I get so sick of people claiming to be experts with firearms because they earned a ribbon in the military. Let be give you a great example of that:
To support his supposed opinion, he makes the appeal to authority, claiming, well…
The Coast Guard pistol qualifier consisted of 30 shots taken from 3 yards out to 15 yards, with every shot worth up to five points. Expert requires the shooter to score 143 points or more, or about 96% of the scored shots earning the maximum of 5 points. So how hard is that? Here is a picture of the Coast Guard target.
The colored zones are worth from 1 to 5 points. The target is 25 inches by 40 inches. The 5 point zone is 8 inches by 14 inches, making the maximum 5 point area much larger than the IDPA 8 inch -0 zone. Here is where the course gets easy. A total of 48 shots are fired, and the best 30 of those shots are the ones that are scored. The rest of them are considered “practice shots” and are essentially scored as mulligans.
| Distance | Total rounds in published sequence |
|---|---|
| 3 yards | 12 |
| 7 yards | 12 |
| 15 yards | 24 |
| Total | 48 |
So to REALLY take a look at what it takes to be a Coast Guard pistol expert, the shooter fires 48 shots. Of those, only 60 percent of them have to hit the center of the target. The shots have to be fired in a certain about of time:
| Distance | String | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 3 yards | Draw and fire 2 | 4 sec |
| 3 yards | Draw and fire 2 | 4 sec |
| 3 yards | Fire 2, reload, fire 2 | 10 sec |
| 3 yards | Draw and fire 4, including a hand transition | 8 sec |
| 7 yards | Same four strings | 4, 4, 10 and 8 sec |
| 15 yards | Draw and fire 2 | 4 sec |
| 15 yards | Draw and fire 2 | 4 sec |
| 15 yards | Draw and fire 4 | 8 sec |
| 15 yards | Fire 4, reload, fire 4 | 20 sec |
| 15 yards | Kneel and fire 8 | 20 sec |
I want you to note that not one of those stages says, “Draw, rack the slide, fire two.” Instead, he uses as an example, a Coastie shooting himself in the leg as his reasoning for not carrying one in the chamber. I pray this one is satire.
11 Comments
Don Curton · August 28, 2026 at 7:33 am
Well, he’s carrying a Sig, so there’s that. Otherwise that “test” isn’t much different from the test we had to pass to get a LTC (back when that was required). When we were done and the instructor came by to grade, he just looked at my target, shook his head, and checked off PASS on my form. My target had a large hole about the size of my fist right thru the middle. No flyers, no strays. So yeah, not impressed by his little medal.
Not to besmirch those who served, but the few times I’ve shot with people my age who served, they were all absolute duffers when it came to shooting. Seriously. I had to take and remount a scope and sight it in because a guy who supposedly went to “sniper school” had no idea how to do that. Color me not impressed by their appeal to authority
J J · August 28, 2026 at 8:15 am
Probably another “I support the 2nd, but….” veteran. Hopefully his family won’t suffer the consequences of his ill conceived behavior should he encounter armed thugs with one in the chamber.
Anonymous · August 28, 2026 at 9:25 am
I pistol qualified in the Navy back in the 1980s. It was poor training to say the least, and I went to a private company to get decent training later. The private training was the best training I have ever had for pistol; that man could get anyone shooting well.
TRX · August 28, 2026 at 9:55 am
Back when we still needed concealed carry permits, the last time I had to qualify at the range, the instructor ran me through the Arkansas State Police pistol qual.
It was over 100F and so humid my glasses kept fogging up. I had some kind of gut bug that kept me hyper-aware of the distance to the nearest toilet. Add a little vertigo to that. And I had brought a 9mm 1911, but my range bag was full of loaded .45 magazines.
Oops.
The range didn’t have any 9mm 1911 mags or 1911 rentals, so I wound up with a Beretta 92, a gun that’s even larger and heavier than a 1911, with a grip about the size of a 2×4. The qualification course was in timed steps of specific round counts. Despite not feeling well, being half-blind from sweat, and shooting an alien and uncomfortable gun, I passed the test easily. Not perfect, but well above the minimum score. And I would like to point out that although I’m an enthusiastic gunhead, I’m only an average marksman, if that.
Granted that’s the qualification and not the actual training, whatever that might be. If that’s all they ask of state troopers, no wonder the ASP’s marksmanship reputation is down there with Imperial Storm Troopers, LAPD, and NYPD.
