Defensive Pistol Small Gun class 7/29/2017 AAR

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On July 29, 2017, KR Training ran another session of the Defensive Pistol Small Gun class. This class focuses on skills specific to subcompact semiauto pistols (Glock 42/43 sized), and snubnose revolvers.  It’s more than a repeat of the material in Defensive Pistol Skills 1, shot with smaller guns, although there is some overlap in course content.

It includes work drawing from a seated position and shooting from a vehicle, as shown in this video of student runs.  More about the class can be found in my USCCA article “Is A Small Gun Enough?”

As part of the course, students shoot the Three Seconds or Less test (3SL) with both their small gun and larger (belt holster carried) primary gun.  I collect this data to track the typical performance loss/gain students see when switching from larger to smaller guns.

Data from this year’s two sessions:

16 shooters

Small Guns: one SA (Sig 938), 5 DAO (Kahr, R9, snub revolvers), 10 striker fired (Shield, Glock)
Large Guns: all 16 were striker fired guns (Glock, M&P, Walther)

Average small gun score:  75/100
Average large gun score: 83/100

Performance gain from shooting the larger gun: 8%

Students passing the 3SL test with 70% or higher score using their small gun: 10 of 16.
Students passing the 3SL test with 70% or higher score using their primary gun: 13 of 16.

Students passing the 3SL test at the 90% level (desired) using their small gun:  1 of 16.
Students passing the 3SL test at the 90% level using their primary gun: 7 of 16.

The biggest problem for most students was draw time, particularly those using pocket holsters.  Many in the July session chose to run the class using an IWB belt holster for their small gun, as that was their method of summer carry.

Historical average of the entire data set of 48 shooters:

Small Gun score: 78/100
Larger gun score: 86/100

So this year’s class numbers were right in line with historical average of 8% gain.

Observations: Despite my efforts to promote it to that target market, very few low skilled shooters choose to take this course.   A goal for next year is to change the marketing of the course to try to attract more students from the “I passed the carry permit course, but never practice with the little gun I stick in my pocket or carry in my car.”  That will likely include allowing people to run all drills from a ready position as an alternative to pocket or holster work.

Those that attend are typically those that carry daily and have taken 16 or more hours of training with their larger gun.  What the data shows is that for shooters that have reached a reasonable level of skill: 80 points or better on the Three Seconds or Less test, transitioning to the smaller gun, for shots 7 yards and closer, is not a major problem, but most are still not at the level we’d like to see (90% or better on the 3SL test).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul E Palooza 4 – KR Training student scholarship

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Trainer Paul Gomez passed away in 2012, at the young age of 40.  Paul was a colleague, a friend, a teacher and a student. He took classes from me, I took classes from him, I hosted classes he taught, including some of the first ECQC classes he and Craig Douglas offered, and we had many long discussions on the phone and email about training and technique.  I use some of his youTube videos as supplemental material in classes. The idea for the Historical Handgun course I’m developing came from our discussions about the evolution and history of shooting skills.

Paul was well respected within the national private sector training community. Every two years they hold a training conference, with the proceeds benefiting Paul’s children.

Paul E Palooza 4 – “Let the 4th be with you!” is coming up August 19-20, 2017 in Garrettsville, OH.

My schedule this year prevents me from attending, but to support the event, KR Training has purchased a student slot that I am going to give to a KR Training student as a scholarship to go learn from some of the best trainers in the country.

There are three requirements to claim the scholarship slot:

  1. You need to be a graduate of at least one KR Training course.
  2. You have to attend the event.  KR Training will cover your event fee; you have to cover your own travel and ammo costs.
  3. You have to send us photos, videos, and some event AARs so we can share them here on the blog and on all the KR Training connected social media sites.

The offer is open from now until someone claims it.  Please don’t claim the slot until you are 100% sure you can go. I will keep a wait list just in case whoever claims it has to cancel.

Minimum standards – functional vs. legal

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John “Hsoi” Daub’s series on minimum handgun proficiency standards was featured in the July 25, 2017 edition of The Tactical Wire.  The series discusses, among other things, the process we used to create the Three Seconds or Less shooting test.

Functional standards

A well designed training class has learning objectives. They are often defined by “Bloom’s verbs“.

The typical firearms course is heavy on Bloom’s level 3 objectives: execute and implement, for example, because the class teaches hands on skills that are evaluated with targets and timers. Even gun safety is typically assessed at the level 3 (execution) level.

In order to evaluate whether a student has achieved the learning objective or not, standards are needed.  The derivation of those standards comes from the primary learning objective for the course, and the amount of time available to teach the topic.

Here are some plain language primary learning objectives for our lower level classes:

Basic Pistol 1 – Graduates are competent enough to target shoot without supervision. (They are measured against the performance checklist from the NRA Basic Pistol course.)

Gun Selection Clinic – Graduates understand enough about gun selection to select a handgun appropriate for their needs and physical characteristics.

Basic Pistol 2 – Graduates are capable of passing the Texas License To Carry shooting test with 90% or greater score.

Defensive Pistol Skills 1 –  Graduates are capable of safety drawing a pistol from concealment and shooting a 70% score (from open carry) on the Three Seconds or Less shooting test.

Nothing in our curriculum or standards development process addresses the question of “what minimum skills should be a legal requirement to own or carry a firearm.”

A few recent readers of our blog postings (or of articles referencing our work) have misinterpreted our writing to claim that we advocate these standards as any type of legal standard related to a fundamental Constitutional right.

That assumption is completely incorrect.

Legal standards

No license is required to use the right of free speech, at home or in public.   Similarly, no license should be required for the right to keep and bear arms. When public speech is abused, and harm is caused, the speaker may be found guilty of libel, slander or defamation. There are legal consequences for harmful speech.  There are many legal consequences for harmful misuse of firearms.

According to polls, public speaking is the most common fear. A person seeking to reduce their fear of public speaking might seek out instruction in public speaking, and that instructor might offer different levels of training on any of these topics:

  • give the prayer at a family dinner or at church
  • speak at a city council meeting
  • giving a sales presentation
  • small group instructing
  • instructor training
  • leadership level public speaking
  • radio/TV presentation skills

Being afraid to carry, or afraid to act in a self-defense situation, out of lack of understanding of how the gun operates, proper carry methods, technique for drawing, or fear of making an incorrect use of deadly force decision that could have life-changing consequences are all very reasonable fears — and training, supplemented by practice, is the best way to address those fears.

The Dunning-Kruger effect causes each of us to believe that we are better than we are at many tasks and skills. Being evaluated against formal metrics by a qualified assessor is the best way to get an honest appraisal of your actual abilities.  Particularly when the alternative – not discovering that you aren’t good enough in your gun-handling, shooting or use of deadly force decision making – could be a fatal error.

The reason to attend training should never be “because the state is making me”. The standards to which someone trains should be based on functional requirements, because the student expects to benefit from the training, whether it is in reduction of negative outcomes or improved odds of survival.

Those that choose not to seek out training, or work to attain functional standards, are free to make their own choices, and equally free to face the consequences of their errors.

 

 

 

 

KR Training July 2017 newsletter

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Welcome to the KR Training July newsletter!  July/August highlights include Defensive Pistol Small Gun, Handgun Beyond the Basics, and Historical Handgun.

Check the schedule page on the KR Training website for the full list.

If you aren’t already a subscriber to receive this newsletter each month, you can subscribe here or follow this blog. You can also follow KR Training on Facebook or Twitter for more frequent posts and information.

CLASS DISCOUNTS AND DEALS

Deal #1)  Defensive Pistol Skills Small Gun and Skill Builder Long Gun – July 29 for $100 ($35 savings)

Deal #2) Bring a Friend to Defensive Pistol Skills Small Gun — two slots for $100 ($50 savings)

Deal #3) Wednesday afternoon 2 hour private lesson (3-5 pm) and evening (6-8 pm) USPSA Match – July 26, August 9 or August 23 for $100 ($50 savings)

Deal #4) Refresher slots in any July or August class. Re-take any class you’ve taken before for half price!

