Sometimes I get bored when I’m done practicing, and I do stuff like that. Then for some reason, I post the video on the internet, likely because I’m a terrible person and an attention whore. But it got me thinking about a lot of things that we do in the gun culture without actually thinking about them. Like the four rules, for example. Sure we can all quote them chapter and verse, but why are they important? And are we actually learning anything if we teach people to recite them by rote?
On the danger of being a gear and training Luddite
I like training classes. A lot. Pistol and/or carbine. I learn things at these classes. Training classes, while (sometimes justly so) derided as “entertrainment” are a quite viable way to learn, to brush up on, and advance your own personal level of skill with the martial art that is shooting. I always point new shooters towards a good two day pistol training class as the most important building block in enhancing one’s shooting proficiency with any firearm.
However, any gun forum observer/participant can tell you that it’s easy to get caught up in training; to follow a “sensei” (instructor) and to only “train.” There are guys out there that treat carbine/pistol training classes as a religion and only train with the leader of their religion, their chosen instructor. Guys, you need to branch out. Try USPSA, USCA or even classes from another instructor. Try competition, your training will help you there and you will see challenges in competition you will have to solve for yourself.
You’ll see the negative effects of only training when folks obsess over the difference between say, “Flat Dark Earth” and “Urban Dark Earth.” Grown men will debate endlessly the merits of various brands of tactical pants and show each other pictures of their “battle belts.” Many of these training addicts will avoid actual shooting competitions and fall into the trap of sneering at “gun gamers.” I myself, love USPSA. It may not be real life but the real life shooting skills you are forced to learn in order to be competitive. It’s somewhat telling when a self professed “gun gamer” is far and away the high shooter at a tactical shooting oriented carbine class (I know, I was there).
As a former infantry Marine, I automatically eschewed playing dress up for training classes. I alway tried to go as “slick” as possible and even did my transitions from carbine to pistol using an AIWB (Appendix Inside Waist Band) mounted pistol. Worked pretty well, actually. No chest rig, no multicam, no $200 hearing protection (the sub $50 Howard Leights are outstanding), as little specialized gear as possible. I was “training like I would fight,” dontcha know.
I did well in the training classes on timed and scored drills. Ironically, one of the best classes I ever took was decidedly not “tactical” and helped me build a foundation to be a better than mediocre shooter. As I always tell folks getting into shooting, take a good pistol training class. It’s much easier to shoot a carbine/rifle than a pistol but skill with a pistol directly carries over to shooting any other firearm. Get a pistol with good sights, a good holster, ammo, some spare mags, and training.
From learning how to shoot a pistol does shooting skill begin.
However, training like I would “fight” caught up with me and it caught up hard. I recently attended the excellent EAG Basic Carbine Course and proudly went there without the recommend knee and elbow pads. Chest rig for carrying magazines? Hell no, I’m training like I would fight!
Well, on the last training day; I hit the gravel hard as I shot a timed drill. My left elbow came away bloodied but seemingly fine. I did note that I would have gotten better times in drills and done less fumbling with a…..chest rig for magazines. In other words, I would have gotten more out of training with said chest rig. A very good friend read my review and quite generously sent me a BCM 03 Chest Harness.
Anyway, a week later as the lessons from “Uncle Pat” sank in, my elbow started getting worse. The small scrapes seemed to have given me an infection.
A visit to a doctor resulted in basic antibiotics. A day later, things worsened. More antibiotics courtesy of a emergency room visit failed to work. Another ER visit, intravenous antibiotics. At this point, lines had been drawn on the infected area, showing the progression of the infection.
At this point, I had been diagnosed with a very bad cellulitis infection. Moving the arm was painful, resting it on a table was out of the question. The specter of elbow pads and me “training like I would fight” haunted me, smirking.
Fortunately, my brother in law is a real life House MD. Board certified infectious diseases doctor. A quick Skype video session and he took me off of the antibiotics that weren’t working and put me on Zyvox. Nearly instantaneous results after two emergency room visits and one appointment with my MD. My brother in law speculates that I might have had MRSA.
