You know; sometimes there are little things that I learn from just listening to my trainees talking or from what they tell me. I usually try to store those thoughts in my mental file cabinet so that after enough times I know I’m not picking on anyone or criticizing. I know that a good instructor is or should be his own biggest critic, and not a critic of his trainees.
On many occasions in training (across the spectrum of trainees) I have heard these words, “I (he, she, they) can shoot.” I have been lax in addressing that mindset. At my recent TCLEOSE Police Instructors course, one of my fellow instructors gave a presentation on “MINDSET”.
On my website a few months ago I addressed mindset and haven’t addressed it since……”my bad” but that’s the great thing about y’all. I’m constantly inspired/reminded …..soooooo let’s talk about it. “I can shoot……..” Oh yeah? Can you shoot or can you pull the trigger? Can you define shooting? Can you shoot when you’re so scared, you can’t even speak? Can you shoot when someone is shooting at you or your loved ones? Can you shoot on the move? Can you hit what you shoot when you are moving? Can you shoot if you get shot? Can you survive if you do get shot? Can you shoot under all those conditions?
The answer is ……..I don’t know. You can’t possibly know until you HAVE to do it under those circumstances. I’m not criticizing here folks I’m just stating a fact. All this leads to practicing and practicing smart. Hey it’s a lot of fun to run a water jug out to 400 yards and take the old .300 Mag. Or .270, or the “ought six” sit at a bench or prone out and bang away. That’s pulling the trigger. Try movin the jug in to 150 yards and take your “ought six” and run that extra 50 yards toward the jug and then take the shot with just your sling to help you.
I have to deal with the fact that at an indoor range I can’t set up a barricade drill for you, or a “got knocked ,on my butt” drill, or run to cover or car drill. If you can find a place to do that please do. Your mindset has to be that if you train to be magnificent you’ll be lucky to be mediocre in a gunfight, cause you aren’t the only one who knows how to shoot and you might not be the only one who’s training. Standing in a shooting lane at a shooting range and shooting at a bulls eye target and making a nice tight hole will not go far when the bullets come from the opposite direction. Looks good though. Small things like realistic situation targets, taking one step back or forward, getting someone to move the target, magazine changes that involve dropping the magazine not grabbing it etc. Small things ad up and they will help you “shoot” more realistically. And on a personal note; I hope you never have to find out if you can “SHOOT”.
Two examples were presented to me of the “KNOW YOUR GUN & HAVE YOUR OWN GUN AND KNOW HOW TO RUN THE GUN!” An older gentleman was teaching his lady to shoot a Kahr 9 pistol, and he had a Springfield Operator. She couldn’t hit anything and he asked me (as an instructor) if I could check it and see if there was something wrong with the sights. I was in a class so I couldn’t devote more than a minute or two and took the Kahr put two rounds in it and fired. Immediately it was apparent that the trigger pull on the weapon was horrendous, and impossible to hit with since it is double action only. I’ve seen this with these particular firearms before. They have the longest and worst trigger pull of any firearm I have ever personally handled. He asked me to fire the Springfield and two rounds about an inch apart appeared on the target.
One of my trainees had a smaller 1911 model of unnamed variation and used it because of her spouse, and she couldn’t run the gun. She knew it and I had to help her run it to get through her proficiency test. How proficient does that make her? Proficient enough to get herself killed cause she couldn’t run the slide or load the magazine. Guys listen up. Let her pick her own gun. YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT’S BEST FOR HER. YOU KNOW WHAT YOU THINK IS BEST FOR HER. I see it often and it makes shooting fun not so much fun. They have to be confident in their own mind not in your mind. Mindset. Hers not yours.
On a technical note; the scaled down/compact 1911 platform has to have much stiffer /heavier spring tolerances to function. John Browning designed the 1911 as a full size service pistol and not a compact.
I know the spouse didn’t know that so there is no blame or fault here. KNOW THE GUN.
On many occasions in training (across the spectrum of trainees) I have heard these words, “I (he, she, they) can shoot.” I have been lax in addressing that mindset. At my recent TCLEOSE Police Instructors course, one of my fellow instructors gave a presentation on “MINDSET”.
On my website a few months ago I addressed mindset and haven’t addressed it since……”my bad” but that’s the great thing about y’all. I’m constantly inspired/reminded …..soooooo let’s talk about it. “I can shoot……..” Oh yeah? Can you shoot or can you pull the trigger? Can you define shooting? Can you shoot when you’re so scared, you can’t even speak? Can you shoot when someone is shooting at you or your loved ones? Can you shoot on the move? Can you hit what you shoot when you are moving? Can you shoot if you get shot? Can you survive if you do get shot? Can you shoot under all those conditions?
The answer is ……..I don’t know. You can’t possibly know until you HAVE to do it under those circumstances. I’m not criticizing here folks I’m just stating a fact. All this leads to practicing and practicing smart. Hey it’s a lot of fun to run a water jug out to 400 yards and take the old .300 Mag. Or .270, or the “ought six” sit at a bench or prone out and bang away. That’s pulling the trigger. Try movin the jug in to 150 yards and take your “ought six” and run that extra 50 yards toward the jug and then take the shot with just your sling to help you.
I have to deal with the fact that at an indoor range I can’t set up a barricade drill for you, or a “got knocked ,on my butt” drill, or run to cover or car drill. If you can find a place to do that please do. Your mindset has to be that if you train to be magnificent you’ll be lucky to be mediocre in a gunfight, cause you aren’t the only one who knows how to shoot and you might not be the only one who’s training. Standing in a shooting lane at a shooting range and shooting at a bulls eye target and making a nice tight hole will not go far when the bullets come from the opposite direction. Looks good though. Small things like realistic situation targets, taking one step back or forward, getting someone to move the target, magazine changes that involve dropping the magazine not grabbing it etc. Small things ad up and they will help you “shoot” more realistically. And on a personal note; I hope you never have to find out if you can “SHOOT”.
Two examples were presented to me of the “KNOW YOUR GUN & HAVE YOUR OWN GUN AND KNOW HOW TO RUN THE GUN!” An older gentleman was teaching his lady to shoot a Kahr 9 pistol, and he had a Springfield Operator. She couldn’t hit anything and he asked me (as an instructor) if I could check it and see if there was something wrong with the sights. I was in a class so I couldn’t devote more than a minute or two and took the Kahr put two rounds in it and fired. Immediately it was apparent that the trigger pull on the weapon was horrendous, and impossible to hit with since it is double action only. I’ve seen this with these particular firearms before. They have the longest and worst trigger pull of any firearm I have ever personally handled. He asked me to fire the Springfield and two rounds about an inch apart appeared on the target.
One of my trainees had a smaller 1911 model of unnamed variation and used it because of her spouse, and she couldn’t run the gun. She knew it and I had to help her run it to get through her proficiency test. How proficient does that make her? Proficient enough to get herself killed cause she couldn’t run the slide or load the magazine. Guys listen up. Let her pick her own gun. YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT’S BEST FOR HER. YOU KNOW WHAT YOU THINK IS BEST FOR HER. I see it often and it makes shooting fun not so much fun. They have to be confident in their own mind not in your mind. Mindset. Hers not yours.
On a technical note; the scaled down/compact 1911 platform has to have much stiffer /heavier spring tolerances to function. John Browning designed the 1911 as a full size service pistol and not a compact.
I know the spouse didn’t know that so there is no blame or fault here. KNOW THE GUN.
Your Instructor... Eddie
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