The signing of this law is a dark day for Oregon. Perhaps this will be the impetus that freedom-loving Eastern Oregon needs to start the partitioning of the state?
o o o
Charge: Ore. teacher burned students with Tesla coil. – RBS
o o o
Student’s prom proposal could lead to federal charges
o o o
Sadly, even the American Redoubt has its share of problematic politicians (though far fewer than most other places): Idaho city’s ordinance tells pastors to marry gays or go to jail
Gold Prices In 2020? Debt Drives Gold and Stocks
o o o
Russell Napier Explains What’s In Store For Gold If Cash Is Outlawed. – D.S.
o o o
Items from Mr. Econocobas:
The Graccident Hour Draws Nigh
Greece Hopes for Helping Hand as IMF Bill Looms
No Deal: Eurogroup Concludes Meeting On Greece, No Further Fund Disbursement
The Situation Escalates – Greece Is Now Taxing Cash Withdrawals
Two concealed handgun permit holders, both volunteer firemen, stop mass public shooting. – G.G.
o o o
Mike Williamson, SurvivalBlog’s Editor At Large, sent in this link about dealing with police who tell you to stop filming them.
o o o
1.6 Million Immigrants from Predominantly Muslim Countries Since 9/11. – G.P.
o o o
Experts urge cautious use of wireless devices as health effects reassessed. – D.S.
o o o
IRS Continues SWAT Raids for Evasion While Hundreds of Agents Avoid Paying Any Taxes at All. – H.L.
On May 11, 1949, Israel was admitted into the United Nations.
We have many needs; food, water, air, shelter, and heat come to mind. To acquire and use all those things, we have to be able to find them, and the tool used the most is our vision. Our eyes work great during the day but not so well at night, so having a way to make light is vital.
We started off making light the same way we made heat and cooked, with fire, but that has drawbacks. We finally came up with electricity, and now the most common way we make light is to flip a switch on the wall. We also have flashlights for when we want to be mobile. A drawback to electric lights, of course, is that they need electricity, which has to be provided by wires or batteries.
As we cast about for alternatives that need little or no electricity, someone came up with glow sticks that contain two chemicals that are kept separate until a glass vial inside the stick is broken by bending it. When the chemicals mix, presto, we have light. There are some major drawbacks, though, with these products; chief among them is a limited shelf life. I only get a year or so of life out of mine, but I am often told that if they are stored in a cool place and packaged in a tightly sealed container, they might make it to four years. I prefer for things to last longer than that. There is one more problem to contend with; they only work once, and then you have trash.
UV Paqlite https://www.uvpaqlite.com/ is an innovative company that has some ideas about how to deal with these problems. We have reviewed some of their products before, so I am mainly going to focus on some of the new ones introduced since the last review, but I will take a quick look at the whole product line.
I should first say that UV Paqlite is most well known for their use of strontium aluminate crystals– a fascinating material that absorbs electromagnetic radiation and ultra violet rays and then returns them to us as light. The really fantastic thing about these crystals is that they can charge in relatively low light and then remain visible for up to 24 hours. UV Paqlite has come up with a number of very useful ways to use the abilities of these crystals.
When you first charge the crystals up, they seem really bright, but they fade a bit pretty quickly. They aren’t a Surefire flashlight by any means, but they retain enough light emitting ability to be able to find things in the dark from dusk to dawn, much like one of the long-life glow sticks. I was initially disappointed when I ran into our darkest closet with them, but I realized that my eyes were not dark adapted. Once that happens, the UV Paqlites really show their stuff. I tried an assortment of their products on a Cub Scout campout. When I got up before dawn for a call of nature, I was pleased to be able to find everything I had attached them to without needing to wake anyone up with a flashlight. Sadly though, they were not a deterrent to Cub Scouts running between tents and knocking out the tent stakes the lights were attached too. I suspect they might have been using the lights to better target the stakes.
The main item I’m writing about here is The Orb. Orb is a word derived from Latin that basically means a glowing disk. Writers often wax poetic about the full moon as a glowing orb and UV Paqlite’s Orb is much the same. It’s a glowing disk, but it has a cunning trick that makes it much more interesting.
The Orb is about 1.5 inches in diameter and about 1.25 inches thick. It only weighs 1.5 ounces and goes for $25. It contains a generous supply of the crystals that make it glow for hours after it is exposed to light. It does more than that, though. There is a built-in LED light that does two things. First, it provides enough light to safely find your way down a trail or to wander about a campsite. It is wonderful for reading maps in the dark or searching the bottom of a backpack. While you are using the LED, you are also charging the crystals, so you are left with a period of rather bright light that will continue to let you read a map or find the toothbrush that somehow got mixed in with the dirty underwear. UV Paqlite says you will get about four hours of battery life when using the LED. which was about what I got in use.
