Archive for December, 2010

The AWB is over, so buy Factory Mags

When I stopped and thought about writing this, I couldn’t believe how many years it has been since the AWB has expired.  It feels like it was just yesterday that I could get Glock or Sig Sauer magazines without having to spend $60-$90 for them.   Factory magazines are still more expensive than some of the other magazines out there, but they are always the best option for handguns.   There are plenty of decent manufacturers for AK or AR15 rifles, and most problems I have seen with AK mags can be fixed with a simple file to the tab on the mag wells.    I recently picked up a couple Glocks and XD handguns because I wanted to bring something to the next class I teach that wasn’t a Beretta, Sig Sauer or 1911.   Some people just have issues shooting 45acp and I didn’t own anything other than a Sig 220 and a 1911.

I have found the Springfield Armory XD 45acp to be the most comfortable 45acp gun to shoot that was not a steel gun.  I find the Glock 21 to be too bulky especially for my female students.   The factory gun magazines for my Glocks are less expensive than  Sig Factory magazines, but I have never had to replace anything on my Sigs other the springs.   Wolff Gun springs work very well in all of my rifle and pistols and I have stockpiles of them so that if I notice any slowness in cycling, I can just swap them out.   Rotating your gun magazines is a good way of making sure you don’t wear out the same magazine, because it’s a pain in the neck when you are trying to determine if the magazine is bad or if a shooter is limp wristing a firearm during a training session.

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The AR15, they don’t work for everything

After I see the enormous amount of stuff that people are mounting on AR15s, I enjoy watching the shit to skill ratio that many M4 owners deploy.   I don’t want to come off as an elitist, but I still hold a grudge against many in the AR15 crowd from all of the years I didn’t own one and listed to all of the prima donna’s boasting in the late 1990’s.    It seems that some think the the .223 or 556 round is more leathal if it is fired out of an AR15 than it is in any other similarly chamber rifle.   I’ve seen so many times at gun ranges where a guy shows up with atleast $3000 on his M4 and is spending  his entire day shooting at 25yds-50yds.   I have no problem training in those ranges, but that is fighting territory which the M4 does a good job in.

While this may sound like I’m being overzealous, I have also kept tabs on the number of guys that refuse to shoot those same guns at the 600yd ranges that are right next to them.  I like to ask them if they have shot over there, and the answer is the same, nah, I don’t need to.   Well, what’s the point in having a 600 meter reticle on rifle scopes like the ACOG and never knowing how to  hit targets at those ranges?   It’s not all about point and click, you will miss targets with enough wind, and engaging threats and distances means more travel time for the bullet and just because you see it in the crosshairs at 600 meters, doesn’t mean your bullet is going to hit it 2 seconds later.  I read about a gun fight that took place in the early days of the Afghanistan invasion where a couple guys in a downed helicopter couldn’t take out a bunker at 600yds and almost ran out of ammunition.   The enemy kept ducking under cover and kept shooting and ducking back in.   A good 7.62 that penetrated cover or had more range could have meant the difference.

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Slings on shotguns and home defense

While I must admit that I have never taken a shotgun training class, and I have not yet gotten around to watching the Magpul Art of the tactical shotgun DVD,  I have seen enough things happen on firing lines to know that the more stuff you put on a firearm, the more you are complicating things.   The more you complicate things the more you have to worry about things falling off or getting snagged.  Slings are extremely useful tools and it will get real uncomfortable carrying a firearm with out one.   I recently picked up a shotgun scabbard because I personally do not like having slings on a pump shotgun.   The fact that you have to manually cycle the gun and your sling will be moving around while you do this, I’ve  seen too many times where people’s hands get snagged up.

I must remind you that this is a personal preference, not everyone has these types of problems.   There are ways of training to get around some of the issues, but they can all  be eliminated by not having one on.   My shotgun scabbard is basically one of my rifle cases because it is attached to one of my primary shooting backpacks, I can just toss a lever action rifle or small bolt action into the same case and carry it on a hunting trip.   Some of my friends have the Galco battle sling on their shotgun and it is  a very thick sling.   Some people may prefer this because it is easy to grasp and feel.

