Student of the Gun University: Recent Episodes
Student of the Gun
The road to mastery begins here. The Student of the Gun University Podcast makes it easy to gain a new perspective and understanding of firearms training.
We use a single topic, short-form, easy to digest format to enable you to maximize your listening time.
Each episode of SOTG University podcast will focus on a specific topic allowing you to choose from a variety of topics and subject matters related to the world of firearms and firearms training. Be sure to start with the 3 pillar episodes!
Our host is Professor Paul G Markel, a veteran instructor with 30 plus years of experience training military personnel, law enforcement and citizens alike.
Mr. Markel will tap into his well of knowledge to offer solid and tested advice in regard to most all Small Arms & Tactics topics.
Grab a pencil and a notebook. You are not going to want to miss a word of this show. Learn more at sotgu.com and remember… You are a beginner once, a student for life.
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During this episode, we will address the 3 Things or topics that every person who owns a gun, any gun, needs to understand. This is fundamental or foundational knowledge that is critical to gun owners, regardless of what plan to do with a firearm.
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Gun people are often asked to give advice about the choice of firearms and accessories. How can we give the best advice possible? What is the definition of “good advice”?
Ask Questions, Listen, Remember for whom the advice was given. Be Honest.
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/how-to-give-good-advice-when-youre-asked-about-guns/
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Poor choices in gear; ammo, holsters, belts, accessories, etc. can and will distract you and effectively handicap you during training. Paul has some advice to help you have a better training experience.
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Support this show at https://www.sotgu.com
Gun people are often asked to give advice about the choice of firearms and accessories. How can we give the best advice possible? What is the definition of “good advice”?
Use the SOTG promo codes here: www.studentofthegun.com/culture
Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/student-of-the-gun-university/donations
Support this show at https://www.sotgu.com
During the process of writing a new book, I had the opportunity to once more closely examine what it takes to achieve mastery with a firearm. Some people think that they need to master just one more high speed technique or add one more custom part to their pistol. Shooting well is 90% mental and 10% physical.
Upcoming training course: martial-application-of-the-pistol-201
Use the SOTG promo codes here: www.studentofthegun.com/culture
Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/student-of-the-gun-university/donations
Support this show at https://www.sotgu.com
Having learned how to dry-fire decades ago and having used it successfully to fire “Expert” on the Marine Corps rifle range, I was surprised when an instructor of whom I had great respect disparaged the use of dry-fire. I set out to figure out why this was the case.
Upcoming Training Course: martial-application-of-the-pistol-201
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The purpose of our collaboration with Spike’s Tactical was to create a practical, rugged and reliable rifle that had everything a fighting gun needs but nothing it does not. K.I.S.S. Principle in action or application. https://www.spikestactical.com/collections/complete-rifles/student-of-the-gun-the-lexington-concord-an-instrument-of-liberty/
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Keeping with our recent theme regarding long distance and precision shooting, we pose the question: how much scope is enough? We could also ask, how much scope is too much?
Do you really need a 20x scope to hit a target at 1000 yards? We have an extensive amount of experience in this subject and have some suggestions to make.
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Lesson from long range shooting; if you want to experience real change and improvement, you need to be willing to make bold adjustments. This lesson applies not only to the elevation knob on your rifle scope, but to other aspects in your life.
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Believe it or not, sometimes you need to clean your guns. Firearms are simple machines and machines run the best when they are clean and properly lubricated.
FrogLube is back as an official sponsor of Student of the Gun so this is a good time to discuss firearms maintenance and cleaning. www.studentofthegun.com/froglube Promo Code: SOTG
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We just had a very successful PFT Training Camp. So successful, that we have scheduled another one for September of 2023. Follow the link: PFT camp.
Do we go to the shooting range to learn how to function and perform on the range? Or, is our purpose to go to a training area to learn and practice how to function and perform in the real world? The two are not the same.
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What is the flinch reaction and from where does it come? Just as importantly, what can we do to mitigate the flinch reflex? Professor Paul has been helping shooters to mitigate and eliminate the accuracy stealing flinch for over 30 years. Listen louder.
