Chamber Empty Carry and Perfect Storm Scenarios

In the concealed carry world, we talk about different scenarios where one may find themselves drawing a firearm and defending themselves. Everything from home invasions, robberies, active shooter scenarios, multiple attackers, single attackers, female attackers and everything in between.


There are two distinct types of scenarios that are kind of dangerous to the mental physique of a concealed carrier. Those two are the Kobayashi Maru, AKA the un-winnable scenario (taken from Star Trek 2, the Wrath of Khan) and what I call the "Perfect Storm" scenario.


In the perfect storm scenario, every possible thing goes in favor of the defending party.


A "good" scenario needs to be somewhere in the middle, you should think about and plan for things going wrong and totally not the way that we would "want" it to go. Why? Stuff happens. Sure, the desired outcome is being victorious, but if all you think about is the perfect storm, you don't take into account a lot of variables that can effect a victorious outcome.


We would all like to think that on any given day that we may be called to draw and God forbid use our firearm that we will have crystal clear situational awareness, see the threat approaching from 20 yards away with a red neon sign indicating evil intent, have all the time in the world to sweep a concealment garment out of the way, draw the pistol, step into the text book stance of our liking, and aim in at the target ensuring proper sight alignment, sight picture and start tactical breathing all by the time the threat reaches that magic number of 21' so we can dispense a text-book Mozambique and save the day!



That's probably not the way it's going to happen.



The day that you end up needed to draw your pistol and fight for your life will probably be the day that your dog died, your wife left you for your best friend, you just found out that you're getting fired from your job and your favorite team is not going to the Super Bowl this year.


You're going to have things on your mind, you may see the guy approaching but so what, this day can't get any worse, maybe you even think "Man I wish this guy would try something so I could kick his ass!" and while you're day dreaming, playing THAT scenario out with a grin on your face the dude is now inside your space and straight jacks you in the jaw and THEN you're trying to go for your gun etc.


So where am I going with this? Some of the individuals in the "Carry Community" take these things this into account: what if I don't see it coming, what if I'm injured, what if I'm out numbered, what if.... lack of good lighting, clear threat indicators, etc. We think about things from the worst possible angle, not the best. Lets be honest, if we even have to draw our gun, any hopes of an easy way out of this situation has all ready gone up in smoke and we've just won the lottery of shitty luck, and it's probably not going to get any better.


But if there's one group of people that seem to glance over this it's the "Chamber Empty" or Condition 3 Crowd. Condition Three, or C3 is the weapons condition code for loaded magazine in the firearm, but the chamber is empty requiring manual preparation of the firearm (Most often manually cycling the slide) before the gun can be used.


The most common means of getting the firearm ready for action is to use the support hand to manipulate the slide. That's pretty easy, after all that's pretty much what a lot of people do to load the gun in the first place or it's what many do when facilitating a slide lock or emergency reload.


The main-stay of most C3 carriers regarding this is that "it only takes a second (on a static range, at a non moving target, in optimal conditions) to get the slide moving and chamber a cartridge."


I speculate that many have never tried this with gloves on or in the rain with wet hands, or better yet on their back with their support hand keeping an attacker at bay. Never mind the fact that they are relying on an appendage that may not be available when in need to operate that gun. What if the first indication of an attack is a ball bat striking your support side elbow? What if the threat is pretty close, lets give it the ideal Tueller range of 7 yards and your attacker rushes you and now you're trying to get off the X. When you start rapidly moving your hands tend to travel in opposite directions. You can fumble the loading process by short stroking the slide and now have a JAMMED gun.


If the stats are to be believed, an average gunfight is supposed to be 3yards, 3-5 shots, and be over in 3-5 seconds. Do you want one third of that time (assuming all the ideal conditions have been met) spent trying to get your gun ready to shoot back?


If you are responding with lethal force, you are all ready behind the power curve, you are even further handicapped with a firearm in that is not ready to be fired.


I can understand many that are new to carry or maybe even shooting in general to be....concerned with Condition One (C1-- loaded magazine inserted, cartridge in chamber, firearm on safe (if equipped with one)). For the most part that will wear off with time as training is obtained and the shooter's comfort level increases. But there are some that should know better than to cling to C3 carry as as a "safer" method of carry. Their claim is that there is no possible chance of negligent discharge. While that is true, there's also a lesser chance of an INTENTIONAL discharge.


Provided that proper equipment and gun handling is being used, a firearm carried C1 is just as "safe" as a firearm being carried C3.


Just today I read the following from two members of a gun forum:





Um No. I practice racking with left hand as I get on target. Pretty fast after all these years. No write [right] or wrong here. I just do it the same EVERY time.

AND


Most of the time I don't carry with one in the chamber either, as I posted quite a while ago. Some people don't realize exactly how quickly you can chamber a round if they don't practice it much, if at all. Don't have to worry about ND/AD at all (as long as we treat them like they are loaded every time), if a bg (or even a child) somehow gets your gun it will not fire without racking the slide, no bullet setback. There's a lot more benefits too but I don't have time to list them atm. As long as you practice, it makes no difference how you carry, anyone who thinks otherwise hasn't practiced it enough.


Regarding the first statement, if this chambering process is done the same "every time" how will this process be effected when it CAN'T be done the same way as practiced? What about the possibility of fending off an attacker while drawing a firearm? Lets take the human threat aspect out of this, as much as the concealed carry loves "dog topics," I hate them but lets go there for a second.


What if you're being mauled by that viscous poodle from down the street and your support hand or "weak hand" is now an effective chew toy that managed to keep the dog from latching to your throat? How will you chamber a round then?


Now, I don't put a whole lot of weight into this being something that everyone needs to worry about. There are lots of other possibilities and what ifs and it doesn't take a big imagination to create possible scenarios that would hamper one's ability to defend themselves with an unloaded gun.


