Here is a video clip, purportedly shot at Roosevelt Field Shopping mall, pretty close to my house, that shows a pretty much totally naked guy (no shirt, pants down around his ankles, undies too) running amok through the mall and trashing a store. For a split second, when he was bent over and pulling on the front door of the store, I vaguely thought he was someone I knew. I have seen that guy since yesterday though and since the video was added to LiveLeak yesterday, it could not haven been him or so I would hope. Luckily, my son does not, nor do any of his friends, own a pair of red shoes, LOL.
All the best,
Glenn B
Sunday, May 5, 2013
NY State Armed Guard Training Course Completed
I never imagined working as a security guard in my retirement but that has been my lot since I got a job last July. It helps pay the bills. What would better help pay the bills though would be if I could get a job as an executive somewhere but since that is not about to happen I will settle for an armed guard position and increase my current pay by anywhere from 150% to about 250% per hour. That will be okay. So I took the armed guard course I have been blogging about for the past couple of weeks.
The final class was today. We shot rifles, shotgun and then practiced transitioning from shotgun to handgun. I scored 100% on each of the shotgun and rifle courses. I have to admit, it would have been close to impossible for me not to have done so and for even mediocre shooters not to have done so. of course, there were some who did not score as well but only a couple or a few. One guy scored a 70 with he shotgun which was surprising since we were firing at only 15 yards but then again, some of the guys were shooting both the rifle and shotgun for the first time ever and I think he was one of them. Anyway, as I understand, he passed by the grace of getting the lowest passing score.
As far as he rifle goes, I fired an AR15, don't know the make, with a red dot sight on it. I really did not bother sighting in with the rifle, I simply brought it up, pointed it, and fired. Yes, I saw the sight but even when I saw a double image of it, I kept firing and got all my shotgun the scoring zone for a perfect score. I was firing as fast as I could fire for: one stage of five rounds at he head, one stage of 10 rounds and another of five rounds, both of those at the torso. I am certain I would have put a hurting on a bad guy had it been one of them instead of paper at which I was shooting. Had the target been at 25 yards, I would have concerned myself with aiming for a bit of precision but no way I was about to do that so close in at 15 yards. I think I fired faster than anyone of the other 4 shooters shooting at the same time as me by almost half their time to fire each volley.
Until today, I probably have not fired the shotgun more than twice in the past year and a half, if that much. I used my personally owned Remington 870 pump action shotgun. It always has been one of my favorite firearms and I was not at all disappointed with how I shot it today. I shot as fast as I could shoot, reacquired the front sight (did not pay much attention to the rear sight at that distance but I did have it in the picture each time) and shot again, repeating until empty. I was much faster than anyone else of the other 4 shooters who shot at the same time as me and I mean MUCH faster. (The Remington 870 being one of my preferred weapons, I am quite familiar with it and how to shoot it fast and accurately.). I also am certain I was much faster than anyone else on the other two relays. We shot two volleys of five shots. I had a decent group with the shotgun, seven of ten shots going into a medium fist sized hole and the other three not more than an inch from the center of that hole. One guy, maybe two, had a better group than me but they both were shooting pretty slowly. I did not do bad at all for not having shot that gun in way too long of a good while.
As for the transitioning to pistol, we brought up the shotgun, with an empty chamber, gun cocked, dry fired, and when it went click had to draw and fire two shots from the pistol. I had my shotgun on a combat sling and merely dropped it and drew and fired the Glock 26. I was obviously faster than anyone else by several seconds. We did that three times. Four of my shots went right through the hole already punched by the shotgun slugs. The other two were centered left to right but a bit lower down. More than good enough, I was quite pleased with my little bit of transitioning from shotgun to pistol shooting as I was with the rest of my shooting today.
Sorry for the terrible photo of my target but that is how it came out with my cell phone's camera in the pretty low light at the range. The Red lines mark the shotgun slug holes, the blue lines mark shotgun wad holes and the green lines the two of six pistol shots that did not go through the shotgun slug group in the center. All the other smaller holes were from the .223 rounds fired through the AR-15.
Now, I have to wait about a week to 10 days to receive my certificate for having successfully passed the course; then send in an application to change my guard license from unarmed to armed and wait for the new license to be sent to me. maybe another month after I submit my application for the license change. I guess, I should have the armed guard license by the end of June give or take a week or two. Once I get the new license, I will start applying for a new job. Before I do that though, I will offer my current employer my continued services, but as an armed instead of unarmed guard, for a pay increase. I like it where I am working, like most of the people who work there, can tolerate the others, have a really good boss who has good bosses himself, and if they agree to keep me on as an armed guard (they have been considering going to armed guards), I would be quite happy to stay there.
All the best,
Glenn B
The final class was today. We shot rifles, shotgun and then practiced transitioning from shotgun to handgun. I scored 100% on each of the shotgun and rifle courses. I have to admit, it would have been close to impossible for me not to have done so and for even mediocre shooters not to have done so. of course, there were some who did not score as well but only a couple or a few. One guy scored a 70 with he shotgun which was surprising since we were firing at only 15 yards but then again, some of the guys were shooting both the rifle and shotgun for the first time ever and I think he was one of them. Anyway, as I understand, he passed by the grace of getting the lowest passing score.
As far as he rifle goes, I fired an AR15, don't know the make, with a red dot sight on it. I really did not bother sighting in with the rifle, I simply brought it up, pointed it, and fired. Yes, I saw the sight but even when I saw a double image of it, I kept firing and got all my shotgun the scoring zone for a perfect score. I was firing as fast as I could fire for: one stage of five rounds at he head, one stage of 10 rounds and another of five rounds, both of those at the torso. I am certain I would have put a hurting on a bad guy had it been one of them instead of paper at which I was shooting. Had the target been at 25 yards, I would have concerned myself with aiming for a bit of precision but no way I was about to do that so close in at 15 yards. I think I fired faster than anyone of the other 4 shooters shooting at the same time as me by almost half their time to fire each volley.
As for the transitioning to pistol, we brought up the shotgun, with an empty chamber, gun cocked, dry fired, and when it went click had to draw and fire two shots from the pistol. I had my shotgun on a combat sling and merely dropped it and drew and fired the Glock 26. I was obviously faster than anyone else by several seconds. We did that three times. Four of my shots went right through the hole already punched by the shotgun slugs. The other two were centered left to right but a bit lower down. More than good enough, I was quite pleased with my little bit of transitioning from shotgun to pistol shooting as I was with the rest of my shooting today.
Sorry for the terrible photo of my target but that is how it came out with my cell phone's camera in the pretty low light at the range. The Red lines mark the shotgun slug holes, the blue lines mark shotgun wad holes and the green lines the two of six pistol shots that did not go through the shotgun slug group in the center. All the other smaller holes were from the .223 rounds fired through the AR-15.
Now, I have to wait about a week to 10 days to receive my certificate for having successfully passed the course; then send in an application to change my guard license from unarmed to armed and wait for the new license to be sent to me. maybe another month after I submit my application for the license change. I guess, I should have the armed guard license by the end of June give or take a week or two. Once I get the new license, I will start applying for a new job. Before I do that though, I will offer my current employer my continued services, but as an armed instead of unarmed guard, for a pay increase. I like it where I am working, like most of the people who work there, can tolerate the others, have a really good boss who has good bosses himself, and if they agree to keep me on as an armed guard (they have been considering going to armed guards), I would be quite happy to stay there.
All the best,
Glenn B
Saturday, May 4, 2013
A Thought On Burying The Remains Tamerlan Tsarnaev in Boston
I think that what is left of Tamerlan Tsarnaev should be buried in Boston, in a cemetery open to the public, in a location made known to the public. I strongly encourage Bostonians to strive for his remains to be buried in that manner in Boston. That way, the people of Boston can visit his grave to piss on the headstone and pour pigs' blood on the ground under which he lies, on a daily basis, for eternity.
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
So What Are The Chances Me Or One of My Classmates Will Be Arrested Tomorrow...
... or at least searched and detained for questioning, as we head toward the Mitchell Athletic Complex to go to the Nassau County Rifle & Pistol Range (which is immediately adjacent or maybe even in that complex) with pistols, shotguns, rifles and ammo, to attend the last day of our armed security guard training? Normally, I would not even think about such a possibility. Tomorrow though will be a different kind of day with the Long Island Marathon being run, parking for it in all the lots around the range (and probably some arsehats parking in the range's spots) and the starting point for the Marathon being very close to the range. Security is going to be "heightened" and you can bet it probably will be extreme in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings. According to one news report I read:
“You can expect to be challenged,” Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said. “If you’re going into any of the designated areas there’s a security check point before you go in, every bag will be searched.” (source)
I can't wait. The only good thing we have going for us is that the class was supposed to begin at 0800 but has been pushed back to 1100 because of the race and all of the security. Somehow though, I get the feeling there will still be a good amount of security in that area, at that time, because a lot of the runners' cars will be parked close by since the range is so close to the starting line.
I guess that tomorrow, before leaving the house, I had best make sure none of my pistol magazines are accidentally loaded with more than seven rounds, that I have my wallet and that it contains my pistol license, that I leave my AK-47 at home and all that kind of hooey because I sure don't want to be given the treatment by some overzealous officer who thinks he has stumbled on NY's version of MA's TERRORISTA#1 if they search my car and find a few pistols and a shotgun in it. Of course, I will also bring along my good manners so, that if stopped, I would only speak to the officers with what could be seen as courtesy and respect and I would hope they would do likewise to me.
