ROTAC TRAING GROUP, Course selection

The following is the selection of courses that are being offered by the ROTAC TRAINING GROUP;

Price of the course does not include the ammunition that is required for each course or the range fee!  Range fee depends on where the course is being held.

Students are required to bring their own Eye and Ear Protection!  A decent baseball style cap is required for all live fire training!

Training certificates are given to all students that successfully complete the course!

A 50% deposit is required one week prior to the scheduled date of the class.  Cash only!

ROTAC # 1     Safety & Basic Skills Class
This is a class that is designed for first time gun owners as well as anyone that has never had any type of formal firearms training.  It is a 5 hour class that emphasizes the Safety and Responsibility that must be recognized and applied when handling and operating any type of firearms.  The focus of the course is bases around the handgun, revolver/semi-auto.

ROTAC # 2      Enhanced Basic Skills
This a 2 hour class that is designed as a follow up to ROTAC # 1 
Emphasis of this course is developing the students shooting skills.

ROTAC # 3      Intermediate Handgun Skills
This a 2 hour class designed to teach the student the correct procedures for working there particular gun.  This class will introduce the student to the proper technique for presenting the gun from the holster so that it can be done in the most efficient and effective manner.  The student will also get the intro on proper loading techniques and resolving problems that may occur when operating a (semi-auto)handgun.  This course is designed for individuals that have had some training and are able to handle their gun safely.

ROTAC #4       Advance Intermediate Skills
This a 3 hour class designed to take the student to the next level of their learning process.  The student will start to be pushed harder at working and running the gun.  It will never take the student out of his or her ability to place accurate shots on the target.  However, the student will be pushed out of their comfort zone a little in order to make them better shooters.   We will never accept speed over accuracy!

ROTAC # 5      Advanced Handgun Skills
This a 4 hour class that is designed to test your ability to put all the skills that you have learned together.  It is a fast moving and difficult program.  It is designed to test the student ability under stress.     

This class will provide you with the necessary training  the is required for the Florida Non-Resident CCW which is good in 29 states.  Complete packet is included as well as the certificate of training.  

This class will help you to develop the mindset and confidence that you should have if you carry a gun for self defense. 

ROTAC  #6      Introduction Shotgun
Three hour class.  Function and operation as well as ammunition selection is discussed in detail.  This class will provide you with skills that you need in order to operate a shotgun efficiently and effectively.  It provides the student with vital information and dispels the myths and incorrect information about the shotgun.

 I like my pistol, but I love my shotgun!

ROTAC #7      Semi-auto Carbine
 Three hour class starts off with function and features of this extremely popular weapon system.  It addresses the different type of platforms that this weapon system is available in.  Zeroing your sights, both iron and red dot systems.  Shooting this weapon for maximum effect.

As always we still do the qualification for Retired Law Enforcement Officers, HR-218/S-1132.  

For more information please call or e-mail me,
rotac2@gmail.com
Cell # 215-416-0750

Active Killers, by Tiger Mckee

Skill Set: Active Killers

The killings in Orlando … I spent a long time trying to think about what to write for today's column. A variety of different topics came to mind, and after starting them I felt that they were lacking. I thought about the lessons that could be discussed. How do you react in this type situation, where it's illegal to carry firearms, crowded and with limited exits? Did anyone try to stop the attacker, even though they were unarmed? Would an organized defense, with multiple people involved have stopped the killing? In the end, I decided to suggest readers watch this video: Active Shooter, a very realistic video, and it may not be appropriate for everyone.

Called "Surviving an Active Shooter," it is a short video produced by the LA County Sheriff's Department. Using realistic scenarios they go through your options in responding to an active murderer. The three options they present are escape, hide, and fight.

Avoidance and escape are always your best option when faced with danger. In order to do this you must have a plan, which means knowing where the exits are for where you spend lots of time. You also need to think about improvised exits, such as windows that can be smashed or broken and/or any other areas that may lead to safety. When entering a new environment, you locate and identify your exits, both conventional and improvised. With family members or friends it's important to have a plan in place beforehand, knowing who will do what and basic principles that will apply regardless of the situation.

