Did you know that the US Army Marksmanship Unit had a YouTube channel?
I didn’t until the other day.
And they’ve put up their “Basic Rifleman’s Course”, which is broken up into neat 15-minute chunks.
Here’s part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Part 4:
Part 5:
Part 6:
And Part 7:
Sorry this is so long, but I feel like at least a few of my readers will find these educational. If you don’t like it, come back tomorrow: I promise something that’s not related to marksmanship.
I thought I’d continue with yesterday’s theme. I’ve decided that tomorrow is Science Sunday, so if you’re not interested in gun stuff, feel free to skip over today’s entry.
For those of you who are still reading, you might find this an interesting contrast: “Fundamentals of Rifle Marksmanship”. This one is from the United States Marine Corps, and dates to 1999.
Bonus video #1: “Fundamentals of Rifle Marksmanship”, an Army training film from 1971. I’ll warn you: the audio and video quality on this one aren’t great. Really, the only reason I’m putting it here is so that my readers can compare it with the previous video.
Bonus video #2: something a little less military, and a little more nostalgia. “The Making of a Shooter”, a vintage video from the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturer’s Institute (SAAMI). Produced by the Jam Handy Organization, a name that’s probably familiar to MST3K fans and other film buffs.
Before I link today’s videos, I want to give a tip of the Hatlo hat to great and good FoTB (and official firearms trainer to WCD) Karl, who has actually been linking some of my posts on the KR Training FaceBook page. Thanks, Karl!
As a thank you and tribute to Karl: “Combat Firing With Hand Guns” from 1944.
“Being a good shot on a range doesn’t mean that a man will be the same good shot when the target is moving or firing back at him.”
Bonus video #1 and 2: posting these as a hat tip to Bayou Renaissance Man. They’re also pretty long, but we are entering the weekend. Think about your next range trip.
“Rifle Marksmanship With the M1 Rifle”, part 1:
And part 2:
I did finally make it down to Cabela’s on Monday. They were open, but with the standard measures in place: limiting the number of people allowed inside, social distancing (you had to take a number and wait behind a rope just to even approach the gun counter), etc.
They were pretty much cleaned out of handgun ammo. Some rifle ammo and what appeared to be plenty of shotgun ammo with smaller shot. (Think birds and skeet, not self-defense.) Some used pistols, but less than usual. Not a whole lot of used rifles: a fair number of Mosins and a bunch of Savage rifles that they seemed to be clearing out, but very few rifles beyond those. There were obvious holes in the new gun stock, but they weren’t totally sold out.
I saw two pre-Model 27 Smiths, one for $800 and one for $900. Of the two, I liked the $800 one better, and a pre-27 is high on the want list, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to pull the trigger on it. I have the money, but I also had planned a trip for mid-June and was holding on for hotel expenses and possible purchases there.
Then I came home and found out the event I was going to in June was cancelled. So much for that.
(This is kind of cool. It is SA/DA, which fits the criteria I’m looking for to shoot Karl’s “Historical Handgun” class eventually. But I already have one .40 S&W (a Glock 35) and can easily convert my M&P in .357 SIG to .40 S&W as well. I really want something in 10mm (like a S&W 1076/1006), not .40, so I can check that box on my gun hipster bingo card. Also, to be honest, that big “40 TACTICAL” on the slide is kind of a turn-off.)
(Also tempting. If I order now, I should have it in hand for archduke season.)
I’m still thinking accessories instead of new (to me) guns, though, unless I see something at a really compelling price. Also, if things get better, Mike the Musicologist and I are talking about hitting Wanenmacher’s in November…
Let’s talk about guns.
I think today’s featured video falls squarely into the “educational” category. It is also a little better quality than usual.
“Range Safety For Firearms Instructors”, from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC, because I’m not going to keep typing that out). I’m actually quite serious about the educational value of this one: if you’re an NRA certified instructor, all of this is probably covered in your training. But if you’re just a guy taking new or inexperienced shooters to the range, you might get some useful tips out of this.
