Old_Me
Ronin
unfortunately, some people have no merit, or brains, or common sense.
Check Your Hex Optic Battery and How to Zero RDS
- Thread starter Redleg99
- Start date
Quicker to address that last, first, and work backwards.
That last is exactly like what @Bassbob wrote - the zero is more of an external ballistic concern that it is one of tactics: the differences in your Point-of-Aim (where your eyes and sights are both perfectly aligned) versus Point-of-Impact (where the shot actually prints, downrange) - aka the "POA/POI" relationship - over the span of the real-world distances where you might actually need to shoot (from point-blank to 50 or even 100 yards with either a defensive/duty handgun and shotgun, to stretching well beyond 200 or even 300 yards, or more, with a duty/defensive carbine [as you yourself experienced during your time in-service
) will vary drastically with such a truncated zero.Instead, with the more traditional/popular 25 yards on the duty/defensive pistol and either a 50 or 100 on the common 14.5 to 16-inch AR chambered in .223/5.56, the POA/POI becomes much more "natural" of an affair throughout the distances at which one might engage a threat.
As for the optics of a self-defense shoot that stretches beyond arm's length, that becomes much more circumstantial. The key about self-defense shootings is that it must not run afoul of the tenants of AOJP - https://www.useofforce.us/3aojp/
Whether it's a contact shot that stopped an entangled threat from continuing too stab/punch your loved one of if you needed to shoot an active-killer from across the endless bays of checkout stations at your local super-WalMart, AOJP principles remain the same, and your successful legal defense will rest on how you (and your legal defense team, if it comes to that) are able to articulate why you felt that each of those principles were fulfilled when you committed justified homicide in legal defense of either yourself or loved-ones/innocents.
Which then ties to your range trips.....
Yes, handguns are considerably harder to shoot - much less shoot well - versus long-guns. In terms of defensive use of firearms, this is something that is almost completely mis-understood by those who are opposed to firearms, but is viscerally and immediately apparent to anyone and everyone who's ever shot a firearm, even just once.
I know it's easy to say for me, from behind my screen/keyboard, but really, don't be embarrassed.
We've literally all been there - whether it's one of the championship-title-holding contributors to this Forum or just everyday-averages hobbyists like me, we all started somewhere, and more often than not, that somewhere was nowhere near that "X" ring.It takes work to get there, and being so humble as yourself in being able to appreciate where you need to improve is honestly the first step towards getting there. And quite sincerely, I absolutely commend you for Cowboy'ing-Up to both your current skill level and to being receptive to the fact that improvement is your goal! If you could only hear me clapping from where you are....no joke!
So, @Redleg99 , how do we get from an 8 and 1/2 by 11" piece of notebook paper or a 12-inch paper plate at 5 yards, to the point where we're shooting like Tim Herron or Larry Vickers?
Earnest practice.
Admitting your shortcomings (oh, the puns....I am a dad, so dad-jokes are a part of my life!) is the first step: and you're already past this step! Again, well done. Most folks can't see past this step.
Identifying your weaknesses is next. This is a bit harder, as none of us are there to watch you shoot, live. I think that given your past experience with firearms, you can likely do a little reading online and watch a few free YouTube videos and get a lot of good, usable info. to help you immediately get better, but before we go down that route, I want to ask to see if you have access to and are willing to enlist the help of your local firearms instructors.....
Shooting is a sporting endeavor, and as with any such, the help of a coach/trainer is imperative, and as we can see from the Olympic athletes on TV, at that level, individual coaching is almost mandatory.
Most local-level shooting instructors are either "been-there/done-that" type of former (or even active) military/law-enforcement, and/or are local/regional-level competition shooters (professional or not, no matter). Getting good instruction can really help give you an immediate boost so that you get much higher on the power-curve, faster, as well as serve to overcome any potential bad habits right from the start.
Particularly given today's ammo prices, paying for a few hours' of an instructor's time in a private, one-on-one session may really balance-out in your favor.
The best place to ask about such instructors would be via word-of-mouth either on your local/regional shooting Forum (be it for concealed carry or for competition shooting), at your local range, or, if you are willing to disclose your approximate location (nearest large city will often do, along with a mileage of how far you'd be willing to travel), even "national" Forums such as this one.
What you need now isn't a "run and gun" type of class. That'll come later - if you wish. Instead, right now, it's about getting you dialed-in so that you are truly surgical at closer distances, and of acceptable accuracy/precision at-distance.
