One of the most interesting things that I continue of learn as I study real world shootings is the fact that the degree of difficulty is not particularly high. Most shootings/shootouts require pretty straight forward skills. Running, jumping, rolling and other antics that are popular in the movies rarely come into play for real. Most of the time, it’s just a simple matter of alignment and trigger press. Ranges are rarely more than 10 yards, as a rule more like 5 yards being pretty common. Lighting conditions will be low, but there is usually enough light to see your target and align the gun. The key is get through the Vision-Decision-Action process. Most of us make most of our decisions based upon what we ‘see’ aka the ‘threat’, next comes making a decision to react. And finally, we must act out the ‘action’ phase. For most people the decision phase is the most time consuming part of the equation. Most of us can visually recognize a problem is less than a second. If you have trained and practiced fighting skills, you know about how long it takes you to react and land a punch or kick, or present your weapon and fire an accurate shot, or two, or three. We practice until we have these skills down smooth and consistent.

What I cannot teach or prepare anyone for how long it takes them to make the ‘decision’ to react. One system often recommended is the practice of visualization, where you mentally think your way through an attack and plan your response. Not a bad plan, but it does not help much if you get locked into that, ” I can’t believe this is happening to me” syndrome. How much time should you use in the action phase of the equation. I like Jim Cirrillo’s answer, “take whatever time it takes to make the shot”.

In a shootout nobody will have to shout out ‘shoot faster’ to make you pull the trigger quicker. More likely the best advice is slow down and get good hits. Most people are reluctant to carry out an act that results in the death of another; once you have killed someone else in a self-defense situation, this taboo seems to diminish and more so with each similar event. Most street criminals have an advantage here based upon their experience with violence. You must accept the fact that life threatening events can happen to you. It is a dangerous world, always has been. Love thy brother sounds nice, but history tells us that this is pretty much a fantasy.

So, if you choose to arm yourself and learn to use a weapon, go about it in a rational manner. Seek good valid training, practice to achieve a degree of skill that gives you confidence, and most important remain aware of your surroundings. If someone threatens or starts calling you names, leave the scene quickly if you can. Don’t yell or get into a shouting contest. Don’t pull your gun and start waving it around. Do not assume that presenting a firearm with cause the problem to go away. Understand that if you do use your weapon, your life will change. Not just a little bit, but a lot for the near future.

Even though much of shooting competition requirements makes heavy demands on shooting skill, this is not reflective of real world actions. It is merely a requirement to make matches more demanding of the better shooters so they can be tested of their marksmanship skills. Don’t make your self defense skills reflective of what the requirements of a shooting match dictate. When was the last time you shot a match that reflected the events of real world encounters? Most provide scenarios, like 5 to 6 targets, sometimes even more. Running and reloading in the open toward the targets? Keep your training and practice real. Games are fine, but recognize what you are really preparing for. You are what you practice; don’t forget it.

– 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.

Finger position is ‘King’

Everyone in the small arms training world pays homage to the concept of ‘gun safety’. Some of these gun safety rules are simple to follow, some are not. Visit any indoor shooting range or local gun club and within minutes of your arrival you will likely see someone violating a basic firearms safety rule. Everyone seems to place varying degrees of importance on gun safety. Some folks will tell you that there are tens rules of gun safety, other will quote five rules to follow. In the ‘Real World’ (defined as where the targets are shooting back and there are no firing lines) there are only two rules that matter: understand that the most critical gun safety rule is the mindset that ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED. Once you understand this, the only other safety rules you must get clear are muzzle awareness and finger position.

Now, I’m going to say something that will make some folks heads explode; sometimes in the ‘Real World’ we point guns at other people. Often on purpose, and occasionally by accident. We try like hell to never point a firearm at a target we do not wish to engage, but guess what: shit happens. So, no matter how hard we try to avoid unintentional flags of people that we do not want to hurt, it is critical that one has a back up firearms safety system that prevents injury to friendly forces. Finger position or finger register is the key. It has to be programed into your firearms handling skills and never violated.

The best news is it is a very easy skill to master. Whenever you handle a firearm, never put your finger in the trigger guard unless you want to hear a loud noise. When on the range or practicing, program your brain that when your sights come off the target, your finger comes off the trigger and out of the trigger guard. It is really pretty simple. Once you start programing yourself to do this, it is pretty easy to adapt to. I suggest and teach that you place your trigger finger somewhere on the firearm where you can exert pressure against the frame or side of the weapon, so that in a startle response you will not end up on the trigger. On a pistol, I teach trying to place your index finger on or as near to the ejection port as possible. On a rifle/carbine put your finger on the stock above the trigger guard or receiver so that with pressure nothing will go ‘bang’ when you exert positive pressure. On the AR-15 platform take care to NOT put your finger on the magazine catch. I often recommend a small patch of skate board tape placed on the part of the firearm that you want to index with your trigger finger. When your finger becomes raw form the skate board tape, you can remove it as you will now understand where your trigger finger belongs.

