Docwagon

The FBI has a pretty cool counter-prank for that one.

Tactical Pistol Instructor 3 Day Course June 1 - 3 Indianapolis, IN Carmel PD $650 Sworn LE Only I attended on my own dime but company time. I took my Sig P226 SCT in .40, and my P229 in .40 as a reserve. I shot all factory ammo, mostly American Eagle but also some Fiocchi. I had zero malfunctions. Carmel PD hosted the training, and they were great hosts. They helped out with frangible ammo for those who lacked it, provided water and a clean facility, and were helpful to out of town officers about where restaurants were, etc. The facility itself had everything required for this type of training. -1/2 star for being at the waste water treatment plant and the poo smell being pretty heavy. (Sorry, Sgt. RJ, but we told you we'd have to deduct 1/2 star for the smell.. ) Seriously, they were excellent hosts with a nice facility in a secured environment behind a code-required gate. There were 9 attendees, and I believe I was the only one who is not an instructor for their own department. There were several K9 or SWAT officers who were also trainers. 6 Glocks, 3 Sigs and all the Sigs were "classic" Sigs in TDA. The only malfunction I observed was from one guy's Glock and he had a few failures to feed. Everyone shot pretty darned well and there was no "that guy" who was out of his depth and shouldn't have been there. Ernest Langdon said "you guys don't suck" so I think we were within tolerances for shooting ability. I was a middle of the pack shooter, and didn't feel bad about it all given the experience and resumes of most of the guys in the class. Everyone but me shot from a duty rig. I shot from my normal desk jockey set up, slacks, button up shirt, and a sports jacket. To give an idea of the level of shooting in the class, each day a shooting competition was conducted with a hat for a prize. The first one was the 10 shots at 10 yards in 10 seconds into the bull's eye target (B-8, I think). I scored a 95 and I think I was 3rd, with a 98 taking the win. Day 2 was 6 shots 2 handed (reload) 6 shots SHO (reload) and 6 shots WHO. The winning time was in the 17 seconds and I wasn't close as I knew I was running slower and threw several shots WHO trying to make time. The last one was the shoot 9 into 3 targets at very close distance (left to right body shots, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1 then 1 head shot on each) and I shot it clean in 3.43 and was smoked by the winner who was under 3 seconds, something near 2.80 but I don't recall the exact number). ********* Day 1: Lecture covering some refresher/basic material from the color spectrum of awareness, shooting under stress, the importance of subconscious performance, grip and stance basics, etc, as well as touched a bit on learning theory and instructing. I won't go into detail, but I have 6 pages of notes from the lecture, so a lot of material was covered. We ended with a safety brief, identifying a primary and secondary medic, nearest hospital, etc. Range training started with dry fire and moved into live fire. Ernest would later point out one of the important parts of having students do dry fire first was to observe gun handling skills and habits early on, which makes a lot of sense from an instructor standpoint. On the range Langdon covered his 4 step draw, the importance of the hands moving at the same time, and when to complete the grip. I think this is going to help me speed my presentation as I saw a few tweaks I can make. Next was reloads, with the importance of both hands moving at the same time and trying to have the magazines pass each other during the reload. Realistic goals were presented as for times to attempt to get to. We shot several drills and packed up for the day. Day 2: My note taking on day 2 was a bit lax as we were on the range most of the day and I scribbled things down on break. We shot the FAST, no one was in coin territory and while no one got a hat pin one shooter was maybe a 1/16th of an inch from his. I personally shot one of the worst FAST I've done in recent memory. I was simply trying to think of too many things to tweak at once, tried to change my draw a bit, and got a hand full of jacket lining. I rushed my shots making up time and shot for absolute butt. Actually I shot like butt most of the morning. We started working on shooting on the move and Langdon's description of "pulling with your feet" instead of pushing off was one of my biggest take always from the class. My accuracy improved and I was able to move much faster with the movement as he presents it. I actually shot better moving than stationary because I was concentrating on my feet and got out of my own way on the gun and the recoil anticipation issues I was having early in the morning. We covered forward, backward, lateral, and angle movements and shot several drills to reinforce movement. One handed manipulation, to include drawing, reloading, malfunction clearance, etc. was presented next. I was familiar with nearly all of this and it synced with previous training for the most part. Langdon did show as a one handed method for stripping the magazine for a double feed that was all new to me, and if I recall correctly he said Todd Green showed it to him. Langdon borrowed my coat, and gave some demonstrations on a "hip dip" used to make space between the cover garment and the gun as well as some other tips on drawing from a suit jacket, sports coat etc. type cover garment. By the end of day 2 we'd shot roughly 900 round to include frangible. I cleaned and lubed my gun after day 2. Day 3: We'd been warned the end of day 3 was going to include manual labor to reset the block wall that catches bullets, picks up brass, etc. I dressed for working, button up shirt and cargo pants, and shot without concealment for this day. This was a pretty high round count day. The morning was one of the most enjoyable training experiences I've had that didn't involve blowing something up. We got a lot of reps in on a moving target when we also moved. We moved forward, backward, at various angles, and parallel to the target. The target was on a mover that kept it going at a decent jogging pace. My department has a mover and this wasn't totally new to me, but I've never been able to get so many reps in and to work so many different angles nor have I gotten the same level of feedback as I shot. Langdon made some "3D" targets and we talked about shot placement on the surface of the target vs. at the vitals and some drills to show that to students. We worked around cover, and Langdon's "modified prone" was all new to me vs. actually hitting the dirt and having a period of time you aren't able to shoot. He explained when to put which knee down based on distance, what you're trying to accomplish, etc. Standoff of cover and the reasons were covered, considering how much of you is visible to the target, not giving up ground, the "liquid pane of glass" concept for slicing the pie, etc. We also went over the best place to stand when observing a new shooter before you've verified safe handling vs. best place to stand to observe what they are actually doing with the gun, how to control shooters about to do something stupid like turn with a gun in their hand, etc. Most of this part of the class was new to me as a non-instructor. My round count was very close to the 1500 called for. I shot roughly 150 frangible and 1200-1300 jacketed bullets by the end of day 3. ******** The class was well worth the investment in time and money. Mr. Langdon is an amicable and effective instructor, and I hope to be able to attend training with him again at some point. I believe the lesson plan was solid, is applicable to the students' goals, and was very well presented. Even the bullshit sessions during breaks/down time were not just "here's all the cool stuff I've done" but more of "here's cool stuff I've learned by doing cool stuff that I can let you know as well". Even with note taking I'm sure I missed some information that I nodded along with and then let it fall out of my brain as I nodded along with the next point. I've no doubt this will help me be a better shooter, and it already has made me a better shooter on the move. I'm looking forward to implementing the tweaks to get my draw time down and more consistent. Thanks to Mr. Langdon, to Carmel PD and Sgt. RJ for hosting, and to my own department for allowing me to attend on duty. Thanks to the other students for the camaraderie, for being safe gun handlers...and for not sucking. I'd train with any of you guys again in a heartbeat, even in the poo smell.

