Range Day

I took a day off last week to head to the range, more for relaxation than for any training or learning purpose. Of course, things being as they are, I managed to learn a few things any way.

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The first thing I learned is that I need to always keep a camera in my gun bag. It was a gorgeous day, and other people at the range had some really good looking guns with them, that I would have loved to documented. And, about halfway into the session, 6 men from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources enforcement division came to the range. It would have been a nice picture to have.

So, when I finished cleaning guns this morning, I dug through our collection of cameras, and found an older one, that I took this picture with. With fresh batteries, it now rests in my gun bag, ready for next time.

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Second, I learned that "customer golf" doesn't always involve golf. The guy I arranged to meet at the range is in the same line of work as I am, and in between shooting, we had some interesting conversations that could well lead to new business opportunities.

In any case, he's had a lot more formal training that I have, both shooting, and in our line of work. I plan to make use of both cases.

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Third, I learned something about long distance pistol shooting. I was doing a lot of 100 yard rifle shots with a scope, focusing my eyes on the target, overlaying the cross hairs, and making the shot. Then, I switched to using my Glock 21 for 100 yard shots, and I lazily used the same technique. In fact, it was the same technique I had to use for all my pistol shooting, before I got a contact lens for my right eye that allowed me to focus on the front sight, where I focused on the target (since it was the only thing I could get into focus) and laid the sight picture over it, in a blur.

My shots with the Glock were hitting low and left, or high and right, or full left - none were anywhere close.

Then, I remembered something I had once heard about, or read about, somewhere, and I tried it. I focused, as best I could, on the front sight, lined it up with the rear sight, and put that onto the slightly blurry target picture.

After a couple of shots to get a feel for the hold-over, my shots started hitting the target.

So, while I thought I had learned to focus on the front sight, line up the sights on the target, breathe, and squeeze the trigger smoothly, in fact, I learned to listen to everything I've learned before. There's nothing new here, folks.

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Fourth, I learned a few things about Vassily, my Mosin Nagant. This was the first time I got to shoot it more than about 6 shots in one session.

I have found that the trigger, which at first I disliked, is not as bad as I thought. As Colonel Cooper wrote:

The most essential element of the "shootability" of rifle or pistol is its trigger action. The ideal trigger breaks clean without telling the shooter that it is about to do so. This quality is generally referred to as "crispness" and does not refer to trigger weight. . . . A trigger may be quite light, but still "mushy" in the sense that it moves perceptibly when activated. Such movement is called creep, but it is not "take-up," which occurs before the trigger has reached the point of ignition pressure.

I added the emphasis, because it expresses what I learned. The Mosin Nagant trigger has a lot of take-up, which I interpreted as mushiness. But, once it reaches the end of it's take-up, it breaks cleanly. This need for this long take-up can probably be easily be understood if one imagines shooting this gun in full Russian Army gear of a heavy wool coat and thick gloves. It is doubly understood if one does so in the face of a charging hoard of the Kaiser's best troops, or Nazis in Stalingrad, or even Finnish rebels. I now officially like this trigger.

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What led to that conclusion was as much what follows, as it was due to Jeff Cooper.

One thing I like to do at the range is to place some orange clay pigeons out on the berm at 100 yards, and plink them with Captain America, my 10/22. Usually, the way this works is I shoot them in half with the .22, then shoot the shards.

I decided this trip to take aim at a pigeon with the Mosin Nagant.

I knew before now that the sights on the Mosin Nagant were very accurate, even given my untrained technique. My first shooting experience with the rifle, I had put four shots on a paper plate at 50 yards, then rung a steel sniper target four times at 120 yards.

I lined up on the top of the first pigeon and shot, and the earth exploded on the berm a half a foot above the target. So, I moved to a six o'clock hold, and shot.

The pigeon exploded.

I moved to the next target, and replaced it with a crater. And the next, and the next. Four shots on 4 inch targets from 100 yards, and four craters. For a novice, I was quite proud.

After a day of shooting .22LR, the force of the 7.62x54R cartridge was quite a surprise. Even more surprising was how easy it was to shoot accurately.

I shot up all my 7.62x54R ammo, so I will need to buy more, before I take it to a range with a longer test. But I think I know why this rifle lasted so long in service.

Holster Peeve

For the last few years, I've seen these holsters advertised in the discount catalogs - a strong side holster with a built-in magazine pouch. Something has always bothered me about these kinds of holsters, and my wife is tired of hearing me talk about it, so I'll give it away here.

Say I'm using my gun drawn from this holster, and I need to change magazines. But the holster is on my strong side, so I have to move the gun to my weak hand, draw the holster, then either change magazines left handed and then move the gun back to the strong hand, or move the gun and change magazines.

All that extra gun handling, under stress, seems like a great way to drop the gun.

On first glance, it looks like a great way to carry a spare magazine. But for me, that's way too much to have to learn to make this holster (or kinds like it) a good idea for me. I prefer to just carry a spare magazine in my left rear pocket.

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If anyone has experience with these kinds of holsters, good or bad, please let me know in the comments.


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There, I'm done.

How Many Guns Do I Need?

Michael over at the RKBArms Blog asked the same question recently. You can see his personal answers there.

First, let me say that I really think the question is almost invalid, especially to a law abiding American. On the one hand, the anti-gun crown will answer "zero," which just leads to a pointless discussion.

On the other hand, it's almost like asking how much money I need, or how many pages long should a resume be*. There is no real answer, or at best, any answers depend strongly on the assumptions that are made.

Here are the five essential guns Michael identified, which, given the nature of his blog, apply to a defense situation:

1. Every Day Carry
2. BUG (Back Up Gun)
3. Home Defense Sidearm
4. Home Defense Carbine
5. Home Defense Shotgun

I can't disagree with any of these from a defensive standpoint.

All I would add would be the caveat that there should be enough additions for each able bodied shooter in the household. In a SHTF situation, having a carbine and/or handgun for each person would make survival a lot more likely.

