The problem with defensive shooting is that it’s dominated by enthusiasts. That’s not necessarily good for you.

I have a confession to make: I once screwed up a lot of people who came to me for advice. Wait, it’s not what you think! It does, however, directly apply to what I do today, and probably why you’re reading this blog. Allow me to relate my short story. Back in my much-younger days […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On January 15, 2016

Defensive Shooting Myths and Misconceptions: “If I’m limited to 10 rounds, they might as well be .45”

I remember the days of the 1994 “assault weapons” ban: new magazines over 10 rounds were illegal, and even large double-stack 9mm pistols were required to come with 10 round magazines — and any replacements or additionals we bought were limited to 10 rounds, too. “There era of the ‘wondernine’ is over”, opined writer after […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On January 11, 2016

Maintaining your pocket revolver: 8 tips to keep your defensive gun in tip-top shape.

If my emails are any indication, there are a lot of people out there carrying a revolver in their pocket. It might be a backup or secondary gun, but for a lot of people — especially those who live in warmer climates — it’s a primary defensive arm. Now I’ll be the first to admit […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On January 8, 2016

What did you change your mind about in 2015? Here’s what I did.

I’ve come to the belief that one of the most profound questions you can ask anyone who purports to be an expert in any field (to include defensive training) is “what have you changed your mind about?” This isn’t an easy question to answer, and most people you’ll ask will try to wiggle their way […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On January 1, 2016

Defensive Shooting Myths and Misconceptions: “I shoot that gun really well.”

If you spend any time around the internet, whether on gun forums or social media, sooner or later you’ll see someone defending a sub-optimal choice of defensive firearm by saying “I shoot it well.” Now of course everyone is certainly free to carry what they deem fit, and I don’t want to suggest they’re not, […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On December 28, 2015

Do you need backup sights on a defensive rifle? It depends.

Do you need backup sights (BUS or BUIS – “backup iron sights”) on your defensive rifle? The answer is a solid “maybe”, because the choice might not be as clear-cut as you may think. This year’s Bullpup Rifle Experiment taught me a lot; not just about bullpup rifles, but about rifles in general and how we […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On December 14, 2015

The important role of a training partner in your defensive shooting skill development.

In the defensive shooting world we talk a lot about carry guns, calibers, holsters, belts, and all manner of accessories from flashlights to scopes. A large reason for this focus on things is because they’re easily understood and readily quantifiable; it’s easy to compare things by numbers, charts and graphs. We pay comparatively little attention […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On December 7, 2015

Your defensive flashlight: lithium or alkaline? You might be surprised which one I prefer!

In the last couple of years I’ve become a big proponent of the high intensity compact flashlight as a personal security and defense tool. I use those words specifically because the flashlight is the perfect example of a multi-use device: it serves as an early warning system, by allowing you to detect dangers before you […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On November 30, 2015

No, things really haven’t changed: self defense in a post-Paris world.

The bodies in Paris hadn’t even been buried when the agendas got trotted out. No, I’m not talking about gun control or immigration restrictions; I’m not talking about refugees or intelligence sharing or air strikes or border checkpoints, either. I’m talking about the “you need to prepare to deal with this new threat!” brigade. If […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On November 23, 2015

Don’t like your holster? Try changing your pants!

A new holster recently taught me something valuable about concealed carry comfort that had nothing to do with the holster — it had more to do with my pants! I’ve been accused of being a Luddite, and to some degree I can see why people might think that. Yes, I like revolvers and lever action […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On November 16, 2015

What if you disagree with your defensive shooting instructor?

You’re at a defensive shooting class; maybe this is your first, maybe it’s your twenty-first. Your instructor says (or does) something you disagree with. What do you do? There are a lot of different approaches to teaching self-defense shooting, and while at least 90% of the mechanics that are taught are the same from instructor to […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On November 2, 2015

Halloween Safety Tips: how to keep your kids happy and healthy at the same time!

Halloween is upon us again! This is the time of year when the weather here in Oregon turns cold and rainy, but despite that kids still get out and trick-or-treat while their parents (or older siblings) go to festive Halloween parties. Everyone faces higher risks simply due to the activity level, but there are ways […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On October 30, 2015

Tap-Rack is an action, not a dance. You don’t need to add moves to it.

I recently read a blog post about a trainer who got into trouble talking about the “tap-rack” methodology for clearing malfunctions. It seems this person, as many do, added a step to the procedure: “squeeze” (or some term which implied pulling the trigger.) This resulted in a virtual spanking from the internet experts, who decried […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On October 26, 2015

How many self defense classes have you taken this year? They may be holding you back!

One of the common recommendations in the training world is to study with as many different people or schools as you can, to get as many different perspectives as possible in order to get a more fully formed opinion of the subject of defensive shooting (or self defense in general.) I think the idea is […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On October 19, 2015

The Bullpup Rifle Experiment, Epilogue: the Steyr AUG magazine choice – do you prefer Original or Less Reliable?

