Madison Rising, “Right to Bear”
Ted Nugent would be proud.
Guns
DeSantis Clip-Grip – first impressions
Look what MidwayUSA just sent me:
Yes, my quest for appendix carry and/or a better way to carry the snub continues.
Disclaimer: the following is my own personal opinions and perceptions. I purchased this with my own money. I’m not out to please anyone but myself. I’m not out to promote nor diss any product, merely share my opinions and experience.
Background
I’ve been interesting in appendix carry (appendix inside waistband, AIWB) for a while. The biggest benefit to AIWB is the speed of the draw, but there are many other benefits. Here’s a good article about it (h/t Paul Gomez). One I also like is something from SouthNarc, that when in a FUT (fucked-up tangle, how many “grappling” situations end up as a mess of arms and legs), drawing from AIWB is far more possible. Of course, the one major downside to appendix carry is the location of the muzzle — pointed either at your genitalia or your femoral artery. Carry in the traditional 3 o’clock position and the worst you’ll do is put a hole in your butt. Let one fly here and you’ll likely bleed out before help can arrive.
Why haven’t I done more appendix carry? Simple. I can’t. If you have a gut? Forget it. Either your flab will mold around the grip of the gun and you’ll never be able to get a grip on the gun to draw it, or your fat will push the butt of the gun out thus the muzzle angles into your groin and gets rather uncomfortable rather quickly. But a lot of this can be managed with gear. Different guns, different holsters, they can all make a difference. And of course, getting rid of the flab helps too.
I’ve tried numerous things over the past few years. I started with the “boot grips” that came on the S&W 442, tried different holsters, tried the “Werner Carry System” with the Barami hip grips and a Tyler T-Grip, and then just left them all and came back full-circle to the original boot grips. When I got a S&W 640, the factory grip on that is nicer because it’s longer and covers the backstrap, and of course that’s easy enough to swap between any round-butt J-frame. But because it’s a little longer, it doesn’t conceal in pockets as well. And no, I don’t really care for pocket carry as much… has some advantages, better than nothing, but not ideal to me.
And so, the quest continues.
I saw Claude Werner post about the DeSantis Clip-Grip® on his Facebook page, so I figured to give it a try. They were cheap enough, on sale at MidwayUSA, so why not.
First Impressions
The first thing I noticed was how similar to the original “uncle mike boot grips” they were, with of course the added clip.
Here’s a shot of things for perspective:
On the left (with the nickel finish) is my S&W 640, with the boot grips. On the right (with the black finish) is my S&W 442, with the 640 grip. Yes, I have the factory grips switched around because recently I’ve been carrying the 442 as my back-up. In the middle is the Clip-Grip.
You can see how similar the Clip-Grip is to the boot grip, but while similar, it’s not the same.
In this picture, I have the “right side” of the Clip-Grip (it’s on top), and the “left side” of the factory boot grip (on the bottom). If you look at the arrows, you can see how they don’t line up perfectly. Who knows… this may be done for legal reasons, to keep things from being dead-on copies. But functionally speaking, the contours are generally close enough so that if you know how the boot grips feel in your hand? That’s about how the Clip-Grip will feel in your hand, in terms of how your hand will fit, how your pinky will dangle, how the grips will and won’t fill your hand, etc.. So in general, I’m OK with that “feel” of the grips, how it works in my hand, etc.. And note, it does not cover the backstrap, so your palm will get to absorb all the recoil.
I also noticed there’s a gap where the grip comes up behind the trigger guard.
See the arrows? There’s space up there.
Here’s the boot grips on the same gun for comparison.
See? Almost no gap. I’m not sure why there’s a gap in the Clip-Grip, nor if that will make any difference. Could be to account for minor variations across the gun line? I’ll say this. The Clip-Grip fits tight and snug on the 640 and 442: there’s no wiggle, and that’s even just mating the grip to the frame, no screw to tighten things down. So that’s good. I also noticed that when on the 640 the Clip-Grip was very flush with the backstrap, but on the 442 the grips protrude just a hair off the backstrap making a little ridge… you can feel the edge of the grip insides, if you run your finger along the backstrap. But you can’t notice it when you’re gripping the gun in a firing grip. So, my guess is it’s all to help account for differences across the J-frames.
