Double action or double/single action gun?

One of my favorite times of year will be here soon – the annual SHOT Show in Las Vegas. This year, like every other, there will be firearm manufacturers releasing dozens of new guns and I’ll walk through their booths wishing I were a billionaire, just like I do every year.

Some of these guns will be double action only (AKA striker-fired, safe action), while others will be double/single action. I know that a lot of folks, especially new shooters, aren’t exactly sure what the difference is so I’d like to try and make it a little clearer today.

The two guns that I use often for concealed carry are a Glock 19 and Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm. Both of these guns are double action only. This means there’s no exposed hammer and that the trigger pull is the same every single time you pull the trigger. Double action only is rather simplistic, as you can see.

An example of a double/single action gun is the Beretta 92FS.

The first time you fire the gun, the hammer is down so you’ll be firing the gun in double action mode. This means you will have a longer trigger pull for the first shot. Once you fire this first shot, the gun cycles, which causes the hammer to remain in the cocked position instead of going down again. So, when you fire your second shot you will have a much lighter and shorter trigger pull because the hammer is already cocked the majority of the way.

The critical thing to remember with double/single action guns is that every time you’re done firing and are getting ready to put the gun back in the holster, you need to use the decocking lever. This decocker lowers the hammer back down into double action mode. In other words, for safety purposes, you don’t want to have the gun in your holster in single action mode.

When it comes to the two types of guns, the huge debate between shooters centers around the trigger pull. You see, some shooters want to have their trigger pull be exactly the same every time, while other shooters don’t care that their first shot is a longer trigger pull because then they get to single action mode and a shorter trigger pull.

There is, of course, no right or wrong answer when it comes to which type of action is best. It all comes down to personal preference. If you do decide to carry a double/single, remember to practice shooting the gun the way you carry it. I know a lot of shooters who “cheat” and only fire in single action mode when they’re practicing. But you need to practice coming out of the holster and firing the first shot double action and the rest in single action, just as it would be in a real gunfight.

And again, be safe if you carry a double/single action gun and don’t forget to lower your decocking lever before you holster or when you’re done firing a string of shots.

If all this talk has you totally confused don’t worry, it’s not as bad as it seems. Simply try both double and double/single action guns to see which one you prefer. You just might surprise yourself.

Don’t get shot helping others!

Merry Christmas!

In a minute, my family is heading to the nearby ski resort to take our 16-month-old daughter tubing and to do some snowmobiling. (I have a strange feeling my wife won’t trust me with our daughter on the tube, but I’ll soon find out.)

Since it’s Christmastime I’m going to keep today’s post rather short and give you just a quick funny thought:

Every year, my family sponsors a less fortunate family in our community (we usually find them through our church). We help them out with Christmas gifts, Christmas breakfast and dinner if they need it. I know a lot of folks do this too and I believe this is a great tradition for anyone that has the means to do so.

Well, a close friend of mine sponsors a family every year also, and they involve the entire family (he has 6 kids and 23 grandkids.) He says it’s a wonderful family event that especially shows the grandkids the importance of helping and serving others.

My friend even goes as far as to have someone dress up as Santa Claus and have “Santa” and the entire family deliver the gifts to the family they’re helping out. He said this year they all arrived at the person’s home ready to deliver the gifts but the homeowner wasn’t there.

The grandkids were sitting in the car because it was cold while all of the adults were in the driveway trying to figure out what they were going to do. They didn’t want to just leave a huge stack of gifts on their porch out in the open but they also didn’t know how long they would have to wait for someone to come home.

All of the sudden a car came down the street and stopped at the bottom of the driveway. The driver started honking the horn and yelling at them to get out of the driveway.

My friend said the person was incredibly mad, until one of the  women in the group quickly ran up to the driver and explained they were there to drop off the gifts for the family. The angry family in the car was obviously embarrassed and quickly apologized.

Apparently, they’d had problems with their neighbors loitering and drinking in their driveway and the family thought the neighbors were having another “party” in their driveway.

