The National Rifle Association recently released a major update to the Basics of Pistol Shooting book. This is part 4 of a multi-part review of the book. (Part 1 of the review is here, part 2 is here, and part 3 is here.) Most of the book is excellent, with significantly better graphics and content than previous editions. However, because so many instructors and students will be using this book, I think it’s worthwhile to point out some of my concerns with the content.

This final review section focuses on the Guide to Concealed Carry holsters part of the book. As students check in on the range for classes, I and my assistants always check out their gear, looking for problems with holster selection, holster placement, and other little details that will either be a safety concern or just make drawing and carrying the gun more difficult. Unfortunately, many of the pictures in this section of the NRA book show the things we look for, but they are presented as “typical” or “acceptable”, not illustrations of what NOT to do. They are the sort of errors made daily by gun bloggers, marketing people, photographers with no gun training, and people selling gear at gun stores — all people who don’t have to deal with the problems the bad and wrong things they show or sell generate for trainers trying to teach people actual skills.

The photo below, to the untrained eye, just looks like someone drawing from an inside the waistband (IWB) holster. Look carefully at the way the grip is being established on the gun. The slide is lined up with the first joint of the thumb, not the web of the hand. In a proper drawstroke, there’s no “get the gun partially out, stop and fix your firing hand grip” step. But there will be for this person, unless they follow mistake #1 (bad grip on the gun with the firing hand) with mistake #2 (try to shoot with the gun recoiling over the thumb instead of the web of the hand). The fundamentals of proper alignment of the pistol with the firing hand have been understood since the 1930’s (at least) and are explained in the 1959 NRA basic pistol book.

Adding to the failures in this picture is holster angle. The gun is canted forward so that the barrel is nearly 90 degrees off from the natural angle of the arm bones (a common problem among those that buy holsters intended for behind-the-hip placement who wear them too far forward). That’s going to result in a draw where the wrist is curled under, at a very awkward angle, leading to an awkward draw. It appears the holster being worn by the model is a “sticky” holster that depends on friction, rather than a belt or pants attachment, to keep the holster in place. Many of those holsters don’t keep the gun at a consistent angle.

Here’s another example of wrong holster angle. Guns worn at the 3 o-clock position should be straight up and down, not canted forward. That holster is a duty type holster that would require a trenchcoat to conceal. There are plenty of outside the waistband holsters (most made using a pancake design) that are much better choices for concealed carry.

One problem with a holster like the one shown below for concealed carry is that if the gun is worn with a straight cant, the butt of the gun and grip will stick out behind the shooter, printing badly. But the “solution” to that problem is not to cant the gun forward so it’s awkward to draw. It’s to get a different holster and/or carry the gun in a different position around the hip.

This picture shows the classic “women trying to wear a holster made for male body geometry” problem, where the gun is angled into the body, poking against the rib cage, again making the draw awkward and difficult. And as with the earlier picture, this is a duty/open carry holster poorly suited for concealed carry.

The one piece plastic “easy on/easy off” belt clips work great right up until the gun hangs just a little in the holster, and then you get the gun and the holster coming out when you draw. This happens most often when people wear thin dress belts or the new thinner tactical belts. The plastic one piece clip works best with a double thick leather belt so there is more belt for it to grab. The model’s trigger finger position is excellent, and firing hand grip on the pistol is not too bad. The model is jamming her thumb all the way down on the grip, which isn’t necessary if the modern “thumbs forward” grip is being used. This video from Scott Jedlinski (start at 2:56) shows a better way to place the thumb when drawing. This works for AIWB and IWB.

And speaking of appendix carry, the picture below shows the most common problem (and safety hazard) that people trying to carry in the appendix position have. That holster sits too low relative to the belt. There’s no room between the frontstrap of the pistol and the belt and pants for the shooter to establish a full firing grip on the pistol before lifting it out of the holster. What those carrying in that way end up doing is palming the gun up and closing their fingers to establish grip as the gun rises. That’s inefficient, and worse, the fingers of the hand are closing AFTER the trigger is no longer protected by the trigger guard, dramatically increasing the likelihood that sympathetic movement of the trigger finger, as all other fingers are closing, could fire the gun. And while any negligent discharge resulting in self-inflicted gunshot wound is bad, shooting yourself in the femoral artery is extremely bad. Again as in the other pic, the plastic one piece belt clip riding on a thin dress belt is shown — a guarantee that the gun angle is likely not consistent. While I have no problem with students drawing from appendix carry, and I’ve carried that way (and taken multiple classes carrying that way), I won’t allow students in my classes to work from an AIWB holster riding that low. If they can’t establish a full firing grip on the pistol without lifting the gun up, it’s a no-go. (I have loaner holsters)