Once you get over how well it does these tricks, check out the next one– a hybrid mode that uses a timer to turn the LED light on every two minutes for long enough to recharge the crystals to full brightness. If your eyes are dark adapted, you can see it for really long distances. It is brighter, of course, during the moments the LED is on, but since it is always close to fully charged, it is easy to find. Steve Nagel from UV Paqlite suggested a great use for it in this mode– hanging it in a very visible spot near your car while hunting or hiking to provide a beacon should you run late returning. I hung it on our tent while camping and had no trouble finding my way back on a moonless night.
An added feature– a light sensor– further extends the life of the battery if you are leaving it someplace during the day that you want to locate in the dark. You can set it to a mode where the LED only comes on once it gets dark. Since you can get about 100 hours on the battery in the hybrid mode, you should be able to get a week out of the nighttime only setting.
The battery is charged with a USB cord, and it comes with a short one. A small solar panel or one of the storage batteries people use to extend cell phone life can be used to keep the Orb going. I suppose you could probably use a small panel to keep one going indefinitely, if desired.
There is also a waterproof housing you can get that protects it to 300 feet. The Orb by itself is rated water resistant, but you have to make sure that the cover for the charging port is properly inserted.
An older product– the Mule Light– was composed of a Larry Light, a nifty little LED flashlight that works well for area lighting, and the UV GloStik. The idea was similar to The Orb. A bunch of the crystals in the GloStik could be charged with the light to provide a nice source of light at the cost of little battery life. The GloStik could be rubber banded to the front of the light or pulled off if you wanted to get all of the LED’s light on the subject. I like the fact that the Larry Light uses three easy-to-find AAA batteries. The combination worked very well, but UV Paqlite decided to upgrade it and add the hybrid functions of The Orb to the flashlight, which promises to be a very useful combination. This one has entered production at the time I wrote this and should be on the market soon. The price hasn’t been set.
Besides The Orb and the Mule Light, UV Paqlite has a number of products that are recharged purely by ambient light. There are several varieties of glow stick-shaped lights, a disk that looks like an oversized glowing Lifesaver candy for you to wear at night, Glow in the Dark spots you can attach to whatever you need to find, adhesive sheets that work much better than the stuff I have previously used in darkrooms, and several other formats of the glowing crystals to meet your needs for finding things when there is no light.
One thing I really liked is the Scout package that gives you several different UV Paqlites, all of which I found useful camping with Scouts, despite the fact they didn’t slow down seven year olds creating mayhem.
I reviewed some storage food from Valley Food Storage last December and overall came away pretty happy with what we tried. They have introduced some new choices and were kind enough to send four samples, which we have dug into. They are all packaged in sturdy Mylar pouches with zip seals to preserve any unprepared foods. The containers provide enough food for a family meal, which is a point I like. Larger containers offer some cost advantages, but you frequently have so much that everyone hates it by the time the large container is finished. Valley Food eschews genetically modified foods and MSG, which I appreciate.
I think it is helpful to know something about the tastes of the testers, but I don’t, however, want to repeat all that here for the sake of space and time. You might want to go back to the original review, if you are curious about us. I didn’t get a chance to have my sister sample any of the new entrees, so this is based on opinions from my wife, my 10-year-old son, and me.
I will reiterate that my most important criterion these days is that storage food be things we will eat in normal times. I have found myself throwing out food that no one would eat when the time came to rotate it, which didn’t make me happy.
The first item we tried was the Enchilada Beans and Rice, and it was enjoyed by all three of us. We didn’t have any fresh tortillas to serve with it, and that would have greatly improved it, as would some fresh grated cheese, chopped onions, and peppers. My wife said she would be fine with storing it and eating it, but she wouldn’t go out of her way to have it in normal times. She wouldn’t let it go bad when it came time to rotate it but would probably prefer to have something else. If I presented her with it for dinner, there would not be any issues with her eating it, though. The package promised five 230-calorie servings for $11.95, and it seemed reasonably close, assuming a meal would have other items to go with it.
The Strawberry Cream of Wheat was a big surprise for both my wife and me. She really doesn’t like cream of wheat, but she liked this stuff and would be okay having it around anytime. My son snubbed it, though, and refused to try it. I was pretty much the same as my wife. I like cracked wheat cereals and oat meal, but cream of wheat always seemed too much like paste. This, however, was good. If you had some fresh blueberries to throw in, it would be very nice indeed. The $34.95 package is said to provide twenty 220-calorie servings. However, if it is the only item on the breakfast menu, that seemed optimistic to me, especially if folks are doing any sort of physical labor. As a side with an egg or two and some bacon, though, you could walk away pretty stuffed and fueled for some serious work.