Now, my friend joked that at first the woman was so mad he thought she was going to run them over or pull out a gun and shoot them. Clearly, that didn’t happen…

But my point is, never forget how strange life can be and always stay vigilant. Even though, if I had to guess, if you get gunned down delivering Christmas gifts to a family in need you’ve got a guaranteed pass to heaven… I still wouldn’t chance it though… so keep yourself safe wherever you go and whatever you do this Christmas.

How to Avoid Getting Knocked Out

Even though it’s already been in the news for weeks, it still seems like you can’t turn on your TV without hearing about the latest victim of the “Knockout Game.” In fact, I was in California over the weekend doing a seminar when someone told me it had recently happened to a man in his 40’s.

Obviously, this is a horrible trend and it’s great to hear about the cases where the victims have fought back and been able to defend themselves. But what I want to quickly cover today is how you can protect yourself from becoming a victim of this game in the first place.

The fact is, there are several “pre-incident indicators” that criminals do to alert you that something bad is about to happen. In other words, in many of these cases (not all of them) if the person had been more aware they may have been able to prevent the attack.

The first pre-incident indicator is people staring at you too much. Criminals stare at you way too long when they’ve targeted you for an attack. If you see a group of youth staring at you way too hard as they’re approaching you, then immediately cross the street or go somewhere else.

In fact, a major problem with society is that we’ve all been brainwashed about not making others uncomfortable and being over-polite. What I mean is, if you saw a group of youth walking towards you and you had the bad feeling in your stomach, a lot of people would be afraid to quickly cross the street for fear of offending the youth or looking awkward.

In these situations you need to forget what society wants you to do and you need to trust your instincts and not care if it looks weird if you turn the other way or quickly dip into a store or building.

The second pre-incident indicator is that criminals match your pacing. So if you’re walking on one side of the road and you see a group on the other side that seems to be matching your walking speed and then they start making their way towards you, be aware. Only people with evil intent will match your pace.

The final pre-incident indicator I want to cover is “distraction.” Criminals will try and distract you before they knock you out or rob you. In one of the cases I read about, a kid asked a man for a cigarette and as the man reached for the cigarette the kid punched him out.

If someone comes up to you, try and keep your distance as much as possible, quickly glance around you and then keep your eyes on them and their hands. In fact, a few weeks ago I was walking out of the grocery store when a woman started approaching me. It was clear she was coming right at me so I stopped before she got too close and said “hello.” She proceeded to ask me if she could have a ride somewhere. Since this is clearly an odd request I quickly checked behind me and around me to make sure it wasn’t a set up. I told the woman I wouldn’t be able to give her a ride and thankfully that was it and nothing else happened.

But what it all boils down to is this: Maintain your situational awareness at all times and keep your head up to watch out for these pre-incident indicators. Hopefully you’ll never find yourself getting attacked by a group of youth, but it seems that many people in society are becoming less civilized as each day passes.

Tell Your Neighbors You’re Carrying?

Picture this…

Your wife is a social butterfly (you are not) who loves to have people over for dinner and who loves to go to other people’s houses for various social occasions. So one day at church your wife invites a couple over for dinner. They’re not too weird and the dinner is just fine and they invite you over to their house the following weekend.

You like to carry concealed everywhere you go and when you get to this couple’s home you don’t want to leave your gun in the car so what should you do? Well, you have a few options:

Option one, you could just carry concealed into the house and not tell your new friends that you have a gun on you. Or, you could go with option two: You can tell the couple about your firearm and see if they want you to bring a gun in the house.

In the state of Utah where I live, if I tell someone I have a firearm and they don’t want me to bring it into their home then I can’t do it because it’s a private residence and they can decide what they want in their home. I imagine this is the way it is in most states.

I also know that a lot of concealed carry holders find themselves in this position when they go over to someone’s home that they might not know very well yet. Personally, I believe it’s a good idea to ask someone if it’s okay to bring a firearm into their home… In other words, I think it’s important to respect another person’s place.

Just think of the other side of the coin and imagine if someone you didn’t know very well came into your home with a gun, did something stupid, and had an accidental discharge.

