How to improve your sights

One of my pocket guns is a Smith & Wesson revolver (model 642.) It’s a great little gun that’s never given me any problems, which is probably why Smith & Wesson has sold millions of snub-nosed revolvers.

However, even though the gun works flawlessly, one of the complaints I often hear about snubby revolvers, and pocket guns in general, is that people have difficulty seeing the sights.

And the fact is, they’re right…

Because most snub-nosed revolvers and other pocket guns have small sights or sights with colors that poorly contrast against a target. And since being able to see your sights is obviously critical if you ever have to use a gun to defend yourself, here are a few ways you can improve your sights on your pocket guns.  

The first and easiest way is to simply put some paint or nail polish on your front sight. Use a color such as red or neon green. Just remember not to overdue it when applying color to the front sight… you only want to apply a small amount.

For instance, the Smith & Wesson snubbies have a ramped front sight. You only want to put paint towards the top of the ramp, and not on the entire ramp or else you could end up shooting high. (Go to the range after you’ve painted your sight and you’ll be able to quickly tell if you’ve made this mistake.)

Now, if you want to spend a little money to improve your sights…

You can put a brand new front sight on your gun. HiViz makes a green fiber optic front sight and XS Sight Systems makes the Big Dot that is quite popular. Brownell’s also sells a lot of sights.

If you first try putting nail polish on your sight and that doesn’t work for you, then I would definitely purchase a new sight from one of the companies above. Sights aren’t that expensive and your life is certainly worth paying around $60 for a new sight.

The bottom line is, settling for sights that one can’t easily see is a foolish idea. So if you’re having trouble seeing the sights on any of your guns, I would work on improving them as soon as you get the chance.

If I were Trayvon Martin

Last week’s article about the George Zimmerman verdict elicited a lot of feedback… some people agreeing with me and others disagreeing.

And since this case has already been talked about so much, I’ve decided to comment one final time about it to answer one gentleman’s question. In short, this gentleman sent me an email asking me the following…  

“If you were being followed late at night, what would you do?  Would you run? Would you confront the person stalking you?”

I thought this was a great question, and anyone who has taken my concealed carry training knows that my wife and I were followed in Baltimore City once. What I did in that situation was verbally confront the person (in a polite manner and with a polite tone of voice.)

In another instance, I was jogging in the early morning and two large gentleman were on the same path as me dressed in street clothes (not in running attire.) As I got closer to them they looked at each other and then spread apart to force me in between them and I simply ran to the side away from them.

My point is, if I was being followed late at night I would run if I could, but if the person was too close to me I would confront them. But I wouldn’t attack them, I wouldn’t physically touch them… I would simply ask them a question such as, “can I help you” or “do you need something” or something along those lines.

In other words, I would do what any one of us would likely do.

You see, the problem with the George Zimmerman incident was that it was a “perfect storm.” You had a wanna-be cop who did something stupid by getting out of his car that night. The thing is, and what people don’t seem to understand, is that even though what he did was stupid, it wasn’t illegal.

And when this wanna-be cop followed Trayvon Martin, he didn’t know he was following a person with a history of violence. The fact is, if George Zimmerman had followed 99 other people that night he might have got cussed out or they might have run from him. But he followed the 1 person in 100 who decided to attack him and try and beat the living daylights out of him.

So if I was Trayvon Martin that night I would have run if I could, or I would have verbally confronted George Zimmerman but I wouldn’t have attacked him unless he attacked me first, and from the evidence brought out during the trial that’s not what appears to have happened.

The truth is, I think it’s frightening that America is having such trouble with this verdict when it’s obvious George Zimmerman did something stupid (but not illegal), and doing something stupid doesn’t give someone the right to attack you. It is the same as if I was stupid enough to walk down a dark alley at 3am, that doesn’t give three guys the right to come out of the shadows and try and kill me.

So what would you have done if you were Trayvon Martin in that situation or what will you do if you find yourself being followed one day?

Reactions from the George Zimmerman Verdict

I think the reactions of the George Zimmerman verdict have shown us once again what is leading to the decline of this country and why it is more important than ever to be self-reliant and to prepare for uncertain times.

The fact is, we have a man who was getting his head bashed in by another man and he defended himself as any person would. We do not have a man that hunted down an unarmed person, because if that was the case I think we would agree George Zimmerman should have gone to jail for murder.

However, we have the TV pundits, Hollywood celebrities, and protestors talking about how you can go around hunting down unarmed children and murdering them. They forget to mention that this unarmed child, violently attacked a man, broke his nose, and was slamming his head on the ground.

My point is…

We have many people in this nation who fail to even look at the facts so they can make an intelligent comment on the case, but more importantly, we have a nation of people who don’t believe a person should be responsible for their actions.