Deal #5) Bring A Friend Discount! Sign up with a friend, both of you get 25% discount off any July or August class.

For all deals – must pay in full in advance.

JULY & AUGUST CLASSES

July 22nd – Handgun Beyond the Basics (Rehn)
July 29th – Defensive Pistol Small Gun (Rehn) & Skill Builder Long Gun (Rehn)
July 29th – Basic Pistol 1 (9-12, taught by John Daub)
August 5th – Advanced Training 4 (Rehn) & Reloading Clinic (indoors!) (Rehn)
August 12th – Historical Handgun 1/2 day preview (Rehn)
August 19th (9-11) – Skill Builder (Hogel) / Handgun Coaching (Howard)
August 19th (11-1)- Gun Cleaning and Maintenance (Hogel/Howard)
August 26th – Advanced Training 6 (Rehn) & Personal Tactics Skills (indoors!) (Rehn)
August 27th – Defensive Knife Clinic (indoors!) w/ Chuck Rives

Register here.

DEFENSIVE PISTOL SMALL GUN

On July 29th I’ll offer another session of Defensive Pistol Small Gun.  I know many of you have pocket sized guns: Glock 42’s, Ruger LCP’s, .38 snubs, M&P Shields, and others.  Maybe that gun is your primary carry gun, maybe it’s not.  Maybe you know somebody that never trains and never practices but carries one of those little guns in their pocket or their purse.  Those people would really benefit from taking this course.  The class is appropriate for anyone with an LTC whether they have taken our other Defensive Pistol courses or not.

Maybe you don’t have a little gun and would like to have some fun running one of our loaner guns in drills, to learn the pros and cons of the little gun vs. the larger gun carried in a belt holster.

The Small Gun class is more than the DPS-1 drills shot with a different gun.  If you’ve taken DPS-1, you’ll still learn something new from DPS Small Gun.  And if you’ve haven’t practiced the drills we run in DPS-1 (or -2 or -3) since you took the course, DPS Small Gun is a great way to refresh those skills.

If 3 hours of shooting isn’t enough for you, stick around for the 2 hour Skill Builder Long Gun that afternoon.  That class can be taken with any rifle or pistol caliber carbine, including a .22, making it suitable for all levels from the “I bought an AR and haven’t shot it yet” student to the experienced long gun “operator”.

HISTORICAL HANDGUN PREVIEW

I have developed a new program called Historical Handgun, teaching the history of handgun training and skills, 1935-present. The full course is a 2 day program that I’ll start offering in 2018, at the A-Zone and on the road.  I’ll offer a 1/2 day preview of the shooting part of the class on August 12th, and a 1 day preview, co-taught with Tom Givens, on Monday Sept 18 after the Rangemaster Shotgun Instructor course.

AUGUST 19th – MANY OPTIONS

I’ll be on the road August 19th, but assistant instructors Tom Hogel and Greg Howard will offer several classes. From 9-11, Tom will run the 2 hour Skill Builder session on the main range for intermediate and advanced students and Greg will offer a 2 hour Handgun Coaching session in the classroom and the small range for basic and intermediate students wanting to tune up their fundamentals.  Then from 11-1, they will co-teach a Gun Cleaning and Maintenance class indoors.

This combo is perfect for couples or families – the more experienced shooter could attend Skill Builder, the less experienced shooter takes Handgun Coaching, and with the Bring a Friend discount, sticking around for the Gun Cleaning and Maintenance class is an affordable option.

SUMMER USPSA MATCHES

You don’t have to be a USPSA member to attend.
You don’t have be an experienced competitor to attend.
The summer matches are an excellent, new shooter friendly way to try pistol competition.
Summer USPSA matches will continue in July and August.  These are Wednesday evening matches.  We will start shooting at 6 pm but you can arrive as late as 7 pm and still shoot the stages.  After everyone has shot for score, additional runs are allowed for fun and practice.  Follow this link for more information about the summer matches. Matches are limited to 18 shooters so they run quickly.

BLOG-O-RAMA

We look forward to training you!
Karl, Penny and the KR Training team

Book Review – Sixguns and Bullseyes/Automatic Pistol Marksmanship (Reichenbach, 1937)

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Over the past year I’ve been developing a new course for KR Training, Historical Handgun, that teaches the history & evolution of defensive handgun skills.  Part of that effort has been seeking out and reading old books on shooting, purchasing copies signed by the authors when possible.

In 1935, WW1 veteran William Reichenbach published a book on bullseye shooting called “The Elusive Ten”. In 1936, he updated the book, re-titled “Sixguns and Bullseyes”, following up with “Automatic Pistol Marksmanship” in 1937.  The Sixguns book was reprinted in 1943, but the other book was lost to history until it was reprinted, along with Sixguns and Bullseyes, as part of the NRA Firearms Classics Library, in 1996. (Another list of books published in this series is here.)

Reichenbach’s writing style is very informal and light. This sample of his description of trigger press, from The Elusive Ten (which you can read online for free), is a good example.

Sixguns and Bullseyes Highlights

In the first chapter, the author explains that the book is for new and aspiring bullseye shooters seeking to improve.  He focuses on .22 rimfire and .38 special centerfire revolvers, primarily the Colt and S&W models.

He extols the virtues of the 0.100″ wide, red front sight — essentially the same kind of narrow, bright front sight used by modern competition shooters.  The value of the narrow front sight has been known since the 1930’s — yet the factory front sights on almost all pistols are 0.125″, wide enough to fill the rear notch.

As common in many books from this era, he recommends a light grip on the pistol, because it “tires you less”.  Modern courses of fire are timed in seconds and hundredths of seconds; bullseye occurs at much slower pace.

Similarly, his advice on stance is very relaxed, with non-firing hand resting comfortably in his dress pants pocket, and advocates shooting with both eyes open.

He provides the advice shooting instructors have been giving students since the dawn of gunpowder:

Practice as often as you can! Maybe, you do not have the facilities for shooting on a range each day — Not at all necessary!  You don’t need a range for your short daily work-out! Any room will do.  You practice “dry” with dummy shells! Stick a black paster up on the wall, at the height of your eyes, stand back and go through the motions.  When the hammer clicks keep your bead and *call* your imaginary shots just as honestly as the real target would. 

The concept of a small amount of daily dry practice producing great results is not new, although we seem to have re-discover it, or have someone of our generation be its champion for the idea to be widely accepted.

He plants the seed of an idea that grew up to be Comstock scoring used in USPSA competition:

My suggestion for competition would be: gun in holster.  Upon command the gun should be drawn and fired once, the shot to hit a rather small target.  The gun should then be re-cocked quickly and held up again at “ready” position, aimed at the same target. The whole action should be timed and the results judged by “time elapsed” and “value of hit”, the weight of scoring to lie with “time elapsed”.

His concept of a “full live fire practice day” is 3 strings of 20 shots each.

Some interesting drawings discussing gun fit for revolver stocks.

Automatic Pistol Marksmanship Highlights

The second book is all about semi-automatic pistols, which he refers to as “automatics”.

The book opens with his definition of two safety rules:

  1. An Automatic is Always Loaded!
  2. Never point the damn thing at anything you don’t want to hit!

These two rules may have been an influence on Col. Jeff Cooper’s development of his “4 rules“.

Even in 1937, the 9mm vs. .45 debate was common:

Just because a few Moros had been tickled with some .38 Revolver shells and had the audacity to survive, the .45 caliber craze became the credo.  And “Shocking power” assumed such importance that it makes one sick.  Less extremely large calibers do more effective work than the .45 calibre.  It all boils down to the question of how good the shooter behind the gun is, and I claim that a calibre unnecessarily larger is not conducive to good handling.

Reichenbach was a big fan of the .38 super cartridge and preferred it to .45 ACP.