There are those who will argue that stacking rounds on top of rounds, particularly without the pressure of time, isn't necessary for defensive shooting. That "combat accuracy" is all that's needed.
While that is definitely true, the truth of the matter is that without the ability to shoot to an acceptable degree of accuracy/precision to begin with, once we start adding in time-pressure (the need to deliver multiple shots in rapid succession, within a very short window of time), dynamic movement (both you and the threat[ s ]), and physical pressure.....there's no way for that less competent shooter to actually achieve "combat accuracy," in the context of the actual fight - i.e. "combat accuracy" isn't flat-range.
What *_can_* you do, by yourself?
You can hold yourself to a higher standard - reel that target in until you are getting shots that stack on top of shots, and then start gradually increasing your distances while still holding yourself to that same standard. But also don't be afraid/embarrassed to push yourself - if nothing other than to "benchmark" your current performance so that you have a good reference of your actual progress.
Particularly as your current range limits your ability to draw from a holster and perform fast(er) follow-up shots, don't worry about these skills, yet. While both are important in the context of defensive shooting (the former of concealed-carry), neither are truly pertinent to where you want to first improve your skills.
Look now to establish those good handgunnery fundamentals. The rest will follow.
From the bottom up, build your stance, and align your lower and upper body presentations (here, I do not mean how you draw/"present" the firearm, rather, it's about how you are orienting yourself to the target, in a static, flat-range context). Keep in mind your natural point-of-aim while making the proper concessions towards getting a good "fighting" stance or balanced yet highly-mobile, athletic, stance (both of these latter are because your end-goal isn't static bullseye shooting, but rather that you are building the fundamentals here specifically towards a fight, with the use of a firearm). Remember, in the dynamic fight, you will likely never achieve your ideal stance or even upper-body presentation...but to zero-in on marksmanship, we need to first build these fundamentals from ideal. Bruce Lee wanted his students to flow like water - to have no form...but that doesn't mean that water isn't "elemental" in nature: you need those elements, now, first.
Once your stance and presentation have been established, next comes a solid, two-handed "freestyle" grip. This is where it all begins and all ends with the gun. The grip not only overcomes the compromises you've had to take with stance and presentation, but is also the starting point for sight alignment (i.e. "indexing"), recoil-management, and is the basis of your trigger path (improper indexing of the gun cascades into improper finger placement on the trigger, leading to a more difficult-than-necessary attempt to properly accomplish the trigger path).
Which, of-course, is the next thing: trigger management. Here, the idea is that the shooter is able to accomplish the trigger path and break the shot without disturbing the sight package.
A good stance/presentation, excellent grip, and proper management of the trigger path will have a good handgun shooter "ringing steel" (on a full-size torso target) all the way out to even the 40 to 50 yard line, even without sights.
From there, we get to the finer aspects of marksmanship:
The sight package - sight alignment and sight picture - helps you refine your shooting. Take the above example, and get sights into the equation, and you're now shooting "surgically" instead of "minute-of-man." You go from the broad side of the barn to the barn doors and then to the nail that's holding the wood together.
Breathing/follow-through/recovery then offers even more refinement. Here, we understand that your "group" on the target downrange isn't achieved by "shooting a group," but rather is simply a manifestation of a series of what are otherwise individually PERFECT shots. We take one shot at a time, keeping in mind the principles that as J. Michael Plaxco espoused: "Accuracy over Speed," and that "Sights Dictate Cadence."
At any distance, and at every cadence, what I'm looking for is to literally stack every subsequent shot on top of the first - that "one-hole-group."
Whether if I can achieve that? That's a totally different story. But that's what I'm shooting for! I'm on the path, myself, and I'm still a student, just like you!
Earnest practice.
Admitting your shortcomings (oh, the puns....I am a dad, so dad-jokes are a part of my life!) is the first step: and you're already past this step!
Again, well done. Most folks can't see past this step. Identifying your weaknesses is next. This is a bit harder, as none of us are there to watch you shoot, live. I think that given your past experience with firearms, you can likely do a little reading online and watch a few free YouTube videos and get a lot of good, usable info. to help you immediately get better, but before we go down that route, I want to ask to see if you have access to and are willing to enlist the help of your local firearms instructors.....
Shooting is a sporting endeavor, and as with any such, the help of a coach/trainer is imperative, and as we can see from the Olympic athletes on TV, at that level, individual coaching is almost mandatory.