(It is a little over 15 minutes, but if you’re pressed for time, you can probably skip over the part where they specifically talk about the Uzi. Unless you’re taking new shooters to the range to shoot your full-auto Uzi submachine gun, in which case I want to go with you. Please?)
Bonus video #1: if you’re more pressed for time, here’s a basic introduction to range safety from the National Shooting Sports Foundation that would be good to show to new and inexperienced shooters.
Bonus videos #2 and #3: more from the good folks at FLETC. “Rounds of Authority”, about various types of shotgun ammunition. If you ever wanted to see folks shoot various types of shotgun rounds (including some of the exotics) into various objects (ballistic gel, car doors, soft body armor, etc.) this is the video for you.
In a similar vein, “.40 Caliber Ammunition”, focusing specifically on the .40 S&W and the various tactical and training loads available at the time (1998). And yes, this features more video of stuff being shot.
Keep in mind that these last two are pretty old (23 and 22 years, respectively) and represent what was available at the time, and what the thinking at the time was. Don’t take this as revealed gospel truth today.
When I was young, I was a big fan of “Highway Patrol“. No, I didn’t watch it first run: I’m not that old. One of the Houston UHF stations aired it.
“Highway Patrol” started popping up in my YouTube recommendations, and I’ve been watching episodes occasionally. This episode came up yesterday, and I watched it last night. (I’d already seen the “Most Shocking”.)
What struck me when I was watching was: it is an interesting contrast to this Dragnet 1967 episode on a similar theme:
Note that in “Highway Patrol” it is the sweet innocent wife (who tries so hard to do the right thing) that gets the worst of it, while in “Dragnet” it ends up being the husband who gets some kind of rough justice for his careless drunken driving.
(Also, I get a kick out of “Dan Matthews” handing his gun to folks off the street. His lecture to poor stupid Harry is priceless.)
I don’t want to make this part of the main video feed: I figure everyone who’s interested watches the “Forgotten Weapons” feed anyway.
But I did want to throw in a bonus link to this, since:
This one goes out to all the high explosives fans out there.
“Demolition: Electric Priming”, an Army training film from the 1950s giving you everything you need to know to prime and detonate explosives with electric blasting caps.
Bonus video #1: This is a little long, but I know there are several people who are going to want to watch this: a 1993 interview with Carlos Hathcock, Marine sniper.
Bonus video #2: for this one, I’m going to send you over to Lawrence. He’s put up a pilot for an unsold 1959 “Nero Wolfe” TV series…with William Shatner as Archie Goodwin. To which I can only say: ain’t that a kick in the head?
All of these are just a little outside my target run length, but that’s okay. I hope everyone can deal with that.
First up: this might be just a little too much, even for my readers who are people of the gun. But I wanted to put it up because it is a nice slice of history from around the time I was born.
“Target Vs.”, a 1965 film from the Williams Gun Sight company about the 1965 National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio.
I don’t think I’ll ever be good enough to compete at Camp Perry, but I’d like to visit there one of these days while the matches are going on. Just to take in the scene.
Bonus video #1: “No Points For Second Place”. This is apparently a Grumman produced tribute to the F-14. With some handy tips on dogfighting thrown in.
Bonus video #2: “Police Pursuit Driving Part 2”. I guess this is a sequel (at least thematically) to “Police Pursuit“, but it lacks Jack Webb. I think it also lacks Smith and Wessons, though there is one ridiculous bit in here (you’ll know it when you see it).
I cannot tell a lie: “Some guys stay rookies forever.” gets a rise out of me.
As long as we’re talking about NRA videos and books, I thought I’d mention once again: today is National Buy a Gun Day.
I usually cut folks some slack if BAG Day falls on a Sunday or Monday. This year, I’m going to continue with the slack cutting, given the current circumstances: if you place an order for something today, or purchase something before the end of the day on Sunday, it counts.
