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An Alternate Look at Handgun Stopping Power

Written by: Greg Ellifritz     I’ve been interested in firearm stopping power for a very long time. I remember reading Handguns magazine back in the late 1980s when Evan Marshall was writing articles about his stopping power studies. When Marshall’s first book came out in 1992, I ordered it immediately, despite the fact that […]

Posted on March 21, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles
ballistics, bullets, Ed Sanow, Evan Marshall, Massad Ayoob, stopping power View Post

Studying the Historic Gunfighters

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   I’ve written a lot recently about the history of firearms instruction.   That topic has only existed for about the last 100 years.  Formal weapons training most certainly existed earlier, but it was pre-Civil War and reserved for the luxury class.     Between the end of the US Civil War […]

Posted on March 20, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Book Reviews
book reviews, books, gunfights, history, old west View Post

Final 2024 Classes Posted

  I just added the final 9 classes to my 2024 training schedule.  All of my 2024 classes are now listed at the 2024 Classes link at my website.  The newly listed classes are below.     In June, I will be in Decatur, Texas teaching two classes.   June 29. 2024- Extreme Close Quarters […]

Posted on March 18, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in What's New
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Weekend Knowledge Dump- March 15, 2024

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   Surviving a Riot Solid riot survival information.  If you want an even more in depth look at the issue, my book has an entire chapter on the topic.     Concealed Carry Corner: Carry […]

Posted on March 15, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
American Cop, Andrew Branca, AR Build Junkie, AR-15, ccw, Claude Werner, crowd violence, Demonstrated Concepts, dry fire, Erick Gelhaus, Ernest Langdon, firearms training, Growing Up Guns, Gun Mag Warehouse, Handguns Magazine, Justin Dyal, Legal, Lucky Gunner, malfunctions, Massad Ayoob, Mike Seeklander, pistoltraining.com, Primer Peak, Rangemaster, revolvers, riots, Ryan Holiday, school shootings, school violence, shooting drills, Skillset Magazine, SWAT magazine, Swift Silent Deadly, Tamara Keel, Tessah Booth, The Firearms Blog, warning shots View Post

Free Books- Part 292

Amazon has a tremendous number of FREE ebooks on their website.  You can find thousands of free kindle books on Amazon’s site every day.  These books can be downloaded to a Kindle reader or a free App on your phone or personal computer.  Even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can download a free […]

Posted on March 14, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Uncategorized
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Rule One?

A couple months ago, Alex Ooley interviewed me on the topic of travel safety for his “Forge of Freedom” podcast.  Alex was an excellent host and I really enjoyed talking with him.  You can watch/listen to the podcast at the link or embedded video below if you are interested, but doing so isn’t necessary to […]

Posted on March 13, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles
travel View Post

PACT Newsletter

My friend Ron Borsch is one of the world’s leading authorities on active killer attacks.  He contacted me last week with a request to publish his newsletter.     Ron has been publishing a monthly email newsletter for more than two decades.  Think of it as a “Weekend Knowledge Dump” on steroids.  The links mostly […]

Posted on March 11, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
active killer, active shooter, guest author, police, Ron Borsch View Post

Bad News

Hey Folks!   You might have noticed that I didn’t post as many articles as usual last week.  I’ve been busy traveling for medical appointments and doing a bunch of research.  My cancer has come back.   Most of you know I had prostate cancer ablation surgery about 15 months ago. My six- month followup […]

Posted on March 9, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in What's New
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Weekend Knowledge Dump- March 8, 2024

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   2-RDS or not 2-RDS… That is the Question Do you need a red dot on your defensive handgun?  For more info on the topic, catch Lee Weems’ interview with Shane Gosa.  They discuss red dots […]

Posted on March 8, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
.32, 1911, active killer, Active Self Protection, Claude Werner, Dave Spaulding, Ed Head, Ed Monk, Empty Cases, Erick Gelhaus, fanny packs, firearms training, Force Science Institute, Growing Up Guns, Gun Mag Warehouse, Havok Journal, Karl Rehn, Ken Hackathorn, Lee Weems, LouAnn Hamblin, Lucky Gunner, Mark Hatmaker, Massad Ayoob, police training, Primer Peak, scams, school shootings, Shane Gosa, shooting drills, Spotter Up, statistics, SWAT magazine, Swift Silent Deadly, The Armory Life, The Revolver Guy, The Suited Shootist, The Tactical Wire, weapon mounted lights View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- March 1, 2024

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   Federal’s #1 Buck Is Back When this load was originally introduced, it produced a much tighter pattern.  It will still likely be a great home defense load.     Thunderstick Summit After Action Report […]

