Some Gun Guys

"They got a little bent out of shape when I accidentally pointed my handgun at them - it was pointed behind me when I was reholstering. And one more thing - they got really anal about putting rifles on safe when moving. When I was in combat, we took the rifles off safe before going out on the mission, and didn't put them back on safe until after the mission was over."

- Interesting gun "yahoo"

Oh, there's one more. He said he would have to look at getting another pistol because he has to change the position of the pistol in his hands when he hits the magazine release button. 

Where to start with these statements?

* Tell me you were never in combat without telling me you were never in combat.

* Why on Earth was the gun pointed to the rear when reholstering???

* If you were in combat, and did that, then you are a blue falcon. 

I honestly am torn between this guy needs in an actual class NOW and he never needs another gun. 

What Skills Are Needed

 

This gem from social media. 

Please point to one societal collapse from the past 200+ years where these skills trumped combat skills. 

This point is certainly not putting down skills of growing food and general "survivalism," but is pointing out that combat skills have been mandatory in every collapse in recent history. 

How Soon They Forget

Social media provides for much entertainment. If you take it seriously, then that is your problem. 

Some time back, an individual who had taken martial arts from me in the past, and who followed my Instagram account at the time in question, took offense to an anti-BLM meme that I had shared. Evidently, at some point between elementary school and middle school, she had become quite the raging liberal. Possibly in rebellion to her father, who is anything but. 

She made what she felt was a snarky comment, to which I replied "this is why social media is not for children, and further argument for increasing the voting age back to 21." This comment had the desired effect and she felt compelled to fire back. 

Among the worst insult she could think of: "I forgot all of the martial arts you taught me."

Side note: As a younger girl, she had one of the worst memories I had ever seen, not remembering basic moves and drills from one class to the next. Including and especially those drills we performed every class. She also had a huge mental block linking names to moves. For example: she NEVER figured out what was meant by the term "double-leg takedown." 

My retort: "I know. You forgot them all 15 minutes after you left class every night."

That one earned me the block. And I couldn't have been happier. And for those of you saying I should be nicer so as to win her over, I would propose another solution. Her father should have been a strong male leader and disallowed her access to the social media for which she was clearly not mature enough. 

Private Instruction

As a firearms instructor, it is not uncommon for someone to reach out to me and ask for private instruction and / or coaching. In the past, I have been glad to do this as schedules allow. Moving forward, however, I have decided to only do so under very specific circumstances. Rationale to follow. 

Circumstances:

1. It will be small - group. 

Why? Simply put - the Billy Graham rule. Some also call this the Mike Pence principle (there may be a book of that title for sale). Not long ago, indirect allegations of impropriety were made, and I was happy there was a witness. Never without a witness. The small - group principle will enable me to hire an assistant for the time. 

2. It will be small - group, for a minimum and maximum number of hours. 

Why? Simply put, my time and effort is worth a minimum amount money. Why give all of the benefits of a class without making class-sized money? Many people are trying to do one of two things when avoiding a class: pay a certain amount, or stay away from a crowd. My classes are capped out at a specific (low) number of students for maximum effect. There is no reason to avoid them. 

3. This is the best way to maximize efforts when it comes to bringing supplies, etc. 

Gun Yahoos

From social media, Reid Henrichs of Valor Ridge makes a post and states, "Ensuring students get a solid 100-yd zero here at the Ridge."

Of course, there is some gun yahoo that showed up on the post and asks, "Why are you such an advocate for the 100 yd zero?"

A good reply by one of the other followers is to be had - "take a class and find out."

Of course, the yahoo replies: "thanks. I’ve taken many classes at other schools. None that mandate which zero you must have for the class."

Here are the reasons this guy is a Gun Yahoo.
1. How does he know the shooter doesn't have a scope with a BDC that calls for a 100-yard zero? One cannot see the rifle in question from this angle. And many scopes call for it. 

2. As one who has really taken many classes - often with current and former SEALS, Special Forces, MARSOC, and similar - never once have I met a top tier operator that suggested they could not learn something from taking a class. My money says this yahoo has only taken "free" classes... and got exactly what he paid for.

3. If the shooter is using a red dot sight, then here is why have a 100 yard zero: most RDS are 2-4 MOA. Meaning if zeroed at 50/200 for the center of the dot, then the top center edge would be the zero (or darn close) at 100 yards. This yahoo would know that if he had taken "many classes," as I've heard that discussed a lot!

4. The drop difference on an AR15 between a 50 yard zero and a 100 yard zero is only a 3 inch difference at 300 yards. In Rifleman 1, shooters only shoot to 300 yards.  The difference in the holdover is unimportant. 

