Archive of entries posted by karlrehn
Book Review: Unintended Consequences (Ross, 1996)
This controversial work of fiction was written in the late 1990’s, after the assault weapon and magazine capacity bans were signed into law by Bill Clinton: after the Waco/Koresh standoff, the Ruby Ridge standoff, and the Oklahoma City bombing. Anti-government sentiment within the gun culture and the right was strong, and the militia movement was …
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Book Review – Why Meadow Died (Pollack, 2019)
On Valentine’s Day, 2018, a school shooter attacked Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The attacker’s trial is still in limbo, 3 years later. The attack was noteworthy for several reasons. Law enforcement response was terrible. Slow and ineffective, with officers remaining outside the school, not entering to stop the shooter, who stopped …
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Student incident report
I recently had a student contact me with details about an incident he was involved in. He agreed to share his account of it, with name and location removed. It’s an excellent reminder of why awareness and “managing unknown contacts” (a skill we discuss in our Personal Tactics Skills course) are so important to avoiding …
KR Training January 2021 Newsletter
1998 Combatives
During the 1990’s, several schools, including InSights Training, Tactical Defense Institute (Ohio) and Modern Warrior (New York), began offering classes that integrated gun and unarmed skills. In 1998, KR Training hosted the 40 hour Close Quarters Confrontations class taught by InSights Training. It included sessions on groundfighting, standup defense, live fire drills, and several days …
Small Gun class data 2019-2020
Each year at the start of summer I offer a small gun oriented defensive pistol class. The intent of the course is to provide an opportunity for people to practice with the smaller gun that is more convenient to carry in the hot weather. Use of pocket holsters, purses, fanny packs, and any other mode …
More Chuck Taylor historical docs
From Bob Hanna about central Texas firearms training history: In 1975 I bought 49% of the Marksman indoor Range in South Houston, TX. That’s when I really became involved with the Houston gun scene and folks like: Fred Rexer – Wikipedia, machine gun dealer, screenwriter, movie consultant (Apocalypse Now, Red Dawn etc.). https://www.joebowman.net/ Joe was …
Gear upgrades, December 2020
I made a few upgrades to the Glock 48 I carry daily. Holosun 507C-GR-X2 I replaced the Trijicon RMR with the new Holosun 507C-Gr-X2. The sight is the latest design from Holosun. Same footprint as the RMR, with a smaller green dot and the new X2 features. The X2 has a better auto adjust, with …
Holiday Bullet Art
The exhibition target shooters of the 30’s and 40’s would create bullet art, tracing shapes with bullet holes. Texas shooting showman Ad Topperwein would draw an indian head, like this Back in 2002, I created a bullet art “Merry Xmas” sign for my office door decoration, with fake snow as “trim”. If I remember correctly, …
John Pepper’s original “Pepper Popper” drawing
Here’s another historical document from the early days of practical shooting. This is a scanned copy of the original design document for the “Pepper popper” – the most commonly used falling steel target in USPSA, IDPA and other practical shooting matches. The target’s name came from designer John Pepper, who was active in the founding …
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Vintage shooting timers (1980s)
Timers from the Bob Hanna collection: two early electronic shooting timers. Par Timer The first one is a simple par timer with a headphone output. Controls are simple but complicated: start button, headphone jack, and a row of DIP switches you use to set the par time. To get a 1.0 second par time, for …
KR Training December 2020 Newsletter
1989 Texas Challenge USPSA match
I started shooting USPSA competition back in June 1988, with the Hill Country Practical Pistol Club. Since the early 1980’s they had run a statewide match called the “Texas Challenge”. The 1989 match was the 8th annual, and the club ran the match every year into the mid-1990’s. Unfortunately I don’t have any pics from …
Book Review: The Modern Technique of the Pistol (Morrison, 1991)
The Modern Technique of the Pistol was written by Gregory Morrison, as part of his PhD work. It compiles many of the techniques and concepts taught at Gunsite in the 1980’s. The book is available direct from the Gunsite Pro Shop. The contents of the book are listed below. It covers the standard topics found …
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1978 First Draft IPSC Rules
More from Bob Hanna: a copy of the first draft of the IPSC rules for practical pistol competition, sent to Bob by Jeff Cooper, when Bob was competition director for the Brazos Practical Shooters, a sub group of the Sugarland (Texas) Sportsman’s Club. The rules are interesting, in historical context, as so many of them …
1980 American Pistol Institute (Gunsite) class notes
Another artifact from Bob Hanna – notes from classes he attended at the American Pistol Institute (aka Gunsite) in 1980 and 1981. Here’s their recommended twice-a-month practice drill. API dry practice drill. Another practice drill. The advanced practice drill. Turning draws were emphasized a lot more in courses (and matches) in the 1980’s than they …
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Book Review: Serious Mistakes Gunowners Make (Werner, 2019)
Claude Werner, a.k.a. the Tactical Professor, has a distinguished background as an analyst in the military (Special Operations), as a market research director for real estate and major accounting firms, and as a firearms trainer at the elite Rogers Shooting School. Several years ago he began to study what he called “negative outcomes” involving armed …
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1980 Chuck Taylor course notes
KR Training student Bob Hanna recently gave me his copies of class notes from training he attended with the late Chuck Taylor. Taylor was one of the early traveling trainers who spun off from Jeff Cooper’s American Pistol Institute (Gunsite), bringing that curriculum to a national (and international) audience. In 1980, Taylor had just started …