Our young houseguest flew home today after a week of shooting. A city kid who had been to the range exactly twice in his life with .22s, before he got here last week, he left some pretty good scores behind. He was averaging three-quarters of a second to react to a start signal, raise his AR15, off-safe it, and score a hit at seven yards. Took him around one second to nail the target twice.  He was averaging a 95% score at 100 yards with the 5.56mm, did fine with the Beretta M9 pistol, and he just ate up the civilian versions of the M14 and the precision rifle.  It was a thing of joy to watch. He wanted to learn, and had no bad habits to burn out before he focused on building strong, repeatable technique.

I really enjoyed reading the commentary on my previous blog entries about his visit, and his familiarization with the guns he’ll be working with in the USMC.  I have no illusions about being able to train the lad better than the Marine Corps, but at least he won’t be flabbergasted by totally new technology and technique when he gets to Basic.  I agree in theory with those commentators who’d like to see some elements of the Swiss Model of citizen/soldier training incorporated in the USA, but I also agree with those who sadly say that the budget isn’t there to make it happen.  That’s why I think it’s important for us, the civilian friends and families of the next generation of fighting men and women, to give them the kind of head start that allowed Sergeant York and Colonel George and Audie Murphy and Carlos Hathcock to come back from war in one piece…and to leave so many enemy soldiers neutralized by the time their duty was done.

As I mentioned earlier, the little .22 Long Rifle Smith & Wesson M&P rifle, an AR15 clone with the exact same “manual of arms,” proved to be a great training tool.  It’s time to be thinking about “Christmas Presents for Shooter Folk,” something I touch on annually here.  The M&P .22 is available for under $500.

In my December 12, 2010 post here almost a year ago (archive function is at the right) I mentioned the Konus spotting scope as an excellent Christmas present. It has certainly served me well in the intervening year. The Konus was on the firing line the whole time the grandson was shooting at Appleseed last week, and is still an excellent buy. Ordering info is in that prior entry.

Konus spotting scope allows doting grandmother to tell when two of her grandson’s .22 slugs have gone through the same hole downrange at an Appleseed shoot.

Firing a SOCOM-16, spent 7.62mm NATO (.308 Winchester) case is jetting from ejection port (arrow) and dust is rising from powerful impact into backstop, but grandson still has muzzle on white silhouette downrange for the next shot.  ”Da kid done good.”

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It is the 70^th anniversary of the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor. Thank God we have living Americans still among us who remember that terrible morning.  Cherish them, and if you have access to any of them, ask them about it.  While you still can.

Of the many enduring lessons of December 7, 1941, none resonates more than the importance of preparedness.  As a nation, we must remember that constant vigilance is not just the price of freedom, but the price of survival itself.

As individuals, we can practice that in microcosm.  As I mentioned in my last entry, my sweetheart’s grandson is with us for the week. He’ll be going through Marine boot camp this coming year, and we’re trying to give him a running start on the small arms side. Great warriors of WWII, from Col. John George in the Pacific Theater to Audie Murphy in the European, owed much of their success (and their survival!) in combat to the fact that they had both been serious shooters before the events of 12/7/41 put them in uniform fighting for their country.

In the last few days, the grandson has been briefed on the takedown, reassembly, and assorted subtleties of the M16/M4/AR15 platform by a recently retired Command Sergeant Major of the US Army Special Forces, and a Navy vet Colt armorer. They did the same for him with the Beretta M9 pistol, and shared their wisdom as to successful military life. A top Class III weapons specialist got the kid up and running with full auto.  So far he has qualified, though not yet made Expert and earned a Rifleman patch, at an Appleseed rifle event.  I tender my personal, deepest thanks to all who helped.

He shot a 588 out of 600 on a pistol course today with the Beretta and military ball ammo, extraordinary for someone new to the gun, but the kid is a quick study and implements instructions remarkably well.  The AR15 is already becoming an extension of his hands, and he is putting the 5.56mm NATO bullets where he’s told to put them. I have a couple more days with him, and the already four-figure count of spent brass is going to multiply on the long range shooting bays here.

