Guns

But they never malfunction, right?

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

With all the gun-related and concealed-carry-related chatter going on recently, I’ve been seeing more of the old debate about revolver vs. semi-auto. And it’s the same old reasons dragged out to justify “my choice is superior”.

Some of the typical ones to justify the revolver have to do with the bulletproof (pardon the pun) reliability of a revolver.

O RLY?

At the recent Defensive Pistol Skills BUG class, Karl was shooting his Charter Arms snub. Karl bought the Charter a couple years ago for Claude Werner’s snub class. It was an experiment to see how well the inexpensive Charter would hold up. It’s not as good as a S&W, but it’s been a pretty good gun for the price. Karl uses it as a BUG, so naturally it was the gun he used for demos during the class. Karl was shooting some of my .38 reloads and at one point asked me what primers I was using because he was shooting and getting a click instead of a bang. This particular batch was made using Wolf SPP, and while a lot of people are down on Wolf quality I only opted to use Wolf because so many people on the Brian Enos forum highly recommended them. Plus, my snubs have all had work done and need slightly “softer/more sensitive” primers, and all the rounds go bang for me so it was curious why they wouldn’t go bang out of his stock gun. But it’s natural to suspect the ammo. Karl tried some factory Speer Lawman, but had similar results of too many clicks when there should have been bangs. Some rounds took 2-3 strikes before they would go off, and I think one didn’t go off at all.

As of this writing I’m not sure what exactly is wrong, but all signs point to the gun malfunctioning.

Of course some will say, this is precisely why the revolver is so great, because if you get a click, just press the trigger again. Yeah, but now your 5-shot snub has become a 4-shot-or-less snub. If you saw how this went down, it was a lot of clicks before we’d get a bang, and it was a lot of time wasted with nothing useful going on. Imagine you were in a life-or-death situation and only kept getting clicks? What if only 2 of the 5 rounds went off at all? Plus consider a natural response will be to press harder/faster, meaning when one finally does go off you likely will have yanked the trigger and won’t get an acceptable hit with what little functioning ammo you had! Is that really a comforting feeling? It was disconcerting enough on the practice range, I’m sure it would be horrifying if I needed the gun to fire right now and it didn’t.

Plus, “just press the trigger again” only works if you can press the trigger at all.

After a class like that, I like to dry fire to reinforce and remember what I need. So the day after class I pulled out my 442 to do some dry practice. I unloaded it, but something didn’t feel right as I tried to move the cylinder. I locked the cylinder back into the frame and tried pressing the trigger and it was like pulling against a rock… it would barely budge! I unlocked the cylinder and tried to manually rotate it. It was like someone left the parking brake on and it would barely budge. I got scared that attempting to use the gun would break some small part from pulling so darn hard on the thing. *sigh*

Ultimately what wasn’t working was the cylinder wasn’t spinning freely. I removed the crane retention screw, but couldn’t get the crane to easily remove from the frame. After some work it came out. Then I tried to remove the cylinder from the crane, and while that should normally just slide out, it wasn’t going to come so easily. After more work I managed to remove it… and all over the sleeve was this brown something or other. I couldn’t tell if it was rust? Was it dirt and crud (the soil in Lee County is sandy loam, emphasis on the sandy)? I couldn’t really tell, but I spent a good deal of time cleaning and scrubbing it clean, lubing things up, and back together it went. It functioned fine after that.

What surprised me was how the gun ran just fine the day before, no problems in class. But the first trigger press after class was a failure and wasn’t going to happen.  That wasn’t a comforting feeling.

What caused both of these? Some might say the guns needed more cleaning. That’s probably true, but I can ignore my semi-auto (my XD-9 or my M&P-9) for many many cleanings. Look at how much the pistol-training.com torture tests specifically avoid cleaning, and those guns run and run. But if a purported reason (myth?) for the superiority of revolvers is they “just work”, well… they didn’t. Two instances of revolver fail. Myth busted.