The other first impression was the material. The boot grips and the 640 grip are rubbery. Not sure what they are actually made out of, but essentially like a hard rubber. The Clip-Grip is, as the box describes: “built from a very rugged glass reinforced polymer, and we guarantee it for life!” So it feels like a hard plastic, with texture. Comparing to the Barami, I like these better. The Barami are smooth hard plastic, and they feel kinda cheap, like they could break (tho they’re also inexpensive enough that if they do, no big deal to replace). These don’t feel like that. I figure it has to be hard in order for the clip to work, so no “very hard rubber” would really work here. I also think the texturing is good, whereas the Barami are totally smooth and you don’t get much for grip. In the hand tho, you don’t really notice the “plastic” feel of the Clip-Grips, you just notice how it fills the hand and the texturing. I don’t think the Clip-Grip design is bad, but I’m not sure how it will affect recoil since there’s no rubber to absorb things.
Wearing It
Excuse me while I whip this out!
– Sheriff Bart, Blazing Saddles
I opted to put the Clip-Grip on my 640. My thinking? It’s a slightly heavier gun, will help with recoil a bit more than the 442 (I only plan to shoot .38 Special +P, no .357 Magnum). Because of the clip, the weight will be supported on the belt instead of dangling in a pocket. So this could all work better vs. the 442.
I like how they made the “ledge” of the clip. When seated fully and flush against the belt, it rides in a reasonable position. That is, there’s enough butt exposed so you can get a grip. The grip is presented at a good angle where you can get your fingers around it. The muzzle isn’t canted at too odd an angle to seat comfortably. The trigger is behind the belt, so there’s little chance anything could snag on the trigger and depress it. All in all, I’m quite pleased with how it feels! Yes, I do have to find “just the right spot” in order for it to work… can’t have it too close to my belly button, nor too close to my hip. About where you see it in the picture is about where it rides comfortably.
And yes… because of all my working out and improvements to diet, I’ve lost a lot of the gut, thus this isn’t so bad. You can see I still need to shed some flab… the flab does make it a little difficult to get a good firing grip on the gun. But at least it’s not pressing the muzzle into my groin so badly.
The entire time I’ve been writing this post, I’ve been wearing the empty 640 in my belt to see how it is with sitting. It’s a little uncomfortable, but not overly so. In the past I never could have lasted this long. I can stand up, squat, bend over, whatever… pretty free to move about. That’s all good. The gun does shift slightly when sitting down, because of the way my body moves, but it’s not too bad; I can still get a grip on the gun and draw it from a seated position. One point of note: the muzzle on the 640 is 2 1/8″ and the 442’s is 1 7/8″. Can that 1/4″ make a difference? I will say yes. After wearing the 640 around for a while, I swapped the grips to the 442 and wore it for a little while. That 1/4″ made a big difference; it’s a lot more comfortable in terms of muzzle digging into you. I will say, carry in this fashion helps your health because you can’t carry a gut and you need to have really good posture. 🙂
I’ve done some practice draws. It’s still slow, but that’s a matter of figuring things out and practicing. Oh, and the clip is just the right size to work with my belt and my pants: not overly big, not too small… it’s not a tight cramped fit, but there’s very little play. And if I want to put the snub into my pocket, I use a DeSantis Nemesis pocket holster and it works just fine with that (as I would expect).
In terms of concealment, it disappears. Truly. I had thought gee… why are they making the grips so short? Why not make them a little longer, because it’s not like the intent of this design is to go into a pocket? If they did, it’d bulge and wouldn’t disappear. I’m truly amazed at how invisible this setup is. Of course, if I had 5% body fat, it might not disappear as nicely, especially when seated. But even then I can see that it’s still more or less fine and under clothing, not an issue.
And for those curious, no problems going to the bathroom… at least, standing up. If you need to sit down well, it’s evident it’s going to need some management.
Note that this is one big thing about AIWB: it’s very dependent upon the person, and the their choice of equipment. I can say to a lot of people who a good general carry setup is something like an M&P in a Comp-Tac MTAC or CTAC holster at 3 o’clock and that works for a lot of people easily. But appendix? It seems so unique to the person. So you have to recognize that what may work for me may not work for you, or what doesn’t work for me may work for you. Even if I decide this Clip-Grip doesn’t work, that’s because it doesn’t work FOR ME. Your mileage may vary.
