Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.
Long Range Work
Clint Smith takes a look at what handgun shoots the best at ranges out to 150 yards.
Survival Tips: Preparing Yourself For Traveling Our Nation’s Highways
You are far more likely to get into a car crash or become stranded when your vehicle stops working than you are getting into a gunfight.
Is Your Student Prepared for Campus Emergencies?
School is back in session. If you have a child away at college, does he/she have an emergency plan?
Stop Blinding Yourself
A good introduction to flashlight search techniques that aren’t often covered in a lot of low light shooting classes.
The Dozier Drill – A Cooper Classic
An old school shooting drill that many of the YouTube celebrities have never seen.
Take 5 of these and call me in the morning
There are actually some pretty compelling medical studies to suggest that this combination of OTC drugs is equal to the pain killing effects of the lower end narcotics (Vicodin/Norco). When I have used the combination after a couple different surgeries I used 800 mg of ibuprofen rather than the 600mg suggested here. Lots of folks in my “system collapse” medical classes want info on stockpiling narcotics for the zombie apocalypse. I tell all of them to start out by purchasing a big 500-count bottle of each of these drugs at their local big box store.
Speaking of drugs for the zombie apocalypse, you might find the following article useful 10 Herbs for Wound Care: A Prepper’s Herbal Medicine Cabinet.
The Psychotic Son
What I’m reading…
FBI Sniper Rifles Through The Years
A fascinating history for anyone interested in precision rifles. I had no idea that the FBI’s first “sniper” rifle was a pump action with a four power scope.
Failure is not an option…it is a necessity.
“So the next time you have a problem, you can either view it as a problem, or you can view it as an opportunity. Easier said than done, but the more you do it, the easier it becomes. In the end, which way would you rather portray yourself? Tough and resilient, or fragile and whiny? When people talk about someone having a good mental game, this is in large part what they mean.”
Since we are discussing training principles, you might also like Mastering the Basics.
September Rangemaster Newsletter
Tom’s newsletter is always worth reading. Check out his new take on Dot Torture (with time limits). Thanks to Tim Kelley for linking to one of my articles in his guest post.
How to Repay Your Mentors
I topic that isn’t often discussed in this “me first” social media obsessed culture. How are you honoring you mentors in the shooting and self defense world?
“The people who gave you your first job, showed you their secrets, picked up the check when you couldn’t afford to? They don’t want that stuff back. They want you to see you learn from their example. I’m not saying it’s good karma, but think about it like this: the stuff they gave you, that wasn’t a gift. It was given to you in trust. You don’t exclusively own that knowledge, you aren’t entitled to profit from the advice, you didn’t get some free ride. No, you just got access to it for a while, access that was contingent on you referring other deserving people to it down the line. Got it?”
Fierce and Female
Melissa Soalt (AKA “Dr. Ruthless”) was one of the OG women’s self defense instructors back in the day and pioneered using padded attacker simulations in her rape prevention classes. Back in the late 1990s I purchased her “Fierce and Female” DVDs from Paladin Press and used a lot of the concepts she relayed in the women’s self defense classes I taught through the police department and my fledgling training company. While she teaches to a female audience, I think most of her stuff is equally applicable to men as well. She recently posted this on her Facebook page:
“My Fierce and Female DVD set is Now available online for free! You’ll just have to google my name, along with Fierce and Female DVD. Its 2 parts.
Bear in mind: it’s 2 decades old! (A cult classic!) I Would include some other and more expanded material if I created it today. I had no say in the final product either… the (male!) producers made all the decisions. (Are we surprised? At the time I was the sole female “ talent” invited to create product for them… yet I was disallowed from having any say or even approval in its editing and finished product. Lots of $$$ made for them, a pittance, the lowest ring for me…)
But at the same time, no women’s media outfit was even willing to risk a woman’s self defense video TAUGHT by a woman at the time. Here’s my NO BULLSHIT bottom line:
PREPARATION physically, emotionally, mentally and so on is crucial. But don’t be fooled by the description of “realistic” flaunted and used by so many groups nowadays in describing women’s training.
That’s a whole other rant and it applies to “ women’s programs” taught by martial art schools and male dominated combatives groups who know little about female realities, but my criticism and rant ALSO applies to some women-led groups whose physical padded attacker simulations – those requiring physical counterattack vs words or low level – are FAR from realistic. And often taught by instructors with little related training themselves. Often no prior fighting arts background.
There’s an old saying: If you want the truth (or in this case good training) look to the source, not its reflection. Bottom line: women must be prepared and know how to “fu*k a dude up” when all else has failed. Get some! Be discriminating! Have at it!”
You can view part two of her video HERE. There are a lot of hard learned lessons in these videos no matter how long ago they were filmed.
How to Spray Paint Your AR-15 Rifle
I learned how to do this in police sniper school and haven’t been afraid to “tag” my rifles since then. If you are going to do it, please paint your scope and weapon light as well. A camo rifle with shiny black accessories doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Having a Purpose
Lee and Bryan talk about career transitions and having a purpose. I think it’s a topic that doesn’t get as much traction as it should. Everyone in public safety careers should be listening and making plans. I left my police career without hesitation because I had planned for a successful transition. The article I wrote that Bryan referenced in the show is Don’t Be A Crime Scene Tourist.
You should also check out Bryan’s Patreon page. I’m a paying subscriber and I find it to be one of the best gunsmithing references on the internet.
Comparative Standards
Claude creates a course of fire for which to objectively compare several different pistols. In part two, he compares five different DA automatics.
Appendix Carry: Safe, Efficient and Comfortable
Rich Nance has some good info for the “appendix carry curious.”
Perps Murder Victim For His Gold Chain
As my late friend William Aprill stated “They are not like you.” This is exceptionally violent. But watching it will give you some insight on how brutal some criminals can be.
Using .22 Magnum for Self-Defense
Some ballistic testing on the .22 magnum fired out of a one inch barrelled mini-revolver.
You Are Not Getting Any Younger!
Last week I linked to an article where Massad Ayoob detailed how his firearms carry has changed as he has aged. Here is George Harris’ take on the same issue. For a slightly different opinion on George’s cautions about carrying a “small” gun, watch Big Gun vs. Little Gun.
15 reasons to consider a snubby revolver for your backup gun
I was one of the dinosaurs who still carried a revolver as a backup gun at work. In today’s world, I’d be happy if officers carried ANY gun as a backup weapon. From the armed citizen’s perspective read Massad Ayoob’s article Is The Revolver Obsolete?
Pat Rogers Memorial Revolver Round-Up
Unfortunately, due to a scheduling conflict, I won’t be teaching here this year. I look forward to re-joining the instructor cadre in 2024. I’ve taught at the last three Revolver Roundups and truly think attending this seminar will raise your revolver shooting skill level faster than any other course I can recommend.
It’s appropriate for shooters with any level of previous revolver knowledge. There are several different classes running at the same time each day. You get to pick the class that best suits your needs.
And it’s GUNSITE! I believe this is the cheapest 3-day class they offer. If you want to train at the Mecca, this will likely be the least expensive option you can find.
Less than 25 slots remain before it is full. Register now if you have plans to go.
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.