It also occurs to me that, depending on the size and layout of the house or area being defended, the number of Back-up Guns may need to increase.

For me, my guns are

1. Glock 21SF
2. Glock 19
3. Glock 17
4. SKS with detachable magazines
5. Mossberg 500

Admittedly, I sometimes carry the Glock 19 in lieu of the Glock 21, depending on my clothing choices.

In a SHTF situation, I would carry the G21 and SKS, my wife would carry the G17, and my son would carry a Ruger 10/22 with 4 - 30 round magazines.

The key here is making sure everyone is proficient with their assigned guns, and knows where spare ammo, holsters, etc. are stored. Then train, train, train.

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On the gripping had, this list touches addresses defense needs only. One could make any number of lists based on the category in question:

Competition: One for each competition type and class. Skeet gun, trap gun. 3-gun rifle, Camp Perry rifle. SASS: 2 pistols, a rifle in pistol caliber, and a shotgun. (That's by far the easiest. Maybe.)

Hunting: Big game, small game, medium game.

Then there is collecting.






* On the issue of how many pages a resume should be, most people will respond one of two ways: either the resume should be all one page to make it easier to read, or the resume should be as many pages as it takes to convey the amount of information to get an interview.

But, in fact, this is a trick question: there is no answer any more, and here's why. Most resumes will never be printed on paper, they will only be viewed and read on a computer screen. So, since there are no pages, the question is invalid.

I suppose I would go with the second answer at that point - include everything you need to include so you get the interview. Remember, no one hires your resume, they hire the person, after an interview.

Disclosure: I work as an engineering recruiter, to pay for ammo and match fees.

Got It On Camera

My Quest for C Class

Note: I thought about delaying this post until I found some good video editing software that I like, so I could illustrate my points. But I think the points need to be made. When I finally settle on editing software I will post a follow-up.


When I first took up golf, one of the best tools I found to help my swing was to watch myself on video. While most people have no problem pointing out my faults, I tend to politely dismiss their help. But, on video, the good parts and bad parts of my swing stand out clearly, without comment or advice. The camera doesn't lie, and it isn't trying to get in my head and mess me up to make that $5 Nassau.

This past weekend I was using some software to capture individual frames of my shooting videos as photos. In the process, I got to look at my shooting stance, grip, and follow through in slow motion, and I found out that video works the same way with my shooting as it did for golf.

When I shot video of my golf, I would tape my practice sessions as well as my play, so I could compare what I did when I concentrated on it, versus what I did when I wasn't concentrating as much as relying on muscle memory and training.

For my shooting, I reviewed match footage, but I don't have video of any practice sessions. I am focusing on the match, and on making good shots, not on the mechanics. So, what I am seeing on video is my ingrained habits, my training.

Here's what I found out:

> My draw is smooth, and it does what I think I have been practicing for it to do. The gun comes out and up smoothly, and I press straight out while the support hand takes a grip. It also goes straight to the target, without any oscillation at the top. That's good.

> I control recoil a lot better than I think I do. From the beginning of my shooting career, I've always thought that I did a poor job of recoil control, almost like I was shooting one of those .500 Magnums you see on Youtube. It turns out, however, that my muzzle rise is actually on par with some of the best shooters I've seen. It goes up just a little and settles right down. This proves that not only do I have a bad image of myself as a shooter, I'm also focused well on the target such that muzzle flip isn't even noticeable. That's good.

> I do a decent job of positioning my body as I shoot. But, as I suspected, I move a lot like a sea lion. That will improve as I lose weight. I full imagine to be moving like a penguin in no time.

> On close up targets, I lack the confidence to make double taps. I will instead take two measured shots. It's not that I can't do double taps, so it has to be confidence. That should come with practice.

> I do a decent job keeping the muzzle down range when I move. I've never been warned or DQ'ed by a Range Officer, so that confirms it.

> I need to pay a little more attention to my trigger finger when I draw or move. I have been warned about this, so this is something to pay attention to and practice.

> Compared to someone like Dave Sevigny, my magazine changes look like I'm trying to force a live snake into a coke bottle. I think I can make this better by practicing. But it's not because of the direction the bullets face in my magazine pouch. (Yes, I had someone point this out to me, again.)

> My Glock 17 Bruce runs flawlessly in every video I've shot. This jives with the fact that I've never had a malfunction of any kind in a match. In fact, apart from a broken extractor and a couple of limp-wristing incidents with my son, Bruce has had exactly 2 failures to extract in the 19 years I've had him.

At my next match, I'm going to try to get video of me on every stage. By then I will have some better editing video, and I'll make another report showing what I've found.

I'm also planning a range trip on a week day in a couple of weeks. If the range is clear enough, I will get some video of some standard drills like El Presidente and the Mozambique. I can then compare my results to those I find on line.

Range Visits for Self Defense Practice

The ideal place to practice shooting for self defense is an outdoor range, because you need to be able to practice shooting on the move, shooting from odd positions, and other scenarios that you would encounter in a self defense situation.

Unfortunately, many of us don't have access to an outdoor range often enough to practice these perishable skills. In some previous posts, I gave some thoughts about how I practice at an indoor range to get ready for competition. Yesterday during lunch I went to the range to practice my self defense shooting.

Here's what I practice for self defense. Since my range doesn't allow me to draw and shoot, all shots are from low ready.

I use a silhouette target set at 7 yards to 10 yards. I use 10 yards because I've paced off my house, and this is the longest shot I would have to make. Sure, I might face longer shots, but that's not what I'm practicing today.

I start with the target at 7 yards, and make single shots into the central target zone. For me, this is a triangle formed by the nipples and the larynx. A shot in this area makes the most effective hole in an attacker, and is most likely to stop the fight the fastest. I want 10 or so good shots in this zone, with good form and follow through.

Next I do two shots to the triangle, starting with a measured pair, and moving to a double tap. Again, I want good hits, good form, a follow through.