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Are pocket holsters necessary?

And before you read much further, the answer to that is a resounding yet.   I know you don’t always need to have a holster, but it’s a darn good idea.   There are some safety issues that need to be considered when pocket carrying.   The first thing this is you have to be consistent in where you are going to put your gun and gear.  If you forget to put and put your keys on the same pocket as your gun and you don’t have a pocket protector, bad things can happen.    Lint build up may not b e a major concern for revolvers, but it is a serious issues with semi-auto guns.

I was fortunate enough to have witness someone show up at a gun range for training that brought his Glock 17 to the range.   He was told to clear his chamber and when he did, a pile of pocket lint came out of the guys gun that it was amazing that so much could build up in it.   This guy didn’t even pocket carry, but he said that it  had been about a year since it was cleaned last.   It’s amazing how clothing sheds and frayed strings.  I have a few pocket guns and use the Don Hume gun holsters I know Dean Speir keeps a good account of Glock accidents, but sweatshirts ect that are not designed for CCW can be dangerous and not using any type of holster is not advised.

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I’ve tried on many pants

And I’m still mostly wearing Eotac tactical pants.   I’m hoping to see more pants styles coming out from this company that are really concealed carry friendly and not tactical.   I was at the NTOA in Pittsburgh this year and one of the guys I was working with mentioned that he has been a rep for various tactical clothing companies and has a hard time telling the difference between them especially at a Tactical Conference.   The people that have to live and work in tactical clothing are usually the people that I like to get feedback from.  Most of these guys really know how well clothing  holds up when they have 4 or 5 pairs of pants and are washing them each approximately 4 times a month.

There are occasions when we get the idiots that call up and say their shirts shrank and then we ask them if they read the directions on how to wash and dry them and they say no.   Anything made of Cotton will shrink, including your tactical pants and there are things that you can do to slow it down, like not using a dryer to dry your clothes all of the time.   You will extend the life of your  if you watch the temperatures that you dry them at and try to air dry them as much as possible.   Shrinkage should not really ever be a problem if you do this.

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Advanced gun cleaning for the obvious idiots

I don’t read gun boards very much anymore.  I have had good experiences with some of them and I know some people just like to bash the BS that they see, but not talk about the good.   I have met many people from the forums  in the Northeastern United States and found the vast majority to be above average in intelligence and responsibility.   I say this because I just read some of the dumbest stuff about gun cleaning and think that it may be time for some of these people to turn in their firearms due to showing since of being on the lower level of human evolution.

When you are choosing the cleaning tools for your rifle, make sure you match the cleaning brushes and cleaning patches to the caliber you are using.  If you are using a 22 caliber firearm like an AR15, do yourself a favor and use 22 caliber bore snakes.   I know that may not be common knowledge, but there are idiots out there that  may try and jam or pull a 30 caliber bore snake through the barrel, and guess what, it won’t fit.   You can mess a barrel by doing something as stupid like this, but it happens.  I’ve had pistol cleaning patches get stuck, but I was smart enough to dump a bunch of CLP into the barrel to loosen it up and then back it out, there’s your advanced gun cleaning tip of the day.

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The Mini 14 in it’s secondary format

The Mini 14 seems to have a love hate relationship with gun owners.   There are a lot of gun owners that were mad at Bill Ruger for his lack of a spine during the Clinton years and his support of the Assault Weapon ban, and many people were irked by the fact the Mini 14 was not sold with 20rd or 30rd magazines which were supplied to Law Enforcement and AC556 owners.   The Mini 14 is one of those guns that everyone wishes would hold up to the same reputation of combat worthiness that the M1 Garand and M14 or M1A had, but it couldn’t.   There were design flaws that kept the Mini 14 from ever being anything more than for a few quick shots.