Next time I’m at a gun range, I would like to shoot it some and see how it fares. While I originally wanted to go with the 640 due to weight and recoil management, I’m probably going to work with the 442 because that carries a bit more comfortably. If that’s not a pain to shoot, then the 640 will be fine to shoot as well. I’m certainly not ready to carry it live and loaded yet… need more dry practice for the draw, need to just shoot it and see how it feels with target loads and social loads.
But so far, it seems at least worthy to take it to that point. If it wouldn’t wear, if it wouldn’t feel right, if it would gouge into me… well, no point in shooting with it if it can’t pass the first tests, y’know? But so far so good. I’ll report back after some range time.
CSAT Standards
Paul Howe has a set of Pistol Instructor Standards.
PISTOL INSTRUCTOR STANDARDS SEPT 2010
The drills below drills are designed with three purposes in mind:
- A measurable standard to maintain.
- An efficient stair-stepped workout program that covers all the bases.
- To test the individual shooter at various times to show areas needing improvement.
Only score shots in the center box and head of the CSAT target. If an enemy turns sideways, that will be all the shooter has to engage, resulting in a worse case scenario.
1. Ready 1 shot 1 target 7 yards 1 SEC
2. Holster 1 shot 1 target 7 yards 1.7 SEC
3. Ready 2 shots 1 target 7 yards 1.5 SEC
4. Ready 5/1 shots 1 target 7 yards 3 SEC
5. Ready 4 shots 2x target 7 yards 3 SEC
6. Ready 4 shots 2x weak/2x strong (1 target) 5 SEC
7. Ready 1 shot Malfunction drill (1 target) 3 SEC
8. Ready 4 shots 2 Reload 2 (1 target) 5 SEC
9. Rifle up 1 shot Dry fire/transition 3.25 SEC
10. Holster 1 shot Kneeling (1 target) 25 yards 3.25 SECTotal: 25 Rounds
INSTRUCTORS MUST PASS 8-10 STANDARDS IN ONE COURSE OF FIRE.
-All stations shot at 7 yards except #10.
It’s a reasonable standards course. However, the description of the course leaves out some important details. If you’ve taken Paul’s classes, I’m sure all is known, but for those of us that haven’t (yet) studied with Paul, we’re left scratching our heads a bit.
With reader Shawn’s help, because Shawn attended Paul’s Pistol Operator course, I’ve gained some clarification. So here’s a rewrite of Paul’s standards with hopefully a bit more explanatory detail. Thanx for the help, Shawn!
Setup
Shot on a CSAT target. Note, this target is IPSC-like, but CSAT is 23″ wide and IPSC is 18″, which is going to affect scale; plus the IPSC has a smaller head A-Zone. I’m sure you could use an IDPA target in a pinch, but that’s not quite the same either. I reckon if you don’t have the CSAT target, shoot on the IPSC target and only count A-Zone hits… it’ll be more difficult.
You need 2 targets. No specification of how they are set up, but given what Shawn told me (you just shot the target of the guy next to you), I reckon setting them at the same height about a yard apart is reasonable.
Shoot with your normal gear, whatever that is. So if you’re just a private citizen carrying concealed, shoot with that setup. If a LEO, shoot with your duty gear, etc.. Shawn mentioned there was an adjustment for retention holsters but couldn’t remember the specifics. You will need 2 magazines, due to the reload string.
Scoring is a simple “hit or miss” manner. Either you did the string under time and hit the proper zone, or you didn’t. Pass/fail on each string, and an instructor-level shooter must pass at least 8 of the 10.
25 rounds total.
“Ready” means from the “high compressed ready” (position 3 of the draw). However, Shawn notes Howe isn’t super-picky about this because gear (e.g. armor, chest rig) may have different requirements.
All strings start from the standing position, except #10.
All strings are shot at a distance of 7 yards, except #10.
All strings are shot from the ready position, unless otherwise noted.
All strings are fired onto a single target, except for #5.
String 1
1 shot (body)
1.0 seconds
String 2
From holster
1 shot (body)
1.7 seconds
String 3
2 shots (body)
1.5 seconds
String 4
5 shots body, 1 head (6 shots total)
3.0 seconds
String 5
2 shots (body) on target #1, then 2 shots (body) on target #2 (4 shots total)
3.0 seconds
String 6
2 shots weak-hand-only, transition gun to other hand, 2 shots strong-hand-only (4 shots total)
5.0 seconds
String 7
Start with an empty chamber, and a full magazine inserted
Press out, press trigger (click!), tap/rack, 1 shot (body)
3.0 seconds
String 8
Start with 1 in the chamber, 1 in the magazine; full reload in mag pouch.