Having been shot in my other elbow, I am very lucky to have received the treatment I did. My friends being my friends, instantly dubbed me “Elbowla Patient Zero,” a title I wear with pride.
Having been shot in my other elbow, I am very lucky to have received the treatment I did. My friends being my friends, instantly dubbed me “Elbowla Patient Zero,” a title I wear with pride.
Moral of the story? Be functional, not fashionable. You don’t have to be clad head to toe in multicam to shoot and some gear can protect you, save you time, and allow you to enjoy shooting much more. For less than $20, I have some great elbow pads that could have literally saved me hundreds of dollars and so far, six trips to the doctor (counting the ER). Shoot, I even splurged on some $24 knee pads. Remember, it’s easy to be hard, it’s hard to be smart.
Don’t be that guy, get some gear, and train smart. It’s easy to be hard, it’s hard to be smart. Also, don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself. If you show up to a class clad head to toe in “tactical” gear and clothing replete with a “tactical” shemagh, and overweight, I might make fun of you. If I do, please reciprocate with comments about “Elbowla Patient Zero” and enjoy your carefully chosen gear and more importantly, your training time 🙂
Photo of the day: Rifles* for things
Yes, technically one of these is a pistol. But they’re all awesome. Top to bottom:
- Beretta ARX-100: Trijicon RMR, Troy BattleSights, Crimson Trace Railmaster, Troy Battlemag
- SB15 pistol: DPMS upper, Magpul rear sight, Troy Battlemag, Colt BCG, Aero Precision lower
- Troy Defense Lamb Carbine: Leupold 2-7 power scope, sexy 20 round mag
Mmmmm carbines.
Shooting in defense of pets
Here is a terrible story: a man at an shelter dog rescue event stabbed a pit bull to death. There are so many tidbits of this story that we could discuss today, from the way the man’s language about pit bulls 100% reflects the deranged language of the anti-gun crowd about rifles (‘f***ing pit bull, why are you even allowed to have these dogs – direct quote from the man), we could comment about how some people are just wrong in the head, but instead I want to talk about acting in defense of a pet.
The first thing to bear in mind is the question of “is it legal to use force to defend a pet?” Pets are, in the eyes of the law, property. They’re not people, they don’t enjoy the same rights as humans, regardless of how much a part of your family they become. In South Dakota, it’s generally legal to use appropriate force to defend your property, and deadly force is good to go so long as you’re in a situation where deadly force would be legally justified. I know that’s a bit of a tautology, but that’s how the law reads.
However, a better question is this, and something’s that stuck with me for a long time. When I was taking classes from the excellent InSights Training Center in Washington, they would regularly talk about having the ability to articulate that you were in fear for your life when you used deadly force. There are situations where fear for your life is obvious and easily articulated: “He had a gun, he was threaten to kill me if I didn’t do what he said” and some where it’s a little more difficult.
Back then to the pit bull story. Let’s change it up a little bit. Instead of being in public at an adoption event, let’s say you’re out walking your dog. Someone shouts “if you bring that pit bull near me I’m going to stab it.” You, being a smart person, move in the opposite direction of the shouter. Then you come round a corner, and there he is. He attacks your dog with a knife, stabbing it. Here is the question I’d like to see answered in comments: Could you in that situation reasonably articulate that you were in fear for your life? Let me know yes/no and why you feel that way.
Rifles for home defense
There’s no question that the expert consensus on rifles for home defense is that they’re good to go. In the AR15 platform, a rifle offers a considerable amount of firepower, easy handling in tight quarters, and good shootability. Most members of the family over age 12 can quite likely handle a carbine and get good hits with it. However, if you do choose a rifle for home defense, here are some things you should remember.
Get a sling
A rifle without a sling is like a carry gun without a holster. In the event that you do need to use your hands for something while running a carbine, a sling means you don’t have to put the rifle on the deck, or somewhere out of your control. Let it hang (with control) and then take care of whatever needs taking care of.
