Guns

Quotes for today

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

From this article:

“I’m not saying you should outlaw guns, but I don’t see the point of hundred-round magazine clips and automatic weapons if you just want to target shoot,” said John Tyson, 66, of Winchester, Va.

I’ll respond with a quote from Mike Muir:

Just ’cause you don’t understand what’s going on don’t mean it don’t make no sense, and just ’cause you don’t like it don’t mean it ain’t no good.

Mr. Tyson continues:

“People say it’s their right to bear arms, but when the Constitution was written there was no such thing as an automatic weapon.”

People say it’s their right to free speech, but when the Constitution was written there was no such thing as the Internet.

2012-08-08 dry fire practice

/ hsoi

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 4, Day 3, low-light

  1. 10 reps wall drill, SHO with flashlight
  2. 10 reps ID, move right, engage
  3. 10 reps ID, move left, engage
  4. 5 reps ID, draw on the move, engage
  5. 5 reps reload in the dark
  6. 10 reps wall drill, SHO with flashlight

This of course requires knowing proper flashlight technique. For those curious, KR Training has AT-1A Low Light coming on October 20. The class can only be offered a few times a year due to the need for low light that comes at a time that 1. isn’t during deer hunting season (consideration of range neighbors), 2. isn’t very late at night (again, consideration of neighbors).

This routine again stresses what I like about TLG’s sample routine. It covers the majority of all needed skills, but puts a proper emphasis and perspective on the skills. Low-light flashlight skills aren’t likely to be needed (in reality, you will usually have enough light; and if you don’t, you shouldn’t be shooting at all), but they are still useful to practice as you may need them.

If nothing else, you get more SHO practice. 🙂

I couldn’t practice in true low-light given it’s daylight out, but I did draw the blinds and turn off the lights and got things as dark as I could. On the reloads, I just closed my eyes, but don’t forget the flashlight may still be in the mix and you have to contend with it (lanyard? stow under the armpit?).

M&P over XD – a subtle point

/ hsoi

For years I carried a Springfield XD-9, but some months ago I switched to a Smith & Wesson M&P9.

There were many reasons for my switch, and if you’re curious you can flip through my article archives. What follows isn’t a reason for my switch, but I think works out to being a good but subtle win for the M&P over the XD.

First, in most respects the guns are the same and both will function fine for most people. Both strive to provide some degree of ambidextrousness, but neither are 100% ambi. The XD has a mag release button that works on both sides, but the slide-stop lever only exists on the left side. The M&P has a single-sided mag release button that with a little bit of work can be flipped over to work from the other side, but it only truly works from one side or the other. However, the M&P does have a slide-stop lever on both sides.

After my prior “weak-hand-only” dry fire session, I noticed how much my old XD habits remained and that I hadn’t yet created the muscle memory for the M&P in this regard. It didn’t take me long to adjust to using the middle finger of my left hand to press the “same-side” mag release button, but even by the end of the session I was still forgetting about the slide-stop on the right side. But it made me realize something:

I think the M&P has a better ambi setup than the XD.

First, for a left-handed shooter, the M&P wins because you can have all controls “in the normal positions” on the M&P. A little work to flip the mag release button, and you’re there. Nothing can be done with the XD to make it 100% lefty-friendly like this, tho you can work around it.

Second, for someone like me where left-hand is “weak-/support-hand”, I still think the M&P wins because if I still have enough hand to shoot, then I still have enough finger that can press the “same-side” mag release button. And then all other controls are where they should be. But as witnessed by my dry session, you have to learn it because most guns are not set up with slide-stops on the right side and so you have to make sure you train your body to use it. With the XD, you just have to train using other approaches.

So all training issues aside and looking purely at the design and mechanics of the guns, I do think the M&P gains a slide edge here.

2012-08-07 dry fire practice

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 4, Day 2, SHO (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

All WHO. Man, that’s painful, especially the reloads and malfunctions…. yes, weak-hand ONLY, only one hand involved period. The one thing I wasn’t sure about was drawing. Was this supposed to be a true WHO draw, reaching across my body to a “backwards” gun? Or was it to be a regular SHO draw then transfer to my weak hand? I figured WHO-only since again everything seemed to point in that direction. And this post by TLG confirms yes, it’s WHO draw across your body. Fun! NB: if you haven’t been properly trained in these techniques, don’t necessarily think you can get it off YouTube. Learn from a proper trainer (I learned from Karl Rehn and Claude Werner).

One thing I focused on was my grip, as noted in yesterday’s session. I should clarify. It’s not that there’s some greater rearward pressure from my fingers. No, it’s still an evenly pressured crush-grip. However, what I need to feel is my fingers being active and involved. If I feel that, I know I’m gripping the dickens out of the gun. As noted in the past, one problem I have is getting my grip to be solid during dry fire — it’s too easy to slack off here and not grip much at all, which then can lead to great inconsistency. I’m sure that carries over into live fire, not so much the grip itself but consistency of grip. A consistent, strong grip leads to better recoil management and shot recovery. We’ll see how emphasis on this in dry work will translate to live work for me. Will take time to get there.

