Guns

2012-09-07 dry fire practice

/ hsoi

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 4, Day 5, shooter’s choice.

Given last week’s WHO work, I opted to do the basic routine but emphasizing WHO again.

  1. 20 reps of wall drill from extension WHO
  2. 5 reps of wall drill from extension SHO
  3. 5 reps of wall drill from extension 2H
  4. 20 reps of wall drill from press-out WHO
  5. 5 reps of wall drill from press-out SHO
  6. 5 reps of wall drill from press-out 2H

I just wanted more WHO work.

But I’m also working on slowing down and not going overall faster than I can do everything smooth and together. For example, trying to reduce the time between extension and the trigger break. Get things going faster and with a “good enough” sight picture.

2012-09-06 dry fire practice

/ hsoi

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 4, Day 4, basic routine

  1. 20 reps of wall drill from extension 2H
  2. 5 reps of wall drill from extension SHO
  3. 5 reps of wall drill from extension WHO
  4. 20 reps of wall drill from press-out 2H
  5. 5 reps of wall drill from press-out SHO
  6. 5 reps of wall drill from press-out WHO

First… I missed yesterday’s practice. 😦  First missed practice in almost 2 months. Dang it. The day just got away from me. Since it’s a flashlight routine and the days are getting shorter, I wanted to do it before bed but… bed beat me. 😦  I’ll make up the session this weekend.

As for today’s practice, I’m working on pressing out faster and ensuring I get the trigger break just as I get to extension. WHO needs more work in that area. 🙂

2012-09-04 dry fire practice

/ hsoi

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 4, Day 2, WHO (all drills WHO)

  1. 20 reps of wall drill from press-out
  2. 10 reps draw & fire, slow
  3. 10 reps draw & fire 3/4 speed
  4. 5 reps reload from slidelock, slow
  5. 5 reps reload from slidelock 3/4 speed
  6. 5 reps TRB
  7. 5 reps LRW
  8. 10 reps wall drill from press-out

I’m happy for the additional WHO practice… probably something I can’t get enough of. Makes me think that for the next “monthly cycle” I might do something like throw in 10 (additional) WHO press-outs every session and see what it does for me.

One thing I need to work on is just pressing out faster. I go slower on my press out because otherwise things get too loose and I don’t get it lined up right. Well, I need to press myself a little faster. I do this and things work out, so I just keep to keep doing it and not slow down on the press out. If I need a bit of time at the end, fine but at least get the gun out there and overall compress the time.

Robbery caught on tape – Security Guard does well

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

While “t3h int3rw3bs” is rife with much chaff, there’s wheat to be found as well.

Check out this video of an Internet cafe security guard stopping a robbery before it can start.

OODA loop in full effect, with no hesitation. Gets up, gets off the “X”. Aimed fire. Using two hands. Moves. Shoots. Keeps his distance (doesn’t charge/close). Solid work. Kudos to you, Mr. Security Guard.

(h/t Shawn)

To elaborate on a few things.

The robbers had their OODA loop in effect. No idea if they knew there was a guard there or not, tho I’ll guess they didn’t know because who would willingly walk into an armed confrontation… but then, criminals aren’t known to be smart. By the guard FIRST getting off the “X” he did a couple of things:

  1. It’s better to NOT get shot than it is to shoot. Karl likes to say that incoming bullets have the right-of-way. Move first.
  2. Regardless if the robbers knew of the guard before they entered, they certainly knew of him once they entered. By moving off to the side, the guard changed the situation. As Tom Givens calls it, the guard gave the robbers a “WhatTheFuck?” moment. The guard was in their field of vision, but as soon as he side-stepped he left their tunnel vision. This resets their OODA loop (what the fuck? where did he go? back to Observing), and now the guard operates ahead of them.
  3. Notice there was no need to take massive steps. It’s often taught that moving by just side-stepping is a range-safety artifact, and to an extent it is. But I learned from Givens that simple step is really all you need. You don’t need to run a 40-yard dash.

Notice as well, the guard’s draw took about 2 seconds and it was almost 3 seconds before the first shot was off. I started timing from when it appeared physically evident the guard was reacting to the situation, so really it was a hair longer than that from the moment he first observed (when the OODA loop initiated). It was not a lightning fast 1.0-1.5 second draw. Karl Rehn and Claude Werner separately have been examining a lot of real gunfight data and coming to interesting conclusions in terms of training and performance. I know Karl’s working on an article so I won’t spoil things, but this video gives another data point.

The robbers were not out for a righteous fight, just a quick score. As soon as the bullets started coming their way, they took off.

There was no need for a reload, but I’m sure the guard had a reload on his belt. I couldn’t tell how many shots he fired, but I reckon a 5-shot snub would not have gotten the job done that night.

I’m curious what the distances were. Seems 7-15 yards at least. Statistically well outside the range of typical gunfights. How well can you shoot at that distance?

All in all, good job Mr. Security Guard. I hope everything works out well here.

