Author Archives: Jerry Jones

About Jerry Jones

Jerry Jones has been a Sheriff's Deputy in Kentucky since 1996. Jerry is currently assigned as a patrol deputy, firearms instructor and senior operator/training supervisor with a multi jurisdictional tactical team. Jerry is Kentucky POST certified to teach firearms, SWAT, and sniper operations and deployment at the Academy level. Jerry is also the President/CEO of Operation Specific Training and the Law Enforcement Representative for Apex Tactical Specialties.

The 300 Reduex 2016

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About a dozen or so years ago, I read an article in one of the gun rags by Clint Smith.  It was titled “The 300”.  In his usual kind and generous manner, Clint stated in the article that in the period of the upcoming year, there would be 300 new training schools that would pop up.  He stated how much that would be a good thing.  And he was right as usual.

But there has been a downside to it.  One that I am sure has been around to some extent ever since the first weapons and tactics school opened to teach proper use of the rock and stick.  That is the schools that teach some really questionable stuff.  In recent years, we’ve seen everything from serious safety violations (instructors shooting themselves, instructors shooting students, instructors having students stand by targets while other students shoot at the targets in the name of “realism”, etc) to really whacky techniques and tactics.

One such technique that I have been hearing about is a student or instructor standing next to a target frame while another student shoots at the target.  I find that to be absolutely insane for just about any type of live fire training, let alone an open class with students with mixed skill levels.

I think a lot of the really insane, unsafe stuff that gets put out there in the name of “realism” is due to the desire to satisfy the “tactical tourist”.  There are seemingly folks out there, much like fantasy football camps, who take a class to be “Tier One” for a couple of days. That is all well and fine, I have no problem how people spend their own money.  The important part is that they go, have fun, and be safe.  But, when you start seeing the “commando mind with a potato peelers ass” type safety violations, enough is enough.  You’ll hear those that defend this type of behavior quote “Big Boy Rules” as if somehow that negates the unsafe behavior that goes on.  They’ll boast that anyone who has a problem with what they do as “panty wetting” and other crap bravado to camouflage how silly what they are doing is.

In 2016, there are far more schools out there from good, solid sources than 300.  It is easy to do a little research and pick one that teaches a solid product, without all of the safety shenanigans.

The “21 Foot Rule”

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I try not to allow sarcasm into my writings.  I will try not to today, but can make no promises.  Sometimes, you read things that are just so dumb, the sarcasm writes itself.

Recently, I have read some writings from police administrators, police trainers, and musings in the media in reference to the “21 Foot Rule”.  To put everyone in the readership on a level playing field in our readership, this “21 Foot Rule” is what most of us also know as the Tueller Drill.  In the early 1980’s, Sgt Dennis Tueller conducted studies involving how quickly a subject armed with a knife could cover a given distance, before an officer could react, draw and fire effectively at the knife wielding attacker.

Now, I have been exposed to this drill for most of my career.  The crux of what I carried from it was an attacker can cover that 21 foot pretty quickly, so when dealing with non-compliant suspects, it is wise to have the gun in your hand, and a plan in your head. Continue reading →

AR15 Gas Systems- Is there a practical difference in recoil management?

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You always hear quite a bit about how rifles with mid-length gas systems shoot “softer” than the carbine length brethren.  I bought one of my favorite rifles more because of the basic layout, and I like the dude that came up with the concept of the rifle, Kyle Lamb.  It is a 16 inch Smith and Wesson VTAC 2.  It came factory with a mid-length gas tube.  I changed out the brake for a Surefire brake, and then I just added ammo.  The rifle has always shot like a dream.  Dot travel is minimal.  I can hammer quick splits into discreet targets at will. Continue reading →

Glock Generations – Is There A Practical Difference?

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A pair of Glock 19s, in Gen3 and Gen4. Though there are some differences, both are perfectly serviceable.

A pair of Glock 19s, in Gen3 (top) and Gen4 (bottom). Though there are some differences, both are perfectly serviceable.

With the advent of the Generation 4 Glock, I sold off most of my Generation 3 stuff.  I like the Gen4 better from several standpoints.  The dual recoil system, the addition of the texture on the grips, and the larger mag release.  I like everything about it.  I’ve lost count at the amount of 9mm and .40 caliber ammunition that I have sent down range since the Gen4 came out.  I convinced myself that the Gen4 shot softer, and that everything about it was better.

But is it? Continue reading →

Join the NRA

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The title says it all.