Get a white light
If someone ever tells you that white lights will give away your position in a home defense scenario, you don’t need to listen to anything else they’re going to say after that. One of the drawbacks of a rifle means that you can’t hold a flashlight in your weak hand like you could with a pistol, so you definitely need a white light. But remember, whatever your white light gets pointed at, you’re also now pointing the muzzle of your gun at it. Learn your house and how to bounce the light off surfaces to provide illumination for searching and ID without muzzling things.
Rifles are high pressure and very loud
Cooking off an un-suppressed rifle indoors without hearing protection will absolutely cause hearing damage. The shorter the rifle, the louder it’s going to be. The best option to mitigate this issue is a suppressor, but that’s not necessarily realistic for most shooters. The next best option is to keep a set of electronic earpro next to your rack. However, if you have kids around whom you may need to fire the rifle? That presents a problem, because their ears are even more sensitive. At that point, going with a lower pressure/noise option like a shotgun may make sense.
Know what your ammo does after penetrating sheetrock
There are countless studies, some good and some bad on how rifle bullets behave after passing through common interior wallboard material. Generally speaking, overpenetration isn’t an issue with .223, as many commercially available rounds fragment/destabilize after penetrating wallboard. But, you should know what your round is going to do.
Figure out how you’re going to stage the rifle, and practice from that condition
There are quite a few options for how to stage an HD gun. Probably the most common is the rifle version of the ancient “cruiser ready” status. Fully loaded magazine inserted, no round in the chamber, safety off. You could also stage it in Condition 1, fully loaded and safety on, or even loaded mag, empty chamber, and safety on, so long as you rack the bolt on an empty chamber first. Whatever ready position you set your carbine in, make sure when you’re at the range practicing with it, you practice getting it in action from that condition.
Rifles are great tools for home defense. They might not be the perfect fit for everyone and every circumstance, but they’re an incredibly versatile and easy to employ platform. I’m sure there are plenty of other things to remember about using a rifle for HD, but hopefully this list will get you started.
Beretta 1301 Competition
I’m now ready for next year’s 3Gun season. As soon as I order an RCI Extension for this, of course.
Speaking of holsters
My quest for the perfect revolver holster continues. You’ll remember last year before Indoor Nationals, I talked about making sure my Blade-Tech holster met the IDPA rules for concealment, specifically the dowel rule. If you remember that post, the Blade-Tech holster in its stock configuration failed the dowel test for two reasons: additional offset due to the cylinder bulge, and I’m not 300 pounds. I was able to make it legal by swapping out the BT belt loops on the back of the holster in favor of a Safariland paddle. To be honest, I sort of assumed that putting a Safariland paddle on a Blade-Tech holster would open a portal into the nether, but I was wrong.
I happened to be browsing Modern Service Weapons and I saw their review of the Garrett Industries Silent Thunder OWB, which happened to be holding a GP100 in their photos. The Silent Thunder is not a holster that’s new to me, Shelley has used one to carry her Kahr PM9 for years now. It’s a great holster – a kydex outer shell that’s lined with leather. I had no idea they made one for the GP100, so I immediately ponied up some cash and ordered one. It should arrive tomorrow.
You know it’s serious when a gunwriter voluntarily pays for something! I kid, of course. But in all seriousness, I’ve liked the IWB versions of the Silent Thunder quite a bit, so I’m hoping this will work out for my needs.
NRA Golden Rule
Not a bid video there, NRA. A little overwrought for my tastes, on the balance not bad at all. 8/10.
Smart talk on kids and machine guns
You know that story about the wee little girl who accidentally shot her instructor with a buzz-gun? Tam has some smart talk about the problem with how everyone is treating the incident.
Beretta ARX-100 Unboxing video
I guess I could have called it an unbagging video, but that sounds weird on the ears. Also, this video is terrible and I should be ashamed. I bet it gets way more hits than my good videos.