Wednesday Wisdom: 28 October 2026

The Shooter Who Can’t Be Corrected

While plenty of firearms enthusiasts and sportsmen bemoan the price of their guns, their maintenance, and their ammo, the hidden ceiling to firearm proficiency is much simpler, and much more uncomfortable: the inability to absorb correction without defending against it.

Some shooters constantly chase gear changes because “bad gear” is psychologically easier to tolerate than skill deficiency. Others might become obsessed with external variables while ignoring obvious inconsistencies in their fundamentals. Some might even construct elaborate narratives to explain why their performance doesn’t reflect their actual ability.

The common thread running through these examples and many more like them is that they are all avoiding accurate calibration to a reality they find uncomfortable.

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Performative Versus Combative

 

The police can do as they please, or as they need to hang on to their precarious jobs, but that should not and must not influence your handling of combat problems on the street as an individual.

Grappling burst onto the scene in the late 1990s as various Gracie-based instructors worked hard to make inroads into the police world. It was not easy for them as the standard directive for police handling of street problems started with this - DON’T TIE UP WITH THEM

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Alarms, Blood Trails, and Broken Doors

Fire alarms during active shooter events continue to be a problem. The problem comes in four varieties. Gunfire sets them off. Attackers pull them on purpose. Bystanders pull them to warn people. Fire alarms can impair the police response.

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Twist Rate and Bullet Stabilization: Is Your Ammo Right for Your Barrel?

Your barrel has a twist rate stamped on it or listed in the specs. Most shooters know it's there. Few understand what it means or why it matters for the ammunition they're shooting. The short version: if your twist rate doesn't match your bullet weight, your accuracy suffers. The longer version is worth understanding.

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A Guide to Barrel Twist Rate: All You Need to Know 

 

 

The title is an understatement.  A lot more information concerning the relationship between rifling twist rate and bullet performance.

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Shooting To Live (1942, Fairbairn & Sykes)

Karl Rehn's historical handgun writings are worth a read--this is one. 

W.E. Fairbairn and E.A. Sykes wrote the influential book Shooting To Live in 1942 which introduced many concepts that remain a foundation for modern defensive handgun training.

Fairbairn and Sykes were in charge of the Shanghai Municipal Police in the 1930’s. During this time Shanghai was a very violent city. During a twelve-year period, the authors documented 666 armed encounters with criminals. They credit their techniques with producing a record of 260 criminals killed and 193 wounded, compared to 42 police killed and 100 wounded.

Until Jeff Cooper, Jack Weaver and others in the late 60’s and early 70’s challenged the idea that there was “no time to use your sights” in close range gunfights, variations of what Fairbairn, Sykes and “Jelly” Bryce of the FBI were teaching was the standard.

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John Farnam’s Quips – Sep 06

John Farnam’s comments on pistol design that range from useless to hurtful from 20 years ago (5 Sept 06). "Not all can be legitimately called “trends,” but all are manifestations of manufacturers going in the wrong direction." 

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Jeff Cooper Inspires the Invention of Elden's Magazine Bump Pad

Elden Carl discusses an incident that resulted in his invention of the magazine bump pad. Per Elden: “Something unusual happened in one of the first matches of the 1962 competition year. Jeff Cooper was having a really good day when a stage requiring a reload came up. Jeff drew and put two solid hits in each of three targets followed by the ejection of the empty magazine. Jeff quickly installed a new loaded magazine, came up on his first target and squeezed the trigger. As the pistol discharged, I saw the magazine fall from the magazine well to the ground.”

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The 300 Reduex 2016

Clint Smith of Thunder Ranch fame once wrote an article titled: “The 300.” In his usual kind and generous manner, Clint stated in the article that in the period of the upcoming year, 300 new training schools would pop up. He stated how much that would be a good thing. And he was right as usual.

But there was a downside to it. One that probably has been around to some extent ever since the first weapons and tactics school opened to teach proper use of the rock and stick. That is some schools teach some really questionable stuff.

I recently completed a class at Gunsite. For the force-on-force portion, the instructors mentioned “NO ANCHOR SHOTS" several times. I asked why the emphasis and the instructor replied that several fairly well-known instructors were teaching “anchor shots.” In other words, they were teaching students to shoot a final shot to the head if they engaged in a defensive encounter. What a great way to go to jail. He would not identify the instructors teaching this technique--which is always annoying. I would like to know so I can skip their classes.

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