Aside: if you have one of those one piece plastic belt clips on your holster, you need the Discrete Carry Concepts monoblock. It replaces the plastic belt clip with something that has as lot of tension and prints less. It holds the gun and holster in place securely. Yes, it’s a little harder to take on and off, but not that much harder. (And you should not be taking your gun off and on all the time anyway. Pants on, gun on, as the saying goes.) The DCC clips can be used with or without a belt. I’ve had female students come to class carrying AIWB in jeans, wearing no belt, using the DCC clips on their holster, and the holster stays in place through hours of training and many draws at realistic speed. That endorsement is not a paid ad, but I like the DCC clips so much that I’ve replaced all the belt clips on every holster I use and several of the loaners in our class supplies with them because they are so much better than any other belt attachment.

This next picture is an absolute NO.

Here are some reasons you shouldn’t carry “small of back”. There’s no shortage of data proving that having the gun in front closer to your center line is fastest, and draw speed slows down as the gun is moved farther and farther around the hip. (Clearing the concealment garment gets more difficult as well.) So “small of back” draw is slow and awkward. On a firing line in a defensive pistol class, someone drawing from small of back is likely to muzzle others on the firing line, and possibly the instructor behind the line, as they draw. (Well, actually they won’t, because many instructors won’t let someone carrying that way on the firing line in the first place…) Those that specialize in “gun grappling” and integrated close quarters for concealed carry overwhelmingly prefer appendix carry. Defending a gun parked behind the spine against someone behind you in line at Walmart lifting up your shirt and trying to grab your gun is more complicated than blocking the same attack from the front. And falling backward on a hard surface is going to jam that gun right against bones and discs. Trying to draw the gun from behind your back, while lying on your back, is hard and awkward.

The list of reasons why NOT to carry small of back is what should have been in the NRA book. Whatever company made that holster probably makes holsters for other carry positions that could have been shown instead.

While the text that goes with the picture above is correct…but the mag pouch shown in the example is not the best choice. Most that conceal carry don’t carry a spare magazine at all, and many of those that do only carry one spare. And those that carry one spare choose a lower profile mag pouch or just carry the spare in a pocket, not on the belt at all. The giant, flat outside the waistband double mag pouch is the sort of thing people wear to training classes but take off before they leave the range, because it’s bulky, and doesn’t conform to the body’s curves. Even those that carry two spare mags often use two single mag pouches instead of a rigid double.

In the next few days I’ll be teaching an instructor certification course for the new NRA CCW course. Unlike basic pistol, that course includes specific instruction on holsters and drawing from concealment. The NRA released the CCW course without a textbook to go with it, using the new Basics of Pistol Shooting and the older Personal Protection Outside the Home books (both of them) as the textbooks for the course. The CCW course, with its modular design, is the right path forward for NRA training courses for beginners and carry permit holders. Hopefully some of the issues I’ve raised in my review of the Basics of Pistol Shooting rewrite will be addressed and improved in the CCW book, whenever it is completed and released.

The National Rifle Association recently released a major update to the Basics of Pistol Shooting book. This is part 3 of a multi-part review of the book. (Part 1 of the review is here, and part 2 is here.) Most of the book is excellent, with significantly better graphics and content than previous editions. However, because so many instructors and students will be using this book, I think it’s worthwhile to point out some of the flaws.

On page 103, this example of proper benchrest position is fundamentally wrong. Bracing the hands on sandbags does not eliminate the muzzle dipping or moving as the trigger is pressed.

The right way to benchrest a pistol, particularly when zeroing or making sight adjustments, looks like this:

Bracing the frame under the muzzle provides the steadiest platform for shooting, and minimizes the most common shooting errors.

This photo, showing a pistol with a red dot sight mounted, is also the wrong thing to be showing beginners.

