Empty Chamber Carry – I
#fridayfundamentals
Empty Chamber Carry is strongly opposed by the US private sector training community and the ‘cognoscenti’ of the firearms community. However, carrying with the chamber empty is still a very common practice by large swathes of gun owners. Regardless of opposition to the concept, it is what it is. Some discussion beyond “Don’t Do It” is in order.
This is the first in a series of Fridayfundamentals posts about carrying with an empty chamber. The series is intended neither to advocate nor oppose empty chamber carry but rather to discuss aspects of it not typically examined. A sidenote is that many aspects of the discussion also apply to hammer down carry (Condition Two) with 1911 pistols but that is for another time.
First consider the advocates of carrying with an empty chamber.
- Fairbairn/Sykes in Shooting To Live.
- Israeli military/POlice, although it’s reported that this has relaxed in the past decade.
- Many foreign militaries and POlice forces.
- The US Army until the publication of the May 2017 version of TC 3-23.35 Pistol.
As one commentator noted when the May 2017 TC was published:
Since many people do carry with an empty chamber, let’s work with what we’ve got from the standpoint of instruction.
The single biggest problem with the method is the technique that new gunowners usually employ to load the chamber. The most common technique seen is to hold the pistol in the shooter’s workspace and pull the slide inward toward the body and out of the workspace. Most often the slide is held during the entire operation, retarding the strength of the recoil spring.
This is exactly opposite of what needs to occur. Pulling the slide inward significantly increases the possibility of not fully loading the chamber. This could be a disaster. At least one surveillance video shows an armed robber whose pistol didn’t load completely, which led to his demise.
Here’s a graphic from TC 3-23.35 that illustrates the workspace and its relationship to pistol operation.
Both Shooting To Live and the classic Israeli technique advocate holding the pistol in the workspace and then pushing the pistol forward to the outer limit of the workspace. The slide is held in place while the pistol is pushed outward.
Here’s a series of updated sketches from Chapter 3 of the edited and annotated edition of Shooting To Live that I will be publishing this year. A number of the original Shooting To Live sketches had to be redone due to finger in the trigger guard violations.
Similarly, the classical Israeli technique is to hold the pistol parallel to the ground in the workspace. The slide is held stationary and the pistol is pushed forward toward the enemy and fired.
Note that both Shooting To Live and classic Israeli use the slingshot method of grasping the slide rather than hand over the top of the slide.
The discussions of Empty Chamber Carry rarely include any commentary about what to do after the pistol is loaded, regardless of whether it is fired or not. One of the few comments ever seen was “If I don’t have to shoot, I’ll immediately download the chamber when I get back to my car.” Downloading or unloading afterward is an important enough topic for Shooting To Live to include it as part of the initial 30 round Recruit Training Program. Chapter IV states:
“In all practices at surprise targets, opportunity must be found for the performance of two very essential operations. In order of importance, these are:—
1. Making safe after firing only a portion of the contents of the magazine.
2. Inserting a second magazine after totally expending the contents of the first and continuing to fire without delay.
In the first instance, after firing one or two shots from a fully charged magazine, the instructor should give the order to cease fire. The shooter should then come to the ‘ready,’ remove the magazine, eject the live round from the breech, work the slide back and forth several times and finally pull the trigger, all as described [in] (Figs. 9 and 10).”
Note the order of importance Shooting To Live placed on unloading and reloading. Making the pistol safe after an incident was considered of greater importance than reloading during an incident. It’s probable to assume this priority came from their observation of hundreds of gunfights. Concerns and technique for After Contact actions will be covered in the next post.
Wedding officiant accidentally shoots grandson
#safetySaturday
“It was a blank,” Houchin said in response to a question from a local reporter. “What it was is: it was a .45 Colt ammunition. What he did was put black powder into the casing and then glued it. And what we believe is the glue is what injured the child.”
Actors Brandon Lee and Jon-Eric Hexum both died from blanks fired while filming.
After Alec Baldwin shot and killed his cinematographer on set, Hollywood weapons expert Larry Zanoff commented about blanks.
“[T]here is a minimum safety distance of 20 feet in front of the muzzle because even with a blank, smoke and burning embers can get propelled out of the gun. There should be nothing in front of it when filming is occurring with firearms.”
It was reported that the weapon fired at the wedding was a Pietta 1860 snub nose revolver with a .45 Colt conversion cylinder.
“When he decided to cock back the hammer of this revolver it slipped and it shot his grandson in the left shoulder, causing an injury,” authorities said.
Firearms are relentlessly unforgiving of the slightest lapse in attention or competence. The shooter has probably been ‘shooting for years.’ Unfortunately, as is sometimes said of the law enforcement profession:
“Some people have 20 years of experience and some people have one year of experience 20 times.”
This happening was eerily similar to an incident several years ago in which a father accidentally killed his teenage son at an indoor range. https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/04/us/florida-father-shoots-son/index.html Fortunately, the consequences of the Texas misadventure were not quite as tragic.
If you would like to learn more about Serious Mistakes Gunowners Make and the Negative Outcomes that result, please buy my ebook.
Surveillance Detection After a Confrontation
My friend Annette Evans https://onherown.life/ brought this incident to my attention on Facebook.
“A 26-year-old singer and model is in critical condition following a double shooting near a Home Depot parking lot in Brooklyn that appears to have stemmed from a dispute over a parking spot.”
https://abc7ny.com/model-shot-brooklyn-parking-lot-dispute/13767615/
She was shot in the head and her boyfriend was shot in the leg. She was removed from life support and died five days later. A convicted felon was arrested and charged with Murder.
As the saying about the opera goes:
“It’s not over until the fat lady sings.”