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I recently read that a person who will devote or dedicate ten minutes a day to the practice of a certain endeavor; piano, guitar, dry fire, etc. will in one year have an ability greater than 95 percent of the people around them.
Let’s consider the math for a moment: 10 x 7 = 70 and 70 x 52 = 3640 minutes or 60 hours. Is the path to mastery impossible? Or, does the path to mastery instead require discipline and dedication?
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The American gun owner has fallen into a rut and firearms training has become dogmatic and predictable. Is individual training enough or should we expect more from ourselves and our trainers? We will consider the PFT Training Camp and its potential value.
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Many folks will pontificate about so-called “combat accuracy”. What exactly does that mean? Is that term an excuse for poor performance? We will consider what we should expect from ourselves and from our equipment.
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The idiots of Instagram are going to get good people killed. Not everyone who has some kind of social media channel is an “expert” or even qualified to teach anyone. We will consider a few dangerous trends that are popular on socialist media.
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Are you worshiping the convenience god? Regarding the road to mastery, in any subject not just firearms, where should convenience and easiness be on the priorities list? There are “influencers” out there who are “influencing” young people to believe that the best things in life are convenient and easy. As you might imagine, Professor Paul has some thoughts on the matter. Afterall, this is Student of the Gun University.
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Congratulations to BioFire for traveling 10 thousand miles to completely miss the point of being an armed citizen. The curse of modern man: attempting to use technology to solve mindset problems. Professor Paul considers the downfall of reliance upon high tech.
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Before you head to any training event or even the local range, you should prepare your wardrobe accordingly. Professor Paul recently dealt with inclement weather during a training event and he will relate the clothing / gear that kept him warm and dry.
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Habits, both good and bad, are developed on the training range. We need to be conscious of what we are doing during training to assure that it does not become a bad or dangerous habit off of the training range.
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People like to argue about which home defense gun is the best or should be preferred over others. However, what the vast majority of pundits and self-appointed experts completely skip over in their argument is a discussion of the primary purpose of said firearm.
Lucky for you, Professor Paul has been doing this for quite a while. He will break it down, cut out all of the bull crap and focus on what is most important.
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We continue to address the “good enough” mentality or the “combat effective” lies. Those who spread such garbage do not understand the stages of learning.
There are several stages of learning: conscious incompetence, conscious competence, and unconscious competence. Unconscious Incompetence is the stage where we all begin, but little or no learning takes place in that stage, because you don’t know what you don’t know. You don’t even realize that you are ignorant.
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Professor Paul considers the lessons learned from the Newhall Shootout from 1970. What lessons should we have learned? What can we take away from this horrible situation?
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Despite the advice from some “C” students masquerading as firearms instructors, marksmanship or more precisely the ability to deliver shot placement on demand is important, even in combat. We have historical evidence to support our position.
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How can you get the most from your time and ammunition? Both ammunition and time are investments. We certainly do not want to waste money or waste time. Let’s consider how we can get the most from both our monetary and time investment. www.oneboxworkout.com
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Do you need aftermarket parts from your fighting rifle? Should you add aftermarket triggers etc. to your AR? What are the pros and cons? Remember we have a new book; the Martial Application of the Rifle available at www.shopsotg.com
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Do you and your buddies only go to the range when it is sunny and warm outside? When it gets cold, do you stop practicing? When it comes to team building, adversity builds camaraderie. People will not remember a range trip on a sunny afternoon, but they will recall that training session in the cold, rain, sweltering heat, etc.
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We are going to go back to the theme of episode 001: How to find a good instructor? This time we are going to consider the difference between a coach and an equipment manager. If you missed Professor Paul’s article, take a look.
https://studentofthegun.com/articles/firearms-training/coach-vs-equipment-manager/
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Is it your desire to get on the road to mastery? If so, how do you get there? Regarding the use of firearms, how can a person become a master in their use?
One way to achieve mastery is to focus your efforts on a single area or project. Too often, your pathway to mastery is broken by distraction or task confusion.
