Utah Concealed Firearm Permit Course

On Sunday, December 4, 2011 ATTS held it's largest Utah Concealed Firearm Permit course to date with 33 students in attendance.  Interest in the Non-resident Utah CFP has increased dramatically due to the State of Wisconsin finally adopting concealed carry on November 1st, and because Wisconsin recognizes the Utah non-resident permit from Illinois residents. 

ATTS will be scheduling at least one class a month in 2012 to keep up with the demand for the Utah permit.  ATTS offers a complete training package to all of it's students which includes all necessary documentation, state mandated training, instructor sign-off and fingerprinting service.  If and when Illinois ever adopts concealed carry, ATTS will be ready to begin teaching those courses as well 
http://publicsafety.utah.gov/bci/ 

ATTS "Black Rifle Basics" Course Granted NRA LEAD Approval

On November 23, 2011 ATTS was notified by the NRA Law Enforcement Activities Division that our ATTS "Black Rifle Basics" course was a registered and approved course with the NRA LEAD.  This is exciting news.  The "Black Rifle Basics" Course is an indoctrination into the AR-15 platform of rifles.

This now makes a total of two ATTS courses that have been registered and approved through NRA LEAD.  Our first was the ATTS Tactical Shotgun course, which was approved in September of 2011.  Getting course approval was a very tough process but well worth the effort.  Several-hundred hours of hard work and dedication went into putting together the training curriculum's, the corresponding Power Point presentations, the instructor lesson plans, and the final written exams.

The next courses we are preparing to submit to the NRA LEAD are the ATTS Tactical Pistol Course.  This will be closely followed by the ATTS Precision Rifle (Sniper) Course.  Keep watching the ATTS web site and this Blog page for course updates.    

.45 GAP Handgun Safari in Tennessee

While returning from the IALEFI Master Firearms Instructor Development Course held in Chattanooga, I decided to stop off at the Caryonah Hunting Lodge in Crossville, Tennessee http://www.caryonah.com/ and do some Handgun hunting.  The Caryonah Lodge has the distinction of being the oldest family-owned hunting lodge in the United States.  It has been operated by the same family for over sixty years.  I had hunted at the Lodge once before, so I knew what to expect.  Excellent food and lodging, and a great hunting experience with my favorite guide, Doug. 

On this trip, I was going to hunt several species of the Exotic Rams and Goats with the Glock Model 37 pistol, chambered for the .45 Glock Action Pistol (GAP) round.  For ammunition, I would be using the Corbon 200 grain JHP bullet.  These hollow-points resemble the old Speer "Flying Ashtrays."  I chose the .45 GAP cartridge because it is my favorite Home Defense and Concealed Carry pistol/cartridge combination.  My research also showed nobody had yet to take any game animals with it, so essentially these would be the first game animals harvested with this round in the United States.

We started the day off with an excellent breakfast and then Doug and I headed afield.  Three days prior to my hunt, eastern Tennessee had experienced several days of torrential rainfall so the game seemed non-existent.  We finally found a very nice Painted Desert Ram high up on a ridge.  Doug and I formulated a plan, so I took off to stalk this Ram and get within iron-sight handgun range.  I got to within thirty yards of the Ram but the brush was too heavy for a clear shot so he ran off.

Doug and I regrouped and came to the conclusion that the heavy rain had pushed the animals to deep cover, so we'd have to push the heaviest brush we could find on the 2,400 acre lodge.  An hour or so later, we were making a push through some heavy brush when we spotted a herd of Rams sneaking ahead of us.  I took off to the right of the herd and spotted an exceptional Barbarossa Ram in a clearing.  One shot from the Glock dropped the Ram.  He sported a very nice 32" spread on his horns.  After taking some photos and dressing out the Ram I took off to stalk the group.

The next Ram I spotted was the same Painted Desert Ram I saw on the ridge earlier that morning.  He saw me and immediately took off.  After several minutes of stalking, I managed to cut him off and dropped him with the .45 GAP as well.  The Painted Desert Ram is one of the most beautiful of all the Exotic Ram species.  This one was no exception.

Doug showed up so we took some more photos, dressed the Ram out and I went after the group once again.  Sometime later, I spotted a very nice Black Hawaiian Ram sneaking through the brush.  I acted as if I didn't see him and continued on past him to set up an ambush point.  The Ram appeared right where I expected him to show, but sensed I was there and started to run.  Another one of Corbon's "Flying Ashtrays" found it's mark and the Black Ram was mine.  We performed the customary photographic ritual once again and dressed the Ram out.  We headed back to the lodge to hang our quarry and have a fine lunch.

After lunch, Doug had mentioned that he had seen a fine Jacobs (4-horn) Ram in some high Swale grass in another corner of the lodge.  We proceed off to the spot and started to walk through the area.  I saw a patch of white to my right and then saw the outline of a very nice Spanish Goat.  The Goat turned to leave, but the 200 grain Corbon JHP caught him behind the left shoulder and down he went. 