Some folks tell me that it is better to engage the safety instead of worrying about finger position. WRONG. What if your sidearm does not have a manual safety? Recently, one of the other Alias instructors detailed his method of always engaging the safety (of an AR or AR control style) firearm for all things when not shooting even include reloading when empty and clearing a malfunction. Mike and Pat are professionals that I have the highest level of respect for. However, I do not teach, nor recommend engaging the safety for every task. Not all small arms have the controls located as ideally as the AR-15 platform, as many of the current popular sidearms don’t even have manual safeties and many that do can’t be engaged and still allow the small arm to cycle or load.

Remember, instructors don’t always agree on everything, but that doesn’t mean that Pat or Mike are wrong. We just don’t agree on this particular safety manipulation. I teach to utilize the safety when moving or when performing shoulder transitions, but when reloading an empty weapon or while clearing a malfunction, I’m not a fan of ‘safety on’. What I am really touchy about is finger out of the trigger guard and ‘in register position’; the way I instantly measure a new face with a firearm in their possession is whether they follow this rule. If you have to work with or be around folks with firearms, remember: the finger position rule is ‘King’ in gun safety.

-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.

The training market is flooded with instructors that all want you to give them your money so they can make you into a ninja warrior. The guy in your community that was a NRA instructor last year has bought himself a set of 5.11 clothes (ninja black hopefully), a drop leg holster for his blaster, and added 13 items to his economy priced AR. Now, he is the local ‘tactical shooting instructor’. Like most things in life you get what you pay for. In most case’s it is a matter of in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.

If you plan to invest your money wisely, do some research on the instructor. Does he have a reputation for giving his students their money’s worth? Keep in mind that nearly all the shooting instructors have a specialty based upon their life experiences be it Law Enforcement, Military, or competition backgrounds.

It is your job to determine if the specialty that they provide meets your expectations or learning requirements. One of the most commonly encountered things that happens in my business is questions concerning another trainers range rules or individual class requirements. The question is ,why do I teach something different than instructor A or B? In reality, we all have differences in our instruction, it doesn’t mean any of us are wrong, we just have different approaches to solving the problem.

I advise most students that take my or anyone class with the attitude that you take away those things that you like or think you can use. Anything you get from the instructor that you don’t agree with or dislike, simply push the delete button. Select the guy you want to give your money to based upon his reputation to deliver the information you are looking for, his ability to explain and justify his teaching methods, and most important his ability to correct or improve your performance.

Go to training with an open mind and positive attitude. Pay attention, show up prepared, be ready to come to the line when called, and work hard to not be ‘that guy’.

-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.

For much of the gun owning public, the cycles of gun/ammo buying paranoia follows social and political events. In the pass few years we have seen panics follow the election of the current leader of America and events like Sandy Hook. Prices on guns in general and firearms that utilize full capacity magazines goes crazy. Ammo prices go through the roof. Full capacity magazines double or triple in price. Things generally calm down and prices go back down. Note that in the case of ammo, the prices drop but never go back to the pre panic prices. So, there is a message here, It will happen again. Now is the time to stock up. Current prices of AR15/M4 long guns is a real ‘buyers’ market. Spare AR magazines are a steal, so load up now. Lower receivers and uppers are at an all time great pricing level for the consumer. Pistol high capacity magazines are very affordable, so act now. Remember, magazines are like the tires on your car, they must be replaced periodically.

Most important, ammo prices are still dropping. 223/556 ball type ammo can be had for thirty to thirty two cents a round if you shop carefully. 9X19mm is in the twenty to twenty two cents a round if you buy in quantity. The in-expensive Russian steel case ammo for AKs is fine, but for non Soviet designed guns and calibers, I recommend you avoid this steel case ammo if you have a choice. I have seen lots of the cheap Russian steel case ammo used over the years, and have even shot quantities of it myself, unless it is 7.62X39, 5.45X39, 7.62X54R, 9X18, or 7.62X25 I don’t have much good to say about it. The current ‘Wolf Gold’ brass case 223 is made in Taiwan to M193 specs. Based upon its use with students in my classes it seems to be a good buy. MagTect 223 has proven popular with students as well. Training/blastin’ ammo is critical if you are trying to stay skilled and up to speed with your primary. It is impossible to predict the next panic cycle, but wise men prepare now…not later.

-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.

Ed Note: This was written before the BATFE decided to restrict M855 ammunition from civilian sale but I thought it was still worth sharing.