Realize, I’m not a semi-auto nor a revolver guy — I’m both. I’ll have an M&P 9 as a primary and the 442 as a BUG. I appreciate both systems for what they provide and offer. Both have advantages, both have disadvantages. The key is to remember that both are mechanical. Both designs have been around for over a century, but in the time since then improvements have been made to tweak the system. Modern semi-autos are extremely reliable. They can malfunction in simple ways that are easy to remedy, they can malfunction in ways that require you to see a gunsmith. Modern revolvers are extremely reliable. They can malfunction in simple ways, they can malfunction in ways that get Wife upset because you now have a gun disassembled on the bed. 🙂  Neither is without risk of failure, and when either fails they can fail in simple ways or fail in difficult ways. Let’s put those justification myths aside, shall we?

2012-07-31 dry fire practice

/ hsoi

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 3, Day 2, SHO (all drills SHO)

  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 drills are strong-hand-only. So I reckon that means the weak-hand is 100% not involved. So all those reloads, all those malfunction clearances, one hand only. This is where a good rear sight like a Dawson Precision Charger is quite useful.

This is also illustration that while these skills are unlikely to be something you generally need, there’s merit in knowing and practicing them but with perspective. Note the skill is only worked once in the 4-week session (well, twice technically since you’ll do it again WHO next week), and when it is worked, it’s not worked for many reps. This way you don’t ignore the skill completely, but you also don’t spend more time than is warranted, instead spending that finite time on highly important skills like the press-out.

But of course, this is just a generalized routine. Your goals may necessitate a different approach. I think it’s a good template to start with, and eventually I’ll refine and change it to suit my needs.

2012-07-30 dry fire practice

/ hsoi

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 3, 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

After my performance on Saturday I wanted to work on speed of the press out and getting on the trigger faster. Sure enough I got on the trigger faster, but I see the sights dip. Ugh. I can tell part of it is not having a consistent “crush grip”… a common problem I have when I dry fire because my brain knows I’m dry firing.

So… more things for me to work on. There’s always a list of stuff.

 

ArmsBand

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

On Jim Scoutten of Shooting USA’s Facebook Page, he posted about this new product called the ArmsBand.

Basically, it’s a holster method where a small gun can be strapped to the inside of your upper arm.

Jim simply posted: “New Carry Idea: Arm Wrap. What do you think? (Takes a big arm to hide a gun)”

I posted my thoughts:

Um… I’d want to actually see it before passing too much judgment. But that said… The manufacturer’s warning “The elastic pocket can catch the trigger and result in accidental discharge which can kill or maim the user!!” makes me wonder a bit… could the gun shift around while “holstered” (it seems to just be elastic (which can wear out) and with sweat, movement, your arm flexing and extending, could there be enough shift to cause a discharge?

As well, it’s not exactly clear to me how you are supposed to draw the gun, and do so in a fast and proper manner. I’m trying to figure out the mechanics of it all. A video demonstration might be useful. I do wonder tho… what effect does this have on your ability to use your other arm? If now that arm must be moved to enable you to draw, now you can’t use that arm to block a punch, fend the attacker, use a flashlight, move a non-involved party (e.g. wife, kids) out of the way… it appears like it handicaps you.

I can’t pass too much judgement from just looking at a website, but so far it doesn’t sound all that appealing to me.

Now upon further examination of the product’s website… it’s even less appealing to me.

From the product’s main page:

When carrying in public, you can stand with your arms folded across your chest, holding the shooting hand under the carry bicep on the grip of the handgun without drawing any suspicion from anyone. On condition orange, you can loosen the strap and ease the handgun partially out.  From this position, drawing and firing is actually faster than clearing your jacket and drawing from the waist.

