shooting

Practice, practice, practice

Posted on by Caleb

Yesterday, I posted about the value of training for situations that you’re likely to encounter. Just as SWAT teams train for breaching houses and other situations that they’re likely to encounter, armed citizens should train with their defensive weapon(s) of choice for situations that they’re likely to encounter.

A few of the people in the comments mentioned that their training method generally focuses on rapid sight acquisition and multiple rapid shots, and I agree that those are two of the the most important things for the armed citizen to practice.

If you’re in a situation where you need to defend yourself with a handgun or rifle, the ability to get on target quickly and place hits on the target is of paramount importance. Since my favorite range doesn’t allow drawing from the holster, I practice my draw at home with snap-caps to anchor that skill. At the range when I’m practicing, I always start my drills from step 2 (or 3) of my draw so I can practice acquiring the sights and pressing the shot out.

That being said; I also practice formal bullseye shooting and target shooting. I get a lot more excited about teeny-tiny little groups than I do about blasting a lot of rounds downrange. I would say that in an average range session, I devote equal amounts of time to practicing defensive shooting and shooting for groups/score.

The skills that you develop shooting bullseye; such as sight picture, trigger control, discipline, etc will make you a better shooting when you’re shooting defensive pistol. Of those, I would say that skill with trigger control is the most valuable for defensive shooting – it doesn’t matter how fast you squeeze the trigger if you’re constantly jerking your shots away from COM.

My combat pistol teacher at the Academy had a saying he was fond of that I’ve heard repeated elsewhere. “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast”. It’s a nice modernization of the Wyatt Earp quote of “you must learn to be slow, in a hurry”. Before you can become a good defensive shooter, you need to have a fundamental grasp of the mechanics of good shooting. I don’t think that this is a problem for any of my readers, rather I think that it becomes a training issue for new shooters.

Before you worry about double taps and Mozambique Drills, make sure that you can hit the target consistently.

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Japanese culture

Posted on by Caleb

Stoppage has an interesting tidbit about his thoughts on Japanese culture and their low crime rate. Like him, I’ve heard the argument from gun control types that the low Japanese crime rate is a result of their rather draconian gun laws. He points out quite rightly that there is a huge cultural difference between America and Japan.

One of the biggest examples of this would be the emphasis on individualism vs. collectivism. Although seemingly in decline, the American attitude is still swayed towards the value of the individual. Japanese society often places a higher value on the group as opposed to the individual, which you can plainly see in the deference to authority figures.

Frankly, I have no interest in the modern Japanese culture – and even less so in its imports to the US. My interest is historical, as I have enjoyed in the past studying the Japanese evolution from a feudal, semi-tribal society to a modern industrial society. It’s pretty cool.

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A little common sense

Posted on by Caleb

From a South Bend police officer. In an editorial on why gun control control won’t work, South Bend police Sergeant Al DeRoo makes a lot of good sense.

He also lays out a nice step by step explanation of the Indiana concealed weapons permit process, from the local background check, to the state level, all the way up to federal portion of the event. My favorite part is where he points out the innate hypocrisy of people who oppose the Patriot Act but support gun confiscation.

These gun control advocates want the government to authorize police to enter homes and confiscate weapons should a person have guns in his or her home. Some of these same people are angry about the USA Patriot Act which allows our government agents to tap certain phone lines for the safety of our citizens. There’s a hew and cry that this is a violation of privacy even though it’s for our protection.

What about authorities entering your home and taking your weapons, weapons for your protection?

Good point. The entire article is well worth a read, in fact I can even forgive him for accidentally writing AK-15 near the end. Although, I should point out that the importation of full automatic weapons like the Ak47 has been illegal for some time.

shooting

Realistic training

Posted on by Caleb

Show of hands: how many of my dear readers are confident in their ability to make a pistol shot on a man sized target at 50 yards? Next question, how many of you actually practice defensive shooting with a handgun out to 50 yards? I know I don’t; the longest shot I’ll take during serious defensive practice with a pistol is 20 yards.

For rifles I don’t actually practice out much further than I do with pistols. The average WW2 infantry engagement took place at 30 yards or less and while I’ll take the occasional 100 yard shot with a rifle; I generally restrict my “practical” practice with a rifle to 50 yards and closer.

I’m a firm believer in the adage of “you fight as you train”, which means that since I’m not in the military any longer I need to train for situations that I’m likely to encounter. Mathematically speaking, the odds of me needing to engage someone with a rifle beyond 50 yards are, well, slim and none – and slim just left town. Similarly, the odds of me needing to engage someone with a pistol beyond 15-20 yards are extremely slim as well.

That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t practice long range shooting. Shooting at longer ranges is an excellent test of your skill as a marksman, at the same time shooting accurately at long range is a completely different discipline from shooting fast and accurate at close range. Both have value and are skills that should be practiced.

I like long range shooting; producing small groups on distant targets brings a smile to my face every time. I also like practical shooting, fast shooting at close range targets is just as much fun. The thing is that when I’m practicing defensive shooting, I’m working to improve skills that I could end up betting my life on. That’s why it is so important to train for scenarios you’re likely to encounter.

50 yard headshot on a moving target? Probably not. 7 yard COM shot on someone with a knife? Much more likely. Again, that’s not to say that the skills involved in the 50 yard headshot are less valuable than the skills in the 7 yard body shot.

