Guns

Joined the club

/ hsoi

Yesterday I finally was able to get out to the Austin Rifle Club’s range orientation meeting.

ARC is a private club; you must be a member. Membership isn’t difficult. You need to attend the orientation meeting where they’ll discuss club rules, policies, how the club and ranges work. You need to have a background check (or a CHL). There’s a range safety live-fire evaluation exercise. Then you pay money, fill out forms, and at the monthly general meeting you’re voted in (or not).

So as of now, I’ve done everything but had my membership voted on. So I’ll know in about a week and a half if I’m truly a member or not.

I’ve wanted to be a member for quite a while. ARC is one of the better facilities in town for shooting. Many pistol ranges, 100 and 200 yard rifle range (they used to have a 300 yard range but that was removed due to the action bays, tho there’s talk of a 400 yard range right now), ranges for silhouette. They are a little weak for shotgun but you can do some basic shotgun, just not a lot for things like skeet and trap due to the sheer space that tends to require. And the brand new action shooting bays. From how they were talking last night, they’re growing at a rate of almost 30 new members a month, primarily due to the action bays. That’s great news. Part of why I’ve wanted to join is the action bays, especially if they get opened up for regular member use (i.e. not just limited to being used in formal matches). I’d like to be able to go there to practice shooting on the move, working with my AR transitioning to handgun and back. I’m not sure they’ll do that because while membership tends to be on the better side of gun-handling (background checks and the range safety eval help), there’s no question that membership isn’t always the best. Witness the holes in the ceiling and eyebrows of the 15 yard plinking range, the fact the target holders on the plinking range get shot to hell (shotguns are prohibited on that range since they destroy the target holders, yet people use them there).

In my class yesterday, there were about 30 people. The age range was pretty wide, from a few teenagers to a few seniors. I’d say probably a third of the people were female. Mostly white folks but a few other flavors as well. I’d say probably half of the people had CHL’s, but I believe I was the only person that was actually actively carrying. I’m not sure what to make of that. Perhaps some of them normally carry but opted to disarm for this function because they weren’t sure how the procedures were to be handled? Perhaps some were carrying but opted to shoot another gun? It didn’t seem like that tho. Most appeared to not be actively armed, except perhaps one other gentleman who had an OWB holster on… but it was odd because his Glock was slide-locked back and in the holster (when did he do this?). Bottom line: if you’ve got a CHL, you ought to be using it for more than an adornment on your wallet.

Glad to finally (well, almost finally) be a member.

Monster Hunter International – Finished it

/ hsoi

I just finished Larry Correia‘s book, Monster Hunter International.

My early feel on the book bears out to the end. It’s a monster/sci-fi sort of thing, and while I can enjoy that stuff it’s not 100% up my alley. And yes, lead character Owen Pitt is the uber-hero. But by the time you get to the end, you see how it all fits together. I do see that Owen is given slightly more faults, he isn’t indestructible (sorta), but he’s still uber-hero. Then again, this also isn’t the deepest of books. Does there have to be any real character development here? There really isn’t and no it’s not really necessary. The book takes place over a short span of time and is pretty directed in what it’s trying to accomplish. That’s not really a bad thing… this isn’t high literature, but it’s decently written and sure damn fun.

And really, that’s the thing that surprised me the most in reading this book: how much fun I had in reading it. I did not expect it to be as much fun as it was. I found myself smiling a great deal. I found many nights where I’d be reading before bed and not wanting to put it down, only having to because my Wife found me falling asleep (not due to the book, just a long day and my body said it was bedtime). It was an enjoyable read. You can’t take it too seriously, you just suspend disbelief (and oddly, the whole “keep an open mind” thing is part of the story itself), and enjoy it.

I repeat what I said before. If this was made into a movie, I’d pay money to see it. It’d be a lot of fun. Get Julie Strain (NB: her website is NSFW) to play the role of Julie Shackleford. In fact, due to the events during the climax and given the book is told in the first person, I wondered if shooting the entire movie through Owen’s eyes (first person perspective, like a first person shooter game, which in so many ways fits) would be an interesting way to do it. Might be annoying to have it filmed that way, but the thought popped in my head that it could make for a way to do this. For reference, while I was reading the climactic scene I was thinking how Owen’s eyes were crusted shut… you would see what he sees: darkness, black, nothing. But you hear everything. Then when his eyes are opened, well, you’ll see it all again through those eyes. *shrug* I am not a movie maker.

