In the first half of the 20th century, Zilker was home to a police firing range. Built in 1934 near the Zilker Clubhouse along Rollingwood Drive for the Austin Police Department’s pistol marksmanship courses, the range fell into disrepair and stopped being actively used for firearms training in the mid-1970s.
This historical photo is from 1941, when the range was in active use — apparently by cowboys as well as cops.
1933 Original storeroom and shooting shed are constructed
1934 The CCC expands the central storeroom and adds restroom wings
1938 A masonry wall separating the skeet field and pistol range is erected, and the shed structure is extended to cover 36 shooting stations. A gabled concession addition is constructed on the south facade at an unknown date
2006 South addition removed and window openings are bricked in
2011 Covered shooting shed is demolished
2016 Masonry site well separating the pistol range and skeet field is demolished
Austin Rifle Club at the Zilker Range
While poking around the Austin Rifle Club Education building, ARC members Cindi and Roy found this flyer for the 1949 Ninth Annual Ada Zilker Robinson matches. Ada Zilker Robinson was the daughter or grand-daughter of the Zilker that donated the park to the city of Austin. They were held at the Zilker Park range officiated by members of ARC. There are a few old plaques from this match they found buried in one of the safes not too long ago that are related to one iteration of this match, although it’s not clear which.
Fun things to note: The entry fee per match was $1, and the protest fee, fifty cents. Returned to you if your protest was successful.
Another document they ran across was a contract between ARC and Camp Mabry from 1928 allowing Austin Rifle Club to use the ground floor of Barracks 1 as an indoor range.
We have scheduled most of the classes we plan to offer through June 2025, with a few May/June weekends left open so we can respond to student requests. Weekday private lessons are available with Karl at the A-Zone, by appointment on any gun, at any level on any topic we offer. Some classes on our calendar have already sold out and aren’t listed below.
PERSONAL TACTICS & FORCE ON FORCE SCENARIOS MARCH 22
On Saturday, March 22 we will offer two classes back to back: Personal Tactics Skills and AT-2 Scenarios. These two classes are really part 1 and part 2 of a one day course, so we encourage people to take both if possible. The most common failure in a self-defense incident is decision making, not shooting skill.
These courses develop decision making skill via a structure process that begins by answering the question “what should I do if…” for the most common situations, progresses by using the Image Based Decisional Drills classroom exercises, and provides hands on training in use of inert training pepper spray units.
The afternoon course (AT-2 Scenarios) continues the training by running scenarios with live roleplayers using SIRT laser guns and Simunition marking pistols to give students opportunity to practice making the right choices. We only offer the AT-2 course twice a year (spring and fall), and it’s a required course for those wanting to complete their Defensive Pistol Skills Program challenge coin.
This video from a 2005 episode of Shooting Gallery shows a sample “stop and rob” scenario similar to those in the AT-2 scenarios class.
Both courses are suitable for anyone that has taken our Basic Pistol course or has their Texas carry permit. Often students will say they don’t feel “ready” for this type of training, thinking that better live fire skills training will make them more “ready”. It doesn’t. Shooting competitions where you run memorized sequences of targets does not develop the critical skill of making use of force decisions in real time. The carry permit course teaches the law but does NOT teach tactics or decision making.
I believe that these two courses are the most important, most useful classes we offer and I encourage anyone that has not taken them to take advantage of this training opportunity.
RED DOT PISTOL LEVEL 1 – MARCH 23
Our level 1 Red Dot Pistol class provides instruction in these essential skills: selecting an appropriate red dot sight for defensive use, zeroing the sight, understanding the need for and use of backup iron sights, learning how to quickly find the dot when the gun comes from ready or holster to target, and automating the task of compensating for holdover (aiming high) for close range shots. A properly zeroed red dot sight will be “on” from 15-75 yards but will shoot low for closer shots.
We have loaner red dot guns for those wanting to learn about red dot sights without investing in
DEFENSIVE PISTOL SKILLS 2 and LOW LIGHT SHOOTING MARCH 23
Due to low enrollment in the March 8 sessions we delayed the Defensive Pistol Skills 2 / Low Light Shooting 1 combo to March 23rd. DPS-2 is in the afternoon and Low Light shooting runs from 6-9 pm.
Both of these courses are required classes in the Defensive Pistol Skills Training challenge coin program. DPS-2 continues where DPS-1 ends, improving student ability to draw from concealment, adding the skills of “armed movement in structures” (aka houseclearing) and shooting from cover. Students get a run in our live fire shoot house during DPS-2.
This video shows me doing a live fire shoothouse run at the 2010 Rangemaster Tactical Conference held at the US Shooting Academy in Tulsa, OK.
“Burglar in the nighttime” is the most common concern of the armed homeowner, yet very few ever do any low light practice or learn proper flashlight or weapon mounted light skills. Our course teaches those skills, including a low light shoot house run. This will be the only low light course we offer until October 2025.
Here’s some video from a 2021 low light shooting course
In May we will start up our summer match series, running USPSA-format matches on Wednesday nights. To kick off the summer match season we will offer our 6 hour Intro to Competition Pistol course. It explains the different types of handgun matches available in our area (USPSA, Steel Challenge, IDPA, Falling Steel, Glock Shooting Sports), provides coaching on competition specific skills (shooting, draws, reloads, one handed shooting and safe movement), and concludes with sample stages: IDPA classifier, plate rack (falling steel/Glock shooting sports), Steel Challenge, and a shoot house stage shot twice (IDPA and USPSA format). Shooting local matches is a great way to practice and improve your skills, and this course is the best way to get started in pistol competition.
Here’s a video of USPSA Grand Master Cory K shooting a shoot house stage.
Karl was a guest on the Defenders Live podcast (episode to be released in March), and did a 10 minute interview on Tom Gresham’s nationally syndicated “Gun Talk” show.
DISCOUNT CODES
I have collected up all the discount codes we have set up with vendors we recommend. Alumni of KR Training classes will find them in the monthly e-news email. You’ll have to open the email and scroll to the bottom to find them. It’s a reward for actually opening and reading the email!
REFRESHER DEALS
Re-take any class you’ve taken before for half price! Contact me to get the alumni discount code. Firearms skills deteriorate without practice. Most ranges don’t allow drawing from a holster, shooting quickly, moving or shooting from cover. If you don’t practice the skills you learned in class, they won’t be there when you need them.
BLOG O RAMA
All the articles you missed if you don’t follow the KR Training Facebook page and Instagram feed. John Daub and Paul Martin have both stepped back from blogging, so at the moment Uncle Zo and I are the only KR Training staff actively writing. Some of my writing is being published on the NRA’s Shooting Illustrated website (one article linked below). Greg Ellfritz has been writing a lot recently, in addition to his Weekend Knowledge Dump, and I have included some of his recent articles here.
Here’s a visualization video of one of my original songs: “It’s True” from my Respectable CD. The full album is available on iTunes, Spotify and many other streaming audio platforms. “It’s True” is a bluesy love song in the vein of The Band and the Allman Brothers. I’m playing lead guitar, keyboards and bass on this track, with Mike Riemann on drums. I’m singing lead, backed up by Aaron Roughton.
Bob Jewell recently wrote about the updated Bakersfield PD qualification course, and his writeup was picked up by Eric Lamberson of the Sensible Self Defense blog.
The original target design was tracked down and shared by many with an interest in the history of handgun training.
According to Bob Jewell, Bakersfield now uses a USPSA target scored 10/9/6 for the A, C and D zones.
The updated test is
• Stage 1: Two rounds at 10 feet in 2 seconds
• Stage 2: Two rounds at 20 feet in 3 seconds
• Stage 3: Two rounds, combat reload and two rounds at 30 feet in 7 seconds
• Stage 4: Two rounds at 60 feet in 4 seconds
Overtime shots score zero points. BPD uses a turning target system. I suggest using the industry standard “any shot more than 0.3 sec overtime is late”, developed because the buzzer length on most shot timers is 0.3 seconds.
This past Sunday I had a few minutes before an afternoon Basic Pistol course, and I needed to function test an M&P Shield that was going to be used as a class loaner gun. Having just read Eric’s article, I grabbed two magazines for the Shield and got KR Training assistant instructor Uncle Zo to record me using his Shooters Global timer that can record shot times with video in their app.
I managed to keep all 10 in the A-Zone for a perfect 100 points. The Shield is upgraded with XS F8 sights, but I’ve been shooting a dot mostly this year. So it took some concentration to hit the 60 foot (20 yard) shots with the irons on the subcompact gun. I also tested the ETS plastic 9 and 12 round Shield magazines. Students had used both during Saturday’s class, and the 12 round magazine had not run reliably. I only used the 9 round magazine for the cold run on the Bakersfield qual so that the video would show a true cold run with no “mulligans” or do-overs.
The Bakersfield qual is a simple 10 round evaluation of multiple skills and ability to shoot at 4 different practical distances – arm’s length, car length, across a room, and across a street. Give it a try during your next dry fire or live fire session! Bakersfield standards are that 80 points passes.
I taught two shotgun classes on Saturday, February 8th at KR Training – Defensive Shotgun 1 – Fundamentals, and Defensive Shotgun 2 – Manipulations. In our Fundamentals class, students bring their self defense buckshot loads and pattern those loads at 7 yards, 15 yards, and 25 yards (if their 15 yard patterns give us any confidence that all their pellets will stay on an IPSC target; most sporting goods store off-the-shelf buckshot fails this litmus test miserably). I typically demo FederaI’s FliteControl 00 buckshot load during this portion of class in order to give students an idea what “the gold standard” looks like, in comparison to the usually vastly inferior performing ammunition they brought. In the interest of preserving class time, the day prior to class, I performed some comparative testing of two 00 buckshot loads through my two primary shotguns, which yielded some very interesting results.
Shotgun #1 is a Beretta 1301 Tactical, which is my go-to gun; shotgun #2 is a pump-action Mossberg 500 with a standard 18.5″ “security barrel” that I’ve probably had for well over a dozen years.
Federal FliteControl 00 buck is known to be an outstanding performer with respect to pattern tightness.
Hornady produces 00 buckshot loads with the VersaTite wad, which is designed to minic the performance of the FliteControl wad.
I shot both the Federal and Hornady loads through each gun at the same distances and measured the results:
Beretta 1301-T Hornady TAP (VersaTite) 00 buck 8 pellet
1.5″ max spread (estimated)
6.75″ max spread
13.25″ spread
Mossberg 500 18.5″ Hornady TAP (VersaTite) 00 buck 8 pellet
1.7″ max spread (estimated)
6.875″ max spread
not measurable 8th pellet not on target
One note about the testing: I wanted to use a single target for each gun/load combination, so the 25 yard shots are intentionally low on the target so as to not result in any overlapping patterns.
I fully expected the FliteControl load to vastly outperform the Hornady load, and Federal did not disappoint. At 7 yards out of both guns, FliteControl produces a 12-gauge (roughly 3/4 inch) hole; the Hornady load already demonstrates clearly evident pellet spread.
Comparing the two loads from the same shotgun (Beretta 1301), by 15 yards the Hornady pattern is nearly twice as large (3.54″ vs 6.75″). At 25 yards, the Federal FliteControl pattern is a relatively uniform 9.375″, which still fits cleanly within a USPSA/IPSC target “C” zone, while the Hornady load produced a “flier” which was very nearly off the target entirely.
The results took a surprising and unexpected turn when I compared the FliteControl pattern from the “cheap” Mossberg pump to my “Gucci” Beretta 1301. The Beretta produced nice, tight patterns that matched my expectations. The Mossberg produced outstanding patterns approximately 1/2 the size of my Beretta; At 25 yards, my Mossberg shot a pattern that fits within the “A” zone of a USPSA/IPSC target.
Also noteworthy, there was no real difference in pattern size of the Hornady load between the two shotguns; however, at 25 yards out of the Mossberg, the Hornady load shot a “donut”, meaning that if I was aiming at high center chest vitals, it’s likely to hit everything but the area I’m trying to get pellets into.
Key takeaways:
Shotgun barrels are like snowflakes: every one of them is different. It is paramount that you pattern YOUR defensive load, in YOUR gun, to see what its capabilities and limitations are (see below).
“Rule 4” still applies with shotguns! At what ranges are you fully confident in your ability to hit your intended target with every single projectile? With the Mossberg shotgun and Federal FliteControl 00 buck, I would be very confident in my ability to engage bad guys 25-30 yards away and ensure that every single pellet hits what I want it to hit (you are accountable for every single projectile that leaves your gun.) With my Beretta and Federal FliteControl 00 buck, my maximum engagement range is still easily 20-25 yards, depending on target profile (full value target facing towards me, or a side profile target? Big wide person or skinny meth-head?)
Federal FliteControl is still King. Switching to the Hornady load, my maximum engagement distance is substantially reduced to 15-20 yards, depending on the target profile. Past this distance, I likely to need to use a slug to ensure all my projectiles hit what I am aiming at; usage of slugs introduces its own set of “Rule 4” problems due to a slug’s tendency to massively over-penetrate.
We have scheduled most of the classes we plan to offer through April 2025 with plans to add a few more based on student inquiries. Weekday private lessons are available with Karl at the A-Zone, by appointment on any gun, at any level on any topic we offer. Some classes on our calendar have already sold out and aren’t listed below.
On Saturday, February 8, Dave Reichek (Rangemaster-certified Advanced Shotgun Instructor) will offer two half day shotgun courses. Shotgun 1 is suitable for anyone with any shotgun and is an introduction to defensive shotgun basics. Shotgun 2 is suitable for graduates of any of our previous shotgun courses – and if you’ve taken any of our full day or level 2 shotgun classes in the past, you can re-take the October Shotgun 2 course for half price!
Home Defense Tactics and Shooting Skills
We know that most of our students don’t carry “on body” in public as often as they should, and the #1 concern of most new gun owners is home defense. So we designed a new Home Defense Tactics and Shooting Skills course that doesn’t require a holster, suitable for anyone that has passed our Basic Pistol course and/or the carry permit class. It teaches home defense concepts and skills that aren’t covered in the basic or carry permit courses. The class can be taken with loaner guns as pistol only, or using both your home defense pistol and long gun (rifle or shotgun). Topics include:
Home physical security – locks, lights, cameras and alarms, as they relate to an armed homeowner. Range practice accessing your gun from a box, moving to cover and engaging threats. Tactical movement aka “house clearing” – how to do it and when to do it
Everyone in class will get a run in our shoot house using our 3D reactive targets, an experience you can’t get at any commercial range. Here’s a sample video from January’s defensive match.
So far, interest in this course has been low. I don’t know if it’s because newly graduated Basic Pistol/carry permit students don’t feel “ready” to attend, or because higher level students think the class will be “too basic” We designed this class to be the course the 99% of carry permit holders that have never taken a class beyond the state minimum would benefit from attending. It teaches the skills they are most likely to use, offering an opportunity to practice with their home defense pistol, with optional rifle/shotgun drills. It includes material and drills that aren’t in any of our other classes. I encourage everyone to share the info about this 3 hour, inexpensive class with your gun-owning, non-training friends so awareness of this new course will reach its intended audience.
Our Top 10 drills class is a quick evaluation of your skills and a great tune-up session. Drill 1 starts with basic marksmanship and each drill after that adds skills and time pressure. It’s suitable for anyone that’s completed our Defensive Pistol Skills 1 class (which is why it’s paired with that course in March). Many students take the Top 10 Drills class every year as their annual refresher.
Karl and Dave Reichek did some volunteer coaching for the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets Marksmanship Unit in January. Doug Greig was awarded a scholarship to attend Gunsite in 2025 by the Jeff Cooper Legacy Foundation. Karl represented KR Training at the “Skip the Line” fundraiser for the Central Texas Food Bank event organized by Paul Martin.
DISCOUNT CODES
I have collected up all the discount codes we have set up with vendors we recommend. Alumni of KR Training classes will find them in the monthly e-news email. You’ll have to open the email and scroll to the bottom to find them. It’s a reward for actually opening and reading the email!
REFRESHER DEALS
Re-take any class you’ve taken before for half price! Contact me to get the alumni discount code. Firearms skills deteriorate without practice. Most ranges don’t allow drawing from a holster, shooting quickly, moving or shooting from cover. If you don’t practice the skills you learned in class, they won’t be there when you need them.
BLOG O RAMA
All the articles you missed if you don’t follow the KR Training Facebook page and Instagram feed. John Daub and Paul Martin have both stepped back from blogging, so at the moment Uncle Zo and I are the only KR Training staff actively writing. Some of my writing is being published on the NRA’s Shooting Illustrated website (two articles linked below). Greg Ellfritz has been writing a lot recently, in addition to his Weekend Knowledge Dump, and I have included some of his recent articles here.
Texas’s best Chicago tribute band “Changes”, performed at a big benefit show in Bryan in November. We featured guest vocalist Anna Cargill from Austin on several songs, including the classic “I’ve Been Searching So Long”.
The first volume in Colonel Cooper’s series of autobiographical reminiscences, philosophical essays, political observations, firearms instruction, and spiritual appreciation for the grand gift of life. FireWorks, originally published in 1980, includes essays published in magazines like True, Toros, Soldier of Fortune, Guns and Ammo, Guns, Road and Track, and Westways Magazine (a car/travel magazine) from the 1950’s through the late 1970’s.
It’s available in several editions, paperback and hardback. I picked up a Gunsite Press edition at a used bookstore along my drive to YeagerFest in January. Upon my return I found a second, shrink-wrapped copy purchased directly from Cooper’s family in my stack of “books to read”. Copies are still available from Amazon and ABEbooks and ebay. There is an incorrect listing on the Internet Archive claiming a digitized version of the book is available for free there, but the file is for Tappan on Survival. Some of the essays in Fireworks were published in Tappan’s Survival Newsletter, and Tappen wrote the foreward for Fireworks.
John Dean “Jeff” Cooper was recognized as the father of what is commonly known as the Modern Technique of handgun shooting, and one of the 20th century’s foremost international experts on the use and history of small arms. Cooper was commissioned into the United States Marine Corps prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. During World War II he served in the Pacific on the USS Pennsylvania (BB-38), and then was recalled to active duty for the Korean War, resigning his commission as Lieutenant Colonel in 1956. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Stanford University and, in the mid-1960s, a master’s degree in history from the University of California, Riverside. In 1976, Cooper founded the American Pistol Institute (API) in Paulden, Arizona (later the Gunsite Training Center). Cooper began teaching shotgun and rifle classes to law enforcement and military personnel as well as civilians and did on-site training for individuals and groups from around the world.
This book is a reflection of how journalism, in particular the craft of “gun writing” has deteriorated in the Internet era. In Cooper’s day, articles and essays were longer than a few hundred words. They went deeper into topics and tell longer stories than can be presented in short videos, with better structure and content than 3 hour “bros-chatting” podcast can provide. The book showcases Cooper’s talent as writer and storyteller, with a mix of essays and stories on topics ranging from terrorism, hunting, military combat, gunfighter mindset, politics, riflery, auto racing and more.