I am hoping for a good day at the range and nothing more. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
All the best,
Glenn B
“You can expect to be challenged,” Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said. “If you’re going into any of the designated areas there’s a security check point before you go in, every bag will be searched.” (source)
I can't wait. The only good thing we have going for us is that the class was supposed to begin at 0800 but has been pushed back to 1100 because of the race and all of the security. Somehow though, I get the feeling there will still be a good amount of security in that area, at that time, because a lot of the runners' cars will be parked close by since the range is so close to the starting line.
I guess that tomorrow, before leaving the house, I had best make sure none of my pistol magazines are accidentally loaded with more than seven rounds, that I have my wallet and that it contains my pistol license, that I leave my AK-47 at home and all that kind of hooey because I sure don't want to be given the treatment by some overzealous officer who thinks he has stumbled on NY's version of MA's TERRORISTA#1 if they search my car and find a few pistols and a shotgun in it. Of course, I will also bring along my good manners so, that if stopped, I would only speak to the officers with what could be seen as courtesy and respect and I would hope they would do likewise to me.
I am hoping for a good day at the range and nothing more. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
All the best,
Glenn B
Firearms Qualifications Today
Well, as I expected, I passed the qualification course of fire for the armed guard training I have been taking. I was allowed to shoot one gun twice for score or to shoot two guns and get scored for each of them. I opted to shoot the Glock 26 first. I scored a 96 out of 100%. I was not overly happy with how I shot the Glock, I should have achieved a perfect score but didn't. I dropped two shots, one going low to the left on which I fired to soon after a reload. I fired as I was punching the gun out before aligning my sights and it was akin to anticipating recoil. The other was outside the scored area and was shot at 25 yards. Looks like I jerked the trigger or had too much finger on it. There are no excuses for either of those shots.
I shot the next qual course with one of my Beretta 92FS pistols. I scored 100% on that one with a pretty good group too - all center of mass in the torso (except for the head shots that were right where they were meant to be, center of mass in the head). That one I was happy about. I'll just have to keep practicing what I preach with the Glock until all the shots are in there for a perfect score.
We spent all of our training time firing on the range today, so - it was a fun day. Beside the qualification courses of fire, we also practiced malfunction drills, multiple target acquisition and shooting, and also shooting while moving. It was the bare bones basics for each but I had a great time. I virtually always have fun when shooting at the range.
Tomorrow we will be shooting rifle and shotgun. Shooters were told to bring in their personally owned 12 gauge pump action shotguns and patrol type rifles (like an AR-15) although that is optional because the instructor has some we can shoot. I will probably bring in my Remington 870 (if I can find it) but that will likely need at least a light application of oil or maybe even require a good cleaning, tonight. I am going to be cleaning the Glock 26 and the Beretta 92FS and am thinking since I have to clean them, I may as well clean the shotgun too (remembering that a clean gun is a happy gun).
I am looking forward to another day of firearms training. Once that is out of the way, as I understand, I will receive a certification that I have taken and passed the course. About a week after I get the certification, I will have to send in my applications, along with the original of my unarmed guard license. (How ridiculous can they get because if it gets lost in the mail I will have to apply for another and was told it takes 6 months to be reissued if lost!) Then, within whatever is the normal time frame, I should receive my armed guard license in the mail and I will be able apply for and hopefully get work as an armed guard for much better pay than I make right now. I suppose time will tell if that works out.
All the best,
Glenn B
I shot the next qual course with one of my Beretta 92FS pistols. I scored 100% on that one with a pretty good group too - all center of mass in the torso (except for the head shots that were right where they were meant to be, center of mass in the head). That one I was happy about. I'll just have to keep practicing what I preach with the Glock until all the shots are in there for a perfect score.
We spent all of our training time firing on the range today, so - it was a fun day. Beside the qualification courses of fire, we also practiced malfunction drills, multiple target acquisition and shooting, and also shooting while moving. It was the bare bones basics for each but I had a great time. I virtually always have fun when shooting at the range.
Tomorrow we will be shooting rifle and shotgun. Shooters were told to bring in their personally owned 12 gauge pump action shotguns and patrol type rifles (like an AR-15) although that is optional because the instructor has some we can shoot. I will probably bring in my Remington 870 (if I can find it) but that will likely need at least a light application of oil or maybe even require a good cleaning, tonight. I am going to be cleaning the Glock 26 and the Beretta 92FS and am thinking since I have to clean them, I may as well clean the shotgun too (remembering that a clean gun is a happy gun).
I am looking forward to another day of firearms training. Once that is out of the way, as I understand, I will receive a certification that I have taken and passed the course. About a week after I get the certification, I will have to send in my applications, along with the original of my unarmed guard license. (How ridiculous can they get because if it gets lost in the mail I will have to apply for another and was told it takes 6 months to be reissued if lost!) Then, within whatever is the normal time frame, I should receive my armed guard license in the mail and I will be able apply for and hopefully get work as an armed guard for much better pay than I make right now. I suppose time will tell if that works out.
All the best,
Glenn B
Friday, May 3, 2013
Is It Just Me and You - Or Does Anybody Else Think A Revolution Is Coming?
The answer is that 29% of the Americanvoting public believe that an armed revolt is going to be necessary in order to protect our rights and liberties. According to the survey, 44% of those who said yes are Republicans. That leaves a whopping 56% of OTHER THAN REPUBLICANS who also answered that they believed an armed revolt will be necessary to protect our rights and liberties. Looking into that a little deeper will reveal that those numbers must mean there are an awful lot of Democrats in the mix, along with Independents, who also thought so because those are the other two big groups of voters.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/02/poll-shows-2-percent-voters-think-armed-revolution-might-be-needed/?test=latestnews
Note that, those who said a revolution was not going to be necessary amounted to only 47% of the polled, while another 24% either declined to answer or were uncertain if a revolution would be needed. My bet would be that most of the undecided/refused to answer probably also believe one is coming but were smart enough not to say so.
All the best,
Glenn B
Oh Toto, I've Got A Feeling We Should Be In Kansas Forevermore...
...or in Kentucky, or Arizona, or Utah or any other Right to Keep and Bear Arms friendly state.
Kansas: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/03/kansas-governor-attorney-general-holder-spar-over-new-state-gun-law/?test=latestnews
Arizona: http://nraila.org/legislation/state-legislation/2013/5/arizona-governor-brewer-signs-two-pro-gun-reforms-into-law.aspx
Kentucky: http://gun.laws.com/kentucky-gun-laws
Utah: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/04/28/utah-lawmakers-aim-to-resurface-gun-rights-measures/
All the best,
Glenn B
Kansas: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/03/kansas-governor-attorney-general-holder-spar-over-new-state-gun-law/?test=latestnews
Arizona: http://nraila.org/legislation/state-legislation/2013/5/arizona-governor-brewer-signs-two-pro-gun-reforms-into-law.aspx
Kentucky: http://gun.laws.com/kentucky-gun-laws
Utah: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/04/28/utah-lawmakers-aim-to-resurface-gun-rights-measures/
All the best,
Glenn B
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Another Few Dealers Added to My Link List
My ever expanding list of gun dealers, firearms parts and accessories suppliers, ammo dealers and firearms auction sites has grown by two three. The list contains only dealers from whom I have made purchases or online services that I have used such as online firearms auction houses. The two dealers I have added are:
Buffer Technologies
Palmetto State Armory
I ordered ten 10 round magazines, for my Beretta 92 series pistols. They had them at a great price of $15.00 each. They are Italian made, Beretta factory manufactured magazines from what I can tell, and from what it said in the ad and on the invoice (in other words the genuine article). My guess is these were police or military surplus (although I do not know why any military would order 10 round mags) that were in storage for awhile. They had a dull finish on the outside possibly made that way or possibly caused by slight amount of surface rust, only seen when I cleaned them with white cloths wetted with Gunzilla. It is possible they were refinished on the outside surface but I do not think so. The insides and the springs look brand new, just the outside had either a dull finish or the finish that was dulled by the slight amount of rust. These were a great buy since Beretta recently offered the same magazines at about $44 apiece but had none available when I looked to them to order some. I am happy they were out of stock at Beretta and in stock at Buffer Technologies. They shipped fast and shipped to NY even though many companies refused to ship 10 round mags to NY, after passage of the NY SAFE Act, even though it was legal to do so. A hat tip to Buffer technologies. By the way, those mags sold out overnight but I am happy to say I posted the info about them on the forums at Long island Firearms and at least a few folks said they picked some up.
