Duty Pistols: Where We Are Now

Sometimes the Intardweb is awesome, sometimes it's clown shoes. One of the times that it's clown shoes is when people start talking about getting out of a particular weapon system because somebody else reported a problem and then some others said they had similar (or sometimes radically different) problems. Here's something that we tend to forget: guns are ALWAYS a law unto themselves. What is needed is a moderately large sample size in order to see any useful data; otherwise, it's just anecdotal comments. Sure, five people saying they bought a particular gun in a particular time frame having similar problems bears watching, but it's not enough to dump everything and go to another platform based on that.

These comments are inspired by the hand wringing and consternation over the Glock and M&P of late. These two platforms especially have a very very large number of guns in duty gun situations, with large metro Police Departments and Sheriff's Offices, as well as high stress users in less well publicized places. They've been tested and proven, in statistically significant numbers, enough to earn the right to be recommended guns. Until HK decides to make a striker fired world beater-and I have a hard time believing they haven't done that yet, it so obvious-the current duty guns are what to look at: Glocks, SnW MnP, Sig Sauer (even if I would rather beat myself in the head with one rather than shoot it) and even a couple Beretta models. The ones that have been tested and chosen for duty use are still the guns to be your life on..adding the HK, because for some reason they don't seem to care a whole lot about getting those contracts, even though they make the most out of the box accurate and durable pistols going overall, even if they are using state of the art of 1981 firing systems.

Here's the thing: those of us who've been shooting the same guns for a long time tend to be somewhat out of touch with what's going on in the firearms market. Once you have the gun and all the support equipment, and maybe one or two spares of the same model (I didn't used to believe in that, but...I currently have three Glock 19's), its rather common to lose sight of what's going on with the rest of the gun buying public. Lots has happened recently: Gun Culture 2.0 has become a major segment of the new gun buying public, there have been two runs in four years on everything with a trigger, and a WHOLE LOT of people that wouldn't "normally" be in the gun owning group are now because they feel a real pressure that their elected officials aren't listening and are thinking about infringing on their right to own, use, and bear arms.

What that does is put a lot of new buyers in the marketplace, and manufacturers are selling everything they put out the door. Something has to give, and often there are changes made to allow increases in production. Whether that's outsourcing to new parts suppliers or changes in QC/QA, those adjustments get made to try to meet demand. Most people shoot maybe a thousand rounds-and probably significantly less- in their lifetime; those that shoot a multiple of that in a year are a very small segment of the market. Even guns that I wouldn't own if you gave them to me will probably stand up to that light firing schedule.

So what we have are guns that are available and durable enough for what they're designed for, even if they'd literally shoot themselves apart if they were taken to a high round count training class. The Intardweb magnifies both successes and failures beyond their actual status frequently. That said, the number of guns being put out are, by a simple function of the number of guns being bought, going to show some problems here and there. No company can make a perfect product every single time; that's just not realistic. As long as that company keeps its failures to a small fraction-the best of them are under 1%, which is pretty amazing all things considered-that's all we the consumers can realistically ask for. Does it suck to have a new gun that doesn't work? Yes, of course it does. But customer service is often stellar in this day and age, and problems get fixed quickly and relatively painlessly.

I heard it put like this recently. Although this is overstating on a rather grand scale, there is a grain of truth to it: "Every gun out there sucks right now." There is no easy to modify, easy to maintain, easy to shoot well, well supported, durable gun that is guaranteed trouble free. So what to do? Choose a gun that is heavily used as a duty gun, well supported with availability of parts and support gear, in a caliber you can get and shoot enough to be proficient, and be done with it. Don't worry about what the buzz is so much as being worried about investing in being a smart shopper. When you're looking for a tool to defend the life of you and yours, that is NOT the time to be an individual.

Getting Better: some tools that helped

I was talking recently with the home p's about shooting, improving, and what's made the most difference in getting to the goals. There have been a few things that changed things for the better for me, and I don't think I'd be as good as I am (and make no mistake, I still suck. A lot) if not for a few different tools. Some just got me out of my own way, some make things easier to do, and some were helpful in changing my way of thinking and practicing. Since I'm in need of something to write about, I decided I'd throw a list out there and maybe it can help one of my two readers.

The first big improvement for me was switching to a 9mm, which cut my ammo costs, which meant that I could shoot more for the same amount of money. .45 has gotten almost obscene in cost, and it's kept me from shooting it much. I considered classifying with it a couple weeks ago, but decided against it because I realized I was unlikely to compete with it anytime soon. If you can afford to shoot the .45, more power to you; I envy you because I just can't swing it. Granted, ya gotta shoot whatever you can get these days, and I'm thankful I didn't get rid of my .40. Luckily, I was pointed to Glocks early on, and I moved to them from a 1911, so I was already familiar with a short stroke trigger. If I was still shooting my old Taurus PT99 (the gun rags said it was a good gun, and I've learned since that gun rags are generally more miss than hit) or the SnW 4006 that I had for a short while (traded it at a profit for my first 1911) moving to a striker fired gun would have been another quantum leap. They're so much easier to shoot that I wonder why DA/SA trigger mechanisms still exist...and that people buy them.

In addition to shooting more, getting duty quality support gear helped me a TON. Quality gear stands up to constant use. Most of my stuff is Safariland, which is engineered, designed and built for duty use. That stuff lasts for YEARS. I just have to fight my lack of ability now, and not my gear being sub-par or failing while I'm using it. The great thing is that good gear pays for itself in a relatively short time, and the difference in price between minimum level gear and top quality stuff isn't that much. There's about a ten dollar difference between the SERPA and the Safariland ALS, and the ALS is a proven performer that will last longer than your shooting career in most cases. But beyond the durability is a general improvement in design and build quality. Your gear will do what it's supposed to do, rather than not quite being right, such as holding your mags at a weird angle or something along those lines. It's a worthwhile investment, but not dirt cheap, so do your due diligence and research and make sure you're buying quality. It's always about best value, not lowest price.

In terms of the improvement of my actual skills, the thing that made the biggest difference was getting a timer. I have a PACT Club Timer, which does quite a bit of stuff and is a very good value. Competition Electronics Pocket Pro II and the CED 7000 from Competitive Edge Dynamics are also timers I've got varying degrees of experience with. I think my favorite is the CE Pocket Pro II, for ease of use and programing, as well as having a very loud, easy to hear buzzer. A close second goes to the Club Timer, which is not quite so flexible, but does a lot for a reasonable price. If you have a smart phone, the Surefire timer app is probably still available. It was supposed to be a short term availability, but was still out there last time I looked. It works pretty well, and for the price of Free.99, ya can't really go wrong. The downsides are that the buzzer isn't anywhere near as loud and sensitivity can be a problem if you're not shooting alone. The timer don't lie, though. When you think something is working, the timer allows you to test it and prove whether it really is or not. Its caused me to refine my technique by things being proven better by the timer.

Electronic ear pro makes training easier, especially if you're getting professional instruction. If you can't swing electronic muffs, which have quite a wide range of prices (and quality, obviously) then there are ear plugs like the Surefire EP7's that I blogged about a while back that allow low intensity sound through while blocking high pressure sounds like gunshots. I prefer the Peltor Comtacs that I've been running for several years for classes and for when it's cold. The EP7's are quite a bit more comfortable when wearing glasses that aren't flush with your temples.

The last major area of improvement I found is also one that saves money: shooting rounds that matter. How? By shooting "standards". Most of these are designed around 50 to 100 rounds, some less, but all are tests of various skills. The beauty of shooting standards is that you have a quantifiable level to which you can compare your skills. I wish the standards were all published in one place, but there's a pretty good reason why they're not. I sent Mike Pannone a message through the Bookface to inquire if he'd ever considered doing a book of standards in the same form factor as his Glock handbook and the M16/M4 Handbook (both of which are very much worth the investment). He said he had considered it, but that it would be put on the net shortly after release which would make publishing it a waste of time and money. As it is, the standards are out there, and you'll just have to seek them out. Start with the 10-8 Standards, the Hackathorn Standards, and Kyle Defoor's 500 Point Aggregate. That's not necessarily his drill, but he was the one who exposed me to it, through YouTube and then through shooting them with Matt E, who was in Defoor's class about a year ago. Wish I'd gone.

I want to also mention shooting competitively as a method to improvement. There are a couple reasons to shoot competition: first, it gives you a gauge to see where you stand against other competitors, and secondly it puts a little stress on the shooter that is hard to replicate on the range alone. It can also put you in touch with other shooters, and percentages say that some of them will be able to help you. Percentages also say that you'll want to stay away from some of them, but that number is usually very small. If you've never shot a match, go try it. There are lots of gun games, so it's gonna be hard to find something that doesn't appeal to anybody that really wants to shoot. If you don't care for it, at least you gave it an honest shake. Try another game or don't compete, but by all means, give it a chance.

Those are some of the things that have helped me, and I recommend them to shooters looking to improve. This applies to both new shooters and veterans, but these things made a big difference to me. The only single thing that makes a bigger difference is getting professional training. Get trained!

Gun Culture 2.0

There's been a fair amount of electronic ink spilled over what's been termed the Gun Culture 2.0, who are the new-to-the-market shooters, especially the young ones,  that are also embracing shooting and firearms. These are the "hipper" customers with tattoos and piercings, with an alternative lifestyle vibe to their lives. These are probably also some of the same folks that are driving the "paint in day glow lime green and call it Zombie" craze, too. Since one person appeared to ask me what I thought about this movement, here's my opinion.

There's a ton of different angles to the gun culture: hunting, competitive shooting in it's eleventy billion different games with every type of firearm, personal defense, "prepping", plinking, zombie hunting, and perhaps many more that I've never even heard of. Somewhere there's a gun game that a handful of people are having the time of their life playing, and other people who think they're nuts for being into it.

The gun culture 2.0 people are often portrayed as those with full sleeves, gauges, and lots of other body mods. Phil Labonte, a three gun competitor (who seems to shoot pretty dang well) has a day job singing in the metalcore band "All That Remains". AAC, one of the best suppressor makers on the planet, was way out in front of this movement, having their welder Rachel (now in the marketing and advertising dept. as I understand it) in many of their ads. Rachel is what most would call extensively tattooed and her look is usually somewhere between a 40-50's speed shop vibe and a pin up girl. I haven't met her yet, but from what I've heard, she's really cool. Hoping to change that sometime soon; if I can get a minute out of the booth at SHOT I'd like to make that happen.

Hey, Haj, quit boring us and get on with your opinion on the matter! OK, I hear ya. I'll get on with it.

First, tattoos have become pretty mainstream. I don't have one yet, but I'm one of the few people I know of late that doesn't. That'll happen when the population you work with is primarily military. I'm down with tats; the reason I don't have one is simply because I haven't found anything I want to keep forever. They're just not that uncommon and counter-culture anymore. I quit making impressions based on tats a LONG time ago. A lot of America has as well.

I haven't exactly been quiet that what's collectively been called "zombie marketing" is a trend that I find incredibly stupid. There is, however, no doubt that it's a big trend and its driving a LOT of purchases. If people wanna buy that stuff, then by all means, have at it. My employer won't be offering it, but that's simply because that's not what we do. That I support people buying what they want to buy should not be confused with thinking its not dumb.

