For Hunters: Why Pick A 200 Yard Zero Over A 100 Yard Zero

This video shows, using steel targets sized similar to the vitals of a deer, that with a 100 yard zero, you are wasting half of the vital zone. That is, if holding on the center of the vital zone, the strikes at 100 yards or less are basically the middle of the vital zone, and beyond 100 yards or less they fall below the midline until by 200 yards (using his 6.5 Creedmoor) it was hitting at the very bottom of the vital zone. Conversely, with a 200 yard zero--again aiming at the midline of the vital zone--the shots out to 200 yards were above the midline but still in the vital zone, and they you still had additional room beyond 200 yards where it was still striking in the vital zone. Obviously there will be some variance between this and other calibers and rifles, but the principle generally holds true.  

 VIDEO: "Why a 100-Yard Zero Wastes Half Your Vital Zone"
The Break (21 min.)

Gun & Prepping News #94

Some links that may be of interest: 

• "Gun-toting granny chases off shoplifting suspect: ‘I want to shake her hand’"--New York Post. This is more of a cautionary tale. The "granny" apparently saw a shoplifter leave a Ross store in Tucson and decided to confront him with a drawn gun. The shoplifter wasn't impressed and left with his goods. But here is the thing to remember: whether you agree or not, in almost all jurisdictions, you cannot threaten to use or use deadly force to protect property. Thus, as the article mentions:

    Tucson criminal defense attorney Louis Fidel said there are circumstances under which a person can display or use a firearm to prevent certain crimes, but shoplifting isn’t one of them.

    “It really depends on the details, but there is a statute that authorizes people to display or use a firearm to prevent certain crimes,” Fidel told KOLD News 13. “Shoplifting is not one of those crimes.”

    Fidel warned that pointing a firearm during the confrontation could potentially result in an aggravated-assault charge involving a deadly weapon.

The article mentions that no arrests have been made and the Tucson police are still investigating the incident. The police aren't going to care about the shoplifter but they will care about an aggravated assault with a firearm, so undoubtedly the one they are going to try and nab is the elderly woman.

• "CMP to Sell 100K Military M14 Rifles: What We Know"--Rifle Shooter Magazine. So now we know that there will be a not-insignificant number of these rifles, the price will be "under $2,000" and they will be sold as they are checked and converted to semi-auto only. 
• "Is the Beretta 92 Still Relevant?"--Shooting Times. Most of the article is about the history and features of this iconic firearm. But the article eventually answers the question posed in the title about why it is still relevant:

The fixed barrel on the 92 offers inherent accuracy and makes it a smooth cycling, soft shooter. The magazine design is one of the best ever conceived. It takes to a suppressor well. The 92’s reputation was earned serving law enforcement and the military. The pistol is customizable and in a constant state of evolution, adapting to the new shooter needs. The Beretta 92 is and always will be relevant as long as there is a need for a proven, reliable, performance driven pistol.  

Even though they are larger and heavier than what you might want for everyday carry, they make excellent handguns for home defense--the "night stand gun" or something similar.  

• On the subject of home defense pistols: "Home Defense Basics: A Beginner's Guide"--Handguns Magazine. Richard Nance covers firearm selection, ammo, lights, safes (for storage of the firearm) and making a plan. He also provides detailed advice on clearing a house. On the latter point, Nance begins:

If you can’t account for everyone, your job will become far more difficult. Clearing a structure, even one you know as well as you know your own home, is extremely dangerous. But if a loved one is unaccounted for, you won’t have any choice but to make your way to them as quickly and safely as possible. Unfortunately, quickly and safely don’t always go hand in hand.

• "The Mummy's Revolvers: The Story of the French M1873"--Firearms News. A look at the revolver used by the character Rick O'Connell in the 1999 blockbuster The Mummy. The article notes:

Adopted by the French Army in 1873, the Chamelot-Delvigne revolver was France's first standard-issue double-action military revolver. It represented a significant step forward from earlier percussion and pinfire handguns and reflected France's position as one of the world's leading firearms innovators during the 19th century.

• "Tips on Shooting Uphill/Downhill Angles"--Rifle Shooter Magazine. 

    Over the last 40 years I have no idea how many words I’ve written on figuring the correct hold when shooting uphill or downhill. The concept is simple, and I’m sure we all know it: Uphill or down, the effect is the same, and as distance and angle increase, the strike will be higher in relation to your level-ground zero.

[snip]

     There is something else you need to consider as well, and it may be more important. Finding a steady position for uphill/downhill shots is much harder than on level ground.    

The author notes that he normally shoots off a pack, but at steeper angles a bipod helps. He discusses this in more detail.  

• "Carry Confidently: 5 Essential CCW Tips for Women"--Handguns Magazine. Although the article's author obviously intends to focus on women carriers--and there are some tips specific to women--most of the tips and suggestions are useful for men starting out concealed carry or still trying to figure out how it works. The author begins:

    Choosing to carry is not just buying a gun. It is building a system. That is where a lot of women get stuck.

    For years, women were treated like an afterthought: shrink the gun, paint it pink, and call it "for women." That advice is lazy.

    After working with new students, I hear the same question all the time: "I bought a gun... now what?" My answer is usually: now we figure out the setup.

    What works for your body, clothing, and lifestyle? What can you carry consistently? The best setup is not the one that looks good on paper. It is the one you can actually use.

She covers holster selection, how body shape and lifestyle impact your carry setup, making your wardrobe part of your carry system, carry position, and training. 

• "A Precision .22 LR Can Help You Shoot Better. Here’s How You Can Build One on a Budget"--Outdoor Life. 

    Using a 22 as a practice or training rifle provides two big benefits. First, the mild little cartridge that’s propelled by just a pinch of flakey gunpowder has minimal recoil. When we discuss recoil in the context of improving your shooting, we don’t mean it as a measure of how hard it kicks — because it doesn’t. We are talking about sight picture disruption and, while the .22 LR does produce some, it’s very little. The lack of that distraction can help you focus on improving fundamental skills like trigger control, but also gives you valuable practice staying in the scope and spotting impacts — something that will benefit you both in competition and hunting.

    The second big benefit is that the round’s affordability allows lots of real shooting practice, and actual shooting gives you downrange feedback that dry firing can’t. Quality, and I mean quality, .22 LR ammo is pretty expensive, but still cheaper than most centerfire stuff. My rifle shoots affordable ammo, like CCI Standard Velocity, well enough for practice. 

• "Carbine Drill: Fight to Your Feet"--Green Ops. A drill that starts with you laying on your back, then to sitting, then to kneeling, and, finally, to standing. 
• "Guest Post: UHDPE Ballistic Plates"--Blue Collar Prepping. When combined with a layer of ceramic, it can make relatively inexpensive Level IV plates, while being much lighter than steel along. The author adds:

If you can carry the extra weight, I’d also recommend a "training" or "fitness" metal plate (it doesn’t necessarily need to have a ballistic rating) to save your chest the pain of blunt trauma after being shot, and to keep you in the fight since backface deformation (how deformed the side of armor closest to your skin becomes after being struck by a bullet) allows for potentially lethal injuries. ...

• "Be Ready, But Be Careful About Scripting Your EDC Gear Too Tightly"--Shooting Wire. An excerpt:

    For instance, I recently watched a video put out by a large gun rights group where the presenter showed off the contents of his “get home bag.” The purpose of this bag, he said, was to help him get back home no matter what might happen.

    In the bag, he had a half-dozen AR-15 magazines, three smoke grenades and a tactical tomahawk. That’s it. No way of procuring water, nothing to create a shelter, just a bunch extra mags for his truck gun, some smoke grenades for concealment and evasion…and a tomahawk.

    Clearly he had scripted out a scenario in his head where the only dangers he’d face on the way back home would be man-made and not something more mundane like inclement weather. 

• "How Much Rice and Beans Per Person Per Day for Survival"--Modern Survival Blog. The author begins:

Quick Answer: For a basic survival calculation using a 2:1 ratio by dry weight, plan on about 0.8 pound of dry white rice and 0.4 pound of dry beans per person per day. Together, they provide roughly 2,000 calories.

The author provides a table showing the amount per day, for a 30 day period, and for a year for a single person when assuming that this is to provide 100% of your 2,000 calories diet. But there is also an interactive calculator where you can calculate the amounts for more people, for different lengths of time, and the percentage of the diet (e.g., perhaps you anticipate only using the beans and rice for half of your caloric intake). 

• "Vehicle Leak Identification"--Blue Collar Prepping. Some tips on identifying types of leaks and where the leaks are coming from. 
•  "How to Tie a Bowline Knot: The Most Useful Knot to Outdoorsmen"--Outdoor Life. Why learn this knot?

    A bowline can be tied in cord, line, or string of any diameter, though it was designed for use with thicker ropes. It’s a loop knot, and the beauty of it is that it can be tied in seconds. It won’t slip under heavy strain when tied correctly. Even after it’s subjected to high tension, it can easily be undone. The bowline also allows you to create a loop of any size, which makes its applications practically innumerable.

