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Gunfighter Moment – Ken Hackathorn

Saturday, February 27th, 2016

It is beyond amazing the amount of ‘junk’ I see people hanging on their AR15/M4 style blasters. Some folks seem to think that if it’s for sale, they have to add it to their carbine. I keep thinking that the word has gotten out about this stupid approach, but apparently I am wrong.

So, here is my read on this topic. Put only what your need on your blaster. That means good sights: I strongly recommend a good quality red dot (Aimpoint Micro is my favorite). Backup iron sights remain on all my guns. If you live in an area where ranges can be longer than 100 meters, an optic (scope) may be warranted. A good 1×4 or 1×5 scope has merit. You will normally be set on one power, dialing up in power as range and time allows for. First focal plain scopes on carbines are brain dead; you can’t see the reticle for shit when it is on one power. Remember this isn’t a sniper weapon, second focal plain is what you need. A good two point sling is my recommendation. I have never been a fan of single point slings, they are quickly becoming only favored by those guys that have everything hung on their carbine except for a coffee maker.

I want my primary weapon to have a good trigger. Some AR platform makers offer good serviceable triggers, others feel like they have a broken hacksaw blade for a sear, backed up with a truck spring for a hammer spring. Bill Geisselle offers the ‘gold standard’ in AR triggers. I have a couple of Hiperfire Enhanced Duty Triggers that have proven to be outstanding and Paul Buffoni of BCM is about to release an enhanced GI spec trigger that if it measures up to everything else BCM offers, it should be a top choice.

A white light is critical; if you need your carbine in a low light scenario, you must be able to identify your target. Don’t go Cheap Charlie on this one; get a good light, mount it where you can operate it when your carbine is being held in the manner your normally fire from. Changing your hand position to activate the light and them having to move it back to your firing position is a mistake.

For the life of me I do not understand why so many folks think they must have a muzzle brake/compensator on their carbine. I realize much of this comes from the 3-gun gameboy world. Listen up, in the dark these things are terrible, indoors they are horrendous with a concussion that can be very disturbing, and if someone touches one of these comps off beside your head, you will have your chimes rung for sure. Yea,yea I here the crap about how they make the gun shoot “flat” and keeps your splits really low. If you are such a wimp that you can’t control the recoil of a 5.56 then I understand your needs, and splits, well they don’t mean sh-t in the real world. Keep your primary (carbine) simple, keep it lubed and running with good magazines and quality ammo.

Train, practice, and stay alert.

– Ken Hackathorn

Ken Hackathorn has served as a US Army Special Forces Small Arms Instructor, Gunsite Instructor, and NRA Police Firearms Instructor. He is currently an FBI Certified Firearms Instructor, Certified Deputy Sheriff with Washington County SO, Ohio, and a SRT member and Special Response Team trainer. Ken has trained US Military Special Operations forces, Marine FAST and SOTG units and is a contract small arms trainer to FBI SWAT and HRT.

Ken has provided training to Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies and been active in small arms training for the past 25 years. He has written firearms related material for Guns & Ammo, Combat Handguns, Soldier Of Fortune, and currently American Handgunner and contributed to at least six other gun/shooting journals. Ken was also a founding member of IPSC and IDPA.

To see Ken’s Training Class Schedule visit aliastraining.com.

Gunfighter Moment is a weekly feature brought to you by Alias Training & Security Services. Each week Alias brings us a different Trainer and in turn they offer SSD readers hard earned words of wisdom.

Tags: Alias Training & Security Services, Ken Hackathorn
Posted in Gunfighter Moment | 63 Comments »

Gunfighter Moment – Pat McNamara

Saturday, February 20th, 2016

Plateaus in training suck. I write often here on ways to bridge gaps and come off of plateaus but I do not always follow my own advice.

One course of fire I run in nearly all of my courses is a fifty yard, four position rifle shoot on IPSC targets. Five shots are taken from each position of standing, kneeling, sitting and prone. The shoot is timed and penalties are one second added for ‘C’ zone and head, two seconds added for ‘D’ zone shots and five seconds added for misses.