Having more gun owners is generally a good thing. With the explosion of the availability of CCW permits, there are lots of new customers and enthusiasts that weren't part of the market before. People have apparently gotten to the point where they realize that depending on the State to defend them is bad policy, so they're doing a little something about it. And through that, people are finding that guns and shooting are cool, and they like it a lot, so they're shooting recreationally and collecting guns because they like guns. All that is a good thing.

Where things become of concern to me are in a couple areas: first, there's more to having and carrying a gun than just taking the class that goes over the laws involved and passing an accuracy test that's pretty pathetic in most cases. Second, getting into this segment of activity comes with political implications. There are plenty of politicians that got elected because of, or have a passion for, taking guns away from lawful owners.

Being a responsible gun owner, no matter what type of gun you own, requires being proficient in it's use. America has been called a country of riflemen. Trust me, we're not. We're not born with the ability to shoot, regardless of what the stories you hear are. If you don't practice, you will suck. Additionally, you will not become Audie Murphy when the balloon goes up, you will rise only to the level of training that you've mastered. Read that last sentence again. Not the level of your training, the level of training that you've MASTERED.

How does one solve that? It ain't by "having your buddy that's had a gun forever teaching you how to shoot". What I'm talking about is professional training, from quality trainers. How to find them takes some research, but the info is all out there. Here's one quick way to filter: avoid controversy. There's a ton of recently retired dudes who've been fighting for more than a decade that can teach it to you. When you come across something that looks promising, do your due diligence and check it out, and thoroughly. You aren't doing me any good by having a gun and not being trained nor going months between practicing. You're as likely to shoot me as the guy you intend to. Be professional about it; the criminals out there are criminals for a living. You need to be able to beat them, and fighting fair is for fools.

New shooters and gun owners have GOT to get involved politically. Join the NRA, join other groups that fight for our collective Second Amendment rights, and all the others while we're at it. Call your representatives and tell them how you want them to vote. Even if you "know" how they'll vote, reinforce that with a call to their office. They work for us; get them working for us if they're not already. Be the boss. Politics are a numbers game, and we've got to leave no doubt that if they're going to vote against our wishes, they won't stay in office. YOU MUST GET INVOLVED IN DEFENDING YOUR RIGHTS!

I'm all about bringing new blood into the the gun culture, and I don't care what it is you're into; I support you in it, even if it's that retarded green zombie stuff. Additionally, I support and implore you stretching your horizons. If you're a hunter or some kind of rifle competitor, try competitive shooting with a pistol. Try USPSA, IDPA, bullseye, fast draw...whatever floats your boat. How will you know if you're into it unless you try it? The main reason I'm not into SASS cowboy action shooting is that I simply don't have the money to invest in the guns to do it.

Plate Rack Time

I got a little tired of explaining why my 6 plate rack times were so horribly slow in the vid I shot for the X300 comparison (the reason is true, I'm just tired of saying it) so I finally figured out how to get this photo off my phone and post it here. This is one of my better ever plate rack runs, but this happened during the day. Distance was about ten yards, from the draw. I think I was using a Sarfariland 6354-DO with a Glock 17 and X300, but I'm not certain of that; could have been a 5189.

I've learned some more about that speed to first shot, and posted about it here a while back. One of these days, I'll get a photo of that run again, with a more reasonable first shot time. I should be able to get that time to about 4, maybe 4.2 or so.

WBSIB, borrowed from Vuurwapen Blog

I read the original of this on the Vurwaapen Blog and liked the idea, so I decided to do my own spin on it. If you're not reading that blog, you're missing out on some really good stuff.

If I set out to buy one of the following, this is what I would look for as of September 2012. Some things have great alternatives that aren't listed and some things have great alternatives that are listed. Some things I've gotten for free and some things I haven't. Some things might be more or less than you need. But if you ask me a general question about what (blank) to buy, this is probably what I'd recommend.
...a 5.56mm rifle - Colt LE6920. I like the "restricted" roll marks, but the SP is the same model without them and may save some money.
...a .308/7.62x51 rifle - Larue Tactical OBR
...a bolt action rifle - Remington 700. Pick a model; there's a reason this rifle is ubiquitous.
...a shotgun - Remington 870.Have a better reputation for durability vs the Mossberg
...a 22LR rifle - Marlin model 60. My first gun (still have it) was a 60 and I lost track of the round count. It's huge. Accurate and reliable.
...a handgun - Glock 19.
...a handgun for concealed carry - Also a Glock 19
...a holster - IWB: Bianchi 135 Allusion Suppression OWB: Safariland 529 belt slide Tactical: Safariland ALS series
...a non-magnified optic -Aimpoint T1 if you've got the duccats, Aimpoint PRO if you don't
...a fixed power optic for a semi auto rifle - Trijicon TA33/TA11 ACOG.
...a fixed power optic for a bolt action rifle - Bushnell Elite 3200 10X or Leupold M8 4X for hunting rifles
...a variable power optic - Anything German. Maybe a Vortex Viper or Razor if I didn't want the German price tag.
...an AR-15 upgrade - Buffer Technologies Extractor Kit, or BCM/Vltor Gunfighter Charging Handle
...an AR-15 rail - Daniel Defense 12.0 FSP or Troy 13" TRX Xtreme if you want a handguard rather than rail
...an AR-15 magazine - Magpul E Mag
...a knife - Spyderco Endura IV
...a watch -Seiko diver, black bezel or Pepsi bezel
...a flashlight - Surefire X300 Ultra until the replacement head for the Scout comes out
...a flashlight for carry - Surefire E2D LED.
...rifle ammo for killing things - I like Federal Premium, but this isn't my are of expertise
...handgun ammo for killing things - Federal HST. Winchester Ranger T/Ranger Bonded. Speer Gold Dot. Or whatever hollowpoints from an American company are available.
...shotgun ammo for killing things - Federal FliteControl buckshot or Federal slugs.
...practice ammo - Federal Champion. Looks pretty nasty, but QC is excellent. Several thousands of rounds and no problems at all. Wish I could say that about WWB.
...a handgun .22LR conversion - Tactical Solutions
...a rifle .22LR conversion - the .22 AR's are so cheap, why convert?

daskro
September 20th, 2012 - 06:20

I’d lke your take on these serious to not so serious questions:
ear / eye protection? Ears: Peltor Comtacs. I believe Sordin Supremes are overall better, but I prefer the sound quality of the Peltors
a durable steel target? Hard to beat TacStrike for value
an AK (or more generally a piston operated rifle)? Had an AK, gave it away to pay a debt. If you want a piston gun, there's the HK 416 and there's everything else.
a cleaning solvent? Hoppe's #9. Doubles as a decent after shave.
a fun range gun? Ruger Mk. II. Far and away the best gun Ruger ever made.
a good online gun forum?  For guns in general? Probably THR. If you want discussions about using them for real, Lightfighter...but it's not for everybody. Some people don't belong there.
a gift to give a dad who likes John Wayne movies? Pick a movie, can't go wrong. My favorites: Rio Bravo, Rio Lobo, El Dorado, The Green Berets, Flying Tigers, The Quiet Man. There are also several very cool documentaries about The Duke's career and life away from his career.

Whaddaya think? What would you choose?

Change in the sling

Got the word from a very good source that there were some major disadvantages to my sling set up, and the opposite sling method had much merit. The difference between them is that the wide sling method works quite well for a flat range scenario, which is pretty much what my rifle gets the most use doing. I'm going to shoot some new photos of the rifle, since I have a new optic on it anyway, and I'll delve a little deeper into what were explained to me to be the upsides of the receiver end points for slinging. The source of that info is a very definite, real deal gunfighter, so at the very least I have to explore it again. More on this soon.

The Magwell is not a hand grip

This is a pet peeve of mine, because there are companies out there that make parts that cause bad technique. I speaking of plastic crap like the Never Quit grip and similar pieces of polymer poop that which are designed to create a hand hold on the magazine well of a carbine.

Why do I have such a sore spot for this part? Two main reasons. The first is that it enables really terrible technique that isn't even on the same end of the scale of efficient recoil control. In order to keep the muzzle of a rifle under control (which aids in recoil management, which increases both speed and accuracy when it's maximized) two things must happen, and both have to do with leverage. First, ya gotta get the hand as close to being around the barrel as possible, and second, ya gotta get a grip as far forward on the fore end as possible. For proof, do a bit of searching and check out how the best shooters and best instructors in the world shoot. There is variation in technique, but overall, they're shooting in a way that's obviously based on the same technique enough to call it the same for practical purposes. Some search terms for ya: Jerry Miculek rifle, Army Rangers, Delta Force Recruiting Video, Three Gun Rifle, Kyle Lamb, Larry Vickers, Brian Searcy, Kyle Defoor, Tiger Swan, Magpul Dynamics...there are plenty more; you get the idea. Its the way the best shooters in the world shoot, it's how they teach it, if it's not how you shoot, you really should get some instruction, break out the timer, and prove to yourself that it's how you should have been doing it that way all along. Grabbing the mag well is the antithesis of being able to shoot fast and accurately, and it looks dorky, too.

The second reason has to do with safety. Ever seen an AR blow up? Any gun can be blown up; AR's of quality construction (polymer is not quality construction, by the way. Don't go that way.) are exceptionally durable, very safe designs. But, like all modern firearm designs, having them rapidly disassemble in an overpressure situation has been taken into account and designed for. Now, the design work is not complicated; force like water takes the path of least resistance. Where is that path? Its out the bottom of the loaded magazine. Where's the magazine when that happens? In the magwell. If you're grabbing the magwell when that happens, not only are you shooting slower and less accurately than everybody else, you may just blow your hand up. When things go bad, they go bad violently and with no warning. You're not going to be able to do anything about it to stop it or move your mitt. So why have it there in the first place?

Here's the key to the whole thing: don't grab the mag well. It's bad technique, it looks stupid, and it could get you the nickname "Stumpy''. Don't do it.

can you start at the beginning of the beep?

I noticed something a couple weeks ago, and it was verified at the last match I shot. I started working on it, and have a long way to go, but I think I'm on to something.

I shoot with a timer to give a stimulus that causes me to draw and shoot. I don't have to use it for that, but since I'm gonna be shooting anyway, I might as well get some time data while I'm at it, right? I like having to respond to something rather than choosing the time of shooting; my suspicion is that this is as close as I'm going to be able to get to what might happen in real life when I'm shooting by myself.

One of the first things to notice is that a timer's beep spans a certain amount of time. I suspect mine's about one second long, but I haven't actually looked into it. So, it's got a start, when the buzzer first sounds, and it's got an end, when the buzzer is finished buzzering, right? What I noticed most shooters doing was starting to move at the end of the buzz/beep/zappy sound/whatever, with only the best of them-the master class and the one or two grand masters we see a few times a year-starting their draw as soon as the buzzer starts to sound. Once I started working on that, I noticed that my best runs (and to be clear, there were only a few of them) trimmed a full half second off my times.

