You Don’t Need a Gun for Self-Defense

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As the old saying goes, “Amateurs talk Hardware, Professionals talk Software.”

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Stay Alert, Armed and Dangerous!

The zombie apocalypse survival homestead

I admit the title of the article is a bit of a clickbait. If you are an avid reader of my blog, you are likely not my target audience. But I hope you share it with someone who might think that a firearm is the solution to their self-defense needs. The post You Don’t Need…

You Don’t Need a Gun for Self-Defense — Shooting-Performance.com

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Riflemanship

“Make good scouts of yourselves. Become good rifle shots so that, when it becomes necessary that you defend your families and your country, you can actually do it!”- Baden-Powell, founder of Boy Scouts

“The Rifle  is a weapon. Let there be no mistake about that. It is a tool of power and thus dependent completely on the moral stature of it’s user. It is equally useful in securing meat for the table, destroying group enemies on the battlefield and resisting tyranny. In fact it is the only means of resisting tyranny since a citizenry armed with rifles simply cannot be tyrannized.” -Jeff Cooper

“Men trained in arms from their infancy, and animated by the love of liberty, will afford neither a cheap or easy conquest.” – Declaration of the Continental Congress, July 1775.

“The Russian invasion of Finland in 1939 (“The Winter War”) gruesomely demonstrates the way a small force of righteous and determined men, armed only with rifles, can embarrassingly frustrate a much larger, even mechanized, force. Precise rifle fire from well-trained Operators, using guanine battle rifles, is still the deadliest force in warfare, even today!” – John Farnam

 

I have found in my life that when things start going sideways it is always best to refer back to the FUNDAMENTALS to get back on track, since it is often the fundamentals that get forgotten first under severe stress.

We are living in trying and dangerous times. It’s time to get back to the BASICS.

The DUTY of the responsible armed civilian since this country’s inception was to be a RIFLEMAN first above all else.

If you ask me we have become a nation way too obsessed with handguns.

Let’s get back to our partisan roots and put the priority back to becoming RIFLEMAN first and a Handgunner second.

Understanding both are a highly perishable art form, so we need to do three things consistently: PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE!

Seek out qualified BTDT instruction from guys like Brushbeater and Paul Howe over at CSAT.

Secondly, Support organizations that are ensuring this Rifleman legacy continues on to the next generation.

Encourage parents and youngsters to invest in America’s Rifle Legacy and it’s Survival:

Support and Get Involved with the Appleseed Project and the NRA CMP.

Stay Alert, Armed and Dangerous!

Feeling the Weight of the Gun

SlowFacts

I recently took a handgun class. I was there to renew my concealed carry license, but the rest of my classmates were applying for their carry license for the first time. Several of them had only shot a gun a few times. You could see it in their eyes. They were there to learn how to handle a handgun, a lethal tool. There is a lot to learn. 

This is a time of unprecedented demand for firearms. Given the limited selection in most gun shops, it is harder than ever to find the gun that is right for you. Before you buy it, you want to handle it, load it, and shoot it to see how it feels. After the classroom lecture in the concealed carry class, the instructor let students handle their unloaded firearms which were arrayed on a table. This was the first chance for some students to…

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Going Mobile

From the Archives, 2016

A learned a long time ago that when shit goes bad, it goes bad in a hurry. Very often you will have little to no time to think about what you really need to do, you are just going to have to react.

The seasoned prepper knows from experience that there are two basic options when the fecal matter hits the oscillator: Either you Stay Put (Shelter in place if you are using Newspeak terminology) or You Go Mobile, either on foot or by vehicle.

The system I use for going mobile is pretty basic with one of the main advantages being it keeps your gear fairly ORGANIZED so you can lay hands on it in a pinch.

Now without going too deep into the whole “First, Second and Third” Line of gear thing, Here is how I have things laid out.

Slings, Cases, Chest Rigs and Battle Belts

It goes without saying your fighting weapons are your first priority and need to stay ready to be deployed. Ensuring ALL your fighting long arms have a good sturdy sling is mandatory for Going Mobile. Regardless if you prefer 1 or 2 Point slings, just make sure they are durable and will hold up under abuse.

