Going to school next week!

[ASAdog]

 

I get to spend next week at a LE Defensive Handgun Instuctors Course! I hope to get back in time on the 13th to join ya'll for the FSO, but I can't say for sure that I will. If'n I don't make it, shoot someone down for me  .

The guys that run the school know me, so that asked me to bring a revolver to the course - me being an old revolver shooter. I'll be the only one attending with a revolver as the primary duty gun.

They provide a two hour blolck of instruction on teaching revolvers, but with fewer cops having experience with the revolver they thought it would be good to have an experienced "round gun" shooter attend to show the rest what such can do.

Funny that the revolver isn't taught more at the instructor schools. There are still departments that allow the use of revolvers, either as primary or as back-up, and armed private security very often issues or authorizes a wheel gun - and they often get their training from a LE instructor.

I was the last officer at my previous city department (left them in 1998) to carry a revolver, and at my last qualification/training with it, the "new" LE firearms instructor had to ask me how a revolver and its speedloaders worked. It was really funny when he asked me how to set-up a malfunction drill with my gun. You see, if a quality revolver has a malfunction it is most likely that there has been a major parts breakage and the gun needs to go back to the armorer. I have never had a failure to feed or eject with a revolver, or a magazine not seat, or a double feed, or many of the other malfunctions that a semi-auto can experience.

Well, like I said, if I don't get back in time to fly on the 13th... and have fun. I know I'm going to have a ball next week

Peace,

[daddog]

Is that the big advantage to an revolver? They have a much less chance of ever jamming?

No problem if you can't make it.

[ASAdog]

I take my hat off to the Oregon Firearms Academy staff, and to my class mates. 

The course was informative, demanding, enjoyable, tiring, and HOT!

Cramming the equivalent of 55 hours of training into four days during the hottest week of the year (so far) didn’t give much time for anything other than focusing on the training. Even so, I truly appreciated the limited time I was able to spend with my classmates – a talented and friendly group to be sure.

On top of being talented and friendly, I’m proud to say that every one of the instructor students shot to the “Gold” standard. It was great to see that level of skill in a shooting class of any kind.

I hope I was able to add some tid bits for my class mates on the use of a revolver - something that is not seen at instructor courses much any more.

Imagine standing out in the open sun (100 to 103 degrees) on a gravel range for hours at a go, on a long work day, for five days in a row. We were ran through nine police qualification courses in four days, run through drills, had to give classes each day, demonstrations, develop and run a course of fire, sit through lectures, etc…, then be coaches for a Defensive Handgun 1 class on the final day. In all, each of the instructor student fired almost 900 rounds in four days.

In the evening, we had homework, a lesson plan for the next day to develop, plus clean our gear and gun. I would get to bed at midnight, and then get up at 5:30 am. By Thursday morning I was about wore out, and I still had Thursday and Friday to deal with.

Daddog:

With almost 900 rounds fired in four days, I did not have a single failure to fire or eject. Not all of my class mates can say the same.

Using a quality revolver firing quality newly-manufactured center-fire ammunition, I have never had a failure to fire or eject in one of my revolvers out of the tens of thousands of rounds I’ve fired in them.

The “malfunction drill” for a semi-auto is “tap the bottom of the magazine, rack the slide, and assess if another shot is needed” or, if you have a real problem (say a double feed), it is “strip the magazine from the gun, rapidly work the slide 4 or 5 times, reload a fresh magazine, work the slide to chamber the first round, then assess”.

For a revolver (failures to fire are really rare) it is “pull the trigger again”; if there is still a failure to fire “pull the trigger again”; if after there are two failures to fire “dump the ammo in the cylinder, and reload”. Assessment is made during the process.

I also think that revolvers have an advantage in that more powerful ammunition can be carried (.357 Magnum, .41 Magnum, .44 Magnum, or .45 Long Colt, for examples) than is typically found in service semi-autos (9 mm, .357 Sig, .40 S&W, .45 ACP, for examples).

Revolvers aren’t ammo sensitive as long as the correct cartridge is chosen. Have a .357 Magnum – it doesn’t care if you load a light .38 Special, a hot .38 Special, a light .357 Magnum or a hot .357 Magnum, all will function in the gun.

Bullet shape is un-important – flat wad cutters, semi-wad cutters, truncated cone, round nose, hollow point, or solids; it just doesn’t matter to a wheel gun.

Semi-autos require a limited range of operating pressures/power level and bullet shapes to function properly.

Semi-autos do give you more ammo (often a lot more) in the gun though.

Peace,

[ASAdog]

Your's truly giving a demonstration to the Defensive Handgun 1 students:



Peace,

[Dichodog]

good stuff T