I did ask the author of the first statement what he would do should he suffer an injury such as a broken arm, sprained wrist, or shoulder injury and he replied with something along the lines of if aliens removed his arm in his sleep that he would carry with a round in the chamber. Do you really think he's taking carry seriously if he can't even factor in real life injuries? All that time spent doing one way of loading that gun with his support hand is one fall off a ladder, one slip on an icy drive, or one sports injury away from being completely irrelevant.


In the event that the support hand is tied up, many will advocate a rear sight that will facilitate one handed racking of the slide. The idea is not relegated solely to the C3 crowd. It's "tactical" to be able to do this and I will admit that most of my guns have this capability. It's mainly done for malfunction clearing should the support hand be injured, etc. Doing this on the draw can be problematic depending on mode of carry and location. It can add excessive movement to a draw stroke. Remember that 1 second time to chamber a round being 1/3 of a gun fight? That one second grows to 1.5, to 2 seconds pretty quick when the process becomes more complicated. Using the rear sight of a pistol to cycle the slide will depend on a lot of variables going right to do it under stress. That rear sight isn't very large and you need an object or surface to use in conjunction with that rear sight.


Regarding the second, italicized statement, I think that the reason that every single professional instructor out there advocates carrying with a round in the chamber is that they have "practiced" enough to see the huge disadvantages and training gaps associated with carrying a firearm C3 for self defense. I would think that if some TRAINING were added to supplement the "practice" and a little more knowledge be learned about how sudden a situation can develop, fight continuum, getting off the "X" and close quarters defense etc. that attitude might change.


I'm very big on solidarity regarding weapons functionality. I don't want to have a draw stroke process that is different or X, Y, and Z. Getting your gun out of the holster and into play should should be A+B=C, not solve for X.

Pearls of Wisdom From The Greatest Generation Part 1

Pearls of Wisdom From The Greatest Generation Part 1


-Select quotes from “Shooting to Live” –


Fairbairn and Sykes

I am utterly amazed that I have not read this piece before now, I’ve seen it mentioned many times over, have seen it available when shopping for other books but have never pulled the trigger on it so to speak until know. The following is just a list of quotes from the book that jumped out at me for a variety of reasons.

“It must not be inferred on that account that we in any way decry the sport of target shooting. On the contrary, we admire the high degree of skill for which it calls and which we personally cannot emulate.”

…
“Target shooting has its place and we have no quarrel with it. There probably will quarrel, however, when we go on to say that beyond helping to teach care in the handling of fire-arm, target shooting is of no value whatever whatever in learning the use of the pistol as a weapon of combat. The two things are as different from each other as chalk from cheese, and what has been learned from target shooting is best unlearned if proficiency is desired in the use of the pistol under actual fighting conditions.”

Now don't get me wrong here, my reason for quoting this piece of text is not to bash competition shooting in general, during the time when this work was being written USPSA and IDPA were non-existent. Bull's-eye was the pistol sport of the day,  but that being said we still need to reflect on the matter of USPSA and IDPA as well as what commonly passes for training as related to the carrying of arms in this country.

I think we all need a little reminder every now and then that USPSA and IDPA are no substitute for attending proper training when it comes to fighting with a handgun. This is should also reinforce the known that the basic marksmanship class that many take to meet training requirements is just not good enough. I'm very happy to see the widely available training. I think Fairbairn and Sykes would be pleased with the many programs available today.

“…you may find that you have to shoot from some awkward position, not necessarily even while on your feet. There is no exaggeration in this analysis of fighting conditions. Here we have a set of circumstances which in every respect are absolutely different from those encountered in target shooting. Do they not call for absolutely different methods of training?"

Weaver, Iso, Modern Iso, whatever your favorite flavor is, if you sudenly find yourself going for your gun, and incorporate any kind of movement, you're not going to be in your favorite stance. One of the things that I do like about IDPA etc. is that some match directors like to get some unorthodox shooting "positions" in there. 

"To answer this question, we much consider the essential points which emerge from our analysis. They appear to be three in number, and we should set them out in the following order: -

1: Extreme speed, both in drawing and firing
2: Instinctive, as opposed to deliberate aim.
3: Practice under circumstances which approximate as nearly as possible to actual fighting conditions.

Instinctive aiming, the second essential, is an entirely logical consequence to the extreme speed to which we attach so much importance. That is so for the simple reason that there is no time for any of the customary aids to accuracy. If reliance on those aids has become habitual, so much the worse for you if you are shooting to live. There is no time, for instance, to put yourself into some special stance to align the sights of the pistol, and any attempt to do so places you at the mercy of quicker opponent."

 This will be touched on a little more in depth in my review of the Point Shooting Progressions Course I recently attended but some things covered therein and some things seen as something that needs to be addressed in training regarding to close range encounters. Again on the training aspect, I hope this information reaches those that think they're NRA Basic Pistol Course is all they need in terms of firearms training. Don't get me wrong, the Basic Course is fine for teaching fundamentals etc. but it's incredibly lacking in regards to defensive use of the pistol.

"We cannot claim that the system produces nail-driving marksmanship, but that is not what we look for. We want the ability to hit with extreme speed man-sized targets at very short ranges under the difficult circumstances which have been outlined all ready. Nail-driving marksmanship will not cope with such conditions."

I can't say I agree or disagree on this. Again, in the PSP course we worked on a lot of things that I had done in other training classes, such as the Langdon Tactical Inc, Advanced Tactical Pistol Course, some drills / exercises were almost identical expect that we were using sighted fire in one and "point shooting" in another. I would say that I had more accurate hits in the Langdon class, but more hits in the PSP class, and they were not what I would call inaccurate. While we did a LOT of moving in the Langdon class, we did FASTER moving in the PSP course but the lack of waiting for perfect sight alignment / sight picture allowed for a lot more shots on target resulting in more hits, and while they weren't all in the "down zero"

There's a saying attributed to Bill Jordan:

"Speed is fine, accuracy is final."

