{"id":7702,"date":"2023-03-16T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/?p=7702"},"modified":"2023-03-07T14:57:36","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T19:57:36","slug":"beyond-the-muzzle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/beyond-the-muzzle\/","title":{"rendered":"BEYOND THE MUZZLE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How many firearms instructors does it take to change a light bulb? I\u2019d reckon about 25.  One to change the bulb and a couple dozen more to stand around saying, \u201cMy <\/em>technique would have worked better for that!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Few of us in this field agree with each other on every single element. It\u2019s easy to think, \u201cI\u2019ve got it down now, there\u2019s nothing else I can learn,\u201d but that dooms you to fossilization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two old friends whose knowledge and judgment I respect, Michael DeBethencourt and Mike Boyle, recommended I read \u201cBeyond the Muzzle: the Firearms Instructor and Shooter Development Guide.\u201d I\u2019m glad they did.  The author, Greg Bettis, is a retired big city detective and a very seasoned defensive firearms instructor.  The tactics, techniques, and procedures he recommends in the book are state of the art, but as the 1911 Colt on the book jacket signals, he hasn\u2019t lost his sense of history and \u201cwhat works.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book lives up to not only its title, but its subtitle. There is gold in the book, and some 24-karat quality is found in his advice to instructors on approach and mindset. He advises, \u201cThe instructor must deliver to the heart of the matter and the heart of the hearer. Do not talk over the head of your audience by trying to use fancy phrases or firearms industry slang garnered from \u2018tacticool\u2019 publications. Be yourself. Speak to them as if talking one-on-one in the warmth and comfort of your living room.\u201d  He makes points too many instructors miss, for example, \u201cPulling the trigger is the easy part once the decision is made. Teaching what happens before and after that decision point may be the toughest part of being an instructor.\u201d Amen, Brother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the practical side, \u201cBeyond the Muzzle\u201d has lots of good tips on teaching important lessons on a low training budget. Bettis includes multiple suggested courses of fire which teach and test skills with a minimum expenditure of ammunition and range time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also has some novel approaches. Speaking of trigger control, Bettis writes, \u201cYou can press, even jerk the trigger (yes, I said jerking the trigger is fine) as hard as you want, as long as it moves straight to the rear with no sideways influence \u2026 Stand to the side of the shooter, open baton and insert small end into trigger guard and onto face of trigger. Have shooter grip and aim, saying \u2018now\u2019 when the sights are aligned to satisfaction\u2026I hold the end of the baton with one hand while the other end rests on the trigger until I hear the command. I then use the fist of my other hand to strike\/hammer the baton rearward firing the gun. This demonstrates that jerking\/slapping\/jamming the trigger will result in a hit on target if the trigger moves straight rearward with no sideways pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I need to try that. \u201cBeyond the Muzzle\u201d is a definitely worthwhile read, especially for those who teach. And remember, you don\u2019t need a business card or certificate that says \u201cinstructor\u201d on it: if you ever teach anyone you care about how to shoot, you are already an instructor, and have a responsibility to live up to. You can order \u201cBeyond the Muzzle\u201d on Kindle<\/a> or Hardcover<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How many firearms instructors does it take to change a light bulb? I\u2019d reckon about 25.  One to change the bulb and a couple dozen more to stand around saying, \u201cMy technique would have worked better for that!\u201d Few of us in this field agree with each other on every single element. It\u2019s easy to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7704,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7702","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7702"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7703,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7702\/revisions\/7703"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}