Cruel Hand Luke

One of the first classes I taught for Suarez Int back in like 2006 I had a guy who came to class at the recommendation of one of his friends. He told me at the beginning of class that he had shot his whole life (in his 40s at the time) and was not very good and that he didn't really expect to be able to get much better and he was pretty well resigned to that fate. But his friend said he should really come to this class so he did. I thought that just sounded kind of sad but I told him I'd do everything in my power to help him. I asked if he knew which was his dominant eye and he said he did not know exactly what I was referring to. I explained it and gave everyone in class the "eye test" and we determined that he was in fact right handed and left eye dominant and that is from where his problems stemmed . Once we determined that and had him get the gun in front of his dominant eye he was able to vastly improve his shooting. He had been aiming all these years with his non dominant eye and that is why up until then he was not a good shooter . At the end of class I thought he was going to cry for joy because he didn't expect it to happen but we had "fixed" his shooting and now he was shooting the way he should have been all these years. THAT is what makes an instructor's day. But it was all about what he was seeing .... not how he was applying the mechanics of shooting.

I'll second that! We just need a classroom and a range..... Have Power Point and Guns, Will Travel.

This one is just around the corner ! How often do you get to shoot in the dark? How often do you get to experience what criminal assault looks like in the dark? How often do you get to practice using a flashlight as a less lethal/distraction device? How often do you get to practice shooting in conjunction with using a flashlight? All these things and more are what you will experience in this class. So stop saying " I really need to get some training in low light" and come on out and get some training in low light !

This one is getting closer.......

Reminder !!!! This one is coming up in just over a month! If over half of defensive gun uses are in reduced lighting and you have not trained in those conditions you might want to consider taking this class.

+1 . I'd argue that fending off a guy who is armed with a knife while you are seated in the passenger seat of a car is pretty stressful yet once I got the gun out and created some space I saw the sights clearly because I LOOKED for the sights. I also took the time (less than a second) to scan the back ground for what was beyond the target in case of a shoot through or a miss. So when people try to tell me it CAN'T be done that just does not match my own experience. Incidentally I had that discussion about the incident and the scanning the background with a student one time. I told him about how fast things can be processed in your mind and it can look like other things and people are in slow motion. I related that I had the time to look at the back ground as I got the gun up and on the sights and that I still had enough dexterity to take up the slack on the trigger AND then let off the trigger without firing the gun once the threat decided that he really didn't want to get shot. I was able to do this without any spastic accidental jerking of the trigger. And that was with a 1911(So much for NEEDING a DA trigger to prevent ADs) And your hands do not ALWAYS turn to flippers during the incident. (Afterward the adrenaline dump did make my hands shake but not until after it was over). So now fast forward about 8 months and that same student who works as a bail bondsman gets into a gunfight while trying to take a bail jumper into custody. He told me that IN THE MOMENT he remembered what I had said and he actually LOOKED at the background (an urban parking lot feeding into a city street) as the gun was coming up out of his holster and BEFORE he pressed off the first shot. He said "It was just like you said" . He shot and hit the guy twice, the bad guy ran off and his lawyer negotiated his surrender to the police a couple of months later. Apparently one round hit the bad guy's gun and one hit him in the leather belt he was wearing and deflected off leaving 2 superficial arm and torso wounds (so much for pistols knocking people down) . Point is that we don't all experience exactly the same phenomena and we don't all react the same to it. You tend to do what you have practiced and planned for...