2 shots (body), speed reload from slide-lock, 2 shots (body)
5.0 seconds
String 9
Start with rifle shouldered/ready
1 dry shot from rifle, transition to pistol, 1 shot (body)
3.25 seconds
String 10
25 yards
From holster
Start standing
Kneel and fire 1 shot (body)
3.25 seconds
And that’s how it seems the standards are to be, from my read on Paul’s site plus some help from Shawn.
If I have it wrong, I do want to be corrected.
I wrote this up because I think it’s a good set of standards, just not presented 100% clearly. When I first read it I wasn’t 100% sure of all the details, and when Karl, Tom, and I shot it this past weekend we weren’t 100% sure on a couple parts either. I had a similar experience with the Rangemaster Level V Handgun Qualification Course, and I think it’s worthwhile for good standards/courses to be presented clearly, correctly, and in a manner that ensures everyone can and does shoot it the same… else it’s not really a standard, is it?
No 300 BLK from Savage Arms
I just saw this posted to Savage Arms’ Facebook page
300 AAC Blackout Chambering Cancelled:
Some time ago, Savage announced it would be chambering the Model 10 Precision Carbine in 300 AAC Blackout. Since that time, we have tested many variants of this cartridge in various barrel lengths and rates of twist. This exhaustive testing left us quite unsatisfied with the accuracy we were able to get from the subsonic loads in this chambering. Accuracy with the lighter, faster loads in this caliber was actually quite good. But we believe the real value in this cartridge lies in the use of subsonic loads for suppressed rifles. Therefore we have decided to scrap the project.
It is our understanding that pushing these heavy, slow bullets presents challenges not found in typical loadings and that our experience is not unique. Subsequently, many in the industry have simply adopted a lower standard for accuracy for these subsonic loads. While this does seem reasonable and we don’t criticize any in our industry that have taken this approach, it just won’t work for Savage.
Our brand was built on accuracy and we are too protective of our reputation for building the most accurate factory rifles available. We would rather walk away from this opportunity than sell a product that requires an explanation.
Very interesting.
Now that it’s no longer prohibited in Texas to hunt game animals with suppressed firearms, that gave me more reason to consider buying a suppressor and a rifle to go with it. So naturally I was looking at 300 BLK. It’d be great if I could use subsonic ammo and a can and have a very quiet hunting experience. This is not only nice for deer hunting, but how about hunting hogs at night so you don’t bother sleeping neighbors?
But before any of this matters… what about terminal ballistics? Will it be effective enough?
300BLK subsonic is useless on hogs, the only subsonic cartridge/load I have found to work is the Ruger 77/44 .44 Mag with a 300gr XTP
And I know that’s what Gerald and Randy at Night Hogs use (the Ruger). But then, more Google searching turns up people hunting with the 300 BLK and having success. So I don’t know. And of course, hogs and whitetail are different… a deer is tough, but not as tough as a hog, so maybe if it doesn’t work for hogs that’s fine if it can still work for deer or other thin-skinned game.
But gee… I’d really love to hear more specifics about what they were seeing for accuracy issues in the subsonic loads, because all that quiet doesn’t mean much if you can’t hit what you need to hit.
All I can say at this point is, this gives me pause.
AAR – DPS2 @ KR Training 31 March 2012
Saturday March 31, 2012 @ KR Training. Defensive Pistol Skills 2. Just the one class (which left time for a little fun… more later).
Class was small. This class was added due to a large wait list from the prior DPS2, so instead of having those people wait a long time for another DPS2 to be scheduled, Karl scheduled one and we got all those people in.
Weather was great, tho a little warm for this time of year. And I was stupid and forgot to put on sunscreen. Yes, I am paying for it. 🙂
In general, the students did well. Folks were attentive and willing to listen and learn. It’s always hard for folks with years or decades of habit to overcome those habits and learn better ways to do things, because gun handling and pistolcraft have evolved a lot over the years. But it’s great to see old dogs willing to learn new tricks, especially because it always adds a second level of stuff to focus on in class — more info overload.