Hiding is another option, except it may not be as easy as it sounds. The use of concealment is an art; hiding is a lot more difficult than it actually sounds. The video above mentions silencing cell phones. Movement must be stopped, so that you don't create noise and attract the eye of the threat. Even communicating is difficult. Keep in mind you will probably be experiencing auditory exclusion – your hearing will shut down – so what sounds like a whisper to you will be loud enough to attract unwanted attention.

Making the decision to fight back, the third option, is a difficult one. Can you actually stop the threat? Knowing how to shoot accurately is one thing. Accurately engaging a moving threat surrounded by dozens of bystanders is a completely different matter. What about when you don't have a firearm? There are always improvised weapons at hand, if you are ready and willing to use them.

When do you decide to fight? Some situations may demand an immediate response. Others may require you to wait for the opportunity. Are you going to escape, or are you willing to risk your life to save others? These questions, and many more, can be thought about and debated prior to an event, but the right answers can only be determined on the spot.

The world is full of evil. Everyone who is old enough to recognize this – in varying degrees and according to their age – must be prepared to deal with violence.

Tiger McKee is director of Shootrite Firearms Academy, located in northern Alabama. He is the author of "The Book of Two Guns" 

GOOD NEWS!

THE ROTAC TRAINING GROUP will now be doing training at the PHILADELPHIA TRAINING ACADEMY, located at 831 Ellsworth Street, Philadelphia Pa.  This is a full service gun shop and range.  They offer all types of training and I am very happy to be affiliated with them.  I will post the courses that I will be offering in the very near future.  Thanks to all of you that responded in such a positive way to my last post.  It meant a lot to me.

Remember, Preparation, Practice = PERFORMANCE!

Announcement

Effective today, 6/13/2016 I have suspended all and any type of training that was being conducted at the Double Action Shooting Range.  This includes all Basic Safety and Skill classes as well as the Pa Act 235 Program.  I will most likely have another range, very shortly, in order to continue with any type of training.  

The only regret I have is that I have trained hundreds of individuals at that location and have established a lot of great friendships with a lot of those folks.  I will not be far guarantee you.  I will let you know where I will be.  Please stop in and say hello!

A lot of training will continue to be done at the So. Jersey Facility, USANT, MTC, Elmer, NJ.

Motion vs. Action....Tiger Mckee

Motion vs. Action

On the range I often see people going through the motions required for a specific task, as opposed to performing the actions necessary to accomplish that task. But, you ask, isn't this the same thing? No. You go through the motions required to load the pistol, but that doesn't mean you've performed that action properly. Motion and action are not the same things.

A prime example, as mentioned above, is loading the pistol. It starts by inserting and seating the magazine. You perform this motion, but was it an effective action? Did you just insert the mag, or actually seat it, using aggressive action? Aggressive, exaggerated action with purpose seats and locks the mag in place.

Next, you cycle the slide. Again, aggressive, exaggerated action is required to ensure the slide is pulled all the way to the rear and then released so it snaps forward, feeding a round from the mag into the chamber. Short stroking the slide, not pulling it fully to the rear, is a common source of stoppages. In other words, operator induced malfunctions.

The final step in loading - an administrative manipulation - is checking the chamber to confirm there's one in the "pipe." This is another time when I see a lot of "motion" vs. "action." I watch people "checking" the chamber but not actually performing the action. They go through the motions, pulling the slide slightly to the rear and physically or visually checking for a round in the chamber. Yet, when they come up on target and press the trigger the pistol goes "click" instead of "BANG!" (This is accompanied with a flinch, the muzzle dipping down as they expect the shot to fire.) Yes, they went through the motions of "checking," but they didn't actually confirm whether or not there was a round chambered.

Their next response is to turn the pistol slightly sideways and look at it with a surprised expression on their face. "I loaded it," they are thinking, "so why didn't it fire?" Sometimes they even say this out loud. "Because," I reply, "you went through the motions, but you didn't actually check or notice that there wasn't a round in the chamber." This is motion without action.

