Posted by
Mostly Genius – June 19, 2009
A lot of the gun bloggers are arguing about cheap holsters, SayUncle has a recap so far, but here is my take on it:
- If you need two hands to reopen an re-insert the gun into the holster it is a safety issue. It leads to people sweeping the hand that is trying to keep the holster open, and in some cases shoot their support hand.
- If your holster isn’t fitted for the particular gun (i.e. “Fits most medium size autos”) it isn’t going to do the job of holding the gun securely. If your gun is longer than your holster (improperly fitted) the front sight can hang up on the bottom edge of the holster on the draw.
- Retention snaps wear out and fail. If you are counting on the retention snap to hold the gun in the holster you will be disappointed eventually.
- If your holster attaches to the belt with a spring clip, in many cases it is easier to draw the gun and holster off of the belt than it is to draw the gun. Additionally the clip allows the holster to slide around on the belt.
- A holster made out of Cordura or other fabric can fray with repeated use, and can get caught on any of the guns numerous protrusions (sights, safeties, slide stop, magazine release button, etc.)
- Cheap holsters do not hold up in retention or combatives training. As soon as the wrestling match starts the gun is no longer where you put it.
Cheap holsters are a false economy, since they don’t hold up to real use. My daily carry holster probably cost me $100 about ten years ago it is still going strong, despite countless combatives and retention classes, shooting classes, range sessions, and dry fire drills. I can’t imagine how many $20 holsters I would have burned through in the same period, but I know it would be more than five.
Holsters are not a luxury item. If the holster is part of your personal “survival equipment” then it is not the place to try and save money. Nobody said that firearms was going to be inexpensive. Substitute some dry fire practice for live fire practice, take the savings and buy a sturdy holster and belt.
Posted by
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.
Posted by
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.)
Posted by
Mostly Genius – May 15, 2009
Even the manufacturer thinks this is a stupid idea:
This grip is intended to be used on long weapons.
When mounted on a glock or any other Polymer handgun, there is a risk that the grip will slide off during shooting – because of the flexibility of the handgun’s rail, so please do not mount the grip on a handgun!.
Is it just me, or does the photo not illustrate the folding fore grip on a pistol? Farther down the page I find:
• Designed mount on most handguns
I know that I don’t want to run my handgun with a hand in front of the trigger guard and I also know that I don’t want to fill out more ATF paperwork to do so (the manufacturer makes it clear that you need the paperwork to legally attach this to a handgun.)
I am guessing these guys really need to make a set of sling swivels for the Glock, so that once you have attached too much garbage to holster it you still have a way of carrying it around.
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