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Mostly Genius – June 16, 2009
Named for John Farnam, this is probably the best general purpose defensive shooting drill that I have seen. This is a good benchmark for measuring your shooting performance and progress. You will need some inert/dummy cartridges, at least two magazines, and a shot timer. The total round count for this drills is eight live rounds and one dummy round. The setup is as follows.
In the Gun:
- 1 live round in the chamber.
- 5 live rounds in the magazine. (Some sources say 4 live rounds.)
- 1 dummy round in the magazine. (Not the first or last round.
In the Reload:
- At least three live rounds.
The drill is shot as follows:
- On the buzzer draw and start shooting.
- Perform immediate action when you encounter a malfunction.
- Speed reload when you reach slide lock
- Shoot twice more.
If you followed the directions correctly you will end up with two empty magazines (one on the ground, one in the gun) and one live round in the chamber.
The “standard” is shooting a 8.5″x11″ sheet of paper at 8 meters with a disqualification for a miss. Farnam expects his students to complete this in 18.25 seconds and his instructors to complete it in 12 seconds.
Now for the “modified” part of the drill:
- Add one second to your total time for each miss. This allows you to capture your progress. It’s not perfect but it is kind of helpful to see improvements.
- Change the distance. Both closer and farther away.
- Reduce the size of the target.
- Add a step of movement on the draw, immediate action, and reload.
- Add verbal commands throughout the drill.
The people that seem to have the best success at this drill are the ones with the most efficient gun handling. Being able to quickly and precisely clear the malfunction and speed reload will give you more time to get your hits.
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Mostly Genius – June 12, 2009
Normally I am pretty “old school” when it comes to my physical conditioning training, but I have a sudden need to get back into shape in a hurry and I am pulling out all the stops. I bought one of these on the recommendation of one my marathon runner friends.
This device lets you build workouts around distance, speed, or heart rate. It will automatically transfer workouts you design on your computer to the watch, and the results of the workout from the watch back to your computer. The GPS will map the route that you travelled and keep track of changes in elevation. Garmin even has a website where you can post your results. Normally I would say that I didn’t need this level of optimization in my workouts but I am seeing bigger gains in less time than the last time I had to push to get back into shape. It isn’t going to do much for your weight training, but for any kind of running, walking, hiking, or biking exercise this does a very good job of allowing to set goals and rate your progress.
As a watch it kind of sucks: It has about eight hours of GPS functionality and a couple of days of “stand by” (normal watch) mode so this is basically going to sit on the charger when you aren’t working out. Be sure to get the heart rate monitor strap as well. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal but it has really improved my performance.
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Mostly Genius – June 11, 2009
Stuff from Hsoi posted an excellent link to the archives of the American Tactical Shooting Association. This is the same group that runs the National Tactical Invitational, a one-of-a-kind event that draws some of the top trainers and practitioners in country. The archives contain a number of good articles and training scenarios.
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Mostly Genius – June 5, 2009
Rustmeister has a clever business card to be dropped off at restaurants in Tennessee sporting the “No Guns” signs. I think this is a great idea. Going one step further: make several designs with or without links to firearms organizations. If a business owner gets ten identical cards he will assume he is being spammed by a small number of people. If he gets ten different cards it might make him realize the amount of business he is missing out on.
I live in a state where you are allowed to carry your concealed firearm into restaurants that serve alcohol and you are allowed to drink. You are prohibited from carrying a firearm into any areas of the restaurant (such as the bar) that are off limits to people under 21. Strangely this doesn’t seem to generate any sort of “wild-west” behavior. The nightclub shootings seem to center around areas of high gang and drug activity (to include “underage” dance clubs.)
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