Thursday, February 19, 2026

The SSD-A Pistol Standards: A Low Light Test

Research indicates that criminals often choose the darkness or low light conditions to pursue their nefarious profession. A significant number of shootings involving police officers happen at night as well. Criminals view darkness as an asset and use it as an advantage against those whom they would victimize. These realities mean that if you are forced to defend yourself, odds are it will happen under low light conditions; however, few people pursue low light training even when the opportunity exists. 

Although shooting accurately with a flashlight is much more challenging than simply using a normal two-handed stance, my experience with students who have been practicing over the past several years is that low light mastery (like all shooting skills) comes with practice and the proper equipment. 

As of February 2026, I have participated in four Sensible Self Defense Academy (SSD-A) Low Light Matches(1) so far in this low light season. I have done well with my every day carry pistol (EDC), starting from concealment—just like I carry the pistol. In the matches I use a hand-held light since I do not have a light on my EDC pistol.

SSD-A Pistol Standards 

However, I wanted to test my skills using the SSD-A Pistol Standards under low light conditions. The pistol standards is a course of fire that gained inspiration from the Short Combat Accuracy Test that Tom Givens of Range Master conducts in his Advanced Instructor Course. (2) The SSD-A Pistol Standards are as follows:

Start all strings of fire with flashlight in hand, pistol concealed, hand at sides, drawing from the holster. 

-- Strings 1 & 2: At 3 yards, draw and shoot three hits on the target, do this two times.

-- String 3: At 5 yards, draw and shoot three hits on the target, do this one time.

-- String 4: At 5 yards, draw and shoot two hits on the body and one hit in the ocular cavity. Do this one time.

-- String 5: At seven yards, draw and shoot four hits on the body, reload, and shoot four hits on the body. Do this one time.

Target: The target we use for the Standards is the Shoot Steel cardboard target with a custom scoring area. The chest five-point area measures 6 x 10 inches. The ocular cavity five-point area is a triangle that measures 5 x 3 inches. We cover targets with a t-shirt or something similar so the shooter must aim at the anatomically correct (upper center chest) scoring area to achieve proper hits (see target image below).

Scoring: Hits inside the chest scoring area or the ocular cavity are five points. Hits outside the chest scoring area or the ocular cavity are three points. Hits cutting a line count for the higher score; however, hits outside the chest scoring area or the ocular cavity must have the bullet’s full diameter to count. We score edge hits as a miss.

The final score is calculated as follows: Record each string time and add together for a total time. Divide total points by total time, for an Index. Multiply index by 20 for a final score. The par score is 100; the goal is a score above 100. I use Tom’s scale to categorize the low light results as follows: 80-100 Competent; 101-125 Advanced; 126+ Highly Skilled.

My Performance 
 
For this particular test, I used the Building Shooters NURO® Shooting System to time my runs. The NURO® Shooting System uses visual start and stop threat cues. The target on the right has the red pistol start signal illuminated. My score on run #1 (shot cold) was a 124 with my P320 EDC pistol using reloaded ammunition that match the Hornady Critical Duty 135gr standard pressure load’s performance. My score on run #2 was a 101 with my P365 alternate EDC pistol using the same reloaded ammunition.

Flashlights 

Through experimentation over the past several years we have confirmed much of the conventional wisdom concerning low light gear. While the 60 lumens Surefire 6P was certainly state of the art decades ago, modern high intensity lights have come into their own. We have discovered that a powerful light (300 lumens and up) overpowers a weaker light and permits the shooter to identify and engage targets that might otherwise be hidden from view—someone standing behind a car’s headlights for example. 

The spot size of the flashlight beam and the beam’s spill are also important. Ideally when you illuminate a threat you want the spot shining directly in their eyes. Some lights have a very small spot designed to throw the light over longer distances. While this works well as a spotlight, it loses effectiveness when used as a self-defense light because the narrow spot requires too much precision to effectively blind the threat. A flashlight with a large spot requires less precision and therefore works better in this regard.

