your strong/trigger hand. Does how hard you grip with your trigger-hand affect the movement of your trigger finger? Make a whole range session out of playing with your grip and focusing solely upon that topic.

When you dry fire? Do not forget to have Homer choke Bart. It’s very easy to slack on your grip when you dry fire because you know there’s no recoil. I catch myself doing this all the time. You have to make the mental effort to remind yourself to grip hard when dry firing.

After you learn a few things at the range, reassess the grip workout you do. Maybe you found “this much grip” worked, so crush the ball with that much force and hold it. Maybe you need a stronger ball or gripper. It’s going to be an iterative process.

Finally, don’t expect grip improvements overnight. Actually, you may well improve some after the “focus on your grip” range session, because now you’ve thought about it, became aware of it, and will be more cognizant of your grip when shooting. On the same token, don’t be surprised if you regress! I found as my grip strength improved, I wasn’t necessarily aware of it. That is, in my mind I was still gripping the same as I always had, but on an absolute scale I was gripping harder. Ever watch what happens to your front sight when you change how much you crush grip the gun? the sight moves. I had to readjust some other things to bring things back in line. Don’t use the changes as an excuse to back off on your grip: it’s just a way to help you find other weak points to make stronger. 🙂

And yes, you have to make a routine of this. Work on it every day. Doesn’t have to be much, maybe 10 minutes a day. Make it a constant thing. Keep a log of your work so you can see your progress.

It also don’t have to be true “exercising” of your grip. When you hold onto something, anything during your day, don’t just weakly hold it or let it roll to the end of your fingertips. Grip it. Hold it. Own it. When you feel your grip loosening, tighten up. When you feel your muscles getting tired, hang on for another 15 seconds. Again, change your mental approach to grip.

The better we can manage recoil, the better we can shoot. You don’t need awesome grip strength to defend yourself, but the more you can grip, the better you’ll be able to rack the slide, shoot longer and faster strings, and manage through classes and practice. It’s more useful to be strong than weak, so hopefully the above has given you a few ideas about how you can make your grip stronger. It won’t happen overnight, but persistence will pay off.