The combination of no hearing protection and one handed shooting made training with the 1911 .45 more difficult, as he notes:

There will never be an opportunity for fast firing in any situation, unless it be for the sake of noise or deception.  Ordinarily, after the shooter has fired a .45 Automatic, say 10 times, he is all rattled..shaken up.  Co-ordination is destroyed and he goes to pieces.  To fire 50 shots with the .45 Auto, under target conditions, is an ordeal. 

Despite this, Reichenbach preferred the Automatic as his daily carry gun:

I have developed an arrangement of gun and holster that suits me perfectly.  My chest is thrown bravely forward. My eyes are serene and my mind is at ease.  I know that I have a little steel-thing with me that carries death if need be, death to the enemy. I feel the instrument of utter security along with my waistband, and..alack, sometimes also a wee bit of weariness.  The damn thing doesn’t weigh much, but it keeps it up–all day long.  My tailor also objects to it because, he claims, he can’t get the perfect which which he so desires.

He describes the perfect automatic as one that

weighs 30 ounces, with distinct muzzle heaviness and a scientifically shaped grip, with the center of mass well forward and not near the handle. The insertion of the magazine should not materially shift the weight so far back that the gun becomes butt heavy.

Interestingly enough, the Glock 19 weighs 30 ounces, loaded, and has many of these characteristics, as do most of the modern 9mm polymer, striker fired pistols.

His preferred holster is an appendix/cross draw rig with the gun angled, and trigger guard exposed.

From later discussion, it appears that he carries hammer down on a loaded chamber, and intends to thumb cock the gun as part of the draw.  (Those that followed him down the trail of defensive shooting eventually figured out that exposed trigger guard and thumb cocking during the draw were bad and dangerous ideas.)

The last part of his book on Automatics is all about what he calls “Practical Shooting“, which he defines as “the ability to draw our gun quickly, align it with speed and discharge it without pulling (flinching), at the target.”  His description of how to learn a proper drawstroke should sound familiar to anyone that’s taken a defensive pistol course:

Stand before a full size mirror. The hand goes down to the gun, takes it out of the holster, cocks and carries it to arms length. The bead is at the nose of our adversary. We squeeze the trigger! The whole action may take us fully 3 seconds.  That’s fast enough for beginning.  The thing is to see that the action is carried smoothly.  There should be one deliberate, clean motion.  Start right by starting with the slow draw.  Work from the “Three Second Draw” to the “Two Second Draw” to the “One Second Draw”.  I consider a draw executed with 1/2 second a damn fast draw.  Whatever you do, make it your business never to miss your target! Never fire more than 50 shots a day.   How about using a 5″ bullseye? If you get to the point you can hit a 5″ bullseye at 25 feet (8.3 yards) with a one second draw, you are a deadly shot and no fooling!

(By modern standards, hitting a 5″ target at 25 feet with a 1.0 second draw is USPSA Master/Grand Master level shooting.)

As with other books on pistol shooting from the 1930’s, the book is full of information that really hasn’t changed, and standards for “what is good shooting” that remain challenging today with modern equipment.

If this sort of thing interests you, I’ll be offering 1/2 and 1 day sessions of my Historical Handgun course August and September 2017, with additional sessions to be presented at the 2018 Rangemaster Tactical Conference and other locations to be announced soon.  The course is mobile and can be presented in 1 or 2 day format at your location, if you have a classroom and a 50 yard range.

Blocking unwanted calls

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Because I have my phone number listed online as my primary business number, I get a lot of unwanted phone calls: offers for credit card processing services, offers for business loans, website builders, office supply companies, promotional product sales, as well as all the common scam calls from “Google” and “Microsoft” and “Windows Support” and the “IRS“.  The national Do Not Call list appears to be completely worthless.

The spam callers change phone numbers frequently, and unfortunately, I can’t screen out incoming calls based on area codes.  It’s very common for people to keep their cell phone numbers when they move.

A few months ago I started looking at different phone apps that can assist with this problem.

The one I’m using now is called Mr. Number.  I’m using the IOS version.

When calls come in, they are checked against Mr. Number’s (large) list of known numbers.  They tag calls as “scam and fraud” (red alert) or “suspected spam” (yellow alert).  You have the option, for each type of call, to allow it to ring, with the alert showing below the number, or send it to voicemail.

It’s super easy to report a new number as spam.

Pull up the number under “recents”, copy it, and open Mr. Number.  It automatically sees the phone number on your clipboard and asks you if you want to do a reverse lookup on it.  If you do that, it gives you the option to block or report as spam, with categories of what kind of spam it was.

After several weeks, lots of unwanted calls have been blocked and flagged, I’ve reported a handful of numbers as unwanted, with no false positives (legit calls incorrectly blocked or rejected), with no problems or glitches with normal phone use.

The app is free.  Highly recommended.

 

 

 

Another loss for the KR Training family

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Last Saturday, the KR Training family lost another close friend and team member: Tom Robertson.

Tom was a former Texas A&M police officer, NRA high power competitor, USPSA competition shooter, and NRA instructor, as well as a former homebuilder and skilled craftsman/salesman in the construction industry. He was a pretty good singer too!

Tom was Penny’s next door neighbor during her PhD years at Texas A&M university, coaching her in NRA high power rifle competition and inviting her to join his friends hunting deer, hogs and birds. He
encouraged Penny to seek out NRA instructor certification, around the time the Texas Concealed Handgun License bill passed, so that she could start offering CHL classes in the Bryan. That’s how Penny and I met, which led a beautiful partnership both at the personal and professional level.

During our dating and engagement period, Tom and his shooter buddies in Aggieland served as Penny’s surrogate big brothers. I eventually passed their evaluation, despite being a t.u. graduate, and Tom was one of my groomsmen at our wedding.

As KR Training grew, Tom took my NRA instructor certification class, started shooting USPSA matches with Penny and I with the local Brazosland Pistoleros club, assisted with beginner classes, and helped us develop some of the original curriculum for the Advanced Training 1 and Advanced Training 2 courses.

After we purchased the A-Zone property (16 years ago from the date of this post), Tom convinced several of his friends & customers into helping make the classroom building a reality, and he spent many weekends with us, assisting with construction of the building, fences, and every other project that needed doing, including teaching me a lot about home building and construction.

Tom’s day job was selling door and window units for Weatherford Door Company, and he would frequently talk about KR Training with his customers, promoting our classes.  Ronald Weatherford, Tom’s boss, was an avid hunter and gun rights advocate who also passed away this month.

Even after Tom’s health declined, he would talk about our classes to the doctors, nurses, physical therapists and anyone else he encountered.

Most KR Training students never met “the T”, but his influence and impact on Penny, me, and KR Training was significant.  He will be missed, but never forgotten.

Book Review – Guns and Gunning, Capt Paul Curtis (1934)

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Over the past year I’ve been developing a new course for KR Training, Historical Handgun, that teaches the history & evolution of defensive handgun skills.  Part of that effort has been seeking out and reading old books on shooting, purchasing copies signed by the authors when possible.

In 2016, Penny had a chance to visit the Armstrong Ranch to conduct interviews as part of the Legacy of Ranching exhibit at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum.  While there, she noticed a copy of Guns and Gunning by Paul Curtis, on a shelf in the library of what had been Tom Armstrong’s (son of Texas Ranger John B. Armstrong) home. She read a few pages and was impressed – the section on trigger press was terrific.  Capt. Curtis was a WWI veteran and longtime editor of Field and Stream magazine.

 

I was able to find a 1st edition signed copy of the book to add to our library.

Much of Curtis’ book contains advice and observations that remain true 80+ years later. The book covers all types of shooting (rifle, shotgun and pistol), with particular focus on hunting. My comments focus on the pistol shooting part of the book.

Gun buying trends haven’t changed

The pistol buyer who is interested in target shooting is very much in the minority.

The average pistol is bought solely with the idea of having it on hand for self-defense, and the skill of the owner is in most instances highly superficial.

It is sufficient to observe here that it is ignorance and lack of familiarity with the pistol that is responsible for the wrong type of weapon being bought by the vast majority of people.

