If you’re like me, you follow lots of reputable firearm instructors, schools, and competition shooters on social media. It’s one of the best ways to curate your social media and get something out of it. If you follow high-level shooters on social media, they often share tidbits of valuable information. It can be firearm-based, gear-based, or training-based. An excellent follow on Facebook is Sentinel Concepts. One of his latest posts showed him using a ladder with a simple comment that ladders are a simple range item that offers a lot of options.
Sentinel Concepts is run by Steve Fisher, one of the premier firearm instructors with a multi-discipline focus. After seeing his post, I grabbed a ladder and headed to the range to give it a try and see how useful a ladder can be for training purposes.
Why The Ladder
Logistics win wars, and that includes your war on training. Most of us have a ladder already. It’s not exactly an item that’s tough to find or borrow. It can be tossed in your truck, and you aren’t risking breaking something like a VTAC Barrier on your way to the range. They stand up by themselves and are often quite tall. Ladders simplify logistics for many of us, and it’s easy to see why they are a great selection for range use.
Using the Ladder
How do we use a ladder? I imagine there are numerous ways to use a ladder in your firearm’s training. It comes down to how much you know about firearm training and how far your imagination can take you! If we start from the basics, a ladder makes a pretty decent stabilized shooting position. Add a bag, and you have what’s basically a tripod for standing long-range shots.
Shooters can look at the ladder as a simulated barrier. This includes something as simple as practicing shooting around the ladder. You can also use the various steps to simulate various levels of cover. You can practice shooting ‘over’ cover by aiming through the various step slots. This is a good bit of fun and can be quite challenging.
A six-foot ladder is perfect for this role. If you practice shooting through various slots, you can practice at a variety of heights.
Some levels will be easy, namely levels that allow you to stand tall and form a good kneeling position, but middle and lower-level slots force you into uncomfortable positions. Shooting through the lower level creates a fairly interesting situation in finding the right position to get it done, especially if you treat the width of the ladder as a limit to your cover.
The Best Way To Get To The Top
If you need the best way to climb a ladder, then maybe check out a class with Sentinel Concepts. Steve Fisher’s classes vary quite a bit, with rifle, shotgun, and handgun classes available. Heck, there is even a defensive PCC class. I don’t know if ladders are included in every class, but you’re still bound to get some great training. If you want to follow his Facebook for more tactical tips, check it out here, and for classes, check out the website.
[Editor’s Note: It’s also way safer and cheaper to hit a ladder if you mess up your bore height than something like your car hood or truck bed. Just saying.]
In case no one has noticed, we are literally in the darkest season of the year here in the Northern Hemisphere. It won’t start getting lighter again until well after the Solstice on Dec 21st. Daylight is in short supply and frankly we should all be acting like it.
Yet, I saw this notice on my FB feed from Shenandoah National Park. They state, and I quote, “Park rescue teams respond to hundreds of visitors who are seemingly trapped in the dark every year … carry a light source other than your cellphone.”
Wow – just, wow. I mean, I know that many tourists are complete morons, but to not even have a source of light on you if you set out on a trail at 4pm? Or even 2pm if it’s cloudy or raining or snowing or things take longer than you expect? Or how about just keeping a light in your daypack just in case? This is Darwin carrying out his mission apparently, because some people ( Like, the aforementioned Hundreds) never got the memo.
Christmas is coming and this is perfect season to stock up on handheld or head-mounted lighting. If not for yourself, then for the less well-prepared in your family. It might save someone’s life – or at least save calling for park rescue. And don’t forget extra batteries.
A few examples of the lights I personally have available include three from StreamLight.
Super bright headlamp.Even a keychain light is better than nothing.
There are even a few garden variety Evereadys floating around the house. And frankly, virtually every daypack I own – whether for strolling or hunting – has a couple flashlights in them all the time for just-in-case.
Flashlights come in a huge variety of features and price points, including rechargeables, so don’t let a tight budget stop you from being prepared for darkness. A flashlight doesn’t have to cost a fortune or last for 20 years – it only needs to last long enough to get you out of a tight spot. It may be a few bucks to save your life or that of someone you love. Be prepared – it’s fricken DARK out there!
This week I give my full After Action Review of the @darkangelmedical Trauma Medicine class. Kerry does an amazing job of making this dense and technical curriculum approachable for the layperson. Not to mention he’s just entertaining as all hell. I wish he could have stuck around for beers after, but sadly he had to jump right back on the road home. Both his coursework and kits are top tier. The class is relatable and engaging. The time just flies by. I cannot recommend it enough. You’re significantly more likely to need these skills than the sub-second draw or “jailbait splits”. Blood belongs in the body. It’s science!
A good friend of mine has recently transitioned from corrections into on-the-street law enforcement. In the great state of Florida, he serves as a deputy with our Sheriff’s department and is going through all the basic training required by our state. This includes the various firearm qualifications. He’d shot the handgun qual yearly but was still apprehensive. It’s a new job, and he didn’t just want to pass, but to excel. We went to the range and shot our way through the Florida police handgun qual.
Since I hate wasting lead because lead is money, I figured let’s shoot the qual and discuss it. How does Florida rank within the world of police quals? Are our standards high? Tough to meet and realistic? There was only one way to find out. Let’s grab some lead and targets, hit the range, and find out.
The Florida Police Handgun Qual – Supplies Needed
The qual isn’t too demanding on your ammo supply. You’ll need at least 40 rounds of ammunition. The Florida Police Handgun qual demands a handgun, and our county issues 9mm SIG P320s. I used a SIG P320 and grabbed a tactical belt with a duty-style holster. You’ll need at least two magazines. Also, it’s a timed shoot, so bring your shot timer.
The Florida Police Handgun qual calls for either a B-21E target or a Pride Enterprise Target. This is a pretty big target. The qual scores by hits to the silhouette, so you can use nearly any man-sized target, like an FBI Q Target, the Sage Dynamic Targets, or whatever else you could ever want. You only need one.
Let’s Hit the Range
With 40 rounds, two mags, and a gun, I hit the range with my friend and some hope in our hearts. The course calls for a range of at least 15 yards. Once our targets were set up, we took turns working our way through each qual.
Stage 1 – One to Three Yards
At this range, we are in the target’s face. We’ll be using a close retention technique. At the sound of your timer, you’ll draw and fire two rounds in four seconds from a close retention position. You can shoot anywhere from one to three yards.
You’ll do this drill twice.
