Follow through – Practical Application
#Fridayfundamentals
An excellent article was recently published on the Shooting Illustrated website about follow‑through. https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/head-down-follow-through/?utm_source=newsletter It’s well written and worth reading.
Two practical demonstrations appear in LAPD Incident NRF 032-23 https://youtu.be/zydZUuqQahI?si=-6a3KLf00_rvn7x2 The amount of video in the LAPD’s YouTube Critical Incident Community Briefing allows us to observe the marksmanship aspects in depth.
Two officers were actually involved in the shooting. The officers were armed with two different weapon systems. The first to engage had a 40mm Less-Lethal (Blue Dildo) Launcher. The second officer used his Glock service pistol.
It’s unclear if the first 40mm foam round hit the perpetrator but it is clear that the second round fired went low and hit the hostage the assailant was holding down.
One possibility for the low hit is lack of follow through. A 40mm round has a muzzle velocity of 235-260 feet per second, far lower than a firearm. The Launcher has a barrel length of 14 inches. And the munition is visible in flight. This combination makes the Launcher more susceptible than a firearm to being pulled low off the target if the shooter doesn’t use good follow through.”
Corresponding with the author of the Follow-through article, he opined:
“the officer with the 40mm [may have] made the critical error of lifting his head to look for the impact/result before he even fired.”
This is a better elaboration of the “munition visible in flight” aspect than I had originally made in my Patreon posts about the incident. The author also felt the officer may have failed to account for the difference of point of impact from using the Red Dot Sight at close range. If the first shot also went low that would likely be true. If the first shot hit and the second shot missed it wouldn’t necessarily be true. Unfortunately that’s hard to tell from the video available.
The single shot aspect of the Launcher could also have been a factor. Desire to get a single shot weapon reloaded does not enhance our execution of follow-through.
The second officer demonstrated good follow-through while shooting his Glock. When his first shot missed, he was able to assess and fire a second shot without hesitation because he was still on target.
Whether shooting a long gun or a pistol, follow-through is extremely important. Pistol shooters often immediately drop their guns below the line of sight to see where the bullet impacted. This is a bad habit to be scrupulously avoided.
If you would like to read more extensive analysis of this and other incidents, or if you would like to become a real shooter with aim, please follow my Patreon page. https://www.patreon.com/TacticalProfessor
Taurus 856 Iron Sights v. Laser Comparison
#wheelgunwednesday
Taurus had a screaming deal for 856 revolvers on its website last month. The deal was a Viridian Laser Stock (Grip), Boltaron (Kydex) holster, and two HKS speedloaders for $139. I’m a believer in laser stocks for snub revolvers so I decided to take advantage of the deal and purchased it. I also purchased an Ameriglo front night sight but haven’t installed it yet. FTC note: I made this purchase with my own money, no manufacturer giveaway.
This Viridian laser has the activation button on the front of the stock so when the revolver is gripped, it comes on. This is a far superior system to having to manually press a button to turn the laser on. The stock is also slightly longer than the factory stock so it provides a full three finger grip.
Installing it requires driving out the roll pin that holds the factory stock in place. Once the pin is out, the laser stock is secured via three screws. Pro-Tip: put the bottom screw that goes through the roll pin hole in the frame first. It was relatively well zeroed as it arrived but I later zeroed it at 7 yards when I got to the range.
The UM Tactical Holster was much better than I had anticipated. I thought ‘UM’ meant it was an offshoot of Uncle Mike’s but that assumption is incorrect. It fits the 856 well and the clip holds it securely on the belt. I loosened the tension slightly so that when the holster is held upside down the gun doesn’t come out but it draws easily.
The HKS Speedloaders were the Model 10 developed for the K frame S&W revolver many years ago. Two were included.
To make a comparison of the capabilities of the laser vis-à-vis the iron sights, I did a range trip. The evaluation protocol was the Nevada Concealed Handgun Permit Qualification Course, which is one of my favorite practice structures. It consists of 30 rounds fired at 3 yards (6 rounds), 5 yards (12 rounds), and 7 yards (12 rounds). The evaluation consisted of splitting it in half, shooting one half (15 rounds) with the laser on and one half (15 rounds) with the laser off. I broke the course into several strings for each distance and timed each string.