Next, I do Mozambiques - a shorthand for a drill invented by Lt. Colonel Jeff Cooper, consisting of two shots to the triangle which fail to stop the threat, followed by a shot to the head. It should be noted, from my experience at competitions where it has been included, that a true Mozambique is not a quick "two shots to the body and one to the head." There is a pause between the first two shots and the head shot to assess whether the head shot is needed. This is important, because in a real fight, there is no way to know that the third shot would be needed. So, that's the way you should practice it.

In fact, if you have a shooting partner at the range, a great way to do a true Mozambique is for the partner to watch you shoot the first two shots, then call "Yes" or "No" indicating whether your shots stopped the target. If not, then you follow up with a head shot. Then, go on farther - if that shot isn't dead on the central nervous system, follow up with a pelvic shot.

Next, I turn my body 90 degrees left, and starting with the gun at low ready, I press out to the target with my right hand and deliver shots to the triangle, first singles, then doubles. This simulates a shot to the extreme right, where you might not have a chance to square yourself to the target.

Next is a couple of Mozambiques from this position, but I try to square myself to the target between the body shots and the follow up, just like I would want to do in a real situation.

Next, do the same from the other side. Naturally, using the weak hand means taking more care, but that's the point of practice. You will get better.

If your range allows, shots from the retention position would also be included. My range has a bench in front of me, so this isn't a good idea.

Next, I run the target out to 10 yards and practice making single shots and doubles, either to the triangle, or to another zone like the pelvis, so I can distinguish those shots from others. The longer distance doesn't seem like much, but it's enough for me to make a difference.

I usually end the session with the target at 5 yards, and I shoot 4 or 5 shots as fast as I can, while keeping them in the triangle.

As you can see from the photo, I'm not always as accurate as I want to be, but most of the shots are in the triangle or in the head, or at least where I was aiming. But I am getting better, and that's the whole point.

Thoughts on Methods of Carry

Sometimes you need to carry 2 Glocks.


JP over at the Empty Mags Podcast recently did an episode about pocket carry, that is, carrying a pistol in a pocket holster. I was reading other blogs who commented on this, and I wanted to share my thoughts.

There are several ways to carry a gun, and there is no way I can be exhaustive, but here is how I've done it.

My choice of carry method depends on several things, including the clothes I'm wearing and where I'm going.

By far the preferable way for me is belt carry, the traditional holster on the belt on the strong side, which I do when I can wear a concealing garment like a jacket or over shirt. I carry at almost the 3 o'clock position, maybe 3:30, and I would carry it even farther forward if I could work out reliable concealment. I just find that a draw at 3:00 or farther forward works best for me. When I open carry, I carry at 3:00.

I've used several kinds of holsters for this: Kydex paddle holsters, Kydex belt slide holsters, and leather belt slide holsters. Again it depends on what I'm wearing and where I'm going. If I need to take the holster off to go in a restricted place like the courthouse, I'll use a paddle holster, although I've also taken to using a leather belt slide holster, and carrying a leather IWB holster to put the gun in, and put it in safe keeping.

I also have a Bladetech double offset drop belt holster that I use for competition. That's it in the forward position in the picture.

Next on my preferred carry methods is Inside-the-Waistband, or IWB. All my IWB holsters are leather. I carry them at 3:00 also. I find that when the gun is canted forward a little, it rides right on my hip bone, which works really well.

Next is a fanny pack with an IWB holster in it. I stress that I always use a holster whenever I carry, even if it's in a fanny pack, so that the trigger guard is covered to prevent accidentally pressing it. I use a fanny pack when I'm out walking, wearing gym clothes. I've also used a very large fanny pack to carry in the car, and I sling it over my shoulder like a ruck sack. No one knows.

I also have an ankle holster that I bought at a gun show on a whim. I've never carried using it. My plan was to use it to carry my G19 as a backup gun. Maybe I should work on it.

Now, back to the issue of pocket holsters. Admittedly, I've never carried a gun in a pocket holster. In fact, I don't own a gun that's small enough to carry in a pocket holster.

I don't rule it out though. Michael Bane talks in his Down Range Podcast about methods of concealed carry, and I really like his strategy - whatever he's carrying on his belt, he almost always has a pocket pistol in his left front pocket as a backup. In his case, it's a Ruger LCP.

His thinking is this, and I like it - he doesn't plan to have to draw the gun quickly in most cases because his plan is to have his hand on the pistol, already partially drawn, when trouble goes down. Weer'd also talks about having his pocket pistol out and on the console.

Of course, this assumes we know when trouble is happening, which isn't always the case. But if we work on our situational awareness the chances of this go up a lot.

The Evolution of My Pistol Shooting Stance

I was looking at photos of people shooting, and I noticed the different ways people hold their guns when shooting. This got me thinking about how my own shooting stance has changed over time.

Here is a brief history of my shooting stance.

The Dueling Stance

This is the classic one handed bullseye stance. The shooter aims along the arm, and puts one hand in their pocket. I have no idea if this is still being done, but if I had to guess, it probably is, by bullseye competitors.

I’ve played around with this stance on occasion, but I don’t have the arm stamina to do it effectively. However, if I did need to do it, I would just get some training and practice.

The good news is I don’t have much reason to use this stance. I don't shoot bullseye and I don't settle quarrels with a duel.

Weaver Stance

This stance was the major stance in use in the early days of Practical Pistol. A lot of more experienced shooters still use this stance. A lot of Hollywood people who don't have a good instructor use this stance, some of them using the Teacup method with the support hand.

R. Lee Ermey uses the Weaver stance. This is interesting, because the military taught a one-handed shooting style with the 1911, up until adoption of the Beretta M92 in the 1980's.

I used the Weaver stance early on, because it gave me a better view of the sights. The gun is closer to the eye. It also turns your body a little bit, which stabilizes you against the recoil. Proponents also say it presents a smaller target to the bad guy, but to me that assumes you are standing there shooting at a bad guy, and not running like hell to get away, like you should be.