As for my order with Palmetto State Armory, I ordered 500 rounds of American Eagle, 115 grain, FMJ, 9mm ammo from them last week. It arrived yesterday, was waiting on my doorstep when I arrived home. I would liked to have seen them ship faster than having to wait 6-7 days just for the item to be shipped and then a couple more to receive it but I can understand the delay with the ammo buying frenzy that has been taking place because: 1. Obama was reelected, 2. Obama is extremely anti-gun as opposed to anything he said otherwise and he always claimed to be gun friendly, 3. Gun control laws being passed by emotional twits in state governments to oppress our liberties and destroy our rights instead of executing dangerous violent criminals and lock away the mentally ill, 4. The government buying huge quantities of ammunition to supply Obama's civilian force to make it as strong as the military (a campaign promise or post-campaign promise in his first term). But I digress. Palmetto State Armory shipped my order of ammunition reasonably well packaged, sent what I actually ordered and had a pretty good price for the ammo at the current time It went for $17.99 per box of 50. Note, I did not say a great price nor a price from before the ammo buying frenzy, I said a pretty good price and since the next closest offer I saw for the same ammo was double that price, yep that was pretty good. Hopefully that is a sign that ammo prices will soon fall.
I should note that it took at least 3 order attempts and a total of about 40 minutes for my to be able to place an order with them. My guess is that even DHS was trying to order from them at that price.
I would gladly do business again with either of these companies.
By the way, I found that lower ammo price by checking with:
GUNBOT.net
I guess I am really adding three sites to my link list. GUNBOT offers an invaluable service to the ammunition consumer by listing, in virtual real time, ammunition as it becomes available and the prices at which it is selling.
All the best,
Glenn B
Buffer Technologies
Palmetto State Armory
I ordered ten 10 round magazines, for my Beretta 92 series pistols. They had them at a great price of $15.00 each. They are Italian made, Beretta factory manufactured magazines from what I can tell, and from what it said in the ad and on the invoice (in other words the genuine article). My guess is these were police or military surplus (although I do not know why any military would order 10 round mags) that were in storage for awhile. They had a dull finish on the outside possibly made that way or possibly caused by slight amount of surface rust, only seen when I cleaned them with white cloths wetted with Gunzilla. It is possible they were refinished on the outside surface but I do not think so. The insides and the springs look brand new, just the outside had either a dull finish or the finish that was dulled by the slight amount of rust. These were a great buy since Beretta recently offered the same magazines at about $44 apiece but had none available when I looked to them to order some. I am happy they were out of stock at Beretta and in stock at Buffer Technologies. They shipped fast and shipped to NY even though many companies refused to ship 10 round mags to NY, after passage of the NY SAFE Act, even though it was legal to do so. A hat tip to Buffer technologies. By the way, those mags sold out overnight but I am happy to say I posted the info about them on the forums at Long island Firearms and at least a few folks said they picked some up.
As for my order with Palmetto State Armory, I ordered 500 rounds of American Eagle, 115 grain, FMJ, 9mm ammo from them last week. It arrived yesterday, was waiting on my doorstep when I arrived home. I would liked to have seen them ship faster than having to wait 6-7 days just for the item to be shipped and then a couple more to receive it but I can understand the delay with the ammo buying frenzy that has been taking place because: 1. Obama was reelected, 2. Obama is extremely anti-gun as opposed to anything he said otherwise and he always claimed to be gun friendly, 3. Gun control laws being passed by emotional twits in state governments to oppress our liberties and destroy our rights instead of executing dangerous violent criminals and lock away the mentally ill, 4. The government buying huge quantities of ammunition to supply Obama's civilian force to make it as strong as the military (a campaign promise or post-campaign promise in his first term). But I digress. Palmetto State Armory shipped my order of ammunition reasonably well packaged, sent what I actually ordered and had a pretty good price for the ammo at the current time It went for $17.99 per box of 50. Note, I did not say a great price nor a price from before the ammo buying frenzy, I said a pretty good price and since the next closest offer I saw for the same ammo was double that price, yep that was pretty good. Hopefully that is a sign that ammo prices will soon fall.
I should note that it took at least 3 order attempts and a total of about 40 minutes for my to be able to place an order with them. My guess is that even DHS was trying to order from them at that price.
I would gladly do business again with either of these companies.
By the way, I found that lower ammo price by checking with:
GUNBOT.net
I guess I am really adding three sites to my link list. GUNBOT offers an invaluable service to the ammunition consumer by listing, in virtual real time, ammunition as it becomes available and the prices at which it is selling.
All the best,
Glenn B
The Basics of Trigger Finger Placement - Helping Oldtime and New Shooter Alike
It is never too soon to learn or too late to relearn one of the basics of
pistol shooting, specifically Trigger Finger Placement, but it could turn out
too late to learn if you wind up needing to depend on your pistol for
self-defense or defense of others and have not learned it already. Note there I
a subtle difference between it never being too late to relearn and too late to
learn when it appears in words but it would likely be the difference between
life and death in the real world. If you don't understand what I mean, you are
hopeless, don't read further.
Ok, so you decided to read on; I imagine that means you understood what I meant and are still alive and capable of learning or relearning before it is too late. (If you are pretty much an idiot, thus virtually incapable of learning, but just curious, it means you are still alive and there is, at least, an outside chance for you yet.)
I have been an avid pistol shooter since I was in my mid-twenties. That means I have been shooting pistols, with regularity, for 33.5 years now - almost to the day. In that time I have been a terrible shot, a passable shot, a mediocre shot, a good shot, an expert shot and intermittently a distinguished expert (intermittent with expert), then again a fair to good shot, back to an expert and distinguished expert all over again. I pretty much made progress in that order, then declined, then once again made progress just as outlined in the previous sentence. Of course, there were some times in there, when I was not consistently, a distinguished expert or an expert but once I had achieved the ability to qualify as an expert shooter, I rarely fell below that mark except during the odd qualification course when I was off my mark. I had collateral duties as a firearms instructor, for about 14 years, when I was employed as a federal agent; and I am currently a certified NRA Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor for pistol and shotgun. You can rest assured, I know the basics of pistol shooting. Mind you, I am not bragging, just giving you my background because it is pertinent to what I said about it never being too late to relearn pistol shooting basics regarding trigger finger placement.
Back in June 2011, I attended an NRA Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor School for pistol and shotgun. I did very well but I was shooting groups somewhat to the left. It wasn’t much, certainly not enough to concern me when shooting even out to 15 yards but at 25 yards I was not doing as good as I should have been doing. Even the course instructors did not seem concerned by it. Then one of the instructors mentioned something to us, about how to teach other shooters, the proper way to place your finger on the trigger. The light bulb lit up and I tried it just the way they had shown it. My shots were back on center target in virtually no time so long as I did it just the way they told us to do it. It was almost like I had learned it for the first time but I knew better. It was more a case of me getting lazy, forming bad habits, and not thinking I (already a good shot and an instructor) could have forgotten one of the basics. The truth is though, I had probably had my bad habit for a few years because I consistently had been shooting like that with my Glock pistols, be it my issued Model 19, my issued model 26 or my personally owned model 26. Another firearms instructor, on my job, adjusted the sights never thinking to check my trigger finger position; he was guilty, as was I, of thinking I would not be making a novice’s mistake. Then when I was issued a SIG 229 DAH, I also sometimes shot like that. Same was true with my Beretta 92FS pistols but I shot them nowhere nearly as much as the Glocks or SIG once each respectively became the issued pistols at my agency and never noticed it that much when shooting the Berettas. In addition, Glocks and SIG were all double action only pistols; the Berettas are double action on the first shot, then single action for subsequent shots and what I was doing wrong effected my shooting less when firing a single action pistol because of the shortened trigger travel and the smaller amount of strength to pull the trigger in single action mode.
Getting back to the NRA class, I had been using my Glock for most of the class. I had to change to one of my Berettas, luckily I had to foresight to bring along a back-up pistol, because the front night sight on my Glock dimmed and it became almost impossible to sight it in in low light situations. I continued to use the Glock during daylight shooting though and had planned on sending it off to Glock in July of that summer. As I said, during the course the instructors covered the basics of how to place the trigger finger on the trigger as well as all the other basics of pistol shooting. Why – because they wanted to make sure that all of the seasoned shooters taking the course, some previously qualified as instructors like me, had not forgotten and would not forget any of the basics when instructing new students. I was happy for it because I realized why I was shooting to the left just a bit. Shortly after that though, I pretty much stopped shooting for the greater part of a year. I was diagnosed with a bad case of throat cancer in the mid-summer of 2011 and went through treatments from the late summer through most of the fall. I forgot all about shooting except to make it to the range at work, for quarterly qualification in October 2011 before the treatments had really gotten to me badly as they most certainly were about to do. With all that going on, I pretty much forgot about the sights on the Glock needing replacement.
Sooner, well actually later, I sent in the Glock to get new sights, I think that was in April or May 2012. I opted for what I thought would be standard iron (steel) sights. That June, I was dismayed to receive the pistol back with plastic (actually polymer) sights and having Glock tell me those were now their standard sights. Again, after some procrastination, I sent the pistol back to Glock, in December 2012 (yes 6 moths of procrastination) that time specifically saying I wanted Glock manufactured Iron (steel) sights. I got it back fairly quickly with the iron sights on it. Now, it may seem like I took a really long time to address the problem with the sights but truth be told, I was not shooting at the time and did not give a rat’s arse. I had not shot at all between October 2011 and March 2012 when I finally was feeling well enough, after beating the cancer, to go to the range. That got me thinking about the Glock all over again and shortly after that I sent it in for repairs. Yeah, there was a long time in between the polymer sights on the first repair and the iron sights on the second repair – mostly because I was not shooting a lot because I was still not feeling all that great. The most shooting I did between October 2011 and December 2012 was at the 5th Annual NE Bloggershoot at a supersekrit location in NH. Otherwise, range trips were few and far between. It was not until this spring that I really started shooting again in earnest, about a year and three quarters after first finding out was ill.