I never assume that just because the parties to a confrontation have separated that one side doesn’t harbor ill feelings and intends a follow-up. Having been in similar situations, I have plans to Escape and Evade any cuckoos who follow me afterward.
This is an excellent book on the subject. It deals mostly with targeted surveillance, e.g., stalkers, crazy ex‑partners, and the like, but even when dealing with randos, it has good advice. FTC Note: I have no affiliation with the authors or publishers and receive no commissions from any sales.
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
Memories of the Cold War – The Fulda Gap
#throwbackthursday
Trigger Warning! This is a series of posts about my personal experiences. It has nothing to do with self-defense, hand guns, or Personal Protection.
Where is the Fulda Gap? The geographic answer is that it is an area in Germany having considerable lowlands flanked by hilly terrain. During the Cold War, it was just west of the border between East and West Germany.
What was its significance during the Cold War? The topography of the Fulda Gap makes it favorable for the movement of armored vehicles. It is strategically close to the Rhine river and other NATO countries. These factors made it the logical location as the primary invasion route of Soviet forces into NATO territory. It was where every US Army infantry and armored soldier of the Cold War period considered we might die in battle.
Contrary to foolish current opinions, usually by people who weren’t even alive back then, that the end of the Soviet Union was predictable and inevitable, it was not at all obvious at the time. A review on Amazon of The Third World War August 1985 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001L1UGPG/ contained this absolutely accurate statement.
“I lived through this era as a U.S. Navy officer, and back in the day NO ONE expected the USSR to collapse when it did, in the way it did. Sir John Hackett accurately captured the built in contradictions of the Soviet Socialist system, and missed only the mode of its collapse, predicting a desperate military lunge instead of the amazingly peaceful self-termination that actually happened.”
The Third World War August 1985 was required reading when I was an ROTC cadet in the early 1980s. We all considered the possibility that we would be assigned to the border as some point in our careers.
Facing each other along the Gap were two powerful and antagonistic armored formations. The US Amy V Corps, comprised of an Armored Cavalry Regiment, a Mechanized Infantry Division, and an Armored Division, along with various aviation units, was on the NATO side of the border. Arrayed against them in East Germany was a Soviet Guards Army of three Motorized Rifle Divisions and one Tank Division plus air assets.
Annually during the Cold War, a massive exercise called Return of Forces to Germany (REFORGER) was conducted by the Army. The purpose was to reinforce Army units already stationed in the event of war or imminent war. An article about REFORGER https://www.ausa.org/articles/we-were-there-reforger-exercises-designed-counter-soviet-threat made this trenchant statement:
“REFORGER was more than an annual exercise, as it became part of the Army’s DNA and connective tissue to the nation’s allies.”
The 1st Ranger Battalion was part of an early REFORGER exercise in 1975 while I was in it. Since Rangers are a Light Infantry Airborne unit, they can be quickly deployed by air in the early stages of a war. We had no illusions that if the invasion actually happened any of us would be coming back. Our pathetic little 90mm Recoilless Rifles would probably only make dents in Soviet T-72 tanks, assuming we weren’t wiped out by massive Soviet artillery concentrations before the tanks ever got to us.
The Los Angeles Times published an interesting article about the Fulda Gap in 1987. It mentions “leftist politicians,” which is an entertaining reference from that newspaper.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-03-01-mn-6926-story.html
Another interesting article about the Fulda Gap is available from The Black Horse (11th Armored Cavalry Regiment) Association. https://www.blackhorse.org/history-of-the-fulda-gap/
Over the course of decades, hundreds of thousands of soldiers served in West Germany and hundreds of thousands more were prepared to give up our lives there. It’s a memory that none of us will ever forget.
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
Setting Ourselves Up for Failure
Chicago TV news crew robbed at gunpoint while filming a story on robberies
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/chicago-tv-news-crew-robbed-020000583.html
“Common sense is not a flower that grows in everyone’s garden.”
A friend’s comment about many people’s critical thinking skills
When I lived in Chicargo, several of my friends moved to the Wicker Park neighborhood because it was both trendy and convenient. One of the first things they did when I went to visit was to show me the guns they had bought. The guns were all pistol grip shotguns because at that time Chicargo didn’t allow any new handguns to be registered. Citizens who wanted to be armed just bought shotguns instead; so much for the efficacy of gun control.
Although it’s easy to poke fun at folks like the news crew that was robbed, they are far from the only people who are oblivious to dangers they place themselves in. People unthinkingly do it every single day.
While talking at The Home Depot with a friend who is an Assistant Manager there, she spotted two men walk out the door while carrying something but didn’t stop at the cashier. Her reaction was to run out the door after them. It turned out that they had legitimately done an exchange at the Service Desk and weren’t stealing. When she returned to where we were talking, I was nowhere to be found.
She looked around and saw me standing behind a display wall. When we started talking again, the conversation changed to a different subject.
Her: “I thought I had pissed you off while we were talking.”
Me: “No, I was just taking cover in case they started shooting when you chased them.”
Her: “I never thought of it but I guess that was a possibility.”
Me: “There are more killings and shootings at Home Depot than is generally known.”
I mentioned to her about the recent killing in the Florida Home Depot of a young woman by the father of her child. https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/escambia-county-home-depot-shooting Two bystander employees were wounded during the murder. She hadn’t even heard about it. Not long before that an Asset Protection officer was shot and killed at a California Home Depot while chasing a thief. https://abc7news.com/pleasanton-home-depot-shooting-blake-mohs-worker-killed-suspect/13161846/
“It’s not the bullet with my name on it that I’m worried about, it’s the one marked ‘To Whom It May Concern’ that scares me most.“
Army saying
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.
tacticalprofessor 
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