Guns

M&P Shield

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

Everyone is buzzing about the new M&P Shield.

I’m sure more information will come out as the NRA Show starts today and runs through the weekend. I’m sure it will be the #1 product everyone will talk about and want to handle on the show floor.

I will admit, I find it intriguing and would love to get my hands on one, not necessarily to buy, but to test and evaluate. Why? Because of the form factor. I’m thinking about people with smaller hands, and if it might fit the bill for those people.

Over at KR Training, when we’re teaching new students in the Basic Pistol 1 class, a large point of that class is to let students try a bunch of different guns, see what they like, and more importantly, learn about gun fit. While they get to try a lot of different guns in the class, there’s no way we can demo every gun that’s out there, even the smaller subset of good guns (sorry, we don’t promote crappy guns). So the best thing we can do is arm the student with knowledge so when they go to the store they are able to make better decisions about what to buy and what not to buy. But of course, having some direct knowledge of specific makes and models goes a long way.

The way the striker guns are going, it’s big fat double-stack magazines and thus grips, and people with smaller hands tend to have a rougher time. So we tend to have to point those people towards 1911’s or the few good single-stack semi-autos like Kahr’s. Not that that’s a bad thing, but due to their hands it just forces them into a realm with fewer choices. That’s not always great because you want folks to have a solid, proven, modern platform like Glock, M&P, or XD, and while all those models can now change backstraps, sometimes it’s still not enough for those with really small hands. So it was cool to see Springfield make their XD-S, as an XD in a single-stack frame with a very slim and compact profile. And now S&W is putting out the M&P Shield, as a single-stack (well, essentially) in a slim and compact profile. I do find it interesting that Springfield went with .45 ACP and S&W went with 9mm and eventually .40 S&W. And of course, we all doubt Glock will ever do this.

We do generally recommend beginners get larger guns, because they are easier to shoot and are better suited for a beginner to establish the fundamentals of shooting. However sometimes you have to work with what God gave you. I am wondering if this might work out as a gun suitable for filling this niche, or at least giving more options to people in this niche.

As for me, I’m not sure if the reduced size really gains anything for me. I recall comparing my XD-9 subcompact to a J-frame in terms of size/carry comparison, and while of course the XD had greater capacity, the J-frame won out in terms of overall size and ability to be better carried in an NPE. And if I can carry a larger gun, I will, and I do. So I’m not sure this particular gun would work well for me personally, but I would like to know how well it works so we could speak knowledgeably about it to students.

A few other interesting points. I read that there’s a more discernible reset. Hrm… interesting. Sounds like S&W is listening. I wonder what impact this has on Apex Tactical’s business. 😉  And reading Caleb’s review, seeing it keeping to about a 4″ group at 25 yards from a standing hold? That’s pretty good. Could perhaps S&W be quietly addressing the M&P’s accuracy issues?  I’m not sure about the thumb safety… I’d be curious to know if you could honestly leave it turned off and the gun still be usable (e.g. the drop safety doesn’t rely upon it, which it shouldn’t; exactly how does their thumb safety mechanism hook into the action; unlike a 1911 where you gotta use it; etc.).

But the biggest thing? The price point. $449 MSRP is just crazy low price. I’m sure here at first it’ll retail around that price because I’m sure demand will be hot. But that’s some aggressive pricing for the market. I’m sure it’s going to be a big seller.

New shooting glasses

/ hsoi / 13 Comments

I wear prescription glasses.

When I shoot guns, I wear safety glasses over my prescription glasses. Yes, prescription glasses with polycarbonate lenses offer some level of eye protection from impact, but I don’t consider it adequate — better than nothing, but far from ideal. Reason being, most prescription eye glasses aren’t certified to handle impact, and I don’t really feel like the glasses breaking and potentially making the situation worse. As well, a lot of modern prescription glasses are designed to look good, not to adequately protect. For example, they might be rimless, only being held in by a bit of fishing line. Or the lenses are made very small thus they don’t provide a lot of coverage from the front — no common prescription glasses are going to provide protection from the side, and how many of us have been on the firing line with someone to our left and their ejected brass landing on us? Besides, if say my gun opted to spontaneously disassemble itself, it’s going to be expensive enough to replace the gun let alone a few hundred dollars more to replace my glasses… which I may need in order to drive myself home! I’d rather sacrifice a $10-$20 pair of safety glasses than my prescription glasses. Yes, sometimes when I shoot I just wear my glasses (e.g. when I’m out hunting), but on the whole I prefer to wear safety glasses.