I just noticed my last part wasn't included. I did a cut and paste from my training journal and must not have scrolled down enough to get the last bit. End of the session. One magazine into each target, so 8 rounds on the top from the P220 and 6 on the bottom from the P245. The P245 is a 6 o'clock hold and I did not adjust POA, so it was a bit high. The P220 has the Trijicon HD sights and I covered the black dot with the very top of the sight blade, not the orange dot. The 5th shot was a called flier and is the one that's low and right. The first shot was the one that's a bit high and right. The rest were in the dot. So, these are the bull's eye targets I mentioned. 15y, one full magazine each.

I spent the day with my favorite caliber, God's caliber, the .45 ACP. Indoor range, 15 yards, 112 rounds fired in 30 minutes. Roughly 50%/50% P220 and P245. 24 to the body, 24 to the head. The first magazine to the body was spread a bit vertically, but I got it dialed in pretty quickly. Next up, same with the P245. POA for the body was the top of the orange box. I got a little wild with the 3rd magazine to the head. The indoor range was pretty hot and sweat was stinging my eyes and I decided "Training opportunity!" and just went with it instead of stopping and clearing my eyes. The shot down in the arm was from the guy on the lane next to me. He was shooting some sort of .38 at a target at roughly 3 yards and, well, here's his target roughly 2 boxes into it: The ammo fired today was mixed brass .45, Winchester LPP, Berry's Bullets 230 gr plated. The body shaped targets were over 4.7gr of Winchester Super Target. The bull's eye targets were over 4.5gr of CFE. I used WST until the ammo panic made it unavailable, but the CFE has turned out to be an excellent powder for .45 ACP. **definitions** POA = Point of Aim LPP = Large Pistol Primer WST and CFE are types of gunpowder P220 is a full size single stack .45, the P245 is the compact version, both made by Sig Sauer.

I've no idea what a gigglybite is, but it sounds fun and eight of them sounds like a party.

What if it had more lens flare?

What if, instead of just being FBS, it actually mattered. What if you could shoot from under a car when prone until the tires were shot out, then that field of fire was shut off? What if you could jump into the back of a pickup and use the bed sides as cover or to set a bipod on, but you were stunned if the tires were blown out? You'd have to make the decision to shoot them out before getting in or risking it. What if tires + fire = smoke grenade? What if bullets reacted to glass? Bullets shot through a windshield would arc up if shot from the car, arc down if shot from behind the car? Non-FMJ bullets would have their range dramatically reduced? What if tracking ability was implemented so footprints meant something? The better the character's skill the longer you could see them, plus an idea of how long ago the player went through, how many, maybe even an idea of loadout? This is what I'm talking about. I'm talking about one symptom of the entire disease. Just this one symptom has the POTENTIAL to be something cool, something that adds to game play and strategy, etc. Instead it's just....nothing.

