Snowy Day Activity

Putting together/updating Get Home bags, and hiking day packs has been on our to-do list for quite a while, so it seemed appropriate for us to do it while a big storm was raging outside. Nothing like inclement weather to provide incentive to get other "preps" done. 

We've spent the last couple of weeks making a list and assembling everything we wanted in our Get Home bags and hiking day packs. Not surprisingly, a lot of the items overlapped.

I had a little Get Home bag in my car that had a boo-boo kit, an oh shit kit, extra magazines, utility knife, flashlights, extra mags, etc. I found I've been stealing that bag out of my car when I was overseeing students at the range, because it was easier to carry around than my range bag.

I also had a Go Bag with stuff in it for my Posse duties. The contents were much less: my slicker, hazard vest, blanket, some snacks, flashlights, and the like. Both of my bags got an overhaul.

Jay got to build his Get Home bag from scratch, which is always fun. It's tempting to try to think of every scenario you might come across and try to pack for those, but then your bag gets incredibly heavy, so we tried to go bare-bones.

Our Get Home bags have first aid kits and medication (Stop the Bleed kits are on order), supplies for fire making, extra magazines, assorted knives, food, collapsible water containers and life straws, lights, pens/paper, a small solar panel for charging devices, and the most important thing - TP! There are a few other lightweight things in there that I forgot to list, I'm sure. We tried to keep in mind that these are not Bug Out Bags, they're Get Home bags. We might have to walk quite a way to get home, so we had to balance the equipment we wanted against how much weight we could carry for extended distances.

Even keeping that in mind, our bags weigh in at right about 12#. There are a couple of other things we're waiting to have delivered, but I think we'll manage to stay less than 15#. To make sure we can haul them around when we need to, we'll start wearing them on walks around the farm road. That way, we can address any rubbing or weight distribution issues in advance (in addition to building the muscle strength required to carry that weight for extended distances).

Our hiking day packs were a lot easier to pack, but had some very similar supplies: first aid kit and meds, Stop the Bleed kit, blister care, food, toilet paper, plus cheap rain ponchos, and a water bladder.  We don't expect to spend more than a few hours on the trails, so we cut back on the "survival" gear, though we do each have solar blankets in case we have to hunker down. The water is going to be the heaviest part of our hiking packs, so just like with our Get Home bags, we'll wear those around the farm roads to check for rubbing and to make sure we can carry them easily.

The little Get Home bag I mentioned earlier got stripped down and will be my dedicated range emergency kit. I moved a lot of supplies to my "big" bag, and kept just the boo-boo and oh shit kits, along with extra magazines, and a "get back" knife. With its decreased weight, it'll be a lot more comfortable to wear for extended periods of time on the range. It'll still live slung over the passenger seat in my car, within easy reach, but its primary job is now for the range.

I Adopted A Bear

Sort of. 

It's a Bear Cruiser G2 compound bow, but still.

A few years ago I bought GunDude Jay a bow for his birthday and kind of played around with the idea of eventually getting one of my own. Yesterday was "eventually" and we went to an amazing place, Rocky Mountain Archery in Fort Collins. The staff was incredible, not only with me, a complete novice, but with the kids who were in and out. There were so many families and children in the store and the range. Every single employee who interacted with a young 'un treated them with respect, looked them in the eyes, explained whatever they didn't understand, and never once seemed impatient. They treated the kids the same way they treated the adults, they did not talk down to them, or talk around them. The kids were their customers and were treated as such. Even if I hadn't planned on buying anything yesterday, I would have, just to support such a great company.

Speaking of treating people with respect and showing patience, the gentleman (I think his name was Colin?) who helped me spent a lot of time helping me to not only find the bow that fit my needs, but he took the time to *literally* fit the bow to me. I am a rank novice with archery. The last time I played bows and arrows I was in Girl Scouts some 40 years, and I used a recurve bow.

He didn't just help me find a bow and send me on my way, he took me to the range and gave me a quick lesson on how to stand, how to draw, etc. My only criteria was that my new bow couldn't be pink. Yet, one of two that we thought would work for me was pink, so I sucked it up and tried it out.

It did match my lavender shirt, though.

Unfortunately, the not-pink bow wasn't going to work. He couldn't adjust the pull weight low enough (safely) for my wimpy arms to draw it. I started to try to talk myself into the pink bow, but before I'd convinced myself to just suck it up and buy it, a co-worker reminded him of a different bow that might work.

That's when he broke out the Bear. Not only not-pink, but adjustable enough to fit me. As I get stronger and more comfortable with my bow, we can increase the pull weight if necessary, but we didn't have to decrease it so much that it became unstable like we would have with the other not-pink bow.