    You may need it to quickly secure your boat to a dock piling or stump when cleats aren’t available. You can use it in a pinch to drag an ATV stuck in the mud out with your truck. You may need it to help pull a buddy out of a ravine after a bad fall. Sound extreme? Of course it does, but the point is that the simple ability to create a loop in a length of rope that you can trust to bear a heavy load is something every outdoorsman should know. With fewer than 10 minutes of practice, you’ll be able to tie a bowline with your eyes closed. 

• "How to Tie a Slip Knot: The Incredibly Simple Knot That Every Outdoorsman Should Know"--Outdoor Life.
• "Learn How to Tie a Square Knot, the Fastest Way to Join Two Lengths of Rope"--Outdoor Life. 

Gun & Preppings News #90

 Some links that may be of interest: 

• "Pistols in America Across 250 Years"--Guns & Ammo. With the quote of the day: "Free men own guns, and there’s perhaps no better symbol than a handgun to distinguish an American from another person living elsewhere in the world."
• "Reducing Violent Crime Isn’t Complicated, You Just Have to Want to Do It"--Shooting News Weekly. The author mentions the general points: "Governments must make crime riskier by increasing arrests and convictions, imposing longer prison sentences, and allowing law-abiding citizens to defend themselves." But he also points out:

Nor is it a coincidence that the record influx of illegal immigrants during the Biden administration coincided with a sharp increase in violent crime. It is equally unsurprising that crime has fallen as deportations have increased. Deportation records show that 70 percent of illegal immigrants deported during the Trump administration had either criminal convictions or pending criminal charges in the United States. Even those who avoid arrest understand that any contact with law enforcement could lead to deportation, giving them a strong incentive to stay off the police’s radar and avoid committing additional crimes.

• "Holding Zero: A Case Study of Your Scope's Nemesis"--Rifleshooter Magazine. The author notes:

The inability to get a rifle sighted in can come from several sources. Your rifle could have a problem. Or it just may not like the loads you’re feeding it. It could—(shocking thought!)—even be you, the shooter, that’s inconsistent. However, scope and scope mounting-system issues are frequently the culprit, and that’s what we’re here to explore in this article. 

And:

    Good bases and rings do hold quality scopes precisely in place. Not just for a while, but as hundreds, even thousands of shots create mini earthquakes.

    However, some scopes just won’t hold zero, and some bases and rings just won’t hold tight. Usually, that’s because they’re either cheap (let’s call it what it is), or they’ve been improperly mounted. Either is extremely frustrating. Both must be resolved before the rifle can perform properly.

    What causes scopes, scope rings, or bases to come loose? There are a variety of possibilities, but the most common ones are recoil—when a scope is mounted improperly—and vibration. As in, vibration in the belly of an airplane, or the rifle case mounted to your ATV, or behind the seat of your pickup. 

• And on the topic of precision shooting: "AR-15 Precision Long Range Shooting Basics"--AR Build Junkie.  An interview of Former Army Ranger sniper team leader, Ryan Cleckner, who is also the author of Long Range Shooting Handbook. There are also links to a few videos on long range shooting. And for those interested into getting into precision shooting with an AR, Cleckner says: "With long-range ARs, I would only worry about the barrel and the trigger.  Even if you have a budget AR and you just want to upgrade some parts and you put a decent quality barrel on it and a nice trigger, you are going to be fine." He has some more advice on upgrading an AR, so be sure to read the whole thing.

• Something that may be of interest to those of you with military surplus rifles: "Barrel Harmonics: How Shooting With a Bayonet Attached Affects Accuracy"--Shooting News Weekly. The author explains:

    Any person with knowledge and experience shooting precision rifles — or just shooting rifles precisely — knows that when a shot is fired, the barrel flexes and then returns to its original state in a fraction of a second. That’s called “barrel harmonics.” There are plenty of super slo-mo videos online that demonstrate this. 

    During a precision rifle course our instructor had us deliberately take shots with our bolt-action precision rifles and then stick them through a section of chainlink fence with the barrels purposely resting on the fence to see if our point of impact changed. Spoiler alert, the impacts were off dramatically. Our ½-size steel silhouette targets were around 200 yards away if memory serves. 

He then tested the shift caused by mounting bayonets on an AR15 and an AK style rifle: specifically, a Springfield Armory SA-16 (a semi-auto clone of the M16A2) and a Century Arms BFT-556 (a 5.56mm AK 74 style rifle). With the bayonet mounted, the SA-16 went from a 0.68 inch 5-shot group at 25 meters to 2.3 inches; and the group printed about 3 inches above point of aim. The BFT-556 had a 2.36 inch group at 25 yards without the bayonet; and, according to the author, the group size showed only a 0.5 inch different with the bayonet mounted, and the group only moved 1.5 inches higher. The author concludes:

    When we do our rifle ballistics math and extrapolate how a one-inch group at 100 yards translates to 2 inches at 200, etc., a 3-inch rise in impact between 25 and 50 yards translates to 6 inches of rise at 100 and a full 12 inches at 200. Being 12 inches off at 200 yards could definitely translate to missed targets.

    To be fair, we wouldn’t likely fix bayonets if we knew we were engaging targets beyond 100 yards. The cold steel of a bayonet is intended for up close and personal work. In a close quarters battle environment like the jungle or a MOUT situation, we expect targets to easily be inside of 100 yards.

    It’s safe to say that adding bayonets to fighting rifles negatively affects accuracy in longer distance shooting. However, for CQB situations, having a chunk of lethal steel affixed to the end of your barrel wouldn’t have such a negative effect on accuracy as to preclude its use. Just be sure to take it off — or take it into account — before engaging anything at greater distances.  

• "Unbreakable? Not Quite: Common AK Failure Points"--The Firearm Blog. Not surprisingly, these include the extractor claw and spring, fire control group springs, recoil springs, firing pin issues, bolt wear, rivet problems, cracked trunnions, gas block wear, ejector wear, and corrosion. I will comment from experience that there are many nooks and crannies where water can collect in an AK which are hard to reach with a rag to absorb the water. I would recommend that when returning from the field using an air compressor and/or hair dryer to blow out the water and dry the weapon. 
• "A Reliable, Affordable AR-Style Shotgun: The Tokarev TT-12 PRO"--Shooting Wire. What caught my attention about this was the author's assertion that this shotgun was reliable. Oh, and the price: an MSRP of $399, but the author claims that the street price is running about $250. 
• "Concealed Carry Corner: Concealing On A Motorcycle"--The Firearm Blog.  An excerpt:

The big difference between carrying in a regular car and a motorcycle is the fact that you're exposed to the outside world and elements while on a motorcycle, so there aren't many places to just outright hide your handgun. Not only do you have to worry about keeping your handgun concealed, but you also have to keep in mind that moving around and leaning on your bike can cause different strain on your holster than what's typically normal for carrying concealed. When going at highway speed, it's common for shirts to ride up in the wind without a heavier vest to keep things in place. It's important to think about where your handgun is positioned and if there's a chance of it being exposed at higher speeds when on the highway. 

•  "Pocket Pistols Are Dead: Here's Why You're Wrong"--Handguns Magazine. The author notes:

As we have laid out, you have 4 extremely general categories of pistols to choose from for CCW. So, if you’re choosing one of the extremes in a pocket pistol, how is it relevant in 2026? Maybe your occupation doesn’t allow for a pistol on your waist - not necessarily in a legal sense - but potentially because you are in a trade like carpentry, plumbing, etc., where your waist already has a toolbelt taking up all of the real estate around your waist. So, you need to resort to more creative methods of carry like your pocket.

He also explains:

    The primary scenarios where a pocket pistol may be a good application for you would be formal attire, hot weather, or extenuating circumstances at your job. We have already painted the picture for your job. You might have a carpentry belt around your waist, work in an office where a hip-carried firearm could be accidentally brandished, or other instances that demand your pistol should reside in your pocket.

    Another opportunity to pocket carry is while donning a suit and tie. Professional wear is often tight-fitting and doesn’t take into account the possibility for concealed carry. So, if you force it, it can be tremendously uncomfortable as well as open the door for scaring your co-workers or friends who have delicate sensibilities.

    Finally, there are the oppressively hot times in the summer where you’re only wearing a thin T-shirt and shorts. This type of clothing gives you a cooling factor in hotter temps but doesn’t lend itself well to carrying a firearm.

• Speaking of pocket pistols: "Phlster Introduces Enigma Micro For Pocket Pistols"--The Firearm Blog.
• "Big Woods Bucks x Henry Repeating Arms Long Ranger Big Woods Carbine"--The Firearm Blog.  Henry has produced an 18.5" barrel version of their .308 Long Ranger lever action rifle intended for hunting in dense woods. It still uses a 4-round detachable box magazine. 
• Since these are a type of insurrection, I believe it is a topic to which preppers should pay attention: "The Scourge of Teen Takeovers"--City Journal.  Key point:

    Police officers, district attorneys, and sheriffs offer a different explanation for the teen takeovers: they are the consequence of a decades-long demonization of the criminal-justice system.

    Asked how the Chicago Police Department would have responded to a stampede on the Magnificent Mile before that demonization took hold, a recently retired officer with over 30 years on the force replied: “We would have cleared the streets, arrested those breaking windows, looting stores, and assaulting passersby. We would have used pepper spray, fists, and batons to restore order—all of which we did during the Bulls riots [in 1992], the Democratic National Convention in 1996, NATO, and other localized disturbances that didn’t make the news.”

