You know the scenario – you’re woken up by a noise in the middle of the night. You’re a bit disoriented, wondering if it was the cat knocking over a vase or someone is in the house. But you can’t ignore it; the kids are asleep and you’ve got to protect them. So you get out of bed to check it out. You have to see if someone is in the house, and if th…

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When and if you are every caught in an active shooter situation, I’m sure that your target won’t be a round black dot on a white background, just sitting there waiting for you to hit it. Yet that’s the way that most of us practice. When the time comes and we have to do it for real, it’s going to take more than just the ability to put steel on target…

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Grab any modern pistol, right out of the box, and you’ve got a decent firearm. Today’s firearms manufacturers have refined their designs and manufacturing techniques to the point where even the “cheaper” brands provide good quality and accuracy. But is that enough? Should we be satisfied with how our guns come, out of the box?

Most gun owners leave their pistols just as they come from the factory. There’s actually nothing wrong with that; most guns are not only well-made, but come out of the factory accurized, with the sights dead on. Probably one of the biggest mistakes any of us can make is to mess with the sights, before becoming proficient in the use of that gun. More than likely, we’ll adjust the sights off and end up having to readjust them later.

Personally, I’m not one to leave my guns as they come from the factory. I feel there’s a very good reason for this. That is, guns come from the factory prepared for general shooting use; in other words, plinking or going to the range for sport shooting. They probably do not have the accessories needed to make them ideal for competition or self-defense. Therefore, it only makes sense to add these accessories, personalizing your pistol and preparing it for what you intend to use it for.

True competitive shooters tend to do this; but those of us who carry for self-defense don’t. At the most, we’ll do a little bit of cosmetic customization to our guns. But as far as I’m concerned, those cosmetic modifications are unnecessary. I’d rather put my money into making my gun ready for use.

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Modifying Your Own Guns
One question that many people might have is whether or not they can modify their own guns or they need to hire a gunsmith to do so for them. That’s a good question. A lot depends on your personal ability to work on mechanical devices and what tools you have available to you. Most modifications merely require changing out parts. So, if you have a decent workshop and some decent ability to work with hand tools, there is no reason why you can’t make these modifications yourself.

That’s not to say that they will all be easy. Some are easier than others, and the same modification which is easy on one gun, can be extremely difficult on another. Changing the sights on a Springfield XD or XDS can be extremely difficult, even though the procedure is essentially the same as changing them on a Glock.

The difference comes from the fact that the dovetail slot on the Springfield is machined a touch tighter than that of the Glock. But this difference is significant enough, that you will not succeed in changing the sights on a Springfield, unless you put the gun into a solidly mounted vice to drive out the existing sights.

You can find a lot of videos available online, showing how to make the changes we’re going to talk about in this article. I would recommend watching more than one, as each instructor has their own slant on things and one might give you some insight into the process that another might leave out. The more information you have, the easier it will be to make any of these changes.

Competition or Self-Defense?
Before you go anywhere in modifying any gun, you have to decide what purpose you are customizing it for. Generally speaking, there are two basic modes you might consider; self-defense or competition. While there are others, such as to be a survival gun, that’s really still a self-defense issue.

There are some modifications that you might want to do for either case; but most modifications fall into one or the other. Take optics, for example. There is absolutely no need for tritium sights in a gun range. But there is a huge need for them in self-defense situations, many of which happen around twilight, when it’s difficult to see the iron sights on a gun.

Can you set up a gun for both purposes? Yes… and no. Yes, you can set it up in such a way that it would be useable for both competitive shooting and self-defense. It comes from the factory that way, to some extent. But no, it will not be ideal for either situation. That’s the key; we’re talking about optimizing the gun for a particular purpose, not just making it usable for those modifications.

Start with the Right Gun
Modifying a pistol to make it more usable has to start with the purchase of the right gun. Not all handguns lend themselves to modification. This isn’t so much due to the design of the gun itself, but rather, the availability of aftermarket parts. Some gun platforms are more popular, giving rise to a greater number of aftermarket parts manufacturers providing parts for them, than others.