Posted on March 1, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
ACLDN, active killer, Active Self Protection, active shooter, American Cop, Art Cason, ccw, Clint Smith, Clyde Caceres, Dave Spaulding, Dr. David Yamane, Ed Head, Erick Gelhaus, firearms training, Frank Groth, handgun stopping power, Havok Journal, history, Legal, Lucky Gunner, Massad Ayoob, Michael Bane, Mike Wood, police, police training, Primer Peak, Rangemaster, reloads, shooting drills, shotguns, snubnose, The Firearms Blog, The Shooting Wire, The Tactical Wire, Todd Green View Post

Free Books- Part 291

Amazon has a tremendous number of FREE ebooks on their website.  You can find thousands of free kindle books on Amazon’s site every day.  These books can be downloaded to a Kindle reader or a free App on your phone or personal computer.  Even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can download a free […]

Posted on February 29, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Uncategorized
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Skill Degradation Over Time

  Since my police retirement, I have been spending a large part of the each winter living in Mexico and the Dominican Republic.  Last year, between living out of the country without a gun and my cancer surgery, there was a period of approximately two months where I didn’t fire a single round or do […]

Posted on February 28, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles, What's New
Jeff Gonzales, Justin Dyal, shooting drills View Post

March Classes in California

At the end of March, I will be teaching for three days near Los Angeles, California.  I taught there last year.  The host, the facilities, and the group of students who attended were all exceptional.  I’m excited to go back.   I need a few more people in each class to make these work.  If […]

Posted on February 28, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in What's New
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Weekend Knowledge Dump- February 23, 2024

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   The 7 Most Common Concealed Carry Mistakes I have to admit that I see these fairly frequently.  Don’t carry a “craptastic” holster.  Use my post on good holsters to make a better selection.   […]

Posted on February 23, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
20 gauge, Active Self Protection, American Handgunner, AR-15, Claude Werner, Daniel Coyle, firearms training, GAT Daily, Gun Mag Warehouse, Gunsite, history, Ken Campbell, Massad Ayoob, Memphis Beech, Open Source Defense, psychology, revolvers, Richard Nance, shooting drills, Shooting Wire, situational awareness, Steve Tarani, Swift Silent Deadly, The Revolver Guy, The Truth About Guns, Women's Outdoor News View Post

Pointing Guns at People

In my 25-year police career, I pointed guns at lots of people.  Admittedly, in hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have pointed guns at all of those folks.     In my defense, training doctrines, levels of violent crime, and public scrutiny were very different back in the mid-1990s as compared to our modern age.  We were […]

Posted on February 21, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
Defenders USA, police, police training View Post

Are You Replaceable?

I was just re-reading Tools Of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers and came across the following quote:   “Are you doing what you’re uniquely capable of, what you feel placed on Earth to do? Can you be replaced? Life is short. Put another way: a long life is […]

Posted on February 20, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles
police, psychology, Tim Ferriss View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- February 16, 2024

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   The Dangerous Ambiguity Of Qualification Drills I hope all my police readers realize that every single cop who has ever been killed in a gunfight was considered “qualified” by his agency.     Reactionary […]

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
American Cop, Breach Bang Clear, Bryan McKean, Building Shooters, ccw, Dr. David Yamane, exercise, firearms training, flashlights, Gun Mag Warehouse, Justin Dyal, Karl Rehn, Melody Lauer, Mike Boyle, Mountain Guerilla, physical fitness, police training, pregnancy, Primer Peak, psychology, Recoil Magazine, Reflex Handgun, relationships, Richard Mann, Shelley Hill, shooting drills, Swift Silent Deadly, The Armory Life, The Revolver Guy, women's carry View Post

Free Books- Part 290

Amazon has a tremendous number of FREE ebooks on their website.  You can find thousands of free kindle books on Amazon’s site every day.  These books can be downloaded to a Kindle reader or a free App on your phone or personal computer.  Even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can download a free […]

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Uncategorized
View Post

Acquiring Guns in a Foreign Country- A Cautionary Tale

I love to travel and tend to visit some crazy third world countries.  For the past two decades I’ve spent at least four to eight weeks a year traveling in places where it isn’t safe to drink the tap water.     As a retired cop, I can carry a gun almost everywhere in the […]

Posted on February 13, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles
Dominican Republic, travel View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- February 9, 2024

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   Guest Shot: Trendy or Noteworthy? Part II “Too many instructors go off to a school and return to teach what they learned for no other reason than the course was fun and they learned […]

Posted on February 9, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
.380 acp, active killer, Active Self Protection, active shooter, Ballistic Magazine, Caleb Giddings, Dave Spaulding, Doom and Bloom, Dr. David Yamane, firearms training, gelatin testing, Grant Cunningham, Gun Mag Warehouse, history, Integrated Skills Group, Karl Rehn, Louis Awerbuck, medical skills, Michael Bane, Mike Seeklander, Mountain Man Medical, Pat McNamara, police, police training, revolvers, Scott Reitz, shooting drills, Shooting Wire, SWAT magazine, Swift Silent Deadly, Tamara Keel, terrorism, The Truth About Guns View Post
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