The Gun Counter

Skill Set: Battle Prep -- Getting Your Head Right
This edition of Skill Set is a repeat from our first year of publishing and is rendered by the Editor. Here we present a "head check," by catching up on our reading.

By Rich Grassi

As the weather turns and range time becomes scarce, it's always good to do a head check. One way to do that is to revisit books and videos on the topic of interpersonal crisis.


One primer on personal defense is Walt Rauch's Real-World Survival! What Has Worked for Me. While it covers basics, it is worthwhile reading for each of this wire's constituencies: military, law enforcement and personal defense.

Walt takes you into your own mind; your willingness to do what must be done and your attention to details that make the difference between a reluctantly-joined battle and an avoided battle. Your treatment at the hand of authorities, the media and the victim/offender's friends and family will not necessarily be pleasant. The best fight is one that can be avoided and Walt knows about avoidance. He also gives us a view into the psyche of the human predator. To prepare a defense, you have to understand the threat. To learn the enemy, find someone who's had to deal with this enemy.

Walt knows whereof he speaks. His experience includes tours as a Special Agent in U.S. Army Intelligence and with the U.S. Secret Service, as well as an investigator with the Warrants Unit in Philadelphia PA. Walt has hunted people to make a living; he's had to find them - on the street, in a tenement, anywhere they could go. He's had to go into bad places, seeking bad people as a condition of his employment. It was "find and arrest the bad guy" or go to the soup line.

To train for this daunting task, he'd look around. He was watchful and would observe potential victims - "grass eaters" or, more simply, "food" and their predators. The best fight is one you don't attend. In that vein, his message was "If you don't want to be eaten, don't look like food."

Walt shows what kind of guns are available, how to master them and how to practice and train. There are photos depicting shooting from "downed and disabled" types of positions - positions many cops never train from, let alone armed citizens. He discusses personal protection while traveling - how many trainers cover that? He also goes into the likely aftermath of a use of force - how you can expect to be detained and/or arrested and the resulting financial costs.

Like another world-class trainer of my acquaintance, Walt advances the Applegate method of shooting for basic training. This technique is simple and uncluttered, taking about fifty rounds to understand - after some dry practice. We're talking about making regular, repeatable hits suddenly at five yards - not placing in the top tier at the National Police Match or the Bianchi Cup.

Should you seek more training and make yourself better? Sure. Should you endeavor to make solid hits repeatedly from fifty yards out with a handgun? Absolutely, as long as it doesn't interfere with being able to fight at ten to fifteen feet - which is the more likely threat.

I know Walt Rauch and I trust him. Real World Survival! is a must read.

Walt's book is available at Amazon or from Walt at Rauch & Company, Ltd., P.O. Box 510, Lafayette Hill PA 19444.