Once we decided the Bear was going to work for me, he then spent time helping adjust the peep sight and explaining how it worked. He explained everything thoroughly, from how to adjust my sights, to caring for my bow strings, to arrows (sticks) and tips. 

Sadly, I've never had such great customer service in a gun shop. And, sadly, while I thought I gave good customer service when I worked at the shop, I was nowhere near this good. We're talking Chick-Fil-A level customer service.

I still have to figure out how to actually sight in my bow, but I know if I go back and use their range to do so that they'll help me out and not make me feel stupid for not knowing.

I'm excited to step out of my comfort zone and learn a new skill. And I'm not gonna lie, something about my new Bear makes me feel like a total badass.

(Oh! I almost forgot! I can mount my Mantis to my bow and it can help analyze what I'm doing right or wrong - I think it'll be helpful to have a coach in my phone.)

Mantis X10 Elite

Back in July, GunDude Jay gave me a Mantis X10 Elite for my birthday. 

I had recently invested in a couple of DryFireMags to use in classes to teach trigger reset. While it doesn't give an exact trigger reset, it's a great way to teach the concept to newer shooters. When I wasn't using the mags in class, I was using them at home for dry fire practice. They are great for what they are and I don't regret investing in them at all.

However, the Mantis ... Wow. If you follow our Instagram or Facebook page, you've likely seen several posts about the Mantis. To say I love the product would be an understatement. I never much thought of myself as a data girl, but it turns out I'm incredibly competitive with myself and comparing my scores from one shot to another is addictive.

I did find, after owning both the DryFireMags and the Mantis, that you can buy a DryFireMag with an integrated Mantis. However, since I already own each individually, I'm not going to drop the money to buy an integrated one.

Back when I first started shooting, I was diligent about dry fire practice. Sort of. I was really working on my draw stroke, and finishing with one shot. I can't say that I did any focused dry fire practice for more than a shot or two. If I found I was flinching, I might stick a dime up on my slide and do a few trigger presses, but that was about it.

This Mantis has been a game changer. I immediately put it on my M&P 2.0 and tried it out. Five "shots" in and I was in love. Included in the X10 Elite is a course to help familiarize you with the system, and three courses to increase accuracy. I whipped through the introduction course and couldn't wait to get more. The Basic Marksmanship and the Advanced Marksmanship went pretty quickly - just a couple of days for Basic and a week or so for Advanced. The Compressed Surprise Break is my nemesis.

The system quickly found my weaknesses (hello, Compressed Surprise Break). I can be accurate, or I can be fast, but so far, I can't be both. My goal is to work on combining the two. When I get in a hurry, I tend to slap the trigger. When I'm trying for accuracy, I slow down way too much. It can take me seconds to press the trigger.

I did manage to fight my way through my mental block with the Compressed Surprise Break and earn my Advanced Marksmanship patch.

I'm currently working on the Elite Marksmanship badge, and I tell you, if I could stop over-thinking everything, I would have finished it already. But, I'm female and over-thinking is what we do.

The feedback from the system can be brutal, but it's completely objective. I can choose to pay attention to the data, or I can continue to suck. I thought I was doing pretty well with my dry fire, so I decided to take my show on the road and see how I did live fire. Boy, was that a hard pill to swallow.

I definitely had stuff to work on with live fire, and the Mantis showed me in black and white where I was screwing up.

However, there are moments like this (dry fire at home):

To say using the Mantis for dry fire practice is addictive would be an understatement. I've "shot" 3,017 rounds, which is a huge ammo savings. The fact that I can use my Mantis for both dry and live fire, on my pistols, rifles, and shotgun makes me love it even more.

My Glock 43x doesn't have an accessory rail, and to be honest, the stick-on accessory rail that came with the kit was crap, so I bought a Recover Tactical accessory rail that went on to my Glock in seconds. It holds the Mantis nicely, though I had to have a friend mold a holster to accommodate the rail and mounted Mantis.

Since the 43x is my EDC and I only had one OWB holster for it, I eventually used my teaching money to purchase a second 43x for practice purposes. I can now carry my EDC 43x in all of my 'normal' holsters, and practice with the other one. All I can say is thank goodness for the students who are willing to pay to take classes so I can buy 'training aids'.

In talking to someone who also has the Mantis, I found that I could buy baseplates for my magazines that I could attach the Mantis to without having to have special holsters for drawing practice. Since I am 100% drinking the Mantis Tech kool-aid, I bought a baseplate for the 43x and for my M&P 2.0. Now I can practice my draw stroke from any of my holsters with either gun.

I have seen the Blackbeard for the AR system on Active Self Protection's FB page and went looking for that. I desperately need more practice with my AR, but hate cycling the bolt every time. I was pretty excited about the Blackbeard system until I saw the price. I need to teach a few more classes before I can throw out another $199.00 plus shipping and tax. However ... I found the TRT Tap Rack system for a 9mm for only $8.99. Guess what went into my cart?