    But then, he says, “the bottom fell out. Officers were cast as the enemy by eight years of Obama.” After the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, followed by those of Laquan McDonald in Chicago that same year and of Freddie Gray in Baltimore in 2015, “we were cleaning spit off our windshields on a daily basis. We were physically attacked more during those years than at any other point in our careers.” Officers feared being sued for lawful tactics that make for bad optics.

    The cops disengaged. “We drove by the dope sellers on the corner, asked no questions of the juveniles who were clearly up to no good, and ignored the cars running stop signs and weaving through traffic.” Better just to do your eight hours and go home.

    Another retired Chicago cop recalls asking his commanders in 2010 when mobs were storming downtown: Can we make arrests? He was told: just hold the line and move them around. Even were the officers to engage, the chance that the average detained teen would face serious consequences was already low.

    In the 1990s and early 2000s, officers had a protective attitude toward business; they took responsibility for the well-being of shopkeepers and their customers, says a Chicago sergeant still on the job. “It’s different now.”

    And then, on May 25, 2020, George Floyd died while restrained by a Minneapolis officer. The country’s elites proclaimed that systemic racism had killed Floyd. Politicians and business leaders rushed to explain the ensuing firebombing of police cars and stations, the attempted murder of police officers, and the destruction of businesses as an understandable, even justifiable, reaction to police oppression.

    The post-Floyd race-riot era is largely coterminous with the Covid era: lockdowns began in late March 2020, and the riots erupted at the end of May. That overlap has allowed policing skeptics to attribute the crime spike that began in 2020 to Covid rather than to de-policing and de-prosecution. Those same skeptics now apply the argument to teen takeovers as well.

    The rest of the world again provides a useful benchmark. Other countries did not experience a comparable surge in crime beginning in 2020, just as they did not experience a wave of teen takeovers. The United States experienced both because police and prosecutors shied away further from imposing consequences on antisocial behavior.

    The juvenile-justice system was similarly emasculated in the twenty-first century, for much the same reason as the adult system: to avoid disparate impact. The Obama administration sued school districts for disparities in school-discipline rates between black students and white students. Suspensions and expulsions plummeted. Rather than being punished, insubordinate pupils were directed to “peace circles” and other forms of restorative justice.

    Outside the school bureaucracy, cities and states loosened their already-permissive rules for holding juveniles accountable for crimes. From 2008, when Barack Obama was first elected president, through 2021, the rate at which black male juveniles received final dispositions for violent offenses fell 67 percent, according to the National Center for Juvenile Justice. It is unlikely that this decline in adjudications reflected a 67 percent drop in violent crime among black juveniles, given victimization data and the reports of police officers. Instead, budding criminals were increasingly kept out of the juvenile system altogether, whether their misconduct occurred in schools or on the streets. Those who did enter the system encountered increasingly permissive rules.

Gun & Prepping News #89

Some links that may be of interest: 

•  "Why Does the .44 Special Keep Hanging On?"--American Rifleman. With Lipsey releasing a Nightguard revolver in .44 Special, the author decided to look into why this cartridge refuses to die, including the following:

    Like the .45 Colt, the .44 Special launches large-caliber bullets at moderate velocities. This provides suitable levels of bullet energy at typical handgun distances. This round has been used successfully to harvest medium-sized game, including whitetail deer and hogs, along with smaller game at closer ranges of around 75 yards or less. Although it would not be correct to call the .44 Special a "soft-shooting" round, it can yield desirable results without the muzzle flash, noise and wrist-snapping levels of recoil associated with magnum cartridges.  

    These shooting characteristics have also led to the .44 Special finding its way into various snub-nosed carry guns. Over the years, the .44 Special has proven to be an effective defensive option. And because this round operates at slightly lower pressures (15,500 psi) than the .38 Special (17,000 psi), it has been paired with smaller, lighter models, like the Charter Arms Bulldog, along with medium-frame configurations including the Ruger GP100 and, of course, the Smith & Wesson Model 396.

• "America’s Lever Revolution"--American Rifleman. The lever action rifle is a uniquely American weapon--it was invented and refined in the United States, and saw much wider use in the United States than anywhere else. The article goes over the history of this style of action before ending with a note on its renewed popularity. 
• And speaking of the renewed popularity of the lever action: "Henry’s Lever Action Supreme Rifle (LASR): Old Meets New"--The Truth About Guns. The key features is that it uses detachable box magazines (with the author noting that Magpul magazines work best), it uses an internal hammer with a tang mounted safety, it has a threaded and free-floated barrel, and adjustable trigger. It is available in .223/5.56mm, .300 Blk, and .450 Bushmaster. 
• Some more firearm history: "The Blunderbuss: Roar of the High Seas"--NRA Blog. An excerpt:

    Boasting a short stock, the blunderbuss was a hybrid of a pistol and a carbine, often hip-fired due to its short length and powerful recoil, comparable to a modern shotgun. The blunderbuss fired a cache of lead balls propelled by a large powder charge, though users, whether by necessity or imagination, could and often did fill the firearm with anything that would fit and cause damage when fired, including nails, rocks, glass, or “bundle shot,” a series of metal rods packed together that, when blasted from the bore, effectively became tiny spears. Needless to say, the more crudely fashioned projectiles were not good for the integrity of the barrel, but in the heat of battle, served as dangerous implements. Blunderbusses were also used for crowd control or clearing the decks, as the mere sight of the gun in hand served as a deterrent to potential challengers.

    Blunderbusses could also be found affixed to ship’s railing or gunwales via a mounting swivel, becoming an improvised boat gun to clear decks when approaching alongside another vessel. The gun’s flared muzzle made it easier to load in the chaos of battle, particularly in some of the more precarious places aboard ships, such as rigging and water-slicked decks rocking port and starboard.

    Blunderbusses appeared in the 17th century, seeing use up until about 1840. The height of the blunderbuss coincides with the “Golden Age of Piracy” in the mid-1700s, ....

• "The Fire Control Sequence: 3 Steps to Perfect Round Placement"--American Rifleman. The author lists the three steps as follows:
• "Step one: draw out from your holster like your life depends on it."
• "Step two is visual verification."
• "The third and final step is the trigger press without disturbing alignment."

As to step two, take note:

 

    Step two is visual verification. Using either irons or a dot, you have a very short time to call the shot. If it’s good, then move on to step three. If not, you will need to make micro-corrections. Micro corrections are needed because of any unnecessary input into the gun on the way out or at the very top of your drawstroke. Input and corrections cost time. 

 

[snip]

 

    Step two depends on if you are shooting irons or optics. If irons, it’s a focal-plane shift from hard-target focus back to the front sight, or at least to the front of the muzzle. If you're using a carry optic, you stay target-focused and remain simply aware of the dot.

    Either way, you don’t have all day. You only have time for rapid verification. If you do not have alignment, you will need to make time-consuming micro-adjustments. 

Another factor that might require corrections is if the gun doesn't naturally point for you. Perhaps you can train your way out of it, perhaps not. 

• "Is the Weaver Stance Dead? Reasons Why It Still Matters"--Shooting Times. An excerpt:

    ... I’ve shot both the Weaver and the isosceles, and I do not believe the isosceles is a good stance for real-life combat situations, any more than a trap stance is good training for driven grouse or that firing a .458 off a bench prepares you for buffalo in the long grass. Certainly, it is not as natural and flexible as the Weaver, no matter how many IPSC hot-shots have used it to win matches.

    Before Jack Weaver came along, handgunners had tried various methods of two-handed shooting. Weaver ingeniously took the age-old human “prepare to fight” position and adapted it. The Weaver is, essentially, the stance used by boxers. It is also the stance used by top wingshooters on wild birds. A right-handed shooter stands with the left foot forward, feet about 18 inches apart, body angled, weight on the balls of the feet, but mostly on the forward foot. The shooter is leaning into it, eyes focused like a wolf on a caribou.

    This boxing stance is the most natural human fighting position. Modern attempts to discredit it as being “outdated” have proven misguided, as witness an aging Floyd Mayweather’s almost laughable demolition of MMA Conor McGregor last August.

    The isosceles is praised as a “rigid platform,” but in most tactical situations rigidity is not nearly as useful as flexibility. You never know what you’ll be faced with. You might be carrying a child on one arm and have to shoot one-handed. You could be on the ground, shooting under a car, or having to shoot around the corner of a building. Once you learn the Weaver stance, you can adapt its principles to almost any situation.  

The primary advantage to the isosceles is when wearing body armor as it presents the strike face squarely at the target. Mass Ayoob has noted, however, that if you are in an isosceles stance and have to twist the torso, it will convert to a Weaver stance. 

    And speaking of Mass Ayoob, here is an article he wrote on "Basic Two-Handed Shooting Stances" covering the Weaver, isosceles, and Chapman (aka, modified Weaver) stances, including how to stand and hold the gun for each, and the pros and cons of each. 