My wheel house, or plateau, was 25. For years! This is usually better than most in my classes but I accepted it as my normal. I knew that if I burned it down in 18 seconds, I would throw six or seven shots into the ‘C’ zone. I was accepting mediocrity in my personal performance because by way of comparison, it was still a rockin score.

Last week in California, nursing a bad knee and elbow, I switched mental strategy. I turned off my analytical mind and switched from thinking mode to trusting mode. One’s body works well enough. It’s our minds that get in the way and distort one’s ability to perform at the next level.

I shot a 19.8 with two seconds penalty for a 21.8. Now the Roger Bannister effect has consumed me. Pretty sure I will break 20 in the next week or so.

If you haven’t shot this before, you should try it. Love to hear some scores. BTW, anything under 35 in total score is pretty good. Sub 30 is bad ass.

Patrick McNamara
SGM, US Army (Ret)

Patrick McNamara spent twenty-two years in the United States Army in a myriad of special operations units. When he worked in the premier Special Missions Unit, he became an impeccable marksman, shooting with accurate, lethal results and tactical effectiveness. McNamara has trained tactical applications of shooting to people of all levels of marksmanship, from varsity level soldiers, and police officers who work the streets to civilians with little to no time behind the trigger.

His military experience quickly taught him that there is more to tactical marksmanship than merely squeezing the trigger. Utilizing his years of experience, McNamara developed a training methodology that is safe, effective and combat relevant and encourages a continuous thought process. This methodology teaches how to maintain safety at all times and choose targets that force accountability, as well as provides courses covering several categories, including individual, collective, on line and standards.

While serving as his Unit’s Marksmanship NCO, he developed his own marksmanship club with NRA, CMP, and USPSA affiliations. Mac ran monthly IPSC matches and ran semi annual military marksmanship championships to encourage marksmanship fundamentals and competitiveness throughout the Army.He retired from the Army’s premier hostage rescue unit as a Sergeant Major and is the author of T.A.P.S. (Tactical Application of Practical Shooting). He also served as the Principle of TMACS Inc.

Gunfighter Moment is a weekly feature brought to you by Alias Training & Security Services. Each week Alias brings us a different Trainer and in turn they offer some words of wisdom.

Tags: Alias Training and Security Services, Pat McNamara, TMACS Inc
Posted in Gunfighter Moment | 9 Comments »

Gunfighter Moment – Mike Pannone

Saturday, February 13th, 2016

On use of the M4 selector:

The principle to be adhered to is that you initiate the dismounting of the rifle by initiating movement of the thumb to the selector. By doing so you are beginning the largest least critical movement with the smallest and most critical movement so it does not get forgotten or more commonly, overlooked because something has drawn your attention and broken the mental continuity. From an instructional perspective, if I see a rifle brought out of the mount with a time gap of 1 second or more and then put on safe, I can nearly guarantee you that individual will forget to safe the rifle under pressure of time or threat. It must be a learned pattern of response (motor memory, procedural memory, automated neural control…whatever you want to call it except for muscle memory, please.)

I safe my rifle on reloads because if I am so close that I need to immediately reengage and have a sidearm I will transition (the only time I don’t care if it is placed on safe or not), If I don’t have a sidearm I would be seeking cover not reloading in the open and then reemerging in a different spot. If I have distance, then I would be dropping behind cover and finding another position to reemerge from as well, so other than a transition I can put the rifle on safe without any real effect on my re-engagement speed. I use “the jumpmaster theory” of learning what “right” feels like. I put my rifle on safe every time it leaves the mount and I don’t even realize it but if I miss the selector it will jump out at me because it is wrong. Just like when I was a jumpmaster I didn’t even notice if I walked by a jumper with a properly rigged parachute but I could spot a misrouted static-line or twisted strap in my peripheral vision because the picture was wrong. I could also trace a strap and never see it but immediately know it is misrouted or twisted by feel.

