Shooting Qualification: Any funny stories?

[Liberty]

I have had people do that too, Sometimes it is excitement, not listening/comprehending, and sometimes it is a language issue. One person thought a "round" = magazine.

The round = magazine could be confusing for those who don't understand english well. In fact one thinks about it the term round is a strange term for this application.

The qualification test seems strange to me. Why all the fire 2 shots .. then fire four. then fire 2?

I don't understand why they don't let us just fire 20 shots at will, then move the targets fire 20 more. then move the target and shoot 10 more. It would save a lot of time, and would be more fun.

[Jeremae]

That is a cool Idea....

Starting with fully loaded gun in a holster, wearing concealment and with sufficient full spare magazines on your belt, draw, fire 20 (with appropriate reload), retreat and fire 20 more, retreat and fire last ten in how many seconds?

It is time to take the Texas CHL challenge, whaddaya say jbirds, LT, SRVA?

My time would be no where as fast but I am gonna set this up at home and try it.(with my 1911 I start with 9 in gun so I will need to have 6 eight round mags on my belt YIKES)

[txinvestigator]

That is a cool Idea....

Starting with fully loaded gun in a holster, wearing concealment and with sufficient full spare magazines on your belt, draw, fire 20 (with appropriate reload), retreat and fire 20 more, retreat and fire last ten in how many seconds?

It is time to take the Texas CHL challenge, whaddaya say jbirds, LT, SRVA?

My time would be no where as fast but I am gonna set this up at home and try it.(with my 1911 I start with 9 in gun so I will need to have 6 eight round mags on my belt YIKES)

It is unrealistic to fire that many rounds, and not practical to test only one draw frmo the holster.

Besides, the CHL test is not a test of one's tactical abilities.

[Photoman]

Any law abiding 18yo that isn't mentally ill should be allowed to carry a gun without having to prove some arbitrary ability.

[frankie_the_yankee]

Any law abiding 18yo that isn't mentally ill should be allowed to carry a gun without having to prove some arbitrary ability.

Sadly, I don't think we do a good enough job parenting these days to make that a viable policy option.

Some of us do of course, but far, far too many don't. One of the chief causes, though not the only one, is too many kids growing up without fathers.

In earlier times, kids grew up with a lot more responsibility because they had to. And the parents were forced by circumstances (i.e. no social "safety nets") to be more responsible as well. So they were better role models than many parents of today.

[KBCraig]

That being said; on the first shots of the test he had us load five rounds into the magazines and said "Fire ONE round at the whistle" he blew the whistle and one guy emptied this magazine into the target.

I have had people do that too, Sometimes it is excitement, not listening/comprehending, and sometimes it is a language issue. One person thought a "round" = magazine.

A "round", outside the gun world, is a "turn". I can see how someone not used to the specific terminology could take "fire one round" to mean "fire this round of shots", or "empty the magazine".

Our range commands for at work for qualification are, "When the target turns, draw and fire n shots." Not "rounds". I never thought of it before, but I'm sure they chose "shots" for that reason.

[txinvestigator]

That being said; on the first shots of the test he had us load five rounds into the magazines and said "Fire ONE round at the whistle" he blew the whistle and one guy emptied this magazine into the target.

I have had people do that too, Sometimes it is excitement, not listening/comprehending, and sometimes it is a language issue. One person thought a "round" = magazine.

A "round", outside the gun world, is a "turn". I can see how someone not used to the specific terminology could take "fire one round" to mean "fire this round of shots", or "empty the magazine".

That is precisely why I did not chastise him. I explained the terminology and we went on. I try now to remember now to say "shot" rather than "round".

[mikeloc]

Great post Jeff and Linda.

The troopers at DPS do an excellent job of helping everyone on the range. Safety being the main issue and the shooter using proper form and shooting technique per instructions taught by DPS and procedures passed on to chl students when we conduct classes. With the proper introduction to shooting many first time students continue to practice and become very good shooters without learning the incorrect way of handle a handgun.

Mike

[WarHawk-AVG]

Any law abiding 18yo that isn't mentally ill should be allowed to carry a gun without having to prove some arbitrary ability.

What part of "shall not be infringed" doesn't the government understand?

Did it say "shall be allowed only if you have a license"

[brewster]

A buddy of mine used to be the building official and code enforcement officer of a local city. As a peace officer, he was techinally a cop, but wasn't if you know what I mean. Anyway, he qualified with all of the cops whenever required by the city.

Well, my buddy is a great shot, even on a bad day with the flu. He can shoot tight groups with a .45 in low light at 25 yds. that would take most of us use a bench rest and spot light to match. Here's where the story starts.

It was pretty common that during qualifying, where you shoot a designated number of rounds, that he would have a big hole blown through the middle of his target, and he was simply zipping lead through the empty hole, time after time. He would often achieve this and have a few mags left over that he was "required" to shoot.

I'm not a cop, but they goof off a lot. Here's a prime example. He'd take his last clip or two and shoot at his buddy's targets on the left or right of him. Needless to say, they were barely on sides the target, and on purpose, so be was able to make those guys look like they qualified with a slingshot! Funny....a good time was had by all!

[Jeremae]

That is a cool Idea....

Starting with fully loaded gun in a holster, wearing concealment and with sufficient full spare magazines on your belt, draw, fire 20 (with appropriate reload), retreat and fire 20 more, retreat and fire last ten in how many seconds?

It is time to take the Texas CHL challenge, whaddaya say jbirds, LT, SRVA?

My time would be no where as fast but I am gonna set this up at home and try it.(with my 1911 I start with 9 in gun so I will need to have 6 eight round mags on my belt YIKES)

It is unrealistic to fire that many rounds, and not practical to test only one draw frmo the holster.

Besides, the CHL test is not a test of one's tactical abilities.

I was basically saying that using the 50 round COF as a basis, it would be an interesting exercise. Something FUN to do that would streach my skills as a handgun shooter. When it comes right down to it, EVERY IDPA COF is unrealistic because they are almost all 12 rounds or more at multiple targets and studies show the average gunfight is what 5 rounds at most between 2 participants? But then, IDPA is a game, something FUN to do that allows us to practice various handgun skills.

The CHL Test is a handgun proficiency test, right?

I was NOT poking fun at the CHL test strings or even complaining about it.

You will note that I did NOT post any AMUSING stories about those participating at my CHL class and it was because I recognize there are always going to be people of varying skill levels and it is WRONG to mock those of lesser skill than myself. As a IDPA CDP NOVICE shooter, I am well aware that there are MANY people who can look down upon my skill level, but they never do. Instead they encourage me and try to give the best advice to help me improve my skills. This is the model I have chosen for my own behavoir.

Well I WAS gonna post about the old guy next to me who shot the test with a 32 Auto (A Kel Tec I think) but I didn't think anyone would believe me when I said you could cover all his shots with 1 hand....