The Narrative: crime always going up, gun ownership always increasing

Not only are the members of our military and civil establishments devoting more time to practice with the handgun, but bank clerks, messengers and others in responsible positions are recognizing the need of such practice to combat the crime wave which has engulfed the country.

Gun selection advice hasn’t changed either

As a matter of fact, very few of the great number of revolvers and pistols on the market are worthy of serious consideration…

If one requires a pistol for the pocket to be concealed upon the person, the Colt .380 automatic is, in my opinion, quite in a class by itself.  There are those who will prefer a revolver… any revolver is more apt than an automatic to catch in the clothing if one attempts to shoot it from a pocket in an emergency.

Obviously the gun for the civilian who must carry one upon his person at all times must be light. A certain amount of power must be sacrificed.

The average man, however, in buying a revolver is not going to carry it around with him day and night.  He wants one to have in the house, where it will probably remain in a bureau drawer from one year to the next, or be occasionally slipped into the side pocket of his car or overcoat when he believes he might need it.  For such a man the best is emphatically a .38 special…

The householder will probably say, “Why should I bother with such a powerful weapon? I will probably never use it.”  One might just as well ask “why buy fire insurance? My house will probably never burn down”.  The fact of the matter is if the house does burn down, you could not have too much insurance, and if you ever have an emergency in which you need a revolver, there is none made so powerful that you would not be thankful for its additional punch.

I feel that the .38 special is amply powerful for the average man.  Due to its rather mild recoil, he can shoot more accurately with it than with a larger cartridge having a heavier recoil, and for the same reason his wife or any other feminine member of his family can more capably defend herself with it in an emergency.  He is more apt to practice with it occasionally because it less expensive to operate and less objectionable to his nerves and ears. 

Neverending debates: revolver v. semiauto, 1911 reliability

While in the service, as an Instructor with the automatic and Captain of the Ordnance Officer’s Pistol Team in 1918, I fired some 4000 rounds from a Colt automatic in practice with but two malfunctions, both caused by faulty ammunition.  Despite the prejudice which many men still feel against the automatic, this gun has passed beyond the experimental stage and is today as reliable in an emergency as any hand-operated revolver.

Training goals, 1934

It will be long before the novice with the pistol will be able to keep his shots in an 8” group at 50 yards.

A row of bottles full of water set up at 20 yards are splendid targets.  When you can hit 4 out of 5 at 20 paces in 10 seconds, you may consider yourself a good practical pistol shot.

Training tips

(Dry firing) He should begin by learning the proper stance from one capable of coaching , and then devote considerable time to…dry practice…being careful to squeeze off the trigger steadily while holding the sights as near the black as possible.

(Calling shots) The shooter should try also to keep the sight aligned as closely as he with the bull after the hammer has fallen.  That is, he should try to name the spot on the target where the sights were aligned at the click of the action.

(Stance) The position should therefore be upright.  The feet should be set fairly well apart.  I prefer the full extended arm.

(Square to the target) Some face squarely toward the target, while others prefer to stand sideways.  If one was hit, a shot transfixing the body was more deadly than one passing through from front to back.  Not only did the latter make a smaller wound, but these was less chance of its lodging in a vital organ.

(Don’t move your head / eye-target line) The pistol hand should be raised to a line with the eye, rather than the head lowered to catch the sights.

(Grip) The grip of the gun is most important and must be uniform.  If one holds the grip low down for one shot, and with the trigger finger wrapped around the trigger one time and just pressing it with the finger tip the next, he might as well give up practice.  The (dominant hand) thumb should be carried in a line parallel to the trigger finger and the barrel.

Flinching & double action shooting

One cause of flinching which can be well avoided is an excessive trigger pull, which in the pistol should not exceed 3 pounds.    While all but one of our revolvers are double action, this is of no use where a fair degree of accuracy is demanded, and, in consequence, should only be resorted to for the fastest of shooting at a man size mark at close quarters.

Two handed shooting

…though the conventional use of the pistol is with one hand and no rest, it is really capable of very excellent accuracy when shot with two hands.  …hold the pistol in the right hand as usual and then grasp the right wrist with the left hand, while the left arm is pressed tightly against the side for support. The shooter much then face somewhat to the right of his target, with the right forearm across the chest.

(If you do this, what you end up with looks a lot like a Weaver stance.)

Shooting for Women

Women have so firmly established their position…that no book upon shooting that did not consider them would not be complete.  I have made the statement many times that in a rifle or pistol match between teams of boys and girls of the same age and experience the girls will almost invariably beat the boys.  In selecting the gun for a woman, the points to be considered are the same as those confronting a man.

Trigger Press

He preferred the term “press” to “squeeze”, and advocated “riding the slack” in the trigger, similar to what many pistol and rifle instructors teach today.

I use the term “let-off” because trigger “pull”, as it is commonly called, is a misnomer.  “Press the trigger” is better.  Pressure should be lightly applied the trigger with the index finger as the aim is started, and completed when the sights are in line with the mark.

What changed?

The biggest differences I found between his book and modern technique were all related to grip.  Modern shooters use a two handed grip whenever possible, and grip the gun harder. That’s a result of the change in shooting drills and standards migrating from 25 and 50 yard bullseye to closer, faster drills more closely simulating actual defensive handgun uses.

Summary

This book is relatively hard to find but one of the better old books in my collection, since many of Curtis’ ideas and observations continue to be correct and relevant.

KR Training June 2017 newsletter

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Welcome to the KR Training June newsletter!  July and August are hot so we are offering shorter and indoor afternoon classes, along with some shorter morning classes. We’ve added a LOT of classes to our July-September schedule. Check the schedule page on the KR Training website for the full list.

If you aren’t already a subscriber to receive this newsletter each month, you can subscribe here or follow this blog.

JULY CLASS DISCOUNTS AND DEALS

Deal #1)  Handgun Coaching & License to Carry on July 15 for $120 ($20 savings)

Deal #2) Wednesday afternoon 2 hour private lesson (3-5 pm) and evening (6-8 pm) USPSA Match – July 12 or 26 for $100 ($50 savings)

Deal #3) Defensive Pistol Skills Small Gun and Skill Builder Long Gun – July 29 for $100 ($35 savings)

For all deals – must pay in full in advance.

JULY CLASSES

July 8th – Defensive Pistol 3
July 15th – Handgun Coaching (great for BP1, BP2, DPS-1 refresher!) and License to Carry
July 22nd – Handgun Beyond the Basics
July 29th – Defensive Pistol Small Gun & Skill Builder Long Gun
July 29th – Basic Pistol 1 (9-12, taught by John Daub)

Register here.

HISTORICAL HANDGUN PROGRAM

I have developed a new program called Historical Handgun, teaching the history of handgun training and skills, 1935-present. The full course is a 2 day program that I’ll start offering in 2018, at the A-Zone and on the road.  I’ll offer a 1/2 day preview of the shooting part of the class on August 12th, and a 1 day preview, co-taught with Tom Givens, on Monday Sept 18 after the Rangemaster Shotgun Instructor course.

SUMMER USPSA MATCHES

You don’t have to be a USPSA member to attend. You don’t have be an experienced competitor to attend.
The summer matches are an excellent, new shooter friendly way to try pistol competition.
Summer USPSA matches will continue in July and August.  These are Wednesday evening matches.  We will start shooting at 6 pm but you can arrive as late as 7 pm and still shoot the stages.  After everyone has shot for score, additional runs are allowed for fun and practice.  Follow this link for more information about the summer matches. Matches are limited to 18 shooters so they run quickly.

INTERESTED IN INSTRUCTOR TRAINING?

I will be offering a weekday session of the NRA Pistol Instructor class July 19-20.  We are hosting the Rangemaster (Tom Givens) Shotgun Instructor class Sept 15-17, and I will be offering my Force on Force instructor course Friday, Oct 6.  Attendees of the FOF instructor course will need to attend the AT-2, Low light Shooting, and AT-5 classes scheduled for Saturday Oct 7 and Oct 8 as part of the full FoF instructor course. In January 2018 I’m hosting Massad Ayoob and Marty Hayes (Armed Citizen’s Legal Defense Network) teaching their Deadly Force Instructor certification course.