Chapters
The Deadly American – a philosophical essay about the mindset of the killer-hero, who is (according to Cooper) not necessarily a criminal, nor a soldier, nor a policeman. Cooper describes that person as “someone who simply does not hold the lives of adversaries to be particularly important, who is highly skilled with weapons and enthusiastic about their use, who does not prey upon society and usually obeys its laws, but whom it is very dangerous to thwart.”
The Man Who Knew How it Was – is a fictional account of a conversation between boy fascinated with TV westerns of the late 1950’s, and his uncle, who was old enough to have known real old West gunfighters.
Open Letter to a Legislative Hoplophobe – One of many political articles Cooper wrote speaking directly to gun control supporters.
Get Charlemagne! – The story of Congressional Medal of Honor winner Herman Henry Hanneken.
The Trip Home – A well written story about a Marine returning home after WW2.
To An American Serving in Vietnam – A short essay
Home of the Brave – An essay about bullfighting
Inferno on Foot – Hiking the Grand Canyon
Venison Harvest – A deer hunting essay
A Rhineland Roebuck – Roebuck hunting story
The Fall of the Wild – Another hunting story
Aguardientes De Agave – History and recipes for Tequila drinks
The First Race – Essay/story about a driver’s first auto race
Travels With Corvy – Another racing story
Attention from the Left – A story about danger in Latin America during a Cooper teaching trip.
Nocturne in the Ten Ring – Story of conflict/military adventure in the West Indies
Mental Conditioning for Combat – The classic “color codes” decorated by anecdotes and commentary
“We Have to Disarm the Citizens of this Country” – another short political article
What is “Accuracy”? – Discussion of rifle shooting skill and equipment
Ballistic Wampum – Recommendations on which calibers and specific rounds to keep on hand for barter goods.
Rainbow’s End – African hunting tale
Baby – about Cooper’s famous rifle
Rhodesian Elegy – About Cooper’s trip to Rhodesia, with commentary about its history and politics
Kriegsoberst! – WW2 German military flying ace Hans-Ulrich Rudel
Wegener – 1970’s terrorism
Cooper’s writing is in the tradition of Hemingway, but also the pulp writers of the 50’s and 60’s that wrote for “men’s adventure magazines”. Articles from those classic magazines are being curated and released by the good folks at Men’s Adventure Quarterly in issues like this one.
It’s a style of writing, and an outlook on the world, that is different from what is common in the modern era, even in the gun culture and among gun writers. I’ve read many of Cooper’s books and compliations of old Gunsite newsletters. This book is a great overview of the depth and breadth of his writing ability and insight into a much wider range of subjects.
On January 11-12, SureFire’s Andy Stanford partnered with Tactical Response to host YeagerFest 2025. Back in 2022, Andy and Tactical Response teamed to host the Surgical Speed Shooting Summit, which brought a dozen trainers together to discuss and teach pistol technique.
Andy put together this event specifically to share new ideas with other trainers. While the event was open enrollment (and several people who were not instructors attended), the majority of attendees were instructors trained by Tactical Response, Rangemaster, or other programs who were actively teaching. In addition to Andy, the other presenters were Karl Rehn (KR Training), John Holschen (West Coast Armory North), John Hearne (Rangemaster/Two Pillars), Joey Glover (Tactical Response) and Dustin Solomon (Building Shooters). A winter storm dumping inches of snow on the roads and the range affected turnout, but 16 instructors plus the invited presenters enjoyed a chilly weekend of training. The instructors and range officers that worked this event are shown in the picture below.
The event was discussed in detail on a recent That Weems Guy podcast episode.
My memories and takeaways from the event:
Andy has been a student and a trainer of pistolcraft since the late 1970’s, when he started with the Southwest Pistol League. In the past few years he shared my interest in documenting the history of firearms training, recording some video interviews with many Gunsite-era instructors. He shared some of those videos in his 2024 Rangemaster Tactical Conference presentation. His primary message to attendees was that the most important innovations in training were not related to equipment or technique, but to application of modern sports science (as developed for professional athletes) and new technology for defensive handgun training. This topic includes John Hearne’s work on the importance of automaticity, frequency and recency as a predictor of gunfight performance, Karl’s use of the SIRT pistol, Ace simulator,Coolfire Trainer, Mantis and other virtual/simulator tech as well as live action force on force scenarios, and the work Dustin Solomon and John Holschen are doing with visual stimulus training using Solomon’s Nuro devices.
The Nuro integrates a shot timer with red and green lasers that can be turned on and off to run user-defined programs. This allows human reaction time to visual stimulus (when to start and stop shooting) to be measured. With multiple interconnected devices, multiple targets can be turned from shoot to no-shoot during a course fire, requiring the student to continue assessing threats and adapting behavior after the first shot is fired.
KR Training hosted this course in 2024 and will be hosting it again in September 2025. Registration is not open but if you subscribe to the KR Training email newsletter you will get the announcement before the general public.
Day 1
Each day started at the Tennessee Freshwater Pearl Museum, a meeting hall near the range.
Andy gave his overview and shared a summation of his thoughts on training which included these gems:
Only lifelong enthusiasts excel at anything. There are no shortcuts to excellent. Take as many classes as possibly initially to gain traction, then a minimum of one per year. Strive sincerely to understand. 10 years to journeyman, 20 years minimum to mastery. Saturation, incubation, illumination. Were you wrong then, or are you wrong now? Keep an open mind.
Joey Glover presented on the Tactical Response philosophy of training:
We want good people to leave with the Mindset, Tactics and Skill to protect themselves and the people around them. We don’t try to make better shooters out of students, but better people. Our attitude about what we teach is: does this offer a benefit? Does it work in the dark? Is it repeatable? Does it survive being tested under stress, including in force on force scenarios?
John Hearne presented on the root assumptions and 10 principles of the Rangemaster program.
You are on your own.
Pro-social violence exists and is a good thing
Performance is possible with preparation
In the past I’ve written about the 10 principles of Rangemaster’s program, and how KR Training has implemented them.
Holschen presented some material to prepare students for the Nuro training, discussing Integrating Visual Processing In Firearms Training.
John has been collecting data on student performance (more than 100 students taught in his 2 day course, plus members of his monthly study group at his West Coast Armory North range near Seattle, WA. With single and multiple target arrays, he has measured student draw to first shot times from visual stimulus, instead of the familiar “standby…shooter ready…beep/whistle” audible signals used in most programs. Even air powered turning target systems produce an easily recognizable “whoosh” as the air cylinders engage before the targets turn. What John found is that even high skilled shooters with concealment draws under 1.5 seconds often add 0.5-1.0 seconds to their first shot time (8″ circle at 7 yards) when the start signal is purely visual, particularly when it could appear on any of 3 potential threats facing the shooter.
John’s performance standard is 90% hits on an 8″ circle at 7 yards, with first shot in less than 2.0 seconds from visual stimulus, and ability to stop shooting within 0.5 seconds of the visual stimulus disappearing. According to his data less than 30% of the shooters he trained were able to meet that requirement after 2 days of training using the Nuro units. As a shooter with decades of habituation to shooting timer starts, reorienting myself to a purely visual start signal required more concentration and attention. Similarly, shifting my focus to look for changes in the visual signal (laser changing color, turning off, or moving from one target to another) required a different mental process than simply “running the automatic program” associated with standard live fire drills. Holschen’s data indicated that when the requirement to continue paying attention to visual information was added to the shooting task, split times slowed from the 0.2’s to the 0.5s or slower. Even the best of his study group participants were only achieving 0.4’s when the burden of shifting focus from shooting to decision making between each shot was added.
Holschen noted in his presentation that performing well on his drills was much more difficult for those running iron sights than a pistol mounted optic (PMO). This is because the PMO can be shot with a pure target focus and more open vision, compared to the narrow front sight focus required for iron sights.
After John’s presentation concluded, we headed to the range. Students were split into two groups, alternating between live fire taught by me, Andy and John Hearne and running Nuro drills with Holschen.
John Hearne gave his detailed range safety presentation, and John Holschen also covered his views on the language of the “Four Safety Rules” (and need for improvement). My own thoughts on that topic didn’t get presented at this event, but you can read them here. There was discussion during the event, (and in the That Weems Guy podcast episode) about the difference between doctrine and dogma, specifically as it relates to reverence some trainers have for Cooper’s original wording and sequence.
My range block focused on teaching others how I use the take up laser on the SIRT pistol to teach the basics of trigger press. Most inaccurate shots (aka unacceptable hits aka misses) happen because of gun movement that occurs as the trigger is pressed. Traditional one shot at a time dry fire, if the shooter focuses on the sights (or dot) for visual feedback about gun movement, can improve skill, but often when live fire is reintroduced, shooting errors that aren’t occurring in dry fire will return — and they are missed because the shooter is blinking as the gun is firing. Often the problem is that the trigger is not being manipulated the same way in dry fire as it is in live fire.
I have students ignore the sights, and simply focus on how much the takeup laser dot moves as they press the trigger. I have them vary the speed of trigger press from slowest possible to fastest possible to observe what effect trigger movement speed has on gun movement. Similarly, I have them make changes in their grip (firing hand and support hand) to observe the effect grip pressure has on dot movement. Finally, I introduce the Rangemaster concept of 3 shooting speeds: quickly, carefully and precisely, and use the SIRT pistol to train the differences in trigger manipulation required for those 3 modes. All of this is done with 100% target focus, with no attempt to align the sights (or dot) on the SIRT pistol with the eye. Reintegration of aiming happens in live fire after the student consistently presses the trigger and grips the gun correctly in the SIRT exercises. I have been using this approach in all our basic and intermediate classes, and I’ve observed much better results from students than traditional dry fire/live fire approaches. Most importantly the students seem to understand the cause and effect of what causes them to miss better with this approach, enabling them to self-correct more quickly.
Andy’s material focused on the drills from his Surefire Master Coach course, similar to what is shown in these videos from a session of that course we hosted at KR Training.
We started day 2 in the classroom, with more lecture from Holschen on movement and considerations for incorporating more movement and 3D thinking into live fire drills. One of the most interesting take-home points for me was the concept of combining the “how far can someone move in the time it takes me to draw” and applying it to my own movement vs. a threats. More simply, if my average draw is 1.4 seconds, would it be tactically better to move as far off line as I can, maybe adding 10% to the draw time, to minimize my chances of being shot? Historically square range training does not incorporate aggressive offline movement (at best a step or two) for safety and logistics and class size reasons. The cramped stalls of an indoor range, as well as range rules at commercial ranges generally, make it hard to practice this potentially life-saving skill. However, it’s still possible to practice that in backyard dry fire or outdoor range individual practice, or when doing close quarter force on force work, when the opportunity presents itself. As with most shooters’ undeveloped skill to react quickly to visual stimulus, the skill to get off line quickly is underdeveloped for many, including those that have attended a lot of training and shoot at a high level from a static position.
The centerpiece of Day 2 was Dustin Solomon’s presentation on human learning and his experience having to teach a large group of shooters with very limited range time and very limited ammo, often in very short sessions – a structure totally different from traditional 2 day classes favored by traveling trainers. Those that haven’t read his Training Shooters book should get a copy and read it. Andy provided copies of the book to attendees.
We ended day 2 back on the range, with John Hearne and Andy running shooters through the Rangemaster Baseline Assessment Drill and more of Andy’s SureFire Master Coach drills, alternating with more Nuro work using more complex target configurations adding 3D problems and movement.
Final Thoughts
Anytime Andy calls and invites me to an event, I go, even if details about what is going to happen, or what he wants me to teach are vague or completely undefined. For this trip he brought his understudy, CJ Cowan, who will be transitioning into Andy’s training role with SureFire in the upcoming years as Andy inches closer to retirement. Andy and James Yeager, Tactical Response founder, were very close friends, and Saturday night’s activities included a meeting at the TR “Team Room” where James was remembered by his students and friends. John Hearne observed that “Tactical Response classes are chaotic but not in a bad way.” John Holschen commented that “Tactical Response alumni are some of the best students I’ve taught. They listen well and keep an open mind.”. That was my experience as well during this event and the Surgical Speed Shooting Summit. I think this event was a great tribute to James, moving the art and craft of training forward and I was honored to have been a part of it.
Back in the 1990’s a pistol club in Midland, Texas ran a cool match called the Texas Paper and Iron Championship. Like the Steel Challenge and Bianchi Cup, it featured the same stages each time. It had surprisingly strong sponsorship (including Coors), and a great prize table. Penny and I and others from the KR Training family shot the match many years in a row, with our last visit being in 2001.
It was, for a short time, considered the “undiscovered jewel” and was expected to become a major national match. Top shooters including Rob Leatham and Michael Voigt were regulars and frequent match winners. There was a great American Handgunner article written about the match, but my attempts to find it in their archives was unsuccessful.
Someone recently asked me about the match and the stages, so I dug out the old match booklets, found one of the original cardboard targets in my shed, and found a few photos to share.
Poppin W was a mix of stationary and falling steel. 3 runs, all counted for score. Everyone had to do a mandatory reload between first and last shot. You had to shoot all 5 stationary steel targets before engaging the two falling steel and the gong. The falling steel were stacked one behind the other, with a smaller falling plate behind the large one. Most people would shoot the 5 stationary plates, the large steel, reload and shoot the last two plates. My stage runs from 1999 were all around 7 seconds, with sub 6’s being my training goal.
Time’s a Wastin used the International Speed Shooting Association target, which was an 18″x24″ cardboard rectangle, with 8″ and 12″ circles in the center. Shots inside the 8″ circle were “down zero”, Shots outside the 8″ but inside the 12″ added 0.2 seconds, and shots on the paper but outside the 12″ circle added 0.5 seconds. This version of time only scoring pre-dated the scoring used in IDPA, and had smaller time penalties for poor accuracy than most of the current Time Only scoring rules.
This was a classic accelerator/decelerator stage, again with a reload required between first and last shot. Most people, depending on gun capacity, would reload between T1 and T2 or T2 and T3, regardless of which direction they were engaging the array (front to back or back to front). 1999 times were in the mid 5’s, with a training goal of sub 5’s on each string.
Sgt. York’s Way was a 4 string, 6 round drill where you shot all 4 variations: front to back, back to front, each from the left and right boxes. The back target was at 19 yards and the front target was at 2 yards, so the shooter’s ability to adjust their transition speed (and not overrun the zero down zones) was key.
Runs on this stage were quick: 2.90-3.39, with training goals of 2.5 per string.
Triple Roundabout was a Steel Challenge style stage with a mandatory reload. The plates had to be shot in 3 groups: P1-3 were in the center, P4 and P5 on the shooter’s far left, P6 and P7 on the far right, and the stop plate, which had to be shot last, at center back. The common strategy on this was to start with P1 and move right across those 5 plates, reload to engage the last 3 left to right: P6, P4 and the stop plate. The ability to do a quick reload between two 15 yard targets with a wide spread was a key skill for this stage. Another strategy was to reload between P1 and P2, on the closest two targets. In the early days of this match, most people were shooting single stack .38 super 1911’s and minor loads – typically the same gear they would use at Steel Challenge but with a slightly higher power factor load to ensure the reactive steel would fall. Doing the reload between the first two plates would leave the shooter 10-11 rounds to hit the remaining 7 targets, leaving a thin margin of “extras” available to make up misses.
1999 match runs were between 6-8 seconds, with sub 6’s being training goals.
The Gauntlet was most people’s favorite stage – a one string run and gun with a mix of stationary and falling steel. There was falling steel to shoot from each of the 3 boxes, stationary steel to be shot on the move when outside the boxes. With the low capacity single stack guns, it was possible to run the stage with one reload, if you did it between the two falling poppers from Box B, but the safer option was to reload twice, between each box. When the 2011 pistols became popular, and 24 round magazines were available (and allowed), the removal of the need to reload sped up the winning times on this stage.
My 1999 Gauntlet time (shot with a 24 round magazine and a dot), was 17.17. The training goal was sub 16.
V Double was yet another Steel Challenge style stage but with 3 runs all counting for score, and a mandatory reload during each string. Most people would shoot left to right, a group of 3, another group of 3, reload and a hard pivot to hammer the last 2 on the right.
My 1999 times on V-Double were all sub 7, with sub 6 being my training goal.
Hung Over and Strung Out was a moving Bill Drill stage that involved precise footwork to be in the correct box for each target. Back in the single stack days it required two reloads, which meant reloading during one of the 6 shot engagements. 6 on T1 as you moved forward in Box A, 2-4 on T2 from Box B, 2-4 more on T3 as you moved into Box C, then a flat footed reload in Box C to fire remaining shots on T3 and 6 on T4. 24 round magazines made this stage a lot easier.
My 1999 stage time, with the 24 round mag and a dot, was 7.60, but I had too many shots outside the 12″ circle, and one miss, for a total time of 15.10. If I recall correctly I came back with a sub 8 second run in 2001.
This stage is from the 2001 match, where they switched to using the NRA D1 target instead of the original ISSA’s, after they ran out of the original production run. The D1 was used for Bianchi Cup and Glock Shooting Sports matches and were easier to get. They also offered a larger area outside the 12″ circle, which turned a few would-have-been-misses into 0.5 penalties on this hose-fest stage.
Pack Em and Stack Em was another paper stage, one shot per target, top row reload bottom row, repeated for bottom row reload top row. Unlike Steel Challenge every run at Paper and Iron counted for score. When they switched to the taller D1’s, I remember the bottom row of targets starting at ground level, with the top part of the tombstone D1 overlapped with the bottom of the top row, to keep the target stack from being taller than the berm.
My 1999 stage times were 5.67 and 6.25, and my training goals were sub 6 second runs.
Now that I’ve dug up all the stage drawings, maybe they will show up as stages at one of the Chicken Ranch Shooters summer weekday evening matches this year.
We have scheduled most of the classes we plan to offer through March 2025 with plans to add a few more based on student inquiries. Weekday private lessons are available with Karl at the A-Zone, by appointment on any gun, at any level on any topic we offer.
Doug Greig is teaching classes at the newly reopened Impact Zone range in Hempstead. The January class will focus on 100-300 yard carbine shooting – something we can’t offer at the A-Zone.
2024 YEAR IN REVIEW
2024 was an amazing year for KR Training, with more than 100 classes presented at home and on the road (Ohio, Nashville, Dallas, Houston, Austin). Six KR Training staff members taught as lead instructors (Karl, John Daub, Dave Reichek, Greg Howard, Doug Greig and Tracy Thronburg), and we hosted 13 traveling trainers (Greg Ellifritz, Ben Stoeger, Chris Cypert, Caleb Causey, Jeremy ORarden, Tom Givens, Massad Ayoob, Gabe White, John Hearne, Eric Wise, Steve Moses and Ed Monk). We also held 13 USPSA matches on summer weekdays. Between classes, matches and private lessons I spent over 120 days on the range in 2024, not counting range maintenance and personal practice session days.