True point. This is also an advantage of (front pants) pocket carry, because you can put your hand in your pocket and get a firing grip. But one advantage this ArmsBand has over pocket carry is in a seated position, the pocket draw ain’t happening. But what I want to know is, what are you supposed to do when you have to suddenly go from condition yellow to condition red/black? Yeah I know, you have awesome ninja skills and no one will ever get the drop on you. But if successful and fast draw from this ArmsBand requires you to have some time and advanced notice, then it’s not a good holster. No one (not even Col. Cooper) could live their lives 100% in condition yellow — we all slip into condition white now and again, and yes things happen in life that surprise you or “come out of nowhere”. Shit happens, and your gear shouldn’t hamper you. Again, it is unclear to me exactly how you are supposed to draw from the ArmsBand. If you have to loosen a strap and ease the gun out, THEN you can take a solid firing grip on the gun and draw then well, I just don’t see how you can do this quickly. I really would like to see how one is supposed to draw from this rig because I think that’s vitally important in assessing the value of this piece of equipment.

Even for folks who don’t carry concealed in public, you can conveniently carry in an ArmsBand® Concealed Carry Holster at home.

Why? I guess on the one hand I wonder why you’d need to be concealed at home — it’s your home. But even if for some reason you have to, there are better ways to carry at home. Why not an IWB holster at 3 o’clock? I suppose someone has a context for this tho.

This should be of particular benefit for single women.

Why? And why wouldn’t it benefit married women? And why wouldn’t it just benefit men too? Something about that bit of marketing just feels off to me. But this is more about the equipment than the marketing.

If you read the website, there’s much discussion about the elastic, the dangers of the holster… it all makes me a little unsure just how solid and stable a platform this is. If mere use of this holster could risk a discharge, do I really want to use it? The growing list of schools and training centers banning the SERPA shows that there’s no tolerance for dangerous equipment. But with a SERPA the worst you get is shot in the leg. With this ArmsBand you could blow out your Axillary or Subclavian artery not to mention your shoulder joint. How are you supposed to know when the elastic is “too far gone”? and if everyone’s subjective assessment of that is different, could someone decide a little too late? This bugs me.

I repeat the “tactical” issues of drawing. If my left arm is now involved in the draw, I cannot use it for other purposes like blocking a punch, pushing off the attacker, holding a flashlight, moving someone else (e.g. wife, kids) out of the way. Does this mean I can’t hold small children in my arms because now my arms are busy and Lord knows I’m not going to drop a child on the pavement if I have to draw a gun to try to save the child’s life. I think about the need to move and “get off the X”… try running with your arms folded across your chest. Try keeping your balance. I think about being involved in a bear-hug or something else with your arms trapped against your side; granted there a standard 3 o’clock draw could also be difficult, which is why we also carry alternatives.

Then there’s practice.

DO NOT holster or re-holster a loaded gun while the holster is in place on your arm. The elastic pocket can catch the trigger and result in accidental discharge which can kill or maim the user!! Always take the ArmsBand® off to re-holster the gun.

This is going to make it cumbersome to practice. If you’re going to carry this way, you need to practice with it. That means a lot of dry fire practice with it, and a bunch of live fire too. Now first, hopefully you can find a gun range that will allow you to practice with such a holster. Second, you have to follow the manufacturers instructions and always take off the ArmsBand to reholster. I know this would get really old. Heck, dealing with simple pocket holsters in the recent DPS-BUG class was a pain, and this ArmsBand is a lot more work to reholster. If you’re not going to be willing to practice and put in the dedication necessary to learn how to use this holster properly and effectively, then you shouldn’t use it. I’m sure some folks are willing to put in the time and effort, but I know most people don’t practice near enough as it is and would be even less inclined to do so with such a cumbersome reholstering process.

From their Safety Precautions page:

Do not carry any single action semi-auto pistol in a “cocked and locked” condition or with a round chambered.

So if you carry a 1911-style gun, don’t. Because if you can’t carry a 1911 cocked and locked, you might as well be carrying a paper-weight. But that again makes me wonder about the design. But most small guns are not this style, and certainly there are lots of other small guns one could choose from.