The Irish Pub Cheddar Soup was a huge hit with the adults, but I couldn’t get my son to try it due to the presence of some tasty leftovers in the refrigerator. I was surprised and impressed with how well the potatoes and bacon bits reconstituted. I’ve had other dehydrated products that had odd, disconcerting textures. This one was not as good as fresh-made from scratch, but it was very good and better than I’ve had in restaurants or boxes from the grocery store, largely thanks to the flavorful seasoning. My wife said I can buy this and serve it anytime. The five-serving package goes for $11.95 and provides 230-calories per plate. Again, you would want to add some sides to your meal to get the calorie count up, especially when working hard.
I’ve saved the only one we didn’t like for last. It was the $11.95 Mac and Cheese. We would eat it in bad times, but the flavor just wasn’t up to the standard grocery store brand or Kraft Macaroni and Cheese kits. At first, I just wondered if the problem was that it is just different, but I decided I really didn’t like the cheese. The flavor wasn’t what I expect with macaroni, and the texture wasn’t smooth enough for me. The noodles reconstituted well and were fine. So, it was all about the cheese. My wife or son didn’t like it either; so this one won’t be on our buy list, unlike the other three or the ones we tried last year. This one gives you 280 calories per serving.
Overall, Valley Food has some very useful products for food storage. I am a fan of a number of brands of storage foods, but Valley Food is carving out a nice niche of tasty and different entrees at a decent price that could greatly reduce food boredom in a crunch. Some of us can handle boring food, but I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t appreciate a tasty meal every now and then as well as some serious variety. In the end, food is fuel, but good food can provide a lot of comfort in times of adversity.
– SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor, Scot Frank Eire
Over the years, I’ve owned more 1911 handguns than any other type of handguns. No matter what new type of polymer handguns that come into my hands, I always turn back to the grand ol’ 1911 as my favorite handgun. It’s just hard to argue with success. The 1911 was first made in, well, 1911, and it celebrated more than 100 years of age a few years ago. To be sure, I honestly can’t keep track of all the gun companies that are making 1911s these days. If a person could sit down and start counting all the different companies who are either making or did make 1911s, I’m sure it would number well over a hundred. Then we have to look at the different models of 1911s, which easily number in the hundreds and hundreds of different models. One 1911 maker alone produces more than 60 different types and styles of 1911s. Wow!
The 1911 is unique when it comes to handguns. It is the only handgun, that I’m aware of, that has a trigger that slides back and forth. All other guns have triggers that pivot. The sliding trigger explains why the 1911 handgun has one of the best trigger pulls on the market. Maybe your particular 1911 doesn’t have the smoothest trigger pull right now, however, it can be made to have a smooth and slick trigger pull with very little work. Also, let’s not forget the reset once the trigger is pulled on a 1911; it’s very fast and VERY short, as to my knowledge no other handgun has a shorter trigger reset than the 1911. I can put eight empty .45ACP brass cases in the air at the same time with a good 1911 in my hand. Try that with any other handgun. I can shoot the 1911 faster and better than any other handgun I’ve ever tested, bar none!
I’m not aware of any other style of handgun that is customized more than a 1911, nor any other handgun that has its own entire parts catalogs, like Brownell’s 1911 parts catalog. To be sure, there are also more gunsmiths who specialize in the 1911 than any other handgun in the world. The world is awash with polymer handguns and more new models seem to come out every week, but none are as popular as the 1911. The 1911 is as American as American can be.
Enter the Springfield Armory 1911 Loaded Operator, which is a new model for 2015 that I received about a month ago for this article. I’m here to tell you that this factory 1911 is absolutely a top-of-the-line 1911. It has everything you may want and nothing you don’t need. The Loaded Operator is a full-sized Government-style 1911. It has a 5-inch barrel and full grip frame, plus it also has a Picatinny rail under the dust cover in case you want to mount a light or laser on it. That’s nice!
Let’s take a closer look at the Loaded Operator. We have night sights front and rear on the slide, with the rear being a Novak combat-style rear sight, which is the best of the best, in my humble opinion. The slide is opened up and flared back for sure ejection of empty and loaded rounds. There are also angled slide serrations, front and rear, for a sure grip when loading a round from the magazine into the chamber. The barrel is stainless steel, match grade, and it has been throated and polished to feed any type of rounds you might want to throw its way.