Eric Lamberson from Sensible Self Defense runs a monthly “Short Range” match testing defensive pistol skills. The stage designs are based on actual incidents, using 3D reactive or clothes-wearing paper targets. Scoring is similar to IDPA but this is not an official IDPA or USPSA match. I’ve invited Eric to run one of his matches at the A-Zone in January. Participants can shoot using their carry gear, concealed or unconcealed, or USPSA gear (pistol or pistol caliber carbine). The registration link is here.
On Saturday, February 8, Dave Reichek (Rangemaster-certified Advanced Shotgun Instructor) will offer two half day shotgun courses. Shotgun 1 is suitable for anyone with any shotgun and is an introduction to defensive shotgun basics. Shotgun 2 is suitable for graduates of any of our previous shotgun courses – and if you’ve taken any of our full day or level 2 shotgun classes in the past, you can re-take the October Shotgun 2 course for half price!
Tracy, Dave Reichek and David Tschirhart attended the Cougar Mountain Solutions (Erick Gelhaus) Pistol Mounted Optic instructor class in Dallas in December. Dave was top shooter in the class, with high scores on multiple drills.
Eric Victorin earned his TCOLE (Texas law enforcement) firearm instructor and Rangemaster Advanced Pistol Instructor ratings this fall.
DISCOUNT CODES
I have collected up all the discount codes we have set up with vendors we recommend. Alumni of KR Training classes will find them in the monthly e-news email. You’ll have to open the email and scroll to the bottom to find them. It’s a reward for actually opening and reading the email!
REFRESHER DEALS
Re-take any class you’ve taken before for half price! Contact me to get the alumni discount code. Firearms skills deteriorate without practice. Most ranges don’t allow drawing from a holster, shooting quickly, moving or shooting from cover. If you don’t practice the skills you learned in class, they won’t be there when you need them.
BLOG O RAMA
All the articles you missed if you don’t follow the KR Training Facebook page and Instagram feed. The busy holiday season has kept me from writing much on the KR Training blog, but I have a lot of material in the queue. I also have two articles that will be appearing on the NRA’s Shooting Illustrated online site in early 2025, and a contract to write two more articles for them in January and February.
The Black Cat Choir performed at the Junk Gypsy Prom, which was a big event at the end of the October Antique Show in Round Top, Texas. James Pharaon recorded video with multiple fixed and mobile cameras, and we recorded the soundboard audio, which I mixed for sync with the video. Our cover of the Doors “Light My Fire” is one the videos produced from those recordings. I played 131 shows as a solo act, as the Karl Rehn Trio and with 6 larger bands in 2024.
We have scheduled many of the classes we plan to offer from Dec 2024 through March 2025 with plans to add a few more based on student inquiries. Weekday private lessons will be available with Karl at the A-Zone, by appointment, throughout November and December with weekday classes resuming January 2025.
Doug Greig is teaching classes at the newly reopened Impact Zone range in Hempstead (near Houston) in November, December and January. The January class will focus on 100-300 yard carbine shooting.
AMMO PRICES GOING UP JANUARY 2025
Multiple vendors and many industry insiders have been posting that ammunition prices will be going up by 5-10% effective January 2025. Raw materials used to make ammunition may be in short supply. I recommend planning ahead and purchasing ammunition you intend to use in 2025 as soon as possible.
In early December we are hosting Jeremy with Ascend Overland for two separate one day vehicle classes. These will be classroom based vehicle courses, not guns-around-vehicles tactics, so there’s no live fire component and no off road driving component. Promo video for the 2WD class is linked below, and registration is open on the KR Training website.
Eric Lamberson from Sensible Self Defense runs a monthly “Short Range” match testing defensive pistol skills. The stage designs are based on actual incidents, using 3D reactive or clothes-wearing paper targets. Scoring is similar to IDPA but this is not an official IDPA or USPSA match. I’ve invited Eric to run one of his matches at the A-Zone in January. Participants can shoot using their carry gear, concealed or unconcealed, or USPSA gear (pistol or pistol caliber carbine). The registration link is here.
On Saturday, February 8, Dave Reichek (Rangemaster-certified Advanced Shotgun Instructor) will offer two half day shotgun courses. Shotgun 1 is suitable for anyone with any shotgun and is an introduction to defensive shotgun basics. Shotgun 2 is suitable for graduates of any of our previous shotgun courses – and if you’ve taken any of our full day or level 2 shotgun classes in the past, you can re-take the October Shotgun 2 course for half price!
KR Training coin holder Randy Wallen shot the Glock Shooting Sports Match in Dallas in October, winning 3rd in Amateur Civilian and was High Senior in Amateur Civilian and Rimfire divisions. As a result of his wins he was promoted to Master division in GSSF.
Doug Greig was on the Big Tex Outdoors podcast, talking about his own program and his work with KR Training.
Paul Martin attended and wrote about the Thunderstick Summit. Karl worked with Texas Parks and Wildlife teaching youth pistol shooters in October, and did some coaching for the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets Marksmanship Trip in November.
Tracy, Dave Reichek and David Tschirhart will all be attending the Cougar Mountain Solutions (Erick Gelhaus) Pistol Mounted Optic instructor class in Dallas in December.
DISCOUNT CODES
I have collected up all the discount codes we have set up with vendors we recommend. Alumni of KR Training classes will find them in the monthly e-news email. You’ll have to open the email and scroll to the bottom to find them. It’s a reward for actually opening and reading the email!
REFRESHER DEALS
Re-take any class you’ve taken before for half price! Contact me to get the alumni discount code. Firearms skills deteriorate without practice. Most ranges don’t allow drawing from a holster, shooting quickly, moving or shooting from cover. If you don’t practice the skills you learned in class, they won’t be there when you need them.
The Black Cat Choir performed at the Stone Cellar in Round Top in early November. Our new sound engineer recorded some videos on his cell phone. This is a compilation of the best song snippets he recorded of Superstition, All Right Now and Maggie May.
We have finalized our schedule for the rest of 2024 and are now booking the guest instructors for 2025. Even during November and December when we can’t do live fire group classes on weekends, weekday live fire private lessons will be available.
Upcoming classes with space available:
SEPTEMBER
Guest Instructor Force on Force Scenarios – Sept 29 (Causey & Cypert)
BUY ONE GET ONE – HOME DEFENSE SHOOTING SKILLS CLASS
Special offer for our October Home Defense Shooting Skills class. Buy one, get one free. Use code KROCT24 when you sign up both people to get 50% off each entry. You have to bring a friend to get the 50% off. This class is intended for people that have a pistol and/or long gun (rifle or shotgun) in the home. No holster required. No carry permit required. Class will focus on getting the gun from a table or box, moving to cover and getting effective hits on targets from 3-15 yards. Class can be taken with pistol, rifle or shotgun. Class will include one live fire shoot house run with pistol or pistol caliber carbine (we will have loaner pistol caliber carbine). We are also offering the handgun Skill Builder class that afternoon (a short 2 hour session) for those that want more handgun shooting coaching and practice.
SHOTGUN CLASSES OCTOBER 6
On Sunday, October 6, Dave Reichek (Rangemaster-certified Advanced Shotgun Instructor) will offer two half day shotgun courses. Shotgun 1 is suitable for anyone with any shotgun and is an introduction to defensive shotgun basics. Shotgun 2 is suitable for graduates of any of our previous shotgun courses – and if you’ve taken any of our full day or level 2 shotgun classes in the past, you can re-take the October Shotgun 2 course for half price!
DPS 2, LOW LIGHT 1, DPS 3 and LOW LIGHT 2
October 12 and 13 we will run the classes that many need to earn their Defensive Pistol Skills Program challenge coins – Defensive Pistol Skills 2 (Saturday afternoon), Low Light 1 (Saturday evening), Defensive Pistol Skills 3 (Sunday afternoon) and Low Light 2 (Sunday evening). On Saturday, our friends from Immersive Training Solutions will be bringing out their VIRTRA video simulator and students in the Saturday classes will get runs on the VIRTRA system.
DISCOUNT CODES
I have collected up all the discount codes we have set up with vendors we recommend. Alumni of KR Training classes will find them in the monthly e-news email. You’ll have to open the email and scroll to the bottom to find them. It’s a reward for actually opening and reading the email!
PRIVATE LESSONS
I am available for private weekday training. Doug Greig is also available for private weekday and some weekend sessions. Contact us for details.
REFRESHER DEALS
Re-take any class you’ve taken before for half price! Contact me to get the alumni discount code. Firearms skills deteriorate without practice. Most ranges don’t allow drawing from a holster, shooting quickly, moving or shooting from cover. If you don’t practice the skills you learned in class, they won’t be there when you need them.
TOM GIVENS NEW BOOKS
The Collected Wisdom of Tom Givens, Volume I and Volume II are now available. Rangemaster, 1808 James L Redman Parkway, Plant City, FL, 33563 for orders. From Tom:
I can’t have these printed by the thousands like a book publisher. To keep costs down to my proposed $20.00 price point, I broke the material into two sets, Volume I and Volume II. Both are about 130 pages each of selected articles from the past few years. Volume I is available now, and Vol II will be available in early October. Cost delivered will be $20.00 in print form, and $15.00 in pdf format.
Right now I am only accepting orders paid by personal check or money order. Put a note with your check as to which volumes, print or pdf, and address or email address. Shipping might be slow since I am on the road so much, but I’ll get them to you ASAP. I plan Volume III for early 2025. Thanks!
BLOG O RAMA
Many bloggers that are part of the KR Training family have been writing a lot recently.
The Black Cat Choir performed at a private party near Giddings in September. Our new soundman recorded some videos on his cell phone. This is a compilation of the best song snippets he recorded.
Legendary trainer Dave Spaulding recently posted about a new drill he had received from Ken Hackathorn (inventor of “The Test” aka 10-10-10, the Wizard Drill and many other widely known and used pistol standards).
Half Cup Drill
Stage 1. 3 yards. On signal draw and fire 1 head shot in 2.0 seconds….STRONG hand only.
Stage 2. 5 yards. On signal, draw and fire one head shot in 2.0 seconds freestyle (both hands).
Stage 3. 5 yards. On signal, draw and fire 2 rounds to the body, 1 round to the head (failure or Mozambique Drill). 3.0 seconds
Stage 4. 7 yards. Start centered up on silhouette, Place a marker one yard to the left and right of the start position. (line marker paint is ideal). On signal move while drawing to the outboard of the either left or right line and fire 1 round, move to opposite line fire 1 round, move back to opposite line fire 1 round and again move to opposite line and fire last shot. 4 rounds total. Time his 10.0 seconds.
Stage 5. 10 yards. Draw and fire 1 head shot in 3.0 seconds.
Stage 6 10 yards. Start with only 2 rounds in the weapon. On signal, draw and fire 2 rounds to slide lock, perform an emergency reload and fire 2 more rounds. Time is 7.0 seconds.
Stage 7. 10 yards. On signal, draw and fire 1 round STRONG hand only to the chest, switch to WEAK hand and fire 1round. Time is 5.0 seconds.
Stage 8. 15 yards. On signal, draw and fire 2 rounds in 3.5 seconds.
Stage 9. 25 yards. On signal, draw and fire 2 rounds in 5.0 seconds.
Commentary from Ken:
“I recommend using the IDPA Silhouette. Easy to source. Note for scoring purposes only shots in the 3” head circle and 8” chest circle are scored……any shots out of these circles are misses ( -5 points.) 75 points or higher to Pass, below 75 is a fail.
I recommend starting with 12 rounds loaded in the gun if capacity allows, spare magazine of 8 rounds. Stage 4 I give credit to you (Spaulding). Movement should be part of any qual especially at distances where it really matters.
Next time you go to the range give this one a try. I know that times on Stage 4 and 7 are one second longer than you would probably use, but remember you are not the normal copper or private sector Joe.
Why the name ‘Half Cup? If you fail, your cup is only half full. If you pass it is only half empty.”
Demo Video
Last week I went to the A-Zone and shot the drill. I used a shot up IDPA target but the drills on the video were cold, first takes. I canted the gun a lot on that first strong hand head shot at 3 yards, and pulled it outside the head circle. That was my only miss giving me a possible 95/100 on this 20 round drill.
As KR Training assistant instructor Uncle Zo and I have looked at more courses of fire, particularly ones we’ve shot in classes and at matches, we have determined that the “100%” times, particularly for distances past 10 yards, need some adjustment to more realistically evaluate handgun skill. Many of the times were derived from shot by shot analysis of the high hit factors on USPSA classifiers, where the “hero or zero” approach can lead to some faster-than-repeatably fast times.
3 yards draw and fire 1 head shot strong hand only. A 3 yard head shot is basically equivalent difficulty to a 7 yard body shot, and taking one hand off the gun slows things down a bit more. So the original formula indicate 1.3 sec as a fast par from concealment two handed, and 1.5 sec par for concealment at 15 yards. I’m gonna use 1.5 sec for this one and rate that first string as 75% of our 100% standard.
5 yards draw and fire 1 head shot 2 handed. Again working from concealment 1.3 sec. The standard for Gabe White’s Turbo pin tests is 1.5 sec (open carry) for a 7 yard head shot with .25 allowed for concealment. So call this one 1.5 sec again so 75% of 100% standard.
5 yards 2 body 1 head. Gabe’s Turbo pin time for this drill at 7 yards is 1.7 with .25 added for concealment, so 1.95. Using our standards it would be 1.25 draw + 0.20 split + 0.5 transition so 1.75 for 5 yards. Using 1.75 makes this one 58%, using 1.95 bumps it to 65%.
7 yards with movement: We don’t have data in the table for “time to move 2 steps and acquire new target” or for “draw with 1 big side step”. 10 seconds would be 2.5 seconds per shot. 8 seconds would be 2 seconds, 6 seconds would be 1.5 sec per shot. Rough estimate of this one is 60%.
10 yards one head shot. A 10 yard head shot is roughly the same as a 20 yard body shot, and our table shows 1.8 as the 100% time. The Modern Samurai Project “black belt” time for a 25 yard body shot is 1.5 sec. Using 1.5 sec as max time makes the test’s 3 second par a 50% drill, using 1.8 makes it 60%.
10 yards 2 empty gun reload 2, 7 seconds. Ben Stoeger’s Four Aces (2 speed reload 2 at 7 yards) has a 2.6 sec 100% time. Add .25 for concealment, another 0.25 for slide lock vs speed load, another 0.25 for drawing the mag from concealment and the max par becomes 3.35. Maybe add another 0.15 for the target distance difference from 7 to 10 yards and that gets us to 3.5 seconds making this one a 50% difficulty string.
10 yards, one strong hand only, transfer, one weak hand only. 5 seconds. That gives 2.5 seconds for shot 1 and 2.5 sec to transfer and fire shot 2. Because it’s 10 yards and one handed everything slows down compared to 7 yard two handed shooting times. The closest analog might be one of the strings of the Greybeard Actual 3-4-5 drill, where you get 3.45 seconds to do the same kind of thing, on a 3″ circle at 5 yards. Matt gives .25 for concealment, so 3.70 is a pretty good estimate of a 100% time. That would give this string a difficulty level of around 75%.
15 yards draw and fire 2 rounds in 3.5 seconds. The chart from our book says 2 seconds – 1.5 sec draw and 0.5 split, giving this string a 57% difficulty level.
25 yards draw and fire 2 rounds in 5 seconds. Our book chart says 1.8 + 0.6 = 2.4 seconds. This shooter ran 25, 40 and 50 yard bill drills (but did not shoot them clean) in this video
His 25 yard time was under 3 seconds, indicating that a clean par might be slower. Using the rule that a good Bill Drill par time should be 2x the estimated draw speed gives us 3.6 seconds for 6 shots, or 1.8 sec for the first shot and another 1.8 for the remaining 5, or a split time of 0.36 sec between each.
Calculating 100% times for drills past 15 yards based on data for closer drills seems to be non linear (it doesn’t scale easily). I’m going to use 3.0 seconds as the 100% time to call this one a 60% difficulty string.
That makes the cumulative difficulty of this drill somewhere in the 60-70% range. That means a USPSA B class shooter or IDPA Master or similar level shooter should be able to shoot at least 90% points on it, from concealment with a carry sized gun. For someone working from open carry with a non-retention holster and a full sized pistol, the difficulty level should be cut by 10%.
Using the Half Cup Drill
I like short, low round count multi string drills that test a wide spectrum of skills. They allow quick isolation of weak spots. This would be a great drill to shoot as the first task of a practice session, tracking performance on each string (looking at hits or scoring the target each string), so that the next phase of the practice session could be used improving performance on the strings the shooter didn’t pass.
As Ken points out in his commentary, even if you pass the drill, your cup is still only “Half Full”. There’s always work to do to be more consistent, particularly on cold drills, faster and more accurate.
I recently acquired an issue of the Thrilling Western pulp magazine from January 1937. I bought it because it featured an article by Col. John J. Boniface (1874-1943), of the US Cavalry, on “How to Be A Good Pistol Shot”. That article was part of a series he wrote called “Straight Shooting”.
In the 1930’s, radio, movies, and pulp magazines were the dominant entertainment media, and Westerns were very popular. From the 1930’s to the 1960’s, gun ownership was common and normal, so it made perfect sense for a magazine full of cowboy stories full of shootouts and gunfights to include non-fiction articles about firearms. Western Story magazine’s “Guns and Gunners” column, mostly written by Charles Edward Chapel and Philip Sharpe, was in every weekly issue from 1931-1949.
To transpose this to the modern era, it would be like a major network putting a youTube video about new guns, shooting skills or other real world gun topic as an insert in a TV action show like S.W.A.T., Navy SEALS, or any other program that included shootouts in every episode.
January 1937 1st Installment
The advice provided in the 1st installment of the series is as valid today as it was then, except for the guidance to squeeze all the fingers of the hand while working the trigger, which is now considered a problem to be corrected, not a habit to be cultivated.
After I purchased the Jan 1937 edition, I began searching for the other issues. I found a scan of the Feb 1937 issue, but as of yet have not found a print copy or a scanned issue. According to comments made in the third installment, part 2 was mostly rifle and shotgun advice.
March 1937 3rd installment
I found print copies of the March and April 1937 issues, and those installments of the article series are shared below.
Note the advice to always carry on an empty chamber. This was and still is conventional wisdom for single action revolvers, where carrying with the hammer down on an empty is the correct approach.
If you look at old pictures of actual cowboys, or read articles by historians, you’ll find that the low slung gun belt and holster common to movie cowboys (and discussed in this article), were not as common as simpler designs worn on the belt holding up the cowboy’s pants.
The idea of not standing square to a potential threat, to minimize potential target area, has been around for a long time, but mostly disappeared from modern handgun training in the 1980’s and 1990’s as more police began wearing body armor and technique changed to favor both arms fully extended.
The technique of resting the gun on the left forearm was a baby step in evolution of technique.
As the writers of the early 20th century liked to explain, the revolver was a “HAND gun”, not a “HANDS gun”, and should be gripped and fired using only one hand. Typically gripping the gun with two hands was something women, children and the disabled might do, but adult men were expected to shoot one handed. Resting the gun on the forearm eventually led to the 1950’s “cup and saucer” technique, which finally led to Jack Weaver gripping the gun with both hands to win Leatherslap matches in the early 1960’s.
