Posted on 04/18/2016 5:29:56 PM PDT by Lazamataz
The following are some thoughts I would like to share based on traveling the world while training various military, law enforcement and civilian personnel in pistol and carbine marksmanship. Some of you may agree, some may disagree, but my goal is to really get you thinking about what I said when you’re done reading this.
Muzzle Brakes
Muzzle brakes are great in a three gun match, but almost completely worthless in the real world. If you ever need to use your carbine while in confined spaces, as part of a tactical entry team, or during nighttime fighting, then you have no business putting one of these on your gun. Period. If you just go to a class and pound a bunch of rounds down range trying to look cool then it is tailor-made for you. So are Ronald McDonald shoes.
Electronic Hearing Protection
I honestly still have people show up to classes without electronic ear protection if you can believe that. This creates a borderline dangerous situation as you have a student who isn't hearing half of what the instructor is saying. Bottom line: if you can't afford good electronic hearing protection then you can't afford to be in the class. Instead, you should stay home and scrounge the neighborhood for soda cans and bottles until you get enough pocket change to buy a pair.
Sacred Cows of Training
Two of these come to mind: students who do tactical reloads nonstop, and those who constantly close the ejection port cover on their carbine. These two techniques are valid at the right time and place, but many of the students I see who are proficient at these sacred cows actually suck as shooters. Here's a tip from your Uncle Larry: work on being able to hit your target first, and then worry about secondary tasks like closing your dust cover. You may find out that in the real world the first makes the second largely unnecessary.
Skill
You can't buy skill. This is where students put every accessory known to man on their carbine, or have the so called 'combat' pistol they are using tuned with a stupid light trigger or some other heinous modification. Try saving your money you spend on stupid gadgets and apply yourself in a more productive way, like mastering sight alignment and trigger control. You will be amazed at how well you can shoot with even a box stock weapon.
Quality Over Quantity
Try to get the most out of every round you fire. You are better off going to the range and shooting 150 rounds and executing well designed drills that hone your skills than shooting five times that amount in a high round count 'entertainment' class where you run around like you’re in a first person shooter video game. In the real world, you’re accountable for every round you fire and only effective hits on target count. The bad guys don't give out style points for your dynamic mag dump in their general direction; they just return the favor with lead.
And last but not least,
Competition Shooting
Competition shooting is fun and exciting, but can actually be hazardous to your long-term health should you ever get in a gun fight and apply some of the 'match winning' techniques to try and win the gunfight. You don't get a staged walk-through in a life-or-death situation, and there is no range officer to tell you to load and make ready. I bring this up because I have seen students in classes who shoot a lot of competition and repeatedly begin a drill with an empty weapon. This in an era when over 40 states have concealed carry! Unreal.
That's all for now. I'm sure I’ve ruffled some feathers with these comments and some of the people reading this are probably cussing me right now. I couldn't possibly care less. Where I came from, we trained to enter hijacked aircraft and save lives- not win matches or impress people with Ninja gun handling skills. My goal is to get you thinking about what I said and hopefully some of you will make changes in how you train that could make the key difference some day when you need it most.
Larry Vickers Vickers Tactical Inc.
And check out John Farnam of Defense Training International...VN combat Marine and former LEO...
Read his QUIPS at the website...Lots of good training and advice there...
A lot of the guys that have been around for a while really aren’t impressed by all of the latest “tactical” trends.
I think they are coming from a military perspective rather than a civilian training mindset. Having the stones to fight when it counts is more important to them than proper safety minipulation.
A lot of the “trends” that keep showing up in their training classes evolved from a different place. Civilian training is exploding and the General public is unbelievably stupid. These programs can get shut down after a single negligent discharge.
As far as Muzzle Breaks, he is talking about something very specific here. Larry is a huge AK74 supporter and that rifle has a tremendous break.
My best friend when we were around 12 had a Daisy model 25 pump. It was billed as the king of air rifles and I believe it.
His was a lot more powerful than my lever action one. He would get some of his Mother’s olive oil and pour it down the barrel. He would then replace the barrel/BB holder, screw it down and then shoot it. For the first few shots it would spray olive oil then for nearly the rest of the 50 shot tube it would literally shoot through their barn’s particle board sides.