At the match a week ago, the number of people who commented "You were shooting a lot better today" or words to that effect was surprising to me. From my perspective I shot about the same as I typically do, with perhaps a little more accuracy than I have previously. But the only reason I didn't win the match is the same reason I usually don't win the match: I'm too slow in running, and there's nothing I can do about that; I've been slow my entire life. The only thing I was doing differently, though, was that I was trying to concentrate on starting to move at the start of the beep.

Now, I'm a never-was and have never been in a gunfight. However, I have several close friends who have, and I can get their impressions on such topics. Speed is an important component of a fight, even a brawl. The guy who's reacting is behind the curve, right? What can be done about that? Seems to me the only option is to shorten the curve, and that could be all the difference. As they say, "you have the rest of your life to figure it out".

The way I worked on it, and this is "a" way and by no means "the" way, so if you have a suggestion I wanna hear it, was to do some dry runs. First I started imagining the buzzer going off, and starting to get my draw going at the beginning of the sound. I then practiced my draw, again trying to get moving as soon as I heard the buzzer. The way I tested this was trying to note where the gun was when the buzzer ended; when I was working it I had the gun partway into presentation when the buzzer stopped. I tried stopping movement a few times when the buzzer ended to see where I was. That's hard to do, and there's so much lag between hearing, processing, and responding to the stimulus that I didn't really take much note of it, and instead just tried to gauge where I was. I think this is where video would be very handy.

Anyway! after a while, I was noticing that my times were improving, and it wasn't because my movements were faster from the hand to the gun to the draw to the presentation. If anything, I was getting slightly slower because it was very hot and humid at the range. It was because I was initiating the movement to get going faster than I had before, and that was entirely because I wasn't waiting for the buzzer to complete before I started moving. What I'm hoping this will assist in doing is that if I have to use my gun for real, I won't be as far behind the curve. I'm hoping that I'm training my brain to process faster. It's smarter than I am, so I expect it'll make a difference in the long run. I just wish I'd started working on this 25 years ago.

New Stuff: Safariland ELS kit and belt

Holy cow, an actual new blog post! Bet both my readers didn't think I knew how to do this anymore. I finally have something worth taking the time to write about rather than do something less important...I mean...more important. Everything I do, of course, is crucially important.

I wish.

So I got some gear almost a year ago, and it took quite a while to get it all squared away. Turns out that flexibility costs. LOL! That's the point of this system: it allows you to swap out magazine pouches and holsters on one common platform, just by changing the pouches or holster. One one belt, I can swap between 1911, Glock (19, 17, and 34 in my case) and carbine just by changing out the individual pieces. Once you start doing that, it become clear how flexible the system is.

There's a couple parts to this kit: at its core, its the belt and the ELS (Equipment Locking System) components. The belt is...pre-punched, or pre-drilled...let's say "pre-holed" for descriptive simplicity, to accept the ELS Receiver Plates. The ELS consists of two parts: the receiver plate and the fork. It works on the same principle that a side release buckle does, if the female part of the buckle didn't have full top to it. The receiver plates screw to the belt by way of a domed head Allen screw through the back of the belt, and a blind nut on the receiver plate. You can put 'em wherever you want 'em, and you can cant them if you wish, too.

What's really cool about this system is that it can be adapted to other rigs, too. I have receiver plates attached to Safariland clamshell clips (745 BL, I think, but I may be crazy, too)

to use the ELS system on my Bianchi Border Patrol belt, which is a 2" duty belt with a Cobra-style buckle. It works like a Cobra, but its not AustriAlpin. The AA buckles are the best there are and this one isn't one of them, just to be clear. It is, however, entirely up to the job its being used for. Anyway, I have receiver plates screwed to them so I can use the same magazine pouches that I use on the ELS with that belt...and I have a few, particularly the model 77 rifle magazine pouches, that are set up directly on the 745 BL's. More on that in a moment, I think. I'm getting too far off the trail.

The photo of my belt is one of the few I have of this rig so far, and it doesn't show exactly how I've got it rigged now. Even though I've dropped something over 30 pounds so far this year (believe me, I have PLENTY left to get rid of; I'll be at this for a while!) I still have issues with the forward-most plate when magazines are installed there. If you scroll down a bit on my blog, you'll see my sling set up. With the front end of the sling so far forward, it tends to get hooked on that forward mag pouch. I solved that by rotating pouches to the left, essentially moving them a spot rearward. Solved that problem, but I'd still like to run a mag pouch there for different set ups. Perhaps a horizontal pouch, like the Safariland Competition versions, will do that. I'll get one and check.

I also run the Safariland M774 single M4 mag pouches with ELS forks on 'em, so I have a couple of the dual mag pouches shown in the photo, and a couple M774's. For doing stuff like rifle to pistol transitions, it's outstanding; I don't have to run any other gear unless I need more magazines or if I just want to. There's really nothing that I'm aware of that Safariland makes that holds magazines that can't be used with this system. I even have a 7.62 version of the M774 should I choose to run the belt while shooting my LRT OBR. To quote  Cadet Captain David Shawn from TAPS: "It's beautiful, man!" How's that for an old school reference.

You may have noticed the holster being Multicam in the above photo. That's the not-really-secret-but-very-cool 6354-DO, the DO standing for Docter Optic. I wish I had one, but that'll be for a later date. This version is for the Glock 17/X300.

One of my home boys calls it The Jump Holster, because when you release the ALS lock on it, it jumps into your hand. The springs in this one are mechanical coil springs; much smoother and faster than the older ALS flat spring.

It's on the belt using the Mid Ride UBL (Universal Belt Loop) and the QLS (Quick Locking System) components. The QLS is the father of the ELS, it's bigger, slightly older, stronger parent. The UBL drops the holster off the belt a bit, and the QLS pushes it out some, too. It's roughly duty-holster height and offset, which I have to remind myself of when using it. It's not in the same place my Safariland 529 is.LOL!

Suggestions: you'll probably want a liner belt with this rig. I use the Bianchi 7205, which is run through the belt loops of your pants, and gives a stable platform for the ELS belt to anchor to. I have an idea for an improvement that I plan to try to get done with ATS, but I have no idea how long that'll take to get done; its a question of available production time. Liner belts are only about $20 and worth the investment to hold the belt still. It also means you don't have to be uncomfortable with the ELS belt cranked down around you.

All in all, I'm a huge fan of this system. I keep finding ways to use it and new stuff to use with it. I think Safariland has really nailed the modular concept and now all they have to do is get the marketing department on the same page as the users and advertise it!

Who's an idiot? This guy!

Don't know what exactly I did, but I seem to have misaligned something in my shoulder and it's not working itself out as quickly as I would like. But, since I'll be out of town for Christmas and New Year's and then SHOT in the middle of January, I probably won't have a lot of opportunity to shoot. At least not weekly like I typically do.

So instead of doing what I should, treating the injury and resting it (and pondering going to a chiropractor), my stupid ass is gonna shoot a match tomorrow. There are better shooters than me there, so it's unlikely that I'd win anyway. How much damage could I possibly do? Guess we'll find out! If I cripple myself, I guess I won't be shooting for a few days.

Missapplication of Principles: Motor Skills and Hick's Law

Some things refuse to go away. The items in the title being used incorrectly to illustrate a point are the ones that are my biggest of pet peeves. It's not that they don't exist or aren't factors, it's that they are misapplied as descriptors and misunderstood. And much of the time, they are used as a basis for advocating one technique over another, giving a false picture.

Most often, the gross vs. fine motor skill argument is used to advocate slide grabbing a pistol rather than using the slide stop. Now, to be clear, I use, and as far back as I can remember, have always used, the slide stop to run the slide. However, I don't care what technique is used as long as one isn't getting chosen over the other on bad information. If you're gonna be a slide grabber, go ahead and be a slide grabber. Just don't tell me it's a "gross motor skill, which you'll revert to under pressure." That simple can't be true.

OK, so what's a gross motor skill? By definition, a gross motor skill is a movement that uses large muscle groups. In terms of using a gun, the easy definition to understand is that gross motor skills are everything that happens above the wrist. A fine motor skill, by contrast, is anything that happens below the wrist. The argument is that the ability to do fine motor skills deteriorates under pressure, and that is, of course, true. But examine that a little more closely, and you'll find that it doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Consider this: if you can't use your thumb to release the slide via the slide stop and must grab the slide over the top to do that job, how can you possibly use that same thumb to release an empty or faulty magazine, or control the trigger with the index finger from that same hand? I'm not saying that slide grabbing is wrong; it's a valid technique and it works. Just don't tell me the reason to choose it over running the slide stop is that I can't use that thumb and index finger. If that were true, nobody would ever be purposefully shot because the hands wouldn't work at all.

Incidentally, the reason I chose to run the slide stop is because I put both techniques on the timer, and running the slide stop is considerably faster. The timer is the way I've proven, or had proven, different ways of doing things with a gun. Except in terms of it's use by politicians, time doesn't lie.

Which leads us to Hick's Law. I won't bother going into the history of it, because the Internet doesn't care about that when they're misusing it anyway. In short form, Hick's Law says that it takes your mind too long to choose between two tactics. Worse with three! Therefore, I will show you one response." In terms of raw choices, that's true. If you give an untrained person choices, they'll struggle and make errors in attempting to complete the task as they try to pick a way to do it. No argument there, but this post is about arguments, so what's my beef with it? That beef is, once again, the Law being misapplied. 


Anyone who's been around shooting and training for any period of time has no doubt heard the phrase "another tool for the toolbox". But, just as it is with a mechanic, just having the tool doesn't mean much. In the hands of the professional mechanic, the right tool is the fast way to get a job done, and done correctly. It's really no different at the core of fighting with weapons. The tool doesn't really become a tool until you...pay close attention here, here's the difference maker...until you MASTER it. Obviously having a choice and not knowing exactly how to use it in a pressure situation won't help much. But master that skill, and combine it with other mastered skills, and you have the gunfighter that nobody wants to go against. One last example: consider Anderson Silva, UFC Middleweight Champion for quite some time now. He's got kicking skills from muay Thai and karate, a black belt in Brazilian Jui Jitsu for ground fighting, and has knocked out just about everybody he's faced with precision striking skills. Watch him fight, and you'll see a fighter who mixes techniques as he sees fit, and there's no lag time between them. Why is that? The skills have been MASTERED. 


For the Love of Pete, if you're going to make an argument for or against a particular technique, make sure the reasons you use are valid. I'd rather hear somebody say "I prefer to do it that way, I'm more confident and comfortable with it" than to misapply physiological or psychological principles in the process. That crap won't go away once it gets out there.

I don't wanna do that, it's hard.

Another revelation: I don't practice what's hard often enough. Over the past several weeks, I've devoted range time to doing those things that I'm not good at, don't practice that much, and frankly don't use often but still have a need to know.

