IDPA

Next match: 2014 IDPA Nationals

Posted on by Caleb

Time to get ready for the match that usually closes out the majority of my shooting season, IDPA Nationals. After IDPA Nats there’s the BUG Nationals, but the training for that mostly consists of shooting my J-frame a bunch. But IDPA Nationals is important to me; I’ve shot every Nationals since 2011, which seems like forever ago. In 2012 I started shooting SSR at IDPA Nationals, finishing 5th overall and 3rd Master. In 2013 against a deep field, I finished 8th overall and 4th Master. I shot the BUG Nationals that year as well, finishing 5th overall and 2nd Master. Then it was 2014 Indoor Nationals, where I finished 4th overall and 1st Master.

Photo courtesy Yamil Sued
Photo courtesy Yamil Sued

In 2013 I didn’t spend a lot of time with revolvers before the match, in fact I shot most of the year using a Colt 1911 in .45 ACP. I switched to SSR a week before the match, and it showed in my poor performance. At Indoor Nats in 2014, I had done some training, and was able to shoot a better match, still not my best but not bad. This year, I’ve spent a lot of time with revolvers, and while I’ve shot other guns for work, my focus has been on revolver training.

Lots of training, although not all of serious. But to the point (no fakin’, cooking MCs like a pound of bacon) this year I have practiced more than I did in 2013, and I have a training plan for the next three weeks until I leave for Nationals. I have three weeks to train for Nationals, which is actually a pretty decent amount of time. My primary focus during that is absolutely going to be reloads from concealment, because that’s where SSR matches are won and lost.

My best dry fire reload from concealment is a 2.50 with a speedloader. My training plan is pretty simple, it’s 3 days a week, two of which are all dry fire and one live fire on the range.

  • Monday: Dry fire reloads and draws to an 8 inch circle with trigger pulls. No par times used, focus on form.
  • Wednesday: Live fire. Draws, transitions, etc.
  • Friday: Dry fire reloads and draws, use a par time and focus on speed.

It’s not complicated, because honestly I don’t have a lot of time in my day. But it’s training. And it’s good training, because it allows me to work on all the fundamentals. The reason I have no par times on Monday is because that’s my opportunity to focus on economy of motion. Taking myself off the clock allows me to develop a clean reload with as little wasted movement as possible. Then Friday we take that clean movement and put it against the timer, working to shave it down to around 2.00 seconds in dry fire. Getting under 2.00 in dry fire would be a pretty dope reload.

Three weeks from now I’ll be walking the stages in Tulsa, and getting ready to aim my ass off. I’m really excited because Shelley will also be there, shooting her first IDPA Nationals. It should be a pretty good time.

Crimson Trace

“you’ll get dependent on the laser!”

Posted on by Caleb

Yesterday, we talked about the importance of lights and lasers on defensive firearms. I wasn’t particularly surprised when both here and on Facebook comments showed up saying that lasers were bad. These comments all followed the exact same pattern:

“Well actually I prefer to train to use the sights because I’ll get dependent on the laser which will fail and break when I need it, and besides I don’t need any of that tacticool gadgetry on my gun because I’m so awesome and I learned to shoot in the Army during Vietnam.”

HK VP9 with Crimson Trace

There are many problems with that line of reasoning, but at the core it’s simple. It is the argument of a lazy person. If you distill it to its essence, what they’re saying is “I’m so lazy that if I put a laser on my gun it would turn into a crutch, so no one should do it.” I have a solution, and a proptip: Don’t be lazy. Train to use the sights. Because the real secret of lasers is that they don’t magically make you into a super dooper ninja-shooter. If you’re a garbage shooter without a laser, putting a laser on will just make you a garbage shooter with a good sighting system. I’ve seen it in classes. I was taking a class once and the gentleman to the right of me on the line had some kind of Officer sized 1911 that was giving him all kinds of fits. I watched his laser bounce around the target, and every shot hit low and left. Of course he blamed the gun, until the instructor came over and center-punched the target repeatedly with the student’s gun.