The trouble is, I wear prescription glasses, and most safety glasses are designed for people who don’t wear glasses. *sigh*  You can find inexpensive shop glasses at the hardware that will go over glasses, but they suck… they never fit well, they’re uncomfortable, they fog, they just suck. Better than nothing tho, and I have a couple of pairs because for short-term needs they certainly work or are easy to have on hand for other people to use.

I was happy when, a couple of years ago, I saw these glasses advertised in the NRA Store. I picked up a pair of both the clear and the tinted, and have been using them as my shooting glasses ever since. I’ve been generally pleased with them. I will say they are large, and so they should fit over most glasses and onto most faces. But because they are large, they also may not fit you tight enough. I know around my temple area there’s just enough of a gap… and one time a piece of ejected brass from the guy to my left hit my head JUST right and entered the glasses! That was a bit of a surprise and scary moment. Plus, the tinting on the lenses has gotten all scratched up… but that’s more my own fault for not putting them into some sort of case. The scratching has gotten pretty bad, and this past weekend I notice one of the stems had a crack in it, so it’s only a matter of time before they fall apart. Time to get new glasses.

Of course, my initial reaction was to go back to the NRA Store and pick up the same, but… there’s got to be something else out there. I don’t feel like going the prescription route because honestly, it’s too expensive for me to try to maintain multiple expensive sets of prescription glasses as the prescription changes over the years. So, cheap “overs” will have to do.

But I found this: Safety Glasses USA and they have a whole section for over-the-glasses safety glasses!

Multiple models, styles, tints, sizes, features. Quite a nice selection.

I’m going to order their “Guardian Pro Over-The-Glass Safety Glasses with Gray Anti-Fog Lens”. It comes in three sizes: medium, medium-large, and large. I don’t know which will fit me best, so I’m going to order all three. I will pick the smallest one that works. I want to have it as tight as possible to my head so that 1. it minimizes chances for something to get in there, 2. I don’t look like a giant bug. 🙂

FWIW, I’m chosing that particular model because 1. they go over the glasses, full coverage on all sides, 2. they have tint, so should be nice on sunny Texas days, 3. anti-fog is useful, because we’ll sweat a lot on those sunny Texas days, 4. they appear to be similar to the NRA glasses I currently have in terms of form factor, so they hopefully will fit the same and be about the same level of comfort.

When I get them in, I’ll of course try things out and give a further review here.

 

DeSantis Clip-Grip – second impressions

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

I got to shoot my S&W 442 with the DeSantis Clip-Grip this past Saturday while out at KR Training.

Click here to read my first impressions.

The main thing I wanted to do was shoot the gun with those grips to see how it fared.

It went about as I expected.

You can’t get a great grip on the snub with these grips because they’re small. But you can get enough of a grip that you can shoot, and shoot I could. I could do some slow fire and nail the small steel plate at about 20 yards, once I figured out the hold-under for the load I was using.  I shot some of my .38 Special 158 grain handloads, and I also shot some Remington R38S12 .38 Special +P 158 grain stuff. Everything went about as I expected it would. You feel it, the +P of course stings a bit more, nothing I’d want to shoot a few hundred rounds of, but I can certainly practice with the plinking loads well enough and shoot enough of the carry loads to get by. It’s not horrible, but not the more pleasant thing in the world.

I didn’t really notice much difference between this and the factor boot grips. I expected maybe a little more felt-recoil, and perhaps there was on a meter, but nothing I could really notice.

The one kicker? I didn’t try a full draw as I’m not ready to do that (I like my femoral artery), but I have been working on the draw dry at home. When drawing, due to the way you have to get a “grip” on the gun to draw it, you don’t get a nice “choked up grip” on the gun… you’re a little down the back of the grip. I tried shooting from this grip and it works but it’s not ideal because of course after the first shot the gun now torques back and nestles into that “choked up” position… but now everything has changed, different sight picture, the gun and grip have shifted… not ideal. There may be a different way to draw to mitigate this. I’ll have to experiment.

