THE

SAGUARO
GUNNER
The monthly journal of Arizona Weaponcraft Solutions.
A division of Johnnie L. Mock PSP
Security Consultants LLC
500 N. Estrella Pkwy, Suite B2-267
Goodyear Arizona
E-Mail: awsl@mindspring.com
Web: www.azwcsl.com

Issue 1, Vol.3
May/June 2010

Welcome to our 3rd issue of the Saguaro Gunner. We are now experiencing the famous
summers of the Phoenix area. The activity out at Joe Foss Shooting Range has
continued to increase though. As more residents learn of its existence, its popularity will
continue to grow.
We will soon have the Constitutional Carry law in effect. As I stated in our last issue, I
support the law in principle, but with misgivings about the effect it is going to have on
unsuspecting citizens who do not take the time to learn the law in regards to the
justifiable use of deadly force and shoot someone “thinking” they were right. As most of
the readers of the Gunner are former CCW students of mine, you know how much you
learned in regards to legal firearms use. Many of you were surprised to see what the
law actually says in regards to the use of deadly force or even defensive display. We are
now going to be having citizens who will be carrying concealed without the benefit of
the training you received. If you have friends or family members who are considering
carrying concealed, I recommend that you urge them to take a CCW course from any
certified instructor. It may keep them from ruining their lives.
So, I hope you enjoy this issue. Please send me your feedback and suggestions for any
articles you would like to read. I would truly enjoy hearing from you.

Johnnie Mock
 In This Issue

1. Our upcoming class schedule

2. Equipment Review: Otis cleaning kits
3. Book Review: The Tactical Rifle
4. Shooting Fundamentals: Grip (or how not to use your pistol
as a club)
5. How to select a firearms instructor: What Qualifies Them to
Teach You?
6. News: Congratulations Pvt. Johnathan R. Mock!
7. Parting Shot: Contact us

1. Our upcoming class schedule

Arizona Concealed Weapon Permit (CCW)

With Constitutional Carry soon to be applied, why get a CC permit? Simple: THE
LAW! Do you know the legalities of the use of deadly force? Do you know the
restrictions on “Defensive Display”? Good and decent people can find themselves in jail
for shooting someone “thinking” they were right. Or displaying their firearm in an
aggressive manner not condoned by law. If you are going to carry concealed, you need
this training. In addition, our CCW permit is recognized in 32 other states, allows you
to carry concealed in establishments that serve alcohol, and exempts you from the
background check when purchasing firearms.
Next Classes: 10 July
07 Aug.
04 Sep.
02 Oct.

Cost: $75.00 payable in cash, check, or money order

For more information and to register, please visit: www.azwcsl.com

Intro to Defensive Pistol

This class takes up where the CCW class leaves off. Subjects covered will include:
Mental conditioning for self defense, shooting fundamentals, reloading techniques,
malfunction drills, and much more. This class will give you the foundational basics to
build a solid training base on. Learn how to actually use your handgun in a defensive
encounter.
We hope to have this class available in August or Sep. Please visit our website for
scheduled dates and more information.
 2. Equipment Review:

Otis cleaning kits

There is a large variety of small arms cleaning kits on the market. Some good, some not
so good, some inexpensive, and some over priced. Otis makes a line of quality cleaning
kits designed for the shooter to easily carry with them. The one pictured is their
Tactical Cleaning System which is designed to clean a wide variety of calibers and
shotgun gauges. The steel pull throughs are plastic coated to protect your bore, and it
comes with a variety of slotted tips and bore brushes. There is room for cleaning
patches and solvent. I carried this particular model while doing contract security in
Afghanistan and it worked fine on Glock 19s, M-4s, AKs, Czech-58s and every other
small arm I used it on. The Otis solvent that comes with it is good, but I supplemented it
with a small bottle of Rem-Oil. The kit will also come with a small CD that gives a lot of
really good information on proper firearms care.
If you need a small portable cleaning kit, I can highly recommend this one. To check
out the complete Otis line, visit their website at: http://www.otisgun.com
 3. Book Review:
The Tactical Rifle
Gabriel Suarez
ISBN 13:978-1-58160-049-0

