Welcome back to another edition of Concealed Carry Corner. Last week, we talked about overcoming flight or flight impulses like tunnel vision and auditory exclusion. If you missed that article, be sure to check it out by clicking on the link here. This week, I wanted to talk about something relatively important when it comes to carrying concealed. We oftentimes can get so much out of dry firing but working on those skills at home only do so much. It really takes getting out to the range to practice all the skills together to become proficient. Ammo prices are thankfully coming down so I figured I would add my absolute favorite drills at the moment when it comes to helping train concealed carriers. Let’s take a closer look at some great concealed carry shooting drills.

Back in September 2021 some of the TFB crew were in Refugio Texas for an event. At that event, Brad Gilpin of Blue Force Gear taught us a combat medicine course. Basically how to treat gunshot wounds. At the end of the course, we all got our own Micro Trauma Kits. Brad had set them up with the advanced supplies but he took the chest darts out since we didn’t need those. My Micro Trauma Kit has been sitting unused in my FJ Cruiser and sometimes out on the range with me or in my backpack when I am traveling. I never thought I would have to use it let alone on myself but Murphy’s law reared its ugly head.

The strangest looking firearm ever on TFB’s Photo Of The Day? Here we see selected soldiers from the units of the 101st Engineer Battalion taking advantage of the opportunity that the Massachusetts National Guard offered. Their battalion coordinated with SARTS (Small Arms Readiness Training Section) Team for gunners and assistant gunners to attend some comprehensive machine gun primary marksmanship instruction (MG PMI) in the Training Support Center (TSC) at Camp Edwards.

5.11’s ABR (Always Be Ready) Academy classes are making a comeback for 2023 with a new twist – they’ll now include instruction from USCCA, one of the country’s largest concealed carry defense organizations. 5.11 Tactical’s ABR Academy will focus on everything ranging from how to set up tactical and preparedness gear, preparing things like bug out bags, and will also now include topics like trauma care, and self-defense for those who want to learn and always be ready. All of these classes are going to be completely free and will be hosted by certified experts from the industry at participating 5.11 Stores across the nation.

At this year’s SHOT Show, Cool Fire brought along their newest models of their CO2-powered training system. The system will soon be available for the Springfield Hellcat and Hellcat Pro, SIG Sauer P365 and P365XL, the Glock 43 and Glock 43X.

Mantis are set to expand their range of training systems with new Blackbeard X models. The system is already available for pistols and AR-15 pattern rifles and in a number of configurations and price points but 2023 will see the range expand to AK pattern rifles, AR-10s, CMMG’s Banshees and SIG Sauer’s MCX line later this year.

RUBOX, a company from Poland, showcased their bullet trap ballistic wall system at this year’s SHOT Show Industry at the Range Day. The system uses a series of rubber boxes filled with aggregate to capture bullets from a range of calibers.

TFB’s Photo Of The Day has never been so diversified. Today we have U.S. Marines with the Maritime Raid Force, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, getting their uniforms wet in Japan. Looking above, is this what you imagine Special Forces look like and do every day? I think the firearm may be a plastic gun, what do you think?

A couple of weeks back TFBTV’s Hop and I had a chance to head out with the good folks from Smith & Wesson to get some range training with two very experienced firearms instructors. The first of those was the legendary Jerry Miculek who is well-known both as a speed shooter and a competitive shooter. In addition to Jerry’s training course, we were also able to learn from Travis Kennedy, a former Navy SEAL and current firearms instructor at his own training company, Kennedy Defensive Solutions. Travis’ training heavily focuses on beginner-level fundamentals and safety so that people who come to his class can become safe and efficient with their rifles and pistols. Travis also has advanced combined carbine and pistol courses for those who have a grasp on the fundamentals, and want to get some more curated high-intensity training using Travis’ experience as a NAVY SEAL, as well as a former Federal law enforcement officer.

The number of internet users worldwide will soon reach the 5-billion mark. Our world has never been so connected. Great photos can spread globally in a matter of minutes, but the story and the necessary context sometimes gets left behind. Not in TFB’s  Photo Of The Day, we will always accompany the images with a background and credits to the maker. Today we are in Operation Mazurka, where we see a Royal Australian Navy sailor taking part in a weapons practice with an F88 Austeyr on the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt.

Photo Of The Day and we have a really worn M16A4 service rifle above. It’s been laid out on the table during rifle issue for Lima Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, in July 2022. Here the recruits are issued their M16A4 service rifle, the one that will be their responsibility for the rest of recruit training.

Photo Of The Day: Life without the Internet, how would it be? How would you make it? You certainly wouldn’t be able to see these images of United Kingdom Royal Marines from 45 Commando, together with U.S. Army Green Berets from the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne). They’re providing security before entering a building during close-quarter battle training at Grafenwöhr Training Area, in Germany.

Reactive targets are a great way to spice up any firearms training session. Not only is it great fun but the instant results you get back from the target are a great way to hone your skills by providing you with quick feedback about your accuracy. Steel targets are undisputedly the most common and popular option for reactive targets and are used in virtually every shooting discipline to provide trainees, competitors, or those just having fun, with a fun visual and audible experience that can make shooting paper targets seem boring in comparison. However, steel targets are not without their drawbacks. For one, they are quite expensive, second, they’re super heavy and often require specialized rigging equipment to get set up further increasing the cost. Finally, steel targets even when set up correctly can still throw spall and ricochets back at you or those nearby causing injury. This is where the reactive targets from THROOM shine. THROOM is in the business of making high-quality polymer targets that are a safer and more affordable alternative to steel targets. THROOM Targets recently sent me some of their target kits to review so today I’ll take you through the process of what it’s like to set them up, and how they’ve held up over the last handful of months.