Yes, Larry Correia is a gun nut. It’s so evident. Little gunny gems throughout the book.

Anyway, I enjoyed the book. I thank TXGunGeek for lending me his copy of the book. Now I suppose I need to enter the songwriting contest. 🙂

DVD Review – ShivWorks’ Fighting Handgun, Volume 1

/ hsoi

ShivWorks has produced 4 DVD’s. Previously I reviewed the Practical Unarmed Combat DVD. Now I’d like to review the Fighting Handgun Volume 1 DVD (note: as of this writing there is only the 1 volume; hopefully volume 2 will come someday). Note that I have no connection to SouthNarc or ShivWorks… I’m just some guy that happened to buy the DVD out of my own personal interest.

Production quality is good. Menus available to skip around. Sections are titled so it’s easy to navigate. About 1 hour and 40 minutes of content. Skills are progressive and repeated. That is, a topic is introduced then broken down into component parts. Each component part is discussed and explained (a lot of “why” in addition to “how”). The component skill is then demonstrated, often from various camera angles (both SouthNarc turning different directions and repeating the skill and use of multiple cameras to get different angles including close-ups), and repeated numerous times. The next component is introduced and the sequence repeated. At the end, all the components are put together and the sequence repeated. Next skill is introduced, and this skill builds upon the prior skill. All things are progressive, well organized, well presented.

The DVD starts out covering the combative handgun drawstroke. Many of you may be familiar with the 4-count drawstroke, so this may seem like a waste of time for you. It is not. First, I’ve seen the drawstroke performed in slightly different ways by many people. Understanding how SouthNarc does his 4-count drawstroke is important as a foundation for the other skills he lays out (all later skills on the DVD build upon former skills). Furthermore, there are subtle details and differences in how he does his drawstroke that I found improve the drawstroke over what I had originally learned. For instance, flagging the grip thumb during parts 1 and 2 of the draw, the importance of drawing/indexing high in part 2 and not dropping the shoulder in part 3 to allow faster acquisition of the sights as you go from 3 to 4. It’s subtle refinements, but they make quite a difference. These little details come into play as the DVD’s skills are introduced and build upon each other.

After covering the drawstroke, SouthNarc moves to the gun range to demonstrate live fire from the #2 position. This is an important step towards using your gun in an extreme close quarters (ECQ) fight. Note that practicing this in a live fire situation is dangerous and risky. SouthNarc presents a series of progressive drills to help practice the skill in a safe manner (so long as you have access to a gun range where you can practice this; if not, dry fire is better than nothing).

With basic gunhandling covered, SouthNarc then adds in some hand skills. One thing I did not like about his horizontal elbow was indexing your thumb at your tracheal notch. I did not like having my thumb hanging out, and especially pressed into my trachea. If my elbow/arm got pushed back into me (very likely, given how the horizontal elbow is used), my thumb goes right into my trachea. That does not appeal to me. However, the technique can be modified to avoid that and otherwise the technique is fine. The hand skills start with fences and there’s some discussion about the F.U.T. (fouled/fucked-up tangle — think clinch only more chaotic, like a non-sporting fight could be) and how to deal with that empty-hand so that you can transition to your handgun. Some discussion of dealing with ground-based combatives are presented as well. But even as he talks about fighting on the ground, the concepts presented earlier in the DVD are ultimately what you’re using.

One thing I like about SouthNarc (and all the trainers that I tend to prefer) is how he strives for true simplicity. He works to come up with as few moves as possible, but moves that work in many situations. The less you have to remember, the better. The less (quantity) you have to practice, the more you can practice and get very good at those few things (quality). Everything SouthNarc presents is aimed towards true simplicity.