Isosceles Stance

This stance is named for the triangle that the arms make when holding the gun in front of the shooter. It was pioneered by Brian Enos and Rob Leatham in the 80’s.

I noticed that a lot of shooters used this stance, and I tried it a number of times. Some of them lock their elbows, like Dave Sevigny, and some leave the elbows a little bent, like Doug Koenig. I tried it both ways.

But because it was uncomfortable to me – that is, unfamiliar – I quickly went back to the Weaver stance.

On a couple of practice occasions, I decided to see how accurate I could be with each stance. I found out that I was a lot more accurate using the Isosceles stance than the Weaver, and I mean a lot more accurate. I think it has to do with the variability of the hold. In the Weaver I kept my strong arm a little bent, and I think this led to differences from shot to shot.

After a few sessions, I finally convinced myself to switch to Isosceles. It wasn’t easy – no change ever is. But it’s paid off for me.

Now, I occasionally find myself back in the Weaver stance, for no apparent reason. Habit I guess.

My point of all this is to say, try all the stances. Don't use a stance just because you think it looks good on Jack Bauer. Use what works. And if people give you grief, let your score do the talking.

The Wall Drill, a video

My Quest for C Class


In a recent post I talked about the Wall Drill. I've been doing these fairly regularly for about 4 weeks now, and I have found my performance is improving. The sights hardly move at all as I break the trigger.

I was surfing the instructional videos on the interwebz, and I came a cross a really good video on the Wall Drill, presented by its inventor, MSG George Harris of the US Army Reserve, who is also Director of the SIG Academy. It really helped to see it in action.

Match Report - River Bend USPSA

This past weekend I returned to River Bend Gun Club in Dawsonville, Georgia, and shot in their monthly USPSA match. I had shot there before, and once again the match was well run and very enjoyable.

The match consisted of 7 stages, with 3 field courses and 4 more stationary stages. As usual, the shorter stages gave me some fits, since they usually involve things like off hand shooting.

I've also had some time to think about the match, and here are my take-aways.

Note: I'm going to use a lot of USPSA terminology, some of which I am not going to take the time to explain. Feel free to do an interwebz search for what you don't understand, and if you still don't have an answer, leave me a comment or send me an email and I will try my best to explain.

How Division affects my stage strategy

I normally shoot in the Production Division. All Production shooters are scored as minor, and must limit magazine capacity to ten rounds. You are also allowed to start with one round in the chamber.

This means that a lot of what I worry about when I devise my strategy of how I am going to shoot a stage revolves around magazine changes. Rather than waste time on a mag change in the middle of a string of fire, I would much rather change mags when I'm on the move from one string to another.

As an example, one stage ran like this: in the first door, there was a IPSC target and a popper. The popper fell and activated a swinging target, that was accessible from both the first door and through a window where the second string of fire was. If I shot like a lot of people, I would have shot the IPSC target, shot the popper, then moved to the second window for a shot at the swinger, along with the whole second string.

If I were shooting Limited or Open, where I could have more shots available, then this made sense. But for me, it made more sense to shoot the popper first, then the IPSC target. By that time, the swinger was going, and I could lean left and shoot the swinger from the first door. This gave me 8 shots if I needed them, then change mags and move to the second window.

On this stage, there was a second swinger, that was engaged by a popper from the second window. This swinger was different, as I couldn't shoot it from the second window, only from the third.

What I need to work on

I need to work on one-handed shooting, and transition from my right hand to my left hand for one hand shooting. The problem is, practicing one-handed shooting is boring to me. I would much rather practice double taps, or transitions. I am just going to have to suck it up and do it, if I'm going to get better.

I also need to work on shooting small targets at 25 yards.

Both of these are going to take some individual time at an outdoor range, where I'm not entertaining teenagers, or paying for range time by the hour.

But it will be worth it, I know.

Thoughts on Training

Photo by Oleg Volk courtesy of LuckyGunner.com


Last Sunday, as part of the Blogger Shoot, I got to participate in some defensive handgun training with Tom Givens of Rangemaster. I briefly covered the training in yesterday’s post, but I’ve thought about the training since then, and I wanted to share some additional thoughts.

While I am fairly new to handgun training, I am no stranger to training in general. I have a degree in chemical engineering, and I’ve attended training seminars and classes on everything from hazardous waste regulations, to how to get more out of Microsoft Excel, to how to deal with the media during a crisis.

One of the things I learned a long time ago is that, unlike college courses, for short seminars and classes, a student can probably expect to take away one really usable point per day. While you might remember more, if you can take one point to heart and make it part of your daily routine, you’re doing well.

Now, I usually try to relax my brain when I take classes, since I never know ahead of time what that one take away point will be. Inevitably, too, there will be a lot of material that is familiar, and I want to avoid letting my mind wander, so I will try to pay attention to the teacher regardless.

Sunday, I almost forgot all that.

Tom started the class with a presentation of the Four Rules of Gun Safety made familiar by Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper. These are well know. Heck, I’ve blogged about them, and about how we should make “Never try to catch a dropped gun” into Rule 5. So, in my mind, when Tom was talking, I was thinking about my blog post. Dumb.

You know what? Later, on the range, Tom told everyone never to try to catch a dropped gun. No, he didn’t make it Rule 5. He just said Don’t Do It.

Later, when we actually got to shooting, he talked about the concept of Follow Through. I had heard others talk about Follow Through before, but I had never been trained about it, but here it was – Follow Through is to complete the shot so that you are ready for another shot if needed. That means taking another sight picture, and having the trigger ready by only releasing it back to reset.

At that point, my mind wandered to a GSSF match at Fort Benning some years back, when an Army Marksmanship Unit RO asked me after one stage, “Do you mind if I give you a tip?” Heck, who turns down tips from the AMU? He then told me that I was taking my finger off the trigger between shots, and instead, I should only release it back until I felt it click, when the internals reset. He even cycled the empty gun for me so I could feel the difference.