• "Remington Performance Wheelgun 22 Rimfire Built for Classic Revolvers"--Shooting Sports USA. The round uses a 39 grain truncated bullet with a muzzle velocity of  770 fps. The subsonic speed is supposed to provide less recoil and less noise when at the range. 
• "Rising Costs Threaten to End Hunting as We Know It"--Petersen's Hunting.  The author asks "if we price out the next generation and current hunters that don’t have extra discretionary income, how are we making hunting on public land inviting? How are we honoring the heritage of hunting?" Hunting has historically been an activity for the wealthy and I suspect that is the future of hunting. 
• "MOLLE vs PALS: Key Differences Explained"--Chase Tactical.  Short version:

MOLLE (pronounced as Molly) stands for Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment. Introduced by the U.S. military in the late 1990s, it replaced the older ALICE system and fundamentally changed how soldiers and operators carry gear. MOLLE is not a single product. It is the entire load-bearing ecosystem, encompassing plate carriers, tactical vests, magazine pouches, dump pouches, utility pouches, backpacks, and every other modular accessory that attaches to a PALS-equipped surface.

And:

PALS, or the Pouch Attachment Ladder System, is a grid of webbing that allows MOLLE-compatible gear to be attached to any MOLLE-equipped surface. Often confused with MOLLE itself, PALS is the framework or infrastructure behind the modularity of MOLLE gear. The horizontal rows of stitched webbing you see on backpacks, plate carriers, chest rigs, and other tactical gear are the PALS system.

• "SurviveX Large First Aid Kit Review"--Apartment Prepper. The author describes the kit thusly:

The SurviveX Large First Aid Kit is primarily focused on general wound care. It is stocked with medical supplies for treating cuts, scrapes, wounds, lacerations, burns, blisters, and fractures (bandages, gauze, splints, burn gel, antibiotic ointment among others) rather than ailments needing internal medication. It is a kit you can keep in your home, vehicle, as well bring with you on camping or hiking trips. It contains 200+ items (in the Large version) enough for general care for around 3–6 people. 

    The kit sells for $120 on Amazon. So why get this instead of a commercial kit intended for businesses or schools? There are seems to be three things that stood out in the review: (i) the bag into which it fits has Molle attachments allowing it to be secured to a pack or the attaching devices you can purchase for vehicles; (ii) it's wound treatment goes beyond the basic gauze and adhesive bandages found in most kits to include actual medical shears and zip stitch wound closures; (iii) it included additional items needed for outdoors such as a splint, survival whistle, and glow sticks. The downsides, mentioned in the article, is that "it does not include pain relief medications, allergy medicines, or stomach aids, or tourniquet" or any clotting agents. In other words, you will still need to add items or carry a separate trauma kit; as well as any medications you want to carry. 

    Is it the best deal? That is something you will have to answer yourself. For instance, you can get almost everything in the SurviveX kit in another kit that costs only $53, then add a SAM splint for $15. The bag isn't as good as the SurviveX, but if you are going to be carrying it in another bag, it probably won't make a difference.  

    The reviewer's conclusions, however, is that "[t]he SurviveX Large First Aid Kit is an excellent investment for anyone serious about upgrading their first aid supplies. For an apartment dweller, it’s like a 'mini-ER' in a small footprint that won’t clutter your living space.​ If you’re tired of digging through a chaotic mess of loose gauze and adhesive bandages that no longer stick, this kit is a worthwhile purchase."

Recoil Management

There is a lot of advice out there on managing recoil, most dealing with the handgun. So, naturally, I will start off by recommending an article on managing recoil with a rifle. Why? Because marksmanship principles start with shooting a rifle. 

    The article to which I want to direct your attention is "Recoil Management" by Caylen Wojcik published at the Journal of Mountain Hunting. He explains:

    What is recoil management? Effective recoil management is using our bodies’ mass and bone structure to absorb the recoil energy of a rifle and transfer that energy throughout the body so that the shooter can easily re-acquire a second sight-picture after the process of recoil and follow-through is complete. More on that second sight-picture shortly. Of course, rifle setup is a very important factor here but plenty of people go about this process in the wrong way. First and foremost, the rifle scope’s eye-relief should be set for the shooter in a “middle-ground” shooting position as I like to think of it. What I mean by that is we can’t set optimal eye relief for just one shooting position if that rifle is meant to be used in a variety of positions.

The author warns about shooting too much gun, noting that if the rifle has so much recoil you don't want to shoot it, you will never be able to shoot it well. He continues: 

    The goal in any shooting position is to apply the seven factors common to all shooting positions (see below) and get the body square to the rifle so we can present as much mass as possible behind the rifle to absorb and spread that recoil energy. What this is doing is reducing the amount the rifle is going to move during the recoil process. I can’t stress how important this is in becoming an independent shooter. If, after you fire at your target and you recover from the recoil, your rifle is pointed at something 20-feet to the left of your target there’s no way you’re going to be able to process the vital information the bullet is telling you, especially if you’re solo and don’t have an observer. Besides, an observer should be looked at as an added bonus, only telling you what you already know. After all, whose perspective is going to be the most accurate? Yours, looking at what you just shot at, or theirs sitting a couple feet away?

    Another contributing factor to effective recoil management is a proper natural point of aim (NPOA) for that particular shooting position. If you have a solid NPOA, the rifle is going to go through the process of recoil, but it will ALWAYS recover to where the rifle naturally wants to point. It’s all interconnected, and there’s no getting away from applying ALL the fundamentals.

 In other words, we want to (a) get as much mass behind the rifle as possible to absorb recoil from (b) with a weapon set up to shoot from a variety or positions (or situations) and (c) with a natural point of aim (NPOA) such that the rifle will recover to where the rifle naturally wants to point, which should be aligned with your target.

    Moving on to the handgun, let's start with an article from the Shooter's Log by Bob Campbell entitled "How to Control Recoil When Shooting a Handgun." Similar to Wojcik, above, Campbell also warns about trying to start out with too much gun:

    Some calibers are just too much for the occasional shooter. Working people on a budget (in terms of time and money), should not jump into the .357 SIG, 10mm, or a lightweight magnum of any type. It is a process to learn to control recoil. Once you have thoroughly mastered the .38 or 9mm, you may wish to move up in caliber. But not before you have mastered the standard calibers.

    I have trained quite a few shooters and attended many classes as a student. Firing a pistol and hearing the report a few feet in front of your eyes isn’t a natural thing. Recoil control must be learned. Many focus more on recoil than on marksmanship. The greater the concentration on marksmanship the less you will notice recoil.

    Flinching, and failing to control recoil, kills accuracy. Failing to control recoil makes accurate follow-up shots impossible. In a defensive encounter — if you fire accurately— you will probably solve the problem without using the full gun load. However, chances are you will need more than one shot. Handguns just are not that impressive concerning wound potential. Likewise, there is the problem of multiple assailants. This means you must learn to control recoil effectively. 

With rifle shooting, the majority of the recoil energy will be through the weapon's stock into the shoulder. With the handgun, the majority of the recoil energy will go into the hand. The goal for proper recoil control is to take that energy going into the hand and transfer it somewhere else. 

    I had linked to a video not too long ago where the author showed how to let a handgun with a plow handle grip roll in the hand so that the firearm absorbed most of the recoil, even letting his arm rise with more powerful loads. And that is one way to transfer the recoil energy. And if you look at old photographs of shooters using revolvers, you will often see them shoot with the shooting arm bent, which allows the arm act somewhat like a spring also helping absorb recoil.

    Those methods will not work with semi-auto pistols. And allowing the revolver to roll upward in your hand won't even work with most modern revolver grips. 

    Instead, what we aim for is gripping the handgun in such a way that the recoil energy is transferred to the hand and up the arm to the shoulder, and the gun returns to a natural point of aim where it is still pointed at the target. This involves both grip and stance. 

    Starting with grip, Campbell states: "The hand should ride as high on the grip as possible with a self-loading pistol. The hand must ride high on a revolver backstrap as well — to offer good leverage for the finger to press the double-action revolver trigger, straight to the rear. But don’t override the revolver backstrap. This will result in what is called heeling." He goes on to discuss other points with your grip/stance, and includes a slide show at the bottom of the article to better explain some points. 

    Campbell's points work well for both revolver and semi-auto handguns. But the reality is that most people are using the semi-autos for self-defense and there are a few things that work well for semi-auto pistols that are not easily transferable to the revolver. So, next I would direct your attention to an article by "The Humble Marksman" at The Armory Life entitled "Practical Skills: Recoil Management for Speed and Accuracy."  And he begins by noting that recoil management involves "managing both muzzle climb and muzzle bounce (when the slide goes back into battery)." With that, he delves into the three parts of recoil management:

•     How you place your hands on the gun
•     How you hold your arms
•     How you stand (stance)

And this brings us to the NPOA issue raised as to rifles, but applying the concept to pistols. The Humble Marksman observes on this point:

    A good grip is going to reduce muzzle climb and speed up sight recovery — but there’s more to it than that. A good grip is also going to align your sights for you, so you don’t have to do it consciously (this is referred to as “index” or “natural point of aim”).

    The grip will cause your sights to behave predictably with a perfectly neutral rise and return. A good grip will make you more accurate because it stabilizes the gun through the trigger pull, making you more accurate.