I must admit, it’s rare for me to work all these WHO skills, like the reloads and malfunction work — I can’t remember the last time I did it WHO. Again, a good rear sight (e.g. Dawson Precision Charger) makes a big difference. I think this is also the first time I ever did it with my M&P, and I learned a few things:

  1. I do miss the true ambidextrous mag release of my Springfield XD-9. You can overcome it tho with the M&P, just using your fingers instead of your thumb. I discovered my middle finger works better than trying to get my index/trigger finger on the button.
  2. I must remember there’s a slide-stop lever on the right side of the M&P (something the XD lacked), and my thumb here will work the same way as SHO.

 

2012-08-06 dry fire practice

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

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 try to dry practice in the morning but that didn’t happen today.

I really like the emphasis TLG’s routine puts on one of the most core skills: the press out. This basic routine and the skills within are so fundamental, and the heavy emphasis on it is starting to pay off.

While practicing tonight something hit me. I do struggle with trigger slap as I go faster. I try to do things like lighten my trigger press, but it just doesn’t work. In order to overcome the trigger break, the trigger weight, and with speed, there’s just gotta be a particular amount of force applied. I mean, if F = ma, there’s just gotta be a particular amount of force, and if I go faster it’s going to apply more force… the trigger and my finger and everything is just going to hit the end of the trigger’s range of motion with a particular (or increasing) amount of force. And so, the front sight dips.

For some reason this evening I was very aware of my right hand’s grip pressure — the way the ring and pinky (and to some extent the middle) fingers were applying pressure to the frontstrap, such that I felt this particular pressure in the palm heel of my right hand. It wasn’t so much that I felt a crushing grip, or that I felt my palm heel pushing forward. I mean, technically it was a very strong crush grip all around, but mentally there was some emphasis of the feel of those fingers pressing back. And that seemed to make all the difference in the world. Even doing 1H shooting and WHO especially… that sort of grip and mental emphasis made a big difference in things remaining steady.

I’m going to keep focusing on this and see where it leads me.

AAR – BP1 @ KR Training 4 Aug 2012

/ hsoi

With the Texas summer settling into full swing, classes are still being held but with an eye on the heat. So this past Saturday KR Training held only a Basic Pistol 1 class.

A highlight for me was seeing the TXGunGeek and misbeHaven, whom I haven’t seen in a while. Was good to see them.

Class was full and demographics were varied. About half the class was women. Ages ranged from a teenager there was his father, on up. Various ethnicities and backgrounds too. Some may choose to stereotype gun-owners as old, white, redneck men — they only show their ignorance when doing so.

Class ran well, tho shuffled around a bit in an effort to get folks out on the range before it got too hot. I didn’t see how long we were out there, but it felt like it went on longer than usual. A good thing tho, helping people try a bunch of different guns.

I found myself speaking a great deal about gun fit, and had an interesting observation at my station. I had a different set of guns: Glock 19, Glock 22, Springfield XD-9 5″, M&P-9 full-sized, M&P9 Shield, M&P-22, and a J-frame. On the one hand, I felt like I was shilling for Smith & Wesson. But the more interesting thing was showing off gun fit to the students. I’d look at the size of their hands and length of their fingers and put them on a particular gun, then have them pick up another one and compare. There were a lot of people with hands of just the right size that the Glock would be too big, so I’d put them onto the Shield and it would fit but might be almost too small. Then put them onto the M&P (medium backstrap) and it would be a “just right” fit. Not only do I hope this impressed upon students that if you pick a Glock or an XD or an M&P, they’re mostly going to wind up being the same in terms of reliability, capacity, etc., but fine details of ergonomics can often end up being the final and important factor in your choice.

Further reinforcing this, TXGunGeek has big hands and the XD fits him a lot better. While the XD is generally alright for me, the way the frame is cut is, for lack of a better term, just a hair more angular and brick-like. Due to the way I’m constructed, my trigger finger would rub the frame just enough to push everything left. But without changing a thing in my shooting style, the M&P doesn’t exhibit the problem because the frame has just a slight enough contour difference that my finger doesn’t rub. Little things like this end up mattering, and you cannot be afraid to keep working at it to seek the equipment that’s right and works best for you. Buy a gun, if it doesn’t work, sell it, try another. But then, once you settle upon your equipment, move beyond it — it’s just stuff, nothing to get too ego-attached to. Then begins the work to build skill, and onwards up the pyramid.

The day was short but significant. And I got to have lunch at the Elm Creek Cafe just up TX-21 from the range. Folks, that’s some good home cookin’, and a great way to round things off.

Look! Data!