With the ammo shortage what it is, I cannot recommend the Mantis system enough. You can purchase the MantisX 10 Elite for way less than a case of ammo and it will pay for itself is around 400 'shots'.

Trying Something New

Each night after SHOT Show, the GunDudes and I did a brief Facebook Live video. I've had deaf and hard of hearing friends most of my life, so I try to be inclusive when I can. I knew my friend Rachel would want to watch the videos, but wouldn't be able to because I didn't know how to close caption a live video.

I texted her with a crazy idea and she supported me, so I'm going to try something new. From now on, all of our videos (including FB live once I figure that business out) will be closed captioned (CC is not the crazy idea) and I'll be signing (that's the crazy idea). She was very supportive, which gave me the courage to really step out of my comfort zone.

We don't post a lot of content on our YouTube page, but from now on, any video I make will be done in sign, along with CC. My hope is to make shooting more accessible to my deaf and HoH friends. Maybe, with enough practice, next year's SHOT Show end-of-day videos will also be done in sign.

Industry Day

SHOT was difficult for me this year. As usual, I looked forward to the trip, to seeing the new products, and to seeing people I only get to spend time with once a year. But I just couldn't muster much enthusiasm. If you watched out live feeds, it was readily apparent that my heart wasn't in it this year.

For the life of me, I can't figure it out.

Nonetheless, I had a good time and got to put my hands on some really cool things.

GunDudes Jay and Mez, me, and GunDude Robbie

Industry Day started out nicely, as I got to shoot the new Mossberg 940 JM with none other than the Master himself, Jerry Miceluk.

I'm not gonna lie, I fell in love with the shotgun. But it is a bit out of my price range. It's well-thought out and Mossberg is doing a good job of listening to the Miceluk family as the end users. 3G folks are going to be falling over themselves to pick up this shotgun.

We also shot the much talked about Glock 44. I wanted to hate it, because I feel like Glock has been resting on their laurels when it comes to innovation. They were ground breaking in the 80s, but haven't been doing much in the way of innovation since. Yes, what they had worked, and changed the gun industry with their fantastic plastic. But ... they haven't done much since. They were very slow to market with single stack versions (G42 and G43), despite people clamoring for them. To be so late to turn out a .22 trainer is almost unforgivable, so I really wanted to hate this gun.

Turns out. I kinda liked it. A lot. Maybe not enough to buy one yet, but I do see that it has a place in my gun safe as a teaching gun. There have been some reported issues with the polymer on the slide cracking, and some feeding issues, but I'm not convinced it's as big a problem as some writers would like you to believe. I'll wait until this has been on the market a year or so before I made a definite decision whether or not to buy one.

Another highly anticipated gun was the Colt Python. I loved it. So much fun. However, my carpal tunnel syndrome did not like it. At all. We were only shooting .38 Specials, so nothing that I shouldn't have been able to handle, but after only ten rounds my carpal tunnel was flared up for two days afterward. I also managed to tweak my thumb and am now suffering from tendonitis. I think between the carpal tunnel syndrome and the tendonitis in my thumb, it's a clear indication that this gun does not fit my hand and isn't the gun for me.

The trigger was so nice and smooth. I'm not an expert in revolvers, but I know that pretty much every revolver I've shot has had a "crunchy" trigger. This new Colt did not. Other than the flaring up the carpal tunnel and giving myself tendonitis, I had so much fun shooting this gun.

Despite my love for fire power, I have an almost equally deep love for crossbows. GunDude Jay bought me one a few years ago for Christmas and I do love that crossbow.

It's awesome, but there's one itty, bitty problem with my Christmas Crossbow: I'm both too short and too weak to cock it. I've been threatening for years to buy an aftermarket crank, but those things are expensive!

Luckily, GunDude Jay loves me and would do the heavy lifting when I wanted to shoot, but that's hardly being self-sufficient. Imagine how happy I was to see the Mission Crossbows Sub-1 Lite. Not only is it compact and light-weight, but I can run it by myself without an issue.

With a price tag of $1,399.99, it's going to be a while (or never) before I can afford one of these beauties. I can buy a lot of personal training sessions to get strong enough to use my Christmas Crossbow for $1,399.99. 😂

Of course, I had to go by the knife/axe/shovel/star throwing (AKA Buckmaster) tent and throw pointy things, something I also really enjoy. I had left the boys to at whichever booth piqued their interest and wandered over to throw sharp, pointy things, so unfortunately I don't have any pictures, but I do have some fond memories.