The flashlight’s spill is the amount of light surrounding the spot. A light with a generous spill allows you to see things or people you might not otherwise see. There are many good flashlights on the market that meet these requirements.

How about a flashlight on the pistol? We have had several police officers who attend our low light classes and matches, and some are issued pistols with mounted lights. I have no objection to pistol mounted lights, and they can make accurately engaging a threat much easier with the proper switch configuration. However, I believe everyone should master the hand-held light techniques for several reasons. Searching with a mounted light virtually guarantees that you will point the pistol in unsafe direction or at an innocent at some point. Police might get away with pointing their pistols about in this manner, a private citizen might get charged with aggravated assault. 

Challenges 

When I first started teaching low light classes (2014) we discovered that the two biggest challenges for shooters was recognizing the threat targets in decision-based scenarios and then hitting the threats. When initially exposed to low light problems, even very accomplished shooters who have very little difficultly hitting a target under normal lighting conditions often go through an adjustment period as they learn low light techniques. 

So what is posing a challenge for them under low lighting conditions? Almost every student with iron sights initially shoots high on the target or often over it. We discovered that shooters were subconsciously tilting the pistol up slightly to see the front sight better in the low light. 

Regardless of the lighting conditions, you must properly align iron sights and then concentrate on the front sight while simultaneously pressing the trigger. Hard to do under normal circumstances with good light--more difficult to do under low lighting conditions. 

The shooter in the image below is properly executing the Harries Technique with iron sights.  She is using a flashlight she borrowed from me for the match. This particular light has a very large spot and spill.  As you can see, it literally lit up the entire area. The targets are 15-yards from the shooter and you can see smoke from the shot she just fired.

Shooters with an optic on their pistol often have trouble finding the dot when they use low light techniques such as the Harries, the FBI Search, or the syringe if they do not grip the pistol properly and execute the technique correctly. 

Practice 

You must practice low light techniques to have any hope of using them under stress. Using a light in conjunction with a handgun is something that you cannot practice once and get it down pat. Thankfully you can practice the techniques with live fire during daylight if your range won’t allow night shooting. So how do you practice engaging multiple threats and shooting on the move with these techniques? 

If your local range has IDPA matches, shoot the course of fire using your flashlight if the match director will permit it. You likely won’t win the match; however, you will learn how to shoot and manipulate your pistol under some stress. Practicing how to search a structure (like your house when nobody is home) in the dark is important as well. DO this with AN UNLOADED PISTOL (check it 3 times!) or a dummy gun. This helps you identify how the various angles and corners in your house make one technique a better option than the other. 

Conclusion 

To my knowledge, no data exists concerning private citizen-involved shootings with criminals under low light conditions; however, since a lot of criminal activity occurs after dark we can assume that there is a likely correlation. There are several reasons to use a flashlight: to observe and detect, to illuminate and navigate, to eliminate anonymity, and to identify and engage threats. Used properly, a flashlight lets you see danger before it can affect you and it can encourage danger waiting in the dark to go elsewhere. 

If you enjoy reading these please subscribe. The link is on the upper right side of the page. All that will happen is that you will receive an e-mail when I post an article. Your information will never be distributed.

(1) We conduct these matches every year at Cedar Ridge Range, just north of San Antonio, TX.  We run matches once or twice a month (holiday and weather dependent) from November through March.