Stage 2 – Three Yard Line
We’ll start this stage of the Florida Police Handgun qual with our weapons at the ready, with both hands on the gun. At the sound of the timer, you fire two rounds in one second.
Repeat this drill one more time before moving on.
Stage 3 – Seven Yard Line
We’ll start with the gun holstered. At the beep, draw and fire two rounds in four seconds. Keep the gun out and ready.
The next string is firing two rounds in four seconds.
The final string repeats the last, and you fire two rounds in four seconds.
Stage 4 – Seven Yard Line
Start with your weapon holstered at the seven-yard line. We will draw and fire three rounds in five seconds. We’ll repeat this drill one more time before moving on.
Stage 5 – Seven Yard Line
For this stage of the Florida Police Handgun qual, we’ll start with the gun holstered. At the beep, you’ll draw and fire 12 rounds into the threat and then conduct a reload in 45 seconds.
Stage 6 – Fifteen Yard Line
For our last stage, we’ll move back to the 15-yard line. At the beep, you’ll draw and fire six rounds. You have thirty seconds. After that, we are done!
My Thoughts on the Florida Police Handgun Qual
My friend passed without a problem. The minimum passing score is 32 out of 40, and he passed before ever getting to the final stage. He should have because the course of fire is very, very easy. The times are too generous, way too generous, and the accuracy standard is a massive target.
It’s not much of a challenge, especially with a duty holster and duty-sized gun. I think it could use tighter times and stricter accuracy standards. Plus, it’s short and could be a bit longer, both in round count and range. Why not go out to 50 yards? I’m not a police officer, but I think it should be a bit more challenging for our boys in blue. However, it’s fun to shoot, especially for beginners.
Give it a try and see if you can qualify to protect the orange groves and swamps of Florida.
Who says art museums are lame? On a recent vacation to Chicago, my wife and I saw their massive art museum. She is artistically inclined and was quite excited to see this massive museum. They had an arms and armor section that spiced it up for me, especially when I ran across a few flintlock revolvers. I have probably heard of flintlock revolvers before, but seeing them was quite interesting and sent me on a quest to learn a bit more. I guess the museum did its job.
Flintlock rifles and handguns were a bit of a game changer. They were a good bit simpler than wheellock and matchlock firearms and could be fired faster than either. They became the dominant arm of most military forces rather quickly. While they may have been faster than the competition, they still had to deal with the impatience of one man trying to kill another. How can you make flintlock faster?
Adding a second barrel was an option, but that made the weapon fairly heavy with the benefit of one more shot. Adding a cylinder gave you multiple shots without the weight. However, that didn’t discount multiple barrels altogether, and flintlock pistols in the pepperbox format were known to exist. However, we are going to stick to revolving flintlocks with a more traditional cylinder and single-barrel format.
The World of Flintlock Revolvers
The earliest revolving flintlock appears to have been produced in Germany. This 9-shot revolver was built for and carried by Norwegian General George von Reichwein and currently sits in the Maihaugen Museum in Norway. It’s believed to have been produced in the late 1500s. The weapon appears to be fairly complicated. Each chamber has its own frizzen and pan. The cylinder had to be rotated manually for each shot.
(CapnBall)
Most flintlock revolvers were designed similarly to this model. The brace of lock mechanisms and frizzen made them complicated weapons with something sticking out to grab everything. Good luck with trying to holster this beast.
There had been numerous other designs. The Russians made some at Tula, and the French had there, as did the British. They all used various-sized cylinders and means, but the most impressive comes from Elisha Collier, an American living in London. These are largely considered to be the best flintlock revolvers. Collier improved upon an action conceived by one Artemis Wheeler, who had worked with prior to moving to London.
The Collier Guns
These guns were svelte designs that reportedly worked well. The cylinders had to be manually rotated, but the Collier revolving flintlocks did self-prime. When you cocked the hammer, a small compartment released gunpowder into the pan.
Collier built handguns, rifles, and shotguns with his revolving design. Most held five rounds, and some even included built-in bayonets. One of the big selling features was that Collier’s only had one lock and one frizzen. Most flintlock revolvers had a separate lock and frizzen for each chamber. The Collier/Wheeler design was simpler and more robust.
(Met Museum)
The rebated cylinders locked into the barrel, and this did several things. First, it ensured the cylinder was indexed properly with the barrel. Second, it made sure the cylinder would lock in place. This action also formed a gas shield that protected the user’s arm when they were configured into rifles and shotguns and likely helped prevent chain fires. The Collier cylinders had to be pressed downward and could then be manually rotated.
Rock Island Auctions
These robust guns were very well respected but not made in great numbers.
The Problem With Flintlock Revolvers
The Collier Revolving Flintlocks were produced in small numbers. It’s likely that only 300 or so were produced. Collier did sell 50 to the British military, and those were sent to India. The Collier flintlocks had just as many problems as every other flintlock revolver. Namely being very expensive to produce and sell. Plus, they couldn’t be mass-produced, and it took skilled hands to create these weapons. Plus, it was a bit fragile.
For that reason, military forces didn’t buy them, and only the lauded gentry could afford them. The Collier design inspired Samuel Colt, and he directly credited the Collier flintlock revolvers he saw overseas for his revolving weapons. Revolving flintlocks never made it very far, but they did serve to be an inspiration to Samuel Colt, which traces to the modern era of the revolver. Flintlock revolvers were a bit too early for their own good.
This next letter comes from The Westfield News, via MassLive.
I must wonder what people think a ‘freedom’ is, because evidence suggests that people want their freedoms to be any ‘thing or concept they like’ and put little further thought into the requirements of a true freedom. This ‘liked thing’ is a far cry from the conceptual and physical freedoms they have as natural creatures, persons of reason, or freedoms that can be backed, and violations of them redressed, by the force of law. This mental disconnect between what is and what people want because they think it should be, usually without due regard to differing opinions or reality, is a serious problem of modern debate.
A recent opinion piece (“America’s Rifle Fetish Is Destroying its Freedom,” The Republican, Nov. 2) by Jamelle Bouie describes a dystopian American society in which the possession of guns has become a fetish and one gun in particular, the AR-15 assault rifle, has become iconic.
Mr. Bouie poses this question: “How free are you really when you know a trip to the grocery store or a morning in prayer or a day at school or a night at the movies can end in your death at the hands of a gun?”
Was life better in the past when it was at the tip of a sword? Are we disregarding that you are far more likely to be killed by a vehicle on any of those aforementioned trips than by a gunman? What should you fear?
