Archive of entries posted by karlrehn
1918 Protection Pistol Course of Fire
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, …
Harry Reeves Practical Handgunning 1951
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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Harry Reeves: Case History (1947)
Harry Reeves – Competitive Shooting Champion
The Mexican and Yaqui Defense Courses (1964)
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
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 …
FBI Practical Pistol Course (1946)
A definitive article, from the FBI’s newsletter, explaining their Practical Pistol Course in detail. I’ve written about that course of fire in multiple previous posts Thanks to Chris Baker of Lucky Gunner for finding this gem and sharing with me so I can share with you! The FBI PPC course was widely used in law …
KR Training February 2024 Newsletter
The Wisconsin LEO Pistol Qual Course
Someone recently sent me a copy of the current Wisconsin state law enforcement pistol qualification course of fire. The summary version of it is here I shot a reduced version of the course and put the videos out on Instagram. Analysis and Discussion I like a lot of things about this course of fire. The …
The Shirt Target from 1929
Another find from my historical handgun research team. This is an article from 1929 about a “shirt” target designed to look like a buttoned uniform shirt. It’s still a basic bullseye design but with scoring zones having more anatomical relevance than a classic circular style. The 6 point zone in the middle is almost like …
Moving Targets for Better Shooting (Guns magazine June 1956)
From my historical handgun research team: an article about moving targets for pistol training from Guns magazine, June 1956. The whole issue is still available online here. This article discusses what is essentially a USPSA-style “combat pistol” match in a jungle walk format held in Scandinavia in the mid 1950’s.
1931 S&W Revolver Shooting Tips
KR Training January 2024 Newsletter
Sloppy Gun “Carrying” Is A Real Problem
Year end statistics are out on gun thefts from vehicles and guns found in carry on bags by TSA at airports. From TSA: A new record for firearms discovered at TSA checkpoints was set in 2023. This means more people are carrying guns, at least off body, and the 93% loaded means that most of …
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Annual Maintenance Tasks
Each year I like to do some annual maintenance tasks on my guns and gear to start the season off with everything ready to go. Batteries Replace batteries in optics, flashlights, smoke detectors, and anything else that uses batteries. It’s easier to do all of them in one pass instead of being surprised by a …
1960 Hipshooting Target Design
Another article rediscovered by my Historical Handgun research team. This one, from Guns magazine in 1960, discusses a new target design developed specifically to aid shooters in improving their hipshooting skills. It discusses one- and two-handed hip shooting techniques. While most ranges don’t allow this type of practice, those with laser dry fire gear (SIRT …
KR Training December 2023 Newsletter
How Far To Extend Your Arms?
The social media/youTube era has given the average shooter many benefits – specifically free access to thousands (millions?) of videos and pictures of top shooters using match- and gunfight-winning technique. It’s also led to some odd artifacts: behaviors that weren’t common before youTube became the most influential firearms training source. For the past 100 years, …
The New and Improved New Jersey Carry Permit Shooting Test (2023)
Back in August 2023 I shot the New Jersey carry permit shooting test (aka the “Civilian Carry Assessment and Range Evaluation”, or CCARE), and documented it with video and in this blog post. The test was complicated and poorly designed, including many skills that were essentially irrelevant to concealed carry, with time limits that were …
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