Tactical Conference 2024 Pistol Match
#wheelgunwednesday
I shot the match with my Taurus 856 snub.
Here’s a video short of the Pistol Match https://youtube.com/shorts/uFh9EogmeAY?feature=share
Course of fire
All strings were shot at turning targets in 4 seconds.
3 yards
- 6 shots from concealed holster (6/6)
5 yards
- 5 shots from concealed holster (5/11)
- 5 shots from concealed holster (5/16)
- 4 shots Primary Hand Only from Low Ready (4/20)
- 3 shots Support Hand Only from Low Ready (3/23)
7 yards
- 4 shots from concealed holster (4/27)
- 4 shots from concealed holster(4/31)
10 yards
- 2 shots from concealed holster (2/33)
- 2 shots from concealed holster (2/35)
5 yards
- 5 timed {3.53} face shots from Low Ready (5/40) These shot were scored with Comstock scoring.
This was my final target score. I pulled a few out of the circle but none below the belt or off the silhouette.
Rangemaster Tactical Conference 2024
TacCon 2024, as we call it, is now in the books. [link] It is an annual teaching and learning conference for those who are, or want to be, serious students of the Art of Self-Defense and Personal Protection. This is the fourth year it has been held at the Dallas Pistol Club, a marvelous facility.
The Conference is three days long. This year there were 42 trainers, who taught 69 different classes in 10 different ranges/classrooms. Topics ranged widely from shooting technique to unarmed combatives to medical procedures to using social media effectively and safely. Some classes are live fire, some are hands-on non-live fire, and some are lectures.
There is also a pistol match for those who choose to shoot it. The match is not mandatory and some attendees don’t shoot it. Not everyone who attends TacCon is a gun person, although most are. The Pistol Match consists of 40 rounds shot on turning silhouette targets at distances of 3 to 10 yards.
The presentation I gave was Off-Duty Shootouts of the LAPD. The basis for my presentation was the entirety of shootouts by LAPD officers, while they were off-duty, during the period 2005 to 2022, the last year full reporting has been published.
Since there are generally 10 classes going on at time, it’s impossible to attend them all. Some of the classes are repeated once or twice but the majority are not. Classes I was able to attend were:
Friday
Beware of… Well, Just Beware by Tom Givens
As my colleague Craig Douglas likes to ask “How do you do ‘Situational Awareness?’” Tom provided some answers to that question.
Civilian Defender Philosophy by Dr. Sherman House
The Art of Self-Defense and Personal Protection has many different facets, as represented by the wide variety of topics presented at TacCon. ‘The Real Dr. House’ presented his thoughts on how to prioritize and integrate them.
SATURDAY
Off-Duty Shootouts of the LAPD by Claude Werner, the Tactical Professor. To start the day off right, my presentation was one of the 8AM offerings.
Why study Off-Duty POlice Shootings? LAPD officers are encouraged to NOT take “enforcement action” while off-duty. Off-duty lethal force incidents involving LAPD officers are almost always Self-Defense/Personal Protection incidents much like those that could be encountered by Armed Private Citizens. They provide a thoroughly researched and documented database of shootings and the circumstances that led up to them.
Pistol Match
I finished about middle of the field. But since I shot a Taurus 856 snub revolver and speedloaders against a bunch of red dot equipped service sized autoloaders, I’m okay with that. POV video of the match will be up in a few days on my YouTube channel.
10 Tips for Teaching Gateway Students by Karl Rehn
It’s heartening to me to see how many high level instructors are thinking about best practices for teaching entry level gunowners and shooters. Karl’s wasn’t the only such presentation at the Conference but the only one I could attend.
During lunch, Andy Stanford from Surefire did a video interview with me about Serious Mistakes Gunowners Make and Guns That Get No Respect. When he publishes the edit, I’ll link it.
More about the Conference tomorrow
Improving Snub Sight Visibility, Again
#wheelgunwednesday
The new Lipsey’s 642 UC (Ultra Carry) is the latest hotness in the revolver community. Its single biggest feature is an upgraded set of sights on it. The sights are a worthy improvement.