I know I said I didn’t want to pass too much judgement without seeing it, but the more I read through the website, the more things struck me as troubling. I do applaud the inventor’s desire to think up new solutions. I do applaud the effort and hard work. The marketing doesn’t sell me; in fact, it turns me off. Maybe more information is needed. I think a video that demonstrates the use of the holster would be useful and could help in answering a lot of questions. But even if it answers some questions, other things about the holster — even if it was a perfect mechanical design — still bother me. For example, the muzzle direction, the realities of having your “other arm” bound up in the draw process instead of being free to do other tasks. The jury is still out, but it’s going to take a lot of convincing for me to be swayed. I could be swayed, but I’m going to need to see a lot of solid evidence in light of what I’ve already seen.

AAR – DPS-BUG @ KR Training 28 July 2012

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

Today was pretty cool.

I took part in the first offering of KR Training’s new “Defensive Pistol Skills – Back-up Gun” class. I participated as a student, tho I certainly assisted where and when necessary. I’ve been looking forward to this class, because I think it’s an important offering.

You see, like all things made by humans, guns aren’t perfect. Like all mechanical things, guns can break. There are many reasons for carrying a Back-Up Gun (BUG), and mechanical failure of your primary gun is one reason — hence, “back-up”. But because BUG’s tend to be small guns, like Glock 26’s, snub-nose revolvers, Ruger LCP, Kel-Tec’s, the smaller Kahr’s, and the like, a lot of people choose to carry these “little guns” as their primary guns. Whether you carry one of these guns as a primary or a secondary, taking a class like DPS-BUG is highly recommended.

I recommend taking such a class because shooting these guns is not like shooting a full-sized gun. Basically, it’s harder to shoot them and shoot them well. They have low-capacity, so every shot matters. Some of them shoot weaker rounds, like .38o Auto, so again every shot matters. Then because they are small, the sight radius is short thus a small change in alignment can mean a big difference in the ability to hit the target. It’s hard to get a good grip on them. Many are intentionally designed to be “double-action-only” with long and heavy triggers; that’s hard enough to shoot with as it is, then coupled with such a lightweight gun makes it even harder to shoot. Carry modes, like in a pocket (holster) are harder to draw from. I know these sorts of guns are very popular with folks that carry concealed, so if you opt to carry such a gun you should get some training in the use of that gun.

The class curriculum is based upon the Defensive Pistol Skills 1 course, but it is NOT the same course. If anything, consider DPS1 a prerequisite to this class. DPS-BUG starts out with some fundamentals work using the little gun, because that is important. All the “high speed low drag” stuff means nothing if you can’t basically hit what you need to hit. And yes, you will be working on one-handed shooting… you can hate it all you want, but you won’t stop sucking at 1H shooting unless you keep shooting 1H. There’s group shooting, shooting against a timer, shooting the “3 Seconds or Less Drill” (in fact, we shot that both with our BUG’s and our full-sized guns, to compare and contrast). We shot from a chair, to allow experimentation with drawing a BUG, since they might be carried in an ankle rig or a pocket holster.

That was one cool thing about the class: experimentation. Whereas a lot of other classes have to be straightforward in the gear and what’s done in class, here part of the point was to allow you to see and figure things out. Normally carry in a pocket holster? Maybe try an ankle rig, or using off-body carry like a fanny pack or a daytimer. It’s a great opportunity to try things out and figure out how things are going to actually roll and work for you.

As for how the class went for me….

I shot my S&W 442 with the DeSantis Clip Grip the entire class. For much of the class I actually opted to use the clip grip and draw from the appendix position. That actually worked quite nice, tho it’s still a little difficult to get a solid draw (gotta get your stomach out of the way). I’m also happy that my hand held up after 150-200 rounds of abuse. 🙂

The big take home for me? I need to work on getting on that long, heavy trigger press a lot faster. My problem is because of that long heavy trigger  to overcome, I will smash it thus yank the hell out of the gun. To avoid that, I press a lot slower than I should. I scored suboptimally on the “3 Seconds or Less Drill” with the snub because on the last string (7 yards, 3 shots WHO, 3 seconds) I only got 1 shot off. I was determined to only get good hits even if it meant I didn’t get all the shots off, but totally lacking 2 shots killed my score. *sigh*  So I need to work on getting on the trigger sooner and faster yet ensuring an acceptable hit.