Being Industry Day, we shot so many guns they've run together in my mind. Mez took good notes about each gun he shot, but I only jotted down notes on the ones I was interested in, so this is what you get from me.

Eventually, everyone else will get around to posting their impressions of what we saw at Industry Day.

Lessons from Low Light Training

This quarter's training is shooting in low light. I dug out all of my flashlights and spent last night/today charging all of my lights. Seemed like a good time to make sure everything was ready. Thanks to the Year of the Lumen (2018), I have a few to choose from. Any time Greg Ellifritz or Dustin Ellermann posted about a new light, I had to buy it.

Rayovac "The Beast"; Bolder by Anker (x2);
Streamlight ProTac HL-2; Streamlight Microstream USB;
Olight Valkyrie PL-2; SureFire Sidekick

I knew we had some cool stuff planned, so I was pretty excited about tonight's range time. At twilight, I used the Streamlight I keep on my belt to look at something downrange and decided I didn't like the throw. I thought it was too short, so I decided to swap it out for one of the Ankers that I usually just keep in my bag.

When it was my turn to run the stage, I slipped the Anker into my carrier and threw my Streamlight in my bag. I've been practicing with the Anker at the range, since that's what's in my bag, so I thought it would be fine.

I was so wrong. So, so wrong.

What I forgot about the Anker is that it has variable settings and that in order to keep it from cycling through the settings, I had to press the button to turn it on and then let go. Failure to do so, or keeping the button depressed with my thumb will start it to cycle.

I did okay for my first two targets, but when I went to light up my next two, suddenly I had a strobe light. I said bad words and took my shots anyway. But did I remember to definitely turn on and off the light? No, because why would my brain work when it needed to?

When I lit up my next set of targets, I'd cycled to medium power. That was okay, at least the light stream was steady. By this time, I'd remembered to fully depress the on/off button and let go, so my last few targets were easier to shoot.

Ugh.

It was ugly, but I learned a couple of important lessons: 1) don't make a last minute gear change (that should be obvious), and 2) commit to turning on/off the light instead of just using my thumb as a momentary on switch.

I don't have a holster that will accommodate a WML, but I have a really nice Olight that I wanted to try out. Once everyone was done shooting, I attached my Olight and just plinked off a few rounds. I've dry fired with the Olight, but while dry fire is great for practicing fundamentals, I needed some live rounds through. I found that my little Olight really lights up the target beautifully, but in order to activate the light I have to break my grip and really rock my support hand forward. My little girl thumb doesn't reach the switch well.

Again, I didn't commit to turning the light on, instead just used my thumb as a momentary on switch, which worked great for identifying the target, but as soon as the trigger broke and the recoil hit, my thumb lost contact with the switch and I lost my light. I either need to learn to keep my thumb in contact with the switch or hit the button to turn it on and let go.

I'm seeing a pattern here. I have trouble committing with my lights. Push the damn button, turn it on, and then get my damn thumb out of the way.

The one thing I do wish is that there was a way to get more low light practice. I do practice with my lights, but shooting on an already well-lit range with a flashlight is vastly different from shooting in the dark with one. Since I know my problem is not fully turning on the light, that's something I can work on even during the day.

My hope is by practicing the one thing I screwed up so badly, that next month when I shoot at night, I'll see a vast improvement.

Mistaken Couple-dom

I ran into one of my oldest shooting buddies today at the grocery store where he works. I had some things for him, so I ran out to my car to grab the bag of goodies I've been driving around with for months. When I got back in the store, I handed him the bag and gave him a big side hug. One of the customers looked over and said, "that's so sweet, you guys are so cute together!"

I was stunned into silence for a moment, then laughed and said, "thanks, I'll be sure to tell his wife." Robbie said, "and I'll be sure to tell her husband."

I realized she thought I was his wife bringing him lunch and I'm flattered she thought we were a cute couple.

And then I started thinking ... whenever I'm with a male shooting buddy, people assume we're a couple. Always. Doesn't matter which one I'm with: John, Mez, Robbie, Mike, any of them.

So then I started thinking (always a dangerous thing), WHY do people think that I'm "with" a male friend? Is it because they can't wrap their heads around the fact that I can be friends with men?

Or is it because there's an easy (but platonic) intimacy with someone you spend a lot of time with, especially when the time you're spending with them involves deadly weapons? I spend a lot of time with my friends at the range watching them carefully, and vice versa. You get into a rhythm of anticipating what they're going to do or what they're going to need. Shooting can be a very collaborative thing, and I think after spending countless hours and rounds down range that intimacy naturally develops.

All of my shooting buddies pre-date my marriage, so I'm thankful that I have a husband who is not at all bothered by this.

Have you noticed this? Have you and a shooting buddy ever been mistaken for a couple? Why do you think that is?

