April 2026 Recap

On Saturday, April 11th, I taught Defensive Rifle to one student.  As this student takes many classes every year, I did not cancel it.  Although he has taken the class before, this time he did it with a Winchester Model 94 in .30-30 which he had cut down to make the barrel length 16 inches.  I demonstrated with my wife’s Marlin Model 336 also in .30-30.  This was the perfect opportunity for me to modify some of the drills when students bring repeating rifles instead of self-loading ones.  He passed the shooting test with it with flying colors.   This class should be taken by those who are serious at defending one’s home with a rifle.

Bruce dry practicing with his Winchester 94 before we went out to the range for live fire.

On Sunday, April 12^th, I taught Bad Breath Distance to three students.  Guns in attendance were a Springfield Hellcat with a Holosun Optic, a Glock 19 and a Smith and Wesson Shield all in 9mm.  All the students did great passing the shooting test at the end.  None of the firearms had any failures to speak of.  I demonstrated drills with my Smith and Wesson M&P 2.0 Metal with Holosun 509T without any issues.   This course confronts the harsh realities that gun fights are likely to occur at conversational distances.  This is a great course as it combines simple combatives and gunfighting within five yards.  All serious students should attend this course after attending Defensive Handgun 2. 

Students shooting the Bad Breath Distance Test

On Sunday, April 12^th, I taught Back Up Gun to three students.  They were the same three students as earlier in the day.  The students got practice shooting their back up guns.  Guns in attendance consisted of a Kahr CM9 in 9mm, a Ruger LCP II in .380 Auto, and the other student brought three J Frame Smith and Wesson revolvers.  The three he brought were a Model 37 in .38 Special, two .32 H&R Magnum’s; a Model 432UC and a 632UC.  I demonstrated drills with a wide variety of guns: my Smith and Wesson 43C in .22LR, my issue Smith and Wesson Shield in 9mm,  my Smith and Wesson M&P 340 which I shot .38 Specials in it and my NAA Rule One in .22 Magnum.  None of the handguns had any issues except my NAA.  I noticed the front sight was slightly loose causing my groupings to shift to the left.  The downside to pocket clipped, micro revolvers when carried in that manner leaves nothing to protect the sights from being bumped unlike a holstered pistol.  A little red Loctite applied after the course fixed this issue.  All students passed the shooting test: the Ohio Peace Officers Training Commission’s Off Duty/ Back Up Gun Course. This course should be a lot more popular, but most people don’t carry a gun at all, let alone a back up gun.  Smart people live by the motto one is none, two is one.  

Students dropped their primary blue guns before transitioning to their back up guns.

On Saturday, April 25, 2026 and Sunday April 26, 2026 Bruce and I took Fighting Pistol at Tactical Response in Camden, TN.  I have taken this class before, back in June of 2022, being one of the last people to train with the legendary James Yeager before his passing in September of 2022.  I retook this class in duty gear as the last time I took it, I shot it from concealment.  I shot my issue Smith and Wesson M&P 2.0 Metal 9mm with Holosun 509T and Streamlight TLR-1 HL attached.  Bruce shot his Glock 19 9mm.  There were nine students total for this class.  We had the privilege of meeting great students and instructors.  I won’t be doing an after-action review of the class as I already did one in a previous newsletter when I trained with Yeager.  Instead, I will talk about Joey Glover and his assistant instructor, Kevin Russo.

Joey was James’s son in law.  Joey is the lead instructor of Tactical Response now and his teaching ability is nothing short of high quality.   I told Joey that James is looking down proud of him and his abilities as an instructor.  James told Joey that he would not allow him to be a poor instructor.   James threats must have hit home with Joey, because he kept the class at a good pace, was personable allowing input from students but steered the conversation to remain on time and on topic.  I will be back and hope Joey is part of the instructor team training me when I do.

Kevin Russo is 28 years old and just started teaching at Tactical Response, besides of a few nervous jitters, Kevin did a great job.  Kevin has been training at Tactical Response for two years now.  His wife Emma was a student in the class and her performance was impressive especially considering it was the first training class she took as a student in nearly a decade.  Kevin reminds me of me when I was first starting out in this business: dedicated, eager to learn, eager to pass knowledge down and eager to be a student.  This young man has some serious potential should he stick with it, just don’t tell him I said that, as Joey probably wants to keep him humble. 

Joey and Kevin were a good instructor team, adding to what one another had to say and took turns demonstrating different drills so the students understood them before they shot the drills themselves.  Both Joey and Kevin were happy to coach students through issues.  For this reason, I would never hesitate to recommend training with either of them at Tactical Response.  Even though James is gone, Tactical Response is in good hands. 

I will close with this, next time I make a SURPRISE BREAK ALUMNI TACTICAL RESPONSE TRAINING EVENT WEEKEND more of you fuckers’ better show!  Only one went with me, ah but he was the true warrior who will bring the others back. 

4 Left to Right. Kevin Russo (instructor), Bruce McCarthy (student), me, and Joey Glover (instructo