As I've mentioned before, my ammo budget is about a hundred rounds a week. With that small number of rounds, what I do with them becomes much more important. I end up asking myself where the best value is, whether that's in working on improving what I'll probably need all the time, or some things I may need in a limited number of circumstances. The bottom line is, ya never know. I try to consider that I may end up in a fight that's outside the statistics. With my luck, it seems like that'd be a virtual certainty, but there's no way to determine that. To that end, I've decided it's worth some practice time to try to improve those areas.

Those areas are longer range pistol shooting (25 yards) and one handed shooting, both with strong and weak hand. One handing I'm passable with, by that I mean if I only had one hand, I can lay on some accurate fire. With so little ammo available, there's no way I'm ever going to get really good at it, but at least I don't start over from square one every time. I'm left eye dominant, which makes shooting lefty a little easier...but probably not enough to notice. Perhaps the only real advantage I have is that I can be at the range as long as it takes and I don't have to worry about anybody but me. The flip side of that is that I'm the only one of the guys I shoot with that isn't married. I think I'm also getting decent at making myself practice under all kinds of conditions. What else am I gonna do? All my home boys have wives. LOL!

Trying to get organized with practice

My ammo budget is rather limited these days. What am I saying...it's always been limited. I love what I do, but I'm not getting rich doing it. I'll take donations, in case either of my readers were wondering.

Once again, I digress! The point is that with a limited budget, maximizing the value of each round becomes critical to being able to improve. To that end, I've attempted to get more organized with what I'm practicing. This came about because there will hopefully be a Classifier shot at our club again soon, so a couple weeks ago I decided to bring the Classifier COF out to the range to reference and to work on what I didn't do very well on. There are parts of that test that I don't work on much, such as one handed and weak hand shooting. Other parts, like shooting and moving, come easy to me, thanks to about ten years in marching bands. Having that course of fire to base practice on was very useful. The actual Classifier is a 90 round exercise, so it works pretty good as a practice test.

If you've been reading here for a while, you may have noticed that I really like shooting with Matt E. It used to be Matt and Paul J, but Paul punked out and decided to move home, get married to a wonderful lady and go to college instead of staying here and shooting with me and Matt. He may have made the right choice, but the jury is deliberating. ;)

Anyway, Matt and I have, in the recent past, shot some interesting Standards, including the 10-8, Hackathorn, and the Operator Standards. There are others, including Kyle Defoor's, the FBI's, and more. The nice thing about these is that they're not incredible wazoo difficult tests, but in the aggregate, your score will suffer if you have a weakness in any of the tested areas.

Now, hopefully in the near future Chris W and Bo R. will be added to the clan, once they get memberships to the range. Both of these dudes are excellent shooters, and good guys to train with. Along with Casey B, that'll make five of us that shoot together, and points out the need to get organized. What I hope to do at some point is to put together a calendar and have everybody have a particular day to bring whatever COF they want to use, whether it's downloaded from somewhere or made up before hand. So, I've begun the collecting of COF's and compiling them in a binder and separating them by type of firearm (handgun, carbine, or both). I'm hoping this will be an easy resource to maximize limited ammunition.

I'm also pondering getting shirts made and having an informal "team" for the monthly matches. The name's picked out, but I have to check with a buddy of mine that does small run custom printed t-shirts. That part could be fun, and has the potential to get big. Have to see where that goes somewhere down the line.

My job doesn't suck: flash suppressors and cans in the dark

My bro Matt and I spent last night on the range, doing some night shooting, and testing flash suppressors and several of Surefire's cans. The only downside to last night's festivities was that there was no photos or video.

We found out several things: fiber optic sights are as useless at night as white dot or black sights are for being seen by old eyes. My MnP and G17, which were the guns I grabbed holsters for (Safariland ALS with X300's using the MLS system), both lack night sights, but I have lights on both, which makes night sights somewhat less important. The steel plate bay we were shooting in was slightly back-lit by a security light up on the ridge (the range is in a former quarry) and my FO front sight just became a black front sight on a black target at night. I couldn't see it at all. With the light on, the front sight profile stands out, but that leads to the next issue.

There's a bit of a recurring theme with ammunition: smokeless powder isn't really smokeless; it just smokes less than black powder does. I was using some PMC Bronze 115 gr. FMJ 9mm, which is decent ammo in terms of consistency and accuracy...at least in terms of bulk ammo. It's also really smoky. That doesn't matter much during the day, but at night, with sights that aren't particularly visible and a bright light on the gun, the smoke obscures everything. The wind was non-existent for most of the night, so smoke stayed where it was. Waiting for it to clear was an eye opener.

We tested the Surefire 212A on a few different guns: Colt and BCM lowers with Mk 18 and 416 10" uppers, and my 16" carbine. To compare against, we used Matt's BCM 14.5" M4 style upper with a KAC QD flash hider. We shot some 55 gr. Winchester, 68 gr. M855 and 77 gr. ball similar to Mk 262. The difference in flash was dramatic, even though I expected that with the 212A being a longer unit. Even so, I was very impressed with the flash reduction. So far, just about the best I've seen, rivaled by the Smith Vortex. The big difference to me is that I can run a Surefire suppressor on it and it doesn't ring after every shot.

Next we did a little test of the M300 vs. the M600, and how far they reach. Again, the air was still, and smoke made a big impact, even with Matt running the 212 on is 416 and me running the Mini on Schwaggie. Out to about 35 or 40 yards, there's not too much practical difference, but as the distance increases, the M300 doesn't have the reach. Where that really matters is in being able to see the edges of the target. Seeing the edges makes centering the target much easier. We were shooting a steel plate about the size of a B27 silhouette. Past 50 and out to 75, I shot the plate while Matt lit it up with the M600, and we moved all the way back to 100, but with the M300 getting hits were more a matter of guesstimating and basically remembering where the target was. Under the weather conditions we had-hot, humid and dead still at 10 o'clock at night-it got tough to really define the target with the M300.

We also found that at about 25 yards, hammering a steel target with a rifle and a tac light at night at high speed is a heck of a lot of fun. Just wish I had gotten some pics.

Matches and Training: Not the same thing

I had this abstract idea for a whole series of posts that were under the title of "Free Advice is Worth the Price", but the organization that would require doesn't work very well with my Stream of Unconsciousness style (I have a style?) of writing. Suffice it to say that there will be posts of that ilk coming, but I may or may not tag 'em as such. If I do that, then I'll have to go back through the old posts and tag those that belong under that heading, and then you know where that will lead:

Dr. Peter Venkman: This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.
Mayor: What do you mean, "biblical"?
Dr Ray Stantz: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath of God type stuff.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Exactly.
Dr Ray Stantz: Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!
Dr. Egon Spengler: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes...
Winston Zeddemore: The dead rising from the grave!
Dr. Peter Venkman: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!
Mayor: All right, all right! I get the point!

Clearly, we can't let that happen, so I'll just throw 'em up (that's a nice visual, huh?) as I think of 'em. I have much to rant about. This could become a long, long list of posts. Muahahahahahahaaaaaa!!!


As the weather gets better, more shooters get to shooting matches, and forum members begin talking about shooting matches. Talking doesn't always lead to actually competing, but there is talking. And there's almost always talk of shooting a match because it's "good training". Match shooting is a lot of things: good experience with shooting under time pressure, a way to shoot a different course of fire than you usually do, and most of all, it's fun and a way to hang out with shooters. There are more reasons than that to compete, too. However, the one thing that competing isn't, is training; good bad or indifferent. They're totally separate things.

Training is the time spent learning skills: the manipulations required to operate the gun, drawing from the holster, reloading, and marksmanship, among other techniques. Technique is the difference between the trained and untrained shooter. It's evidenced by speed and movement with less wasted motion. It's easy to spot a well trained shooter, because everything they do is smooth and sure. The untrained shooter has much more movement, both in their actions and in their shooting. The gun moves around in their hands much more, their reloads are not smooth. Do not take this as a knock on untrained shooters; everybody was untrained once. Some still are. That's simply the way of it. The way out of it is to get training and then spent time on the range regularly practicing those learned skills and learning new ones. Training is what allows a poor shooter to be a decent shooter, and good shooter to be a great shooter, and a great shooter a grand master-class shooter.

As an aside, the topic of phenomenal shooters has come up in the shop from time to time, because we've gotten to meet some as they pass through the area, or are stationed across the street from us. I've come to the conclusion that some people are gifted towards being amazingly talented shooters. The rest of us have varying degrees of talent and coordination that allows us to get to that same level. The difference is that, while it may have taken Jerry Miculek a few hundred thousand rounds to get as good as he is, it'll take me a few hundred million to get to where he is. Given the funds and the time, though, anybody can do it.

Shooting matches is where a shooter goes to test their skills, not learn them. This is why the organizational bodies (IDPA, USPSA, Zoot Suit Shooters Association, etc.) group shooters into classifications of weapon and skill level, so you have a chance to win your class when you're in a match with Rob Leatham or Sgt. Horner. You won't beat them, but you may beat the rest of the shooters with your skill level. If you want to get to their level, you gotta train to get there. Which leads us to the "training value" of matches.

Do not confuse the training value of shooting matches with training. What a match will do, especially the Classifiers (the standard course of fire that the organizational bodies use to score your abilities to classify who you shoot against with your skill level) is to show you where you have weaknesses. When I started shooting matches, I confirmed something I knew about already: transitioning targets was a weakness of mine. Luckily, Ernest Langdon happened to have a meeting on Fort Campbell one day and had some time to kill. While Matt E. and I spent a couple hours talking about robots, shooting, and competing, Matt was smart enough to say "We're not gonna let you leave here until you teach us something." Ernest gave us a short class on getting your eyes to the target before the gun. What I was doing previously, and what many, many shooters do, is to swing the gun along with your eyes to the next target. What happens when a shooter does that is that the gun swings past the target. As soon as I was able to make some use of Ernest's training, I stopped having that problem. That was confirmed with shooting matches: my transitions were much, much better, and I was much faster than I had been (I'm not fast now, just faster than I was. I've got a long way to go to get fast) between targets as well as increasing speed on individual targets. That was an area where shooting matches showed a weakness that I was able to begin to address and improve.

If you don't want to meet new shooters, try different courses of fire with people watching and comparing yourself against other shooters, then there are still things you can do. 10-8 Performance has the 10-8 Standards, and there are others like the Hackathorn Standards and Mid South's Operator Standards. These are set courses of fire, with specified time limits and scoring, that will expose weaknesses in your game. They can be found by Google-ing for them, and you'll find others, too. They're generally not "hard" in and of themselves for each skill, but you either have those skills, or you don't. If you have no skill at all with your support hand, you'll score lower. If you have trouble with long distances (who doesn't?) or transitioning targets, you'll have problems getting good scores. But, all you need is a pen and pencil to keep track of that stuff, and work on it. Generally, these COF's don't use that much ammo, either.

One area that shooting matches can hurt training, is getting wrapped up in "winning the match". If that's the most important thing to you and the purpose of your training is defensive in nature, you may do some things in the shooting games that you wouldn't do on the street. An example: you've been trained to scan and assess, but you don't do that during a match because "it's just a match". In IDPA, they're big on reloads with retention, which is an administrative action. It's always on the clock, in my experience, but that's not something you should do under a time limit. IIRC, the IDPA rule book says it shouldn't be timed, but it always has been in the matches that have used it as part of the specified COF. I'm not gonna lay blame, but suffice it to say that if you're concerned with time you may not execute that reload as you've been trained to.