I don’t want bullseye shooters to take any of this as a slight – what I’m trying to point out is that there is a distinct difference between training for using a gun in self-defense, and shooting a gun accurately. There also isn’t any reason that you can’t do both, but you have to remember that they are two different things entirely.

shooting

E-Postal Results

Posted on by Caleb

Are up over at Free Spirit Mind. Saying that I’m pleased with my performance would be a lie; as Mr. Completely and Bill absolutely spanked me in the Rimfire Iron Sight Category. I take some small solace in knowing that I did come in first place in the Centerfire Iron Sight division, and first place out of all “Centerfire” class pistols.

Thoughts – I agree that the target was hard; and since it was purpose built to provide a challenge for target sighted .22s, it was a pain in the ass for my fixed sights .22 Magnum. It was very challenging and a lot of fun though.

According to Mr. Completely’s place, the next match is scheduled to open June 4th, and is hosted by SailorCurt. I’ll make a concerted effort to shoot more guns in this match than I did in the last one.

humor

Muzzleloading tidbits

Posted on by Caleb

I’m going to reach into Ahab’s bag of wisdom here and pull out some advice for any gents that are considering taking up the fine hobby of muzzleloading firearms.

As you know, it is recommended that before and after a session with a muzzleloader, that you fire a percussion cap on each nipple over an uncharged chamber or barrel to remove fouling. While this is an excellent idea, doing it indoors might cause your wife to become “mildly upset”; additionally if you’re unfortunate enough to own a cat the feline may become lodged in your leg.

“Honey, the ATF doesn’t classify it as an explosive” is not justification enough for storing 25 pounds of Pyrodex.

Just because some guy on the internet put the metal parts of his ’60 Colt Army in the dishwasher doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t tell your wife before you do.

Standing in the kitchen cleaning guns while your wife cooks does not count as “helping her with dinner”. Trust me.

Don’t ever tell your wife that you’d be more attracted to her if she found a perfume that smelled like blackpowder. It’s just not a good idea.

If you follow the above helpful tips, you as well as I can enjoy the fine sport of muzzleloading firearms, and preserve your marriage to boot!

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Ahab goes to the movie

Posted on by Caleb

A couple of quick movie reviews for you guys, as I had a bit of free time over the holiday weekend.

First up is Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. I have seen both parts 1 and 2 of the trilogy, both of which I enjoyed immensely. I’m a big fan of “pirate” movies in general, as they usually have the three elements for making an Ahab-Approved movie: cool boats, sword/gun play, pirate wenches.

At World’s End had all three, thus I was satisfied. I will say that if you haven’t seen the first two, don’t go see part three because you honestly won’t have any idea what’s going on who is on whose side. Some reviewers said that the plot was hard to follow, I disagree on the grounds that it might be hard to follow if you have a short attention span or haven’t ever read a book.

On a gunny note, the movie did have one thing that I’d been praying for since the first movie. During one scene, there’s a bit of a Mexican standoff between several of the characters, which prompts Jack Sparrow to try and fire his pistol. I say “try”, because everyone’s pistol had just received a thorough soaking, and suddenly every character experiences a failure to fire due to wet powder. It brought joy to my heart.

Final review: I give Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End 4 sails out of 5.

The second movie I watched was on DVD, an Australian set western called The Proposition. This was an excellent, intense character driven western. More in the vein of the gritty spaghetti westerns that are Clint Eastwood’s heritage, The Proposition held me on the edge of my seat for the entirety of its short 104 minutes. I strongly recommend renting or buying this one on DVD, especially if you’re a fan of the gritty, violent western.

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Memorial Day, 2007

Posted on by Caleb

Currently, the Congressional Medal of Honor is the highest military award in this country. However, the Medal was created in 1862; before that time America had already fought several wars, not the least of which was our struggle for liberty.

Originally when Memorial Day was created, it was to honor members of the service who had died during the Civil War; however after WWI it was expanded to include any military action or war. Which brings us to today’s history lesson; the first true American veterans and some of the heroes that you might not have heard about.

Before there was the Medal of Honor, there was a medal called the Badge of Military Merit; it was the highest military award in the country.

Daniel Bissell enlisted into the Continental Army in 1775, where he initially served as a fifer, in 1777 he was promoted to sergeant. In 1781, under direct orders from General Washington he posed as a deserter to gain information on the British – realizing that his position as just a deserter did not allow him close enough access to the British, he enlisted in the British Army where he served for 13 months. During that time, he memorized maps of enemy positions, each day knowing that if he were discovered he would be hanged as a spy. Sergeant Bissell made his way back to American lines after 13 months, where he arrested and held until General Washington verified his story.

Michael Healy was captain in the US Revenue Cutter Service, which was the predecessor to the current US Coast Guard. Healy was the commanding officer of the cutter Bear starting in 1886. During 1888, the Alaskan whaling fleet was anchored to ride out a storm; however the storm was much stronger than anticipated. Despite the waves breaking up four of the whaling vessels, under Healy’s command Bear was able to rescue over 160 otherwise doomed sailors.

Lieutenant Edward Preble was the commanding officer of the US Revenue Cutter Pickering, which during the Quasi-War with France was absorbed into the US Navy for the duration of the conflict, and was officially transfered to the Navy in 1780. In 1799, under the command of LT Preble, Pickering fought an engagement against a French privateer named L’Egypte Conquise. The French privateer outclassed Pickering in armament and had more than triple the crew of Pickering. After a 9-hour battle which is considered one of the finest examples of how to fight a smaller ship against a heavier, better armed enemy; the French privateer surrendered to Pickering.

There is no way I could possibly compile even a partial list of all of this country’s departed heroes who deserve mention – men and women whose names should not fade with history, but should be remembered by everyone as examples of courage, discipline, and love of country.