Back to the training Sunday, and Sean Sorrentino of An NC Gun Blog and I are cycling each other’s gun so we can feel it reset. But my mind is at Fort Benning. And Sean is no AMU sergeant.

Then we start to shoot. Draw to ready, up, sight picture while taking up the trigger slack, squeeze a shot, follow through, take another sight picture, and let the trigger reset.

Only, after 3 or 4 rounds like this, I become aware that I AM LETTING MY FINGER LEAVE THE TRIGGER AFTER I SHOOT! Since we are only taking one shot, my mind thinks it’s over, and lets reset go out the window. How dumb.

Then, it’s Sean’s turn to shoot, and I’m watching, and he’s letting his trigger go to reset. After one shot.

So when it’s my turn, I concentrate, and let the trigger go to reset, and I put the sights back on the target. At the time, it’s no big deal.

Then comes multiple shots. First, one per second, then two per second, the four per second. I have to admit, in the past my groups have gotten very wide at this point. I’m talking about “Mike” wide. But, since I’m now following up the way I’ve been taught, my shots are still tight. In the end, my target has “one ragged hole.”

So, it turns out, Follow Up was my take away. And, I learned something about myself, that even an old skill can become a take away, if I’ve not used that old skill.


EPILOGUE

Monday, I shot a pistol steel challenge match at Creekside Firing Range in Taylorsville, GA. This was not your typical steel challenge match.

One stage involved taking 3 poppers from behind the left side of a barricade, the switching to the other side of the barricade and taking 3 more poppers, then hitting the stop plate. Sounds simple enough. Only the front popper on the right, it turns out if you watched the shooters, is set an a little bit of an angle, so that it takes multiple 9mm rounds striking it at the top to take it down. I watched one shooter in the squad ahead of us shoot this popper 9 times before it fell.

When my time to shoot came, I made my plan. I would start out on the multiple hit popper, then move on. I drew and aimed at the top center of the popper, and shot, and followed up. In four shots the popper was down, and I went on. Honestly, I don't think I could have made that shot a week before. All because I followed through.

Thank you, Tom Givens.

Match Prep

I have a match to shoot this weekend, and it got me to thinking about my preparations. Since my goal in 2011 is to improve as many aspects of my competition as I can, I thought I would begin at the beginning.

Assuming I have done the work in practice, there is still a lot of things I do to get ready. Before now, I just did them, but now I have my checklist.

Since it's already starting to get warm, I have been drinking water all day today, to get my body ready.

Here's what I will do tonight:

> Detail strip my Glock 17 (Bruce) and inspect all parts

> Change the factory connector for the (-) connector. (Bruce does double duty as a home defense gun and my competition gun. I keep the factory trigger connector in for home defense, so the trigger pull matches my other Glocks. Changing the connector to a (-) connector lowers the trigger pull about a pound.)

> Brush out but don’t clean unless it is very dirty

> Clean the fiber optic front sight with water only

> Lubricate the gun, using grease on the rails and connector

> Re-assemble the gun and dry fire it and practice drawing. Fix any problems

> Check mags – for damage, springs, followers

> Check holster and mag pouches - make sure that everything is adjusted correctly

> Load all my magazines to 10 rounds

> Make up some sports drink in plastic bottles, and put one bottle in the freezer

> Check my hearing protection and eye protection

> Make sure I have a clean towel in my shooting bag

> Make sure my knee pads, hat, and spent shell bag are in my shooting bag

Finally, make sure I have directions to the range, since there are about half a dozen ranges in the Atlanta area with USPSA or GSSF matches.

Tomorrow is a Steel Challenge match at Creekside Firing Range. I will try to live tweet it at @FillYerHands, so "stay tuned."

Practice for Competition, Part 3 - USPSA

Photo by P. Erhardt, courtesy of USPSA

Last time I talked about how to practice for GSSF competition. Today I’m covering how to practice for a USPSA match.

There are some differences between GSSF and USPSA that add to what we need to practice. However, everything we did to get ready for GSSF will apply to USPSA. Here are the extra things we need to practice, in what I see as the order of their importance to our success in the sport:

* In USPSA the shooter reloads when the ammo runs out, or as the course of fire dictates. In GSSF there are no reloads.
* In USPSA the shooter moves between targets. In GSSF the shooter is stationary.
* In USPSA the shooter starts each stage from a draw, or with the gun on a table or other surface. GSSF starts from low ready
* In USPSA each stage is different. GSSF uses the same three stages for just about all matches.

RELOADS

To me, one of the biggest things I can do for USPSA matches is practice reloads until they are smooth and almost reflexive. The difference between a good reload and a bad reload can be a few seconds. A terrible reload – dropping the magazine, for instance – can add not just time, but can also be a big demoralizer.

So, with an unloaded gun and unloaded magazines, put one magazine in your gun, and the rest in the mag pouches on your gun belt. Then, practice reloads. From a shooting position, first bring the gun up to eye level, and in a little. Drop the mag from the gun, and at the same time, grab a mag from your belt and bring it up to the gun, and insert it smoothly.

Repeat these as many times as you need until you are comfortable. I find that 10 or 15 minutes is about right for me.

Variation: start with the slide locked back to simulate an empty gun reload, and at the end of the reload, drop the slide. For me, the best way I have found is to start the gun back to the shooting position, grab the top of the slide with my off hand, and push with the gun hand while pushing the slide back with the off hand. Yes, there are other ways, and I leave it to the reader to find the way that works best for you. I admit, I’ve changed the way I release a locked slide several times in my life, so I can’t tell you any one way is best.

One piece of advice - make sure your gun is in great working order before you go to a match. In one USPSA match I watched a Master class shooter spend several stages watching the magazine drop out of his 1911 every time he fired a shot. It turns out he had changed the magazine catch spring in his gun the night before, trying to fine tune his gun. He had even practiced reloads, and was confident it would work. But, he didn't factor in the shock of recoil. He finally had to curl his off hand under the grip just to complete the match.

