Stage-1 Tactical Handgun – learning to crawl

1-Day Basic Defensive Handgun Safety and Manipulation. I was packed and ready to go early, so I was the first person to arrive – about forty minutes early. I found a parking space under a tree that would shade the truck. “Night Over Manaus” was playing on the iPod. Turned out to be the hottest day of the year so that helped. Louis drove up in a big truck about ten minutes later, he was busy with his helper Sloan ([sic]), so I just said “Hi” and let him do his thing, grumbling. And then my new best-friend Andre drove up. More people started trickling-in.
Once the clock rolled around, the classroom assembled inside. Fourteen guys and a mom with her 14-yr old son. Glocks, M&P’s Berettas, 9mm, .40 and .45 – and another gun just like mine. That was Dave. We were all about to be humbled, one way or another, some more than others. *SAFETY!* Accidents have been carving a bloody downward arc on the industry, ammunition has been declining in quality as a few (2) entities dominate the marketplace, and certain manufacturers have characteristic errors. (Cerebrus=Guns, ATK=Ammo) We had with us classic examples. *SAFETY!* Ammo OALs have been all over the map, loads found backwards and loads found empty and loads found mixed: half a box of .45 and half 9mm. Some good stuff remains: Black Hills, Hornady, Fiocchi… *SAFETY!* One thing that struck me was Louis’ use of a gun-frame as an example/reference point/pointer – even with the slide removed he always pointed it in a safe direction. “A monkey can hold to a 4-inch group. You gotta be as dumb as a box of rocks!” Or else you over-think and start moving the pistol all around trying to hit at 99%. He asked about each person’s specific problems, hands were raised and he answered eliminating each various alternative to a final possibility – one that he would be able to directly address on the range. “The class is about making accurate hits, and the sooner you hit the target the more napalm you can smell.” *SAFETY!* “You only have 6-degrees of vision in a fight.” Think BIG, hit CENTER. Not “Center-mass,” but Center OF mass, any MASS – the mass you NEED to hit. Sight-alignment is front-sight and rear-sight aligned right – sight picture is adding a TARGET to that. Follow-through.
Stance: Weaver, Iscoceles, and Whogivesacrap! When you move, they change – so don’t be so dependent, don’t waste time being dependent. What you need in any stance is BALANCE. *SAFETY!* We were in the Classroom until Noon.
On the range we started slowly. *SAFETY!*
Making hits to center mass, diagnosing problems. The Nighthawk with an over-large internal part had a tendency to nudge the bullets as they went past and fail to lock-open. Or closed – I forget, the Ed Browns were good-to-go. One M&P had aftermarket zoomy sights that didn’t align. People pushed and bullets went down. A Beretta can be disassembled with a yank and rendered inactive right in your hands. You can GET KILLED by a predator – they know what they are doing and they’re looking to take it away from you. For them it’s a free gun, that’s worth something all by itself. *SAFETY!*
And then there were reloads. Where does the magazine go? In the pocket? Leisurely? Looking at your hands, looking at the magazine or gun – doing nothing? Drop them on the deck/ground/alleyway – get the fresh magazine in. Some guys had to give it up and drop $12 mags on the ground – I had to bounce $30 magazines on the ground. I tried not to step on them.
*SAFETY!* And hydration – we took a water-break.
Finally, the Drawstroke and shooting: *SAFETY!* I was wearing a loose Hawaiian shirt (which was nice since it was steamy hot indoors and I was sweating lightly) while all the other guys had their shirts tucked-in and with easy holster access – so I had to learn an extra/different move required to clear the weapon just so I could grab it. And then once up and rocked into place, safety flicked-off, I had to make a slightly different move to go to two-hands on so I didn’t muzzle my own support hand. I didn’t make it easy on myself, it was kinda hard and easy to f’up. *SAFETY!* A 9mm High-Power had an aftermarket ambi-safety issue. The Beretta has too many damn levers and they add complexity. I just had to remember to seat the magazine assertively and USE the safety.
We finished up around 6:30PM – everyone was grateful for the time and effort.