You can perform all the right motions, but without the proper actions you won't get good results. Drawing the pistol can be an efficient action, or it can include a lot of wasted motion. When checking the chamber, the correct action tells you whether it's loaded or not. While scanning the environment you either go through the motions, simply turning your head from one side to the other, or you're in action, scanning like there is something important you need to see.

Motion is defined as "movement." Action is "the performance of a function." Good results are based on proper actions. This principle applies to all aspects of your life.

Tiger McKee is director of Shootrite Firearms Academy, located in northern Alabama. 

Shotgun Myths

Editor’s Note: We may have taken a break from our series on defensive shotguns, but it’s far from being over. Today, I’m proud to be able to share the following contribution from Darryl Bolke; a true expert in the field of fighting shotguns. Darryl is a fantasticshooting instructor with a wealth of knowledge and experience that is matched by very few in our industry today. Whatever your background with shotguns has been, you can probably learn a thing or two from Darryl’s take on a few popular shotgun myths.
-CB

---

One of the defensive firearms that has been a source of a massive amount of myth and misconception is the 12 gauge shotgun. Having used the 12 gauge as my primary long gun for high-risk work as a police officer for almost two decades, I would like to try to shed some light on reality versus myth.

First, I am not just “a cop who used a shotgun”. Those folks are often some of the worse perpetrators of fiction. I used a shotgun many, many times. I used them when most of my co-workers would not. If I had an inkling of high risk, a Remington 870 went with me. This was usually tight interior building work, searches for felons with K9’s, and high-risk vehicle stops. I have used a shotgun with exceptional results in a couple of actual shootings along with the deployments. I also wrote the policy and the program to put true fighting shotguns in every police unit. I hold instructor and user certifications from many different training organizations and trained with some of the most prolific shotgun instructors in the country. They really are “my thing”, and I would put my experience level up against anyone on actual usage. With that out of the way, let’s delve into the first of several articles that are part of our series on the fighting shotgun.

Myth 1: “You don’t have to aim a shotgun”

The author’s personal Remington 870 has iron sights and an Aimpoint red dot sight… because aiming is important.

This is a big one, maybe the biggest. Just pull the trigger and a cone of death appears, right? TV and movies have only perpetuated this myth. Here is the truth. Most guns with good buckshot will have a shot pattern of about 1 inch per yard. Some specialty loads or barrel treatments will hold it tighter. That leaves a lot of room to miss in close quarters and a lot of room to lose most of the effectiveness at distance. Keep in mind that buckshot is pretty much a .33 caliber sphere that makes a single round hole. When those pellets are tightly compressed in indoor room distances, they create devastating wounds that will overwhelm the system by causing numerous wound channels very close together simultaneously. If they make a single “rat hole” in very close quarters, they are hard to recover from by letting a lot of air in and fluid out rapidly. Once we get past about 15 yards with normal loads and 25 yards in the specialty loads, we get single pellets making a single hole in a few places that are not very efficient at stopping people. We also start getting to the point where we are losing many of the pellets off the target, and they will all hit something. So the truth is, you need to aim the gun, and it is most effective at about 15 yards or closer with buckshot loads.

With slugs, we get a single projectile that is highly penetrative (they work well against vehicles and felons behind cover). The slug gives us distance extension, but because of their penetrative nature we very much have to be aware of backstop and ensure we hit our targets. Again, aiming is critical, and in the next article, I will address sighting systems for the shotgun that can help with aim. It is absolutely critical that anyone using a shotgun for defensive needs take the gun to the range with actual defense loads you will be using and pattern the shotgun. Know for sure what your shot spread is and how accurate you are capable of with both slugs and buckshot. Training with birdshot is fine, but you have to also do the work with buckshot and slugs if that is what will be in the gun you are depending on in a crisis.

Myth 2: “Anyone can use a shotgun”

Another huge myth is that shotguns are great for non-dedicated shooters — a horrific assertion that often goes with the “don’t need to aim” myth. The 12 gauge shotgun has heavy recoil, ammunition that’s difficult to manage, limited capacity, and is long and difficult to maneuver in close quarters without very specific handling skills that take training and dedication. Management of the shotgun requires very aggressive handling of the gun when using it to both operate the action and to handle the recoil. Pistol grip only shotguns are by far the worst of the bunch, and the only real practical use for them is breaching, and some specialized units have used them for covert carry. If those tasks are not part of your mission, don’t buy them. These are not the guns to give to the elderly, frail, inexperienced, or novice shooters. Yet, the 12 gauge shotgun and the equally difficult to master airweight snub revolver seem to be favorites to sell or give to the exact people who should not be using them.

