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Politics : Welcome to Slider's Dugout -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GUNSNGOLD who wrote (32572)	1/4/2021 10:37:30 PM
From: SliderOnTheBlack	5 Recommendations Recommended By GUNSNGOLD isopatch robert b furman roguedolphin sixty2nds Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50748

re: "You can never have enough ammo." Ain't that the truth. Guns and gear, now you guys got me going... I could use a small break from "The Steal," the March on DC and the Georgia Fix, so let's have at it... Even after Black Blade's photos humbled the hell out of me, I'll share my favorite answer to the eternal question of how much ammo do I need, and how many mags are enough? From the great Clint Smith of Thunder Ranch (an OG American Treasure and one of my all-time favorite gun guys)... The lesson of: "A mag a minute" youtube.com While I don't have a thousand, or even 500 mags loaded and ready, I got Clint's message and probably have enough since my environment and needs are a bit different, as yours probably are as well. I do love those MTM magazine boxes, or doing the same with .50 cal ammo cans. And for those with lockable, heavy duty work boxes in their vehicles, not bad to have one, or two around the house and another in the vehicle, maybe another at work if possible, and another cached away with your fav' friend or relative who isn't going to show up on anyone's lists... Thats why I love giving Knaack work boxes with Abus padlocks to my fav' relatives for Christmas and stick 'em in the basement under the old quilts and boxes of nic nacs and then handing them a nice gift card and saying thanks, just don't ask and I won't have to tell <vbg>. I'll share another lesson I learned far too late in life... Stop buying more guns, more ammo and more gear... and instead, invest in some top level, professional training. While there's nothing wrong with taking a local NRA or Concealed Carry course and those are a great start and the absolute bare minimum for anyone who owns or carries a gun... they are NOT enough. They are enough to learn the bare minimum basics, as well as the standard safety rules and your local and state firearms laws (which are crucial). But, they're not enough to come anywhere close to stacking the odds in your favor in virtually any real life scenario where you're likely to be faced with protecting your life or the ones you love. While everyone knows "the rule" of 3 shots from less than 3 yards in 3 seconds; they don't know what they don't know. And what they do know, unless they've had some legit, professional, tactical oriented trainning - has them ill prepared for even those mythical 3 shots from less than 3 yards in 3 seconds. I'd like to suggest a book that I believe is also a pre-requisite to owning and/or carrying any firearm, as well as understanding the reality of the Who, What, When, Where, Why and HOW you're likely to encounter a real-world self defense situation or attack. It's called "Violence of Mind," by Varg Freeborn. You can buy the paperback or the Kindle version at Amazon. If I had to recommend one and only one book about firearms or self defense - it would be this book because 98% of experienced gun owners, even most cops and soldiers don't know "what they don't know" about the criminal mindset to violence. This book will change 75% or more of what you believe you know about guns, self-defense, bad guys and violent encounters. And you will discover the world of what you don't know - you don't know, is about 10x bigger than you ever thought it was. Buy the book, buy it tonight. Make it the next $9, or $17 bucks you spend. I recommend buying the paperback hard copy. I first bought the Kindle, and about 1/4 of the way through, realized the book was so good, that it would be both a reference guide I'd at least browse through once a year, as well as share with others, so I ended up buying the paperback hard copy as well. Now, back to training... I grew up with 3 generations of cops and military in a gun friendly state and have spent 35+ years around firearms and shooting, I love it. I had a key to the local FOP training range for 20+ years, shot with friends and family and felt pretty confident and comfortable around guns. I'd shot the slow fire, standard police qualification course many times and could easily shoot among the top 20% of police officers. What I didn't know, was how little value the "training" I was doing actually was. After taking some professional, tactically oriented training from a top tier instructor, I found out how minimal and lacking the training of the average street cop or member of the military really is... and how little the standard NRA, or CCW course actually prepares the average citizen for surviving a real world street crime. Stop buying more guns, more ammo, and more gear, and make 2021 the year you finally get some professional firearms training. I'm talking about the type of training you get from someone like Clint Smith at Thunder Ranch, or at Gun Site, or from some of the well known former special forces guys who have entered the training arena after retiring from the GWOT. While You Tube has been both a blessing and a curse in providing firearms training both good and bad, there is some great training available online, but nothing will match the real deal in a 2-day in person tactical pistol or rifle class. As far as You Tube, I like Mike Glover and the guys from Fieldcraft Survial, Karl Erickson at Tactical Rifleman, both are former Green Berets and have a cadre of former special forces operators and trainers on staff. John Lovell of the Warrior