Most local-level shooting instructors are either "been-there/done-that" type of former (or even active) military/law-enforcement, and/or are local/regional-level competition shooters (professional or not, no matter). Getting good instruction can really help give you an immediate boost so that you get much higher on the power-curve, faster, as well as serve to overcome any potential bad habits right from the start.
Particularly given today's ammo prices, paying for a few hours' of an instructor's time in a private, one-on-one session may really balance-out in your favor.
The best place to ask about such instructors would be via word-of-mouth either on your local/regional shooting Forum (be it for concealed carry or for competition shooting), at your local range, or, if you are willing to disclose your approximate location (nearest large city will often do, along with a mileage of how far you'd be willing to travel), even "national" Forums such as this one.
What you need now isn't a "run and gun" type of class. That'll come later - if you wish. Instead, right now, it's about getting you dialed-in so that you are truly surgical at closer distances, and of acceptable accuracy/precision at-distance.
There are those who will argue that stacking rounds on top of rounds, particularly without the pressure of time, isn't necessary for defensive shooting. That "combat accuracy" is all that's needed.
While that is definitely true, the truth of the matter is that without the ability to shoot to an acceptable degree of accuracy/precision to begin with, once we start adding in time-pressure (the need to deliver multiple shots in rapid succession, within a very short window of time), dynamic movement (both you and the threat[ s ]), and physical pressure.....there's no way for that less competent shooter to actually achieve "combat accuracy," in the context of the actual fight - i.e. "combat accuracy" isn't flat-range.
What *_can_* you do, by yourself?
You can hold yourself to a higher standard - reel that target in until you are getting shots that stack on top of shots, and then start gradually increasing your distances while still holding yourself to that same standard. But also don't be afraid/embarrassed to push yourself - if nothing other than to "benchmark" your current performance so that you have a good reference of your actual progress.
Particularly as your current range limits your ability to draw from a holster and perform fast(er) follow-up shots, don't worry about these skills, yet. While both are important in the context of defensive shooting (the former of concealed-carry), neither are truly pertinent to where you want to first improve your skills.
Look now to establish those good handgunnery fundamentals. The rest will follow.
From the bottom up, build your stance, and align your lower and upper body presentations (here, I do not mean how you draw/"present" the firearm, rather, it's about how you are orienting yourself to the target, in a static, flat-range context). Keep in mind your natural point-of-aim while making the proper concessions towards getting a good "fighting" stance or balanced yet highly-mobile, athletic, stance (both of these latter are because your end-goal isn't static bullseye shooting, but rather that you are building the fundamentals here specifically towards a fight, with the use of a firearm). Remember, in the dynamic fight, you will likely never achieve your ideal stance or even upper-body presentation...but to zero-in on marksmanship, we need to first build these fundamentals from ideal. Bruce Lee wanted his students to flow like water - to have no form...but that doesn't mean that water isn't "elemental" in nature: you need those elements, now, first.
Once your stance and presentation have been established, next comes a solid, two-handed "freestyle" grip. This is where it all begins and all ends with the gun. The grip not only overcomes the compromises you've had to take with stance and presentation, but is also the starting point for sight alignment (i.e. "indexing"), recoil-management, and is the basis of your trigger path (improper indexing of the gun cascades into improper finger placement on the trigger, leading to a more difficult-than-necessary attempt to properly accomplish the trigger path).
Which, of-course, is the next thing: trigger management. Here, the idea is that the shooter is able to accomplish the trigger path and break the shot without disturbing the sight package.
A good stance/presentation, excellent grip, and proper management of the trigger path will have a good handgun shooter "ringing steel" (on a full-size torso target) all the way out to even the 40 to 50 yard line, even without sights.
From there, we get to the finer aspects of marksmanship:
The sight package - sight alignment and sight picture - helps you refine your shooting. Take the above example, and get sights into the equation, and you're now shooting "surgically" instead of "minute-of-man." You go from the broad side of the barn to the barn doors and then to the nail that's holding the wood together.
Breathing/follow-through/recovery then offers even more refinement. Here, we understand that your "group" on the target downrange isn't achieved by "shooting a group," but rather is simply a manifestation of a series of what are otherwise individually PERFECT shots. We take one shot at a time, keeping in mind the principles that as J. Michael Plaxco espoused: "Accuracy over Speed," and that "Sights Dictate Cadence."
