MBaneACP

So Grrl...didja like it? mb PS: There were NO women at the ITRC! Honest! I'd'a filmed them if they were there!

Yep, COWBOYS is now officially alive! COWBOYS The Outdoor Channel TUE 12:00AM Eastern THUR 6:30PM Eastern SUN 12:30PM Eastern Hosted by Richard "Tequila" Young, 5X CAS World Champion and all around cool guy This week: Western 3-Gun Action, which is a cowboy shooting sport an IPSC shooter can love...shoot them bad boys on the move! And don't forget the new times for SHOOTING GALLERY, either!!!! MON 8:00AM Eastern ALLEDGEDLY! I THINK. MAYBE. WED 6:00PM Eastern FRI 8:00PM Eastern Just turned in my proposals for the NEXT shooting series we'll be rolling out. Still no USPSA, boys and girls. Sorry. mb

I'll see if I can find out WHAT'S SCREWED UP!!! Geeeeeeez.... mb

I actually used to have 2 earrings, until my SAVAGE 13-INCH BEAGLE Alf hooked her little claw into one loop and PULLLLLLLED! Would you believe 9 stiches to repair my ripped-apart ear? Luckily, since I went to the hospital in Boulder, Colorado, I was able to get the stitches, grief counseling for the loss of an earring and recommendations for re-piercing. I did, however, have to lie about Alf, since if I admitted any complicity on her part, they'd haul her off to the dog pokie to see if she was rabid and I'd have to fill out about 1000 pages of "dog attack" forms. Actually, since I was attempting to steal her stuffed bunny at the time of the "incident", arguably, I should have been filing out "Michael attack" forms and been taken to the pokie to see if *I* was rabid. In the macro sense, the earrings are/were the result of a misspent life among mountain climbers, tek scuba divers, adventure racers and various military Special Forces guys. On cold, damp mornings, I am reminded of the fact that the earrings are the *least* abusive thing I've done to my poor body! mb

Okay...BDUs! Cut me some slack...it's Monday after Christmas, and all I want to do is play wiht my Robo-Sapien!

Let me unconditionally recommend SIG-TAC BUDs! http://sigarms.com/pc/viewCat_h.asp?idCategory=14 These things are great—apparently indestructable and actually look good. I wore a pair all over Europe a few months ago, and they've become my absolute favorite travel pants. My girlfriend even thinks they're "stylish." mb

Okay guys and guyettes! We crank up Season 3 of SHOOTING GALLERY on 27 December with the International Tactical Rifle Championships from Gillette, WY. Helicopters, Humvees, boats, shots out to 1000 yards...the ITRC is one cooooool match! The new season will be in wide-screen letter-box, cause they're all shot in HDTV. The beta version of the new Outdoor Channel HD should be up in January, with the official "go live" in July. As soon as the beta is up, we'll start looping SGs in hi-def. I'll let you know. I've also been given NEW TIMES for the show: MONDAY 8:30AM Eastern WEDNESDAY 6:00PM Eastern FRIDAY 8:00PM Eastern This is so we can build a "shooting block" along with G&A TV. I believe we've achieved all new levels of non-political correctness this season. Plus, I think this is by far and away the best season we've ever done. As always, THANKS for your support! mb

When are Twinkies going to become a health food? Dammit! Inquiring minds want to KNOW! mb

Got no problem with the FTDR penalty when it is used as an "unsportsmanlike conduct" penalty. In the old days, I threatened to DQ people from an IPSC match for unsportsmanlike conduct (on a provided gun stage, intentionally jamming the provided gun to get a second run) and stood behind one of my ROs when he'd DQ'ed a competitor for unsportsmanlike conduct in another regional match. I think that's the intent of the rule. When it's used to shore up crappy stage design or to force some nitwit "tactical" insti-rule from an accountant with delusions of grandeur, it suxs. mb

