Thinking Man's Corner

Article By: William G.

What did the cows ever do to you? Wait, why are they sacred anyway?

Trigger Warning: Keep your finger off of it, until your sights are on the target – RULE 3

This article is a common sense (at least I think so) look, and thought-provoking approach to why we do some things the way we do, and why bad advice won’t die. It is a little tongue in cheek in some areas, so please forgive my animosity for the stupid things that some people dearly cling to.

Dominant Eye Dominating Hand Choice

For the longest time some instructors forced the student to shoot with their right hand, even if they were left handed. One semi famous instructor decided, he wanted to be different, and that he would force his students to switch shooting hands if their dominant eye was on the opposite side (so, if they were left eye dominant, but right handed, he wanted them to shoot with their left hand as primary). Both are wrong. Master firearms instructors with real world combat experience (like Col. Jeff Cooper and Scott Reitz, to name a few) work around eye dominance. You should shoot with whichever hand is your primary hand. If you are right handed and left eye dominant, just move the left eye behind the gun. Simple. Well, what about the supposed tactical advantage of switching hands depending on the corner you are about to move around. Unless you are a 1990’s era SEAL, or a Spetsnaz cyborg, you probably do not have the time, money, or physical dexterity and mental fortitude to do this for real. Why would you willingly take the gun out of your most proficient hand? Why would you take the time (that you do not know if you have or not) to take the gun out of the fight (and risk dropping it), especially if you are any less than 100% equally as efficient with either hand? Do not take this as saying that one hand, and support hand skills are not important, they are. However, do not make the mistake of fighting nature. Which leads us to:

Eyes Wide Shut

You HAVE to keep BOTH eyes WIDE OPEN, or you will DIE!!!! Ok, skippy. If you can’t hit the target with both eyes open, you might as well have your eyes wide shut. I would much rather you close an eye and get the hit quick, than to keep them both open and miss. Well, you have to shoot a pistol mounted optic with both eyes open. No, no you don’t. Some people have to close an eye to shoot, regardless of what sighting system they use. Some people have to even squint an eye. If that is what it takes to get quick, accurate hits, then do it, and don’t pay any attention to what someone what has not seen the world through your eyes has to say.

Jerking the Trigger

Your shots are low because you are jerking the trigger. Which jerk? Jerk chicken? Steve Martin? The person telling you that you are jerking the trigger? While “jerking” the trigger isn’t a great thing to do, we often find it is combined with a weak grip on the frame of the gun. A strong, vise like, grip is often referred to as a crush grip. Grip the frame high and tight, firmly and with intent. When you have the proper grip, you can get away with a little bit less of an ideal trigger press. Quit thinking it is all the trigger, and get a grip. By the by, grip is an action-something you do. The frame (or lower receiver) is an object, and what you actually grip. So, while we are quitting jerking the trigger, start quitting calling an object an action. Which leads us to:

60/40 Grip Pressure

This isn’t referring to blood pressure, though mine is triple that when someone brings this questionable “technique” back up. What can a professional tasked with handling deadly force situations as part of their sworn duties learn from an impractical competition shooter? Some things, but not a whole lot that is relevant to actually making high percentage hits on an actual human trying to kill you while staying within legal and moral bounds – at the speed of life, not the speed of a game. Around 40-60 years ago, competition was actually practical. It hasn’t been that way for a long time. But, but, but, so-and-so who is a 198-time world grand master champion shooter says that you should use 60/40 or 70/30 grip pressure to control the gun! What gun? THE GUN!! You mean that special gun they use in competition with a compensator, and reduced recoil custom tailored loads, with excessively extended controls, specially calibrated springs, a trigger that weighs mere ounces, and specially tuned magazines that will quit working if a grain of sand gets in them? That gun? But, but, but, they are a world champion, and their advice applies to everything, and they win, and I want to go fast, and win! Win what, the gunfight, the legal battle, the special discount on a car wash? Quit listening to what a competition shooter has to say about shooting that doesn’t apply to justifiable deadly force on the street, with a firearm that is specifically made for the street.