I find it troubling that the President of our country – who ought to try and be an example – would tell the nation to “honor” Trayvon Martin. In other words, he is telling the nation to honor a man who tried to kill another man. He’s not saying that we need to take responsibility for our actions and that the reason the man died is because he chose to jump someone, and to repeatedly punch them and bash their head on the ground.

I’m pretty sure if I went up to Alec Baldwin (a knucklehead celebrity who made a silly comment about the case) and I started bashing his head on the ground he wouldn’t just sit there and smile, he’d defend himself like a normal person would.

But again, my big problem is the lack of personal responsibility in this country.

It’s the notion that we can do whatever we want without consequences, and that someone or something (such as the government) will bail us out or take care of us.

In fact, the only reactions I don’t blame are Trayvon’s parents. I think we can agree that if your child died, no matter what caused it, you would want the person that killed them to be prosecuted… I’m sure I certainly would.

But everyone else, not so emotionally close to the case should be teaching their children personal responsibility. And that you don’t go around starting fights and punching people and if you do, there are consequences to be paid.

I guess what I’m really trying to say is, instead of all of the hate being spouted from both sides and instead of Geraldo Riveria and Al Sharpton stirring things up just to get their time in front of the camera, we should be teaching our kids and our nation to be responsible for their actions.

Reactions from the George Zimmerman Verdict

I think the reactions of the George Zimmerman verdict have shown us once again what is leading to the decline of this country and why it is more important than ever to be self-reliant and to prepare for uncertain times.

The fact is, we have a man who was getting his head bashed in by another man and he defended himself as any person would. We do not have a man that hunted down an unarmed person, because if that was the case I think we would agree George Zimmerman should have gone to jail for murder.

However, we have the TV pundits, Hollywood celebrities, and protestors talking about how you can go around hunting down unarmed children and murdering them. They forget to mention that this unarmed child, violently attacked a man, broke his nose, and was slamming his head on the ground.

My point is…

We have many people in this nation who fail to even look at the facts so they can make an intelligent comment on the case, but more importantly, we have a nation of people who don’t believe a person should be responsible for their actions.

I find it troubling that the President of our country – who ought to try and be an example – would tell the nation to “honor” Trayvon Martin. In other words, he is telling the nation to honor a man who tried to kill another man. He’s not saying that we need to take responsibility for our actions and that the reason the man died is because he chose to jump someone, and to repeatedly punch them and bash their head on the ground.

I’m pretty sure if I went up to Alec Baldwin (a knucklehead celebrity who made a silly comment about the case) and I started bashing his head on the ground he wouldn’t just sit there and smile, he’d defend himself like a normal person would.

But again, my big problem is the lack of personal responsibility in this country.

It’s the notion that we can do whatever we want without consequences, and that someone or something (such as the government) will bail us out or take care of us.

In fact, the only reactions I don’t blame are Trayvon’s parents. I think we can agree that if your child died, no matter what caused it, you would want the person that killed them to be prosecuted… I’m sure I certainly would.

But everyone else, not so emotionally close to the case should be teaching their children personal responsibility. And that you don’t go around starting fights and punching people and if you do, there are consequences to be paid.

I guess what I’m really trying to say is, instead of all of the hate being spouted from both sides and instead of Geraldo Riveria and Al Sharpton stirring things up just to get their time in front of the camera, we should be teaching our kids and our nation to be responsible for their actions.

How I’m Breaking In My New Smith & Wesson

I just picked up a new Smith & Wesson M&P. I figured I own enough Glocks so it was time to diversify to another gun I’d be willing to bet my life on. But of course, you don’t buy a new gun and then immediately start carrying it, so let me show you how I’m currently breaking in this new gun and what you may want to consider doing too. 

First, head to the shooting range. I know a lot of folks like to clean their brand new guns before they shoot them, but it’s not necessary and a waste of time in my opinion. If you love cleaning guns then go for it, but I don’t, so again, the first thing I do is go to the range.

At the range, shoot the heck out of your new gun.

What I did with my new gun is to go through a series of drills. I shot the FBI’s new qualification course and I also did plenty of reloads. You want to test out every aspect of this gun to make sure everything is functioning properly. In other words, now is the time to find out if you need to adjust your sights or if you got a bad magazine.

After I put about 500 rounds through the gun, then I cleaned it.

Obviously, you can clean it when you’ve shot more or less, but 500 rounds is the number I like to stick to. But just because you’ve put 500 rounds through your gun and it functions flawlessly that doesn’t mean you’re ready to carry it.

Next, you need to go to the range and run your self-defense ammunition through it. You need to make sure your hollow points feed properly and the gun doesn’t jam with this different type of ammunition. I haven’t done this part yet since my gun is so new, but when I go to the range next I’ll put 150 to 200 rounds of self-defense ammo through it.