Tactical (or administrative) reloads still have and always have had a very SPECIFIC use. As I was taught back in the day, during a lull in the action, usually defined as no more hostile targets visible at a specific position, you top off the gun before moving forward. The reload is performed behind cover either as a speed reload with the magazine (partially charged or not) retained...the method I was encouraged to use...or what we think of as a more "traditional" tactical reload...both magazines at the gun, with the spent magazine retained. The idea was that you would not move forward without a fully charged gun, and since moving forward (go, no/go, in what time frame, etc.) was your decision to make, it wasn't a particularly big issue. This works fine in simulations (and in the real world). Where it breaks down is in a MATCH situation. In a stage, by definition, there is NO "lull in the action." YOU ARE BEING TIMED, and you will be "judged" on how fast you complete the exercise. If I am getting ready to, say, move down a hallway in a simulation, I'll reload the gun before I start moving, and I'll pocket the magazine (mags with bullets in rite front pocket; empty mag in back pocket) because I RISK NOTHING by the action and, who knows, maybe the extra rounds will come in handy. I am behind cover with no known hostiles in front of me, and I am under no time pressure to move forward. If I am in (as the Colonel is fond of saying) Situation Black, under fire, my only objective is to keep the gun charged as fast as humanly possible, using a technique that is built on fundamental, major muscle group movements that can be accomplished without visual reference because Mr. Primate (i.e., me) will be suffering from all sorts of chemical-driven changes that makes any other types of action virtually impossible. By specifying the use of a "tactical" reload or a convoluted "reload with retention" instead of a much faster--and safer--speed reload, you've now substituted a wrench for a hammer on the flawed logic that "they're both tools, so either one works." And, no, IDPA's "taking the tactical reload off the clock," as HQ is wont to do, is actually WORSE, because it "teaches" the IDPA practitioner that there is no situation in which a speedy reload is important. THAT fails the sanity test! There's a reason there are hammers, wrenches, screwdrivers and Sawz-Alls in a toolbox. mb PS: Not everybody agrees with me, either!!!!!!!!!!!

Mark; A fair and honest question, with some EXCELLENT responses! I can only wish that the Powers-That-Be would read and consider them. I think that my views are pretty well known on a lot of what you might think of as the *micro* IDPA issues. Those views are based on research, on spending time with people who do this sort of stuff for a living--police, military and civilian.--and my own experiences in the area of high-risk decision-making. They are not arbitrary. So let me address the *macro* issues: I would ask that IDPA (or any sport, for that matter) be HONEST and REAL. HONEST means that IDPA should: • Accept that it is a *sport*--not training, not a tactical proving ground. • Acknowledge that while IDPA is based on real-world input, the whole concept of "tactical" is a moving target, subject not only to interpretation by different perfectly legitimate experts but to being "overtaken" by real-world events. • Acceptance of the above point implies that the world is, indeed, freestyle; the greatest martial arts instructors have always learned as much, or more, from their students as their students did from them. Competition at its heart is a learning experience. • Honesty REQUIRES us to examine the consequences of our actions. I believe the tactical reload is NOT just another rule to be endured (apologies to Duane T.), but rather a technique that will HONEST TO GOD GET YOU KILLED IN THE REAL WORLD. I can imagine nothing more hypocritical than a sport that launched itself by insisting that it was "real world based" and would not be like those "other guys" and teach you "tactically unsound" things actually INSTITUTIONALIZING a tactic so dangerous that at least one police magazine has gone on record urging its instructor base to avoid it at all costs. REAL means that IDPA *MUST* acknowledge that there are real-world consequences in what we intentionally or inadvertantly teach. • I belive that the obsession with "gaming" is doing a criticial disservice to shooters--especially new shooters. I believe that gaming--the ability to quickly analyze a real-world situations, examine the alternatives and arrive at a best (or less worse) case plan of action--is THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT SKILL I HAVE LEARNED IN THIS SPORT! I believe this ability has quite literally saved my life more than once. I have taught this, I have written it in my articles and books and I can document case after case where "gaming" is the difference between getting to come home on one's feet or in a bag. IDPA's anti-gaming obsession is rooted in two IDPA founders' intense dislike of USPSA's occasional tolerence of *CHEATERS* under the guise of "gamers." If you walk into a potentially lethal situation and are "surprised"--a word I have heard 1000 times at IDPA matches as the rationale for non-gaming--YOU HAVE ALREADY FAILED! Does it happen in the real world? Of course. But aren't we better off teaching gaming skills than institutionalizing failure? • REAL also means a willingness to forgo "false macho" trappings appearing under the guise of "tactical reality." For instance, I know if I throw myself on a hard surface, I'm going to pay for it in my knees and elbows. if my life is on the line, however, I'm willing to "give up" my already badly abused knees or other chunks of my body. I--and no sane person I know of--is willing to do the same to "prove" how real world we are in a match. If I don't wear kneepads in a match and I injury myself, what have I proven? That I'm "tactical?" Or that I'm a now injured Walter Mitty? I trashed my lungs by staying too long on a Big Mountain; I made that decision, and I live with the results. Would I have made the same decision if I had been in a high-altitude simulator in downtown Denver? Get real. • Real means an acceptance of the absolute truth that "the game ain't the thing." As the great Jim Cirillo once said to me at a match, "You know, the targets ain't shooting back!" Being a good IDPA shooter does NOT make you a stealthy ninja gunfighter, because the targets are not shooting back. If you BELIEVE you are a stealthy ninja gunfighter because you are in the upper 1% of IDPA shooters, I believe you are actually MORE likely to end up as somebody's dinner, because your mind is going to be making bets that your body/skillset probably can't cover. Good lord...that's enough verbose nonsense for one night! mb