I guess I shot the Glock twice this spring, since I had received it with the iron sights on it. As before, I was shooting to the left. I thought it was he sights and that they needed adjusting. After all, I was not shooting like that with my Beretta 92FS pistols or my Beretta 92SB. How soon I had forgotten the lesson I learned in June 2011 at the NRA training. I blame it all on what the docs and nurses called chemo-brain. Between the chemo and the radiation my brain was probably partially roasted and memory failed me a bit more than it had before that. It’s not like I am walking around with a buddy named Al Z. Heimer, in fact it has improved since the months after the treatments but I did forget or just not think about some things after going through all that. One of those things was trigger finger placement.
Then, just two weekends ago, I started to take the NY State Armed Guard Training Course in order to get an armed guard license. The course is 47 hours long and takes place over a period of six days, in this case all the days being spread out over three weekends. On day one, I shot to the left, pretty miserably when taking aimed shots using the sights. I was not happy; my groups were 2-4” to the left at 7 yards, 4-6” to the left at 15 yards and 4-“ to the left at 25 yards, most of them being 6-8 inches to the left. Since I was about the second best shot there, the instructors focused on the weaker shooters and only one mentioned the possibility I was jerking the trigger. I mentioned my poor performance to another shooter and chalked it up to the sights needing adjustment as had been done with on previous Glocks I had fired, and on this one when it had the night sights. I said I would ask an instructor if they had a Glock sight adjustment tool the next day. The other student said: ‘don’t bother, I will bring mine in for you’. He did just that on Sunday but, as luck would have it, I never got a chance to use it and that was lucky for me. As it turned out my shots kept grouping to the left even though I knew I was not jerking the trigger and thought I had been doing everything correctly. I figured I would use the sight tool the next weekend.
The Friday night of the following weekend, weekend two for the class, I happened to watch this video (it is long but was well worth the watch for me and it was quire amusing – note: never try the shooting and target holding stunts depicted in said video as they are extremely dangerous): RARE - LASD Pistol Team Exhibition, Historic, 1936, Color enhanced.
If you don’t watch any more of it, watch the section beginning at 5 minutes 52 seconds into the video and for a few seconds after that. You will see what I was doing and what I should have been doing. In the video, the instructor walks up to the shooter and corrects his trigger finger placement. (Of course, if you watch carefully, you will see the shooter push his finger back to almost the original position and you can bet if he shot like that his shooting would have suffered for it but remember they were mugging it for the cameras.)
Well, I was doing pretty much what that shooter had been doing. I had as much of my finger shoved through the trigger guard, as I get through it, with part of the middle section of my trigger finger resting on the trigger itself and thus the rear section of my trigger finger resting on the right side of the fame and partially on the right grip. That is begging for your shots to go to the left if you are a right handed shooter, or to the right if you are a left handed shooter. All I had to do to correct was to simply place the center of the pad of my trigger finger on the center of the trigger and do everything else the same as I had been doing. Doing so immediately corrected my shooting because it moved the rest of my finger off of the frame and the grip panel. Now, instead of me squeezing (pulling/pressing) the trigger back and at the same time pushing to the left with the second knuckle and rear part of my trigger finger (which is what happens when you hold with too much finger on the trigger), I was pulling the trigger straight back and the rest of my finger formed an arch that was not touching the gun.
My shots were no longer off to the left, I was hitting center of mass. Although still not shooting as good as I used to shoot, my group was wider than I would have liked it to have been, I have to say that the change was quite remarkable. All in simply adjusting my trigger finger on the trigger and then keeping it that way. The next day, I placed my finger on the trigger in the same manner. When we shot two qualification courses, I got 100% on each. I think one other shooter out of 14 of us equaled that but my group sizes were better than his. Sure that made me feel good but the important thing was not how I felt but that I had relearned one of the fundamental lessons of pistol shooting that I had forgotten somewhere along the way. It also reminded me that, in most cases it is not the gun that causes anyone to shoot poorly - it is much more likely due to what we used to call piss poor shooting skills or what today one might call, in a much more politically correct world, user error.
Now, granted, I could have explained the poor shooting technique to you and then told you how to properly apply your finger to the trigger in all of one or two short paragraph(s) but I like telling the whole story. I figured in this case it would show how applicable getting it applied correctly is to the new shooter as well as to the seasoned professional shooter and that the basics are something you always need to practice if you want to keep shooting on the mark. I hope that the longer version has made it sink in just a little better than would have the shorter one. If I have bored you, and you ever need to come back to read this again, then just read the last couple of paragraphs above; they should work for you, they contain the basic premise of proper trigger finger placement.
All the best,
Glenn B
Ok, so you decided to read on; I imagine that means you understood what I meant and are still alive and capable of learning or relearning before it is too late. (If you are pretty much an idiot, thus virtually incapable of learning, but just curious, it means you are still alive and there is, at least, an outside chance for you yet.)
I have been an avid pistol shooter since I was in my mid-twenties. That means I have been shooting pistols, with regularity, for 33.5 years now - almost to the day. In that time I have been a terrible shot, a passable shot, a mediocre shot, a good shot, an expert shot and intermittently a distinguished expert (intermittent with expert), then again a fair to good shot, back to an expert and distinguished expert all over again. I pretty much made progress in that order, then declined, then once again made progress just as outlined in the previous sentence. Of course, there were some times in there, when I was not consistently, a distinguished expert or an expert but once I had achieved the ability to qualify as an expert shooter, I rarely fell below that mark except during the odd qualification course when I was off my mark. I had collateral duties as a firearms instructor, for about 14 years, when I was employed as a federal agent; and I am currently a certified NRA Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor for pistol and shotgun. You can rest assured, I know the basics of pistol shooting. Mind you, I am not bragging, just giving you my background because it is pertinent to what I said about it never being too late to relearn pistol shooting basics regarding trigger finger placement.
Back in June 2011, I attended an NRA Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor School for pistol and shotgun. I did very well but I was shooting groups somewhat to the left. It wasn’t much, certainly not enough to concern me when shooting even out to 15 yards but at 25 yards I was not doing as good as I should have been doing. Even the course instructors did not seem concerned by it. Then one of the instructors mentioned something to us, about how to teach other shooters, the proper way to place your finger on the trigger. The light bulb lit up and I tried it just the way they had shown it. My shots were back on center target in virtually no time so long as I did it just the way they told us to do it. It was almost like I had learned it for the first time but I knew better. It was more a case of me getting lazy, forming bad habits, and not thinking I (already a good shot and an instructor) could have forgotten one of the basics. The truth is though, I had probably had my bad habit for a few years because I consistently had been shooting like that with my Glock pistols, be it my issued Model 19, my issued model 26 or my personally owned model 26. Another firearms instructor, on my job, adjusted the sights never thinking to check my trigger finger position; he was guilty, as was I, of thinking I would not be making a novice’s mistake. Then when I was issued a SIG 229 DAH, I also sometimes shot like that. Same was true with my Beretta 92FS pistols but I shot them nowhere nearly as much as the Glocks or SIG once each respectively became the issued pistols at my agency and never noticed it that much when shooting the Berettas. In addition, Glocks and SIG were all double action only pistols; the Berettas are double action on the first shot, then single action for subsequent shots and what I was doing wrong effected my shooting less when firing a single action pistol because of the shortened trigger travel and the smaller amount of strength to pull the trigger in single action mode.
Getting back to the NRA class, I had been using my Glock for most of the class. I had to change to one of my Berettas, luckily I had to foresight to bring along a back-up pistol, because the front night sight on my Glock dimmed and it became almost impossible to sight it in in low light situations. I continued to use the Glock during daylight shooting though and had planned on sending it off to Glock in July of that summer. As I said, during the course the instructors covered the basics of how to place the trigger finger on the trigger as well as all the other basics of pistol shooting. Why – because they wanted to make sure that all of the seasoned shooters taking the course, some previously qualified as instructors like me, had not forgotten and would not forget any of the basics when instructing new students. I was happy for it because I realized why I was shooting to the left just a bit. Shortly after that though, I pretty much stopped shooting for the greater part of a year. I was diagnosed with a bad case of throat cancer in the mid-summer of 2011 and went through treatments from the late summer through most of the fall. I forgot all about shooting except to make it to the range at work, for quarterly qualification in October 2011 before the treatments had really gotten to me badly as they most certainly were about to do. With all that going on, I pretty much forgot about the sights on the Glock needing replacement.
Sooner, well actually later, I sent in the Glock to get new sights, I think that was in April or May 2012. I opted for what I thought would be standard iron (steel) sights. That June, I was dismayed to receive the pistol back with plastic (actually polymer) sights and having Glock tell me those were now their standard sights. Again, after some procrastination, I sent the pistol back to Glock, in December 2012 (yes 6 moths of procrastination) that time specifically saying I wanted Glock manufactured Iron (steel) sights. I got it back fairly quickly with the iron sights on it. Now, it may seem like I took a really long time to address the problem with the sights but truth be told, I was not shooting at the time and did not give a rat’s arse. I had not shot at all between October 2011 and March 2012 when I finally was feeling well enough, after beating the cancer, to go to the range. That got me thinking about the Glock all over again and shortly after that I sent it in for repairs. Yeah, there was a long time in between the polymer sights on the first repair and the iron sights on the second repair – mostly because I was not shooting a lot because I was still not feeling all that great. The most shooting I did between October 2011 and December 2012 was at the 5th Annual NE Bloggershoot at a supersekrit location in NH. Otherwise, range trips were few and far between. It was not until this spring that I really started shooting again in earnest, about a year and three quarters after first finding out was ill.