Apparently this little series has established me as the “go-to guy” for Steyr AUG questions, because my email box has seen a big uptick in volume from people asking various things about the AUG and about bullpups in general. I’m glad that there’s so much interest in these intriguing firearms! As I’ve said, the reason I […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On October 9, 2015

The Bullpup Rifle Experiment, Part 4: do they have a place in the home defense arsenal?

You can probably tell from the contents of this site, and from the books, videos and magazine articles I’ve done, that my focus is on a specific part of the shooting world: that of private sector self defense. I bring this up because there are big differences in the skills needed (and the way they […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On October 7, 2015

The Bullpup Rifle Experiment, Part 3: what did I learn about the Steyr AUG?

(If you’re coming in late, please read Part 1 and Part 2 of The Bullpup Experiment for some background on the project!) While I got to play with several bullpups during the last few months, the vast majority of my hands-on experience was with the Steyr AUG A3 M1 model. As I noted in Part […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On October 6, 2015

On the Umpqua Community College killings.

I’ve had numerous emails and messages asking me what I know about the killings which took place in my backyard this morning. What I can tell you is that I have relatives and friends in Roseburg, some of whom are hurting tonight. Evil came to a beautiful part of the country — my part of […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On October 1, 2015

The Bullpup Rifle Experiment, Part 2: what did I learn about bullpup rifles?

If you’ve read Part 1 of The Bullpup Rifle Experiment, you’ll know that I started out this little project with a relatively simple goal: to find out what the bullpup rifle was all about. I wanted to learn what they were good for, what they weren’t, and perhaps even a little bit of why they […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On September 30, 2015

The Bullpup Rifle Experiment, Part 1: why would I do such a thing?

As you may know, I’m a proponent of the rifle as a defensive tool — particularly for what I refer to as “perimeter defense”, which are threats at distances beyond which we think of the pistol as a more suitable tool, and for defense of a fortified or ensconced position (like being barricaded in your safe […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On September 28, 2015

Self defense ammunition selection: how important is accuracy?

An interesting question came into my mailbox recently: why don’t I ever list accuracy as a criteria for picking ammunition for self defense or for concealed carry? It’s a valid question. After all, when you see a defensive ammunition test (either in a magazine or online), one of the prominent features is almost always an […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On September 22, 2015

Personal safety apps: do they really keep you safer?

Sometimes I think people have a distorted view of personal security — particularly in the media! Now I know that’s hard to believe; after all, if you can’t trust the media, who can you trust? (In case anyone doesn’t get the sarcasm in that sentence, well — it’s sarcasm!) They’ve been reporting lately on a […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On September 17, 2015

What’s the difference between tasks and skills in defensive shooting training? Does it matter?

When training defensive shooting techniques, it’s common — too common, in fact — to focus on the skill used rather than the task to be performed. Now some people will say that those are the same thing, but they’re not. In fact, they’re very different. I recently read an article on the importance of and […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On September 11, 2015

Incident Analysis: family threatened, attacker shot at home in rural Oregon.

Oregon is a wonderful state, generally very peaceful and tranquil. That isn’t to say crime doesn’t happen here, however, and there is the need to be prepared — just like you would anywhere else. Today’s case comes from the Medford Mail-Tribune and offers some lessons to heed. On the evening of July 14th, a man […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On August 20, 2015

Is the old lever action half-cock safety really all that safe?

We’ve all been taught about the half-cock notch on lever action rifles. How safe is it, really? When I was growing up lever action rifles (with the exception of the Savage 99) had no safeties. It was assumed, and taught, that the safe way to carry a lever action with a round in the chamber […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On May 19, 2015

What can a foiled terrorist attack teach us about defensive planning?

By now you’ve no doubt heard about the tragic incident in Garland, Texas. For those who missed it, on Sunday a “Draw Mohammed” Cartoon show was held in that town; contestants vied for the best cartoon in celebration of free speech. There were speakers who are active in the free speech movement, including a Dutch […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On May 5, 2015

Just what is a “critical skill”?

I really should stop reading stuff people link to on FaceBook. I really should. It’s like chocolate chip cookies; you know they’re bad for you, but you eat them anyway! The latest was a linked article which talked about practicing your reloading skills. In it, the other repeatedly referred to reloading the gun as a […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On April 29, 2015

Got a new Glock 43? Looking for holsters and maybe sights??

The 9mm Glock 43 may be new on the market, but it’s already getting a lot of attention from both shooters and accessory makers. Here’s how to find out what’s available for this new “mini-9”! The introduction of the single-stack, striker-fired 9mm Glock 43 pistol has been hard to miss. Everyone’s been talking about it […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On April 27, 2015

Learning how to NOT call attention to yourself is part of self defense!

One of the downsides to what James Burke called “unhindered, untested access to knowledge” is a fundamental misunderstanding of probability and causality. Both are critical to staying safe. This became apparent (for the umpteenth time just this month) when I posted a story on Facebook that dealt with thieves following people home from shooting ranges […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On April 20, 2015

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