The better you can shoot.... the better you can shoot. Period. Even under stress. And it seems that those who start out at a high level seem to do just fine. If you start out at the top of the mountain and tumble down 25% of the way you are still pretty high up that mountain. If you start out only 25% of the way up the mountain and you fall 25% of the way down under stress then you are now in a heap at the bottom. If you can draw and shoot a 3 shot 4" group at 7 yards in 2 seconds and you suffer a 25% reduction in ability due to stress then that is now a 5" group in 2.5 seconds. If you can only do it in 4 seconds that is now a 5" group in 5 seconds. (This is not directed at any individual in this thread) What annoys me is when people who can't shoot well by virtually any metric work in the training industry and take money from people and tell them that as long as they hit the target (generally the size of a king size bed sheet) any where then that is good for you and bad for them. And they use that as a justification for sloppy marksmanship. And they refer to vague "pearls of wisdom" like "you won't be able to see your sights in a gunfight" that was wisdom from a time when sights on "combat pistols" were largely tiny little nubs compared to the sights we have today. Look at the sights on a 1911 built in 1920 or even a 1911A1 made in 1943 vs a modern one made by Springfield or Wilson or virtually any other manufacturer. But the "instructor" is still telling people that you won't be able to see them and therefore they damn the student to not using their sights under stress for lack of even trying to look for them. Self fulfilling prophecy. Garbage in garbage out. Unfortunately there are too many people hanging up a shingle and calling themselves instructors that don't have a good enough contextual and historical body of knowledge to know that what they are saying might not apply today or WHY it might not apply. And frankly too many of them don't shoot at a level to have any idea of what actually is possible and what is not. On the other hand there are plenty of folks (Cirillo and Bill Allard, Charles Askins,Wyatt Earp,John Wesley Hardin etc etc) who saw sights and used them and won a bunch of gunfights. Why? Because they LOOKED for them. The interesting thing is that all those guys could shoot well....hmm...maybe there is a cause and effect relationship ? Now I'm not saying you will ALWAYS have to see sights to hit a human in the upper chest . In fact I am a big proponent building a drawstroke and grip that drives the gun to where it needs to be whether you look at the sights or not and then using just enough visual verification to guarantee the hit and no more . Some shots are so easy that you can make them without focusing hard on the sights. Think about a shot on an aggressor 3 yards away. That is not a technically difficult shot to make and most people can make it from less than full extension. But If you spend all of your time on shooting fast garbage can lid sized groups at 3 yards and you are then confronted with a guy 10 yards away in a parking lot filled with a bunch of "organic backstop " (people) down range then suddenly things just got really dangerous for EVERYONE. AJ mentions the 4" group as fast as you can deliver it. (and the key here is to do it FAST). That is something to strive for in training and we understand that we might still end up with a 6" group at speed under stress. I personally want to keep it all in a 3" circle and work toward that (as fast as I can) so that if it is 4 or 5 under stress that is still adequate to hit them somewhere very close to the spot I was actually trying to hit. And we are trying to hit a SPOT. We are not just trying to hit the guy "somewhere...more times than not....most of the time". If your "acceptable standards" are high in training then your "stress degraded performance" is probably still higher than most people's "best case scenario performance" . (That last comment was an understatement ...there is a reason that the average police hit ratio is 25% and certain specialized units like LAPD SWAT and SIS (Special Investigation Service) is more like 95%. And it does not have anything to do with the gun in their holster. It has to do with their level of training and the standards they accept as "good enough". ) In the end we just do not know what the problem we face will be. It will PROBABLY be 3 or 4 yards but it could be 34 yards. Andy Brown shot Dean Mellberg from 75 yards away with a Beretta 92 to stop the Fairchild Air Force base shooting in 1994. He hit Mellberg in the head and right shoulder. Vic Stacy shot Charles Ronald Conner from 50 yards away with a revolver while Conner was trying to kill officer Steven Means in Early,Texas in 2012. He hit him 4 times. I'm guessing Brown and Stacy probably both saw their sights.......

Come out to the TN/GA/AL Training day on FEB 22 and you will get a full day of it .......

At that distance YOU may not be the immediate object of the attacker's attention. You might be engaging them to save someone else.

This one has been rescheduled to Saturday FEB 22 !

Due to the freak snow storm we are going to reschedule this one. The roads are just too hazardous going up the mountain so we are going to pull the plug on this one today and reschedule. Stay tuned for details.