ESTATE SALE

A student has guns and ammo from his father’s estate for sale.  Contact him for details.

BLOG-O-RAMA

We look forward to training you!
Karl, Penny and the KR Training team

Minimum Standards for Basic Pistol

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Claude Werner, the Tactical Professor, shares our interest in defining useful minimum standards for different levels of pistol training.  Claude recently shared a draft of a new course of fire with us. It’s intended for students at the Basic Pistol 1 level, evaluating the abilities to shoot at 3, 5 and 7 yards, manipulate the pistol, and go quickly to target from different common ready positions.  John Daub recently discussed it on his blog.  A few weeks ago, we recorded some video of John running the drill, to add to our newly revived youTube channel.

Aside: The original KRTraining youTube channel is still live with content from 2008-2010, but due to no longer having access to the email account used to create it, and youTube’s nonexistent customer support, that channel cannot be updated.

 

This drill may show up in future sessions of our Basic Pistol 1, Handgun Coaching, and Basic Pistol 2 classes.

Father’s Day 2017

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Thoughts as Father’s Day 2017 comes to a close:

Earlier this week we returned from Anderson, Indiana, where my father in law Mike Riggs was laid to rest.

His obituary is here.  Those who worked with him said he was always “first in, last out” on every call: a role model and a mentor that took great pride in his work, and considered heroic acts just “doing my job”.

Mike spent 34 years working as a firefighter for the city of Anderson before moving to Texas to retire.  The firefighters stood watch over him during the visitation, flew flags at all the fire stations at half mast, and those working at the station where he spent most of his career had other tributes to him as well.  His casket was carried from the funeral home to the cemetery in “Ole Babe”, a 1953 fire engine.  Mike is one of five members of Penny’s extended family have worked for the Anderson Fire Dept over several generations, including one who was on the job when Ole Babe was a working unit.

In addition to Fire Department honors, Mike was honored for his Vietnam-era military service. The Air Force sent an honor guard who conducted a flag ceremony and presented the family with the American flag. American Legion volunteers fired a rifle salute and played Taps.

 

. After the funeral we had the opportunity to visit a historic neighborhood bar, The Polish Club, which was the place Penny’s grandparents were married, and a place frequented by Mike, other firefighters, and others in the community.

Funerals are never fun or happy, but it was good to see their family and friends, meet and talk about Mike with his brother firefighters, and honor his memory in all the ways we could.

Mike’s favorite charity was the Fire Rescue House, a home for fire victims (the first one was built in Anderson).

 

Notes from private lessons (part 5)

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In addition to teaching group classes, I offer private lessons.  Here are some of the observations and lessons learned from those classes, which I taught at KR Training’s A-Zone Range facility.  Private lessons are available, by appointment, on most weekdays and weekday evenings.  Often these take the form of private versions of our regular group classes, refresher lessons on group course material, or coaching to get graduates of those courses tuned up and ready for the next course in the series.

Part 1, Part 2 ,Part 3 and part 4 of the series are here.

Recently on the KR Training Facebook page, I was asked about reasons why people would prefer private training to group classes.  Here are a few common reasons:

  1. Weekend workers.  Many businesses, particularly retail businesses, have their busiest days on weekends, making it hard to get away to attend group classes.  Customers in that category range from musicians (including members of touring bands), gun shop owners, police/fire/EMS personnel, and many different retail salespeople.
  2. Refresher/booster training.  Some students want a 1-2 hour session where they can review and refresh skills learned in classes, or get follow up training shortly after taking a group class, to correct a problem identified during the group course, without the time investment of re-taking the entire course.
  3. Special challenges.  Students with poor vision, limited dexterity, limited grip strength, small hands, limited mobility or other physical issues often find private training a better choice.  A private session provides more flexibility to spend as much time as needed, try as many guns, stances, sights, lasers, or whatever is required to find the best solutions for that student.  Often the amount of time and attention required is beyond what is available in a group class.
  4. Privacy.  Some of my private lesson students are individuals that do not want others to know that they are training or carrying.   That category, in the past, has included public officials (judges, public and private lawyers, officials with state agencies and universities), professional entertainers and athletes, reporters, teachers, nurses, doctors, and others in the public eye.
  5. Travelers & tourists.  I’ve done private classes for individuals and groups that were passing through the Central Texas area for business or pleasure, who wanted some training or a fun shooting session using our gear, with coaching.
  6. Nervous novices.  Many that are new to firearms want private training because they think that their level of inexperience will put them too far behind students in our most basic classes.  They don’t want to come to a group class and be ‘that student’ that can’t keep up, or makes a mistake in front of others.  Guns are scary and dangerous, and some students need a pre-class confidence building session to feel ready to attend a group course.
  7. The serious student.  I have several regular private lesson students who are very motivated, training hard on their own.  They contact me when they have specific questions or need coaching on specific skills, often connected with one of the many challenging standardized shooting tests used by many different schools.  Even my most advanced group classes may not cover the exact training they need.

I’m currently booking private lessons for the period July 10-August 31.  Weekdays (mornings, afternoon and evenings running as late as 9 pm) are available. One popular option is to do a private lesson the afternoon of a scheduled Wednesday night USPSA match at the A-Zone. Get 2 hours of coaching in, cool off in the AC and then shoot the match.

Medicine-X Every Day Carry June 3-4 2017 AAR

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KR Training recently hosted and co-taught the Medicine X Every Day Carry course, taught by Caleb Causey of Lone Star Medics, at the A-Zone Range.  The two day course teaches hands on medic and scene security skills useful in that time between the injury and the arrival of first responders that can provide a higher level of security and care.  The second day provides opportunities for students to apply medic skills in multiple scenarios where shooting, tactics, and communication are also integrated.

Caleb and I discuss the course in more detail in an episode of the Modern Self Protection podcast with Ben Brannam.

DAY ONE

Day one was mostly spent in the classroom, learning patient assessment skills, tourniquet application, wound packing, and other fundamentals.

The topic of what to carry every day, and how to carry it, was covered in depth. One takeaway for me from this course was Caleb’s observation that clotting gauze can be used more places on the body that a tourniquet can, so it may be more important to carry than a TQ, particularly for use on children.  I explained to the class that based purely on likelihood of need and risk analysis that I had changed my own daily carry to prioritize a tourniquet/med gear over a spare magazine, in situations where carrying both on my person was difficult, because the odds of needing the medical gear was likely much higher than the need for the spare magazine.  Obviously having both items available is best, but in non-permissive environments, compromises may be necessary.

Lunch on day one was Texas’ best brisket, from Snow’s BBQ in Lexington, about 15 minutes from the A-Zone.  Snow’s had just been crowned #1 in the state (again) by Texas Monthly. After a 90 minute wait in line, with 200 people behind me, I headed back to the A-Zone with multiple briskets and some pork shoulder.

Part of the afternoon of day 1 was spent working on integrating tourniquet use into a live fire drill where the shooter engaged a target…

retreated to cover (gun placed on ground to simulate the effects of an injury and as a safer substitute for reholstering)…

applied a tourniquet to the designated limb…

picked up the pistol and re-engaged the target.

The goal for this drill was under 30 seconds, with at least 5 hits on the target (3 at start, 2 from cover) and a properly applied TQ.  We ran some additional drills working on team tactics, communication and movement, and one drill integrating that material with the application of a TQ and target re-engagement by one team member.

DAY TWO

After some additional classroom material

and instruction on drags and carries,

we split the class into teams and ran them through a scenario in the wooded part of the A-Zone property, searching for their missing friend (“Rescue” Randy), who was discovered down by the pond, injured, with multiple threats (falling steel targets) nearby.

Randy had to be assessed…

moved to cover…
his injuries treated…


and injuries to other team members that occurred during the rescue had to be treated.