The Mini 14 with all of it’s shortcomings is still an extremely reliable firearm under most conditions.   It does not hold up to the amount of fire that an M16 can tolerate, but although it is very good as a truck gun or varmint gun, it can be used for home defense because the .223 is actually a very good close range caliber if using the correct kind of defensive ammunition.   Butler Creek rifle stocks have given another angle to the Mini 14, and if you using fragmenting ammunition, the Mini  14 is as destructive as any AR15 rifle is.   This urban Carbine is light and easy to store in your gun safe.  Heck, I’ve actually had more room in my gun safe for more firearms since I swapped a few standard Mini 14 stocks in for these folding stocks.

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Valley Forge Gun Show in PA, finding gun parts

It has been  year since I got out to the Valley Forge Gun Show here in Pennsylvania.  It is probable the 3rd largest gun show after the Pittsburgh NRA Convention, and the Harrisburg Farm Complex.   There are some pretty big fluctuations from year to year.   Two Years ago there was a run on ammunition and firearms because Obama was elected.   Then move forward 2 years and there are a lot of good deals on used firearms because all of the people that lost their jobs are looking to get there money back.   I predicted that and I also predicted that there would be a reset on ammunition prices.

This weekend I went to the show to price gun magazines, ammunition, rifle accessories and reloading supplies.   I picked up large primers, small primers, pistol primers and rifle primers just because I could.   That was another thing that just flat out disappeared.   Primers seem to be under $30 now and that’s not too bad.  I next went to the pistol and rifle magazine section and picked up Glock 19 magazines.  I saw piles of Wilson Combat magazines, but I never noticed any shortages on those magazines, EVER. I noticed the Korean Glock 19 magazines looked well made, and they were only $10 each, but I didn’t want to take the chance since I knew nothing about their reputations.

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Does a small semi-auto CCW gun mean more fragile?

It sure use to mean that, but pocket guns have come a long way.   Defensive ammo has gone a long way in recent years and the 38 special ammo your grandfather used in Law Enforcement is not the 38 Special you have today.    I did some chrono tests with a Smith & Wesson Model 19 and the  feet per second velocity between that and j-frame Model 637 was dramatic.   I was breaking 1000ft per second with the j-frame and it really literally blew me away.   I always thought that having a 4 inch barrel on a gun meant that it was shooting a load faster, but not the case with these two guns.

A friend of mine told me that everything he thought he knew about ballistics was thrown out the door when he got his first Chronograph and I agree.   I also though that because a gun fit in my pocket that it had to be weaker.  I am still trying to unlearn what I had learned with pocket guns, but another buddy of mine did some ballistic tests where he proved that his 32acp penetrated ballistic gelatin as well as a 38 special.   While there is definitely some variations in results from firearms, the ammo you put in your Kahr PM9 and the 6rd or 7rd Kahr magazines that you are using, may be far more potent than you realize.   The Kahr firearms are probable one of the most durable small guns out there and they have had several improvements over the years that put them above their competitors.

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Old School vs. New school cleaning

otis gun cleaning kitsotis gun cleaning kitsI have the original bottle of Hoppes gun cleaner that my first 22lr cleaning kit, I’ve kept it as a time capsule as to how long ago it was that I first got into shooting.   I remember the first time I got a cleaning patch stuck in the barrel and when I bent the 3 piece rod and ended up going out and picking up a larger and stronger cleaning rod.    We learn most of our wisdom from trial and error and putting large cleaning patches down the barrel of a 22 caliber rifle is a learning experience.   I’ve only ruined one cleaning rod to date, but I really don’t use them very much anymore.

Bore snakes were really the thing that did in the  use of me using cleaning rods.  Ever since I picked up an my first AR15, which was a Bushmaster XM15E2 with a heavy barrel, I was happy to eliminate a considerable amount of time in gun cleaning.  I was well aware that the direct impingement guns were dirty, but considering how many cleaning patches I went through on just the chamber, I was glad to have a boresnake.  Another step to my collection of gun cleaning supplies were the Otis gun cleaning kits were another step forward for  me because I got the same compactness that the Hoppes bore snake gave me with even more cleaning tools in a tiny case.   I have a cleaning rod for rifles and one that is specific for handguns, but I’m using them less and less in comparison to Otis and boresnakes.

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