Use as much grip strength and pressure as you physically can to control the gun. 100/100 is a good benchmark. If you are startled, or are worried about losing your life, you don’t want to have anything less than the most secure grip as you possibly can. You know, so you can actually hold onto the gun while you are dynamically moving, are getting rushed, are in a hurry – pesky little things like that, that apply when the prize is your life. By all means, listen to a competition shooter if it helps you shoot more accurately, but critically examine it. Is what they are advocating 1 – Practical, 2 – Street Survivable, and 3 – Court Defensible. Those are some big and important questions. Human life, taking it or preserving it, is not a game. Don’t look to people who play games for advice on life and death decision making. Oh, and in case it wasn’t common sense, sub 1 second draws don’t happen when your ambushed, and shooting under quarter second splits doesn’t always turn out so good on the street. But, yeah, listen to the fantasy shooting camp “instructor” that was never a cop, or the one that kinda-sorta was a “cop,” but not really. That’s a great idea – if you want to create bad case law.

Don’t Look at Your Holster! Look at the THREAT!!!!!

Keep your eyes on the threat! Don’t look at that holster! Look at the threat! Well now, if they are a threat, why are you holstering? Well, they may rush me, or I may have to handcuff them. Ok. Granted, if the threat is rushing you, and you aren’t justified in shooting, then you may have to holster quickly. But, in any other situation, you shouldn’t be holstering unless you are sure they are no longer a threat. If they are no longer a threat, then why be in a hurry to holster? Why not take the time and make sure your gun is going into the holster without anything getting into the trigger guard? I also understand, you may not be able to see the holster if it is dark. Ok, and? Use your weapon mounted or hand-held light to see the opening of the holster – this is especially critical if you are being rushed and it is dark. Quit coming up with excuses for sloppy gun handling. Take responsibility for the deadly weapon you are holding. Reluctantly and deliberately re-holster.

Excessive Slide Lock Reloads

Last time I checked, we are in the continental United States. Last time I knew there were repeated running gun battles in multiple parts of the city, involving separate instances and officers, there was a slight tropical storm with light rain and winds called Katrina. Essentially, it was total societal collapse in a very specific geographical location, that had a bunch of other stuff going on to create the perfect storm; and yes, I was actually there within 48 hours of landfall….. Are slide lock reloads important? Maybe. They are at least a skill you should have. They are not as critical a skill as hitting the target with your first round, fast. Not as important as retention shooting, not as important as one hand shooting from the draw. Not as important as multiple target transitions. Not as important as, you get the point. It is much more critical to practice in battery speed loads, and reloads with retention. Even when there is societal collapse, do you have a large resupply of mags lying around, or will you have to have an emergency shipment sent in, and when will it get there? All those running gun battles with all the slide lock reloads; I wonder how many rounds actually hit the targets? Know how to do a slide lock reload, but quit wasting so much time on them. Learn to hit what you aim at, fast, and quit wasting time and ammo. Which leads us to:

Load in the Woke Space

Get the gun up in your workspace, bro! My woke space? No, bro, your work space! I knew pop culture had infected the shooting world when the buzz words like this started. The “workspace” is putting your gun up in front of your face so you can theoretically see more of what is going on around you. Problem is that most people have the gun up, but still look down toward the mag well. Second problem is that it doesn’t help in really dark areas. Third problem is that is the only place any action we do with a gun is performed. Unless you do that weird muzzle kind of up ready position, which allows for the guy taking your gun to have way more leverage, and allows for the gun to fast track to your face when you trip, and I hope you at least follow Rule 3. I can say this about the “work space,” it is better than high compressed/center chest “ready.” Ready for what, to commit aggravated assault, manslaughter, or murder? There are so few times that covering everything in the world with your gun is appropriate, I can not think of a valid reason for someone to use either of these positions.

Back to “work space” reloads. It doesn’t hurt for you to glance down at the gun after you have got your spare mag out of the pouch and close to the gun. You do not have to have your gun in front of your face, wavering around to do this. You also, most certainly, don’t have to leave your arm hyper extended with the gun pointing at the target to reload. A better way is to bring the gun in tight to the body with the mag well even with the belt and horizontal to the belt buckle – with the muzzle depressed slightly toward the ground in front of you, you know having to remember that never let the muzzle cover anything you are not fully willing to destroy rule that some old forgotten combat master came up with, access the spare mag, and reload by feel. This is very easy to learn, works in the dark, works while running, and give you a lot of control. It is also very quick when done correctly. That’s not new. I stole it from a guy named “Jim Grover,” who if you do your research, will see is not his real name, and that he might have been in a few real gunfights. But then again, what do he or I know, neither of us win any impractical shooting competitions. Which leads us to:

