Random Shots

Once more cowardly terrorists have at-tacked, killing and injuring hundreds of in-nocents. Paris and Africa were again the locations of the attacks, but the fear created by them have spread across Europe and North America.

These events will undoubtedly place West-ern governments in the very difficult posi-tion of fighting terrorism and still demon-strate their humanitarianism by allowing thousands of refugees to come into their countries from the very breeding grounds of the terrorists in the Middle East.

One of the challenges is how to defeat ter-rorism. While you can kill the terrorists, that will not, by itself, end terrorism. What has to be done is to destroy the ideology that is fueling the terrorists. That becomes much more difficult when the terrorists say their ideology is based on their religion, a religion shared by millions of people across the globe. How to “attack” the ideology with-out attacking the religion is the fine balance that must be found.

But that is a problem for governments to

solve, so what is the private citizen to do, especially those of us that choose to go out in public armed?

When it was suggested that if one or more of the victims of the latest attacks had been carrying a gun the outcome could have been far different, the anti-gun crowd was quick to respond by saying that an armed citizen would be unable to do anything in such a situation and would probably make things worse by shooting innocent bystanders! While it might be true that an armed citi-zen’s chances of ending a terrorist attack might be small, the chances that an unarmed citizen could do so are even smaller, likely zero!

So there is a chance that an armed citizen could effect the outcome of a terrorist attack and might even prevent one from starting—if they are in the right place at the right time, which means “luck” is a major part of the equation. However, you must be armed.

Being armed with a handgun when the ter-rorists are armed with rifles (semi-automatic or automatic) and explosives definitely plac-

es the handgun user at a disadvantage when it comes to firepower. However, it is still possible to surprise the terrorists and disrupt their attack as it begins. But to do this, ac-curate fire will be required and the distances are likely to be longer than what you nor-mally practice for—unless you are right next to the terrorist when the shooting starts. You might have to be able to engage a ter-rorist from 25-50 yards or more, but un-doubtedly you confine your shooting to ranges inside of 25 yards.

Precise shot placement will be necessary, especially if the terrorists are equipped with explosive “suicide” vests. Terrorists wearing them are already committed to dying. Their vests are often equipped with “dead-man” switches which will detonate the explosives if the wearer takes pressure off the switch. There is no guarantee that shooting a terror-ist with an explosive vest will prevent the vest from detonating, especially if your hits are to any part of their body other than the central nervous system that causes instant incapacitation. This usually means you must make a head shot into that small 3 inch by 5 inch area extending from the top of the eye-brows to the bottom of the nose and from the outside of each eyeball inward. A tough target to hit at close ranges, it becomes even harder at longer ranges likely to be required in a terrorist attack.

Even then, the vest may explode so you don’t want to be close if it does. It would be best to take such a shot from behind solid cover so you are protected from shrapnel and flying debris from the explosion. Over pressure from the blast itself could kill or seriously injure you if you are too close to the point of detonation. How close is “too close”? It all depends on the amount of explosives being used. When I was in the Air Force the minimum safe distance from any explosion was set at approximately 1,250 feet! That is over 400 yards and if you are

January/February 2016 Volume 6, Issue 1

Edited and Published by

Gary Evens, Rangemaster and

NRA Certified Firearms Instructor &

Range Safety Officer

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to

keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed in Random Shots are those of the author(s), and

do not necessarily represent the positions of any other individual or

organization.

that far away, you are probably not in any immediate danger from the terrorists any-way. You are also well outside the range of any pistol shot. So if you are closer you need to make yourself as small a “target” for the blast and shrapnel as possible.

If you find yourself in the middle of a ter-rorist event, active shooter incident, or any self-defense situation, you need to not only be concerned about what the attacker(s) might do to you, but also what responding police or other armed citizens might do if they see you with a gun—yours or one you might have taken from one of the terrorists. You might be mistaken as another terrorist so it is vital that you make your intentions very apparent to first responders and others around you.

If you cannot (or don’t wish to) be armed, the next best thing you can do is to be vigi-lant. When you feel that “sixth sense” tell-ing you that something is wrong, pay atten-tion to it. Report your concerns to authori-ties so they can take action. Don’t be para-noid, but do be aware!

The other thing you can do is to be trained to provide first aid. Your skills will be need-ed in the aftermath of a terrorist attack as medical responders and facilities are likely to be overwhelmed with casualties. Having a basic first aid or trauma kit readily available will enable you to be more effective in car-ing for the injured.

Your self-defense skills can be a critical ele-ment in surviving a terrorist attack. Im-prove them through training and practice!

— G.R. Evens

Why Do They Hate Us?

The gun control debate has been raging for over 50 years now—and some would claim it has been going on for far longer. Despite swings in public opinion, neither side is like-ly to give up. As the popularity of concealed

carry has spread across the country, the cries for new gun control laws have grown louder often following immediately on the heels of a tragic event where a mentally disturbed individual kills multiple helpless victims with a gun in a so-called “gun free zone”. These calls are coming at the same time when sta-tistics show that gun ownership is increasing in the United States—some will argue that while the number of guns owned in the U.S. is increasing, the percentage of the popula-tion that owns them is not—and crime rates are declining. Most recent opinion polls seem to indicate that a majority of Ameri-can’s think we have enough gun control laws, largely because the laws that have al-ready been enacted do not seem to be pro-ducing the results that their advocates had promised. For instance, the areas that have some of the most restrictive gun control laws also seem to have some of the worst rates of violent crime. Despite this, liberal politicians continue to call for more laws to restrict access to firearms as a means to re-duce crime. So logic and statistics no longer seem to play a role in an argument that has become rooted in emotion and political ide-ology.

