A wise trainer once told me "It's great to practice and repeat the safety rules so they become your SOP, but understand that when things get crazy, your finger better be on that trigger, safety off, and sights down range. Do you think your enemy will be taking an extra second to go through the proper safety steps when he sees you?" Applies the same way here. If you need to identify a target, chances are it needs done right now, not a few seconds later with observation devices. Use the tools you have in the most efficient way possible with the least necessary movement - and be accountable for the actions you take with those tools.

As far as knowing you weapon system , It’s like when you see someone drop their handgun on the ground at a 3 gun match. The stage stops, they walk over to the handgun, vocalize that they are “PICKING UP THE HANDGUN!”, then with their thumb and index finger, carefully pick the gun up and walk it to a “safe zone” like they are carrying uranium. Dude, pick the gun up in the direction you were JUST SHOOTING IN, clear the firearm and holster. That kind of baby shit makes things seem way more dangerous than it really is.

The same people who get upset when you use your magnified optic to PID, are the sames ones that say you should have a magnified optic to PID. Cant wait to see that video on the rig!

@BrassFacts

3 ай бұрын

this is actually a hilarious simple way to say it.

I’ve had this same conversation with people. There are pros and cons of the logic. It’s common practice for LE to point their firearms at people without intention. Comfort and liability are always a thing and that’s where hesitancy comes from on the instructors’ end. Devil’s advocate: When I put myself on the receiving end, it raises the red flag. If I see somebody pointing a firearm at me, I see that as intent which can create a sticky situation. You do bring that up at the end of the video, but I don’t think it should be dismissed.

If we use a little logic and common sense we can reduce the number of firearms safety rules from 4 down to about 1.

I just explained this to someone I was teaching about rifles. There's a big difference between "range mentality" and "employment mentality". Iused my ACOG many times in Fallujah to get PID and prevent friendly fire. You're 100% correct in your mentality here.

Great video, Airman. Thank you.

How is this not common sense? Lol .. on one hand its sad that "gun people" are so scared of their weapon that they'd be afraid to use the magnification tool on it for its most important reason which is POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION - on the other hand, makes me a little more confident knowing I'm a little more proficient and comfortable behind the gun than others .. hell the US Navy just released a photo of a Commander firing a rifle with a backwards scope, made me remember that not every American is some badass gunslinger lol

Additionally, an ex-SOF soldier and respected trainer went through the basic rules of gun safety and poked holes through each of them, even in civilian Rule-of-Law usage. Taken literally, they make firearms unusable. He has updated rules that make actually sense and allow you to do what you did. But they are rules for people knowledgable of their weapons and can think clearly under pressure. The original rules, which I teach the grandkids, are for the uninitiated and children.

@presidentmerkinmuffley6769

3 ай бұрын

Whom might this be that I could find out these revised rules? As it is correct when the four rules are taken too literally the tools are unusable.

@phillipgardner3297

3 ай бұрын

Yes please do tell

@colt1033

3 ай бұрын

Nope it’s a secret only for the initiated

@SharpsShtr

3 ай бұрын

I've tried posting this three times already, but TPTB keep deleting it. They are from John Mosby's books on rifle and pistol training, which can be found on Lulu.

@presidentmerkinmuffley6769

3 ай бұрын

@@SharpsShtr Thank you sir.

Low-key the "this is my safety, sir" scene from "Blackhawk Down" makes a lot of sense..

When I was stationed in the UK and training with the RAF, it was their SOP to use the optics on their rifles to observe suspicious people and locations. Granted, this was back when they were still dealing with the violence in Northern Ireland. I see no problem with it as you have described. Different note, shouldn't you be retiring from active duty soon?

The squinty face was the best 🤣🤣

100% spot on.

This requires maturity, competency, and common sense to exercise and understand and apply appropriately. Half the population has none of these traits, and and in a world where the subdued are rewarded you end up with dudes like that CO.

It’s definitely a valid point. There is even a hand and arm signal for this in marine corps TM’s. Sight In and you use your off hand to give a range to those around you.

