Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.
Active Shooter Medicine: Are Tourniquets as Important as Everyone Thinks?
In an active killer event, chest seals may be more important than tourniquets.
Children and Violence 101: Overview
“Bottom Line Up front: Our position is that training your children to understand the threat of violence is wholly separate from teaching them to use violence. “
Remington 870 ejector spring replacement
I’m betting that most of my regular readers own at least one Remington 870. Wouldn’t it be nice if you knew how to fix it?
The More You Know, the Less You Need: A Personal Example
If you have a “bugout bag,” a “get home bag,” or are contemplating either, please read this article. His tinder carry recommendation is absolute genius.
Good Samaritans after all
A deep dive into the science of bystander intervention in violent attacks. It’s interesting to note the following:
“In fact, the newest research calls that model into question entirely, suggesting that the way our brains process a violent event in the immediate instant, when intervention is most likely, is largely reflexive and unconscious. When it comes to witnessing violence, bystanders are in general more likely to intervene once cognition overrides reflexes, whether or not they are in groups.”
Just like when we experience a violent attack on ourselves, the longer we can stay in our “rational brain,” the better off we are. When we feel overwhelmed, unprepared, scared, and fearful of surviving we switch to the limbic system and act based on instinct. That particular instinctive reaction may or may not be helpful in that particular encounter.
Movement with Purpose
I like Dave Spaulding’s take on shooting while moving. Purposeful is important.
Rimfire .22LR Is Not A Wise Defense Choice
I agree with the author’s statement: “I can’t think of a single reputable weapons trainer or organization that would say a rimfire .22LR round is their first choice in any self-defense situation.”
As most of you know, I’m much more supportive of carrying a .22 as a defensive sidearm than many of my friends are. It comes down to the issue of “first choice.” The car I drive every day may not be the “first choice” for winning the Indy 500. It may not be my “first choice” vehicle when I have to move all of the contents of my house to a different state.
Just like vehicles, firearms can be optimized for a particular task. Even though it’s not a “first choice” it doesn’t mean that it is useless. Everyone knows that a 9mm creates a larger wound track than a .22. That’s important, but we aren’t trying to kill the person. We just want to stop the attack. Whether the attacker lives or dies after you shooting him is more of a reflection on the quality of medical care he receives than in handgun bullet diameter.
Single Action Revolvers for Self Defense
A rare discussion about the role of the single action revolver in your self defense preparations.
Colt Single Action 45 Revolver
Speaking of single action revolvers, has anyone actually tried the “secret” grip described in the article. I like the horizontal thumb cocking, but I do it with my weak side thumb. I’d try out his technique, but I don’t own any single action revolvers.
Mind Games: The Benefit of Conscious Contradictions in Training
A good shooting drill for you to try…combing fast draws with conscious, deliberate, precision long range shots. Here are my results.Want some more drills? Check out these two to test your rifle shooting proficiency.
APPENDIX CARRY:Keepers’ Concealment Triad
My buddy Spencer is getting some well-deserved praise. I think his appendix carry holsters are the best on the market.
The Danger Of “Small Of The Back” Carry
There are very few good reasons to carry your gun in the small of your back. Don’t do it.
If this article wasn’t convincing enough, read: Small Of The Back Carry: Easy Concealment Or Injury Waiting To Happen?
Thank you to Practical Eschatology for digging up these links.
1911 School, Feeding Part 1 of 3
If you geek out on technical gun details, this series on the function of a 1911 handgun will be a must-read.
The Opinions That You Don’t Have A Right To
“If you want to be an authority figure in any endeavor, go learn how to be one! Curb your inner Couch Captain and go sit in front of the experts and listen to what they have to say. The information and experiences are out there, all you have to do is show up and put in the work. Do I get stuff wrong? All the time. Do the pros get stuff wrong? Sure. That’s what sets the do’ers apart from the Armchair Quarterbacks. Making mistakes, recognizing shortcomings, and working to correct them. I’m a fan of the Do-acracy. Those who do, decide.”
Emergency Medical Action Plans for Live-fire Range Operations
Does your firing range have a comprehensive medical plan? Are you briefed on medical contingencies at the start of each of your firearms training classes? If not, seek training from someone that actually has a plan in the event of an accidental gunshot wound or other range emergency.
The Handgun Skills Triad – The Key to High Performance Shooting
Mike Seeklander shares a massive quantity of quality information in this article.
Choosing Shotgun Chokes for Home Defense
This article goes well with the buckshot patterning article I posted last week. Please remember that while a full choke will extend the range of your buckshot patterns, it may not be safe to use with rifled slugs.
People’s Republic
What I’m reading…
This is a slightly different take on the normal dystopian “Doomer-porn” fiction books I read. In it, middle America breaks up with both coasts. The middle is a free market conservative’s dream. The coasts are the absolute worst case scenarios one can imagine. All of the problems on the coasts came from the politically liberal politicians.