Poet Network offers some solid online training well, he's a former Ranger. But, if I had to chose just one web site and You Tube channel, it would be the "Tactical Hyve." tacticalhyve.com The web site owner is a guy named Myles who was a a young successful entrepreneur from California who spent a little over a year attending scores of training classes from the literal "Who's Who" of firearms training. He even made a video series about it called "The Journey." You can watch it here: tacticalhyve.com Tactical Hyve offers free videos from top tier trainers like former Navy Seals Mark Cochiolo and Freddie Ruiz, former Ranger and AMU (Army Marksmanship Unit) member Dave Steinbach, former Green Beret, and now competitive precision rife shooter Scott Saterlee, as well many others including top police and SWAT trainers. Many of these guys teach courses around the country, so no matter where you live, you should be able to find solid training opportunities within a 4-6 hour drive for 80% of America. And as far as online training, Tactical Hyve offers what many feel is the best online training course for pistolcraft out there, it's called: "Handgun Mastery Pro." It's not cheap, but it's worth 10 x the cost in my opinion. I'm taking it right now and highly recommend it. The course is based it on what he felt was the single best pistol class anyone offered or taught from the over 20+ top schools he attended. It's from TPC (The Tactical Performance Center) founded by former police officer and top sport shooter Ron Avery. The chief instructor today is Rossum Hristov who has a government agency background, and comes with rave reviews from scores of special forces operators who've trained under him. You can get on the waiting list for the next offering of the course here: tacticalhyve.com It's about an 8 week course, with multiple modules, about 100 videos, online livesteam webinars with Q&A , open email to the instructors for questions, everything is recorded and available if you miss a live call. You get lifetime access, so you can go back again and again to refresh your skills. You start with the basics and go through some of the most advanced handgun training offered anywhere. Each week you can practice and drill the skills and techniques taught either via dry fire (firing a SIRT training laser pistol, or your unloaded handgun), or via live firing at your local range. I'm about half way through the course and can not recommend it highly enough. I only have one caveat, take at least a basic NRA, or CCW course first, or be confident in the basic fundamentals of the handgun before you sign up. While it starts with the basics, it gets pretty technical and advanced fairly quick. Nothing too intimidating, but having some basic skills first makes sense imho. In closing, I'll share my experience with my first professional training experience with a 2-day, 1,000 round course of fire, tactical pistol class. First, no mater your age, physical condition, or level of skill, virtually all of these top tier schools and instructors have entry level courses for both pistol and rifle training. I would recommend a basic NRA, or CCW course first, but its not necessary. You'll just feel more confident and relaxed, and the learning curve will be faster. And if like me, you've good a bad hip, or if you have bad knees, they'll modify drills for you if necessary and work on alternative techniques. No worries, I had an 82 year old retired farmer in my first class and he did great. Now, he was in pretty good shape, still running his farm, but they regularly have students form 14 (with a parent) to 84 years old, people in wheelchairs and people who due to physical limitations can't shoot from kneeling and have a tough time getting into and out of the prone position - no worries, you'll be made to feel welcome and they'll tailor the curriculum and drills to you and around any physical limitation you have - so no excuses, get out there as soon as possible and seek out some professional training. You will not believe how many new skills you can gain in a single two-day course, and how polished you'll get via repetition on doing things like malfunction clearances, and mag changes, how to shoot and reload with just your weak hand (in case your shooting arm/hand) gets taken out of action. How to shoot from retention up close and personal, how to shoot from and fight your way from the ground if you ever get knocked down, how to "get off the X," and how to shoot and reload while moving. How to shoot behind vehicles and barricades, how to shoot multiple targets, how to know the difference between cover and concealment and how and when to use both, and so much more. What you won't be doing is standing still shooting at a bullseye target all day like you're probably limited to doing at your local range. You'll learn some real world skills and practice real world drills to prepare you for the real world. For me, it was one of the most enjoyable experiences I ever had. I learned what I didn't know, I didn't know. I learned new skills and techniques, broke bad habits, and through the repetition of a 1,000 round course of fire over two-days, got so smooth and confident with simple things like clearing malfunctions and doing mag changes - that I would have never believed I could make so much progress in just two days. You will be much, much more confident, but no longer over confident because you'll know what your weaknesses are and what you need to work on. Ramble over. Don't wait any longer. Get out there and "Get Sum" training. And remember, there's nothing like the smell of gunpowder in the morning, smells like... victory. SOTB