A little bit of time online, researching the availability of parts for a particular firearm, will tell you everything you want to know. Start out by making a list of every modification that you think you might want to do to that gun, and then look to see if parts are available. If they aren’t, then you have to decide if that modification is important to you or not.

The two handgun platforms for which you can find the widest range of parts availability are the Glock and the Colt 1911. Glocks are particularly easy to find parts for, because all of their pistols are designed off of a common platform. Couple that with their popularity, both in civilian and law-enforcement circles, and you have a sure formula for parts manufacturers.

Cosmetic Alterations
This report isn’t about cosmetic alterations and I’m basically going to ignore them. There’s nothing wrong with customizing the look of your favorite pistol, if that’s what you want to do. But those changes aren’t going to make it any more usable or accurate. So as far as I’m concerned, they are unnecessary. You don’t need my advice as to whether you should have your pistol refinished with Cerakote or need a custom-engraved slide cover plate.

I’ve seen some cosmetic alterations to guns that I really liked; they made the guns look good. But I’ve never spent even one dollar on doing any cosmetic alterations to any of my guns. I’m much more interested in how well my guns do what I need them to do. Maybe someday I’ll have enough extra cash lying around that I’ll change my tune on that. But for now, I’m more interested in functional changes.

Trigger
Perhaps the single most important modification you can make to any pistol is the trigger, specifically the trigger pull weight. It is a commonly accepted fact that a lighter trigger pull helps increase accuracy. That lighter trigger helps with trigger control, reducing the chances of pushing the pistol off target, while pulling the trigger.

Please note that a lighter trigger pull will not eliminate problems such as jerking the trigger or anticipating recoil. All it can do is help with the amount of force needed to get the trigger to break, which in turn makes it harder to “push” the gun off target by pushing the trigger too hard.

Trigger modifications are common for target pistols, with some competitive pistols having trigger pull weights as low as 0.5 lbs. However, this is not a common modification on guns carried for self-defense. Most people who carry for self-defense are afraid to carry a gun with a light trigger pull, because they are concerned about firing prematurely. There’s a simple solution to eliminate that risk though; don’t put your finger on the trigger or even within the trigger guard, until you are ready to fire. Keep it alongside the trigger guard until that time.

I have modified both my Glock 17 and my Springfield XDS (my carry gun), giving them lighter trigger pull. The Glock now has a 3.5 lb. trigger pull and the Springfield has a 4.5 lb. In both cases, that single change improved my accuracy, without sacrificing any safety. The only reason I have not done that modification to other pistols I own is that I have not found the appropriate spring kit yet.

There are some pistols for which you can modify the spring weight, without having to change out the springs. Specifically, the Colt 1911 sear spring can be adjusted to lighten the trigger weight, simply by bending the sear spring, which is located inside the back of the handle, underneath the main spring housing and backstrap safety.

Originally, the Colt 1911 specification called for a minimum 5 lb. trigger weight. This was the required minimum weight for those used in military pistol competitions. However, by adjusting the curvature of the spring, something that can be done by hand, that trigger weight can be dropped down to give you a 3 to 4 pound trigger pull.

There are also replacement triggers that you can get, with either provide a larger trigger surface or a smoother trigger action. Both are worthwhile, as they make it easier to get a consistent, accurate shot.

Grips
Not all pistols have replaceable grips. Specifically, the modern polymer framed guns are unlikely to be designed in such a way as to allow the grips to be changed. I can’t change them on either my Glock or my Springfield. I’m stuck with what came from the factory.

However, my trusty Colt 1911 is a metal-framed pistol. The original grips on it are installed with screws, making them easy to remove and replace. I’m not sure of the original material, but it was something like phenolic (a resin-based plastic). I’ve replaced my grips with rubber ones, which provide me with a much more secure grip on the gun.

Most of the grips available for the 1911 are cosmetic only, which really doesn’t matter. If you want to change them, then go ahead and do so. On the other hand, changing the grips for something that improves your ability to hold onto the gun, like rubber, is valuable.