A laser won’t magically make you better at shooting. But it won’t automatically become a crutch, either. Here’s the other big secret: if you train to use the sights and your laser fails, YOUR SIGHTS ARE STILL ON YOUR GUN. What a laser does is make it easier to get hits in low-light situations and retain a target focus. I have lasers on all my defensive guns, but I rarely have “laser-specific” training. I practice using my sights. All the time. Because I know that when I need the laser, it will be there, and if something goes TU and the laser goes down, well it’s not like my sights have disappeared from my gun.

The final thing I’d like to address is durability. I’m going to confine this discussion solely to the Crimson Trace line of products, because I have the most experience with those. I should note as an aside that I do have a Viridian unit on the way for T&E, and they seem to spoken pretty well of in my circles. Back to the durability point. Crimson Trace lasers have been around for decades now. I have a j-frame laser unit that’s been rained on, sweated on, dropped in the dirt, banged around a glove box, and it has never lost zero and still works. I’ve had dozens of different CTC products on guns over the years, and I’ve had problems with exactly 1 of them, and Crimson Trace fixed it. There is this idea that we’re still stuck with the lasers of the 1980s, which were delicate, fragile things. We’re not. Modern laser aiming devices from reputable companies are as durable and robust as a properly tough optic. They’re not going to just crap out for no reason…and if they do, you still have the sights on your gun.

3 Gun/HK/holsters

Why I put a $700 HK in a $25 nylon holster

Posted on by Caleb

If you follow me on Instagram (and you totally should if you booze, cars, guns, and pictures of my dog) you might have seen this photo and caption:

HK VP9 Blackhawk nylon holster

I’ve never been more ashamed of a holster than I am of this. I’m so sorry, HK for putting your excellent VP9 in this holster. I needed a rig that fit the gun with a Crimson Trace Railmaster.

Continue reading →

self defense

White lights and lasers on your home defense gun

Posted on by Caleb

Does your home defense gun have a light on it? If it doesn’t, you’re doing it wrong. It should also probably have a laser on it as well, because being able to hit what you’re aiming at is kind of important.

Photo courtesy Crimson Trace
Photo courtesy Crimson Trace

I believe we’ve touched on this topic before, but whether your home defense gun is a shotgun, a pistol, or a carbine, it really should have a light and a laser on it. I’ll get into the reasons why in a moment, but first I want to talk about some of the common objections.

1. “You’ll give away your position!”
Who is breaking into your house, Spetznaz? Are you laying at the top of the stairs in ambush? Seriously, unless you’re creeping from room to room trying to do a solo clear of your house at 2am why do you care about giving away your position? I don’t know about you, but my position is going to be pretty clearly given away by me shouting “I HAVE A GUN AND I’M CALLING THE COPS DON’T COME UP HERE I’M AFRAID FOR MY LIFE” on the line with the 911 operator.

2. “If it’s so dark you can’t see the target, you shouldn’t be shooting.”
You’re an idiot if you believe this. THAT IS THE WHOLE POINT OF HAVING LIGHTS, to make it less dark. Also because 200 lumens in the eyes of Johnny Scumbag might actually make him reconsider some life choices, and maybe you won’t have to drill him. Later we can have the discussion about weapon mounted lights for searching vs hand-held lights and the various advantages/disadvantages, but seriously, white lights make it a lot easier to hit the thing you’re aiming at because you can see it.

3. “You can just turn a light on”
Okay. So you turn the light on in whatever room you’re in, but Mr. Home Invader is a room with the lights off. Have you ever tried looking into a dark room from a well lit one? You can’t see diddly. Point 200 lumens of justice into that room, and you can see plenty.

The truth is that most of the objections to lights and lasers on HD guns come from two kinds of people: 1) people with mall ninja fantasies about single person house clearing or ambushing a home invader at the top of the stairs and 2) people who’ve never fired a gun in low/no light situations. The first group are just idiots and can generally be ignored, but the second group, well, that can be fixed.

