When I taught Wilderness First Aid we spent most of the time teaching the thought process a leader must have that thinks ahead to avoid the likelihood of needing to apply first aid in the backcountry. Because if you are that’s probably really bad. The best defense is avoidance at all costs until no other option is available and in most cases there are other options. A firearm is a tool that can be used in only one way. Having other tools in the toolbox and knowing how to use them is advisable. Unintended consequences are a thing we don’t discuss these days as much as we should. Consequences don’t care about your feelings, or what you meant to do.
Same with me Wanne. I’m pretty good with a long gun, but If I have to shoot a rogue elephant that escapes from the zoo with a handgun I’d need to be about 3 feet away to get a round in him. In fact I was very embarrassed when my wife wanted to learn to shoot a handgun and when I gave her a short block of instruction she hit the target I placed about 40 feet away 5 out of 6 shots. I miffed on 4 of 6.
It was years before I found my handgun issues, well described by you above, were a product of left-eye dominance/right-handed shooter. When my wife and I were newlyweds we went plinking with my sidearm at a Ft Knox range. Her mastery of it off the bat was impressive compared to my mediocrity but I was glad for her. Next range over were some senior officers doing long range pistol shooting with iron targets set out about 50 meters. They invited us over to visit and one of them did the "Think the little lady wants to give it a whirl?" with a "girls can't shoot" tone. She picked up what he was laying down and said, "Sure." Proceeded to knock down the farthest targets bing-bang-boom. She stood and handed back the pistol to the guy who looked at me and I just grinned. I'm better, now that I've got my dominant eye figured out but my stance is awkward. I'll give the Mrs the pistol, I'll use something else.
Ill miss a 15" pinetree at 50 ft pretty consistently. Theres just never been interest there for me. Now, you get a box and i get a box and we will see who shoots more dove. Thats very entertaining. Im not great but im fairly decent. Ill tske the 12 ga for tge home intruder. I know the handgun in the tight hands is much better but i would pull a pulp fiction and empty it into the walls.
Guys 50 ft shots with a pistol? Look up the distance of the “average” gunfire exchange in America. Second get proficient with a pistol because it is concealable and legal without a permit in Florida . Third be certain how you carry in your vehicle is legal. Under the seat, between the seats, in the door pocket- all illegal. Lastly many women are excellent shots because they actually listen to the teacher and don’t have the bad habits many men do. I find many people have their biggest problem with accuracy because they jerk the trigger instead of squeezing. BTW I can find no listing of creatine as a controlled substance in Florida from schedule 1 to schedule 5.
I can hit a person. Im talking actually being good at it. I have a better chance of hitting you with a rock.
Trick we’d teach people in the Coast Guard is make sure the gun is unloaded and put a quarter on top of the slide towards the end of the barrel and dry fire. If you are terrible at shooting a pistol it’s typically your trigger pull, not your aim. If the quarter falls, that’s your issue
Great video, Ranger. A lot of wisdom in that. Thanks. Man, I remember when I started training in martial arts. I was a kind person, (deep inside) but angry as all hell. Slowly but surely, over the years, in training, you get the crap beaten out of you. Whether it's tournaments, in different dojos. You train with your own folks and think you're a bad-ass, figure them out, then you fight outside of your gym and it's typically very different. I remember I invited a bunch of pals to my black belt test. I got the living crap beaten out of me by some veterans. They made you earn it. And that was after six years of training. Then six years later the second degree was interesting- fighting multiple opponents and doing the ground fighting, submission holds, boxing. Improvement noted. Plus the new black belts were part of the barrage. Their turn to suffer. After doing the martial arts for 20 years I had nothing to prove. And it became sport to fight with pals and acknowledge each other when we got a good one in through the defenses. So, after all of those years, paradoxically, I learned how to 'not fight'. I don't want to hurt people and I don't want to get hurt. Plus, man you learn this early on. There is always one badass dude or gal that is a freaking beast. And, all it takes is for someone to walk up to you and shoot you in the head. How tough are you then? I try to make people laugh. That's my secret power, cuz I sure and hell can't run that fast! Ha! Anyway. I hope Johnson gets a clean slate and can be part of the team this year. How quickly it can all change. It's great to-be a Florida Gator. Go Gators.
The way you squeeze and amount of pressure is the same roughly depending on which guns you’re comparing, but the reaction of the tip of the barrel is definitely different. A long gun is way easier to stabilize and more forgiving with “jerkiness”. Recoil is a factor too. On a rifle (and revolvers that I’ve shot), it’s typically straight back whereas a semi-auto pistol recoils more upwards due to the slide coming back and abruptly stopping. So, how relaxed/tight you’re holding onto the pistol is a big factor too. I used to think I could shoot pretty good and then before I went overseas we had to train at the formally known as “Blackwater” and we shot all day, every day for 2 months and became waaaaaaay more proficient by focusing on trigger squeeze and grip.