100% agree. A few things: 1. Rules were designed because of, and to help prevent, people doing stupid things. 2. If the rules are simple, then they don’t account for exceptional situations. 3. If the rules are complex enough to account for exceptional situations, then they’re too difficult to remember and people won’t follow them. 4. Same with the “treat every firearm as if it were loaded” rule. Yes, right up until you’ve verified that it is not. I prefer “always know or discover the status of the firearm.” Otherwise, how are you supposed to clean it, for example? If I point the empty barrel at the floor am I willing to destroy the floor? No. I’ve verified that it was unloaded first. 5. The rules are worth knowing, but it’s also worth knowing why they exist and under what circumstances you may not strictly follow them and still be completely safe.

I've got a modified version of "the 4 rules" for this very reason. For example, my rule #1 is know the condition of your firearm. Various conditions allow for various uses, and any scenario when you're away from it requires reverification to know the condition (because if it was always treated as loaded you'd never clean it, dry fire or be able to transport it based on regional laws for loaded firearms). Rules are good and might work within controlled environments, but often its the concept behind the rule that is universally applicable but sadly rarely taught.

Great video

There is also the childhood rule that your parents taught you, "do not talk to strangers". The work around for that rule was to make a new friend today.

Follow the rules until you know their complete purpose and understand the tradeoffs when considering the exceptions.

Fully understand what you are saying. 😊

i 100 percent agree it depends on scenario---- military ---you use your wm scope all the time to observe---matter of convenience and nature of battle police---point their weapons all the time to direct civvie---no as you can use binos or monocular etc to id something you may have to engage this is a very similar related discussion that is recent with "weapon mounted light" issue that has come up with old school guy could be summed up as handheld ie monocular vs weapon mounted scope----which is best---again as with lights i say both

Great video!! Hopefully people can see the logic in what your saying

Dude, as always, I love your videos, and I agree with what you’re trying to drive home here. It’s all about the situation and the experience / training of the shooter. I could write an essay on this. LOL. In a combat or SHTF situation, if I’m a DM or sniper going after an HVT in a busy market square, innocents will be passing by my field of vision and aim. That’s where experience of the shooter comes into play. Again…situation. In a training environment we have so many…”newbies” getting into firearms these days with little training and “Call of Duty” mindset, some of them can barely remember to do a safety check once or twice, before breaking down the firearm to clean it. Although I’m not an instructor, I can only imagine an instructor being over cautious due to the legal ramifications in a training environment.

I agree with you, but there are a lot of idiots out there. Case in point was the Navy's recent twitter post of a ship's Captain live firing an M-4 with the Trijicon LPVO installed backwards. How many levels of supervision did that go through and nobody caught it, before or after. Personally I carry a small 10x monocular in an ALICE magazine pouch on my gear. Its' extra magnification allows better IDs and if observing from cover it's less likely to give my position away. If I'm in a hurry, it's dummy corded and I just drop it down the front of my shirt.

@terrarecon

3 ай бұрын

Yeah, except that was photoshopped.

@SharpsShtr

3 ай бұрын

@@terrarecon So if it was photoshopped why did the Navy publicly thank the Space Force for pointing out that the scope was mounted wrong and then delete the post with that photo? Luckily a sharp Marine saved the Navy's post and reposted it as proof.

@terrarecon

3 ай бұрын

@@SharpsShtr bruh, the whole story is a scam. Think about it, a ship full of people standing by including a Range Safety Officer (RCO) is going to let the officer shoot a rifle with the scope attached backwards?! Not to mention the alignment with the barrel doesn't even match the stock. I was a weapons instructor PMI in the Marine Corps, I ain't buying it. People are too quick to mock what appears to be an officer in an embarrassing situation. I don't mind being wrong if I am, but it's silly for people to believe this without some critical thinking.

Also look up the mission of sniper teams. It’s not to go and hunt and kill. It’s to observe and report. And they do that with their optics mounted on their rifles. Sooooo how els are you Gona get PID? We all talk about having LPVO’s or magnifying type devices mounted to see if it is friend or foe.

@PreparedAirman Thank you for your videos. Quick question… is an ACOG really worth it? I have a Vortex Strikefire II with a vortex 3x flip magnifier. That works good and was all I could afford. Is an ACOG way better?

