In the opening minutes of Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” we watch as a group of ape-men discover the Monolith and are quickly set down the road of evolution. One of these steps of evolution is the use of tools which is displayed by one ape-man picking up a down and smashing the skull of a long dead animal and then using the bone as a weapon. I am constantly reminded of this scene each time I log on to the Book of Faces and scan over the countless Pistol Caliber Carbine (PCC) groups that have suddenly popped up since the creation of a PCC division for USPSA and now, IDPA. Reading the various posts makes it seem like these guys view themselves as cavemen discovering the sun for the first time or perhaps Columbus discovering the New World.
USPSA discovering the carbine
While I am an active competitor in USPSA and IDPA; I’m also one of the dreaded “tactical” guys. Thus, I see benefits to both side of coin and encourage people to take part in both aspects. A place where the Tactical Timmies currently have a greater breadth of knowledge versus most competition pistol shooters is when it comes to carbines. While most USPSA and IDPA guys are just now getting into carbines, the carbine has been a mainstay of the Timmies for decades. As a result, the Timmie that is often mocked by the sport shooting community can actually help you out with a number of the questions that you might have and some of the problems you are encountering with your new firearm. As an example; most Timmies know that inside of the 15 yards, a shooter has to aim roughly 2.5” high to get accurate shots. This is in stark contrast to the neophyte PCC user that thinks the resolution to shooting low is to have a 15 or 7 yard zero on their carbine. The non-competition participating Timmie can also tell you that simply changing out the buffer spring isn’t going to fixing the hammer follow malfunctions you are experiencing with your PCC that’s built with parts from companies no one has ever heard of.
Must polish carbine feed ramp
So how do you make contact with these Timmies? Simply go to some of the forums where they hang out or engage them through social media. Hell; you may even want take a “tactical” carbine class and get a huge dose of the dark side. Regardless of how you make contact, pay attention to what they are telling you, they can probably save you a ton of heartache and expense. And who knows, maybe you can invite them out to range session or match and bring them over to the light side of competing since they wont feel completely out of their element.
Until next time……