It's just one tree in the forest of FBS and wrapping vs content. Lens flare was one I remember being all hyped up. http://www.gamesradar.com/brief-history-most-over-used-special-effect-videogames-lens-flare/1/ Maybe me and Diddums are the only ones who notice or care. I'll be playing Super Tecmo Bowl on an NES emulator if anyone needs me.

The physics and assorted FBS doesn't make it suck. It doesn't add anything worthwhile either. It could have been left out entirely and made zero difference to anyone....but it makes it look cool. Game developers are spending an inordinate amount of time and marketing for the wrapping instead of the content. Division was, apparently, a big pile of cat shit in a really pretty box. How many people plunked down their cash based on that pretty box and were then disappointed by the pile of cat shit inside?

Sooo....how many extra hours of game play did tire deflation and boot prints on the hood get for this game? Seems like it died pretty quick and the fluffy bullshit was...fluffy bullshit that mattered not. The game was not fun, and the FBS didn't add enough to make it matter. If the game had been fun, it's lack of inclusion would not have mattered. FBS at it's finest/worst.

"British cuisine is the best in the world" said no one ever outside of a comedy routine.

New personal best of 6.06 on F.A.S.T. The times on the left were shot cold and stupid. I don't know WTF I was thinking, but I loaded 3 cartridges in the 1st magazine all 3 times. I was thinking one in the pipe + 2 in the magazine instead of one in the pipe + 1 in the magazine, so of course the slide wasn't locking back and I was ejecting an unfired cartridge during the reload. Yes, it took me 3 freaking runs before I realized what I was doing. This is what happens when you skip morning coffee before going to the range... Once I loaded a magazine of 2, I shot my personal best of 6.06. I shot it 3 more times, had one lousy run, and two more decent ones. The lousy run was me thinking "let's do something different with our elbows and see if we can get better split times". Yeah, don't do that. This was from a Bladetech Eclipse IWB holster with my Sig P226 and my Red Nichols magazine carrier both concealed with a polo. My polo reloads suck butt. The difference between the 6.06 run, 6.55 run, and 6.24 run were clean reload vs some cloth in the hand reload. I think with my sports coat I would have been under 6.00 today. End results:

As long as they stick to hot girls in skin tight uniforms and/or short skirts, I'm in.

Indoor range, the overhead lighting on my bay didn't work so I was shooting from "twilight" into a well lit target bay. 15 yards. First 6 with the GP100 WC: "Group" of 50: These are my CFE reloads that are not as consistent as I'd like. I've probably got another 100 loaded up. As long as I tip the barrel up before starting to shoot they aren't bad. "Group" of 50 with the Detective Special Ran the target down to 7 yards and worked on these dots. Shooting from right to left then back left to right. The top line is the GP100 WC, the bottom is the DS. Ran it twice with both guns: I forgot to tip the gun up for the first shot on the right/top, which resulted in a flier but luckily not a squib.

00 rounds of .357 magnum today at the indoor range. 50 loaded with CFE and 50 loaded with Acc #7. #7 was very consistent and had less muzzle flash from both the 3" and the 4". I need to find some more of it. The remaining 28 rounds was shot on a target stripe and a roughly 1.5 second cadence. I can't get the photo to rotate for some reason, but the stripe should run up and down. Ok, neither photo will rotate. Just tilt your head left. GP 100 4" is the Match Champion, bone stock GP 100 3" is the Wiley Clapp with an internal polish and a Wolff spring kit. I'm going to reinstall the factory hammer spring, I had 3 of the CCI primed cartridges not fire and the difference in trigger pull isn't worth the need to use Winchester primers only.

There you go, on top of a 50 Euro. It's almost exactly as long as the 50 from muzzle to the point where the rubber grip meets the metal.

The original grips are smaller. I'll post some pics up when I get the screw. They are the same length, but they are thinner. The Detective Special is small enough to use as a pocket pistol with the original grips. If you want, I'll get a pic with something for scale.

Colt Detective Special, manufactured in 1970. Pics don't do the bluing justice, it shines like a diamond in a goat's ass. I have the original grips as well, need to find a grip screw for them, though, before I can install.

Colt Detective Special S&W 29 (-2 or earlier) S&W 24 or 624 S&W 25 Another one off the checklist. Should be here late this week or early next week. I haz an excite.

Not quite willing to pony up for the 25-5 just yet. I put a bid in on a Detective Special, though. We'll see if I got it in the morning.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=553834542 I want this. I'm debating if I want it enough to spend that kind of dough on it. The starting price is damn fair.

Working up a new load for .45 ACP for my Redhawk. Shoved one, earning one frowny face, but the others went where I wanted them to. I think I'm going to be able to drive 230 gr bullets at the velocities I want with less recoil from the ACP brass than the .45 Colt brass. I may reserve .45 Colt for 255 gr loads, but I"m going to have to mark my sights. The heavier bullets will hit higher, so I need to have a mark on the adjustment screw for each load.