My latest Concealed Carry Magazine article - A Sequential Training System

[HeadJunter]

I observe that many new [and long time] gun owners don't really have a good idea of how to build their skills. Here's my idea for one approach.

Building a Sequential Training System

When someone first decides to acquire a firearm, a natural question is, “How do I learn to use it and what do I learn to do?”

There are many options available to a new shooter. The least viable option is the lucky charm option, which consists of buying a gun, never firing it, never practicing or training, and hoping for the best. The majority of new shooters will elect to limit themselves to shooting alone on a very sporadic basis, perhaps annually. Others will seek some initial training (perhaps because training is legally mandated) and then afterwards shoot a little bit on an occasional basis. None of these options is likely to create competence, and therefore confidence, with a firearm.

As with any physical skill, there is a progression that we have to go through to achieve competence. This progression takes time, requires a commitment of personal resources, and necessitates considering what a person’s ultimate goals are. While many people have achieved a degree of competency just by shooting on their own, following a program that is based on intermediate performance objectives can speed the process and reduce the resources required.

The rest of the article

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Good Read!

 

[Fred Fuller]

Thanks for sharing that. There are a lot of first-time gun owners joining the ranks with an eye to self defense these days, and it's good to be looking out for them.

 

[Kleanbore]

I like it. Thanks.

 

[Frank Ettin]

An excellent article.

 

[ActionJax]

YUP

Smartest thing I ever did was get my Sig-Sauer P229 (first handgun) in .22LR. Shot it for >1000 rounds before I even considered getting the 9mm slide. Never got scared of the gun that way -- still aren't.

Saw my buddy trying to teach his teenager how to shoot with a short-barreled, DAO .38 revolver -- with a thin backstrap and hard grips. D'oh. The kid was flinching all the way to Sunday....

 

[HeadJunter]

Saw my buddy trying to teach his teenager how to shoot with a short-barreled, DAO .38 revolver -- with a thin backstrap and hard grips. D'oh. The kid was flinching all the way to Sunday....

The number of times I see the following advice in answer to the question "Looking for a good pistol for a small woman" pains me.

The best gun for a woman in my opinion is hands down the Smith & Wesson 642, it is one heck of a sweet shooter with a very tame recoil. They can be bought NEW in the low $300's.

While I am a great fan of the snub, the idea that an Airweight .38 is the best gun for an inexperienced shooter is ridiculous. Anyone who makes that recommendation doesn't know what they're talking about.

 

[Kleanbore]

Posted by HeadJunter: While I am a great fan of the snub, the idea that an Airweight .38 is the best gun for an inexperienced shooter is ridiculous. Anyone who makes that recommendation doesn't know what they're talking about.

I tend to agree.

Rather than offer my reasons, however, I would like for the OP to elaborate on his.

 

[HeadJunter]

I tend to agree.

Rather than offer my reasons, however, I would like for the OP to elaborate on his.

The reason I say they don't know what they're talking about is that they obviously haven't watched hundreds of inexperienced shooters struggle to hit anything with a snub .38, or in some cases, even pull the trigger. I have.

* Many women cannot physically press the trigger of a J frame to completion with their weak hand. That's a deal breaker right there.
* Of the hundreds of people I have seen in fire snubs in NRA Basic Pistol classes, not 1 one enjoyed the experience. Many women will not even finish the cylinder because it hurt their hand to fire the gun. And the ammunition was target wadcutters that were really light loads.
* Without competent instruction specific to the .38 snub, I have yet to see any inexperienced shooter pass the AZ Concealed Weapon Permit Qualification course with a snub. The AZ course is really simple, 5 shots @ 5 yards and 5 shots @ 10 yards on a TQ21 (14 x 16 scoring area), and is a good standard for minimal competency with a defensive handgun, IMO. Even with good instruction, snub scores are noticeably lower than with an autoloader.
* Even people who shoot snubs quite a bit have problems passing the 5^5 drill. When we tried it as a online challenge match on the Georgia Packing forum, only one other shooter and myself were able to pass it. With an autoloader, the pass rate is much higher.

It boils down to whether you consider a defensive gun to be a Talisman or a Tool. In most people's hands a snub is just a talisman or noisemaker. Noise will solve most problems but we shouldn't delude ourselves it's the best solution.

I could go on and on but snubs are just usually ill-considered bad advice. And I love them and shoot them more than almost anyone, either for real or on the Internet.
http://www.personaldefensenetwork.com/articles/handguns/improve-your-snubs-sights/
http://www.personaldefensenetwork.com/articles/handguns/finding-snub-stocks-that-fit-your-hand/
Close Encounters of the Snubby Kind
Alabama 2010 IDPA Championship
IDPA with a snub

 

[Kleanbore]

^^^^^

Thanks!

 

[Kleanbore]

Post #9 is worth reading. I have bookmarked it for late reference.

 

[Wheeler]

As a bit of anecdotal corroboration, I had the opportunity a couple of months ago to assist in a Citizen's Firearm Class conducted by one of the local Sheriff's Offices. There was an elderly lady and her husband who had come out to participate. The husband had a Glock 19 that he was able to operate fairly well for a beginning pistol shooter. The wife on the other hand, was having a great deal of difficulty with the Taurus snubnose .38 he had purchased (most likely based on the advice of a gun store clerk), for her use.

They had several boxes of Federal 130 grain ball for her use which is a fairly light load. She was unable to manipulate the DA trigger of the Taurus and even when using it in SA the recoil (to her) was punishing. We then tried her with a 3" Model 36 with oversized grips with the same results. At this point she elected to sit out the remainder of the range session.

In one of my rare (very rare) moments of brilliance, I retreived a 4" Model 31 chambered in .32 Long and asked her to give it one more try. She was actually able to fire a full six round cylinder into Center Mass of a B12 target at 5 yards and maintained a 2" group with one flier. All shots were performed in SA as she did not have the hand strength to manipulate the DA trigger with a freestyle grip.

She came away from the range session with a newfound sense of accomplishment and empowerment. Her husband asked if I would sell them he Model 31, to which I declined. I came away with a renewed appreciation for the practice of fitting the gun to the shooter rather than the shooter to the gun.

Best Regards,
Wheeler

 

[Plan2Live]

I like the article but isn't that the site where you have to buy the insurance package before you can get past the home page?

 

[HeadJunter]

I like the article but isn't that the site where you have to buy the insurance package before you can get past the home page?

I guess not if you read the article.