I would be angry to say the least, because I want to make sure that everyone who enters my home with a gun (relatives, friends, etc.) knows how to use it and understands proper safety, especially because I have a 16-month-old running around. I’ve never turned down anyone who wanted to enter my home with a gun, but then again, I’ve never had someone who didn’t understand how to properly use a firearm try and come over.

Of course, whether you notify people that you have a gun before entering their home is up to you. And if you’re safe and carrying concealed then they’ll never know you are carrying a firearm. But again, would you want someone to enter your home and not tell you they were armed?

Also, safety purposes aren’t the only reason that I would want someone to tell me they were carrying before they came into my home. If there were a home invasion while they were there I would want to know who had guns and whom I could rely on. I also would not want to accidentally shoot someone pulling out a gun that was actually on my side, but because I didn’t know they were carrying I confused them with a criminal.

Case Study: Situational Awareness

Two weeks ago, I got the following note from a fellow named Jared Bailer…  

Jason,

I was in your class in LV last month and learned a lot. I wanted to share with you what happened the other day and how your training kept me from what I think could have been a nasty situation.

I was headed to meet a friend at a movie at a local casino. I went into the parking garage up to the 4^th level. As I made the turn into the level, I noticed a guy walking to his car, which was parked somewhat near the elevators so pulled around so I could take his space. His car didn’t move and I didn’t see any backup or brake lights so I figured he wasn’t actually leaving. As I drove past the car – a dark green 4 dr sedan, older model Toyota - I noticed that there were actually 2 men in the car. I didn’t think much about it and figured that they were waiting for a friend. I drove past them and parked a little ways down.

As I left my car and began walking towards the elevators (which are in an area that is kind of concealed from the rest of the garage) the passenger got out of the car, while the driver remained behind the wheel, and fell in behind me moving towards the same elevators. So, I slowed my pace a bit and so did the guy. On entering the waiting area I went straight ahead to a garbage can pretending to throw something away, which also allowed me to turn sideways so I could see him.

He pushed the call button and when the elevator arrived he said, “After you,” and let me go in first. Now I’m starting to feel very uneasy, so I casually, almost absentmindedly, pulled out my tactical pen that I bought at your workshop and used it to push the button for my floor, in an obvious way for him to see it. I then backed up and just started tapping my pen on my hand in time to the elevator music.

The guy starts some small talk asking if I was going to the movies and I said yes, and he said, “So am I.” We exited the elevator together and continued some more small talk as we walked down the hallway towards the theatres – but when we got there I went to the right towards the ticket line and he turned left and went away from the theatres. Hmmm.

Now, like I said, maybe it wasn’t anything and then again maybe it was someone looking to get someone alone in the elevator. In any case, I think the fact that I was in condition yellow, aware of my surrounding and the potential situation, made eye contact, reveled that I was prepared to defend myself, and kept my eyes on him kept it just a casual encounter.

Thanks again.

Jared Bailer

Las Vegas

What We Can Learn from Jared’s Situation:

1. One of the biggest pre-incident indicators is when a person matches your pacing. In the note above, Jared says, “So, I slowed my pace a bit and so did the guy.” If this ever happens to you, you better move from condition yellow into condition orange and be prepared to defend yourself.

2. Criminals work in teams. Often, one criminal’s job is to rob someone in the elevator and then to quickly rush to the other criminal in the getaway car. This is why you need to practice defending yourself against multiple attackers. You should practice this with your gun, tactical pen, and other self-defense tools you use.

3. Give the potential criminal eye contact and let them know you are “onto them.” Don’t be afraid to look them straight in the eye even if it’s awkward. This will let the criminal know you won’t be an easy victim and they’ll be more likely to move on to someone else.

4. Get a tactical pen. Pulling out the intimidating-looking tactical pen was a great move by Jared. It let the criminal know Jared was likely the wrong guy to try and attack. Criminals want easy victims… they don’t want to end up in a fight or a struggle where they themselves could get hurt or could lead to their arrest.