As I was walking towards the Spanish Goat, I saw a set of horns sticking above the swale grass.  I turned and stalked the Ram to within seven yards or so.  The Jacobs Ram was standing deep in the high grass, so I figured he probably didn't think I saw him, so he'd stay put until I passed by.  That was a mistake on his part.  I shot this Ram and he just looked at me as if I had missed.  I shot him twice more before he finally fell.  The Jacobs Ram is a thick, and extremely woolly beast, so I believe some of that thick wool may have plugged up the hollow-point bullet so it didn't expand as expected.  All three shots were well placed and lethal.  We took our final photos and dressed out the two animals.

We drove back to the lodge and hung the game with the other three Rams.  All in all, I harvested five excellent animals.  They will all make wonderful wall mounts.  The taxidermist arrived and took possession of them.  This hunt has all but completed my Grand Slam for the Exotic Rams species.  Several years prior, I had taken a very surley Wild Boar, an excellent Texas Dall Ram and a beautiful Corsican Ram.  The final Ram I need for the Grand Slam is the Mouflon Ram.

I was leaving very early the following morning, so I bid goodbye to the staff at Caryonah and to my guide Doug that evening.  With such as successful hunt under my belt, the ten-hour drive back to the Chicago area didn't seem so bad.        

      

What's New Isn't Exactly What's Best

I received an E-mail depicting photographs of a very ugly firearm mishap.  After reading the shooter’s tale of woe, there is no doubt in my mind that the cause of this incident was operator error.  It seems this guy was preparing for the hunting trip of a lifetime and was sighting in his .300 Remington Ultra Magnum. 

While he was shooting, he inadvertently placed a .325 Winchester Short Magnum round into the chamber and pulled the trigger.  Since the .325 WSM is a much shorter round than the .300 RUM, the .325 chambered.  The .325 WSM is a shortened version of the now defunct 8 M/M Remington Magnum.  Essentially, this guy was trying to push a .323 bullet diameter through a .308 diameter barrel, so he is lucky enough just to be alive.  The chamber pressures had to be off the scale.  Mixing ammunition is a recipe to disaster.  If you’re sighting in several rifles during one range outing, it’s a prudent idea to move any other rifles and ammunition off of the shooting bench.  Then check and double-check your ammunition prior to shooting it or when storing it away.  Don’t mix various calibers of ammunition in the same storage containers.

Now maybe it's just me, but when the firearm industry introduced all of these Super-duper, Super-short and Super-long Magnums I thought they were trying to reinvent the wheel to revive a stagnant industry.  Most, if not all of these so-called "Modern" hunting cartridges have already gone the way of the Passenger Pigeon.  Maybe I'm old fashioned but I'll stick with the tried and true rifle rounds.  I personally like the .223 Remington, the .243 Winchester, the .308 Winchester and the .30-06 Springfield.  All of these afore-mentioned rounds have harvested boatloads of game of both the two and four legged variety. 

Now don’t get me wrong, I also like several of the magnum cartridges as well.  It’s not a secret that I'm quite fond of Weatherby rifles, so I do cherish my .257 Weatherby Magnum, my .300 Weatherby Magnum, and my .378 Weatherby Magnum.  My .257 WM has accounted for several Pronghorn and a Mule Deer or two.  The .257 WM is my top choice for Deer and Antelope.  It has never failed to drop any animal I shot with one round. 

I also think the .300 and .338 Winchester Magnums in their original forms are both wonderful performers on big, heavy tough animals.  I once owned a .338 Winchester.  It was quite a rifle.  An acquaintance of mine has taken several large Moose with the .338 in Alaska and a large Bull Elk.  I’ve also taken a very good Bull Elk in Wyoming with a .300 Winchester Magnum. 

I know, I know, belted magnums are supposedly passé but so what!  I once owned a 7 M/M Remington Magnum for about 30 years and shot the snot out of it.  The Big 7 was a great performer on targets as well as on big game, but I did feel severely under-gunned with it when I went to Alaska in 1988 and saw Grizzly prints as big as my head.  On that trip I shot a Caribou on a dead run with the 7 M/M Magnum at over 230 yards.  It fell as if a bolt of lightning had struck it.  When I got home from Alaska I bought a .375 H&H Magnum.  I was never going to travel into big bear country again without a major fight stopper in my hands.  The .375 H&H Magnum was like a good insurance policy.  I hoped I never have to use it but if I did, I was well covered.    

Belted magnums have been around since at least 1912.  That was back during the Holland & Holland days and Cordite stick powder.  The .300 and .375 H&H Magnums killed thousands of head of African game throughout the years with excellent results.  The belted magnums became even more popular with big-game globetrotters when a man named Roy Weatherby began building rifles out of his garage in South Gate, CA in 1944. 

