Good Day of Classes

Was out at KR Training today helping with Basic Pistol 2 and Defensive Pistol Skills 1.

A good day.

Both classes were at capacity. The usual gamut of people: men and women, young folk, old folk, various ethnicities, various backgrounds and “lots in life”. I always point this out to break stereotypes: gun folk aren’t just old white men or just rednecks. And while these two classes can typically have a lot of people taking both, today the majority of each class were actually only there for the one class. So a lot of faces went through the school today.

Given it was a long day… given I’m going on 4 hours of sleep… well, I’ll just mention a few things that today’s class made most evident.

• Small guns are hard to shoot well. Small guns that kick a lot (e.g. .40 S&W) are even harder to shoot well.
  • You obviously acknowledge the difficulty in shooting the small gun because you take steps to make it a larger gun: e.g. mag extenders so you can get a full grip. Well, once you do that the gun is almost full-sized, so why not just use a full-sized gun?
• Good holsters are well worth it. One quality of a good holster? It stays put. Another quality? The mouth stays open when the holster is empty so you can reholster without having to look at the holster or use your other hand to open the mouth up. That could be acceptable for carry, but in a class or any time when you know you will be drawing and reholstering? Nope.
  • It’s hard to find a good holster in most stores. The Internet is your friend.
• Sunscreen is your friend.
• Drink water. Drink some more.
• When reloading, just drop the magazine to the ground. If someone is attacking you, the magazine is the least of your concerns! Getting your gun running again is more important so spend your time focusing on the important things, like getting more ammo in the gun so it’s again functional and useful.
• Magazine pouches are useful. But regardless of how you store a spare magazine, position the magazine such that when you retrieve it the magazine is already oriented to go right into the gun.. no need to check it, flip it over, etc… just retrieve and insert. Typically this means you want to point the bullets outward, i.e. “bullets towards the bad guy”. But that’s not a hard rule (e.g. one student had to retrieve from a pants pocket and the way his hand naturally went there was better to position the bullets away from the bad guy).
• Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
• When you draw your gun, keep with the 4-count draw. When you reholster, do the 4-count draw in reverse. Keep the discipline of the draw. Do no travel along the hypotenuse.
• Guns with big long double-action trigger presses are hard to shoot well. Yeah maybe you can get a nicer single-action on the 2nd press, but when your life is on the line that 1st shot is going to be most important. Make sure that first shot can hit what you’re aiming at.
• Please be mindful of school/class policies. KR Training policy only wants brass-cased ammo (no steel case, no aluminum). As well, SERPA holsters are not permitted because of the risks that come with that holster. When in doubt about your equipment, ask prior to class.

I know there were other things I wanted to mention… but my brain is fried and ready for bed.

There was one student that did something I thought was commendable. He was only in the DPS1 class but realized in there that his fundamentals were not solid… that the way he had been taught prior to this class just didn’t cut it. He asked if going back and taking the prior course (Basic Pistol 2) would be good for him. I think it’s great he realized where his skills were and didn’t let his ego keep him from taking a step back. A lot of people would just press on with their existing habits (good or bad), but he wants to go back and improve his fundamentals. I think that’s most commendable, and I do hope to see him come back. He’s got a good attitude.

The biggest thing I saw all day tho was small guns and harsh calibers. Small guns are hard to shoot well, and when you add in harsh calibers like .40 S&W they’re even harder. This isn’t to say one cannot eventually come to shoot those guns at an acceptable level, but why fight your equipment? Why make things hard on yourself when you don’t have to? Granted, in many respects this is a personal choice and you have to choose what’s right for you and your situation and need. But consider what’s important here: the gun or your life. Is the gun the most important thing (that gun, that caliber)? or is the ability to shoot well? the ability to defend your life if need be. Just be sure to be clear on what your goal is, and proceed accordingly from there.

Thanx to the students that came out. Hope to see you all back again soon. Keep practicing! Dry fire is your friend.