Paul Helmke and Wayne LaPierre were on Fox News again; this time separately. Paul went first.
Paul is really a sad panda – he just keeps trying and trying to get traction on this Mary McFate thing, but no one seems to care; not even the MSM. Meanwhile, Wayne rips every single one of Obama’s “pro-gun” statements to pieces.
FATALITY
(sorry, I can’t resist the occasional Mortal Kombat reference)
Richard said the robber took $60 from the woman, then became angry when he saw a McCain bumper sticker on the victim’s car. The attacker then punched and kicked the victim, before using the knife to carve the letter “B” into her face, Richard said.
What the hell is wrong with people?
Upon further examination, this story kind of smells like bullcrap. After seeing pictures of the victim, I have some serious doubts about this story. I am not saying this woman is a liar, but I have some very serious quetions about the veracity of this incident.
There is a thread at The High Road discussing “point shooting” or shooting without using the sights vs. traditional aimed fire that got me thinking about some of the shooting and training we did at Blackwater. To sum up the debate at THR, it’s devolved into the classic “Aimed fire is better/nuh-uh/yeah-uh” ad naseum that such conversations often turn in to. That’s unfortunate, because there has been some pretty solid information offered by both sides of the discussion.
I’m of the school of thought that if I’m shooting at a distance any further than immediate contact distance, then I should probably be using the sights on my gun – Jeff Cooper and Todd Jarrett told me to use the sights, and I figure they’re pretty smart guys. But Todd Jarrett also touched on shooting at close distances without using the sights.
As part of demonstrating the frangible ammo, we shot some big steel plates at about 2 or 3 yards. At about the 10-12 second mark of this video Todd demonstrates firing from the close in retention position we were taught. Notice the two handed grip on the gun, and how he keeps the pistol rigged in very tight to his side.
One of the objections to “point shooting” is that you’re not aiming the gun – when you use a tight retention method like what Todd demonstrates in the video, that’s actually not true. Yes, your aim won’t be as fine as it would be using sights, but it’s more than accurate to hit a torso sized target at very short range.
The key is holding the gun tight into your body – to aim the gun, you simply square up your body to the target, and if your grip is correct the pistol will be pointed roughly at center mass. Think of it like a World War I fighter pilot aiming his guns – to aim the guns he maneuvers the entire aircraft into position. Where the aircraft is pointed, that’s where the bullets are going to go. You could also use the tank turret analogy, but let’s face it, biplanes are cooler than tanks.
I’m not really going to address the whole “aimed fire vs. point shooting” debate per se, because as I said above I think that both have a utility. I will admit by bias in that as a competition guy, I see more utility in using the sights, but I also understand that a gunfight or a self defense encounter is a dynamic event, and you may not be able to use your sights. Aside, that’s why I thoroughly endorse getting a laser grip for your SD gun, but that’s a whole different post.
Characterizing point shooting as unaimed isn’t really accurate – by using a close retention position and your body as the guide to point the gun, you are in fact “aiming”, but it’s a much less fine point of aim than you could establish by using the sights on the pistol.
As I mentioned below, I’ve got the IDPA state match coming up this weekend. One of the items that is often overlooked in match prep is the clothing that you’re going to be wearing. Obviously, you need to be able to move freely, stay warm (it’s going to be in the 40-50 range on Saturday), access your gun quickly, and most importantly ward off the Demon of the No-Shoot.
A lot of people aren’t familiar with the No-Shoot Demon, but he is certainly one of Satan’s most vile servants. What he does is infect, and posses innocent, honest shooters – shooters that just want to shoot good scores and have fun. When possessed by this demon, otherwise talented shooters start blasting no-shoot targets like it’s their job; laying a path of waste and destruction to make Darth Vader proud.
However, just many ancient cultures believed that tattoos could protect you from demons, in our modern age, SCIENCE has revealed that modern cottons and polyesters, when infused with potent magics and patterns can ward off the No-Shoot Demon. Behold The Ahab Special. While I’ve linked to this before, I had not yet realized the deep, untapped power that this shirt holds within it’s fabric. By giving myself fully to that power this weekend, the No-Shoot Demon will be unable to wrap his dripping talons around my trigger finger and induce me to shoot a poor, innocent hostage.
My wife has been wanting to get a new washing machine for a while now; ours is getting up on its last legs. However, I don’t think this is what she had in mind.
Heated Tank with long gun option. One (1) lube pan 35.5″X6″ v-bottom construction with anti-splash dampers & cover. 2Two (2) heavy duty weapon racks with 5 removable compartments, tank cover, drip proof flange with built in rack shelf and carry handles, H.D. adjustable heater for parkerizing, variable power generator 3/4″ S.S. front drain valve and rear fill port. 2 gal. CC235 clean concentrate, 6 gal. CC400L lubricant.
Man, that’s neato. As much as I like shooting guns, I actually hate cleaning them; so something like this would be a real nice addition to my collection of firearms related tools. Of course, with a $7k+ price tag, I don’t think that Mrs. Ahab is going to go for it…maybe when I hit the Hoosier Lotto.
There’s this new alarm clock from Bandai, which basically allows you to use an IR pistol to “shoot” your alarm clock. Now, as hilarious as that is, what really entertains me is the phrase “it’s gun o’clock”; which has become my standard response to whenever I am asked the time while at the range/match.
