T.A.P.S. : Tactical Application of Practical Shooting

Apparently I'm the only guy writing a review on this page that doesn't personally know the Author, I wish I did! He is a person with an impressive resume in tactical shooting. This is a great book but you need to understand the scope before you order it. This is not a "how to shoot" book. There are a couple of decent tidbits in here about how to shoot but, this book assumes that you already understand the fundamentals of not only basic shooting, but of practical shooting. For example, there are no pictures or description of all the shooting positions. This is a "how to teach other people to shoot" book. In that respect it is a great resource. The book is basically in two parts. First there are a lot of great insights on training people to shoot. I love the author's style of commentary and how it is arranged as "tidbits" of knowledge instead of being forced into a traditional format. I found myself pleasantly surprised that I had come to some of the same conclusions as the author. It made me feel vindicated, and where I didn't It gave me reason to rethink some of my own views on practical shooting. After this there is a collection of "courses of fire" that will aid in running a competition or a training program. If you need a book on the basics of shooting, I would recommend Kyle Lamb's "Green Eyes Black Rifles." But, if you run a training program, shooting competition, or have hit a wall in the development of your own skills, you should have this book.

What took me so long. This has been on my wish list for years but it was not a priority because the cover led me to believe it was competition-oriented. ...or "orientated" as we say in upstate NY.I was wronger than hockey cleats.Should've known- if it's Mac, it's chock full of gassed up deathstick ballistic Functionality, Practicality and Fundamental awesomeness.He goes over mindset throughout, technical aspects of Basic Marksmanship and tons of information to make us better gunslingers in an HSM (Holy **** Moment).The last half is full of drills and range set-ups for courses of fire which will lead you to get your hits and increase your skill in threat-neutralization ...while always keeping the thinker turned on.Get you some. Oh yeaaahhhhh.

Mac gave the people exactly what they were looking for: a no-nonsense publication on the ground truth of the principals of accurate and effective shooting. It is obvious that this book is a result of popular demand from the thousands of students Mac has instructed over the years; walking away from one of his training sessions, students clearly pined the days away wanting for a better account of the instruction they received in his course; something beyond just the notes they may have scribbled down during the course. This book reads the way Mac talks. Packed with motivational one-liners and myriads of little jewels of knowledge Mac has developed over years of some of the most intense combat rifle and pistol training a body can endure.Mac's philosophy on dealing with the GWOT is spot on, and I would highly recommend to take note of his sobering insight on world politics and the modern day terrorist threat. If you are looking to better your shooting skills, or thinking about learning from the ground up, this should be your first choice in supplemental text for your program. Get him to sign it if ever you get the opportunity; this guys is easily one of the up-and-coming world greats in effective fire arms instruction.Get some, Mac!Squadron A Operator sends

Firstly, very small and thin book. Not a tome of shooting. Is it worth the price? Eeeemmm....not sure. If you have many other resources in your library like say Magpul Dynamics (Carbine + Handgun) Videos, or Heily Strategic (Carbine + Handgun) or Vikings Tactical books or vids, then this is not so much a technical reference. HOWEVER, the author is very clear -and I tend to agree- that fundamentals and repeatable execution is the most important aspect of shooting. Overall, very good first half (mindset and conceptual framework for training), second half is mostly diagrams and instructions for running the range or organizing scored events (useful if your into that). Just a little steep on the price point.

This book was great. Easy to read and understand. Especially a lot of points made in the book just re-enforced what I have been thinking all along. The courses of fire in the book are a great tool. I have used a few and they are great, only hope I have the opportunity to use them all. I only wish more authors would write books like this. Just goes to show you don't have to write a 500 page manual when you can write a book in less than 150 pages and have a wealth of knowledge for a lifetime.

This book is a no-frills, precision learning aid. The material is presented without fluff, plenty of context & reasons to back it up. Some videos of McNamara prove he is one of the real deals when it comes to learning about self-defense & he has the credentials to prove it. I have not completed the book & I've noticed some minor misspellings, but if anyone else well known in the field wrote a book (e.g. James Yeager), this would be it. It is easy to digest, has plenty of drills for one to practice & is to the point. I can't recommend it enough!

Good read, easy to comprehend. A lot of drills to work from in the back of the book.

Great book by a great guy. Outstanding program to review for any instructor in the field of training new shooters.