A day at the range with L.A. County (retired).

**Checkman** · 12-04-11, 11:32 AM

Couple days ago I got together with a retired L.A. County deputy for a couple hours of shooting. There are many retired California cops living in my part of Idaho. I'm a rangemaster so I have keys to the department's range. While the sun was out the wind was HOWLING! Note the two big rocks holding down the target stand. We started out with two target stands, but the wind took care of one of them. So we ended up sharing the one you see. We were shooting 9mm, 38 Super, 44-40 Winchester, 45 ACP, 380 ACP and 38 Special.

That's me. I'm holding a Colt 1908 Hammerless (.380). Serial number 3XX. Which makes it one of the first ones to roll off the assembly line in 1908. It was a gift from my wife and it shoots like a champ. It's 103 years old and is still reliable.

Yep I'm short. 5'6" last time I checked. So I'm a short cop. You'd be amazed at how many I deal with who seem to hate the idea of a short cop. In the moves we (short cops) are shown as the ones who have the attitude problem. It's been my experience that it's usually the folks who we're dealing with who seem to have the attitude problem.

Anyway here I am. A good (albeit windy) day at the range.

**Checkman** · 12-04-11, 11:36 AM

Okay evidently I'm having problems with attachments. I can't download from my computer and when I try to link to my Photobucket album I keep getting invalid file. So no photo. Sorry guys. Hope to have this problem fixed.

**Jenna** · 12-04-11, 12:02 PM

Does your picture look something like this?

**Cidp24** · 12-04-11, 12:25 PM

Try TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

**warrants 1** · 12-04-11, 12:28 PM

We'll be waiting.

**Jenna** · 12-04-11, 12:47 PM

OK, Checkman asked me to post his real pic. He actually looks much calmer than Yosemite Sam.

**Ducky** · 12-04-11, 12:54 PM

Am I wrong to be giggling about the shots that took him right in the junk?

**lewisipso** · 12-04-11, 01:01 PM

Originally Posted by Checkman

Yep I'm short. 5'6" last time I checked. So I'm a short cop. You'd be amazed at how many I deal with who seem to hate the idea of a short cop. In the movies we (short cops) are shown as the ones who have the attitude problem. It's been my experience that it's usually the folks who we're dealing with who seem to have the attitude problem

I don't sweat it anymore. Being as I'm 3 inches shorter than you are I hear you and agree. People just love to try the short guy.

**Checkman** · 12-04-11, 01:19 PM

Originally Posted by Ducky

Am I wrong to be giggling about the shots that took him right in the junk?

First thanks Jenna for doing that.

While it was a funday at the range I have qualification coming up in a week so I was also practicing with my Glock 19. I was shooting in the legs. family jewels and the circle in the upper right hand corner. I figure it doesn't hurt practicing putting bullets in unusual spots on a target. Break up the sameness.

Plus in a real world shoot a couple bullets in the groin area might discourage a shooter. Of course I mostly go for center of mass and I also try to practice on steel reactive targets and moving targets whenever possible. But trigger time is trigger time.

Over the years I've had to deal with a few folks who were taller than me - in a couple cases by half a foot or more. I've found that it's best to move first and move explosively. Catch them by surprise seems to be the most effective tactic. If they get a chance to use their longer limbs and height (greater leverage) you can find yourself in a real dogfight. I'm 43 now. I'm getting too old for dogfights.