Photo Of The Day is from Royal Netherlands Army. As you can imagine, everything gets a lot more difficult to manage if you need to wear a gas mask. Have you ever tried it? Just imagine how more difficult it gets to aim correctly. TodayThe firearm above looks like the Colt Canada C8, which is a modernized version of the C8 carbine made by Diemaco.

Ammunition is still outrageously expensive in this day and age and the advent of ammo-less training devices has brought the industry some much-needed innovation in terms of how we train with our rifles and pistols. Mantis is well known for providing customers with one of the most comprehensive at-home training devices on the market that uses a combination of your phone and a laser device to give you feedback on your performance all without the need to use your precious ammunition. Mantis has announced their latest offering, the new BlackbeardX which features new dynamic drills to enhance your dry fire training.

Welcome back to another edition of Concealed Carry Corner. Last week, we looked at the importance of quality holsters and some of the different choices available on the market today. If you missed last week’s article I will leave a link to it here. When it comes to training at the range for carrying concealed, accuracy and connecting shots on the target is just the beginning of the story. Movement and being able to shoot while moving or firing from cover is one of the most important skills you can practice once you’ve become confident with your static shooting ability. Let’s take a closer look at some movement drills.

Photo Of The Day: Being an engineer in the Army sounds boring, doesn’t it? Well, perhaps not if you join the Special Operations Engineer Regiment in Australia. These engineers look pretty Special Ops if you ask me.

An exclusive licensing with SilencerCo has given KRYTAC the right to create their first gas-powered airsoft pistol as a Maxim 9 clone. The KRYTAC Maxim 9 airsoft pistol has a baffled anodized aluminum slide and a strengthened polymer frame. The modular design of the baffles enables versatility in both short (240mm) and long configurations (275mm).

With the current situation, things must be rather tense in the Latvian Army, and today we get a look at the second basic military training course for reservists. They’re using the Heckler & Koch G36, without any optics. Typically Latvia uses the G36V which lacks the integrated reflector sight.

In this episode of TFBTV, James Reeves is at Thunder Ranch with lead instructor, Jack Daniel, to discuss whether or not you really need a red dot on your gun. For the sake of argument, James (a recent red dot convert) adopts an anti-red dot stance, while Jack tells us why red dots on handguns are helpful, and gives viewers tips on how to maximize performance with a red dot. Enjoy this special from Thunder Ranch.

To the best of my knowledge, the rifle in today’s Photo Of The Day is a Pușcă Automată model 1965 (Automatic Rifle Model 1965 chambered in 7.62×39mm. It’s made by Romarm National Company / Cugir Arms Factory, established in 1799. If you know better, you’re welcome to correct my error in the comments below.

Photo Of The Day: If you’ve been in the Army, you know all about this. The first time you got issued your rifle. Here you can see recruits of the Golf Company getting their M16A4 service rifles for the first time. I’m sure they’re excited (perhaps).

When it comes to training, nothing quite beats using the real thing, however, when safety is a top priority during force-on-force conflicts, something like the new M&P Marker M2.0 from T4E (Training For Engagement) can really be a helpful tool to the operator doing the exercise. The M&P Marker M2.0 makes use of a .43 caliber projectile which can be either chalk, a paintball, or even reusable rubber bullets combined with a 12-gram CO2 cartridge to deliver its training projectiles with realistic blowback action.

Photo Of The Day and we have a bunch of action shots from Bulletstorm II, the first Swedish Championship in IPSC PCC (Pistol Caliber Carbine). A two-day, twelve-stage, level three competition with over 200 competitors and 30 teams. All the team fees were donated to Ukraine. 

In Part 1 of the TacFlow Academy Large Caliber Rifle Instructors Course, I covered training, safety, and the TacFlow Standards. In Part 2, we took a deep dive into equipment, shooting position, and The Three Ugly Sisters. In this 3rd and final edition of this series, we’re going to dive back into the equipment and ammunition used throughout this course.

Photo Of The Day: What a “just in time” picture of a Green Beret with the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), as he fires an AT-4 anti-tank weapon during a heavy weapons rehearsal. The location was the Yakima Training Center, Wash., on Jun 24, 2022. This rehearsal provided an opportunity to fire both direct and indirect fire weapons which increases the team’s lethality.

Photo Of The Day: During a Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) in Isiolo, Kenya on July 1, 2022, U.S. Marines assigned to Marine Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) undertake a specialized training exercise alongside Kenyan Army personnel. Above you can see several soldiers using FN SCARs with iron sights and a variety of optics.

If you always wished you had more time to dedicate to dry firing for honing your trigger pulling skills and gaining trigger finger muscles, Strike Industries has got you covered! Meet the new Strike Clicker, a pocket training device for your index finger that imitates a trigger pull. The company also calls it the itchy finger fidget device.

The nation has sadly had more than its fair share of violent shootings over the last couple of years. The why or the how of this sharp increase is still a hot topic of debate for many but for others, like Cox Firearms, the times we live in now are just a reality and one that must be trained for and adapted to. Cox Firearms Training of Texas is now working with churches, law enforcement, schools, and private businesses to teach them how to respond in an active shooter situation. So what does active shooter training prepare civilians for?

Photo Of The Day and while it’s not quite autumn yet, these images are a good reminder of what nature soon will look like. The location is Hohenfels, Germany, and we’re looking at snipers in the Basic Sniper Course at International Special Training Centre (ISTC). This course is one of many offered by the ISTC, which works to provide NATO members with better trained and prepared SOF operators.