The classic 6″ bullseye (now commonly known as the B-8) was the target of choice in the 1930’s as well, with a larger 10″ bullseye target used for shots past 25 yards. Boniface encourages users of the semi-auto (1911 .45 ACP pistol) to carry it loaded, cocked and locked, and to learn to shoot with target focus, using both eyes.
April 1937 4th Installment
The final article in the series was published April 1937.
The most interesting part of this article is his advice about shooting from horseback – a skill that he was considered a expert in. His advice to “always aim low” because “ricochets count” may have been conventional wisdom of that era, but isn’t taught as a general rule today.
Other Writing
Boniface wrote the classic text “The Cavalry Horse and His Pack”, which embraces the practical details of cavalry service, back in 1903. That book is available in PDF format from archive.org.
Another find from my historical handgun research team: a collection of newspaper articles from the newspaper “The Grizzly”, published in the Big Bear Lake area. The articles are text-only, scraped from Newspapers.com archives. They provide useful information about the early days of the Leather Slap matches, which eventually led to the development of the Modern Technique and the associated dramatic changes in every aspect of handgun shooting, training and competition that occurred 1960-2000.
KR notes: back in the 1950’s “gun ownership was normal and normal people owned guns”, to paraphrase David Yamane, and it was not controversial for a newspaper to promote or write about a competition or exhibition shooting event. Note that the 1956 event drew 500 spectators.
KR notes: There are grammar and punctuation errors in the text of the scanned OCR’ed articles. I have corrected the most noticeable but not all of them.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 12 Jul 1956, Thu • Page 1
QUICK DRAW SHOOT EVENT OF INTEREST
Great interest has been shown concerning the leather slapping contest to be held as a special feature of Old Miners Days at Snow Summit on Saturday Aug 4 beginning at 4 pm.
A long distance telephone call was received at the Grizzly office Saturday from Dee Woolen of Knotts Berry Farm who wanted more information concerning the event. Mr Woolen said that he and five friends from Knotts plan to attend and would bring with them a special timing device constructed especially for such contests.
In addition to Red West, Hollywood stuntman several other stuntmen of movieland are expected to attend and interest has been shown in the event by FBI and law enforcement officers.
The contest is being arranged by Jeff Cooper retired Marine lieutenant colonel who was in charge of Marine recreation where leather slapping was a particularly popular sport. Two full colonels, friends of Cooper from the Marine base at Quantico made a special trip to Big Bear Lake Sunday to learn more of the contest and will have a few extra days before leaving for an Okinawa assignment to take part in the leather slapping.
KR notes: the device Woolen will bring is one of the earliest electronic shooting timers.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 02 Aug 1956, Thu • Page 17
“Top Gun” To Be Decided By Leather Slappers
The unique Leather Slapping Contest to be held Saturday Aug 4, 4 pm at Snow Summit one mile east of the Post Office as a feature of Big Bear Lakes Old Miners Days celebration is the result of a vast amount of argument among shooters concerning the practical use of the pistol. The technique to be used is that developed in the old West from about 1875 onwards with shooters paired and on a whistle signal each attempting to draw first and hit his target.
Dee Woolen from Knott’s Berry Farm will be one of the contestants and will bring with him a special timing device constructed for just such contests. In addition to Mr. Woolen and five of his friends from the Farm, great interest has been shown in the event by Hollywood stuntmen, city, local county, and federal law enforcement officers.
The contest is being arranged by Jeff Cooper Marine Lt Col Reserve who was in charge of Marine recreation where leather slapping was a particularly popular sport. The first shooter to win three exchanges wins his bout and graduates to the next round. Finals will be held between the two top guns. The range is seven yards a figure decided upon by the FBI as including the overwhelming majority of actual gunfights.
Mr. Cooper requested this week that special emphasis be placed on the fact that any person handy with a gun would stand an equal chance to win top honors and the 100 silver dollar prize since pistol training does not usually involve training for quick drawing which will be essential in the Saturday contest citing as an example two local Big Bear eighteen year olds who have been practicing at the Summit and doing very well.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 09 Aug 1956, Thu • Page 4
Don Nowka Top Gun in Contest
Don Nowka of Los Angeles exhibition shot for the Los Angeles Police Department who has done competitive shooting for 10 1/2 years was declared Top Gun Saturday afternoon at the first annual Leather Slapping Contest at Snow Summit. Competition in the 10 events was entered by 20 men who used weapons ranging from Army Single Action, 357 Magnum, 44 Magnum cap and ball muzzle loaders, Peacemakers, 38 specials and 45 automatics.
Entered in the Dudes were Walt Stark, chief Los Angeles Police Academy, vs. Maurice Hively of La Crescenta; Dave Wilson of Pasadena, 19-year-old fellow who shot himself and was hospitalized at Santa Anita Hospital at Lake Arrowhead vs Isreal B Cullinan of Montrose; Hugh Carpenter and Jeff Cooper of Bear Valley; A. M. Barr of Los Angeles vs Jim Vaughn of Big Bear; Dee Woolem of Knotts Berry Farm vs William Glaze of Hawthorne; Bob Smith of Los Angeles vs Lynn Makeling of Los Angeles; Jerry Hurst of Los Angeles vs Berty Senseman of Lancaster; Don Nowka of Los Angeles vs Olin Grunby Jr of Los Angeles; Robert C. Holmes and Michael Hipple of Los Angeles and William Wingrove of Los Angeles vs William M Obar of San Bernardino. Hipple was a 16-year-old youth, who using a borrowed gun and rig, worked his way to the semi-finals when he met and was defeated by Nowka.
The second bout for Gun Fighters was between Stark and Cullinan, Cooper and Vaughn, Woolen and Wakeling, Senseman and Nowka, and Hipple and Obar. The third bout for Deputy was between Stark and Cooper, Wakeling and Cooper, Nowka and Hipple. Finalists were Nowka and Wakeling, and Cooper and Nowka, with Nowka winning as Top Gun.
The contest, which was attended by approximately 500 spectators, was held on a hill back of the Ski Haus under the direction of Jeff Cooper, In charge of recreational activities at the Summit. Mr. Cooper stated that the type of equipment used was not important since western rigs clam-shell holsters and spring shoulder holsters with automatic pistol were used. Accuracy as well as speed was stressed with points counted only on shots placed in the vital zones of the target midsection and head.
KR notes: one competitor shot himself, probably in the leg, doing cowboy fast draw with live ammo. The frequency with which that occurred as fast draw became more popular in the late 50’s eventually led to the conversion of the sport to wax bullets fired using primers only, and the development of special holsters with steel bullet deflectors built in.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, 4-11-57 Page 1
Marine Band to Play for OM Parade
The Leather Slapping contest, which was so successfully introduced into Old Miners Days celebration last year, will be repeated this year with improvements. Balloons will be used as targets to facilitate scoring and there will be a junior classification open to shooters of .22 caliber handguns.
Directors of the association have agreed to incorporate the insurance coverage necessary for this event into the over-all program and to cover the cost of prize money. Trophies will be awarded this year as well as the “poke” of silver which was last year’s prize.
This unique pistol match which is the only type to place pistol shooting on a practical basis attracted much attention among shooters all over the country.
Dessert Dispatch, Barstow, CA April 18, 1957 Page 18
Old Miners Days Builds Fast Program
As of last year [sic] there will be a “Leather Slapping” contest, (fast shooting to you) but the difference this year will be that balloons will be used as targets to assist accurate scoring. Junior will be given a classification of 22 calibre handguns. [sic]
Directors of the Association will incorporate an [sic] insurance coverage necessary for this event into the overall program, and to cover the cost of the prize money. Trophies will be awarded this year as well as the annual “poke” of silver. The “Leather Slappin” pistol match, which is the only type that places pistol shooting on a practical basis, drew such favorable comment as well as widespread attention among marksmen last year will be one of the attractions of the Old Miners Days of 1857.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, April 18, 1957 Page 12
Old Miners Events Shape Up For Days
The Sportsmen’s Club has taken over management and sponsorship of the Leather Slapping Contest which will be held in front of the Lodge at Snow Summit.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, May 2, 1957 Page3
OM Continues Program Plans by Jeff Cooper
…The rule changes for the Leather Slapping Contest are not yet complete, but in general they will provide separate classes for junior shooters using .22 caliber arms and may include a separate ladder for users of single-action Frontier pistols. This would insure that the best man with a modern gun would meet the best single action man in the finals. …
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 23 May 1957, Thu • Page 38 and 1 August 1957, page 19
[the article was repeated as Leather Slapping for Those Fast on the Draw in the August edition]
Leather Slapping Contest By Jeff Cooper
While practical pistol shooting is enjoyed by a great many hand-gunners, until last year there has been no public competition in which this sort of skill could be demonstrated.
However in 1956 the management of Snow Summit one of California’s leading mountain resorts inaugurated its first annual Leather Slapping Contest as a feature of Old Miners Days, the yearly summer festival at Big Bear Lake. The idea of the contest was to let all pistoleros who claim they can use a sidearm in a serious manner meet in man-against-man competition rather than in the usual paper punching contest which calls for the employment of a pistol as a sort of third-class rifle.
To achieve this end the rules were drawn up to require both a fast draw and the ability to hit a target. Speed without accuracy is useless but accuracy is no good to a dead man. If two gunmen start together with their weapons safe in holsters as they are normally carried, the first man to get his gun into action and hit a target representing the vital zone of his opponent has obviously won. In order to rule out flukes three such wins are necessary to win a bout.
Contestants are paired as in a tennis match and work up through the preliminaries to the finals. The range is seven yards, the distance the FBI has decided to be about average for gunfights.
Last year the targets were standard police silhouettes, and individual judges were employed to call hits as they saw them. This proved somewhat unsatisfactory as individual differences in judges’ eyesight and reaction time could have a decisive effect on the outcome. This year therefore, balloons will be used inflated to about 20×24. Thus there will not only be no question about which man hits first but the results will also be instantly visible to the spectators.
Other improvements in this year’s match include relocation of the site so that spectators will be more comfortably provided for, and a special junior category for users of .22 caliber revolvers.
Sponsorship has been taken over by the Big Bear Sportsmen’s Club.
First prize in the senior contest is 100 silver dollars, as last year, with 30 dollars for second place and 10 dollars each to the losers in the semi-finals. In addition special star badges are being prepared by the trophy committee for the first four places in both junior and senior contests.
Last year’s match drew 26 entries about evenly split among law enforcement officers, show-business westerners and miscellaneous. It was won outright by Don Nowka, one of the Los Angeles Police Departments ace instructors, but second place went to a local Bear Valley resident, so there appears to be no decisive edge to the pros. The winning weapon was a Smith & Wesson .38 Special revolver in a “clamshell holster” and second was a .45 automatic pistol in a shoulder holster, but the single-action frontier pistols were in there too and could easily have won had the ball bounced that way.
Last year’s contest attracted nation-wide notice as a new and exciting addition to shooting sport, and this year’s match at 4 PM on Saturday the 3rd of August in front of the Snow Summit Inn should be a really impressive event and a major attraction of Old Miners Days. For further information address Leather Slapping Contest Box 27 Big Bear Lake Calif.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 01 Aug 1957, Thu • Page 1
TV Radio Proclaim Miners Events
Publicity for Bear Valley in connection with advertising for the Old Miners Day …
Tomorrow morning a leather slapping demonstration on Panorama Pacific Channel 2 will feature Don Nowka winner of last year’s contest and Cooper who was runner-up. …
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 08 Aug 1957, Thu • Page 1
Barstow Man Fastest On Draw to Win Leather Slapping Bout
Harold F. Flannery of Barstow [Police Dept.] was awarded the title of Old Miners Days Constable by virtue of winning the leather slapping contest for men quick on the draw at the Snow Summitt Ski Haus on Saturday afternoon.
Jack Weaver of Lancaster took second place and Donald J Lindquist of San Fernando third. John Snedden of Riverside and Al Gunby of Los Angeles tied for fourth place.
Three 14 year olds finished in this order in the Junior portion of the contest: Thell Reed, Jr., Murray Peter and Robert J Bail. [Ball??]
KR notes: Thell Reed went to be one of the legendary 5 combat masters of the Southwest Combat Pistol League.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 26 Dec 1957, Thu • Page 10
Trick Shooter Shows Early Interest in Old Miners Contest
Interest in Old Miners Days Leather Slapping Contest was evidenced last week by Dee Woolem of Fullerton one of the country’s top trick pistol shots and now representing the Great Western Arms Company as publicity man.
For many years Woolem was connected with Knotts Berry Farm in connection with his shooting artistry, and at that time did a great deal of work for various movie companies. He contacted Jeff Cooper, who has been the founder and in charge of the leather slapping contest, and expressed the interest of his company in becoming a co-sponsor of the event which has been a part of the Old Miners Days Celebration.
He offered on behalf of his company to put up two pistols valued at $105 each as prizes in two divisions of the contest. He suggested adding a simple quick draw division to the contest which would have no bearing on accuracy in addition to the quick shooting contests now held. His idea was to offer a gun in each of these divisions.
Cooper said that Woolem entered the first Leather Slapping Contest held here, and, while extremely fast on the draw, had no accuracy to go with it, and for that reason made no headway toward recognition. Woolem said he has now developed the accompanying accuracy and is the admitted top gun of the country according to Cooper.
The Judge Colt Fast Draw Club of Pomona defeated the Great Western Fast Draw Club of Bellflower Sunday for the Second time in a fast draw pistol contest On the Mall at Pomona Valley Center.
…Best average times registered by the host club were: Larry Gay, .2283; Jack Duprey. .2330; and Hugh Carpenter. .2317.
… In the open contest Jack Duprey was first with an average of .3257. Liny Guy and Hugh Carpenter tied for second with .35, and in the runoff Gay won with an average of .2967. Third was Carpenter .3383.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 17 Apr 1958, Thu • Page 1
WEEKLY SESSIONS PUSH PLANS FOR OLD MINERS [July 31 – August 3, 1958]
Big Bear Lake office of the sheriff’s office were present following up their request that they be permitted to sponsor the leather-slapping contest.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 31 Jul 1958, Thu • Page 8
[Photo Caption] FASTEST DRAW will mean trophy and awards for participants in Leather Slapping Contest Saturday at Lynn Lift area.
3rd Annual Leather Slapping Contest Sat.
Introduced in 1956 by Jeff Cooper and Tommi Tyndall the Big Bear Leather Slapping Contest has become an important and unique event for lovers of firearms.
Convention pistol marksmanship is a fine sport and one very difficult to master but it has little to do with the practical use of the sidearm and it holds no interest for the spectator. On the other hand, our western tradition gives rise to a belief that speed on the draw and real combat deadliness with a handgun are lost arts which went out with the Texas Longhorn.
As a matter of fact, the combat pistol is very much alive today and today’s best gunslingers are in every way comparable and very possibly superior to the Bill Longley’s and Wes Hardin’s of the gunfighter era.
The problem of course is to devise a way to test this lethal skill in open competition without killing anyone in the process. The Leather Slapping Contest comes very close to a solution since the shooters use combat pistols, start with them safely holstered and use a target about the size of a man’s vital zone which bursts when hit, making the result instantly apparent to contestants, judges and audience. Shooters are paired man to man and the man who breaks his balloon before his opponent can wins his match and moves up the ladder. This way both speed and accuracy are required, and many a fancy western quick draw artist has been eliminated by an adversary who shot a little later but a little straighter.
The type of gun and holster used is not restricted since one of the reasons for the match is to determine just what sort of equipment works best. However since in both previous shoots modern double-action guns have won and auto-loading pistols have placed high, this year’s contest is divided into two classes – one for the old single-action Peacemaker-type revolvers and the other for modern guns.
The winners of each class will shoot against each other for the grand prize insuring that a Frontier-type weapon will at least be second. This coddling may gall admirers of the single-action who will loudly assure you that their weapon has never been matched for close combat but two previous contests indicate that it is necessary. While we expect a large field of entrants this year we must necessarily play down their names and occupations. This is because about half our shooters are members of various law enforcement agencies and are prohibited by their superiors from announcing their positions unless they win. For an active member of a big time police force to be eliminated by a high school boy, as can easily happen, is bad publicity. For the record it should be stated that the first year’s winner was a training officer from the LA Police Department and the second was from the Barstow Police. The highly touted show business gunmen who presume to teach movie and television heroes how it’s done seldom enter because they fear to test their self-built reputations in actual competition. All are welcome, however, with banners or incognito.
This year the Third Annual Contest will be held- at the foot of the Lynn Chairlift just south of the Village of Big Bear Lake at 3 pm on Saturday 2 August Entry is open to all at $5, and a waiver of responsibility is necessary from the parents or guardians of minors. Prizes which started at $100 (silver dollars) last year are not yet firm, but will be greater in value than last year’s cash. They will be announced as soon as possible. Anyone interested in shooting in pistols in law enforcement or in the gunfighting legends of the Old West can scarcely afford to miss this event. Loud talk and fancy claims can be disregarded – this is how it’s done.
The man who doesn’t think right can’t be expected to live right.
At least silence puts up a bluff that is mighty hard to call.
KR notes: and thus begins the inevitable slide toward divisions and categories for different gun types, common in every pistol sport today. When IPSC began in 1976, it returned to all guns competing equally without divisions, but soon splintered into Open and Limited, with more splits occurring to lead to 8 handgun and a pistol caliber carbine division which allows rifles to compete in pistol matches.
The San Bernardino County Sun, San Bernardino, California, 04 Aug 1958, Mon • Page 12
Miner’s Days End in a Blaze of Color
More than 60 fast draw pistol shooters competed in the leather slapping contest Saturday afternoon. First place winner in the overall and first single action class was Curt Anderson of San Bernardino using a Colt .45. Anderson won $100 in silver and a carved holster and belt by Arvo Ojala of Hollywood.
OTHER WINNERS
Second place winner in the overall and first double action class went to Hugh Carpenter of Big Bear Lake. He won $50 in silver and a plain belt and holster by Ojala. Other winners were: second single action, Robert Munden, Big Bear; and second, double action, George St. Clair.
The Pomona Progress Bulletin, Pomona, California, 07 Aug 1958, Thu • Page 17
Fast Guns To Organize Valley Club
An organizational meeting for the Pomona Valley Gun Hawks, a quick draw club, will be held In about two weeks. Organizing the club Is Joe St. Clair, of 91 H County Rd., who took second place In the Big Bear live ammunition fast draw contest last week. Also helping are Hugh Carpenter, of Big Bear, first place winner, and Jake DeVos of Pomona. St. Clair, a machine operator at H. W. loud Machine Works, has been interested in leather slapping for five years. He also helped organize and served as vice president of the Judge Colt Fast Draw Club. The Gun Hawks is open to all persons 18 years and older. Members must own a gun. Interested persons may contact St. Clair at his home.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 11 Sep 1958, Thu • Page 8
NEW GUNSLINGERS CLUB MEETS SUNDAY
The newly organized Bear Valley Gunslingers will hold their first event Sunday at McAlister Rifle Range on the North side of the lake just east of the Twin Bear cut-off Competition will be open to all comers. The course of fire will not be announced until the close of entries at 4 pm to encourage al those interested in pistol shooting regardless of whether they favor conventional target work quick-draw or just plinking. Entry fee will be $1. Each entry must provide his own gun holster and ammunition one box (50 rounds) will be ample. The Gunslingers invite anyone interested in organizing or entering pistol competition to join their group.
