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.
Tag: training
Firearms for the physically disabled
Posted by – May 8, 2009
Since this stirred up enough controversy amongst the advocates for the disabled I figured I would address some of these issues in a separate post.
The wrong gun. There are guns that are just wrong for some people. If you are smaller and/or weaker than a lot of larger guns are going to give you problems. A gun that doesn’t fit your hand and doesn’t let you reach the trigger properly isn’t going to work for you. If you can’t rack the slide then you have the wrong gun. All firearms require a certain amount of strength and dexterity to operate, and some require more than others.
Exchanging the problem. If the starting place is having the wrong gun, the next step is to start making modifications. A lighter recoil spring will make the gun easier to rack, but the gun won’t function as reliably. Adding some external lever or handle might make it easier to manipulate, but it will make it harder to carry and more prone to malfunction (should the lever get hung up on anything.) This isn’t an apparent liability if all you do is square range target shooting.
Shooting is only part of the process. Getting the gun ready to shoot isn’t the whole equation. You still have to keep the gun running. Clearing malfunctions and reloading are also important skills. If we discount these operations then we could simply start with an unmodified gun in Condition One (loaded chamber, loaded magazine, and all safeties engaged) and hope for the best. There are also a complete set of techniques for one handed manipulation of a semi-auto handgun that work if you have the necessary strength and dexterity to accomplish them.
Consider a revolver. Depending on the existing limitations a revolver might be the answer, since there is no slide to rack, basic malfunction clearances are simple, but reloading can require a bit of dexterity. The trigger pull on a double action revolver is going to require more strength than most semi-autos.
Get a gun and… hope.
Posted by – February 28, 2009
No sooner do I write this post and then I read this: My New Gun. This is precisely what I was talking about. Being afraid and having a gun is better than being afraid and not having one, but it’s not that much better.
The noise in the indoor range was frightening, even though I was wearing the same ear protectors as construction workers using jackhammers. But more unnerving were the other shooters. The man in the adjacent booth had set his target at 15 feet and was firing with a coolness and precision that chilled me.
This is not the mindset that is going to keep you alive when you need your gun for self-defense. This article represents the gun-as-talisman thinking, the author believes that clutching a gun when alone in the dark will banish the bogey-man.
Then finally I picked out a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum, “the gun I started with,” the clerk said. I handed him my driver’s license and filled out the paperwork. He left us to run my license number through a criminal-records system called QuickCheck. Two minutes later I was qualified and, between gun and ammo, $762 poorer. The revolver I bought has a black handle and a four-inch stainless-steel barrel. There’s nothing pink about it.
So for a first gun the author has a pistol that will kick like a mule with an 18 pound trigger. This probably won’t matter because I doubt the author is going to be going to the range or getting any training with it. It’s just good luck charm for the nightstand – in a masculine color.
(h/t:Joe)
Get a gun… and
Posted by – February 27, 2009
The common response to some crime incident or self-defense item of news is that somebody should get a gun. I am all in favor of guns, the 2nd Amendment, concealed carry, and the like but it is not “THE” solution.
A handgun solves a subset of self-defense problems: given an identified deadly force threat a handgun will solve that situation at a distance relative to the skill of the operator.
Pure marksmanship increases the maximum distance that the gun can be effective – but not the minimum. Regardless of how good of a shot you are unless you can get your gun into play it will not be a factor in the fight.
If you have a really fast draw stroke then you can reduce the minimum distance, but not down to zero. A half-second draw will optimistically let you engage targets as near as 7 feet, a little outside of conversational distance.
Having all of these gun skills will not make a non-deadly threat solvable with a firearm, and situations can have a way of escalating. The non-deadly problem can turn deadly – but you have manage it well enough to get your firearm into action. Shoot/No-Shoot isn’t real life. “No Shoot” targets can turn into “Shoot” targets in a few quick seconds.
It is easy to pat ourselves on the back after shooting a decent group under controlled conditions and pretend that is “fighting.” We read the little lists of bullet point tactics that are so popular on the internet (heck I have written a few of them) and believe we understand what we need to do to prevent victimizations. I applaud the decision to get a firearm and carry it for protection, but that is not the destination. It is true that in many cases simply producing a firearm will scare off the assailants, but what about the cases where this is not true?
What I am getting at is that all of your mindset, tactics, skills and equipment are the solution to a range of problems. It is easy to envision getting woken up by the intruder who is breaking into the house, it is much harder to contemplate getting woken up by the intruder who is standing at the foot of your bed. Having solutions to the simple scenarios is a step in the right direction, but having a plan for the harder scenarios takes a lot of work.
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