My comments:
- Everything is a repetition, so always do everything right. For example, if you have to pick your gun up off the table, always pick it up like we taught you (the “scoop”), even if it’s just a casual action. It’s a chance to practice, it’s a chance to further ingrain the muscle memory. Whatever you do, that’s what you’ll ingrain. Do it wrong? you ingrain wrong. Do it multiple ways at multiple times, and who knows what gets ingrained and if Hick’s Law might come into play. You’re trying to build new habit, so build that new habit by always doing things right.
- Your equipment matters. There’s no reason to have a crappy gun. There’s no reason to have a broken gun. If you know you shoot this gun better than that gun, why are you carrying the gun that’s harder to shoot? it won’t magically become easier to shoot when the pressure just went through the roof. And if situation dictates you have to carry that difficult to shoot gun, then you best practice with it a lot and master it.
- Fundamentals matter. All this cool tactical stuff is good, but the bottom line is being able to hit what you need to hit. Do not get unacceptable hits. Work to get acceptable hits. If you must slow down, slow down. Dry practice a lot, and then dry practice some more. Work to master the trigger press, making it slow and smooth — no slapping and yanking.
- Shoot groups. Yes, slow fire stuff. Shoot them at 15 yards. Shoot them at 25 yards. Shoot them one-handed, both strong and weak hand. This will help your marksmanship. It may not be fun, but keep shooting groups until it becomes fun. When will this happen? It may take a while, but yes eventually it will become fun… and you’ll become better.
- Aside: I used to hate shooting weak-hand-only. Why? Because I sucked at it. But I kept working on it. Now I can nail that hostage plate target at 25 yards weak-hand-only without any problem. I still miss a couple when going through a 16-round magazine, I am still working to run through a full mag without dropping any. I will get there. And I enjoy shooting weak-hand-only now because I’m better at it.
- Always pay attention to your gun handling — especially muzzle direction. The way you handle a gun in the non-shooting ways speaks far more about you than how well you can shoot.
After the class, Tom, Karl, and I spent a little time shooting drills ourselves, just for fun. We didn’t have a lot of time, but we shot Paul Howe’s pistol instructor standards and Karl’s 3 Seconds or Less drill. On Paul’s drill, we weren’t 100% sure how to interpret his standards, like on #5 “Ready 4 shots 2x target 7 yards”… is that 4 shots on 2 targets… each? 8 shots total? or 2 on one target, 2 on another? or… what? Well, we only had 1 target each so we just dumped 8 rounds in 3 seconds, and all 3 of us finished in like two and a half seconds or something. 🙂 (and yes, all good A-zone hits). Heh. That’s just fun.
The one thing I saw from it, and continues to be a weak point for me is weak-hand-only under stress. When I shoot the weak-hand-only at 25 yards, it’s under no time pressure. But I drop too many shots when I do WHO under time pressure, like in the “3 seconds or less” drill. That’s something I need more work on.
Anyways, a great day. I really needed it after the funk I’ve been in the past couple weeks. It was great to get my mind on other things and just have a lot of fun. Teaching is very rewarding to me, and I’m thankful for the opportunity. Thankful to Karl for letting me work with him. Thankful to Tom for the encouragement to get my certifications and start teaching here. Thankful to the students that come, willing to learn. Thankful to Wife and Kiddos for letting me run off every other Saturday to go do this. Thankful in so many ways.
It passed!
It looks like Texas Park and Wildlife has changed the hunting rules.
From the March 29, 2012 Commission Metting Agenda, Item 6, “2012-2013 Statewide Hunting Proclamation”
Here’s the text:
§65.11. Lawful Means. It is unlawful to hunt any of the wildlife resources of this state except by the means authorized by this section and as provided in §65.19 of this title (relating to Hunting Deer with Dogs).
(1) Firearms.
(A) It is lawful to hunt alligators, game animals, and game birds with any legal firearm, including muzzleloading firearms, and including a firearm equipped with a silencer [
weapons], except as specifically restricted in this section.(B) Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to relieve any person of compliance with any other federal, state, or local laws governing the possession or use of firearm silencers.
(C)[(
B)] Special muzzleloader –only deer seasons are restricted to muzzleloading firearms only.(D)[(
C)]It is unlawful to use rimfire ammunition to hunt alligator, deer, antelope, or desert bighorn sheep.(E)[(
D)]It is unlawful to hunt alligators, game animals, or game birds with a fully automatic firearm [or any firearm equipped with a silencer or sound-suppressing device].
So there you go.
