Apathy is defined as the absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement. It is also a lack of interest or concern.
Are you apathetic to the point of being a detriment to your own health? Think about this in terms of gun training. You grew up hunting and of course know the basics of firearm safety. You go to the range somewhat regularly and plink with your pistols, shotguns, and rifles. You felt your rights slipping away and decided you had better get your concealed carry permit before Obama takes away all the guns. You might have even gone as far as taking a basic NRA safety course...
Now in the world of recreational firearms ownership, all this is acceptable, and well within your rights, but in the real world of defensive shooting, all that doesn't mean jack! Oh wait, you were in the Navy 40 years ago, and had to qualify yearly with a pistol? Well that really means something. Surely now I would have to agree that you are prepared to carry a pistol in defense of yourself and others...
WAKE UP! Please, for the love of your family, your country, and your fellow man; get more training!
"Ok mister know it all, how do you define quality training?" Well I'm glad you asked! Here's a short list of things to look for when choosing a class and an instructor.
1. The instructor must be a decent communicator. If you leave a class saying, "well that was good information, but man that guy really needs to learn how to teach" then you probably got what you paid for. Maybe less.
2. Look for curriculum that fits your reality. If the other men in the class have long beards, contractor caps, and tattoos, and they are talking about infil, exfil, and principle protection, you might be in the wrong class...
3. I'm saying this as an NRA instructor: the only NRA classes worth your time and money are Personal Protection Inside/Outside the Home. And these are potentially worthless based on #1 above.
4. If an instructor uses the term "zombie apocalypse" in a way that makes you believe that he really thinks it could happen... turn and run! Fast.
5. The Quality Instructor will talk about ambush, bio-mechanics, physiology, point or intuitive shooting, the balance of speed and precision, understanding operational environment, use of cover, fighting in and around vehicles, drawing and presenting a pistol from concealment, proper grip, stances other than the weaver, lateral movement, the OODA loop, combat reloads, weapon retention, Hicks law, and combat accuracy. These are just the topics off the top of my head. There is way more to carrying a concealed handgun for personal defense than most people realize. So get more training- you never know when the zombies will attack! ;)
In Summary: get quality training or you are apathetic. If you are apathetic toward training you will die quickly. "You will never rise to your best intentions. You will fall to your level of training." (Archilochus, Greek Soldier)
Friday, January 31, 2014
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Mindset
Paranoid. Obsessive. Overkill. Fear Monger. Pessimist. "Oh, you're one of those..."
Are any of the following true for you?
It's unfortunate that what some people call crazy is just good common sense.
Of course to people like us it's simply a survival/combat MINDSET.
Are any of the following true for you?
- you own multiple firearms of the same type (more than one handgun, rifle, or shotgun.)
- you stage firearms or weapons of any kind around your home for personal defense
- you train often in the deployment and use of the weapons you own
- you wouldn't be caught dead outside your home without atleast one firearm, knife, and flashlight
- you are wary of drivers that appear to be following you
- you walk wide around corners so as not be ambushed
- you cross to the other side of the street when you see a group of young men loitering in front of you
- your head is constantly on a swivel, taking in your surroundings
- you have an emergency evacuation plan in place for your family
- your vehicle contains items you would need to defend yourself and survive
- you have an emergency supply of food and water
- you have planned escape routes out of your neighborhood and city
- you frequently communicate with a network of people that think like you do
- you feel your local and especially your national government has too much power
It's unfortunate that what some people call crazy is just good common sense.
Of course to people like us it's simply a survival/combat MINDSET.
Monday, September 23, 2013
Face it, you need more training!
Personal defense with a pistol, in an ambush situation, is very skill intensive. There is a good reason that well trained police officers get great shooting scores on their qualification tests and then their hit percentage falls to below 50% when they get into real life critical incident shootings!
It is a piece of cake to hit a target that isn't moving, isn't attacking you, and isn't stressing you out. Most of us "train" with a pistol on a square range that requires us to stand somewhere between 15 and 25 yards away from the stationary target. We are under no stress, and have all the time in the world to line up our sights and make the perfect center mass shot. I'm here to tell you that the 50 rounds of ammo you shoot each month in this capacity is not training you to defend yourself under stress in the event of a critical incident ambush fight for your life!