I usually two or three low/no light matches every year. Two are handgun only, and will involve stages in absolutely no light you have to use a hand-held light. Those are the S&W IDPA Nationals and the S&W BUG Championship. I would absolutely love to be able to mount a laser and a light on my gun for those stages, because it would make them much, much easier than using a handheld light. But without the handheld light, they’d be impossible. Those stages are usually no darker than my bedroom at night.

The other match I shoot is the full boat, the Crimson Trace Midnight 3-Gun that I just returned from. This match absolutely reinforces that you need lights and lasers on your gun. Hitting a big, white painted pepper popper is pretty easy during the day, but once the sun goes down? That target becomes a lot more challenging. There are also plenty of other issues associated with low light shooting that you understand when you actually spend time doing it; not the least of which is target ID.

In a match, if you’re shooting a low light array and have a weapon mounted light, that no-shoot you forgot was there doesn’t catch an extra bullet, because when you swing over to shoot at it thinking it’s a legit target, thanks to your WML you realize it’s not a threat, and move on. In real-life that no shoot is your teenage son sneaking back in through the window at 2am. I don’t think that WML should be used for searching, but they can be quite useful in helping you realize that the person in your home at 2am may not be the threat you initially thought they were.

Then there are lasers. Why are lasers important? Well, quite simply lasers allow you to do 2 very cool things: keep your eyes on the threat and make hits from awkward firing positions. With a laser (or a red dot optic) your visual focus stays on the threat, not on your front sight. That’s not a bad place for it to be, if we’re being honest with ourselves. You’re more likely to see furtive movements, be able to ID weapons, and of course the laser makes getting a clean hit a lot easier. The second advantage is that you can get those hits from compromised firing positions a lot easier. Need to pull the gun back near your chest? No problem, you’ve got the dot. Weak hand only while protecting a child? You’ve got the dot.

Bottom line: lights and lasers make the entire chore of shooting in low-light a lot easier. If you don’t believe me, try it for yourself some time. There are quite a few low light matches around the country, or you could even try a dry fire run in your own home after dark. And if someone ever tells you that you shouldn’t put a light and a laser on your HD gun? They’re wrong, and they probably like Kel-Tecs or something.

editorial

Toy guns and the four rules

Posted on by Caleb

Thought exercise: Should toy guns be subject to the four rules?

Obviously, this is a question that every gun owning parent will likely have to answer. The reason we’re asking it because there seems to be a hardline group of people who insist that toy guns in the hands of children should be treated exactly like real guns, no pointing them at anyone, etc. To me that seems stupid. I may not be a parent, I can actually remember when I was 8. I knew the difference between a toy gun and a real gun. Even at the tender age of 8 I knew that toy guns were TOYS and couldn’t kill anyone, but I knew that a real gun was 100% not to be screwed around with.

nerf revolver

Now, obviously I can understand not wanting your kid to play with realistic toys like airsoft until they’re older, but most kids will eventually reach an age where they can tell the difference between a toy gun and a real gun. At that juncture, let them play with toy guns and have fun. It’s kind of hard to have a proper nerf gun war if you’re not allowed to point guns at people.

Can you imagine that household? “Here little Timmy, I got you the new NerfBlaster 9000, but you’re only allowed to use it for target practice against your sister’s stuffed animals.” That kid is 100% guaranteed to be a serial killer now, way to repress him.

This post really boils down to opinion, and I’m curious to know what you think. I grew up in the 80s and 90s, we didn’t wear bike helmets everywhere and our parents didn’t hover over our every activity, so maybe my childhood was different. But I have to say, if you insist that your child follow the four rules with toy guns, you’re robbing them of one of the great joys of childhood, which is shooting other children with a toy. And I bet that if you don’t allow them to have toy guns at all, you’re boring. And likely a vegetarian.

editorial

Breathtaking Ignorance

Posted on by Tim

I’ve often used this space to take a dig at mainstream media types who report on gun issues and use of force related issues. I don’t make fun of them simply for sport. I think it is crucial that we take the time to document and catalogue the breathtaking ignorance that the media often displays on even the simplest matters related to firearms because it helps to show that they are not, in fact, smarter or more enlightened than everyone else. Media types often love to portray themselves as such and honestly believe it because they’re usually in a room with other people who went to all the “right” schools and hold all the “right opinions”. In these comfortable dens of groupthink they are rarely troubled by discordant information.

