Edition 64
Comments: None
I hope you and your team are well and continuing to prepare.
I just had Libby draw the winning ticket for Raffle 2015.1: Garrett Croxton won the prize of one seat in any one of our two-day defensive firearm classes, plus the ammunition required for the class. Congratulations, Garrett! I’m looking forward to seeing you in another class!
To all those who purchased chances to win, thank you so much for supporting our mission. Remember that Paladin Training, Inc. is a tax-exempt non-profit under IRS Section 501(c)(3). All gifts are tax deductible.
Please continue to train and get ready; physically, mentally and spiritually!
Train hard! Put God first!
Steve
Update: Emergency Preparedness
Notice: Sheepdog Safety Training Seminar, Mount Pleasant, SC
The price of these seminars is usually $99 per person, but for this event, payment of the fee will allow you to bring one additional person AT NO CHARGE.
SC Law Enforcement: The SCCJA will award 8.5 CLEE hours for attending this event.
I’m really looking forward to this. I’ve never met Jimmy Meeks but have greatly enjoyed our recent phone conversations. Dave Grossman is one of the most informative and entertaining speakers I’ve ever heard. I hope to see you there.
To register, please use this link: SEMINAR
Paladin Training will receive a portion of your entry fee if you use this link. And thank you for supporting our mission.
Upcoming Training: Defensive Carbine-1, 26 & 27 SEP
I am SO looking forward to this class. DC-1 is probably my second favorite class after UBC. We have a lot of fun, plus I believe we do it well. If you want to learn how to use your rifle or carbine to defend ‘hearth and home’ from the barbarians, this should be on your calendar. Ditto if you just want to learn how to operate the thing competently.
It is a ‘basic’ class and beginners are welcome. At the same time, experienced shooters will benefit from a refresher in the fundamentals. I’ve been taking and conducting training for more than 40 years and I promise you I still get more benefit from taking the occasional basic class than I do more advanced classes. Beware anything with ‘advanced’ attached to it. What wins fights is the quick and competent application of the basics.
Caveat
Basic Carbine Operator is a soft prerequisite for DC-1, but we don’t force it. With a training envelope of 7 to 300 yards, BCO is THE class to really learn the fundamentals of marksmanship… to get the most, accuracy-wise, from your carbine. From the standpoint of development, I believe it’s better to learn to shoot properly before learning to shoot fast. If you’re new to shooting long guns and skip BCO to go straight to DC-1, I think you’re hurting yourself. But, again, we don’t force it and beginners are welcome.
Expect a lot of movement. We’ll also have a low-light segment and, of course, the dreaded MGM Attack Target will show up and challenge you.
For more details: Defensive Carbine 1
Reminder: Safe Family / Safe Church Crime Prevention Seminar, Hartsville, SC
Don’t forget that payment at the door is $25.
SHOOTING TIP: FOLLOW-THROUGH
1. Platform
2. Mount (alternately, Grip when dealing with handguns)
3. Sight Alignment
4. Sight Picture
5. Breath Control
6. Trigger Control
7. Follow-ThroughOf the seven, Sight Alignment and Trigger Control are the most important. Follow-Through is usually given short treatment, so let’s talk about it because it IS important and it incorporates both Sight Alignment and Trigger Control.
Dictionary.com defines ‘Follow-Through’ as:
1. The completion of a motion, as in the stroke of a tennis racket.
2. The portion of such a motion after the ball has been hit.
3. The act of continuing a plan, project, scheme, or the like, to its completion.
I think all three have some relevance here, so I’m going to restate them like this:
1. The completion of an act, as in the act of firing a gun.
2. The portion of such an act after the shot has been fired.
3. The act of continuing a shot to its completion.
Early in my career as a student of the gun, I got the notion that Follow-Through is most important from the standpoint of Number 2 above. That is, Follow-Through is important because you can negatively affect the shot, through movement in the Mount, after the shot has been fired but before the bullet has left the barrel. The advice given by instructors and coaches was usually this: Continue to do what you were doing while the shot was being fired after the shot was fired until the bullet exits the muzzle and you can no longer affect the shot. Being in the service, that advice above was usually delivered with great enthusiasm and much more coarsely.