I guess I shot the Glock twice this spring, since I had received it with the iron sights on it. As before, I was shooting to the left. I thought it was he sights and that they needed adjusting. After all, I was not shooting like that with my Beretta 92FS pistols or my Beretta 92SB. How soon I had forgotten the lesson I learned in June 2011 at the NRA training. I blame it all on what the docs and nurses called chemo-brain. Between the chemo and the radiation my brain was probably partially roasted and memory failed me a bit more than it had before that. It’s not like I am walking around with a buddy named Al Z. Heimer, in fact it has improved since the months after the treatments but I did forget or just not think about some things after going through all that. One of those things was trigger finger placement.
Then, just two weekends ago, I started to take the NY State Armed Guard Training Course in order to get an armed guard license. The course is 47 hours long and takes place over a period of six days, in this case all the days being spread out over three weekends. On day one, I shot to the left, pretty miserably when taking aimed shots using the sights. I was not happy; my groups were 2-4” to the left at 7 yards, 4-6” to the left at 15 yards and 4-“ to the left at 25 yards, most of them being 6-8 inches to the left. Since I was about the second best shot there, the instructors focused on the weaker shooters and only one mentioned the possibility I was jerking the trigger. I mentioned my poor performance to another shooter and chalked it up to the sights needing adjustment as had been done with on previous Glocks I had fired, and on this one when it had the night sights. I said I would ask an instructor if they had a Glock sight adjustment tool the next day. The other student said: ‘don’t bother, I will bring mine in for you’. He did just that on Sunday but, as luck would have it, I never got a chance to use it and that was lucky for me. As it turned out my shots kept grouping to the left even though I knew I was not jerking the trigger and thought I had been doing everything correctly. I figured I would use the sight tool the next weekend.
The Friday night of the following weekend, weekend two for the class, I happened to watch this video (it is long but was well worth the watch for me and it was quire amusing – note: never try the shooting and target holding stunts depicted in said video as they are extremely dangerous): RARE - LASD Pistol Team Exhibition, Historic, 1936, Color enhanced.
If you don’t watch any more of it, watch the section beginning at 5 minutes 52 seconds into the video and for a few seconds after that. You will see what I was doing and what I should have been doing. In the video, the instructor walks up to the shooter and corrects his trigger finger placement. (Of course, if you watch carefully, you will see the shooter push his finger back to almost the original position and you can bet if he shot like that his shooting would have suffered for it but remember they were mugging it for the cameras.)
Well, I was doing pretty much what that shooter had been doing. I had as much of my finger shoved through the trigger guard, as I get through it, with part of the middle section of my trigger finger resting on the trigger itself and thus the rear section of my trigger finger resting on the right side of the fame and partially on the right grip. That is begging for your shots to go to the left if you are a right handed shooter, or to the right if you are a left handed shooter. All I had to do to correct was to simply place the center of the pad of my trigger finger on the center of the trigger and do everything else the same as I had been doing. Doing so immediately corrected my shooting because it moved the rest of my finger off of the frame and the grip panel. Now, instead of me squeezing (pulling/pressing) the trigger back and at the same time pushing to the left with the second knuckle and rear part of my trigger finger (which is what happens when you hold with too much finger on the trigger), I was pulling the trigger straight back and the rest of my finger formed an arch that was not touching the gun.
My shots were no longer off to the left, I was hitting center of mass. Although still not shooting as good as I used to shoot, my group was wider than I would have liked it to have been, I have to say that the change was quite remarkable. All in simply adjusting my trigger finger on the trigger and then keeping it that way. The next day, I placed my finger on the trigger in the same manner. When we shot two qualification courses, I got 100% on each. I think one other shooter out of 14 of us equaled that but my group sizes were better than his. Sure that made me feel good but the important thing was not how I felt but that I had relearned one of the fundamental lessons of pistol shooting that I had forgotten somewhere along the way. It also reminded me that, in most cases it is not the gun that causes anyone to shoot poorly - it is much more likely due to what we used to call piss poor shooting skills or what today one might call, in a much more politically correct world, user error.
Now, granted, I could have explained the poor shooting technique to you and then told you how to properly apply your finger to the trigger in all of one or two short paragraph(s) but I like telling the whole story. I figured in this case it would show how applicable getting it applied correctly is to the new shooter as well as to the seasoned professional shooter and that the basics are something you always need to practice if you want to keep shooting on the mark. I hope that the longer version has made it sink in just a little better than would have the shorter one. If I have bored you, and you ever need to come back to read this again, then just read the last couple of paragraphs above; they should work for you, they contain the basic premise of proper trigger finger placement.
All the best,
Glenn B
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
The Dark Continent Eludes Me
Since I began tracking visits to my blog, I have always hoped to find that, at sometime in any given 24 hour period, I would have had visitors to my blog from the 6 continents (yes I realize there are 7 continents but I am talking ones with countries located therein and thereby excluding Antarctica). While it may have happened already, it has not done so to my knowledge. I have come close several times, for instance today, when I looked, I saw that I had visits from 5 continents but that as usual, the Dark Continent eludes me.
Oh well, today is still just another day in Paradise.
All the best,
Glenn B
Oh well, today is still just another day in Paradise.
All the best,
Glenn B
Poisoned OJ at Starbucks - Motive a Total Mystery???
Police are in essence reporting that they have no clue as to the motive of a California pharmacist, Ramineh Behbehanian, who allegedly placed two bottles of poisoned orange juice onto the shelves at a San Jose Starbucks. The juice was reportedly tainted with enough rubbing alcohol to kill someone had they taken a drink of it. I would suggest to the police that they look closely at the subject's name and that it may give them a clue as to her motive(s). Granted you cannot judge a person by their name, but her name could point law enforcement in the right direction to look for a motive even if she stays mum and lawyers- up. Once pointed in that direction, authorities could then seek other clues and evidence and if they found such could use it in her prosecution; if they don't find anything they could look elsewhere. To ignore her likely ethnicity, would definitely be ignoring a source of her possible motive(s).
If the above was not hint enough, let me just say that the name Ramineh is a common name among Iranians and among other Muslims. Now, she may or may not be Muslim and her motives may or may not be related to Islam, but her name is certainly a clue (no matter how small) as to her possible motive(s) and the clue should be fully investigated in light of the fact of another recent religiously motivated act of terrorism.
Of course though, I understand the police not wanting to give any hint they think that her motive may have been religiously motivated because authorities have to be ever so sensitive to avoid possibly insulting the Islamic community as opposed to how they would treat, another community and maybe it is too early to determine what was her motive. Yet, whether she is Islamic or not, kissing the asses of Islamic terrorists, until they finally destroy America, is not the smart way to go, so I pray they are at least investigating that possibility. Doing a thorough investigation based on all the facts would be smart. I am not hopeful that will happen - remember it took place in California.
Sources:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/30/california-woman-accused-sneaking-juice-mixed-with-rubbing-alcohol-into/
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/01/17997139-pharmacist-accused-of-planting-poisoned-orange-juice-at-starbucks?lite=
All the best,
Glenn B
If the above was not hint enough, let me just say that the name Ramineh is a common name among Iranians and among other Muslims. Now, she may or may not be Muslim and her motives may or may not be related to Islam, but her name is certainly a clue (no matter how small) as to her possible motive(s) and the clue should be fully investigated in light of the fact of another recent religiously motivated act of terrorism.
Of course though, I understand the police not wanting to give any hint they think that her motive may have been religiously motivated because authorities have to be ever so sensitive to avoid possibly insulting the Islamic community as opposed to how they would treat, another community and maybe it is too early to determine what was her motive. Yet, whether she is Islamic or not, kissing the asses of Islamic terrorists, until they finally destroy America, is not the smart way to go, so I pray they are at least investigating that possibility. Doing a thorough investigation based on all the facts would be smart. I am not hopeful that will happen - remember it took place in California.
Sources:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/30/california-woman-accused-sneaking-juice-mixed-with-rubbing-alcohol-into/
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/01/17997139-pharmacist-accused-of-planting-poisoned-orange-juice-at-starbucks?lite=
All the best,
Glenn B
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Weren't German Doctors Trusted Good Little Nazis
It seems not to have changed since the 30's and 40's right up through today. Here is a fine example of doctors, albeit American ones, playing the part of good little government snitches and enforcers so that the government can come in and rip apart people's families:
http://www.news10.net/news/article/242734/2/Couple-fights-to-get-baby-back-from-CPS-police
I never realized that the words "Heil Hitler" were in theHypocritical Hippocratic Oath but they must be in there someplace with doctors behaving like that!