The events in Missouri give yet another example of the depth of ignorance you can find in most of the media: mediadumdumsYes, ladies and gentleman…that’s a reporter who doesn’t know the difference between rubber bullets and foam earplugs. It’s highly likely this reporter has never done anything that would actually have required him to use foam earplugs…and that’s the point. The smartly dressed people you see on television who present themselves as intelligent professionals discussing matters of great import are often people who have such laughably little knowledge and practical experience with the topic they are “covering” it crosses the line from funny to almost painful.

Human beings are limited creatures. We only have so much time and so many resources that can be invested into learning about various subjects. To achieve anything approaching real mastery of a field of study that touches on the lives of billions usually requires a lifetime of study and research. A top neurologist is the result of a lifetime of study, research, and practical experience in the field. He/she has such depth in this field of knowledge that to effectively communicate to others they have to dramatically simplify concepts they spent years learning just so that the audience has a hope of grasping the point. It’s impressive…but outside of that field of expertise even the top level neurologist quickly finds themselves out of their depth in a discussion of, say, mechanical engineering best practices. Or forestry harvest limits.

I assure you that the typical journalist has nowhere near the level of learning you find in a top neurologist. In any field. They are very quickly out of their depth on practically any topic that the news covers ranging from a bridge collapse to, as in this case, a riot. I’d be out of my depth attempting to cover the intricacies of a mechanical engineering disaster, too…but I also don’t appear on television asking who is to blame or pushing policy proposals that I claim will fix the problem. You don’t often see that reticence in the national media.

In the aftermath of Newtown on MSNBC’s morning show Emily Miller managed to make most of the panel look pretty foolish…and with no disrespect intended toward Ms. Miller, she has barely dipped her big toe in the water of guns and firearms policy. If we put somebody like Tam on that panel she’d have had the Morning Joe crew in the corner sucking their thumbs. It would be like watching a turkey shoot because the people in the tailored suits and too-deliberately-nerdy square glasses don’t have the faintest idea what in blue hell they are talking about. Through hubris they assume that having gone to the “right” schools, learned all the “right” opinions, and hanging out with all the “right” people that they have all the knowledge they will ever need, especially when it comes to guns. The dearth of relevant knowledge is so bad that somebody who knows which end of the tube the bullet comes out of can pretty much own the conversation because they are so obviously better informed.

Use examples of this ignorance on your social media outlets. Engage in the conversations about these issues bringing these things to the table. You will never reform most of the media figures, but you can nicely demonstrate to the reasonable people out there who are inclined to believe the people with the manufactured smiles on TV that their sources for news are really just a gaping maw of limitless ignorance. Institutions (and individuals) who can’t tell the difference between bullets and earplugs, or who don’t know what a barrel shroud is, should be treated with healthy skepticism…not believed as if they were dispensing the Gospel.

editorial

The line between preparedness and paranoia

Posted on by Tim

It recently came to the attention of some folks I was working with that I made a habit of keeping a first aid kit in the backpack I usually carry with me. They thought that this was a strange practice. One even went so far as to ask if it wasn’t a bit paranoid to carry a first aid kit wherever you go. I’d imagine a sizeable chunk of the population would agree with that sentiment seeing as how the vast majority of them get through the average day without needing a first aid kit. Not even ten minutes after someone questioned the level of paranoia necessary to keep a first aid kit handy another someone managed to slice themselves open. At the moment when the dismissive individuals were faced with someone bleeding and teetering on the edge of going unconscious due to being panicked at the sight of their own blood, they stared in (mostly) mute helplessness. It was left to the “paranoid” guy to open up the med kit no one else had the foresight to bring or apparently inclination to use, glove up, and apply some gauze to stop the bleeding.

It wasn’t a life threatening injury…and thank heavens for that. The people who thought I was a bit touched in the head weren’t much help in the situation. Even in this very minor event with only a little bit of blood spilled (by my standards, anyway) they seemed incapable of following the clearest of directions or performing a simple action they had performed many times in the past like starting a car so we could get the victim somewhere they could receive proper care. I don’t really want to know what it would be like to try and manage them in a situation where the bleeding was serious and someone’s life was at stake.