Gerry · August 28, 2026 at 10:00 am
I think I would be disappointed if I didn’t shoot that qualifier clean.
The latest USN qualifier you draw from a holster as well.
Jonesy · August 28, 2026 at 10:17 am
Always carry with 1 in the chamber. There is more than enough evidence showing people failing to rack the slide properly while under stress. The adrenaline dump hits, and motor skills go to shit. Not saying it can’t be done, but why add a step when it could literally could cost you your life?
Also, why give up the +1 on capacity?
Robert · August 28, 2026 at 10:30 am
If you don’t carry with a chamber loaded, you are probably going to screw up in a quick draw situation, and your pistol will go “click”.
Better not get in a quick draw situation. Or consistently practice a chamber load as part of your draw.
The same problem comes with the rule “always have safety on”. You will probably screw that one up too in a quick draw situation unless you do consistent practice drills.
I note that 90% of incidents which include “shots fired” fall into the pattern of: “Within three yards, three seconds, and three shots”. Also, “first hit on a target ends the fight”. It is not about who shoots first. It is about who hits first.
I can prevail in that envelope while carrying a pistol with an empty chamber and no safety. That is the way I practice. Whatever way you do things, the key point is regular practice doing them.
For the edge cases, I have a 17-round magazine, and I can hit the “B” zones at up to 25 yards in regular practice. If it takes more than that, I am in more trouble than a pistol is going to get me out of.
Mitchell · August 28, 2026 at 11:26 am
I took a vehicle combatives course a couple of years ago. One of the instructors offered to run us through the Ohio Police Officer Qualification during a break. I have a photo of my target with his name, his instructor number and my 100% score. It had to be the easiest course of fire I have ever shot. He told me if I was ever involved in a self-defense shooting I could at least claim I shot better than most of the police officers in the state. It’s a pretty low bar.
Steve · August 28, 2026 at 11:35 am
I always used to carry one in the chamber until I got to thinking about it. Instead of thinking, ‘What if someone surprises me?” I started thinking, “How did he surprise me? What happened to my alleged situational awareness? And what the hell was I doing in a place where that was likely?”
When I carry chambered, which is probably half the time anymore, I find I am much less aware of my surroundings. My attention drifts. If I close my eyes at any random moment, like in my training several decades ago, I am much less likely to know where the nearest concealment or cover from any arbitrary direction of fire. Something subconscious about not needing that extra half-second to rack the slide, maybe. Overestimating the degree of protection that grants? Sheer laziness? Dunno. But I prefer the heightened awareness.
Meanoldfart · August 28, 2026 at 3:39 pm
Empty chamber carry only makes sense if you don’t have a reasonably drop safe weapon, but if your pistol or revolver is not drop safe, w/out a modern rebounding hammer or other positive safety, it’s probably a good idea to get one that does…..
Unknownsailor · August 30, 2026 at 12:35 am
The standard M9 pistol qual for the Navy is so easy that the one time I didn’t shoot a perfect score I was upset with myself because I dropped 2 points. But yet, I’ve seen people shoot it, and their target looks like they were firing a 12 gauge at it.
I typically have a single ragged hole.
I shot it one time while my squadron was at NAS Fallon for CAG Fallon. My EA-6B squadron was going to split the jets up and operate 2 from Al Asad, Iraq, and the other 2 from the carrier. Because everyone had to be armed on Al Asad, pretty much the whole squadron had to qualify with the M9. I shot my usual large ragged hole, and the SAMI running the range didn’t even try to count my hits, he just looked at it and wrote down 240. I heard lots of “dang, if there is shooting we’re hiding behind you” comments.
Anyone who is serving or has served with the military who has been to a established school like Gunsite or Thunder Ranch knows that what the military does with small arms is limited, and tailored to their needs. It demonstrates no proficiency beyond what the Military thinks is important, and the gap between what the military considers adequate and what serious practitioners of firearms training think is average is quite large.
I knew the small arms instruction in the Navy was garbage after I experienced it, so when I decided to get my WA carry permit I went off to Thunder Ranch Texas in 2000, and got trained properly. I caught the training bug when I went, because from there I went to Gunsite 3 times, back to Thunder Ranch Oregon twice, and a whole range of other instructors.
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