I hated seeing Mike Seeklander go down right off the bat. Mike lives in the Tulsa suburb where I got my start in police work and lived for about 15 of the last 25 years. For me, he was the "hometown boy". I hope Caleb hangs in there!
I was sorry to see his poor showing. Tam was tellin' me he can shoot well under stress but I think equipment unfamiliarity flummoxed him.
Not knowing the rules for the rifle practice makes it hard to know how much trigger time and known-specific-issues talk they had; one of the very hardest things to do if you've been sold as An Expert is to admit ignorance when encountering a new gun. If the youngest is their best rifle shooter (and possibly one the likeliest to know what's what), that doesn't make it any easier.
...There really is a level on which interpersonal interaction does count -- less whining, more hardware talk-talk!
Mike is definitely awesome with a handgun and is on staff at the United States Shooting Academy here in Tulsa.
One of the commenters over at Tam's linked to a video he made when he got home using a borrowed Springfield to show he was not as bad as he looked on TOP SHOT.
I had to call BS on the video because he was using an '03A3 (with peep sights) instead of a 1903 or '03A1 with the damn complicated V-notch/ladder sight situated way down there.
Mike has a lot of experience with peep sights on rifles (he's ex-USMC) but obviously not with sights like the original '03 used (the OLD Corps would be mortified). I emailed him today to offer a loaner '03A1...
Knowing he's in the training business explains to me why he felt he had to make the video.
I understand a bad day. I understand being unfamiliar with the equipment. I'd expect, say, Clint Smith to make that shot cold, because his unit had to turn in their Mk I, Mod 0 Rocks for T&E Springfields, but it wouldn't shock me if plenty of other instructors had similar results under similar circumstances, and I'd still have no problem paying to take a pistol or carbine or shotgun course from them.
But Joe and Jane N00b might not understand that, and he needs to re-sell himself as a trainer.
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ReplyDeleteI deleted the above because it was a re-post of my first comment, which didn't show up thanks to Blogger being down.
ReplyDeleteI hated seeing Mike Seeklander go down right off the bat. Mike lives in the Tulsa suburb where I got my start in police work and lived for about 15 of the last 25 years. For me, he was the "hometown boy". I hope Caleb hangs in there!
ReplyDeleteI was sorry to see his poor showing. Tam was tellin' me he can shoot well under stress but I think equipment unfamiliarity flummoxed him.
ReplyDeleteNot knowing the rules for the rifle practice makes it hard to know how much trigger time and known-specific-issues talk they had; one of the very hardest things to do if you've been sold as An Expert is to admit ignorance when encountering a new gun. If the youngest is their best rifle shooter (and possibly one the likeliest to know what's what), that doesn't make it any easier.
...There really is a level on which interpersonal interaction does count -- less whining, more hardware talk-talk!
Roberta,
ReplyDeleteMike is definitely awesome with a handgun and is on staff at the United States Shooting Academy here in Tulsa.
One of the commenters over at Tam's linked to a video he made when he got home using a borrowed Springfield to show he was not as bad as he looked on TOP SHOT.
I had to call BS on the video because he was using an '03A3 (with peep sights) instead of a 1903 or '03A1 with the damn complicated V-notch/ladder sight situated way down there.
Mike has a lot of experience with peep sights on rifles (he's ex-USMC) but obviously not with sights like the original '03 used (the OLD Corps would be mortified). I emailed him today to offer a loaner '03A1...
Knowing he's in the training business explains to me why he felt he had to make the video.
ReplyDeleteI understand a bad day. I understand being unfamiliar with the equipment. I'd expect, say, Clint Smith to make that shot cold, because his unit had to turn in their Mk I, Mod 0 Rocks for T&E Springfields, but it wouldn't shock me if plenty of other instructors had similar results under similar circumstances, and I'd still have no problem paying to take a pistol or carbine or shotgun course from them.
But Joe and Jane N00b might not understand that, and he needs to re-sell himself as a trainer.
Tam,
ReplyDeleteYou're right, and he told me that a lot of the reason he made the video was just for his own peace of mind.
Besides, the average non-gunny wouldn't notice the '03 / '03-A3 difference or understand it, but what a topic it has become at VFTP!