Fair warning: The book is written as a polemic. It intentionally doesn’t show any positive outcomes from left wing politics while celebrating every benefit of embracing conservatism. At any rate, the book has been entertaining thus far. My more liberal readers would likely be absolutely incensed by the novel and probably wouldn’t get past the first few chapters before throwing the book in the trash. If you are a staunch political conservative, you’ll really enjoy it.
As I don’t embrace either political ideology, I look at books like these as imagination-stimulating predictions of one possible future. The basic premise of the book outlines a scenario that I would have never possibly imagined. Despite all the loathsome political rhetoric, the book has given me a few ideas for the future.
Russian Revolvers & Longarms In US
Curious Russian handguns that have never been imported into the USA. If you do any travel in Russia or Eastern Europe, it might be a good idea to do some research and see how these unusual handguns work.
Can you Fix Your Gun? An Argument for Popular Firearm Platforms
I don’t have a whole lot of use for a gun that I don’t know how to fix. I’ve been to Glock, Sig, and Smith and Wesson pistol armorers courses. I’m also a certified armorer on the AR-15, Benelli shotguns, Remington Bolt action rifles, and all Remington shotguns. I taught myself how to fix revolver problems by reading a few books and watching a lot of YouTube videos.
The only guns that I ever carry which I can’t fix are the Ruger LCP and my Browning Baby. I carry and shoot those guns so infrequently that they are unlikely to break. I would strongly suggest that you know how to do basic repairs on all your common defensive weapons.
My AirBnb Scam Experience
A travel scam you should be aware of if you ever use websites like AirBnB. Here’s another popular way people are scammed on AirBnB.
Next Naloxone
Did you know that opioid overdoses are the single most likely cause of death for a person aged under 50 years in the USA? Naloxone can save lives, but it’s quite expensive (around $150 for two doses). This program provides a free four-minute training video. After watching the video and passing an easy test, they will mail you two doses of naloxone free of charge.
If you have a friend or family member who is an opioid user, you should have naloxone in your first aid kit. If your insurance doesn’t cover the cost or it’s too expensive for you to buy, you can get it free at this link. Ohio residents can learn more about the program HERE.
Elevator Evil Is Tough To Watch
I hope this video serves as a solid wake up call for the folks who need it. A lot of people (especially women) that I train have one of only two possible responses: “I’d just run away” or “I’ll just comply and give him what he wants.”
What if “what he wants” is to knock you unconscious before you even know an attack was taking place? How well do you think you can run away while trapped in an elevator? You MUST have alternatives other than running or compliance. The criminals don’t think the same way you do.
“It’s not a miss, it’s an unacceptable hit”
“Every bullet that flies will hit something. What is acceptable is a very narrow band. What is unacceptable is quite wide. The implication is in practice, you must work (hard) to get acceptable hits and nothing else. If that means you must slow down, slow down. If that means you need to improve your sight picture, improve it. If you need more training, get more training.”
This is one of the chapters in Strategies and Standards for Defensive Handgun Training
10 Tips to Prepare Your Family for a Possible House Fire
One of my long time students died in a house fire last week. Here’s an article chock full of useful information to ensure you don’t suffer a similar fate. Thanks to Grant Cunningham for digging it up.
Cop Lured Into Ambush At Road Blockade, Attacked With Chemical Bomb
Remember how I wrote about the fact that cops need to be more prepared for explosive and incendiary attacks? Five teens intentionally block a roadway knowing that the cops will eventually show up. When an officer arrives, they detonate a bomb that releases enough chlorine gas that the officer lost consciousness. I predict more and more of these ambush style attacks in the future.
Colt Monitor – BAR Evolved
If I could have my choice of any one “holy grail” gun for my collection, it would be a Colt Monitor…essentially a full auto .30-06 Browning BAR with 20 round box magazines. Only 125 were made.
This article provides a nice historical perspective about all of the guns (like the monitor above) that were used in the movie The Highwaymen.
The first fentanyl laboratory in Mexico is discovered in Culiacán
OK, a quick drug education for the uninformed…
Mexican drug cartels bring in most of the heroin sold in the USA. Heroin is synthesized from opium from the poppy plant. Those plants obviously have to be cultivated. Making dope is not a fast process.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid made in a laboratory. It is both cheaper and more potent than heroin. Historically, the drug cartels would buy fentanyl from clandestine labs in China and use it to cut the heroin.
When the cartels screw up the mixture and too much fentanyl gets added to the heroin, the heroin user dies. Most of the OD deaths we have in the USA are from fentanyl-laced heroin.
Now we have evidence that the cartels are producing their own fentanyl in their own labs. They don’t have to source it from China on the darkweb anymore.
That means we are likely to see even more of it in the heroin coming into the USA. That’s not good.
For more information on the topic check out Why would anyone cut heroin with fentanyl? It’s cheap.
The Evolution of The Underwear Gun
My “underwear gun” is a S&W 351C .22 magnum equipped with a clip draw. It’s incredibly handy to wear while doing household chores. If you have a J-frame, clipdraw installation only involves replacing a single screw. If you are running an LCR (or any other revolver) read Mark’s tutorial about how to install the universal clipdraw.
Some of the above links (from Amazon.com) are affiliate links. If you purchase these items, I get a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you.