The line between paranoia and preparedness is usually drawn by experience...
The line between paranoia and preparedness is usually drawn by experience…

Most don’t like to dwell on the more unpleasant possibilities of life and I totally understand that. I don’t spend my free time contemplating doom, either…but when something like this happens you get the feeling that some have never contemplated even the possibility that something bad will happen. And sometimes they’re pretty smug about it.

We see this frequently in the discussion of firearms policy. Those who campaign for more gun control often react as if anyone who believes that they might need to defend themselves is either a lunatic or eager vigilante hoping to kill somebody and get away with it. They seem to hold particular scorn for those who keep weapons or supplies on hand in case of a breakdown in social order because that sort of thing never happens.

You’d have to be some sort of tin-foil wearing, paranoid lunatic to think that social order is going to break down in, say, St. Louis. It’s Missouri, for crying out loud. Not Mosul. Oh…wait. Well, it’s not like there’s ever been social unrest in the aftermath of a police use of force before, right?

It’s ridiculous and indicative of a warped mind to have a gun or a first aid kit handy right up until the point when somebody is bleeding or there’s a mob setting the neighborhood on fire. Not long after we started hanging out, Todd told me about someone who worked with his wife who regarded private ownership of firearms to be an absolute evil. On 9/11 when the whole country seemed to be under attack and with rumors that every federal building in DC had been blown up, this person sought refuge with Todd because…Todd had guns.

Those who will make fun of you for taking some sort of responsibility for what happens in this world will, without even the slightest hesitation, try to squeeze themselves under the protective umbrella of your good judgment when things go badly. When the danger is over, they’ll return to contempt without any sense of irony or ability to even recognize the folly of it. Some people will still think I have some sort of psychological defect because I have a med kit handy. It doesn’t matter that when someone was bleeding I was the only guy on scene who had a plan or any capability to do something useful…I’ll still be a nut to a chunk of them.

I’m going to continue carrying my first aid kit, though. The sort of people who dismiss the bits of real life which inconveniently intrude on their opinions aren’t ever going to see the light…but there are a lot of people out there who agree with the anointed ones only because they haven’t really considered the question for themselves yet. When they feel the hot breath of real life on their necks, perspectives change. Which might be why gun sales in St. Louis have quadrupled in the last few days and why I’m suddenly getting questions about what sort of stuff should be readily available for dealing with the sort of problem I fixed the other day. Some people, it seems, can learn.

Don’t let the inexperienced, the feckless, or the willfully stupid draw the line that separates preparedness and paranoia in your mind. Those people, after all, will not help you when things go wrong. If things do indeed go wrong, you’ll find their opinion offers little comfort when someone is bleeding and stuff is on fire.

 

 

 

news

Smith & Wesson® Expands M&P® Series with New M&P®22 Compact Pistol

Posted on by Caleb

GunUp the Magazine will have an exclusive first look at the M&P22 Compact in the September issue, available August 20th on iPad, iPhone and Android. Visit the App Store to download and subscribe or Google Play for Android.

image

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (August 12, 2014) — Smith & Wesson Corp. announced today that it has added a new model to the company’s flagship line of M&P® polymer pistols with the introduction of the M&P22 Compact. Engineered to professional standards, the new tactical rimfire pistol incorporates a variety of features inherent to the design of the full size M&P centerfire pistol in a new, smaller scale version. Manufactured entirely in the United States by Smith & Wesson, the .22 LR pistol provides shooting enthusiasts with M&P accuracy and reliability in a new fun-to-shoot, compact profile. To round out the shooting experience, from now through December 31, 2014, Smith & Wesson will ship 222 rounds of Winchester .22LR ammunition to each M&P22 Compact consumer who redeems the promotional coupon.