At any distance, and at every cadence, what I'm looking for is to literally stack every subsequent shot on top of the first - that "one-hole-group."
Whether if I can achieve that? That's a totally different story.
But that's what I'm shooting for! I'm on the path, myself, and I'm still a student, just like you!
Bassbob
Emissary
Sounds like mine. It's nice. I was there for about 3 hours today with my friend and his wife and we were all alone.
Stance and Presentation:
The difference between the "fighting stance" as proposed by guys like Varg Freeborn and John "Chappy" Chapman...
...versus a more balanced "athletic" stance that's favored by John "Shrek" McPhee...
Index:
Which leads to....
Grip and trigger:
www.thearmorylife.com
^ The grip is the sexy part of modern pistol shooting - no doubt about it.
And it's sexy for a reason: done right, it helps you with everything from accuracy/precision to recoil control. Perfect it, and you can get away with *_A LOT_* of other imperfections/compromises, and grip will still save you.
That said, the corollary is true as well: it also will conceal a lot of your other mistakes. As you can see in the above thread and its out-links to the likes of the XDTalk and DefensiveCarry.com Forums, I really put a lot of my work into it, early on...it paid off in that it got me higher on the power curve at the start, but it also didn't do me any favors in that it concealed a lot of my inefficiencies and inconsistencies, which only manifest once the shooting metric got tougher.
As things get more demanding, the finer aspects of marksmanship comes to the fore, and one such consideration is how you manage the trigger path: a perfect trigger pull is an undeniable part of the equation when absolute accuracy/precision is required, but at the same time, that needs to be balanced by considerations such as this, below:
www.youtube.com
^ That's taking things to extremes, and is an awesome demo - and naysayers who insist that the trigger finger must ride the reset should also remember that there are many high-level shooters whose trigger finger comes fully off the face of the trigger at-reset: https://www.handgunsmag.com/editorial/a-sweeping-trigger-technique/138835
Natural Point-of-Aim:
www.nrafamily.org
^ General article from NRA Family.
^ From the Zen master, Brian Enos.
And yes, this is a "cheat," if you will.
NPA is of crucial importance when you are trying to achieve absolute mechanical zero - but as you can imagine, in the fluid and dynamic gunfight or when running through a competitive stage, it will be much harder to come by.
If the latter is the case and you are a defensive/competition shooter, then why am I asking you to do it, here?
Because, well, you're not actually competing when you are practicing...nor are you in an active gunfight when you are at the range.
I you are noticing that your starting shots are almost always truer than your finishing shots, it is very possible that you did not establish your NPA when you began the drill/exercise, and that your body's natural biomechanics are dragging your later shots off-target.
-------
And at the risk of introducing something that's perhaps a bit more "advanced" than what should be addressed at this time, since we talked about defensive shooting up-close, I'd like to take a moment to explore the idea of "retention" -
www.youtube.com
^ An interview/range-demo between John Lovell of The Warrior Poet Society and Craig Douglas of ShivWorks, regarding the latter's ECQC retention shooting concepts.
My personal belief is that "retention" is more than a technique: that it should be a martial action. I believe that as legal concealed-carriers who are armed for a defensive shoot, we need to be cognizant of the fact that while the handgun we carry is a standoff tool -that it is effective at-distance (and that we should through our training and practice seek to maximize our capabilities in this manner)- the nature of interpersonal violence is that it will often need to be put in-play at distances for which presentation (here, it is used in the context of "from the draw") of the firearm to full-extension is undesirable at-best, subjectively, and likely often impossible, objectively.
I'd like to go back to the example of the training partner who is charging in at you from even as far away as 10 yards, which is 3 yards more than that of the canonical Tueller Drill: can a shot from full extension be effected in this scenario?
My belief is that defensive shooters need to become comfortable at un-sighted "retention" shooting at far greater distances than "contact" or even arms'-length. Joe Weyer of the Alliance PD teaches that in his studies of the "misses" that occur during officer-involved shootings, the portion noted to strike forward of where the threat went down could be interpreted as shots released prematurely from the draw-stroke. That these "early" misses occurred after the gun was withdrawn from the holster, when the trigger was pressed while the gun was still in the beginning stages of leveling out to full presentation, before the officer was able to fully level the gun on-threat: that they panicked in their realization of "oh crap, he's going to be on me in two more steps, I better start shooting!"