Reminder ! This one is just a month away. If you want to learn to run your red dot pistol smoothly and efficiently this is the place to do it.

And in 23 years of carrying 24/7 365 I have never been asked for a permit by a restaurant I was in ....but then again I don't feel the overwhelming need to open carry in restaurants ..... You know who NEVER gets hassled or harassed or has to answer questions about their gun ? People who keep them concealed.....just sayin' .

This one is coming up THIS WEEKEND!!!

Reminder that this one is coming up in just a couple of weeks.

The problem with .380 is that almost none of it (if any) is IWBA compliant. That is none of it expands well AND penetrates 12". Now do you ALWAYS need 12" of penetration? No . The old dude who killed the guy in the movie theater for throwing popcorn at him had no problem with .380 working. He also shot a guy at arm's length who was wearing nothing thicker than a t-shirt. On the other hand I have seen binder clips used to hang targets get hit with .380 and suffer a dent....the same clips hit with 9mm had holes all the way through them. The only thing that FOR SURE delivers adequate penetration in a .380 is FMJ ( I like the winchester flat point). In a HP the one that seems to open up AND penetrate fairly well is the Hornady XTP (or a similar load using that same bullet like the Fiocchi Extrema using the XTP projectile). Just beware that the Fiocchi case rims are a little thicker than Hornady and can cause extraction/ejection issues in some guns. The up side to 380 is it fits in truly small guns that used to only be the size envelope for .25ACP or .32ACP . The Glock 42 and the Kahr P380 and CW380 are true pocket pistol sized guns that actually work reliably and have decent sights and they can be shot pretty well.

One further comment on patterns of buckshot. One load to the next can make a HUGE difference. I was teaching a class in Knoxville several years back and one of the students had a Mossberg that was throwing "Hollywood quality wall of lead " patterns at 10-15 yards...that is pellets ALL OVER the target and some NOT on the target. I'm pretty sure it was mostly a matter of his particular gun not liking that particular shell. We substituted some of the Hornady TAP buckshot (the original Flight Control) and suddenly it was throwing palm sized groups.....at 20 yards.... So if you are having trouble with your patterns the Federal Flight Control and Hornady TAP will certainly tighten them up. It is like a "choke in a box of shells". In 2014 (IIRC) I was in Tom Givens' 2 day shotgun class in Memphis. I had brought a mix of RIO birdshot (cheap and excellent quality) some Federal Walmart value pack birdshot with aluminum rims (cheap and absolutely AWFUL- it would not reliably eject from my Scattergun Tech 870) and for the practice buckshot I had a bunch of Estate Tactical Low Recoil buckshot and some Federal H13200 (Low Recoil) for qualification. Tom looked at the Estate boxes and kind of "sneered" saying something to the effect that it was garbage and probably would not pattern well at all. When I shot it at 15 yards it threw the entire pattern inside the 8" "Down Zero" area of the targets we were shooting. Tom looked at it curiously and just shook his head. The point being that SOMETIMES a particular gun will like a particular load better than another and sometimes it will shoot one very well that you might not expect it to shoot well at all.

Limit on Garands is 8 per calendar year . Limit on 03 Springfields is 1 per calendar year (when they have them). The last 2 years I have gone on the Friday before Labor Day. I went specifically looking for a Garand in 2018 and there was not one there I'd even shoot a rabid dog with. They were all rough looking field grades with Hackberry Stocks. I ended up getting a bayonet and some slings and other trinkets and found a REALLY nice Garand on Gunbroker that I was willing to pay for. Then in 2019 I went specifically looking for an 03 Springfield this after they had been getting some in and as you would know they had some 03 Springfields and a bunch of NICE Garands.....when I was not looking for one nor ready to pay for one. I drooled over some of the Garands and got a nice Rock Island 03 Springfield and bayonet. The Garands were some of the ones that came back from the Philipines and they cleaned up very nicely. NIce GI stocks too. Oh well that's just my luck. If you go you should also check out the Berman Museum in Anniston LOTS of guns and historical stuff collected by a CIA guy who filled up 8 passports travelling the world and "acquiring" artifacts. Hilter's tea set and some of Mousilini's stuff is in there. The museum was well worth the trip for me. And then go hit Cooter Brown's Rib Shack and you've had a full enjoyable day.