This change is especially valuable on smaller-framed guns, which are much harder to hold onto. The Ruger LCP, a .380 caliber picket gun is designed to be a pocket gun, easily hidden in the front pocket of a pair of trousers. Even though it only fires a .380 cartridge, which many people feel is underpowered for a self-defense gun, the light weight of the gun makes it tend to try and jump out of your hand from the recoil. If it were possible to put rubberized grips on the LCP, it would be worth it.

Oversized Controls
While pistols are precision devices, they really have very few controls. Basically, all you’re going to find on any pistol are:

•    Trigger
•    Hammer
•    Slide lock
•    Magazine release
•    Safety

Actually, you’re not going to find all those controls on all pistols. Glocks, for example, don’t have a hammer. Revolvers in general aren’t going to have slide locks and magazine releases. Nevertheless, this is the maximum number of controls you can expect to find.

Typically, firearms manufacturers design their products with relatively small controls on them, going for a more streamlined design, which is unlikely to catch on clothing and holsters. That makes sense. At the same time, those smaller controls are harder to operate, especially in the heat of an active shooter situation, where your fine motor skills will be reduced by the adrenalin coursing through your system.

With that in mind, adding oversize or extended controls to your handgun makes sense. These oversized controls are easier to use and allow for faster manipulation of the firearm, most specifically faster magazine changes. These are fairly easy and inexpensive modifications to make, usually requiring nothing more than removing a pin and changing out the part.

Barrel
Changing the barrel of a firearm has long been part of the accurizing process, especially for competition firearms. Competition or match grade barrels are machined to a higher tolerance than factory originals. Making barrels out of stainless steel or chrome plating the bore are other methods used to maintain the accuracy and consistency of these barrels.

While these sorts of changes might make a difference for those who are looking to make a smaller than one-inch group, it really doesn’t make much difference for those who are shooting for self-defense. I typically shoot a one-inch group with my personal Glock, which still has the factory barrel. Most self-defense shooting is not done at a distance where this is going to make much of a difference.

Slide
Along with the barrel, some competitive shooters go for an after-market slide. There might be several reasons for this, such as ventilation slots cut into the barrel or better grips on the barrel for racking the slide. A lot depends on the specific slide that you are looking at.

Ventilation slots are cut into the slide to allow the barrel to cool quicker. This is important if you are putting a lot of rounds downrange in a short amount of time. Twenty rounds, fired in rapid fire, will generate enough heat to cause the barrel to expand, thereby affecting its accuracy. This can be an issue for some types of competitive shooting, as well as in a self-defense situation where you find yourself in a prolonged battle.

However, most self-defense situations are three rounds, fired in three seconds. That’s it. With that being the case, the ventilated barrel really isn’t accomplishing much. Nor is the idea of having a slide with special grips machined into it, allowing you to rack the slide easier. Unless your gun jams, you shouldn’t have to rack the slide at all.

Magazine Well Adapter
Competitive shooters often install a magazine well adapter to the handle of semi-automatic pistols. This is a flared piece, intended to mount to the bottom of the handle, providing a guide for inserting magazines into the gun. Designed for quicker magazine changes in competitive shooting, it is fairly common amongst those who do tactical shooting, as fast magazine changes are a part of that type of competition.

But is this a useful or necessary modification for real-world tactical shooting? That depends a lot on the shooter. I have not installed one of these on any of my pistols and I don’t have any problem making fast magazine changes. But then, I’ve done a lot of dry-fire practice in making those changes, usually while watching a movie, so that my mind is on other things.

The only thing I can see wrong with this modification, is that it makes it harder to conceal a pistol, as it makes the butt of the pistol’s handle larger. That’s the big reason why I haven’t made this change. However, this is very much a situation where personal opinion and personal ability come to play. If you can change your magazine faster with a well adapter and you can still conceal it under your clothing, then by all means, install one.

Optics
Deciding on the optics you want for your pistol is probably the single most complex decision you’ll make in modifying your pistol for use. Typically, handguns come with iron sights. More and more are coming with white dots painted on the sights, making them somewhat more visible, especially when shooting at a dark colored target.

