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Gunfighter Moment – Frank Proctor

Saturday, February 15th, 2014

Repetition

I get very excited when I learn something new or gain a new understanding of something I already know or even a new perspective. That happened to me again last week and here’s how it went down;
I’ve been working on my range a lot recently building some new bays and a new rifle range. One day last week I was using my tractor to move some dirt around and doing some pretty repetitive stuff, move forward get a scoop of dirt, back up with it and dump it into the dump truck then move forward again get a scoop of dirt, back up again repeat, repeat etc. I know you are thinking…what does this have to do with shooting? Bear with me! To shift my tractor from forward to reverse I have to use a lever on the left side of the steering column, push forward to go forward, pull back for reverse. After running the tractor for a few hours I got in my truck to leave, guess what I grabbed to try to make the truck into forward and reverse….the turn signal lever on the left side of the steering column, right where the tractor gear selector was! So we’ve all heard it said that it takes 10,000 repetitions to build a muscle memory. I’ve said in my classes that it may not take 10,000 reps but it takes more than 10 for sure. In this case after running the tractor for a while I had reprogrammed to use my left hand and a lever on the left side of the steering column to make the machine go forward and reverse. When I got into my truck I instinctively grabbed the lever on the left side of the steering column, because for the last few hours I had TRAINED myself to do it. We humans are amazingly adaptive machines and with the right kinds of repetition we can learn to do anything. When I was running the tractor I didn’t sit down on it and see how fast I could shift from forward or reverse or how fast I could run the loader on a pro timer. What I did was very deliberately operate the machine and by doing so and not over thinking it, I TRAINED my mind and body how to instinctively make the machine do what I wanted it to do subconsciously. This new perspective on something I already knew will be going with me to the range and I think it will help me create some better training tools to give the shooters who train with me. I dig it the most when a new thought or idea comes up that will help me be a better shooter and instructor!

And of course you can check out my website for more info on what I’m all about. Thanks y’all!
www.wayofthegun.us

-Frank Proctor

Frank Proctor has served over 18 years in the military, the last 11 of those in US Army Special Forces. During his multiple combat tours in Afghanistan & Iraq he had the privilege to serve with and learn from many seasoned veteran Special Forces Operators so their combined years of knowledge and experience has helped him to become a better operator & instructor. While serving as an instructor at the Special Forces Advanced Urban Combat Course he was drawn to competitive shooting. He has since earned the USPSA Grand Master ranking in the Limited Division and Master ranking in the IDPA Stock Service Pistol division. He learned a great deal from shooting in competition and this has helped him to become to become a better tactical shooter. Frank is one of the few individuals able to bring the experiences of U.S. Army Special Forces, Competitive Shooting, and veteran Instructor to every class.

All this experience combines to make Frank Proctor a well-rounded shooter and instructor capable of helping you to achieve your goal of becoming a better shooter.

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, Frank Proctor, Way of the Gun
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Gunfighter Moment – Larry Vickers

Saturday, February 8th, 2014

‘Once in awhile go out and shoot some older small arms to get a sense of where we are today and how we got here. I highly recommend weapons such as the M1 Garand, FN FAL, G3 as well as bolt guns such as the K98k, Mosin Nagant and Lee-Enfield.

If you have never fired these you may be very surprised how well they perform at certain tasks – the Garand, FAL and Lee-Enfield in particular.

In handguns make sure you try a rack grade M1911A1, Luger, P38 and Browning Hi Power – all of them in as issued condition from WW II. It can be a real eye opening experience when you see just how much more user friendly modern handguns are.

All of this will give you a different perspective when you pick up your tricked out M4 and Glock – you likely won’t take things for granted when you see how far we have come.’

-Larry Vickers
Vickers Tactical Inc.
Host of TacTV

Larry Vickers of Vickers Tactical in 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.

www.VickersTactical.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 some words of wisdom.

Tags: Alias Security and Training Services, Larry Vickers, LAV, Vickers Tactical
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Gunfighter Moment – Pat McNamara

Saturday, February 1st, 2014

I appreciate teaching Law Enforcement Officers and have a vested interest in doing so.

LEOs have a thankless job. They are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. They are in constant fear of litigation and liability and there is a law suit attached to every round they fire. They live in a world riddled with ambiguity where they must be the masters of adaptability. I like to define adaptability as; using your existing knowledge, have a positive response to emerging situations. When they get a call for say,…domestic disturbance, they should be thinking worst case scenario. 300 pound naked redneck covered in blood with an AK in one hand and severed head in the other, for example.