Then Randy was evacuated out of the area back to a vehicle.
Additional scenarios were run in the shoot house berm, using a variety of paper and 3D targets.



KR Training hosts Lone Star Medics classes several times a year, typically offering Dynamic First Aid, Medicine X-EDC and Unthinkable classes every 12 months.   All of those courses are also available as traveling classes available anywhere in the US.

 

Notes from private lessons, May 2017 (part 4)

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I taught a lot of private handgun lessons over the past two weeks, and I wanted to share some of the observations and lessons learned from those classes, which I taught at KR Training’s A-Zone Range facility.  Private lessons are available, by appointment, on most weekdays and weekday evenings.  Often these take the form of private versions of our regular group classes, refresher lessons on group course material, or coaching to get graduates of those courses tuned up and ready for the next course in the series.

Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of the series are here.

HAND STRENGTH AND FINGER SIZE ISSUES

Multiple students had challenges with lack of hand strength and small hands.  Most of the time, I strongly recommend against pistols in 380 caliber, and against the idea of planning on thumb-cocking a double action revolver in a defensive shooting situation.  However:  I had situations occur during lessons where both of those things turned out to be what produced the best results with students.

I had a student with short fingers: not unusual.  She was able to shoot both the 9mm Shield and Glock 42, but gun fit on the 42 allowed better trigger finger placement because of the 42’s shorter trigger reach.  We ran multiple drills using both guns, and her scores with the G42 were better. It wasn’t hand strength, nor any aversion to recoil.  In the end, ability to get hits has to come first before caliber or capacity, so I ended up recommending the G42.

Grip strength was an issue for one student that could not work the slide on his Walther PPK, and could not handle the double action first shot trigger.  As is very common with untrained shooters that buy DA/SA style guns, he had not practiced with the DA trigger prior to the lesson, only the single action trigger, and had not been told by the gun salesman that the gun was not safe to carry with the hammer back (had to be decocked to carry.)  We tried a variety of 9mm pistols but based on hand strength issues, the little G42 was once again the gun that worked best.

The final case study was an older student with limited hand strength and a mild tremor in the dominant hand.  That student tried a variety of guns but ended up shooting best with their own steel framed double action revolver that was thumb-cocked for each shot (S&W model 36).  The student’s hand strength was low enough that even the G42’s slide was a challenge.  At the end of the lesson I suggested the student try switching hands, shooting the gun two handed but using the left (tremor-less) as the dominant hand.  I am hoping for a report back from the student on whether that worked better or worse.

A side note: New York’s recently proposed “Child Operated Firearm” bill, mandating a 10 pound double action only trigger pull on all firearms, would effectively disarm several of my recent students, as they would be physically unable to fire a pistol with a trigger pull that heavy.

Many of these cases served as reminders to me that the end goal has to be improving the student’s ability to get timely, effective hits, regardless of the equipment used.   For younger, stronger shooters with medium or larger sized hands and good vision, many equipment options are available.  Those with less ideal physical characteristics have to work harder, and often have fewer viable choices for gear.

We are diminished.

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Michael Riggs

My father-in-law, Michael Riggs, passed away early Monday morning after a very long fight with cancer. His official Texas obituary is here.

Mike spent his life helping others, as a firefighter/EMT for 34 years, in the Air Force during the Vietnam War, through his church, as a Knight of Columbus, in his kitchen equipment repair business, and in his personal life.  He welcomed me into the Riggs family when Penny and I got married, and after moving to Texas, became a part of the KR Training family, as a range safety officer with me when we worked Lee County Wildlife Association youth shooting events, and assisting me with many behind-the-scenes projects fixing, maintaining and building equipment used at the A-Zone range.  He was the one that drove me to the La Grange hospital ER when I had a bad case of norovirus and called him at 4 am from the A-Zone needing help.

He was a great father-in-law to me, a great father to his children, and a devoted grandfather to his grandson Dusty Tilbury.  I am glad I had many years to enjoy his frequent company after he and Karen moved to Texas and built their home next door to the A-Zone.

Kalen Perez

On Thursday, June 1 2017, Kalen Perez, the fiance’ of my nephew Alan Rogers, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly from complications due to a seizure.

Kalen and Alan had been together for many years. Every time I saw them it was easy to see how close they were and how much they cared for each other.   They made each other happy.

In lieu of flowers, her family is accepting donation via their church, The Well to help pay for her services or donations to TGPR-Texas Great Pyrenees Rescue, an organization Kalen spent the last few months of her life dedicated to.

 

Notes from private lessons, May 2017 (part 3)

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I taught a lot of private handgun lessons over the past two weeks, and I wanted to share some of the observations and lessons learned from those classes, which I taught at KR Training’s A-Zone Range facility.  Private lessons are available, by appointment, on most weekdays and weekday evenings.  Often these take the form of private versions of our regular group classes, refresher lessons on group course material, or coaching to get graduates of those courses tuned up and ready for the next course in the series.

Part 1 and Part 2 of this series are here.

GEAR PROBLEMS

I had an older couple come to class with a variety of guns, including the NAA 22 mag mini revolver with integral holster grip.  We started with those guns, to assess what the shooters could do with them, and they let me do some runs to see what I could do with them.  The fastest I could do, starting with hand on gun in the pocket, getting the gun out of my pocket, opening the grip, cocking the hammer and firing one shot, was a 3.5 second draw, compared to a sub 2 second first shot time with an M&P Shield, starting with hand on gun in pocket.  The tiny bead sight on the NAA pistol was usable for getting hits at 5 yards on a 3″ dot, but shot to shot time was slow because of the single action design.  The biggest problem with the gun was reliability.  It was rare that any of us could get 5 rounds in a row to fire, with difficulty loading and unloading the little pistol.  I finally had to tell them that I simply didn’t consider the gun to be suitable life-safety equipment, even as a backup gun, and we put those guns away and moved on to the other guns they brought (a .380 and a .38 revolver).  Those guns were more typical carry guns, with better sights, better triggers that were safer to handle, faster to shoot, and more reliable than the NAA revolvers.

Another student had been using a soft nylon belt paired with a Comp-Tac holster belt hanger designed for a wide, rigid competition belt.  The end result was more holster movement and wiggle than was useful for the student’s training goals (faster drawspeed).  A secondary problem was the limited adjustment of the stock holster belt attachment.  To really speed up draw time, matching the angle of the pistol to the natural arm/hand angle makes a difference.  That student ended up switching to a rigid Double Alpha Academy belt and BOSS holster hanger to end up with a more consistent, stable holster placement and angle.

 

Notes from private lessons, May 2017 (part 2)

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I taught a lot of private handgun lessons over the past two weeks, and I wanted to share some of the observations and lessons learned from those classes, which I taught at KR Training’s A-Zone Range facility.  Private lessons are available, by appointment, on most weekdays and weekday evenings.  Often these take the form of private versions of our regular group classes, refresher lessons on group course material, or coaching to get graduates of those courses tuned up and ready for the next course in the series.

Part 1 in the series is here.

USING PAR TIME QUALIFICATIONS TO IMPROVE

One student was working on improving scores on the Massad Ayoob Group qualification test.   Mas has an interesting approach to his qual course.  It can be shot at single speed, double speed (divide times in half), triple speed (divide by 3), and quad speed (divide by 4).  For classes beyond the MAG-20 and MAG-40, such as MAG-30 and MAG-80, students are expected to shoot the test at those faster times.

We were working on the triple speed version (single speed in parentheses)

  • 4 YARDS: fire 6 rounds in 2.6 seconds (8 seconds) – non-dominant hand only (from ready)
  • 4 YARDS: 6 rounds, 2.6 seconds (8 seconds)– dominant hand only (from holster)
  • 7 YARDS: 12 rounds in 8.3 seconds (25 seconds). 6 rounds – reload – 6 rounds. Two hands, preferred standing position
  • 10 YARDS: 18 shots in 25 seconds (75 seconds). 6 in cover crouch – reload – 6 in high kneel – reload – 6 in low kneel.
  • 15 YARDS: 18 shots in 30 seconds (90 seconds). 6 rounds classic Weaver – reload – 6 rounds Chapman – reload – 6 rounds isosceles.