I still haven’t found anything I really want: Classic Firearms is selling Beretta M9 pistols for $450. This kind of appeals to me, as someone who has a half-baked desire to accumulate a collection of every US military sidearm, but I don’t know that $450 is all that great a price.
CDNN is offering Radical Firearms AR pattern rifles in .224 Valkyrie for $500. I’m intrigued by .224 Valkyrie as a caliber, but I know nothing about Radical Firearms: I think I’d prefer to either buy a complete rifle from a manufacturer I know something about, or buy a finished upper (again, from someone I’m familiar with) and build up my own .224 rifle.
There’s a nice 4″ S&W in .45 Colt on GunBroker, but it’s up close to $800 right now, which is right on the edge of what I want to pay. I’m pretty confident it will break $1,000 by the time the auction ends tomorrow. Somebody else has another one for sale with a starting bid of $500, but it isn’t as nice.
I still haven’t been able to get out and do any gun photos yet, but I’m hoping to have that done by the weekend.
In the meantime, feel free to post comments with your BAG Day purchase, or send photos, or both.
Our first video today is a little longer than usual, and also not exactly a random YouTube find. This one was recommended to us by great and good FOTB (and official firearms trainer of WCD) Karl Rehn. (Speaking of stuff rescued from obscurity, that NRA pistol manual is pretty spiffy, too.)
“It Could Happen to You!”, a NRA film from the 1970s for women. The archive.org notes say it doesn’t have any guns in it: “Women are shown rather defending themselves with hairpins, their nails, and by locking themselves in their cars with handkerchiefs as SOS flags.”
Bonus video #1: This one should fit a little more comfortably into the coffee break time slot. “The Blackbirds Are Flying”.
No, this isn’t a nature video. This one is from Lockheed Advanced Development Projects, and shows off all three of the Blackbirds.
Bonus video #2: “The Petrified River: The Story of Uranium”. This is a Department of Interior – Bureau of Mines product, but was apparently filmed with the cooperation of the old Union Carbide Corporation. There’s some really nice plane video at the start, RoadRich…
National Buy a Gun day is April 15th, which actually falls on Wednesday this year.
This is kind of a weird year for BAG Day, for obvious reasons. At least in Texas, gun stores are considered “essential businesses”. There are two near me that are open, but taking the standard precautions (limiting the number of customers, sanitizing surfaces, enforcing social distancing, etc.) Cabela’s website says they’re open and doing the same thing, but I haven’t had a chance to run down there recently.
If gun stores in your area aren’t essential businesses, you can still order online, but you’ll need to find someone with a Federal Firearms License that’s open, willing to accept your shipment, and willing to do the transfer. Good luck with that, though Gunbroker does offer a “Find an FFL” service.
The other problem is that everyone is stocking up on guns while they can. I visited the shop nearest me last weekend: they still had some handguns and long guns in stock, but the handgun case was noticeably emptier than it had been. They were also pretty much cleaned out of the most popular ammo, though they were taking signups for 250 round boxes of 9mm FMJ, which they expected to come in this week.
I haven’t really found anything I want at the moment, to be honest. That same shop still has a nice S&W 38/44 HD, but they’re asking $1,300 for it. That’s probably reasonable, but I don’t know that I want to put out that much money for that S&W yet. I haven’t found a 4″ N-frame in a caliber starting with .4 at a price I want to pay, or a Beretta in .25 ACP or .32 at a good price. Don’t get me started on that S&W 1076 of my dreams…
This may be another one of those years where instead of buying a gun, I cross some more accessories off my list. I’d like to put some ghost ring sights and slings on both my social shotgun and my social lever gun. There’s some other smaller stuff I’d like to pick up as well, if I can. So unless I make it to Cabela’s and find something compelling and affordable, that’s probably the way I’m going to go.
I did pick up something in the past month. While it technically doesn’t qualify as a BAG Day purchase, I may post photos of it on BAG Day just for the heck of it. Look for that on Wednesday, if the weather is nice and I can get some pictures taken.