Combat Slide Jerking or a New Olympic Sport

You have to use your support hand to action the slide after you have run to slide lock and inserted a new magazine. Do you now? Yes, it is the only reliable way to do it! If you don’t, you might induce a malfunction, and die in the streetz! Really, will you really? Is your gun that poorly made, and so fragile and unreliable that using the slide release will cause the gun to get a malfunction? If you say yes, then get a new gun. Emotion should be taken out of selection criteria for life saving equipment. It is faster, and completely reliable, to use the slide release. Simple. If your gun will not do this when dirty, then why are you carrying a dirty or under lubricated gun on the streets? If it won’t reliably do it when clean and lubricated, then get another gun. If you drop it in the dirt, and it won’t fully chamber a round from the slide release, the gun is too fragile and finicky to be trusted in life or death conditions. At this point, someone will chime in about a specific manufacturer calling it a slide LOCK, and saying that manufacturer tells you to rack the slide with your hand on reloads. Kewl. That manufacturer also makes extended slide “locks.” Well they will break if you drop the slide with them too much. Ok. Preventive maintenance is a thing that professionals do, so there is that. In any case, I like some of that manufacturer’s products, and I have used the slide “lock” as a slide release without any trouble. If a technique is superior, and you don’t like it, or don’t want to use it, then that is fine by me. Your life, and your choices. Use what helps you sleep at night. Just know that you don’t know until you try it. Speed is fine, but taking too much time is final; or something like that.

The California Twitch

Much like the twitch that comes from too much crack or meth, the “California Twitch,” is almost impossible to train out of a shooter once they have tried it. It is the incessant looking of left to right, over each shoulder, while dancing around like a child about to pee their pants, all the while bringing the gun into a compressed high ready, of course paying no attention to anything that really matters. When I have a shooter do this on the line, I will stand behind them and hold up a finger or two, maybe hold something in my hand like OC spray or a magazine. I will ask them what they saw. Rarely does anyone see anything. Very rarely someone will say I had something in my hand. When I ask what I had in my hand, I am always told “I didn’t see it.”  AHA! Then what were you looking at? For more bad guys. But did you see? And, that is the problem. We look, but do not see. I don’t accept the excuse that it is the range, and I am the instructor or coach, which is why the shooter wasn’t really looking to see if I was a threat, and that they really would actually look to see if it were for realz on the streetz, pinky swear. If you are going to do something, commit to it. Don’t look around just to go through the motions. Really look, to see. And, bring the gun to a hard guard or a two-hand retention position while you are at it. At least act like you are thinking about this whole deadly force threat serious business. If you practice the right way long enough, you may forget, and actually do things correctly under duress. Funny how that works.

Kentucky Windage – Drifting Your Sights

All Glocks shoot to the left. No, they just don’t fit your hand, or you don’t have very good trigger control. That is FACT, regardless of how much it hurts a fragile ego. Get a different gun, or learn how to control the trigger, under duress. Not that easy to do. What you should not do, is drift the sights because you have poor trigger control, or because you are forced to use a gun that doesn’t it your hand. As soon as you adjust them because the gun is “shooting to the left,” you will have to make a shot in the real world, and miss the target because for once you had the correct trigger control, but your sights were off…… Same goes for holding in a different spot then you are aiming because your “sights are off.” Note: we are specifically talking about windage (side to side).

At this point, someone will raise the valid point of hold over for AR style carbines and some pistol mounted optics. Hold over is different from Kentucky windage in that hold over is a byproduct of height over bore of a sighting system, and not the byproduct of an ill fit gun or poor trigger control. Physics and geometry are the cause of having to hold the optical sight above your intended point of impact, and is repeatable. People have always tried to fight this, and some will zero their guns at a closer range. This is disastrous as, you may have to shoot at a further range than you have zeroed, and there is no easy way to refer to where the bullet will hit at extended ranges unless you physical confirm it – every time you go to the range, AND you will need to go to the range often. (Example of what I am saying NOT to do. Again, do NOT do this. One last time for the slow learners, do NOT do this: do NOT zero your optic for 3 yards or 7 yards. You will be so far off your mark at 25, 50, or 100 that it will end badly in the real world.)