Mental Health and Red Flag Laws

Yesterday, I took an Adult Mental Health First Aid course. I signed up for it primarily because of the types of students I encounter in my day job - a lot of them come from a background of trauma and the majority of them are struggling with some sort of mental illness (anxiety, depression, PTSD). I wanted to be able to help them if they were in crisis. The instructor was excellent about reminding us that an 8-hour class does not qualify us to be therapists, but that we could use our training to be the bridge to get someone to professional help. You know, a lot like taking a basic first aid class doesn't make one a physician.

As you know, Colorado is one step closer to turning a proposed bill into a law. I mentioned in our video last week that Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) terrify me, because there's no due process. The onus is on the person from whom the guns were removed to prove that they are not a risk to themselves or others.

So, what does my class yesterday have to do with Red Flag laws? A lot, actually. Repeatedly yesterday we were told that people with mental illness (an illness that impacts their ability to function in a normal way: work, relationships, etc.) are far more likely to be victims of crime, not perpetrators of crime. So passing these bills under the guise of "safety" is crap. The statistics don't support the claim that people with mental illness suddenly "snap" and go on a killing rampage.

One of the things that we were taught to do yesterday was to ask the person, point-blank, if they had any intention of killing themselves or others. Don't sugar-coat it, just ask. Depending on the person's answer, you have options. If they say yes, they plan on killing themselves or others, keep them talking and get them help. Involve the police if necessary. If they say no, ask additional questions, guide them toward professional help.

The problem with the Red Flag laws is that they skip this major step, a step that could go a long way toward getting someone the help they need instead of acting as judge and jury.

I came away from yesterday's class even more against the proposed laws that I was before, but my opinion comes from a place of better education than the people trying to pass the laws. What's scary about that is that it only took one eight-hour class to become better educated about mental illness than the politicians. These laws are nothing more than "feel good" laws so lawmakers can say they're "doing something" to get guns away from dangerous people.

GunDiva's Variety Hour, episode 2

We're Trying Something New

We had so much fun with the Facebook live videos last month, we decided to try our hands at doing a video every couple of weeks. We're not video people, obviously, but thought we'd give it a go.



Let us know if there's anything you'd like to see, learn about, well ... almost anything.

Back to Real Life and What to Expect from GunDivas in 2019

I'd like to say we made it all back from Vegas unscathed, but that would be a lie. Both Jay and Mez have been felled with the SHOT Show plague. I haven't seen Jay this sick since he had Influenza A over Christmas six years ago, and that's saying something. I've only texted with Mez, but it sounds like he has the same thing: fever, chills, cough, and a general desire to die. I'm relatively certain that what they have is not Influenza, but instead is bronchitis. So far - knock wood - I'm still healthy and showing no signs of the plague that they caught. I'm counting myself very lucky, considering I just spent a week with a bunch of strangers spreading their germies around, and sharing a house with the boys who ended up getting really, really sick.

We had a lot of fun doing the Facebook Live end-of-day reviews and someone suggested we do it more frequently. At first, I was resistant, but mostly because I hate the camera. However, the more I thought about it, the more the idea grew on me. In talking with Jay and Mez, they're on board with doing some sort of video series. It won't be on FB live, but will be something we record and put up on our YouTube channel (Yes, we have one. No, I haven't posted anything in three years.), with cross posting here and on the FB page. We have some technical things to work out (as well as a schedule), but look for bi-monthly videos in the near future. I have several writers for the blog, and I hope to be able to bring them on to the videos as well, which will take some coordinating.

For years, I've been collecting books that Greg Ellifritz at Active Response Training has recommended. (I have also shamelessly stolen some of the shooting drills he shares.) But collecting them has been all I've done. I buy the book and put it on my TBR (to be read) pile. My pile is getting out of control. Just like being a gun owner and a shooter are not the same thing, buying books and reading them are two different critters. It's my goal to get through my TBR by the end of the year.

These are the books I have piled on my nightstand. There are more mixed in my bookshelf and in my Kindle library that I need to read or re-read. In an attempt to hold myself accountable, I'll share what I learned from each book once I've finished it.

We all still have real jobs, so the changes here will be minimal, but our hopes are that we'll be able to post on a more consistent basis and continue to share things that catch our eyes.

Just for Giggles

I was hoping to get to shoot the new Remington 870DM (detachable magazine) at Industry Day, but there wasn't a Remington to be found at the range.

Luckily, though, when we were walking by the Remington booth, they had a few for us to play with. And I do actually mean play. They set up a head-to-head competition in which I got my butt handed to me by Robbie. It was fun. I'll do a more thorough write-up later about the shotgun, but here's a short video of our "competition".