(2) I graduated from Tom’s Advanced Instructor Course in 2022. For Rangemaster’s SCAT go to: https://snubnoir.com/blog/2023/01/25/scat-drill/

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

Wednesday Wisdom: 18 February 2026

Medal of Honor: Owen Francis Patrick Hammerberg

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a diver engaged in rescue operations at West Loch, Pearl Harbor, 17 February 1945. Aware of the danger when two fellow divers were hopelessly trapped in a cave-in of steel wreckage while tunneling with jet nozzles under an LST sunk in 40 feet of water and 20 feet of mud, Hammerberg unhesitatingly went overboard in a valiant attempt to effect their rescue despite the certain hazard of additional cave-ins and the risk of fouling his lifeline on jagged pieces of steel imbedded in the shifting mud. Washing a passage through the original excavation, he reached the first of the trapped men, freed him from the wreckage, and, working desperately in pitch-black darkness, finally effected his release from fouled lines, thereby enabling him to reach the surface. Wearied but undaunted after several hours of arduous labor, Hammerberg resolved to continue his struggle to wash through the oozing submarine, subterranean mud in a determined effort to save the second diver.

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https://tacticalanatomy.com/qbuddy-teamq-tactics/

There are a few interesting observations to be made of the tactics in use in Mumbai--it you as a private citizen find yourself in a similar incident, remember--there may be two or more attackers:

It appears the attackers were organized into buddy pairs, allowing one to shoot while the other moved, and so forth. Interestingly, the buddy pair has is a later innovation in small unit tactics and has only been slow to trickle through regular infantry formations. In World War I, the smallest element of maneuver (on paper) might have been a battalion or company. 

The Germans, in developing “storm troop tactics” then innovated even smaller maneuver elements, which we might call squads today. The role of platoons and squads became only greater in WWII. After WWII, General S.L.A. Marshall conducted a massive study of the reactions of men in combat (See “Men Against Fire”) and the result of his work was the genesis of the Fire Team. The Fire Team is now the smallest doctrinal unit of maneuver in the US military. In the Marine Corps, it is led by a Corporal, includes an automatic rifleman with a Squad Automatic Weapon, and two more riflemen.

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Closing With The Enemy

It’s very common to see in news reports where Armed Citizens have pursued criminals after the criminal has broken off from the crime. Pursuit is fraught with hazards, both legal and tactical. Unconsciously closing with an adversary is something seen many times in Force on Force training. We need to train ourselves rigorously to hold position or to retreat unless there is a valid purpose for closing. Closing with an enemy needs to always be a conscious decision, never an unconscious one.

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It Was a Trap Last Time; It's a Trap This Time

So, amnesty for illegal aliens is back on the table — I say back on the table, because everyone pimping for amnesty tends to give the impression that amnesty has never been done in the United States before. Oh, but it has. Let us take a look at the Simpson-Mazzoli Act — also known as the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 — that President Ronald Reagan signed into law in November of 1986.

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The Rise of Carlos the Jackal, the Most Feared Terrorist of the 1970s

To teasing classmates, he had been el Gordo or “the chubby one.” To fashionable friends in London’s nightclubs, he was Illy. To his girlfriends in France, he was Johnny. In the Middle East, he was Saleem Mohammed. To the customs officials who checked his documents at various international airports, he was usually José Adolfo Muller Bernal, a Chilean academic.

To British authorities, meanwhile, he was Carlos Martínez Torres, a Peruvian businessman whose passport photograph—clearly in need of updating—showed a nineteen-year-old with a round face, full lips, a prominent nose, sharp chin and eyes obscured by large oval sunglasses.

José, Johnny, Saleem, Adolfo or Carlos had spent the penultimate day of 1973 preparing to shoot dead Joseph Edward Sieff, the Jewish president of Marks & Spencer, a major retail chain whose upmarket shops were to be found on high streets across Britain, and a prominent supporter of Israel. To this end, the young man had travelled to a mock-Georgian mansion on a quiet, elegant street in north London, not far from Regent’s Park.

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HUB Mount Suppressors: The New Industry Standard

What exactly are HUB Mounts? Hybrid Universal Base, or HUB for short, is a section of 1.375x24 thread pitch machined into the body of a suppressor. The reason for HUB mounts' widespread use lies in the flexibility and modularity they provide end users. For example, if you have a .30-caliber suppressor with a 5/8x24 direct-thread mount, you are limited to the types of firearms you can mount it to. In every single case, it will be a screw-on, screw-off process.