Lee's right with regards to "select slug drills" . In 20 years of teaching (and 30 years of researching this stuff) I have come across 1 instance where someone specifically put a slug into their shotgun mid-fight to deal with a problem that buckshot was not solving. It was (IIRC) an Oklahoma State Trooper who switched to a slug to shoot through the car door a suspect was using for cover. I'm sure someone somewhere has probably done it at some time but we just cannot find them. Folks tend to solve it (or not) with what was in the gun to start with. And as DBTN mentions if you carry both slugs and buck then there is the possibility of loading the wrong one at the wrong time. There is a reason that they have dedicated "Less Lethal" guns so a bean bag round does not end up being buck or a slug accidentally. If you spend enough time around people shooting shotguns with mixed loads you'll eventually see someone load the wrong one and shoot a target with a slug that they were not supposed to shoot with a slug or shoot a target with buck when it was supposed to be with a slug. I actually have some match video of a very squared away and high level shooter with A LOT of experience with shotguns both in LE and competitively (who some of you know) get DQd when he shot a slug target with buck accidentally in a match. Most of our readers (I assume) are probably not sworn personnel and the actual need (and justification) for them in civilian world USA to shoot at anyone in an urban area past the "B zone" of a buckshot pattern is pretty rare. The "B zone" with Flight Control (especially the 8 pellet LE13300) is a legit 35-40 yards. And the legit low probability target distance (A Zone of the buckshot pattern) with 8 pellet Flight Control loads is probably at least 15 yards. (Obviously this can vary from gun to gun so you HAVE to pattern your own gun with the ammo to know for sure how big YOUR pattern is at what distance) Clarification for those reading along who are not familiar with some of the terminology... the A zone is the distance where the pellets are all still a tightly massed group- essentially a "dissolving slug". The "B Zone" is essentially the distance where all the pellets are still close enough to fall within the upper thoracic area of a silhouette target. And then the "C zone" is where the pattern has opened to the point that all pellets cannot be guaranteed to hit what you were aiming at. The C zone is where slugs are normally chosen. With regards to the 8 pellet load vs the 9 pellet...the 8 pellet loads are stacked differently than the 9 pellet and as such have less surface area touching other pellets. This leaves less flat spots on the pellets when the whole shot load goes from zero to 1300 fps in a fraction of a second. 8 pellet loads simply tend to pattern tighter. Flat spots on pellets cause pellets to not fly as straight. People will often find 8 pellet 00 loads pattern tighter than 9 pellet 00 loads. 000 loads also generally pattern tighter than 9 pellet 00 because of this. The 000 loads with only 8 pellets have less deformation than the 9 pellet 00 loads.

OK, I finally watched the video and I thought it was nicely done. We all are products of our own experiences and no two people's experiences are exactly the same. If your guys are not having any issues with shells falling out then no reason to change. I'd just make sure they know it is a possibility (even if remote). To be forewarned is to be forearmed (but not four armed). Regardless of whether you have issues with shells falling out under recoil or not, the good news is that rarely do civilian and LE fights that involve shotguns go enough rounds to actually NEED a reload. And while I do not have a video to add to the discussion I thought I might mention this for those looking for some shotgun training in the VERY near future....