Moving down to the frame of the Loaded Operator, we have a match-grade trigger that breaks clean at 4-lbs, which is just about perfect for street use. You don’t want a trigger pull much lighter than that, nor do you need a trigger pull any lighter than that. We also have an ambidextrous thumb safety, expertly fitted, that *snicks on and off with authority and no play at all. A beaver tail grip safety that is timed perfectly is a joy. The back strap is checkered for a sure grip, too. Springfield Armory also included an extended magazine chute for getting a mag loaded into the gun as fast as possible; this is really, really nicely fitted, too. The gun comes with two 8-rd magazines, too. The grips are checked black G-10 with a groove milled into the left side grip panel, so there is easy access to the magazine release. On top of it all, there is zero play between the slide/frame/barrel, and I mean zero play that is expertly fitted. The slide rides on the frame are butter smooth, too. The hammer is a combat style, and the firing pin is titanium for a fast lock time.
The barrel bushing is stainless steel, and fitted just right; it’s tight, but you can still turn it with finger pressure instead of using a bushing wrench. On the Springfield Armory website, it states that the Loaded Operator comes with a one-piece guide rod. My sample has the standard Government-style, short guide rod, which I much prefer over a one-piece guide rod. The gun has what is called an “Armory Coating”– a hi-tech polymer finish that is black in color and very tough. It will outlast any blued gun by far.
Springfield Armory ships the Loaded Operator in a very nice polymer carrying case. Inside the case was the gun with two 8-rd mags, as well as a holster and double magazine pouch. There is a cleaning rod/brush and excellent instructions, as well a coupon for discounted Springfield Armory products, like more mags if you want to have some spares on hand.
The only change I made to my Loaded Operator was that I added some skateboard friction tape to the front strap of the gun. It was a bit too slick for my liking. Then again, I do this to almost every 1911 I’ve owned. I like the gritty feel on the skateboard friction tape. It gives me a better hold on the gun under all weather conditions, and skateboard tape is $1.99 per foot, which is inexpensive. I replace it once a year, if needed.
I’ve customized quite a few 1911s over the years, not only for myself but for friends and customers, when I had a gun shop. However, I didn’t turn out one 1911 that was as nicely fitted as the Springfield Armory Loaded Operator that I tested for this article. I’ve also owned a couple high priced 1911s from custom 1911 makers that weren’t as nicely put together as the Loaded Operator. Additionally, these guns easily cost twice what the Loaded Operator sells for, and they didn’t shoot any better, either.
I had an outstanding assortment of .45 ACP ammo on hand for testing, too, from Black Hills Ammunition. www.black-hills.com I had their outstanding 230-gr FMJ, which is always a great performer in the accuracy department, their 230-gr JHP, 185-gr JHP, and I found some of their 230-gr JHP +P in an ammo can. From Buffalo Bore Ammunition, I had the following: 160-gr Barnes TAC XP low recoil all-copper hollow point round, 255-gr Hard Cast +P load, 230-gr FMJ FN +P, 160-gr Barnes TAC XP +P all copper hollow point, 200-gr JHP +P, 185-gr Barnes TAC XP all-copper +P hollow point, and 185-gr JHP +P load. Whew!
In all, over several shooting sessions, I put more than 600-rds down range. It was some fun shooting and some accuracy shooting. For my accuracy testing, I did my usual rolled-up-sleeping-bag-over-the-hood-of-my-pick-up-truck shooting at 25-yards. For function testing, I burned through a lot of ammo as fast as I could pull the trigger, and I have plenty of extra 1911 magazines on hand at all times. The gun got hot, but it never missed a beat. During the accuracy testing, no load shot more than 3-inch groups. That’s pretty cool. Most groups were well under three inches. If I did my part all of the time, I could get groups under two inches. Keep in mind that this is a factory gun! The best group from all my shooting was from the Black Hills 230-gr JHP load. I got several 1 1/2 inch groups, so long as I was on my game. The Loaded Operator also liked the Buffalo Bore 160-gr Barnes TAC XP lo-recoil load. I was getting some groups close to an inch and a half. I can’t complain in the least about the accuracy with any of the loads I tested from Black Hills and Buffalo Bore. They both produce top-notch ammo. Tim (Buffalo Bore) and Jeff (Black Hills), you guys are doing up ammo right, and folks need to really take a close look at all the different ammo you make.
There are a good selection of holsters on the market for 1911s these days. However, I really like the line up from Blackhawk Products – Their SERPA concealed carry holster is great. It holds the gun high and tight to the body. Their Tactical Thigh holster is great for SWAT cops and military use since it holds a 1911 on your thigh, right where you need it to be, and it would be my first choice if I were a SWAT cop or carrying a 1911 in the military. One thing that drives me crazy, and in my case its a short drive to crazy, is watching people in gun shops buy really nice guns, like this Loaded Operator, and then purchase the cheapest holster they can find. Why? Do yourself a favor, check out the Blackhawk line of holsters. They are priced right and will last you a lifetime.