Your options expand with HUB mounts, whether it's proprietary direct thread adapters or quick-detach mounts. These terms may sound confusing to someone new to these concepts, so let's dive deeper.

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The Naked Medevac

A friend was flying medevac at a sprawling U.S. Army training base. These were the days before GPS and night vision goggles, so navigating a Huey helicopter over a blacked-out training area on a moonless night was a bit like driving a car down the Interstate with your eyes closed. Suffice to say, there’s a technique to it.

It was hot this time of year, like Africa hot, and heat casualties were a problem. Some unfortunate schmuck had died of heatstroke a few weeks before, and the chain of command was serious about ensuring that didn’t happen again. As a result, the drill instructors were especially mindful of heat exhaustion among their enthusiastic, bald-headed charges.

My comrade got the call that a trainee had keeled over from the heat at about 0100 in the morning. When your core temperature climbs to dangerous levels, time is brain. It is critical to get the patient cooled down quickly. That meant ice packs and a chilled saline IV. The Dustoff crew loaded all of this stuff onboard the aircraft and was turning and burning in no time. 

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Who doesn’t love a good fire? 

Not a housefire, but a bonfire, cookfire, and campfire? There’s no easier way or ignition source than a lighter—except, of course, for a flamethrower. But how did we get from primitive sparks to the reliable gadgets we carry today? The modern lighter didn’t appear overnight. It emerged from the age of flintlock guns, where sparks met powder with stubborn charm. 

Those early ignition systems inspired the first “strike lighters” in the 1820s. They were bulky and finicky—gadgets Q might hand Bond before a mission. Brass tubes hid crude flints. Spring-loaded parts snapped with unpredictable enthusiasm. Patience and steady hands were required, and a backup plan never hurt. Despite their quirks, they delivered portable fire on command. 

As metallurgy improved, these odd contraptions became dependable tools. By the early 20th century, lighters moved from novelty shelves to pockets worldwide. Soldiers carried them into trenches. Explorers trusted them in remote corners. Every day, people used them for pipes, candles, and small daily rituals. The lighter became a symbol of readiness and mechanical confidence. One spark changed how humans carried fire.

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Spohr .44 Magnum: High Dollar Revolver with Zero Shortcuts

The Spohr N670 is what happens when you take Smith & Wesson’s flagship classic magnum design, give it to an obsessive German gunsmith and say “make this, but do it your way.” That quality comes at a price. And that price is $4200. That is well outside my personal budget for a new wheel gun and I suspect the same is true for many of you. But that’s okay. Even if I can’t afford this gun, it brings me great joy that someone cares enough to produce a shooting machine as fine as this one. And by the time we’re done here, I hope you feel the same way. 

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338 ARC? A Closer Look At Hornady’s Large Bore Subsonic

The 338 ARC was, remarkably, the first ARC cartridge the company designed … all the way back in 2017. It’s a subsonic-centric cartridge designed for use on medium game at medium range. Hornady was exceedingly clever in releasing this cartridge at the right time, which is something that has tripped up many other cartridge launches. The market can support a subsonic .338 bore rifle easily right now, where even a few years ago this would have struggled to gain traction.

The 338 ARC is part of the venerable Advanced Rifle Cartridge (ARC) family that originated from the 6.5 Grendel/.220 Russian parent case. The 6.5 Grendel has enjoyed steady popularity over the past couple decades after it showed serious potential for fighting use early in the War on Terror era. It was proposed as something of a replacement for 7.62 NATO in long-range use, but it never truly caught on beyond its initial concept, with most military interest today being in Eastern Europe, though it’s yet to be seen if even this will ever come to fruition.

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Legendary Marine Scout Sniper Chuck Mawhinney dies at age 75 

Legendary U.S. Marine Corps Scout Sniper Charles Benjamin “Chuck” Mawhinney died at the age of 75 after an incredible life, both in the military and after. Mawhinney is famous for over 100 confirmed kills as a sniper in Vietnam.