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We have come to the final pillar of the Four Pillars of Combat: Gear. For most American men, it is the topic of gear that occupies the majority of their thoughts, their money, and their time.
Good gear cannot be and should not be discounted. How do we sort through all of the noise and clutter to secure high quality, useful gear for ourselves?
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As we continue with the examination of the Four Pillars of Combat we move on to the topic of skill. Skill requires dedication and commitment. It has been said that education or training combined with dedicated practice produces skill.
Skill is absolutely important. However, we must ask ourselves, is a high level of skill enough for us to succeed and be victorious in combat? We have a few examples for you.
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Continuing with the Four Pillars of combat, we will address tactics. When all else is equal, it is the tactics employed by the individual or the unit that will decide the outcome.
Tactics combine skill but are not merely skill. Tactics also employ mindset, but mindset alone is not enough to ensure victory.
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There are Four Pillars of fighting or personal combat. During the next four episodes we will discuss each of them and their importance to the armed citizens or the warrior.
Mindset comes first and it is the most important. Your mindset is what determines the choices you make and how you look at all of the other pillars. Without a proper mindset, everything else is just games or a waste of time.
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What is The Naked Principle? How does it apply to firearms training? Professor Paul shareshis thirty plus years of teaching people, young and old, male and female, how to employ firearms.
We will discuss the best way for a husband or boyfriend to help their wife or girlfriend to become proficient in the use of arms. Paul will give his advice in regard to where to get training for our significant others. Also, there is some bonus material for current small arms instructors.
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Guns and gear and accessories are tools, it is the human that is the operating system. In what condition is your operating system?
Too often we try to fix problems by buying things. Expensive guns do not shoot themselves. If you plan to survive a hostile encounter and to keep surviving, you need to spend some time focusing on the operating system for the gun.
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“The most important lesson I learned...was that the winner of a gunplay usually was the one who took his time. The second was that, if I hoped to live on the frontier, I would shun flashy trick-shooting--grandstand play--as I would poison...In all my life as a frontier peace officer, I did not know a really proficient gunfighter who had anything but contempt for the gun-fanner, or the man who literally shot from the hip.” - Wyatt Earp
Please, stop playing around with your guns. Someone is going to get seriously hurt or killed. Instagram models are the top suspects here. Stop it.
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This will be one of many future “mythbusting” episodes. Today we will examine home defense or personal defense shotgun. The shotgun is a tremendously effective self-protection tool when used properly.
During this segment we will address popular myths surrounding the defensive shotgun. Is it truly impossible to miss with a shotgun? Do you need to train and practice with a shotgun? What is the difference in shotgun ammunition?
The Martial Application of the Shotgun book: www.shopsotg.com
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Before you adopt the latest technique or purchase the newest product that is supposed to fix a problem that heretofore did not exist, you need to have an honest conversation with yourself and determine the goal of the exercise.
Mission or goal focus is critical for success. Anything that detracts from the goal should be considered with a critical eye. Is that new technique or that new product helping you reach your goal or distracting you from it?
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We have noticed a trend over the last decade or so. Rifle scope magnification power has gone up dramatically. Fifteen to twenty years ago, a ten power scope was considered to be a high power magnification. A 3-9x variable was the industry standard. Now the old 3-9x scopes seem antiquated or underpowered.
What is the real answer? Do you really need 15, 18, 25x rifle scopes? What do you plan to do with the rifle? Have you ever dealt with mirage? Now is the time for a reality check. Carlos Hathcock used a fixed 8x rifle scope and had 93 confirmed kills.
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One of the many lessons from our Precision Rifle course is that you cannot neglect 100 yards if you want to hit 1000 yards. It is the same fundamentals that you apply or do not apply at 100 yards that will translate to hits or misses at 1000 yards.
We stress to our students that the fundamentals of marksmanship translate, regardless of the distance or the equipment. Shooting a target at 100 yards is not as cool or impressive as shooting a target at 1000 yards. Regardless, the 100 yards target is just as important if not more so.