But that doesn’t really help at night, or even at dusk, when lower light levels may not reflect off of the white-painted dots, especially if you are facing into the sunset, rather than away from it. At those times, something more is needed. Considering that a large number of crimes are committed at dusk, when the lighting is low, changing to sights that can be used in low light is one of the most important modifications you can make to your carry pistol.

Fiber-Optic Sights
Fiber-optic sights are designed to absorb the ambient light and direct it to the ends of the fiber; one of which is pointing back at the shooter, replacing the white painted dot I just mentioned. As such, they provide much greater visibility in low light, specifically at twilight, than normal iron sights or even iron sights with white dots painted on them.

Typically, these sights will be made with a different color dot for the front sight, than for two dots used on the rear sight. That is a distinct advantage, as it provides a ready reference while brining the gun in line to shoot. There is no way to accidentally misidentify the dots and have the front sight off to one side, rather than between the rear sights.

However, fiber-optic sights are limited, in that they need ambient light to work. While it can be argued that you shouldn’t shoot, if you can’t see, the reality is that they are somewhat limited in situations where you might use a tactical light in conjunction with the gun.

Tritium Sights
Tritium sights employ tritium, which is a radioactive gas, in tiny glass vials, rather than the fiber-optics just discussed. This provides clear visibility of the dots, even in full darkness. However, the tritium sights are all one color, not the opposing colors of fiber-optics.

I personally have tritium sights on all of the handguns I might use as carry guns, if they are designed with the ability to change sights in mind. The Ruger LCP I mentioned earlier doesn’t allow for this, as well as many other compact or subcompact gun designs. The difference in cost between fiber-optic and tritium is small enough, that I feel it is worth paying the extra for tritium.

There is one disadvantage to tritium, which must be taken into consideration. The tritium itself has a limited life. Tritium has a half-life of 12 years. So, after 12 years the sights will be half as bright as they are new. After another 12 years they will be one-fourth as bright. So, they should probably be changed sometime between 12 and 20 years after installation.

Reflex Sights
Reflex sights, otherwise known as “red dot” sights, gained in popularity when the military started installing them on the M4 infantry rifle. It is a very common to find these installed on AR-15s; at least for those who can afford them.

While not common, these reflex sights do exist for pistols as well. I’ve seen them mounted on both Glocks and 1911s, and I’m pretty sure that they are available for a number of other common pistol models. They can even be installed on guns which aren’t designed to have replaceable sights, but that requires drilling and tapping holes into the slide.

While a reflex sight is extremely easy to use, especially when trying to acquire multiple targets quickly, they are generally worthless in low-light situations. So, while I would love to use one for competitive shooting, I’m not so sure I’d like to have it on my carry gun.

Laser Sights
There’s a lot of controversy about laser sights for a defensive gun, with most firearms instructors coming down on the side of being against them. Their basic complaint is a valid one – what do you do if the battery dies? You will suddenly be without the ability to accurately aim your gun, because you’re dependent on a piece of technology that failed.

The simple solution is that if you’re going to use laser sights, you need to practice both with the laser sights and with the iron sights (better yet, tritium sights). That way, you’re able to continue shooting accurately, even if your laser sight fails.

The other complaint against laser sights is that they provide the bad guys with the information that you’re pointing a gun at them, even farther away than the sights help you aim, just like a flashlight will. This is also true, as anyone seeing a red or green dot of laser light show up on or near them in going to instantly know what it is. That probably won’t scare them off, but it will make them seek cover.

Proponents of laser sights say that they allow you to keep your eyes focused downrange, where the action is happening in front of you. That’s valuable as well, as one of the things you have to do accurately is identify friend from foe, so that you can make sure you shoot at the right target.

I have laser sights on all of the pistols I regularly use, along with the tritium sights. But I do it for a totally different reason. I do it because my eyes aren’t all that good. Unless I am wearing my computer glasses, I can’t focus my eyes on the front sights of my pistol, with the pistol at arm’s length. So, if I am wearing my outdoor glasses, having a laser sight provides me with a means of aiming my pistols accurately, although I mostly wear my computer glasses and use the tritium sights.