On the same topic, geeeeez, you guys can *remember* 1997? mb-again

Duane-T... Perhaps memory *is* the second thing to go! My apologies for misquoting you. Still and all, I'll stand by the sentiments. mb

Erik; I use a chest holster made by Survival Sheath Systems for hiking and biking, and I really like it.Survival Sheath Systems It stays clear of my hydration system and/or backpack, can be easily concealed beneath a fleece vest or windshell and has enough straps to make it infinitely customizable as to where the holster hangs. What I really like is that the holster can be adjusted to hang pretty tightly against the chest and not flop around. I can still use a back-mounted fanny pack while biking wit this holster, too. I specified my holster "gun butt down/right," as I hate things that go bang pointing at my head! Still and all, I opt for a revolver for backcountry carry. I use an S&W 296 TiLite .44 Special snubby with 200-gr SilverTips. I consider this one of the best backcountry guns ever made. A J-frame in a chest holster would be pretty invisible under almost any clothing. Give this one a try! mb PS: I also like the SafePackers for non-strenuous activities.

Ron; I think most of what you're referring to is the crapola used to sell gun magazines. It's the old AMERICAN HANDGUNNER theory of "Everything You KNow Is Wrong--Amazingly Efficient Death Dealing Stealth Ninja Secret Shooting Techniques Now Revealed For The First Time Only Here We're Not Kidding" every issue. Most of the good instructors that I respect see point shooting as nothing but another tool to put in the box, to be used when the situation dictates. It's the same mentality that got all of us "competition shooters" whacked in the gun mags by guys who couldn't hit Pittsburg if you gave 'em three hi-caps and a fire hose. And yeah, I probably wrote some of that crapola myself...mea culpa... mb

I think a lot of the subjectivity issues are coming home to roost...the shine is pretty much off the sport, and I would be very surprised if IDPA was showing a net (note that pesky word, NET) increase in members these days. Don't get me wrong--it's still fun to shoot, although there are Local Tactical Gods with whom I will not run a stage if they're officiating (and I'm a big enough a^$hole to make that stick). It's a shame, really. As Duane T. has reminded me, it's just another sport with another set of non-realistic BS rules and the standard quota of Nazis. Do what the not-so-nice man tells you to do. Too bad. It started out with such promise! mb