All the best,
Glenn B
http://www.news10.net/news/article/242734/2/Couple-fights-to-get-baby-back-from-CPS-police
I never realized that the words "Heil Hitler" were in the
All the best,
Glenn B
Aguila .45 ACP, 230 Grain, FMJ Ammo - Decent Price Alert
AIM currently has, as I type, Aguila .45 ACP, 230 grain, FMJ ammo, in stock, for sale at $21.95 per box. That is the best price I have seen in way too long.
http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.aspx?item=AG45FMJ230&name=Aguila+.45+Auto+230grn+FMJ+50rd+box&groupid=32
All the best,
GB
http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.aspx?item=AG45FMJ230&name=Aguila+.45+Auto+230grn+FMJ+50rd+box&groupid=32
All the best,
GB
Another Fine Day At The Range
I spent this morning and a bit of this afternoon at the local indoor range. As it was yesterday, I was attending the armed security guard training course. We shot revolver today as well as shooting two qualification courses with semi-automatic pistols. I did very well; I scored 100% of the revolver course and 100% on each of the two semi-auto courses. Mind you that was not difficult, at least for me. We shot at a standard silhouette target and anything inside of the 7 ring was considered a hit and worth 2 points. Only shots outside the 7 ring were points off and scored 0 points. That made it a big area in which to place all of my shots.
Normally, if that same target is used for a law enforcement qualifications, anything in the X, 10, 9 and 8 rings would be scored 5 points, any shots in the7 ring as 4 points and anything in the black but outside of the 7 ring would count as three points. (Note that head shots, during the phases of fire requiring head shots, are counted as 5 points). Using that scoring method, I also would have shot a perfect score but this time it would have been scored as 250/250. That would have qualified me as distinguished expert in my former agency. By the way, that scoring method is noted on the particular targets we used, see the upper left hand corner of the target in the accompanying photo. If scored as per the scoring rings on the target, I would have shot 482 out of 500 since we shot 50 rounds and the top scoring rings, the X and 10 ring, were both scored as 10 points. Breaking it down, I had 5 shots in the 8 ring, 8 in the 9 ring and the remainder within the 10 and X rings except for the 4 head shots that also counted as full score of 10 points each. Not too shabby for an old guy.
For this course though, they counted everything inside the 7 ring as a hit and anything outside as a miss; each shot within the 7 ring counting as 2 points with a possible high score of 100 for 50 shots. As I mentioned above, it was pretty easy to accomplish a perfect score. Yet, only one other shooter out of a total of 14 of us scored 100%. The targets used were the B27F like the one pictured in this post. I did not get a chance to take a photo of my actual targets today as the instructors kept hold of them so they could later record the scores.
I have got to point out that qualifying, if not getting all shots within the 7 ring, should have been fairly easy even for a mediocre shooter, who has received decent firearms training in the past. That is my opinion based on an awful lot of shooting experience and 14 years as a firearms instructor. Still though, not everyone qualified on the first attempt. The low scores on the first qualification attempt were two scores of 58, shot by two shooters and I think about 2 or 3 others did not qualify on that attempt. The low scores on the second qualification were two or three 70% scores; 70% was the lowest passing score - so everyone qualified that time around. Judging by the gun handling techniques and shooting skill levels of some of the shooters, it seems apparent to me that some of them have not handled a handgun in years, that is if they ever actually had handled one before they started this class. They have been learning the basics in this course though and have improved substantially since last week. My guess is that everyone will qualify even if a couple only just barely, next week, during the actual qualification course that counts toward obtaining the armed guard license.
Yesterday, the lead instructor told me he would not want to be the guy at whom I was shooting. It is nice to know that I still have it in me to shoot a very good score. The cancer and cancer treatments knocked the rat piss out of me back in late 2011 and I was still feeling the effects, pretty badly, throughout early to mid 2012; I was not sure I would ever shoot as good again as I used to shoot in the pre-cancer days. I guess I started shooting again in the spring or summer of 2012. While I still maintained proficiency with handguns and long arms, I certainly was not shooting anywhere nearly as good, as I used to pre-cancer. So, now that I am back at the point where I am at least doing very well on qualification courses of fire, I am feeling pretty good about it. The realization that I have not lost my shooting skills made today just another Saturday in Paradise, as are each and every one of my post-retirement and post-cancer days, no matter what day of the week you think it is!
All the best,
Glenn B
For this course though, they counted everything inside the 7 ring as a hit and anything outside as a miss; each shot within the 7 ring counting as 2 points with a possible high score of 100 for 50 shots. As I mentioned above, it was pretty easy to accomplish a perfect score. Yet, only one other shooter out of a total of 14 of us scored 100%. The targets used were the B27F like the one pictured in this post. I did not get a chance to take a photo of my actual targets today as the instructors kept hold of them so they could later record the scores.
I have got to point out that qualifying, if not getting all shots within the 7 ring, should have been fairly easy even for a mediocre shooter, who has received decent firearms training in the past. That is my opinion based on an awful lot of shooting experience and 14 years as a firearms instructor. Still though, not everyone qualified on the first attempt. The low scores on the first qualification attempt were two scores of 58, shot by two shooters and I think about 2 or 3 others did not qualify on that attempt. The low scores on the second qualification were two or three 70% scores; 70% was the lowest passing score - so everyone qualified that time around. Judging by the gun handling techniques and shooting skill levels of some of the shooters, it seems apparent to me that some of them have not handled a handgun in years, that is if they ever actually had handled one before they started this class. They have been learning the basics in this course though and have improved substantially since last week. My guess is that everyone will qualify even if a couple only just barely, next week, during the actual qualification course that counts toward obtaining the armed guard license.
Yesterday, the lead instructor told me he would not want to be the guy at whom I was shooting. It is nice to know that I still have it in me to shoot a very good score. The cancer and cancer treatments knocked the rat piss out of me back in late 2011 and I was still feeling the effects, pretty badly, throughout early to mid 2012; I was not sure I would ever shoot as good again as I used to shoot in the pre-cancer days. I guess I started shooting again in the spring or summer of 2012. While I still maintained proficiency with handguns and long arms, I certainly was not shooting anywhere nearly as good, as I used to pre-cancer. So, now that I am back at the point where I am at least doing very well on qualification courses of fire, I am feeling pretty good about it. The realization that I have not lost my shooting skills made today just another Saturday in Paradise, as are each and every one of my post-retirement and post-cancer days, no matter what day of the week you think it is!
All the best,
Glenn B
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Just Got Back From The Range,...
... not too long ago, where I shot three courses of fire for the armed guard training that I am currently taking in the hope of getting an armed guard license. I must admit, I am fairly pleased with my shooting even though it was not the best, by far, that I have ever shot. We shot 60 rounds of slowfire at a standard silhouette and then 50 rounds in a qualification type course on a printed bowling pin type target (for some reason, mine was the only target with circles drawn on it, I am guessing the larger one was about 6 to 8 inches in diameter). I am pleased because last week was only the second time, as I recall, that I shot my Glock 26 since getting it back from Glock, months ago, with newly installed sights and while I did not shoot as good last week, I have improved markedly in one week. I had been shooting several inches to the left at as close as 10 and 15 yards. I thought that was caused by the sights because previously, on both my current Glock 26 and on a previously issued Glock 19, I had to have the rear sights adjusted slightly to the right. Today, I went back to the basics to determine if I may have been doing something wrong with the Glock 26 and its new sights. I adjusted how my finger rested on the trigger and made sure to arch the trigger finger a bit so it was not riding on the frame. That was all it took and my shots were in there at center from left to right.
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| Sorry for the lousy picture, it was taken with my lousy cell phone. |
The highest possible sore was 100%. You either were I the hit zone or were out of it on this particular target and all of my shots were inside. Funny thing though was that I scored a 96 out of 100%. I could not figure it at first but then saw that the instructor was marking two points off for each of two holes that were on all the targets. While they looked just like bullet holes they were not, they were the holes through which the target hanger held them. I asked if he was taking points off for those holes and he said 'sure'. I pointed out that those were there to insert the target hangars and he said something to the effect of 'whoops' and rescored he few he had finishes scoring already. We both got a laugh out of that.
That was it for the day, back to the range tomorrow for more classroom training and more shooting. We are slated to do some slowfire revolver shooting and then some combat shooting with the semi-autos. I have got to say that I am enjoying the course immensely, not only because I am shooting fairly well but simply because I enjoy shooting and I also enjoy receiving firearms training from competent instructors. Besides being competent, they have all been nice gentlemen and seem like all around decent guys. I know, when I am paying them, they should be that way but the truth is that all too often, in recent years, you get less than you pay for in such training situations. You can wind up with a veritable arsehat know it all, who knows little to nothing, trying to tell you how to do something and screaming at you for not doing it his way. Not so with these guys, they are pretty old school when it comes to taking care of their customers and showing us respect and they seem to know the subject matter well. In addition there have been some little extras they have given us. As they did last week, they supplied coffee and bagels for breakfast and then supplied a nice 6 foot hero for lunch. I think it does not get much better than that.
They are Safety Quest LTD; I think all the instructors are Suffolk County PD officers or retired from that department. I guess I should give them a free plug, their website is at:
http://www.safetyquestltd.com/.
All the best,
Glenn B
The Lost Blogger...
...in this instance would be me. I just have not thought a whole lot about the blog this week, been busy with work ad getting warranty stuff on my failed appliances straightened out and whatever. Sorry about that. I will post something, other than this post, later today or tonight.