Time to get your paperwork and tax stamps in order. 🙂
I know what I want for Christmas, but I guess I’d have to start my paperwork now. *grin*
A proper training mentality
I was pointed to this article, “On Being a Beast“. If you come to my blog for gun and self-defense stuff, you should read this. If you come to my blog for weightlifting stuff, you should read this. If you come to my blog period, you should read this.
The article may come primarily from the realm of strength training, but the message applies to any sort of training. The writer, Johnny Pain, talks about a conversation he was having with a friend about why they train. A question:
What if you were being sentenced in six weeks for a crime that you did not commit? (Or fuck it, what if you did commit it, I’m not one to judge).
How would you spend the next forty-five days? Think about it.
And all you gun folks reading this, oh yes, it could happen to you even if the situation was totally righteous. How would you spend the next 45 days?
Well, if it were me, I’d want to be the meanest, toughest, nastiest, most beast-like human being that I could be.
The concerns over training minutia would go out the window. Arguments over percentages or head and eye position on the squat would seem rightfully retarded. All that would matter is building a body that was strong and capable. Times to completion of various arbitrary tasks would be of little importance, as would one-rep maxes performed for other people’s benefit.
Things like biceps peak, body composition, quad sweep, or whether or not you could do a particular parlor trick on the rings would be unthinkable notions pushed aside by ever-present knowledge that your mind would be tested the most, but that your body could be called on to do very serious things. These tasks could be life or death, not win or lose. The stakes could be rectal integrity or death, not bragging rights on an internet forum.
You’d have to be strong, you’d have to be quick, and you’d have to have a decent set of lungs on you.
Quite the sound point. You get put into such a high pressure situation, and suddenly you gain great focus. You gain a greater insight into what really matters, and how most of the stuff we deal with in life doesn’t matter.
I know I get caught up in the details. I know I start to worry about all these sorts of minutia all the time. It’s just how I am. But one good lesson I’m learning right now is to just shut up and squat. The Wendler program I’m on right now? I’ve been analyzing too much, thinking about too much. I realized I was thinking way too much about it, and going back to the BBB template works better. Sure I still think about some details, like I am worrying about my knee angle because I’m concerned about the stresses it’s feeling since I don’t care to blow out my knee, but that’s different from just worrying about how good I look in the mirror.
There are situations in life where being an absolute beast could be very beneficial. Whether or not you plan on getting jammed up in the next few months, give some thought to the idea that you have one life and one shot at doing it right. We make decisions in finance and other realms based on long term payoff and relevancy, why not in why we train?
Don’t be the fat, beer bellied guy at the gun show who carries three cocked and locked 1911 .45’s and shit talks the 9mm round who loses his teenage daughter from choking because he didn’t possess basic first aid skills which would be much more likely needed in life than his 24 rounds of 230 grain hardball, or who can’t run to save his four year-old son from the drunk driver barreling down his street.
Get your basics down. Build your body up into that of a beast, a predator’s body, not a butter soft, tasty piece of food chain. It may very well all be in vain, and I hope to God that it is for your sake.
This is why I’m training to be strong. Oh sure I’m working to shed some body fat, but that’s because the fat is mostly useless. It doesn’t add anything useful, it doesn’t help me. I am not working my “chest” today because what’s the point of big pecs and big arms if I can’t do anything useful with them? I want to be strong(er) because that’s useful.
Preparing for the worst is never a bad thing. Be ready for anything. Prepare in the manner that gives you the most bang for your buck.
Oddly, some people think it is a bad thing… or at least, that you’re paranoid or have something to be afraid of. No, it’s just about being prepared because life can and does throw you curve balls, and you’ll never see them coming. It’s why we have insurance. It’s why we have smoke detectors. It’s why we wear seat belts. It’s why some of us choose to prepare ourselves physical and mentally for a confrontation we hope never comes, but we’ll be ready to meet it when it comes.
So when you train, train like you mean it. Focus on what’s really important. Yes, you’ll get caught up in minutia, but always be aware that you can, aware when you do, and willing to step back and refocus when it happens. Reading this article gave me a kick in the pants. Maybe it did for you as well.
On OC spray
Wife has always been big on OC spray, carrying it with her constantly.
I didn’t want to add OC spray to my EDC gear because I carry enough stuff as it is. But a few years ago I had a situation with some dogs and gee it would have been nice to have OC on my person. I’ve had a few other times where OC would have been welcome, and so it’s spurred me to look for OC that could work for me.
