Handgun Hunting Afield

I have been concealed carrying a handgun since I exited the USMC a few decades ago.  With a large amount of that concealed carry being with a J frame size revolver.

In those early years when money was tight, I started with a Taurus revolver.  In short order I upgraded to a Smith and Wesson.  The S&W J frame is and has been one of the most popular concealed carry guns in the USA for probably close to a century. 

Where it began

Once again, dating myself, a couple decades ago I went to the law enforcement academy.  Most of the training is basic book stuff focused on the legal side.  The physical side was roughly a week or so of defensive tactics (hand to hand use of force) and a week of firearms.  Let’s not forget the driving part.

When I went into the LE academy I had already worked professionally as a gunsmith and shot competitively. I had also served in combat as a USMC infantryman.  So I at least knew the muzzle from the grip of a gun.

I found that we had a great lead firearms instructor who was highly knowledgeable.  He did a great job of taking those LE recruits from zero to being able to qualify with a handgun in a week.  That’s no small feat.

Part of the classroom portion of the training included off duty carry, and that class has stuck with me to this day.  There was a basic set of tools you should always have with you when off duty that was discussed in great detail.  To this day I carry that same list of equipment minus the badge and hand cuffs.

Qualification

(We are going to start setting the stage in the next few paragraphs.  So that you, the civilian, can get an idea of where you measure up training wise.  If someone gets offended, ask yourself if the shoe fits.)

These parts are important to keep in mind as we get farther into this article.  All states have a standard in which each officer must meet when qualifying with a firearm.  Most departments stick to this minimum set standard due to budget and training time concerns.

For the State of Virginia at that time we had to qualify from 5-25 yards.  The qualification course could be done with one box of 50 rounds and was fired on the FBI Q target.  A minimum score of 70% was required to pass.  The FBI Q target looks like a large bowling pin on a large section of paper.  The target is 25×35 inches in total, the whole sheet of paper.  I do not recall the scoring point system, but you get credit for just hitting the paper.

Now let’s think about that for a second.  You are responsible for every round you fire and what it impacts.  Even more so as a civilian since you don’t have qualified immunity.  Accuracy matters and should be encouraged.  

Our Small Department

I worked for a small department that had less than 20 sworn deputies counting the auxiliaries.  We didn’t have much of a budget for training and only attended the range twice a year as a department.

I was fortunate to have a range on my property and I practiced multiple times a week.  I also made my range available to the entire department.  

As I heard from one highly regarded LE instructor once, “most cops value a good ball point pen over a gun” and I found that to be true.  I never once had anyone show up to practice.

No this isn’t a cop bashing article, it’s just stating some facts that need to be said as we lead into this article.

You are your own first responder

Many of you that read these articles compete, hunt, and shoot a firearm regularly.  Many of you have specialized training in the field.

If you compete on a semi regular basis you exceed the number of rounds we were required to fire in a year for training.  If you compete in the action shooting sports you also move while shooting which is something we did not have to do.

Now I am not saying that all first responders just do the minimum, I know for a fact many do a lot more.  They train on their own, have a department with more available training, compete on their own, and so on.  But you never know which one is on duty and responding.  Is it the rookie that fired maybe 1-2 cases of ammo at the academy or is it the seasoned and well trained veteran?

Where this leads, if you practice, have training, and are prepared, you can solve the problem in front of you long before someone can respond to the scene.

Current Events

Over the last few years we have seen multiple mass shootings either stopped or interrupted by citizens.  These citizens came prepared to at least some degree and acted.  Even by distracting and delaying the gunmen they are buying time for more first responders to arrive.

In an active shooter situation we were always instructed to charge in and confront the gunman quickly.  We have seen one mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas where there was confusion and/or fear and this didn’t happen resulting in a lot more carnage than what should have happened.  That is something we can all learn from.

In a previous paragraph, I stated if you are prepared, you can solve the problem in front of you.  Part of being prepared is mental, you have to be willing to accept the risks that you are about to put yourself into.