One thing I would highly recommend, if you are thinking of putting a laser sight on your pistol; that’s to get one that is grip activated. What that means is that there is a small switch for the laser, which is activated when you grip your gun normally. This will change your grip slightly; so it will take some getting used to. But it will eliminate the extra step of having to turn on your laser sight. In an active shooting situation, that couple of seconds could be critical.

Tactical Lights
The last accessory I’d like to mention is tactical lights. You see these more and more in cop shows and action movies. Many of the more modern pistols are designed with a rail below the barrel and in front of the trigger guard, for the installation of such a light. So, the question naturally arises, should you put a tactical light on your pistol?

The problem with using any tactical light is that they allow the bad guys to know about your presence, long before they allow you to see the bad guys. So, while it might be necessary to use the light in order to find the bad guys, your light might attract their fire as well.

There is a solution to this problem… or at least a partial solution. That’s to only use the light intermittently and then immediately move, before they can shoot at your light. This requires a light with a momentary switch, located where you can reach it with your support hand, while still holding your pistol correctly. That’s better than using a separate tactical light, as you will have a better grip on your pistol, improving your shooting.

So, I’m personally in favor of tactical lights; but I caution about learning to use them judiciously. Don’t just turn it on and use it to search for the bad guys. Merely turn it on momentarily and move quickly, in case you draw fire. Use what you saw in the “snapshot” while it was on to plan your next move, whether that it to take a shot or move to another vantage point to take another look.

We Americans go through an incredible amount of ammunition every year, mostly used in sport shooting and practice. By comparison, the amount of ammunition used in hunting is minuscule.

But not all shooters buy their ammo; there have always been a number of shooters who reload it. When ammo became scarce during Obama’s presidency, this became the only wa…

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Fundamentals of Home Defense

We normally think of homes as shelter; but ever since people started building them, homes have also had a defensive role to play as well. Ancient cities were almost always walled-in, protecting the inhabitants from roaming bands, who would attack targets of opportunity. Colonial homes in America were built with firing p…

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If you carry a gun, you have to accept the risk that you may end up in a gunfight one day. While 70% of the time that someone with a concealed carry permit draws their gun, the criminal flees, there is still the other 30% of the time to contend with.

If the criminal decides that they are going to shoot it out with you, the following seconds will be…

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Firearms Training for Survival

Anyone who hasn’t factored guns into their survival strategy probably has a big hole in their understanding of survival. The gun has been one of the greatest survival tools ever invented; both from the viewpoint of providing oneself with food and from the viewpoint of self-defense. But just owning firearms isn’t enough; you’ve got to be ready to use them, and use them effectively.

Part of that is making sure you have the right guns and enough ammo. There’s a good reason why there are so many different kinds of guns on the market; it’s because they are designed for different purposes. But don’t just take what the manufacturer says as the final word; find out what several people with survival experience say and then make your own decision, based on their advice and taking into consideration your own ability, survival plans and preferences.

I say this specifically in reference to the various “survival rifles” that are on the market. While I have nothing against any of these firearms, they aren’t at the top of my Christmas list. Most are .22 caliber; and while that is an excellent caliber for small game, it’s not useful for anything bigger than that. So don’t take it as gospel that those are what you need for survival.

But my purpose here isn’t to talk about what sorts of guns you should have or even how much ammo you need to stockpile; so let’s leave those issues aside for the moment. While the type of guns is important and having enough ammo is as well, what’s really more important is the skill and knowledge of the person holding those firearms. A good shooter can do a lot more with a poor firearm than a poor shooter can do with the best firearm.

Shooting for Self-Defense

Although we normally think of shooting for food as the number one way we use firearms in survival, I’m going to talk about self-defense first. The reason for that is that much of what I’m going to talk about here, also applies to shooting for food. A good tactical shooter will be good at the shooting part of hunting, at least at close range, but a good hunter will not necessarily be a good tactical shooter.

Just to make sure we’re on the same sheet of music here, when I’m talking about tactical shooting, I’m talking about shooting in what is known as a tactical situation, one in which you have to think tactically, because there are others shooting at you.

