Author’s note: I just want to be clear that I’ve had this particular draft saved on my computer prior to Mr. Hackathorn’s October 19, 2022 YouTube video hosted on Wilson Combat’s channel concerning red dot and iron sights on handguns. This piece has nothing to do with that, and timing is just coincidental.

I am writing this in annum 2022, in which in the Internet firearms landscape might appear to be divided by the boomers and the zoomers. Boomers are presumably laughed at for their lack of self awareness in their admiration over what are technically more fickle firearms designs with lower capacity that use more cumbersome and expensive cartridges. The zoomers are the younger camp that epitomizes the attitude of “the future is now, old man.” Zoomer guns are made of plastic, hold 24 cartridges, have a mounted dot and weapon light, and strikers because ain’t nobody got time for hammers. Zoomer designs, materials, carry methods, holster choices and all manner of accouterments are a sharp contrast from the wood, steel, and leather aspects of the past.

I must confess that I have a deep appreciation for old guns, their designs and their contextual use continues to this day and is one of my favorite topics to keep discovering. The more I learn about shooting today, the more interesting drawing connections and analyzing the past becomes to me.  

One cannot understand the present without studying the past.

The impetus for this article comes from some of the insights I gathered after I wrote the Stakeout Unit piece. Jim Cirillo preferred a .38 Special K-frame Smith & Wesson while Bill Allard preferred his tuned 1967 National Match pistol. One man preferred a revolver and another man preferred a 1911. Simple enough, right? On today’s Internet, either man would be dismissed as a grandpa who needs to chill. But giving the topic more thought, it dawned on me: for basically four generations, the American shooter, regardless of their occupation as soldiers, cops, competitive shooters, or regular people– they all either carried and shot revolvers or a 1911 pistol.

And yes, you had those who preferred the Hi-Power but I’d argue they were the CZ hipster shooters of their day.

Four generations covers an entire century, so it is no wonder these weapons have permeated deeper cultural layers and became things of legend and tradition. I am not saying that there aren’t boomers out there who miss the point entirely and don’t get it, but it’s easy for zoomers to laugh at a boomer who shoots a revolver or 1911 seriously without realizing that this boomer came up shooting guns like that for their entire life. The same way their fathers and grandfathers did before them. Like the gentlemen from the Stakeout Unit mentioned above, clueful shooters understood and worked around their guns’ limitations. This is why Stakeout Unit members also carried extra pistols with them and brought shotguns on stakeouts as well. They made use of what was available at the time to the best of their ability. This is the kind of familiarity that brings forth comfort and thus confidence with chosen gear. It is difficult to blame a shooter that has put in the time and work and smartly understands their chosen firearm for sticking to it in spite better options being available. Like with everything, context is crucial.

Legacy and tradition never stopped yesteryear’s shooters from moving forward and finding better ways to do things. The shooting thought leaders of the era rightfully continued to think outside the box and developed better support gear like speedloaders or better holsters. There is a reason why the photo of Milt Sparks and Bruce Nelson is the first thing you see when you click on this article.

Incidents with criminals, such as the aftermath of the 1986 Miami shootout, the US military switching to the M9 pistol and regular innovation also propelled the state of things forward as well. But so ingrained was the generations’ old legacy of revolvers and 1911s that during the early days of the 9mm Luger “wondernine” revolution, many of the big gun companies offered double-action only variants of their models in order to court shooters who had already spent their entire lives shooting revolvers. The venerable Beretta 92 D comes to mind, for example.  

Understanding the complications of a revolver’s timing or the fragility of the 1911’s internal extractor makes me appreciate my Glock 17 even more so. In the same way, modern shooters are embracing positive aspects from old wheelguns or single action 1911s. More than a century later, shooters are still obsessed with the pull and break provided by a well tuned 1911 style trigger. They see the performance benefits and so 2011 style pistols are soaring in popularity now. These guns take the best benefits that a 1911 offers and address other shortcomings, like the lack of capacity, for example. Similarly, while duty size revolvers are not as popular as they once were, the American consumer still likes to buy compact sized carry-friendly revolvers as they excel in certain self defense niches.

By the way, the boomer and zoomer memes are funny. Don’t stop sharing them.

Is it a return to the moon missions?

Not quite that exciting, but close.

The Apollo series from Dark Star Gear is the essentials you need to start carrying with any of the four most popular slim-9’s as soon as it arrives. It is meant to take the guesswork out of the holster selection and accessory process and do the one thing you’re buying the holster to do, carry your gun.

From DSG,

Introducing Apollo! 

With what we learned from the years of feedback from our Orion and Hitchhiker holsters, we’ve packaged the most desired features into one new offering. We noticed a pattern for the current generation of concealed carry pistols and their buyers. I don’t want to say we’ve taken the guesswork out. But we’ve taken out the confusion/analysis paralysis/FOMO. You get a holster that lets you get rockin’ and rollin’, locked and loaded, right away. You can still adjust it easily to your needs.