Again, I had patterned in the right feeling along with the right picture and it would immediately jump out at me if incorrect but be invisible when correct. I had patterned in the correct picture and feeling so when it was present it was seamless and when it was absent it was obvious. Even if I don’t take the time to place it on safe or miss the selector when I attempt to, I realize it is in the fire position and can act accordingly at the next opportunity. Learning is patterning behavior and I want to pattern my behavior in the proper manner every chance I get. In my opinion you are either learning a task in the best possible way or one of all the other ways; it’s up to you to figure out which is which.

– Mike Pannone

Mike Pannone retired from the Army’s premier assault force (1st SFOD-D) after an explosive breaching injury. A year after his retirement America was attacked on 9/11 and he returned to help serve his country as the head marksmanship instructor at the Federal Air Marshals training course and then moved to help stand up the FAMS Seattle field office. In 2003 he left the FAMS to serve as a PSD detail member and then a detail leader for the State Department during 2003 and 2004 in Baghdad and Tikrit.

In 2005 he served as a ground combat advisor of the Joint Counter IED Task Force and participated on combat operations with various units in Al Anbar province. Upon returning he gave IED awareness briefings to departing units and helped stand up a pre-Iraq surge rifle course with the Asymmetric Warfare Group as a lead instructor. With that experience as well as a career of special operations service in Marine Reconnaissance, Army Special Forces and JSOC to draw from he moved to the private sector teaching planning, leadership, marksmanship and tactics as well as authoring and co-authoring several books such as The M4 Handbook, AK Handbook and Tactical Pistol shooting. Mike also consults for several major rifle and accessory manufacturers to help them field the best possible equipment to the warfighter, law enforcement officer and upstanding civilian end user. He is considered a subject matter expert on the AR based Stoner platform in all its derivatives.

Gunfighter Moment is a weekly feature brought to you by Alias Training & Security Services. Each week Alias brings us a different Trainer and in turn they offer some words of wisdom.

Tags: Alias Security and Training Services, CTT Solutions, Mike Pannone
Posted in Gunfighter Moment | 28 Comments »

Gunfighter Moment – Ken Hackathorn

Saturday, February 6th, 2016

A common thread I hear concerning skill at arms is that in the event of a life threatening event, our hero will claim “I would rather be lucky than good.”

Really.

The next time you hear some moron make this statement, take a quarter out of your pocket, flip it and catch it, then cover it on your hand. Ask this ‘gambler’ to call it. What are his odds? 50/50.

Do you want to stake your life or that of your family on those odds. Personally, I’ll take skill over luck any day. Through training, being aware, avoiding danger areas, and being prepared is the best way to insure your own ‘good luck’.

– Ken Hackathorn

To see Ken’s Training Class Schedule visit aliastraining.com.

Tags: Alias Training & Security Services, Ken Hackathorn
Posted in Gunfighter Moment | 11 Comments »

Gunfighter Moment – Larry Vickers

Saturday, January 30th, 2016

Anyone taking home defense seriously needs to take a serious look at the firearm they plan on using, where they store it, the Ammo they have available for it, and realistic transport and reload scenarios. Take a very hard look at these as well as any other issues that are specific to your situation. This can help you decide what type makes the most sense for you. A perfect example is a home defense shotgun; depending on the weapon reloading it under stress may not be a good option. Think it thru and figure out what works best for you.

-Larry Vickers
Vickers Tactical Inc.
Host of TacTV

Larry Vickers of Vickers Tactical is a retired US Army 1st SFOD-Delta combat veteran with years of experience in the firearms industry as a combat marksmanship instructor and industry consultant. In recent years he has hosted tactical firearms related TV shows on the Sportsman Channel with the latest being TacTV of which Bravo Company is a presenting sponsor. Larry Vickers special operations background is one of the most unique in the industry today; he has been directly or indirectly involved in the some of the most significant special operations missions of the last quarter century. During Operation Just Cause he participated in Operation Acid Gambit – the rescue of Kurt Muse from Modelo Prison in Panama City, Panama. As a tactics and marksmanship instructor on active duty he helped train special operations personnel that later captured Saddam Hussein and eliminated his sons Uday and Qusay Hussein. In addition he was directly involved in the design and development of the HK416 for Tier One SOF use which was used by Naval Special Warfare personnel to kill Osama Bin Laden. Larry Vickers has developed various small arms accessories with the most notable being his signature sling manufactured by Blue Force Gear and Glock accessories made by Tangodown. In addition he has maintained strong relationships with premium companies within the tactical firearms industry such as BCM, Aimpoint, Black Hills Ammunition, Wilson Combat and Schmidt & Bender.