Serious question, is the threat of death to any of us for who, or what, or where we happen to be greater now than before the advent of the assault rifle? I’ll answer that, life is objectively better and safer today. Life has become safer since the rise of modern firearms, but the state of absolute or near absolute safety doesn’t exist. It didn’t then and it does not now.
Absolute safety is impossible. Near absolute safety looks nothing like absolute safety, and reasonable safety looks even less like the utopian dream of absolute safety. Absolute safety from something like ‘gun violence’ is an unachievable delusion of the modern pseudo-progressives, people that like to declare preferred states of existence to be human rights.
This question is particularly relevant, considering the 597 mass shootings this year. (at the time of the letter)
Follow up question for that ‘particularly relevant’ statement, how many of those ‘mass shootings’ resulted in 4 deaths or more? Answer, 38 out 630 (as of 12/4/23 GVA), and this has sadly been a record year in that particular metric.
But that isn’t the point. My point is that mass shootings are not mass killings and mass shootings are down as mass killings are up. So which is the metric?
Media constantly and purposely blur the line between those two terms because 630 events is far more compelling than 38, even as that is a record number. The events themselves are wildly different in causation. We are talking about such a broad set of motivations for violent events as to be nearly meaningless when trying to track causation.
Now, do we want to compare that 630 to the GVA’s undercounted defensive gun uses, at only 1,102? Or do we use the more likely CDC posted minimum of 60,000 incidents (to a max 1.5 Million defensive uses annually)? Do those 60,000 defensive uses annually weigh against the 38 significant negative outcomes? Or is that any negative outcome you dislike enough or is scary enough should be outweigh any positive outcomes?
Let’s play that game. Let’s say only half of the 60,000 DGU’s would have resulted in death or serious injury. Are an additional 30,000 people dead or maimed worth the laws and their dubious efficacy? Let’s go further down the absurdity line, the only 1,102 DGU’s confirmed by GVA. We’ll say these were all lethal preventions of at least one person, so one life saved. Is whatever gun control magic pill you’re thinking of worth killing those 1,102 people?
“But, Keith, he’s talking about assault rifles. It isn’t the same…”
I am aware it ‘isn’t the same’, but if we’re going to jump down the straw man hyperbolic hole then let’s do it. Most mass shootings happen with handguns, most crimes happen with handguns, most of the mass murders on GVA’s list occurred with handguns, not ‘assault rifles’. So if your gun violence prevention magic bullshit law works to absolute perfection, so AR’s and their ilk are gone totally, and the future killers mysteriously do not choose to use the most common weapon for mass shootings, we save how many people?
Now let’s put some reality on this nonsense, how many do we condemn to die because they didn’t have their rifle, or their magazine is permanently stuck in their gun, or the background check wasn’t universal enough and it denied them but the murderer didn’t get the memo? How many is an acceptable amount to legislate away? How many weapons can we expect to ‘get off the streets’ when, even in the states where gun control is most popular, compliance with bans is so abysmal it is a joke? Illinois is currently sitting at a less than 1% registration rate for their assault weapons.
Now, I’m not saying every one of the FOID card holders in Illinois also owns an AR-15, but it is the most popular rifle in the United States so I bet it is greater than 1%.
How do you make your magic bullshit work? Genuinely curious.
Second Amendment devotees lecture us about the freedom to own a gun. However, one freedom they do not speak about is freedom from fear that you might be shot to death with neither rhyme nor reason.
We have nohumanrighttobefreefrom ‘fear‘.
Fear is the word we use to describe the collection of survivalemotions and instincts that help us process risk, you can’t legislate those. If we could, we’d make anxiety illegal tomorrow as a constitutional amendment and the country would be oh so much healthier. No such human right exists. It cannot exist. What you choose to assign or not assign risk to is up to you to manage. If that assigned risk and the actual risk happen to be drastically different, that is entirely a you problem.
Should people who use firearms for defense have to trade their real safety becauseofafirearm (60,000 incidents a year, minimum, according to CDC) into victimization so that you can feel safe from as mass shooting?
Not be safe, feel safe.
In 1941, with the United States and the world at war, President Franklin Roosevelt identified freedom from fear as one of the “four freedoms” that people throughout the world should be able to enjoy. In 1933, in the depths of the Great Depression, Roosevelt warned Americans, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” A victim of polio, Roosevelt knew something about fear. He went on to speak of how fear “paralyzes.” He understood that fear can incapacitate us and render us powerless. He understood that the main purpose of government was to provide safety and security for its citizens. In other words, to free us from fear.
Under those auspices Roosevelt imprisoned 112,000 people, many of whom lost everything they had owned. 70,000 of them were US citizens, all of whom were never charged with disloyalty, and there was no appeal process to recover anything that the government caused them to lose by relocating them on the off chance they might be a spy for the Imperial Japanese. This is by the US Government’s own admission, so how much worse is the reality?
In 1988, 47 years later, the US government finally apologized and provided $20,000 cash payments to each incarcerated person. That is the equivalent of about 16 months average salary in the US at the time, for the total loss of all their property, 47 years later. Freedom from fear, indeed.
So no, not ‘in other words’. The four ‘freedoms’ are really only two, the other two are progressive talking points that garner votes. The freedom from ‘want’? What a utopian pipe dream that is, to not need to produce to survive. I would bet 70,000 Americans of a certain heritage ‘wanted’ quite a bit around 1945 when they were let out of their “relocation”, and what they got was $425.43 per year they had to wait after 47 years of waiting.
In all of human and natural history animals and people alike have had to produce to survive. We cannot simply exist and be sustained. We live in the best of times thus far when it comes to producing efficiently, and thriving thusly, but we cannot do that without wanting to and working to fulfill those wants and needs. That want always carries a risk of failure, we might fail to produce, we might make a mistake, that mistake might be fatal. We have no freedom to be free of ‘want’.
Likewise the government does not exist to ‘free us from fear’, what an absurd notion.
The government exists as an organized generalized force of the people. It will not, cannot, and should not perfectly execute the individual wills of all people. Not all those wills are created equal in value for the rest of the people. But all those people have certain rights, inalienable by government or other people, that the government can ensure a response to if they are violated by one person or another. Also, hopefully, if the government does it. But that outcome may be a far cry from satisfactory, see above.