I’ll also say, when we switch to our normal carry guns at the end, it felt weird. Not just because I had a large gun in my hand, but when I shot it I could feel the springs vibrating and shaking. It was weird. 🙂  In fact, I felt like I couldn’t shoot as well… just spent 3 hours shooting this little hammer, then switching guns and shooting the full-sized M&P9 felt totally foreign in my hands. Just more things to practice and work on.

And I remembered to put on sunscreen this time. 😉

A good day. I hope we can offer this course more often… and I hope more people will be willing to take it. If you carry a small gun, you owe it to yourself to take this class. You’ll learn a lot.

2012-07-27 dry fire practice

/ hsoi

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 2, Day 4 (basic routine) and Day 5 (malfunction clearances)

  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
  7. 10 reps of TRB, 3/4 speed, 2H
  8. 5 reps of LRW 3/4 speed 2H
  9. 10 reps of wall drill from press out, 2H

I just realized that I didn’t dry fire yesterday. Oops. That’s what I get for being in a hurry to get to work. I also didn’t get it done this morning… work’s been engulfing this week. So, let’s just combine the two sessions and get things done.

Wither Personal Responsibility

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Remember that off-duty cop that negligently left his Glock under the seat of his car, then his 3-year old that wasn’t in a child seat found the gun and accidentally shot him?

Apparently his lawsuit against Glock is being allowed to go forward

Los Angeles Judge Kevin Brazile dismissed Chavez’s case two years ago, saying that he had failed to show that an alternate gun design would have prevented the shooting. Brazile also said that a police department review of the handgun showed that the advantages outweighed the risk.

But earlier this week, the state appeals court ruled 3-0 that the suit could move forward, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. After reviewing evidence presented by Chavez’s lawyers, the court found that a grip safety “would minimize the risk of accidental discharge without undermining performance.”

Ah… it’s in California. That explains everything.

Personal responsibility just doesn’t matter any more, does it.

No wonder everything is going to shit.

And for the record, saying a grip safety would minimize risk without undermining performance shows what they (don’t) know about guns and shooting performance.

Yup… this proves it. Guns can only be used for evil purposes.

/ hsoi

Due to some recent events, and because it’s a big US Presidential election year, of course many folks are talking gun control and gun bans. Why? Because guns are evil, guns are bad, and if we just banned guns everything would become hunky-dory.

I just read this article, which proves that point:

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) – A citizen with a gun stopped a knife wielding man as he began stabbing people Thursday evening at the downtown Salt Lake City Smith’s store.

Some crazy guy walks into a store, buys a knife, then turns around and starts stabbing people. He seriously stabbed two people while screaming “YOU KILLED MY PEOPLE!”. That’s textbook crazy right there.

Then, before the suspect could find another victim – a citizen with a gun stopped the madness. “A guy pulled gun on him and told him to drop his weapon or he would shoot him. So, he dropped his weapon and the people from Smith’s grabbed him.”

So you see, proof right there that guns can only be used for evil purposes.

Oh wait.

That looks to me like a gun was used for a good purpose. It stopped a crazy person from going on a killing spree.

Actually check that. The gun didn’t do anything. You see, it’s an inanimate object. It can’t do anything. No, it’s all about the person using the gun.

Some private citizen, carrying their gun (concealed carry, it would seem), was able to draw their weapon, point it at this rampaging lunatic, and got them to stop their rampage before tons of ugly could happen. The gun didn’t do anything, but this person did a very good thing and happened to use a gun to do it. In fact, without the gun they wouldn’t have been able to do this good thing. Huh. Imagine that.

Where were the police? Because I’m told the police will protect me and are all the protection we need. I’m sure they would have shown up eventually, but how much death and destruction would have happened?

This also demonstrates that concealed carry is bad. Because private citizens don’t have the wherewithal. They’ll just be a liability. They’ll just be dangerous. Uh huh.

