Tactical Talk

I shot the IDPA Classifier earlier today. It was a lot of fun. We had 27 shooters and the club set up the entire classifier on three different ranges. I was on the range we affectionately called the Pit. Because of the high walls and lack of shade, in August we also call it the Damn Oven. We're all set-up and ready to go. All we need are shooters. I was in a good group of shooters. We all wanted to perform with lightning quick deadly accuracy but we also recognized that marksmanship and proficiency with arms is a continuous path that must be walked. There is no resting on your laurels; you are only as good as your last shot. The club called it the first match of the year but in the Pit, we knew the match as rust knocker. We forgot to record times from individual strings, how to score targets, how to add, how to fill out scoresheets and worst of all, how to work the timers. Just push the button! ...

How About Some Pie?

Do you like pie? I know I do. Maybe you even have a favorite pie. But what about tactical pie? Unlike Superman, we can’t look through walls to see if anyone is hiding on the other side of a corner. We need to peek around the corner and see them and their ambush before they see us. This technique is called pieing a corner. What we’re trying to do is to see part of a potential target before they can see us. Unless we’re a smoke ninja, this is remarkably hard. Oh it’s easy enough with paper or steel targets. Doing it with people who shoot back is a real kick in the crotch. There are plenty of websites, videos and bloggers who will help you with this, but you’ll only get the abstract foundations unless you go out and practice it. Let me recommend the blog “The things worth believing in” entries called tactical preschool. Read them all, but for pieing corners, I’d read THIS and THAT first. A...

Basic 16: Safety Rules

Gun safety isn't anything new. I recently saw a cartoon from a 1935 newspaper that addressed the issue. The three major NRA rules are: 1) Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction 2) Always keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot. 3) Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use And the zeroth order rule: All guns are always loaded until you personally check them. These rules were codified by Col. Jeff Cooper in the 1970's. When my wife and I used to teach, she taught the rules in reverse order. 3) Keep your gun unloaded until you need it. But if it's already loaded, 2) Always keep your finger off the trigger until it's time to shoot. But if your finger is on the trigger, what ultimately saves us is, 1) Always keep your gun pointed in a safe direction. The Zeroth order rule is the basis for a safe and functioning gun ...

Range Thoughts

One of the quotes I used to see was attributed to a Japanese Admiral/general/official after their surrender ending WWII was “We never intended to invade America. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass: they hold public marksmanship contests.” Camp Perry National Rifle Match It's open to the public, fill out a form and send your bucks in. It’s often attributed to Yamamoto, but he was killed during the war in 1943. It’s easy to just shrug and say, well it must have been another official with a similar name. The truth is, it’s a made up, feel good quote used to promote CCW. You may have heard the one when prior to WWII a German officer was the guest at a Swiss rifle marksmanship demonstration. The men shot quite well over varying distances. Following the demonstration the German was informed at all 10K members of the army could shoot that well. The German officer asked, “What would you do if I showed up with 20K men?” an...

The Cardboard Whisperer

Stay....Stay.....Easy boy!...

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