From our host Backwoods Home magazine, twenty years ago and still relevant.

Handguns: https://www.backwoodshome.com/firearms-handling-refresher/

Shotguns: https://www.backwoodshome.com/firearms-handling-refresher-2/

Rifles: https://www.backwoodshome.com/firearms-handling-refresher-3/

Visit the magazine’s home page, www.backwoodshome.com, regularly. They have lots of good reading and include “blasts from the past” like these.  It’s where I found the material above.

9 COMMENTS

  1. Read the handgun part. The detailed description of the Israeli method of slide racking is excellent. Does kind of leave those with poor thumb strength at a loss though.

    One of the extra credit parts of LE instructor training is that you get to seem some ER photos that graphically demonstrate why you shouldn’t use certain handgun manipulation techniques. Opposing hands slide racking is right up there at the top. Possibly next one down is cupping your hand over the slide to catch the chambered round as it’s ejected. Within two weeks of bringing that one back I had 3 people admit to partial loss of function from cartridges that fired while being ejected (the primer hit some part of the breech hard enough to ignite it-or they bobbled the slide motion).

    Checking the chamber of a gun while loading it by messing with the slide/bolt isn’t necessary. Just pull the magazine and check the witness holes or, if the magazine feeds from alternate sides, which is the top round after chambering a round. Aint’ no alternate space/time dimension for the round to disappear into.

  2. That’s why he’s one of the top 5, if not 3, trainers in the world. He hammers basics into us repeatedly, so it is second nature and not requiring “thinking” during times of stress! “Same side foot, knuckles face barricade, aim over nose”……. I will NEVER forget those steps!

  3. An Ithaca 12-gauge pump riot gun with barrel length of 14 inches, with sling and a folding stock, would likely be my choice for police carry, partly because of the slam-fire function. Very effective as a stopper, as well as simply demanding respect a priori. The mostly less expensive Remington 870 would come in a close second. Practical testing has shown that reducing 12-gauge barrel length from 22 inches or so to 20 inches generally causes about a 200 feet-per-second drop in projectile velocity. Probably not very significant in close encounters with criminals, but could be important in animal predator confrontations. I have a folding, long-barreled single-shot 12 gauge that is highly flexible as a survival gun because of the convenience of a wide range of gauge and caliber insert choices.

  4. ‘The detailed description of the Israeli method’.

    Talking of Israel. Ok this is a tenuous link even for this site I know :-).
    Lets all leave aside the rights and wrongs; just a quick question.
    I thought the Israelis were all armed to the teeth.
    I’m sure Mr Ayoob said they had no school shootings by the obvious step of having armed adults; teachers and volunteer parents, on site.
    So how did Hamas get away with it’s shootings?

    • Nicholas Kane,

      I had the same thoughts you did. From what I have heard, I guess at some point, the government was able to restrict gun ownership from what it was before. It was stated that since so many non-Jews, (Palestinians), work in Israel, and many are also citizens, the government may have felt pressure to treat all citizens equally. In other words, if Jews are allowed to carry, then so are non-Jews. My guess is, that scared the government, so they tightened up the rules.

      I also heard a report that some towns which were attacked did have guns, and these towns fought back successfully.

      I am not sure if what I have learned is 100% correct, so everyone, please do your own research.

      I do know that when it comes to wars, the best reporting is done by “Soldier of Fortune” magazine. During the War on Terror, I subscribed to it, because the only thing the mainstream media would report was American casualties.

      Considering the history of the Jewish people, I would expect them all to be armed. However, I am sure most Jews are unarmed. For sure, most Jews in New York City and Europe are unarmed. How sad. They should not stand for being made defenseless.

  5. It is estimated that only 2% of Israeli citizens own firearms and that is almost always one handgun with no more than 50 rounds of ammunition. Reports also indicate that many of the “safe rooms” were not designed to resist forcible entry but were intended to provide shelter from rocket attacks. As to why there was no real security presence at a music festival near the Gaza border I have no idea. Documents recovered after the attack indicate that the assault was well researched, well planned and likely coordinated by Iranian assets. It is difficult to understand, given their history, why the Israeli people chose to disarm themselves and rely on the military/ police for defense. Of course, that is the dream of most Democrats in this country. Hopefully some of the missing, including a number of Americans, will be recovered alive.

    • I do not believe it was the “israeli people” who chose to disarm themselves, but rather a government, now apparently removed from power, had so decided. The new present government ARE, from what I’ve read, putting large numbers of weapons into the hands of their people. Too little too late for those that suffered a weekor so ago, but at least a rapid and efective reawakening seems to have taken place.

      I can envision some Yank here at home confronted by some LE agent about the handgun and normal capacity mag he is carrying….. “well didjya read the papers last week? News that those crazies might evenb ring their war over HERE? ANd you want me disarmed? Hudreds there are dead because they did not have what I do.

      I got the welcome news this morning that a family, very dear to me, who had been there lawt week when the invasin happened, have managed to escape. Word is they landed in Tokyo this morning aboard an Israeli airliner out of tel Aviv. The plane was full of visitors needing to escape the current situation there. When the plane was wheels down a huge loud and es=xtended cheer erupted amongst the passengers.

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