This is not a freedom from fear, it is a promise of force on your behalf under certain conditions. It is also a promise that the government cannot use certain force against you, at least without you being able to take it to court afterwards and hold them accountable to their ruleset. You should fear your government in a healthy manner, and it should fear you. That is the respect of two bodies with the ability to truly influence each other.
In 1651, political philosopher Thomas Hobbes described a state of perpetual fear. He called it the “state of nature.” In this state, men enjoyed absolute freedom. However, freedom came at a price. There were no governments or laws to constrain men from freely exercising their passions and appetites (anger, aggression, envy, greed, ambition, lust). Without restraints, the state of nature was a state of war between man and his fellow man. Consequently, men lived in continual fear that someone would take away their lives, their liberty, and their property.
How is that different under today’s societal structures? A man can still take my life, my liberty, my property, and so can (and have) the governments we’ve instituted for that matter, and the only recourse I have against that with any assurance under my control is force. Force, in other words, meaning the ability to bring violence to bare on my own behalf. I may lose, but it is one of the only true freedoms I possess.
Hobbes famously described this state in which there was “no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.”
For that reason, men joined together to form a government for the common good (commonwealth) and the mutual protection of life, liberty, and property. Men relinquished their absolute freedom and submitted to laws that provided security and freedom from fear.
No they didn’t. Men did not relinquish it. We just, as a majority, agreed to a consequence.
We are reminded, daily in many cases, that man is still free to act as they choose. What they are not free from is consequence. They weren’t free from consequence in the so titled “state of nature” either, but it was not a consequence organized by the majority. It was instead just a risk of violence from whomever they were offending against directly.
That seems to be the great lie, the constant sticking point that nobody with this sort of worldview seems to grasp, is that making something illegal deprives man of nothing, it does not deprive them of the ability to do a thing. To take from someone, to do violence to someone, to kill someone, a law does not deprive someone of the ability to do any of those things. What a law organizes is a consequence to being caught doing them.
That is it. Government is organized force, ordered on behalf and by the majority to be projected under certain circumstances. The better ones are enjoined with more things they cannot do than things that they can. The government exists to project force en masse on behalf of the individuals it represents. Thus its primary functions are defense from foreign threat and enforcement of contracts.
Government does not free you from fear, it is a form of projecting fear. The fear of consequence.
Our government has failed to act against gun violence and has failed to free us from fear. According to several polls, Americans want a ban on assault rifles: 66% (Pew); 58% (Gallup); 67% (Statista). However, far-right Republicans in both the House and the Senate, in the name of Second Amendment freedom, block any meaningful legislation to curb gun violence.
Maybe because mob democratic rule does not make for good policy? It doesn’t matter that a ‘majority’ of Americans want to ban assault rifles in poorly worded, ill-informed, binary choice polls. This is a subject matter the vast majority of them do not understand to a level worth rendering an opinion on, you value the opinion only because it aligns with yours.
My opinion on a nuclear reaction should not be weighed with equal measure to that of a leading nuclear physicist. My thoughts, and feelings, and fears of nuclear reactions or nuclear reactors should not be weighed the same as an expert. Therefore my ‘vote’ on whether to ban nuclear energy should only be weighed as much as I understand nuclear energy. We can take as many polls about how scared people are of nuclear energy, if that fear is objectively misplaced and erroneous then it should be disregarded and the public educated. It should not be implemented blindly as a policy of the mob.
This is something that government is terrible at by the way, educating, look at the information flow surrounding COVID-19.
Certain things should be public votes, of course. These are things that effect all and can be voted on in an informed manner. But just as government’s role has limits, so do public opinions rendered on a binary vote sheet.
What we have is not freedom. What we have is a betrayal of civic responsibility. What we have is irresponsible behavior. What we have is fear of senseless, violent death.
Michael Camerota
Westfield
No Michael, what we have is an illustration that promised delusions, like that we can make natural laws bend to our will and work differently through words on a sheet of paper, sell gangbusters. We see that people would rather continue being told that X, Y, or Z politician or policy will finally fix ‘violence’ and ‘bad thing’ for good and all, even with the repeated illustrations of failure time and time again. That it is more comforting to live in the lie that if we just keep ‘working to end’ a manifestation of natural law, the ability to project force, that is better than acknowledging the limits of written law.
Written law requires consent, your consent, to be governed by it. You probably withdraw that consent multiple times, and in multiple ways, every single day. Do you speed? You have decided to withdraw your consent to be governed by a traffic law and risk the consequence. Drink and drive? Even just once, a short distance home around the corner, and you were really only buzzed not drunk so it was fine? Again, you withdrew consent and chose not to be governed by the law at that time.
Why is it so surprising that there are extreme cases of this departure from the governance of law? Why is it so surprising that because you can divest yourself from the governance of law, without immediate ill effect, that it can manifest in an extreme way like a multiple homicide too, and that divestment is only reigned in when the government or a private individual projects enough violence to counter it or the divested individual stops on their own? And why do you expect the government to solve your fear of those extremes when they cannot stop you from speeding?
The popularity of the P365 has guaranteed it will have a massive aftermarket. The P365 series has dominated the concealed carry market, and the numerous models of the gun have instituted a new level of modularity. The P365 features a proprietary rail that has been a popular option with various light manufacturers. The most popular is the Streamlight TLR-7 sub, but an unlikely competitor in the form of the Nightstick TCM-365.
At first glance, the lights are very similar. The TCM-365 looks a lot like the TLR 7 SUB but does differ inside and outside. The TCM-365 is also seemingly the most powerful of these subcompact weapon lights on the market. The TCM-365 utilizes an aluminum case with some polymer and is powered by a single CR123A battery. The TCM-365 weighs 2.25 ounces and is 2.51 inches long.
On the XL slide model, it does stretch past the end of the barrel ever so slightly. From pictures on Nightstick’s website, it seems like the light goes a bit past the standard P365’s slide and barrel. This isn’t an issue other than adding length to a compact gun.
The TCM-365 – Light it Up
What first caught my attention was the lumens of the little light. I’ll be the first to admit that lumens aren’t everything, but they are still important. The TCM-365 throws 650 lumens of bright white light outward. That’s 150 more than the TLR-7 SUB. It’s tough to squeeze extra light into such a small light. The run time is two hours on a premium-quality battery.
The candela is a very specifically listed 4,612. That’s fairly standard for a little light but is about four candela short of the TLR-7 SUB. That’s one of the problems: when you brighten up the lumens, you often sacrifice some candela. The TCM-365 is IPX-7 waterproof, so you can splash it, but don’t go swimming with it.