Can that be countered? Yes; shoot the match only within the techniques you've been trained to use. You probably won't win, but you will test your skills. If you're good, you'll win anyway. Shoot that match with your carry gear in your carry clothing, and see how it stacks up. You may lose to a guy running a G34 with trigger work, but you know you did it with your regular carry gear and did the best you could, while noting your weaknesses.

I've shot matches using match gear and match guns, meaning stuff I only compete with. I determined that the match I shoot this month will be with my carry G19 and my carry Safariland 529 holster. I may actually finish lower than I usually do, but so what? I'll be using it as a test of my technique, not just to win the match.

Greatest Glock 19 review of all timeses.

A link to this vid was posted on one of the forms I frequent, and it was too entertaining not to share. He was doing really good with making it sound like he was clueless, until he went into just a little too much detail. In actuality, if you take every sarcastic remark he makes and reverse it, you get a really good overview of the 19. Kudos to Mixflip for the most entertaining thing I've seen on YouTube this week.

10-8 Pistol Test 1: where your skills at?

Matt E. and I shot this course of fire on Saturday. There's nothing ground breaking or outrageously technical in it, but it's a very good test of skills. I should have known that it couldn't be as easy as it appeared because the 5 second time standard is what Hilton Yam says a good Master class competitive shooter can do. Silly Haji. Most of my times were a bit on the plus side of 7 seconds, this first time through.

Click the JPEG, print it and try it. I think you'll find it a very good test of skills, and if you have holes in your game, it'll show those, too! It did for me.

.

Setting Up the AR Carbine-A Way and some Reasons

AR's are probably the best assault rifle-based rifle available right now. The upside of the AR is that there are an incredible number of options and ways to set 'em up. The downside of the AR is that there are an incredible number of options and ways to set 'em up. Any site on the web that has the capability of posting pics of guns almost certainly has photos of AR's on it. Some are set up well...and some are better termed Football Bats than carbines.

My intention is not to dwell too much on brands, as I intend to rant on the set up rather than on the particular model. Up front, I have to state that my carbine is what I would term a Frankengun, and I have blogged against parts guns for best reliability. I do need to make a couple of comments on this subject, though: first, "just as good as" doesn't exist unless you're comparing guns built on or as close as possible to the TDP (Technical Data Package). Gun prices don't exist in a vacuum, and Daniel Defenses, BCMs, Colts, LaRues, LMT's, Noveskes, Knight's's...'s, and their brethren aren't just more expensive to be more expensive. Not all parts are created equal, and quality isn't free. Are you paying for a name with Tier 1 and Tier 2 brands? In a sense you are, insofar as you're paying for what the name represents. Reputations are built, not awarded. You're paying for the name that is based on the reputation built on quality. A Bushamster or DPMS or other commercial spec gun isn't the same. It can't be; it's not built to the same standard with the same quality parts. How to determine which is the right gun for you is a blog for another time.

For simplicity's sake, assume that the base gun is a duty-quality carbine with properly staked gas key, staked castle nut, Mil-Spec parts, and the like. That way, I can limit this epic tome just to set up and external parts and accessories. And of course, this is a way, not the way. OK, it is the way, but there are other ways that are the way, too. And there are lots of ways that aren't the way. Don't do it with the not the way. It's called "not the way" for a reason. Not the way often has plastic parts from one of the 78,000 Israeli companies that make crappy parts for the AR, which falls under the blessing/curse clause of the AR mentioned in the first paragraph.

If you're starting from scratch, consider the 14.5/permanently attached flash hider (to make it a 16", non-NFA legal barrel) and mid length gas system. There's nothing wrong with the carbine gas system, but the mid length is a little smoother, softer shooting, and probably wears parts slower. In terms of front sights, I'm a believer in the Front Sight Base rather than rail mounted folding sights. The "why" is that if your optic goes out due to failure or the battery going dead, you can make surprisingly accurate hits using the front sight post. Your rear sight becomes a giant aperture sight at that point, meaning out to about 25 yards, put the front sight post on what you wanna shoot and press the trigger to the rear. At that distance, you may or may not have time to flip up your back up sight. If you have time, do it. If you don't, put the front sight post on your target and nail it. The reason I prefer the FSB to rail mounted sights is that as long as the barrel is properly indexed, there's just less involved with a pinned FSB vs. other screw-on sight systems. Pins are a big enough deal that I've become a believer in grinding down the FSB rather than using a set-screw low profile gas block.

The great thing about fore ends is that there are a ton of great choices now, and where there were lots of choices of the 7" rail before, now it's possible to go longer with a few different choices. There are two advantages to going to a longer rail, and 12"-13" is the magical length. The "why": those two advantages are that you can grab the fore end further out. The closer you can get your hand to the muzzle, the better you can control recoil. The other advantage is that you can get your light further out, which means less shadow caused by the barrel. Some lights can even be mounted in front of the FSB, which means less leaning out from cover to get the light shining where the target is. In terms of rails, I'm a huge fan of Daniel Defense. Their stuff is always in spec and are the lightest rails going. I don't recall ever hearing about one being broken under normal circumstances. There are, of course, other quality rails, but I always recommend DD. Light, strong, in spec and easy to install. How can it get better? Their 12.0 FSP Lite rail is the standard of excellence for rails.

However! Now there are some options for fore ends other than full rail systems, and they're less expensive to boot. There are tubular handguards that can still mount lights by adding sections of rail where they're needed. Note the light on my home boy Paul J.'s VTAC fore end:

The VTAC is really light, slim and comfortable. Troy makes a nice 13", called the TRX Extreme, and it's MSRP is only $189, which means that it can be had for less "on the street". Like the VTAC, it can use bolt on rail sections. Ignore the vert grip in this pic, it's in the wrong place. The pic is Troy Industries's...'s:

As I said, that's not my preferred sighting set up, but it beats the hell out of no front sight at all, and there are advantages to having a clear sight picture, too. For Pete's sake, run that vert grip out to the end of the rail!

I very much prefer the Surefire M300 Mini Scout with theSR-07 switch. This system keeps the light and the switch out of the way, and means I have to move my thumb about a half inch instead of changing my grip to reach the light.

Previously, I've used the tail cap and actuated it with my support hand knuckle. This allows me to use the thumb over grip without much other change. Changing as little as possible makes everything easier, smoother and more consistent. Related to all this is sling placement, which I'll address a bit later.

Working backwards, we come to the upper receiver. Some people like to have AR's with carry handles, no lights and optics, and call them "KISS rifles". KISS stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid. The fact is, that's not simple, that's less capable. Flat tops are the only choice for a real fighting gun, because simple only needs to apply to the mount for the sighting system. Choices in optics are simple, too: get an Aimpoint. There is much to love about the Eotech reticule, with the dot and circle sight picture. However, on the whole they just don't last. Some can go to very high round counts, but most don't seem to be able to do that. I've got a friend who's XPS2 crapped out within 12 rounds, shutting off and not coming back. Another friend has about 7300 rounds on his, and his zero has started wandering. An 18B friend of mine DX'd (sent back as broken) 32 of them, on a 12 man team. Others have reported exceptionally high failure rate amongst their duty guns. I dig the XPS series, but they're not lasting a whole lot better than the older sights. If the gun may be used for serious purposes and not just a range toy, get an Aimpoint. My M68 (old style Comp ML2) has been on two deployments before it went through the DRMO system and given to me. Still works fine-now that there's a battery cap on it-and holds zero like a vice. Almost everyone I know that runs one has trouble free performance. It's just cost-effective insurance.

What about mounts? There are plenty of good ones, but LaRue Tactical is still the best of them. They have a new no-lever mount that saves about $25, so if you don't intend to move the optic, get the VFZ version. They're the best there are, no more expensive than other good mounts, and ya get a bunch of cool stuff with the order. Can't beat 'em. If you're using an M68 CCO mount, use the LT-150, which gives a 1/3 lower co-witness. One reason for going for the throw lever mount is that if your optic gets destroyed somehow, you can dump it and go to your BUIS. I mount the optic as far forward as the receiver will allow to increase field of view, while avoiding putting the optic over the barrel nut, which is the hottest part of the carbine. Heat and electronics don't go well together.

Why lower 1/3 co-witness instead of absolute co-witness? I don't want the clutter of having the rear sight in the sight picture. Just too much junk to deal with. I just wanna see the dot and the target. I zero my BUIS and optic separately from each other. Having them all lined up when they're not the same sight system doesn't make much sense to me. Since I run an Aimpoint, the chances of needing my folding Troy Battlesight are very, very slim.

We're in a time when there are better magazines than ever before. USGI aluminum mags get a bad rap, but I'm convinced that happens because there are a whole bunch of magazines still in service that shouldn't be. The latest generation of them has an improved spring and Magpul-like follower, and is a very high quality magazine. However, it costs more than the Magpul PMag does, which seems to beg the question of "why not just buy PMags?" PMags haven't been absolutely perfect and trouble free; there are stories of feed lip problems cropping up here and there, but that may be due to the polymer of different colors being a little problematic. The black NSN PMags have an enviable reputation, and are almost all I use. I have a couple green ones, a few tan ones, and some good aluminum mags from Colt, Okay, BCM, and DSG. The back PMag sees the bulk of the action, though. There are also excellent reports from the Tango Down polymer magazine, too. I know that doesn't narrow things that much, but use this as your guideline: avoid steel mags, they're heavy with no benefit, and in the case of HK, have a short service life. Stick to quality, GOOD CONDITION magazines, whether aluminum or polymer, and GET RID OF THEM when they need to taken out of service. That means destroy them before putting them in the trash bin. Don't bother with mags that aren't in wide distribution. Every now and then, something new comes out, has a huge buzz, and then fades away. Don't bother with being the Johnny Come Lately with magazines. If they're really better, they'll get proven as such over time, and if you need new mags, use them then. Till then, stick with the proven winners. You won't have to drill clearing a double feed as often.

What about stocks? My bro Matt E. put both a Magpul CTR and an LMT SOPMOD on the scale. We always thought the SOPMOD was heavier; its bigger, so it has to be heavier, doesn't it? Turns out it isn't, so it doesn't. They're roughly the same weight. I still like the cheek weld of the SOPMOD and Vltor Modstock, but the CTR is what's on my rifle because I like that it's slim while having some of the characteristics of the cheek weld of the others. One thing I wish it did was to be able to run the sling off the top of the stock as with the Vltor, but that's not necessarily a deal breaker. I don't have a problem with the "LE" style stock that most carbines come with these days, except that it doesn't have a thin pad on it. That pad isn't to tame the thunderous recoil of the 5.56 cartridge, although it probably does aid in that a little. What the pad is for is to keep the buttstock from sliding around in your shoulder pocket. Everybody who's opinion I care about is all about leaning on the rifle aggressively, so the Duostock is a non-starter for me. Probably works great for Camp Perry-type competition, though.