Where this falls into play...at this moment I'm not quite sure what the correct balance of speed vs. accuracy is. I've been trying to improve my ratio of both speed and accuracy and as of right now I think I have to go with getting good hits and with more time and practice the speed will improve.

"In this training system nothing is permitted to interfere with the development of speed. For that reason we have steadily set our faces against competitions or rewards of any kind. The instant that competitions, with the accompanying medals, badges, etc., are introduced, men will try to shoot deliberately, whether consciously or not, and we find our object is being defeated."

 Man, did this one strike home or what? When you look at the history of the Leather Slappers, USPSA, IDPA, or any kind of scored system...it's impossible to refute the above quote. I got in to IDPA for the "practice" aspect of it and to have a better avenue to apply what I've learned in training and I find myself trying to shoot more for score and competition and I know I'm not the only one. At the end of last season I was pretty determined to leave the game aspect of it behind and I will try to hold myself to that and not care where I place.

The Keith Borders Incident: Why I Love This as a Reference

First and foremost, I regret the taking of any life as I do feel that life is sacred, I feel for the wounded officer for having to take a life, I feel for Mettinger family and all those involved.


But I love this story.  I've referenced this article in two sepearate posts:

An End to the Caliber Debate?
Sometimes "Center of mass" Just Isn't Good Enough...

And I want to take a little more time to address why I find this article so worth hanging onto and discussing any time I can.

It contradicts everything about "average gun fights"

Yes, this is a story about a law enforcement officer, but is it too hard to think of a scenario where this could be you against a felon inside your home with your family that is armed with a shotgun?

From the failure of the .45ACP with six (6) center mass hits (and a severed foot), to the amount of ammo expended, to the fact that a pistol beat a long gun, to the fact that an officer almost had to draw his back up gun, this story smacks down every thing that is erroneously regurgitated by the masses regarding training, prepardness, mindset, and equipment.

"Two shots from a .45 center mass will take a person out of the fight"
WRONG! This guy took 6 hits to the chest and had his foot taken off, AND NO he was not "on drugs"

"But the average gun fight is 3-5 shots"
 TOO BAD! While covering and suppressive fire are seldom found in civilian shootings, it's not a far fetch to admit that it may be required. As gang activity continues to increase and the "issues with Mexico" continue to spill over who knows what some may encounter.

"I don't need to carry a spare mag, let alone two."
THINK AGAIN! This officer was carrying a Glock 21, it has a capacity of 13+1, he almost expended ALL of the ammo for his duty gun and was looking to pull his back up, a revolver holding five (5) cartridges.  He fired 39 times and scored 10 hits, 7 of those hits were to vital areas.

"If the bad guy has a long gun and all you have is a pistol, you're done for" 
NOT IF YOU HAVE THE WILL, AND THE SKILL TO SURVIVE. (a whole lot of luck also goes a long way)

"The basic class I took six years ago was more than enough" 
FIREARMS TRAINING IS NOT A ONE TIME DEAL! 

Firearms Training
Officer Borders credits his firearms training for much of his success. He scored 10 hits out of 39 rounds fired, for a hit ratio of 26 percent, and seven of his hits were to vital areas. Although a 26 percent hit ratio is only about average for a police shooting, Borders' accuracy was far better than his hit ratio seems to indicate. Besides the fact that Mettinger was often more than 20 yards away, never closer than eight yards, and moving or behind good cover for most of the gunfight, Borders also expended a large number of rounds in his successful effort to keep Mettinger from reaching the 00 buckshot stored in the back of the garage. In addition, Borders had to deal with the blood flowing into his eyes, which distracted him, blurred his vision and forced him to pause several times to wipe it away. Under the circumstances, Officer Borders' accuracy was exceptional and that kind of proficiency cannot be achieved without good training.

Did your eight hour NRA Basic Pistol Class prepare you for this? Did the on-line class you took even teach you how to shoot? How long ago was that class? Have you ever drawn from your concealed holster and fired a single shot? Have you ever performed a reload from a magazine carrier on your belt? When the gunsmoke is filling the air and people are screaming, you're not going to have a range bag on a nice tidy bench for your to fish through at your leisure.

Training is paramount.

It is also important to note that Borders is a person who is never content with just being good enough. Rather than settle for the firearms training provided by his department, as good as it was, he trained on his own as often as possible. In addition, he practiced not only his basic shooting skills, but advanced skills as well, like the ricochet shots that served him so well in this case. This is typical of winners. They recognize that police work is a serious business that exposes its practitioners to violent people in desperate situations. Rather than be frightened by that fact, they plan for the day when it may happen by training as hard and as often as possible.

Some key points from the summary of the article:

• Trust your instincts when you detect potential danger signs, and always put safety first. 
• Consider carrying a third spare magazine and a backup gun in case you're ever involved in an extended gunfight involving the expenditure of an unusually large number of rounds. Backup guns can also be invaluable in a wide variety of other situations. Every officer should carry one.*
• Gunshot wounds are seldom fatal. If you are shot, ignore the wound and focus on winning instead.**
•  Besides developing the skills needed to effectively counter threats, training also instills the self-confidence needed to win. Train often, and train hard. 

*I do not carry three magazines, and have on occasion carried a secondary firearm, at least one spare magazine should be the bare minimum for a "civilian" conealed (or open) carrier. For any LE that may be reading, up your mags to at least three, if your agency allows back up guns (BUGs), carry one of thsoe as well.

**This works both ways, both Mettinger and Borders were hit and continued to stay in the fight. Do not expect one, two, or even three rounds to stop an attacker. I'd rather be surprised after the fact that it only took two or three than standing there in bewilderment that two didn't do the job.