Tactical shooting can be done with pistol, rifle or shotgun, although most tactical shooting practice is done with pistol. Generally speaking, the lessons learned by practicing with a pistol, are directly applicable to use with a rifle, and to a lesser extent with a shotgun.

The Number One Problem

The number one problem in any tactical situation is adrenaline. This hormone surges into the bloodstream in any danger situation, creating the “fight or flight” reaction. It provides us with extra energy, the ability to ignore pain to some extent and heightened senses. But it also affects our nervous system in other ways, such as putting a tremor into our hands and reducing our fine motor skills.

This reduction of the fine motor skills is critical, because the most important single part of the elements of shooting is trigger control. It is hard to have good trigger control, when your movements are stiff and jerky. This usually causes one to jerk the trigger, making their shots go down and to the left (for right-handed shooters).

There are two ways of overcoming the tendency to shoot down and to the left when adrenaline is in your system. The first is to familiarize yourself with the mechanics of shooting, specifically trigger control, to the point where your body is able to operate on automatic. This requires tens of thousands of shots, or the equivalent in dry-fire practice.

The second way of combating the problems caused by adrenaline is to work on improving your accuracy. Most people shoot at about 20% of their normal ability when they have adrenaline pumping through their system. That means that if they can normally shoot a four inch group (which is considered fairly good), they’ll actually be shooting a group five times larger, or 20 inches. In other words, more of their shots will miss the target, than hitting it.

On the other hand, when someone who can shoot a one inch group regularly in practice is operating at 20% of their ability, they’ll be shooting a five inch group. That means that they can probably still manage a headshot, even in those horrible circumstances.

Tactical Shooting Practice

Tactical shooting is nothing like shooting at bulls-eyes; but, then again, I don’t ever expect to be attacked by a black dot on a white piece of paper. Therefore, learning to shoot tactically is an essential part of preparing for survival shooting.

This shouldn’t even be attempted until someone is a fairly good shot at their normal target practice. The average person’s ability to shoot will be downgraded so much in tactical shooting, that even a good shot will find himself feeling like a fool. Take my word for it, it happened to me; so I’m sure it will happen to you as well.

It is difficult to find opportunities to practice tactical shooting. Most shooting ranges don’t allow it, as it is unsafe for other shooters. However, there are shooting ranges which do hold tactical shooting events. These are typically one night a week, and they are competitive in nature, with each shooter shooting individually against the clock. The shooters are graded on both time and accuracy, with accuracy counting for slightly more than time.

In a tactical shooting competition of this type, a scenario is presented with multiple targets, attempting to create something which looks like a potentially real tactical situation. For civilian tactical shooting competitions, the idea is to create criminal scenarios which a person with a concealed carry permit might encounter. These can include:

•    Multiple targets – Criminals often travel in packs. You could have anywhere from three to ten targets to engage

•    Multiple shots on target – Unlike Hollywood, real criminals rarely go down with one shot. You can expect to have to make two shots to the body or two to the body, one to the head, for each target, depending on the scenario

•    Varying distance – Not all targets will be at the same distance. One of the things the shooter has to do is determine which target is the greatest threat and deal with it first

•    Magazine changes – Many times you will be limited to the number of rounds per magazine, so that you are forced to change magazines during the competition

•    Varying heights – Not all targets will be at the same height; some might be tall and others short

•    Low light – There are a disproportionate number of active shooter situations in low-light conditions. Therefore, it only makes sense to practice shooting in such scenarios

•    Moving targets – Few bad guys will just stand there, making a target of themselves

•    Moving while shooting – One of the hardest skills to acquire. Yet standing still makes you into the target

•    Not all targets visible – Just like building clearing, you will have situations where not all the targets are visible from the starting line, so you won’t see them until you move into the right position to reveal them

•    Innocent bystanders – It’s always bad when you shoot grandma; try to avoid it

As you can see, there are a number of elements which can be combined to make a tactical shoot. These can be combined together in an infinite number of ways, creating just about any scenario you can imagine. In doing so, they create excellent practice for any real active-shooter situation that you may encounter in a survival situation.