I hate the A2 style pistol grip's finger rest, and I have big hands. I went with the Magpul MIAD to get the fattest grip I could. Most of the quality aftermarket grips have a duckbill or tab that covers the gap between the trigger guard and the grip, and that's a tremendous help if you're shooting 1500 rounds over three days. If you don't have that type of grip, stuff a foam ear plug in there or bust out some tape to keep that finger from being rubbed to the bone.

In terms of slings there's only one design to use: the adjustable two point. Blue Force Gear's Vickers Combat Applications Sling (VCAS) and Viking Tactics VTAC are both excellent. BFG's sling doesn't have a running tail when you adjust it and it's wider. The VTAC adjusts faster but has a running end on the adjusting strap. Both are excellent and both work. Get the padded version if you don't wear armor, and get the non-padded if you do. Padded slings with armor are just extra bulk that you don't get any benefit from.

There are two schools of thought on sling placement: the sling can be close in, using an end plate adapter or sling mount that attaches over the receiver extension and at the receiver end of the rail, or off the stock and at the end of the rail. The advantage to running it in close is that it keeps the sling out of the way of your hands when manipulating the carbine, and generally frees up the carbine to be put into position to be reloaded. Pushing the sling out to the ends lets it hang better on the sling and allows the sling to be used as a tensioning device against the forearm to improve steadiness for longer shots. I find more utility in the sling points being pushed further out.

That sling mount is the ACE 1.5" rail grabber mount.

I like that mount more than any other I've used, because all it does is secure the sling to the rail. The problem with most QD sling mounts is that they end up being bulky, or they're not rotation limited. Daniel Defense mounts are, and I've had good luck with them. I just like the lower profile of the Ace part. It's also only about $20, while most of the QD mounts are around $30, or more. Lots of people cite needing to have a QD to dump the rifle in a hurry if they need to. I guess, but are you training that? I found that the way I'll get the rifle off in a hurry if the need ever arises-and since the chances of me being in an armored vehicle, getting rolled over into a canal in the ME is pretty doggone remote-will be to lift the sling off, like I've always done. If you have a need for a QD, by all means use one. If you don't, save some money and simplify things.

As I said, this is a way, but it comes from those smarter and more experienced than I am. However you set up your carbine, do yourself a favor and use the methods of experienced people. If it doesn't work for you, don't do it, but be honest with yourself and your assessment of "not working".

There's no part as misunderstood as the vertical grip

For everyone that knows what a vertical grip is, there is an equal number that misunderstand it's purpose. Lots and lots of people want them, but there don't appear to be that many that understand what they do and what they don't do. A little understanding can go a long way towards maximizing its effectiveness...and may lead to doing away with it altogether.

The vertical fore grip, often times abbreviated as VFG, came into use in the SOPMOD kit. SOPMOD Block 1 was quite a while ago, and the standard of the day was a 7" rail-same length as handguards on a carbine length gas system-as well as the AN/PEQ-2 laser and a Surefire Millennium series light (not part of SOPMOD Block 1; that light was an Insight...sadly) was standard issue. With all that, there was no place left on the fore end to put the support hand, so the KAC vertical grip was born. It was a pretty elegant solution for a difficult problem.

But what happened next was where it all went wrong. Photos came back from the war zones with Servicemen that had VFG's on their tricked out (for the time) M4's. Lots of people assumed it was a shooting aid, and started running them as the only thing on their rails (not everyone knew they needed a white light yet; this is still several years ago), figuring that was what they needed to shoot better...or at least look cooler in their minds. Then they started making things worse by running that VFG towards the receiver.

Thanks to America's best gunfighters (they're sometimes called The Artists Formerly Known As and Those of the Burrito Eating Moustaches) ending their time in the Service, a better way to use the VFG was developed. To understand what was better about it, one must first understand what the ultimate goal is: fast and accurate shooting. We're going on a slight detour here for a second. Trust me, it'll be OK. We're coming back to this.

What follows assumes the use of no VFG at all. Essentially, shooting fast and accurate is controlling the muzzle, and by extension, the barrel. So, in order to shoot in various positions as accurately as possible, minimizing movement-controlling the movement of the barrel-is The Key. How does that happen? By putting the support hand as far forward as possible, grabbing as much fore end as possible, and pulling into the shooter's shoulder. This does two things: first, it minimizes the movement of the muzzle, and secondly, it makes driving the gun between targets easier, faster, and more precise. For illustration, here's Kyle Defoor (a former SEAL amongst all the former Delta guys at Tiger Swan Training. He must know some things). Note his support hand placement.

And here's one of the winningest competition shooters that ever lived, Jerry Miculek. Note the similarity to how Kyle D is running his support hand.

I can post pics of this all day, as there are TONS of examples of this style of shooting. Control the muzzle, control and drive the rifle. We can safely call this fact. I can show more examples, but then this post becomes a book.

OK, so back to where we were before. Remember I mentioned that Those That Shall Not Be Named were running their carbines a different way from the rest of the world. What they were doing, and remember that this is several years old by now, was running the vert grip out to the end of their rails. There's some good footage of how they used to do it starting at about the 1 minute mark of this vid on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzHqqTmSnC0
Normally, I wouldn't put out a link like that, but it's been posted more times than I can count over the past two years, so I'm gonna call it pretty much common knowledge.

That's "how they used to do it", because equipment has changed. Notice the rather specialized lights integrated into the vertical grips...which are at the end of the rail. Seeing a pattern here yet? Also of note is that rails have gotten longer. Take a look at the photos that follow. All those fore ends are at least 12" long. Lengthening the rail and having lasers and lights get drastically smaller. That's made shooting better even easier. More on rails and handguards in a later post.

Hopefully, the short vertical grip has become fairly well known since it's introduction. What I don't think has become well known is how to use it. The shorty grips aren't meant to be grabbed in a chicken choking grip, and most people can't unless they have very small hands. They're meant to be a hand stop. Here's Chris Costa of Magpul Dynamics using one exactly that way:
Stickman takes great pics!
Costa uses a little less of the grip than many other users do; he's got his pinkie up against it, where others have the pinkie and ring, and occasionally middle finger against the grip.

That's how it works best. How's it work worst? Run it towards the receiver and chicken choke it. I will guarantee that two shooters of equal capability will be made to look like master and beginner by where they run that grip. Running that grip in and chicken choking it is the worst way to use it. When the goal is to control the barrel, hanging a lever off 90 degrees to it is not the way to make that happen. The closer to the receiver one gets, the more control is sacrificed.

I tried almost every version of VFG's that there are, by putting them to the timer. I set up at 7-10 yards, and shot at a 4" black dot at the beep of the timer, as many rounds as I could keep in the circle in one second. I was a full round a second faster with no vert grip at all vs. even running it to the end of the rail. What I found was that not using the vert grip at all made me both faster and more accurate. Give it a try. Your results will be very similar.

Getting rid of it altogether is where I am right now, although I have acquired another Magpul Angled Fore Grip that I may put back on...again. It doesn't hurt my shooting, but in messing with it, my crew and I found that it works better with a thumb forward grip, whereas I use the "thumb over" or "competition" grip, where the support hand thumb is wrapped over the top of the rail. I may still go back to it, but at this point all my training has been without it. I'm not in a big hurry to do that for myself, but I certainly encourage taking a look at it and seeing if it makes the shooter better. It's not that expensive, so it's a cheap experiment.

However it's approached, as long as the support hand ends up as far down the handguard as possible, that's the right track.

Wyatt Earp's OK Corral Gunfight Testimony

Recently, the original court documents from Tombstone, AZ. pertaining to the Gunfight at the OK Corral were found in the courthouse in Bisbee, AZ. These were not copies, these were originals. Talk about a piece of history! They've been turned over to the AZ State Archives for preservation. I found Wyatt Earp's testimony online-linked in the title of this post-and to say that I've been fascinated by it would be an understatement.

I've copied his statement from the law.umkc.edu website. There's a very good synopsis and related trial information here on the Famous Trials/OK Corral site. The actual history recorded in the documents is really, really interesting.

Statement of Wyatt S. Earp
in the Preliminary Hearing in the Earp-Holliday Case,
Heard before Judge Wells Spicer

November 16, 1881

Source: Turner, Alford (Ed.), The O. K. Corral Inquest (1992)

Wyatt S. Earp


On this sixteenth day of November, 1881, upon the hearing of the above entitled action, on the examination of Wyatt Earp and J. H. Holliday, the prosecution having closed their evidence in chief, and the defendants, Wyatt Earp and J. H. Holliday, having first been informed of his rights to make a statement as provided in Section 133, page 22 of the laws of Arizona, approved February 12, 1881, and the said Wyatt Earp having chosen to make a statement under oath and having been personally sworn, makes such statement under oath in answer to interrogatories as follows:

(Q) What is your name and age?

(A) My name is Wyatt Earp: 32 years old last March the 19th.

(Q) Where were you born?

(A) In Monmouth, Warren County, Illinois.

(Q) Where do you reside and how long have you resided there?

(A) I reside in Tombstone, Cochise County Arizona: since December 1, 1879.

(Q) What is your business and profession?


(A) Saloon keeper at present. Also have been Deputy Sheriff and also a detective.


(Q) Give any explanations you may think proper of the circumstances appearing in the testimony against you, and state any facts which you think will tend to your exculpation.


(A) The difficulty which resulted in the death of William Clanton and Frank McLaury originated last spring, [Objection made by prosecution against the defendant, Wyatt Earp, in making his statement, of using a manuscript from which to make such statement, and object to the said defendant being allowed to make statement without limit as to it relevancy. Objection overruled.] and at a little over a year ago, I followed Tom and Frank McLaury and two other parties who had stolen six government mules from Camp Rucker. Myself, Virgil Earp, and Morgan Earp, and Marshall Williams, Captain Hurst and four soldiers; we traced those mules to McLaury's ranch. [Prosecution moved to strike out the foregoing statement as irrelevant. Objection overruled.]

While at Charleston I met a man by the name of Dave Estes. He told me I would find the mules at McLaury's ranch. He said he had seen them there the day before. He said they were branding the mules "D S," making the "D. S." out [of] "D. S." We tracked the mules right up to the ranch. Also found the branding iron "D. S." Afterwards, some of those mules were found with the same brand.

After we arrived at McLaury's ranch, there was a man by the name of Frank Patterson. He made some kind of a compromise with Captain Hurst. Captain Hurst come to us boys and told us he had made this compromise, and by so doing, he would get his mules back. We insisted on following them up. Hurst prevailed on us to go back to Tombstone, and so we came back. Hurst told us two or three weeks afterwards, that they would not give up the mules to him after we left, saying that they only wanted to get us away, that they could stand the soldiers off. Captain Hurst cautioned me and my brothers, Virgil and Morgan, to look out for those men, as they had made some threats against our lives.

About one month after we had followed up those mules. I met Frank and Tom McLaury in Charleston. They tried to pick a fuss out of me down there, and told me if I ever followed them up again as close as I did before, they would kill me. Shortly after the time Bud Philpot was killed by the men who tried to rob the Benson stage, as a detective [working for Wells, Fargo & Co.] I helped trace the matter up, and I was satisfied that three men, named Billy Leonard, Harry Head, and James Crane were in that robbery. I knew that Leonard, Head and Crane were friends and associates of the Clan tons and McLaurys and often stopped at their ranches.