The Apollo is optic cut, has dual 1.5” belt clips, and adjustable ride height all as standard. Ambidextrous for all users, without any of the drawbacks or feature limitations found in other holsters. And before you ask, yes it is Enigma compatible.

With an initial launch covering the Glock G48/43X/43, SIG P365/P365X/P365XL, Smith & Wesson Shield Plus/1.0/2.0, and Springfield Armory Hellcat RDP we are focusing on the most popular and comfortable carry guns selling to most new owners. But don’t fret, following this launch Apollo will have plenty of your old favorites as well.

Now for the best part, especially for anyone who has waited to order previously when they saw that cart total. MSRP: $49.99, but this Black Friday launch features an introductory 20% off bringing it to $39.99!  

They’re in stock!  If you can place the order, they’re in stock.

In the last two weeks I happened to stop at two different big box outdoor stores for some reason or another. Honestly, it was primarily to check out the used gun counter. Especially because I like to gawk at the retail prices for used vintage Smith and Wesson revolvers or Colt 1911 autos and especially anything that is a USGI firearm. You’d think that the person responsible for pricing every M-1 Garand, M-1 Carbine or USGI M1911-A1 takes a hit from a crack pipe each time they fill out a new price label. Other times, these “gun rooms” just happen to have neat things that you don’t see every day, like a museum exhibit.

After I was done “browsing” at one store, I could not help but to notice the fact they had actual smokeless powders and also primers in stock and readily available. These weren’t behind any glass display case or out of reach to the public either—they were just on the shelf like the before times. Out of shock, I even picked up a one pound container of Hogdon H-335 just to make sure it wasn’t some empty display. No sir, when I picked it up I felt each of those seven thousand grains in that container. Then I grabbed the container of HP-38 next to it make sure it wasn’t a fluke. Same thing. All right, how about the 8lb jug above? Full. Damn.

The other store was much smaller, but I was also surprised to find containers of smokeless propellant freely available for purchase. I could not remember the last I saw something like that where it was not a coincidence.

And the primers! The first store I am referencing had actual primers there. Several one thousand count cartons. Not surprisingly, small pistol primers were sold out. I did notice small pistol magnum, small rifle, and small rifle magnum along with CCI BR-4s and Federal Small Rifle Gold Medal.

Nature is healing.

Seeing powder and primer on the shelves is a welcome sight to my weary eyes, but the downside are the new “stable” prices. The average price of a pound of powder is now $39.99, with a $12 difference from the last time I purchased any in early 2021. As for primers, it wasn’t long ago that a one thousand primer brick retailed for only $35-$40 dollars. The average price is now $89.99 be it small rifle, small pistol, etc. I noticed that the CCI BR-4s were selling for $149.99 while the Federal Gold Medal small rifle brick was now $99.99. While the new prices are a bummer to any of us who have been reloading, the bright side is that these supplies are now becoming easier to find.

From reports this morning a disgruntled employee at the Walmart in Chesapeake Virginia open fired on his coworkers last night, killing 6 before killing himself. Unlike the Club Q shooting, the details coming out of this one appear to be tragically straight forward. An employee of the company felt wronged and chose violence as his method of retribution rather than quitting.

‘Disgruntled Employee’ won’t make as many headlines for as long as ‘MAGA Republican lawmaker’s Non-Binary Grandson attacks LGBTQ Club’ and the fact the employee apparently used the three times as common, and therefore more boring, handgun will also result in a quickly fading national interest beyond what can be leveraged for more gun control.

Nothing will be widely delved into about the employee’s alleged grievances, nothing will emerge on to what extent they were valid or exaggerated. Nobody will acknowledge that the media frenzy around events like Club Q, and now Walmart, will remind people, including those who it is dangerous to remind, that violence is a very attention grabbing option and that choosing it grants infamy. Infamy is enough for those dangerous few.

But what we’re seeing here is a dangerous inversion of the threat matrix. Being shot on any given day, especially in a mass shooting is an unlikely event. But it is a highly dangerous one, more so than tripping and twisting your ankle walking around your pet. The pet is a much more present hazard with a low probability of death, but they represent a substantial amount of the trip injuries that ERs see.

What I am getting at is the threat matrix, also known more broadly as risk assessment. While risk assessment can be used for all physical, social, and financial risks, a threat assessment is more focused on actual physical threats to you or your entity.

