Archive of entries posted by karlrehn

Col. Rex Applegate: Influence on Modern Handgun Techniques (1944 NRA article)

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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 was influenced by Fairbairn, whose book ‘Shooting to …

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Book Review: Tactical Application of Practical Shooting (McNamara, 2008)

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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 https://www.youtube.com/@patmcnamara/videos This video on pistol fundamentals is listed as his most popular video I have to admit that I watch …

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Book Review I’ve Killed Men (Jack Ganzhorn, 1910)

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After learning about this book from a Greg Ellifritz post about books written about or by real old West gunfighters, I found a rare first edition copy signed by the author. The book was published in the UK by Robert Hale. Hale’s company published Westerns in the UK from 1936 to 2020. Many of those …

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Skeeter Skelton on Point Shooting (1968)

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From my historical handgun research team, a 1968 Shooting Times article from Texan Skeeter Skelton on point shooting with a revolver. By 1965, Jeff Cooper had already started the revolution, advocating two handed, aimed fire, but the mainstream writers working for the mass market gun publications were still talking about the old ways. Note that …

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Rangemaster Professional Pistolcraft Instructor Course May 2024

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In late May 2024 I attended a 3 day Professional Pistolcraft Instructor course taught by Tom Givens of Rangemaster. This was Tom’s 4th level instructor course, intended for those that had passed his Master Instructor class in the past. After 50 years as a trainer, and a student of the history of handgun instruction, Tom …

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Jeff Cooper’s Three? Rules of Gun Safety

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From Bob Hanna of my historical handgun research team, a 1978-79 era document from Gunsite & Jeff Cooper listing his three rules for gun safety. Three? Conventional wisdom within the firearms training community is that Cooper’s “Four Rules” Shall Not Be Questioned, as I did in an older post about reducing his Four Rules and …

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Applegate’s House of Horrors (1945)

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From my historical handgun research team: a 1945 NRA article written by Lt. Col. Rex Applegate describing the floorplan and training conducted in his shoot house. The shoot house included multiple scenarios with 3D targets, props, blank firing guns simulating return fire, audio cues and other elements to provide a realistic simulation. Advocates of Applegate’s …

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Himmelwright Pistol and Revolver Shooting Targets

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Back in 2017 I posted a review of Himmelwright’s “Pistol and Revolver Shooting” book (1930 revision). In going through my archives I found that one of my historical handgun research team had scanned pages from the 1930 edition, mostly pages related to target design, and shared with me. The original book review is here. From …

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J. Edgar Hoover NRA article 1945

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My historical handgun research team sent me this article from a 1945 issue of the American Rifleman. Credited to J. Edgar Hoover, it gives an overview of all the guns and shooting drills the FBI was using in that era. In the article, Hoover shares the qualification courses for the .38 special revolver, Thompson submachine …

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Mushin SST Ohio classes AAR

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I met James and Korey at the 2023 NRA convention in Indianapolis, and they invited me to visit their MushinSST facility in Brookville, Ohio, to teach in 2024. I made the trip April 12-14 to teach 3 classes: Force on Force Instructor, Tactical Scenarios, and Advanced Handgun. Their facility is much like the KR Training …

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Tac Con 2024 AAR

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During the Trainer’s Dinner, Tom asked me if I could remember how many TacCon’s I’ve attended/taught at. I think the number is 23. I missed the very first one, but traveled to Memphis as an attendee for the second Polite Society Conference, back when the event had that name and it was held at the …

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1918 Protection Pistol Course of Fire

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Another find from my Historical Handgun research team. This is an article from the US Revolver Association’s 1918 newsletter. It describes their concept of a defensive pistol event that includes drawing from a holster. Carrying a small revolver in pants or coat pocket was the default carry method of that era, particularly for city dwellers, …

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Harry Reeves Practical Handgunning 1951

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Another article about Harry Reeves, from 1951, courtesy of my historical handgun research team. This one is from Handguns magazine. Reeves has the biases against semiauto pistols and 9mm ammunition common to gun writers and gun experts of his era. The discussion of trigger control and shooting fundamentals is great information, and I note that …

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The Mexican and Yaqui Defense Courses (1964)

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Another find from my Historical Handgun research team: a 1964 Guns magazine article written about two self defense shooting drills. Back in that era they were likely shot using the classic Colt target (NRA B-21). Jeff Cooper wrote about both of these drills, and Bill Wilson created an IDPA-ized version of the Mexican Defense course …

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Ronin Colman 1988 class video

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When I first got started in USPSA competition, one of the local club members let me copy a bad quality copy of a video he had of PACT timer inventor and firearms trainer Ronin Colman teaching in 1988. Ronin had been an IPSC shooter since the early days, had attended some of the earliest classes …

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