What is it that has divided liberals and con-servatives—i.e. Democrats and Republi-cans—on this subject? Fear appears to be the underlying answer. Unlike times past when America was more rural and firearms were commonly uses to gather food, our modern society is increasingly urban and our food is delivered to us pre-packaged. As a result, fewer and fewer people are familiar with guns and thus they no longer view them as just another household tool.

Knowledge about guns has declined among the general population and the “fear” of guns has grown. This “fear” is based on a lack of experience with guns and is rein-forced by policies and regulations that dis-courage firearms education and use. And let’s not forget about the willing cooperation of the mass media and entertainment indus-try that emphasize the violent use of fire-arms.

Urban areas tend to be populated with peo-ple that are concerned about social issues and thus tend to be more liberal with regard to their political philosophy because they are more dependent on the government to pro-vide them with services and to protect them. On the other hand, rural areas tend to be populated with individuals that value self-reliance more and thus tend to be more con-

servative.

Liberals view guns as a symbol of power and tend to believe that only the government needs to have them—for national defense and to fight crime. Lacking a need to use guns, urban liberals are less likely to learn about guns and to own them. And since a gun represents power, these same individu-als have come to fear anyone that does have a gun because they view those individuals as having power over them. In their view it is alright for the government to have guns because the government is looking out for the best interests of the population, but in their ideal world there would be no need for guns at all.

Liberals tend to be concerned about equality and anything that gives someone else power that they lack is something to be feared. In order to “level the playing field” their re-sponse to this fear is to place restrictions on firearms so that they cannot be used as a tool of power. As a result, liberal political ideology looks to eliminate private owner-ship of firearms as a way of achieving equali-ty. However, liberals also realize that totally banning the private ownership of firearms is a “bridge too far” at this time so they need to work towards that goal in small steps that make it increasingly difficult for individuals to own or possess firearms.

Conservatives also view guns as a form of power. In their case, the power comes in the form of self-reliance—a lack of depend-ence on the government—and as a collec-tive counter-balance to an abusive (i.e. dicta-torial) government. It was because of an abusive government that the United States came into being in the late 18th Century and the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution was specifically established to provide this coun-ter-balance. Thus conservatives fight efforts to limit or place restrictions on the right of individuals to own or possess firearms out of a fear of an abusive government and be-cause they realize government cannot pro-tect them from all threats all of the time.

So the liberals will continue to fear and hate us. Perhaps what we need to do to counter this is to make them knowledgeable about guns and to encourage liberal ownership of guns. Thus, instead of eliminating guns to make us equal in power with the liberals, perhaps we should get all of them guns so they are equal in power with us!

—G.R. Evens

Page 2 Random Shots Volume 6, I ssue 1

–I thought I’d give you an idea of what the past year was like for me—at least as it re-lates to firearms and firearms training. I’ll break things down by category.

TRAINING

I didn’t spend as much time teaching during 2015 as I usually do. Class sizes were small-er than normal and as a result Dave didn’t need help teaching the Ohio Concealed Car-ry Course. I did teach one Advanced Con-cealed Carry I course this year.

I try to take at least one class each year as a student. For 2015, I took three classes—a Project Appleseed class, the Hojutsu class, and a class from Massad Ayoob. Two of the three included range time. The Appleseed class used rifles and the Hojutsu class used handguns.

PRACTICE

The majority of my “practice” sessions con-sisted of shooting in the weekly NDR League during the summer. I fired about 750 rounds of .22 LR ammunition in formal competition and about 100 rounds getting my pistols sighted in for the league competi-tion.

I fired about 250-300 rounds of .22 LR at the Project Appleseed event and about 300-350 rounds of .45 ACP ammunition during the Hojutsu class.

During other range sessions where I was testing guns or demonstrating procedures to students I fired another 200-300 rounds.

Altogether I fired somewhere in the neigh-borhood of 1,500-2,000 rounds of various calibers during the year, well in excess of the 50 rounds per month that I recommend as the minimum needed to maintain shooting proficiency.

PURCHASES

I purchased two guns during the past year—a Ruger Mk III Hunter .22 LR caliber semi-automatic pistol and a Colt 1911 Command-er 9mm Luger semi-automatic pistol. I used the Ruger pistol for a portion of my NDR League shooting activities where it per-formed excellently. I just wish I was more

accurate shooting it, so I will continue to work on that. The Colt was an addition to my growing 1911 collection and I now have at least one version in each of the major calibers Colt offers the 1911 in—.45 ACP, .38 Super, and 9mm Luger.

I spent a larger percentage of my firearms dollars in 2015 on making modifications to firearms I already had than I usually do. I put different grips on the Ruger Mk III Hunter and on the Sig Sauer M11A1. I put different triggers into my S&W M&P 9, Glock 19, Sig Sauer P226, and one of my Ruger 10/22 rifles. I also replaced the standard slide release on the Glock 19 with an extended version. Each of these modifi-cations was made to improve the “user in-terface” with the various guns.

So what about you? Did you attend any training classes this last year? Did you spend time on the practice range improving your shooting proficiency? Did you buy any new guns or modify any of the guns you already have?

- G.R. Evens

Trigger Pull Length and Why it Matters

Colt semi-automatic Model 1911 pistols have been produced with various sizes of triggers over the years. The original M1911 came with a “long” trigger and a flat main-spring housing. Right after World War I, a modification was made to the M1911 by replacing the “long” smooth-faced trigger with a “short” serrated-faced trigger, scoop-ing out the sides of the frame just behind the trigger guard to allow the finger to more comfortably reach the trigger, lengthening the grip safety tang to eliminate “hammer bite” to the web of the hand, replacing the flat mainspring housing with an arched mainspring housing at the bottom rear of the pistol’s grip, and other minor changes. This change in configuration is known as the M1911A1 version and this remained the standard configuration of Colt Model 1911 pistols from 1924 through the introduction of the Model 1991/Series 80 pistols (during the 1990’s). What prompted these changes and what difference do they make?