Industry Day at SHOTShow 2018

Jay, Mez, GunDiva, Robbie

Today, we were privileged enough to attend Industry Day at the Range. It's always a good time (who doesn't like to shoot other people's ammo?).  Here are some quick highlights, in case I fail to get more thorough posts done once I'm home.

Decibullz is a Fort Collins-based company that has been around for a while, though they're just now getting into the ear protection game. They were kind enough to offer free custom-molded ear plugs to the attendees today. We didn't run into them until later in the morning, but quickly switched out our "foamies" that we got at the front gate for our Decibullz ear plugs and wore them the rest of the day. Their basic model worked very nicely for the range; they have a different model that we'll be discussing in the future. Since we're from the same geographic area, I'll be scheduling a post-show interview with them.

Though I'm not a long-range shooter, Mez talked me into shooting the new .224 Valkyrie. They had the target out 960 yards, and I'm not a long-range shooter, but I'm happy to say I hit all but one (and that miss was barely a miss). I struggled initially with the trigger, as in, I couldn't reach the freaking thing. Could not reach it. At all. They instructed me to use a strong-side only hold, with my thumb alongside the stock instead of wrapped around the handgrip. It was a soft-shooting round and easy to manage. I'm certain Mez will write more about the ballistics of this round/gun.

My "must shoot" list was pretty short - I need a new duty gun, so I wanted to check out the M&P 2.0 compact. I've shot a few rounds from one of the range team members, but the more I get to handle it, the more convinced I am that this is the gun I need. While I was up there, I thought I'd try the M&P Shield 2.0 as well. I carry my G42 daily, but would really like to upgrade to a 9mm. I planned on just going up to a G43 (because deep in my heart, I'm a Glock girl), but the Shield might be a contender. I'll have to shoot them side by side before I make a final decision.

Again, on Mez's recommendation, Jay and I ducked into the Hudson stall to shoot their pistols. Immediately, I was freaked out by their triggers. I've shot Glock "safe action" triggers since I started shooting, I'm comfortable with the M&P hinged trigger, but this Hudson trigger was just weird. It hinges from the bottom of the trigger. It is supposed to make the trigger reset easier to attain, but while demonstrating it, the Hudson employee had an ND into the dirt just in front of us. Imma go ahead and say, that's not the gun for me. The boys, however, liked the gun.

If you look at the trigger closely, you can see the pin at the bottom of the trigger.

And just for giggles, here's a cute dog picture.

Apollo, the cutest PTSD service dog I've ever seen.

A Leftie in the Making

At the beginning of the year, this meme was incredibly accurate. I have always done some shooting left-handed, but very little. 50 - 100 rounds per year over the last fifteen years doesn't add up to much when compared to the rounds shot with my right hand. My best guess would be 1-2% of my shooting was done left-handed since I began shooting.

I knew, when I wrote up my shooting goals for this year that I wanted to increase my left-handed shooting, but it was pretty vague. I just wanted to do it "more". My vague idea of "more" was somewhere around 25%, I figured that would make me competent enough should anything happen to my dominant arm/hand.

I started the year shooting the Dot Torture, so it was easy to plan to shoot it once right-handed and once left-handed. By the end of February, I realized that I was far exceeding my goal of 25% left-handed shooting. I continued to run drills both right- and left-handed throughout the year, and I have averaged about a 50/50 split between both hands.

Some drills, like the Baseline Evaluation, lend themselves very nicely to switching hands. When I shoot the Baseline Evaluation I do it right-handed, left-handed, right hand only, and left hand only. At 50 rounds each, it's easy to run through 200 rounds in a one-hour period of time, so it can get expensive quickly.

I have found an unexpected benefit to all of this left-handed shooting (besides the obvious increase in confidence, etc.). A couple of months ago at work, I was working on my laptop and eating lunch at the same time. About half-way through my lunch I realized that I'd been eating my salad left-handed. With a fork and everything. And I hadn't even made a mess!

As I sat there, in wonder that this miracle occurred, I realized that I've been using my left-hand far more frequently and without thought since I began shooting left-handed. It's a benefit that I never considered, and, yes, I feel dumb for not ever considering it.

I'm Sorry (An Open Letter)

To the woman at the gun shop today,
I'm sorry.

I'm sorry I didn't interrupt when the (older, male) idiot behind the counter insisted that women needed revolvers instead of a semi-auto, because apparently we women are to stupid to learn to identify and clear malfunctions.

I'm sorry I didn't offer to help when I saw you in the lane next to me with a snub-nosed thirty-eight, and your (young, male) "gun expert" encouraging you to continue shooting a gun you were obviously not comfortable with.

I spent the entire time watching you and wanting to pull you aside, wanting to tell you to take a proper class, wanting to tell you the men who were advising you today were idiots who have no idea what they were talking about.