Run and Gun
The TCM-365 has a set of ambidextrous buttons on either side of the light. A quick press on either button results in an instant on. The buttons are nice and tactile and presented for an easy press. With this light, we have both a momentary and constant on mode. Constant on is just a press, and the light fires up. A longer press is momentary, and the light shuts off when released.
The control is programmable. You can press both buttons five times to enable a strobe mode if you like strobe modes. You can also turn the life off entirely. Hold both buttons for three seconds, and it’s off and won’t come on until you hold both buttons again for three seconds. This is great for storage and transportation to avoid killing your light.
Through the Darkness
The TCM-365 packs an interesting beam. It’s actually well-tailored for a compact, concealed-carry weapon. The center hotspot is very distinct from the corona and casts out fairly far. A TIR lens does a great job of creating a very wide beam that fills your vision with light. It casts a wide beam that’s tailored for close-quarters use. It really does a great job of filling your vision with light.
The hotspot carries itself out very well to 25 yards. At 25 yards, I feel pretty good about being able to identify a threat and deal with it. Beyond 25 yards, the beam still carries far enough to spot potential threats, but being able to determine if that target is a threat might be tough if they don’t have a long gun.
The TCM-365 activates quickly and does a great job cutting through the darkness. The beam is cooler than most and more of a white-colored light rather than a yellow light. It’s effective for sure, especially indoors. If it’s being used in the home, a parking garage, or an alley, you have quite a good bit of light to deal with a threat.
Rough and Tough
Recoil certainly isn’t an issue for the light. The mount locks the light to the gun, and it doesn’t move. It’s tough and durable enough to resist falls for up to two meters, according to Nightstick. I tested that by dropping it from head height at different angles. The only thing I achieved was getting my gun dirty. The light fired right back up and on.
The TCM-365 is a great tool to turn your carry gun into a capable home defense gun and night fighter. You can argue your carry gun doesn’t need a weapon light, and I wouldn’t argue back. To me, it’s another option. However, where this light and other P365 lights work best is if you use your carry gun for home defense. While most of us have specific guns for specific purposes, the average gun owner likely only has one gun.
Home defense guns should most certainly have a weapon light, and the TCM-365 is tough to beat if the P365 is your go-to gun.
First, the good news. Homicide in my area dropped 18% from last year which puts us at the lowest level since 1966. The six decade record is good news for Oakland and Wayne counties, and Motor City herself. Good job Detroit.
2022 was a record year for violence, as were 2020 and 2021, with the COVID-19 and George Floyd riots spike leading to nationwide strife on levels we hadn’t seen for many years. We still haven’t hit early 90’s bad, but it isn’t great. There are signs it is getting better in many ways and in most places.
Via Ground News
But that isn’t all ways or all places.
The Hill has a honestly titled report out that details the US hit a record in mass shootings with 4 or more deaths, recording 38 in 2023. This beat last year, 36, and was the highest we know since 2006. We are on pace to have a lower number of mass shootings of 4 or more injuries than 2022 and 2021, but the number of incidents with 4 or more deaths peaked.
This is why language matters so much in reporting. Context also matters. Most of these 4 or more death events were domestic. The most significant shooting of the year was Maine where a US veteran shot 31 people, killing 18, before being found dead days later from an apparent suicide.
The issues are complex and the mass killing events, while a “record” number in a year, are still too rare to well quantify as an issue nationally. Stress is a complicated compound issue and we can’t find too many commonalities other than stress and usually a final triggering event. Mental health issues, paranoia, traumatic personal events, traumatic world events that play into biases, all of these things have at some point been the trigger or trigger combination for violence on this scale. But it is still rare.
For reference, agricultural deaths due to accidents with tractors kill more people, 241 dead (2021), than were killed in mass shootings of this 4+ scale, 197 dead (2023). Am I saying we shouldn’t look at mass shooting deaths? No, they are eminently preventable because they require a hostile motivated person or persons to occur. With fewer so motivated people we have fewer deaths. The comparison is that in accident prevention we have the same base level formula, if we mitigate the circumstances for accidents we have fewer.
The problem in both is we cannot eliminate all the the factors for the negative event. Tractors need to be able to do certain things that put people working around them at a certain level of physical risk. Comparatively people cannot be divested of their capability for hostile acts and we cannot divest them of the ability to cause harm, a partial token removal of the ability to cause harm is without value.
Let’s take a look at the ‘preventative’ measures that are currently popular in the gun control mainstream and if they would reduce or eliminate the ability of a shooter to kill four people.
Assault Weapon Ban, Partial (No Mandatory Confiscation/Buy Back)
Most proposals do not remove any currently held firearms, tens of millions are in circulation and will remain so for decades. This does not reduce the risk of death to four people
Only makes new transfers illegal. Illegal transfer status does not curb current felonious use and would be unlikely to significantly impact extreme cases like mass shootings. This does not reduce the risk of death to four people.
Magazine Capacity Limit, 10 Rifle and 15 handgun
10 round magazine of rifle ammunition is more than enough to kill four people
15 round magazine of handgun ammunition is more than enough to kill four people
Hundreds of millions of standard capacity magazines are in circulation.
Fixed magazine
Making the magazine remain affixed to the firearm does not reduce or eliminate the ability to kill four people
Universal Background Check
Every study about background checks associated with point-of-sale checks, whether commercial or private and on handguns or all guns, found no conclusive evidence that background checks have an influence on mass-shootings. Background checks therefore have no influence on the reducing harm in incidents of mass shootings where four or more deaths occur.
Many of the deadliest mass shootings in the nation have occurred with people who passed their background checks and who had no disqualifying criminal or mental health record at the time of purchase. Other incidents circumvented the background check in some trivial (simple theft) or violent (murder) manner.
The collection of studies by Rand, linked in the first bullet point, actually associate greater likelihood of a mass shooting after background checks in 4 of the 5 policies studied.
Caveat to the UBC point, the data is thin. Mass shootings are (thankfully) too rare an event to track across this causatively, but the best data we have available suggests an increase events after background checks are implemented, not a decrease.
How could that be? Because correlation isn’t causation. If you harken back to my context article taking apart the ‘Terror on Repeat’ nonsense, you’ll notice that the rise in mass shootings also correlates strongly with the rise of 24hr news cycle and then real time social media consumption. Background checks happen to have been implemented for firearms transfers in the 90’s with NICS right about the same time as the rise of the 24hr news cycle gave mass shooters their instant world stage.