And towards this, my belief is that well-practiced sighted shooting will readily lead the shooter to the confidence needed to become effective unsighted shooters. Here, my belief is that the "muscle memory" burned-in to achieve effective and efficient (read: "fast" - in the way that J. Michael Plaxco suggests: https://www.northeastshooters.com/xen/threads/plaxcos-shooting-principles.110140/) sighted shooting translates directly into the kinesthetics and body-awareness that is necessary for effective unsighted shooting.
-----
Overall, the thing to remember as you read all that I've posted above and watch the videos I've cited is that these are just "ways" - and that none of it is "The Way." How we each adapt these techniques - and myriad others - to our individual body's unique anatomy, abilities, and to what our individual lifestyles demand is the crux of this path that we're all walking.
The difference between the "fighting stance" as proposed by guys like Varg Freeborn and John "Chappy" Chapman...
...versus a more balanced "athletic" stance that's favored by John "Shrek" McPhee...
Index:
Which leads to....
Grip and trigger:
Is Your Grip Why You Miss?
The video I’m sharing here is by Geauga Firearms Academy. Watch this video below and let’s have a discussion. So is your grip the reason you miss? This conversation seems to be wide spread here lately with the release of the new Hellcat. There has been several complaints about the “Low Left”...
www.thearmorylife.com
^ The grip is the sexy part of modern pistol shooting - no doubt about it.
And it's sexy for a reason: done right, it helps you with everything from accuracy/precision to recoil control. Perfect it, and you can get away with *_A LOT_* of other imperfections/compromises, and grip will still save you.
That said, the corollary is true as well: it also will conceal a lot of your other mistakes. As you can see in the above thread and its out-links to the likes of the XDTalk and DefensiveCarry.com Forums, I really put a lot of my work into it, early on...it paid off in that it got me higher on the power curve at the start, but it also didn't do me any favors in that it concealed a lot of my inefficiencies and inconsistencies, which only manifest once the shooting metric got tougher.
As things get more demanding, the finer aspects of marksmanship comes to the fore, and one such consideration is how you manage the trigger path: a perfect trigger pull is an undeniable part of the equation when absolute accuracy/precision is required, but at the same time, that needs to be balanced by considerations such as this, below:
Trigger Jerk is a Myth - Live Demo with John McPhee "Sheriff of Badgdad”
John slays the sacred cow that the trigger finger ie trigger jerk affects the gun - the fact is that if the grip pressure and hand placement is correct, the...
www.youtube.com
^ That's taking things to extremes, and is an awesome demo - and naysayers who insist that the trigger finger must ride the reset should also remember that there are many high-level shooters whose trigger finger comes fully off the face of the trigger at-reset: https://www.handgunsmag.com/editorial/a-sweeping-trigger-technique/138835
Natural Point-of-Aim:
NRA Family | Make Natural Point of Aim Work For You
In this article, we delve into how Natural Point of Aim works with the standing, sitting and kneeling shooting positions.
^ General article from NRA Family.
^ From the Zen master, Brian Enos.
And yes, this is a "cheat," if you will.
NPA is of crucial importance when you are trying to achieve absolute mechanical zero - but as you can imagine, in the fluid and dynamic gunfight or when running through a competitive stage, it will be much harder to come by.
If the latter is the case and you are a defensive/competition shooter, then why am I asking you to do it, here?
Because, well, you're not actually competing when you are practicing...nor are you in an active gunfight when you are at the range.
I you are noticing that your starting shots are almost always truer than your finishing shots, it is very possible that you did not establish your NPA when you began the drill/exercise, and that your body's natural biomechanics are dragging your later shots off-target.
-------
And at the risk of introducing something that's perhaps a bit more "advanced" than what should be addressed at this time, since we talked about defensive shooting up-close, I'd like to take a moment to explore the idea of "retention" -
Retention Shooting | Private Class with Craig Douglas
This is part of the ShivWorks' ECQC Course 'Extreme Close Quarters Concepts' created and taught by Craig Douglas aka 'SouthNarc'. In this video, Craig Dougl...
www.youtube.com
^ An interview/range-demo between John Lovell of The Warrior Poet Society and Craig Douglas of ShivWorks, regarding the latter's ECQC retention shooting concepts.
My personal belief is that "retention" is more than a technique: that it should be a martial action. I believe that as legal concealed-carriers who are armed for a defensive shoot, we need to be cognizant of the fact that while the handgun we carry is a standoff tool -that it is effective at-distance (and that we should through our training and practice seek to maximize our capabilities in this manner)- the nature of interpersonal violence is that it will often need to be put in-play at distances for which presentation (here, it is used in the context of "from the draw") of the firearm to full-extension is undesirable at-best, subjectively, and likely often impossible, objectively.