The LEOs that I train are typically tip of the spear guys. Kudos to them for breaking the bonds of institutional inbreeding seeking training outside of what their agency provides.

We civilians are counting on you to be on top of your game.

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).

tmacsinc.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 some words of wisdom.

Tags: Alias Training and Security Services, Pat McNamara, TMACS Inc
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Gunfighter Moment – Frank Proctor

Saturday, January 25th, 2014

Shooting in Kit

What’s up shooters! I’m gonna talk a bit about my thoughts on shooting in kit and kit in general. There’s a key word in the title and it’s the shooting part! If you are wearing kit as part of your job and you carry a gun I think you should set up the kit to allow you to shoot the gun the best way possible and do everything you need to do in the line of duty. Too many times I think dudes bulk up their kit way more than they need to. I’m a bit of a minimalist so I like less to give me more. In this case, less kit equals more mobility and therefore more offensive capability.

Here are some key areas for me on kit setup:

Have everything you truly need, but nothing you don’t

Firing side shoulder clear to mount the rifle

Firing side area clear to reach the pistol

Essential equipment (ammo, radio, tourniquet) reachable with both hands

Be able to go to a full squat without the plate choking you at the neck or waist

Be able to climb, buildings etc, without snag hazards on the front of your gear

I’ve recently been doing some of my YouTube videos in kit for 2 reasons. The first reason is just to demonstrate that kit doesn’t have to impede your ability to shoot and move well and for a fact it shouldn’t. If it does you should fix it I think. And that leads me to the second reason, Test your equipment and yourself. I recently got a new armor carrier so I’ve been testing it out and shooting in it to see how well it allows me to do what I need to do. So far it’s awesome. The kit is the MOAB from Rogue Gunfighter. It’s pretty cool, low profile and designed to fit many operational needs. It can go low profile or quickly add or take away more gear to it including a chest rig and back pack. Something I like about it is right out of the box is it’s ready to go. I can put everything I need in it with out having to weave one piece of MOLLE! The MOAB is super comfortable and handles weight well also. Another huge plus is I can shoot very comfortable in it with zero interference from the kit. In the week or so that I’ve had it I’ve shot some USPSA style stages in it, run CQB, did a one man break contact deal at my range 400 yards bounding back though my berms spaced about 50 yards apart and some other maneuverability exercises. It’s working great. I highly recommend everyone go out and run through some sort of stress event in new gear to validate the kit and the set up. If you identify a deficiency, it’s better to know up front and fix it.

That’s all I’ve got for now for more info on the MOAB check out www.roguegunfighter.com.

Also here’s a video of me yapping about it and shooting in it:

And of course you can check out my website for more info on what I’m all about. Thanks y’all!
www.wayofthegun.us

-Frank Proctor

All this experience combines to make Frank Proctor a well-rounded shooter and instructor capable of helping you to achieve your goal of becoming a better shooter.

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 & Security Services, Frank Proctor
Posted in Gunfighter Moment | 13 Comments »

Gunfighter Moment – Kyle Defoor

Saturday, January 4th, 2014

Since so many of us are like-minded individuals and have the same interests not only in guns and shooting but other things as well, I’ve decided to offer some tips in four of the other areas where I have years of experience; motorcycles, climbing, running, and hunting. I think this will be a nice complement to the other gunfighters on here who offer tips and tricks and hopefully keeps it fresh. Sadly or happily, these four subjects along with shooting and tactics are pretty much all my life is and has been since a very young age. This week it’s going to be a motorcycle riding tip.

I log somewhere between 15 and 20,000 miles a year on my motorcycle. I use it as my primary mode of transportation to most classes that are driving distance from my home. I’ve been doing that kind of mileage for years, and I also have a very brief roadracing background on sport bikes. All in all I’ve been riding a bike on the street or the track for over 20 years now.

One very simple and important fundamental of riding correctly either on the track, street or dirt is manipulation of the clutch lever and brake lever with your fingers. On a comparison scale, this is strong hand and other strong hand grip when shooting a pistol. More often than not what I see on the street is a rider that uses all four fingers to work the clutch and any combination of fingers except the correct two to work the front brake lever. Harley riders and big cruiser riders are the biggest offenders of this, but young inexperienced race replica riders are a close second.

