Rogue Elite

There has been much debate about the 45acp use in handguns.   With the number of shootings I have seen where 9mm bullets were used, I’d have to say that the 9mm is definitely not a powerful round, but I have heard of bad guys taking multiple hits from an M4 that kept on coming, so there are many things that can come into play.   The 1911 has remained a popular gun and not because it is the most reliable weapon in 45acp.   I have come to the conclusion that the modern polymer guns are superior to metal guns as far as durability and reliability, but many of them do have crappy triggers.

When the Springfield XD first came out, it was a big deal for 1911 guys to find something that wasn’t a DA/SA handgun and didn’t have a sponge trigger like Glocks do.  You can get a lot of improvement in reliability with a 1911 with good gun magazines like Wilson Combat or Chip McCormick.  I have respect for Glocks, but they do have an odd feel to them and are not traditional.  The XD 45acp felt more natural to a 1911 enthusiast and brought them into the modern world.   The 1911 still has one of the best triggers, but it is not in the same category as some of the guns being made in 45acp these days.   I have several Sig 220 that have been extremely reliable, but Glock has an edge over them as far as endurace.

I think this past year may have been the year of the .380 pistol.   I don’t know exactly why everyone went with the .380 this year, but it was popular and considering the run on the ammunition and it’s lack of availability,  I think I should have purchased some stock in .380 and not just gold.   I recently attended a Taurus firearm event where the TCP .380 was being shown.   When I think of .380 guns I believe that up until this year, I could only think of the Sig Sauer 230 and the Sig 232 and the Walther PPK.  I have enough friends that like the look of the PPK but were not a fan of the gun due to the hammer bite.   If you have big hands that gun is most likely not for you.

The TCP was a little finicky about the ammo it ate, but I have shot several of the Rohrbaugh R9 pistols and they were also very picky about the ammo they ate.   When  you get down to those small semi-auto guns, you better put the range time in to know the limitations of the guns.   You won’t get a pocket pistol that will run for hundreds of rounds without needing to change springs or be lubricated.   Rotating your gun magazines is a must for smaller semi-autos. The .380 is also a very mild round and I witnessed first hand the lack of energy it had when shooting steel plates.  I watched a recent video where I heard 4 shots fired, one miss, 3 hits and the metal plate only fell one time.  Be realistic about the guns you are carrying and and why.

I finally did my rounds and checked out a few local 5.11 dealers to see what they had in stock.    Something I always find annoying about stopping in these places is how much of a mess the clothing usually is.   I always have to dig around for my sizes and rarely do any of these gun shops or police and security stores keep there crap together.   The other thing that I find annoying is that so many of them clear out certain styles of clothing during the year like there is a non-season for polos and jeans.   Some of these tactical clothing manufacturers are running huge shortages and various products are out of stock for 6-9 months at a time.   I actually noticed many of the gun shops in my neck of the woods stopped selling 5.11 tactical pants because it was too much of a headache for them to deal with.

It was time to restock my tactical pants inventory and I’m not prone to sticking to only one manufacturer.   I have worn 5.11 tactical pants, Eotac, Woolrich Elite and even SigTac.   Each tactical clothing company and tactical gear manufacturer has it’s pros and cons,  but I’d give Eotac and Woolrich Elite the edge on quality control.     I am comparing the Eotac 205 concealed carry jeans to the 5.11 jeans and there is no comparison.   I feel a difference in the movement of each jean, but I really don’t think I feel restricted in any way.   They are both well made, but there are huge differences in the designs.   The Eotac jeans are very similar to the Woolrich Elite Discreet MKII pants, but they are definitely not the same.   The 5.11 jeans are what I’d call more for deep concealment.   There are internal pockets that can hold a j-frame revolver or a small semi-auto and a few spare magazines.   I find the pockets to be a  little too deep and don’t really like the fact the guns are practically inside the pants.   I tried putting a Sig 239 in the pockets with spare magazines and it was extremely uncomfortable when sitting down, so I would have to say you need something smaller than that.