Now, as savvy SurvivalBlog readers know, quality never comes cheap. You can buy cheap all the time, but do you want to bet your life on a cheap 1911? I have several 1911s that are made in the Philippines. They’re really decent guns for the money, which was well under $500, and they are fun to shoot. However, do you really want to bet your life on a “cheap” 1911? The Springfield Armory Loaded Operator 1911 retails for $1,399, and as I’ve said before, you only have to buy quality once. I’ve paid twice this amount for some custom-made 1911s that were no better made than this Loaded Operator.
After my testing, I replaced the factory 16-lbs recoil spring in the Loaded Operator with an 18.5-lbs recoil spring, which is a smart thing to do if one plans on doing a lot of shooting with +P .45ACP loads. The gun never missed a beat, and I even mixed different types and brands of .45ACP ammo in magazines during my testing. The gun gobbled up everything I threw at it and perked along just fine. So, if you’re in the market for an outstanding 1911, take a close look at the Springfield Armory Loaded Operator. You may find yourself doing what I did. I took the gun apart, looking for the built-in radar that Springfield must have installed, because I don’t usually shoot this good. I’m a better than the average shot, because I shoot a lot– several times per week, but this Loaded Operator just seemed like it zeroed in on the target like it had radar and placed all those rounds on target like the gun had built-in radar.
– Senior Product Review Editor, Pat Cascio
Ingredients:
Directions:
All recipes are meant to be tweeked
o o o
Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? Please send it via e-mail. Thanks!
HJL,
This was an excellent piece, the kind of concise and practical advice your deep woods grandfather would give. The statement “The ground will be littered with unfired rifles” is a prediction my team has made as well. The powerful lure of “bling” guns has to be the greatest detriment to prepping that I routinely encounter.
DD in CO
o o o
HJL,
I agree with almost everything he said, until I got to the hand-to-hand fighting section.
I always look upon things with skepticism, especially if they cost thousands of dollars and claim to do fantastic things. So I did some research. First of all, a person tends to lose credibility when they say that anyone who has something negative to say about something is ignorant, especially when someone says there is “a lot” of it out there and that it all spawns from ignorance. The SCARS website has many bold claims that just cannot be backed up and that don’t make much sense when you look at the whole picture. It smacks of slick marketing rather than truth.
My personal recommendation is to research and try out new things. Nothing is the “best”. Listen to people that have been there and done it and constantly ask yourself if it’s realistic for you. Try to understand your limitations and the changes in your body as you age. What works for you at twenty may not work at sixty. There is no system that can teach you to be undefeatable in three days. – D.D.
Congress Tells Court That Congress Can’t Be Investigated for Insider Trading. – H.L.
o o o
DHS Approves Amnesty Applications Despite Court Order. B.G.
o o o
Catnip Repels Mosquitoes More Effectively Than DEET. – H.L.
o o o
Bibb deputy implicated in elaborate real-estate scam. – D.S.
o o o
Wearable gadgets portend vast health, research and privacy consequences. – D.S.
o o o
You might want to take a look at our advertiser APEX’s new website. It’s been a long time in the making, but it is finally ready and launched. If you need gun parts, check them out.
“Survival often demands our courage.” ? David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas
May 10th is the birthday of the late Col. Jeff Cooper (born 1920, died September 25, 2006).
May 10th is also the birthday of the late Janis Pinups (born 1925, died 15 June 2007). He was one of the last of the Forest Brothers anti-communist resistance fighters. He came out of hiding, after five decades, to obtain a Latvian passport in 1994, after the collapse of eastern European communism. (He was never issued any communist government identity papers and by necessity lived as a nonexistent ghost during the entire Soviet occupation of Latvia.)
[Street Combat – This Ain’t No Game is a SurvivalBlog exclusive.]
No book or single chapter of a book can adequately teach a person gunfighting skills. In this chapter, I’m going to give you the basic concepts of close quarters combat shooting, or CQB as it’s commonly called. It is my sincere belief that there is no better method of deploying a handgun in a close quarters, self-defense situation than with the method known as Point Shooting.
If you’ll recall, in many of the war stories I have related to you, the distances involved were extremely close. FBI statistics prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that most gunfights take place at 21 feet or less, and in many cases the distance is “reach out and touch someone” close.
To be an effective all-around combat pistol shot, you MUST be trained in point shooting as well as aimed shooting. To lack either skill will allow a serious void in your handgun training. In this chapter, I’m only covering Point Shooting and Hip Shooting skills. There have already been enough books written on aimed shooting skills.
