NRA Personal Firearm Defense Video

[kel-tecfan]

I watched and was quite disappointed in the information it gave. At one particular point the instructor was racking the slide with his foot??? I also disagreed with fully extending and locking elbows when firing a handgun. I've found that being ridged when firing a handgun makes recoil less manageable and uncomfortable. The video seemed more for law enforcement who use a standard belt holster. How many conceal carriers use standard belt holster and wear suit jacket? The techniques taught predominately would work only for people using such a holster. I use either a shoulder or waistband holster so the techniques seemed not applicable to me. Needless to say I was disappointed in the video and probably will not ever watch another NRA training video. I've found better videos for free on Youtube.

 

[JohnP82]

I have watched several different videos and some apply to me and some don't. Either way I usually still find them somewhat interesting even if they are not really applicable for me. Sorry you did not enjoy this one and I hope you did not pay too much for it.

 

[r6vr6]

I recently joined the NRA and was not happy with them sending me an unsolicited DVD that they wanted money for. They did provide an envelope to send it back but they could have saved money and not sent it in the first place.

 

[Koukalaka]

+1

I agree with r6vr6. I'm glad to be an NRA member, and I don't generally complain about the constant stream of junk mail that's resulted from my membership...but this one was a little weird. Clearly they're trying to guilt us into buying the DVD, or they're simply causing confusion, as I think a lot of people probably look the info over and assume they have to return the DVD or buy it.

 

[Joe Williams]

Being able to use your foot to help rack the slide could come in hand should you be injured and only have the use of one arm. You can use your belt too. I practice this from time to time... but not with a loaded gun. Too chicken, there's a decent chance that you will shoot yourself if you screw up and have your booger picker where it doesn't belong.

I nearly always find something in training, whether it be in person or from videos. Even if they don't apply directly to me, I think it's worthwhile to master as much as possible.

 

[rhino]

I watched and was quite disappointed in the information it gave. At one particular point the instructor was racking the slide with his foot??? I also disagreed with fully extending and locking elbows when firing a handgun. I've found that being ridged when firing a handgun makes recoil less manageable and uncomfortable. The video seemed more for law enforcement who use a standard belt holster. How many conceal carriers use standard belt holster and wear suit jacket? The techniques taught predominately would work only for people using such a holster. I use either a shoulder or waistband holster so the techniques seemed not applicable to me. Needless to say I was disappointed in the video and probably will not ever watch another NRA training video. I've found better videos for free on Youtube.

Are you referring to the video series produced by Rob Pincus? If so, then I think I can respond to some of your comments. I've trained with Rob as have several others on INGO (in person) and I've seen most of the DVDs in that series at least once. If it's something else, then please disregard.

Re: racking the slide on the foot . . . what was the context? I assume it was in the context of manipulating the slide when you only have one hand available. If that assumption is correct, then what is the problem? Not everyone can do it, but if you only have one hand available and you need to rack the slide, doing it on your shoe is well-recognized and valid technique for doing so.

Re: full extension and locking the elbows ... I know Rob recommends shooting at full extension when possible, but did you hear him explicitly state or advocate locking the elbows? Full extension and locking the elbows are not necessarily the same thing. Many (most) of the leading shooting and defensive tactics instructors in the business advocate shooting from full extension when possible. The exceptions are usually those who teach some variant of a Weaver Stance, but that's a completely different issue.

Re: belt holsters ... what techniques were demonstrated that could be done with a regular belt holster, but not an IWB holster? Examples, please? I can't think of many. If you're referring to something like racking the slide on a rigid holster, that works for IWB too if you have a proper holster. Obviously that won't work with some floppy rag-like thing that resembles a proper holster, but those have a lot of issues that make them less than ideal for carry. Any proper holster should be rigid enough to allow reholstering with one hand.

Ultimately, if the material in the videos isn't useful to you, you've got the right idea: don't watch any more of them. Based on your comments, though, I am not convinced that you fully understood what you were watching. I find it unusual that anyone would think they have nothing to learn from that series of videos. I've been attending classes for a few years with a variety of instructors and I still learned a few things from those videos.

 

[Rob Pincus]

Rhino,

THanks for jumping in... look like you covered the specifics well!

Kel-tec,

While you might not have appreciated the information in this particular DVD, I hope you won't write off the entire American Rifleman / Personal Firearms Defense video series. For example, given your code name, you might appreciate the recently released "Sub Compact Firearms" DVD ... no single hour of video training can cover everything for everyone.

If I can answer any specific questions, please let me know.

-RJP

 

[Bisley Man]

Any firearm training video/dvd needs to watched (studied)AT LEAST TWICE! I can personally attest that Mr. Pincus DVD's are topnotch. The best I had was a vcr tape with Col. Jeff Cooper,1990. I watched and studied that tape and loaned it out. I learned more from that tape than any other, SAFETY(4Rules), trigger control and marksmanship.