I was fortunate to attend a sniper competition a few years ago where I must have learned more about combat than every before.   About 40 students were attending this training competition even and given the rules for attending the match.   Everyone was told to arrive with unloaded firearms, but to keep all of their gear in the cars and attend a safety briefing.    Well, one of the  best events for this competition/training even occurred in the first 30 seconds after the safety briefing.   Everyone was asked if they understood all of the safety rules and when everyone said yes, it began.    The Instructor explained the first stage of the shooting event.   Everyone was told to grab their gear from their car and immediately return to the firing line, unload the gear and engage the targets.   The attendees gave us a big smile while the students/competitors did an “Oh, Shit!”

I sat and watched every student run back to their car which was about 15-30yds behind the firing line, I noticed varying types of rifle cases and rifle bags, some shooters showed up with loaded magazines and others had to manually load the guns, as soon as they were ready to shoot, they engaged the targets.   I believe they had 6 minutes to take down all of the targets from 100-200yds.   The variations in time to engage the enemy targets varied by several minutes.   Anyone that had a M4 Carbine or 30rd magazine that didn’t have loaded gun magazines or didn’t have a speed loader, was the last to engage the targets.   I saw only 2 people out of 40 engage the targets in the first 5 minutes.   Maglula speed loaders are must for anyone serious about using a carbine for self defense, unless  you have the military style loaders.

There are various stages of CCW experience, those that have made the mistakes, those that have witnessed the mistakes and those that are doomed to see both.  Although a gun owner may be observing all of the firearm safetey rules there are still many things to keep in consideration when CCW a firearm.   Even though a gun hasn’t been fired, if it is being carried it will fill up lint or the gun can become dry.  I have carried guns through out the summer months and found out that I’ve rusted out screws or pitted firearms.  Clean your CCW guns for reliability sake, but also for protection.

It is extremely important for you to rotate your carry ammo.  Many reloaders know the importance of having the proper bullet crimp to prevent bullet setback, but this is something that is inevitable going to occur if you keep closing the slide on the same bullet.  Even if you are not shooting up your ammo, rotate the ammo in your gun magazines to make sure you are not slamming the same first round.  Defensive ammo can be expensive and I realize that you aren’t going to want to shoot it all up after a couple times of cleaning  your ammo.  If you rotate just an 8rd magazine full of defensive ammo, you should be able to dissassemble and clean the gun safetly about 24 times with the same magazine.

Today I got to fire a Ruger LCP along with the LCR revolver.  There seems to be a lot of breha when it comes to getting a .380 pistol these days.  I don’t think I really ever felt the urge to go that small when it comes to calibers, but since CCW is actually more popular now than it was 10yrs ago, and people are finding that small compact semi-autos are far more reliable than previously, people will take the light weight over a larger caliber.   The Ruger LCP can take laser grips from Crimson trace, and I highly suggest that you consider that.  I was never a big fan of putting lasers on handguns until I started thinking about very small and compact firearms that had terrible small sights.   The laser grips will help improve your hits and give confidence.

I have several Ruger factory gun magazines for my LCP, but I decided to pick up a few Promag magazines.   Promag had a good reputation in the 1990s for magazines that weren’t as pricey as factory magazines, but were still considered reliable.   I have several magazines for my Beretta 92FS, and although I did have a jam on one hollow point round, it has never jammed on ball ammo.   I would consider these to be excellent range magazines, but I would do a lot of testing to make sure you are sure the gun feeds reliable with an defensive ammo.   Some magazines may need to be tweaked a little and if you have problems be sure to call a factory rep.   Most gun magazine manufacturers will replace a magazine if it does not work properly.

The one thing I have learned over the years is that no matter how much money I spent on a firearm, I’m still going to have something break.  When you put thousands of rounds through a firearm the you will eventually have to learn some level of gunsmithing.   After taking some of my guns to gunsmiths and having to wait for months to get simple things done, it’s good to pick up an AGI video and do the changes yourself.   The same goes for gun magazines.   Parts on a gun magazine can wear out and depending on how much you spent on the magazine, you may want to just toss it in the trash.  For some magazines, you will only have to replace the springs to get it back to reliable functionality.