By the time officers arrived the suspect had been subdued by employees and shoppers. Police had high praise for gun carrying man who ended the hysteria. Lt. Brian Purvis said, “This was a volatile situation that could have gotten worse. We can only assume from what we saw it could have gotten worse. He was definitely in the right place at the right time.”

Dozens of other shoppers, who too could have become victims, are also thankful for the gun carrying man.

And I bet if you were there in the thick of it, you too would be thankful for that man — and his gun.

It’s not the implement. It’s the man using the implement.

2012-07-25 dry fire practice

/ hsoi

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 2, Day 3, reloads

  1. 10 reps of wall drill from press-out 2H
  2. 20 reps reload from slidelock, slow, 2H
  3. 20 reps reload from slidelock, 3/4 speed, 2H
  4. 10 reps reload from slidelock, slow, 2H
  5. 10 reps of wall drill form press-out, 2H

While the session calls for different speeds, I did all my reloads fairly slow or even slower. I wanted to ensure the entire orchestration of movements was correct and solid.

I also did some Burkett Reloads and played around with where my eyes look. Do they look at the top edge of the magwell? the bottom edge? or somewhere “in” the magwell? Results inconclusive, but you do need to focus somewhere, not just have nebulous eyesight in the area. I think having a point “in” the magwell works best because that’s where you want things to go… aiming with your eyes, and if you aim to an edge, you’ll hit the edge. I’ll want to play with this more. To this point I’ve just “looked”, but I’m playing with a refinement of the look.

No one is above having problems

/ hsoi

Todd Louis Green has just started a new pistol endurance test, and report #2 had a few things that I’d like to point out.

This is probably more relevant to beginner and intermediate students.

First, a common thing we see in many Basic Pistol 1 & 2, Defensive Pistol 1, Handgunning: Beyond the Basics, classes is… trigger slap/yank. In fact, we actually see it in all our classes, but those classes tend to manifest it a lot more because it tends to be the first time folks become aware of the concept and start to understand why all their shots are going low-left.

From Todd:

As expected, the biggest challenge with the crisp trigger break has been anticipation. During the Rangemaster class we shot a number of qualification standards and while I was able to score 100% on all of them, at the 25yd line I definitely launched a few that danced precariously close to being outside the 8″ scoring zone. That’s just sloppy trigger work on my part and a habit I’m going to have to break. Most of Monday’s practice session was spent working on 2″ dots at speed to help exterminate the jerks and snatches infesting my trigger finger.

A 1911’s trigger is rather different from a Glock, and Todd is feeling the effects and having to adjust. The take home? Even someone who shoots as well and as much as TLG still can have troubles with trigger control. None of us are above it, so don’t get yourself too stressed out about it. Know that it’s there, know that you’re doing it, and just work to improve.

Second, equipment matters. Do not be afraid to modify the gun (within reason) to help you shoot it better. Or, don’t be afraid to get a whole other gun. Now in TLG’s case, he’s shooting a particular gun for a particular reason, so he can’t get a whole other gun, thus he has to modify it. The key is everyone is built different and so if one gun isn’t working for you, you need to make adjustments to the equipment to make it work.

The gun is wearing fairly thick stocks (Crimson Trace Lasergrips) which, combined with my stubby thumbs and more than a decade of using my trigger finger to drop a magazine rather than my thumb, made reloads glacially slow. I’ve now installed an Ed Brown extended magazine catch. The catch needed major fitting as it would neither allow a magazine to be inserted (no pressure on the mag catch button) nor allow a mag to drop free (when the button was pushed in all the way). My totally inexpert Dremel and sandpaper work was adequate to the task but I’ve got both a 10-8 mag catch and a custom Heirloom Precision (thanks, Jason!) extended catch on their way.

You can also read about some other equipment issues, such as magazine failures.

I mention these things for the sake of beginner and intermediate shooters (because I expect advanced shooters should know this already). No one is above having problems. No one is above working on their technique. Don’t beat yourself up because your technique is poor, or your equipment isn’t up to snuff. Just acknowledge the issue and work to remedy it. This will enable improvement and progress.