We canceled the Law of Armed Defense Class previously scheduled for April 2 but will be announcing the new date and location very soon. Watch the ADTA calendar page for this and other upcoming events.
Members of the Armed Defense Training Association recently participated in two live-fire events at Paul Bunyan Range in Puyallup. Dave Farrow and Bruce Wood, both experienced USPSA competitors and Range Officers, ran the courses of fire for the ADTA. Additionally, Dave is President of Paul Bunyan and Chairman of USPSA activities at Paul Bunyan.
At the first event, on March 23rd, Dave explained the rules for using the action bays at Paul Bunyan and a safety-check. Safety-checks are critical for any shooters that want to shoot-on-the-move because there is more going on than most of us have experienced in normal target practice and it is absolutely essential to understand the range commands, procedures and rules that keep everyone safe.
Some ADTA members still don’t have the right equipment. Choosing a firearm is an entirely personal decision. Nevertheless, .44 magnums, .22 pistols and .380s are not ideal for normal self-defense purposes. Most police departments require officers to carry a round that is at least .38 caliber. I have seen USPSA and IDPA competitors shoot revolvers much faster than most of us shoot semi-automatics. The speed with which a revolver can be reloaded would surprise most of the critics that want to ban high capacity magazines.
It is true, however, that most of us can reload a semi-auto faster than we can reload a revolver. If you choose to bring a revolver to an action shoot, you should have some speed loaders or moon clips and start practicing how to reload on the move.
And think about your holster, too. Some shooters showed up without any holster. If you are on a budget, Uncle Mike’s has very good Kydex holsters for all calibers. Outside the waistband holsters are safer for action shooting and will be required by ADTA in most instances. You can invest in a good inside the waistband leather holster for everyday concealed carry. I have several but increasingly wear OWB under my suit coat. IWB holsters are often needed for casual wear during hot weather when you won’t be wearing a coat.
We have to make sure we keep our muzzles pointed away from the top of the berms. One accidental discharge that gets over the top of the berm will destroy years of hard work by many generations of shooters that built Paul Bunyan.
We had twelve ADTA members participate in the second event, on Wednesday March 30th, including a few that shot on the previous Wednesday. We had some very experienced shooters and some inexperienced shooters, too.
Bruce administered safety-checks and Dave got us shooting a course of fire that was very similar to a relatively easy USPSA course of fire. We engaged multiple targets, reloaded while transitioning to a window. We engaged three steel targets with the strong hand from the window and then proceeded to another series of cardboard IPSC targets.
There was good sense of fellowship and some frustration as we experienced some of the stress that is normal while developing proficiency and making transitions under the eagle eye of Dave Farrow. Dave let us know when we made mistakes that involve safety and also had some helpful hints for better shooting techniques.
The evening was not complete without taking turns on shooting at a Texas Star that spins around with plates for targets. Then we engaged in a “billet drill”- five shooters in front of five targets shooting six shots into a target as fast we could. I am suggesting that we take up a collection and make both Dave and Bruce ADTA members. I hope they will continue to be involved even when we start holding live-fire events at the West Coast Armory. The ADTA Board also will be meeting and formalizing our intent to donate some nine millimeter ammunition to Paul Bunyan’s youth programs.
The following is a report from one of our members that attended the second ADTA event and recently participated in his first USPSA practice at Paul Bunyan:
Subject: BEFORE you get to the Range preparation-
Learn the commands, safety check procedure and where the safety area is and its purpose.It is complicated and there is STRESS!! You need it to be second nature.
Practice drawing, reloading and firing with blanks/dummy rounds/snap caps.
Wear a big strong belt. Get all your gear on your belt as you will have it at the range.
Best procedures for perfecting your draw, presentation and other information about getting started can be located at Getting Started- USPSA Practical Shooting.
http://northwestsection.org/newshooter.html
Research them on line, books, acquaintances.
Bring at least 3 magazines and belt mag holders, ‘More is better’. I saw some with a rack of 6-8 magazines on their belt.
Holster on one hip(outside the waistband)- muzzle straight down (I didn’t see any ‘FBI cants’); magazines on other hip.
No Rambo stuff – clothes, gear or attitude.
No cross draws, shoulder holsters (the muzzle points away from downrange. More on this below).
Range preparation:
Your time to shoot is announced:
START of shooting sequence-
Step to the firing station
Face downrange and await instruction from Range Officer.
Know how to prepare your weapon for the start of the firing sequences at the firing station.