During World War I, it was found that indi-viduals with smaller hands had difficulty shooting the M1911 and thus the changes

were made to make it easier for them. The flat mainspring housing was believed to cause the pistol to shoot low when using a one-handed grip and the arched mainspring housing was intended to cure this. No inter-nal changes were made, and parts are basi-cally interchangeable between the two con-figurations. Then in the late 1980’s, civilian shooters started preferring the look of the guns with flat mainspring housings and the longer trigger so that is what Colt began offering.

Colt currently produces M1911-type pistols in two basic configurations—Series 70 and Series 80—and in multiple models such as the Government Model (5-inch barrel) and the Commander Model (4.25-inch barrel) being the most common. The main differ-ence in configurations is the Series 70 pistols retain the M1911A1 configuration, while the Series 80 pistols generally conform to the M1911 configuration with the addition of an internal firing pin safety. Most are cham-bered for the .45 ACP cartridge, but they are also available in .38 Super and 9mm Luger.

When I got my first Colt semi-auto—a Mk IV/Series 70 Government Model—back in the late 1970’s, it came in the M1911A1 configuration with the split barrel bushing. My next acquisition, almost 30 years later, was a 1991/Series 80 Colt Combat Com-mander. It came with the “long” trigger and flat mainspring housing. Since I was used to shooting the M1911A1 configuration, I modified the Commander with a “short” trigger and arched mainspring housing. I then added a 1918 (“Black Army”) version

Page 3 Random Shots Volume 6, I ssue 1

(2009)—basically a Government Model in the original M1911 configuration except with a black finish instead of Colt’s Royal Blue finish (a war-time expedient), and a 1991/Series 80 Government Model cham-bered in .38 Super (2011). I have left both of these guns in their original factory config-uration. Most recently I added another 1991/Series 80 Colt Combat Commander, this one chambered in 9mm Luger. It also came with the “long” trigger and flat main-spring housing. Each of these guns has a somewhat different “feel” when I grip them.

I decided to measure the distance between the face of the trigger and the rear of the grip safety at the closest point to the trigger face using a machinist’s caliper. The table above shows the results for the seven 1911-type pistols that I have.

The difference from the shortest trigger pull length to the longest is 0.265-inches. This may not seem like much, but it can have a dramatic affect on how accurately you can shoot your M1911. The figure below ex-plains why.

In my case, the “long” trigger is too long for me as my finger does not rest flat on the face of the trigger with my finger at a 90 degree angle when I properly grip the pistol. Thus, if I don’t pay close attention to what I am doing with my finger as I press the trig-ger to the rear, I could be pushing the muz-zle to the left. I do have a tendency to hit the target low and to the left of my point of aim if I am not concentrating on my trigger press. An exception is the two Ruger 1911’s. They both have an extended beaver-tail grip safety that allows me to get a higher grip on the gun. As a result, even though they have the longest trigger pull length, it doesn’t feel that way when I do properly grip them prior to firing.

This issue is not unique to the M1911 pistol. When you grip your gun in preparation for firing the shot, if you finger does not rest properly on the face of the trigger you will likely have the same problem. What is unique about the M1911-series of pistols is that you can replace the trigger with one that is better suited to the length of your trigger finger. Unfortunately you don’t have

this option with most other pistols (and revolvers).

So what will I do? I will probably change the trigger length on those M1911’s that I carry on a regular basis. I haven’t decided if I’ll change mainspring housing configura-tions yet. However, the 1918 model and the .38 Super model I will keep in their orig-inal factory configuration. Both were made in limited quantities so they might have some collector’s value in the future—not that I’m considering selling them!

— G.R. Evens

Ammunition Compatibility Some guns are very finicky when it comes to the kind of ammunition they are willing to “digest” (i.e. function with). It goes without saying that the ammunition must be in the proper caliber for the particular gun. How-ever, just because it is the correct caliber does not mean it will work in your gun, es-pecially if your gun is a semi-automatic. But revolvers and lever-action rifles are not im-mune to problems, especially with reloaded ammunition.

In the case of revolvers and lever-action rifles, if the bullets project out of the car-tridge case more than factory specifications allow, they might project out the front of a revolver’s cylinder, preventing it from rotat-ing. For some lever-action rifles like the Winchester and replica versions that use “cartridge lifters” to move the cartridge from the magazine to the chamber, if the overall cartridge length is too long it will not allow the “lifter” to align with the chamber in the rear of the barrel and thus prevent the cartridge from being inserted.

Semi-automatic firearms are especially prone to problems if the cartridge does not gener-ate enough recoil for the action to properly cycle. Bullet shape and composition are also problems. For many years it was difficult to get pistols like the Colt 1911 or the Luger P08 to function with anything but full metal jacket (FMJ) bullets.

