Shooting Advice

Shooting advice

Words Of Wisdom

Clint Smith, Director of Thunder Ranch, is part drill instructor, and part standup comic (Thunder Ranch is a firearms training facility in Arizona ).

Here are a few of his observation on tactics, firearms, self defense and life as we know it in the civilized world.

"The most important rule in a gunfight is: Always win and cheat if necessary."

"Don't forget, incoming fire has the right of way.."

"Make your attacker advance through a wall of bullets. You may get killed with your own gun, but he'll have to beat you to death with it, cause it's going to be empty."

"If you're not shootin', you should be loadin'. If you're not loadin', you should be movin', if you're not movin', someone's gonna cut your head off and put it on a stick."

"When you reload in low light encounters, don't put your flashlight in your back pocket.. If you light yourself up, you'll look like an angel or the tooth fairy... and you're gonna be one of 'em pretty soon."

"Do something. It may be wrong, but do something."

"Shoot what's available, as long as it's available, until something else becomes available."

"If you carry a gun, people will call you paranoid. That's ridiculous. If you have a gun, what in the hell do you have to be paranoid for."

"Don't shoot fast, unless you also shoot good.."

"You can say 'stop' or 'alto' or use any other word you think will work, but I've found that a large bore muzzle pointed at someone's head is pretty much the universal language."

"You have the rest of your life to solve your problems. How long you live depends on how well you do it."

"You cannot save the planet but you may be able to save yourself and your family."

"Thunder Ranch will be here as long as you'll have us or until someone makes us go away, and either way, it will be exciting."

More Excellent Gun Wisdom.......

The purpose of fighting is to win. There is no possible victory in defense. The sword is more important than the shield, and skill is more important than either. The final weapon is the brain. All else is supplemental.

1. Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.

2. If you find yourself in a fair fight, there is something wrong with your tactics.

3. I carry a gun cause a cop is too heavy.

4. When seconds count, the cops are just minutes away.

5. A reporter did a human-interest piece on the Texas Rangers. The reporter recognized the Colt Model 1911 the Ranger was carrying and asked him 'Why do you carry a 45?' The Ranger responded, 'Because they don't make a 46.'

6. An armed man will kill an unarmed man with monotonous regularity.

7. The old sheriff was attending an awards dinner when a lady commented on his wearing his sidearm. 'Sheriff, I see you have your pistol. Are you expecting trouble?' 'No ma'am. If I were expecting trouble, I would have brought my rifle.'

8. Beware of the man who only has one gun, because he probably knows how to use it very well.

'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

A people that values its privileges above its principles will soon lose both.
If you support the 2nd Amendment of the U.S.

Some more wisdom (if you can call it that)

Murphy's Laws
Rules of a Gunfight

1. Avoid them like the plague
-1. Be aware of what is going on around you by staying in condition yellow.
- 2. Have a plan or two. (If not, a "Last Will & Testament will do.)
Corollary: No plan survives contact with the enemy.
2.Bring at least one gun (don't bring a knife).
- 1. Bring the biggest gun you can handle.
3.Bring friends (as friendly witnesses or fire support).*
- 1.Let close air support or artillery soften-up the target for you. ;-)
4.Make use of available cover.
-1.Remember the difference between concealment and cover.
- 2.Don't get shot (Use cover to your advantage).
5.Place your shots well.
-1.Pay attention to where your shots fall.
- 2."Speed's fine, but accuracy is final."
-3.Don't miss. (You can't miss fast enough to win.)
6.Rules of drawing
-1.If you're the bad guy, draw & shoot first.
- 2.If you're the good guy, draw second and shoot first.
7.Never turn your back on an armed bad guy, even if he's down.
8.Rules of wounds
-1.A "sucking chest wound" is nature's way of telling you to slow down.
- 2.If you're bleeding to death, say something witty.
- 3.If you're actually dying, say something deep.
9.Never assume your opponent is out of ammo.
- 1.Bring lots of ammo.
10.In combat, you will be scared. You will have a tendency to shoot high. Be aware of this and aim low.
11.Rules of quitting
-1.Don't quit just because you're hit; GET EVEN!
- 2.Never quit, period.
-3.There is no prize for second place.
12.There's no such thing as "unfair advantage."
13.He who lives to run away will live to run another day (the best strategy is being somewhere else).
14.It is better to give than receive (Just like Christmas).
15.Professionals are predictable, it's the amateurs that are dangerous.
16.Anything you do can get you shot, including nothing.
17.If your opponents didn't have the courtesy to "Count Off!" before beginning, assume that there's one more somewhere.
18.When the cops pull up, think fast and move slow.
19.Say nothing afterwards but the Seven Magic Words: "I'd like to speak with my attorney."
20.Distribute press releases indicating you target belongs to a cult.*
21.Drop the one with the shotgun first.
22.Afterward, alter evidence to favor your position and plan for perjury.*
23.Use cutesy green-and-purple colored weapons and ammo so the press won't show any video of your non-evil-looking equipment. Fuzzy rifle-wrap works best.
24.Insist on at least $50K from tabloid TV producers.

All too funny. Really! All of them!!!

Well, most of them.

Here are my rules:

1. Always laugh at a joke. Failure to do so may be considered an offense.

2. Never apologize for being who you are. If you're an American patriot who believes in our Constitution and her right to keep and bear arms, then by all means, keep and bear arms.

3. Know how to use them, intimately, and practice often.

4. Bear in mind the other 99% of our Constitution empowers authorities all around us so that our exercise of the 2nd doesn't impaire the rights of the 1st through the whatever (or of our Constitution itself).

Having kept that in mind, there are a few other things you need to keep in mind, and this from the old west:

A: The other guy is always faster than you. Always. It's up to you to find a way to even the odds. If you insist on simply being faster, you will soon learn the error of your ways.

B: Whatever cover you might think you have has already been scouted by a much more experienced enemy out to nail your hide.

C: Running for higher ground then picking them off one by one might seem cowardice by 12th Century standards, but scrap it all! We stopped living in the twelfth century about 800 years ago, so if it works, use it.

D: Gah! Just because some of you would rather die of honor than survive and in doing so "honor" your families, as did (ahem) billions of people before you. Yes, that is correct - dying for one's family's honor is noble under very specific, limited, and certain panoche-faire circumstances, is one thing, but others had to pick up the pieces, help support what those who had done so left behind, and forge new lives. Our entire history is replete with people doing so. Figuring out a way to survive throughout the ages, with one's clan's knowledge, aye, that's a price, is it not? Hmm...

It's called "working together!" Guess what? Our governments have been at it for years!

Thank Goodness!

So. Let's please stop the sharpshootings, the Wal-Mart drive-byes, the late-night parking lot head shots, and other crap which just sticks a creosote backfire in my kitchen.

What's up?

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