2012-09-03 dry fire practice

/ hsoi

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 4, Day 1, basic routine

  1. 20 reps of wall drill from extension 2H
  2. 5 reps of wall drill from extension SHO
  3. 5 reps of wall drill from extension WHO
  4. 20 reps of wall drill from press-out 2H
  5. 5 reps of wall drill from press-out SHO
  6. 5 reps of wall drill from press-out WHO

I practiced last night just before bed… got the practice in, just had to post this the next day.

The press-out felt much more natural. Things just flowed nicely in this routine. I do feel that I need to get to the range and confirm progress with live-fire practice, but time has been tight and I’ll be out to KR Training eventually anyways so I can just wait until then. But it does feel that a month of dry fire followed up with a day at the range to confirm and figure out what to work on (next) would be an ideal cycle.

2012-08-31 dry fire practice

/ hsoi

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 3, Day 5, shooter’s choice.

Given yesterday’s WHO thoughts, I opted to do the basic routine but emphasizing WHO

  1. 20 reps of wall drill from extension WHO
  2. 5 reps of wall drill from extension SHO
  3. 5 reps of wall drill from extension 2H
  4. 20 reps of wall drill from press-out WHO
  5. 5 reps of wall drill from press-out SHO
  6. 5 reps of wall drill from press-out 2H

I’m not sure I can “ride the rail” of the eye-target line here, at least literally. The gun is coming from a different point, NOT under my right eye. It helps that I’m right eye dominant and right-handed, so naturally they’re all lined up and it is truly just a “ride the rail” press-out. But now with the gun in my left hand, bringing it under my right eye and out doesn’t work so well because the gun is also in my hand at a different angle so the front and rear sights don’t align with the “rail”. So, this is a time where I have to remove the literalness of it all. And doing that helped.

But what really helped?

I know how critical a strong grip is to making this work, especially important in WHO because it is the weak hand. I worked on not just crushing my grip, but really involving the pinky in the crush.

What a difference.

Of course, that shouldn’t surprise me. I know this from my years of martial arts training how critical the pinky is for making grip. But it’s just something that gets lost and doesn’t always happen because it’s not normal (still) for me to grip primarily, if you will, using the pinky. While it makes a good difference in any grip situation, it’s especially important in handgun shooting because of the counter-torque it provides against the recoiling gun.

When I did my SHO and 2H, it was even better because of that.

So there’s something for me to fall back on every now and again: crush with the WHO pinky.

2012-08-30 dry fire practice

/ hsoi

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 3, Day 4 (basic routine)

  1. 20 reps of wall drill from extension 2H
  2. 5 reps of wall drill from extension SHO
  3. 5 reps of wall drill from extension WHO
  4. 20 reps of wall drill from press-out 2H
  5. 5 reps of wall drill from press-out SHO
  6. 5 reps of wall drill from press-out WHO

Bottom line: grip consistency.

I’m also thinking that tomorrow’s “shooter’s choice” might be working WHO because well… “riding that rail” for the eye-target line is tough with the weak-hand and my right (dominant) eye. Trying to get it all to line up.

 

Mayor Bloomberg… you are confusing

/ hsoi

“Let me ask you this Miss, if somebody pointed a gun at you and you had a gun in your pocket, what would you do? I think that answers the question,” [Mayor] Bloomberg said Tuesday at an unrelated news conference in the Bronx.

Mayor Bloomberg said the above in response to a line of questioning from a reporter regarding how 2 NYPD officers, shooting to take down a crazy man in front of the Empire State Building, did take the man down but also injured 9 innocent people in the process.

But the thing is, Mr. Bloomberg, that the law-abiding citizens of New York can’t have a gun in their pockets. So I guess what they would do is… die.

And Mr. Bloomberg, you actively campaign to make this condition so for the citizens of New York.

Glad to know you’re looking out for your fellow man.

The thing is, it seems Mayor Bloomberg gets the concept of concealed carry. I mean, he’s got armed bodyguards so he does understand the value. But… it’s just something that for some reason he wants to deny YOU from having, yet he’ll enjoy the privilege.

Ah, sweet hypocrisy.

2012-08-29 dry fire practice

/ hsoi

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 3, Day 3, retention

  1. 10 reps of wall drill from press-out 2H
  2. 10 reps draw and fire from retention, slow
  3. 10 reps draw and fire from retention, 3/4 speed
  4. 5 reps draw and fire from retention while stepping L, 3/4 speed
  5. 5 reps draw and fire from retention while stepping R, 3/4 speed
  6. 10 reps beginning at full extension, draw back to retention, and fire, 3/4 speed, 2H

One thing to keep in mind? On string 6, there’s 10 hidden press-outs in there. Make sure you don’t skip them. 🙂

Priorities

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

A blog posting at JW Enterprises, while a little on the ranty side, hits the nail home about priorities in firearms use.

In short:

  • Find gear that works, then move on to master that gear.
  • Get a mentor
  • Focus on fundamentals, even if you’re an expert (but then, an expert knows to focus on fundamentals).

Again, the posting is a little ranty and disjointed, but it’s point is a solid one.