So, in all likelihood, background checks are mostly a feel good measure.
That’s 2023. Hopefully we see the world continue the chilling trend, maybe faster, in 2024. Two increasingly divisive wars on the global scale and high government distrust do not make it an easy forecast.
At first glance, you might pass off the Invrt bandolier from IC13 as a silly contraption. It’s a bandolier that straps across your chest and gains its name from the fact that it’s designed to be worn inverted. Your magazines are oriented downward, and that’s not exactly the usual for load-bearing gear. You might also think it’s the smallest chest rig out there, but you’d be wrong there, mostly because it’s not a chest rig.
The Invrt is a bandolier. It’s not designed to be a chest rig. The Invrt is load-bearing gear, but it’s made for a minimalist load. I would argue it’s made for a realistic load. Most people, including law enforcement, will likely never have to reload in a firefight, especially with a rifle. However, no one ever complained they had too little ammo in a gunfight.
The Invrt System
The minimalist nature of the Invrt allows it to be several things. First of all, the Invrt system allows you to carry anywhere from two magazines and a mini IFAK to three magazines. When we get into the .308 caliber rifles, that can be a little tougher, either way, you can get at least two rifle or SMG mags on your chest for a rapid reload.
IC13 sells the Invrt plain, and you can add your own pouches, or you can purchase them as complete kits for several different platforms. This includes the AR, the AK, and even subguns like the Scorpion MP5 and more. The system Invrt sent me is for the CZ Scorpion and came with two CZ Scorpion mag pouches, a pistol mag pouch, and a small admin pouch.
The second thing the Invrt excels at is being easy to stash. You can fit it into a go bag or active shooter kit easily. It doesn’t take up much room by any means. This allows you to stash the Invrt nearly anywhere without it taking up much room.
Finally, the Invrt is easy to rapidly put on. You can do it moving and grooving. If you’re responding to violence, you don’t have much time, so you can swim into the Invrt with ease. You can do it while holding a long gun. It takes seconds to toss on and get back to responding directly. Like any bandolier, it fits across the body, primarily across the chest. A third strap goes under the arm and locks it in. This third strap can be secured with a buckle or with hook and loop as you see fit.
Running the Invrt
The Invrt’s upside-down magazines are an interesting touch. It’s different, but fast. The pouches are friction fit. When a mag’s loaded, it’s fine when you’re just walking and shooting. However, once you start sprinting and taking stairs, you’ll want some degree of retention. The mag pouches are set up for bungee cables, and IC13 sells bungee cables fairly cheaply to secure the mags. I would certainly suggest getting the bungee cables or not running the rig inverted.
With the upside-down magazines, you can quickly grab the mag and get it into your gun. It works really fast, impressively so. It’s way more intuitive and doesn’t call for you to bend your wrist this way or that for a clean draw. Just grip, rip, and reload.
The rig is super comfy. The back of the Invrt has some slight padding, and when you run, it doesn’t bounce or slam loaded magazines into your chest. After several sprints, I didn’t notice any discomfort. The support straps are both very wide, which helps distribute weight well. However, there isn’t much weight between two Scoprion magazines and a Glock mag.
Getting the Invt on and off doesn’t take much effort. You hold it with your dominant hand and swim into it essentially. Then, grab the strap and lock it down. Although to be fair, you don’t have to use the support strap, but it keeps the rig from rotating when worn.
What About Shotguns?
Plenty of police officers still rock and roll with shotguns. With that in mind, IC13 doesn’t seem to offer a shotgun kit. Luckily, the Invrt panel uses standard MOLLE. It’s easy to make your own. I grabbed two of my many bandoliers and strapped them to the Invrt. This gave me ten rounds of firepower, which is likely plenty when it comes to shotgun fights.
The bandoliers strap on easily enough, and I have the shells orienting in the same direction to make it easy to retrieve shells from either five-shot bandolier. It’s a little clumsy, but it still works and makes feeding your shotgun easy.
The Invrt could be set up in all sorts of ways. Maybe it’s a bit medical kit. Maybe it has a radio, or maybe it’s nothing but magazine pouches for your handgun. You can configure it to make sense for your needs like any other piece of modular gear. With the Invrt, you get a piece that’s rapid to don, easy to stash, and still as modular as any piece of modern load-bearing gear. It’s a realistic setup for most encounters and was clearly made with a lot of forethought.
Check it out here if you think it’s a good fit for your go bag.
A few weeks ago, I had the chance to attend the Green Ops 2-Day LPVO Carbine course at The Ranch in Dilley, Texas south of San Antonio. Although I will not deny my bias in favor of the LPVO and find them both useful and fascinating, I also understand that like with anything else, these scopes have trade-offs. To be successful with LPVOs, it’s crucial to understand their strengths and weaknesses which is why this Green Ops course has been a huge interest of mine. The course is focused on the entire effective range of the modern carbine and its use with an emphasis on the LPVO as the principal aiming implement, from 0 to 500 meters. I felt quite fortunate after finally attending the course and training under keen instructors.
Green Ops LPVO Course Students working through the course’s final exercise.
Green Ops And Their Training Philosophy
Green Ops is an international firearms training and tactics company based in northern Virginia and central Texas founded in 2005 by Special Forces soldier Mike Green. (It should be noted that Mr. Green is also a SOLGW pro-staff shooter and this “local” carbine company was well-represented at this event). Green Ops teaches rifle, shotgun and pistol courses to eligible civilians in addition to the military and law enforcement and is staffed by extremely competent shooters with loads of experience. I first met Mr. Green some time back after squadding together in local USPSA, IDPA matches or crossing paths at other locally hosted training events. This LPVO course was my first time participating in any Green Ops event as a regular student.
Each instructor at this recent LPVO class is the same way as Mike Green; though most of them have decades of serious military experience, they all still actively practice, train and compete with firearms. In other words, every single person that represented Green Ops at this class spends time pursuing the very things they teach their students. They don’t sit on their laurels and you can see it on their social media channels which are always talking about this or that instructor participating at this or that event. For example, our lead instructor for the class, Chris Alvarez, kept making all kinds of references to competitions all weekend long and tying it back to the relevancy of the material. One of the assistant instructors donned his USPSA competition style belt and wore his match pistol for the entire weekend as well. I just point this stuff out because it’s worth nothing that as a group, Green Ops instructors don’t just talk about the thing, they’re all about it too. Another way this particular 2-day course also stood out was the fact that there were five staff members present for whole event. With approximately 14 or 15 students in attendance, the ratio of students to instructors was excellent and all of us had a chance to get individualized attention. Furthermore, with the level of competency amongst the staff that weekend, any one of the them could have equally filled-in as the lead instructor without compromising the quality of the class or the curriculum.