It also sounds like a pithy one-liner which should be uttered by the grizzled hero during a noir film – a badguy uses the classic “what time is it” line to distract the hero, and then our fearless hero produces his blaster with the response “Looks like it’s gun o’clock, asshole”.
The zombie virus in the animal kingdom!
Break out the FMJ and the rifles guys – looks like we’re in for the long haul here.
Is the Indiana State IDPA Championship match. If you haven’t registered to shoot this match, it is too late now – however if you’re still looking for something to blast, you could head out to Marion County F&G for their monthly Bowling Pin match. You might even meet an internet celebrity.
So if you’ve got a couple of minutes on Saturday, send me mental vibes of speed and accuracy, and hope that the rain holds off. Then on Sunday if you’re in the area, come out to the Broad Ripple Brewpup for beer, scotch pub eggs, and good company.
So I’ve been rolling around the internet gun boards (you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy) and I’ve noticed an odd trend with regards to the venerable 1911 platform. Mainly, a lot of people seriously hate the Taurus PT-1911; which I’m fine with, right up until those very same people turn around and praise the glories of the Rock Island Armory 1911s.
That’s where I get “the madness”, because last time I checked, the Taurus guns had something that all 1911 afficianods crave, which is a forged frame, barrel, and slide – whereas the RIA guns have a cast frame. And then there’s the fact that the Taurus gun comes with all kinds of goodies like an ambi safety, checkered frontstrap, forward gripping serrations, Heinie sights; while the admittedly less expensive RIA gun comes in what is basically a mil-spec package.
Now, I’m not a 1911 expert, so color me confused. Unless I’m completely missing some detail here, is it just because people like to hate on Taurus? Or are the RIA guns in possession of some kind of secret Filipino gun making juju that I just don’t know about? Is it because STI uses a boatload of parts from the RIA guys?
I mean, I have to admit that I’m interested in the RIA guns if for no other reason that $350 for a 1911 that I’m going to fill full of Ed Brown parts sounds pretty awesome; but the amount of internet hate for Taurus cross-stitched with unrequited love for the Rock Island guns has me pretty confused.
Although the RIA Match Grade pistol is pretty sexy looking, and I’m a sucker for wood grips.
Everyone talks about recoil, absorbing recoil, how to compensate for recoil, etc. The best practical pistol shooters in the world seem to not even feel the effects of recoil as they hose bullets downrange. At various points in my life, I’ve been told that the best to compensate for recoil is my stance, or how I’m holding the gun, or that one arm is locked, or that one arm shouldn’t be locked, etc etc.
After much thought and consideration, I have a new theory. It’s all in the grip. As Tam talks about here, reference Mas Ayoob’s “crush grip”, and as Todd Jarret demonstrated with the “champion’s grip” how you hold the gun is the most important aspect in absorbing recoil. That’s what allows guys like Jerry Miculek and Robbie Leatham to fire accurate, fast shots while off-balance or not in the best recoil absorbing stance.
My theory is further borne out by the gigantic Popeye-forearms these guys have. If you’ve never shaken hands with Jerry Miculek, I’d advise you not to if you don’t want your hand unintentionally crushed into paste. The forearm theory of recoil works like this – when the gun is fired, the first action it wants to take is to use your wrists as a pivot point and rotate the muzzle upward. This is compensated for by a variety of mechanisms, which do include a proper stance, the muscles in the shoulders and lower back, etc; however the first muscle group that recoil encounters resistance from would be…the muscles in the forearms.
If you’re gripping the gun “20 percent tighter”, your forearm muscles are going to be properly engaged so that when recoil forces act on the gun, they will encounter resistance from your muscular tension. Of course, unless you’re like Jerry Miculek or Todd Jarret, your forearms (mine included) probably aren’t strong enough to soak up all that recoil, which is where the importance of arm extension and proper stance come into play.
However, if you’d like to have some serious “recoil-soaking-grip-crushing-goddamn-popeye-arms”, here are a few exercises you can do around the house to strengthen your grip and improve your recoil absorption.
Wrist curls
If you have some dumbbells or light weights around the house (you won’t need more than 10 or 15 pounds unless you’re already a forearm freakazoid), sit down in a chair with your forearm resting on your leg, with your wrist able to move freely up and down. With the weight in your hand, proceed to curl the dumbbell moving your wrist only until failure point; transfer the weight to your other hand and repeat that number of reps. Hit this link for an excellent example of wrist curl form.
Push-ups
Push-ups are the ultimate upper body exercise. While not ideal for targeting the forearms, those muscle groups are used during a proper push-up to maintain your form and positioning. When you’re doing push-ups, you’ll get better results if you maintain proper form and do fewer reps than if you blast out as many reps as possible with lousy form. This link has essentially perfect form.
Newspaper Crumple
Hold a piece of newspaper out at arm’s length, and using one hand only crumple it up as fast as possible. Don’t believe me? Just try it!
Dry fire a DA Revolver
Ref: Exhibit A) Jerry Miculek.
There are a lot of other ways you can strengthen your forearms, including some gimmicky work out items designed just for it. While you’re increasing your grip strength and helping your ability to soak up recoil, it’s important to keep in mind that superhuman popeye arms are no substitute for proper fundamentals. Grip strength is only one part of absorbing recoil and shooting fast, and while I’ve come to believe that it’s an extremely important part, it’s only one aspect of the total package.
And as a final side note, chicks dig good forearms; or at the very least my wife likes mine.