The lesson about ammunition compatibility in semi-automatic firearms was reinforced when I went to the range to test fire a cou-ple of my pistols that had recently been worked on by gunsmiths. In addition to factory FMJ practice ammunition, I also took along a box of reloads that I had put

Page 4 Random Shots Volume 6, I ssue 1

Caliber

Year Pur-chased

Type Trigger Length of

Trigger Pull

Colt Mk IV/Series 70 (Gov’t Model) .45 ACP 1979 Short 2.578“

Colt Series 80 Combat Commander .45 ACP 2008 Short 2.637“

Colt Model 1918 (Gov’t Model) .45 ACP 2009 Long 2.732“

Colt Series 80 (Gov’t Model) .38 Super 2011 Long 2.836“

Colt Series 80 Combat Commander 9mm Luger 2015 Long 2.757“

Ruger SR1911 (Gov’t Model) .45 ACP 2011 Long 2.843“

Ruger SR1911CMD .45 ACP 2013 Long 2.841“

Front Sight Front Sight Front Sight

Correct Trigger is too long: this results in “pushing” the trigger at an angle, causing the muzzle to move sideways.

Trigger is too short: this results in “pulling” the trigger at an angle, causing the muzzle to move sideways.

together a couple of years ago. For this particular range session I was testing out my Sig Sauer P226 and my S&W M&P9. Both pistols are chambered to fire the 9mm Luger cartridge. Both guns functioned flawlessly with the factory FMJ cartridges, but when I switched to the reloads with lead round nose (LRN) bullets, problems emerged. The Sig functioned flawlessly with them, but the M&P hiccupped every time. While the M&P would feed and fire the reloaded car-tridges, it refused to properly eject them. As a result, I was faced with a stovepipe jam after every shot.

I’d had problems with these reloads a couple of years ago when I tried to use them during a high-rounds-count training class. On that occasion I was using one of my Glock pis-tols and it was “slinging lead” all over the place before I remembered that Glock bar-rels are not designed to work reliably with lead bullets. I switched to an M&P9—a different one that I had at the time—but it had frequent jams with the reloaded ammo.

So, it appears that those 125 grain LRN reloads will not function in polymer frame pistols—at least the Glocks and M&Ps I’ve tried it in. They do, however, function in steel or aluminum frame pistols—they’ve worked fine in my Sig and in a Browning Hi-Power. I guess the recoil-absorbing prop-erties of the polymer guns are just enough to prevent reliable cycling with those reloads.

But remember, all guns have their own indi-vidual characteristics so just because my experience shooting them with lead bullet reloads doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have the same problem. You’ll just have to ex-periment to find out if your gun has any functioning problems with particular types of ammunition

— G.R. Evens

Legal Considerations

for Armed Citizens

On November 7, 2015 I attended a seminar

sponsored by the Buckeye Firearms Associ-ation at the Fort Rapids Indoor Waterpark and Resort in Columbus, Ohio. The fea-tured speaker was Massad Ayoob, an inter-nationally-known firearms and self-defense instructor and firearms law expert. He has authored numerous books and thousands of magazine articles on the topics of firearms, self-defense and the law. He has been the handgun editor of GUNS Magazine and the law enforcement editor of American Hand-gunner Magazine since the 1970’s. In 1998, he was named as the Outstanding American Handgunner of the Year. He has won sev-eral state and regional handgun shooting titles including being the first individual to achieve the Master rank in all five gun disci-plines in the International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA). He founded the Lethal Force Institute in 1981 and has served as the co-vice chair of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He is regularly seen on television on various firearms and self-defense related shows.

From this brief resume, I think you can un-derstand why I and approximately 400 other motivated firearms enthusiasts were interest-ed in hearing what Mas had to say. The venue where the seminar was held was probably the safest place in Ohio that day as virtually every attendee raised their hands when Mas asked who was carrying a firearm.

Topics covered during Mas’s presentation included:

The basic rules for using lethal force for self-defense

Tips for recognizing potential threats in the area

Developing the proper mindset for self-defense

How to interact effectively with sus-pects and witnesses

How to interact with responding law enforcement officers

Dealing with the psychological after-math of a lethal encounter

Ways to minimize adverse legal reper-cussions

Mas started his talk by indicating that Ohio is the only state that has explicitly incorpo-rated the concept of an “affirmative de-fense” into the law—all other states assume it applies. An affirmative defense shifts the burden of proof from the prosecutor to the defendant when claiming self defense as a justification for killing someone. If properly applied, it is the perfect defense. But, to properly apply it three things must be estab-lished beyond a reasonable doubt. These include: 1.) The assailant had the ability to threaten you (or someone you are defend-ing) with serious bodily injury or death; 2.) The assailant had the opportunity to do it; and 3.) The threat was immediate and una-voidable—i.e. you (or someone else you were defending) were in jeopardy. All three conditions must be met before self-defense can be claimed!

A jury will be instructed to evaluate the case based on what a reasonable, prudent person would do in similar circumstances. To do this, they must determine what the defend-ant (i.e. you) knew. Mas then went through several examples of how the prosecuting attorney may try to “twist” your meaning by applying very explicit definitions to terms that you use to describe what occurred. As a result, it becomes very important for you to be able to document your knowledge about the abilities of individuals to threaten your life with guns, knives, clubs, etc. Since these are topics that are often covered in firearms training classes, he indicated that it was important for you to keep detailed notes from those classes and present them during the trial if necessary. You may also want to have the individuals that trained you testify to what you were trained on during the trial.

And yes, you will need to testify in your own defense at the trial if you are claiming self-defense!

Later, Mas discussed the very limited cir-cumstances when you might have to leave the scene of the attack prior to the police arriving. By leaving, it makes it look like you were fleeing to avoid being prosecuted, so his advice was that if you must leave head to the nearest police station. He also em-

Page 5 Random Shots Volume 6, I ssue 1

phasized that when an event occurs you must be the first one to contact the police. Whoever contacts the police first is assumed to be the “victim” of the crime until the facts can be sorted out.

