Sunday, June 18, 2017

Taking a friend to the range.

Took a friend shooting yesterday. She's a local police officer but they don't issue or train on long guns so this was her first time with a long gun of any sort. She liked my AR, and I soon had her hitting steel at 100 yards with it.


Then I put her on my FAL.



She did pretty good. Liked my AR a lot better than the FAL though.

We did some pistol work because she's having issues and qualifications are coming up. It doesn't help that her job issues a Glock with the heavy NY trigger but her wrist keeps breaking and putting rounds high on--or over--the target. Other than dry-firing, anyone got a suggested fix for this?

Then we took played with the Thompson a bit. This she liked.



And yeah, the stance is not the best.

Evantually the Tommy gun brought down one of the Range Safety Officers who used to be in the sub service in the Navy and he told me how they had M1A1 Thompsons on his boat. And when he handled my gun you could tell that he still remembered how to use it.

It was a good afternoon.

13 comments:

  1. Not much better than bringing people to the range. I was working up a friend, she just turned 21, to get her carry permit and it was a great time. 4 visits over a couple months to get her familiarized and comfortable. It's satisfying. Then I got to go by myself the other day and realized I'd been slacking on my trigger time...

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  2. NY-1 or NY-2 trigger? I've shot them both (I use the NY-1 with 3.5 connector to get a 8 lb trigger on all my Glocks, carry and IDPA.)

    May I suggest a strong IPSC/IDPA two handed grip and for most shooting use the 'out of the notch' method of using the sights.

    Also maybe use the "sweeping" trigger technique, sort of like slapping the trigger, where one lifts the finger off the trigger between shots and quickly presses the trigger for each shot.

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  3. That Thompson's a real chick magnet, ain't it ?

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  4. Hey Murphy;

    Two Dogs is correct bout the Thompson...between that thompson and the dogs,,,you have 2 angles for a hook.

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  5. Not sure what to tell you about her wrist control problem. Perhaps her grip is wrong?

    Biggest problem I have is getting my students to have the correct stance. Leaning back like that is bad.....

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  6. SIRT pistol? They do have adjustable triggers...

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    Replies
    1. It's her duty pistol. Can't modify it, either. Gotta learn to shoot it "as is" out to 25 yards.

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  7. http://coolfiretrainer.com/

    These work, It'll strengthen her hand and wrist, and will provide realistic (if weak) recoil impulse. Slide moves.

    Not cheap, but worth it for practice.

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  8. Two suggestions:

    !)Take it apart, and do this trigger job:

    https://anarchangel.blogspot.com/2005/03/how-to-make-glock-not-suck.html

    Making things move smoothly, even if you don''t lighten it, may help.

    2) Grip: Have her cock her wrist forward (down) to the limit of her wrist movement. Check sight alignment with the gun/wrist held this way. Most people seem to find this position lines up the sights. Might need to use a Weaver or Modified Weaver for best fit (some do, some don't).
    Having a solid bone alignment for trigger work and recoil management seems to help those with weak arm/hand muscles. It's a solid reference point for them, sort of like leaning against a rail or bag. It's steadier than the typical wobble one has with weak muscles.
    I suspect that the grip angle might be deliberately designed to utilize this wrist limit-of-movement.

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  9. As far as stance goes (with that subgun, especially) you absolutely have to break a females' natural desire to square up to a "threat/target". They do not have enough upper body mass to balance that weight when holding it out like that, or the arm strength. They WILL bow their back. Frankly, I tend to stay away from teaching the Iso stance to them, as it is counterproductive with ALL long guns, and often enough with handguns.

    With body armor, you are supposed to be square, but it is so counterproductive for most of them that it makes little sense to handicap them. The point of shooting is to get hits, not stand there and be a target. If she normally wears armor, have her bring it next time you go.

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  10. Oh, one more thing. Many years ago a FBI chick agent complained the issue handgun, the S&W 13 in .357 Magnum, had a to long a reach trigger. She did poorly on the qualifications using standard FBI .38 +p ammo.

    She SUED THE FBI. And the outcome? The FBI had to let her qualify with a Colt Detective Special she could reach the trigger and qualify well.

    If you want more info, contact Massad Ayoob, he wrote the article about the lawsuit (and he helped her win it.)

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  11. The RO had to have been in awhile back. IIRC, the Thompsons were replaced in the mid-`70s or so. It could have been later, I guess, for the bubbleheads were at the end of the pipeline for guns back in the day.

    (Only thing they were at the end of the line for, they were at the front for everything else.)

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  12. If she is right handed, the currently popular right thumb over left thumb grip does not work well with heavier double action or NY Glock triggers. The traditional left thumb over right thumb, common with the original Weaver Stance was designed to maximize grip pressure and trigger finger leverage. Try it.

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