The ability to draw fast and shoot fast do not equal solid tactics. These are not even skills. Literally any able bodied person with a brain can yank a pistol out of a holster, point it downrange and, slap the trigger repeatedly.
Skill and tactical training comes into play when you find yourself alone in a dark parking garage suddenly "surrounded" by multiple armed bandits who have no concern for your safety. You have to understand the situation you're in, quickly discern your options, be comfortable with the risks and the consequences of your choices, and then perform the skills in a way that maximizes your chance to survive while simultaneously ensuring the bandits are stopped and no innocent bystanders are harmed.
Be honest, can you say for sure that your 4-8 hour concealed carry course has prepared you for this kind of situation? Of course the answer is no, but most will say something like this: "I understand my course didn't teach me any tactical skills, but I have shot pistols plenty. I can hit what I'm aiming at." If you answered similarly, you will most likely die in a pool of your own blood. Period.
Don't become a statistic. Please get more training now!
It is a piece of cake to hit a target that isn't moving, isn't attacking you, and isn't stressing you out. Most of us "train" with a pistol on a square range that requires us to stand somewhere between 15 and 25 yards away from the stationary target. We are under no stress, and have all the time in the world to line up our sights and make the perfect center mass shot. I'm here to tell you that the 50 rounds of ammo you shoot each month in this capacity is not training you to defend yourself under stress in the event of a critical incident ambush fight for your life!
The ability to draw fast and shoot fast do not equal solid tactics. These are not even skills. Literally any able bodied person with a brain can yank a pistol out of a holster, point it downrange and, slap the trigger repeatedly.
Skill and tactical training comes into play when you find yourself alone in a dark parking garage suddenly "surrounded" by multiple armed bandits who have no concern for your safety. You have to understand the situation you're in, quickly discern your options, be comfortable with the risks and the consequences of your choices, and then perform the skills in a way that maximizes your chance to survive while simultaneously ensuring the bandits are stopped and no innocent bystanders are harmed.
Be honest, can you say for sure that your 4-8 hour concealed carry course has prepared you for this kind of situation? Of course the answer is no, but most will say something like this: "I understand my course didn't teach me any tactical skills, but I have shot pistols plenty. I can hit what I'm aiming at." If you answered similarly, you will most likely die in a pool of your own blood. Period.
Don't become a statistic. Please get more training now!
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Elitist Jerk!
Everyone is an expert. And everyone has an attitude.
This is what I see and hear when I go into gun shops these days. The sales person loves to give you their opinion which is usually based on their internet experience instead of their real world experience.
I would love for these people to go out and get some real professional training in the firearms realm so that they can give sound advice and information based on data and science rather than opinion.
"Don't dryfire the guns, it damages the firing pins." (nope)
"If you want stopping power, you want a .45 acp." (9mm has near identical ballistics)
"I can put 10 shots in the 10 ring at 25 yards, so trust me, you should buy a colt python for self defense." (really? so this static skill somehow prepares you to deal with a high speed dynamic critical incident using the wrong kind of gun? #notallrevolvers)
"Just buy whatever pistol feels best in your hand." After choosing the colt magnum - Ok, umm, how do I conceal this? "Well sir, we have these great fanny packs..." (No. #facepalm)
You get the idea. These kinds of things happen every day in gunshops. And it's probably the reason that liberals fear guns so much. If that's the kind of people that are selling guns and accessories then I'm fearful too! I mean just because you know the entire history and every make and model of Colt firearm does not mean you are qualified to teach others about choosing and using modern pistols for self defense!
There is a science to this stuff people! Long ago when everyone had six shooters and rode horses there was just one answer to the problem of self defense with a handgun. Now there are quite a few more. And they require massive amounts of training when it comes to dynamic, stressful, life and death ambush situations.
Times have changed. You can't just quote the 2nd Amendment and expect that to be a good enough reason for the responsibility of carrying a concealed handgun in public for self defense. That's part of the law portion of your responsibility, but when are you going to start caring about the training and conditioning portion of your firearm responsibility?
And gunstore salesmen: please stop being ignorant!
This is what I see and hear when I go into gun shops these days. The sales person loves to give you their opinion which is usually based on their internet experience instead of their real world experience.