Gabriel Suarez is one of the most prominent small arms instructors on the scene today,
and has been for quit some time. He is a former Southern California law enforcement
officer who has been teaching advanced small arms training full time for a number of
years. He is regarded as one of the best. Although originally aimed at active police
training, this volume is an excellent training reference for the civilian, cop, or soldier
who wants to improve his rifle marksmanship beyond the basics and utilize their rifle
for serious self defense. This is a thoroughly comprehensive manual that reviews the
basics of rifle marksmanship and then covers a large amount of ground in the tactical
use of the rifle. Subjects covered include Safety and Dry firing, Care and Maintenance,
Effects of Barrel Length and Shot Placement on Terminal Ballistics, Principles of
Marksmanship, Iron and Optical Sights, Zeroing, Carrying and Ready Positions,
Various Shooting Positions, Proper Reloading and Malfunction Clearance, Low Light
Operations, and much, much more. He even gives a suggested qualification course for
units training or for the individual to measure his or her skills. This is an excellent book
for novice rifle shooter or the experienced rifleman alike. I highly recommend it. This
book can be purchased from Paladin Press at www.paladin-press.com or directly from
the author on his website at www.onesourcetactical.com
 4. Shooting Fundamentals:

Grip
In the last two issues we covered the basics of trigger control and sight alignment.
Now we are moving on to a proper grip. A proper grip should accomplish the
following:
1. Maximum control of the hand gun in order to fire the shot and follow through.
2. Allow the recoil to go straight up the center of the firing arm.
3. Allow for proper placement of the trigger finger in order to pull the trigger
straight to the rear.

In this illustration, the shooter has a one handed grip. The web of the hand is as high up
on the frame of the pistol as it will go. The three fingers wrapping the front of the grip
should be pulling straight to the rear. The trigger finger should be placed on the trigger
so that he can pull the trigger straight to the rear. Too much trigger finger and you will
pull shots to the right. Too little trigger finger and you will push shots to the left. If you
looked straight down on his arm from above, the slide and barrel axis should follow the
axis of the arm. ie: one straight line. The thumb position illustrated would be correct
for one hand shooting, but NOT for two handed shooting where the thumb should be
held high with the supporting hand thumb underneath it.
Beginning shooters often have difficulty determining how hard to grip the pistol. You
want to grip hard enough to control the pistol, but not so hard that your hand shakes.
A good drill to learn the proper grip pressure is to grip the pistol in a proper grip and
then increase the grip pressure until your hand begins to shake. Then relax a bit until
the shaking stops. That should be about right.
In this illustration the shooter has assumed a two handed position. The supporting hand
fingers wrap around the firing hand fingers as illustrated. Do not grip with the
supporting hand. Notice that the firer has his trigger finger off the trigger and on his
“index point” The index point is that place on the firearm frame that your trigger
finger stays until you are aligned with the target. And it should be the same place
consistently. Another thing you wish to avoid is “milking” the grip. This means
increasing and decreasing the grip pressure. Often times, an inexperienced shooter will
release the grip each time the pistol fires and then increase it giving a “milking” effect.
His changes the grip for each shot causing a different point of impact.

5. How to select a firearms instructor:

What Qualifies Them to Teach You?
Arizona has probably one of the highest concentrations of small arms instructors in the
United States and a large portion of them are located here in the Valley of the Sun.
They range from serious professionals who engage in full time small arms training to
part timers who simply enjoy doing it for a hobby. They also range from extremely
good to, well, sort of O.K. A few are probably down right amateur.
With the plethora of websites, ads, claims ect., how does a citizen who is looking for
quality training sort through all the claims and find the instructor that will provide
them with the quality training he or she needs at a reasonable price? You shop around,
and you evaluate all claims of expertise. Most small arms instructors (me included) will
advertise their wares based on their background and experience. These generally fall
into three categories: Police, military or former competition shooter. So let’s analyze
these experience criteria to put them into perspective.
Police: Most police officers receive very little advanced small arms training. This
training is expensive and most departments don’t have the funds to do more than the
minimum training required by law. Police firearms instructors may have had the
experience and opportunity to gain the skills required to teach you, and many members
of SWAT teams get to train extensively and many are dedicated enough to spend their
own money and time to acquire advanced skills from civilian training centers. So find
out what your prospective instructor actually did in regards to firearms training while a
former or current police officer, and for how long. Simply being an active or former
police officer is not sufficient to qualify as a professional small arms instructor.
Military: Even worse than police, the vast majority of members of the Armed Forces
receive no training with handguns and only the minimum amount of rifle training for
annual qualification. There are exceptions. Members of dedicated marksmanship
training units such as the Army’s Marksmanship Unit and the Marine Corps’
Marksmanship Unit have cadres of highly experienced instructors who both compete
and train a variety of both military and civilian personnel in various small arms skills.
In addition, Special Operations types receive excellent advanced small arms training.
So, ask you prospective instructor what he actually did in the military and if he taught
small arms marksmanship for any length of time.

