By Pudge
Some more recent musings to think about below.
1) If you conceal carry, what position do you carry in? Why
do you carry there?
2) Do you carry spare ammunition for concealed carry? How do
you carry it?
3) When conducting rifle training how do you carry your
spare magazines?
4) What type of firearms/military style training would you
recommend to others? What kind of training are you looking for?
5) What do you look for in a trainer?
Hope these questions get the brain working and potentially
help prioritize some things.
A picture of Mack shooting a Hi Point because I can't let him live it down!
1) Strong side behind the hip IWB for CCW or IDPA. J-frame goes in the strong side pocket in a Mika pocket holster when I carry it. When working security G26 in ankle holster.
ReplyDelete2) Spare magazine on weak side belt for autoloaders. Speed loader in weak side pocket for the j-frame.
3) Typically a chest rig. I have carried on the belt lately for some classes because the round counts for drills have decreased.
4) How to run the gun accurately, clear malfunctions and reload as needed. Just good solid basics no matter if it is a pistol, rifle or shotgun.
5) It doesn’t matter how good a shooter the instructor is if he can’t teach. I want the instructor who can explain the process, then demonstrates it to the class. This goes with the course qualifier. Any class should be well organized to build up skills in steps. There should be positive feedback and corrections when necessary. They don’t need to former military or law enforcement to teach these kinds of courses.
I took a carbine course with a former high speed, low drag operator. He only allowed AR platform firearms and talked trash about anything other than Aimpoint optics. The guy ran the same drills he learned in basic over and over and over again. He rarely demonstrated anything and when he shot his qualifier, he didn’t let anyone look at the target. We didn’t even get to look at our own qualifier. I think there were 22 people in the class, active military, reserves, LEO and civilians and no one passed the 2 day basic class.
The opposite side is John and Vicky Farnam. They are excellent teachers. Vicky might be the best one on one firearm instructor I have met. She always takes the problem child or folks who are having issues with a concept. They always demonstrate what they expect from student. John teaches the students to efficiently run whatever they brought to class. He is well organized and while strict on safety still has a sense of humor. Tom Givens is in the same class. Bob Allen at Royal Range is too.
Lastly if you’re going to have presentations or handouts, make sure they are in the same font and format. It makes everything look professional. My old boss was a USN O-6 we lovingly referred to as the Font Nazi and he was at least correct about that.
Sorry for the rant, but after doing training all over the world till I retired last year, it is a pet peeve with me.
Gerry
Gerry,
DeleteAll great answers. I completely agree on instructors. Just because you are a great shooter doesn't mean you can teach. On the flip side if you are that good at teaching you should be a pretty good shooter. I like instructors who will demonstrate. I'm not expecting perfection but it means a lot to students to see it done. Never bad mouth a firearm someone else is using because it may be all they have and can get turned off from further training if this is the case.
Making supplemental material professional is an easy way to demonstrate that you care about the 'small' things. I enjoyed the rant!
Gerry, sorry for the late reply.
DeleteI also carry my snubbie in one of Mika's pocket holsters in my SS front pants pocket, except...
I live in the Rockies. When it gets really cold (like the past week or so) and I have a long, heavy parka or Carhartt coat on, the snubbie and pocket holster goes in my strong-side parka pocket...
In the hope that it will buy me enough time to dig my Glock 19 out from under the layers of clothing.
Hey Pudge;
ReplyDeleteI carry my shield in the IWB strong side with the extra clip in the weak side. As far as Rifle goes, I haven't gone to any courses yet to run anything. I like that course you took in Coweta, I may check it out once ammo loosens up, I can't afford to lose a bunch of rounds and not be able to replace them. I know...you have to train to stay good, but if you have no ammo when you have to "go to the mattresses" because you fired it all up in training...it is a catch 22...it sucks. I do dry fire, I remember the trick in basic with the quarter on the barrel to practice not flinching when squeezing the trigger. Fortunately BB's are plentiful and I do use those to practice the fundamentals. Don't be too hard on Mack, he just wishes he has a cool carbine like that Hi point, I put optics on mine because my eyes ain't as good as they used to be and I got some 15 round magazines for it also :)
Mr. Garabaldi,
DeleteIt was a great course and I took a lot away from it. Hopefully, ammo will become available again soon.
Dry fire is a great way to stay proficient and can help in almost all parts of shooting. I'm looking into getting an airsoft setup as close to my edc as I can to further help stay proficient during these times.
I think he was just afraid to admit that he enjoyed shooting it!
Strong side OWB, 4 o'clock. Pocket pistol left rear pocket. Mags weak side belt. If I'm carrying a revolver, speed strips in weak side pocket.
ReplyDeleteFor a rifle, chest rig.
Progressive training. Start with basics and increase to intermediate and??? With practice!!!
For instructor, one that actually teaches and has patience. Tell, demo, perform, and the patience to work each student through the same steps.
Old NFO,
DeleteGreat responses to all the questions. I like your thought process of "tell, demo, perform." Patience and knowing how to change your teaching style for each individual can have a huge impact on how good of an instructor you are.
Yep, and you LEARN that working with people on the basics (plus 15 years and training in the military as an instructor)... sigh
Delete