Teach me how to hit acorns in flight, and I will teach you cipherin’ like Jethro Bodeen learnt.
It is not as difficult as it sounds. I do have some observations of how it is done.
First of all, you get into a rhythm. I had to throw the penny myself. It messed me up if anyone else threw it. You also use the sights even if it is very fast. I have read that other shooters who were better than me, did not use the sights but I would have always missed without them.
Also it was almost as easy for me to hit a penny as it was a tin can. A can just doesn’t let you concentrate on a tiny area.
I will ..... have in the past, thanks for the reminder to refresh.
Here is one I like to follow currently......Pat McNammera.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOZdThjffqiGL6xWETXEAuw
Hell, ANY gun is deafening in a closed space. I once accidentally discharged a .357 in a bedroom and my ears were ringing for a week. It's PAINFUL.
And, there's a standard flash guard on most AR-type carbines...that's the most you want to have on the end of your barrel.
I can hit the broadside of a barn if I am inside it.
The standard for focusing on one control aspect is no more than 20 rounds per day, making each one a beginning, a shot fired, and a recording of exactly where it was supposed to hit, where it actually hit, and the specs of the weather, temp, wind etc. Any more than twenty round for a session is banging away, and start losing the potential to learn from the outing.
Weather shot placement, trigger control, breathing control, positioning, cheek weld, twenty rounds over a minimum of one hours.
Obviously, if just going out to have some fun, shoot em if you got em!
Back in ‘67, we practiced with Daisys shooting can lids, then quarters and finally dimes out of the air that another trainee tossed.
I never realized how good a shot I had become by plinking since I was a kid. One day in my late teens I was shooting at some cans on a fence. The wind took one out. I hit it on the way down, and again as it hit the ground.
My brother still has the can.
They were the luckiest shots in my life.
Got the basic air rifle when I was 8 or 9, a nice one when I was 9 or 10. Dad got the matching pistol. We would put a bb trap at the end of the hall in our quarters and shot a fair amount.
A few years later I got a .22 bolt action with a peep sight and did the NRA 50’ thing. 10 ring was basically the diameter of a .22 round.
I shoot reasonably well as a result of those early experiences.
Yes, Daisy’s were not just for kids, an excellent and cheap training aid. I shot one since a young boy, we knew how to arc a bb at extreme distances. The first time I shot an M-79 grenade launcher at 200 yards, all I could think of was a smile on my face, give me one of these, lol.
When I went through Infantry Officer’s Basic Course at Benning in 1971, we had an afternoon spent on the Quick Kill Course. We started with BB guns shooting at small target with four owls on a metal rod, moved on to shooting small disk about the size of a fifty cent piece thrown into the air. All this was to teach you to point and shoot. No sight picture, just instinctive shooting.
Then we progressed to shooting M16s at pop up targets at ranges from 10 to 75 meters appearing one or more at a time. We were directed to fire three round bursts. This was in the days when the M16 only had single or full auto selectors.
Other than the flying disks (I missed them all) I did rather well. I had learned to shoot cotton tails running between brush piles with a 22 so the standard popup targets were rather easy.
I once had a crush on a cutie who lived near us.
One day I was in the woods just plinking with my Colt Woodsman when by odd chance, her little brother happened to appear.
We were talking and for some reason, I put an empty .22 case in a tree and stood back around 20 feet. When I fired the case stayed stuck in the tree.
When we went to look at what had happened I got a surprise. The bullet had entered the back of the case and seated itself in the mouth. It looked exactly like a regular .22LR round except the bullet was a bit rough and there was a hole in the back of the case.
He asked if he could keep it and I let him, hoping he would tell his Sister of my amazing marksmanship.
I doubt that feat could have been repeated in a billion shots. Just one of those odd things which happens.
I let fly with a .44 mag, in an enclosed room, in a negligent discharge once. The ringing only lasted a few hours.
Of course, I can no longer hear as well. Seriously.
I one time shot a round and it put out the sun.
True story.
I shot a round that caused a black hole to emerge near Lake Ontario. If it wasn’t for aliens, we’d all be neutron matter.
True story.
I once shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.
True story.
I am NOT having the satellite dish removed from my AR. If I do I’ll only be able to get broadcast TV. Think, people.
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