Winchester then introduced their own line of belted magnums in 1958 with four stellar rounds.  The .264 Winchester Magnum, the .300 Winchester Magnum, the 338 Winchester Magnum, and the .458 Winchester Magnum.  The .264 WM was a real screamer and barrel life suffered greatly because of it.  You were lucky to get over 1,000 rounds out of a .264 WM barrel.  I once knew a man out west who burned one out in about 700 rounds.  But up to that point it was a Mule Deer and Pronghorn killer deluxe.

The point I’m making here is that we’ve had a slew of excellent tried and true Magnum and standard game-getters available to us for decades.  So why the fuss over these new rifle rounds?  Ironically, most if not all of these new flash in the pan rounds are already dead and buried.  I think the only ones that seem to be holding on are the 7 M/M and .300 Remington Ultra Magnums. 

The only new magnum rifle round that I believe to be relevant is the .338 Lapua.  Now that’s one Hell of a cartridge.  Ask any British or American military sniper in Iraq or Afghanistan what they think of this long-range death ray.  It can drive a 250 grain bullet at 3,000 feet per second and still remains supersonic at 1,000 yards.  That is awesome killing power.  The .338 Lapua doesn’t sport a belted case so it headspaces on the shoulder like most standard cartridges.  Because of the military’s high regard for this round and its growing acceptance in the law enforcement community, I believe the .338 Lapua is definitely here to stay.   

         

ATTS Receives NRA LED Approval For New Tactical Shotgun Course

I'm proud to announce that the Academy of Tactical Training & Security, LLC finally received it's long-awaited course approval letter from the NRA's Law Enforcement Division (LED) for our new ATTS Two-day Tactical Shotgun course.  ATTS is now in the process of securing ranges to host this exciting new course offering for our students. 

Since most firearm confrontations happen after dark, the live-fire portion of the class will also include low-light training and shooting drills.  I believe this class may very well become one of our most popular course offerings to date.

ATTS is also in the process of submitting it's Tactical Pistol and Tactical Carbine courses to the NRA LED so we can gain approved status for them as well.  Our ultimate goal here at ATTS is to have all of our courses approved by the NRA.     

http://www.guntrainingil.com/
www.nrahq.org/law/

My Reflections of 9/11.

Like many of you probably did ten years ago, I watched with horror as two planes collided into the World Trade Center Twin Towers.  My first thought was that both of my Half-sisters in New York were dead.  One worked in Building One, and the other worked in Building Seven. 

I frantically called for hours trying to get word of their status, and it wasn't until 11:00 PM that my older sister called me back and told me of her ordeal.  She watched with disbelief as people plunged to their death from the windows of the WTC.  Those images still haunt us both today.  I can't think about those people without weeping openly as I am doing now.

That was also the first day I ever gave blood.  I went to Lutheran General Hospital and the line to donate blood started at the main entrance and wrapped around the building.  As I waited, I saw a gentleman walk in solemnly.  He kept his eyes to the ground the whole time he was in line.  This gentleman was of Islamic background.  He had the typical middle-eastern type beard, clothing, and head covering.  At first, I looked at him with rage in my heart, but then I realized, what a great amount of courage it took for him to venture out to donate blood on that terrible day.

He could have easily been beaten savagely by the crowd or killed.  It was at that exact minute I decided that if he had the Intestinal Fortitude to stand in line to give blood, I'd defend him to the death if necessary.  His presence in that line, at least to me, proved that he too was an AMERICAN!  Thankfully, nobody tried to bother him, and nobody said a negative word to him.

That is the memory I will carry with me to the grave about the attack on America on September 11, 2001.  The quiet Middle-eastern man who came to give blood for the victims of 9/11.  As far as I'm concerned, he too was a hero in my book.

The Greatest Battle Ever Waged.

I don't know if you remember what I consider the greatest Football game EVER played in the history of the sport.  That was the AFC Divisional Playoff Game between the Miami Dolphins and the San Diego Chargers on January 2, 1982.  It was touted as "The Game No One Should Have Lost."  On that balmy Miami evening, the determined combatants gave every ounce, every scintilla of their being to win this game.  If you were born after 1982, I strongly urge you to find a copy of the game and watch it without any interruption. 

As I watched my TV, I wept with pride.  I no longer cared who won or lost because of the epic struggle that was playing out before my eyes.  The battle was finally decided in overtime after 4 hours and 5 minutes.  The score was 41-38 in favor of the San Diego Chargers.    

After the game, several of the players were so severely dehydrated, they had to have IV's inserted in their arms.  Several were bloodied, and couldn't walk from the terrible cramps they endured.  A couple couldn't even speak.  This was a total all-out war, pure and simple.  Neither side would give up.  It was ultimate combat.  Like watching a Gladiator school. 

This game was an excellent example of the true warrior spirit.  Of never giving up the struggle, and fighting to the death if necessary.  We as instructors of martial weapons can learn a lot from the unbelievable effort that Chargers Tight-end, Kellen Winslow, put forward on that fateful evening.  We should try to instill this "never say die, never give an inch" attitude into every student we train.  It may save their life someday.