Lee mentions AA Winchester shells which are slicker than most other shells. I too have seen those come out of the side saddle. Something that helps is to actually push the shell up in there high enough that the plastic holder is making contact with some case rim. For some reason I see a lot of folks wanting to place the the shells hanging out as far as they can put them. That makes it even more likely for them to fall out. No reason not to push them up farther into the carrier. Also on the action pins, that is a real thing and tends to be more a big deal with aluminum receivers (like Benelli ad Mossberg) that get the screws tightened down too far and then the receiver and bolt bind up because the receiver is in effect "pinched". You have to fight the urge to over tighten the screws. But as Lee mentions, the velcro cards alleviate that issue as they do not hang from the trigger group pins.

Can't watch the video right now but there are so many variables at play that there really is no hard and fast "always and never" with regards to shell orientation. The conventional wisdom is gravity works against you and we do actually see people lose shells in class and matches from time to time from recoil and gravity combining to work against you. If the brass is down it can fall out of the hard plastic Tac Star sidesaddle (and the stretchy fabric ones too) . It is not common but it CAN happen. If the brass is up it is almost impossible to fall out of the sidesaddle. Frankly though it is so rare I don't even consider that as a consideration. Having said that..... If you only plan to load into the tube and not into the ejection port then brass down makes that more ergonomic. Pull down and thrust into the tube. This is my "default" recommendation for shell orientation. If you plan to load into the port when it runs empty then brass up makes that easier. You pluck it up, roll the receiver slightly and drop the shell into the open port , close and fire. If I'm shooting a match with a pump gun this is the setup. Load them in the sidesaddle all brass up. Just shoot it empty and then reload singles through the ejection port (like they do in cowboy action with a 97 Winchester). If you plan to have some available to load into the tube to top off with AND some to load over the top into the port as an emergency speed load if you run it empty then some up and some down makes sense. If you plan to have both slugs and buck in your side saddle then running one up and one down helps keep them "separate". The "up" ones will be slower to load into the tube because you will have to reorient them but this method does simplify keeping them separate. And if you plan to run BOTH slugs and buck but want to run them all with brass down (or all brass up) then I'd suggest different color shells to differentiate the two. I'll try to get some time to watch the video and comment specifically on it later.

TWO weeks to go!

Suarez International CRG-5: ZERO TO FIVE FEET GUNFIGHTING May 2-3, 2020 Rocky Face, GA Price : $350 Instructor: Randy Harris (Instructor BIO) This revolutionary class focuses on integrating the pistol into the fight at zero to five feet. This is what some trainers call "The Hole" and their entire perspective is to "Get Out Of The Hole". We don't worry about "getting out of the hole" because the reality is that you won't. Instead, we get comfortable in there...we set up a nice, cozy camp there and learn to thrive where other men fear to walk. We make the other guy want to get out of the hole he finds himself in as we start to rip his head right off his shoulders. This will be a very thorough study on how to prevail and not get killed at this distance interval. We will do a great deal of technical work to ingrain the correct skills and then work them extensively via force on force exercises. You have never seen training and information like this before. While I do want to make sure guys are in reasonable condition to handle this, you don't need to be a hard core athlete to do this. We will play hard. . . . but within reason for the attendees we normally have in class. SOME TOPICS: Dealing against the drawn gun. What are all the options? We will look at everything from running away, to drawing and killing him, stabbing him with a knife, to disarming him and shooting him with his own gun. Dealing against the drawn knife. Both from "hold up" type situations to actual attacks. You will deal with them with the gun in hand, and with empty hands, leading into a draw and shots as part of the fight. Dealing with a fight in hallways, elevators, phone booths and cars. All empty handed, and with one leading to the other. Dealing with more than one bad guy. How to position and maneuver to deny them the advantage, as well as how to immediately escalate and take them out. The combined use of various tools such as knife and gun, knife and light, light and gun, gun and stick. Not only the how, but the why as well. Dealing with ground fighting problems. Fighting principles and techniques that will better prepare you for all bad-breath distance problems with guns, knives, and empty hands. CLASS AND RANGE DETAILS DURATION: 2 days TIME: 9:00AM to 5:00PM AMMUNITION: Approximately 250 rounds (Minimum) and 400 (Minimum) good quality biodegradable pellets. NO STEEL PELLETS RANGE & GEAR REQUIREMENTS: Pistol, holster, at least two magazines, and the usual range safety gear (ear and eye protection). Bring an airsoft pistol with the necessary gear (pellets, facemask, etc.) Also Helpful Bring spare clothing appropriate for the weather, including a hat, sunscreen, and bug repellent. Plan to bring lunch, snacks, and water (min 1 gallon per person) for the entire day unless driving to lunch is a viable option from the range location. Bring allergy medication (if needed), a chair (if you prefer), note taking supplies, and a boo boo kit (band aids, gauze pads, antiseptic wipes, antibiotic ointment and tape). You may wish to bring pads such as knee pads, elbow pads, and gloves if the class lends itself to that. RANGE: Hiawassee Land Company Lake Mill Creek Rd (3 miles south from Old Lafyette Rd) Rocky Face, GA 30740 Host Name: Chip Whitworth Phone: (706) 270-2834 Contact: chip.whitworth@brownind.com For more info and to sign up for this class....https://suarezinternational.com/crg-5-zero-to-five-feet-gunfighting-april-04-05-2020-rocky-face-ga/?ctk=7889db7c-7def-44ec-8e03-0ff1844e4a60