Furthermore, while SouthNarc demonstrates specific skills, it’s evident what’s more important is addressing concepts. That yes, there might be some specific way to do something and he’ll show you his way, but more important is the underlying concept and how you work to apply that in dynamic combat. You can see SouthNarc’s Filipino martial arts background showing through here.

The DVD isn’t perfect. A lot of the shots have the microphone and/or mic boom in the shot, but that’s not really a big deal (they were dealing with a lot of wind on the gun range and it would blow the mic into the shot). Sometimes SouthNarc rambles a bit or talks to the camera in ways that don’t matter (e.g. you could have not said that, or it could have been edited out to keep focus). But these are all minor issues that in no way detract from the quality concepts and material that SouthNarc presents in this DVD.

While DVD’s are good ways to get information, nothing beats formal instruction with a good teacher. If you cannot receive instruction from SouthNarc himself, some of the skills covered in this DVD I’ve experienced before in KR Training’s Defensive Pistol class. It’s slightly different material, slightly different presentation, but still good stuff.

I think ShivWorks’ Fighting Handgun Volume 1 is a solid DVD, good introduction to the concepts. It’s not for beginner fighters/shooters, but it does provide a good foundation to the skills that SouthNarc teaches. I do hope he comes out with a Volume 2 someday.

Combined Skills

/ hsoi / 9 Comments

Next weekend (Sep. 12 & 13, 2009) KR Training will be holding a special Combined Skills course.

Students will work with Tom [Givens, of Rangemaster] on pistol skills for real fights. Southnarc will cover Managing Unknown Contacts, Practical Unarmed Combat, and In-Fight Weapon Access. This is a unique opportunity to obtain dove-tailed training in integrated pre-fight management skills, empty hand skills, and street proven gun skills.

Topics: group shooting at 7-25 yards, presentation from holstered and ready positions, multiple shots/single target, multiple targets, targets at varying ranges, one handed shooting (left and right hand), reloads, shooting on the move, shooting from kneeling and prone, shooting from cover, drawing and shooting from seated positions, and more.

This is some serious training, covering a lot of skills by two of the nation’s best instructors in their respective fields. It is not a beginner course, and looks to be rather intensive. I expect it will be educational, stressful, and humbling.. and you’ll probably go home hurting a bit. 🙂

Opportunities like this don’t come around often. If you’re within reasonable travel distance to Central Texas and the KR Training facilities, I’d recommend signing up for the course. There are still some slots left.

I’ll be there. I expect to be humbled and educated, and come out a better person for it all. It’ll be long and tiring, but should be good. I’m sure I’ll have reports afterwards.

Another shot at competition?

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

There’s an ISPC match tomorrow. I’d like to go. I’ve been wanting to compete, but it’s just not happening for various reasons.

Thing is, I suspect tomorrow’s match will likely suffer the same fate as my prior attempt at competition. Weather predictions are for rain through much of the weekend, possibly heavy.

I’m happy, we are in desperate need of rain. Any rain we can get is good and I’m not going to argue with (other than wanting more). But given the predictions and the way the sky looks even this morning, I’m not going to plan on tomorrow’s IPSC shoot being my first. Another time….

Meantime, I must prepare for what’s coming next….

I can has Nebraska carry now?

/ hsoi

Via Joe Huffman and the NRA’s news releases I find this welcome bit of news.

When Nebraska’s concealed handgun law went into effect back in 2006, there was no reciprocity. A lot of states, such as Texas, would recognize Nebraska’s permit, but Nebraska recognized no one elses. But now that LB 430 passed and just went into effect, the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office just published a list of the states whose permits they will recognize.

Nebraska will now recognize Right-to-Carry permits from the following states:Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota (class one permit), Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming

In addition, permit holders from the following states will be able to carry in Nebraska, provided the permit holder is 21 or older: California, Iowa, Maine, Montana, North Dakota (class two permit), and Texas

The following states do not meet the standards required by Nebraska’s concealed handgun permit statute and are not valid in Nebraska: Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Washington

Illinois and Wisconsin do not permit concealed handguns by law-abiding citizens.

In my case, so long as the permit holder is over the age of 21 (which I am), my permit will be honored in Nebraska.

