Archive for Paul Rackley

How Do You Cover?

Over the weekend, I was pheasant hunting with a buddy down at Rose Hill Game Preserve. As always, I was carrying my Kimber in my Milt Sparks VersaMax II. The morning started cool, but as it warmed up, I had to remove a layer and ended up only covering with my upland game vest.

November 15, 2010

One-Handed Tap & Rack

One of the most difficult drills simulates clearing a stoppage with a single hand because the other hand has received an injury during a fight. However, the concept is still the same regardless of the type of stoppage; you still have to rack the slide while maintaining control over the handgun.

November 10, 2010

The Baby UpLULA

Last week, I was in Kansas at the Flint Oak Hunting Club meeting with some representatives from Bushnell, Uncle Mike’s, Final Approach, Butler Creek and others. I was there to get an early look at some of the new products coming out over the next few months, though we also had opportunities to bust clays and pheasants.

November 05, 2010

Include the Family

Quite often, I end up in discussions about both home- and self-defense with friends and even strangers because of where I work. This is obviously not a problem as these are passions of mine. Well, not long ago, I was discussing self-defense tactics with a friend and I asked him about his home-defense plan. The basic idea was: What would you do if?

October 22, 2010

Make a Plan

It’s a real simple question. What are you going to do if someone kicks down your door? The standard response of a gun owner is: I’m going to grab my gun and take care of the situation.

October 20, 2010

Patriot Ordnance Factory P415

POF improved on a popular and reliable platform with the P415.

October 13, 2010

Single-Handed Revolver

Last time, I explained a drill for reloading a semi-auto pistol with one hand. However, not everyone carries a semi-auto. Some people prefer the reliability of a wheelgun.

October 13, 2010

Single-Handed

Knowing how to manipulate a handgun with one hand is an import skill, which involves more than just hitting the target. In a self-defense situation, knowing how to clear a jam or reload using only one hand could save your life.

October 12, 2010

Speak to the Hand

Instructors spend hours trying to drive home muzzle control in to students. Most understand why muzzle control is so important and continuously try to not “sweep” themselves or others with the muzzle of their guns. However, there is a drill that causes many shooters, even experienced shooters, to sweep themselves without even realizing what they’ve done.

October 06, 2010

The Safety Malfunction

Last time I discussed a common gunhandling mistake among more experienced shooters. Today, I’m going to explain one that more often catches beginners and is exactly like its name—malfunction.

September 16, 2010

Common Gunhandling Mistakes: The Turn Rack

The fundamentals of gun safety seem quite simple, but as an NRA instructor, I’ve seen a wide variety of ways that these simple rules can be broken by shooters of all skill levels. Studying these violations in my classes led to watching for these same violations during informal shooting sessions at my local range, and later to discussions with other instructors about various ways that students just seem to mess up. My next few blogs will discuss scenarios to watch out for when you’re at the range, along with the potential perpetrators and the best way to correct this wrong behavior.

September 08, 2010

Dummy Rounds

Knowing how to manipulate a malfunctioned firearm under pressure is an important self-defense skill. Regular practice at the range, if allowed, is the best way to become proficient at fixing stoppages such as a stove-pipe, double-feed jam or other problems. However, before heading to the range to gain confidence, malfunction drills should be practiced slowly at first with inert ammunition.

September 01, 2010

The Importance of Training

I recently interviewed exhibition shooter Bob Munden for the article Best Shooting Advice I’ve Ever Received, but we also spoke about firearms, self-defense and the legendary Col. Jeff Cooper.

August 30, 2010

The Strategic Retreat

There are many scenarios where there might be a reason to defend life and family, but there are just as many where the smartest move is to conduct a strategic retreat.

August 24, 2010

The Joys of Lasers

While I don’t consider myself to be old, I do remember the onset of gun-mounted lasers, especially since one of the very first wasn’t even mounted on a real gun, but rather on a movie prop. Have any of us forgotten when Schwarzenegger brought the idea of gun-mounted lasers to the masses with a SureFire, then known as Laser Products Corp., laser as the Terminator?

August 19, 2010