3 yards – 1 shot from the Holster, 1 shot from Low Ready, and 1 shot from Retention. Three rounds for each sighting system.
5 yards – 2 shots from the Holster, 2 shots from Low Ready, 2 shots from the Holster Primary Hand Only. Six rounds for each sighting system.
7 yards – Repeat the 5 yard sequence at 7 yards.
It was a cloudy afternoon not bright sunlight. I had no trouble seeing the laser dot at 7 yards on the USPSA Metric targets I used. Each system had a separate target.
For scoring, I divided the A zone in half. This gave an A zone of 6 inches wide by 5.5 inches long. Hits in the lower part were counted as B hits. This is a scoring system the late Todd Louis Green https://pistol-forum.com/ suggested and I like it. It’s more rigorous than the IDPA -0 zone. The time for each string was recorded.
The results of both sighting systems were then overall Comstock scored. https://www.ssusa.org/content/understanding-uspsa-comstock-and-virginia-count/ This means points achieved divided by shooting time. The results were interesting. The Iron sights had a Comstock score of 4.33, while the Laser had a score of 4.29. Not a significant difference and the laser was not nearly the disadvantage in daylight that’s popularly assumed.
The next phase of my evaluation will be to shoot the same protocol in bright sunlight and at dusk. Those results should provide some interesting contrast.
With regard to the holster, I found it to be quite satisfactory. My only observation is that because the gun and holster is so short, the butt of the gun tends to droop forward and reduce my concealment. On the way home, I stopped at Arbol de Dolares to purchase La Chancla https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/11/04/361205792/la-chancla-flip-flops-as-a-tool-of-discipline . I’ll cut a piece of the flip-flop off to glue onto the back of the holster as a pad, a la Keepers Concealment. https://keepersconcealment.com/
Overall, I very pleased with the results. This makes about 700 rounds through the 856 with no issues. The laser worked well and the holster is satisfactory. A good EDC that I’m comfortable with.
Back Up Gun Match
#fridayfundamentals
Johns Creek IDPA held a Back Up Gun match last night. It was fun to be able to shoot a match with my LCP. I was able to acquit myself well and finished 7th even though I had the smallest gun there and made a couple of boo-boos. There were three snub revolvers in the match also.
Folks who were using fanny packs and chest packs got a chance to test them out, which in one case didn’t work out well. Carrying a gun with such a system also means practicing being able to access it efficiently and safely.
There will be more in-depth coverage on the Shooting and Marksmanship Tier of my Patreon page. https://www.patreon.com/TacticalProfessor
Better Aim – Shooting From a Vehicle
#fridayfundamentals
Let’s learn something from the recent Yahoo story about “Chicago rideshare driver with concealed carry license shoots 2 robbers who stole his cellphone, fired at him” https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2023/08/13/needs-to-have-better-aim-redux/
Shooting from the driver’s seat of a vehicle at a carjacker less than two yards away requires a different technique to be successful at making good hits. Using an inert pistol is a good way to try it out. They’re available for $20 or less at martial arts stores or online. Even if it doesn’t fit your holster, you can just put it on your lap.
Using the inert gun, you can practice indexing on a target. You’ll probably see that one handed and two handed presentations yield different forms of target index. Neither of them will look like either a usual sight picture or classic point shooting.
One handed presents almost vertical.
A two handed presentation will produce an index much more canted to the side than one handed. It takes a little getting used to place the muzzle accurately on the target.
Anyone who considers themselves a serious student of the Art should have an inert pistol of some sort. You can use it to practice things you can’t safely do with a real pistol. A SIRT gun is an ideal tool for this but not everyone is willing to spring that kind of cash. For less than the cost of a box of ammo, you can get a training aid that can be used in many different ways.
Needs to have better aim – Redux
A recent Yahoo story was about “Chicago rideshare driver with concealed carry license shoots 2 robbers who stole his cellphone, fired at him” https://news.yahoo.com/chicago-rideshare-driver-concealed-carry-012004396.html . Some of the comments were simply congratulatory or expressed relief the driver wasn’t injured.
