Books, Magazines, DVDs, Websites..

[DontTr3adOnM3]

I am basically looking for decent sources of information for me and my fiancee who just purchases our first handguns for personal protection. We have very basic common sense knowledge of self defense.. Right now we shoot our guns as much as possible hitting on our accuracy and general knowledge of our gun but we are just looking for some more sources to help us out.

Please and Thanks.

 

[BigO01]

Try

www.gunvideo.com , they have the widest variety of videos I have seen and I have a few of them .

House Clearing and Cornering

Night Master "low light" shooting & flashlight techniques

Move Shoot Live

They have "Special Pricing" of 5 DVDs for $109 + shipping when normally they can run as high as $35 each as well as some close outs on VHS tapes for $5 each

Admittedly I have NOT bought from them yet I bought from

www.midwayusa.com and discovered Gunvideo on the Back of DVD cases .

The first 2 videos I listed are also available at www.Wilsoncombat.com for $29.95 as well as a few others

If you need a safety video the National Shooting Sports Foundation "NSSF" has one for $10

 

[silentpoet]

Gabe Suarez books are pretty good.
Also Principles of Personal Defense by Col Jeff Cooper.

 

[DontTr3adOnM3]

thank you guys.

 

[BHPshooter]

For videos, I'm very impressed with Rob Pincus' training videos. http://www.icestore.us/servlet/the-DVDs/Categories
I highly recommend "Shooting in Realistic Environments." The other videos are great too, but that one is an excellent all-around video.

Book-wise, the NRA guide to personal protection in the home is a very good book. It covers just about everything: safety, mindset, awareness, cover/concealment, proper handgun handling, immediate action drills for both autopistol and revolver, and then goes on to describe preventative ways that you can make your home safer. http://www.nrastore.com/nra/Product.aspx?productid=PB 01781

(They've also got one for Personal Protection Outside the Home, but I haven't got that one yet.)

I also highly recommend Stephen Camp's book, Defensive Handguns, if you haven't already picked a handgun for yourself.
http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/Defensive Handguns.htm

Wes

 

[Fred Fuller]

IMHO live classes with a qualified instructor are much better sources for basic firearms training than books, videos etc. Check http://www.nrahq.org/education/training/basictraining.asp for basic firearms classes near you. Check with local FFL dealers, your local law enforcement office(s), gun clubs etc. to see what other options you might have locally for training.

Books and videos can certainly help, but IMHO there is nothing that will steepen your learning curve and save you time, money and effort in the long run like classes with good instructors.

Practicing is great, but you need to be sure you're practicing the right things, or else you risk learning bad habits.

Stay Safe,

lpl/nc

 

[boalex207]

+ 1 to Lee Lapin.

If there's any way possible, start out with live instruction from a qualified firearms instructor. After that foundation is laid, the books and videos will make a lot more sense to you.

 

[psyopspec]

Hopefully you have had live instruction or plan to augment your training with it in the near future. That said, I understand that it can be cost and time prohibitive, twice so if you live a considerable distance away from the trainers/facilities.

I highly recommend "Shooting in Realistic Environments."

I second that. A good "next step" for a person who's accomplished in basic pistol marksmanship. The DVD also has a couple drills that can be practiced at most ranges.

 

[AndyC]

"Surviving Edged Weapons" - a bit dated nowadays, but good info for those who think "Oh, it's just a knife..."

 

[hso]

Save your money for a vacation that includes a 2 or 3 day action handgun course from a good trainer. You'll learn more in those couple of days than you might have in years without it. Most of the cost will be in ammo these days.

 

[twigs]

Clint Smith's series of Thunder Ranch DVD's is outstanding. I've got 4 of the 6 and have signed up for one of his courses in the fall. You might start with the Defensive Handgun DVD. It has 2 disks, lecture and range.

The website is www.thunderranchinc.com

 

[Kingcreek]

I got a free and unrequested DVD in the mail from the NRA by Rob Pincus- Combat Focus- handgun home defense techniques and tips. I have to say I was quite impressed with the quality of the information and presentation. No substitute for live training but not a bad beginning.

 

[earthworm]

Allow me to recommend (in no particular order)

Principles of Personal Defense-Jeff Cooper.In The Gravest Extreme-Massad Ayoob.The Combative Mindset-Gabe Suarez.Armed & Female-Paxton Quigley.
The Gift of Fear-Gavin DeBecker. Please note that these are less hardware (which gun,etc) than software-oriented ("Your mind is your primary weapon).
If there are ranges near you no doubt they will have classes,training & rental guns you can try.Barring that contact the NRA for info on trainers,etc in your area.

 

[Shadow1198]

Start first with this:

Shooting Missology

It will give you a big jumpstart as it does away with a lot of common myths and misconceptions. The end result is it will get you looking at things from the right perspective to begin with, which will save you lots of time, money, trial, and error. There are so many arguments about this and that, what grip method is best, stance, blah blah blah. It's very, very easy to get overwhelmed with the sheer number of variables involved with shooting handguns. It's the best $40 I've ever spent on a firearms training based video. No one single video or book is going to have everything you need to know in it. However, this one will get you working on and perfecting the basic fundamentals FIRST, which is the most important part of shooting handguns IMO.

 

[Rob Pincus]

THanks for the recommendations for some of our videos, guys... The feedback is much appreciated. We just released a new DVD in the Personal Defense series, covering aspects of shooting while in contact.

I'd certainly give an additional nod to the DVDs that Clint Smith puts out as well.

-RJP

 

[Gentleman Ranker]

earthworm July 9th, 2008, 03:43 AM recommends:

The Gift of Fear-Gavin DeBecker.

Note that DeBecker is very definitely an "anti". I agree with earthworm that it's worth reading for his non-firearm content, just be ready for the "anti" part. Maybe try the library first.

I also like Sanford Strong's Strong on Defense for general self-defense mindset. He's a bit ambivalent about firearms, but not an "anti" per se. You won't learn much (if anything) about shooting from him, though.

I agree that "hands on" training is better than books if you have that choice.

regards,

GR

 

[earthworm]

Gentleman Ranker

Good point on Sanford Strong:maybe even better than DeBecker due to the lack of anti bias & "You need to hire me" crapola.