At that level, to improve requires breaking down each string into a shot-by-shot time elements: how fast can you get to the first shot, reload time, and shot to shot split times.  To shoot a perfect 300 point score at those speeds is probably around high B class USPSA level, particularly the 4 and 7 yard parts.

The student could consistently hit 300’s at single and double speed, but had problems with the 4 and 7 yard strings as the times decreased.  Fixes focused on speeding up the first shot time (shaving 0.5 second off the 4 yard drills), covering up the rear sight and just watching the front sight, and trying variations of stance and amount of gun ‘cant’ for the one handed drills.  By the end of practice the student went from only getting 25 points in 2.6 seconds to hitting all A’s (30 points) in 1.7 seconds with a series of small improvements over multiple runs.

The downside to working a par time drill, trying to make X shots in Y time, is that it can cause the shooter to think too much about cadence and too little about simply seeing what needs to be seen.  The magic fix for the “double Bill drill” at 7 yards turned out to be putting away the timer and running the drill with the goal of hitting 12 As with no preconceived pace.   The challenge for the coach in that situation is to have enough feel for the pace that needs to occur that you can get the shooter close to the right speed without actually using a timer.  I must have done OK because after a few clean runs with no timer, bringing the timer back revealed that the shooter was capable of 12 A’s under 8 seconds without feeling that “time is running out and I have to faster” that was producing bad runs with shots fired without an acceptable sight picture.

Notes from private lessons, May 2017 (part 1)

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I taught a lot of private handgun lessons over the past two weeks, and I wanted to share some of the observations and lessons learned from those classes, which I taught at KR Training’s A-Zone Range facility.  Private lessons are available, by appointment, on most weekdays and weekday evenings.  Often these take the form of private versions of our regular group classes, refresher lessons on group course material, or coaching to get graduates of those courses tuned up and ready for the next course in the series.

DRY FIRING WORKS

I had one student that had fired less than 1000 rounds of live ammo, in 10 or less live fire sessions (ever).  He had taken one basic class from another local instructor, purchased a SIRT pistol and a Glock 9mm.

He used the SIRT pistol and dry fired 10-15 minutes a day, every day for 3 weeks, before coming to me for a lesson.  As a result of that practice, his trigger control was excellent. We worked through drills from the Basic Pistol 2, Beyond the Basics, and Defensive Pistol Skills 1 classes, ending with some group shooting at 25 yards, which is something I don’t typically do with students at that level.  He shot a five shot, 3″ group at 25 yards from two handed standing, with standard practice ammo.

Dry fire practice works.

Red Dot Study – Key Points

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In 2015 & 2016 KR Training partnered with the Texas A&M Huffines Institute to jointly fund and conduct an academic study comparing shooter performance using iron sights, green lasers, and slide mounted red dot sights (with and without backup iron sights). This blog post summarizes the key findings from that work.

My motivation for doing the study was that I was one of the early adopters of frame mounted electronic red dot sights in the early 1990s, as a USPSA Open division competitor, and I had observed the benefits of use of a red dot sight in my own shooting and in the overall trends in scores at USPSA and other pistol matches. I also spent 23 years doing research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) on Navy-funded programs at the University of Texas at Austin, including writing and conducting tests comparing commercial equipment against mission requirements. I’ve been a firearms trainer for 26 years, teaching weekly classes, and the number of students showing up with both lasers and slide mounted red dot sights has increased over the past 5 years. I wanted to learn more about both so I could make recommendations based on data, not anecdote, sales literature or even my own experience using that gear. We received no funding from any vendors or manufacturers, and KR Training sells no laser- or red-dot specific training courses.

TEST PROTOCOL

Over a two year period we collected data on 118 shooters, male and female, novice to Grand Master (top 5% in USPSA) level, from 18 to 76 years old, during KR Training classes, local shooting events, and the national A Girl and a Gun conference.

We used S&W M&P CORE pistols, one with iron sights,one with a Streamlight TLR light/laser mounted on the rail,one with a Trijicon RMR and no backup irons and one with an RMR and backup irons

We designed the test based on the most likely defensive use of a pistol: effective first shot hits at 5 and 10 yards, using both hands or dominant hand only. Many advocates of the slide-mounted red dot sight point out that the real value of the RDS is beyond 10 yards. Our concern was in measuring performance gains or losses for the common case, particularly if optimizing gear for the 25 yard shot would cause significant performance degradation for the 5-10 yard usage.

Each trial involved starting at a ready position. One shot drill on an IDPA target in 1.5 seconds. We used USPSA points-based scoring because we wanted to study points and time separately. Actual first shot time was recorded. Late shots were scored as zero points.

The full data set and analysis is in a lengthy study that is still in review and will be submitted to a referred academic journal.  I’ve presented the data at the 2016 Rangemaster Tactical Conference, at the national A Girl and Gun Conference, and to a MAG-40 class. The audio portion of my presentation to the MAG-40 class was recorded for ProArms Podcast Episode 101.

I’ll show the highest level results here with some discussion of issues of more interest to shooters that won’t be in the academic paper.

RESULTS

Did shooters using the slide mounted red dots shoot better than those using irons or lasers? No.

Many, regardless of experience level, had a hard time finding the dot on initial presentation of the pistol from ready, with the most difficulty occurring when no backup iron sights were available.

Those using the green laser (in bright daylight, much of it during summer months in Texas) had no trouble using it to shoot scores very close to what they could with iron sights.

There was not time in the testing to give participants significant training time to learn the red dot or the laser. They were allowed 10 or less dry fire presentations before testing began. Red dot advocates insist that finding the dot on presentation improves with training, and I found that to be true during summer 2016, when I put in the time to earn a Grand Master ranking in USPSA’s Carry Optics division.

The high hit factors for USPSA classifiers in Carry Optics, relative to those in Production division, are typically a few percent (less than 10%) higher, indicating USPSA’s own assessment of the value gained by adding a red dot sight. By comparison, high hit factors for Open division, where the red dot sights are mounted to the frame, can be as much as 20% higher than the Production scores.

(An example: a shooter that can run a 6 second “El Presidente” drill, hitting all A’s, would have a hit factor of 10.00:  60 points divided by 6 seconds. In Production division (iron sights), that score would be 97% of the high hit factor, a Grand Master level score. In Carry Optics division, that score would be 93% of the high hit factor, which is only a Master level score. And in Open division, that score would be 84% of the high hit factor, which is an A class score.  Another way to look at it: to shoot equivalent scores in Production takes 6 seconds, in Carry Optics 5.76 seconds, in Open 5.21 seconds assuming 60 points on all runs.)

Those that want to explore this issue farther can do so using this classifier calculator site, where you can put in a hit factor for any classifier and find out how it ranks, relative to the high hit factor for that course of fire and division.)

A frequent “talking point” for those selling and promoting red dot sights is that they are better for older shooters who cannot focus on the front sight easily. Our data did not show that to be true.

Those with more experience and skill with firearms were able to use the laser and red dot more effectively, with those at the instructor level having the most success with the red dot sight and slightly more difficulty using the laser (likely because it requires a target focus). Those with moderate skill were able to use the laser as effectively as iron sights, indicating that the learning curve for the laser is much shorter than for the red dot.


In a 2016 article, Paul Howe observed that no one has yet passed his pistol standards using a slide mounted red dot sight, and in a recent podcast, Mike Seeklander (another trainer, USPSA Grand Master and experienced Open division competitor) advised listeners that the red dot sight was not an advantage inside of 10 yards, with some disadvantage associated with finding the dot upon presentation of the pistol.