Awesome.

Relevant to me since I have family there.

InSights Training Blog

/ hsoi

The InSights Training Center now has a blog. Just started up, but already has good stuff on it. InSights is a solid school. I’ve taken some courses from them and desire to take more of their courses.

Backing up? Go forward (sorta)!

/ hsoi / 8 Comments

Various gun bloggers are talking about this video:

The take-home? That’s how fast someone can come at you (Tueller Drill). Now, the video is IDPA and thus a game and you’re pretty much required to stand there and shoot. But in a real world self-defense situation, you don’t want to stand there and shoot. You want to move.

What bugs me a bit is a lot of folks are recommending that you back up.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not that good at running backwards, especially if I saw someone was coming at me at a high rate of speed with a gun or knife or somehow otherwise bent on hurting me. There’s no way I can run backwards as fast as they’re running forwards. I can’t see where I’m going and thus what I’m about to trip over. And tripping over your own feet is just likely enough and now you’re flat on your back or butt and at a massive disadvantage. Furthermore I know from empty-hand sparring, that going straight backwards does not give you any sort of chance of improving your situation. Your opponent is just going to bear down on you and you only delay getting whacked by a couple seconds — but you’re still getting whacked.

Better is to move off to the side. Let’s say you’re facing the attacker, and your facing forward is 12 o’clock. Going backwards would be 6 o’clock. The simplest thing to do would be to side-step to 3 or 9 o’clock. It’s not the best, but it’s better. Some would argue instead you should go backwards and to the side, so to a 7-8 o’clock or 4-5 o’clock position. Me, I’d argue differently.

I’d say go to 10-11 o’clock, or 1-2 o’clock.

Yes, go towards them. Well, somewhat towards them.

I learned this from InSights Training Center. What you do is make a “J-Hook” sort of run pattern. Allow me to draw a really crappy picture (tgace’s Tactical Preschool series inspired me to make a picture).

There you are at the bottom, attacker at the top coming at you. I drew it running to the left, but of course you can run it to the right as well. The key is to see the J-hook running pattern.

What does this do? Well, it gets you “off the X” and out of the direct line of attack. You do keep yourself far enough away that if they had some sort of contact weapon (knife, baseball bat, crowbar, etc.) that you’re still out of range (note: you can tighten the J and close distance, or expand the J to get away, depending upon your situation). You are moving forward and thus are moving in the manner our bodies are best suited for moving. But you are turning. What’s not shown in the simple diagram is that as you are moving in this manner you are still keeping your body (well, your gun) facing the opponent. You are on the advantage. The attacker now has to change direction and try to turn hard to keep up with you. It’s quite difficult. To really appreciate this, you need to get with a friend and try it. No need for any guns or training weapons, just use your fingers. Start facing each other at some distance apart (to start try 21′ apart, but experiment with different distances: start arms length apart, then when you start the next iteration take a step back from the prior starting point). Without any prior warning or “go” signal, one person should rush the other person and the other person should initiate the J-hook maneuver. Go to either side, you can even mimic drawing your gun if you wish. Make sure you try it as both attacker and defender so you can fully appreciate it.

Is this the be-all-end-all solution? Of course not. It’s just more fuel for Internet debate. 😉  But from my own sparring experience I know that backpeddling isn’t really a productive solution. You must put some sort of “off to the side” movement in there. At least you want the movement to get you out of the line of attack. Better, it also moves you to a more advantageous position. Best, it also reduces your opponents position. The J-hook really works that angle.

Updated: The InSights Training blog echos similar sentiments (of course, since that’s where I got the J-hook from). Also, I didn’t know InSights has a blog. I shall now follow it. 🙂

Updated 2: John Fogh @ InSights now has a specific entry on the J-Hook.