KR notes: the format expands to include more than the man v man, with more stages that guaranteed entrants would all get to shoot more rounds for the event.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 18 Sep 1958, Thu • Page 10
Gunslingers Beat Hesperia Visitors The Bear Valley Gunslingers were a bit rude to their guests the Hesperia Crusaders last Sunday at McAlister Rifle Range taking first second and fourth places in a rapid fire match prepared by C E Phillips rangemaster The only prize taken by the visitors was that awarded for low score. Jeff Cooper won the match with score of 278 x 300 while Hugh Carpenter (252) was second and Bud Camomile fourth with 222 The Gunslingers will meet again on Monday September 22 at Snow Summit at 7:30 pm. Anyone interested in any type of pistol shooting is cordially invited to attend.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 23 Oct 1958, Thu • Page 16
Gunslingers Try Experiment An “Offside Draw”
The Bear Valley Gunslingers held an informal match last Sunday at McAlister Rifle Range to experiment with a new course of fire. An unusual feature of the experiment was the inclusion of an offside draw (left handed for right handers and vice versa). The course requires shooting with the off hand, but not drawing with it which poses quite a challenge. Bud Reynolds officiated in order to give C E Philips rangemaster change to compete. Jeff Cooper won the match while Philips placed second. Next Sunday October 28 the San Bernardino Thumb-busters are holding a leatherslap at Arrowhead Springs and Hugh Carpenter of the Gunslingers plans to represent Big Bear. Bud Camomile, Jerry McDougal, and Bob Munden are also possible entries. The Thumb busters are afraid of auto pistols so Cooper is ruled out. The next Gunslingers event will be held on Sunday morning November 2 weather permitting. All pistol shooters are welcome.
KR notes: Bob Munden went on to become one of the most famous fast draw exhibition shooters.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 06 Nov 1958, Thu • Page 9
Challenging Shoot For Gunslingers At Third Annual Event
Bear Valley Gunslinger’s held their third event last Sunday at McAlister Rifle Range under the direction of C E Phillips range-master. Participants report that it was the most interesting and challenging competition so far. Phillips placed twelve standard targets along a roughly marked trail through the ironwood and scrub-oak thickets and each shooter was required to find his way spot each target hit it twice reload as necessary and complete the entire course in the shortest possible time. As some targets were in plain sight but others were partially concealed contestants had fully as much difficulty with spotting as with shooting. No shooter was able to find all twelve targets under the pressure of the stopwatch. Jeff Cooper and Bob Munden shot scores of 115 but since Cooper ran the course in 5:40 against Munden’s 7 minutes flat he took first place. Third position was taken by Bill Fitzgerald a visiting police officer from Torrance. The widely varied nature of the Gunslingers events offers anyone who enjoys any sort of pistol shooting a chance to use his gun in friendly informal competition. All valley pistol enthusiasts are invited to attend the next shoot to be held at McAllister Rifle Range at 11 am Saturday November 29.
KR notes: this stage is the precursor of Jungle Walk and similar field courses still run at Gunsite and in some 3-gun matches.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 27 Nov 1958, Thu • Page 17
SURPRISE EVENTS TO CHALLENGE PISTOL SHOOTERS
Surprise events will challenge big bore pistol shooters when Bear Valley Gunslingers meet on Saturday November 29 at the McAlister Rifle Range at 11 am Visitors who participate in these competitions enjoy the departure from conventional target ‘shooting and really have’ a lot of fun.
All anyone needs to take part in these events is to be on the spot with a pistol any caliber except 22’s ammunition and interest in the sport.
Thell Reed Jr. of Downey won the leather slapping contest held in Tombstone Arizona a couple of weeks ago. He is a 15 year-old expert pistol shot who competed in the open event with no age limit or handicap. Young Reed and his father, Thell Reed Sr.,are expecting to be here for the weekend shoot.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 04 Dec 1958, Thu • Page 2
Gunslingers Hold Field Reaction Course Competition
A field reaction course laid out in the brushy canyons just north of the regular target area was the attraction for Bear Valley Gunslingers last Saturday with C E Phillips rangemaster directing. The fourth open event by the local club at McAlister Rifle Range it attracted fourteen competitors.
Twelve targets were placed at varying distances from a trail marked by white cloth streamers and each shooter was required to find the way, spot the targets hit each one twice and cross the finish line in the shortest possible time. His numerical score was then divided by the number of minutes required to complete the course and the result was his index score for the contest.
Saturdays match was particularly challenging as the course itself was difficult to find and the targets were cleverly concealed. The streamers blended with the ironwood and scrub oak making them nearly invisible. Once off course the contestant was unlikely to find it again. Several entrants became so thoroughly lost that the match was stopped while they were rescued. Among these was young Thell Reed Jr of Downey who has become a celebrity in gunning circles during the past two years. Since it was an informal competition the consensus of shooters favored permitting the lost sheep to run the course again a decision which caused some regret as Reed won decisively on his second try. Jeff Cooper of Bear Valley placed second, Ray Chapman Norwalk was third and Norm Pardee of Bear Valley came in fourth. Bob Munden another local shooter made the course in very good time but could not overcome the handicap of using an unfamiliar gun.
All visiting pistoleros were impressed with the interesting contest and are looking forward to future Gunslinger events. Policy of the club is to make each event entirely different to stimulate interest and challenge marksmen.
Next match is scheduled for December 21 at 11 am when the feature will be a Military Advancer Combat Course. This course requires 50 rounds and is confined to big bore pistols Open to all entry fees of $1 will be split by the winners.
Most of last week’s shooters came from the Los Angeles area. On this evidence the Gunslingers repeat previous invitations to all residents of the valley to come out and participate in these events.
KR notes: Ray Chapman, future Combat Master, moves up in the overall scores at this match.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 25 Dec 1958, Thu • Page 3
Mexican Defense Course Used At Gunslingers Shoot
The Mexican Defense Course the official training course of the Mexican armed forces and several other Latin countries was used for the first time in the United States when the Bear Valley Gunslingers held their last match of the year on Sunday
The event was held at McAlister Rifle Range with C E Phillips rangemaster preparing the contest and C F Bud Reynolds directing The course undertaken featured quick-draw pivoting and shooting ‘at several targets while walking and proved both novel and challenging to the contestants none of whom had shot it before.
Shooters came from such diverse points as Norwalk and Lancaster to participate and a contingent of five sheriff’s deputies from Riverside county appeared as a team. Jeff Cooper and Hugh Carpenter from the local club took first and second places respectively with Captain Ben Clark from Riverside taking third place.
The Gunslingers do not plan any further matches for the winter but will resume monthly meets of diversified pistol competition in May.
KR notes: more about the Mexican Defense Course in this blog article.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 12 Feb 1959, Thu • Page 2
Coopers Article In Magazine Puts Provocative Point [no byline]
Local handgun enthusiast Jeff Cooper presents an original and provocative article in the April issue of Guns and Ammo on the subject of making hunting legal with a big bore pistol or revolver.
Illustrated with the authors own photographs showing the impact on a gallon can of water when struck with a heavy hunting 357 Magnum, the article supports the suggestion with facts. Comparisons with archery hunting result in substantiating evidence, according to Coopers article, to advance the proposal of such a measure beyond the theoretical to the practical application which is a basic requirement for such an innovation.
An expert handgunner himself, Cooper’s article should prove of interest to local sportsmen for its well documented exposition of handgun hunting of big game, a relatively new concept in the sports field. Cooper has scored regularly in recent matches sponsored’ by the local Gunslingers Club with numerous firsts and many placings. He is assisting with preliminary studies to make the use of handguns an international competition. One of his favorite conversational topics is the “misuse of the fast draw as such without the gun handler having to prove his ability to hit something after the draw.”
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 05 Mar 1959, Thu • Page 7
The Bear Valley Gunslingers sent three members to the Western States Top Gun contest held last Sunday at the Juniper Tree range in Soledad Canyon. Jeff Cooper, Hugh Carpenter and Jim Sullivan were potential winners of the brand new Colt Peacemaker donated by the factory plus trophies and 20 of the gross.
Cooper and Sullivan fell by the wayside during eliminations but Carpenter shooting brilliantly knocked off every competitor up to the final bout which he lost in a split decision on one shot. He was using a Colt 45 Commander auto pistol with Cooper speed modifications. His holster was of his own manufacture.
Many contestants were familiar faces to the local men from past father slapping contests in Bear Valley including last year’s winner Curt Anderson. All senior competitors remarked that they are looking forward to this year’s match during Old Miners Days.
KR notes: industry sponsorship of this type of shooting match begins
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 09 Apr 1959, Thu • Page 4
Gunslingers In Hesperia Contest
Members of Bear Valley Gunslingers have their weapons oiled up in anticipation of next Sundays fast draw competition at Hesperia Dude Ranch. Trophies to be awarded first five places are on display at the American National Bank this week Emphasizing accurate hitting ability along with the fast draw competitors will have results measured by an electronic device to determine winners Events will be held from 10 until 2 pm Placing high in past events and entering again will be local six-gun artists Jeff Cooper, High Carpenter, Norman Pardee, Chuck Dixon and Jim Sullivan.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 16 Apr 1959, Thu • Page 7
GROWING INTEREST IN SHOOTING ACTIVITY
Evidence of growing interest in Gunslingers fast draw and accuracy events were the 93 entries at the contest sponsored by Bear Valley Gunslingers at Hesperia Dude Ranch on Sunday. Kurt Anderson of Burbank took first place as he also did in the Leather Slap event of Old Miners Days in 1958
Placing 6th and 13th respectively were Hugh Carpenter and Jeff Cooper of Bear Valley who also actively ran the events.
Representing a cross section of the best fast draw pistol shooters in the country, the electronic timer proved that it takes one and one-third seconds to draw and place a disabling shot in a man at ten yards thus refuting claims of less than a second which have been made according to Jeff Cooper who noted that the winning time on Sunday was 1.32 seconds with about 20 entrants making accurate hits in two seconds flat.
The next event will be held on May 17 at the Rifle Range in Bear Valley Most of the entrants of the Hesperia contest indicated intentions of entering the Leather Slap this summer during Old Miners Days.
KR notes: the current obsession with the one second 7 yard draw is not new. 1.32 seconds for a 10 yard effective hit, working from open carry was what won the match. By this time in the evolution of their sport, competitors were likely bringing the gun up to eye level or using some kind of visual index, not just hip shooting as they had done in the pure leatherslap events.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 16 April 1959, Pg. 6, 07 May 1959, Pg 5 & 28 May 1959, Page 4
GUNSMITHING leather goods made & repaired. Phone Hugh Carpenter, 4773
KR notes: there was a time in US history where local phone numbers were only 4 digits.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California 21 May 1959, Thu • Page 5
Gunslingers In Clean Sweep
Carpenter First. A clean sweep was made by local Gunslingers at the Mexican Defense Course competition on Sunday with Hugh Carpenter first, Norm Pardee second and Jeff Cooper third. Sixteen entries were made from various southland cities including Harold Gregory of the LAPD placing fourth and Ron Stillens of Santa Monica fifth.
Next meet for handgun artists, featuring accuracy of hitting as well as fast drawing, will be held on June 14 with a reaction course meet.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 28 May 1959, Thu • Page 2
Cooper To Discuss Guns At Lions Club
…Jeff Cooper will talk on hand guns. Having authored many articles and books on guns he is also considered an authority and is well known locally for lining up fast-draw contests in Big Bear as a feature of Old Miners. …
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 11 Jun 1959, Thu • Page 7
Gunslingers To Hold Field Reaction Event
A field reaction course will be held by Bear Valley Gunslingers on Sunday at 11 am at McAlister rifle range with a two dollar jackpot divided among the winners.
Scoring will emphasize both marksmanship and time with the number of hits divided by the time taken to run the course to establish winners. Laid out cross-country, the course will simulate hunting trail conditions with targets placed adjacent to the marked trail.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 18 Jun 1959, Thu • Page 2
BIG FIELD COMPETES IN GUNSLINGERS SHOOT
Lee Fitzgerald of Hawthorne topped the large entry list of contestants Sunday at the Gunslingers monthly shoot at the local rifle range. Jeff Cooper was second and John Kiger third.
Big Bear Life, Big Bear Lake, California, 08 Jul 1959, Wed • Page 1
BEAR VALLEY GUNSLINGERS HOLD MONTHLY EVENT
Planned and supervised by Hugh Carpenter and assisted by Chauncey Phillips, the monthly event was held at McAlister’s Rifle Range. Participants numbered 14 with the Barstow Fast Draw Club well represented. This event was a timed dual and also was a Jackpot Event with the first 3 places given money prizes from the entry fees. Winning the lop 3 places were Bob Munden first, Joe Williams, Barstow, second, and Hugh Carpenter third.
Big Bear Life, Big Bear Lake, California, 08 Jul 1959, Wed • Page 1
ROBERT MUNDEN INJURED
Riding with his uncle Floyd C Burt, 42, of Inglewood on Sunday evening at 11:50, Robert Munden, 17, received major injuries as he was thrown out of the car as it rolled at the top of Red Ant Hill and was pinned under it. He was sent to County Hospital in San Bernardino.
Big Bear Life, Big Bear Lake, California, 22 Jul 1959, Wed • Page 8
Hugh Carpenter Wins Soledad Canyon Shoot
Hugh Carpenter of Big Bear City won the Gunslingers Fast Draw Contest held in Soledad Canyon Sunday July 19. It marked the initial contest sponsored by the new association “The Peacemakers of San Fernando Valley.” It proved to be a well-chosen location on Wes Thompson’s Juniper Tree Rifle Range.
Although advance notices to local shooters announced that all single double and automatic guns were acceptable in the contest, it has since been learned that the Southern California Fast Draw Association may take action to outlaw automatics from future contests. Hugh Carpenter and Jeff Cooper were the only two men using automatics.
August 2nd is announced for the Hesperia Shoot put on by “The Crusaders.”
In winning the trophy, Hugh defeated Harry Gregory, Los Angeles Police Officer, 2nd place, Lee Monroe, member of the “San Fernando Peacemakers,” 3rd place.
From a bystanders viewpoint a shoot contest “measures the caliber of the man not the gun”
KR notes: Wes Thompson’s range in Piru was the home of the original Steel Challenge World Championship matches in the 1980’s, and remained the home of that major match until California laws and purchase of the match by USPSA led to its relocation.
Big Bear Life, Big Bear Lake, California, 05 Aug 1959, Wed • Page 1
The San Bernardino County Sun, San Bernardino, California, 09 Aug 1959, Sun • Page 3
‘Gunfighter’ Prize Won By Deputy BIG BEAR
Jack H. Weaver, Los Angeles County deputy sheriff from Lancaster, carried home the grand prize for the best -all around gunfighter in the Old Miners’ Days gun shooting contest here yesterday.
Weaver, who has been shooting for nine years, won the prize by copping the double-action shooting contest and placing second in single-action shooting.
San Bernardino’s Irv Fountain, a member of the San Bernardino Thumb Busters Club, took first in single-action shooting, and Walter Ivie, member of the West Hollywood Gunfighters, placed third.
Slim O’Connor of Canoga Park grabbed second place in double-action shooting, and Larry Rogers of Riverside took third. Eliminations were held yesterday morning and the finals at 3 p.m. at the Lynn Ski Lift.
KR notes: first mention of Jack Weaver
Big Bear Life, Big Bear Lake, California, 12 Aug 1959, Wed • Page 5
LA DEPUTY WINS GUNFIGHTER PRIZE
Jack H Weaver Los Angeles County deputy sheriff from Lancaster was winner of the grand prize for best all-around gun-fighter in the Fourth Annual Leather Slapping Contest held on Sunday as a major feature of Old Miners Days. Weaver placed first in the double-action shooting contest and placed second in single action shooting.
Irv Fountain, a member of the San Bernardino Thumb Busters Club, took first place in single action shooting with Walter Ivie, member of the West Hollywood Gunfighters, placing third.
In double-action shooting, Slim OConnor of Canoga Park took second place, and Larry Rogers of Riverside came out third.
The contest which has grown in scope and popularity since it was initiated during the Old Miners Days celebration of 1956 was supervised by sheriff’s deputies of the Big Bear Sub-station assisted by reserve officers.
Big Bear Life, Big Bear Lake, California, 16 Sep 1959, Wed • Page 2
Gunslingers Compete Despite Rain
Sunday’s rain merely added appropriate weather conditions to the contest held at the McAlister Rifle Range by the Bear Valley Gunslingers who were competing with 337 magnum revolvers in a deer hunters match
Of the seven who competed in the monthly event John D “Jeff” Cooper of Boulder Bay placed first with Maitland Stewart of Pomona second and Jim Sullivan of Big Bear City third.
The striated figure of a deer was used as target and the contest determined that a stationary deer can be hit in the heart at 50 yards by a hand gun with no problem and an absolutely stationary animal can be tagged in the shoulder at 100 yards. At 200 yards however the deer is safe from a hunter with a hand gun.
As of now standings in the yearly point competition held by the Bear Valley Gunslingers are: Jeff Cooper first place with 22 points, Jack Weaver of Lancaster, winner of this years Old Miners Leatherslapping Contest, second with 17 points, and Hugh Carpenter of Big Bear City third with 15 points. The contest which extends over the calendar year is now two-thirds complete.
Next meeting of the Gunslingers will be held on Sunday October 18 at 11:00 am on the McAlister Rifle Range on the North Shore Cooper announces.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 17 Sep 1959, Thu • Page 5
GUNSLINGERS USE MECHANICAL DEER
Monthly meeting of the Gunslingers was held Sunday at the mechanical rifle range featuring a deer hunters experimental match using silhouettes of deer as targets.
Winners of the match were Jeff Cooper, Maitland Stewart of Pomona, and Jim Sullivan.
Meets are held nine months out of the year and the next one scheduled will be October 18.
Big Bear Life, Big Bear Lake, California, 07 Oct 1959, Wed • Page 6
RUSSELL TAKES TROPHY
Reed Russell of Big Bear Lake placed fourth in a fast-draw contest at Dead Man’s Point Western Village Saturday October 3.
The shoot was promoted by the Crusaders Fast Draw Club of Dead Man’s Point. The contest was shot at a distance of 21 feet with balloons as targets and due to the lack of a suitable backstop wax bullets were used instead of lead.