 

In closing, "The Average Gun Fight Is..." If you're in a gun fight, the law of averages is all ready against you. The argument of the average gun fight being 7 yards or less, 3-5 shots and over in 3-5 seconds is just that, average. If you want your capabilities to be "average", you're not looking at this self defense thing the right way. Do you really want to be prepard for the "average" situation when defending your life, or do you want to be prepared for an above average situation?

Getting Started in IDPA

A decent article for those looking to learn more about IDPA. It's often been said that the hardest thing you'll ever do is going to your first match and the easiest thing you'll ever do is going to your second match.

I highly advocate that everyone that carries a gun for defense shoot at least one match. As that other saying goes, "You don't know what you don't know" and a couple matches will definitely clue you in to what you need to work on and is a great way to test out your carry rig etc.

Getting Started in IDPA

An Alternate Look at Handgun Stopping Power

For those that haven't seen this yet, this is a pretty good read from Greg Ellifritz who readers of this blog should know from the TDI After Action Reviews posted elsewhere.

An Alternate Look at Handgun Stopping Power

Selecting a Handgun for Defense Pt. 2: Revolvers

Selecting a Handgun for Defense Pt. 2: Defensive Revolvers

I've been working on this for a while so it may be a little dated as I have not reviewed or entered 2011's product offerings. I received a lot of positive feedback on Part 1 of this covering automatics and some have been asking for Part 2.

Let me say that I am not a revolver guru and my opinions here are based on a good working knowledge of revolvers and firearms in general and are not that of an expert in the area of revolvers.

When it comes to revolvers, the options are much simpler than when looking at automatics. While current trends seem to favor semi-automatic pistols for self defense use, the role of the revolver is still alive and well for defensive purposes. Some may lack the hand strength to properly manipulate the slide of an automatic which is necessary function in making the pistol ready and clearing a jam should one occur. Along with being able to manipulate the slide one must have the needed hand/arm strength to keep a firm grip on a semi-auto to ensure proper function. A poor grip/muscular control will lead to what is referred to as “limp wristing”.


Limp wristing is when the grip frame of a semi-auto pistol is not firmly grasped and/or the wrist is not “locked’ and allows the hand to travel in a manner that allows the gun to shift during recoil in a manner that will prevent the slide from fully cycling to the rear resulting in a feed jam of the firearm. If one lacks the hand strength to properly handle or manipulate an auto, a revolver should be the preferred handgun of choice. While some shooters may have the hand strength to manipulate an auto, some just may want something simpler. No reciprocating slide, no magazines to come loose, not as complicated to clean etc. A revolver is pretty basic in terms of use and care. About the best reason for carrying a revolver that was recently brought up by a Deputy friend is that when shootings take place in very close quarters, the slide of a semi-automatic can get snagged and jam and slides can be pressed out of battery etc., for revolvers this is a non-issue.

AAR: InSights Training Center: General Defensive Handgun

This is a review from our class with Greg Hamilton of InSights Training back in September of '07, some details of the class may have changed since we took it, but it was and I'm sure still is a fantastic class for those new to defensive shooting.

My wife and I took this course a couple of weeks ago. For the $300 per student it was a damn good class. The lecture was superb, the shooting portion was a little fast, but when you have only two days to learn and shoot, you will feel rushed. One thing that I was not happy about was that the class description quoted 600 rounds as being required and we went home with ammo, I'd guess that the class was probably a 60/40 lecture/shooting ratio.

While I didn't really get anything out of the lecture regarding mindset and tactics, for newer shooters looking to carry concealed who haven't thought about a lot of things, this was a great class. As for actual shooting related topics of discussion I finally got a solid answer on the one thing that has been driving me nuts for over a year, mainly how do deal with my left eye dominant/right handed issue (I'm not going to get into this as that's a whole other story) the important thing is that it helped me out.

On the range I learned a good deal about the finer points of stance, drawing, and reholstering as well as doing lots of "tactical" reloads, clearance drills, and speed reloads. My wife and I are pretty much self taught shooters when it comes to pistols, so a lot of the finer points of how to do shoot a pistol better were new to me and made perfect sense.

Again this is just be being picky, and you'll probably find this at any class you'll ever go to, but if your on the skilled side of the class, the odds of actually getting any help on what you're doing wrong is pretty slim as there will be plenty of others that need the help more than you.

The lectures focused on disparity of force, threat escalation, holster selection, proper sight alignment / sight picture and the difference between the two. Also covered were a lot of the shooting basics and safety rules that are part of every class.

The Rise of Rhome, A Review of the DGL #2 IWB

This is a holster review from February of '09, thought I'd toss it up here as I'm looking at trying to get one of his holsters (the IWB #4) for my Sig 238 provided the replacement runs. 

Along time ago way back when, I first happened to come across DefensiveCarry.com (CombatCarry back then) and I dug into the Mega-Holster Maker Links page, bookmarked about half a dozen makers and then started making decisions on gear I wanted and started searching out info on those makers.

Of those that I was looking I really liked what I saw from Desibens Gunleather. The gear looked solid and there were no complaints on wait time, price, etc. This was to be my first custom holster so I was a little hesitant after hearing some horror stories. The holster was for my Kimber CDP Compact, previous to that I was carrying it in my Galco Royal Guard for my 5” 1911. I ordered an IWB and two magazine carriers from Rhome in horse with a cherry finish, I loved the holster, but the horse just wasn’t right for me in that configuration, and eventually I ended up tossing the holster in with the CDP for a trade, I kept the magazine carriers and used them often. Currently those magazine carriers are being used by my Father who is currently using them and my Royal Guard for CCW duty in MI.