“I’m just a simple person, and in Vietnam, I was just doing my job.” Mawhinney once said. His famous quote represents just how humble he was. Mawhinney worked for the U.S. Forest Service after his time in the Marines, retiring after 27 years, and for most of his life, no one knew just how legendary he was.

The general public never would have known about Mawhinney if it weren’t for one of his former spotters writing a memoir. Joseph Ward detailed his military exploits in the book, “Dear Mom: A Sniper’s Vietnam.” He ended up using the same rifle Mawhinney had, and in his book, he mentioned that Mawhinney had a whopping 101 confirmed kills.

Though Ward’s book didn’t initially sell very well, other authors and historians eventually stumbled across the book where they found out about Mawhinney’s record-smashing confirmed kills during the Vietnam War. Though it was later confirmed that the claim of 101 kills was low, that number was questioned because it exceeded the legendary Marine Scout Sniper Carlos Hathcock, who had 93 confirmed kills.

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Thursday, February 12, 2026

The 20 Gauge Beretta A300 Ultima Patrol

Beretta announced a new version of the A300 Ultima Patrol in 20-gauge at the 2026 SHOT Show. Beretta’s new Ultima Patrol 20-gauge has a new stock design with integrated quick detach sling attachments and users can shorten the length of pull to twelve inches. Beretta made additional design changes including an enlarged loading port, a reversible safety, and extended bolt handle.

I recently attended a SymTac shotgun class. A fellow student who also happened to be a Lipsey’s executive brought one of the new 20-Gauge A300s to the class and allowed me to test fire it. I normally use a Beretta 1301 tricked-out with a Magpul stock and multiple Aridus Industries accessories and the weight difference between the two guns was eye-opening. The 20-gauge A300 weights only 6.0 pounds unloaded and the gun’s handiness is immediately apparent.

I am not recoil sensitive and if you correctly use SymTac’s push/pull technique, recoil is not an issue. However, I fired the A300-20 without using push/pull to see what the full recoil would be. Subjectively, the A300-20’s recoil was much less that what I typically feel with a Mossberg 590 20-gauge; a difference similar to what you could expect comparing the Beretta 1301 versus a Remington 870 pump in 12-gauge.

Now that Federal (as of this writing) is producing two 20-gauge buckshot loads with their FLITECONTROL® wad, a high performing self-defense load is available for the 20-gauge. In January 2025, I tested the Federal 20-gauge # 2 buck FLITECONTROL load that had just been released and found it patterned acceptably for most home defense distances with both a standard barrel and a VangComp-modified barrel.(1)

You often hear people opining that a 20-gauge is a better choice for smaller people because it recoils less. As I pointed out in a November 2019 article, this is often not the case.(2) 

It is a matter of physics. A 20-gauge, twenty pellet standard load of #3 buckshot weighs 468 grains. At 1200 feet per second (FPS) it will have a muzzle energy of 1497 foot pounds. A 12-gauge, 8-pellet 00 buckshot load weighs 430.4 grains. At 1145 FPS it will have a muzzle energy of 1253 foot pounds. All things being equal, the 12-gauge load would have less felt recoil than the 20-gauge load.

All things typically are not equal however. The 20-gauge shotgun will probably be lighter than a comparable 12-gauge shotgun so if recoil is a concern, the 12-gauge will likely produce noticeably less felt recoil. Take SymTac’s shotgun class and you will no longer need to worry about recoil anyway.

For more information on using a shotgun for home defense, please see the 2025 update to my Home Defense Shotgun Manual.

Every time I think I have all of the firearms that I will ever need, some manufacturer comes out with a new must have. I think Beretta's new A300-20 falls into this category

Even though Beretta has improved the stock, I hope a conversion adapter becomes available so a Magpul replacement stock can be installed. I also would welcome an Aridus Industries Imperium Handguard; however, that may be a wish too far--maybe Beretta will make a 1301 20-gauge version.   

