At Massad Ayoob Group, we finished the 2019 training calendar with our Ten Year Reunion. All attendees and all instructors were our past graduates, with some of the most distinguished in the field teaching four-hour blocs.
Among them were Tom and Lynn Givens. Tom was a champion shooter in his competition days and a big city cop before that, but one of his distinguishing claims to fame is many years teaching self-defense to armed citizens in the violent city of Memphis, Tennessee. 67 of his graduates have been involved in shooting situations. 64 of them won their gunfights. None lost. Three, sadly, were what Tom calls “forfeits.” They violated “the first rule of gunfighting,” which is, “have a damn gun.” Caught unarmed, all three were involved in armed robberies in which they complied with the criminals but were unarmed and helplessly execution-murdered anyway.
Tom and his lovely wife Lynn taught a bloc on combat shotgun. It began with a lecture on choice of gun and ammo. Tom prefers 12 gauge in general and Federal 00 buckshot with Flite Control wad in particular, noting that since that gauge has long been standard for police and military and by far the most common in civilian shooting sports, it has benefitted the most from shotgun ammunition advancements. He addressed, as I do, the falsity of the common suggestion of using birdshot for home defense. As Tom put it with his trademark no-BS pithiness, “Birdshot is for the birds.”
We then repaired to the shooting range, where attendees did patterning exercises, rapid fire, speed and tactical reloading, etc.
Tom’s newest book has just come out from the Gun Digest people. It’s titled “Concealed Carry Class.” I reviewed a pdf the publisher was kind enough to send, and I think it’s excellent: strongly recommended! Tom and Lynn’s company, Rangemaster, offers training nationwide: also highly recommended, and accessible through https://rangemaster.com/ .
Man, I wish I could have attended. Alas, two kids in college tends to take all of my spare cash.
I was truly blessed to be able to participate in the MAG 10th reunion. Tom and Lynn’s range instruction was my favorite part of the reunion. They helped me fine tune some things I didn’t know about, and more competence to operate my 12 gauge.
I found their next class for shotgun instruction in nearby Leesburg FL March 6-8 2020, which I hope to attend. For those in central FL who are interested:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/defensive-shotgun-instructor-course-tickets-62172961000
Glad he likes the auto shotgun. physical limitations prevent pumps being a good choice for me. Don’t have to worry about short stroking either.
While a shotgun can have a place in the defensive battery, it isn’t the magic wand of myth & legend. OTOH, the myth & legend may well make the necessity of actually firing it less likely. It certainly worked that way for me several times.
In my elder years I’ve gotten loss fond of them for a bunch of reasons.
I can’t recall the make of a reasonably new design semi-auto. It’s defining “feature” is a half moon concave cut at the end of the carrier/shell lifter. I’m nut sure what the design intent was, but boy does it grab gloves and possibly thumbs.
Finances being what they are, I would have enjoyed the outing as well. Especially the 12ga class which I need more practice with! Auto loader a must at this juncture in life. Planning on going to shotgunning class here in SC before too long.
Wishing a very Blessed and Merry Christmas to all. Be careful at the Malls!
Upon moving to Memphis in 2005 just ahead of hurricane Katrina I was pleased to realize that we had a nationally prominent shooting school located in town — Tom Given’s Rangemaster.
I quickly went through his five progressive handgun courses — the first to meet the requirements for the state CCW, and the next four because in shooting situation, innocent life (particularly mine) is at stake. (It was also good that I could take them all on weeknights, as I am not available for such things on the Sabbath.)
He would allow graduates to retake classes for practice and reinforcement for free if there were a no-show and it was too late to re-sell the spot.
I was, however, very disappointed when, roughly ten years later, Givens semi-retired, closed his local school, retired to Florida and continued teaching only part-time on-the-road classes.
Oh, well, he also has a life.
Frank- I had to laugh out loud when you said “semi-retired”. I taught 34 classes this year all over the country, from South Dakota and Arizona to Wisconsin and Virginia, and everywhere in between. I drove 30,000+ miles and did several trips by airline. That in addition to getting the new book published and running the annual Tactical Conference. Good to hear from you.
I wanted to attend. Alas, my wife had just planned a trip from FL to WA to see our 3 and 5 yo grandchildren (and their amazing parents).
This kind of thing happens a lot … life gets in the way of life. I am still trying to manage a MAG 80 into the schedule …
Who knew retirement could be so demanding. LOL
Nothing like flying long distance around the holidays to get one thinking how blessed we really are these days. And how fragile it all is. And how it takes time and effort to maintain, improve.
I did just get my Mantis upgrade (original to the 10) so there Is that!
Merry Christmas
(… Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, etc)
and
Happy New Year.
Wishing you all another spectacular 10 years,
Paul
Mas – it was truly a great week – thanks so much to you, Gail, Steve, Herman and the rest of the event organizers, instructors and attendees. Learned a bunch of new stuff, re-learned a bunch of things I shouldn’t have forgotten, and enjoyed seeing people I’ve trained with before and meeting new people I hope to train with again.
Y’all have a very Merry Christmas!
Shotguns are the best! If I had the misfortune of only being able to have one gun, it would be a shotgun, because of their versatility. I own three pumps, and the only recoil problem I’ve encountered is with full power slugs loaded to 1600 fps. Any loads lighter than that are OK, with 1200 fps being my preferred slug load.
I once fired the 1600 fps slugs through a heavy Remington 1100 (1160 or 1180?) deer gun, and the recoil was comfortable because of the weight and action. Nothing wrong with semi-auto and 20-gauge shotguns.
I once read that the police carry sidearms in case they are surprised by a gunfight. If they know they are going to a gunfight, they carry shotguns. I guess that is an old saying because now they would choose an M-4. But if a gunfight is within fifty yards, and I am alone, I would rather fight using a shotgun than a rifle.
BTW, for those who may have 1100 or 11-87 shotguns but are unhappy with the small carrier release button, there is a factory option that doesn’t present the problems that can exist with aftermarket offerings.
The F300902 carrier from the 1100 Competition Master is usually a drop in replacement for the stock carrier. This has a much longer, low profile release button that makes fast loading a snap.
Those with DIY yearnings: be very aware of the stiff hammer spring and the cup that fits between the spring and the hammer. I had one depart-at speed- for an unknown destination. A good Remington shotgun mechanic would likely charge a minimal fee to do it for you.
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