Thing is, I’d like my OC can to be in a particular style, a particular way to deploy it, and so on. When I find something that could work, the capacity is small and the distance it shoots is very limited. When I find something that can shoot far enough and have enough capacity, then the ergonomics aren’t what I want. It’s always been a tradeoff and I’ve yet to find something that fits my needs.
Until now.
Sabre makes this model called the Spitfire. Seems to be just what I need. Read a bit about the model and design, and it seems like it’ll be a solid choice. I have ordered some and we’ll see how it works. Yes, I ordered a couple extra cans just so I can try them out and see how they spray. Hopefully it’ll fit the bill, and yes I’ll write about it.
I learned about this particular product via a Facebook posting from Claude Werner. I trust Claude’s take on things. And it has a greater weight when Claude writes it like this:
I tell every class I teach: “If you carry a gun, carry pepper spray. Not having pepper spray implies that all you are willing to do to defend yourself is use deadly force, i.e., kill someone. ‘All I am willing to do is kill someone’ is not a statement most rational people are willing to make if they think about it for a moment.”
I keep a pepper spray (Spitfire) on my keyring so I never leave the house without it. It’s very small and unobtrusive. I keep it in my hand anytime I am walking to or from my vehicle.
One of the great regrets of my life could have been one of the great triumphs if I had just had my pepper spray with me. I learned my lesson from that incident.
Sig Sauer Academy’s dry practice routine
This has been sitting in the inbox for a while. Slowly digging myself out. 🙂
Steven Gilcreast, Senior Instructor at Sig Sauer Academy wrote an article about dry fire practice, including a good practice routine. One interesting bit about this routine is the gearing towards Sig’s, or more specifically, the fact that (most) Sig pistols have DA/SA triggers and so a lot of the drills in the practice session consider this factor. While I don’t care for Sigs nor DA/SA guns, I really like the fact this practice routine is geared towards acknowledging the realities of the hardware and ensuring practice takes those factors into account.
I also liked this tidbit:
Your dry practice should be conducted 3-5 times per week and last no more than 20 minutes. I often work through the scheduled session and repeat if any time remains. When conducting the training, I work at 50% or less speed, focusing more on consistent, perfect practice repetitions over speed.
Good guidelines for practice, whatever routine you use. Short, frequent practice sessions do more for you than long infrequent sessions. Plus, working on being correct and consistent with every rep you do.
If you don’t know what to practice, starting with a program written by someone else can be a good way to get started. As you practice more, as you shoot standards and formal drills to assess your skill, you’ll find where you need work and can custom tailor your practice sessions to focus more on those skills. And yes, that means more weak-hand-only shooting for me. 🙂
Key factors in fight survival
Finally got to read the March 2012 Rangemaster Newsletter.
There is an excellent article in there, “Survival in the Line of Duty”, written by Lt. Marlan J. Ingram of the Memphis Law Enforcement Unit . Lt. Ingram examines FBI data about officers killed or assaulted in the line of duty and examines common themes that run through successful cases (i.e. where the officer lives).
Here are the conclusions from the article:
- Take your training seriously.
- Don’t give up, don’t surrender – survive no matter what.
- If you are shot, keep fighting.
- Learn to shoot accurately under all conditions – even if your sight is compromised.
- Learn to shoot, reload and clear malfunctions with either hand, long-guns included.
- Carry your weapons and spare ammunition on your person, both on duty and off.
- Carry as much ammunition as you can.
- Once you make up your mind to fight, do so quickly and effectively.
- Never underestimate your opponent – always expect the unexpected.
Here’s my responses to each point.
1. Take your training seriously.
This cannot be stated strong enough. Why are you training? To fight? To win? To survive? To live? If so, why aren’t you training with that goal in mind?
I cut some slack to beginners, because at their stage they’re still feeling things out and trying to find their place. In KR Training curriculum terms, once you start coming to classes like Defensive Pistol Skills 1, you need to start taking things seriously. I don’t necessarily expect people to be that serious about it at the start of DPS1 class, but by the end I hope some realities have settled in and when the student comes back for DPS2 and DPS3, they’re of that more serious mindset. That these are skills towards keeping you alive… else why did you get that CHL and why are you carrying a gun?
It takes us all some time to find our “seriousness”. We don’t start out with it because we don’t know it and it’s not innate. But hopefully sooner or later something will kick in and help you not just take classes, but engage in serious training.