Competition = Pressure Shooting Under Pressure = Good Interestingly enough, while out trolling for SHOOTING GALLERY shows recently, I came across a guy who had totally bought into the "competition is bad" rap. He faithfully practiced, dry-fired, trainied with his buddies, took classes and was, indeed, a fine shooter until the pressure got ramped up and his skills started showing cracks. Back when I was doing seriously stupid things like cave diving and mountaineering, we were constantly training under all sorts of artificial pressure, because when you absolutely positively had to call on your basic skills, you could be pretty sure that the situation was going to be icky in the extreme. Incidentally, I've come to believe there's even a time and a place for point shooting, because really good people who are out on the sharp end of the stick have shown me where my own preconceptions were flawed. Incidentally incidentally, I just got back today from Gunsite, working a bit with Giles Stock for SHOOTING GALLERY. If it hasn't regained its place as the best shooting school in the world, I'd say it's at least a toss-up. And I get out a lot. Hopefully, we're going to be formally announcing an on-going relationship between SHOOTING GALLERY and Gunsite at the SHOT Show. It'll be neat! mb

Rhino; That writing thing is a b...ear, isn't it? Looks like I'm going to be able to take Lee Child and T. Jefferson Parker to the range for an episode of SHOOTING GALLERY... Go ahead...beg! mb

Rhino; Together, you and I will march forcefully into the future, shooting IDPA matches and terrifying match directors everywhere. You know, I'm really in the mood to write a western [not to change the subject], but I will be lynched if I don't finish the sequel to ALL NIGHT RADIO. Plus, the sex stuff is pretty good, if I do say so myself. My women readers liked it, too. RE: Matt B., HE is the true legend, if for no other reason than his awesome commentary at the Olympic Shooting Center a couple of years back. If practical shooting had three or four Matt B.'s, it wouldn't need *ME* to put it on television!!! mb

Chris G...you're right!!! outerlimits...oh god, my history with rental cars is...perhaps not all it should be. Do you refer to the rental car I "lost" in New Orleans, or the one I "misplaced" somewhere in south Arkansas/north Louisiana? Or perhaps the one totalled by a drunken cowboy in Dallas when I was there for the USPSA Nationals many moons ago (that one almost ended me up in the Dallas pokey, when I began shouting at the local cop after he referred to the accident, which turned my rental into a giant bookend and left his FRIEND'S Chevy pick-up a pile of debris in the middle of an intersection, as a "minor collision" with less than $500 damage? When he slapped me up against the side of the squad car and said, "Where do you think you are? This is Texas, boy!!!"). Or maybe the rental that taught me the inescapable fact that Geo Metros make lousy off-road vehicles? Imagine that. To all the rental companies out there, I'm sorry...really. I am the soul of moderation these days...plus, I don't do off-the-wall magazine articles anymore, so I'm less inclined to be doing REALLY STUPID STUFF on a professional basis. Plus plus, thank heavens for the "supplementary insurance"...$12 a day and you get to go home). mb

As if you don't get enough if me already! You can get there through the SHOOTING GALLERY site, SGTV, or directly through The Michael Bane Blog. Feel free to make nasty comments. mb

A camo toilet seat cover??? HOLY CRAP, no wonder I can't find my toilet! mb

Thanks, guys! And, Ken, I will check out Kiowa Creek... mb

Spent a day last week filming Sevigny and Julie Goloski for an episode of SHOOTING GALLERY (figure late February airing, with the episode focused on shooting and moving and how to 'game' competition stages). Sevigny is shooting better than I've ever seen him shoot (and I've seen him shoot real good), and he is big time focused on the Worlds. Unless something really drastic happens, I can't imagine that he's beatable. Also, since Mike & Mike moved the Steel Challenge (WHAT A SHOCK! MATCH DIRECTORS WHO ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO SHOOT THEIR MATCH!), we'll be in Equador filming the World Shoot, so you'll all get to see Sevigny shoot, too. Thanks, M&M! mb

A question for you guys... I mentioned awhile back that I wanted to do a sporting clays instructional piece (using me as a crash test dummy...from pistol to shotgun, etc.) for SHOOTING GALLERY. I said at the time that I'd talked to one shooting school, but some of the private feedback I got from the list on that school was less than positive. Since then I haven't gotten the "warm-and-fuzzies" from those particular instructors, and on these instructional type shows, *everybody* has to be having fun, or it doesn't work. So, I'm open to suggestions for instructors to put together such a show. A friend of mine in Georgia has suggested Casey Atkinson. To me, I'm looking for skill AND a sense of humor. Suggestions??? mb