I got scared just watching this video... 😁👍 Thanks for sharing n' God bless

Two words here: COMMON SENSE. You MUST PID any contact to actually DETERMINE is it HOSTILE? Use anything at your disposal to make that call. CORRECTLY! Then react accordingly. 🤔

@MaritimeHomesteader

3 ай бұрын

Exactly. If you’re not sure if the contact is a threat then verify with any means possible. If there is a possibility that it can be a friendly keep your finger off of the trigger. You can even put it on safe. Common sense folks.

I have been using a variation of that rule, ''Don't point your weapon at something your not prepared to destroy if need be'' So I would as you use the optic quickest available to me to successfully ID friend or foe, and in case of foe, your on target ready to go.

I would seriously have to ask him are we training or are pretending to train so that he can cash a check?

Depends on situation, binoculars are superior to a scope for glassing and a spotting scope is superior to binos. Weapon mounted optics are quicker.

🔹GREAT VIDEO🔹 Greetings from Florida 🌴 APR 2024

Valid point of view. And that's when I quit using that instructor... I know that safety is paramount, but all the safety devices were in place already.. and in a combat situation, you don't have the luxury of lowering you rifle and stop scanning the horizon just to start digging for binocular..to determine Friendly or foe ...this might only happen if you have an observation post already set up meaning you have already established control of that area... you train like you fight. Your observation about this people not being comfortable with their rifle and manipulation procedures is clear as well.... do they have combat experience themselves??. If they did they would have acted differently... as any marine tha cycled through Iraq or Afghanistan.

I usually carry the extra weight of binoculars for hunting because I can see more with less eye fatigue but if it’s combat I still might carry a monocular for scouting with less movement it depends are you in a target rich situation like a prairie dog town then using your scope might have higher magnification sometimes owls sit on their mound’s and it’s hard to tell what it is way out there my binoculars are 7 power and my scopes are 6 x18 and 6 x24

What good is my rifle-mounted monocular if I can’t use it lol

Completely agree

I agree 100%

I agree and like most of this video, but I'd say in peace time you could still use your optic to ID animals when hunting

A man with balls willing to speak about it.

In Afghanistan i used my acog to observe all the time. I agree with PA 100%

I use my scope all the time.

There are absolutely times when you can point a weapon at something you don't intend to destroy. Anyone saying otherwise is just wrong.

It's the same concept as having a handheld light, not just a weaponlight. You're risking alienating people,brandishing/assault charges , or a firefight. You may or may not be being watched , but you'll never know that, no matter what the societal situation is.

When "the greyman theory" meets "the dark forest". It's funny to have this kind of thinkings, particularly when discussing under different cultures and habits. Does it means "no more greyman"? You either show yourself as harmless as possible, with shinning outdoor backpacks and university hoodies, or hide yourself as much as possible with ghillies and IRR/thermo shields? Otherwise being suspecious = getting shot

100% agree. I’d better not hear about my overwatch assessing threats with binos while I’m moving. I’d feel safer with their reticle directly on me than I would if the weapon system wasn’t ready to go.

It's nice to see someone use common sense. Good video.

It’s clear that the sniper on the scope isn’t playing game too. He’s using his weapon mounted optic all the time. I’m no sniper, but I’ve seen/read enough interviews where this is the norm.

lol its depends, do that in a permissive environment when your just out camping , youre liable to at least get shot at, as its pretty scary to have a gun aimed at you even for identification purposes, the guy your aiming at doesn't know that. 99.9 percent of the time you are going to be aiming at friendly campers if you aim to identify. Use your monocular, also if they call the cops or rangers and let em know there is guy aiming guns at people , youre done, they will go out their and hunt your ass.

@PreparedAirman

3 ай бұрын

That's what i said lol

Excuse me sir, was that an Elcan I witnessed? WHAT HAVE YOU BECOME!? 🤣

@PreparedAirman

3 ай бұрын

Testing new things lol 😉

@MagicPrepper

3 ай бұрын

@@PreparedAirman I get it. I'm on another LPVO right now and it's a struggle not to just put an ACOG on everything.

@BrassFacts

3 ай бұрын

MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT'S MY (former) ELCAN!!