I'd like to go back to the example of the training partner who is charging in at you from even as far away as 10 yards, which is 3 yards more than that of the canonical Tueller Drill: can a shot from full extension be effected in this scenario?
My belief is that defensive shooters need to become comfortable at un-sighted "retention" shooting at far greater distances than "contact" or even arms'-length. Joe Weyer of the Alliance PD teaches that in his studies of the "misses" that occur during officer-involved shootings, the portion noted to strike forward of where the threat went down could be interpreted as shots released prematurely from the draw-stroke. That these "early" misses occurred after the gun was withdrawn from the holster, when the trigger was pressed while the gun was still in the beginning stages of leveling out to full presentation, before the officer was able to fully level the gun on-threat: that they panicked in their realization of "oh crap, he's going to be on me in two more steps, I better start shooting!"
And towards this, my belief is that well-practiced sighted shooting will readily lead the shooter to the confidence needed to become effective unsighted shooters. Here, my belief is that the "muscle memory" burned-in to achieve effective and efficient (read: "fast" - in the way that J. Michael Plaxco suggests: https://www.northeastshooters.com/xen/threads/plaxcos-shooting-principles.110140/) sighted shooting translates directly into the kinesthetics and body-awareness that is necessary for effective unsighted shooting.
-----
Overall, the thing to remember as you read all that I've posted above and watch the videos I've cited is that these are just "ways" - and that none of it is "The Way." How we each adapt these techniques - and myriad others - to our individual body's unique anatomy, abilities, and to what our individual lifestyles demand is the crux of this path that we're all walking.
Thank you for all the input and info.Quicker to address that last, first, and work backwards.
That last is exactly like what @Bassbob wrote - the zero is more of an external ballistic concern that it is one of tactics: the differences in your Point-of-Aim (where your eyes and sights are both perfectly aligned) versus Point-of-Impact (where the shot actually prints, downrange) - aka the "POA/POI" relationship - over the span of the real-world distances where you might actually need to shoot (from point-blank to 50 or even 100 yards with either a defensive/duty handgun and shotgun, to stretching well beyond 200 or even 300 yards, or more, with a duty/defensive carbine [as you yourself experienced during your time in-service
Instead, with the more traditional/popular 25 yards on the duty/defensive pistol and either a 50 or 100 on the common 14.5 to 16-inch AR chambered in .223/5.56, the POA/POI becomes much more "natural" of an affair throughout the distances at which one might engage a threat.
As for the optics of a self-defense shoot that stretches beyond arm's length, that becomes much more circumstantial. The key about self-defense shootings is that it must not run afoul of the tenants of AOJP - https://www.useofforce.us/3aojp/
Whether it's a contact shot that stopped an entangled threat from continuing too stab/punch your loved one of if you needed to shoot an active-killer from across the endless bays of checkout stations at your local super-WalMart, AOJP principles remain the same, and your successful legal defense will rest on how you (and your legal defense team, if it comes to that) are able to articulate why you felt that each of those principles were fulfilled when you committed justified homicide in legal defense of either yourself or loved-ones/innocents.
Which then ties to your range trips.....
Yes, handguns are considerably harder to shoot - much less shoot well - versus long-guns. In terms of defensive use of firearms, this is something that is almost completely mis-understood by those who are opposed to firearms, but is viscerally and immediately apparent to anyone and everyone who's ever shot a firearm, even just once.
I know it's easy to say for me, from behind my screen/keyboard, but really, don't be embarrassed.
It takes work to get there, and being so humble as yourself in being able to appreciate where you need to improve is honestly the first step towards getting there. And quite sincerely, I absolutely commend you for Cowboy'ing-Up to both your current skill level and to being receptive to the fact that improvement is your goal! If you could only hear me clapping from where you are....no joke!
View attachment 19242
All this feedback is invaluable and am learning a lot.
Great Stuff!Stance and Presentation:
The difference between the "fighting stance" as proposed by guys like Varg Freeborn and John "Chappy" Chapman...
...versus a more balanced "athletic" stance that's favored by John "Shrek" McPhee...
Index:
Which leads to....
Grip and trigger:
Is Your Grip Why You Miss?