All in all, I’m alright with these grips. I’m going to keep them on my 442 and see how it goes. If nothing else, they don’t really change the form factor all that much from the regular boot grips, and it gives me options.

Been there, done that

/ hsoi

Sammy DeMarco, a student at Eastern Michigan University, writes about his change of heart:

Concealed weapons should be allowed on campus. There, I said it. After years of believing weapons should not be allowed on university property, I have flipped my position. I can no longer find a valid reason as to why law-abiding citizens who attend and work at Eastern Michigan University or any university campus should be left defenseless.

I know where Sammy is coming from. I too flipped my position some years ago. I gave up on my ignorance and my emotion, and looked at logic. I was convinced by logic because well… some things are just hard to defend, once you take your fingers out of your ears.

The EMU Public Safety folks are some of the most professional authorities I’ve encountered. I have no doubt they are highly capable of handling a situation similar to what happened last week at Oikos. But we cannot expect police to be on every corner, in every parking lot and every classroom every minute….

Many students live off campus, have night classes and walk home. We regularly receive emails and texts alerting us that yet another classmate was robbed or assaulted while walking home.

So, not only are citizens not allowed to defend themselves while on campus, they are left defenseless going to and coming from the university, too.

We don’t deny that police and other people whose job it is to “bring safety” can do their job, but the reality is they can’t always be around to do their job. Look around right now… is there a police officer within arms reach of you? And is that police officer always there? If the fact we have police is sufficient to stop people from being assaulted or mugged, then why do we have so many assaults and muggings? Obviously having a police force is not sufficient to get the job done.

Consider where people live vs. where they work or go to school. Maybe we can have useful tools at our disposal at some time, but then due to certain laws we cannot. Why should law-abiding citizens have to reduce their ability to stay safe? Isn’t the general argument towards increasing safety? So how is telling that 5′ 4″ 105# woman she cannot have a gun to fend off a rapist or crazed ex- going to make her any safer? Restraining orders are just pieces of paper and really don’t stop people hell-bent on doing evil. So why should she have to choose between her personal safety and getting an education?

I realize many people will say we need stricter gun laws, not less strict, to deter crime. That logic goes something like this: We need to restrict law abiding citizens from carrying concealed weapons. This in turn will reduce the crime that criminals commit on those very law abiding folks.

So, out of all the laws criminals break, we think the one law they will obey is not carrying a concealed weapon? I’m having trouble reaching that conclusion.

That’s pretty much the case. In fact, many criminals are repeat offenders. They’re already felons, legally prohibited from having a gun. Yet they do. The law hasn’t stopped them, it won’t stop them (it sure didn’t stop them from committing their original crimes), so the only people abridged and hurt by the law are the law-abiding good people. Why are we doing that? What logic is there, other than perhaps someone having an agenda… or just being ignorant.

Sammy sums it up:

Self defense should go beyond law; it’s a right by nature. Denying someone a right to defend themselves against his or her would-be attackers is immoral. The reasons opponents give for supporting restrictions is not supported by data. The restrictions criminalize the good guys and empowers the bad ones. Police cannot be everywhere at once. Ultimately, there is only one person truly responsible for your safety: you.

That’s the thing. When you look at straight data, it’s there. Oh some will say it’s all statistics that the NRA provided to help further their “bloodbath agenda”. But that’s the funny thing… when folks like Howard Nemerov study data exclusively from anti-gun or neutral sources and the factual data and interpretation of it supports that gun control doesn’t work, how can you continue to argue against the facts? unless you just like to argue or are unwilling to accept the logic, reason, and hard fact.

It took me years to arrive here, but here I stand. It’s time we’re allowed to defend ourselves with more than a pen and a sharp tongue.

Sammy, it took me years to arrive here as well, but here I stand and stand with you. Don’t give up your pen and sharp tongue tho… keep spreading the word.

AAR – BP1 and AT-6 @ KR Training, 7 April 2012 — where I stink up the joint

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

This day at KR Training was a little different for me.