Gun magazines have various levels of quality.   Some gun magazines are meant as throw aways i.e. 1911 magazines made in Tawain.   I have several 1911 GI magazines that were pretty good range mags, but when they jammed up on me, and I could blame it on the gun springs, it was time to toss them.   Buying Wolff gun springs that cost about $8 for an $8 magazine isn’t really worth my time, plus I’ve found that many of these have worn out followers and it’s really not worth the headach to tweak them, plus I’d consider them to not be worth using for self defense.   Wilson Combat and Chip McCormick make very good gun magazines and both of them should help get your 1911 to be more tolerant of various types of ammunition.

There seems to be a new craze in competition shooting in recent years.   I’ve seen more high school boys coming home from class with Zombie survival guides, the recent 28 Days later type movies and the doomsday virus outbreaks.    I guess IDPA has lost some traction to the present generation, but I’ve attended a few Zombie survival competitions and they were very good training events.   The best thing about it was the amount of tactical gear that I watched fail, and the number of really novice mistakes people made.   Out of the 5 stages I attended, there was 1 stage that we saw about 18 firearms go down.   About half of those were AK variants and they were mostly magazine related.  Some guys never knew how hard it was to do a tactical reload on an AK if there was a round in the chamber and a fully loaded 30rd magazine.  People found out what happens after firing off the 1st round and the magazine falls out.

Do search for gun clubs and shooting ranges in your State to find out if anyone is holding a Zombie shoot.   They usually occur in the September to October months.   Having some good tactical clothing that will securely hold your gear.   The Eotac Style 201 pants are my favorite because they hold 6- 30rd PMAGS and they are easy to run in.   Tactical vests like the Style 101 are not heavy and don’t make you feel like you are wearing a flak jacket.   There is a time and a place for different types of tactical vests, but mobility is important.  You may want to try getting your magazines loaded up with all of your gear and then try running 100yds with it and see what it feels like and if stuff starts to fly out of your pockets.   Mobility is extremely important.

The Boy Scout motto is BE PREPARED.   When we accept our responsibilities in carrying a firearm, one thing we have to be aware of is making sure that we are concealing our weapons and not overdoing it.    There are a few placed in the Country where you may be fined if anyone spots your concealed firearm, and although I think the vast majority of criminals aren’t looking for citizens with guns, it’s best to not advertise it.   I’ve found that over the years of carrying duty size weapons on the job and CCW are different for me.   I’m not too comfortable carrying double stack spare magazines around all day.

Something to consider while carrying a CCW gun is, it is good to always have a backup magazine available, but don’t go overboard in carrying gun magazines.   Statistics show that most gun fights occur with shots fired being in the single digits.   Knowing how to retreat from a gun fight is more important than carrying tons of ammo and expecting to stand your ground.

I’m not so sure there is as much of an issue in the gun industry as there once was concerning factory mags vs. aftermarket.   Most gun manufacturers can legally get their products to the civillian market without major legal issues.   Back in the 1990′s trying to get “Standard Capacity” magazines meant paying 4-5 times what they should have cost.   I remember avoiding certain firearms just because I knew that the magazines would cost $50-$100 and that just didn’t seem like a good investment at the time.   I noticed sales of the Beretta 92FS were very common back then because they were one of the few firearms that has resonable priced pistol magazines.   Finding good deals on used Glock magazines was a whole other issue, but if you weren’t buying guns back then, you probable have a hard time understanding how complicated the situation was.

The Mini 14 was hands down the gun that was  hit the hardest by the AWB in the 1990′s.   Ruger is now making 20rd and 30rd magazines available to the public and those magazines were going for close to $100 at one point in the later 1990s’.    There is nothing wrong with having magazines for firearms that are not the best, sometimes it’s better to rotate through cheap magazines and practice malfunction drills or just toss them when they were out.   You don’t want to use  your carry mags all the time because if you are shooting through hundreds of rounds of ammo using the same mags that you use for your daily carry, you may find out at the wrong time that the springs need to be replaced.   I picked up a good supply of Mil-Spec 1911 7rd magazines that I rotate through my guns and save the Wilsons Combat Magazines for the serious shooting.   When the mil-spec mags start jamming too much, I just toss them.