When the police do arrive at the scene, it is important for you to talk to them. You need to establish the “active dynamic”00—i.e. what forced you to defend yourself. You need to indicate that you will sign a com-plaint, even if it is evident your assailant is dead. You need to point out the evidence of what happened at the scene, along with who the witnesses are. Finally, you need to indicate your willingness to cooperate after you have consulted with your attorney. In answer-ing questions, especially at the scene, you should not give detailed descriptions be-cause your memory at the time will be im-perfect and any changes you make will be viewed suspiciously.

In these days of security cameras and smart phones with cameras and video recording capabilities, you should assume that your actions are being recorded.

Mas indicated that “awareness” and “preparedness” were the two most im-portant things you can do. “Tactics” are the next priority, followed by “skill” in using your self-defense equipment (and hand-to-hand abilities). Finally comes choosing the appropriate equipment to carry. You will need to be able to articulate to the jury why you made all of the choices in equipment, etc. As a result, his recommendation is to not carry firearms (or ammunition) with controversial names—i.e. “killer”, “zombie”, etc. Likewise don’t decorate your firearm with controversial symbols—i.e. skulls, etc. He also indicated that it was important that you not deactivate or remove any safety devices that came from the factory on your self-defense firearm.

Other factors such as reducing trigger pull

weights below factory specifications and using handloaded/reloaded ammunition can and probably will be exploited by the prose-cutor to demonstrate your recklessness to the jury.

If you do get the opportunity, it would be well worth your time to attend one of Mas Ayoob’s seminars, especially if you carry a firearm for self defense. Let the Buckeye Firearms Association know if you’d like to see them bring him back again next year.

If you cannot fit it into your schedule, you might consider getting a copy of Mas’ latest book, Deadly Force—Understanding Your Right to Self Defense (©2014, F+W Media, Inc., Iola, WI). It covers much of the material he presented during the seminar, but without the ability to engage in Q&A with the au-thor.

— G.R. Evens

Are You Practicing or

Plinking? You got your concealed carry license be-cause you were concerned that you might need to use a firearm to protect your life or the life of someone else. And, as a responsi-ble concealed carry license holder you prac-tice with your firearm on a regular basis. You do, don’t you? If not, you might want to re-consider your priorities. Just as you make monthly payments on your auto, home, and life insurance policies, you should also be making a monthly investment in your self-defense by spending some time practicing with your handgun. Carrying a firearm is another form of insurance after all.

Learning how to defend yourself is not a one-time event. It is something that you must continuously pay attention to in order to be successful if you are confronted with a life-threatening violent encounter. Such an encounter will occur suddenly, with little or no advanced warning. It will be chaotic and

dangerous, and it will be over within sec-onds—certainly well before the police can arrive to provide any assistance. (You don’t think the criminal will start an attack against you if they see the police are nearby, do you?) You may have only a second or two to take action to defend yourself. Most of that time will be taken up just figuring out what is happening and deciding what action to take. If you are carrying a firearm that ac-tion would likely be accessing your fire-arm—i.e. drawing it from your holster, pocket, purse, etc.—and then placing accu-rate shots in your assailant. Without regular practice, it is highly unlikely that you will be able to respond in the time needed to pre-vent yourself from being harmed.

As one of the first things that I do during my Advanced Concealed Carry I courses, I conduct an assessment of each student’s ability to access their firearm and deliver accurate shots on target. For the assessment the “goal” is to be able to draw the firearm from wherever it is normally carried and place three accurate shots on a target (a standard sheet of paper) that is three yards away within three seconds. The students do know what they are supposed to do before the assessment starts, so it isn’t the same as being surprised by an attacker, but they do not have an opportunity to practice drawing their firearm or shooting it before the as-sessment begins. I’ve only had one student that was able to do this within the allotted time. Indeed some students take as much as 15-20 seconds to do it—and by then the attack could well be over.

When the assessment is performed again at the end of the class, students typically show a lot of improvement, both in terms of be-ing able to access their firearm and in being able to deliver accurate hits on target. But they’ve had a lot of practice between those two assessments, typically firing about 120 rounds of ammunition from their handguns and performing dozens of draws. As I tell the students, this level of proficiency will not remain if they don’t continue to practice the skills. Indeed if they tried the assess-ment again the very next day they would find that it will take slightly longer and the more time that elapses between practice sessions, the more time it will take. Draw-ing a firearm from concealment and placing accurate hits on target is a perishable skill that must be refreshed on a regular basis.

I think you can now understand why prac-tice is important. But it needs to be practice

Page 6 Random Shots Volume 6, I ssue 1

with a purpose. If all you do when you go to the shooting range is see how accurately you can place your shots on a target you are not really practicing, you are plinking. Don’t get me wrong here, being able to ac-curately shoot is important, but there are many more things that need to be part of your practice. For instance, do you practice one-handed shooting with both your “strong” hand and your “weak” hand? You may have to shoot your handgun with just one hand if you are carrying something (or someone) or if your other hand/arm is in-jured.

Do you practice drawing your handgun from your holster, pocket, purse, etc.? WARNING—if you use a commercial shooting range they probably will have a rule that says you cannot do this because of a legal liability concern. So where can you go to practice accessing your firearm if your shooting range prohibits it? How about in your own home. You can practice drawing your handgun without actually firing it. “Dry Fire”—i.e. practicing with your fire-arm unloaded—is an excellent way to main-tain gun handling proficiency. You can practice your aiming and trigger control using “Dry Fire” as well. Just make sure when you are engaged in “Dry Fire” practice your gun is unloaded and there is no live ammunition anywhere near you (preferably in a separate room). Reloading your hand-gun and clearing malfunctions is something else you can practice without actually firing live ammunition. You will need “dummy” rounds (i.e. snap caps, etc.) for this.