So, Follow-Through includes the admonition not to add any additional steps or movement into the act of firing a gun. Maintain — as in ‘don’t change’ — your Mount until the sights are back on target and the trigger is prepped.
The most common shooting error charts have a list of 8 things, like ‘heeling’, ‘pushing’, ‘jerking’, etc. Most of the errors listed deal with the accuracy problems caused by the shooter adding movement while the bullet is still in the barrel.
Remember, the purpose of the Mount (Grip) is threefold:
1. To minimize movement of the gun prior to and during the trigger press.
2. To ensure the gun moves in a consistent and repeatable fashion during the recoil impulse.
3. To help the gun return to the target naturally and w/o any additional effort on our part.
There’s more to it
1. The bullet has left the barrel and we cannot influence its flight anymore, good or bad.
2. The sights are back on the target after the recoil impulse.
3. The trigger is prepped (all slack out), ready for a follow up shot should it be necessary.In the context of the typical close range self-defense scenario, Follow-Through has less to do with accuracy than with getting ready for the next shot and that’s critical because, knowing what we know about stopping mechanisms, we can assume the previous shot didn’t immediately stop the attack. It might, though, and that’s why we have to control ourselves along with the trigger. We can’t just start launching rounds downrange in a panic or according to some prearranged plan.
Standard Response?
If someone needs to be shot, begin shooting them immediately and don’t stop shooting them until you’re certain they no longer need to be shot anymore.Yes, that’s semi-tongue-in-cheek, but it hopefully gets across the idea that this is an open ended problem and that we must keep an open mind. Every situation is different. No one knows how many rounds it will take to solve your problem. Add to that the fact that we must, because we’re the Good Guys, account for every bullet fired and you can see that we have to be in control. We’re supposed to believe the sights are aligned on the target — not necessarily perfectly but ‘good enough’ — before we press the trigger. Depending on the accuracy requirements of that particular shot, we can either press the trigger confident, due to our training and experience, that the sights are on the target or we might have to take the time to confirm Sight Alignment with a Sight Picture before taking the shot. It just depends.
So, here’s the sequence of events:
1. The shot has been fired and the bullet is still in the barrel. All the fundamentals to this point have been performed well enough to get a hit. Six fundamentals down, one to go.
Follow-through requires:
2. The Grip / Mount is not changed in any way.
3. The trigger is immediately and aggressively released and allowed to travel forward far enough — with a margin of error — to reset the trigger mechanism. This is begun while the gun is still in recoil.
4. The trigger is brought to the rear until all the slack is out and the trigger mechanism is ‘prepped’ for the next shot, should it be necessary.
5. Our Mount puts the gun back on target without any additional movement or effort on our part.
6. Sight Alignment is achieved and confirmed, if necessary with a Sight Picture.
The shot is now complete.
The Trigger Control technique is called ‘constant contact, reset and prep’. I believe it’s the most effective and efficient way to control the trigger. I’ll talk about it another time.
Review
The marksmanship fundamental Follow-Through requires that we don’t do some things and, of those things we must do, we do them consistently and repeatably from shot to shot.
We don’t add any unnecessary or additional movement to the gun.
We maintain our Mount throughout the recoil impulse, making sure the movement of our trigger finger when performing the constant contact reset and prep trigger control technique doesn’t add any unnecessary or additional movement to the gun. Our trigger finger, and only our trigger finger, moves.
Price Increases in Effect 3rd QTR 2015
- Intro to Defensive Handguns (IDH) – $50 (no change)
- Utah CWP – $75 / $50 (no change)
- SC CWP – $80 (no change)
Note: We’re considering teaching a combined SC / UT class at some point.
Defensive Handgun 1 (DH1) $300 / $250
Defensive Handgun 2 (DH2) $300 / $250
Low Light Handgun (LLH) $200 / $175
Defensive Shotgun 1 (DS1) $300 / $250
Basic Carbine Operator (BCO) $250 / $175
Defensive Carbine 1 (DC1) $300 / $250
Defensive Carbine 2 (DC2) $300 / $250
Urban Break Contact (UBC) $600 / $500
Full time LEO will still receive a 50% discount on defensive firearm classes.
Active duty military (including SCARNG / SCANG) will continue to get a 100% discount on all defensive firearm classes.