If you are not a member of the National Rifle Association, and you are a gun owner, regardless of your political leanings, you should be. I am not a doomsdayer.  I’m not a defeatist.  I’m not the kind of guy that gives the anti-gun-rights movement any more credit than they deserve.  I don’t see every attempt at a federal gun grab as being a serious attempt.  Some are nothing more than politicians pandering to their base. But, every run at gun control, whether it is half hearted pandering, or a serious attempt to take our Rights away, follows the same script.  The demonizing of one organization as standing in the way of “common sense”.  The National Rifle Association.  I swear to you some of the time I hear Washington politicians blame the NRA and they sound just like a rerun of Scooby Doo from when I was a kid.  “I would have got away with it if it wasn’t for that darn meddling NRA” Continue reading →

The Apex Tactical M&P Barrel: First Look

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Several weeks ago, Apex Tactical owner Randy Lee and I were talking on the phone and our discussion turned to new products  coming down the line from Apex.  One of the major items of interest to me was the “Apex Grade” 9mm barrel for the Smith and Wesson M&P. My association with Randy goes back a bunch of years.  I still have the early 2006 M&P that we used for the prototyping of the original Apex Hard Sear that started it all. Well, he prototyped, and I was the ape that attempted to break it.  As the conversation evolved, some hints might have been dropped, and a semi-drop in barrel arrived at my door about three weeks ago. Continue reading →

Influences (Folks From Whom I’ve Learned)

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Ernest Langdon

Ernest Langdon is the man when it comes to mastering mechanical skills that can be applied in the real world.

As we venture into 2016, I thought it might be fitting to give credit to where credit is due.  The list is not inclusive,  but gives the nod to those who put my shooting, and by extension teaching, where it is today.

A lot of guys in the shooting industry tend to make things about who they are, what they do for a living, or perhaps have done for a living the first and foremost in their resume.  That is not necessarily a bad thing.  It lends some credibility that they know what they are talking about in their particular field of subject matter.  The firearms industry is one of those industries that the old adage “Those who can, do.  Those who can’t, teach” doesn’t hold water. Continue reading →

The Movie Theater Active Shooter Equation

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Active Shooters in Movie Theaters

As we tune in to the news on just about any given week, we see more and more copycat “active” shooters in movie theaters in the United States.  This unfortunately is the new norm.   Because this is the new norm, our tactics are going to have to shift to combat these cowardly acts of seemingly random murder.

In examining the events of past theater shootings, the only constant variable is they occur in the darkness of a movie theater, aside from the constant that the shooter is mentally ill..  The scenarios have presented different targets, different responses by victims, and different guns involved used by the shooters.  The shooters have sat in different parts of the the theater, struck at different times in the movies.  Based upon that, our tactics must be fluid. Continue reading →

Loaf of Bread, Gallon of Milk

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In the south (I’m sure that it exists nation wide) there is a reckoning that comes with each pending snowfall.  Every local store will be ravaged of its supply of milk and bread.  The weather guessers can predict a light dusting, or 1-3 inches per hour all night, and near fist fights will break out over milk and bread.  Now, mind you, the loaf of bread/gallon of milk crowd all know that it is winter.  Kentucky winters are unpredictable at best.  But, the potential for loaf of bread/gallon of milk always exists.  And basic winter weather preparation doesn’t change.  But, like some strange, unexplainable phenomenon, each time there is snow, a fist fight is in the works over who gets the last loaf of Wonder bread.  It matters not that the day after this predicted one inch snowfall that it predicted to have a high of 52 degrees that day.  Loaf of bread, Gallon of milk. Continue reading →

When .22 splits aren’t fast enough……..

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Recently, I was evaluating a HK VP9 that was done up by Grayguns, Inc.  I was shooting string after string on the timer.  I noticed that somewhere south of .22 splits on multi-shot strings, my accuracy fell apart.  I dismissed the VP9 as being inferior, due to the stock box P320 Carry giving me nice little piles of bullet holes at .16-.18 splits. Continue reading →

Buy Once, Cry Once

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I seem to keep learning the same lesson, over and over again.  Buy once, cry once.  The lower light is a Streamlight 600 lumen.  I picked it up at a bargain of $50.  I liked it a lot, and at the time my Surefire’s were all 200 lumen.  After a little bit of T&E, I mounted it on my issued HK416D.  I trained and used it at work for about a year without issue. Continue reading →

1980’s Television

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1980’s television taught us so much.  The Bren Ten was controllable for controlled “triple taps”.  A Ruger Mini-14, when fired with the stock folded, was guaranteed to only hit the dirt beside a moving car, and if it did hit the car, it was only a tire.  The car would then flip over 96 times, and then it would show both of the occupants getting out and merely dusting themselves off.  A Smith and Wesson Model 29 (and oddly enough the SPAS-12, and HK P9) would blow the hood open on a car as it traveled towards you.  That bad guys could be armed with the same weaponry as the good guys, but always lacked in marksmanship skills.  And those that are serious carry a M1911 in their waistband with no holster. Continue reading →