No one knows what they will do in such a life or death scenario until they are there.  The toughest macho guy in the room may literally crap himself, and the bean pole kid from accounting might be Rambo.  

Now that every cop that reads this thinks I am attacking them and is pissed off and probably leaving bad comments at the bottom, let’s move onto the main topic.

The gear

In that first LE firearms class we were given a list of gear that we should always carry.  Cuffs, badge, gun, flashlight, pocket knife, and spare ammo.  Probably to meet some kind of state requirement they made sure to state that carrying was optional.  That’s crazy considering the fact that you will deal with violent felons daily and more likely than not someone will hold a grudge at some point, but to each their own.

Now in civilian life I have ditched the badge and cuffs.  I have carried a J frame for decades as my concealed carry gun.  I mean, why not, I always qualified 100% in LE with it.

Watching current events has made me change my way of thinking. Combining that with my competition experience its eye opening when you finally think about it.

But before we attack the J frame lets go over where it excels.  The J frame is the absolute perfect backup gun.  Worn on the ankle when on duty you can easily access it if you find yourself on your back fighting with a suspect.  It can not be pushed out of battery if you force the muzzle into the target in a violent fight.  And 38 +p or 357 magnum is tough to beat.

The J frame is also extremely light if you pick one of the alloy models.  I carry a 32 HR S&W when I jog around town.  The lighter ammo really helps with the bouncing of the gun as I jog.

The Range

Where does the J frame start to lack?  Performance at distance for multiple reasons.  Now let’s piss off the Fudds. 

 “All defensive shootings take place at 3-5-7-10 yards or whatever the next internet commando wants to spout off.”

“You will only be justified to shoot if the suspect is 3-5-7-10 yards away.”

Well the last quote is absolutely rubbish, the crowd spewing this stuff off needs to go read their states self defense statute and possibly seek legal guidance.  If the gunman is shooting at you from whatever distance and putting your life in danger or the lives of others; I would start placing well aimed shots as today is not the day I wish to die.

The last few mass shootings interrupted by armed civilians have blown a hole right through the distance argument.  You better get to practicing at that far back yard line, 25 yards isn’t enough.

The J frame would be abysmal to shoot dynamically with movement and maintaining accuracy to a high level.  The smaller the gun the more difficult it is to align, grip consistently, reload, and place accurate hits at distance.  No matter what, accuracy is final.

The first rule of a gun fight, is to have a gun

We need to update this statement as it has been beaten to death.  The first rule of a gun fight is to have ENOUGH gun.  

If my goal is to just be able to get someone off me in a tight altercation, the J frame will work.  But I know I couldn’t live with myself if something horrible was taking place and I was incapable of at least trying to stop it.

The average mass shooter has a rifle or carbine of some kind.  Most lack any sort of training or any real plan.  They all appear to just be trying to cause as much chaos as possible in a short amount of time.  Even without training they have the ability to outclass your pocket pistol with ease.  An untrained person with any long gun can easily shoot 50-100 yards and hit a man size target.  You will need perfect conditions with a pocket gun to get it done.

Bringing enough gun

In the wake of recent events I have completely changed my previous carry plans.  I love a wheelgun.  I compete with them, hunt with them, and just plain enjoy shooting them.  But where they lack is capacity and reload speed, plus revolvers are extremely thick and more difficult to conceal.  Few fights are stopped within one round, so more is generally a good idea.  

For me, 9mm gets the thumbs up as enough cartridge in a pistol.  From actual experience on wild game I know that until I hit 357 magnum level and above, everything below it is about the same.  Yes, I am lumping the 45 acp right in there with the 9mm, and in fact I place it below 9mm.  Why? Its short stubby bullets lack terminal performance at their slow velocities as the distance stretches.  As stated, I base my terminal performance information on what I see in actual tissue, and I shoot a lot of it as a dedicated handgun hunter.