I never got around to ordering another rig from Rhome prior to his departure from the States. He’s come back and set up shop again in California and has started making holsters again with some new designs, Rhome contacted me and asked me to review one of his new holsters and I was pleased to accept. I received the holster on 1-16-09 and was pleased with what I saw. The first thing that tickled me was that he included a sheet of wax paper and instructions on break in, I made a point to ask him about this and the sheet of wax paper will be included with all holsters, in case a buyer doesn’t have the wax paper this will save him a trip to the store for a whole roll when just a small piece is need…I just thought that was damn cool. Also included was a care and use sheet which those familiar with Gary B’s website will recognize.

The holster I received is the IWB #2 for a 5” 1911 which is based on the Brommeland Max-Con V. Now before we go any further, I asked Rhome if Gary was aware that he was making a rig based on Gary’s work and his reply was that even he is having trouble getting in touch with Gary, but Rhome does give Gary credit where it’s due as Gary was an inspiration in Rhome’s own work, so lets not go into a “He stole “X” from “Y” debate.

An End to the Caliber Debate?

Officer Down: A Warrior's Sacrifice


Resistance to Gunfire

Mettinger absorbed nine rounds from Borders' .45—six of which hit him in the torso and two more of which literally severed his right foot—without any significant effect on his fighting ability. This would have been remarkable even if Officer Borders had been firing marginally effective rounds, but he was using .45 caliber Gold Dot ammunition, which is considered by many to be the best man-stopper on the market.

Officer Down: The Peter Soulis Incident

The Aftermath

Remarkably, Palmer had taken 22 hits from Soulis' .40-caliber Glock, 17 of which had hit center mass. Despite the fact that the weapon had been loaded with Ranger SXTs considered by many to be one of the best man-stoppers available Palmer lived for more than four minutes after the last shot was fired. His autopsy revealed nothing more than a small amount of alcohol in his bloodstream. Although Soulis could not have known it, Palmer was wanted for murder in a neighboring state.

Harlem man survives being shot 21 times by NYPD

More than 50 bullets were fired, almost all of them by the police. At least 21 of those bullets pierced Alvarez's body.

Luckily for Alvarez — whose criminal record includes at least eight prior arrests — none of the bullets hit his brain, heart or major arteries. His family members say that even though his arms, legs and torso were riddled with ammunition, Alvarez is "doing all right" and talking. It's believed he'll survive. A forensics expert told the New York Daily News' Simone Weichselbaum and Virginia Breen that Alvarez is probably the new holder of a somewhat dubious record.

"I would say more than 20 gunshot wounds is a record," Dr. Vincent DiMaio, a forensic pathologist who specializes in gunshot wounds, told the paper. "Of course, the real issue is where you get shot. One bullet can kill you, but believe it or not, a body can survive a lot of bullet wounds."

NYPD carries 9s right?

That's .45, .40 and 9mm all failing miserably.

Lesson learned: Accuracy speaks louder than bore size.

AAR: Suarez International Force On Force with Steve Collins

This is my wife's review, I did not attend as I am slated for a 2 day course in VA later this month, but next time this comes through town I'm all in.

I promise that I am not masochistic when I say that spending two days getting shot at in the Suarez International Force on Force training was both painful but fun. The instructor of our particular class was Steve Collins who I think should consider adding a bag of Epsom salts to the list of “needed” items for the class. It is at least a needed item after the class to soak your battered, cut, bruised and often bleeding welts and tenderized muscles.

When I told my mother that I was going to a two-day class where people would shoot at me with air-soft guns, attack me, scream at me and try to hit me among other things, here reaction was, “And you PAY for this?” And I must say that it is money well spent.

I won’t pretend I’m not proud that I was the first female to participate in Force on Force directed by Steve Collins. It’s a bit disappointing to find out that more women do not participate in Force on Force. It allows those select few females (like me) to really get a chance to “gunfight” with men (sometimes groups of men) which is more likely to be the case in real life. It was also useful to get the men used to taking shots at a woman. I’ve been told it’s pretty natural for men to avoid shooting women and children. Throughout the class I took the role of a wife, the female distraction, the frightened female, the panicked mother and even the unlikely shooter or assassin. In general, I provided another element to the training that would not have been present if the class were filled only with males. This made me feel pretty good about my gender.

What didn’t make me feel so good was the hand-to-hand combat we did on the first day of class. Being female and naturally weaker than my male counterparts, it was very easy to find myself tossed, feigned-stabbed with dummy knives or chocked out in second. The men I fought were gentler than I would have liked (no matter how crazy that sounds) but it was very clear to me that a full-size man going toe-to-toe with me (especially armed with a knife or club) could potentially do far more damage to me than I could to him without an equalizer of some sorts (i.e. a knife or a gun). Knowing that these things cannot always be available I have determined to get more and better training in hand-to-hand combat that caters specifically to my needs as a smaller and weaker female.

Which brings me to the outstanding and unequaled benefits of participating in Force-on-Force.

A Quick Bit on 1911 Mags.

OK, seeing as how I can't copy the post from on forum to the other, lets try this....

I'm going to make this more complicated than it has to be, but it's helpful info.

OK so regarding 1911s and magazines we have to point out that originally the full size 1911 held 7 rounds of .45ACP and the Compact or Officers 1911 held 6 rounds of .45ACP. A while back, some genius figured that the skirt of the follower didn't really need to be as long as it was and that you could chop it down to add one more round to the magazine and have 8rds in a full size and 7 rounds in a compact.

For those that don't know what a follower or a skirt is, here's a photo.


Left: Wilson 47D 8round, Center: Tripp Cobra Mag, Right: Older Springfield Armory 7rd magazine.

The follower is that thingumabob that you have to push down in a magazine to put the cartridge in it. The skirt is the part of the follower that goes around the magazine spring and will make contact with the bottom of the mag to prevent over compressing the spring and prevents the follower from tilting.

