Concealed Carry and Off-Duty Pistol, South Hill, Virginia, February 21 & 22, 2009

[babaracus]

The CURSED ONE HAND RIP DRILL!!!!! Along with South Hill mud, it makes for an interesting sight picture... Sorry I had to miss this one.

[John_Wayne777]

Something else worthy of note...our walkback drills went back to 125 yards.

Handguns with open sights, and we had multiple shooters still standing at 100 yards.

[John_Wayne777]

Another thing...the zero on my sights is messed up. You would figure at 100 yards I would have to aim at the top of the 12"x12" plate to hit it...but I was actually aiming UNDER the thing when I broke the shot. On the couple of shots I missed during the walkbacks I don't think any of them was low...I think I either shot over the target or to the right.

My weapon was shooting a bit to the right throughout the course. With the duty ammo (the first 30 or so rounds of the course were bullseye at various ranges using duty ammo) it seemed to be close as far as elevation....but at those longer distances I basically had to have a 6:00 hold to hit the steel with the FMJ ammo.

The only explanation I can come up with is that I was heeling the gun as I broke the shot.

The FTX bothers me quite a bit. At the time I just did a rip drill (which I was pretty familiar with thanks to previous training) and moved on...but in retrospect I should have stopped and tried to figure out what went wrong.

[subzero]

The CURSED ONE HAND RIP DRILL!!!!! Along with South Hill mud, it makes for an interesting sight picture... Sorry I had to miss this one.

It f-ing sucks. What you don't see is me exclaiming my surprise to find mud in my rear sight (loudly), and blowing/brushing it off so I can get some semblance of a sight picture before pulling the trigger.

The one hand rip drill isn't so bad, it's just hard keeping all of that stuff in your mind, in order, every time. To me, WHO draws are way worse, both mentally (and for me) physically. I keep telling myself "hurry up and get the f-ing gun out dummy" and my damn hand won't reach, like Tantalus and those stupid grapes.

My gear:
Glock 19 with Larry mag release, Pearce grip plug, Heinie Straight 8s and a 3.5lb connector. CCC AIWB Looper worn at 3 o'clock. CCC single mag pouch for 9mm Glock. Wild Bill's Concealment belt (1.5", double thick, very sturdy.)

The Heinie's got a bit ripped up sometime during day 2, probably during SHO/WHO manipulations. Nothing some cold blue won't fix. I was able to get good purchase with the Heinies either on the belt, on the holster or on the sole of my boot during SHO/WHO manipulations. I like the Heinie's, but I got used to the Warren's on my M&P. I'm wondering if I can swap the Heinie rear for a Warren and keep my serrated front sight. From what I can tell, the Tritium front that comes with the Warren sets is .215" high and .125 wide, same as the Heinie Straight 8 front from Brownells. MLE Shooting Sports sells the rears separately, so maybe I can go that route. I could always order one of the replacement height Glock front sights from Heinie, as they make 3 or 4 different front sight heights.

The Looper works pretty good as a standard IWB holster. I gave appendix a little try, but as you can see I'm a big fat stupid looking bastard and appendix carry is a bad joke when you're fat like me. Unless of course you never sit down or bend at the waist in any fashion.

My M&P had a FTE/Double Feed at the last class (at night) that gave me fits. I broke my striker not long after, which is a big reason I'm back to the G19 for carry.

I had a thing where my shots kept getting higher and higher on the first drill as we moved back each time. I'm certain I was hunting the front sight and picking it up ever so slightly causing me to hit high. I fight that all the time. When I'm not fighting El Snatcho. I found this text tonight looking for info about the Warren's:

Warren Tactical and Sevigny competition and carry sight sets for Glock pistols. All Warren/Sevigny sight sets are designed for a six o'clock sighting method. If you prefer the center hold method, note in the order form comments that you want the .245 tall front sight.

From here: http://www.cpwsa.com/warren_sevigny_sights.htm

[VA_Dinger]

It was an outstanding class. As with any class I have attended from Dave the instruction was top of the line. The shooting instruction was excellent and the lecture portion very relevant (different carry & concealment techniques, various holster styles & configurations, various mag pouch styles and configurations, ETC.) All of which is outstanding training.

I shot my HK45 to get some rounds through it, and came away very impressed. I was originally planning on buying a set of Heinie sights for it, but during the class I figured out the stock sights work just fine. Now I just need an HK P30 LEM.

It was nice to meet some new guys and get in two great days of training.

IMO: If you have not attended this class yet, beg Dave to hold another one in 2009. If you conceal carry or plan on doing so you owe it to yourself to attend this class.

[yrac]

I'm sorry I missed this one. The first one Dave taught in '08 was excellent, and well worth attending.

I shot my HK45 to get some rounds through it, and came away very impressed. I was originally planning on buying a set of Heinie sights for it, but during the class I figured out the stock sights work just fine.

Dinger - The stock sights on my P30 were fine for me in daylight, but I found that they were not terribly useful at night, unless I first "charged" them with a handheld light - obviously not very practical outside of class or competition. I've since switched over to Heinie Straight-8's. (For those who are not familiar with them, the factory HK45 and P30 "night sights" use some type of "glow-in-the-dark" paint, rather than tritium. They only emit visible levels of light when first exposed to a light source.) Sorry for the slight divergence from topic..

[M4arc]

Warren Tactical and Sevigny competition and carry sight sets for Glock pistols. All Warren/Sevigny sight sets are designed for a six o'clock sighting method. If you prefer the center hold method, note in the order form comments that you want the .245 tall front sight.

From here: http://www.cpwsa.com/warren_sevigny_sights.htm

Does anyone know if the Heines are the same? Are they designed for a six o'clock or a center hold?

Oh and I sure hope Dave conducts another class this year!

[VA_Dinger]

Dinger - The stock sights on my P30 were fine for me in daylight, but I found that they were not terribly useful at night, unless I first "charged" them with a handheld light - obviously not very practical outside of class or competition. I've since switched over to Heinie Straight-8's. (For those who are not familiar with them, the factory HK45 and P30 "night sights" use some type of "glow-in-the-dark" paint, rather than tritium. They only emit visible levels of light when first exposed to a light source.) Sorry for the slight divergence from topic..

Hello my friend, I guess I should have been more clear. My HK45's sights are "stock" but do have ToolTech Gunsight installed Trit inserts. I guess that does not really qualify them as being stock anymore.

[mark5pt56]

Does anyone know if the Heines are the same? Are they designed for a six o'clock or a center hold?

Oh and I sure hope Dave conducts another class this year!

Mine hits with the 6 o'clock

[subzero]

FWIW, the stock Warren tritium front is .215". Per Brownells, the front sight that comes with the Heinie Straight 8 package for the Glock is also .215". Heinie offers 3 replacement front sight heights (.225, .235 and .245 if memory serves) so you could move your hits around after you've confirmed your zero.

So if you bought the front and rear separately, you could get a Warren rear with a Heinie serrated front in whatever height you choose if you hit high.

The problem JW777 described during the walkbacks sound like a front sight that was a touch too low (bullets going higher as he moved back) but this only manifested itself at 50+ yards. It could also be very very slight misalignment of the front and rear (hunting for the tip of the front sight, driving it a bit too high) causing the same thing. I fight that all the time.