Getting Down To Business: The Low Powered Variable Optic
The typical modern 5.56mm chambered carbine has a general effective range of approximately 500 meters. LPVOs can help extract every last bit of shooting performance available from a general purpose carbine down to that last meter. Simply put, LPVOs work like red-dot sights up close and like traditional riflescopes at further distances. (Note: they are not sniper-scopes, nor should they be used as such. This is something Mr. Alvarez constantly reminded us of all weekend). And yes, even amongst riflescopes, the LPVO has its own set of trade-offs, but that’s beyond the scope of this article. As wonderful as LPVOs are, they aren’t without their challenges and nuances either. In a previous conversation with Mr. Green, he told me that both he and Mr. Alvarez developed the curriculum for the Green Ops LPVO Course to challenge the notion that LPVOs are niche optics. Of course, Mike will also be the first to tell you that to get there, it takes a lot of work and dedication. No free lunches, ever. I make it a point to shoot carbines with LPVOs whenever possible and I know exactly what he is talking about, so this class was great because we employed the LPVO across various distances and positions, some contorted. This class will expose just how squared away the shooter needs to be with their optic to make the system work correctly.
My take on the LPVO is that as a shooter, you “pay” your dues up-front as it takes more work to master (especially at CQB distances), but it “pays for itself” at distance. With those further shots, you not only get magnification but an actual useful reticle with subtensions or stadia lines that add another level of precision that isn’t possible with a red-dot or holographic sight. If the weapon I carry has an effective range of 500 meters, I’d like to be able to be as effective with it all the way to meter #499. Back to no free lunches: LPVOs tend to be more expensive and complex than simpler red-dot sights. This also includes their scope mounts, which are also more expensive and complex than RDS mounts. At retail prices, a “nice” red-dot sights costs nearly the same as a mid-tier LPVO. Because LPVOs are riflescopes, matters of eye-relief, the eye-box, exit pupils, etc. are still in play. This means the shooter’s eyes and face still need to be lined up properly with the optic to work. Alignment is a big part of mastering the LPVO’s learning curve. Even with my own NF 1-8 ATACR, I experienced some challenges when trying to aim with a zoomed-in scope in a contorted position off a barricade. This is why understanding the short-comings of an LPVO is also as important as learning how to use it correctly. And yes, that weekend I saw plenty of offset red-dots in conjunction with LPVOs on both instructors’ and students’ carbines. It’s not about one against the other, it’s about using the right tools for solving problems.
The Value Of The Green Ops 2-Day LPVO Course
Green Ops organizes this course into a couple different parts. There’s a classroom portion, a portion to confirm zero [very important!], a CQB portion, barricades, plenty of time shooting at longer distances, live-fire-and-maneuver and the “final exercise” where two students paired together run and shoot through a tactical stage with targets and cover at varying distances. The final exercise is a lot of fun to run through and it calls for everything we learned during the course. In my opinion, the biggest value of the Green Ops 2-Day LPVO course is how comprehensive it is.
you learn how to do everything with your GENERAL PURPOSE carbine from 0 to 500 meters using the best General purpose optic you can pair with such A carbine.
PE Fitch
With the amount of instructors, we all got enough attention as needed. The class was organized in such a way that no one portion had to be rushed. For the CQB portion, besides regular shooting instruction and plenty of repetitions, the instructors covered sling management, shooting on the move, and heigh-over-bore. In my case, one of the instructors took it upon himself to make sure I was squared away as left-handed shooter. They did this for all students in whichever way they needed assistance.
The Leupold Mk.5 HD 2-10×30 FFP MRAD Scope with a TMR reticle on a Leupold Mark AR 1.50″ mount next to a Nightforce ATACR 1-8 FFP LPVO with the original FC-DM reticle. It can’t be seen from this angle, but the carbine with the Leupold is also equipped with an offset micro reflex sight.
The chance to shoot at extended distances is a big deal because most of us don’t get the chance to do so often, much less under the supervision of extremely qualified instructors without being rushed. This is priceless. I was more than happy to use my NF ATACR and the carbine it’s mounted on at these further distances while also taking advantage of the chance to begin my testing and evaluation of the Leupold Mk.5 HD 2-10×30 riflescope on another carbine. While this specific Leupold Mk.5 scope isn’t a “true” LPVO since it only goes down to 2-power on the low end, it’s a scope I’ve been quite interested since it first launched, especially for short to mid-range shooting. I didn’t feel “stuck” too badly limited to only 2-power, even during the CQB portion. Of course something closer to true 1-power is desirable but I made this work just fine. Naturally, this Leupold shined at distance and it felt like cheating when compared to shooting with the typical 1-6-power LPVO. In the spirit of the LPVO-specific curriculum, I held instead of dialed, (although the Leupold Mk.5 HD 2-10×30 paired with the TMR reticle is really built to dial).
All students had ample opportunity to take shots through their carbine and scope combo at steel IPSC targets found at distances ranging from 100-386 yards*. Even though this wasn’t required, I entered some estimated numbers into a ballistic app to get quick “dope.” With my 100 meter zero, on both of my carbines, I could hold high center out to 250+ yards with no problems. At 300 yards my come-up was only 1-mil and at 400 yards, a little less than 2-mils. Being able to verify this in real time and seeing that there wasn’t too much of a difference between both of my carbines with 14.5 and 16-inch barrels was quite neat.
The Cost Of Training
Training isn’t cheap. Ammunition isn’t cheap. Guns and gear also add up in cost, and so does the time it takes to attend training events. If you’re like me, you want your time and training dollar to get you as much value as possible. After training with Green Ops, I didn’t feel like I wasted my time. It’s hard to feel that way when the entire instructor cadre actively shoots, competes and attends outside training to stay relevant. And more so when there’s a beneficial ratio of instructors to students. Lastly, I also appreciated that this course wasn’t focused on gear any more than it had to. I saw carbines and LPVOs from all price-points, without any real gear elitism. This also went for the Green Ops staff themselves too. Not one of them acted like they were “all-that” (even though some of them probably legitimately are). No one tried to sell me on anything other than “doing the work” in order to improve. Anyone who is interested in exploring the full spectrum of utility of their carbine would do well to check out this course.