Building Clearing

The other part of shooting for self-defense is commonly referred to as “building clearing.” This is the process of moving through a building, to find the bad guys and eliminate them. The tactical training I was just talking about will give you a start in this regard, but that’s all it will do.

The most important point of building clearing is finding the bad guys, without allowing them to get a shot at you. That’s impossible to accomplish, but you can minimize it greatly. While buildings provide little in the way of cover (something that will stop a bullet), they provide a considerable amount of concealment. As most people won’t shoot unless they have an idea where you are, that concealment can work to your advantage.

What is working to your disadvantage is that you might end up clearing a building, like your home, yourself. This is never good. Building clearing should always be done as a team, if possible. You need at least three people, one to act as point, one to act as cover and one to act as rear guard.

When entering a room, the point goes in first, going either to the right or left, as the team has decided beforehand. The cover will come in after them, going in the opposite direction. If the point takes fire, the cover will return that fire, rather than going in the opposite direction, providing the point with an opportunity to seek cover or concealment. The rear guard stays in the hallway, ensuring that the bad guys don’t slip past the team and invest the area that has already been cleared.

One of the key techniques used in building clearing is known as “slicing the pie.” Whenever you come to a blind corner (doorways are also blind corners), you stay back several feet from the corner, working your way to the side, to make more and more of the area around the corner visible. This is done in small stages or “slices” allowing you to visually clear an area, before exposing yourself to the next slice.

All of this can be done working alone, but it is infinitely more risky without anyone to help you. Nevertheless, when dealing with a criminal in your home, it may be necessary, in order to protect your family.

Applying these Lessons to Long Guns

Everything we’ve talked about here can be applied to long guns, just as well as to pistols. Generally speaking, when doing tactical shooting indoors, pistols are used. But the same elements can be accomplished outdoors, using rifles or shotguns. The only real difference is a larger area.

Military units and SWAT teams may use the same techniques indoors, with rifles and shotguns. But when they do, they are usually using specially made firearms, which are designed for use in confined areas. In many cases, these are not legal for civilian use, unless the owner has a collector’s license for them form the BATF, due to their shorter barrel length.

Shooting for Food

The other survival use for firearms is for shooting food. Man has long been a hunter, going back to our earliest days. While our early ancestors didn’t have guns to use, they quickly learned how to adapt the materials around them, turning them into weapons. Modern firearms are merely a continuation of that tradition, through many, many steps of technological improvement.

Those technological improvements have made the gun a much more efficient tool for hunting than the bow and arrow, which passed through many iterations of improvement and was itself an improvement on the atlatl and spear (or dart). Yet, the success rate of the average hunter today is not significantly higher than those ancient ancestors with their primitive weapons.

How can this be so? If our weapons are so much more efficient than theirs, wouldn’t it make sense that our hunting success rate would be higher?

This would only be true if the guns we used were the only part of the hunt, when in fact there are many other factors as well. If we are going to be successful survival hunters, we need to prepare ourselves for the whole hunt, not just be able to shoot our guns. Even so, we need to learn to shoot extremely well.

The Shooting Part of Hunting

Since this is a shooting-related article, let’s start out by talking about shooting; and let’s be honest with ourselves. The average hunter doesn’t shoot all that well. That’s mostly because they don’t spend any time to speak of on the range.

Shooting a box of 20 rounds to check and see that your rifle’s scope is sighted in, just before hunting season isn’t practice. That’s firearms familiarization, nothing more.

I shoot a box (50 round) a week to maintain my shooting ability and I know shooters who do much more than that. Shooting is a skill and like any other skill, it requires constant and deliberate practice. Without that practice, nobody can maintain their level of expertise.

While a lot of hunting can happen at close range, there’s also a lot of it that happens at long range. In a survival situation, you can’t count on using feed to bring bait the game to you. Rather, you have to plan on hunting them in their environment, where they are accustomed to living. That might mean that you will have to shoot them at a much longer range than you are accustomed to shooting.
To me, this means that the most important part of shooting practice for survival hunting is to become proficient at long-range shooting. I’m not talking long-range as you might need for bighorn sheep (800 yards), but rather long-range for deer, something in the 200 to 300 yard range. That’s more than reachable with modern hunting rifles, as long as you have a decent scope and good shooting skills.