Before we get started, let me burst your bubble. If you’re waiting to discover the secrets of point shooting, well, there are none! Don’t hold your breath in hopes of learning something secret from the masters of point shooting. Those who know and teach point shooting have pretty well explained what they know about the subject in plain everyday English. There are no secrets!
You’ll see that the Applegate-Fairbairn method is probably the easiest to learn and retain. Depending upon your physical make-up, you may find one technique will work better for you than another. Martial artist John McSweeney teaches a method of point shooting that I call “The Swing”. Jim Wilson employs a method I refer to as “The Punch”. This is not to say one technique is better than another but only that dependent upon your own skill, dedication (which is important), and manual dexterity, you will find one technique more suitable and easier to learn than another.
In discussing point shooting with Col. Rex Applegate and studying his classic text– Kill or Get Killed, I learned the most basic problem students of point shooting have is a limp wrist. This is proven in the classes I hold on the subject. Most errors are traced to limp-wristing the handgun. When practicing point shooting, if you start seeing your hits scattered all over the target, the odds are that you are limp-wristing the gun. Lock that wrist and watch the groups tighten-up!
Another common problem you may run into is seeing your hits centered too low on the target. Simply stated, you are not raising your weapon high enough before completing your trigger pull. Another possible cause is that the weapon doesn’t fit your hand properly. With a revolver, another set of stocks (grips) may resolve the problem. With an autoloader, there is little you can do except to learn where you are naturally pointing your handgun and then adjust your wrist accordingly. This will take a certain amount of practice, but it can be done.
In discussing this problem with noted close quarters combat authorities Chuck Karwan and the late Col. Rex Applegate, both draw the same conclusion– different guns point differently! Another noted gun writer, Dave W. Arnold, who is also associate editor of HANDGUNS magazine, told me, “A gun MUST fit the hand.” Different sizes or types of grips (stocks) can help, so be advised.
If you have found a gun that fits your hand and points somewhat naturally for you and you’ve learned to lock your wrist, then let’s move on to another learning point. There seems to be some contention about either fully extending your shooting arm or not! I have seen shooters firing both ways, with slightly bent (but locked) or straight elbows. Whichever methods works best for you is the one to use. Practice is the key word here!
I teach a fully-extended elbow, as did Col. Rex Applegate, and so does Dave W. Arnold. Others, like (now retired) Sheriff Jim Wilson of Crockett County Texas and John McSweeney, teach a slightly bent elbow. Both techniques work! Find the one that works best for you and use it.
In the Applegate-Fairbairn method of point firing, the gun arm is lowered to a 45 degree angle from the ground and then brought up from the ground to fire. Other instructors/authorities teach that you should punch the gun arm straight out as in boxing and certain martial arts. I have no problem with either technique. Having an involvement in the martial arts for over 25 years, I realize the importance and accuracy of a good straight punch.
On the other hand, simply raising your hand and pointing your finger at an object also has its worth. I’m sure everyone remembers sitting in a classroom in school and fooling around, and then seeing the teacher slowly raise his/her hand and point a finger at you. It made no difference if you were seated in the front or back of the classroom; the finger was pointed at YOU! Practice both methods of getting your handgun on-target. Whichever one works best for you is the one to use. Applegate believed that you’ll learn easier and quicker raising the gun rather than punching it out. I tend to agree!
You will find, as you progress in your point shooting skills, that there are very few hard and fast rules that apply. One rule that should apply to everyone though is to use what works for you! Don’t worry about what certain gurus teach. If their way is the only way, I would suggest looking for another instructor.
Now that you have a gun that fits your hand, your wrist and elbow ( or a slightly bent elbow) are locked, let’s work our way up to the shoulder region. This part of your anatomy is often neglected. Your shoulder joint should be locked but not so locked as to prevent horizontal or lateral movement when needed. While firing, the shoulder joint should be locked and the upper and lower arm as well as the wrist should function and move as one unit in a manner something akin to an old fashion handle on a water pump, only moving up and down!
With arm, wrist, and shoulder locked together, now is the time to either simply raise the pistol to just below eye level or use the punch technique and simply punch your gun arm toward the target. Don’t throw your gun toward the target. This only works in the ole “B” westerns. Dave W. Arnold feels that timing of your trigger pull is the most important aspect of point shooting. Once on-target, the trigger pull is now completed immediately! Without hesitation, do it NOW!
Dave W. Arnold’s thought is that you don’t start your trigger pull after your gun comes on-target. Rather the trigger pull starts before getting on-target. John McSweeney and myself believe that you should be on-target prior to starting your trigger pull! Practice, and use what works best for you.
Before continuing on, I want to repeat what Dave Arnold told me in a phone conversation. He said, “Aimed shooting is ALWAYS better.” I couldn’t agree more with Dave. Please don’t misunderstand Arnold’s comment to mean that he favors aimed shooting over point shooting.