What is the risk a car crashes through the front of the store? What are the odds it is accidental vs deliberate? What are the odds someone shoots at you at work? What is the breakdown on the odds that the shooter is an employee, a known customer, or a random? These are all threat matrix type questions and anyone who has worked in business and professional safety for awhile will acknowledge that the people you know, employees and customers, are the higher threat when it comes to violence in the workplace. But that said, the overwhelming majority of your efforts will be spent preventing accidents and not assaults. That is how the threat matrix breaks down.

The biggest enemy of the publicly accessible space is the preventable injury, not a crazy customer or an angry employee.

Appropriate Appreciation of the Threat

The media is going to continue to make Colorado the scarier event, propping up their pet theory for why a prominent locale that supports a media relevant and controversial current hot button like drag was attacked. This puts the weight of the ‘next’ attack seem like it will be more LGBTQ clubs, and there is an appreciable threat there from the attention, the attitudes, and the current interest from various extreme elements.

But for Pulse and Club Q, how many workplace violence incidents do we have? How many disgruntled employees who resorted to homicide, maybe not to a mass shooting level? At the mass shooting level I can think of about a half a dozen, probably more given time to go through a list.

The risk of the Walmart type event is much greater than Club Q, and just as dangerous.

That said, the risk of either event is both low and yet appreciable. The risk of deliberate violence should never be downplayed, which is what CNN seems to mistake here,

The shooting, which came two days ahead of Thanksgiving as customers were doing last-minute shopping, is yet another instance of how gun violence erupts in American life in places traditionally seen as safe, from schools to stores and even hospitals.

Places traditionally seen as safe are far from it, we just do not pay attention. They are safe in scale, they are reasonably safe, they certainly aren’t at the risk level of a drug house about to be raided by the police or the streets of Iran filled with protestors. But they are not and never have been ‘safe’ in the objective sense, only in the relative. It can only ever be in the relative sense, true objective safety where nothing bad can occur is impossible.

Yet we still parrot the line and pretend that it is, because it is inconvenient to all involved to worry about the reality that it isn’t.

Should you be concerned about being shot today? Yes. But with very likely the same risk you had yesterday and tomorrow, so take prudent steps. You should also worry about tripping over your pet with very likely the same risk window. That is how risk works.

One of the greatest things about living in the American west was the fact that one can drive up to BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land and basically set up their own range and shoot whatever and however they want to. They key to making the most of out of these BLM shooting excursions is to have decent infrastructure support gear. If you’re like me, you probably are used to putting everything on the tailgate of your pickup truck while you shoot. I found myself needing target stands for the IPSC targets or sheets of cardboard that I used as backers. Now, it is possible to order some fancy all-metal ones but these target stands will not be cheap nor will they come apart easily. On the flip side, creating some DIY target stands saves you money and affords you an extra amount of portability.

The original plans call for cutting sections of 1 ½ inch diameter PVC pipe into different lengths and assembling them with some pipe tees and elbows. The basic idea is simply to create a base that holds two 1×2” stakes upright like any other target holder. You can either staple your target to the stakes or use those extra large wide metal paper clips (I prefer using those, but don’t miss and shoot them off!) I substituted the PVC pipe for black plastic ABS pipe—it works the same way and the ABS was actually slightly cheaper too.

Materials List:

• Six 15 inch sections of 1 ½ inch diameter pipe (PVC or ABS)
• Four PVC or ABS 3-way 1 ½ inch pipe tees
• One 18 ½ inch section of 1 ½ inch diameter PVC or ABS pipe for the cross member. This cross member can be longer or shorter depending on the target and its backer, but the 18 ½ inch length will work with a standard IPSC target.
• Two 4 foot sections of 1 x 2 inch wooden stakes.

To assemble this target stand, simply connect all pieces of pipe to each three-way tee and connect both halves with the cross member. When the base is assembled, simply shove the wooden stakes directly into it and affix your cardboard backer. I really like this design due to its simplicity and the fact that the materials do not weigh much and are relatively inexpensive. Since the tees and pipes are all friction fit and not permanently glued, it is easy to fully dismantle all base components for storage. The only downside to this design is the fact that the base is light and it will blow over on windy days. To prevent this, I usually put something heavy over the base, like an ammo can or a rock.

Some of the younger generation don’t know what this big pistol is on sight. Boat Anchor is among the most flattering terms used to describe the Ruger P85 9mm. Yet Ruger’s first centerfire 9mm has survived the test of time. This is a reliable workhorse you can bet the farm on. The pistol was introduced during the Wonder Nine era. It is a bulky high capacity 9mm with a fifteen round magazine double action first shot trigger and conventional decocker/safety lever. The pistol features a steel slide and aluminum frame. Ruger famously makes use of castings in the design. The pistol is among the last handguns designed to use a swinging link for lockup. The P85 features a captive slide lock. The Ruger locks up by butting the barrel hood into the slide in SIG P220 manner. A long pull of the trigger both cocks and drops the hammer. After the first shot the slide recoils and cocks the hammer for single action shots. The double action press is long and heavy at 14 pounds on the Lyman electronic trigger gauge. The single action trigger press isn’t light but consistent at 6.8 pounds.