Any halfway knowledgeable individual would know most, if not all of these reasons, and would keep his mouth shut. Of course, Yahoos cannot help but try to prove someone wrong.  Gun gammas.

Know Before Paying

On a social media post demonstrating the insanity of the statement captured in the above screenshot, the following comment was made:

I know of three guys in this situation.  All three thought they were raising their own. One guy was paying $1k a month in child support for 10 years until a medical emergency came up and he offered to give blood...once the Dr came back with "sir your blood won't work because....." did he realize what was up. He then took her to court to get his money back...$1k per month for 10 years....the judge told him "yes you were lied to yes this is wrong but it's just bad luck this happened to you and there is no way the state is going to ask the mother to pay you back..."
Let that sink in...over $100k she took from him and he can't do anything........


There is a lesson here - get a DNA test prior to paying a dime of child support. 

What Not To Do

 Posted by a friend on social media:

"Random thought:
As you climb the ladder you have to get really good at NOT doing things.
I know it’s crazy. For years I always worked on the “to-do” list.
Today I have a “not to-do” list. I’m serious. I have a written list that I look at every single day of things that I WILL NOT DO.
I have noticed as I have climbed the ladder that more people want to sell me more stuff. They want more appointments with me. More of my time. More comments on Facebook. More of…. Everything
I have to screen ALL calls. Limit interaction. Delegate authority to my team and allow them to act on my behalf.
I’m as proud of the things I don’t do as the things I do!!"

He is correct in every aspect. There are some things that are simply not worth my time. Everyone also thinks that just because they have an idea or need, that it is worth some of your time - and it simply isn't. 

When I was a manager in corporate America, everyone thought they needed to speak to me. Yet I would empower my reports to make these decisions, and I would implore them to make them. Sometimes they would - and these reports did well for themselves. Sometimes, some reports would absolutely refuse to make a decision - and they never got ahead. 

Karen Speak

 

"I am never going to recommend you again!"

One of those phrases uttered almost exclusively by Karens, that customer service persons, managers, and business owners know will not harm their business one iota. Because if the Karen ever actually did recommend them, it would probably not have resulted in business in the first place. And they probably did not recommend them to begin with. 

More Training

Last weekend, I attended another Appleseed clinic. This one was in a different location than my first three. The instructor cadre was also completely different. The Shoot Boss has taken a class with me, and is one of the more friendly gun guys you are likely to meet. Took the class with two friends, neither of whom had been to an Appleseed before. 

One of my friends shot a Rifleman score, using my souped-up 10/22. The other showed great improvement. 

As expected, I shot the score both times there was an AQT. My second score was "only" a 218 - and the scorer and I agreed there was a double and that would have increased my score to 228 - but we only counted it as one hole, not two. 

For the first time at an Appleseed, I heard the Three Strikes of the Match. The presenters made it very entertaining. Not sure why all of this material was not presented at previous events. To be certain, parts were told - but way less than half. 

This event was a one-day event, and there was a different sequence of instruction and shooting at the beginning, and it yielded far better results. It was similar to what I had suggested earlier. The IMC presentation was very well done, and most everyone got it and could apply it. 

I used my MK12 Mod 0 Clone pictured here:

Of course, I removed the bipod and affixed a USGI web sling. On the opening drill (Redcoat targets), I estimated my dope and got pretty close. Cleaned the redcoat target. Here's how I did it:

The 300 yard dope on my rifle is up 1.1 Mils. The 400 yard dope is up 2.1 Mils. I would be shooting 55 grain ammo, although the rifle is zeroed for 77 grain - but this setup is usually within 0.2 Mils of being on the money with different ammunition choices. Since my experience is that 55 grain ammo out of 18" and 20" barrels is closer to the 400-yard mark than the 300-yard, I decided to split the difference and shade a bit more toward the 400-yard comeup. 

I shot with 1.8 Mils of elevation. After my first 3-shot group on the 100-yard simulated redcoat, I realized that the group was nearly 0.5 Mils low - so I just applied a holdover. Clearly it worked, as I cleared the drill (no misses). 

After that, I applied 1.5 Mils up in elevation, and that was pretty much on the money. 

Also of note - there were 8 instructors there all day, 2 Green Hats, 4 Red Hats, and 2 Orange Hats. One Red Hat came in at 10 am and left about 2:30 or 3. The newer shooters got lots of good advice. I got a couple of good pointers. And a couple of them watched me fire the final AQT. 

Overall - Good instruction, good class, good teachers.