    The sights lifting straight up is critically important for speed shooting. If you overpower the gun on the support side so that that sight or dot lifts up to your dominant side, when the slide closes it’s going to come down on the support side.

    Often hitting “low and left” when shooting fast is misdiagnosed as a trigger control problem when it is actually a grip-imbalance problem. The problem is it’s nearly impossible to see this on a set of iron sights.

The remainder of his article is on how to properly grip the pistol, so be sure to check it out. See also Michael Seeklander's article, "6 Things You Can Do To Improve Your Recoil Control With A Handgun" who also covers some finer points of a good grip; and Richard Nance's article at Handguns Magazine, "How To Properly Grip A Pistol: Step-By-Step Instructions"; and Dave Spaulding's Guns and Ammo article, "Proper Combative Pistol Grip (And A Whole Lot More)."

    Those of you that teach may find this PDF from NRA Online Training showing a two handed grip useful to hand out to your students although the revolver grip appears to be too low on the grip.  

    Finally, most of the articles I came across assumed a two handed grip on the weapon. But there are many situations where you might have to shoot a handgun with a single hand. Dan Abraham has an article and video at The Armory Life: "The Art of One-Handed Shooting." 

VIDEO: Using A Pillow To Muffle A Gunshot

 It works surprisingly well, especially when the pillow is folded completely around the revolver. 

 VIDEO: "Does A Pillow Work As A Silencer?"
Mrgunsngear Channel (13 min.)

Gun & Prepping News #87

 Some links that may be of interest :

• "The Mount"--The Tactical Wire.  An excerpt:

    In wing shooting, a critical aspect is the mount – bringing the comb of the stock to the cheek under the dominant eye, bringing the gun to your eye line, not ducking your head to see the bead.

    In riflery, when crossing a plain in search of small varmints for example, the technique is largely the same -- as it is in combat. Bring the rifle to your eye, don’t duck down to the rifle.

    When shooting a handgun, according to an aged document from the American Pistol Institute (now known as Gunsite Academy), the plan for the 250 – Defensive Pistol included students beginning range experience with the mount.

    As there are less points of contact with the handgun than long guns, you could argue the mount is more critical. It’s certainly critical when learning the gun. 

    Some will decry this beginning as “range world,” alleging that one can never do this operationally. Is there something to this? It seems a bit like using the sights. Walt Rauch once told me that the sights on a handgun are like the training wheels on a child’s first bicycle; once you learn the mount through extensive practice, the sights confirm your hold.  

• "Overrated & Unneeded: Back-Up Iron Sights"--Recoil Magazine. Despite the click bait title, the author notes that if your handgun's red dot sight becomes occluded for some reason, your front iron sight will not be visible either. He discusses three alternative methods of sighting:

•  Guillotine/Shoulder Squaring

First popularized with the Trijicon RMR due to the convex top glass, the guillotine is simply placing the top edge of your MRDS at the base of the target’s neck, like you’re chopping the head off a French noble. Similarly, you can align the edges of the optical body with the shoulders and press.

• Owl Horns/Crowning

This method simply lines up the top of the optical window with the top of the target’s head. With an RMR this may look like horns on the head, and with a rounded window you’ll give them some new headgear — right before you turn their face inside out.

• Meat-In-Window

Sealed sights work exceptionally well with this method because they have both front and rear windows to line up (sound familiar?). Look for misalignment between your pistol and target by observing shadows in the window itself. The longer the optical body, the more accurate this method will be.

He has other advice, so read the whole thing. 

• "Behind the Bullet: The .500-416 Nitro Express"--American Hunter. 

    Unlike the American system of naming a cartridge derived from an earlier design—the .25-06 Remington, 7mm-08 Remington and .338-06 A-Square come quickly to mind—where the new bullet diameter comes before the parent cartridge, the British method uses the parent cartridge name before the new bullet diameter. The .450/400 NE is the .450 Nitro Express necked down to hold .400-inch (actually .411-inch) diameter bullets; the .500/465 NE used by Teddy Roosevelt is the .500 Nitro Express cartridge necked down to hold .465-inch-diameter bullets; and so on and so forth. Kreighoff mated the case of the .500 Nitro Express with the abundant bullets of the .416 Rigby, resulting in the .500/416 Nitro Express, a well-balanced cartridge which makes a sound choice for dangerous game. 

     Looking at the ballistics of the .500/416 NE, you might recognize the formula: a 400-grain .416-inch-diameter bullet at a muzzle velocity of 2,300 to 2,350 fps, generating 4,700 to 4,900 ft.-lbs. of energy at the muzzle. These figures are common to the .416 Rigby, .416 Remington Magnum and .416 Ruger, and are certainly more than adequate for any and all game species on earth. A 400-grain bullet of this nominal diameter possesses a Sectional Density figure of .330; anything above .300 is considered perfectly acceptable to deliver the penetration needed for taking thick-skinned dangerous game, and modern premium bullets are even more effective in the field. In fact, for the visiting sportsman using the services of a Professional Hunter, this formula is just about as perfect as you could ask for, and just might represent the quintessential balance of striking power and ease of shooting, especially in a double rifle which has a little more weight to it.

• "WSM Legionary 22: Lightweight .22 LR Can Under $200"--The Firearm Blog.  An excerpt:

    The suppressor weighs 3.5 ounces with a 1-inch diameter, keeping it from upsetting the balance of lightweight rimfire rifles and pistols. The body is 6061-T6 aluminum with a Type III hardcoat anodized black finish. Thread pitch is 1/2x28, which covers the vast majority of threaded .22 LR barrels on the market. I have a few .22LRs, and they’re all threaded in this pitch.

    On the performance side, WSM claims the Legionary 22 reduces sound levels to 114.10 dB on .22 LR, which works out to roughly 27 dB of noise reduction compared to unsuppressed fire. That should put it in a competitive territory for aluminum rimfire suppressors in this price range. 22s are one of the few rounds I dare to shoot suppressed without hearing protection, apart from the odd sub-9mm here and now.

• "Hunting with Air: Getting Started"--American Hunter. The author notes:

Here in Idaho, you can use PCP air rifles to hunt upland game, small game, big game and furbearers. Different caliber restrictions apply depending on the animal you’re pursuing. For example, projectiles must be at least .35 caliber for deer, pronghorn, wolf and black bear, and at least .45 caliber for elk, moose and sheep. The bottom line, whether it’s varmints, game animals or furbearers, it’s legal to pursue with an air rifle here in Idaho.

• "Myth Of M1 Carbine Penetration Failures in Korea"--Scattered Shots.  There had been persistent reports from some troops in the Korean War that the M1 Carbine was unable to penetrate the heavy winter clothing worn by Chinese troops. This assertion always seemed strange to me because nothing comparable was reported in WWII of which I'm aware. The author of this piece decided to test the story. He writes:

    Being August, I could not manage sub freezing temps, but I did set up a cardboard target behind a very thick pad that I added extra clothing by stuffing it inside to make it even thicker.  I set up from 200 yards away and fired.

    The military FMJ round had no problem punching through the thick clothing and padding just as I knew it would.

    Even from 200 yards the carbine and its ammo said by “experts” to be puny. not only went through the padding with ease, it zipped through the wood and damaged it more than I expected.  But it was not done yet.

    It traveled another 10 yards and tore into the dry hard packed dirt and rocks behind   several inches deep with little deformation to the short stubby 110 ball rounds.      

Others have debunked this as well:

• "Debunking M1 Carbine Myths: What the Record Actually Shows"--Keep Shooting. 
• "The Box O' Truth #36 - Frozen Clothing And The Box O' Truth"--The Box Of Truth. 
• VIDEO: "Testing The M1 Carbine Myth That Won't Go Away: Can it Penetrate Winter Clothing at 100 Yards?"--Battlefield Curator.  

• "Review: Jim Green African Ranger barefoot boots"--Survival Common Sense.  

Barefoot boots have become a “thing.” The concept is that barefoot shoes/boots allow the foot to react to the ground as it would if the walker was walking barefoot. This strengthens muscles in the feet, bare foot proponents claim, which may have become weakened because of years of  wearing shoes. Going barefoot allows the legs and spine to align naturally, proponents further claim, reducing or eliminating back aches, joint issues and other posture-related problems.

• "How to Choose a Ferro Rod That Won’t Let You Down"--Survival Common Sense. The author recommends:

    A lot of people focus on rod length first, but diameter is often the more important detail.

    A thin ferro rod may still work, especially for occasional use, but thinner rods usually have less surface area and can wear down faster. They can also feel less forgiving when your technique is off. If your angle is not perfect, or if your scraper is not ideal, a small rod can make the whole process feel more difficult than it needs to be.

    A thicker rod generally gives a little more margin for error. It often feels easier to control, easier to scrape, and better suited for repeated use. That does not mean bigger is always better, but it does mean that ultra-small rods are often best treated as compact backup tools rather than primary fire starters.

    If you are building a main fire kit, choose a rod size that gives you confidence, not just portability.