I would love for these people to go out and get some real professional training in the firearms realm so that they can give sound advice and information based on data and science rather than opinion.
"Don't dryfire the guns, it damages the firing pins." (nope)
"If you want stopping power, you want a .45 acp." (9mm has near identical ballistics)
"I can put 10 shots in the 10 ring at 25 yards, so trust me, you should buy a colt python for self defense." (really? so this static skill somehow prepares you to deal with a high speed dynamic critical incident using the wrong kind of gun? #notallrevolvers)
"Just buy whatever pistol feels best in your hand." After choosing the colt magnum - Ok, umm, how do I conceal this? "Well sir, we have these great fanny packs..." (No. #facepalm)
You get the idea. These kinds of things happen every day in gunshops. And it's probably the reason that liberals fear guns so much. If that's the kind of people that are selling guns and accessories then I'm fearful too! I mean just because you know the entire history and every make and model of Colt firearm does not mean you are qualified to teach others about choosing and using modern pistols for self defense!
There is a science to this stuff people! Long ago when everyone had six shooters and rode horses there was just one answer to the problem of self defense with a handgun. Now there are quite a few more. And they require massive amounts of training when it comes to dynamic, stressful, life and death ambush situations.
Times have changed. You can't just quote the 2nd Amendment and expect that to be a good enough reason for the responsibility of carrying a concealed handgun in public for self defense. That's part of the law portion of your responsibility, but when are you going to start caring about the training and conditioning portion of your firearm responsibility?
And gunstore salesmen: please stop being ignorant!
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Combat Accuracy vs. Precision
Combat accuracy vs. precision.
Let's try to use these terms properly in relation to our defensive firearms training shall we? There is nothing precise about a pistol. Is it possible to put every round you fire into the same hole with a pistol? Yes, but it would require a bench rest and time, or it would require a target that is extremely close to the shooter and the target would have to be stationary. The shooter will have none of these on his side when faced with a dynamic critical incident. (perhaps the distance, but under stress a precision shot like we're talking about is nearly impossible) This being generally a truth about shootings, we should all agree to use the term combat accuracy when it comes to using pistols for self defense.
Taking the definition of combat accuracy at face value, I can quickly deduce that a shot to the foot might significantly effect the targets ability to hurt me. And an additional shot to the shoulder might completely end the fray. What kind of "group" is that? It's like a 5ft. group! That's horrible precision, unless of course you were aiming at those exact pores in the bandit's skin. Taking the definition of combat accuracy literally means that even a missed shot could be considered combat accurate right? Understanding this difference is a key factor in understanding defensive pistol training period.
Much of what we do at 2A Training Group flows from the idea that precision is almost never important in the vast majority of critical incident shootings. What is important however is finding your personal balance between speed and accuracy. If it takes 8 shots to significantly effect the targets ability to stay in the fight, then I want those 8 shots to take about 2.95 seconds. If what I need is a precise head shot, then I better hope that distance, time, lack of stress, and a supported pistol are all on my side. Otherwise I could lose the fight in a hurry.
Now to ward off critics let me say that I am not promoting a "pray and spray" mentality. There is a time for precise shots, but in the realms of defensive pistol shooting they are so few and far between that I question whether it's worth the cost of ammunition to practice the skill. Please remember, I'm talking specifically about training for deadly encounters. If you want to go to the range with 50 rounds of ammo and spend 2 hours practicing head shots at 25 yards then have at it. Shooting is lots of fun after all. But please don't think for a second that it translates into beneficial close quarters, high stress, bad guy neutralization skills!
Thanks!
- Precision when it comes to firearms can be defined as: making a bullet impact at the exact spot you are aiming.
- Combat accuracy is defined as: "any shot that significantly effects the targets ability to present a lethal threat." (Rob Pincus)
Let's try to use these terms properly in relation to our defensive firearms training shall we? There is nothing precise about a pistol. Is it possible to put every round you fire into the same hole with a pistol? Yes, but it would require a bench rest and time, or it would require a target that is extremely close to the shooter and the target would have to be stationary. The shooter will have none of these on his side when faced with a dynamic critical incident. (perhaps the distance, but under stress a precision shot like we're talking about is nearly impossible) This being generally a truth about shootings, we should all agree to use the term combat accuracy when it comes to using pistols for self defense.
