There is no denying that compact, sub compact and micro sized pistols and revolvers have been the real rage in the shooting industry. However, very few instructors are offering dedicated curriculum in these handy tools. Recently I had the opportunity to get some truly immersive instruction from an authentic subject matter expert.
But first some background
I have been a user of snub revolvers and, to a lesser degree, compact pistols for much of my career as a shooter. Over the course of my law enforcement service, I carried one of several S&W J frame revolvers in a pants pocket or on an ankle as a back up gun. Later I switched to a compact .380 ACP pistol or a micro compact 9mm. I have spent considerable time on these guns; studying their history, optimizing their carry and deployment as well as sending a lot of rounds down range with them over the years.
While I have significant expertise on the topic, like any student of arms I am constantly looking for more. Seeking out top tier subject matter experts and learning from them is what I do, and on the first weekend in February I made a trip to the greater Austin, Texas area, and Karl Rehn’s excellent KR Training facility, to train with Chuck Haggard of Agile Training and Consulting presenting his one day Pocket Rockets course.
Meet the instructor
Chuck Haggard is a veteran of more than 30 years in law enforcement and is a nationally recognized trainer in both law enforcement and private person applications. He has worked in patrol and special operations for a highly active police department in Kansas, has been a SWAT team member and leader, a field training supervisor and shift commander. He also spent time as the department’s rangemaster and armorer. These experiences, as well as the vast array of professional schools he has attended and certifications he holds, make him very much a subject matter expert.
The genesis of the Pocket Rockets curriculum, Chuck said, was in his earliest days as a working patrol officer. Chuck’s career began when revolvers were still king for duty use. Recognizing the inherent limitations of ammunition capacity, Chuck quickly developed interest in carrying a second revolver as a backup, but found his department had no policy, or training, concerning the carry of a second gun. He was the first officer to officially inquire up the chain of command about the topic, and in some ways helped “write the book” on backup guns for his agency.
Class begins
Twenty students gathered in the well appointed classroom at KR Training early on a Sunday morning. Among the students were five members of Karl Rehn’s cadre of assistant instructors as well as several independent instructors, me included.
With paperwork, safety brief and introductions out of the way Chuck kicked off a lecture that lasted better than an hour. Presenting some of the history around pocket handguns and working into a series of tips and tricks for both snub revolvers, as well as compact and micro compact semi autos. While they can be difficult to master, Chuck said, even carrying a tiny gun is better than having no gun at all.
Citing lessons learned from the Newhall Incident of 1970, Chuck emphasized that with the snub revolver topping the gun off is an important skill to have and hone. This was particularly gratifying as it aligned to my own thinking on that subject, which I wrote about last year. With the small auto pistol, malfunction clearance was stressed, and the small size of the guns needs to be understood and solutioned. Stoppages can be common with tiny auto pistols, with stove pipes and unlocked magazines seen often
I have well above average sized hands so running small pistols, and clearing malfunctions, becomes an interesting, sometimes confounding, experience for me. Chuck presented techniques that make clearing a stoppage under stress, even with my sausage like fingers, a much surer evolution. A couple of tips he shared to this point were a revelation to me and to all in the class.
To the range
The students were split into two relays. Most were running compact pistols, a few like me were running snub revolvers. Some ran both and alternated between types. Throughout the course of the day there were no catastrophic malfunctions on any of the guns.
We began with multiple iterations of the ball and dummy drill. Small guns are notorious for having poor sights and difficult triggers. Firing several repetitions of the exercise helped all the students master trigger control and sight picture but also gave the auto pistol shooters multiple opportunities to work the malfunction clearance techniques we were taught. As to the difficult triggers the lesson Chuck shared is that the stronger your grip is, the more you can get away with as goes to trigger press. Prepping the trigger, revolver or semi auto, is key.
Following a working lunch with more interaction and lecture, we fired several exercises to build on what we had learned over the morning, gradually increasing distance from the target. Our final exercise was the Kansas POST qualification, a 50 round course that is impossible for a trained shooter to fail, but with a tiny gun is a very solid test of marksmanship. Fired at distances between 3 and 25 yards, the shooter needs to maintain all their hits within the bottle of an IALEFI Q target.
The goal of firing this exercise is to demonstrate to the student that while a tiny gun might be best suited for close in work, they can be deployed successfully at longer distance Using a Taurus 856 Defender Ultra Lite I managed 49 out of 50, but at 25 yards I found myself longing for one of my service sized revolvers with adjustable sights.
The day finished with Chuck firing a number of common defensive cartridges from snubs and small pistols into clear ballistic gelatin, both covered with four layers of denim and uncovered. Impressive results were seen with several loadings, the .32 H&R Magnum from High Desert Cartridge Company fired from a Ruger LCR showing particularly good results.
Summing up
Pocket Rockets is a highly informative course. While it has terrific value for those of us who use and carry small handguns, I think it will be of exceptional value to working instructors like me. The gun buying / carrying public are increasingly moving to smaller, easy to carry handguns for their personal defense tools. But these guns are, by their nature, not necessarily easy to run and shoot. They require work, both initial and ongoing, at a higher level than full sized guns. The takeaways for the instructor from Chuck’s curriculum are well worth the investment in time and resources. If you are a dedicated small gun user, I heartily recommend this course.
Ruger LCR .32 H&R with 100 grain XTP bullets