The video I’m sharing here is by Geauga Firearms Academy. Watch this video below and let’s have a discussion. So is your grip the reason you miss? This conversation seems to be wide spread here lately with the release of the new Hellcat. There has been several complaints about the “Low Left”...
^ The grip is the sexy part of modern pistol shooting - no doubt about it.
And it's sexy for a reason: done right, it helps you with everything from accuracy/precision to recoil control. Perfect it, and you can get away with *_A LOT_* of other imperfections/compromises, and grip will still save you.
That said, the corollary is true as well: it also will conceal a lot of your other mistakes. As you can see in the above thread and its out-links to the likes of the XDTalk and DefensiveCarry.com Forums, I really put a lot of my work into it, early on...it paid off in that it got me higher on the power curve at the start, but it also didn't do me any favors in that it concealed a lot of my inefficiencies and inconsistencies, which only manifest once the shooting metric got tougher.
As things get more demanding, the finer aspects of marksmanship comes to the fore, and one such consideration is how you manage the trigger path: a perfect trigger pull is an undeniable part of the equation when absolute accuracy/precision is required, but at the same time, that needs to be balanced by considerations such as this, below:
Trigger Jerk is a Myth - Live Demo with John McPhee "Sheriff of Badgdad”
John slays the sacred cow that the trigger finger ie trigger jerk affects the gun - the fact is that if the grip pressure and hand placement is correct, the...
^ That's taking things to extremes, and is an awesome demo - and naysayers who insist that the trigger finger must ride the reset should also remember that there are many high-level shooters whose trigger finger comes fully off the face of the trigger at-reset: https://www.handgunsmag.com/editorial/a-sweeping-trigger-technique/138835
Natural Point-of-Aim:
NRA Family | Make Natural Point of Aim Work For You
In this article, we delve into how Natural Point of Aim works with the standing, sitting and kneeling shooting positions.
^ General article from NRA Family.
^ From the Zen master, Brian Enos.
And yes, this is a "cheat," if you will.
NPA is of crucial importance when you are trying to achieve absolute mechanical zero - but as you can imagine, in the fluid and dynamic gunfight or when running through a competitive stage, it will be much harder to come by.
If the latter is the case and you are a defensive/competition shooter, then why am I asking you to do it, here?
Because, well, you're not actually competing when you are practicing...nor are you in an active gunfight when you are at the range.
I you are noticing that your starting shots are almost always truer than your finishing shots, it is very possible that you did not establish your NPA when you began the drill/exercise, and that your body's natural biomechanics are dragging your later shots off-target.
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And at the risk of introducing something that's perhaps a bit more "advanced" than what should be addressed at this time, since we talked about defensive shooting up-close, I'd like to take a moment to explore the idea of "retention" -
Retention Shooting | Private Class with Craig Douglas
This is part of the ShivWorks' ECQC Course 'Extreme Close Quarters Concepts' created and taught by Craig Douglas aka 'SouthNarc'. In this video, Craig Dougl...
^ An interview/range-demo between John Lovell of The Warrior Poet Society and Craig Douglas of ShivWorks, regarding the latter's ECQC retention shooting concepts.
My personal belief is that "retention" is more than a technique: that it should be a martial action. I believe that as legal concealed-carriers who are armed for a defensive shoot, we need to be cognizant of the fact that while the handgun we carry is a standoff tool -that it is effective at-distance (and that we should through our training and practice seek to maximize our capabilities in this manner)- the nature of interpersonal violence is that it will often need to be put in-play at distances for which presentation (here, it is used in the context of "from the draw") of the firearm to full-extension is undesirable at-best, subjectively, and likely often impossible, objectively.
I'd like to go back to the example of the training partner who is charging in at you from even as far away as 10 yards, which is 3 yards more than that of the canonical Tueller Drill: can a shot from full extension be effected in this scenario?
My belief is that defensive shooters need to become comfortable at un-sighted "retention" shooting at far greater distances than "contact" or even arms'-length. Joe Weyer of the Alliance PD teaches that in his studies of the "misses" that occur during officer-involved shootings, the portion noted to strike forward of where the threat went down could be interpreted as shots released prematurely from the draw-stroke. That these "early" misses occurred after the gun was withdrawn from the holster, when the trigger was pressed while the gun was still in the beginning stages of leveling out to full presentation, before the officer was able to fully level the gun on-threat: that they panicked in their realization of "oh crap, he's going to be on me in two more steps, I better start shooting!"