/ hsoi

I saw this graphic floating around the Int3rw3bs the past few days:

I didn’t have time to look further into it to know if there was anything actually sound behind that data or was just someone with access to Photoshop and an agenda.

Turns out someone actually did the math.

The average number of people killed in mass shootings when stopped by police is 14.3

The average number of people killed in a mass shooting when stopped by a civilian is 2.3.

That’s pretty telling on many levels. And you should go read the article backing up the statistic because it appears he did his best to take a proper sample. I admit I don’t have the time to replicate his study, so I’m just trusting the guy.

The big take-home is you cannot rely upon the police to protect you. All LEO’s I personally know do believe in “to protect and serve”, but none of them (or any of Austin PD or Travis Co. Sheriff or Texas State Troopers) are here right now to protect or serve me. I’ve seen APD response time at best to be about 5 minutes, and while that’s awesome response time, 5 minutes is a VERY long time when bad things are happening to you.

But who is here right now that can do something about it? You are.

Look at the recent story of Samuel Williams, the 71-year old man that drew his concealed handgun when two thugs came to rob an Internet cafe. Where were the police? Who was the first responder? Samuel Williams.

How about Kelvedon Hatch, the convenience store in Essex that foiled a robbery attempt of his store by throwing cases of beer at the robber? There were no police, and there was no successful robbery either.

This isn’t so much about guns as it is about accepting that putting the responsibility for  your own safety into someone else’s hands may be acceptable in some particular circumstances, but ultimately only you can and must be responsible for your safety. When people are willing to be thusly responsible, look at how much better things turn out? Sure, bad things start to happen, but they get cut off before they can become horrible events. When good people are legally crippled, when good people don’t do anything for themselves or their fellow man, look how bad things can become.

In the end, the tool may enable and enhance a person’s ability to perform work, but it’s still ultimately about the person. None of us want to see tragic events happen, but we must consider careful what roads will help us minimize the chances of these events happening, and when they do happen, minimizing the damage done. Knee-jerk reactions based upon fear and emotion are not sound ways to make policy. Look at facts, look at data. Truth always comes out, and we suffer less the sooner we accept it.

 

2012-08-03 dry fire practice

/ hsoi

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 3, Day 5, shooter’s choice.

I can do whatever I want today (other than nothing). Given my recent increase in shooting my BUG and seeing what I’m seeing there, I opted to do the basic routine but with my S&W 442.

  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

The main focus was getting on the trigger faster.

All in all, not hard to do… I think it’s a mental thing as to why I’m going slow. That I know it’s harder to press the trigger: heavier, longer trigger; lighter gun; smaller, harder to grip gun. So the press of that trigger is going to be harder to do, so go slower to ensure the sights aren’t disturbed and the trigger not slapped.  But even just letting myself go “at speed” today, I’m still not sure if It was good enough because the sights are bad enough and the grip angle is just slightly different (more downward cant needed). So… hard to tell. What might be good for me to try tomorrow is some live fire with the snub and just press it out fast and get on the trigger fast and see what I see. If what I see live matches what I see dry, and of course I’m getting acceptable hits, then I’ll know what to keep looking for in dry practice as acceptable visual feedback.

2012-08-02 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

This session went really well. I’m focusing on maintaining “the string” of the eye-target line and bringing the gun and sights right up into it. It’s a fine-tuned change that’s difficult to convey here, but I know what I’m after. Plus as always, working on getting on the trigger sooner, faster, and without slapping it. All strings were done “at speed”, and I can see some improvement… or maybe today was just a good day. 😉

For me the bottom line is having the discipline to do this every day. I don’t recall the exact statistic but it’s something like to just maintain your level of skill you have to practice a couple of times a week. If you want to improve, you have to practice more. If you practice less, expect your skills to degrade. I know I’ve been at a plateau for some time, so I expect with dry practice 5x a week and getting more regular range time (due to the structure of KRT classes this summer), I expect things should be well and in order.

Hey…. Tom Givens is coming back to the area in March 2013, and I want to be awesome.

2012-08-01 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
  7. 10 reps wall drill from press-out 2H (not standard part of TLG’s routine)
  8. 10 reps wall drill from press-out 2H 3/4 speed (not standard part of TLG’s routine)

It was good to work retention. We do a retention drill at the end of Defensive Pistol Skills 1 and it’s good to get practice on that drill. #6 is a new one on me tho.

I added some more wall drills at the end because that’s a fundamental skill and I think one good to end on. I am trying to pick up my speed without sacrificing good hits… watch that front sight, no dipping! I’m really working on trying to work at faster speeds and not slapping the trigger… but I still get more front sight dips that I care for. It’s a combination of loose/inconsistent grip, and too much trigger finger. I’m also playing a bit with my finger placement, but I think that may be a red herring… that I’m trying to fine-tune something that isn’t a relevant part of the present equation. Hard to say at this point tho.