MOVING BETWEEN TARGETS

Sorry, but the best way to practice this by doing wind sprints, almost like in football practice. Good general physical condition is the best way to be prepared for moving, and I don’t pretend to be any expert here. I generally limber up (remember Rule 3 from Zombieland) and then spend ten or fifteen minutes dashing around the back yard. I usually do this without my gun, but I think the neighbors wouldn’t mind either way.

Be sure to practice starts and stops, and work on controlling your breathing during the stops so you don’t upset your target picture.

DRAWING

Don’t over-do the drawing practice. After all, we only draw once in each stage. It’s like golfers I know who spend their whole practice session hitting drivers, when they are only going to use the driver 14 times in a round of golf, versus maybe 40 or 50 putts. So, still put your time in practice starting from low ready, as we did practicing for GSSF. That’s because every time you move from one target to another with your gun lowered, your next shot is from low ready. This is going to happen a lot more in every stage.

To practice drawing, start with an unloaded gun, and start slow and smooth. Bring the gun up into your sight, then push toward the target,as we did when starting from low ready, so you avoid the oscillation when the sights are on target. Work up to full speed over 2 or 3 minutes, then draw for 3 to 5 minutes more.

PUT IT TOGETHER

Now, use your imagination. This can be done inside or outside. First, use some painters tape to tape some of the 1/3 size USPSA targets from GlockFAQ to walls or trees. (Or, since it works for Navy SEALs, use 3x5 index cards.) Then, start with the gun in your holster with an empty magazine, and run a stage. Go from target to target, counting shots, and changing magazines as you go. Be sure to keep your muzzle down range and your finger off the trigger as you move. When your stage is through, unload and show clear, reholster, then pick up your mags, and do it again.



I would love to hear your USPSA practice regimen!

Be Prepared, Part 2 - Getting Home

I’ve talked here about the need to plan for emergencies. In the course of my planning I ranked possible scenarios, and made plans to deal with the most likely ones.

My Day Job is a great gig, but it means commuting 30 miles one way. My planning showed a number of possible scenarios where I could find myself stranded on the road. And, having lived in the Texas Panhandle, where getting stranded in your car by a snowstorm is almost a certainty, I knew the value of having emergency provisions, and a plan. I decided, though, to extend that to any scenario where I needed to survive on the road without my car, most likely having to walk home.

This leads us to the idea of the Get Home Bag. This bag is meant to support any number of people, for however long it takes to get to the safety of a better location. You keep it in your car, and when you need to, you grab it and go. For me, this means I planned for 2 people for a 3 day walk home.

Here is what I keep in my Get Home Bag. Naturally it contains all the things I used to keep in my cars for getting stranded by Texas winters, along with what we would need on the road. I check the contents at least monthly, and I put the bag on every now and then, and carry it around a while, to be sure it is manageable.

Granola bars
Water
Change of clothes (2 shirts and 2 pairs of socks)
Work gloves
Poncho
Shoelaces
Bandana
Rubber jar opener
Cell phone battery charger
AA Batteries
LED flashlight
Light sticks
Ammo
Lighter
Candles
Purel
Germicidal wipes
Bedroll and fleece blanket
Space blanket
Entrenching tool
Multitool
Trash bags
Map
Compass
Whistle
Pen & paper
Rope
Drugs – Aspirin, Immodium, Sudafed, Antacids

In addition, my plans would be to grab my gun, my cell phone, and the First Aid Kit out of my car. In the winter, I have a couple more blankets in the car any way, so I would grab those, too.

For you, you might find that your most likely scenarios don’t take you as far from home as mine do. If so, you can pare your contents down to a bag in the trunk. And, a simple Google search will find other suggested bag contents. Do some research and come up with what you would need. Then do it, because you never know when these things happen. If you did, you could stay home that day.

Practice for Competition, Part 2 - Target Transition

                                               Oops. I dropped a shot.


Most of the time I’m not able to get to an outdoor range and set up stages to shoot for practice. More often, when I do get to practice live fire, it’s in an indoor range. Here’s how I make the best of that practice time.

The best thing I practice indoors is improving my transition times between targets, and making sure my follow up shots to the same target are clean and fast.

First, I need to cheat. Since it’s tough to put multiple full size targets on a typical indoor range holder, the GlockFAQ has several competition targets that are scaled to 1/3 the normal size. This means that I can put the target at 25 feet and they are sized to be the same as if the full size target were at 25 yards. You can find those targets at http://glockfaq.com/targets.htm.

So, I mount two targets in one holder, and move the holder out to the desired distance. I start at about 15 feet, but I move it out as the session goes along. You’ll find that the farther you practice, the easier the closer shots get.

Unless your range allows drawing from a holster, all drills begin with the pistol in the GSSF start position - elbows at your side and pistol pointed down range. If you can draw, then draw, if you are practicing for USPSA or IDPA.

Here are my drills:

Fire one shot on the target and stop. Repeat until you are smooth and can do this in under 2 seconds.

Two shots on one target and stop. Take a 10 second break or so, then repeat, until you can make the first shot in under 2 seconds and both shots are in the center of the target

One shot on one target, then transition to the other target and fire one shot. Repeat until you are smooth and both shots are on target.

Two shots on one target, then transition to the other target and fire two shots. Repeat until you are smooth and both shots are on target.

Two shots on one target, then transition to the other target and fire two shots, then transition back to the first target and fire two shots . . . continued for 4 or 6 or 8 shots.

If your range allows reloads, load 6 rounds into one magazine and 6 in another. Shoot on three targets, reload, then three more.

Get creative. Fire two on one target, transition to the other target and make a head shot, then back.

An hour’s time and 100 rounds can make a big difference.

Practice for Competition

I love to compete with my pistol. I believe that competition is one way any shooter can improve their self defense skills, even beyond practicing normal self defense skills. That’s because competition inserts the element of stress, and how you react under stress can be very different than how you react otherwise.

