Training Vids
Ralph Mroz was kind enough to send me a copy of the Armed Response Video Training Series. I watched a bit last night because, well, training and reinforcing ideas is good. I didn’t get too far but I notice a few things about this video compared to others and compared to training I had. If there are multiple ways to do things (like drawing), they discuss the various commonly taught ways and tell you why they think one is better or worse. Ultimately, they often say if it works for you, do it. A lot of people forget that.
Also, good discussion of the four rules and, well, why they’re wrong.
And one thing I learned that I simply will have to start doing is, when clearing a gun, rack the slide multiple times after ejecting the magazine. Never really thought about the possibility of magazine failing to eject and me not noticing under stress. But after you rack the slide about three times and rounds keep coming out, no matter how much stress you’re under, you’ll probably notice that.
So far, I’m a fan.
August 9th, 2011 at 10:08 am
Yeah, I gotta sit down and watch the ones he sent me.
Side note: Ralph is an inordinately nice guy…
August 9th, 2011 at 10:31 am
I know of a case where a buddy of mine ejected the magazine of a 1911, racked the slide to clear the chamber, and pointed it towards the wall to de-cock by dry-firing it – and it blew the mirror to smithereens. (The magazine had been overloaded, and one round was left behind when the magazine was ejected. When he racked the slide, it cleared the chamber and loaded that one.)
Ever since hearing that story, I always rack the slide at least twice.
August 9th, 2011 at 10:44 am
I usually lock the slide back after ejecting the mag. Does matter if the mag dropped or not.
August 9th, 2011 at 10:54 am
Is there some reason to not visually check the chamber?
Do not rely on the fact that you ejected the magazine and racked the slide afterwards. Visual confirmation is the best way to ensure that a gun is clear. If you haven’t visually confirmed that your gun is clear, it’s not clear. Period, end of story.
Stop. Look into the chamber and the feed area. Look again. If you’re clearing your gun, you have the time to do it right. If you don’t have the time to do it right, you may want to think twice about doing it at all.
August 9th, 2011 at 11:06 am
I always rack multiple times. Took a class with a different instructor the other week and got several comments about it.
August 9th, 2011 at 11:06 am
If you have not looked inside and maybe even stuck your finger in there, you have not cleared your weapon.
August 9th, 2011 at 11:20 am
When would you ever want to administratively clear your weapon under stress?
You can’t “overload” a magazine, you can miscount the rounds that are in it though.
And what evidence can you provide that the four rules are deemed wrong??
August 9th, 2011 at 11:26 am
Because you’re done with a stage at a competition? Officer friendly just showed up, sees the dead guy, and asks you to unload it?
Well, one all guns are not always loaded. If they were, I’d never have to buy ammo.
August 9th, 2011 at 11:49 am
Ages ago (in the 1970s) I was taught to dump the mag and rack the slide five times (by count) and do a visual and tactile inspection before declaring a pistol “cleared.” Force of habit is a profound thing and it’s stood me in good stead through the decades. (The Ammo Fairy paid me a surprise visit more than once over the years.) Nice to hear of it being taught again.
(The more things change…)
August 9th, 2011 at 12:30 pm
Garrett Lee,
If it makes your buddy feel better to remember it that way, then that’s cool, however it is quite physically impossible.
August 9th, 2011 at 1:03 pm
For rule one, “All guns are always loaded,” requires a bit of cognitive dissonance when you have confirmed that it is unloaded. Cooper was right that, “Treat every gun *as if* it is loaded,” is too weak and the wording actually implies that all guns are NOT loaded.
My preferred wording is “Consider all guns loaded and handle them that way.” Doesn’t require cognitive dissonance, yet helps prevent an, “I thought it was unloaded,” moment.
Also, there *are* times when you are going to look down the barrel of a gun, hence point it at something you do not intend to destroy. Usually when buying a used gun and checking the rifling, often with the aid of a bore light.
For all of the rules, the basic theme is “don’t be stupid.”
August 9th, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Tam has such a nice way with words. Thanks Tam.I just thought “BS”.
August 10th, 2011 at 10:19 am
I prefer the cognitive dissonance of the simpler Rule 1. All guns are always loaded.
That way, if you think the gun is unloaded, you treat is as if it is loaded, or you get a creepy feeling of doing something wrong and stop doing that.
And if you have to perform an action where using a loaded gun would result in a bang (disassembly of my Glock falls under this category, as a trigger pull is necessary before slide removal) then you will make damn sure the gun is not loaded, because ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED is what you learned.
I, too, have had the ammo fairy leave a round in the chamber. Multiple slide rackings are a good thing.
August 10th, 2011 at 11:06 am
Since the title of the post was “armed response training vids” I thought it might have tactical advice. AFAIK, there is nothing tactical about unloading after a stage or prostrating yourself to the police.
I can’t find any reason to not treat a gun as if it wasn’t loaded except to clean it, and then I disassemble first so it’ not really a gun anymore.
I am unconvinced by the advice first posted.