M&P22 Compact

James Debney, President and CEO of Smith & Wesson, said, “The new M&P22 Compact gives consumers the opportunity to own and experience a unique tactical sporting pistol engineered with premium features that have made the M&P line of handguns a leading standard in the shooting sports. Target shooters, recreational shooting enthusiasts or anyone looking to add more excitement to their shooting experience can now enjoy a compact .22 LR semi-automatic pistol with all the adaptability and versatility that are synonymous with the M&P brand.”

Designed to be 15% smaller than the full-size M&P 9/40, the new M&P22 Compact is lightweight, comfortable in the hand and conveniently carried. Like its centerfire sibling, the M&P22 Compact accommodates the needs of both left and right-handed shooters with its ambidextrous manual safety and reversible magazine release. Its Picatinny-style accessory rail underneath the barrel easily accommodates after-market lights and laser sights when using in various light conditions and sporting activities. This pistol is suppressor friendly and is standard with a 3/8 inch x 24 threaded barrel with muzzle cap for easy accessorizing. Shooters of all experience levels will appreciate the crisp, 5.8-pound trigger pull with reset which makes shooting the M&P22 Compact easy and fun.

The M&P22 Compact began shipping to select partners in mid-July and is available now for immediate shipment to dealers. In addition, a variety of high quality accessories are immediately available from the industry’s top holster, laser and after-market sight manufacturers. Buyers can instantly personalize their M&P22 Compact with high quality accessories from companies including Crimson Trace®, DeSantis®, Laserlyte®, LaserMax®, Streamlight®, Triple K®, and UM Tactical®.

The M&P22 Compact has an MSRP of $389 and ships complete with two 10-round capacity magazines.

For more information on the new M&P22 Compact and its accessories, visit www.smith-wesson.com/mp22compact or http://www.youtube.com/user/SmithWessonCorp for exciting new videos on all of the latest products.

M&P22 Compact Specifications:
Barrel Length: 3.56″
Overall Length: 6.65″
Overall Width: 1.48″
Weight: 15.3 oz.
Barrel Material: Carbon Steel
Slide Material: Aluminum Alloy
Frame Material: Polymer
Front Sight: White Dot
Rear Sight: White 2-Dot – Screw Adjustable for Windage & Elevation
Capacity: 10+1

About Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (NASDAQ Global Select: SWHC) is a U.S.-based leader in firearm manufacturing and design, delivering a broad portfolio of quality firearms, related products and training to the consumer, law enforcement, and military markets. The company’s brands include Smith & Wesson®, M&P® and Thompson/Center Arms™. Smith & Wesson facilities are located in Massachusetts and Maine. For more information on Smith & Wesson, call (800) 331-0852 or log on to www.smith-wesson.com.

3 Gun

I see now why 3-gunners like to drive

Posted on by Caleb

We shipped our ammo to M3GI. We’re sharing a shotgun. But we still have so much stuff that it’s ridiculous. There’s an entire suitcase that has nothing in it but our soft gun cases that we’ll be using on the range. Plus clothes for a week, all the guns, lights, and lasers.

It’s just so much stuff. That’s something that people forget about the cost of shooting, because when you do this enough, the guns aren’t the expensive bit anymore. It’s all the other stuff, obviously the ammo, but all the accessories. Rifle mags, shotgun shell caddies, holsters, belts, tools for maintaining your guns, range bags, carts, and it goes on and on. Interestingly, that amount of logistics required is why I enjoy being able to drive to Bianchi Cup, and that’s just a pistol match.

I couldn’t imagine flying to multiple 3gun matches each year and having to tote all this gear around. I get annoyed with two pistols and enough ammo for a USPSA match. I really hate having to travel heavy, and I tend to attempt to only pack the essential necessary. Of course, the essentials for a 3gun match are pretty considerable.

However, if you’re only going to shoot one 3gun match each year, this would be the one I’d pick. Crimson Trace puts on a great match, the stages aren’t overly complicated or tricky, they’re just fairly straightforward shooting challenges. They don’t need to be complicated and tricky, because it’s dark out and you’re using lights and lasers to do everything anyway.

But seriously, how do you dedicated 3gunners put up with having all this junk, all this junk up in your trunk?