Search term grab bag

/ hsoi

Let’s delve into the search terms and see what people are searching for now that wind them up here at my blog.

apple os x “snow leopard” gcc version

Technically, 4.2. However, there’s new stuff coming from Apple in terms of complier technology. Check out LLVM and Clang. This Ars Technica article on Snow Leopard has a good discussion of the compiler situation. Heck, the whole article is a good read regarding the real nuts and bolts of Snow Leopard.

contrast sights vs 3 dot sights

I believe contrast is good. Good shooting technique has you focusing on the front sight. Thus, things to help your eyes pick up the front sight are good. Furthermore eliminating things that can distract your eyes are also good. Thus, increasing the contrast between your front sight and the rear sight, between your front sight and your surroundings, IMHO these things are good.

That’s one reason I don’t like 3-dot sights. When you’re trying to quickly get a sight picture, now you have 3 dots to choose from, which is the front sight? If you’re moving fast it doesn’t take much to have the gun pointed slightly askew and actually having the front sight appear to the right or left. Or maybe the front sight doesn’t appear at all and you mentally ask yourself “is that the front sight?” You don’t need to waste time trying to determine “is that the front sight.” It should be definitive.

My current setup is using a set of Dawson Precision sights. The rear is just flat black, but very crisp, sharp, and no-glare. The front is a simple post, but has a red fiber optic insert to help draw my eye. The fiber isn’t used for aiming, just to make the front sight stand out so your eyes come to it. Otherwise, the sights act like any other notch-and-post type sights in terms of aiming.

a 9mm round is equal to what caliber

A 9mm Parabellum bullet is about a .36 caliber. Or maybe .35, depending how you round (.355″).

what does lswchp mean

Lead Semi Wad Cutter Hollow Point. A type of bullet.

is prvi partizan ammo safe in m1a?

I’ve used their .308 Winchester 168 grain match ammo in mine, and it’s been fine.

There’s nothing on the list that seems to say otherwise. My experiences with Prvi ammo have been good, and the reviews and comments I’ve read online have been generally positive about Prvi ammo in general. IMHO it’s not the best ammo in the world, but it’s good stuff and I have no aversion to shooting it in my guns.

where to store pistol home defense

I would say, where it’s handy to serve it’s purpose. I keep the dishwasher near the kitchen sink, because that’s where it’s most handy for its purpose. I keep the TV remote control by my La-Z-Boy recliner because that’s where it’s most handy for its purpose. I keep the toilet paper next to the toilet because that’s where it’s most handy for its purpose. Think about these examples. If the useful tool was not where you wanted it when you wanted it, what good would that be? Why do people store their remote controls up by the TV? If I wanted to get off my butt to change the channel, I wouldn’t have a remote control in the first place. 😉

But of course, you may have additional issues to consider, such as children in the home. I always liked Kathy Jackson’s take on things. Go read her stuff. No point in me duplicating it here.

Another possible issue is appearances. Depending who you are and/or where you live, to have a rack of guns openly about in the house may be no big deal, or it may be impermissible. You may have to consider other options.

When I think about where to store, my main concerns are access and safety. To ensure those who should get to it can get to it promptly when needed, and those you shouldn’t get to it can’t. And to be safe about it to ensure no one, save the one deserving it, gets hurt. But I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice.

will a 9mm stop a person

A 9mm what? Oh, I’m sure they mean bullet.

If it’s placed correctly, yes it can.

.45 vs 9mm handgun difference

One shoots a .45 caliber bullet, the other a 9mm caliber bullet. Duh! 😉

3 dots on my nuts

I don’t want to know what that’s all about.

fingers hurts when typing

“Doctor, it hurts when I do this.”

“Don’t do that.”

best offensive gun

Now I admit, that’s a search term twist. Most people are always searching for the best defensive gun or other defense-related terms.

I would say that it doesn’t really matter. To be offensive or defensive depends more upon your mental state, your skills, your situation; that is, you. The gun, it’s just a lump of steel. It’s not the gun, it’s what you do with it.

Or maybe they don’t mean offensive as in “going on the attack.” Maybe they mean the best gun to offend someone with. I guess again it would depend. Paul Helmke, any gun. Carolyn McCarthy, any gun with a shoulder thing that goes up. For Xavier, he’s got a whole collection of ugly guns and shows them off every Sunday. For Charlton Heston, the one taken from his cold dead hands. For Ted Nugent, the one that caused him to miss that white-tailed deer. 🙂