• "Free Survival eBooks: Downloadable Straight from Amazon"--More Than Just Surviving. This isn't a list of specific titles--these change constantly--but instead includes searches for different categories of books by price (lowest to highest). 
• "Mother Nature’s Best Home Remedies"--Homesteading.  Some medicinal plants and how to use them. 
• "Older buildings and substandard construction left Venezuela vulnerable to earthquakes"--Associated Press. From the lede: "Older buildings, substandard construction and geography left many neighborhoods in Venezuela vulnerable to strong earthquakes like the ones that struck the country this week." Also:

    David Cocke, a structural engineer in California and former president of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, said that a combination of soft soils, tall towers and older concrete structures contributed to the widespread damage, particularly when buildings pancaked, or collapsed floor-by-floor.

    “They just don’t have the more modern reinforcing steel connections that we put in those kinds of buildings today,” said Cocke.

    Since the 1970s, engineers have known that concrete buildings are particularly susceptible to earthquakes and seek to reinforce new construction with steel. While many rich nations have forced property owners to retrofit or tear down dangerous buildings, many poorer or middle income countries have lagged in enforcing upgrades as they battled more immediate woes.

• "Astronomers: We might be experiencing a shower of comets from the distant Oort cloud due to a close pass of another star 2.5 million years ago"--Behind The Black. 

HD 7977 is a still nearby Sun-like star in the constellation Cassiopeia whose close passage was discovered by the Gaia mission. Approximately 2.5 million years ago, the orbits of the Sun and HD 7977 brought the two stars close together, but exactly how close is still an open question. Gaia data suggest they passed within 4000-25000 astronomical units of one another. Now, Kaib and Raymond have shown that the orbits of long-period comets suggest HD 7977 came within 6000-10000 AU of our Sun, setting off a major shower of new comets into the inner solar system.

VIDEO: Recoil Management In Single Action Revolvers

While modern gunfighting techniques emphasize two-handed shooting with a fairly tight grip on the weapon, in the past both shooting techniques and the designs of the firearms were based around a revolver being a hand (singular) gun. Here the author demonstrates shooting both regular and heavy loads out of a single-action revolver with the traditional plow handle grips, and how to mitigate the recoil by allowing the revolver to roll upward (which also helps with a fast cocking of the gun for the next shot) and/or allowing the whole arm to rise to deal with particularly heavy recoil. Not only does it mitigate recoil making it more comfortable to shoot the weapon, but the author's tests showed that he was more accurate than with a tight grip (what he calls the "death grip") on the weapon. 

I don't have a big bore single action revolver, so I probably would not be able to use this technique with any of my handguns. But those of you that have old-West style single action revolvers might be able to make use of this.  

 VIDEO: "Recoil Management With Heavy Six Gun Loads"
The Shooters Apprentice (16 min.)

Red-Dot Occlusion Training

From American Rifleman: "Red-Dot Occlusion Training: A Performance-Booster for You & Your Optic-Equipped Handgun." The idea here is to force you to shoot with both eyes open and focused on the target by covering up the front of your red dot. That results in you only seeing the red dot with one eye but only being able to see the target with the other eye. 

An occluded sight’s red-dot is still visible; the emitter beams the dot onto the lens and reflects it back to the shooter. Though the front of the sight is blocked-off, when aiming with an occluded sight with both eyes open (and a hard target focus), the human brain will automatically ignore the occlusion.

The author indicates that you can make this work using masking tape, but that "there are several companies that offer molded Kydex or polymer covers that snap on over the front of major red-dot sights." The one shown in the article is Arise Mfg.’s Occluder for its Aegis optics shroud. 

The Sun And Shifting Point Of Impact

This article addresses an issue that can show up when shooting iron sights, particularly when shooting while facing south. From Guns Magazine: "Shifting Point of Impact? Sun of a Gun!" by Jeff "Tank" Hoover. An excerpt:

    The sun glare blurs the side of the front sight it illuminates, providing a brighter edge and leading to misalignment of the sight picture by making the front sight appear thinner. If the light source (i.e., the sun) is on your left, the left side of the front sight becomes brighter, making the front sight appear thinner on that side and your rear sight notch appear larger. You’ll subconsciously adjust your sight alignment by holding onto the sun to accomplish your sight alignment.

    When the sun is directly overhead, it can also cause the front sight to appear shorter for the same reason. This will cause a higher point of impact than usual from your regular sight alignment. In extreme cases of sun glare on the front sight, it’s hard to establish a sharp sight picture, which forces the shooter to concentrate on the target because we want to see something in focus. This leads to poor accuracy. Sloped or rounded front sights can cause a “mirror effect” as they reflect the sun’s glare directly back to the shooter’s eyes, making sight alignment difficult.

 Solutions include blackening the sight in some way (the author relates an old timer who would use a carbide lamp to deposit a layer of soot on the sight), using a hooded sight, or using an undercut front sight.

Weekend Reading #55

Some longer and more involved reading for the weekend:

•  First up is the most recent newsletter from Defensive Pistolcraft. Jon Low includes a thoughtful quote from Joe Shahoud:

     Here's something nobody tells you about defensive shooting . . .  The range is lying to you.  Not on purpose.  But every time you show up, plant your feet, take your stance, and run your drills in perfect sequence, your brain is quietly building a false sense of security.  It's cataloging all that repetition and whispering "you've got this" when the reality is that real defensive scenarios don't care about your routine, your comfort zone, or how clean your draw looked on a Tuesday afternoon. 

      Real threats are chaotic.  They're fast.  They close distance before your brain has even finished processing what's happening.  And the shooter who freezes isn't always the one who doesn't know how to shoot.  Sometimes it's the one who only knows how to shoot when everything feels controlled.  

     That gap between "I can shoot" and "I can defend myself under pressure" is a big one.  Most people don't find out how big until it's too late to do anything about it.  

    Jon recounted a class he assisted with training where they used a variety of balloons--some were targets and some represented innocents (bystanders, family members, etc.). There were real consequences to shoot an innocent--they had to sit out the rest of the shooting drills. Just ctrl-F and search for "balloon" and you should find it. 

    I liked this excerpt from an Tim Larkin:

... A man full of adrenaline can ignore pain.  He can push through burning muscles, absorb strikes that would stop someone else cold, override discomfort entirely.  But he cannot override a mechanically broken structure.  A shattered knee does not hold weight.  It doesn't matter how many fights he's survived.  A crushed throat does not breathe.  It doesn't matter how angry he is.  An overloaded carotid shuts the brain off like a light switch.  It doesn't care what he bench presses.  That distinction.  Pain versus Injury.  That is what changes everything.   

 And another from Larkin Jon comments:

      I don't use a shot timer in the classes that I teach.  Because I don't teach that type of class.  I tell my students that we are going to do everything slowly and correctly.  It is then up to them to practice on their own to develop the ability to do the task quickly.  Speed will come automatically with practice.  Just as starting your car and driving out of the parking space can be done quickly, because you've done it so many times.  

I sometimes wonder when I see videos of various classes and read of the high round counts, whether the class is less about instruction and more about practice. Class is for teaching, and your range sessions, dry fire, etc., is for practice.  In the same vein, Jon writes:

     In classical (normal) chess, the chess clock is not to force you to play fast.  It is to prevent you from winning by forcing your opponent to die of old age. 

      Similarly, the shot timer should not be used to force you to shoot faster, faster than you can see, faster than you can think.  Rather, the par time beep is to prevent you from dithering.  To encourage you to be decisive.  

     Subtle, but important.  Most training and practice is done in the mind, not the body.  Getting your attitude right.  Getting your mindset right.  

     Taking classes to learn the correct fundamentals is essential.  But once you know what you're supposed to do, dry practice and visualization are by far the best methods to perfect and engrain skills.  The report and recoil of live fire are gross distractions, that cause all kinds of autonomic nervous system responses.  Best to avoid the distraction, and dry practice or visualize in your bedroom after waking up and before going to sleep.  That's what world class Olympic athletes do.  It will work for you.   

Jon has some more tips on using the shot timer, as well as tons more links and commentary, so read the whole thing. 

• Greg Ellifritz has a new Weekend Knowledge Dump at his Active Response Training blog.  A few links that stood out:
• An article from Empty Cases on the speed loads and why you are probably better off moving to cover if you run out of ammo over attempting an immediate reload. Greg also comments that you are better spending your practice time becoming more proficient on hitting your targets than practicing speed reloads.
• A couple articles explaining the recent rule changes coming from the ATF.
• An interview with Steve “Yeti” Fisher on AR magazines. Because he wants magazines that work with a wide range of bullet weights, he recommends the Gen 3 Magpuls or  D&H/”Hartford” (NHMTG) metal magazines. He also relates that he likes using the shorter 20 round magazines when shooting prone or off a bipod or bag. He also uses 20 round magazines as a means to separate his heavier bullets weights (in the 20 rounders) from the lighter bullet weights (in the 30 rounders), or when he is operating the AR out of a bag (because it easier to get in or out without it catching on stuff).
•  A guide on lubing Glock pistols.

And a lot more, so be sure to check it out.