What this picture shows is a pistol with a slide set up to accept a red dot sight, but still using the factory sights, instead of iron sights tall enough to co-witness. The use of red dot sights on pistols is becoming much more common – thus the importance of showing a gun properly configured. A beginner looking at this picture would easily get the wrong impression that co-witnessed iron sights are not necessary. (National level trainers specializing in red dot pistol classes recommend the co-witnessed irons, and most factory guns sold with a red dot come with tall sights as a standard option, except for Glock, who ship the gun with their standard sights, as shown in the picture.)

For decades the NRA’s basic pistol program encouraged students in the class to make adjustments to their iron sights, which makes sense if the class is being taught to Boy Scouts using target .22s with adjustable sights, and they are shooting from benchrest. But in the modern era, the typical student is a concealed carry permit applicant shooting a gun with fixed sights. The new book does an excellent job of explaining the differences in point of impact between heavy/slow and light/fast bullets, encouraging shooters to try different ammunition first before making sight adjustments, and it discusses both drifting sights left and right and replacing front sights as the correct method to getting a perfect iron sight zero.

In a section on common pistol shooting errors (a section presented in much more detail than previous editions), this graphic is shown.

This graphic is almost great. Problem #1 is color. The target is black. The rear sight is black. The target center is orange. The front sight is orange. This makes seeing the fine details of what is being presented very difficult. Problem #2 is scaling. If you’ve shot drills using the NRA B8 bullseye target, you probably noticed that the graphic doesn’t look like what you see when you aim. The sights are too small, the bullet holes are too small, even for a .22. The concept for the graphic is a good one, but a beginner reading the book may not understand what is shown.

In Chapter 17, “Selecting Pistols, Ammunition and Accessories”, gun fit is discussed in more detail, including definition of trigger reach…without showing frame-dragging or warning beginners that they should not twist the gun in their grip, out of alignment with their hand or arm, to reach the trigger in the first place. Twisting the gun so that it recoils over the firing hand thumb knuckle (instead of the web of the hand), and laying the trigger finger against the frame are the two most common problems instructors will have to deal with and two critical issues novices should understand when selecting a pistol. A few more pictures would have dramatically improved this important section.

On page 147, under the caption “Function Check your Firearm”, this picture is shown, which doesn’t show dry firing or any other action related to function checking.

In Chapter 19, “Pistol Shooting Activities and Skill Development”, USPSA and IDPA are mentioned in an official NRA book for the first time, along with Cowboy Action Shooting, and the NRA sanctioned matches (Action Pistol, Police Practical Competition and bullseye), but Steel Challenge and it’s junior-friendly offshoot, Scholastic Action Shooting, aren’t mentioned at all, despite both being more beginner friendly than any of the NRA match formats.

The review will conclude with part 4, where I dive into the section on holster selection and use.

The National Rifle Association recently released a major update to the Basics of Pistol Shooting book. This is part 2 of a multi-part review of the book. (Part 1 of the review is here.) Despite the review being full of complaints and criticisms of the content, most of the book is excellent, with significantly better graphics and content than previous editions. However, because so many instructors and students will be using this book, I think it’s worthwhile to point out some of the flaws.

On pages 48-49 the process of firing a semi-automatic pistol is explained. In step 2, the reader is told to move the decocker or safety to the fire position. That’s confusing, if the decocking lever is not also a safety, and could mislead novices into thinking they are supposed to decock the gun right before firing.

The best place for the thumb, when a shooter is firing a 1911, is on top of the thumb safety. This prevents the safety from unintentionally being engaged, and where the thumb naturally goes when the safety is pushed into the ‘fire’ position.

In the section on unloading a semi-automatic pistol, magazine ejection is shown with the gun canted sideways, instead of oriented straight up and down, so the magazine can eject most easily. (Gravity works up and down, not side to side). Canting the gun to eject a magazine is a common practice, often because canting the gun slows down the magazine ejection and makes it easier to catch the ejected magazine. But on some guns and for some users, canting the gun makes the magazine much more difficult to remove from the pistol.

This would have been an excellent spot to show how a left handed shooter might use their trigger finger to work the release.