Not everyone who owns one of the millions of snub revolvers out there is going to buy something new to get a better set of sights though. I’ve written previously about how to improve the sight visibility of a snub revolver. https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2019/07/10/getting-more-out-of-your-snubs-sights/
The bottom line is that if you can’t see the sights on your snub, you can’t use them.
Earlier this year, I purchased an Ameriglo tritium front sight for my Taurus 856. Although I had already painted the original front sight as outlined in the previous article, I wanted to try out the Ameriglo. Installing it was not difficult, only requiring a 1/16th inch pin punch. Some kind of bench block is helpful. The process is easier if the cylinder is removed so the gun lies flatter on the bench.
A word of warning; the screw that holds the yoke on the Taurus is not one piece assembly like a Smith & Wesson. There’s a small plunger and spring that fits inside the Taurus screw and is a separate assembly. It will come out when the screw is removed. Watch for it and don’t lose it, the screw will not hold the yoke in if the plunger assembly is lost.
The rear of the Ameriglo sight overhangs the barrel a bit and at first I thought that was a design flaw. Then I realized it’s actually very clever. The overhanging lip ensures that the hole for the roll pin holding the sight in place is always in the same spot. It works very well, the pin was easy to reinsert. A replacement pin is included with the sight but I reused the original.
When I took it to the range, I had an issue. While the sight is highly visible, bringing the whole orange area into the rear notch when sighting makes the gun shoot high. This is a common problem when folks paint the entire ramp of a revolver. The natural tendency is to bring the entire colored area visible in the rear notch. Inevitably, this means the top of the front sight is above the top of the rear notch and the gun will shoot high. As long as you’re just trying to hit the 8 ring of a B-27 at 3 yards, this doesn’t matter. However, if you’re trying to put a bullet in the face of the target at 5 yards or more, it becomes very problematic.
I had to consciously bring the top of the sight down into the notch for every shot. This reduced how much the high visibility of the sight contributed to my shooting. I was still able to make my par times but I was working at it.
To remedy this, I painted the lower part of the sight with white Appliance enamel. Fortunately, it was obvious that the tritium dot established the part needing white paint. I’m not concerned about the night sight, so I just painted over it. Masking the area I didn’t want paint on gave a good final result. The original sight with its paint is on the right.
When working on a snub’s sights, putting a large binder clip on the front of the frame will stabilize the revolver and position it properly so you can do your artistry. Put some tape or cloth around the frame if you are concerned about scratching it. Note also that the rear notch is blackened with an Ultra Fine Point Sharpie.
The system that inspired this method of painting sights is the Optical Landing System used by pilots landing on aircraft carriers. They learn to use the visual reference very quickly while landing and with some practice, using the sight paint on the front sight to achieve a good sight alignment becomes second nature too.
If I see the white, I know the sight is too high. If I don’t see the orange, I know to bring the front sight up. After doing it for a while, this becomes as instinctive as driving between the lines on the road, unless you drive a Honda Odyssey, in which case the lines probably aren’t important to you. 😊
I’ll find out how well this works at the 2024 Tactical Conference when I shoot the pistol match.
My ebooks about shooting and personal protection are available on Payloadz. https://store.payloadz.com/results/337896-tactical-professor
SixFerShur 2nd Day
The first day of SixFerShur sold out faster than I expected. My host, The Complete Combatant, has kindly offered to host a second class on the following Sunday. If you weren’t able to register for Saturday, now you still have a chance to learn how to spin your wheels.
Sunday, May 5, Dahlonega, Georgia – Home Range of The Complete Combatant
https://www.shootingclasses.com/thecompletecombatant/course/?courseId=4493
One Day – $199 plus $20 Range fee
Important: Although a few exercises will be shot with small (J Frame ish) revolvers, this is NOT a J Frame course. You will need a full size (K frame or equivalent) revolver to attend. Shooting 300 rounds in a day through an Airweight J Frame only teaches one thing; how to flinch.
I was asked if a Ruger SP101 would be workable for the course. My answer is:
“If you can shoot 300 rounds through it in a day without developing a flinch, that’s the object of the exercise.”