2. Don’t give up, don’t surrender – survive no matter what.
3. If you are shot, keep fighting.
I’m grouping #2 and #3 together because they are related. If the fight is on, keep fighting until the fight is over or you’re dead. You should never decide to die; sounds funny, but read the article and you’ll see that too much Hollywood has influenced people to think if I’m shot I’m dead and they truly give up and fall over and die. Don’t be That Guy. When you are dead, you’ll be dead — that’s a decision that will be made for you. So until that time, keep fighting.
One recent event? In this past Saturday’s AT-2 Force On Force Scenarios class, TXGunGeek and I were running the indoor segments. One of those segments discusses realities of building clearing. During the “fast clearing” practice I like to hide in a particular room in a particular location and play “bad guy ambush”. The goal of the scenario? You’re on this end of the house, your child is in the far room and screaming for you: get to the child, fast clearing along the way. And so then I shoot them… and they stop. Why? Why did they stop? Well, because we get so conditioned to being shot being the “end game”, whether from video games, movies, or just playing with our friends and learning that “tag, you’re it”. We have to break that mindset and continue to our goal.
Keep fighting.
4. Learn to shoot accurately under all conditions – even if your sight is compromised.
This is where you need to break out of static range training. That is, shooting at tin cans on the fence rail, or being a good range citizen and only shooting cardboard targets from 3 to 7 yards down your lane, slow fire, and so on. This is why you need to seek out further training and ranges that can allow safe practice of drawing from a holster, movement, and other such things. Consider trying IDPA or IPSC competition, not that those are “tactical training” but they sure do let you shoot in non-standard ways.
But what really struck me about #4 was “even if your sight is compromised”.
I wear glasses and without them my vision isn’t that great. I need to try shooting without my glasses on and see how it goes. See what can I do. Find my skills, find my limits, find what I can work on.
It’s not just thinking about the middle of the night home break-in situation, which is real. But a more likely situation is that I just lose my glasses in the heat of the fight. I need to try this out.
5. Learn to shoot, reload and clear malfunctions with either hand, long-guns included.
Not much to elaborate on here. Speaks for itself.
But I will say to look into having a rear sight for your pistol that can hook on to something (belt, shoe, edge of table, etc.). Something like Dawson Precision’s Charger rear sight.
6. Carry your weapons and spare ammunition on your person, both on duty and off.
7. Carry as much ammunition as you can.
You’d think this would be one that doesn’t need elaboration, but alas it does.
You cannot know when the flag is going to fly. If you are fortunate to have the ability to see in the future, I’d like to talk to you about some stock picks. But since most of us don’t have superpowers, you just have to carry your gun — always.
I hear of too many people who only want to carry if they know they’re going into a bad place. Uh… if you know it’s a questionable or bad place, why are you going there in the first place? And as well, what makes you think that “good places” are immune to bad things happening?
And yes, spare ammo. Sure, the statistics might say “3 shots”, but you know how Murphy’s Law works… you’ll be the anomaly. So do you want that 5 shot snub? or would you rather have a M&P9 wth 17+1? and a reload? I think the only time you can have too much ammo is when you’re swimming or on fire, but otherwise, who sits there and wishes to have less ammo on them? If that’s the case, just carry 1 .45 ACP bullet, because that’s all you need to put down a charging rhino, right?
Carry your gun. Carry a reload. Always.
8. Once you make up your mind to fight, do so quickly and effectively.
This means you have to learn how to fight. You have to discard useless techniques. You have to work on your skills, you have to work on your tactics. This means taking more training than just marksmanship stuff. Try Force-on-Force. I know it sounds scary and intimidating, but really it’s not. If anything, it’s sobering and helps you really get your head in the right place.
9. Never underestimate your opponent – always expect the unexpected.
Skip ahead to 1:58
I know I’m a big guy. I know I’m a strong guy. I know I’m fair-to-midland with a gun. I can get along in a fistfight.
But there’s always someone that’ll be bigger, stronger, faster, better. More clever, willing to fight more dirty, willing to care less about the law, willing to have lower standards of conduct and do things I’d be unwilling to do.. or may never think of doing.
And so this goes back to #8, that you have to be quick and effective, to get it over with as fast as possible.
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Go read the whole article. It’s well worth your time.
Stuff From Hsoi 