Larry Vickers travels the country conducting combat marksmanship classes for law abiding civilians, law enforcement and military and has partnered with Alias Training to coordinate classes to best meet the needs of the students attending the class.

Gunfighter Moment is a weekly feature brought to you by Alias Training & Security Services. Each week Alias brings us a different Trainer and in turn they offer us some words of wisdom.

Tags: Alias Training and Security Services, Larry Vickers, LAV, Vickers Tactical
Posted in Gunfighter Moment | 27 Comments »

Gunfighter Moment – Daryl Holland

Saturday, January 23rd, 2016

Colt Combat Unit Pistol

The Colt Combat Unit Pistol was designed by Ken Hackathorn and myself after the recent partnership between Colt and Alias Training & Security Services. I’m always honored to be mentioned in the same sentence with a living legend like Ken, so when I was asked to be a part of this with the Colt family it was an easy decision because I was also raised on the 1911 and the history of Colt dating back to 1836 speaks for itself. Colt has come out of Bankruptcy from the “Top Rope” with some changes in 2016 that aren’t just for the Military any more. This new Colt pistol is ready to go from the box to the holster without any modifications. It doesn’t just look great, it performs great. It has a dual recoil spring that will action the slide faster and softer, enabling the shooter to get their sites back on target faster after firing a round. It has 25 LPI (Lines per inch) checkering on the front and back strap/mainspring housing and the G10 grips don’t just look cool they also help maintain that perfect grip when you have sweaty hands.

The rail for a gun light is much needed by our commandos who keep us safe at night when most of the bad stuff happens and the Novak sites have a tritium dot on the front site post. The upswept beaver tail extended grip safety and light weight hammers are common within custom 1911’s. The attention to details by the Colt custom shop is amazing because they have made the best solid aluminum trigger I have ever felt.

Of course, I’m biased because of my new relationship with Colt, but just hold this gun in your hand and drop the hammer.

Sold!

The suggested retail price for this pistol is $1,499.00.

With the Administration and shady Democrats taking shots at our 2nd Amendment, maybe you should get two.

”One for each of ya” -Doc Holiday

Respectfully,

Daryl Holland

Daryl Holland is a retired U.S. Army Sergeant Major with over 20 years of active duty experience, 17 of those years in Special Operations. Five years with the 1st Special Forces Group (SFG) and 12 years in the 1st SFOD-Delta serving as an Assaulter, Sniper, Team Leader, and OTC Instructor.

He has conducted several hundred combat missions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, Philippines, and the Mexican Border. He has conducted combat missions in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush Mountains as a Sniper and experienced Mountaineer to the streets of Baghdad as an Assault Team Leader.

He has a strong instructor background started as an OTC instructor and since retiring training law abiding civilians, Law Enforcement, U.S. Military, and foreign U.S. allied Special Operations personnel from around the world.

Gunfighter Moment is a weekly feature brought to you by Alias Training & Security Services. Each week Alias brings us a different Trainer and in turn, they offer some words of wisdom.

Tags: Alias Security and Training Services, Daryl Holland
Posted in Gunfighter Moment | 14 Comments »

Gunfighter Moment – Jeff Gonzales

Saturday, January 16th, 2016

Going fast and being accurate are not mutually exclusive. Everyone likes to think so, but they are independent skill sets.

Assumptions…

Marksmanship fundamentals are one of the most talked about subjects, but most misunderstood. Being a marksman means you hit what you are aiming at on command. The moment speed comes into the equation many folks have difficulty because their marksmanship fundamentals are lacking. We make certain assumptions in our Concealed Carry class, assumptions based on marksmanship prerequisites. We are not there to teach them as much as apply them under concealed conditions.