What you SHOULD do is zero your pistol optic at 15 yards (10 is ok, but not ideal). With a 15 yard zero you are very close from 3-50 yards. You will have to hold a little higher at 3-5, but not that much. With a carbine, you should be zeroing at 50 yards to be on at 200 meters, or you could do a 36 yard zero and be back on at 300 yards. (This should really be an entirely separate article…..) Key thing with the proper zero, is you simply hold a little higher inside of room distance. Like aim for the top of the eye brow to hit the eye socket.

Simply put, get your sights actually zeroed, use the correct trigger control, or get a gun that fits your hand, and still zero your sights and use correct trigger control – those are all constants.

Just the Tip!

While I am not Joe Friday, I do want just the facts, but don’t care how you finger your gun – that’s on you. Take that however you want. Which part of your finger you use, for what, is your business, until you are using it to throw out deadly projectiles while another living creature is in the vicinity. Some guns need the tip of the finger, like 1911’s, shotguns, some carbines, and precision rifles. Other guns like Glock’s, double action revolvers, Beretta 92’s, and other striker fired pistols, need more leverage to keep the trigger going back smoothly to the rear. Depending on grip strength, and hand size, this may vary. One size does not fit all. This is a reason why you should choose one trigger action, and stick with it. You can use the same amount of finger placement and leverage on a 1911, 870, and a M4 with a SSA-E trigger. Try using the same leverage and placement on a Glock, snub nose revolver, and a sniper rifle and you will find out that it doesn’t work out the best for you. It is more critical in pistols than in long guns. So, going between a striker fired pistol and a M4 is not as detrimental as going between a 1911 and a J frame. Switching up on the fly can work, if you practice. But it is like stance. Why have a different stance for pistol than from carbine, than from shotgun. Simplify and streamline the way you use the trigger from gun to gun, and your life will be easier, and your hits quicker and more accurate.

Robo Cop Draw

There is a numbered presentation, or draw by the count, for a reason. The problem is that a lot of people don’t blend them together from 1, 2, 3, and 4 to 1234. They always have a distinct step from one to the next. This is because no one told them to blend them from steps to a curve, or they have a mental block. Then there is the possibly worse case of just snatching the gun and thrusting it out in front because “nothing is repeatable in real combat.” Things may not be exactly repeatable, but we try to get as close as we can for a reason. Try running the tips of your firing hand up your leg to your gun, or using your shooting hand elbow touching the gun as an anchor point to pull your hand back to. Mount the gun in the holster, getting all the grip you are going to get, while defeating retention devices, and then drawing the gun out. Trying to scoop the gun or searching for it from the side or top takes precious time away from you. Find your anchor point, go to the gun by feel, with as few movements as possible, and you will be ahead of the curve. You can beat a drawn gun in certain situations, you can reset your opponent’s OODA loop, and you can get your draw time down so you can have more time to make decisions and fire precision shots.

Get off the X!

Where is the X? Where are you going once you get off the X? X’s are X’s for a reason. There is a lot of data that suggests within seven or so yards that a deliberate step to the side resets your opponent’s OODA loop. There are tactical reasons against multiple opponents, dependent on how they are spread out, to move off the “X,” and create a conundrum for your attackers. There is tactical doctrine that moving toward someone close in, and off to their side, makes it harder for them to strike you (with hand, gun, stabby/cutty thing, or blunt force object), if done dynamically and aggressively. That is all great, and you should, if you could. BUT, and it is a big one; what are you stepping into, and is it more dangerous than what your opponent is slinging? Are you stepping into traffic, are you stepping off a curb, are you stepping into your partner’s bullet? If you choose to move, and that is a great and wonderful idea, since a moving target is harder to hit; look, see, and think before you do. Takes a lot of time to do that, while getting your gun into action, and worrying about the guy that is trying to kill you doesn’t it? Know why you are doing whatever you are doing, and make sure that choice is not a worse one than what you were doing. It may just be a simple little shooting problem or a lousy gunfight; but it can get very complicated, very quick if you aren’t thinking about the problem in a practical manner.

Thank God, he is finished with his Rant

Is it Practical? Why are you doing it? Is the person promoting it coming from a position of experience that is the same as the environment you will be applying the techniques? Is it legal, ethical, moral, and street winnable? I sincerely hope you think before you act, and you all have a safe and fruitful existence.