{"id":306,"date":"2017-07-03T15:02:56","date_gmt":"2017-07-03T20:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mckinneyfirearmstraining.com\/wordpress\/?p=306"},"modified":"2017-07-03T15:12:26","modified_gmt":"2017-07-03T20:12:26","slug":"understanding-the-handgun-manual-of-arms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mckinneyfirearmstraining.com\/wordpress\/understanding-the-handgun-manual-of-arms\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the Handgun Manual of Arms"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have written before about action types and trigger types, but now we need to discuss the Manual of Arms<\/strong>.\u00a0 This refers to the actual operation of a gun, sometimes called “running the gun”.\u00a0 While this relates mostly to someone who carries a gun on their person, it also applies to someone who stores a gun at home.\u00a0 More than one person has retrieved a gun in an emergency, only to discover that it was not immediately dischargeable, and they weren’t sure how to recover.\u00a0 There are two questions, the answers to which will vary depending on the type of gun:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u00a0in what condition should this gun be carried (or stored)?<\/li>\n
  2. \u00a0what steps are necessary to make it dischargeable?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I will start with the simplest type, and move toward the more complex.<\/p>\n

    Revolver<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 Most are double-action (DA), which means they can be fired cocked (single-action) or uncocked (double-action).\u00a0 It is a common convention to only fire them in DA mode, and they must never<\/strong><\/span> be carried or stored in single-action.\u00a0 Some revolvers are double-action only (DAO).\u00a0 There is no safety, so running the gun simply means point and shoot.<\/p>\n

    Revolver (SAO)<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 It would be uncommon for someone to have a single action revolver (which can only be fired when cocked), and not know this, as these are typically used for competition, but these guns should never be carried with a round under the hammer.<\/p>\n

    Semi-automatic (striker-fired)<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 These guns do not have an external hammer, and often do not have a safety.\u00a0 They should be carried with a round in the chamber, and safety off.\u00a0 On presentation, take off the safety (if on) and press the trigger. \u00a0In a crisis, if you forget the safety, or cannot take it off in less than 1 second, you are in trouble.<\/p>\n

    Semi-automatic (hammer-fired, SAO)<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 Many hammer-fired guns are single-action only.\u00a0 When you rack the slide to charge the chamber, the hammer is cocked, and the gun will not fire if it is decocked.\u00a0 These are carried “cocked-and-locked” (safety on).\u00a0 On presentation, take off the safety and press the trigger.\u00a0 Another option is to not have a round in the chamber (only advisable at home).\u00a0 Yet another option is to rack the slide and manually decock the hammer (this is dangerous).\u00a0 On presentation, cock the hammer with your thumb.<\/p>\n

    Semi-automatic (hammer-fired, DA, with safety and no decocker)<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 Same as above, except that, when decocked, it is not necessary to cock the hammer.\u00a0 The trigger will do that.\u00a0 On presentation, (if safety on), take off the safety and press the trigger.\u00a0 If decocked, just press the trigger.\u00a0 It cannot be decocked with the safety on.\u00a0 **<\/p>\n

    Semi-automatic (hammer-fired, DA, with decocker and no safety)<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 Same as above, except there is no safety.\u00a0 After racking the slide, you must carry the gun decocked.\u00a0 On presentation, just press the trigger.\u00a0 **<\/p>\n

    Semi-automatic (hammer-fired, DA, with both safety and decocker)<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 Some Beretta models have this odd combination.\u00a0 After racking the slide, when you put on the safety, it automatically decocks the hammer.\u00a0 On presentation, you must take off the safety first.\u00a0 **<\/p>\n

    **\u00a0 When firing a decocked, double-action gun, the first pull of the trigger is long and relatively heavy, by design.\u00a0 Since the gun always resets itself on firing to single-action (cocked), all subsequent pulls will be short and easy.\u00a0 It takes some training to get used to this, and many people will prematurely discharge the second round.\u00a0 It is due to this training issue that most police departments use striker-fired guns, where every trigger pull is the same.<\/span><\/p>\n

    It is important that you train around the proper operation of your gun so that you don’t fumble in a crisis.\u00a0 A drill I recommend is loading your gun, and putting it in the condition you would carry it (safety on, decocked, etc.).\u00a0 Place it on a bench (on in a holster, if that is allowed), and put a silhouette target at 3 yards distance (later, at 5 yards).\u00a0 Track the time it takes to retrieve the gun, make it dischargeable, and put two good shots in center mass.\u00a0 The goal is three seconds.\u00a0 Repeat as necessary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I have written before about action types and trigger types, but now we need to discuss the Manual of Arms.\u00a0 This refers to the actual operation of a gun, sometimes called “running the gun”.\u00a0 While this relates mostly to someone who carries a gun on their person, it also applies to someone who stores a … Continue reading “Understanding the Handgun Manual of Arms”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mckinneyfirearmstraining.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mckinneyfirearmstraining.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mckinneyfirearmstraining.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mckinneyfirearmstraining.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mckinneyfirearmstraining.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/mckinneyfirearmstraining.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":317,"href":"https:\/\/mckinneyfirearmstraining.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306\/revisions\/317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mckinneyfirearmstraining.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mckinneyfirearmstraining.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mckinneyfirearmstraining.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}