But being a story posted on Yahoo, it naturally included many responses by simple-minded Internet Common Taters to the effect of :
“He needs to improve his aim. Two cons could have been taken out.”
I’ve written about this before. https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2016/07/24/the-cost-of-killing/
There are three aspects of this incident worth mentioning; sociological, tactical, and marksmanship. The sociological aspect is covered more than adequately in the post linked above. The tactical aspect relates to the object of the exercise of Personal Protection. What we are trying to achieve is covered in my series about Breaking Contact. https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2021/10/27/breaking-contact-part-6/
The marksmanship aspect is something that clearly these potato heads have never considered past ‘maybe’ popping off a box of ammo at an indoor range.
Trying to get even a decent sight picture on a criminal who is threatening you near your driver’s side car door is almost impossible. Try it sometime with your inert gun and the difficulty becomes immediately obvious.
The only really good way to learn it is by using a SIRT pistol and a cardboard target on a stand outside the door. Those are resources very few people have. Even if they did, finding a place to practice it is difficult. Your neighbors and the POlice will not be very enthusiastic about you practicing this way in public. Nor will the Board of Directors of your gun club be happy about such a useful exercise at the club.
So I wish the potato heads would cut the Ride Share Driver some slack. He forced a Break In Contact, wasn’t injured, and didn’t have to interact with the Criminal Justice system excessively. That’s a win.
FBI Double Action Course
#wheelgunwednesday
Prior to the FBI adoption of the Wheaties cereal box sized S&W Model 1076 in 1990, revolvers were the Bureau’s sidearm for well over half a century. After the FBI switched to the S&W Model 13 revolver in 1981, it created a publication, FBI Revolver Courses and Techniques, for using the gun with the Weaver technique.
“Sight Alignment: During close-in shooting (five to seven yards), the shooter does not have time to acquire perfect sight alignment. The shooter is, therefore, instructed to fire with both eyes open and to bring the sights up to eye level, seeing the front sight in the secondary vision. As distances increase, the need for better sight alignment increases and trigger pull should be slower.”
One of the Courses in the publication is the Double Action Course. It is intended as a practice regimen for double action shooting. The par times are short as is the allotted time for the one reload included. All strings are fired from the holster except one string at 15 yards.
DOUBLE ACTION COURSE (DAC)
The entire course is fired using the Weaver Position.
5 Yards
6 rounds -2 rounds on each whistle (in 3 seconds)
4 rounds -2 rounds on each whistle (in 3 seconds)
7 Yards
6 rounds -2 rounds on each whistle (in 3 seconds)
4 rounds -2 rounds on each whistle (in 3 seconds)
10 rounds -Load 6 rounds, on whistle, fire 6, reload 4 rounds, fire 4, all in 20 seconds.
15 Yards
6 rounds -2 rounds on each whistle (in 3 seconds). Fired from Weaver Ready.
4 rounds -All 4 rounds in 6 seconds
25 Yards
5 rounds -All 5 rounds in 10 seconds kneeling position
5 rounds -Repeat
Scoring: 2 points each for hits in either the KS or K4 area.
100 points possible.
Firing at an indoor range where drawing from the holster isn’t permitted can be done by using a table start.
Par times can be used via ear buds underneath hearing protection muffs and a par timer app on one’s cell phone. The phone’s Bluetooth connection will transmit the start and stop beeps to the ear buds.
Although it was shot by FBI Agents on the huge B-21 target, any silhouette will do.
It’s a fun course and very practical for those who carry a weapon.
Note to indoor range owners and operators. Granted that OSHA regulations can be onerous to work downrange maintenance with. But having inoperative carriers, targets left downrange on carriers and on the floor, thousands of fired brass cases in front of the booths, etc. presents a very unappealing scenario to the public. This is not a new phenomenon. In 1919, Walter Winans devoted an entire chapter WHY PISTOL SHOOTING IS UNPOPULAR in his book The Modern Pistol and How to Shoot It about the unpleasantness of this experience.
Reliability Testing – Part II
Continuing on with “How many rounds would you say make up a legitimate ‘reliability test’ for a pistol?”
This is a comment to the 2023 post that echoed a comment I failed to notice and answer on the 2017 post.