How about firing rapid follow-up shots? You will likely have to fire multiple shots to end the threat during a violent encounter so this is an essential skill. WARNING—again, many commercial shooting ranges have a rule that limits the number of rounds you are allowed to fire within a given time period, again for legal liability reasons. “Dry Fire” practice won’t really help you here, so you will need to find someplace where you are allowed to practice shooting rapid follow-up shots. Most advanced shooting classes include practicing this skill so that is one reason for seeking additional training be-yond what you are taught in a basic handgun class.

You cannot practice everything that you need to in a single practice session. There-fore you need to decide which specific skills you need to practice before you go to the range. Put a plan together ahead of time

and “budget” the number of rounds you fire to meet your specific goals. For instance, you may want to start out firing ten rounds using your normal two-handed grip and stance. Then you might want to fire five rounds with just your strong hand and five rounds with just your weak hand. Next you might want to practice shooting at targets at varying distances—3, 5, 10, 15, 20 yards—with the most practice firing at the nearer distances. If possible, you might also want to practice moving and shooting. How about shooting from kneeling, sitting, or prone positions? Again, many commercial shooting ranges do not allow movement or shooting from anything but a standing posi-tion. Shooting at multiple targets at varying distances is also something you might want to practice. After all, there is no guarantee that you will be attacked by just a single assailant.

As you go through the various skills you need to be able to perform, focus your train-ing on those that you are weakest in per-forming. However, don’t ignore the basics or the things you think you are good at. Your ability to perform any skill will dimin-ish the longer the time between sessions when you perform those skills.

So once again I will ask—are you practicing the skills you need to be able to defend yourself? If you do go to the shooting range, are you practicing or are you just plinking?

— G.R. Evens

Does Your Self-Defense Gun Work?

Seriously, when was the last time you took your self-defense gun out for a functional check to make sure it is still working? Those of you that carry a concealed hand-gun on a regular basis probably do check it to see that it is loaded, that there is a round in the chamber, and hopefully you are

shooting it periodically. But, what about that pump shotgun you stuck in the back of the closet or that pistol that is setting in your nightstand? When was the last time you checked them?

You are probably thinking to yourself right now; “What kind of question is that?” It worked the last time that you shot it, but when was that? And just because it worked then doesn’t mean that it is still working—you did clean it after you shot it didn’t you? Maybe your gun broke when you fired the last shot. I’ve had that happen myself! Fir-ing pins have broken into two pieces, flat springs have broken, screws have come loose or fallen out, etc. Remember, firearms are mechanical devices made up of a series of parts and any one of those parts could break or come loose at any time.

One example that I’ve experienced myself was with a Colt Model 1903 Pocket Ham-merless semi-auto pistol. I bought it used, but it looked practically brand new, came in the original box, and was manufactured about 100 years ago. The slide worked smoothly and everything seemed to be okay—until I took it to the range to shoot it for the first time. Instead of going “bang” when I fired it, it went “bang-bang-bang-bang-bang”! That was exciting and I found myself holding a fully automatic handgun because it kept firing without me pulling the trigger again. In troubleshooting it, I figured the firing pin had stuck out because of an accumulation of lubricants and dirt that had turned into a solid mass inside the firing pin channel in the slide. I gave the slide a good soaking in solvent, but that did not seem to solve the problem. My next step was to send it to my gunsmith to get a more thor-ough checkout. He ended up replacing the sear and although the new one appeared to be identical to the old one in every way, that solved the problem. Sometimes the prob-lem with tolerances between moving parts is so small they are invisible to the naked eye.

Another example was a Colt Single-Action Army clone (a “black powder frame” model) that I was using for cowboy action shooting. One day the cylinder just fell out of the re-volver in the middle of a stage of fire. The small screw that was holding the cylinder base pin in place—the use of a screw to hold the cylinder base pin is what makes it a “black powder frame” model—worked loose and allowed the base pin to come out. With nothing holding it in place anymore, the cylinder just dropped out of the frame

Page 7 Random Shots Volume 6, I ssue 1

onto the ground. It would have been a rela-tively easy thing to fix if the small screw hadn’t also fallen out and was lost in the grass. I was done shooting for that day and had to order a new cylinder base pin screw to get the revolver working again. A few years later a small metal projection on the back of the loading gate on my Winchester lever-action rifle—another Italian-made clone—broke off. That small projection was what held the rounds in the tubular magazine under the barrel and with it gone there was nothing to prevent the magazine spring from pushing the rounds into the action of the rifle thoroughly jamming it. Again I was done shooting until I could get a replacement part and install it.

Finally we have an example that comes from a retired police officer acquaintance of mine. He worked with another officer in a small town police department. At the time they joined the force, they were issued their .38 caliber revolvers but received little or no training. In those days is was assumed they already knew about guns and needed no training. Twenty-some years later this of-ficer’s co-worker retired from the same po-lice department. When he turned in his revolver—in those days police officers were issued their gun and they kept it until they no longer worked for that department—it was cocked, had ammunition in the cham-bers that was corroded in place and would not eject, and the gun was covered in rust. It seems the officer in question had to draw and cock his handgun just once very early in his career and couldn’t figure out how to un-cock it so he just left it that way. At least he used duct tape to hold the hammer in place so the gun would not accidentally fire—it probably wouldn’t intentionally fire either. This officer never practiced with his revolver and he never cleaned it. He just left it in his leather holster for 20+ years and even though he carried it daily while he was on duty, he basically forgot all about it. And you thought police officers were highly pro-ficient in the use of firearms… While this is no doubt an extreme example, what about that old pistol your father or some other relative left you to use for home protection?