Jared summed it up best when he said, “In any case, I think the fact that I was in condition yellow, aware of my surrounding and the potential situation, made eye contact, reveled that I was prepared to defend myself, and kept my eyes on him kept it just a casual encounter.

Remember to stay alert and never, ever think to yourself, “it will never happen to me.” Good job Jared.

Why Both Spouses Should be Armed

            With all of the holiday shopping going on over the next month, you ought to consider getting your spouse a gun. Or, if you want to be selfless like me, you can give your spouse your current gun so you can get a new one. (Yes, my wife’s a lucky lady.)  

            So why do you need to get your spouse a gun? Well, because of this interesting story out of Oakdale, California…

            About a week ago, a couple and their son were awoken by loud sounds in their home. Both the husband and wife have guns and immediately armed themselves. The husband finds an intruder in the living room and doesn’t shoot, but gives verbal commands for the intruder to leave the house, which the intruder does.

            However, minutes later the homeowners hear the sound of glass breaking at the backdoor. It’s the same intruder and the wife fires two shots as the intruder tries to enter the house. Once the shots are fired, the intruder flees.

            But it’s not over yet…

            The same intruder went to a bedroom window of the home, broke the glass and entered the home. This time the husband shot the intruder and kept his gun pointed at the intruder until the police arrived. Not surprisingly, the intruder was out on probation for drug related offenses and was probably under the influence at the time of the home invasion.

            Obviously, I wasn’t in this couple’s home so I don’t know where the husband was when the wife had to shoot the intruder coming in the back door or where the wife was when the husband had to shoot the intruder in the bedroom. Maybe the other spouse was upstairs or checking out another area of the house and was far away.

            My point is, (if you can convince them) it’s a good idea to have your spouse armed and trained because that’s more people to protect your home in the event of an invasion. For example, I have my gun on my side of the bed and my wife has her gun (a Glock 19) on her side of the bed, and both are in rapid access safes.

            If something ever happened to me, I’m glad to know that my wife is another line of defense in not only protecting herself, but also protecting our daughter. Of course, since I travel a good amount this means she can also take care of herself when I’m away.

            So don’t pass up this opportunity to give thanks to your spouse for all that they do for you by giving them your gun and getting yourself a new one.

Back-Up Sights for Your Rifle

If you don’t own an AR-15 yet, I encourage you to put it on your Christmas list. Since there are dozens of companies who produce ARs (I like Rock River Arms and Colt), I’m sure somebody is having a Black Friday deal.

Of course, once you get an AR it becomes tempting to put a million bells and whistles on it and many folks end up spending more money on accessories than the actual AR itself. Personally, I’m a minimalist and believe the only things you truly need on an AR are a sling, light, and solid sights.

When it comes to sights for the AR, there are dozens of companies who make excellent optics. These include Aimpoint, EOTech, and if you really want to spend some money, Trijicon (get the ACOG or wait until the new year and get the VCOG.)

But even if you buy a quality optic…

I believe it’s extremely important that you have back-up sights on your rifle. The fact is, I’ve taught too many defensive rifle courses where a person’s battery has died on their optic and they have no back-up sights to rely on. Just imagine if you were using your rifle to defend yourself and the battery died and you had no other sighting option as someone was trying to attack you?

The good news is, if your AR doesn’t come with iron sights, they’re easy to purchase and install. For instance, Magpul makes back-up sights called the MBUS. These sights are made of polymer and you can get both the front and rear sight for about $100. Fab Defense is another company that makes polymer sights similar to the ones of Magpul. You can get a Fab Defense front and rear sight for around $75.

When most people think of the Blackhawk company they think of holsters. But Blackhawk also makes back-up sights that run around $100 for the combination. I could go on and on because many companies make back-up sights, but here’s the important thing to remember: Don’t be cheap about your back-up sights. Spending $75-$100 for a set of sights is nothing if your battery ever dies and you need those back-up sights to save your life.

Of course, if you decide to get back-up sights make sure you practice with them and that you also zero the sights. If you simply install them and never zero the sights they’re pointless because you have no idea if you’re actually going to hit your target when using them.