Survival and Emergency Preparedness

I was doing research last night and today trying to figure out a way to train more to figure out my trigger control deficiencies and came across MantisX. So I did a bunch of research on the product and decided I would spend the $250 on it. I am hoping to see it before I go to Sig this Thursday. Either way a full review of it will becoming soon. I anticipate it being well worth the money. It can be used dry, live and CO2 fire so on miserable winter days I will just point and shoot (dry) at a target on the wall in the basement to keep myself sharp and always training. Another aspect I liked is it can do shot timing and works with rifle and shotguns as well. I definitely suggest checking it out. When I get it and do up the review I will post in another thread.

Horskinator wrote: ↑Sat Jul 04, 2020 2:19 pm I was doing research last night and today trying to figure out a way to train more to figure out my trigger control deficiencies and came across MantisX. So I did a bunch of research on the product and decided I would spend the $250 on it. I am hoping to see it before I go to Sig this Thursday. Either way a full review of it will becoming soon. I anticipate it being well worth the money. It can be used dry, live and CO2 fire so on miserable winter days I will just point and shoot (dry) at a target on the wall in the basement to keep myself sharp and always training. Another aspect I liked is it can do shot timing and works with rifle and shotguns as well. I definitely suggest checking it out. When I get it and do up the review I will post in another thread.

They sponsored one of our events last year. Great product and good people. A few of our shooters use them for training and really like them.

In last 30+ years I've taken several firearm training classes ranging from some great instructors like Randy Caine at Cumberland Tactics to some local armchair commandos who's knowledge was limited to what they saw on Youtube previous week. I actually walked out of a local class due to safety issues. First serious class I took was Massad Ayoob Stressfire class back in 1989. At the time that class was revolutionary for the subjects it covered...from legal issues to mental conditioning and firearm handling. That class was a big eye opener for me as I learned how much of what I had known about self defense firearm handling was not very effective or safe. Later I took a basic pistol class with Randy Caine from Cumberland Tactics where I learned the mechanics of firing a handgun. IMHO Randy is the best firearms instructor in the country for civilians and I have taken 2 classes with him now and will take another class with him in future. In addition I took classes for shotgun, carbine and revolvers all geared towards self defense.
I also shot formal competitive matches including bullseye, IPSC, IDPA, Pin shooting, etc. since 1980's. To me shooting in matches is a good training tool as it's learning to control stress and shoot under stress.

cityfarmer wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2020 5:57 pm In last 30+ years I've taken several firearm training classes ranging from some great instructors like Randy Caine at Cumberland Tactics to some local armchair commandos who's knowledge was limited to what they saw on Youtube previous week. I actually walked out of a local class due to safety issues. First serious class I took was Massad Ayoob Stressfire class back in 1989. At the time that class was revolutionary for the subjects it covered...from legal issues to mental conditioning and firearm handling. That class was a big eye opener for me as I learned how much of what I had known about self defense firearm handling was not very effective or safe. Later I took a basic pistol class with Randy Caine from Cumberland Tactics where I learned the mechanics of firing a handgun. IMHO Randy is the best firearms instructor in the country for civilians and I have taken 2 classes with him now and will take another class with him in future. In addition I took classes for shotgun, carbine and revolvers all geared towards self defense.
I also shot formal competitive matches including bullseye, IPSC, IDPA, Pin shooting, etc. since 1980's. To me shooting in matches is a good training tool as it's learning to control stress and shoot under stress.

That discussion has come up here and elsewhere. It always amazes me how many people denigrate competition. They don't realize how much training you can get on the clock. Whether it's perfecting fundamentals to hit bowling pins real fast or drawing, moving, reloading, and engaging multiple targets in an IDPA match.

You can also learn a lot by practicing at home in front of a mirror.
I learned to draw my pistol from IWB holster safely by first learning the basic 5 steps from Massad Ayoob class. Then I practiced drawing in front of a mirror every morning for 30 minutes (about 100 draws) and then for 30 minutes in the evening. I made sure to do it slowly to make sure each step was done correctly. After a month I was much smoother and faster and was doing it correctly without thinking about it. Then I added the correct holstering step to the drawing. After few months I got real good at drawing and holstering my pistol. I once heard that it takes about 5,000 repetition to develop new fine motor skills like drawing or holstering a pistol.
You can also dry fire at home to learn trigger control and do exercises to develop wrist strength.
It's most important that you learn the correct basic steps in the beginning because if you practice the wrong method you'll have to unlearn that and learn the correct method later.