You see, a snub-nosed revolver is an expert's weapon, not a beginner's one, but the "experts" you had to deal with today aren't expert enough to know that.

I'm not an expert, but I dedicate a lot of time to shooting and studying shooting. I knew they were steering you wrong.

I should have broken my rule of not offering unsolicited advice, and for that I'm sorry. I've been angry at myself ever since.

Please accept my apologies,
GunDiva

Flying Solo

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to a few other instructors and was surprised to find that they had never been to the range alone.

What
The
Hell?

I'm all about empowering women to learn to shoot, but shouldn't we as female instructors be setting examples outside of the classroom too? How can we in good conscious lecture women to take control of their own protection if we're too chicken to go to the range by ourselves? How is it that female instructors can be big and tough in front of a classroom, but not be comfortable taking their own happy asses to the range without an escort?

I've been going to the range by myself for years. The first match I attended was one where I knew nobody. I packed my range bag and marched myself to the range, I listened to the orientation, I asked questions, and I shot the match. I was terrible, but I did it. And I made friends along the way who have become my tribe.

It just never occurred to me that other women didn't do it. I was truly flabbergasted that it seemed to be the norm to go to the range with someone else; that *I* was the odd one out for having flown solo. If this introvert can do it, anyone can.

Ladies, we have to do more than just preach empowerment and taking control - we have to model it.

I challenge you (even if you're not an instructor) to go to the range by yourself.

You do not need an escort, male or female.

Just go.

It will be worth it, I promise.

What the Dot Torture has Taught Me

People are probably sick of me going on and on about the Dot Torture. It dawned on me, after talking to my mom, that while I've talked about the Dot Torture for years, I've not explained what it is recently or why I'm so in love/hate with it. This is a drill, shot at close range, that tests a shooter's fundamentals: sight picture, trigger control, transitioning between targets, one-handed, and weak-handed shooting. The instructions are available online (see link above), or you can find a target pre-printed with the instructions.

I shot it first back in 2012, but haven't been shooting it regularly until this year. It has always been a humbling experience, and often quite frustrating.

First time ever shooting Dot Torture 10/26/12 (GSG 1911-22)

10/26/12 (Para LTC 1911 .45 ACP)

When I came up with my shooting goals for the year, shooting more frequently was one of the goals. I plan on shooting at least 200 rounds a month, and it's easy to do if you know what you're going to be doing each time you go to the range. I knew if I shot the Dot Torture twice with my right hand and twice with my left each month I'd hit my goal easily.

The Dot Torture has frustrated me for a long time. I've never been a precise shooter - I'm what some would call "combat accurate", but I very rarely have been able to shoot nice tight groups on purpose. My groups fall in the 1.5 - 2" range, not bad, but hardly worth bragging about.

While I was expecting to improve my Dot Torture scores, I was not expecting to see the drastic improvement in my group sizes.

1/31/17 GSG 1911-22

2/7/17 G42

2/10/17 G42

2/14/17 G42

I'm still not shooting one-hole groups, but they are much better and I know the moment the trigger breaks whether or not I've thrown a shot. The shrinking group sizes has helped build my confidence, which has been sorely lacking. I know it's weird to say my confidence is improving when I've only shot the drill clean once, but it has. I'm beginning to feel like the shooter I used to be, and that feels really good.

Further, I've seen vast improvements in my left-handed shooting as well. I've always been fairly proficient with my left-handed shooting because I work at it, whereas most people don't. I make a point to shoot as close to 50% of the time with my left hand. I dare say that my current left-handed shooting ability is far better than my first right-handed go at the drill. (I thought I had more pictures of my left-handed targets, but I must not have uploaded them.)

2/7/17 G42, left-handed

With my confidence renewed, I'm looking forward to shooting my first match of the year.

... And Starting 2017 with a Bang!

After Saturday's happy day at the range, I was hoping to get out again, but the weather didn't look like it was going to cooperate on Sunday. I did some horse chores, then decided it was warm enough to take the dueling tree for a run. I texted my brother to grab his wife and their guns to join me.

(Okay, I had to invite them, because the dueling tree doesn't fit in my car, but don't tell them that.)

If you don't follow us on Facebook, you might be a bit behind on the dueling tree saga. I've had this tree for a while - years - but back when I was in the running to audition for Top Shot I accidentally shot a hole in one of the plates with a 45-70. I say accidentally, because though I was aiming at the plate, I didn't actually think I'd hit it. I was shooting from the Bosu and the tree was out there a ways. In fact, I think I have video of it somewhere - I'll have to look for it.

Anyway, I went to the lowest bidder to fix the plates and the fixes were bad, Bad, BAD, so the tree has been sitting out of commission for about five years. In talking to one of the shooters at my local match, I found that he is a welder and he offered to make new plates for me. I jumped at the chance!