Former Competition Shooters: Many former championship competitors have started

small arms training schools around the country, and many of them give excellent
training. And many of them are honest enough to advertise their training as learning
primarily how to win shooting competitions, as opposed to winning gunfights.

O.K., so you now know that much of the experience being advertised by shooting
instructors does not necessarily qualify them to teach you the skills you need. You have
to dig a bit deeper than just “10years LAPD” or “10 years USMC” ect.

Perhaps one would be better served to simply only attend one of the big name schools
such as Gunsite. You will most definitely receive world class training there, and pay a
world class premium price for it. But keep in mind that a lot of that premium price is
for a piece of paper that says “Gunsite” on it. And there is absolutely nothing wrong
with that. I plan on attending some of their classes next year myself. But I am also
aware that you can get equally good training from other instructors. You just won’t get
a piece of paper with a famous name on it. This principle applies to all of the big name
schools. It’s in the same class as a college education. You can spend a king’s ransom
going to Harvard. Or you can get an equally good education at a less expensive and
lesser known university. You just won’t get a diploma that says “Harvard”.
So, what do you do? Here is a quick checklist of minimums.

1. Ask the instructor to be specific about his background. How much actual small
arms instructing experience does he have? How long has he been doing it and for
whom? Does he have any real world experience actually carrying and using small
arms in potentially dangerous situations?
2. Ask for references and actually check them out. Most instructors will have
former students you can talk to.
3. Does he actually have a range use permit with an established shooting range
such as Joe Foss or Ben Avery or an indoor range such as Shooters World, or
does he simply take his students out into the desert? (Illegal unless on private
property with permission.) This will lead you to the next question many student
don’t even consider:
4. DOES HE HAVE LIABILITY INSURANCE as a firearms instructor that will
cover you in case of an accident?
5. Finally, never use cost of training as a serious deciding factor. There are
expensive classes that are marginal and relatively cheap ones that are
outstanding.

It’s a buyers market out there right now in regards to small arms instruction. With
a little homework, you should be able to find the training you need from a highly
qualified instructor at a reasonable price you can afford.
 6. News:

Congratulations Pvt. Johnathan R. Mock!

I am proud to announce that my son, Pvt. Johnathan R. Mock (we call him J.R.)
graduated from US Army Infantry training at Ft. Benning Georgia on 25 June, 2010. I
went to his graduation. Only Infantry soldiers are allowed to wear the blue cord on
their uniforms. As part of the graduation, there is a ceremony called “Turning Blue”.
This is where the soldier is issued his blue cord (aiguillette) and allowed to wear it for
the first time. A family member is allowed to come forward and place it on the uniform
and I placed my son’s on his. The same type of blue cord I wore for 20 years.
He will be on leave and then returning to Ft. Benning for Airborne training. He has his
eye on a spec-ops career.
We are very proud of him and all of our fine men and women in uniform who go into
harms way to protect our liberties and way of life. We need to pray for and support
them to the max.

8. Parting Shot:

Contact us
Well, that’s issue no. 3. I hoped you enjoyed it. If you have any thoughts, opinions, or
ideas for an article you would like to see, e-mail us and let us know. We are always glad
to hear from you. So, until next issue or next class shoot safe, and have fun!