The two organizations I regularly compete in are the USPSA and the GSSF. Living in the metro Atlanta area means I have access to regular matches for both. Getting ready for matches takes practice, but the problem comes because I can't always take the time to go to an outdoor range and practice the actual things I would do in matches, like run a stage. So I am reduced to finding ways to practice at home or at an indoor range the kinds of things that will make me better.

You can find out about how GSSF matches are run at their website, www.gssfonline.com. Three things define GSSF and make it unique. First, it is only open to Glock pistols. Second, the three stages shot at each match are pretty much the same for every match. Last, there is no drawing, movement, or reloading during stages, which makes it an ideal sport for beginning shooters.

Distilling the GSSF stages, I have found there are three things I can practice that make my match times better: the presentation and first shot; accuracy and shot placement; and transition between targets. Interestingly, all three of these make my USPSA shooting better, so I spend a lot of practice time on these.

PRESENTATION AND FIRST SHOT

Each GSSF stage starts at a relaxed start position, elbows by your side, gun pointed down range. Now, if you watch new shooters (and some not so new) you will frequently see some variant of the following: at the sound of the buzzer, the shooter straightens their arms, then brings the pistol up to the shooting position. Then, they overshoot the shooting position, and the pistol oscillates a few times until it settles into the shooting position. Then, the shooter moves their finger onto the trigger and a few seconds later, when the shooter is satisfied with the sight picture, they fire. This “method” wastes a lot of movement, and a lot of time.

A smooth start to a GSSF stage looks like this; when the buzzer sounds, the shooter begins to bring the pistol up to firing position, while simultaneously extending the arms, such that the pistol gets up into the field of view of the shooter and the sights are on the target, he moves his finger on to the trigger, and begins to take up the slack in the trigger. The rest of the arm extension goes directly toward the target, and when the arms are fully extended, and the sights are still on the target, the shooter breaks the shot.

The great thing about practicing the GSSF first shot is it can be practiced by dry firing. All you need is a place to practice and an unloaded gun.

I cannot stress enough the importance of making sure all the ammunition is out of the room when you dry fire. It may seem like enough precaution just to make sure the gun is unloaded, until you decide the practice session is over, and reload, and get interrupted, and go back to dry firing. Not good.

In fact, I bought a plastic practice barrel for my Glock 17, that won’t even allow me to chamber a round, should I make a mistake and insert a loaded magazine.

So, first find somewhere you can practice for 10 to 15 minutes. For me it’s my garage. You don’t need to do this in front of the TV. Remember, you are practicing a sport. Chipper Jones doesn’t watch TV in the batting cage.

Start out slow. First, rack the slide on the unloaded pistol so you reset the trigger. Then, lower it to the ready position, and relax. In your head, have your favorite RO ask “Shooter ready? Stand by . . . . beep” and SLOWLY raise the pistol through the stages I talked about earlier. I say slowly, because right now you are concerned with getting the pistol into firing position without any over travel, and breaking the shot as soon as you can.

Over the next 5 minutes, speed up the shot, so that by then you are going full speed. If you use a shot timer*, I find that anything under 2 seconds from the beep to first shot is great. Do 5 minutes of these full speed, then take a break before going on to any other practice. You’ve earned it.

After doing this drill 2 or 3 times a week, you will see your first shot become a lot smoother and faster. Then you can work on accuracy and transitions.


* You can also use an on-line flash shooting timer application that can be found at Matt Burkett’s web site, as well as any number of smart phone apps that will do the same thing. Find one that works for you. I use Matt Burkett’s, but its location moves around, so you’re better using Google.

You can also find other tips for practice and shooting GSSF at the Glock FAQ website.

The Advantage of Youth

Number One Son and I spent the late afternoon Sunday in the back yard playing a few plinking games. First we ran a little run and gun using his Airsoft pistols against the garden flags. They give definite feedback when hit.

Then we played Horse (actually, we called it Daisy) with the BB gun on various targets, always mindful of Rule 4, of course. I noticed he was already shooting the BB gun left handed to match his eye dominance, and I asked him how it felt. He answered with a hit on the pie plate at 40 yards, and said, "Pretty good. Your turn." I missed left handed. "D." He then switched and shot right handed, and hit the plate. This one I matched.

Ahh, to be young.

While we were running and gunning I asked him to come with me to the next USPSA match that I shoot, probably in May. I think he'll at least come watch.

He also agreed to come with me to the GSSF match in Dawsonville in July. My guess is that by then he will be a member and will compete. And by 2012 he will probably beat me.

That's the breaks.

Be Prepared

When I was in school I was a Boy Scout, and while I never rose as far as I would have liked to (I made First Class), the principles of Scouting have stayed with me all these years. By far the best thing I learned was to live the Scout Motto, Be Prepared. Today, there are countless expressions of this concept, from Colonel Cooper’s color code, to the OODA Loop.

This is the fist in a series of postings where I plan to talk about emergency planning and what I have done. I don’t pretend that my way of planning is the only way or the best. It’s just what I have done. But I hope you can learn from it.

First, I sat down and made a list of the kinds of emergencies that my family and I could face. This was a brainstorming session, and I didn’t question the probability of any event at this time. Yes, the list was extensive, and it includes black holes and alien invasion. To me it was important to consider the larger emergencies, because when you really think about them, a lot of the preparations you make for more intimate events like a fire or home invasion would be the same you would make for them.

My wife and I then picked the most likely events, and the easiest preparations, and made our plan. We’ve been at the plan for a few years, and we are steadily making progress. Here are some of the low hanging fruit, as it were, that we found we could do right away.

Make a printed telephone list. We found that we were all relying on our cell phone address books for contact information, but, if we lost our cell phones in an emergency, that information is lost, too.

Make sure there is a family member or friend outside your immediate area who will agree to be a contact for everyone, if necessary. This came from some reports during Katrina and other emergencies, where local communications were impossible, but where people could call or email someone outside the affected area.