This was Russell’s first contest. He has been practicing under the direction of Hugh Carpenter known to be one of Southern California’s top-rate fast-draw artists.
Reed is the first member of a proposed fast-draw team which it is announced will represent the Bear Valley Jaycees. Other tentative members of the team are named as Bruce Broughton, Charles Beck and Jack Wright.
Big Bear Life, Big Bear Lake, California, 14 Oct 1959, Wed • Page 8
LOCAL GUNSLINGERS COMPETE HERE
Bear Valley Gunslingers will hold another in their series of competitive events on Sunday Oct 18th at McAlister Rifle Range on the North Shore at 11:00 am. The public is welcome both as entrants in the shoot and as spectators points out Jeff Cooper.
The event will be based on the advanced military course for combat hand gunners Cooper states and contestants will run up points in their various places to be figured into the annual total by which the gun-slingers will be rated after the ninth and final contest for 1959 to be held in December.
KR notes: More on the Advanced Military Course can be found here
The November meeting of the Dear Valley Gunslingers will be in the nature of a turkey shoot it was announced this week by Jeff Cooper. The competition to he held on Sunday November 22 will be based on points scored in shooting the regulation FBI course which is standard with all law enforcement officers. Winners of the first three places will be awarded dressed 15-lb turkeys.
Last Sunday’s competition was an interesting comparison of three types of guns used by the three top gunslingers. First place was taken by Jeff Cooper using a 45 automatic; second place went to Hugh Carpenter with a .38 double action police pistol; and third place was won by Roland Beaver USMC at Bar-stow with a single-action Peacemaker. Contestants shot the military combat course.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 22 Oct 1959, Thu • Page 7
COOPER TOPS SHOOTING
Results of the Gunslingers October event held Sunday featuring the combat courses of the armed services were: Jeff Cooper first, Hugh Carpenter, also of Bear Valley, second and Roland Beaver, Barstow Marine, third.
Big Bear Life, Big Bear Lake, California, 25 Nov 1959, Wed • Page 10
GUNSLINGERS & LOCAL YOUTHS WIN TURKEYS
Jeff Cooper local Gunslinger took the match and the turkey last Sunday when the Gunslingers held another in a series of competitive pistol shoots.
Using a 45 automatic Cooper made a score of 984 to take first place while Chuck Roberts a Marine from Barstow using a Peacemaker made 92 points to take second place. Tie for third place went to Ron Beaver a Marine from Barstow and Travis White deputy sheriff of Riverside County White used a regular 38 police special.
Scorekeeper was Col Paul McNicol USMC Barstow
In the turkey shoot open to the public three local youngsters edged out visiting young people who were primarily skiers. A turkey was won by first place winner Danny ORourke while Diane ODell and Danny Munden were given pies donated by Tommi Tyndall of Snow Summit.
The final shoot of the Gunslingers year will be held on Sunday Dec 20 which will determine the years point standings
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 26 Nov 1959, Thu • Page 5
Local Crackshots Win The Turkeys
Local sharpshooters Jeff Cooper and Danny O’Rourke won the Gunslingers annual turkey shoot last Sunday at McAllister riflerange and Snow Summit.
Coopers score was 98.4 and was followed in the race for the three turkey by Chuck Roberts, a marine from Barstow, with 92.0, Strais White, deputy sheriff from Riverside, with 88.0. This section of the event was held at McAllisters FBI pistol course. ORourke won the junior shoot at Snow Summit by nipping Diane O’Dell second and Danny Mundun. Each of these three also were awarded turkeys.
The next and last Gunslingers shoot for the season will be held on December 20
Big Bear Life, Big Bear Lake, California, 23 Dec 1959, Wed • Page 1
Jeff Cooper Takes Gunslinger Honors
In the final Bear Valley Gunslingers match of the year Jeff Cooper of Boulder Bay took first place in both contests to capture top point standing for 1959 when six members competed on Sunday Dec 20 at the McAlister Rifle Range.
As holder of 65 points garnered during the ten matches this year Cooper is winner of the First Annual Norman Pardee Memorial Award established by A. Claire Pardee in memory of his late son who had been an enthusiastic member of the Gunslingers. The award an engraved belt buckle will be presented to Cooper by Pardee at a later date.
Second place in the years standing went to Hugh Carpenter of Bear Valley with Jack Weaver of Lancaster in third spot.
In the first contest of Sundays shoot the Bear Valley Composite a jackpot shoot Cooper took first place with Jim Sullivan of Bear City and Ray Chapman of Downey following in second and third places. The second event was a sudden death speed shoot in which contestants were required to load run and shoot at seven silhouette targets. Here again Cooper with his automatic pistol placed first:
Second place winner was a professional using a single action pistol who completed incognito because of contractual restrictions and Hugh Carpenter of Bear Valley came in third. Winners were awarded champagne beer and wine respectively to take the chill off the snowy weather.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 24 Mar 1960, Thu • Page 5
Gunslingers In Action April 24
Bear Valley Gunslingers will get into action on April 24 with a timed FBI duel featuring paired contestants. The match will begin at 10 am and four trophies are being offered winners.
Jeff Cooper, secretary of the Gunslingers, describes the duel shooting this way: They (contestants) will walk toward the targets after being loaded and holstered at 25 yards. On the bell they will halt draw and fire until one or the other hits the target.
“The director will whistle cease fire when the light indicates a hit. After each cease-fire, contestants will reload, reholster and stand fast. On command they will then start forward from the location of the previous shots. First man to store twice wins the bout.”
The shoot will be run as a “double elimination challenge ladder” so that an eliminated contestant may challenge any other losers and displace him by winning, Cooper explained
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 28 Apr 1960, Thu • Page 8
Jeff Cooper (center) won first round of Bear Valley-Gunslingers 1960 pistol competition for Norm Pardee Memorial Award last Sunday as 45 entrants showed-up for event despite snowstorm. Second place winner was Bill Lindquist of Glendale and Ray Chapman (right) of Norwalk took third (Photo by Bob Freeman)
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 09 Jun 1960, Thu • Page 7
Rifle Range Gets Official OK
Proposed site for a new rifle range in Bear Valley received approval of the county planning commission last week at a hearing in San Bernardino. Representatives of the local Sportsman’s club seeking approval were accompanied by officials of forest service who had assisted the organization in locating the 54 acre plot about half a mile north on the west side of Division street (were it extended northerly from state highway 18). The site will permit building of a target shooting area with a maximum of 150 yards designed for large bore rifles and small bore pistols and possibly also trap shooting. The forest service is issuing a special use permit for the project
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 14 Jul 1960, Thu • Page 3
CENTENNIAL
Jeff Cooper lining up the fifth annual leather slapping contest for Old Miners Days on Aug 6 reports that a very appropriate additional trophy will be awarded this year’s winner-a yank pistol which is a modern replica of the 1851 Navy Colt a 36 caliber black powder cap-and-ball revolver that was the most popular and efficient side arm of the Gold Rush Era.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 04 Aug 1960, Thu • Page 1
CELEBRATING OLD MINERS
BURROW DERBY HIGHLIGHTS WEEKEND OF FUN
Saturdays activities include an Elks club barbecue beginning at noon, a pony express race at Baldwin Lake, a log sawing contest at Big Bear Lake and the annual shooting (leather slapping) competition at Snow Summit.
The San Bernardino County Sun, San Bernardino, California, 07 Aug 1960 Sunday page 4
Big Bear Celebration
The leather-slapping fast draw contest held at Snow Summit attracted the largest crowd in the history of the local event. Top gunner was Elden Carl Jr. of El Cajon, who won a trophy and a check for $500. Second gunner was Jack Weaver of Lancaster, who won a trophy’ and $200. Weaver was winner of this event last year. Ronald Close of Highland was third gunner, winning a trophy and $100. Close is a member of the Outlaws Club of San Bernardino. Fourth gunner was Noel Cobbs of El Cajon, winning a trophy and $50. ; It is interesting that Carl, Weaver and Cobbs are police officers while Close is an “outlaw.”
KR notes: First mention of future Combat Master Elden Carl.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 12 Jan 1961, Thu • Page 4
Jeff Cooper (on the left) accepts the Norman Pardee Memorial award from A.C. Pardee. The award is given to the over-all best pistol shot member of the Hear Valley Gun slingers.
[Photo Caption from larger article may be 1960 award given for 1959.]
Valley Times, North Hollywood, California July 26, 1961 page 4
Fast Frontiers combat shoot at Wes Thompson range
At the recent Combat Shoot at Wes Thompson’s Soledad Canyon range 28, shooters entered the Fast Frontiers sponsored contest. First place went to Jack Weaver of Lancaster with a 146×150 score. Weaver shoots with a .38 caliber Smith and Wesson revolver. The second spot went to Elden Carl who scored a 145×150. Jeff Cooper took third with a 121×150.
Both Cooper and Carl shoot the Colt .45 caliber automatic. Max Ruby also using a .45 Colt automatic took fourth place and scored 117×150. Trophies were presented to the winners.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 27 Jul 1961, Thu • Page 1
LEATHER SLAP CONTEST SET FOR AUGUST 5
Jeff Cooper, chairman of the leather – slap contest which will be held at Lynn Lift on August 5, says that entries are still coming in and will be taken up until the end of the qualifications on that date. The sixth annual contest of its kind in the United States there will be qualification contest in the morning and a main event featuring 16 top qualifiers at 1:30 in the afternoon. This is a speed shooting contest held for uses of heavy duty pistols with full – charged ammunition.
Two snow queens Christy Cooper and Anne Lund will be on hand to help award the trophies at the close of the contest
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 03 Aug 1961, Thu • Page 1
MARKSMEN IN LEATHER – SLAP ON SATURDAY
Crack marksmen in a speed shooting contest will vie for trophies in the annual leather – slap contest during Old Miners Days. The 16 best qualifiers in the heavy duty pistol shoot will compete in the main event Saturday afternoon at 1 o’clock at Lynn ski lift. Qualifying rounds will be shot Saturday morning The entry list remains open until the morning contest begins.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 10 Aug 1961, Thu • Page 1
LEATHER SLAP SAID BEST ONE YET
Spectators at the annual leather slap held at Lynn Lift on Saturday afternoon saw an outstanding event during Old Miners Days celebration and generally agreed that it was one of the finest yet staged.
Jeff Cooper who has been in charge of the gun-slinging events for the valley was awarded a plaque for his devoted time and effort in the promotion and success of the Bear Valley Gunslingers club. Eldon Carl of San Diego won first in the event and was awarded $60 plus a trophy and new Remington 44 cap and ball modern replica pistol.
Other Jackpot money was divided among the three winners: Jack Weaver of Lancaster Robert Madden of Pico Rivera and Ray Park of Bellflower. Weaver was also given the Pardee Memorial award a handsome belt buckle for the highest overall points for gunslinger events for the year up to and including the leather slap. Receiving the largo trophy for the best dressed and most authentic outfit at the event was Bob Arnold of North Hollywood.
For outstanding performance and showmanship, a surprise award was presented to Thell Reed Jr of Downey. The fastest time contest was won by Ray Chapman of Norwalk who also received a new Remington 44 cap and ball pistol.
On hand to help make the awards were Christy Cooper and Anne Lund, Snow Queens of Bear Valley.
The Grizzly, Big Bear Lake, California, 21 Sep 1961, Thu • Page 1
30 RECORDS FALL AT BIG SHOOT
All shooters in the Bear Valley Gunslingers event last Saturday unofficially broke either nation or world records using the 44 Mag pistol said to be the most powerful hand weapon ever built. Jeff Cooper president of the Gunslingers praised the shooting skill of Eldon Carl of El Cajon and Jack Weaver of Lancaster who won firsts for slow fire and “time fire” respectively.
That is the way Jeff Cooper, president of the Big Bear Gunslingers Association described these two contestants who fought it out during last week’s Old Miners Days, “Leather Slapping” tournament. They are Jack Weaver (left) and Eldon Carl (right) of the Lancaster and El Cajon police departments respectively. Last year, they were pitted against each other in the final match; here they are shown in an early round. Carl won and then went on to capture the $300 first prize money for the third year in a row.
The San Bernardino County Sun, San Bernardino, California, 05 Aug 1964, Wed • Page 9 & 13
THEY TELL ME by Earl E Buie
It’ll be noisier than the O.K. Corral.
If you’re tired of watching gunmen of the television westerns blaze away with their six-guns and, it seems, never hit anything, then you would enjoy the Big Bear Leather Slap, a combat shooting contest at Snow Summit at Big Bear Lake, Saturday.
At the match, which is one of the top events of Old Miner’s Days, the fastest guns in the West (no kidding, the very fastest and most accurate) will go boom boom.
But the fast guns will not shoot at each other; they’ll shoot at balloons. Two gunmen will stand, pistols in holsters, 21 feet from two 12-inch ballons. A whistle blows. They draw and fire live ammunition. The first man to break his balloons wins.
In another competitive event, the contestants will draw and fire at several targets. The targets will be silhouettes of men, placed 5 to 50 yards from the firing line. Usually, the skilled gunslingers will hit the five targets in about four seconds. If they don’t hit the target in the center of the body, the shooters are penalized. There’s none of that winging ’em stuff.
And who are these fastest guns? Well, they are called combat masters, that’s who. There are but six combat masters in the nation and one of them, a retired lieutenant-colonel of the U.S. Marine Corps, John D. (Jeff) Cooper of Big Bear Lake, will be in charge of the contest.
Cooper, who served as a line officer in the South Pacific in World War II and in the Korean action, is one of the recognized pistol marksmen of the country. Always interested in guns, he sharpened his shooting eye in combat, where how fast you could draw frequently made the difference of whether you came back home or became a statistic. He is an officer of the Southwest Combat Pistol Association, an organization of fast guns.
The combat shooters began their careers practicing quick draws with blanks, then used wax bullets and finally graduated to live ammunition. Those who fired too soon ripped a leg or lost a toe or two. With wax bullets they only burned their holsters. It’s no game for the drug store cowboys, or, for that matter, the television gunmen.
But you’ll be perfectly safe at the Big Bear Leather Slap, so-called because the gunmen slap their holsters as they draw in an instant. The shooting range is located in the forest with plenty of range for bullets which tear through the targets. The contest will begin at 10:30 a.m. when qualifying rounds are held. Prior to the final competition, a demonstration of fast draw shooting will be presented, beginning at 1:30 p.m.
Competing in the contests will be the six combat masters (champions), all of whom won their title in events hold during the past nine years. They are Eldon Carl, a deputy sheriff of San Diego County; Ray Chapman, state highways engineer of Sepulveda; John Plahn and Jack Weaver, both Los Angeles County deputy sheriffs stationed at Lancaster; Thell Reed Jr., a professional exhibition shooter of Downey, and Col. Cooper.
In the competitive events you can expect the combat masters to draw, fire and hit a target in a matter of a mere 16-one-hundredths of a second good time for even Marshal Dillon, or a Paladin (now retired to just plain drama stuff).
If fast-draw shooting doesn’t interest you, there’ll be plenty of other events of the Old Miner’s Day program to see. The 10th Annual National Burro Derby, which starts tomorrow from Apple Valley, will finish at 10 a.m. Saturday, if the burros behave. Then there’ll be judging of the whiskerino contest, a log-sawing contest, the Big Bear Players’ production of “The Romance of Scarlet Gulch” and, in the evening, a dance at the Peter Pan Club in Big Bear City. Old Miner’s Days will continue through Sunday with a parade and barbecue.
The San Bernardino County Sun San Bernardino, California 26 Jun 1970, Fri • Page 10
THE SUN Friday, They Tell Me
Big Shoot Out at Big Bear Valley By EARL E. BUIE
Some 45 to 50 pistoleers perhaps the world’s fastest draw marksmen will compete In a shooting match at Snow Forest, in the range south of Big Bear Valley Aug. 1 In the first event of a week’s program of the valley’s Old Miner’s Days.
In the parlance of the quick-firing gunmen, a pistoleer is an expert with fa .45 target weapon. And I hate to disillusion you admirers of Wyatt Earp, Billy the Kid, Doc Holiday, Wild Bill Hickok or any of the legendary gunslingers of the Old West, but I must tell you the leather slappers today could shoot the buttons off any of the two-gun men, whose aim was, admittedly, deadly – if he wanted to live.
In the Old Miner’s Day competition, a pistoleer must draw, fire and hit a 12-inch target at seven yards at a tick -of, your watch or clock. Fast? Well, in last year’s match, a Saugus mechanic, Leonard Knight, did just that in .39 of a second.
Jeff Cooper, of Big Bear Valley, a gun consultant who trains police how to handle their weapons, tells me that today’s professional leather slapper is unquestionably faster than the gunmen of another day and more accurate.
Cooper is one of the four or five fastest men in the world with a gun.
There was, of course, nobody holding a stopwatch on the old-time killer when he met his adversary in the street to shoot it out, Cooper frankly admits. But there were other factors. Cooper contends, to show that the modern Leather slapper fires faster. One thing, said Cooper, was that the frontier gunmen wore holsters which held their gun tightly, that in the event they were thrown from a horse that six-shooter wouldn’t fly out. Consequently the hired gun couldn’t possibly draw as fast as the pistoleer who carries his gun in a so-called open holster from which his gun can be instantly drawn.
Split-second timing in leather slap contests, Cooper said, shows that a competitor in the shooting matches requires something like .21 of a second to react to the signal, sounded by bell. Then he must aim at the target and fire. Ordinarily, a performance in .49 to .55 of a second will take home the money. A .60-second performance of drawing and firing is slow, Cooper said.
Today, said Cooper, the reaction of target shooters, and even athletes, to a signal is electrically timed. It may surprise you that Cassius Clay, the dethroned heavyweight champion, scored a figure of .16 seconds in scientific tests. Clay, however, is not a sharpshooter outside of the prize ring, he fired with his hands. This year’s leather slap competition will be the 16th to be held annually at the Old Miner’s Days event in Big Bear Valley. On the program are the three-day burro race, the wranglers starting Thursday Aug. 6, and finishing Saturday Aug. 8 at the Elks clubhouse on the valley’s main street.
Annually, the burro race draws throngs of spectators, a few of whom wager on their favorite wrangler and animal. The race course is around the lake. The leather slap shooting competition will begin at 9 a.m. for qualifying rounds. The finals are scheduled for 1 p.m. when the two-man teams begin firing. The range is equipped with the steel targets, each 12 inches in diameter. On each target is a tiny balloon, one red, the other green. On the firing line the shooters cannot make a move until the bell signal sounds. Then the competitors begin firing, continuing until they hit the target. On occasions, but rarely, some empty their guns without a hit. The winners in each two-man match must compete against other winners, the field narrowing with each match.
The winner will receive a top prize of $500. Other prizes range downward to $50. Incidentally, the 21-foot range was determined to conform with FBI records which show that in the average gun play the distance between participants is seven yards.
So the whole thing may be extremely Interesting, what with lightning fast and consistently accurate shooting. Moreover it could be educational. It will teach you how fast to duck in case you’re being fired upon.