Even if you shoot your guns regularly, there is no guarantee something hasn’t broken or worn out. Magazine springs used in semi-automatic pistols weaken the more they are used and may no longer exert enough force to push the next round up to be caught by the slide and loaded into the chamber. This

is one reason why some firearms experts recommend you never use your “carry/duty” magazines for training, but rather use separate magazines that are only used when you are practicing with your handgun. In the “good old days” when semi-auto pistol magazines were cheap, this was no problem, but have you seen what they cost these days??!!

Have the cartridge cases you use been in your gun so long they have developed that “green” coating on the brass and now they no longer smoothly slide in and out of the chamber? You ought to be firing the “carry rounds” in your gun and replace them with new rounds once every year or so.

Isn’t it about time you pulled your guns out of wherever you are storing them and check them to see if they still work? Hmmm…maybe I should take the .243 Winchester bolt-action rifle that I have not fired for over 35 years out to the range to see if it still works???

— G.R. Evens

Reciprocity Update Yet another state has decided to recognize Ohio’s concealed carry license. Ohio resi-dents with Ohio-issued concealed handgun licenses may now carry their handguns in Maine. This brings the number of states that have reciprocity with Ohio to 39.

— G.R. Evens

The Principals of Personal Defense:

Alertness

Lieutenant Colonel John Dean “Jeff”

Cooper (1920-2006) is widely recognized as the father of the “modern technique of the pistol”. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II and the Korean War. Following his military service he became a part-time high school and community col-lege history teacher. He was involved in competitive handgun shooting and became a firearms instructor. He began writing arti-cles that appeared in several gun-related magazines in the 1970’s and also authored several books. In 1976, he founded the American Pistol Institute, which later evolved into the world-famous Gunsite Academy.

In his teaching and writings, Cooper articu-lated the “modern technique of the pistol” which defines how the pistol should be used for personal protection. The “technique” includes using a two-handed grip to hold the pistol—prior to that time the one-handed grip was the norm. He also advocated the use of the Weaver stance in facing towards the target/threat. Additional elements of the “modern technique” include:

Use of a large caliber pistol, preferably a semi-automatic. He felt the Colt Model 1911 chambered in .45 ACP was the best choice for a personal defense handgun at a time when the majority of American law enforcement agencies issued .38 caliber double-action revolv-ers.

The use of an efficient draw stroke to bring the pistol from the holster and point it at the target.

The use of the “flash sight picture” to enable the first shot(s) to be fired very quickly.

The use of a compressed “surprise trig-ger break” when firing the pistol.

Today we recognize these “techniques” as the most accepted way to handle and fire a handgun. In articulating his ideas on the defensive use of a pistol, Cooper changed the way the world viewed the use of a hand-

Page 8 Random Shots Volume 6, I ssue 1

gun forever.

Cooper believed that skill in the use of a handgun was secondary to having the prop-er mindset prior to and during a violent situation. He outlined his ideas in his 1972 book, Principals of Personal Defense. In that book he defined seven principals. These include:

1. Alertness

2. Decisiveness

3. Aggressiveness

4. Speed

5. Coolness

6. Ruthlessness

7. Surprise

“Alertness” is his first principal and it simply means that you must be aware of what is happening around you. In describing the levels of alertness that individuals need to have in various situations, Cooper devel-oped his “color code” system that is rou-tinely used by firearms instructors as part of their instruction on situational awareness.

I have written extensively in Random Shots about the need for situational awareness so I am not going to repeat that information here. But, you need to recognize that “alertness” is the foundation of personal protection. Without being alert, there is little or no chance that you will be able to avoid a violent encounter or even respond to it in time to protect yourself or someone else from serious bodily injury or death.

In future editions of Random Shots, I will deal

with Cooper’s other principals in more de-

tail. In the meantime, stay alert! — G.R. Evens

First & Second

Impressions

This time the subject of my review is the

Series 80 Colt Model 1911 Combat Com-mander semi-automatic pistol chambered in 9mm Luger caliber. This is the steel framed version—the Lightweight Commander has an aluminum frame. From the factory it comes with a 4.25-inch barrel, fixed 3-dot sights, flat mainspring housing, “long” trig-ger, and gorgeous Rosewood double-diamond grips. The magazine holds 9 rounds of ammunition, making this a 9+1 round pistol, a 20% increase over the .45 ACP version. The overall length is 7.75-inches, the height is about 5.37-inches, and it weighs in at 33 ounces (empty).

This is my personal gun that I purchased in August 2015. I have always liked the 1911 design and I am not alone in this. Jeff Hall told us during the Hojutsu class that he only trusts three pistol designs—the Glock, the Smith and Wesson M&P, and the 1911. Some prominent firearms instructors con-sider the 1911 to be an “expert’s gun” be-cause of the more complicated “manual of arms” required to bring it into action, while others consider it to be an antiquated de-sign. I like the Commander-length for self-defense purposes and the heavier weight of the steel frame version. It has been a prov-en self-defense gun for over 100 years.

I used a Commander-style Ruger SR1911CMD in .45 ACP during the Hojut-su course and found my wrist starting to ache by the third day. As a result of the wear and tear from the recoil, my accuracy shooting it was not what I had hoped it would be. In talking to John Farquhar about this he said that was the reason he switched to 9mm 1911’s a few years ago. I greatly respect John’s judgment so when I saw a 9mm Commander at a local gun shop I decided to get it. (I had seen a stainless steel one in that same gun shop about 9 months prior but had passed on it at that time and not seen another one since. When I bought mine I was told it was the last one they had in stock and they weren’t sure when they would be getting more in that caliber.)