Such is NOT the case! Arnold simply means that when time and circumstances permit, an aimed shot is a much better route to take than a point shot. As any experienced point shooter will admit, aimed shots are not always possible due to distance, time, light conditions, et cetera.
After an initial exchange of gunfire, one should be looking for cover and/or concealment. Then aimed shots can be taken at the assailant. Make no mistake, during a close encounter of the deadliest kind, point shooting is what works and is what you will use if you are trained in its proper techniques. Dave Arnold states that from the draw, he can get off two shots using the point shooting method (at five meters) approximately 1/2 second faster than he can using the aimed technique. This can make the difference between who wins and who looses. To borrow from the late master gunfighter Bill Jordan, “There is no second place winner in a gunfight.”
I hate for anyone to use the term “expert”, as you’ll find I prefer the word “authority” over “expert”), but some self-appointed “experts” will tell you that you must use a different stance when point shooting. For that matter, I recently read an article by one of these experts, who claimed you must use a different stance when shooting a snub-nosed revolver in order to control recoil. That’s not true!
A good, natural stance with the feet spaced evenly and comfortably apart will get the job done. Some shooters prefer that one foot be advanced slightly in front of the other; others demand that the right foot is placed slightly forward of the left or vice-a-versa. Hey, whatever works best for you is the technique to use. If you’re not comfortable with your stance, you won’t shoot worth a plug nickel!
If you already don’t have a copy of the video Tactical Point Shooting (Vigilante Publishing, P.O. Box 592, Ontario, OR 97914) please be sure to obtain a copy. This video has myself, John McSweeney, and Sheriff Jim Wilson demonstrating the three different types of point shooting techniques discussed in this chapter. Plus, there are some interesting comments by Col. Rex Applegate.
Crouching! Some folks teach it, while others don’t. I personally don’t teach a forward crouch for the simple fact that you’ll crouch instinctively when the lead starts flying! There is nothing wrong with practicing a forward crouch, however. Col. Rex Applegate stresses the crouch in his text KILL OR GET KILLED, and I have no problem with that. Most of what I teach is based on the Applegate-Fairbairn method of point shooting. It worked for Fairbairn & Sykes with the Shanghai Municipal Police, and it worked for Applegate during WWII and afterward. Thousands of troops were trained by Applegate using this method, and untold hundreds or thousands of lives have been saved using this method!
A quick review of the 10 steps involved in the Applegate-Fairbairn Method of Point Shooting are in order:
John McSweeney, Prof. Bradley J. Steiner, and other point shooting authorities advocate the use of a full-length mirror as one of your training tools when practicing point shooting. Now, don’t go off and try to out-draw yourself in the mirror. Perhaps the late Bill Jordan could do it, but the rest of us can’t! In this section we’ll cover some training methods you can use at home to improve your point shooting skills. In addition to dry-firing, mirror work is probably the most important aspect of practice at home.
You will need to purchase at least a 3/4 length mirror. Get one large enough that you can see your entire body. A full-length mirror is even better. Mount it in a spot that permits enough room to draw your weapon and allows for various body movements.
John McSweeney advocates that your initial dry-fire practice should last 15 minutes per day for the first month or so. Live-fire practice should take place at least two times per month with a minimum of 50 rounds fired. After your first month of dry-fire, you can taper off to two or three times a month for the rest of the year. After that, practice dry-fire once a month for 15 minutes.
So, given the above time frame and with a little practice, you’ll become a much better point shooter than the average police officer, who only aim fires his gun during the annual or semi-annual qualification course. To quote Sheriff Jim Wilson, “If you want to become good, you should practice; if you want to stay alive, you’d better practice.”
Now that you have set up a practice schedule, you’ll need to plan exactly what you’ll be practicing. As already mentioned, don’t try to outdraw yourself! The first thing you should do is practice either punching your gun forward or the Applegate method of simply raising (remember the KISS principle– Keep It Simple, Stupid) the gun from the low, “ready” position. Look at where the gun’s muzzle is pointed. Is it pointed at your mid-section or toward your kneecap? Is your wrist locked or limp? Remember, a limp wrist is the major cause of errors in point shooting (and aimed shooting as well). A limp wrist will bind up most autoloaders, causing a serious malfunction that may take several life-threatening seconds to correct.
Focus your attention on yourself in the mirror, not on your gun! Martial artists teach you to focus all your attention on your intended target, not on your own fist or foot. If you are focusing your attention on your target, you’ll find that your gun will be pointing at that target.