Make sure you have a texting plan on your cell phones. This is because text messages are sent by a different method than cell phone calls, using the carrier signal that the cell phone tower uses to keep track of where your phone is. Even if the all cell phone circuits are busy in an emergency, it may be possible to send short text messages. Make sure everyone knows short messages they can send quickly.

Make sure your guns are locked up away from any children. They should not only be out of reach, but out of the prying eyes. Our kids never knew where I kept our pistol safe until they were old enough and they were trained how to use them. Make sure all the responsible adults in your household are trained, and know how to access them.

Practice. Just as you should have fire drills, practice other kinds of drills – tornado drills, earthquake drills, home invasion drills. When you are out in public, always stay alert (Cooper’s Condition Yellow at a minimum), and practice finding the quickest path to safety.

Cross-Dominance Follow Up

Thank you to all who responded to my post yesterday on teaching my son to deal with his cross dominance. In addition to the comments on this blog, the topic came up last night on Twitter, and I received many first hand accounts.

Fortunately my son was still up at the time, and we talked about the comments. Everyone who commented told me they had learned (or were learning) to shoot long guns to match their eye dominance - in other words, even though they were right handed, since they were left eye dominant they taught themselves to shoot left handed. Most admitted it took them some time, about a month it seemed, to get comfortable with it.

So, he agreed to do a lot of dry fire, with his airsoft AR. He also plans to start dry firing his airsoft Glock right handed, so he can get better with it, too. He told me his goal is to be an ambidextrous shooter, which would definitely pay him back in the future.

I'll keep you posted.

Dealing with Cross Dominance

Yesterday I posted a picture of my son Joey, shooting Bruce the Glock 17. Today, I present my daughter, doing the same.

When you look at pictures of my kids shooting, you may notice something. My daughter shoots right handed, but my son shoots left handed. Ah, that it were that simple.

My daughter was born left handed, and she does everything left handed, except she shoots handguns right handed, because that's what she saw me doing. My son is right handed. He writes and throws right handed. The only thing he does left handed is shoot handguns. But the reason is different.

Now, almost all of us have one eye that we use more than the other, and being right eye dominant or left eye dominant is as normal as being right handed or left handed. For most people their dominant eye is the one on the side they write with. Being right handed but left eye dominant (or vice versa) is called cross dominance. It’s certainly no big thing for a pistol shooter, but for shooting a long gun it can be problematic.

When I started plinking aluminum cans in the back yard with my son, I could tell he shot with his head sort of canted way down over the stock. I tried to show him the way to get what I thought was the right cheek weld, but in a few shots, he was back to the over wrap.

After a while I figured out he was left eye dominant. But even before we started shooting together, he had figured it out, since he already shot his Nerf pistols left handed, using his left dominant eye.

Once I realized he was cross dominant, I did some research, and it turns out a lot of really good shooters are cross dominant, people like Brian Enos and Dave Sevigny. So I asked them how I should teach Joey, they told me the same thing – if he’s figured it out on his own, let him shoot pistols left handed But they advised that I switch Joey to shooting rifles left handed, since he won’t be able to use a telescopic sight effectively with his head so far down on the stock.

So, now I’m up against trying to convince him to learn to shoot his rifles left handed. As one writer pointed out, if he will just shoulder a rifle left handed a couple of thousand times, muscle memory will take over and he’ll be fine. I’ll report as I go.

As for my daughter, it turns out she's not cross dominant, she shoots pistols right handed because she copied Daddy when she was learning. Fortunately she was also smart enough to figure out to shoot rifles left handed to get a good sight picture.

A Noob Gets a Lucky Break

I bought my first pistol, a Gen 2 Glock 17, from a pawn shop in a small town in Alabama in the fall of 1992. It was the only Glock in town, and when I went to pick it up, I asked the owner if he had any 9mm ammo, too. He managed to scrape together 42 rounds of various weights and bullet types, and threw them in, gratis, with a couple of targets. He then showed me all that he knew about the Glock design, including how to field strip it, how to load it, and how to shoot it safely. And I left that shop a very proud gun newby, off to the range.

I was very fortunate that the town I lived in had an awesome outdoor range, one that I have only been able to fully appreciate as I have moved around the country and lived in areas without good public outdoor shooting ranges. Basically, the town had built a new sewer treatment plant, and taken all the excavated dirt up the road about a mile, and built a 10 foot tall 3-sided berm, 100 yards across, and 100 yards deep. The front 50 yards was all crushed gravel, and the last 50 yards was nice grass, planted by the local Boy Scout troop as an Eagle Scout project. That Eagle Scout project also included five covered rifle shooting benches, two large covered pistol bays, and a chain link fence all the way around.

I drove to the range with my new pistol, 42 rounds of ammo, and a target. When I pulled up, I noticed a police car there. Two uniformed police were shooting silhouette targets. Great. I was nervous enough about shooting for the first time, much less with cops there.

I moved my stuff to one of the pistol bays, and made busy while I watched the cops shoot for a while. Soon, they seemed to be finished, and started packing up to leave, so I went to put out a target.

Once of the cops noticed me and called out, and I waved, and he asked, “Hey, what have you got there?” I told him it was my brand new Glock. He smiled and looked at the other cop, and pulled his own Glock out of his holster. “Like this one?” We chatted for a few minutes, long enough for them to find out just how little I knew about my new gun.

So, two experienced cops gave me my first and best hands on training. They showed me how to clean it, what to oil, and, best of all, how to shoot it. In 30 minutes they taught me a decent modified Weaver stance, how to use the sights, how to reload, how to clear malfunctions, and basically how to run the pistol. 42 rounds didn’t last long.

As we parted, one of the cops gave me some of my best advice, too. “When you feel comfortable enough with that thing, get a carry permit, and carry it. We can’t be there all the time.”

Good advice, good teaching, and a good beginning. I was hooked.