Harris Combative Strategies Defensive Concepts for Low Light Environments https://www.eventbrite.com/e/defensive-concepts-for-low-light-environments-tickets-89268334993 Date: Saturday March 21 Time: 5PM - 12AM Eastern Time Location: The Ridge Dayton TN. (http://www.theridgeshooting.com/) Price $160 ($50 Deposit to hold spot - See details below). Instructor: Randy Harris Instructor Bio This class will cover some critical skills which include shooting with and without the help of flashlights in low or no light. We will work both proactively challenging unknown potential threats and also reacting to unexpected close range attacks in low light settings. You will see just how much light you really need to accurately shoot by and how much light you actually need to ID targets. We will also cover manipulating the pistol in the dark both with and without a light in our hands. We will load , unload and clear malfunctions with and without flashlights. A fair amount of time will also be devoted to using the flashlight as a tool to help you get deselected in the "pre fight interview" , use the light as a distraction device and impact weapon, and as a bridge from less lethal to lethal force. Range Gear and requirements : Handheld flashlight (Surefire 6P, G2, Streamlight Scorpion or similar). Extra batteries. Pistol and holster designed to be worn on the belt. Two spare mags (3 total minimum) and a mag pouch. Range Safety gear (eye and ear protection) . Clothing appropriate for weather. Snacks and drinks. You are welcome to bring something to eat for dinner. There are also several close fast food places like Taco Bell or Subway to grab something if you chose to do that during our dinner break. Ammo: Approximately 250 rounds. If you have a weapon mounted light for your pistol and want to use it for some drills then please bring it too. If your carry pistol has a light that is fine too just make sure it fits your holster. If you have a "blue gun" or airsoft gun and training knife or inert "trainer" pepper spray you want to bring feel free to do so. We will be doing some interactive exercises where students will play the role of both good guys and bad guys to get a better feel for just what each experiences when the techniques are applied in low light. If you don't see it from both sides you only know about half of what is going on.  Payments in full can be made through Eventbrite. http:// https://www.eventbrite.com/e/defensive-concepts-for-low-light-environments-tickets-89268334993 I can also take a $50 deposit through either Venmo, Paypal or by check mailed to me. A $50 deposit will hold a spot for you in this class. Balance due at class. You are also welcome to pay in full in advance too. We are limiting it to 16 students. To register or for more info either PM me here at TGO or email me at Randy@harriscombative.com. Deposit Payments can be made with a check (contact Randy for details) or through... Venmo at www.venmo.com/Randy-Harris-47 Paypal at Cruelhandluke2000@yahoo.com (friends & family option)