Learn where your particular handgun points. Does it point naturally for you, or is it a gun that points too low or too high? Remember Dave Arnold’s comments earlier about grip replacement. It can definitely aid when using a revolver or less so when using a semiautomatic handgun. By the way, I’m NOT a big fan of most rubber grips on guns. They don’t allow you to adjust your grip when indexing your gun. The rubber grips made my Michaels of Oregon (P.O. Box 1690, Oregon City, OR 97045 503-557-0536) are the exception. If you take a hold that is too low or too high with most rubber grips, you won’t be able to adjust your grip without reholstering or using your other hand to hold the gun.
Now that you have been focusing on bring your gun on-target, you should begin practicing trigger control. Remember, Dave Arnold states that trigger control is THE MOST IMPORTANT aspect of point shooting! Arnold is a world-class shooter and spent 18 years with the elite British South Africa Police force in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). While with the BSAP, he was with the counter-insurgency service commanding anti-terrorist units against guerrillas. By the way, Arnold’s book– Shoot A Handgun – should be in your library. It is available from PVA Books, P.O. Box 2216, Canyon Country, CA 91351. (You may write for details on cost and shipping).
Noted point shooting authority John McSweeney states that your trigger pull should start when the gun is brought on-target and NOT BEFORE OR AFTER it reaches the target! Again, I agree with McSweeney. McSweeney and I are personal friends as well as professional associates. McSweeney and I recently co-authored a book entitled SWAT Battle Tactics, available from Paladin Press. I know and respect McSweeney, both as a point shooting instructor and also as a martial artist, since he introduced karate to Ireland. While some of our techniques are different, both have the same end results!
Okay, now that your gun is coming on-target and you have mastered your trigger pull, what’s next? Glad you asked. You did ask, didn’t you? Good! Practice stepping off with both feet. No, not at the same time! First practice stepping toward your target with your right foot and then your left. Practice facing your target square on, with your feet evenly spaced apart and on the same plain. Keep both knees slightly bent (as in any style of martial arts) at all times. Practice stepping back with one foot and then the other. To a practiced shooter, distance is on your side. If possible (unless backed into a corner), you should try to put as much distance between yourself and any deadly threat.
It’s getting easier isn’t it? Your wrist, elbow, and shoulder are locked; you’re punching or raising your gun on-target. Your stance is looking good, and that trigger control seems to work. You can move in and out at will. That’s all there is to it, right? Nope, afraid not! Your upper torso should act as a turret, and you should be able to swing your upper body toward the right or left without moving your feet. Okay, this is where many folks run into a problem. They tend to swing the gun arm right or left instead of swinging their entire upper torso toward their target. Sure, some master exhibition shooters, like McGivern, Beegle, Cox, Topperwein, and others, would swing their gun arms toward their target and make consistent hits. The average (and aren’t most of us average, even if we don’t like to admit it) shooter simply can’t swing just their arm with a gun in it and have it stop where they want. You need to swing your entire upper body.
The question comes up from time to time regarding use of the two-handed hold when point shooting. I teach the use of a two-handed hold, but I stress the one-handed hold. A two-handed hold is usually used from the low, ready position and NOT from the draw (at least in my method). The two-handed hold is not very conducive to the punch out method of point shooting, although there is one instructor out there who teaches students to punch-out from the two-handed hold. Try it for yourself. Does it work? I didn’t think so! What you may want to do is practice punching out with the one-handed hold, placing your initial hits using this method of point shooting. Then, bring your other hand into play and go into an isoceles stance. This is advocated by Dave Arnold, and I have tried it; it works! Although, be advised; this technique is NOT for the beginner. It takes time, patience, and practice!
Make no mistake, with enough practice, just about anything is possible with point shooting. The two-handed hold, punch out method will work with enough practice! Practice is the key word here. How much practice are you willing to put into your point shooting skills? If the two-handed, punch-out method is what you want to use, go right ahead and do it, but remember to practice.
HJL,
Very sobering indeed! Abortion is a sin for which we obviously have to pay as a nation. Let us add to the 56 million surgical abortions the untold numbers of abortions caused by the pill and by IUDs. “What God has put together, let no man tear asunder.” God Almighty put together love and procreation. Repent and be saved. – JLJ
Record number of Americans abroad giving up citizenship. – G.G.
o o o
What could possibly go wrong? “Most Of The Existing Workers In The Saudi Oil Fields Are Yemenese. And There Are Over 4 Million Yemenese In Saudi Arabia”. – H.L.
o o o
An excellent post on Ron’s outdoor blog about gun care products. – TMG
o o o
SurvivalBlog reader T.J. sent in this reminder about the safety of your storm shelter: Woman Drowned In Her Storm Shelter
o o o
Bills Will Shield Police Officers From Their Own Body Camera Recordings. – T.P.