Practice, practice, and then practice some more!

Then I moved up to a Mark IV Series 70, best damn pistol I ever owned…

I still love my S&W 10MM, BZ said that about the 10MM and I had to mention it, damn good weapon but expensive to shoot just for kicks, and for some reason the .40 has taken all the glory from the venerable 10MM.

My son carries an XD-40 on duty and loves it, his fiance carries a Glock and she love it too, me personally, you can’t GIVE me a Glock unless I am needing some sinkers for yo-yo’s in DEEP water, I hate a Glock, it’s a personal thing, I had one, a Glock 17, and the damn thing would jam, stove pipe actually, about every 5th or 6th round, no matter WHO shot it, there was something wrong with that pistol and I swore I’d never have another Glock…

The one thing this thread has brought out is this, PRACTICE makes perfect…

No matter what you carry, become as proficient as you possibly can, ALWAYS shoot for CENTER MASS and never regret the fact that you had to put an ANIMAL down…

When I was stationed in Montana I attended a personal protection course which was a prerequisite for a CCW permit. In this course they brought in a State Trooper, Sheriff Deputy, Lawyer, and a Surgeon who spent 7 years in the Detroit City Hospital Emergency Room. The law enforcement and legal types talked about the ramifications of using deadly force: mess, legal problems, retribution by criminal or their family, etc. The Surgeon spoke on the effects of bullets on the human body; he came complete with pictures. He went into detail on how a human is different from an animal and why a handgun round that works well on deer is less effective than another type of round that works well on humans but not animals. He said the best round to use against a human, from a medical standpoint, was a large caliber, slow moving bullet. What he described was the 45 ACP.

Military special forces teams have abandoned the 9mm and have gone back to the 45 ACP. Myself, I have a Para Ordinance Black Watch Companion in 45 ACP, a Taurus PT-92C in 9mm, and a Taurus Model 85 in 38 spl. My favorite was my Colt Combat Commander which I gave to my oldest son last year. I made him a promise when he was a young boy that if he respected our firearms, listened to my instructions, didn’t tell his friends that we owned guns, and always…always…always assumed every gun was loaded until he personally proved it wasn’t, he could have his pick of my handguns. Needless to say, he picked my Colt.

The guy that got me into shooting was a sniper and tunnel rat in Vietnam. His thing was Practice, Practice, Practice.

BZ

That’ll stop the baddest crack head from doing whatever the hell he may be doing…

And regardless of the weapon, a calm head and a steady hand is a lot more important that a rapid fire lead spitter, I learned many years ago, fast is good, accurate is a lot better…

And when you can take your .357 service revolver and fire a group, in 2.5 seconds, that can be covered with a .25 piece, you’re doing a damn good job of putting ACCURATE rounds down range, a concept that departments have obviously thrown to the curb…

BobF makes the obvious assertion — one that NO ONE will then or now even remotely consider: when the nice officer says hands up, that’s generally an excellent suggestion.

BobF also makes the point that I’ve suggested for many years: a return to the revolver. Its limited load, by its very nature, DEMANDS a concentration that few departments train — mine included. However, departments were essentially forced to transition to the semi-auto when that type became popular with criminals. Many officers, their unions and various administrations were concerned with the number of rounds available per reload — in those limited terms, a magazine beats a speedloader any day, model-dependent.

However, it’s very interesting to note, that at least with my department, when semi-autos were authorized, most EVERY officer decided to carry Colt’s Government Model Series 80, which as we all know, only has a 7-round magazine capacity — with 1 down the throat if your department allowed you to carry in Condition One.

I can recall, back then, that I actually received three COMPLAINTS from regular citizens who noted that I carried my Colt “cocked and locked” in its holster. And they vehemently denounced that as inherently unsafe.

I’ve always liked the Colt and its concomitant .45 caliber round. I found it controllable, slim, easy to carry. When my department opened up to most any (then) semi-auto, I carried the Sig-Sauer P220 .45 with a European mag release. At that time I carried double pouches; one double pouch (4 magazines) on the front of my belt, another double pouch (another 4 magazines) on my left side. From there I tried the Glock 17 and found that, all things considered, I shot best with that gun — at least as well as my old Colt Python. Until, of course, we had some ADs due to stupid people, who didn’t understand the 1-2-3 of safing your Glock semi-auto for cleaning.

The hit ratio indicated here is poor. I cannot attest to NYPDs training, only my own. However, I can tell you my experience with handguns and rounds. On my department, everyone wants the .40 cal. We are limited to ONLY Sig-Sauers in 9mm and .40 cal. We are still trying to get over the “bigger round” theory for the “placement” theory. I personally carry the Sig P226 in 9mm on duty (though I can opt for the .40 cal if I wish) because I simply shoot better with it. Off duty, I carry the Sig P239 9mm my wife bought me, which is one sweet shooting handgun, with Hogue grips. It only has an 8-round mag (with one down the throat, which is how I ALWAYS carry it, and EVERY semi-auto I own — because an empty pipe = a STUPID shooter), but my confidence level with this gun is excellent.

CONFIDENCE is everything. And moreover, PLACEMENT IS EVERYTHING.

Let me repeat that for the brain-addled amongst us: round size means little; PLACEMENT is EVERYTHING.

BZ

When a cop tells you to stop, you stop! Put hands in the air, if told to do so, and don’t move. What’s so hard about that? My gosh, you don’t even need an education to understand that command….STOP! It doesn’t mean keep walking towards the cop with something in your hand, it means STOP.

Maybe they need to go back to issueing revolvers to cops? That way they won’t have the tendency to “spray and pray”. With only 6 shots, you have to aim and make each shot count.

Wait for the Media bliz, the Jesse and Al show coming soon to a CNN show near you