In macrocosm for nations, in microcosm for individuals, the rule holds true: bad things are less likely to happen to those prepared to deal with those bad things. The warning of Santayana remains valid: those who do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.

It’s a good time to hug an American who wore, or wears, our nation’s uniform, and to say the never-trite, “Thank you for your service.”

The young man gets his first taste of full auto fire with HK MP5 submachine gun, courtesy of a local Class III dealer.

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The Evil Princess’ grandson is in town for a shooting visit.  At 18, he has made a commitment to join the Marine Corps.  He signed up having fired a real gun exactly twice in his life, having grown up as a city kid in one of our nation’s most anti-gun municipalities.

We started him off on Friday, working from the bench to start the hard-wiring between trigger finger, eye, and brain as to what he should see and feel to make a perfect shot. By the end of the day, he was shooting palm-size groups from offhand at 25 yards, and sub-two inch groups in “position-shooting.”

What he had in his hands was my Smith & Wesson Military & Police 15 in .22 Long Rifle. With exactly the same manual of arms as an M4 or M16 (except that it lacks the ability to turn the fire control switch to full auto.)  Today he went to an Appleseed event with his grandma, to which he’ll return tomorrow.

That little M&P15 .22 is, I think, an important rifle. It allows young folks to learn marksmanship with the kind of platform they’re likely to be running as their primary small arm if they ever enlist in our nation’s armed forces.

Today, he was one of six or so out of thirty who shot a qualifying score on the Appleseed’s preliminary run with their AQT, or Army Qualification Test. And he did it with the standard iron aperture sights that my friends who are Marines tell me he’ll start with in Marine Corps Basic, shooting against folks who mostly had optical sights.

It appears that the little Smith & Wesson rifle was worth its space in the gun rack. The first of the week, he’ll graduate to 5.56mm, and the Beretta M9 service pistol.

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All of us shooters give lip service to proselytizing: “Take a new shooter to the range!” “Take someone hunting for the first time!” Few actually DO it, however, at least very often.
Once again, US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia inspires us. Just caught this from Eugene Volokh: http://volokh.com/2011/10/23/another-hunter-on-the-high-court/
Kudos to Justice Scalia for taking the time to do this. And kudos to Justice Kagan for being open-minded.
Scalia has obviously been a voice of reason for our side. Kagan has not. Will her new perspective be reflected in her next analysis of these issues on the highest Bench in the land? We won’t know until then.
Scalia has still set an example all of us would do well to follow.

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I joke with people that if carrying an iPhone makes you a Yuppie, I am exempt because my iPhone lives in an armored MagPul carrier, and therefore, I am at worst a “Combat Yuppie.”
Ya know, it isn’t a joke anymore.
For decades, I’ve taught Good Guys how to do building searches. Since they came out with pocket phones that take pictures, I’ve included in the curriculum the tactic of putting your phone on photo mode, reaching it out around your cover when you’re doing the search, and simply taking a picture.  The camera will instantly show you an image of what’s visible from its perspective, without you having to stick your head out into the field of possible opposing gunfire to see it with your own eyes, and maybe get your head blown off for doing so.
And, for some time, we’ve had iPhone apps for calculating bullet drop at distances: iSniper.
It turns out that our innovative young soldiers and Marines have found more ingenious applications for their smart phones: maps, direct communications on the battlefield, and more. The military establishment had caught up with what our sharp young techno-warriors have often already figured out for themselves, as seen here: http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htiw/articles/20111005.aspx
If memory serves, it was Descartes who said, “I think, therefore I am.”  Perhaps the new motto for those in mortal conflict may be, “iFight, therefore iPhone.”
Most of you reading this are more techno-literate than I am.  Please share here any tips you have for using this technology to fight and reconnoiter, when the stakes on the table are the lives of the Good Guys and Gals.

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