It was generally understood among officers and those who have information about criminals, that Ike Clanton was sort of chief among the cowboys that the Clantons and McLaurys were cattle thieves and generally in the secret of the stage robbery, and that the Clanton and McLaury ranches were meeting places and places of shelter for the gang.

I had an ambition to be Sheriff of this County at the next election, and I thought it would be a great help to me with the people and businessmen if I could capture the men who killed Philpot. There were rewards offered of about $1,200 each for the capture of the robbers. Altogether there was about $3,600 offered for their capture. I thought this sum might tempt Ike Clanton and Frank McLaury to give away Leonard, Head, and Crane, so I went to Ike Clanton, Frank McLaury, and Joe Hill when they came to town. I had an interview with them in the back yard of the Oriental Saloon. I told them what I wanted. I told them I wanted the glory of capturing Leonard, Head, and Crane and if I could do it, it would help me make the race for Sheriff at the next election. I told them if they would put me on the track of Leonard, Head, and Crane, and tell me where those men were hid; I would give them all the reward and would never let anyone know where I got the information.

Ike Clanton said he would like to see them captured. He said that Leonard claimed a ranch that he claimed, and that if he could get him out of the way, he would have no opposition in regard to the ranch. Clanton said that Leonard, Head, and Crane would make a fight, that they would never be taken alive, and that I must find out if the reward would be paid for the capture of the robbers dead or alive. I then went to Marshall Williams, the agent of Wells, Fargo & Co., in this town and at my request, he telegraphed to the agent, or superintendent, in San Francisco to find out if the reward would be paid for the robbers dead or alive. He received, in June, 1881, a telegram, which he showed me, promising the reward would be paid dead or alive.


The next day I met Ike Clanton and Joe Hill on Allen Street in front of a little cigar store next to the Alhambra. I told them that the dispatch had come. I went to Marshall Williams and told him I wanted to see the dispatch for a few minutes. He went to look for it and could not find it, but went over to the telegraph office and got a copy of it, and he came back and gave it to me. I went and showed it to Ike Clanton and Joe Hill and returned it to Marshall Williams, and afterwards told Frank McLaury of its contents.

It was then agreed between us that they were to have all the $3,600 reward, outside of necessary expenses for horse hire in going after them, and that Joe Hill should go to where Leonard, Head, and Crane were hid, over near Yreka, in New Mexico, and lure them in near Frank and Tom McLaury's ranch near Soldier's Holes, 30 miles from here, and I would be on hand with a posse and capture them.


I asked Joe Hill, Ike Clanton, and Frank McLaury what tale they would make them to get them over here. They said they had agreed upon a plan to tell them there would be a paymaster going from Tombstone to Bisbee, to payoff the miners, and they wanted them to come in and take him in. Ike Clanton then sent Joe Hill to bring them 'in. Before starting, Joe Hill took off his watch and chain and between two and three hundred dollars in money, and gave it to Virgil Earp to keep for him until he got back. He was gone about ten days and returned with the word that he got there a day too late; that Leonard and Harry Head had been killed the day before he got there by horse thieves. I learned afterward that the thieves had been killed subsequently by members of the Clanton and McLaury gang.

After that, Ike Clanton and Frank McLaury claimed that I had given them away to Marshall Williams and Doc Holliday, and when they came in town, they shunned us, and Morgan, Virgil Earp, Doc Holliday and myself began to hear their threats against us.

I am a friend of Doc Holliday because when I was city marshal of Dodge City, Kansas, he came to my rescue and saved my life when I was surrounded by desperadoes.

About a month or more ago [October 1881], Morgan Earp and myself assisted to arrest Stilwell and Spence on the charge of robbing the Bisbee stage. The McLaurys and Clan tons were always friendly with Spence and Stilwell, and they laid the whole blame of their arrest on us, though the fact is, we only went as a sheriff's posse. After we got in town with Spence and Stilwell, Ike Clanton and Frank McLaury came in.

Frank McLaury took Morgan Earp into the street in front of the Alhambra, where John Ringo, Ike Clanton, and the two Hicks boys were also standing. Frank McLaury commenced to abuse Morgan Earp for going after Spence and Stilwell. Frank McLaury said he would never speak to Spence again for being arrested by us.

He said to Morgan, "If you ever come after me, you will never take me." Morgan replied that if he ever had occasion to go after him, he would arrest him. Frank McLaury then said to Morgan Earp, "I have threatened you boys' lives, and a few days later I had taken it back, but since this arrest, it now goes." Morgan made no reply and walked off.

Before this and after this, Marshall Williams, Farmer Daly, Ed Barnes, Old Man Urrides, Charley Smith and three or four others had told us at different times of threats to kill us, by Ike Clanton, Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, Joe Hill, and John Ringo. I knew all these men were desperate and dangerous men, that they were connected with outlaws, cattle thieves, robbers and murderers. I knew of the McLaurys stealing six government mules, and also cattle, and when the owners went after them finding his stock on the McLaury's ranch; that he was drove off and told that if he ever said anything about it, he would be killed, and he kept his mouth shut until several days ago, for fear of being killed.

I heard of John Ringo shooting a man down in cold blood near Camp Thomas.5 I was satisfied that Frank and Tom McLaury killed and robbed Mexicans in Skeleton Canyon, about three or four months ago, and I naturally kept my eyes open and did not intend that any of the gang should get the drop on me if I could help it.

Ike Clanton met me at the Alhambra five or six weeks ago and told me I had told Holliday about this transaction, concerning the capture of Head, Leonard, and Crane. I told him I had never told Holliday anything. I told him when Holliday came up from Tucson I would prove it. Ike said that Holliday had told him so. When Holliday came back I asked him if he said so.

On the night of the 25th of October, Holliday met Ike Clanton in the Alhambra Saloon and asked him about it. Clanton denied it. They quarreled for three or four minutes. Holliday told Clanton he was a damned liar, if he said so. I was sitting eating lunch at the lunch counter. Morgan Earp was standing at the Alhambra bar talking with the bartender. I called him over to where I was sitting, knowing that he was an officer and told him that Holliday and Clanton were quarreling in the lunch room and for him to go in and stop it. He climbed over the lunch room counter from the Alhambra bar and went into the room, took Holliday by the arm and led him into the street. Ike Clanton in a few seconds followed them out. I got through eating and walked out of the bar. As I stopped at the door of the bar, they were still quarreling.

Just then Virgil Earp came up, I think out of the Occidental, and told them, Holliday and Clanton, if they didn't stop their quarreling he would have to arrest them. They all separated at that time, Morgan Earp going down the street to the Oriental Saloon, Ike going across the street to the Grand Hotel. I walked in the Eagle Brewery where I had a faro game which I had not closed. I stayed in there for a few minutes and walked out to the street and there met Ike Clanton. He asked me if I would take a walk with him, that he wanted to talk to me. I told him I would if he did not go too far, as I was waiting for my game in the Brewery to close, and I would have to take care of the money. We walked about halfway down the brewery building, going down Fifth Street and stopped.

He told me when Holliday approached him in the Alhambra that he wasn't fixed just right. He said that in the morning he would have man-for-man, that this fighting talk had been going on for a long time, and he guessed it was about time to fetch it to a close. I told him I would not fight no one if I could get away from it, because there was no money in it. He walked off and left me saying, "I will be ready for you in the morning."

I walked over to the Oriental. He followed me in and took a drink, having his six-shooter in plain sight. He says, "You must not think I won't be after you all in the morning." He said he would like to make a fight with Holliday now. I told him Holliday did not want to fight, but only to satisfy him that this talk had not been made. About that time the man that is dealing my game closed it and brought the money to me. I locked it in the safe and started home. I met Holliday on the street between the Oriental and Alhambra. Myself and Holliday walked down Allen Street, he going to his room, and I to my house, going to bed.

I got up the next day, October 26, about noon. Before I got up, Ned Boyle came to me and told me that he met Ike Clanton on Allen Street near the telegraph office, that Ike was armed, that he said, "as soon as those damned Earps make their appearance on the street today the ball will open, we are here to make a fight. We are looking for the sons-of-bitches!" I laid in bed some little time after that, and got up and went down to the Oriental Saloon.

Harry Jones came to me after I got up and said, "What does all this mean?" I asked him what he meant. He says, "Ike Clanton is hunting you boys with a Winchester rifle and six-shooter." I said, "I will go down and find him and see what he wants." I went out and on the comer of Fifth and Allen I met Virgil Earp, the marshal. He told me how he heard Ike Clanton was hunting us. I went down Allen Street and Virgil went down Fifth Street and then Fremont Street. Virgil found Ike Clanton on Fourth Street near Fremont Street, in the mouth of an alleyway.

I walked up to him and said, "I hear you are hunting for some of us." I was coming down Fourth Street at the time. Ike Clanton then threw his Winchester rifle around toward Virgil. Virgil grabbed it and hit Ike Clanton with his six-shooter and knocked him down. Clanton had his rifle and his six-shooter was in his pants. By that time I came up. Virgil and Morgan Earp took his rifle and six-shooter and took them to the Grand Hotel after examination, and I took Ike Clanton before Justice Wallace.

Before the investigation, Morgan Earp had Ike Clanton in charge, as Virgil Earp was out at the time. After I went into Wallace's Court and sat down on a bench, Ike Clanton looked over to me and said, "I will get even with all of you for this. If I had a six-shooter now I would make a fight with all of you." Morgan Earp then said to him, "If you want to make a fight right bad, I will give you this one!” at the same time offering Ike Clanton his own six-shooter.

Ike Clanton started to get up and take it, when Campbell, the deputy sheriff, pushed him back in his seat, saying he would not allow any fuss. I never had Ike Clanton's arms at any time, as he stated.

I would like to describe the positions we occupied in the courtroom. Ike Clanton sat on a bench with his face fronting to the north wall of the building. I myself sat down on a bench that ran against and along the north wall in front of where Ike sat. Morgan Earp stood up on his feet with his back against the wall and to the right of where I sat, and two or three feet from me.

Morgan Earp had Ike Clanton's Winchester in his hand, like this, with one end on the floor, with Clanton's six-shooter in his right hand. We had them all the time. Virgil Earp was not in the courtroom during any of this time and came there after I had walked out. He was out, he told me, hunting for Judge Wallace.

I was tired of being threatened by Ike Clanton and his gang and believe from what he said to me and others, and from their movements that they intended to assassinate me the first chance they had, and I thought that if I had to fight for my life with them I had better make them face me in an open fight. So I said to Ike Clanton, who was then sitting about eight feet away from me. "You damned dirty cow thief, you have been threatening our lives and I know it. I think I would be justified in shooting you down any place I should meet you, but if you are anxious to make a fight, I will go anywhere on earth to make a fight with you, even over to the San Simon among your crowd!" He replied, "I will see you after I get through here. I only want four feet of ground to fight on!"

