Questions For All Y’all
Vantage Point
Reading the incoming mail has taught me a few things. All y’all know lotsa stuff about lotsa things. Our vast community of common sense wisdom reminds me of a couple of quips from the not-too-distant past.
Corporate America consultant and overall business guru Tom Peters (one of my favorite reads/listens back in the day when I was a slave to the corporate machine) used to quip about how the average Vermont farmer could effortlessly outmaneuver the Ivy League elites clogging up corporate boardrooms.
And then there was conservative commentator William F. Buckley, Jr. He said something to the effect of, “I would rather be governed by the first 2,000 names in the Boston telephone directory than by the 2,000 faculty members of Harvard University.”
That second one gives me a great idea, seeing we’re in a timeout between Presidential administrations. The old guy is taking more naps and the new guy doesn’t officially take charge until January 20, 2025. How about if we refine Buckley’s suggestion just a bit? I propose the following …
Let’s fire Congress — all of them — and replace those bozos with Handgunner readers selected at random.
We wouldn’t need 535 at a time because that would just lead to far too many 9mm vs. .45 ACP arguments — we’d never get anything done. I figure a dozen or so would be an efficiently sized workgroup. Thirty-day rotations (forced term limits) would keep things fresh. Oh, and no repeat terms. Get in there, make some tough decisions without re-election pressure, and go back home when the next shift arrives.
There. Fixed it.
I’m kinda serious about this, but the reason I got on this topic is that I thought it would be fun to query the Handgunner readership on some things. Put out some burning questions to see what comes back in the mail. I’ll agree to report back what the community says in a future Vantage Point.
I’ve always been a vocal critic of our community being too “binary.” You know what I mean. Some technique or opinion is either the one and only answer or the stupidest thing ever. I tend to believe with many things, there can be more than one “correct” answer. For example, will (fill in Weaver or Isosceles here, depending on your binary opinion) save your life or get you killed on the street?
Speaking of …
The folks at Gunsite Academy have always leaned toward
the Weaver Technique, but they’re not binary about it these days.
They seem to go with the flow if the student has found a different
(but still safe and effective) variant that works.
Weaver Or Isosceles?
Fess up. How do you shoot? I figure I’m somewhere in between, stealing the best elements of both. I definitely make liberal use of my support hand, both with the grip strength and to pull back toward the body, opposing the forward pressure by shooting-side arm. What I don’t do is get all wrapped around the axle over exact foot and arm positions. Rather, I’ve let my body find its naturally desired “fighting stance.”
Thoughts? Have you died “on the street” from using the “wrong” technique?
Tom has attended classes in which different thumb techniques have been taught as “the ideal way.” How about you?
Where’d Our Thumbs Go?
Can you tell I’ve been spinning Diana Ross on the turntable this week? Regardless, when shooting a pistol (let’s set aside wheelguns for the moment), where do your thumbs go? I’ve tried three variations over the years: curled down, pointed forward at the target, and, more recently, pointed straight up in the air. Not to influence your responses, but my body and brain keep coming back to straight ahead, even though I tend to interfere with the slide lock lever with some pistols. No worries, my reload habit involves racking the slide anyway, so I don’t really care if the slide locks open from a stray thumb after the last round.
How about you?
Do You Carry At Home?
If you’re reading this magazine, I’m guessing you own one, or probably more, guns. So, they’re in the home when you’re there. The question du jour is, do you carry on your person when puttering around the house? If so, why? If not, why not?
A lot of folks I interact with do, but I won’t mention names in the interest of national security.
Let’s all be thankful you can’t see the original
DIY interior surgery on this Walther PPK/s.
Ever DIY-Wrecked?
I won’t use any names in the compilation results of our collective wisdom and soul-baring exercise here — except my own. I trashed an old Interarms imported Walther PPK/s many years ago and have written about it here before. The process involved a Dremel. It wouldn’t feed much of any defensive hollow-point ammo, so in my infinite lack of wisdom, I figured some feed ramp reshaping was in order. It didn’t end well for the gun, for me, or even the Dremel bits. Humanity was diminished. Thankfully, the folks at Cylinder and Slide were able to raise steel from the dead.
How about you? What’s your best DIY the Destructor story?
Most new pistols seem to be red-dot-ready these days. Have you embraced them? Or are you on the Irons Sights Forever team?
Do You Use a Red Dot?
I get a lot of love and hate mail about red dot sights. The love seems to far outweigh the hate, likely because we’re all getting older, and those red dots are just so easy to see with aging eyes. But the haters sure are passionate. Some even want to ban red dot users from owning handguns.
Are you a fan of trying new technology, or are you still ticked off about the time they started putting scopes on perfectly good iron-sighted rifles?
My End Of The Deal
I figure there’s validity to this crowdsourcing approach. After all, the artificial intelligence we’re so hot and bothered about now is nothing more than a massive aggregation of knowledge with some analysis and observation layered on top. In this case, we’ve got real, honest-to-goodness human experience behind the data.
If any of the burning topics above inspire you, drop me a note at [email protected] and let me know. I’ll keep track and report back. If you send anything unduly embarrassing, I’ll even stick a fake name on it before publication. Pinky swear on that.