Disassembly requires the pistol to be unloaded and the slide locked to the rear. Reach inside the slide and press the ejector downward. Tap the slide lock to the left and the slide may be removed. The recoil spring and guide are easily removed and the barrel then simply falls out. The pistol was introduced in 1985 and competed in military service trails. It was a difficult pistol to find for sale until 1987. Compared to some of the 9mm pistols available at the time the Ruger has proven at least as durable. No domestic self loader of the time is in the class with the Ruger’s reliability. Ergonomics are almost terrible. Since the pistol doesn’t kick much- it is a very light kicker- the grip shape may be worked with. The trigger action isn’t smooth at all. Both SIG and Beretta double action first shot pistols are much smoother in operation and even the fat Beretta grip is handier than the Ruger. The Ruger isn’t as accurate although it is accurate enough for most chores. What the P85 is is reliable and durable in the long term. It is also affordable. It isn’t unusual to find used examples for sale at less than three hundred dollars. This isn’t an out of print pistol particularly sought after but if you need a bag gun truck gun or bug out gun with no likely worries the P85 may fill that bill.

While the pistol is blocky the grip really isn’t that bad. That Rock of Gibraltar slide simply makes the beast top heavy. The sights are good combat sights for the day and offer a decent sight picture. The decocker is safe and handy. The barrel is 4.25 inches long and gets good velocity with most loads. At 32 ounces unloaded it is neither light nor heavy but well balanced. I have fired the pistol a bit over the years and find it accurate enough for most chores. Once the hammer is cocked in the single action mode and you are firing to drop the hammer not having to go through that horrendous double action trigger combat accuracy is good. There is considerable take up and reset isn’t rapid. The double action trigger isn’t impossible. I am able to run through the trigger and get center hits at seven yards. Past that you need to cock the hammer.

The Ruger P85 is a piece of history and long out of production. Just the same despite its ergonomic shortcomings the pistol is reliable and useful. As an example if you handload +P+ 9mm loads or like to load up the Buffalo Bore Outdoorsman for protection when hiking the Ruger will never stutter with such loads. Below are my firing results with a number of modern loads. The groups were fired form a solid bench rest using the MTM K Zone firing rest.

Load                                    Velocity                 5 shot group at 25 yards

Short Answer: You more than likely have a burr on the back of your bolt carrier.

Longer answer..

Within the function of the AR-15 the back of the bolt carrier is consistently hitting the buffer each time that the firearm cycles. When a burr is present on the back of the Bolt Carrier Group (BCG), which is normal considering it is a high friction point, this burr will create a pitted look on the buffer. The burr will do this no matter if it is so small that the eye can’t see it or if it is large enough that a swipe with the finger can easily find it.

More Questions

Why are the Burrs In a Circle Pattern?

Every time that the firearm cycles the buffer will often rotate inside the gun. The burr on the carrier will stay in the same spot, however the buffer will rotate causing the wear to be on different parts of the buffer.

Is it the Buffer Retaining Pin?

Oftentimes no, this wear is not a reason to think that your buffer retaining pin is out of spec. If your retaining pin is out of spec if will show when installing the buffer tube, not by wear on the buffer. The buffer does not slam into that pin, but the carrier does slam into the buffer.

The carrier has a slot that the retaining pin goes through each time the carrier pushes back into the buffer tube. The pin is there to retain the buffer and spring during disassembly and that is it. Hell, some dudes even run their guns without buffer retaining pins and they haven’t had one issue.

If you don’t believe me, here is more information from Roger Wang of Forward Controls about the buffer retaining pin only having one job and his reinforced buffer retaining pin product.

“When all the systems in an AR function properly, one could argue that a reinforced buffer retainer isn’t necessary.  We agree, except mix and match parts from different manufacturers and their varying adherence to TDP specs, tolerance stacking is far from the exception.  Many of us have had this inexpensive part break and toss its tip into the lower receiver, usually in the trigger group and cause a jam.  RBF’s billet construction and reinforced tip aim to mitigate this, it could be viewed as cheap insurance, even if the way we make it is anything but cheap.”-Forward Controls Design

How do I find the burr?

To find the burr if it is not seen by the eye simply run your finger over the back of the bolt carrier. If you still can’t find it try using a cotton swab, the lightly bound cotton will catch on the burr and rip off

How do I remove the burr off of the carrier?

Some light filing will do the trick or even crocus cloth. Try to go easy and not remove a lot of metal, just where the burr is.

Can I continue to run that buffer?

Yes! If the damage isn’t enough to further damage your carrier or the buffer retaining pin or even your own fingers, yes, run the gun.