I walked out and then just outside of the courtroom near the Justice's Office, I met Tom McLaury. He came up to me and said to me, "If you want to make a fight I will make a fight with you anywhere." I supposed at the time that he had heard what had just transpired between Ike Clanton and myself. I knew of his having threatened me, and I felt just as I did about Ike Clanton and if the fight had to come, I had better have it come when I had an even show to defend myself. So I said to him, "All right, make a fight right here!" And at the same time slapped him in the face with my left hand and drew my pistol with my right. He had a pistol in plain sight on his right hip in his pants, but made no move to draw it. I said to him, "Jerk your gun and use it!" He made no reply and I hit him on the head with my six-shooter and walked away, down to Hafford's Corner. I went into Hafford's and got a cigar and came out and stood by the door.

Pretty soon after I saw Tom McLaury, Frank McLaury, and William Clanton pass me and went down Fourth Street to the gunsmith shop. I followed them to see what they were going to do. When I got there, Frank McLaury's horse was standing on the sidewalk with his head in the door of the gun shop. I took the horse by the bit, as I was deputy city marshal, and commenced to back him off the sidewalk. Tom and Frank and Billy Clanton came to the door. Billy Clanton laid his hand on his six-shooter. Frank McLaury took hold of the horse's bridle and I said, "You will have to get this horse off the sidewalk." He backed him off into the street. Ike Clanton came up about this time and they all walked into the gun shop. I saw them in the gun shop changing cartridges into their belts. They came out of the shop and walked along Fourth Street to the comer of Allen Street. I followed them as far as the comer of Fourth and Allen Streets. They went down Allen Street and over to Dunbar's Corral. [Dunbar and Behan.]

Virgil Earp was then city marshal; Morgan Earp was a special policeman for six weeks or two months, wore a badge and drew pay. I had been sworn in Virgil's place, to act for him while Virgil was gone to Tucson on Spence's and Stilwell's trial. Virgil had been back several days but I was still acting and I knew it was Virgil's duty to disarm those men. I expected he would have trouble in doing so, and I followed up to give assistance if necessary, especially as they had been threatening us, as I have already stated.

About ten minutes afterwards, and while Virgil, Morgan, Doc Holliday and myself were standing on the comer of Fourth and Allen Streets, several people said, "There is going to be trouble with those fellows," and one man named Coleman said to Virgil Earp, "They mean trouble. They have just gone from Dunbar's Corral into the O.K. Corral, all armed, and I think you had better go and disarm them." Virgil turned around to Doc Holliday, Morgan Earp and myself and told us to come and assist him in disarming them.

Morgan Earp said to me, "They have horses, had we not better get some horses ourselves, so that if they make a running fight we can catch them?" I said, "No, if they try to make a running fight we can kill their horses and then capture them."

We four started through Fourth to Fremont Street. When we turned the comer of Fourth and Fremont we could see them standing near or about the vacant space between Fly's photograph gallery and the next building west. I first saw Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, Billy Clanton and Sheriff Behan standing there. We went down the left-hand side of Fremont Street.

When we got within about 150 feet of them I saw Ike Clanton and Billy Clanton and another party. We had walked a few steps further and I saw Behan leave the party and come toward us. Every few steps he would look back as if he apprehended danger. I heard him say to Virgil Earp, "For God's sake, don't go down there, you will get murdered!" Virgil Earp replied, "I am going to disarm them." he, Virgil, being in the lead. When I and Morgan came up to Behan he said, "I have disarmed them." When he said this, I took my pistol, which I had in my hand, under my coat, and put it in my overcoat pocket. Behan then passed up the street, and we walked on down.

We came up on them close; Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, and Billy Clanton standing in a row against the east side of the building on the opposite side of the vacant space west of Fly's photograph gallery. Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne and a man I don't knows were standing in the vacant space about halfway between the photograph gallery and the next building west.

I saw that Billy Clanton and Frank and Tom McLaury had their hands by their sides, Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton's six-shooters were in plain sight. Virgil said, "Throw up your hands; I have come to disarm you!" Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury laid their hands on their six-shooters. Virgil said, "Hold, I don't mean that!" I have come to disarm you!" Then Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury commenced to draw their pistols. At the same time, Tom McLaury throwed his hand to his right hip, throwing his coat open like this, [showing how] and jumped behind his horse. [Actually it was Billy Clanton's horse.]

I had my pistol in my overcoat pocket, where I had put it when Behan told us he had disarmed the other parties. When I saw Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury draw their pistols, I drew my pistol. Billy Clanton leveled his pistol at me, but I did not aim at him. I knew that Frank McLaury had the reputation of being a good shot and a dangerous man, and I aimed at Frank McLaury. The first two shots were fired by Billy Clanton and myself, he shooting at me, and I shooting at Frank McLaury. I don't know which was fired first. We fired almost together. The fight then became general. After about four shots were fired, Ike Clanton ran up and grabbed my left arm. I could see no weapon in his hand, and thought at the time he had none, and so I said to him, "The fight had commenced. Go to fighting or get away,” at the same time pushing him off with my left hand, like this. He started and ran down the side of the building and disappeared between the lodging house and photograph gallery.

My first shot struck Frank McLaury in the belly. He staggered off on the sidewalk but fired one shot at me. When we told them to throw up their hands Claiborne threw up his left hand and broke and ran. I never saw him afterwards until late in the afternoon, after the fight. I never drew my pistol or made a motion to shoot until after Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury drew their pistols. If Tom McLaury was unarmed, I did not know it, I believe he was armed and fired two shots at our party before Holliday, who had the shotgun, fired and killed him. If he was unarmed, there was nothing in the circumstances or in what had been communicated to me, or in his acts or threats, that would have led me even to suspect his being unarmed.

I never fired at Ike Clanton, even after the shooting commenced, because I thought he was unarmed. I believed then, and believe now, from the acts I have stated and the threats I have related and the other threats communicated to me by other persons as having been made by Tom McLaury, Frank McLaury, and Ike Clanton, that these men last named had formed a conspiracy to murder my brothers, Morgan and Virgil, Doc Holliday and myself. I believe I would have been legally and morally justified in shooting any of them on sight, but I did not do so, nor attempt to do so. I sought no advantage when I went as deputy marshal [city marshal] to help disarm them and arrest them. I went as a part of my duty and under the direction of my brother, the marshal; I did not intend to fight unless it became necessary in self-defense and in the performance of official duty. When Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury drew their pistols, I knew it was a fight for life, and I drew in defense of my own life and the lives of my brothers and Doc Holliday.


I have been in Tombstone since December 1, 1879. I came here directly from Dodge City, Kansas. Against the protest of businessmen and officials, I resigned the office of city marshal, which I held from 1876. I came to Dodge City from Wichita, Kansas. I was on the police force in Wichita from 1874 until I went to Dodge City.

The testimony of Isaac Clanton that I ever said to him that I had anything to do with any stage robbery or giving information to Morgan Earp going on the stage, or any improper communication whatever with any criminal enterprise is a tissue of lies from beginning to end.

Sheriff Behan made me an offer in his office on Allen Street in the back room of a cigar store, where he, Behan, had his office, that if I would withdraw and not try to get appointed sheriff of Cochise County, that he would hire a clerk and divide the profits. I done so, and he never said an­other word about it afterwards, but claimed in his statement and gave his reason for not complying with his contract, which is false in every particular.

Myself and Doc Holliday happened to go to Charleston the night that Behan went down there to subpoena Ike Clanton. We went there for the purpose to get a horse that I had had stolen from me a few days after I came to Tombstone. I had heard several times that the Clan tons had him. When I got there that night, I was told by a friend of mine that the man that carried the dispatch from Charleston to Ike Clanton's ranch had rode my horse. At this time I did not know where Ike Clanton's ranch was.

A short time afterwards I was in the Huachucas locating some water rights. I had started home to Tombstone. I had got within 12 or 15 miles of Charleston when I met a man named McMasters. He told me if I would hurry up, I would find my horse in Charleston. I drove into Charleston and saw my horse going through the streets toward the corral. I put up for the night in another corral. I went to Burnett's office to get papers for the recovery of the horse. He was not at home having gone down to Sonora to some coal fields that had been discovered. I telegraphed to Tombstone to James Earp and told him to have papers made out and sent to me. He went to Judge Wallace and Mr. Street. They made the papers out and sent them to Charleston by my youngest brother, Warren Earp, that night. While I was waiting for the papers, Billy Clanton found out that I was in town and went and tried to take the horse out of the corral. I told him that he could not take him out, that it was my horse. After the papers came, he gave the horse up without the papers being served, and asked me if I had any more horses to lose. I told him I would keep them in the stable after this, and give him no chance to steal them.

I give here, as part of the statement, a document sent me from Dodge City since my arrest on this charge, which I wish attached to this statement and marked "Exhibit A."

[Here counsel for the Prosecution objects to this paper being introduced or used for, or attached as an exhibit as a part of this statement, on the ground that the paper is not on its face, a statement of the defendant, but a statement of other persons made long after the alleged commission of this crime. Counsel for the Defense objects to any objections interpolated by counsel for the prosecution in a statutory statement made by the party charged with crime, for the reason that the law contemplates such statement shall not be interrupted by the court, the counsel for the prosecution, or the counsel for the defense, or for the further reason that it is perfect evidence of character lacking only the absurd formality. Objection of counsel for prosecution overruled and the paper ordered to be filed as part of this statement.]

In relation to the conversation that I had with Ike Clanton, Frank McLaury, and Joe Hill was four or five different times, and they were all held in the backyard of the Oriental Saloon.

I told Ike Clanton in one of those conversations that there were some parties here in town that were trying to give Doc Holliday the worst of it by their talk, that there was some suspicion that he knew something about the attempted robbery and killing of Bud Philpot, and if I could catch Leonard, Head, and Crane, I could prove to the citizens that he knew nothing of it.

In following the trail of Leonard, Head, and Crane, we struck it at the scene of the attempted robbery, and never lost the trail or hardly a footprint from the time we started from Drew's ranch on the San Pedro, until we got to Helm's ranch in the Dragoons. After following about 80 miles down the San Pedro River and capturing one of the men named King that was supposed to be with them, we then crossed the Catalina Mountains within 15 miles of Tucson following their trail around the foot of the mountain to Tres Alamos on the San Pedro River, thence to the Dragoons to Helm's ranch.

We then started out from Helm's ranch and got on their trail. They had stolen 15 or 20 head of stock, so as to cover their trail. Virgil Earp and Morgan Earp, Robert H. Paul, Breakenridge the deputy sheriff, Johnny Behan the sheriff and one or two others still followed their trail to New Mexico.

Their trail never led south from Helm's ranch as Ike Clanton has stated. We used every effort we could to capture those men or robbers. I was out ten days. Virgil and Morgan Earp were out sixteen days, and [we] all done all we could to catch those men, and I safely say if it had not been for myself and Morgan Earp they would not have got King as he started to run when we rose up to his hiding place and was making for a big patch of brush on the river and would have got in it, if [it] had not been for us two.



[Signed] Wyatt S. Earp