My wife doesn't really like shooting very much let alone "training". We've been spending a lot of time at the property recently overseeing the building of our house so I devised a way for her to practice a little bit. I came up with the Mac Challenge. Basically, it involved shooting all the metal targets on my range with a pistol at 7 yards, a rifle at 25 yards and a rifle off the bench at 50 yards.

Here's the range...



Take away one of the large metal silhouettes (which I moved to the 200 yard line back on the food plot. But add the 5 falling plates below on one end.



Also add 2 small round steel targets hanging below the tombstone plates and a 5 target swinger below the large silhouettes which aren't shown in the photos.

Basically there are 52 targets but you shoot the big steel silhouettes twice so there is a possible score of 55.

It is best and cheaper to use 22lr on these.

I originally was going make it timed but then thought that would be too difficult. I just wanted her to get through it. The other thing is that if requires you to move since the line is so long. Gun handling is required.

For the pistol we used my Kel Tec P17.

Her first time she started left to right. She cleared all the round plates, the tombstones, 8 out of 10 bowling pins and 7 out of 9 of the spring loaded knockdowns on the far right. She then went back and started on the bottom row for left to right as well. She then missed the two small hangers, hit two shots each on the big silhouettes. She then moved to the small hanging plates. I had set them up different than shown in the photo. Three small, one medium, then the large, a medium and three small. She missed the first two, hit one small, the medium and large but then missed the rest of them. There are 9 swinging targets along the bottom. She missed most of them. Overall she missed 17 targets.

Take aways...

-She actually did quite well for her first time out.
-She had to be reminded to move down the line to center in front of the targets.
-She moved and handled the pistol safely, always pointing it down range
-She made some good hits on some of the small targets
-She thought it was fun and wanted to do it again (important!)

The second time through we started having jamming issues with the pistol due to using different ammo. That screwed up her rhythm. She got frustrated and lost concentration. She didn't do as well the second time through.

Take aways...

-At first when it jammed she would stop and hand me the pistol. I would clear the malfunction. After awhile she was clearing them herself. She learned how to clear stovepipes, double feeds, FTFs etc.
-She does want to do it again to improve her score and to beat me. We didn't try the rifle, she was done shooting but overall this was a huge step forward.

I ran through it once, Missed 10 shots which is kind of embarrassing since I usually can clear all the targets. Half of my misses were on the big bowling pins. Once I missed one I got rattled. Just goes to show you that even a little pressure can affect you.

That's an excellent set up for her. Sucks the pistol started malfunctioning but good training as a result. And the fact that she wants to do it again is HUGE.

And yeah, I know how it feels to miss steel. I'm usually really good at it. During training classes when other Deputies were struggling I'd clear the rack (and feel pretty good about it). But that last outlaw match I could only hit 4 out of 6. I just couldn't hit the last two and I'm not sure why. Seemed like lots of folks had an issue on that leg of the match so it helped take out some of the sting. I'll blame in on bad ammo

David wrote: ↑Sat Jul 25, 2020 11:01 am That's an excellent set up for her. Sucks the pistol started malfunctioning but good training as a result. And the fact that she wants to do it again is HUGE.

And yeah, I know how it feels to miss steel. I'm usually really good at it. During training classes when other Deputies were struggling I'd clear the rack (and feel pretty good about it). But that last outlaw match I could only hit 4 out of 6. I just couldn't hit the last two and I'm not sure why. Seemed like lots of folks had an issue on that leg of the match so it helped take out some of the sting. I'll blame in on bad ammo

I think that simply handling a gun for period of time makes her feel more comfortable and in control. She was pretty proud of herself shooting and eventually clearing the malfunctions. I reached over once when she had a jam and she snapped "I can do it". That was cool. She is also pretty competitive and wants to do better. In a way, me missing 10 encourages her to try and beat me. My score is well within reach for her with a little practice.

In that we will be spending more and more time at the property during the house building project. I think I can get her out on the range more and more and eventually transition her to centerfire i.e, her EZ380. Build up her confidence and competence bit by bit until she reaches a satisfactory level.

I'll do the same thing with the rifle course. Establish a base line and then let her work on it a little at time.

I told her that once we live out in the woods she will be pretty much on her own when I'm not around or when she's out walking in the woods or on the road alone. We'll live about a mile from the closest neighbor.