@MagicPrepper

3 ай бұрын

@@BrassFacts it all makes sense now

@PreparedAirman

3 ай бұрын

@BrassFacts All those previous videos about Elcan love, and he ends up selling it... suspicious... 😉

If you watch any of the hundreds of combat videos on KZread not one of them show someone using binoculars rather they just bring their weapons up and use their weapon optics’s never understand the safety Sally’s you do you ! And don’t worry about those safety Sally’s

Law enforcement points guns at people they’re unsure of all the time. Like daily.

Completely agree with you and within your parameters.

Where's the full tang tactical kit bag?

@PreparedAirman

3 ай бұрын

It's still my go-to rig. I'm just testing out other options for pros and cons.

@phillipgardner3297

2 ай бұрын

@@PreparedAirman oh, cool. My heart sank because i am sold on the "tang"

@PreparedAirman

2 ай бұрын

@@phillipgardner3297 its an awesome rig. I have yet to find something better.

@phillipgardner3297

2 ай бұрын

@@PreparedAirman do you have plenty of adjustment with it? I'm a small guy and with my current rig tightened down all the way i still feel like it sits pretty low

@PreparedAirman

2 ай бұрын

Yes, very much, so. The FullTang Tactical H harness is actually my favorite so far. I'm a very skinny guy aswell. This fits me extremely well.Iv since put them on my spirits rig and an Haley strategic rig aswell. The H harness is adjustable in the front and the rear, making it a very versatile item. Again, I make no money from selling these things. I just think they are very well done.

I think you're missing the biggest problem with using your weapon as a observation tool, which is if your target or someone with your target sees you shouldering your weapon they will immediately interpret it as a hostile action and react accordingly.

@PreparedAirman

3 ай бұрын

Yes I mentioned that in the video.

@crossfox1991

3 ай бұрын

Well unless your "target" is some random dude who wasn't expecting a fight rather then an actual combatant if they see you with a gun and camo there probably going to think your hostile anyway

For twenty years I dutifully, thoughtlessly obeyed my original trainer as I slapped my support hand flat against my chest as I drew my pistol. Last summer I just refused to waste my support hand, and re-trained myself to protectively hold it high and turned out defensively. I realized the trainer taught me that because it was best for Him!! Not me in a fight. Because it was the method that most prevented me from shooting my hand in his training class. Not the method to help me in a real fight. I consider it a huge training scar that took a couple thousand draws to fix. It is dumb. Those friggen Boomers....

Military Training is different. I learned civilian rules after. Civilian rules Be sure of your target and what's beyond it. (anything beyond the enemy is enemy territory) Shooting over water. (who cares) Unloading before climbing a fence. (ridiculously dangerous in combat) Non military Civilians and Police They don't know as much that's the problem. Always happens. When in Rome do as the Romans do.

Police and military snipers do it all the time untilthey getthe go ahead and orid is made.

Great video. "This is my safety sir. ☝️"

I agree with your assessment, in a war type scenario, whether its actually war, SHTF, grid down you use whatever title you want, Milliseconds count. But having been on the receiving end of a hunting situation, its f _ cking 100 % unnerving to know that some possible newbie goofball has a scope trained on me, with maybe or more than likely has his booger hook on the launch button. It will piss you off. Big advocate for secondary optics as in bino's or a mono, works for me whether I'm hunting archery or gun season. Thx for the vid PA

Some day people will remember that context is a thing lol. Great video.

Nuclear weapons, nuff sad.

I tend to disagree with rules #1 and #2. I might use my rifle optics for targets I might want to shoot. When I am already pretty sure that it´s not a target, I wont point. And for #1 my philosophy is to make sure whether it´s loaded and act accordingly. While making sure I point the muzzle in a safe direction. I do not tolerate getting sweeped with a gun claimed to be unloaded. Firstly to avoid people building bad habits, secondly a certain lack of trust. And yep, in an in rules of law scenario that´s true even if they intend to shoot me.

just say "gun" bro

@PreparedAirman

3 ай бұрын

Why? That's not the technical tem for the discussion. Guns are large crew served weapons. Rifles are individual weapons.

@steveharvold

3 ай бұрын

@@PreparedAirman you sound like a dweeb. you're standing around holding an AR-15 in the context of civilian preparedness, no one thinks you're talking about an M2 Browning or something.

You don't know what you're talking about.