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Many of you who know me or follow SOTG know that I like to pluck on the guitar from time to time. The late, great Jeff Cooper once opined that; “Owning a guitar does not make you a musician and owning a gun does not make you an armed citizen.”
We don’t become musicians or rock stars by purchasing expensive guitars. Likewise, we do not become armed citizens by purchasing cool looking guns and gear. Both situations require dedicated time and effort. Both also come with rewards.
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There are so many different colors and styles of handgun sights, even veterans can become confused as to which is the best choice for a fighting / martial handgun.
We talk about the Science of Sight, color vision issues and the biology of the human eye.
You may never look at pistol sights in the same way again after this show.
https://www.nightfision.com/product/night-fision-student-of-the-gun-accur8-for-glock
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If you are a gun person, you likely get dozens of emails a week and see dozens more ads for firearm accessories that are supposed to make your gun more accurate or make you a better shooter.
Can scopes, sights, or lasers make your gun “more accurate”? Do Match triggers make you a better shooter? What do you really need?
When you are considering gear or accessories, you should apply this rule: Gear should enhance existing skill. Gear is not a replacement for skill.
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Why do people struggle so hard in order to maintain mediocrity?
Recently I made a public declaration regarding the “press check”. “The Press Check is a nervous tick developed through poor training and watching too many online videos.”
One of the greatest aspects of being an American is that you can choose whether or not you want to excel at a given activity to be mediocre or even below average. The road to mastery often begins with us getting out of our own way. Preconceived notions or old habits can hamper our advancement.
First ask yourself what is important, what is the goal? With that answer in mind, we then take steps toward achieving that goal by clearing away all of the unimportant things.
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Many years ago, a friend who is also a martial arts and firearms instructor stated that Skill is the combination of training and practice. Training or learning is both mental and physical.
The use of arms is physical, hands on activity therefore time and effort must be put forth in order to improve and master that activity.
Unfortunately, our society has a tendency to attempt to solve all of its problems by buying or purchasing things. Even the US Army is not immune to this phenomenon.
Faced with the problem of new soldiers not having the strength, coordination, or mental capacity to qualify on the grenade range or read a map, what did the Army do?
They went out and spent hundreds of millions of dollars on new rifles, pistols, and machine guns.
You can and should pay for training. However, the training only teaches you how and what to practice.
If you want skill, you cannot buy it, you have to earn it.
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There is an unfortunate situation that exists in the firearm training culture; that it is alright or acceptable to teach below average or subpar techniques or tactics during a Beginner’s Class.
There are instructors who view beginner classes as simply a block checking exercise to get people to come back for the “advanced” training class.
The first firearms training course that a person takes is actually the most important one because this is where they will either develop positive/good habits or they will learn bad or dangerous habits that are difficult to fix.
All marksmanship and gun handling are founded in the basics. The basics are not perfunctory, the basics are critically important.
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For episode #3, we will take a moment to consider the Top 3 Mistakes that new gun owners make before they take training.
- “I need to practice before I take training.” No, you don’t and I’ll tell you why.
- “My Concealed Carry Course is all the training I need.” Sadly, this is nowhere close to being true.
- Buying the wrong gear or gear that you really don’t need. Read the list and take some training before you go out and buy a bunch of stuff you saw online.
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There is a definite hierarchy when it comes to personal defense and being prepared to save your life with a gun in hand. James Yeager at Tactical Response started expressing the hierarchy for gunfighting over 20 years ago. It goes like this: Mindset, Tactics, Skill, and Gear.
Notice that Mindset is first and gear is last. Mindset is what guides you and what determines all of the choices you make regarding the other 3 items on the list.
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Hello and welcome to our brand new feature called “Student of the Gun University”. These shows will be single topic, relatively short form, and easy to digest. We will still be entertaining you and enlightening you with Student of the Gun Radio.
How can someone who is brand new to firearms and firearms training be sure that they will be attending a good school or that their instructor is a qualified teacher? That is a question with which we have been dealing for decades.
Professor Paul wrote an article to express this situation in detail. https://studentofthegun.com/articles/how-to-find-a-good-firearms-instructor/
Remember, you are a beginner once, a student for life.