• While you are at Active Response Training, also check out Greg's article on "'Mass Shootings' versus Active Killer Attacks." Mass shootings, Greg explains, generally happen when gang bangers start killing each other. Because they will not be specifically targeting you, your biggest risk is taking a bullet by accident or mistake. You primary goal is to get out of the way of the shooters and get away from the scene. Active shooters, however, generally operate alone and their goal is a high body count. 
• From Outdoor Life: "'Why You Shoot Your Uncle for an Elk?' There Was a Time When Hunting Was Much More Dangerous" by Jack O'Connor. The article is a reprint of a 1973 article, but the editors comment: "Hunting accidents were much more common in the mid-century — before the advent of mandatory hunter safety courses. Hunting is now a relatively safe sport." From what I've read, hunting is actually one of the safest sports--far safer than most school sports. In any event, the article is why someone on a hunt might mistake another hunter as a legitimate game target. An excerpt:

    I have been shot at only once. That was many years ago in the high plateau country of central Arizona. Deer and turkey seasons both were open. I was pussyfooting along through the yellow pines and Gambel oaks on one side of a canyon, hoping to see a bunch of turkeys before they saw me. It was about 8 a.m. on a bright sunny day, but the air had been cold during the night and the frost on the grass was just beginning to melt. I saw a good deal of fresh turkey sign, and I thought the birds would probably be feeding in the sun to get last night’s cold out of their bones.

    Across the canyon at a distance of 300 yards or so I had from time to time seen another hunter. I had looked at him once with a funny little French binocular I had at the time. He was wearing a pair of blue bib overalls, a green sweater, and a blue stocking cap.

    Suddenly I heard the crack-boom of a bullet fired in my direction — the crack of the bullet breaking the sound barrier followed by the boom that is the report of the rifle. That bullet passed within prob-ably 15 or 20 feet of me. I shouted. Across the canyon I could see the other hunter kneeling and aiming at me. I let out another yell and threw myself behind a log on the ground. Again I heard the crack-boom as the bullet came my way.

    I crawled around to one end of the log and peeked. The hunter was still on one knee with his rifle trained toward my log. My life was in jeopardy, and yelling had done no good. I had to take radical action. I switched off the safety of my .30/06 and fired a shot close enough to the hunter to make him aware of my presence. He leaped to his feet and ran.

    Later in the day I ran into him. 

    “Ah,” I said. “You’re the guy who took a pot-shot at me this morning. What in the hell did you think I was?”

    At first he denied shooting at me, but then he admitted that he had shot at a turkey across a canyon and was very much astonished when the turkey shot back. How a tall guy in a 10-gallon hat and a red-plaid shirt resembled a turkey was something he was a bit vague about. 

A fellow student I knew in my university days related a similar story from an elk hunt. He had crested a hill when some hunters started shooting at him from a road down below. He put an end to that by putting a round from his rifle into the side of their pickup truck. They quickly jumped into their truck and took off. 

Free Targets From Around The Web

Some sources:

• "The Best Free Targets Around the Web"--Gat Daily.  A few anatomical targets, a bullseye target, a target for the dot-torture drill, and a game. 
• "Downloadable - Printable Targets"--Concealed Carry. Mostly circles of various numbers or sizes, but also one with a couple rectangles (the size of 3x5 cards) and smaller squares. 
• "Free Targets"--Midway.  A couple targets intended for load development, a target for scope testing, and a few for just target shooting.
• And a long index of free targets from Louiscandell.com which I believe had been previously shared by Active Response Training.

The Six O'Clock Hold

Yesterday, I was reading "The Delightfully Weird Walther SP22" at The Shooting Wire when I came across these odd comments about the sights:

    The front sight can be rotated to three different positions. It’s triangular, and rotating it allowed to change its size. Although even the smaller-sized front sight is quite massive. I’m not a sports shooter, or Olympic shooter, or bull’s eye, so I’m not sure if this sight was desirable.  

    It tends to obscure the target a fair bit, and I like a smaller sight for shooting small targets and tight groups. The rear sights are fully adjustable for windage and elevation.    

It made me wonder if the author was ignorant of sight pictures or holds other than the combat hold. And as I thought about it, it seems that I do occasionally read or hear people complain about perfectly good sights because the sight completely covers the target with the hold they are using. The following illustration from the NRA Women article "Understanding the 4 Types of Sight Pictures" shows four common sight pictures when using iron sights:

 

It leaves off another hold called the Sub-Six O'Clock hold which leaves a bit of a gap between the top of the front sight post and the target. 

    The combat hold would more properly be termed the "pistol combat hold" because that is the only place it becomes useful. It is intended for quick shots at short ranges where the target is going to quite plainly be larger than the front sight post, and the idea is to put the dot over what you are going to shoot--you need it to get your flash sight picture. 

    But most iron sights on rifles and handguns have historically been designed with a Six O'Clock or Center Hold in mind. That's why the shooters could achieve high accuracy using sight blades wider than the target at which they were shooting--the sight post never wholly obscured their target. 

    But it seems in this world of optical sights and high visibility dots on pistols sights, the knowledge of these other holds is dying out.  

More:

• "Sight Picture Holds and Concealed Carry Factors"--USA Carry.
• "How Does the 6 O'Clock Hold Work?"--NRA Family.

VIDEO: Common Rifle Shooting Mistakes

Lena Miculek goes over the three most common rifle shooting mistakes she sees at the range: (i) stocks adjusted either too long or too short (but she shows how to quickly adjust to what is the best stock length for you); (ii) shooting with the stock too high on the shoulder resulting in poor recoil control; and (iii) holding the rifle too high when shooting from the prone position giving up all the stability advantages that prone shooting offers. 

The shooting with the stock too high on the shoulder seemed to originate with the Tactical Timmy crowd who want to keep their head and neck completely straight and upright when shooting ... which means that you have to bring the rifle up higher to eye level, resulting in only the bottom part of the stock against the shoulder. 

 VIDEO: "The Worst Rifle Mistakes I See at the Range | Lena Miculek"
Shooters Global (5 min.)

VIDEO: Making Your Own Self-Sealing Targets

You probably have already come across blog or forum posts where people describe using horse stall mats to make their own self-sealing targets. The following video discusses this, including a description of how the author made the targets and showing how well his work.  

 VIDEO: "Infinitely self sealing target companies are a scam."
Regular Guy Training LLC (8 min.)

Gun & Prepping News #71

 Just some gun and prepping related links that I thought interesting or useful:

• "Essential Pieces of Gear to Bring to the Range"--Guns & Ammo.  An excerpt:

If you have a giant range bag, then it’s going to get filled. I learned quickly that it’s not nearly as efficient to keep every piece of range gear I like in one bag. My range time goes smoother when I bring a small bag with exactly what I need. With a huge bag, I waste time looking for and reorganizing gear. Most of what I carry fits within a Storm Range Bag I sourced from Full Forge Gear. It doesn’t have more pockets than I need, and the pockets it does have are rarely used. Large bags hold a lot more, but contents get jumbled in the middle due to the soft base. The best feature of the Storm Range Bag is the hard bottom shell, preventing the bag from sagging in the middle. There may be no wrong answer when deciding on a useful range bag, but a hard base makes a difference. Full Forge Gear’s Storm Range Bag supports my needs to test firearms, including several pounds of ammo. The bottom has yet to collapse from the weight.  

• "Kit and Gear Selection Part 1: Choosing the Right Tool for the Job"--The Firearm Blog. Advice on selecting gear for a mission. For instance: 

    ... The infantry standard across most modern militaries has come out to 7 mags. In my time conducting direct action or hostage rescue missions (training or real), I can say I never needed that much ammunition for direct action. In most CQB (close quarters battle), I would rarely go past 2 AR15 magazines. Part of the reason for this is training to have first-round hits, shooting only at a perceived target (this requires discipline and experience); there is no endless supply of bad guys, and speed is security at this point.

    In the realm of short-duration missions, what can a civilian or LEO expect? For a police officer, you will have civil unrest with riots, active shooter(s), and warrants. The historical data with all three is limited to timeframes, and most of the individuals are not a direct threat, so kinetic engagements are highly limited. For the civilian, it's going to primarily be home defense. You may hear something in the early AM, maybe you are defending property, or patrolling your homestead and farm. Regardless, both will likely have limited engagements. In countless cases, when rounds are exchanged on the two-way range, engagements are short-duration and historical data shows the threat normally retreats. 

• "What Is the Best Suppressor for 45 ACP?"--The Truth About Guns.  The article begins with a discussion of why the .45 ACP is so easy to suppress, with the author noting that:

At subsonic velocities right out of the box, .45 ACP is one of the most naturally suppressor-friendly handgun cartridges ever developed. You don’t need special ammo. You don’t need to worry about breaking the sound barrier. You just thread on a can, press the trigger, and enjoy the kind of quiet shooting most calibers can only dream about.   

  

The article then discusses some specific suppressors. 

• "Off-Body Carry for Women"--The Truth About Guns. Rather than discuss the concept generally, the author focuses on some specific products she has used: the 5.11 Tactical LVC6 Waist Pack;  Gun Tote’n Mamas Crossbody Mail Pouch Concealed Carry Bag; Phoenix Ukoala Bag; Zendira The Friday Concealed Carry Crossbody; and the Vertx Everyday Fanny Pack 2.0.
• "The Role of the Pocket Pistol"--American Rifleman.  Jeff Gonzales begins:

 I’ve carried a pocket pistol for years, but rarely as my primary defensive tool. For me, it’s always been more of a backup—the kind of firearm that lives quietly in the margins of a daily carry system, present but never the centerpiece. It’s there for when the fight is closer than comfort, when my strong hand is tied up or when my primary handgun is no longer an option.

