5 Things I Wish I Had Known About Shooting, A Humorous Look.

The shooting sports are awesome. I have years of experience that has allowed me to build a strong skill set and learn from my mistakes.  The newbies who are joining up in droves today though don't have the luxury of experience .  Here are some of the things I wish I had known when I first started shooting.

Me in my younger days trying to look cool, or something.

1.The shooting world is full of self described experts and crappy advice

     This is a big one. Every time I walk into the gun store there is some fat old guy (no offense to fat old guys) spraying advice all over the room like blood in a Quentin Tarantino movie.  It hits you in the face and drips down the walls, you try to towel it off but the damn blood (I mean advice) just doesn't stop.  And this advice isn't a

How much velocity does a bullet have AFTER going through your wall? Part II

     The Proper Grip is at it again building and then destroying simulated walls for "science".  This will be the 2nd go around and a 3rd test involving 00 buck and 50 grain 9mm ammo at 2,000 feet per second is also coming soon.  If this is your first time reading this we are basically attempting to demonstrate what velocity various calibers and bullets retain after penetrating an interior wall.  The point of this is to dispel the "bullet X is safe if you miss" myth.   Plus it is a lot of fun and if you are a numbers nerd like me the results are interesting.

Muzzle Flash Testing Part II (30 results and counting)

 **Updated!**   Don't see your carry ammo?  Comment here or on Facebook @thepropergrip and make a request!  Don't forget to like/share my Facebook page and if you find these pictures useful you can also follow me on Instagram, also at Thepropergrip.  Thanks and most of all, enjoy!

      Shooting at night (where legal) is awesome fun and something everyone who owns a gun for self defense should do.  Statistics show that the majority of self defense cases occur at night or in other low light environments.  Besides learning the proper use of weapon mounted and/or hand held lights there is something often overlooked...the muzzle flash levels of ammunition.  Many self defense rounds are made using low flash propellants however not all are created equal.  A blinding flash is the last variable you need to be adding to

A Messy Camera and Fun Shooting: What does fruit and other random items look like getting shot and frozen in time?

     This is just a fun post featuring food and other objects I shot with various firearms and froze in time with the use of my Canon DSLR.  It was tricky getting the timing right but with a shutter speed of 1/4000th of a second it was worth it.  Check out the pictures below and enjoy!

My favorite, an egg moments after getting hit with a 22LR

DIY Target Stands: Easy and on the cheap

     When I was younger and just getting into defensive and competitive shooting one of my biggest problems was finding a way to keep the targets up and where I needed them.  It seems like such a basic thing but in Arizona with our rocky soil it can be quite difficult to pound anything in the ground.  Since stakes weren't an option I tried leaning up cardboard on a dead tree, sawhorses, etc. but they either tipped over in a slight breeze or forced me to shoot towards the ground instead of at human torso height.  I didn't want to spend a bunch of money on store bought options so I turned to the internet for help.

The Proper Grip's muzzle flash testing gets made into a video!

     Glen, owner of Independence Training in Prescott Valley Arizona has included my muzzle flash results in his newest video.  It is very well done and I suggest checking it out here.  If you want world class firearms, trauma care, predator hunting, or outdoor survival skills training you can't beat this outfit.  Visit his training site at http://www.independencetraining.com/ to learn more.  I have had the opportunity to train with Glen and his crew on several occasions and cannot say enough positive things about them.



My blog entry on muzzle flash testing can be found here.

How much velocity does a bullet have AFTER going through your wall?

     I am really excited to be publishing this post because it ties together so many things I enjoy.  Shooting, math, photography, and tangible useful results!  The idea came to me after reading another blog (I feel terrible but I can't remember the name) about how many walls various rounds would penetrate.  They lined up sets of miniaturized drywall sections one after the other and concluded at the end that X caliber with X bullet type would punch through X number of "walls".  Now this is interesting don't get me wrong but it just didn't do it for me.  I wanted to know exactly how it affected the bullet once it flew through into the other room if you will.

Muzzle flash testing

      Shooting at night (where legal) is awesome fun and something everyone who owns a gun for self defense should do.  Statistics show that the majority of self defense cases occur at night or in other low light environments.  Besides learning the proper use of weapon mounted and/or hand held lights there is something often overlooked...the muzzle flash levels of ammunition.  Many self defense rounds are made using low flash propellants however not all are created equal.  A blinding flash is the last variable you need to be adding to