The section on revolvers (both single- and double-action) is excellent, with great graphics and photos, including presentation of techniques for left handed shooters. Also, the section on ammunition is a major improvement over the old book, including discussion of how to dispose of “unserviceable” ammunition. In the caliber section, the ammunition shown for the .45 Colt caliber appears to be Hornady Leverevolution, which is an innovative round intended to allow lever guns to shoot bullets other than flat points safely. In the context of a basic pistol book, however, the presentation of this unique round as “typical” of what a .45 Colt round looks like, or what ammunition a novice might purchase is, is great product placement for Hornady, but the wrong information for beginners.

A traditional 255 grain lead bullet load would have been the right choice for that picture. In the limited time available in a basic pistol course, requiring the instructor to explain about the red tip on the round and get into the weeds about why lever action rifles require flat point bullets, all to accommodate Hornady’s product placement is unnecessary.

The section on grip is a big improvement over the old materials, but several fine points about the “modern” two handed grip are still off the mark. Forming the grip from the front strap, as opposed to joining the heels of the hands, often leads to the heels of the hands not connecting, with a large gap between the hands. Teaching students to join the heels instead of building the grip front-to-back would eliminate this problem. You can see that problem in the shooter’s grip in this video around the 1:29 mark.

In picture #5 below, the shooter’s thumbs are too low. The firing hand thumb should be at slide height, with the heel of the support hand cammed higher, so that the support hand is as high as possible on the frame. Many shooters use the low thumb grip, usually out of fear of their thumbs being injured by the slide, or to avoid the thumbs dragging against the slide to slow it down (which can cause malfunctions). But if you look at the way top shooters that use that grip technique grip their guns, the thumbs are higher.

The thumbs forward grip does not work for all shooters and all semiauto pistols. In some cases, the thumbs will press down on the slide lock lever, preventing the gun from locking open on the last round. Similarly, the forward thumbs can interfere or bump into decocking levers and other controls, depending on hand size and gun model. For subcompact guns with short barrels and shooters with large hands, it’s possible to end up with the support hand thumb in front of the muzzle (not a good idea). The modern thumbs-forward grip works great with duty-sized striker fired guns and 1911 pistols in the hands of shooters with 60 lbs or more of grip strength.

It’s very common, among shooters with limited grip strength, to push down hard with the firing hand thumb as the trigger is pressed, causing the support hand to be pushed off the pistol. The traditional thumb over thumb grip, as shown in the revolver picture, can be a solution for those that can’t stop “thumb pushing” when they try to use the thumbs forward grip.

A simple grip integrity test is to have a shooter fire 5-6 rounds, as quickly as they can work the trigger, at a large target at 3 yards. Observe their grip as they fire, and pay extra attention to how it looked before they started firing and what it looked like on the last shot. Have them do this drill using thumbs forward and thumb over thumb, and note which grip technique changes the last from first to last shot. It’s more important to have a consistent grip that won’t fall apart in rapid fire than to use the grip the “cool kids” all use.

On a positive note, the book now includes discussion of gun fit and trigger finger gap (aka “frame dragging”). This article from Tom Givens explains that issue in more detail.

The review will continue in part 3 (and beyond).

The National Rifle Association recently released a major update to the Basics of Pistol Shooting book. You can order it direct from NRA here.

The book is printed in a standard large paperback format of 6″ x 9″, but spiral bound on the short edge. So it will fit on a bookshelf with older NRA books, but is designed to open wide and flat when set on a table. I found it awkward to handle and read when held in the hands, seated in a chair. The cover is plastic, not paper, which will help the book hold up if stuffed into a pocket of a range bag, used on an outdoor range. The interior pages are also heavier glossy paper. The book was intended to be used and referenced beyond class day. These are big improvements and even though they likely increased the sale price of the book, they are worth it. Every page is full color, with good choices for font selection and font size, and the graphics are the best I’ve ever seen in an NRA training book.

For every minor issue that I will discuss, there are a dozen things that were done very well. I think it’s important for instructors that are using this book to know where the issues of concern are, so they can address them with students.

I’m not sure what this picture is supposed to show, in the “Safety Notes” section of the book. It’s impossible to tell if the model has her finger on the trigger or not, and this isn’t a way I want students holding their guns when on the firing line or anyplace else.