And towards this, my belief is that well-practiced sighted shooting will readily lead the shooter to the confidence needed to become effective unsighted shooters. Here, my belief is that the "muscle memory" burned-in to achieve effective and efficient (read: "fast" - in the way that J. Michael Plaxco suggests: https://www.northeastshooters.com/xen/threads/plaxcos-shooting-principles.110140/) sighted shooting translates directly into the kinesthetics and body-awareness that is necessary for effective unsighted shooting.
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Overall, the thing to remember as you read all that I've posted above and watch the videos I've cited is that these are just "ways" - and that none of it is "The Way." How we each adapt these techniques - and myriad others - to our individual body's unique anatomy, abilities, and to what our individual lifestyles demand is the crux of this path that we're all walking.
Where do I send the check?
TSIWRX, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. Excellent insite.
When I graduated college many years ago my first big boss shared this words with me. Your career will cover 3 stages. The first stage will be learning, the second stage will be earning, and the third stage will be teaching. I'm still learning so I thank you again.
When I graduated college many years ago my first big boss shared this words with me. Your career will cover 3 stages. The first stage will be learning, the second stage will be earning, and the third stage will be teaching. I'm still learning so I thank you again.
No thanks needed, @Redleg99 and @Equalizer - I'm just glad to pass along what little I know. I'm on the path, myself, so I try to look back and give a hand to those who are just a few steps behind me. I'm still very much a student, too!
Much like my shooting buddy whom I helped years ago, he's now shooting better than I am, and he gives me a tune-up when I need it.
What goes around, comes around.
Maybe when my daughter graduates college and is finally out on her own....
At one point in the past -seems like a whole lifetime ago- I had an old DSM while my wife drove a WRX.
So,
Reviving this thread, as I can understand 1 bad battery coming with the original Hex Wasp, that I bought new back on July 1, 2021 ... but now a 2nd battery dead already?
Supposedly the CR2032 battery in these Hex Wasp's are supposed to last 2 years or something like 65,000 hours.
I bought the Hellcat RDP on July 1st, and by July 22nd had to replace the battery. Even if the original was used as a display model, the gun was manufactured and sent out to the LGS in May of 2021, I checked with Sprinfield Customer Support and per the serial #, it was sent made and sent out in May 2021.
So, just 2 short months and had to replace the battery.
Now again last night I discover the battery is dead again ... from July 22nd to Sept 4th is only about 5 weeks!!!!!!
And it may have been dead longer, as I think last time I had the pistol out of it's holster has been between 1-2 weeks.
This is my EDC and it always remains in the holster, and as I go out the door I slip it on and take it off when I return.
Since I had just placed a brand spanking new battery in, I don't think to check the RDS everytime I "holster up" and go out the door.
Guess that becomes part of my normal routine as well.
Will be contacting SA Customer Support again to see what's up. I wonder if I have a bad Optic and it is putting an excessive drain load on the battery for some reason.
conax
Master Class
I deleted a paragraph I wrote to describe a quick amp draw test using a multi-meter, it may be a bad idea to try if you accidentally cross connected the sight you might damage it... so.. I deleted it.
Another easy test is just to block the light port and see if the dot dims down. It should dim dramatically in darkness even though it doesn't turn off. If it doesn't, it's bad and they owe you one.
Another easy test is just to block the light port and see if the dot dims down. It should dim dramatically in darkness even though it doesn't turn off. If it doesn't, it's bad and they owe you one.
Great info,
Going to go test it right now.
I sent an email to SA customer support yesterday but haven't heard back.
Guess they are closed weekends and Labor Day.
It is daylight here and looked through the RDS and see a bright red dot.
Placed hand in front of the hood and it dimmed.
Cupped hand around front of sight to block all light and it dimmed so much I could barely see it.
So that feature seems to work.
And even if the auto-dimming wasn't working and stayed at brightest level the whole time, should that drain a new battery in 5 weeks or less?
The original battery only lasted from July 1st to July 22nd.
I bought new 2-pack of Energizer CR2032 batteries and replaced the original.
It apparently went dead Sept 5th (maybe even 1-2 weeks ago, last time I checked the sight).
That is only 5 weeks or less on a brand new battery.
Have placed the 2nd battery from that new pack in yesterday, will see how long that lasts.
The battery package I bought has a "Best if used by" date of 03/2030...so these should be spanking brand new batteries.
One of which lasted 5 weeks or less.