I realize self-defense ammo is a lot more expensive but this is very important to do. I know some guys who shoot two or three rounds of hollow point ammo and then start carrying their gun. Personally, I’m not comfortable carrying a gun I’ve only shot a handful of defensive rounds through, which is why I recommend at least 150-200 rounds.

Once I’ve put the hollow points through my gun and I’m sure it functions flawlessly, then I’ll give it another cleaning and start carrying it. But until then, my new gun won’t be on my hip, on my nightstand, or anywhere else throughout my house because I haven’t gone through the break in procedure that I’m comfortable with.

How to handle a loud thud in the night

A few weeks ago, I showed people an email from a fellow who thought he had an intruder in his house. It turned out to be his dog getting its leash caught in its cage, but the fact is, this gentleman didn’t have his gun loaded and it took him a while to get ready to protect himself.

Well, until last week, it had been a few years since I’d had any similar scares in my own house. But about 12:30am last Thursday night, I heard a loud thud in my house that woke both my wife and I up. I grabbed my flashlight on my nightstand, opened my rapid access safe, went out into the hallway, and stood at the top of the stairs with my gun and light pointing down the stairs.

If I had to guess, it took me about 6 seconds to go from sleeping to being at the top of the stairs with my loaded gun. The reason I went to the top of the stairs is because the thud sounded like somebody was on their way up the stairs and I wanted to stop the “threat” before it got any closer to my wife or to my daughter’s room.

At the top of the stairs, I waited a bit but I didn’t see anything or hear anyone…

So I slowly began to clear my house, which isn’t a quick task if you’re going to do it correctly. After I’d cleared my house, my wife and I went back to bed. But because the thud was so loud and sounded like it was coming up the stairs, we’d had a nice dose of adrenaline and neither of us could fall back to sleep.

As we laid there my wife said, “I know what the thud was.” She walked to our hallway closest, which is right next to the stairs, opened it up, and our air mattress tumbled out. Earlier that week, my wife had been at a church camp with the girls in our church and had used the air mattress.

She obviously didn’t put it away right (which probably means I was the one that put it away)…

And when it fell off the top shelf, it did make a pretty loud noise. (This isn’t the type of air mattress I use when I go camping. This is the type with the built in air pump that weighs a ton and you might as well bring a real bed camping if you’re going to use it.)

Obviously, I was very thankful that nobody was in my house, but it was nice to know that everything went according to plan and my “home defense” training paid off. What I mean is, at least once a month I’ll lie in bed and pretend there’s a home intruder. I then see how quickly I can get my gun and flashlight and then I evaluate if I need to rearrange any of my gear.

And like I said, it took me about 6 seconds from a dead sleep to be at the top of the stairs with my loaded gun. I was able to do this because of practice and a good gear arrangement that works for my situation.

I know I’ve said this numerous times before, but I encourage you to practice what you plan to do in a home invasion scenario. If there’s ever a home invasion, you need to operate on “autopilot” so you don’t hesitate and you don’t wonder where your gun is or where you should go. It should all be second nature.

How Often Should You Unload Your Pistol?

A lot of folks have a gun for home defense purposes only, and choose not to carry concealed. Many of these folks leave these guns in their safes for months at a time and frequently ask me how often they should unload their pistol and “give it a rest."

Then there are people who do carry concealed all of the time but as soon as they get home they transfer the loaded gun to a safe, and the gun stays loaded all of the time. These people also often ask when they should unload their magazines and guns.

Luckily, the answer is simple.

If you’re carrying a modern firearm you don’t have to worry about unloading it or “giving it a rest.” When I was a police officer and with the Agency, I knew guys who would leave their guns loaded for years at a time.

If you’re carrying a Glock, Smith & Wesson, Beretta, Springfield, Ruger, and any other modern pistol then you don’t have to worry about being gentle with these guns. (If you buy a cheap $100 gun then you get what you pay for and I would never trust my life with one of these.)

But here’s the thing…

Even though you don’t ever have to worry about unloading your gun, I still hope you’re getting out to the range with it. Even if it’s one of the many guns stored throughout your home (like I have) you should still take it to the range at least every six months.

Obviously, you want to keep familiar with the manipulation of the gun and you want to ensure nothing has happened to it while being stored. A long time ago, I had a gun in storage that I didn’t use for defensive purposes and it wasn’t loaded.

But when I took it out it had some rust on it. I took care of the rust and it functions fine, but if I was using this gun for home defense purposes I wouldn’t have been happy to find a rusty gun that I may have to bet my life on.

So even though it’s not necessary to unload your gun, you should still inspect your gun and take it out shooting monthly if you can, but at least every six months. You don’t have to do this for every gun you own, but you should do this with any gun around your house that you use for defensive purposes. In other words, if you have a loaded gun in your house then it should be one you keep an eye on and regularly inspect.