Please be sure you can do that. What I want to avoid is teaching someone how to massively flinch.
https://www.shootingclasses.com/thecompletecombatant/course/?courseId=4493
SixFerShur
I will be conducting the 2024 Revolver Operator Course this May in North Georgia.
May 4, Dahlonega, Georgia – Home Range of The Complete Combatant
One Day – $199 plus $20 Range fee
Important: Although a few exercises will be shot with small (J Frame ish) revolvers, this is NOT a J Frame course. You will need a full size (K frame or equivalent) revolver to attend. Shooting 300 rounds in a day through an Airweight J Frame only teaches one thing; how to flinch.
https://www.shootingclasses.com/thecompletecombatant/course/?courseId=4493
The Pence Drill is one of the two keystone drills of the Revolver Operator Course.
Fair attribution: I liberated the SixFerShur title from Tamara Keel’s blog post because it’s hilarious.
https://booksbikesboomsticks.blogspot.com/2024/03/narrow-focus-cartridge.html
That’s probably what I’ll call the class from now on because “Revolver Operator Course” sounds so mundane by comparison.
Snub Dry Practice Training Aids
#wheelgunwednesday
All discharges of a firearm by LAPD officers must be reported to the LAPD Force Investigation Division. Each discharge is thoroughly investigated, adjudicated by the Board of Police Commissioners (BOPC) for LAPD policy compliance, and a public report posted on the BOPC webpage.
https://www.lapdonline.org/police-commission/categorical-use-of-force
Of particular interest are the off-duty discharges. These usually involve one of two situations. First, situations of self-defense similar to what would be encountered by any non-sworn person who owns a firearm for personal protection. Or, second, Unintentional Discharges due to administrative gunhandling such as: placing or removing the firearm in a storage location, cleaning the firearm, or dry practice “to improve accuracy.” In one rare instance, both situations were involved; a firearm was discharged while being retrieved during a ‘tactical situation.’
In adjudicating Unintentional Discharges cases, the LAPD BOPC subdivides them into two categories.
A. Unintentional Discharge
The definitions for an Unintentional Discharge, both Accidental and Negligent, are as follows:
Accidental Discharge: The unintentional discharge of a firearm as a result of an accident such as a firearm malfunction or other mechanical failure, not the result of operator error.
Negligent Discharge: Finding where it was determined that the unintentional discharge of a firearm resulted from operator error, such as the violation of firearm safety rules.
Administrative Disapproval – Negligent Discharge. Finding where it was determined that the unintentional discharge of a firearm resulted from operator error, such as the violation of a firearm safety rule (Los Angeles Police Department Manual, Volume 3, Section 792.05).
From 2005 to 2023, five Unintentional Discharges of five shot revolvers, which are authorized for backup and off-duty carry, occurred. All five were adjudicated as Negligent Discharges and received Administrative Disapproval. Negligent Discharges are one category of Negative Outcomes https://store.payloadz.com/details/2617872-ebooks-true-crime-serious-mistakes-gunowners-make.html and we obviously want to avoid them.
Four of the five involved preparation for dry practice. The cause of all four was the same. Not all five rounds were ejected from the cylinder when the revolver was unloaded. One round remained in the cylinder when the other four ejected. At some point during the dry practice, a loud noise occurred when a click was expected. That universal cause reinforces my concept of how to prepare for dry practice with a revolver.
https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2020/08/21/dry-practice-safety-part-ii/
Since that article was posted, Zeta6 and I teamed up to create the SafeSnap Training Disc.
https://zetasix.com/product-category/safesnap
I now keep a SafeSnap Disc in my storage box, along with an empty HKS speedloader, to make my dry practice even safer. Although I don’t carry an HKS, I find it’s the easiest of all speedloaders to put ammunition in.
I rotate the revolver so the muzzle is pointing straight up, eject the live rounds from the snub, place them in the speedloader, and then put the SnapSafe in the revolver. Holding the revolver completely vertical is an important aspect of ejecting the live ammunition. Holding it at angle and catching the rounds in the palm of the other hand is a dangerous technique and is “cruisin’ for a bruisin’.” Sooner or later, doing that will bite you in the ass; hard.