The correct way to manipulate the clutch is to adjust your clutch so that it activates when pulled in with two fingers on the lever and the lever is touching your ring finger. This provides the ability for the rider to activate the clutch and still have superb control on the handlebars and the bike itself. A side benefit of this technique is that when racing or riding hard your shifts are actually faster because all four fingers do not have to come up and over the lever and then regain grip on the handlebar. Anyone who has rode the tail of the Dragon on the East Coast, or the canyons of Azusa California on the West Coast can attest to this and knows exactly what I’m talking about.

The activation of the front brake is exactly the same using the index finger and middle finger only to apply brake pressure. On this side of the handlebars one of the most overlooked fundamentals is correct placement of the lever up or down on the handle bar to provide maximum leverage for the rider when he is using only those two fingers. Very similar to guns, motorcycles do not come set up correctly. You have to fine tune placement and adjustments to make them work for you.

Lastly, another small tip on using your clutch and brake levers correctly is that you can slide your hands closer to the middle of the bar or further toward the end of the bar to provide more or less leverage. This is an especially important consideration for the majority of Harley riders because of the size of Harley handlebars and the size of the levers combined with a cable activated clutch instead of an hydraulic one.

Once you start riding like this you will not only see the benefits and become better at shifting, turning and overall manipulation of the handlebars, but you are also doing in motorcycling the equivalent to “long finger in the side” in shooting and that’s showing the rest of the world that your professional.

V/R,

Kyle Defoor

“Trainer of Feeders”

Kyle Defoor is one of the world’s most committed and passionate shooting instructors. Literally growing up with a gun in hand he took his talents into the military where he was combat decorated as a SEAL assaulter and sniper. Kyle helped to create and define modern training while along the way personally teaching thousands of military personal and civilians from around the globe. His shooting prowess led to appearances on multiple TV shows including Shooting Gallery, Tactical Arms, and Tactical Impact, and guest appearances on History Channel. Kyle’s outdoor athletic lifestyle includes shooting, ultra running, stand-up paddle surfing and climbing. He now serves as the brand ambassador for Mission Ready Equipment and runs his own company which offers tactical training, wilderness navigation, TV and film consulting, and motivational speaking.

www.kyledefoor.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 some words of wisdom.

Tags: Alias Training and Security Services, Kyle Defoor
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Gunfighter Moment – Mike Pannone

Saturday, December 28th, 2013

What are you willing to do to protect your loved ones?

I was helping a good friend teach a group of mostly women from his prosecutor’s office and a woman who is an avid long distance runner and spends a lot of time training mentioned she carries “sometimes”. My response was “why sometimes and not all the time?” She said if she was out with her kids she would carry to protect them but didn’t carry when she was by herself. That led to a little discussion as we waited for the break to end and in a nutshell here it is.

If someone were maliciously about to do something that would grievously injure virtually everyone that you know and love especially your immediate family

…and if it that injury was painful beyond words and lasted until the day they died?

…and if nothing either doctor or hospital could do to heal them?

…what would you be willing to do to stop them?

If someone beats, rapes or murders you, you alone feel the physical pain but the anguish is shared by everyone you love for their lifetime. If you are killed your children will always wonder what life would be like if mom were there or cry at their weddings because you were not there to share the joy. Your husband would wonder what that dream vacation with the kids would have been like or how you would have grown old together and spoiled the grandkids. Your family would mourn silently every time there was a gathering with the most obvious presence being your absence.

So if it is a way to explain to a friend or family member why you carry, why you train so much and why they should, then enlighten them. Explain to them that you carry to protect yourself and by doing so the emotions of everyone that your life touches in a significant way if you were prematurely taken. Imagine all the pain you could save by successfully fending off an attack? Remember as well the person trying to deprive you of your life and by doing so injure all those you hold dear brought it to you! Turn it around on him, turn fear into anger and fight with the savagery of a lion. He might have started the clock but you stop it! Do not be afraid to do whatever it takes to stop the attacker, to protect yourself and by default your loved ones. You owe it to your family and friends. Be loyal and steadfast and defend yourself with courage and righteous indignation just as you would them if they were there with you.

In the immediacy you will fight for your life alone but in your actions you hold the emotional weight of many potentially injured souls…those that love you. Remember, nobody is more concerned for the well being of you and yours than you!! If that fateful day comes it is your responsibility to be prepared in advance physically and emotionally and be equipped and trained properly.

What am I willing to do to protect my loved ones? Whatever it takes!

– 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.

www.ctt-solutions.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 some words of wisdom.