Let me be a bit more specific here. The kill zone on a deer is a circle of 10 inches in diameter. You have to be able to hit that size target, with every shot, in order to be able to consider yourself ready for survival shooting. Not only that, but you have to be able to do it, even if the deer is walking.

Keep in mind that your ammunition will be limited, even if you are an avid ammo collector. No matter how much ammunition you have in your stockpile, it is a finite amount. Once it is gone, that’s it; there will be no more. So, like people back in the frontier days, you have to make every shot count. One shot, one kill has to be your mantra.

Understanding Your Target

Modern hunting has changed greatly since I was a youngster starting out. Today, hunters hide in stands and put out automatic feeders to attract deer with feed corn. At least, they do that in the state I live in. I’m not sure what the laws are in other parts of the country. But when I was a kid, that was illegal. Oh, you could use a stand or blind, but you couldn’t use seed corn.

When the brown stuff hits the rotary air movement device, you won’t be able to go down to the local sporting goods store or feed store for bait corn. Hunting will be back the way it was in my youth, when you had to figure out where the game would be naturally and set yourself up to shoot them in their normal daily routine. That means understanding the game and their movement.

Deer and most other game animals, follow a predictable routine. They water at dawn and dusk and feed through the day. At night, they return to bed down in forested areas with thick underbrush they can hide in. So, if you are going after them, you need to find the places where they water and feed.

Don’t set yourself up to shoot any game animals at watering holes. This could chase off other game from much-needed water, causing them to die off. Rather, find the trails the game have created to get from one area to the other and stake out those trails. Even if you do chase them off that way, they will go around where you have made your kill, finding their way back to where they were heading.

Each type of game animal has its own habits and peculiarities. Learning these, as well as how to read their tracks and sign, will help you to have a successful hunt.

Moving Through the Woods

Game animals are wary, equipped by nature to sense and avoid predators. This includes you. They have excellent senses of hearing and smell, making it extremely easy for them to detect any predators. To counter that, most predators move very gracefully and silently; but not man. We’re the noisiest thing in the woods. Between our boots breaking sticks on the ground and our clothes brushing up against sticks and leaves, we sound like the proverbial tank going through the woods to those animals.

It is possible to learn how to move silently through the woods. More than anything, it requires being aware of your environment, seeing the tree branches that could brush up against your clothes and the sticks on the ground that will break if you step on them. Then, all you have to do is move in such a way as to avoid them.

If soldiers can learn how to do this, encumbered by their gear, than you can I can learn it as well. Wearing soft-soled moccasins can help, as it allows you to feel what’s on the ground, before putting your weight on it. But more than anything, it requires practice, like everything else.

As far as scent is concerned, be aware of the direction of the wind. You can approach game very close up from downwind, because the wind is carrying their scent to you, not yours to them. But if you are upwind of them, they’ll smell you from a long ways off.

A Final Thought on Survival Hunting

When push comes to shove, there isn’t enough game in the woods to feed everyone. Back 100 years or more there was; but there was more game and there were fewer people back then. While there are still plenty of hunters in the United States and there is still plenty of game to go around, there isn’t enough to feed all of us, all the time.

Today, we eat mostly domesticated animals, specifically beef, pork and chicken. Millions of these animals are slaughtered yearly, proving steaks, hamburgers, bacon, sausage and drumsticks to our tables. They have taken the place of wild game for meat on our tables.

Looking at it practically, it is these millions of animals that we’ll need to find, if we are going to feed our families in a long-term survival situation. Of course, those animals most likely have owners, who are going to try and protect their property. This could put us at an impasse. Killing others, so that you can kill their animals for food, is clearly wrong.

On the other hand, there may very well be situations where the owners of those animals are no longer alive or no longer caring for their animals. Of course, we’ll have to know what’s going on in our communities and the surrounding area to even consider taking advantage of such a situation. But in that case, it would probably make sense to hunt their animals for food. That’s a decision that each one of us will have to make, when the time comes.

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