“ ‘One of the mathematical analyses presented in the original Facebook discussion was that 5 malfunctions per 1000 meant more than one malfunction in a 17 round magazine (8.72%).’
You need to link to this math because it isn’t correct if you assume independence.”
Here is the person’s explanation, verbatim.
“Claude – 5 in 1000 is a 0.5% failure rate, or a 99.5% success rate per shot. The odds of shooting twice in a row is 99.5% X 99.5%, or 99.5% to the 2nd power. The odds of shooting 17 rounds with no problems is 99.5% to the 17th power, or 91.8%, leaving an 8.2% chance of failure.”
The problem is that the assumed 0.5% failure rate was the result of shooting twice. So double counting the failure and then raising it to the 2nd power is an inherent structural flaw in the analysis. I don’t claim to be a statistician but occasionally a structural problem in constructing a mathematical analysis will be immediately obvious to me. If the output of a mathematical analysis is obviously divergent from reality (Glock 17s do not average more than one malfunction per magazine), it means the math is flawed in one way or another.
What is the reliability of a Glock 17? During one class I was teaching at the elite Rogers Shooting School, I had two failures to go into battery with the Gen 2 Glock 17 I used as my School gun. I pushed the slide closed with my thumb (OMG, a diagnostic malfunction clearance) and went on with the drill. The malfunctions seemed odd to me because they were out of the ordinary. Upon further reflection, I realized the teaching season was nearly over (October) and I had neither cleaned nor lubricated the gun all year. It had fired, with various types of ball ammo, somewhere upward of 15,000 rounds without a malfunction. The other School guns performed similarly.
An analysis that determined a Glock 17 had a probability of one malfunction per magazine flew in the face of my experience. That’s the kind of thing I keep an eye open for. If an analysis doesn’t match up with a broad segment of reality, there’s probably something wrong with the analysis.
Having built a model rocket does not make you a rocket scientist.
Reliability Testing
A colleague asked me a few days ago:
“How many rounds would you say make up a legitimate ‘reliability test’ for a pistol?”
My response was 100 because that’s more than 99.9% of people will ever fire a pistol they buy. He was surprised about this answer because he thought it would be considerably more.
There’s a very detailed discussion about it in a post I wrote years ago. Most of the cognoscenti who were responded to the question then felt that 1000 rounds was the minimum desirable number. There were certain aspects of their analyses leading to that conclusion that I felt weren’t explored with enough depth.
https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2017/04/21/reliability/
Numerous justifications for 1000 round torture tests were presented to me by the cognoscenti. One of the mathematical analyses presented in the original Facebook discussion was that 5 malfunctions per 1000 meant more than one malfunction in a 17 round magazine (8.72%). My belief about that obtuse analysis remains the same.
“If I’m going to have at least one malfunction per magazine, I’ll just keep carrying a revolver.”
I’ll write a bit more about my latest revolver work for #wheelgunwednesday next week.
Hahaha. Alt Text autogenerated by Microsoft Word for the above picture:
“A board game with brown squares”
WWII Helicopter Rescue Mission – Unintentional Discharge Related
Dr. Mark Felton never ceases to amaze with his recounts of wartime exploits. The elaborate efforts made by the US Army to rescue a soldier involved a journey three-quarters of the way around the globe.
“A soldier based in a weather station atop a 4700 foot tall mountain [in Burma] had accidentally shot himself in the hand and infection had set in. He needed immediate evacuation to hospital.”
“On the 24th of January 1945, a helicopter undertook the first combat medical evacuation in history.”
Ironically, the first helicopter Medevac mission in history was not due to combat action but rather because of an Unintentional Discharge.
Home Invasion – Part II
and that’s the first time I realized how difficult it was to try and remove somebody’s testicles by hand.
The gentleman was very angry that his wife and homestead had been attacked and he had been shot at.
He used a 6 inch revolver to shoot back. No results, unfortunately.
And with that I went back to retrieve my own firearm. So I went to the vehicle. I had a handgun, a 38 special with a 6 inch barrel.
Quite an amazing and educational story.
Part I https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2023/06/17/home-invasion-part-i/
tacticalprofessor 
You must be logged in to post a comment.