Those observations track with our study results. Adding a slide mounted red dot sight typically doubles the cost of the pistol, providing at best a 10% gain for those at already high skill levels.  For those not already at the USPSA B class, IDPA Expert, 80% on FBI qualification test or higher skill level, particularly those that do not dry fire regularly and do not practice getting the gun from ready (or holster) to target under time pressure, adding a red dot sight to the pistol in an attempt to buy skill with equipment will likely not produce the desired result. Trying to go the cheap route and removing the rear sight, replacing it with a red dot sight, leaving the user with no backup iron sights is particularly poor decision. That configuration produced significant performance losses in all users in our study.

OBSERVATIONS

The biggest takeaway for me from the study was the value of the green laser (not the red dot sight).  There are far more people carrying laser equipped pistols than there are using red dot sighted pistols as carry guns, and in classes I’ve seen older shooters with limited ability to focus at front sight distances gain more capability from the laser than the red dot sight. I shot the 2016 Rangemaster Tactical Conference match using a Viridian light/laser, never getting a traditional sight picture on any target, placing 7th out of more than 150 shooters.  Shooters running lasers in my low light shooting classes have done very well.  New light/laser combo units from Crimson Trace, LaserMax, Viridian, and others are smaller than red dot sights, and can be added to a carry pistol in a way that traditional iron sights can also be used. The rail mounted units allow momentary ‘on’, similar to lights, which solves the “always on” issue associated with lasers activated by gripping the pistol.

The failure of both of the practical/defensive pistol sports, IDPA and USPSA, to allow the use of lasers in their matches makes no sense to me. USPSA, in particular, has tried to maintain Jeff Cooper’s original ideal of being the testbed where all types of innovations in gear can be used and evaluated, to the point of going beyond his original concept of testing street-worthy gear. So frame mounted red dots, magnets worn on belts to hold magazines, and many other gadgets only relevant on match day are OK, but lasers are not.  Given their practicality, and actual use by people who carry, lasers should be the obvious choice for IDPA to recognize in any new “carry optics” division.

ADVICE

My advice to those considering the investment in a slide mounted red dot sight on their pistol is:

  1. Baseline your current performance level.  Use the IDPA classifier or the FBI qualification test as a thorough assessment of what you can do with iron sights. IDPA Expert or 80% on the FBI qualification test are good goals.
  2. Analyze your skills (part 1).  If you can get the gun aligned with the target and are missing because of poor trigger control or grip problems, spend your red dot sight money on training or other gun modifications (trigger upgrades, for example), and invest some time in dry practice. Purchase a SIRT pistol, Laserlyte pistol, dry fire mag, or other dry fire training gear.  Purchase of a red dot sight will help you aim at longer distances a little better. It will not make your draw faster nor will it fix any other problem with your fundamentals.
  3. Analyze your skills (part 2). If your primary challenge is difficulty getting a sight picture, I would look for opportunities to try a laser and a red dot sighted pistol before spending money. Many (most) of the highest skill level shooters I know and have trained with use a solid black rear and narrow fiber optic front sight, like these from Dawson Precision. A narrow front sight provides more light around the notch, and only having a dot on the front sight, as opposed to dots on front and rear, makes it easier to maintain front sight focus.  A cheap way to try this is simply to black out the rear dots on your existing rear sight and replace the front sight. I don’t recommend the fiber optic sights sold at retail stores, as they are all standard width (.125″) and generally not as rugged as the pro-grade sights that can be ordered from online vendors. Get a front sight that is .100-.115 in width. Switching to monovision glasses (dominant eye corrected for front sight length and non-dominant corrected for vision) is another option that can work not only on the range but for everyday wear. All of my glasses are set up for mono vision. That made a big difference in my scores after I turned 50.
  4. If you want to explore the slide mounted red dot sighted pistol, configure your gun with tall backup iron sights, and commit the time in dry and live practice to getting your skill with the red dot pistol up to the level you measured with iron sights (or beyond). Spend time getting the dot sighted in at 15 and 25 yards, and check that zero at 5, 50, and 75 yards, so you understand how the dot and the trajectory of your carry or match load align at those distances. Closer than 15 yards your bullets will strike lower than the dot, similar to holdover with a red dot on an AR rifle.
  5. Evaluate your skills. After you’ve put in the work to learn the dot, retest yourself using the same drills you ran in step 1.  If the scores show improvement using the dot, keep using it. If not, either put in more work, try other sighting options (laser, different irons, different glasses) until you find what works best for you.

KR Training May 2017 newsletter

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JUNE CLASS DISCOUNTS AND DEALS

Deal #1)  Beyond the Basics and Defensive Pistol Skills 1 – Houston area June 17 $160 combo (plus $20 range fee)

Deal #2) Basic Pistol 2 and Defensive Pistol Skills 1 – taught by John Daub June 24 $160 combo ($200 value)

Deal #3) Defensive Pistol Skills 2 (June 10) and Defensive Pistol Skills 3 (July 8) $160 combo ($200 value!)

For all deals – must pay in full in advance.

Register here.

MEDICINE X EVERY DAY CARRY

Recent events in Manchester once again draw attention to the value of medical skills in situations where response from uniformed personnel may be limited or delayed. The upcoming Medicine X Every Day Carry taught by Caleb Causey of Lone Star Medics, (June 3-4) is suitable not only for armed citizens but “non-shooter” students, who can learn the skills and learn how to act in a crisis situation whether they are armed or not.

It’s 2 days of medic skills (for armed citizens), combined with live fire and Force on Force scenario training where you apply your shooting, tactics, communication and medical skills in realistic simulations of defensive gun use situations.

You don’t need prior medical training to attend.  The only pre-reqs are a carry license and completion of a class or match where you have drawn from a holster, because you’ll be doing that in the scenarios.

Hsoi’s AAR from a 2012 session of the course tells you more about the class.

Can’t afford the time or money for both days?  Take the first 4 hours for $100, or the first 2 for $200. If you’ve taken it before, refresher slots (1/2, 1 or 2 day) are available at 50% off.

I have over 2000 hours of firearms training, but so far in my life I have used the medical training more times than I’ve used anything I learned in pure shooting classes.

Register here.

DEFENSIVE PISTOL SKILLS 2 and 3

June 10th I’ll be teaching Defensive Pistol Skills 2, and on July 8th Defensive Pistol Skills 3.

DPS-1 was not “everything you need to know about defensive shooting”.  DPS-2 and DPS-3 review and refresh key points from DPS-1, with lots of additional material: shooting from cover, shooting on the move, armed movement in structures, malfunction clearing, one handed shooting and gun manipulation, much more.

Taken them before? Refresher slots available for 50% off.

Register here.

HOUSTON AREA CLASSES

I’ll be offering Beyond The Basics: Handgun and Defensive Pistol Skills 1 at the Orange Gun Club east of Houston on June 17th.  If you have friends in that area, please let them know.

OTHER JUNE CLASSES

Advanced Training 6 – June 10th, 2-5 pm

Basic Pistol 1 & Gun Selection Clinic – June 17th, 9-12 and 1-3, taught by John Daub

Basic Pistol 2 & Defensive Pistol Skills 1 –  June 24th, taught by John Daub

SUMMER USPSA MATCHES

The first 3 summer USPSA match dates are May 24, June 7 and June 14.  These are Wednesday evening matches.  We will start shooting at 6 pm but you can arrive as late as 7 pm and still shoot the stages.  After everyone has shot for score, additional runs are allowed for fun and practice.  Follow this link for more information about the summer matches. Matches are limited to 18 shooters so they run quickly.  Register for the May 24th match here

INTERESTED IN INSTRUCTOR TRAINING?

As an NRA Training Counselor I’m certified to train others in a long list of NRA courses, and I’ve hosted non-NRA instructor training courses in the past.  If you are interested in adding more instructor certifications, or getting certified for the first time, please take the survey and select all the courses you are interested in. That will help me decide which instructor classes to offer in the future.

THE SCHEDULE

The full schedule of 2017 classes is here.

We’ll be adding more classes to the August-October schedule next month.

BLOG-O-RAMA

We look forward to training you!
Karl, Penny and the KR Training crew