One issue of cramming 8 rounds in a tube that was designed to hold 7 rounds is that when a fully loaded mag is inserted in a gun while the slide is forward, that mag is fully compressed and the 8th round doesn't have much wiggle room and that results in the mag being harder to seat in the gun. This is the reason I'm switching from the Wilson 47Ds to the ETMs, longer tube allows for easier seating.

Springfield XDM Size Comparison Pictures.

When Springfield fist came out with the XDM-40 I was pretty interested in what the 9mm version would hold.

I purchased my XDM-9 in December of 2008 and so far have been pleased in it's performance. So far I have just over 3000 shots fired and it has not choked during "normal" firing. I had some issues while shooting from retention with some 115gr FMJ but shooting with 124gr+P JHPS resulted in no issues.

While the gun is on the large side, it is not the mammoth that some make it out to be and is not "too big" to carry concealed if one is determined to dress around the gun.

While I don't have any pictures of me concealing the gun, here are some reference pictures so show actual size of the gun.

These are taken from a post on HandgunForum.net:

So one of the reasons that I was hesitant about picking up the XDM is that a lot of people were commenting that it would be too large for CCW, I compared them in store to several guns that I carry on a routine basis and in some cases it was smaller, but in the few cases where it was larger, it wasn't much larger.

Here's some pics I took this evening, you can get a general idea of dimensions from the mat.

Note that I align guns by the trigger guards, when you think about it, it's basically the one aspect of most guns that are similar and gives a better visual of actual size difference.

Now up until recently, my main carry gun had often been a 5" 1911, while the XDM has over twice the capacity of a 1911, size wise it's actually smaller than my Les Baer as shown.

(Sorry about the finger, but due to the slide profile of the "M" slide, it liked to tilt grip up when laying down)

Side by side, standard thickness grips on the 1911.
The "M" is not as thick as I thought...

Concealed Carry / Firearms Dogma, Hype, Regurgitation, and Explanation.

It seems that after a couple years of hanging out on the gun boards I see an almost vicious cycle of the same questions and statements coming in going in cycles. Some stuff is repeated so often that the understanding of what started it is lost and it's just repetitious hearsay.

We see it go around that you shouldn't do the following things:
Have safeties removed from a gun or have "other" modifications done to firearms that we plan on using for self defense. We shouldn't use reloaded ammunition or "hand loads" and we "Should use the ammunition that your local Police uses."

 So where did all this come from? Almost all information regarding lawyers and defensive use of a firearm can be traced to Massad Ayoob.

Sig Model Reference Guide - End of 2009

I've debated posting this as SHOT Show us upon us and Sig will probably intriduce twenty-eight new models this year just to spite my efforts in composing this. A couple of days ago someone was asking about all the acronymns that Sig uses and it occured to me that there wasn't a really good reference for all the different packages that Sig offers, sure the models are pretty easy to figure out, but what happens after you decide you want a 229? You have to choose from the DAK, Elite, Equinox, SAS, Elite Dark, SCT etc. Even with a catalog in front of you it's hard to really tell the differneces.

So in a nutshell (OK a rather large nutshell), here's the overview of available Sig Models

The Sig Sauer (Sig Arms) Information Guide

As if choosing a handgun wasn’t hard enough, this manufacturer has gone above and beyond as far as variety of options is concerned. Not only do you have to select size, caliber, capacity, trigger type, etc. You now need to select WHICH “package” you want to go with. Sig Sauer has fourteen (fifteen if you include the Sig 556 Pistol) different choices as to which handgun to buy before you even factor in which package; the possible current production offerings are below in a brief overview of the guns.

Trigger Types Defined and Explained.

There are multiple types of trigger types available for use but most of them are of the following sort:

Single Action OnlyAbbreviated SAO

Your two most common types if SAO guns are 1911 pattern semi-automatics and your "Western" revolvers" such as the Colt Single Action Army. A lot of people get confused on this as they mistake action type and trigger type. With both the 1911 and single action revolver, the hammer must be cocked in order for the gun to fire. Pulling the trigger causes one action, that of the hammer to fall and make contact with the firing pin. To confuse you even further, there are some single action only guns that are striker fired as they are fully cocked by the manual cycling of the slide or other operation. Two examples of single action, striker fired guns are the HKP7 family and the Springfield XD (includes XDM) line. There are some that will disagree and say that striker fired guns are not SAO. But looking at the requirement that pulling the trigger facilitates only one action, the release of "X" that initiates the firing sequence, YES they are single action and are even considered SA by the IDPA.

Double Action Abbreviated DA.

Most modern revolvers are referred to as double action, despite the fact that they are still capable of being fired in the single action mode, why this is I don't know. Double Action indicates that pulling the trigger caused two actions, 1: the cocking and 2: release of the hammer. One action=two results. Common double action revolvers are the Ruger GP100 and Redhawk


Double Action Only, abbreviated DAO.

DAO guns can not be manually cocked, they are cocked and released by trigger manipulation. DAO guns can be revolvers or semi-automatics. Glocks are erroneously referred to as DAO as the trigger must be pulled to fire the gun, THIS IS FALSE. Glocks and many other makes/models are partially cocked, striker fired guns, more on them later.

A DAO gun has the following traits.
1: Is only cocked by trigger manipulation and the trigger pull is the same for every shot.
2: In semi-auto guns, the hammer will go back to rest (hammer down behind the slide) after each shot. Remember, the trigger cocks and releases the hammer, not the slide in this case.
3: As the trigger is the driving force to cock and release the hammer, second strike capability is there. If you have questions on second strike capability...try Google, I'm not covering that in this piece. Common DAO guns are the S&W 642 and KelTec P3AT

There are some different types of DAO, such as DAK and LDA from Sig and Para Ordnance respectively, I will cover those in brief at the end.