This procedure makes the possibility of having a Negligent Discharge during dry practice fairly remote. I also have a Zeta6 K-PAK2 https://zetasix.com/product/k-pak2/ with dummy rounds for reloading practice in the box. It is set up with a Retention Ring https://retentionring.com/ to mimic my EDC reload.
All the live ammunition stays in the box and the box gets closed while I’m practicing. When I’m finished practicing, I rigidly follow the post-practice safety protocols described in the above linked article.
Dry practice is a key component of learning how to shoot well. When doing it, we want to avoid having the Negative Outcome of “causing damage to equipment or injury to personnel,” which was a graded aspect required to pass the Special Forces Weapons Qualification Course that has stuck with me for the past 44 years. Having the right training aids and following safety protocols in a disciplined manner is how we can avoid those Negative Outcomes.
FTC Note: I have a relationship with Zeta6 and Retention Ring but receive no compensation for mentioning their products.
A Way of the Wheelgun
#wheelgunwednesday
In 2022, I created a four month Patreon series for developing shooting and gunhandling skills with snub nosed revolvers. There are a total of 65 articles in the series and it is the online equivalent of a book. All the articles are now available as a Collection on my Patreon page. Unlike a book, you can read it at your leisure on your Smartphone.
The basis for the Series is the principles and techniques of the Snub Nose classes I taught for decades and the two DVDs I made about snubs. Also included are examples of what went right and wrong in several real life incidents involving snubs.
There is a great deal of emphasis in the Series on ‘dry practice,’ i.e., practice without ammunition. There is also periodic live fire (originally monthly) of no more than 50 rounds. The live fire is compatible with either indoor or outdoor ranges because the vast majority (999/1000 by my calculation) of gunowners only have access to indoor ranges.
The first three posts in the Collection are unlocked and available for anyone to read. These initial posts describe Safety Protocols during dry practice to avoid putting bullet holes in people, places, and things where they are undesirable. Tragedies can and do take place during dry practice and we want to avoid those at all costs.
For anyone who owns and/or carries a snub, this is a good program. Anyone who does any dry practice, whether with a revolver or autoloader, will benefit from at least reading the first three posts about Safety Protocols.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/snub-revolver-97045992
Subscribers to my Concealed Carry Skills Tier ($3/month) https://www.patreon.com/TacticalProfessor have access to all the articles in the Collection plus all the articles I write on Patreon about marksmanship and gunhandling. In the financial industry, we’d say the Return On Investment (ROI) is very high.
Shoot Yor Guns
#wheelgunwednesday
Before he passed away, the late Paul Gomez made a post about “Shoot Yor …. Guns.” This story is an example of why shooting your guns is important.
A couple of years ago, a colleague brought me her friend’s gun to fix. The friend said she had tried to shoot a coyote in her backyard one afternoon and the gun wouldn’t fire. It was a moderately used Model 64 Smith & Wesson revolver that had been gifted to her by a relative.
When I unloaded it and snapped it, everything seemed okay. There were three different kinds of ammo in it but none of them had a primer strike. The hammer nose protruded through the recoil shield properly so I took it to the range and fired it. It worked fine.
As it turns out, she had never fired it and didn’t realize a revolver has a heavy trigger pull. Her assumption was that the trigger pull was so heavy because the gun was broken. I cleaned it, put some proper ammo in it, and gave it back.
Just as well it didn’t fire because she lives inside the city limits of a municipality where shooting is prohibited. Unloading a cylinder of .38s probably would have brought the POlice, along with at least a citation. Also, although Georgia allows coyote hunting year-round, a hunting license is required. So it might have become a Department of Natural Resources game hunting issue. Coyotes can only be shot on your property without a license if they are attacking, which this one was not.
Moral of the story: don’t assume your gun works or that it will work for you until you’ve fired it. It’s also good to know the law about shooting animals, which is not as simple as people think. That’s true regardless of whether the animal has four legs or two.
Click on the image below for more information about shooting two legged animals.
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
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