Mez took the tree frame to his place to clean up the rust and re-paint it. I got all mushy on Facebook about how I'd found my "tribe" and how lucky I was to have people in my life who were willing to pitch in and help. I got a picture of my new plates and they were beautiful.

So shiny and pretty.

A few days later, Jay and I were pulling into the driveway and Jay just stopped the car for a moment and turned to tell me, "looks like Mez dropped off your tree". I had my nose buried in my phone for some reason and looked up to see my pink, sparkly tree. Yes, pink. With sparkles.

Pink.

With sparkles.

*sigh*

So my "new" dueling tree has been sitting outside of my front door for a month, it was time to take it for a spin. My brother was kind enough to pick it up and haul it to my friend's house. She was kind of cute with her bright white plates (well, three of them anyway) and her sparkles.

Besides being plain fun to shoot, I love the instant feedback. I've been struggling with my Big Dot sight on my Para. And by struggling I mean, I hate the damn thing! I've spent the better part of two years trying to learn to shoot with it because I'm too cheap and stubborn to switch back to my factory sights. It took three shots to figure out how to use the stupid Big Dot.

I had been lining up my sights to cover the target, as instructed when I switched to the Big Dot. I never felt comfortable with that, because it's so big that I couldn't really see what I was shooting at. My first couple of shots on the dueling tree were misses and when I asked my brother for feedback, he told me I was shooting over the plates. I adjusted my sight picture so that the target was sitting on top of the Big Dot sight and got my first hit. Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke I did it again and again. Shooting at steel was just what I needed - I needed the immediate feedback on my sight picture. When shooting at paper, it's not always easy to see if you've impacted where you were aiming.

We took turns shooting at the tree and had a blast. Finally, as it was getting colder, my brother and I went head-to-head on it. It was a draw, with each of us winning a round.

The tree lost some of its sparkles (I think each of the three of us managed to hit the frame at least once), and the shiny new white plates are no longer shiny and new.

I made a good dent in my goal of 200 rounds/month, shooting 60 rounds through the Para. Only 140 rounds to go this month and 30 days left to do it.

Sending 2016 out with a Bang

I needed some trigger therapy, so I hit Mez up to take me to his indoor range. Most of my shooting has been done outdoors (in fact, that's what I'll be doing today), but I'm getting soft in my old age and shooting in a climate controlled area sounded wonderful.

My goal was to shoot the Dot Torture with both the G42 and the G43. I have been playing around with the idea of buying a 43. I like the 42, I really do, and have been carrying it pretty consistently for a couple of years, but I really like the idea of the 43.

I haven't shot the Dot Torture with the G42 since April; before that, the last time I shot the drill with the G42 was November, 2015. It's been a long time and I haven't been great about practicing. I'm confident enough with it that I carry it daily as a "get outta my face" gun, same as when I was carrying my Beretta Bobcat (.25 cal) and my Beretta Tomcat (.32 cal).

I shot the drill cold with the G42 and am not upset by the way I shot it. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised I did so well. My issue with any of the drills I shoot is that I get too much into my head - I start over-thinking everything. I have the skills to shoot these drills clean, but I need to find the quiet spot in my head. I need my shooting Zen place.

What I love about the Dot Torture is that I can pretty easily identify where I'm screwing up. Even when I "miss" my circle, I'm within a 1/2 inch of it. My confidence in the G42 soared with this go 'round. Feeling pretty good, I switched to the G43.

1st time through. 39/50 is a crappy score.

I was pretty disappointed with this round. Right off the bat, I got hung up on the crappy stock Glock trigger (Glock perfection, my ass), but that really isn't a valid excuse. I should be able to shoot *any* gun with *any* trigger, even if I'm a bit of a trigger princess.

I pulled my big girl panties back up, took a deep breath and had a second go with the G43.

Much better. 44/50.

I definitely need a lot more trigger time. My weak had was so tired, I could barely stay on target to pull the trigger, even with that, I did manage to stack two rounds. For the first time in a long time, I was pleased with the way I shot.

I felt so good that I challenged Mez to a little competition. We sent a target (8 1/2" by 11" piece of paper) out to 25 yards to see who could get the most of five rounds on paper. He won the first round, I won the second. It's a rare thing for me to beat him in anything, so I'll take it.

I left the range absolutely elated. It's been a very long time since I felt a "shooter's high" - where I just flat-out enjoyed shooting.

My goals for 2017 include way more shooting: 200 rounds per month; one match per month; and dipping my toes into 3-gun competition. I need a lot of work with my shotgun, but I've got people I can call on to help me with that portion. Through it all, I hope to continue to feel the "shooter's high" I felt yesterday. I've missed that feeling so much.