If you enjoy reading these posts, please subscribe. The link is on the upper right side of the page. All that will happen is that you will receive an e-mail when I post an article. Your information will never be distributed.

(1) https://www.sensibleselfdefenseblog.com/2025/01/testing-federal-premium-20-gauge-2.html

(2) https://www.sensibleselfdefenseblog.com/2019/11/rangemaster-shotgun-instructor-course_13.html







Tuesday, February 10, 2026

Wednesday Wisdom: 11 February 2026

Medal of Honor: Sergeant Edward Carl Dahlgren

He led an infantry platoon to the rescue of another platoon which had been surrounded in an enemy counterattack at Oberhoffen, France. As he advanced along a street, he observed several Germans crossing a field about 100 yards away. Running into a barn, he took up a position in a window and swept the hostile troops with submachine-gun fire, killing six, wounding others, and completely disorganizing the group. His platoon then moved forward through intermittent sniper fire and made contact with the besieged Americans. When the two platoons had been reorganized, Sgt. Dahlgren continued to advance along the street until he drew fire from an enemy-held house. In the face of machine-pistol and rifle fire, he ran toward the building, hurled a grenade through the door, and blasted his way inside with his gun. This aggressive attack so rattled the Germans that all eight men who had held the strongpoint immediately surrendered. As Sgt. Dahlgren started toward the next house, hostile machine-gun fire drove him to cover.

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Single-Shot Survival Shotgun Project

This is far from an original idea. I just had to have a single-shot survival shotgun, though, so I thought I would bring you guys along through the process of making one. Maybe since my ultimate survival handgun is out of reach, this is my consolation prize.

To be honest, the main reason for this gun is to satisfy my own curiosity. But now that it's built, it has found a home in the spare-tire compartment of my SUV. I spend quite a bit of time in the backcountry and having something like this couldn't hurt. There are a couple other reasons for this gun, too. If I need to loan someone a firearm in the future, it would be hard to imagine something simpler and safer. Importantly, should my 870 go down I have a backup shotgun to use all that 12-gauge ammo through.

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“A bunch of savages in a foreign land don’t concern me, the ones in my land do.”  Funny you should mention that. Does everyone know why we’re hip-deep in Somalis? If you answer “Because Somalia is a war-torn hell-hole, and we’re ate-up with suicidal empathy?” Correct! However …Do you know one of the reasons why Somalia is a war-torn hell-hole? Because Iran has been funnelling weapons to al-Shabaab, Abnaa ul-Calipha and others. Because Iran, directly, and through proxies, is keeping the entire Horn of Africa stirred up. Like it or not — and I don’t — the Refugee Act of 1980 is the law of the land. Unless, and until, the United States Congress grows a pair and changes that idiot law, we have to accept a minimum of 50,0005 refugees a year. And, boy howdy, do the Somalis understand this.

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Streaming Subscription Scams: What Users Need to Know

Users searching for cheap entertainment are likely to stumble across Dark Net marketplaces that advertise “Lifetime Netflix Premium” for $2.99, “Hulu + Cinemax for $25.00, or HBO Max bundles for the price of a coffee.” These Dark Net listings mimic real e-commerce platforms, complete with vendor reputations, escrow options and support for cryptocurrency payments. The offers look slick, professional and shockingly affordable. However, as usual, if it looks too good to be true, something is probably amiss.

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There Is No Law Without Force

The belief in binding international law survives only among the naïve. International law is often spoken of as if it were law in the domestic sense: binding, authoritative, and capable of compelling obedience. This is a category error. All law, at every level, rests on force, either the immediate application of coercion or the credible threat of it. Where no enforcing authority exists, law degrades into custom, aspiration, or rhetoric. The modern belief that international law binds sovereign states independent of power is not an enduring truth; it is a historical anomaly produced by a brief period of overwhelming American hegemony after World War II.