He then goes on to set out his own pointers and advice for selecting a pocket pistol and addresses some downsides or complications with shooting and carrying a pocket pistol. 

    I would add a few caveats to the article. First, although the photographs accompanying the article show someone drawing from the strong side front pocket, the author's experience mostly relates to carrying a pocket pistol in the back pocket--something that is probably pretty rare among those who pocket carry. 

    Second, the author states that "Even in the best-case scenario, a pocket draw will almost always be slower than a strong-side IWB holster draw." That is true if you are running a BUG match. But one of the advantages of pocket carry is that if find yourself in sketchy situation you can unobtrusively put your hand in your pocket and get ready to draw the handgun. In that case, the pocket draw can be faster than many other methods of carry. 

     Third, the whole point of pocket carry is to have a weapon small and light enough to carry in the pocket. The author recommends a pistol in 9mm, but because of the pressures involved and the size of the cartridge, 9mm pistols are tend to be larger and heavier than .380 pistols. Thus, even the smallest 9mm pistols tend to be on the margin of being too large for pocket carry and may be too large for your needs. For instance, I often see the Sig P365 and Glock 43X described as pocket pistols, but they are not unless you have some truly capacious pockets. 

• "3 Drills With The Glock 43x"--Primer Peak. The three drills are: (i) the Vickers Test; (ii) the Low-High Reload; and (iii) the Bill Drill. The author describes the drills so you can do them yourself (as well as describing his results) and includes a link to a PDF of the B8 target that you will use in the Vickers Test.
• "We Tested Six Hunting Rifles From 100 Years Ago"--Guns & Ammo. Notwithstanding the title, this is more of a review of firearms developments in the early 20th Century and an overview of rifles and cartridges representative of what would have been popular in the mid-1920s for deer hunting. I suspect that the "testing" part was probably omitted from this online article but could be found in the print edition. 
• And on the topic of old firearm designs: "Cimarron Model 3 American Top Break Reviewed"--Guns America. This is Cimarron's take on the Smith & Wesson Model 3 American top-break revolver, with the author also including some history on the particular firearm. Being top-break makes it far faster to unload than a Colt SAA and quit a bit faster to reload. 

The Cimarron version is produced by Uberti to Cimarron’s specs and is a very close replica of the original, except for a few new elements. New to the Cimarron American is the ability to fire .45 Long Colt. Originals were cambered in .44 Henry Rimfire, .44-40, .32-44, .38-44, and .45 Schofield, all shorter cartridges. The modernized Cimarron version also incorporates a hammer block safety. Pull the hammer back until you hear the first click, and a steel insert moves between the hammer and the frame to prevent the gun from accidentally firing if dropped. 

•  "Gun Disarms: It’s Not Over Just Because You Said Its Over"-- Schafer's Self-Defense Corner. An excerpt:

       I was training with another instructor years back and he wanted to show me his favorite disarming technique (the one where you slap the gun and his wrist to make the gun fly across the room).  I held the gun out for him several times while he demonstrated and then he asked me to try to shoot him before he moved and sure enough he was so fast he disarmed me every time.  I then asked him if we could go a turn where I acted like a real criminal; after he said he was ready I stepped in between his legs, grabbed him by the throat with my left hand, pressed the gun into his left temple, drove him backwards and screamed “GIVE ME YOUR…(you can probably guess)!” 

         Needless to say not only was he not able to do the technique but he nearly defecated himself.  Static training where you just stand there is all fine and dandy but a criminal just doesn’t appear out of thin air ready to shoot you if you breathe wrong; something always leads up to it and happens after it.  It also doesn’t teach you to deal with what I call the “Oh Shit Factor” where your brain suddenly falls out your butt when surprised with sudden violence.  

         Sure, the criminal may be standing there just holding out the gun and not moving, it happens all the time; but he also might be pushing, punching, choking, or grabbing you with his free hand while he screams and the gun could be held back, shoved right in your eyes, or who knows what else.  The point is after you have the technique down you should simulate a real robbery while you have to do your disarming technique in that fast and dynamic situation.     

• "Best Backpacking Gun?"--Active Response Training.  Ellifritz states that he uses an 8-shot Smith and Wesson model 317 .22 revolver. His choice is based on the fact that the area he backpacks lacks large predators, is remote enough not to worry about human predators, the revolver is lightweight and reliable, and he can use it to signal for help or take out snakes or small game ... and, if necessary, it is accurate enough for him to put all 8 rounds into an attacker's head. 

The gun holds eight shots, is essentially immune to cold or wet weather, and weighs 12 ounces when loaded.  Carrying three spare Quick Strips loaded with 10 rounds each of CCI’s excellent Velocitor ammunition gives me 38 rounds of ammunition in a package that weighs about a pound.  It’s ideal for my backpacking needs.

He has two methods of carrying:  the Wilderness Products Safepacker holster which he describes as "a quick access padded belt holster that looks like an unassuming pouch." But he also a clip draw (a metal clip that attaches to the frame) for when he is not wearing his pack. 

    I also have a 317 that I load up with Federal Punch in .22LR. But after trying a belt holster which I didn't like very well, I switched to pocket carry. The issue is finding a holster that works as my pocket holster for a snubby .38 was not quite deep enough the 317 which has a 3-inch barrel. I wound up purchasing a Barsony Woodland Green Pocket Holster ($19 on Amazon) which comes in a variety of sizes, including for 3" S&W J-frame revolvers. The holster is not as good as a DeSantis Nemesis pocket holster--the fabric is a little thin and the hammer catches a bit--but it works and with practice I was able to get around the issue with the hammer catching. I went with it because I could not find a DeSantis holster of the correct size. 

• "Land Navigation Skills and Techniques" (Part 1) (Part 2)--Badlands Fieldcraft. Part 1 goes over both major and some minor terrain features, and for each showing a photograph of how it appears to the eye and showing a corresponding look at how it is presented on a topographic map. Part 2 discusses some techniques on how to plot routes and know where you once you are in the field, plus a method for determining the location of a structure or feature not show on a map so you can relay the coordinates to someone. 
• More: "Junk On The Bunk: Land Navigation Kit"--Badlands Fieldcraft. 
• "Pimp your Bic for survival use"--Survival Common Sense. Some simple modifications to make your Bic (or similar disposable butane lighter) more useful for survival or camping. 
• "How To Grow A Survival Garden FAST"--Urban Survival Site.

There are many methods in which to grow a garden, such as traditional use of the available land, hydroponics, aquaponics, raised beds, and container gardening. All of these options are fine but for the purpose of this article, we are going to be focusing on raised beds and container gardening. This is because they provide the best overall benefit for beginners wanting to start a garden quickly. 

•  "Death and Burial" (Part 1) (Part 2)--Blue Collar Prepping. In a serious SHTF even, it is possible that no everyone is going to make it and you might have to dispose of a body (or bodies) yourself for reasons of health and hygiene. Part 1 discusses the physical disposal of the body. As the author writes:

     If it appears that “normal” life will resume within a week, your main concern will be how to store the deceased until you can get them to a morgue, mortuary, or coroner's office. If the weather is cold, below freezing, a body can be stored in an unheated building or vehicle until the temperature gets above freezing. If the weather is above freezing you have a limited amount of time before the body starts to decompose, temporary burial may be an option. The amount of time varies roughly with the temperature, along with the condition of the corpse and how they died. If it is warm or hot outside and the person died of a bacterial infection, the body can start to putrefy in as little as twelve hours. More on this in Part 2.

    If your situation is likely to last more than several days, you're going to need to consider how to dispose of the body. Embalming is probably not going to be an option- it requires some pretty nasty chemicals and dedicated facilities - so we're going to want to look into the funeral practices of more primitive times and places. Without freezing or embalming, corpses need to be dealt with rapidly to prevent the spread of diseases and to keep predators and vermin away from where you live. The options boil down to cremation, burial, or entombment. 

Part 2 discusses how to tell if someone is dead, how long they have been dead, and how to handle a dead body. As an aside, I would note that Cody Lundin's book When All Hell Breaks Loose also discusses the topic of storage and disposal of dead bodies, including some of the steps you may need to take to protect yourself legally when law and order return. 

• "Improvised First Aid Techniques for When You’re Caught Short"--My First Aid Course. It is pretty bare bones, but it has ideas for managing cuts and abrasions with improvised bandages; treating burns with cool water and plastic wraps; splinting with improvised materials; using a triangular bandage (or torn sheet); and some improvised transport techniques. 
• "Chemical Toilets for the Home – When the SHTF Good Sanitation is Vital!"--Alpha Survivalist. A quick overview of several portable toilets and then discussion how chemical toilets work and how to safely dispose of waste. 
• "Video: Survival lessons from the 1845 Meek’s Cutoff Wagon Trail through the Oregon desert"--Survival Common Sense.  An illustration of the well known maxim that a short cut is the longest distance between two points (and, in this case, the deadliest).