Archive of entries posted by karlrehn

Hackathorn’s Half Cup Drill

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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 …

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Gun Advice from the 1930’s Pulps

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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, …

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Big Bear Gunslingers and Jeff Cooper Newspaper Articles

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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 …

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Book Review: Gun Curious (Yamane, 2024)

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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. …

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The Pioneers of Handgun Sight Designs: Ira Paine, E.E. Patridge, A.O. Niedner

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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 …

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Rangemaster Professional Trainer’s Symposium 2024

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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: The event also included …

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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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