I took it out to the range the same day that I bought it. Since this was my own gun, I fired more than my usual 5 rounds to get my “first impression” of it. Using CCI Blazer Brass 115 grain FMJ ammunition, I started out firing 3 magazines of 5 rounds each to “break in” the gun. The distance to the target was 7 yards. I wasn’t really trying to shoot tight groups at this point, but instead just wanted to get a “feel” for the pistol.

Recoil was a little sharper than I expected, but not nearly as much as when I shoot my .45 ACP caliber Commander. The sights came back on target quickly. Group size was about 5 inches, center-to-center and a couple inches below my point of aim.

Next I focused on accuracy. I used a center hold on the bottom edge of the “X” on the Shoot’n’C target. This time I used CCI Blazer 124 grain FMJ ammunition, again in three 5-shot strings. The total group size for the 15 rounds was 4½ inches by 2 inches centered about half an inch below my point of aim on the target. If I do not count the two “flyers”, the group size was 2 inches by 2 inches. I was impressed and I think this Colt likes the 124 grain bullet weight.

Trigger pull weight is about 6.5 lbs. but is very crisp with a slight take-up and short reset. Putting a couple hundred rounds through it should reduce the felt weight of the trigger somewhat.

Subsequently, I took the pistol to a local gun shop (3G Tactical in Tipp City, Ohio) that also does some gunsmithing. (I’d previously had them install an Apex trigger kit in my S&W M&P 9 pistol.) I had them install a “short trigger” and an ambidextrous extend-ed thumb safety. This resulted in the trigger pull length being reduced from 2.757-inches

Page 9 Random Shots Volume 6, I ssue 1

to 2.585-inches and it places the pad of my trigger finger right in the middle of the trig-ger at the correct 90 degree angle that is needed for accurate shooting. The extended safety makes it much easier to take the safe-ty off—and for me—to place it back to the “on” position.

Now it was time to return to the range to see how it shoots with these modifications. Once again I used the CCI Blazer Brass FMJ ammunition, both 115 grain and 124 grain. This time, the gun shot much better with the 115 grain ammo as can be seen the accompanying photo.

The range to the target was 7 yards. Most of the shots were cluster inside the 8-ring. Those that are outside the black were the ones that I fired using just my strong hand or weak hand.

This time I fired about 70 rounds through the gun, 50 rounds of 115 grain and 20 rounds of 124 grain. At first I thought I had a problem with the gun. When shooting the 115 grain ammunition, the new trigger would not properly reset after firing the fourth round from the magazine. It did this four times in a row and I was beginning to think I’d have to take it back to the gun-smith. I did squirt a little lubricant on the trigger and decided to fire it some more. After that I had no further problems with the trigger not resetting. It was probably a burr that was left after the gunsmith had worked on properly fitting the trigger. I will have to put another 100-200 rounds through it before I declare it ready for regular use as a self-defense gun. Oh well, that gives me a good excuse to go back to the range some more.

If you are a fan of John Browning’s 1911 design, you should definitely consider add-ing a 9mm to your inventory. While the design is over 100 years old, just about every

pistol-maker in the U.S. is offering their own version of this venerable warhorse. Sales continue to be brisk and it doesn’t look like the 1911 will be going away any-time soon. The only thing that I think could be better would be a new Colt Commander chambered in .38 Super!

— G.R. Evens

A Conversation with Jim Irvine

At the Buckeye Firearms Association (BFA)-sponsored seminar in early November, I had an opportunity to talk to Jim Irvine, BFA President, about the progress Ohio is making in the area of gun rights. I com-mented to Jim that I had written articles regarding Ohio’s ranking in Guns & Ammo Magazine’s annual ratings of gun rights across the nation (see my Random Shots articles from January/February 2015 and Novem-ber/December 2015 comparting the 2014 and 2015 rankings). I told him that after the improvements in Ohio’s gun laws that were enacted in 2014 and that went into effect in March 2015 that I expected Ohio’s ranking would increase significantly, but they did not. Jim confirmed that the problem was other states are also making improvements and Ohio is basically just “staying even” with them, not getting ahead. He went on to explain that Ohio started out behind so many other states in enacting improved gun rights laws because of the opposition of a series of anti-freedom Republicans, most notably Speaker Joe Ann Davidson, and Governors Voinovich and Taft. Over a dec-ade later and the Ohio legislature is still clinging to terrible ideas that only became law at Taft’s insistence. What he said next surprised me. He indicated that progress in

improving Ohio gun rights was currently being hindered by the Republican caucus! He said former Democrat Governor Ted Strickland was very gun-friendly—a position that has apparently changed since he left office—and was willing to sign just about anything that the legislature put in front of him, but the Republican majority in the leg-islature was unwilling to make big, bold leaps, preferring instead to make small incre-mental changes over time. This probably explains the slow progress we have seen with changes to Ohio’s gun laws in 2015. Jim did say that there were gun-friendly members of the legislature, but they need to hear from their constituents to understand what their priorities should be.

Have you talked or corresponded with your representative(s) in the Ohio legislature late-ly? If not, take the time now to contact them and let them know of your support for improved gun rights in Ohio. They will take action once they understand that this issue is important to the people they represent. You can see the gun legislation that is being con-sidered by the Ohio legislature at the Buck-eye Firearms Association’s website—http://www.buckeyef irearms.org/ohio -gun-legislation-guide.

— G.R. Evens

Upcoming Classes New class schedule coming soon. In the meantime check out our Facebook page at:

Facebook/LongMeadows Shooting School

Page 10 Random Shots Volume 6, I ssue 1

LongMeadows Shooting School

4910 State Route 201

Tipp City, Ohio 45371

(937) 478-8201

www.longmeadowsshootingschool.com