Archive for February, 2010

Casual wear for concealment

Woolrich Elite ShirtsThe Woolrich Elite tactical polos come in short sleeve and long sleeve styles.   The shoulder pocket design is the same on both versions.   In winter time, everyone will wish they had a decent long sleeve shirt that will be slightly warmer to wear with a nice shoulder pocket that is large enough to hold a notepad or blackberry phone and pen pocket.   Woolrich Elite Shirts are designed for Law Enforcement and firearms instructors and concealement.

Lightweight shirts like the 4450 style shirt and 4445 style shirt are great for summer wear and are the lightest weight Woolrich Elite Shirts for hot climates.  They are designed after the popular Guayabera shirt.    The front lower button is a false button and has a magnet that breaks open easily and closes almost entirely by itself.

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Tactical Apparel

Woolrich EliteWoolrich Elite products are some of the most durable tactical apparel pants out there.   Their  tactical pants are long lasting and don’t shrink like some of the 5.11 stuff that so many people have complained about.  5.11 products are interesting, but the tactical pants they have been making are apparently taking a major downturn in the quality control arena.  Woolrich has been in the clothing business for over 100 years and one thing you have to acknowledge is they know how to make clothing.
Woolrich Elite tactical shorts style 4905 have pockets similiar to the 4429 and 4904 styles but a slightly smaller cargo pocket.   These have a longer inseam than some shorts, 9″ but are very comfortable especially when carrying lots of gear in the pockets.   Some of the lightweight shorts don’t seem to support carrying much weight and are really only good for wearing and not hauling.

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Concealment, Comfort and the tactical appeal

Tactical VestsEveryone has there taste and styles in firearms and even some have their preferences in the type of ammunition and bullet weights.   Some operators prefer to dress in black and prefer to look as tactical as possible while others just can’t figure out why they would need a tactical vest in the first place.   Some tactical vests are about as comfortable as strapping on a parachute and not always modernized.

The Eotac Style 101 Tactical vest is probable the most versatile and sensible vests you will get your hands on.   The pockets are designed for modern weapons and gear and that is something you will want to research before you spent $75-$200 for the other styles out there.   Some of the tactical vests made by Sig Tac and 5.11 weren’t designed for Magpuls and that is only something you’ll find out whenever you’re getting serious about the gear you have.   If you are training or using modern Magpul magazines with the magpul, you’ll basically make any older style vest useless if you can’t close the magazine pocket.   The Eotac vest has extended velcro designs that will allow you to easily adapt the flap to standard 30rd AR magazines or Magpuls.

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Find a range in Pennsylvania

Shooting RangesPennsylvania has seen its share of gun clubs being closed down and trying to find ranges beyond 100yds within the Philadelphia area is very difficult.   There are still a few gun clubs with 200+ yard ranges in about 2hrs or less of Philadelphia and they are mostly private ranges.   Check out our website for information about some of them and please feel free to add info to help others find out too.

Looking for the best place to practice getting your lead on target?   Check out TheRallyPoint.org for information about Gun Clubs and shooting ranges around the Country.   Trying to find out where there are shooting ranges are is very difficult.   Some gun clubs like to keep things down to a word of mouth, but this can also cause a range to go defunct if nobody knows it’s there.

 

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As tough as the gun ?

Glock MagazinesSomething like a 1911 has a questionable reliability track record depending on the conditions they are used in and the type of magazines they are using.   Pistol magazines have evolved and improved as much as firearms and the reality is metal guns aren’t in the same category as polymer guns just based on lubrication and climate conditions.    There are many firearms out there that will function reliable if lubricated properly and cleaned properly, but polymer guns are the future.

Glocks are the toughest handgun in existance according to the most experts.   There are always arguments about the conditions various firearm manufacturers are in and how they will handle it, but the reality is the Glock pistol needs less lubrication, doesn’t rust, and the magazines are designed as reliable as the gun and there are plenty of Glock Magazines on the market to void out the mayhem that aftermarket mags can do to a firearms reputation.