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Sooner or Later They Will Get It Right
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| Click it to big it, if you really want to read more of their bullshit. |
Is The Ammo Buying Frenzy Causing Sites to Crash
About a half hour ago, as I write, I checked http://gunbot.net to see if I could find any 9mm ammo at an almost reasonable price. Palmetto State Armory was shown at having Federal 115 grain FMJ 9mm ammo at .36 cents per round. The next higher price for similar ammo was shown at .72 cents per round. I jumped on it and ordered 500 rounds - or I guess I should say I tried to order 500 rounds. I submitted my order, or at least clicked the icon to do so, two times and each time, after several minutes of waiting, I got a message saying my order did not go through. I am on try number 3 right now, it has been "Submitting order information..." for well over 20 minutes now. My guess is that folks must be sitting around, watching their computer screens, to see when gunbot updates with available ammo at lower prices than otherwise offered and then pouncing on it in a frenzy of orders and that is either crashing the retailers' sites or slowing them down so much that many orders must not be getting through to them. It is not my Internet connection, every other site I go to comes up almost instantly. So, my guess is, it has to be he Palmetto Armory site and that it is being overloaded with orders.
Is anyone else having a similar problem?
Al the best,
Glenn B
Edited to add: I just got an email, thanking me for my order, after over 30 minutes of waiting. The thing is though that I still have a window saying: "Submitting order information...". I hope that does not mean that one of my earlier orders got through even though the earlier order screens both indicated that those orders failed to go through.
Is anyone else having a similar problem?
Al the best,
Glenn B
Edited to add: I just got an email, thanking me for my order, after over 30 minutes of waiting. The thing is though that I still have a window saying: "Submitting order information...". I hope that does not mean that one of my earlier orders got through even though the earlier order screens both indicated that those orders failed to go through.
Monday, April 22, 2013
The Home Appliance Blues
A few weeks ago, the fridge went kaput; over $400 to fix it and the expected remedy by American Express who told me they would cover the cost has not come through.
Then two weeks ago the vacuum cleaner died, or at least the power head for it went belly up. Not fixed yet because the number of the repair shop, that Walmart gave me (I have a Walmart extended warranty on it) was someones home number or so it sounded. When I finally called Walmart to get the right number, today, they told me they too had tried to set up an appointment for me and could not get through to that number either them. So instead of sending me to another repair shop, what did they do? They told me a check is in the mail (one of the three great lies along with "I love you" and "I won't ---- in your mouth"). They claim to have sent me a check for $249 and change (I hope they did not say for $2.49 because it seems strange they would send me about $20 more than I paid for the vacuum cleaner but they could be considering inflation - on Mars). Yeah, that is sort of good news but not all that good. I will have to spend that plus another $200 to $600 bucks on a vacuum cleaner that works and that certainly will not be another Hoover. I was told Mielo has a good rep and good machines but they cost a large bundle of green. Thus, I am still considering others, hopefully less expensive others.
Then today, the washing machine repairman was here second time within a week. He told me that it is shot (or did he say it should be shot). I have no idea how much I will be compensated for that under the extended warranty but it looks to be that I will receive 62 to 72% of the cost of a new one, more if it is another GE model. My bet is that, since we had this machine for 5 years or so and it needed at least 4 repairs in that time, that we will go back to Whirlpool or try a Maytag. More money has to be spent on that.
So, if I am getting at least partially reimbursed on each of these why am I singing the blues. Well, I will have to spend money, out of pocket on each of them no matter what (unless Amex pays for everything if they pay anything at all for the fridge repair). That means less money for me and I need ammo. Now, tell me please, how the heck is a guy supposed to be able to afford ammunition at the current prices with all these appliance repairs and replacements to be done!!!!!!!!
Man, they sure make everything like shit in recent years.
All the best,
Glenn B
Then two weeks ago the vacuum cleaner died, or at least the power head for it went belly up. Not fixed yet because the number of the repair shop, that Walmart gave me (I have a Walmart extended warranty on it) was someones home number or so it sounded. When I finally called Walmart to get the right number, today, they told me they too had tried to set up an appointment for me and could not get through to that number either them. So instead of sending me to another repair shop, what did they do? They told me a check is in the mail (one of the three great lies along with "I love you" and "I won't ---- in your mouth"). They claim to have sent me a check for $249 and change (I hope they did not say for $2.49 because it seems strange they would send me about $20 more than I paid for the vacuum cleaner but they could be considering inflation - on Mars). Yeah, that is sort of good news but not all that good. I will have to spend that plus another $200 to $600 bucks on a vacuum cleaner that works and that certainly will not be another Hoover. I was told Mielo has a good rep and good machines but they cost a large bundle of green. Thus, I am still considering others, hopefully less expensive others.
Then today, the washing machine repairman was here second time within a week. He told me that it is shot (or did he say it should be shot). I have no idea how much I will be compensated for that under the extended warranty but it looks to be that I will receive 62 to 72% of the cost of a new one, more if it is another GE model. My bet is that, since we had this machine for 5 years or so and it needed at least 4 repairs in that time, that we will go back to Whirlpool or try a Maytag. More money has to be spent on that.
So, if I am getting at least partially reimbursed on each of these why am I singing the blues. Well, I will have to spend money, out of pocket on each of them no matter what (unless Amex pays for everything if they pay anything at all for the fridge repair). That means less money for me and I need ammo. Now, tell me please, how the heck is a guy supposed to be able to afford ammunition at the current prices with all these appliance repairs and replacements to be done!!!!!!!!
Man, they sure make everything like shit in recent years.
All the best,
Glenn B
Shopping For Ammo - Take A Look At GunBot.net
I just checked CheaperThanDirt.com, out of curiosity, to check on 9mm ammo availability since it is very difficult to find elsewhere. I say out of curiosity because I refuse to make purchases from them; I stopped being a customer of theirs months ago and you will soon see why. They have a decent variety of 9mm parabellum available. What they have runs from average quality ammo to cheap (note, I did not say inexpensive) Russian steel cased ammo but all what I think are exorbitant prices.
For example: They are offering a 100 (one hundred) round box of 9mm TulAmmo (a Russian brand of cheap, or should be cheap, steel cased ammo) for $139.59 plus shipping, see:
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/AMM-4710.
Ammo of that quality probably was going for about $10 to $12 per box, of 50 rounds, 6 months or so ago (at other sites). As if the current selling price at CTD is not bad enough, consider this: They are offering the same ammo in a 50 round box for $59.59 which is less than half the cost of the 100 round box, see: http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/AMM-4700.
Amazingly, it is $20.49 cheaper to buy two boxes of 50 rounds each instead of one box of 100 rounds. Usually, you would pay the same per round, for a purchase of 50 or 100 rounds of ammunition or maybe a bit less for the higher quantity of ammo. Paying more per round for a larger order was and is virtually unheard of except, so it seems, at CheaperThanDirt. I don't know who figures out their pricing but I would love to meet the responsible party and tell that person what I think of their prices as well as of their policy of listing their prices as: "Our Low Price". The price for the ammo in question is ridiculous, especially when you can get better ammo at a less expensive price elsewhere but I guess some moron will CheaperThanDirt what they are asking for it.
If you do need ammunition and cannot find it, you may want to try visiting http://gunbot.net where, as I write, you can get what I think is a much better brand of brass cased Aguila 9mm ammo at .72 cents per round instead of the $1.3959 asked by CheaperThanDirt for the TulAmmo. No, .72 cents per round is not inexpensive but it is about the going price for brass cased, FMJ, 9mm ammo nowadays and it is one heck of better price as compared to the other prices, for steel cased ammo, that I just mentioned.
GunBot.net lists ammunition in several calibers, with prices, from different merchants, with links to the merchants. You can sort the lists by caliber, then by price or most recently posted, and by what is currently in stock. The calibers which they list are:
[.223/5.56| 7.62x39 | 22lr | 9mm | .308/7.62x51 | .45 ACP | .300 AAC & Whisper | .40 S&W | 5.45x39 | .380 Auto | 5.7x28 | 10mm | 30-06 | 6.8 SPC | .357 Magnum | .38 Special | 357 Sig | 22 WMR | 17 HMR | 9x18 Mak | 44 Mag | 32 Auto | 7.62x54R | 30-30 | 30 Carbine | 25 Auto | 44 Special | 45 LC ].
This is how they describe their site: "Near realtime tracking of who has ammo in stock." As I was writing this, going back and forth to their site to copy the links and such, the list I had on screen, for .223/5.56 ammo (which is the screen the site opens with) was updated at least twice.
All the best,
Glenn B
For example: They are offering a 100 (one hundred) round box of 9mm TulAmmo (a Russian brand of cheap, or should be cheap, steel cased ammo) for $139.59 plus shipping, see:
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/AMM-4710.
Ammo of that quality probably was going for about $10 to $12 per box, of 50 rounds, 6 months or so ago (at other sites). As if the current selling price at CTD is not bad enough, consider this: They are offering the same ammo in a 50 round box for $59.59 which is less than half the cost of the 100 round box, see: http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/AMM-4700.
