I had been doing things the hard way all along

Talk about firearms reminded me of a few classic mistakes I've witnessed in 40 years around ranges that qualify as "the hard way."

These are examples of things I'm really happy to have learned from the mistakes of others. Little things like the rifle bore and the sights may be on the same plane, but the sights are generally above the bore. It's really hard to hit your target when you're shooting into the wall ten inches beyond your muzzle... or that pesky rear view mirror.



Then there were the lieutenant's I trained in pistol marksmanship at The Basic School.
When on the firing line we only had two shooters per coach, and that was usually more than enough. Something about raising their non-shooting hand AND keeping the muzzle of the pistol in the other hand pointed down range when they had a malfunction was too much to grasp. I got to the point where my first instinct when I heard "coach!" was to duck. I looked down the muzzle of many loaded 1911's and revolvers, and got bad reviews for grabbing shooters arms and snatching their weapons. These were laughable, and even holding a shooter in the prone position on the rifle range with my foot never got me in any hot water. We did what we had to do to keep the range safe.

We shot a new course that had been developed by the FBI Academy (our neighbors).
It was shot around an obstacle. You shot from both sides and over the top. In the short time we ran this course I saw 1911's fly forward of the firing line from the slide striking the wooden obstacle and flying out of the unsuspecting shooters hand. I saw one shooter laid out after he got so close to the pistol while shooting over the obstacle that the slide hit him in the head.

It's really hard to return fire when your weapon is laying out in the open and you can't reach it without exposing yourself to return fire.

 

So you shot a hole thru your rear view mirror?
Not that it matters much,The projectile should have went strait.

 

Nope, not mine. Looks like somebody was shooting an AR pistol out the window and forgot the bore was below the sights. Local PD took an interest in it.

 

Reminds me of a buddy I went hunting with. We were sighting in our rifles, using his Ford truck hood as a rest.
He forgot about the raised ridge. The boreline was too low. Plowed a furrow right across it! It took a major effort on my part to not laugh.

 

It is called parallax .
In the old days we had cameras the you viewed through the top lens but the bottom lens took the picture. Common problem if you not thinking about the lens doing the work.

 

Ahh, The old fashion drive-by!

 

Two here last week.

 

I have one more gun related "hard way" post, and I hope everybody can learn from this Marine's mistake.

We qualified with all the firearms that we might be required to train Marines to fire. This included Smith & Wesson and Ruger revolvers. We always cautioned about keeping fingers clear of the escaping gasses at the cylinder gap. We never thought about the potential of getting the web of the hand, between the thumb and index finger, under the hammer.

This was really bad, because once the skin was trapped between the hammer and frame and the half-cock sear engaged, there was no way to lower the hammer until it was cocked further. It took many strong hands to hold the pistol and Marine as we cocked the revolver further, crushing the flesh between hammer and frame, until the trigger could be pulled, and the hammer safely released.
It made a noise much like crunching on a piece of gristle in a pork chop.

Definitely the hard way to get your skin out of a bind. Ouch! Definitely on par with getting free of fish hooks and... zippers.

The easy way is to be aware of the danger and avoid it.

 

One of the jobs I had the owner actually had safety meetings we were require to participate .It was valid information that stuck with me all my life, and there are always opportunities to prove its worth.
Never assume people see you. they don't ,even if they are looking right at you.
It not that they choose to ignore , but like some of us have a lot of things on our mind and get distracted with more of what is in our mind than what is in front of us. "WAKE UP" It is why the horn was invented on the car.
Here is a fun thought, I wonder how a gas powered boat horn would work against a charging bear in place of pepper spray ?
1.it is non lethal,
2.omni directional ,
3.penetrates through tent wall fabric,
4. not likely to blow back in your face and harm you own vision.
5. alerts every one with in ear shot there has been a problem .
6. can act as an alert for rescue.