Taking the definition of combat accuracy at face value, I can quickly deduce that a shot to the foot might significantly effect the targets ability to hurt me. And an additional shot to the shoulder might completely end the fray. What kind of "group" is that? It's like a 5ft. group! That's horrible precision, unless of course you were aiming at those exact pores in the bandit's skin. Taking the definition of combat accuracy literally means that even a missed shot could be considered combat accurate right? Understanding this difference is a key factor in understanding defensive pistol training period.
Much of what we do at 2A Training Group flows from the idea that precision is almost never important in the vast majority of critical incident shootings. What is important however is finding your personal balance between speed and accuracy. If it takes 8 shots to significantly effect the targets ability to stay in the fight, then I want those 8 shots to take about 2.95 seconds. If what I need is a precise head shot, then I better hope that distance, time, lack of stress, and a supported pistol are all on my side. Otherwise I could lose the fight in a hurry.
Now to ward off critics let me say that I am not promoting a "pray and spray" mentality. There is a time for precise shots, but in the realms of defensive pistol shooting they are so few and far between that I question whether it's worth the cost of ammunition to practice the skill. Please remember, I'm talking specifically about training for deadly encounters. If you want to go to the range with 50 rounds of ammo and spend 2 hours practicing head shots at 25 yards then have at it. Shooting is lots of fun after all. But please don't think for a second that it translates into beneficial close quarters, high stress, bad guy neutralization skills!
Thanks!
Friday, August 9, 2013
Why I recommend 9mm
What caliber do you recommend for concealed carry?
Short answer - 9mm. Let me explain.
First we need to agree that 9mm, .40cal, and .45cal are the most common defensive calibers. Ammunition sales points toward this as evidence.
Also we have to somewhat agree that defensive pistols are not designed to be precision tools. (That's why we have rifles) At the distances that most shootings happen, which is inside of 7 yards, we don't need precision out of a handgun. Accuracy is a different thing and can be attained by any caliber at that range.
Now some quick facts before we talk ballistics.
1. A modern defensive pistol chambered in 9mm will always carry more bullets than a similar gun chambered in .45 auto.
2. Recoil and follow up shots are important. 9mm kicks less than a .40 or a .45 making follow up shots faster and potentially more accurate.
3. Stopping power is a function of ballistics mainly, which we will discuss. But don't be the overly proud person who thinks that in the heat of battle, under massive stress, you will be able to make the precision shots you can on the range while using a bench rest.
Now on to ballistics: do your own research, but make sure you are looking at hollow point defensive rounds and you will quickly notice that pounds of pressure transferred to the target, depth of penetration, and size of wound channel are almost identical between 9mm and .45 cal. With this in mind, here's my summary:
Choose a 9mm because in general they are lighter, faster, hold more bullets, recoil less, and do the same amount of damage as a .45 with less energy spent. Which also makes them more efficient.
Short answer - 9mm. Let me explain.
First we need to agree that 9mm, .40cal, and .45cal are the most common defensive calibers. Ammunition sales points toward this as evidence.
Also we have to somewhat agree that defensive pistols are not designed to be precision tools. (That's why we have rifles) At the distances that most shootings happen, which is inside of 7 yards, we don't need precision out of a handgun. Accuracy is a different thing and can be attained by any caliber at that range.
Now some quick facts before we talk ballistics.
1. A modern defensive pistol chambered in 9mm will always carry more bullets than a similar gun chambered in .45 auto.
2. Recoil and follow up shots are important. 9mm kicks less than a .40 or a .45 making follow up shots faster and potentially more accurate.
3. Stopping power is a function of ballistics mainly, which we will discuss. But don't be the overly proud person who thinks that in the heat of battle, under massive stress, you will be able to make the precision shots you can on the range while using a bench rest.
Now on to ballistics: do your own research, but make sure you are looking at hollow point defensive rounds and you will quickly notice that pounds of pressure transferred to the target, depth of penetration, and size of wound channel are almost identical between 9mm and .45 cal. With this in mind, here's my summary:
Choose a 9mm because in general they are lighter, faster, hold more bullets, recoil less, and do the same amount of damage as a .45 with less energy spent. Which also makes them more efficient.
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