Amazingly, it is $20.49 cheaper to buy two boxes of 50 rounds each instead of one box of 100 rounds. Usually, you would pay the same per round, for a purchase of 50 or 100 rounds of ammunition or maybe a bit less for the higher quantity of ammo. Paying more per round for a larger order was and is virtually unheard of except, so it seems, at CheaperThanDirt. I don't know who figures out their pricing but I would love to meet the responsible party and tell that person what I think of their prices as well as of their policy of listing their prices as: "Our Low Price". The price for the ammo in question is ridiculous, especially when you can get better ammo at a less expensive price elsewhere but I guess some moron will CheaperThanDirt what they are asking for it.
If you do need ammunition and cannot find it, you may want to try visiting http://gunbot.net where, as I write, you can get what I think is a much better brand of brass cased Aguila 9mm ammo at .72 cents per round instead of the $1.3959 asked by CheaperThanDirt for the TulAmmo. No, .72 cents per round is not inexpensive but it is about the going price for brass cased, FMJ, 9mm ammo nowadays and it is one heck of better price as compared to the other prices, for steel cased ammo, that I just mentioned.
GunBot.net lists ammunition in several calibers, with prices, from different merchants, with links to the merchants. You can sort the lists by caliber, then by price or most recently posted, and by what is currently in stock. The calibers which they list are:
[.223/5.56| 7.62x39 | 22lr | 9mm | .308/7.62x51 | .45 ACP | .300 AAC & Whisper | .40 S&W | 5.45x39 | .380 Auto | 5.7x28 | 10mm | 30-06 | 6.8 SPC | .357 Magnum | .38 Special | 357 Sig | 22 WMR | 17 HMR | 9x18 Mak | 44 Mag | 32 Auto | 7.62x54R | 30-30 | 30 Carbine | 25 Auto | 44 Special | 45 LC ].
This is how they describe their site: "Near realtime tracking of who has ammo in stock." As I was writing this, going back and forth to their site to copy the links and such, the list I had on screen, for .223/5.56 ammo (which is the screen the site opens with) was updated at least twice.
All the best,
Glenn B
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Armed Security Guard Training
Yesterday, although a really nice Saturday but I started my day after about only three hours sleep by going to the first day, of 6 days, of armed guard training. It was held at a local indoor range facility and was supposed to run from 0800 until 1700. You can most certainly rest assured that we were not let out early at 1PM (nod, nod, wink, wink, nuff said). The time spent in the classroom covered firearms safety and some shooting basics. There were donuts and coffee for the students, supplied by the head instructor (three instructors in all, all nice guys). Later there was pizza for lunch, also courtesy of the boss. There was also some, bullseye shooting, slowfire at 7 and 15 yards, we fired 30 rounds at each range. Then we were outta there and I headed to Costco for a miserable hour or so of weekly shopping.
Today, I was back at the classroom with the other 11 students. They decided to cover the very basics of shooting today because some of the guys in the class ;lacked the basic skill sets to get by. I think about half the class is made up of retired LEOs but you could have fooled me as I would say that about 75% do not shoot worth a plugged nickel (and they surely could not plug it). Mind you, I am not bragging about my shooting, as far as I am concerned I sucked compared to how I shot before cancer. That took a lot out of me and I id not practice much after that and have not practiced much for about a year and a half now. First, because I said due to the cancer and treatments and recovery, later on up through now because of the price of ammo. This class is costing me $700 plus 600 rounds of 9mm ammo (that I had on hand but will have to replace at today's ridiculously high prices). So, my shooting abilities have really slacked off. I will qualify, probably with the 2nd to third highest score in the class but I am nowhere near my best of 2 or 3 years ago.
Besides not shooting enough, I have not worked out at all in the last year and a half or so since the cancer and treatments. I had some shoulder and neck pain today while shooting and my arms were shaking and I know all that need be done to correct that is some sweat producing exercise, maybe a couple to a few times a week. I am long overdue for that and will be looking to join a local gym this week. Not only will it help my shooting, it is going to help my health in general. I sure will miss the free gym in my office from back when I still was a fed but I figure a private gym is sure to have nicer and younger babes whom I can get behind in the next row of treadmills as I walk, jog or run. Gotta do something to keep my mind active while bored to tears on the treadmill.
Back to the armed guard training, it recommences next weekend and will run one more weekend after that. Six days in all and if they go like yesterday and today, it will be a fun learning experience. I have forgotten or just not thought about one or two things of which and instructor reminded me. I also learned one or two new things so far. I am taking the course because there seem to be a decent number of pretty good paying armed guard jobs out there in my area. Since last July, I have been working as an unarmed guard at a library. Being a library cop and wet nursing a bunch of high school kids while they are in the library, which is the biggest part of my job, is not for me. There do seem to be some good opportunities for me to increase my salary 1.5 to 2 times what it is currently at the library and get me out of the HS kid nanny business. That would be excellent; so, I figure the expense to take this course is well worth it. If really lucky, I will double my salary and get a job like Asa Breeney's. If you are older like me, you may remember him. He was the local bank guard in Mayberry, on the Andy Griffith show. One of his best episodes was episode 13 of the 1962 season, it aired on Christmas Eve, December 1962. If you have NetFlix, you can watch it online and see for yourself that which I aspire to become for my second career (or maybe you can find a clip of it on YouTube).
All the best,
Glenn B
Today, I was back at the classroom with the other 11 students. They decided to cover the very basics of shooting today because some of the guys in the class ;lacked the basic skill sets to get by. I think about half the class is made up of retired LEOs but you could have fooled me as I would say that about 75% do not shoot worth a plugged nickel (and they surely could not plug it). Mind you, I am not bragging about my shooting, as far as I am concerned I sucked compared to how I shot before cancer. That took a lot out of me and I id not practice much after that and have not practiced much for about a year and a half now. First, because I said due to the cancer and treatments and recovery, later on up through now because of the price of ammo. This class is costing me $700 plus 600 rounds of 9mm ammo (that I had on hand but will have to replace at today's ridiculously high prices). So, my shooting abilities have really slacked off. I will qualify, probably with the 2nd to third highest score in the class but I am nowhere near my best of 2 or 3 years ago.
Besides not shooting enough, I have not worked out at all in the last year and a half or so since the cancer and treatments. I had some shoulder and neck pain today while shooting and my arms were shaking and I know all that need be done to correct that is some sweat producing exercise, maybe a couple to a few times a week. I am long overdue for that and will be looking to join a local gym this week. Not only will it help my shooting, it is going to help my health in general. I sure will miss the free gym in my office from back when I still was a fed but I figure a private gym is sure to have nicer and younger babes whom I can get behind in the next row of treadmills as I walk, jog or run. Gotta do something to keep my mind active while bored to tears on the treadmill.
Back to the armed guard training, it recommences next weekend and will run one more weekend after that. Six days in all and if they go like yesterday and today, it will be a fun learning experience. I have forgotten or just not thought about one or two things of which and instructor reminded me. I also learned one or two new things so far. I am taking the course because there seem to be a decent number of pretty good paying armed guard jobs out there in my area. Since last July, I have been working as an unarmed guard at a library. Being a library cop and wet nursing a bunch of high school kids while they are in the library, which is the biggest part of my job, is not for me. There do seem to be some good opportunities for me to increase my salary 1.5 to 2 times what it is currently at the library and get me out of the HS kid nanny business. That would be excellent; so, I figure the expense to take this course is well worth it. If really lucky, I will double my salary and get a job like Asa Breeney's. If you are older like me, you may remember him. He was the local bank guard in Mayberry, on the Andy Griffith show. One of his best episodes was episode 13 of the 1962 season, it aired on Christmas Eve, December 1962. If you have NetFlix, you can watch it online and see for yourself that which I aspire to become for my second career (or maybe you can find a clip of it on YouTube).
All the best,
Glenn B
TEQUILA
All the best,
Glenn B
Friday, April 19, 2013
Silo Demolition Sledgehammer Style
Biertijd.com // Media » Silo Demolition Sledgehammer Style
My bet is that this very lucky asshole truly believes he did such a good job that he would try it again. He has a lot of potential to become a future Darwin Award winner. I have to admit though, until then, he does get bragging rights for that one.
A hat tip to Pete A. for that one.
All the best,
Glenn B
My bet is that this very lucky asshole truly believes he did such a good job that he would try it again. He has a lot of potential to become a future Darwin Award winner. I have to admit though, until then, he does get bragging rights for that one.
A hat tip to Pete A. for that one.
All the best,
Glenn B
They Got The Bastard - Boston Bomber In Custody
Fox News is reporting, at about 2045 hours, that they got him, he is alive and in custody. Reportedly, the Boston Police sent in a negotiator and he was soon thereafter taken into custody. As much as I would like to have seen him killed, I know he is much more valuable to us alive, that is if he talks. If he lawyers up, we are in for millions in tax dollars being wasted and we would have been better off had he not surrendered and fought it out. Of course, if he does clam up, it is possible that a fellow inmate may do the right thing and end our problem.
I can now turn off the television and get Bill O'Reilly and Geraldo Rivera out of my life for now. How Fox News keeps Rivera on their show is beyond me; I think him about one of the biggest arsehats in the media and certainly the biggest working for Fox.
Later,
GB
I can now turn off the television and get Bill O'Reilly and Geraldo Rivera out of my life for now. How Fox News keeps Rivera on their show is beyond me; I think him about one of the biggest arsehats in the media and certainly the biggest working for Fox.
Later,
GB
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