The San Bernardino County Sun San Bernardino, California 30 Jul 1970, Thu • Page 30
The 18th [sic] annual commemoration of “the old days” of Big Bear Valley will open officially with the popular Leather Slap contest sponsored by the Southwest Pistol League and hand gun expert Jeff Cooper with qualifications from 9 to 12 noon Saturday and matches and demonstrations scheduled for 1 p.m. The site will be changed from Snow Summit this year to Snow Forest Ski area. “Fast guns” from the length of the state assemble for this contest of skill with pistols. There will be an admission charge this year of $1 for adults and 50 cents for children.
More info from EldenCarl.com
Big Bear Leatherslap – The Peak Years 9-8-2015
Here is a list of the 1960 through 1965 Leatherslap winners, all shooting from one-hand point:
• 1960 Elden Carl – S&W Model 19 double action at 21 feet
• 1961 Elden Carl – Colt 1911A1 45 auto at 21 feet
• 1962 Elden Carl – Colt 1911A1 45 auto at 21 feet
• 1963 Thell Reed – 45 Colt Peacemaker single action at 15 feet
• 1964 Thell Reed – Colt 1911A1 45 auto at 21 feet
• 1965 Thell Reed – Colt 1911A1 45 auto at 21 feet
I competed in 4 Leatherslaps winning three with two types of pistols from one-hand point. Thell Reed is the only other competitor to win three with two types of pistols from one-hand point. Once Thell and I retired from the Leatherslaps, me in 1964 and Thell in 1965, all Leatherslaps were won by shooters using the two-hand hold.
David Yamane is a sociology professor at Wake Forest University, where he’s spent more than a decade studying gun culture through the lens of the soft science of sociology. He teaches a very unique college course on this topic that includes an optional range trip where students in the class get hands-on experience with guns. His new book Gun Curious summarizes what he’s learned so far. My work on understanding what percentage of gun owners are motivated to train beyond a state minimum requirement is referenced in his book.
Like most people, I wasn’t really sure what makes sociology different from psychology or anthropology or what sociology researchers do. Let’s start with the Britannica definition:
sociology, a social science that studies human societies, their interactions, and the processes that preserve and change them. It does this by examining the dynamics of constituent parts of societies such as institutions, communities, populations, and gender, racial, or age groups. Sociology also studies social status or stratification, social movements, and social change, as well as societal disorder in the form of crime, deviance, and revolution.
My Version of the History of Gun Culture
Over the past 100 years there were a lot of changes in the gun culture, some driven by external events, some by technological innovation, some in response to legislation, and some from within the gun community itself. As a student of the history of firearms training, my version of the Sociological History of Gun Culture is this:
1700’s-1940’s – Gun ownership is common and normal, for both long guns used for hunting and home defense, and pistols carried “on or about the person” for self defense when away from home. This blog contains reviews of dozens of books written prior to 1940 (look in the Historical Handgun tab). The Founding Fathers considered the right to keep and bear arms so important that it was the 2nd amendment to our Constitution. Firearms training is typically done at the family or informal gun club level.
1940-1945 – World War 2 was the biggest firearms training program in US history, as the military put every recruit, including men and women in combat support roles, through formal firearms instruction.
1945-1965 – Westerns were the most popular form of genre entertainment, Fast Draw, in the 1950’s, was statistically the most popular shooting sport in US history, with participation by TV and movie celebrities. The Baby Boomer generation grew up with cap guns, toy guns, BB guns, playing cowboy and “Army”. Gun ownership was common and normal, but the conversion of the US economy to crowded cities, suburban living, factory work and low crime did lead to a (likely) decrease in people carrying outside their home or vehicle. Gun magazines mostly wrote about target shooting and hunting, both of which were considered mainstream normal activities. Police firearms training standards largely derive from bullseye shooting competition and the new sport of Police Pistol Combat shooting.
1965-1985 – The Vietnam War and the start of the Culture War between the Progressive (Marxist) Left and the Establishment begins. In major cities on the East and West coast, riots, street violence, poverty, drug abuse and urban crime increase. The political “Gun Control” movement begins, first motivated by assassinations in the 1960’s but significantly increased in response to the murder of 60’s icon John Lennon. Gun ownership and defensive gun use becomes slowly marginalized by the entertainment media as TV, movie and influential journalists all begin to lead more and more to the political Left. Heroes in action movies and crime dramas are no longer noble and virtuous – many are troubled loners committing violence for revenge. The Lone Ranger and Matt Dillon fade as anti-heroes Charles Bronson (in the Death Wish films) and Rambo become the new archetype.
The Reagan era produces a dramatic political re-alignment as rural and Southern Democrats leave the party to join the GOP. The emerging more left-wing Democratic party slowly drives out pro-gun members and makes “Gun Control” a priority issue. But the Reagan era GOP is mostly focused on Big Business and the fiscal concerns of the rich coastal elites who are unconcerned with gun rights and cling to the fading idea that “gun rights” is all about hunting and gun collecting.
During this era, largely unnoticed by the general public and most of the mainstream shooting community, Jeff Cooper and other innovative thinkers use the Leatherslap matches and their evolving Southwest Combat Pistol League events to redefine pistol shooting technique and training standards. These changes will take decades to reach the mainstream, with significant pushback from the more traditional elements of the gun culture, including law enforcement trainers. Massad Ayoob begins teaching courses that integrate unarmed, firearms, psychological and legal material to the private sector, and writing extensively about legal and psychological aspects of self-defense in the mainstream gun press.
Cooper’s and Ayoob’s work is the foundation on which Gun Culture 2.0 will emerge.
1985-2000 The sport of Practical Shooting slowly gains acceptance within the traditional firearms culture, and concealed carry laws become the top priority for gun rights groups. This leads to massive growth in the firearms training community, as instructors previously limited to teaching Hunter Safety are now teaching state-mandated defensive pistol courses to a significant portion of the gun owning population. The material being taught derives from Cooper’s and Ayoob’s work, which has now influenced law enforcement training. Urbanization begins to limit hunting and back-pasture target practice opportunities for gun owners, as indoor ranges and practical shooting matches take over as the dominant form of recreational shooting. Gen Xers and Millennials growing up in urban areas to non gun owning families, with no childhood exposure to firearms, gain entry into the firearms culture via instructional videos (via the VHS rental stores) and later, via the World Wide Web and online forums. This leads to significant growth of Gun Culture 2.0.
2000-present 9/11 shakes US culture out of its “it can’t happen to me” comfort zone and wakes many up to the need to be more capable and self-reliant. Social media, youTube, and gun-centric video games provide more on-ramps for the Gun Curious with no gun owning/gun culture family to join the gun culture. Shows on cable channels such as Shooting Gallery and Top Shot present shooting and firearms ownership as normal, safe and entertaining. As a result of the concealed carry revolution (also the title of Dr. Yamane’s first book), firearms instruction is more accessible to the general public than at any time in US history.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the Gun Curious book is not the book’s content but the struggle involved in getting it published. One aspect of the Culture War that began in the 1960’s is that the journalism, academic, and entertainment media have all been dominated by the far Left, where opposition to Gun Culture has become a sacrament that Cannot Be Questioned. The vast majority of studies, articles, books, and other media all share a editorial bias against guns, gun culture and gun owners. They all support what Dr. Yamane has called “The Master Narrative of Democracy-Destroying Right Wing Gun Culture”. I strongly encourage you to read all the parts of that article series.
That meant that there was little interest in, or support for, a book detailing the story of how a mostly liberal college professor studying gun culture through an unbiased lens discovered that some of the deeply-held beliefs of the gun control movement should be questioned. It’s a byproduct of the dominant belief in academe that journalists and researchers on any topic should not be impartial, drawing conclusions where the data leads, but should be activists seeking paths of study that lead to conclusions that support the preferred narrative. (For a deeper dive into this, I suggest articles by Bari Weiss and Uri Berliner detailing their experiences being driven out of the NY Times and NPR by radical activists.)
Chapters
Guns are Normal and Normal People Use Guns
Top Shot and the Human-Weapon Relationship
Becoming a Gun Super-Owner
Living with AR-15s
Swept Up in the Concealed Carry Revolution
Pascal’s Wager and Firearms
Guns as Risk Factors for Negative Outcomes
Being Responsibly Armed
From the chapter titles you can get a good idea of what the book contains. Yamane makes the case that gun ownership, in the 21st century, is still normal, and normal people use guns. An attitude I’ve encountered many times in discussions of gun politics online is the anti-gun belief that gun ownership, and being armed & capable of self defense is not “civilized”. The attitude comes with a certain amount of smugness, often tied to other luxury beliefs. Essentially it’s “I am civilized and do not own or need a gun, thus you are uncivilized and abnormal for thinking that you need or want one”. Its second cousin is the popular but incorrect “regular people are too incompetent to ever be successful using a gun for self defense, so you shouldn’t have one”.
Aside: for those unfamiliar with the term luxury beliefs, the term means “an idea that confers social status on people who hold it but injures others in its practical consequences”. Those that live in affluent gated communities, who can afford private security, or are protected by police by virtue of their positions in government, gain social status within elite circles for being anti-gun. Disarming the general population, often while supporting “defunding the police” and soft-on-crime prosecutors, absolutely injures others – not just physically but also economically.
He discusses how the Top Shot show got him interested in studying gun culture in his professional life, and how that eventually led to owning multiple guns, both for his own enjoyment and as tools needed to teach his academic coursework. He revisits the material from his earlier book (Concealed Carry Revolution), and dives deeper into the statistics related to crime and negative outcomes that occur to gun owners and the unarmed.
He does a good job of maintaining a moderate perspective on all the issues, acknowledging that some points raised by the gun control movement are valid but countering some of their claims with data from his own research.
Who Should Read this Book?
If you teach people about guns, or are in the gun business, or are an activist in the gun rights movement, you should buy a copy of this book and read it — if for no other reason than to support Dr. Yamane’s research and disprove the “conventional wisdom” of the publishing elites that there was no market for a book like this.
It’s a book you can hand your Gun Curious friends or co-workers who maybe don’t understand why you carry or why you don’t support “common sense gun safety laws” like banning the AR-15. They might be more receptive to his commentary on those issues since he is presenting the information from an academic, not activist, perspective.
Would someone that opposes gun ownership and concealed carry read this book? They should, but people with strongly held beliefs are highly resistant to information that doesn’t support their pre-existing views, and are likely to dismiss it as “NRA propaganda” even though the author clearly states that on most issues he still leans left of center and has no affiliations (and no funding from) any pro-gun groups. Having a loaner copy lying around might be worth it.
Read More About It
David’s Gun Culture 2.0 blog is here. He has shared many presentations and podcast appearances there and I recommend exploring the resources on it.
This is a guest post contributed by one of the members of my historical handgun research team.
History of Iron Sights
Until the mid-nineteenth century all rear sights were either of the V-notch or the peep type. In the 1880s the then-famous singer and shooter, Ira Albert Paine replaced the typical V-notch rear with a U-notch. In the 1880s and early 1890s Ira Paine was the top pistol shooter in the world. Because of this, many shooters adopted his design. In 1898 another American pistol shot, Eugene E. Patridge developed yet another sight and notch shape. His system consisted of a flat-topped front sight combined with a rectangular notch in the rear sight blade. The notch was made wide enough to allow light to pass along side of the post when viewed through the notch, making it very simple to allow for windage. For the past 125 years, Patridge sights have been the most popular, although you can still get Paine sights with a U-notch rear.
from Major Julian S. Hatcher's 1927 Book, Pistols And Revolvers, page 140:
Today we have two contrasting styles of handgun sights: a square post with square notch or “ball in a bucket” with U-notch rear. Current examples are shown below:
THE MEN BEHIND THE SIGHTS
Ira Albert Paine (1837 – 1898)
The Rifle magazine, which would later become American Rifleman, provided an extensive history of Ira Paine in 1888:
For several years Chevalier Paine has appeared in every large city in America, in all the great and prominent cities of Europe, before the nobility arid the masses in the old country, delighting all who have seen him shoot, winning fame and fortune, making warm friends of all sportsmen, entertaining, pleasing and instructing kings and nobles, proving the possibilities of firearms when in the hands of experts, occasionally shooting matches with some unknown individual, who has been put forward by parties who believed they could produce a superior to Chevalier Paine—but have yet failed to find one—and each year showing himself to be thorough master of the weapons he handles so gracefully but with such wonderful and unerring accuracy.
At first he gave exhibitions with the shotgun exclusively; but when in the woods, deer shooting, he handled the rifle with such marvelous skill as to fill his hunting companions with awe, and when pistols and revolvers were placed in his hands by friends he performed feats with these arms which were hitherto considered among the impossibilities; and, as these arms are so difficult to shoot accurately, men who had supposed they had acquired considerable skill in pistol shooting when they saw the marksmanship of Chevalier Paine with a Stevens .22 pistol and with revolvers stood dumbfounded and applied to him the appellation, “King of the Pistol.” Those who saw his brilliant feats of marksmanship urged him to add these weapons to his exhibition tools, which he decided to do. He handles them all with the greatest skill, and, being ambidextrous, shoots with, either right or left hand in a manner which rouses the audiences before whom he appears to a state of the greatest enthusiasm.
The National Police Gazette from July 21, 1888, has this to say about Chevalier Ira Paine: Ira Paine was born in Hebronville, Mass. In his early days he sang tenor in a quartet with Dave Wambold in the old San Francisco minstrels. He developed into a crack shot and adopted it as his profession. He was created chevalier by the King of Portugal during a tour of Europe. He established his title of champion all-round marksman with the Winchester rifle, the 16-bore Greener shot gun, the Stevens .22 pistol and .44 Smith & Wesson revolver, and was looked upon as invincible.
Mr. Walter Winans, author of the The Art of Revolver Shooting, 1911 and The Modern Pistol – And How to Shoot It, 1919, was a contemporary of Ira Paine and joined him in pistol shooting matches both in the USA and Europe. Mr. Winans was an American who lived in England and frequently shot at the then-famous Pistol Gallery in Paris with Paine. In his 1919 book Mr. Winans has this to say: “I was a pupil of Chevalier Ira Paine, who was an incomparably better shot than any of us at stationary targets, and unique in that I never saw him make a bad shot. (italics added) One of his most sensational feats was for his assistant to hold a playing card, the three of hearts, horizontally. Paine hit the outside pip first, then the middle one, and finally the one next the fingers, which were about a third of an inch from it. This, in artificial light and reserving the most dangerous shot for the last, required nerve, and he did this the night before he died, when he knew his case was hopeless.” (p.137)
Incidentally, Mr. Winans had been modifying pistol sights to suit his own taste for many years prior to shooting with Mr. Paine, but after working with Paine in both Paris, France and Boston, MA, Mr. Winans adopted Paine “ball in a bucket” sights on his own handguns.
Eugene E. Patridge (1847 – 1933)
In 1903 Mr. Patridge provided an lengthy explanation for his pistol sights that subsequently became ubiquitous:
The front sight will probably appear to many as unnecessarily coarse, but exhaustive experiments have convinced me that it is none too broad, and Dr. Bell and other experts have arrived at the same conclusion. My theory is that a proper open sight is one which the eye can grasp definitely without straining and which will inform the shooter instantly of any error in holding. The eye with this sight sees, when the weapon is perfectly held, a straight black bar with two narrow lines of light pointing up to the black spot (the bullseye), and one soon finds that if either line of light disappears as the trigger is pressed the shot will be found on that side of the target. Any break in the symmetry of the top line of the bar will also result in either high or low shots, a “jag” or projection producing the former and a “sag” the latter. Some want to see a space between the bar and the bull, but I like to hold close to it, feeling safe if the circle appears intact, and knowing that if it gets irregular I am holding up into it.
Until I devised this combination I used to occasionally lose my front sight or mistake some shadow in the rear sight for it, but now I never have this trouble. Although my eyes are not sharp in looking off, I can get good results when shooting at dusk when others have been unable to distinguish their fine sights. The individual shooter should adapt the opening in his rear sight to his own peculiarities of sight and holding, as if he finds the opening too narrow so that it rattles him trying to keep both lines intact, he should make it wider, and when his holding improves he can reduce it until he finally has as fine a sight, judged by the accuracy of the definition, as any made. If the rear sight is a thick bar the opening should be beveled, leaving the flat side toward the eye, but without disturbing the rectangular shape of the opening. Be careful to have the square end of the front sight toward the eye, and not the rounding, as is generally found on factory sights, as the first method gives a sharp, well-defined line while the latter leads to uncertainty and vexation.
When sights get worn and gray, blacken them with smoke from burning a lump of camphor gum. I trust these points will help some one to raise his scores.
JUNE 1899 at Massachusetts Rifle Association in Walnut Hill
JUNE 1899 50 Yard Pistol Targets by E.E. Patridge
When E. E. Patridge came up with his concept for handgun sights, he turned to fellow Massachusetts Rifle Association member and famous gunsmith Adolph O. Niedner, who made the very first sight for Mr. Patridge himself at Niedner’s workshop in Malden, Massachusetts.
Adolph Otto Niedner (1863 – 1954)
Mr. Niedner enlisted in the United States Army in 1880 and fought against the Apache uprisings led by Victorio and Geronimo. He was discharged in 1883 with a scar from a scalp wound and subsequently found his way to the Boston MA area. He was an active member of Mass Rifle for more than twenty years. In addition to building Patridge’s first sight, Niedner also experimented in developing and improving rifle cartridges. Once Niedner complained to Major Dooley of the U.S. Cartridge about the lack of accuracy of the .22 long cartridges available at the time. Major Dooley provided Niedner with 10,000 primed .22 long cases and 25 pounds of powder. Niedner’s subsequent experiments led to the eventual development of the .22 long rifle cartridge, one of the most popular calibers ever invented. Niedner also developed the “25 Niedner” around 1920 (more commonly known today as the “25-06 Remington”).
When the enterprising Stevens Arms and Tool Co., aided by the Union Metallic Cartridge Co., originated the .22 long-rifle cartridge (brought to UMC by A.O. Niedner), it was necessary to quicken the twist in the rifles in which this cartridge was shot, from one turn in 25 inches to one turn in 16 inches, to spin the extra ten grains of lead. By increasing the bullet from 30 to 40 grains, and shortening the twist from 25 to 16, the range and accuracy of the cartridge were wonderfully increased, so much so that shooting declared to be impossible with the old .22 short cartridge was readily performed with the new .22 long rifle. As the increased accuracy secured by this change became known, calls came for other makes of rifles to take the new cartridge… and the world’s most popular cartridge was born.
-Gould, Modern American Rifles 1892
So, now you know… if you have a squared-off front post and rear notch, you’ve got sights designed by E. E. Patridge… your round front & U-notch rear “ball in a bucket” sights are from Ira Paine… and Mr. Patridge’s gunsmith—A. O. Niedner—created .22 long rifle after being dissatisfied with both .22 short and .22 long.
Morgan Goring, coach of the Central Florida Scholastic Action Shooting team (shown in the picture below), is a retired Army Major and a member of my historical handgun research team.