“In my first shooting, the two carjackers I was up against both told investigators individually in interviews that they heard me rack my Remington 870 as I exited my car. The effect it had was exactly nothing.”

One of my personal favorites is “you just need to rack the shotgun and criminals will run”. This is utter nonsense. In my first shooting, the two carjackers I was up against both told investigators individually in interviews that they heard me rack my Remington 870 as I exited my car. The effect it had was exactly nothing. They did not surrender or change their actions at all, other than to prepare for a fight.

Truly dangerous predatory criminals are not like you and me. Having guns pointed at them is not new or unique and they do not scare easily. Are there crooks that will run if they hear a shotgun being racked? Sure, but those are the same folks that will run if a light goes on or they are spoken to harshly. So, the racking of a shotgun will simply let a criminal know you are arming yourself for a fight–period. You are now at the mercy of their fight or flight decision. If they flee, great. If they choose to fight, the question now shifts to how well you have prepared for that fight. If your preparation is depending on them running because of a noise, you are in deep trouble. If you have invested in proper selection of your defensive tools and solid professional training, you will be in much better shape.

Myth 3: “Just fire a round in the air” 

This is simple. Do not listen to Joe Biden. He is an idiot with zero understanding of criminal and civil law. You are responsible for everything that leaves the gun. Subjecting the community to falling projectiles fired from a gun without justification is a felony in many places and the “Biden Defense” will likely not work.

Myth 4: “Shotguns are too big to use inside”

The myth that the shotgun is too big to work indoors is one that does have a bit of truth. Unfortunately, the typical solution is wrong. This myth is what is often used to sell people on pistol-gripped shotguns with no shoulder stocks. Again, these make matters worse, not better. The truth is that shotguns are difficult to run in close quarters. It is why I was a rarity in my agency for using them a lot indoors. They can be run very efficiently indoors, but you have to train, practice, and have a deep understanding of how to move and function with a long gun in tight confines.

This comes down to dedication of learning. If you decide to try to clear your home (or someone else’s, for the LE/Military folks), you need to devote time and training to figure this out. For most home owners using a shotgun for home defense with minimal training, the best role is to use them in a bunker defense role of holing up in a bedroom or secure area while waiting for authorities.

The author during a class demonstrating a “short sticking” technique for running the shotgun in close quarters.

Myth 5: “Shotguns are the ultimate in reliability!”

The last thing I want to address is reliability. Many think these guns are utterly reliable. They are not. Pump guns can be easily short-stroked under stress. The semi-autos often depend on ammunition and proper maintenance to function well. Most of the shotguns we have for defensive use are sporting guns altered into a role to use for fighting. Sporting guns are not like military guns. They are not easy to clear if malfunctions occur, and when they have parts failure they usually require a trip to a gunsmith to fix. Make sure you invest in good equipment and do not cut corners.

“These guns are often the primary defense of your castle that protects your most precious things. Your family, pets, and your assets are at stake. Do not put these at risk by skimping on getting proper instruction.”

Do not hang tons of accessories off of these guns. They need a light, sling, and sights as a priority, and on-board ammunition capacity as a bonus and that is about it. Use a quality gun and proven accessories, and you will be good on the hardware side. On the software side, training is critical. Seek solid advice and at least one good professional training course at a minimum. These guns are often the primary defense of your castle that protects your most precious things. Your family, pets, and your assets are at stake. Do not put these at risk by skimping on getting proper instruction. Watching movies with lots of shotgun use is not instruction (although I highly recommend Way of the Gun if you want to get some ideas). Invest in training and practice ammunition instead of gadgets and myths. Do some homework and do not depend on the advice of people who often have no idea of what they are talking about.  They are usually the ones who elevate myths and TV fantasy to perceived reality status.

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