“Know your target and what is beyond” (page 15). Beginners often do not understand how far bullets can travel, or what can (or can’t) stop a bullet. In the sheriff’s weekly report in our small town newspaper, almost every week there is something about neighbors complaining about others shooting with concerns about safety. My sister-in-law had problems with a neighbor using an easel as a target stand, shooting with no backstop, with rounds impacting on their property. In my opinion, the book should explain this topic in more detail. Simply explaining that people need to shoot safely (as the book does) is not the same as explaining how to do it.

My biggest complaint with the book is the NRA’s new embrace of the “muzzle up” position for ready and reloading. At most ranges, muzzle up either points the gun at the indoor range ceiling, or over the outdoor range backstop, violating NRA safety rule 1: Always point the gun in a safe direction. While I know that the muzzle up position is widely used and popular with military personnel (and trainers coming from a military background), arguing that obeying the “keep finger off trigger” rule somehow mitigates violation of the safe direction rule (as defenders of that position have done in online discussions), is illogical. By the “it’s OK to violate one gun safety rule if you obey the others” reasoning, having finger off trigger would make it OK to point the muzzle in any direction (including at your own head or at other shooters) at any time.

The definition of “safe direction” that I teach and use is that a safe direction is one in which you know where the bullet will stop, and can accept the consequences of firing a shot in that direction. In the muzzle up position, the shooter has no idea where the bullet will land, and no way to assess consequences if a shot is fired.

The section on eye and ear protection – something beginners need to understand in depth, is far too cursory. Nothing is taught about Noise Reduction Ratings nor the pros and cons of over-the-ear vs. ear plugs, nothing about difficulties using earmuffs with long guns nor the higher noise levels that occur in indoor ranges.

On page 18, a muzzle up reload is shown, with a comment that competition shooting may require different techniques. At the outdoor range, members-only gun club that hosts most of the matches in my area, pointing a muzzle over the backstop is a match disqualification offense. It would have been more appropriate for the NRA manual to teach beginners a technique that is unlikely to violate range guidelines at most ranges (muzzle pointed at the backstop) than to teach muzzle up reloading, which could get them ejected from some commercial ranges and/or some matches.

I wrote an article, including video, discussing muzzle direction during a reload that you can read (and watch the videos) here.

One argument that’s been made for the muzzle up reload is that it prevents the shooter from looking down and losing “situational awareness”. In the picture in the book, the shooter is looking straight ahead and trying to reload using peripheral vision (or not looking at the gun at all). That’s not a technique a novice with no experience inserting a magazine into a pistol should be emulating.

It appears the technique being shown is a reload with retention, since the gun is not locked back and the model is attempting retain the partial magazine. In my opinion, that type of reload is not a technique that should be taught in a basic pistol course, to students just learning to operate a pistol for the first time. They should be taught to look at the gun so they can see what their fingers are doing, and work with one magazine at a time.

In the section on action types, the single action cowboy revolver is included but the traditional DA/SA pistol with a decocking lever is omitted. The typical student in the NRA Basic Pistol course, in the 21st century, is someone taking the course because their state requires it to obtain a carry permit. In 29 years of teaching carry permit and general interest firearms classes, I have never had a student bring a cowboy sixgun to a basic or carry permit class, but I have had many bring traditional DA/SA guns.

The Texas License to Carry shooting test requires that 23 of the 50 shots be fired starting at a ready position, and that those running DA/SA guns fire those shots in double action mode, decocking each time the gun comes back to ready between strings. It’s very common for beginner level DA/SA owners to have never used the decocking lever on their pistol, and to have avoided firing any shots in the DA/SA mode. I’ve had a few students with carry permits show up for classes carrying DA/SA guns “cocked and unlocked” with a round chambered, hammer back, with no understanding that the gun was not designed to be carried in that mode, and no consideration as to whether the gun was drop safe in that mode or not. Discussion of the decocking lever in this section is limited to a single sentence that does not address when or how the lever is to be used.

I’ll end part 1 of the review on a positive note: this section on how to load a magazine is well done with lots of detail. Better close ups of what the hands are doing would be useful, but this is a big improvement over the detail this topic was shown in previous editions of the book.

This video explains the mag loading process in even more detail.

The review will continue in part 2 (and beyond).