On July 27, 2024, Tom Givens & Rangemaster put on a Professional Trainer’s Symposium at the Royal Range in Nashville, TN. It was an invitation-only event. This was the second iteration of this event, with a different group of trainers attending and different trainers presenting. The presenters at PTS II were:
Wayne Dobbs – Red Dot Pistol
John Hearne – Motor Learning
Dan Brady – Adult Learning
Chuck Haggard – OC for Private Citizens
Karl Rehn – Building Your Training Business
The event also included an 80 round shooting session, where participants had the opportunity to earn the Rangemaster “Pistol Master” award. Zo’s estimate of the difficulty of the shooting tests, using the formulas from our Strategies and Standards book, seems low to me. Based on observation and shooting the drill for score in two different Rangemaster events, my opinion is that it requires USPSA B class/IDPA Expert or higher skill to pass at the 95% or higher level. The target’s center zone is smaller (fewer square inches) than the USPSA A-Zone or IDPA 8″ center circle. The other x-factor is pressure – pressure performing in front of others, which is the only way the rating can be earned. Dave Reichek and I attended, representing KR Training. I had previously earned my Pistol Master rating being the top shooter at the Professional Pistolcraft Instructor course in May, and Dave earned his Pistol Master during the Nashville event.
Here’s a bit of slow motion video recorded during the Pistol Master shooting test.
Slow motion video of part of the Rangemaster Pistol Master shooting test.
The shooting part of the event was not the main attraction. The primary purpose of the event was instructor continuing education for those of us teaching at a professional level. There were 38 trainers from 20 states present for the event. I didn’t get pictures of all the presenters (and don’t have any pictures of me presenting), but here are some highlights and observations.
Tom’s Presentation
In recent years part of every Rangemaster event has been dedicated to passing down the history of handgun training, particularly the 1960-1980 period when the biggest changes occurred. Tom was part of the founding of both IPSC and IDPA.
Wayne Dobbs’ Presentation
Wayne shared his thoughts on pistol mounted optics (aka “red dot sights”) as someone currently working for Aimpoint as their sales manager for the western US, and also as a top level shooter who was an active competitor and trainer through the 1990-present day period where dot sights went from ‘gamer gear’ to duty-grade on rifles and pistols.
A few of the items he lists as “pros” are only an advantage if/when the user has the “robust and consistent grip, draw and presentation” necessary to find the dot quickly. Dot-hunting (wiggling the gun around trying to find the dot after indexing the gun to the target) is still the biggest challenge for most users.
One unfortunately by product of the youTube-ization of learning is the over emphasis on speed, driven by clickbait videos showing an individual’s fastest run of a practice session. What isn’t shown in the videos is all the slower speed reps that person likely put in to perfect their technique. Do you need a 2 day “red dot” class? If the user is motivated to practice focused on correct technique initially, and speed after technique is over-learned to the point of automaticity, the answer is probably no. But particularly for institutional learners (mil/LEO students) who are unlikely to put in the work on their own, a 2 day course can be a solid start to skill development – particularly if student/teacher ratio is low enough that those struggling can get sufficient individual attention.
Wayne recommends direct mill (no plates), which is what I and many others also prefer. In our classes (and with my own guns) I start with a 10 yard zero and then shoot 25 yard groups from benchrest (not two handed standing) making any final adjustments. After that I shoot at 3, 7, 15 and 50 yards to understand the relationship between dot and bullet impact. Maintenance is a big issue. In recent private lessons I’ve seen multiple guns with loose sights, and one sight that didn’t sit flush with the slide that couldn’t be zeroed. Proper use of loctite, correct torquing of mounting screws, and scheduled battery replacement are all important concerns that optic users need to take seriously.
John Hearne’s Presentation
John dived deep into academic theory related to learning any motor skill. Most of his material is part of his full day lecture course “Who Wins, Who Loses and Why”. It’s an excellent course that should be essential for any instructor or serious student of defensive pistolcraft. Contact him for info on upcoming courses or hosting him.
Gun people are great at approaching skill development with a “one and done” mindset. They will take a class once and go looking for something else that’s new and different, rather than consider re-taking a class again, a year or two after the initial exposure to the curriculum. Worse, there is a tendency to treat taking a class as “checking the box” for a given year, without putting in work to maintain or automate a skill. How much skill is retained a week? a month? after a 2 day intensive live fire class?
Automaticity doesn’t happen with 1000 rounds over a weekend, followed by zero practice (dry or live) in the month after.
John presented some data from a study where a skill was learned by some and over-learned by others. There were 3 groups: adequate learning (passed at end of initial training), refresher (re tested/re trained 4 weeks later), and the overlearned group. For the overlearned group, the standard was that it if took them 30 reps to get the skill right, they did 30 more reps *after* the skill was mastered.
The old saying I learned was that amateurs train until they can do it right once. Professionals train until they can’t do it wrong. In the study John referenced the over-learned students had fewer errors and were faster than the other two groups…even 8 weeks after the overlearned skill wasn’t used or practiced.
John’s references slide for those that want to explore this topic further:
Dan Brady’s Presentation
Dan works part time for Apache Solutions. The details about his resume listed here are only a fraction of his experience and expertise.
Dan wore a suit and tie for the event, out-dressing most of us who were in various forms of Tactical Hobo/grey man/5.11 catalog wear. He had written handouts that he shared with all the participants, which were mostly duplicated on his slides. When I worked for TEEX, my boss was a huge advocate of “facilitation”, as opposed to being tied to Powerpoint slides. Dan gave a master class in facilitation, keeping everyone engaged in discussion on his topic of personality types, generational learning styles, and retaining student attention. He did this by being a great example of how it was done. In other words, I was too busy paying attention to his talk and participating in the discussion that I didn’t take any pictures.
Chuck Haggard’s presentation
Chuck’s presentation was a condensed version of the material he presents in his “Between a Harsh Word and a Gun” and OC instructor curriculum. The highlight was the video he showed of one of his on-duty pepper spray uses, with analysis and discussion.
If you want a sample of what he presented, here’s a video excerpt from similar material he taught at the Active Self Protection conference in 2019.
Following the conference, I scheduled Chuck to return to KR Training Feb 1, 2025 to teach his one day OC instructor class and teach a one day “pocket rocket” small gun live fire class on Feb 2. Registration links will be posted soon. Subscribe to the KR Training monthly e-news to get those registration links delivered to your inbox.
My Presentation
Tom always seems to find a way to challenge me to come up with new material every year or two for my session at Tac-Con, and for this event he requested that I try to explain to others how KR Training grew from a one-class-a-quarter hobby into a 150+ days a year on our private range, multi-instructor, local/regional/occasionally national enterprise over the past 33 years. I talked about things we did that worked, and things I have seen others do (that we didn’t do) that worked.
The short version:
Be ahead of the curve. I was teaching gun classes in 1991, four years before concealed carry passed in Texas. I was teaching NRA instructor certification courses in 1994, one year before concealed carry passed and demand for NRA instructor training exploded. I had a webpage back in 1994, when Mosaic was the only browser, living in a high tech town (Austin) where nerds with money that had interest in guns had limited gun related content online to look at. When demand for in person carry permit courses was highest, I had print and email marketing in place, an agreement with a range, and two rooms we sub-leased from another business for weekend and evening use teaching the classroom course.
By the time the next wave happened (youTube), we were too busy working day jobs and teaching classes every weekend to put in the time to be ahead of the curve in online gun videos. Similarly, we didn’t put in the work to set up an online carry permit class immediately after the state allowed that as an option for the classroom portion.
We were ahead of the curve hosting traveling trainers and leveraging their marketing to bring students in from longer distances (2-3 hours from our facility). We were ahead of the curve committing to buy land and build a permanent training location, before Austin’s meteoric growth caused ranges “closer to town” to sell the land or be shut down due to neighbor lawsuits. What was “too far from town” in 2002 is now “30 minutes from the exurbs”.
And we took a different philosophy than traveling trainers whose business model is typically: teach the biggest 2 day class possible, with only 1-2 instructors and split for the next town Monday morning. We built a deep curriculum spanning all related subjects: pistol, rifle, shotgun but also unarmed, knife, low light, tactics, preparedness, land navigation, medical, and legal – with our own staff, alliances with other local/regional schools and guest trainers. The goal was to develop a long term relationship with students who would come for training a few times a year: either new topics or half price repeats of classes already taken to keep skills sharp. And we cut class length, class cost and round count to make classes more accessible to those that could not devote an entire weekend for training.
Customer relations are one of the keys. Treating customers like friends, being flexible on refunds/reschedules, having loaner gear (holsters, guns, belts, etc.) on hand when students discover their own gear is poorly suited for them (happens a lot more than you might expect). Encourage students (and potential customers) to ask for advice before spending money on gear (or training). Co-opetition with other trainers that we could refer students to, who could refer others to us.
Frequent but not too frequent communication: the KR Training “Spam for Life” email list that sends 10-12 emails a year with updates and reminders and gentle nudges to come back and knock the rust off.
As Dr. David Yamane says, guns are normal and normal people own guns – and more and more normal people that didn’t grow up around guns are buying guns. and need proper guidance and training. As Kathy Jackson once said: beginners benefit most from having the most experienced, most expert instructors.
The line I used to close my talk was “Be the trainer you wish you had found when you first got started.”
The folks that Tom invited to the symposium are some of the best in the country doing that very thing and I was honored to be invited to speak to them.
It Wasn’t All Work
I had been to Nashville the previous week. to attend a concert and a masterclass with Australia rock organist Lachy Doley on his first US tour.
And as a result I had also gotten most of my Nashville tourist activities out of my system, so Dave got to pick what we did on our off time. He picked the “Dukes of Hazzard” museum near Opryland, which turned out to be much more fun that it should have been.
Saturday night we got a great deal on a spur-of-the-moment floor seats for the Collective Soul / Hootie and the Blowfish arena show. I hadn’t kept up with either band and was surprised to find that H&BF were still filling arenas. Their show had a very Jimmy Buffett vibe to it – a mix of rock, country, acoustic bluegrass, electric (they covered Stone Temple Pilots and Led Zeppelin). I enjoyed it more than I expected. This fan shot 7th row video from a California show is basically the same show we saw.
As I told Tom Givens as we were leaving Royal Range: you throw a fine party.
We have finalized our Sept-Oct schedule and will be announcing some non-live-fire classes for Nov and Dec soon! Waiting for a particular class? Let us know. Most classes can also be taken as weekday private lessons.
Caleb Causey of Lone Star Medics returns August 24 for two half day classes. Medicine X EDC Refresher is intended for graduates of previous LSM classes that want to refresh their skills. This course will include live fire scenarios (shooting paper and steel targets) where post-shooting medical tasks will be incorporated. Highly recommended for members of church and school security teams.
The afternoon course, Skills Lab Alpha, will be an indoor class heavy on hands on skill practice.
September Force on Force Weekend
The last weekend of September will offer three days of scenario based force on force training (Simunition, Airsoft, and SIRT pistol) from four trainers. On Friday Karl will teach Scenario Based FOF instructor. Saturday Karl and Dave Reichek will offer the AT-2 and AT-7 scenario courses, and on Sunday Caleb Causey and Chris Cypert will run scenarios for students.
Staff News
Karl and Dave Reichek attended a special Rangemaster invitation-only professional instructor’s conference at the Royal Range in Nashville in July. Karl taught a session on “Building Your Training Business” and Dave earned his Rangemaster Pistol Master certification during the range session. Karl and Dave also both earned the Greybeard Actual 345 drill patch shooting it for score as a side event at recent A-Zone USPSA matches attended by Matt “Greybeard Actual” Little.
Doug Greig recently earned his ALERRT Active Shooter instructor certification attending a course hosted by Brenham PD. Tracy Thronburg got her Tactical Anatomy Instructor certification, and Tracy and David Tschirhart will be attending a Pistol Mounted Optics instructor certification course taught by Erick Gelhaus of Gunsite and Cougar Mountain Solutions later this year.
FREE ONLINE GUN SAFETY CLASS
Eric Wise (Cornerstone Performance) is now offering a free online Gun Safety course through LTCOnlineTexas.com. Check it out here:
I have collected up all the discount codes we have set up with vendors we recommend. Alumni of KR Training classes will find them in the monthly e-news email. You’ll have to open the email and scroll to the bottom to find them. It’s a reward for actually opening and reading the email!
PRIVATE LESSONS
I am available for private weekday training. Doug Greig is also available for private weekday and some weekend sessions. Contact us for details.
REFRESHER DEALS
Re-take any class you’ve taken before for half price! Contact me to get the alumni discount code. Firearms skills deteriorate without practice. Most ranges don’t allow drawing from a holster, shooting quickly, moving or shooting from cover. If you don’t practice the skills you learned in class, they won’t be there when you need them.
BLOG O RAMA
Many bloggers that are part of the KR Training family have been writing a lot recently.
On July 4, the Black Cat Choir performed on a float in the 174th annual Round Top July 4 Parade (the oldest July 4 parade West of the Mississippi!). Here are some highlights from the songs we played before and after the parade, edited from cell phone videos.
In the past I’ve written about Col. Rex Applegate, whose “Kill or Be Killed” shooting book was perhaps the most influential handgun book of the 1940’s. I recently shared an article from the NRA’s American Rifleman magazine that provided details about his “House of Horrors” shoothouse.
Applegate’s techniques were adopted by the U.S. Army, and you can see them explained and demonstrated in this classic Army training film.
World War 2 was the largest firearms training program in US history. Most able-bodied men, and many women were trained to shoot pistols, using these techniques and traditional one handed bullseye techniques. This influenced conventional wisdom about “proper handgun technique” from the end of WW2 until the mid 1960’s.
In 1944, Applegate summarized his pistol training program in the NRA’s American Rifleman magazine.
The common response of the modern shooter, when introduced to Applegate’s techniques, is to consider them outdated and wrong. But to give his material an honest evaluation, start by looking at the tiny sights that were issued on the military grade 1911.
Even the modern “mil spec” 1911’s that claim to be an exact replica of the WW2 guns have taller sights, as shown in the pictures in this article.
Learning to use the slide itself as a giant sight was also taught by Fairbairn, and later in the 1980’s Jim Cirillo taught the concept as well. For distances 5 yards and closer, that type of rough aiming can be good enough to get acceptable hits, but success using that technique at longer distances requires a lot of work. Variants of that approach I’ve seen and/or tried includes taping over the rear sight so that the front sight sticks up over the rear sight, and in more recent times, turning off or taping over the rear window of a slide mounted red dot optic (the end closest to the shooter) learning to use either the frame of the optic or the view through the tube (with dot off) as a very coarse sighting system. If you haven’t ever tried these alternative methods, putting a B8 target or 8.5×11 sheet of paper at 5 yards and running some drills can be interesting and fun. If you have a good initial index of the gun to the target, and a good trigger press that isn’t corrupted by moving the gun offline as you fire (by unnecessary movement of any or all of the other 9 fingers), a skilled shooter can get decent results. Those that can’t shoot well with the dot or high visibility irons should not waste range time learning how to aim less. That time should be spent fixing trigger press errors until a 1-2″ group can be shot at the 5 yard line using modern aiming techniques.
If the range you use will allow it, give the techniques shown in Applegate’s article a try, and compare them to more modern techniques using aimed fire. Another way to experiment with these historical techniques is to use a SIRT pistol or any other laser-firing training tool.
Prior to Applegate and Fairbairn, the only two methods commonly used were hipshooting, which worked great for Jelly Bryce and poorly for everyone else, and one handed slow fire bullseye, which had limited value in typical pistol fights. Their work eventually led to the big breakthroughs by Cooper and Weaver, specifically running a pistol with higher visibility target sights up to the eye target line, seeing a flash sight picture that provided better alignment of the gun than slide-aiming techniques did.
Patrick McNamara (PatMac) is one of a group of trainers that came from the Special Operations community in the 2000’s and used youTube and social media to market their courses. His youtube channel is here
This video on pistol fundamentals is listed as his most popular video
I have to admit that I watch very few gun related videos on youTube or social media. I can read faster than I can listen or watch so I prefer blogs and books to podcasts and videos. This puts me out of sync with a younger generation of gun owners who only consume gun-related content that is audio or video. And I’ve never had any interest in classes where I needed a chest rig, battle belt, plate carrier or other milSim/SWAT cosplay gear. That means I didn’t know much about PatMac when I read his book.
The review on Primer Peak is more typical of perspective of a shooter who was influenced by the Operator Trainers. In the review he notes that it was the “first firearms training book I read”, likely after years of watching videos online.
Much like our own Strategies and Standards for Defensive Pistol Skills book, it’s a collection of thoughts on gun- and training-related topics. The ideal audience for this book is someone at the intermediate level that will benefit from the advice in the book….if they put that advice into action in their own training. It will have maximum value to a military person in charge of running training for their team or unit. The assumption is that the reader is mostly carrying a rifle, with a pistol as their ‘secondary’, which means it’s most relevant to military and SWAT personnel, and has appeal to recreational gun owners who enjoy practical rifle training. The book has limited value to a person mostly interested in concealed carry defensive pistol.
Highlights
His discussion of the four safety rules (or is it three? or two?) is blunt and clear. No excuses, no exceptions, pay attention all the time with great discipline in your gun handling.
His background as a pistol shooter includes both bullseye (50 yard one handed B8 shooting) and USPSA. The Operator Trainers brought the B8 and 25/50 yard shooting back into common use in the defensive pistol curriculum, but in more relevant context than classic NRA bullseye.
He does include a copy of the dreaded pie chart target, credited to the Army Marksmanship Unit. This is the first time I’ve seen any instructor actually recommend it as a source of good information. The history of the pie chart target is here.
Quite a bit of his commentary is about how others run training, good and bad, including examples of bad information presented in classes. In the book he describes himself more as a coach than an instructor – and there is a difference. A coach spends more time paying attention to each student, given them specific guidance. An instructor can be someone running a firing line of dozens of people, simply calling out drills and blowing a whistle. The drills may progress in difficulty or work different skills, and students can learn from that type of course — but they won’t get as much from that as they would from actual coaching. Lone trainers running large classes make a lot of money, but may not be providing best value for the student’s investment of time, ammo and tuition.
The second half of the book is a collection of drills, mostly rifle-oriented, presented in different formats. Some are drawn up like USPSA stages, others are text instructions. Many of the drills involve a lot of set up, with walls, barricades, and steel targets – the sort of resources a special operations team or SWAT team or 3-gun competition club would have. Some are simpler drills that would still require a dedicated bay where the shooter can move. Very few are simple exercises that could be shot in a lane at an indoor range.
At my range I set up and ran two drills from his book that required minimal props and a dedicated bay. The instagram video below shows my runs.
Overall I found myself agreeing with most of his commentary on training philosophy. If I had a group of people that could assist with setting up the more complex drills, and more interest in rifle, those sections of the book would be very useful in rifle skill development.
The book is still available from Amazon although I couldn’t find a way to order a copy direct from his website.