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Zeroing a Rifle Scope

Sighting in, or "zeroing," a rifle scope involves aligning the iron or telescopic sights with the barrel to ensure that bullets hit a target predictably at a specific distance. In the not too distant past, Milliradian or MRAD scopes were non-existent on the civilian market. That is no longer the case. A friend of mine bought a new scope and was having trouble zeroing it in preparation for an upcoming hunt. I asked if he had purchased an MOA or an MRAD scope and he didn’t know what I was talking about. If you are considering a scope purchase, you should read this article.

Scopes have advanced significantly, offering improved clarity and magnification to keep pace with the increasing power and precision of modern rifles and ammunition. There are two primary systems for aligning scopes, each with its own distinct origins and methods. The Minute of Angle (MOA) system, based on a base-60 scheme from astronomy, and the Milliradian system, a base-10 approach developed for artillery in the late 19th century, are both effective. Each system uses segments of an arc to indicate changes in trajectory at a given distance.

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The Priorities of Survival

Massad Ayoob’s Priorities of Survival model takes the shape of a triangle, or pyramid, composed of multiple layers including Mental Awareness and Preparation, tactics, Skill with Equipment, and Equipment Selection. Jeff Cooper’s “Combat Triad” model is also pyramid-shaped, and sports equilateral sides composed of three key elements: Marksmanship; Gun-Handling, and Mindset. This Revolver Guy article compares the two.

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Close Quarters Shotgun Technique

Shotguns can be excellent tools for home defense, but their long overall length presents some challenges for maneuvering in tight spaces. Today, we’re looking at a technique called “short stocking” that was developed to meet those challenges. Short stocking has long been used by law enforcement and other entry teams, but it’s equally relevant for the armed citizen at home. It makes a ton of sense to include it in any close quarters shotgun technique training.

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Constitutional Carry, School Zones, and a Ninth Circuit Curveball

More than half of U.S. states now recognize what’s commonly called Constitutional Carry (or Permitless Carry): a state law that allows law-abiding adults to carry a concealed handgun in public without applying for or holding a concealed carry permit. But for years, there’s been an asterisk that responsible gun owners and instructors keep bringing up: the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act. However, there is a Federal problem constitutional carry doesn’t automatically solve. Under the Gun-Free School Zones Act (18 U.S.C. § 922(q)), it’s generally illegal to possess a firearm within 1,000 feet of a K–12 school (public, private, or parochial), unless an exception applies.

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Unmasking an Insta stalker: Can you see who stalks your Instagram?

Curiosity is natural, and most of us have probably wondered about who has viewed our Instagram profile. But it’s about more than mere curiosity. Your Instagram profile and posts likely contain photos of yourself and your friends or family, providing a highly intimate insight into your life.

Being Insta stalked by your ex, an overenthusiastic but unwelcome admirer, a business competitor, or (especially if you’re an influencer or other public figure) an obsessive fan is something you should be aware of. Also, the information about you available through your Instagram account can be a huge boon to criminals planning personalized phishing attacks.

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The next two articles represent a point – counter point discussion. Some gun writers still insist on using the ill-defined (perhaps even meaningless) term “center mass.” Publications still publish these articles to the detriment of all concerned.

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The Available Target: Center Mass & Shot Placement


Per the author: “If a lethal threat ever forces you to draw your gun, you need to focus on hitting center mass of the available target.”

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The Soulis Incident, and the Myth of Center Mass

Saying “Center Mass” sounds cool… it has the sound of the expert about it, I guess. But these terms are ANYthing but meaningful. They are not clearly defined, not clearly understood, and the result of this is that good people are getting injured and killed. That’s right, I said it: if you persist in teaching your people to shoot “center mass”, YOU are contributing to a training scar that is going to get good cops/armed citizens KILLED.

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If you enjoy reading these articles, please follow/subscribe. The link is on the upper right side of the page. All that will happen is that you will receive an e-mail when I post an article. Your information will never be distributed.