February 2012 – Defense Training International

The “Murphy Incident”

29 Feb 12 The “Murphy Incident,” Heathrow Airport, UK, April 1986, from a friend with El Al: “Ann Marie Murphy, an attractive, twenty-six-year-old Irish woman, obviously pregnant, showed up at London’s Heathrow Airport for an El Al flight to Tel Aviv less than an hour before its scheduled departure. She was traveling alone, and, when […]

Loading and unloading problems

29 Feb 12 Problems associated with repeated (usually unnecessary) loading and unloading of carry pistols, particularly where the same round is loaded, subsequently removed from the chamber, only to be loaded again: For those of us who carry constantly, the issue of what to do with your carry pistol(s) when you’re home, often comes up […]

Details on Kabul murders, from a friend there

28 Feb 12 “Perpetrator had been employed two years, working mostly as a driver, and was ‘vetted.’ You can readily understand what we all think of the ‘vetting’ process here! On the day of the shooting, he was cleared through two layers of security, bypassed at least one high-ranking officer, and was finally able to […]

2012 “Polite Society,” Memphis, TN

26 Feb 12 This weekend, I was in Memphis, TN participating in long-time friend, Tom Givens’, “Polite Society” get-together. We all enjoyed rhapsodic camaraderie and numerous lecturers by assorted Operators (including me). Of course, I wouldn’t miss dinner at famous Leonard’s BBQ, and all of us shot the challenging live-fire event on Tom’s range. There […]

Ignorance as a “virtue”

24 Feb 12 This from a friend working with American “news” media: “Of eight people on the news-crew, only one had the slightest clue how to operate and fire a bolt-action M700 rifle. So, we had ‘school’ for an hour, each of them taking turns. Some, including the host, could eventually hit a steel silhouette […]

Commentary from NM

21 Feb 12 “Retired” LEO? This from a recently-retired LEO and colleague in NM: “I must confess, my Brother: I retired recently from our local PD and promptly ‘distanced myself’ from the continuing obligation of carrying. Loosely translated into plain English: I got lazy! However, watching the news soon ‘woke me up.’ There are many […]

Personal notes from Major General (USAF) Gerald C Brant, 1880-1958

18 Feb 12 “There was a right There was a wrong The gun was quick The man was strong” From the theme of “Colt 45,” a Warner Brothers television western series, 1957-1960, staring Wayde Preston. Music and lyrics by Hal Hopper Personal notes from Major General (USAF) Gerald C Brant, 1880-1958 Upon his graduation from […]

Sam Langley and the Wright Brothers

17 Feb 12 Sam Langley and the Wright Brothers Scholar, visionary, and Smithsonian insider, Sam P Langley, whose distinguished academic career had spanned many decades, became interested in manned flight about the same time as the Wright Brothers. Langley, then in his sixties, experimented with miniature steam-engines to power his aircraft, later defaulting, as the […]

The “Bruzer”

15 Feb 12 Last weekend, while conducting a Defensive Shotgun Course, the Class and I were treated to a live demonstration of the “Bruzer.” The Bruzer is a small and relatively inexpensive, less-lethal, 12ga launcher. Basically, it is double-barreled (over/under) 12ga shotgun, in pistol form, with pistol sights. Barrels are only three inches (including chamber), […]

Warning

15 Feb 12 This sage warning from an LEO friend and colleague: “I strongly urge you not to include less-lethal shotgun rounds (baton, bean-bag, rubber buckshot, et al) in close proximity with lethal buckshot and slugs. More than once, we have seen resulting confusion, and ensuing disaster, when officers fired slugs/buckshot, believing them to be […]

“Bullet Jump”

15 Feb 12 Light-weight revolvers and “bullet-jump” S&W, Ruger, and others are currently making light, five-shot, snubby revolvers, mostly in 38Spl, but there is a trend now toward making these small revolvers to accept autoloading pistol calibers, specifically 9mm. Sales are brisk! These light-weight revolvers make wonderful back-up pistols. I carry a S&W 340PD regularly, […]

Shotgun Micro-Rig

15 Feb 12 “Shotgun Micro-Rig” Last weekend, I conducted a Defensive Shotgun Course in the Midwest. Students were a mixture of LEOs and non-LEOs. Shotguns used by students were mostly Remington 870s and Mossberg 590s. All pump-guns ran fine. I had one Benelli M2, and it ran fine too. A single FN SLP autoloader repeatedly […]

Bill Geissle’s triggers

9 Feb 12 Bill Geissle’s triggers: You can eat a ribeye, or a sirloin. Chemically, they’re identical. Taste is similar, and the hungrier you are, the more difficult it is to distinguish between the two. In fact, it is only when you’re not hungry, that the difference becomes clear, and, even then, only when you’re […]

Comments on AR triggers

8 Feb 12 Comments on AR triggers, from a manufacturer: “In the AR’s lower receiver, the ‘standard,’ factory trigger is creepy, gritty, and breaks at five to seven pounds. With Stoner’s system, there is no hammer-blocking function associated with the safety-lever. Instead, the safety-lever blocks the trigger, of which the sear is integral. In order […]

Manual Safeties on Military Rifles

8 Feb 12 The vast majority of current serious pistols do not have “manual” safety levers/buttons, although all have “passive” safeties, some external (grip-safeties, trigger-tab safeties), and some internal. Many modern pistols feature both. All “Operator-Grade” pistols, intended for serious purposes, are specifically designed to be routinely carried, on the person, in holsters, loaded. As […]

Follow-up

6 Feb 12 Follow-up comments, from a friend in the Federal System: “I am currently at our Training Academy for an in-service Class. While reading my orders, I was flabbergasted by the following statement, in print (comments are mine): ‘Visiting special agents and sworn taskforce-assigned officers, while attending training, are now authorized to be armed […]

Commentary from abroad

6 Feb 12 “All who’ve stood in tough and scary places, with steadfast men, understand what those who haven’t will never grasp.” Wayne Dobbs These comments from an LEO friend and colleague in a foreign country where I’ve conducted Classes: “With regard to the ‘empty-chamber’ carry mode upon which you commented last week, I am […]

“Safety” and “Readiness”

3 Feb 12 “It’s not occasional ‘great shots’ that save you. It’s persistent ‘little mistakes’ that kill you” Hubert “Hubey” Green “Safety” and “Readiness” With serious guns, “safety” and “readiness” are mutually antagonistic. The more ready the gun, the less safe. The more safe, the less ready. Genuine Operators thus have choices to make, none […]

Monthly Archives: February 2012