 

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Traditional optics and target shooting

Weaver Rifle Scopes

The Weaver Tac-3-15×50 is a serious optic.   Mil-Dots are used for range estimation and are still being used and taught in military sniper training.    An optic like this will help you estimate an object hundreds of yards away and depending on the operator, reaching out and touching your target with be easy with the 3-15x magnification and the wide 50mm objective lense.

Weaver rifle scopes have been around since the 1930s.   I still hear people highly recommend using them on carbines or small semi-autos like the Mini 14.    Weaver makes several types of rifle optics and some of them are applicable for long range shooting.   Long range optics don’t have to be high magnification, but clear and accurate.   With the proper scope rings, and the right kind of ammunition, your Weaver rifle scope will be capable of short and long range shooting.

 

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Fixing things and uprades for Glocks

Glock PartsThings like recoil springs and firing pins are pretty much a MUST for serious shooters because sometimes it’s not always the guns fault that something wears out or breaks.  Sometimes bad ammo can wear out a firing pin faster than normal and recoil springs are going to wear out at some point.   The 2nd recommendation I would have would be to store magazine springs and followers.   Those will wear out, not as often, but as often as recoil springs.   If you’re a plinker and occassion shooter, these won’t be necessary, but if you put a couple thousand rounds through your Glock every year, something is going to wear down at some point so it’s best to have the spare parts around when it happens.

Everyone know that Glocks are tough.   I shoot just about all of the popular semi-autos out there and I still have to admit that Glocks are one of the least likely to break.   I’ve seen slide stops break, barrels blow out and slides crack, but none of them were Glocks.   Sometimes it’s a good idea to have a few extra Glock Parts in your safe just incase you ever need them, but since Glocks don’t use very many parts, it’s not much to store.

 

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Evolution of firearm magazines

Rifle MagazinesDirect Impingement firearms have a questionable existance in the military industry since the design is more than 60yrs old, but the Magpul P-Mags have possible extended the life of them since the reliability of the magazines has also increased the reliability of the firearm.   Magpul P-Mags can take a beating and still run strong.   Check out some of the tests people have done with them on youtube.com

Rifle and pistol magazazines  have evolved as much as firearms have evolved in the last 100yrs.   They basically look the same, but they are stronger, more reliable and better thought out.   One of the  biggest advancements in firearm evolution were Glock Firearms.   The biggest evolution in rifle magazines are Magpul P-Mags.    There have been other similiar rifle  magazines made out of plastic, but the Magpul P-Mags are King.

 

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Action Binoculars

Nikon BinocularsBinoculars are a very versatile tool.    The reality is this, a good pair of binoculars is just an extension of  your eyes.   What do you use your eyes for?   Binoculars can be  used for eveything you use your eyse for.  Nikon Binoculars come in fixed power from 7×32 – 10-22×50.   When you are looking for a good pair of binoculars, keep in mind that some of the best views are with the medium and larger sizes and they can get heavy real fast.   If you are looking for  high magnification you may want to think about spotting scopes instead since they are normally used with tripods.

Nikon Binoculars are reasonable priced optics.    When you figure out what you are using these optics for think about how you might carry them, whether its in a jacket or in a range bag.   Something as little as 7X magnification can help you ID targets or objects that are just out of your visible sight and this is an extremely useful tool to have.   We see a lot of Nikon optics on firing ranges and very few complaints.

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Clarity and observation

Zeiss Binoculars Most of remember what it was like to get a telescope or pair of binoculars as a kid.   Back then we pretty much just wanted to see how far we could look and that was about it.   Magnification doesn’t always mean you will be able to see more.   For  instance, many cheaper brand binoculars may magnify up to 20X, but try holding them and read a sign with magnification that high and you’ll more likely see your heartbeat pumping before you read your first word.

Another problem with high magnification is the higher the magnification the less light your binoculars will let in.   Sometimes people bypass the  higher end fixed power binoculars like Zeiss binoculars for the cheaper high magnificaiton, but if you ever get a chance to compare the glass side by side you’ll be amazed.  Good quality glass will allow in more light and clarity and you will actually see more, get a better field of view and not strain your eyes in lower light.

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