Traditional Double Action / Single Action Abbreviated DA/SA.

This type of trigger is what is found on the Beretta M9,and other semi-automatic pistols. The first shot can be double action or single action IE one pull of the trigger will cock and release the hammer. If the hammer is manually cocked, the pulling of the trigger will release the hammer. As the M9 is a semi-automatic pistol, the slide will re-cock the hammer after the gun is fired. With a DA/SA type of gun, all subsequent shots will be fired single action until shooting stops and the hammer is de-cocked.


Partially Cocked Striker Fired / Striker Fired

Glock, Kahr, some S&W models and others operate on this type of mechanism. What sets these aside from DAO guns is that the cycling of the slide partially cocks the striker and the pulling of the trigger finishes cocking the mechanism and releases the striker to make the gun go bang. Remember what I said before, some striker fired guns fall into different categories.



Now that we go the basics out of the way, we can take a look at some different "sub-types" of triggers. As mentioned previously, out there in the world there are these two strange beasts that are called DAK (Double Action Kellerman) and the LDA (Light Double Action) which are found on so equipped Sigs and Para LDA models.

Per Wikipedia:

SIG released an altered version of the double-action only (DAO) pistols called the DAK (for Double Action Kellerman, after the designer of the system). The DAK capability is available in 220, 226, 229 and 239 models. When firing the pistol the first trigger pull is 6.5 lbf (compared to 10 pounds for the standard DAO). After the pistol fires and the trigger is released forward, the trigger has an intermediate reset point that is approximately halfway to the trigger at rest position. The trigger pull from this intermediate reset point is 8.5 lbf (38 N). If the trigger is released all the way forward, this will engage the primary trigger reset and have a trigger pull of 6.5 lbf (29 N). To engage the intermediate reset, the trigger must be held to the rear while the slide is cycled, either manually or by the recoil of a round being fired. The United States Coast Guard has adopted this firearm as its PDW (Personal Defense Weapon), replacing the older M9 pistol.[9]

As there are two different pull weights?? this is not a conventional DAO.

Para LDA:
Without going into gross detail, the LDA is a super smooth, lightweight trigger. Generally speaking most DAO guns have a heavy pull and no safeties. The Para LDA incorporates the 1911 pattern thumb safety thus allowing for a very light pull but still has the hammer going back to rest after every shot, but if I recall correctly, the LDA has no second strike capability and needs the slide to cycle in order for the trigger to do it's thing in cocking and releasing the hammer.

HK refers to their DAO as LEM (Law Enforcement Modification) which is thought to be another form of lighter double action, but it is really another pre-cocked hammer system, you can read more about it at HK's website

It's a lot of info to take in. Each method has it's advantages and disadvantages. If you'd like to read more on the types of trigger actions on semi-autos, I would definitely recommend checking out Automatics: What Action Type for Me? by Stephen Camp.

1911 Buyer's Reference Guide - Revised 2012-06-16

I originally posted this to my Blog on Defensive Carry in September of '08 and on HandgunForum.net in July of '09, I try to keep this up to date. Any thing in orange text is newly added from the original.

So here we are, some months after 2011, the hundred year anniversary of the 1911 as patented Feb 14th 1911. In case you missed it, there were a lot of commemorative models last year  

and a couple of new manufacturers popped up on the radar.

 So where does that leave us in 2012? With a lot more manufacturers of 1911s. Some worth taking a look at, and others worth looking at sideways with suspicion.

Some of the newer guns we've got to look at are offerings from Ruger, Remington, Desert Eagle a return of Rock River 1911s with a twist, and we've also had some come off the list and some mild rebranding over the last couple of years since the original date of this posting.

We have a another couple of names to add to the Filipino imports, the Llama / Firestorm brand of 1911s imported by Eagle Imports is now the American Classic / Firestorm line of pistols, which is a sub category of Metro Arms. Citadel is new one as well, I believe those may be an Armscorp brand.

 Charles Daly is toast, which oddly enough got Desert Eagle into the 1911 game. 

I have moved Taurus into the mid-tier from the low tier, but it should be noted that I do not do so based on quality, but by price. When the PT1911s first hit the market they were priced as a low tier 1911 but after much market success the prices on them have risen.

We also had the addition of the S&W E Series which has been catching a lot of attention from the market.

So basically if there were more 1911 makers than you could shake a stick at prior to this rewrite...it's now definitely worse.

Purchasing a 1911 Revised 6-15-2012

So every now and then (every other week) it seems someone asks for input on which 1911 to buy, or which 1911 is best. This is going to cover most of the bases on 1911s. This is not meant to be the most elaborate description of every 1911 ever made, or a piece of propaganda for any one make and model. This is just a brief or rather not so brief overlook of various makes, models, and features of the more popular 1911 brands available.

Some of you may be reading this and thinking “Why should I give a hoot what this guy thinks or has to say?” We’ll let me just say it now, I’m no expert, I’m not a gun smith, I’m not a professional shooter, I’m not some ex-Navy seal that’s killed umpteen million people with a 1911 and one arm tied behind my back, I’m just a prior Marine Corps Radio Tech that happens to be a low/mid tier pistol instructor and current match director for an IDPA club that has had over a dozen 1911s from different makers, some have been good, some great and some horrible, the wife and I had have had the following 1911s.

One Llama, two Colts, four Para Ordnances, four Kimbers, one Springfield, two Les Baers, one Wilson Combat, one Nighthawk and one Ithaca from 1944. I’ve learned a lot about 1911s, shot plenty of other 1911s, and heard many a horror story about them as well has lived my own horror stories. Having spent a good number of years since 2003 handling, shooting, studying, and researching I AM STILL learning more and more about this type of pistol and I’m the last person that will give a hoot what you have to say about what I have to say, so let’s get to it shall we.