Face downrange. You have an unloaded pistol with NO magazine in gun in your hip holster.
Range Officer will tell you to “Make ready” (Remove pistol from holster keeping muzzle downrange, insert loaded magazine in your pistol and cycle a live round into the chamber, place safety on and return pistol to holster).
Stand facing downrange waiting for Range Officer behind you to issue these commands:
“Are your ready” (no response required unless there is a problem; nod head if want to); “stand by” ;”BEEEEEP” . Draw and Engage targets.
END of shooting sequence-
Know how to show clear to the Range Officer when directed.
To ‘Show clear’ after each shooting session:
While muzzle is facing downrange – remove magazine, cycle out last round, lock or hold open slide to display empty chamber, close slide and dry fire straight downrange.)Oh, did I mention to keep the muzzle always pointing downrange?
If you break 180 by turning too far to the left or right you will be disqualified and not allowed to complete the match for that day. (See ‘DQd’ below).
Move and Shoot-
When you move between targets, change magazines. It saves time from running out (10 with one in the chamber is IDPA round limit/mag. IPSC-USPSA does not have a limit in the open category.)
One way in which IDPA differs from USPSA is that there are situations in which you will be required to retain the magazine when you reload.
When shooting at targets through a window, don’t stick your pistol through the window (you are thinking ‘the closer I get to the targets the better’). The window is small and if the pistol recoils or you jam it going into/out of the window – it can cause a firing interruption, or worse- a dropped gun- a DQ!
DQ’d…
So many things will get you disqualified (see ‘muzzle downrange’ and ‘dropped gun’ above.)Read and study the USPSA and IDPA rules material!!!
We represent a fledging organization and first impressions count. Make them good ones. You represent more than just yourself.
View YouTube “idpa or ipsc shooting” and see what you will be doing BEFORE you arrive.
http://northwestsection.org/newshooter.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dQNKN58ZDc for Renton facility. A good video.
Watch everyone else to see what they are doing. Copy/steal any technique that works! This is the American way.
Range Duties-
After the “all clear” (RO confirms recent firing sequence is done, pistol is clear of rounds and re-holstered) is sounded, help paste paper targets / paint steel and pick up spent brass (most reload so they want it back).IDPA has a strong focus on shooting from cover which is important to our objectives. USPSA, IDPA and Steel Targets are all good ways to build skills. Paul Bunyan’s steel match is the third Sunday of every month at 10:00 AM and IDPA at Paul Bunyan is on the fourth Saturday of evey month.
Many folks have observed that we are bonding together as neighbors in love and good fellowship that will continue to grow!
Federal Way gun owners are letting us know that they are serious about the proposed gun range for our city.
We appreciate all the support we have received for our Armed Defense Training Association to achieve our training objectives.
I don’t know whether we will be shooting like SWAT operators but we can all become proficient at shooting on the move and from behind cover. LEOs call such procedures Reality Based Training. Front Sight and excellent local schools like the Firearms Academy of Seattle (in Onalaska, Washington) are well worth the considerable time and expense — if you plan to own a weapon for self-defense.
Incidentally, at FAS you will shoot on the move, from cover and under low-light conditions! We are lining up similar opportunities locally by negotiating range time as a group and then bringing in various instructors and other professionals to make the events safe and productive.
We received encouragement to get going with this plan of action from several business leaders, including members of the Chamber of Commerce. Before the recent proposal for a Shooting Arts Center was published in the Federal Way Mirror, I spoke to the Noon Kiwanis Club and a local Rotary Club about armed self-defense. Soon after I spoke at Rotary, a Rotary Club member asked when we are going to get started with a range.
All ADTA scheduled events are posted here. As our membership grows, ADTA will continue working towards establishing a local Federal Way shooting facility with the flexibility to provide tactical shooting events.
We hope the proposed range will be a resource for law enforcement (at very little cost to local government) and ADTA members for training. There are quite a few of us working to make all these things happen!
Please watch this location for updates!
Another Federal Way resident, Rick Cook (USMC), and I wrote a book entitled, He Trains My Hands for Battle. The book is a primer on Scriptural Kingdom principles relating to armed defense. In order to obtain an electronic copy ofthe manuscript that you can printout on your own printer, go to http://www.firearmslawyer.net and use the e-mail address there to send $9.00 via Pay Pal. You can make additional copies for church groups and other nonprofit organizations at no charge. Please contact us if you wish to present a seminar or class based on the materials.
The Law Office of Mark Knapp PLLC 