The Guns

This is the part everyone on this blog loves to dive into.  There is nothing wrong with any of the major brands of polymer striker fired semi autos or revolvers on the market. 

I would have stated in the past that a revolver would have been my pick, but the thickness of the gun, size of the speed loaders, and the weight all are a major trade off to any semi auto.  The one major advantage is being able to bring a magnum to the fight.

As we select our defensive handgun(s) we need to keep a few things in mind.  Having the same controls on all of our different size guns is important to keep training simple.  When less clothing is worn, a smaller gun is needed.  When it cools down that full size can be packed.

To end a defensive situation you may have to move into an offensive posture.  Now this doesn’t mean squad rushes and suppressive fire.  This means that you may have to close the distance towards the aggressor, even more so if they are carrying a long gun.  The amount of distance you have to close to get within range will depend on your skill and the firearm you carry.

My choice

With my shift to semi autos for concealed carry I have elected two primary firearms.  Both have the same controls as my larger competition guns.  This is huge as I train almost daily to compete and I know under stress that is more likely than not what I will gravitate back towards.

I generally carry my Kimber KDS9C 9mm with Trijicon RMR inside the waist band.  This gun gives me the capacity of 15 rounds and is a compact package.  If an optic allows me to place rounds more accurately in competition or in the field hunting, it sure will help on the street.  I am a huge advocate of modern optics on a handgun.

The Kimber is easy to carry and it shoots very well.  I use a 124+p defensive load with it and carry a spare magazine.

When the weather allows me to increase the size of my carry gun I go with a full size 1911.  With the slight increase in gun weight and the better tolerances of my 1911 it allows me to greatly increase my maximum effective range.  As the distance increases, accuracy standards do as well.  I don’t want a stray bullet striking something unintentional.  

For my full size I selected the Springfield Armory 1911 TRP 9mm.  With this being a full size gun it wears both a light and optic.  This pistol is extremely accurate and I have even used it in competition in the past.  Single stack mags are easy to carry, so multiple spares can be available.

The truck

With the evolving threat and current situations it also led me to think about more firepower.  If the aggressor has a rifle or long gun, it sure would even the playing field if I did too.

This took quite a bit of pondering but I settled on some simple concepts here.

• The long gun and spare ammunition needs to be protected in a case that doesn’t look like a gun case.
  • You don’t want someone walking by your vehicle and spotting it.
  • This storage case should have room for other emergency gear.
• The long gun needs to be instantly deployable.
  • No sights or stocks to unfold and no optics to turn on.

I can hear the crowd now.  How would you be justified in using a long gun?  How are you going to have time to access it?  Well, justification for use of deadly force is the same no matter the gun.  As far as time goes, you won’t know until you get there.

The Right Tool

At a recent mass shooting where the civilian engaged the aggressor who had a rifle at distances beyond 50 yards.  He deployed from his vehicle and a rifle more likely than not would have increased his ability to end the situation.  

I picked up a Savior Equipment case in a non tactical color to fit part of my goals.  Its a semi ridged case that has multiple pockets.  

My rifle is a 16” carbine that I already owned.  Fitted with a fixed stock and a Meprolight optic that I do not have to cut on.  Its back up sights are also fixed in the upright position.  To deploy this rifle I just have to grab it and chamber a round.  The controls are the same as what was burned into my memory in the USMC and I feel confident with the rifle to extended ranges.

Within the Savior Equipment case I also carry a basic boo boo first aid kit and a major bleed kit.  So if needed this entire case could be grabbed to cover many possible scenarios.

The big wrap up

If you practice regularly, seek training, compete, and bring competent skills to the table then you should be thinking about how you can serve as your own first responder.  It takes the right mindset and training but it is not an impossible task.  We went over one state’s minimum standards that they train to.  If you put forth the effort, you can meet or exceed that.

For me, the pocket guns and J frames are relinquished to when exercising.  I will find a way to dress and carry something more capable.  Sleeping at night would be impossible if I was so unlucky as to be involved in a situation and unable to act.