I’m talking about non-LE civilians here, although the lessons would seem to apply to LE as well.
I’m exchanging emails right now with a guy that wants to come out and shoot our matches. His very first questions are “what thigh holster and tac vest should I buy”. I’ve exchanged several emails now where I keep trying to tell him to first pick his carry holster and mag pouches and then build the rest of his system around that. He just keeps on coming back to the vest and thigh holster.
While on the one hand I think this is indicative of his mindset (silly me, it’s a shoot and if I were starting out I’d be wanting to make sure that my GUN was squared away before worrying about my tac gear) I also see this kind of attitude all the time from new guys. They just assume that the guns and the skills will be there and jump right ahead to the finer points of the load bearing system. Cart before the horse, IMHO, and these are the same guys that waddle to the line loaded for bear.
So in what order did you build your system? For me, I assume that I’m most likely to have my pistol on me in my regular carry holster, and all my other load carrying gear has to work in conjunction with same. I’ve also proven to myself over and over again that I’m too stupid to find the pistol in a different place every single time and as such it needs to be in the same place every single time, thereby again necessitating that whatever other gear I choose works with my carry gun/holster.
Rob you got it nailed brother, good luck w/ this fella and +1 on the cart before Trigger.
When I bought my 1st (and only) chest rig, I went w/ Paul’s original design after asking him for his input.
He steered me there not needing the smoke up his skirt (talking Howe here, sheesh) but being a non-LE civie like you,
I’ve been carrying in an IWB since 1997 & the outermost rt. hand MBITR allowed me to keep my G30 there in a VERY similair location.
Hence his recommendation on this CR + back in 2004 there weren’t that many choices.
Yes I do remove my IWB when training or shooting a match but the location of my G30 in my CR is within inches of the IWB loc., so for me
it’s still apples to apples. Somewhat different from the way you work it but hell, everyone’s mileage may vary slightly.
Just my .02 & the way I built my PC/CR to mimic my EDC.
Agile53
Warren 2-dot sights installed, shooting improves due to replacing crappy Glock sights.
Dry Fire
Buy 500 rounds ammo
Live-Fire Practice
Buy holster
Buy belt
Buy mag pouch
Bitch about buying stuff that does not work, hide in drawer from wife, then swallow pride, sell for loss on Member Sales Forum, buy quality setup that works this time.
Repeat steps 2-11, then skip to step 17.
Take entry-level class from Tier 1 instructor. Keep mouth closed, ears open, fly zipped, and become a mental sponge.
Come back very humbled but excited. Realize there is huge amount you do not know. Practice, practice, practice.
Keep cakehole closed, absorb more knowledge on M4C.
Take second pistol class from another good instructor.
Feces begin to coagulate, achieve state of enlightment. Realize it is the shooter, not the pistol.
For gear selection I would ask what type of shooting they plan on doing. Going to the range once a month with your pistol to leisurely shoot targets is going to require a lot less gear than if you plan on doing any type of competition or tactical shooting.
As noted in the original post, he’s looking to get started shooting matches and drills with us. FWIW, our matches are NOT like IPSC 3-gun ([seifeld]not that there’s anything wrong with that[/seinfeld]).
The base level of shooting a pistol starts with a strong side belt holster and mag pouches on the support side. Once one can consistently shoot at the IDPA “EXPERT” level, then they are ready to try different things in regard to gear choices/placement and “advanced” training. Until one possesses a solid baseline skill level, anything more is a wast of time and effort.
The other end of the spectrum is to help him buy one metric buttload of the Gucci gear that he is so adamant about…then bring him out to the matches and humble him on his marksmanship skills and lousy gunhandling.
Once the humility kicks in he may be more receptive to getting the appropriate priorities towards gun(s), modification(s) and training.
Sometimes they listen without being embarrassed. Other times they have to get knocked down before you can build them up.
I’ll buy the pistol first. Clean it and then take it to the range and run a couple hundred rounds through it to make sure there isn’t any problems. I’ll buy extra mags, then test those. Then I’ll buy a kydex owb/iwb holster depending on what I’m using the pistol for. Then a mag pouch. Go to the range and run my weapon and practice drills and mag exchange drills. Evaluate what the kwirks are with the gun and take a mental note of it.
Buy a pistol. G19 is what I bought. Simple, easy to maintain, cheap ammo.
Take some intro to marksmanship / basic safety class at a local range.
Shoot until you are comfortable with the gun and are reasonably accurate.
Buy a rifle. I bought a S&W M&P 15T mainly cause it looked cool. If I had it to do again I would buy a plain jane LMT, Noveske, Colt, BCM.
Again with the basic class at the local range. Hopefully he gives you an approximation of a fighting stance. Mine did.
Shoot until you have some basic handling skills and feel comfortable with the rifle. By comfortable I mean understand the basic mechanics of how the weapon works, how to clean and maintain it etc. I sold the S&W and bought an LMT/BCM at this point.
Now that you can shoot irons buy an Aimpoint. I started with an Eotech. Another reason to shoot a little before you buy shit.
Sign up for a class from a well know instructor. I went with Pat Rogers. I signed up for a five day class from him. Two days pistol and three days rifle.
Buy gear for class. Your instructor will probably have a list of what is required. I emailed back and forth with Pat and basically bought what he recommended. Everything he recommended was simple and worked. ATS M4 chest rig with double pistol pouch added only. Dump pouch. BFG vickers sling. Oakley eye pro. A lot of pmags.
Go to class and be a sponge. Have a good attitude. Follow all instructions to the best of your ability. I had an absolute blast at class and my shooting progressed so quickly I was honestly surprised. Thanks again to Pat and Mike.
Now go home and practice what you learned. After a year of this you will start to able to tell what gear helps and what gear hurts your performance. Now go crazy with the rails, lights, VFG, slings, whatever.
Sign up for another class to see how you have progressed and what you need to work on. I went with Magpul Dynamics this time. Great reputation and within driving distance.