I also have a portable padded rifle case with backpack straps in the event I want to haul more than one long arm at a time. These are bulky and awkward when worn on the back, and I doubt I would ever use it, but it never hurts to have it as a contingency.

There are several options out there for how you stage your ammo and Maintenance and Cleaning gear for these weapons. Some people use Sneaky Bags and Bandoleers. Me, I have found using Chest Rigs and Battle Belts equipped with a holster to fit your Fighting Pistol is much more practical.

For my Pistol since most of the time it is on my person, I simply keep a couple of dual mag carriers (4 mags) stocked and ready to go. This way, irregardless of what goes down, I can either just grab the spare ammo for the pistol or if I feel the need to bring a long gun, holster my pistol in the appropriate chest rig or battle belt and toss the extra pistol mags in my rig or BOB.

For my Rifles and Shotgun I have a Chest Rig and Battle Belt for my Main Fighting Rifle, a Chest Rig and Battle Belt for my DM AR Rifle (.308) Rifle and a simple Battle Belt for my 12 Ga Shotgun. The reason for the different rigs is very simple: CALIBER. I have been asked wouldn’t it be simpler just to switch out the mag carriers and just use ONE Rig? This is a very nifty utilitarian ideal except for the glaring problem that we already mentioned: When Shit goes bad it goes bad in a hurry! You will not have time to be switching out mag carriers, and designing your rig on the fly…you will need to grab your rig and haul ass!

HAVE AMMO, WILL TRAVEL

When you need to move more ammo than what you have on your Rigs and Belts, I suggest using Military Ammo Cans. They are Cheap and Plentiful and stack nicely. The .50 Cal Cans are the  biggest and most predominant, but I also have quite a few of the smaller and narrower .30 Cal Cans, which I have found is great for storing bricks of .22LR Ammo and 12 Gauge ammo. There is also the added benefit of being able to know what ammo is in what can simply by the type of ammo can it is stored in. Just an added perk when you need to get to it in a hurry.

YOUR BOB, VBOB, MEDIC PACK and SURVIVAL PACK

Since this is not a beginners article, I am not going to go into the importance of BOB’s and VBOBS. As far as gear goes, they are pretty much the center piece of a good preparedness plan, so put some serious time, effort and money into building yours.

A Word about VBOBS. Besides the standard items, don’t forget to pack some vehicle maintenance items too; Remember, in a post-apocalyptic, SHTF world AAA is not available. Now obviously you cannot prepare for some of the more major mechanical problem that may arise, but you can prepare for some of the more common ones.

Here is a short list:

• Belts (Serpentine or Individual belts depending on your make/model)

• C Clamps

• Bailing Wire

• Fuses

• Duct Tape

• Work Gloves

• Screwdriver/Pliers (Regular and Needle Nose)/Wire Cutters

Also, regularly check that your spare is aired up and your jack and other equipment is intact. You would be surprised at how many people forget about that one. Remember: PRACTICAL, NOT TACTICAL wins the day!

As far as a MEDIC PACK, I know a lot of you keep a fully stocked Blowout Kit/Trauma pack in your BOB/VBOB’s and that is awesome, but experience has taught me it is more practical to have a separate medic pack fully stocked, ready to grab with everything from your basic “boo-boo” kit to a full trauma workup with surgical tools.

Also if you have a family, tailor your medic pack to their needs. So often folks go full tilt “Tacti-Cool” in outfitting their bags with Quick-Clot and Sucking Chest Wound Seals and forget about the more practical stuff you will be grabbing much more frequently, like Sting-EZE, Burn Balms, Anti-biotic Ointments, Benadryl, etc.,etc. Also if you have anyone in your tribe that had medical issues and takes maintenance medications (diabetes, heart conditions) these need to top the list obviously.

A SURVIVAL PACK to many people is basically a BOB with 2 to 4 weeks of supplies versus 3 days. Experience has taught me however to minimize everything but FOOD and WATER in these. The main reason being is if you have to exfil in a hurry, this is going to be the only bag with large amounts of food and water in it. Because of weight concerns, you will only be able to carry so much water, this is why it is mandatory to include a well made water filtration unit and several dozen water filter straws for everybody in your tribe. I also pack a small camp stove with some fuel and a GI Grill (County-Comm is selling a version of these right now btw.)