Tags: Alias Training and Security Services, CTT Solutions, Mike Pannone
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Gunfighter Moment – Larry Vickers

Saturday, December 21st, 2013

Firearms safety in the real world- this is the safety brief I give in my classes;

1) Know your target and what is beyond it; on the range you have something ( a berm for Instance ) that acts as a bullet stop- in the real world you can’t predict what your bullet stop will be or if you even will have one. Understand if you launch a bullet Downrange in the real world you own it so it’s in your best interest to make sure you hit your target and you know what is beyond your target in case you miss it or over penetrate

2) Treat weapons as if they are loaded at all times; people know we need to do this but the fact of the matter is once most people have convinced themselves a firearm is cleared they are likely to point it at anything or anybody – including themselves. This is a seriously bad habit that could mean life or death someday. Chances are good if you handle weapons long enough you will eventually have an unintentional discharge – at that point the only thing that will keep things from getting ugly fast is the proper handling habits you have built over time. This is a major issue- learn it and live it.

3) Do not allow your muzzle to cross anything your not willing to destroy; in the military and LE often times individuals sweep each other with your muzzle – that’s not a good thing but is sometimes unavoidable – my approach is know when you are doing it and minimize it to the best of your ability. In the civilian sector pointing a gun at somebody is a really big deal so you have to be switched on 100% of the time in terms of muzzle awareness.

4) Finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot; this is rightly considered the golden rule of firearms safety as it is the fail safe in case I happen to sweep someone with my muzzle I won’t put a bullethole in them because my finger is off the trigger. Fortunately the popularity of guns like the Glock has made this rule universally accepted – that’s a good thing as not long ago having your finger on the trigger was seen as the best way to be ‘ready’ for instant action – in reality what you were ‘ready’ for was an AD

These are the safety rules I highlight in every class – I believe in them and you should to – be safe and see you at the range

-Larry Vickers
Vickers Tactical Inc.
Host of TacTV

www.VickersTactical.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 some words of wisdom.

Tags: Alias Security and Training Services, Larry Vickers, LAV, Vickers Tactical
Posted in Gunfighter Moment | 4 Comments »

Gunfighter Moment – Frank Proctor

Saturday, December 14th, 2013

Performance Shooting…in my opinion

I started my training company in January 2012 and as I started it I struggled with what flavor of shooting I would focus on, tactical or competitive. I ended up at a blend and for a lack of a better term I simply call it Performance Shooting.

I define Performance Shooting as: Applying the correct ratio of speed and accuracy to dynamic shooting situations with a goal of scoring maximum points in minimum time with 100% accountability. As I see it that definition applies to whatever we do with the guns if winning is a concern. If you are a competitive shooter you need to score more points in less time than the other shooters you are competing against. If you are a tactical shooter I think you absolutely need to score more “points” in less time than the other guy that’s shooting at you or someone else.

That correct ratio of speed and accuracy is a key factor that will allow us to score more points in less time. Accuracy is awesome and it has been said that accuracy is final and I believe that for sure, but if it takes longer than it needs to, you will loose. Case in point, if shooter A can fire 5 accurate rounds from 25 yards will 100% accuracy at a rate of a shot every second and shooter B can deliver the same accuracy for 5 shots at a rate of a shot every half second, who wins? Speed is also awesome, however if we shoot fast and miss, we loose and for the tactical shooter…where did those bullets go?

I push for the correct blend of speed and accuracy with a heavy dose of accountability and repeatability and the ability to deliver it under stress. I think a great place to test your shooting abilities under stress is to go out and shoot a match. Competitive shooting is the thing that drove me to become a better shooter and I have taken a lot of lessons away from it that have made me a better tactical shooter and operator. I encourage anyone that carries a gun in the line of duty or for self-defense to go out and compete. Do it with an open mind and use it as a tool to evaluate your shooting abilities under stress and your ability to process information quickly. You’ll find out what you need to work on (I certainly did and still do) and have a good time doing it with some like-minded people. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning!

I’ll probably do another one of these articles focused on my take aways from competitive shooting and how those things crossed over and made me a better operator. Until then go out and shoot a match and see what YOU think, see if your shooting skills under stress are where you want them to be.

-Frank Proctor

All this experience combines to make Frank Proctor a well-rounded shooter and instructor capable of helping you to achieve your goal of becoming a better shooter.

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 & Security Services, Frank Proctor
Posted in Gunfighter Moment | 2 Comments »