The reluctant truth

What I am discovering is fundamentals are lacking more than I might like to admit. Then I’m forced to acknowledge we either do something about it or allow countless rounds to go downrange reinforcing bad habits. I choose to do something about it so in a sense we have to “lift lite to lift heavy”. What I mean is simply focusing on fundamentals from both a knowledge and application point of view. You have to have the knowledge of sight management, trigger management and follow through. These are the known and non-negotiable concepts for marksmanship. We have started to cover the fundamentals in every class in an effort to break the cycle.

It’s all in the technique

I love lifting philosophies and the one I mentioned above is a great example. The way we interpret it is you may want to lift the heavy weight, but you probably should lighten the bar and focus on your technique so you can eventually lift heavier. So how do we lighten the bar when it comes to shooting. We slow down, but slowing down is not the best way to describe the process. Instead what you need to do is perform each of the movements and actions at a speed you can execute them flawlessly. The tough part is forcing folks to go slow enough so we borrow a drill from the lifting world called a “tempo” drill.

Precise micro tasks

Nothing fancy about this, each action of firing a shot has a prescribed time limit or tempo you are to perform it within. A good example is the drawstroke, we ask the students to take 4 seconds to come from the holster to the target. Not fire the shot, not even align their sights, but move the pistol from the holster to the target. In this time period we are looking to see how precise their movements are and rather than rush them into making mistakes we give them plenty of time to do it correctly. The beauty of this drill is it eliminates the ego, it is no longer about speed. It is about how precise you can execute this micro-task; which sets you up for the correct application of the next micro task; sight management and so on.

Knowledge base

I feel too much emphasis is placed on speed and I see many students who move faster than they are able to guarantee their hits. If you move so fast you miss your shot, it really doesn’t matter. The tempo drill is harder than it sounds because you now have the opportunity to “think” your way through all the tasks and thinking requires the knowledge part. Remembering all the little details when you have the time challenges your knowledge base for sure. It doesn’t matter how skilled you are or think you are, using a tempo to execute a micro task is about the precision of your movements.

Just like in the lifting world, many students are interested in their speed or how heavy they lift. They should be more interested in the precision of their movements, in this case marksmanship fundamentals.

– Jeff Gonzales
Trident Concepts, LLC

Jeff Gonzales of Trident Concepts, LLC is a decorated and respected U.S. Navy SEAL who has worked in a variety of environments and capacities throughout the globe. He specializes in personal protection tactics and training for armed and unarmed conflicts. His motto is “Concepts that meet reality”. Jeff’s goal is not simply to train you, but to better prepare you for the worst-case scenario.

Gunfighter Moment is a weekly feature brought to you by Alias Training & Security Services. Each week Alias brings us a different Trainer and in turn, they offer some words of wisdom.

Tags: Alias Training and Security Services, Jeff Gonzales, Trident Concepts
Posted in Gunfighter Moment | 6 Comments »

Gunfighter Moment – Pat McNamara

Saturday, January 9th, 2016

We all deteriorate… to some degree, over time. Failing eyes, or Presbyopia, usually occurs beginning at around age 40, when people experience blurred near vision when reading, sewing or working at the computer. Mine was at 45.

A very common question that I receive on the range is related directly to presbyopia, to which I have an answer. But first, a few options are a site adjustment. For example, I recently switched optics to include an EOTech 3X multiplier behind my T2 on my carbine. I train with fiber optics on the range during the day, and use Trijicon’s HDs or Tough and Brights on my EDCs. Many have switched to a red dot such as an RMR on their pistol. The red dots, to me, can be seen with absolute clarity despite my poor reading vision, but I dare not carry one on the range. I would rather suffer with blurry sites than to appear to have a mechanical advantage while I am teaching; I am still going to knock the center of the target out. When red dots become more of the norm, than they are right now, I will no doubt, be riding that train.

So, I guess my answer to those who ask is, deal with it and figure it out.

Patrick McNamara
SGM, US Army (Ret)

Gunfighter Moment is a weekly feature brought to you by Alias Training & Security Services. Each week Alias brings us a different Trainer and in turn they offer some words of wisdom.

Tags: Alias Training and Security Services, Pat McNamara, TMACS Inc
Posted in Gunfighter Moment | 11 Comments »