Special thanks to @jaq_thepewpewplumbrtx for most of these photos. Jaq is not only Green Ops staff, but also a talented photographer and not to mention downright surgical with a handgun from appendix.
**Total maximum distance for extended targets will depend on the specific venue where the class is hosted. I describe the LPVO and the general purpose carbine as 500 meter system and I stand by that. Whether one shoots at 386 yards or 510 meters, the concepts remain the same, but the hold-overs change.
5.11 Tactical and Prime Video to Celebrate The Debut of the Highly Anticipated Season 2 of Reacher
Costa Mesa, Calif. (Dec. 4, 2023) – 5.11 Tactical, the global innovator of purpose-built apparel, footwear and gear, has teamed up with Prime Video to celebrate the release of the highly anticipated second season of the hit series Reacher with a specialized sweepstakes offering a prize package giveaway.
The enter-to-win Ultimate Gear Giveaway sweepstakes will offer fans a chance to win a robust 5.11 prize package valued at $2,500 and comprised of some of the latest 5.11 gear and technical apparel seen throughout the action-thriller series, Reacher, in addition to a signed copy of author Lee Child’s re-covered Bad Luck & Trouble book. Entries will be accepted now through Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. To enter and view products featured throughout the show, or for more information, customers and viewers can visit https://www.511tactical.com/UltimateGearGiveaway. No purchase is necessary, one entry per email, must be 18 years or older and a U.S. resident to enter.
Reacher Season Two premieres on December 15, 2023 on Prime Video. The season begins when veteran military police investigator Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) receives a coded message that the members of his former U.S. Army unit, the 110th MP Special Investigations, are being mysteriously and brutally murdered one by one. Pulled from his drifter lifestyle, Reacher reunites with three of his former teammates turned chosen family to investigate, including Frances Neagley (Maria Sten); Karla Dixon (Serinda Swan), a forensic accountant for whom Reacher has long had a soft spot; and fast-talking, switchblade-wielding family man David O’Donnell (Shaun Sipos). Together, they begin to connect the dots in a mystery where the stakes get higher at every turn, and that brings about questions of who has betrayed them—and who will die next. Using his inimitable blend of smarts and size, Reacher will stop at nothing to uncover the truth and protect the members of his unit. If there’s one thing Reacher and his team know for certain, it’s that you do not mess with the Special Investigators. This season, get ready for Reacher and the 110th to hit back hard. Information and assets for Reacher Season Two can be found on the Prime Video Press Site.
Throughout the season, Reacher, his ex-military unit, and other characters can be seen wearing and using 5.11 apparel, footwear, packs and accessories that are included in the sweepstakes prize package.
To learn more about 5.11, its product offering or its latest events and sweepstakes, visit www.511tactical.com.
# # #
About 5.11, Inc.
With offices around the globe, 5.11 works directly with end users to create Purpose-Built Gear™ to enhance the safety, accuracy, speed, and performance of tactical professionals and technical enthusiasts worldwide. 5.11 products exceed rigorous standards, which have allowed the brand to establish a reputation for innovation and authenticity, and become the premier choice for those who live the Always Be Ready® lifestyle. 5.11 products can be purchased online, through authorized dealers and retailers, as well as at 5.11 company-owned retail stores.
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Federal Judge Thomas Kleeh struck down the long standing prohibition on 18, 19, and 20 year old adults form purchasing handguns. This ruling, if allowed to implement without appeal from the DoJ, will set the federal requirements to buy a handgun in line with those or rifles and shotguns.
This change effectively realigns all Title I firearms to the same age standard for ownership. This will not change state laws (yet) but could as the effects of the ruling trickle down and states either adjust on their own or are adjusted via lawsuit.
I found this meme upon the internet, and twas funny. IG disgruntled_vets
I know, I know. The quality of the modern optic means that “irons” are no longer a strict necessity and are omitted on certain systems, like certain competition firearms and precision rifles, in their entirity.
I’m not talking about for specialist systems. I am talking about your carry handgun and general purpose carbine, maybe your home defense shotgun too. The two or three guns you probably use the most, handle the most, touch the most, and will grab in an emergency. That use, handle, touch, and play with controls on also gives them the highest probability change that the systems that need to be on might be off when you need them.
What do I mean?
I mean you have to have a viable way to shoot certain guns regardless of their battery status at the time you pick them up. I have an extremely high degree of confidence in modern optics, I still prefer the on deck ability to shoot around or through the optic too.
Are all of my firearms set up like this? No.
Am I worried? Not particularly. The Aimpoints on my MP5 and AK that I can’t use the irons through are probably going to be alright. But I have had that Aimpoint on the AK die during a class.
Aimpoint CompM5 RDS
Yep, that one. That CompM5 decided it had been on long enough on its battery. Middle of the drill, most inconvenient.
Luckily, it was just a drill. I cleared from the line real quick and got a battery. My point isn’t how simple the fix was that got my optic back, my point is that when I needed my optic it was off.
No more dot…
If you have co-witnessed irons or a removable optic via QD, you’re still in business. Flip things that need to be flipped and get back on your sights. Its this ease of resumption that makes keeping irons and paired with your optics in a cohabitant manner preferred, in my opinion.
The options if you do not have irons or cannot remove your optic are not nothing though.
Shoot the tube
A red dot is still an aligned tube and depending upon how close and large your target is it might be good enough to start hammering shots.
Turn your dot off and give it a try at about 5 yards to see both what it looks like and what the impact location is. You may surprise yourself.
Living on the edge
Your sights represent an aligned line to where you want to place your shot. Your optic and irons are precisely aligned, however they aren’t the only things that can get you into the right spot depending on the shot. Take a look at the photo and see what edges on the firearm and sight could be used to line up a shot in a pinch. Yes the EPS Carry allows me to use the irons on the P365, think alternatively.
Edge of the optic
The slide, along a corner
The line made by the slide and frame
None of these are ideal, none of these will stack rounds accurately and the viability falls off quickly at distance. But you aren’t done yet. You aren’t out of options.
Don’t freeze
The most common issue I see when folks pull up a gun and all is not right is a tire screeching halt, this is true of malfunctions, optics off, gun not loaded, anything that causes something to happen that isn’t the expected shot. What we want are options, regardless of the problem, to get us back able to take a needed shot as quickly as possible. Available irons make several of these problems simple to solve.
Don’t be quick to dismiss ye olde iron sights, that’s all folks.