In the morning, we had Basic Pistol 1, and in the afternoon was AT-6: Pistol Workout.

What made it a little different was in BP1 I got to do a little more teaching in the lecture portion of the class than I have in the past. I’m enjoying that, and the more I get to do it the better I get. The BP1 class was small due to some people withdrawing at the last minute, so we had an especially good teacher-student ratio. More than half the class was women. Because of the smaller class size, we got through things a little quicker than usual and Karl was able to field a lot of questions from the class. It seemed to be a very informative session today, and the students seemed pleased.

But what really made it different for me today was I got to shoot! Instead of assisting with AT-6 I got to shoot AT-6. The class size was small enough and the class content is directed and advanced enough that Karl was able to run things and we all just shoot drills and work on skills. The general design of AT-6 is to work on all those things you hate to do, like 25 yard group shooting, shot calling, one-hand-only shooting, and so on. It really pushes you to your limit.

And oh… I stunk up the joint.

I was very unhappy with my performance. I dropped too many shots, where I shouldn’t.

There’s a part of me that wants to double-check some things with the M&P to ensure it’s good and dialed in correctly, especially with my practice ammo. But I’ll be honest… I’d love to blame things on the gun, to say it’s things like me still getting used to the gun, to the heavier and longer trigger, and all that stuff. And I wouldn’t be surprised if in part that was involved in why I stunk so badly today.

But in the end, it’s not the equipment, it’s the shooter. I know it’s me, and even if it’s things like the trigger or other gun things, it still comes down to me improving my use of the tool, not fixing nor improving the tool itself. The only thing tool-wise I might want to improve is mag pouches. The Blade-Tech dual mag pouch I couldn’t stand… dug into my leg, too close together. I borrowed Tom’s 4-pouch Raven, which was OK but like all Raven products they’re a huge slab of Kydex. I did like how tight to the body the inner pouches were held tho. I’ll probably get a Beltfeed from Comp-Tac one of these days.

I already knew I needed work on one-hand press-outs, especially weak hand. I’ve been focusing a lot lately on weak-hand-only shooting, and when it comes to slow fire I’m fairly pleased with my improvement. But once some time pressure is added, I start dropping shots all over the place. Sure I can do tricks like aiming higher so when I slap the trigger on a WHO press-out the shot still lands within the target zone, but that just masks the problem. But what hit me was how much I need press-out work in general: both hands, SHO, WHO. I’ve been working the press-out in a very slow and smooth way, but it’s too slow. So when I had to speed up to today’s speeds, everything went to crap — too wide a jump from the speeds I’ve been doing to the speed I needed.

I have also noticed that I’m retraining myself on a lot of things. I’m finding the way my eyes are working regarding finding the front sight and the target is changing. Due to all my weightlifting, my grip is MUCH stronger and I find myself wanting to use it, really crushing the gun, but all that grip changing isn’t consistent yet and could even be why I’m mashing the trigger (HULK SMASH!).

I really don’t know exactly why I’m doing all that I’m doing. There’s a lot I’ve been working on, that’s changing, but then also because time is limited some things haven’t been worked on and thus have suffered and regressed. So today was a good diagnostic towards things I need to work on more, but I need to do more to figure out just what the problem is and thus properly correct it.

Lots of 25 yard shooting, and that’s improved, I feel more confident in shooting that slow fire… but then I haven’t done much 3-10 yard shooting for speed and obviously that’s regressed. Lots of slow fire doesn’t require lots of pressing out, and that regressed.  I still need more 25 yard shooting, I still need more slow fire, but I need to not neglect these other areas. And at least more trigger time like that should help me figure out and get over my slapping… stop rushing.

In a side note… the grip texturing on the M&P is great. It actually rubbed me a little raw today in some spots, but it’s not overly rough. I like it better than the XD or XDm grip texture. I don’t think I’ll bother getting any stippling or other texturing work on my M&P. It’s pretty nice as it is.

Well, I’ve got homework to do….

 

DeSantis Clip-Grip – first impressions

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

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

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

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:

  1. A measurable standard to maintain.
  2. An efficient stair-stepped workout program that covers all the bases.
  3. 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 SEC

Total: 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

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

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?

Bill Wilson wrote this:

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

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

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.