EVERYTHING ELSE

As far as organizing the rest of your gear, I suggest you have a bag for each category below:

• Flashlights/Lanterns

• Knives/Tools

• Range Bag/Training Kit

• Gunsmith/Maintenance

• General Field Gear

If I forgot anything, create a bag for it!

Stay Alert, Stay Armed and Stay Dangerous!

The Combat Realities of Trigger Reset

From the Archives, 2016

Trigger reset is one of those skills, that if you were like me, when you learned it, it pretty much changed your level of accuracy instantly, especially with a pistol. I remember one of my trainers summarizing it for me:

“Unlike a rifle, where the barrel is 16 to 20 inches or greater, most pistol barrels are only 4 to 5 inches..that means the bullet has not got very far to travel before it exits, that means that any movement you make in working the trigger, exponentially effect the bullets path that much more.”

It made perfect sense. Pretty soon I was shooting the lights out.

But where the trouble came into paradise is when I learned the EXTREME differences between Competition Marksmanship and Combat Accuracy.

Most of the skills we are taught when we first start learning to shoot revolve around the square range and static targets. There is typically no stressors and no movement involved. Our success (and our ego) depends on the black X Ring and how well we shoot it out, right? Compare this to actual Combat shooting in a life or death struggle; whole new ball of wax. Now, all that really matters is that we stop the person trying to kill us right? Is he really going to grade us on our groupings or on our shot placement? Will he have his handy pair of calipers to measure your spread?

Now, I know most of you have heard this passionate spill before from me, so let me put it another way so I don’t sound redundant and boring.

The “Degree” of accuracy required is different in Competition and Combat shooting. In Competition Shooting, Accuracy is expected 100% of the time, no matter the situation. You are expected to punch a round through a paper target, preferably in the black, every time. In Combat Shooting, accuracy has looser tolerances and is both subjective and situational.

Let me give you an example: Some meth head has a taken a kid hostage, the perp standing still at 12 yards with a knife to the child’s throat, threatening to kill him. The only available and relatively safe shot the perp is giving you is the right side of his face, maybe 3 inches total from his nose to the edge of his cheekbone. Here, the SITUATION and in part, the DISTANCE, has determined that you MUST BE ACCURATE so that you kill the perp and protect the kid.

To contrast, if the same perp was just 12 feet away from you, armed with a handgun, but with no hostage, Now your level of accuracy is lowered, because you have a much bigger target in front of you (his center of mass) at a much closer range. Make sense? (FYI: In the first example, I realize the example is a bit far fetched for any CO. The reality, regardless of the weapon involved, is quite simple: for long distance shots that require a great degree of accuracy, ALWAYS get closer if you can! This is why they train hostage rescue teams to always try and close distance with the perp and get a shot angle on them that reduces the chance of an errant round hitting a hostage or bystander.)

OK, so going back to trigger reset. Since it is a skill that most of us practice on the square range, how applicable is it in an ass puckering, “kill or be killed” situation? I mean are you really going to remember a fine motor skill that involves you letting up the slack just enough to hear or feel the reset, all the while rounds are whizzing around you as you are moving to cover and your adrenaline is jacked thru the roof? Yeah, probably not. But that is OK, because you understand that TRIGGER RESET is a skill you can call upon (with Pistol or Rifle) when you need a greater degree of accuracy above and beyond standard combat shooting. Because, ultimately, when you look at the scenarios involved in most civilian self-defense shootings, in most cases, combat accuracy is going to be sufficient to end the threat.

So in closing, when the CO has Trigger Rest tucked away into his training memory bank, he has a very applicable and legitimate resource to draw upon when he needs it. The trick,  is to train and drill in such a way that will force the CO to draw upon that skill frequently (and randomly), as the situation dictates.

Always remember that the thing that sets amateurs and professionals apart is the ability to seamlessly flow between skill sets.

Stay Focused, Armed and Dangerous!