To say that one 1911 is better than all the others is just not accurate, some are better than others, but there is no "One 1911 to rule them all"

Before we get started, let’s take a minute to familiarize ourselves with some 1911 terminology.

Terminology and overview

1911
The original design, patented in 1911 and the 1911-A1 which began in 1926 are different pistols than what we are seeing on the shelves today, while not much has changed, there have been some “enhancements”. Please understand that when I say “1911” I am referring to the genre of pistols based on John Browning’s original design, this is why I refer to them as 1911 pattern pistols. There are multiple books and websites covering the history of the 1911 so I see no need to cover that information.

Firing Pin Safeties:
Series 80: In most terms this refers to the Colt series 80 and mainly it reflects that it has a firing pin safety, most makers of 1911s incorporate this type of firing pin safety in their design. The series 80 firing pin safety incorporates a firing pin block that prevents the firing pin from moving unless the trigger is pulled. Personally, I can’t tell the difference in trigger pull, but that’s just me and I don’t obsess over what my trigger pull is provided I can hit what I’m aiming at in an efficient manner.

Colt Series 80 Firing Pin Safety

Kimber uses a different firing pin safety known as the Swartz Safety that was originally used in Colt pistols (briefly) but was abandoned, this design is actuated by the pressing in of the grip safety and care must be used in assembly that the grip safety is not pressed in as that will cause the lifter to protrude from the frame and can be damaged by the installation of the slide.

Kimber Swartz Firing Pin Safety

Smith & Wesson uses a different variant of the Swartz safety in that it is still actuated by the grip safety but has a more robust plunger lever similar to the Colt Series 80 mechanism.

Of the two, I prefer the Colt series 80 design as removal of it does not require the removal of the rear sight like the Swartz safety, not that I would ever advocate the removal of a safety device. Given a choice I would not have a pistol with a "mechanical" firing pin safety.

Some prefer the Swartz style safety as it does not effect trigger pull like the Series 80 mechanism, however as the Swartz safety is activated by the grip safety, if the parts are not fitted well, it is possible to deactivate the grip safety but still have the firing pin block in place.


Sizes:
Government Model (Gov’t): This generally refers to any 5” 1911 in standard configuration, it has the full 5” barrel with bushing, (although some models do exist with the 5" bushing-less bull barrel) and full frame which with modern magazines will hold 8 rounds of ammunition.

Commander Model: The original Commander model has a 4.25” bbl with bushing and full frame, several makers do not use the bushing barrel, but instead have a 4” bull barrel with a full frame, for Kimber this is the Pro model, and Springfield refers to it as the Champion.

CCO: This was the Concealed Carry Officers model since discontinued by Colt; this was the 4.25” upper from a Commander mated to the compact frame of the Officers model which with modern magazines holds 7 rounds. For Kimber this is the Compact model, several others make guns in this configuration or a similar variation and their nomenclature differs.

Officers: Originally this was a 3.5” barrel on a compact frame which is .5” shorter than the full frame of the Gov’t and Commander models. With modern magazines this will hold 7 rounds of ammunition. Springfield refers to this size as the “Compact” model.

Defender or Micro: This is a 3” upper on a compact frame, these models in most if not all cases will have a 3” bushing-less bull barrel. Kimber refers to this as the “Ultra”, while Springfield refers to it as the Micro, other makers have different nomenclature for guns of similar size.

Long Slides: Long slide models have 6” or longer barrels on full frames, these pistols are mainly used in competitions and for hunting, as the purpose of this piece is geared mainly for defensive use, I am not going to cover these models, they are only mentioned here to show the variety of options available.

The following is a common question, and a good one at that.

“I know that there are 1911 pistols with 3 inch, 4 inch, and 5 inch barrels available. Which length is the best choice for a balance of reliability, accuracy, proper ballistics performance, and concealment?”

Selecting a Handgun for Defense

This started out as something I was writing up for a friend in MI and it just kind of grew into this. Eventually I'll be adding several parts, so keep an eye out.

Selecting a Handgun for Defense

 Part 1

{Preface}

While the vast number of makes and models seems daunting don’t be too putt off by all the possible options. There is something out there for every one. Purchasing a gun for defense is easy; purchasing the right gun for you is what’s going to be hard. Especially with no one helping you out other than the guy on the other side of the counter trying to make the sale. Some gun shops are fantastic in helping buyers select the right gun. They will ask about your experience, they will ask about your likes/dislikes, intended use, Etc. Some just want you to buy something and get out so they can sell something to the next guy. I’ve seen all types of gun shops. Some won’t help you at all and act as if the process of selling you a gun is too taxing for them and you should be ashamed for making them work. Silly me, I thought that was part of their job. But not all of it is the fault of the employee. Some customers can really irk a counter worker, if you don’t intend to buy at that moment, tell them. If you are just browsing and looking over a number of different models, you aren’t making the shop any money and can take up a lot of time that they could be using to help out someone that knows what they want. I’m not saying that you’re acting as an inconvenience, I’m just saying that you should be polite and not be expected to be waited on hand and foot if it’s a busy day.

The goal of this piece is to get someone not overly familiar with handguns to the point where they can look over info, create a list of what they want, see what’s available and walk into a gun shop looking for “A”, “B”, “C” and “X” for a DEFENSIVE handgun. And not waste a ton of time looking over guns that don’t meet their needs. This piece is not geared toward one who will buy the gun and leave it in a sock drawer or shoot it maybe once a year. This is geared toward someone looking to buy their first handgun, shoot that first handgun often, qualify (if needed) with that gun, and carry that gun on a regular basis and should shoot often to build and maintain the skills needed to work that gun in an acceptable manner. If you’re new to guns and buying your first, I would definitely recommend the NRA First Steps Basic Pistol Class.

Now as my wife says, “On with the show!” let’s get started shall we?