The boys have a guest, and it’s award winning author, gun nerd, and Post Malone’s neighbor Larry Correia, author of the Monster Hunter International series and many many many more books! One of those books is soon to be released non-fiction, In Defense of the Second Amendment, and you can pre order that at this link: https://amzn.to/3evDDlT
21 Years Hence
21 years.
21 years since I was pulled into a middle school assembly hall like, so many others, and told that the United States of America had been attacked by an unknown group.
21 years since I took a bus home and walked in on my father crying while staring at a smoke choked New York skyline.
21 years since I watched two towers fall and a smoldering hole belch flames in the Pentagon, thousands of people had lost their lives.
21 years since the illusion of a peaceful 21st century was extinguished.
I think that is my takeaway now, that 9/11 crushed the idea that humanity had moved on from more base impulses of violence and would lean on reason rather than violence to try and solve their grievances. We were starting the information age after all, who would need to argue and fight when we could look it up and see?
The 21 years that followed saw us commit to GWOT and that hasn’t ended spectacularly. We got Bin Laden but Afghanistan is back in Taliban hands and Iraq is still a hot bed of discontent. The violent corners of the globe that were still are, and I think we were just insulated in our western spaces assuming that the world would take our example because we had it pretty damn good.
We’ve made stupid mistakes. We’ve been naïve. We errantly believed at some level that the changing of the calendar had solved our greater violent impulses and our destructive motivations.
It did not.
We jumped the gun.
It has cost us.
In the decades that followed, we’ve been hamstrung by our own egos and prejudices. We made enemies, stupidly, where we could have had friends. We made the bold and absurd claims and are now reaping the harvest of those choices as we see division and prejudice in the place of respect and cooperation.
We didn’t slide backwards, no. At least not very much. We instead made the hubris fueled error of assuming we had made much more progress than we had. That the world thought like we did and that we would never have to faceoff against anyone seriously again at anything more than a debate table.
As we continue to traverse the 21st century, getting toward the middle years, we have had harsh reminders that nobody is required to think like we do, respect what we respect, or value life as we do. Someone or some group can always take exception to us, and use violence as their means to do so.
The skyline is no longer on fire, but it could be again one day. We have enemies, and until they are destroyed without the ability to grow back or they decide we are better as friends we will be required to have the ability to respond. We can come into conflict over resources or ideology again and again, at the national or personal levels both. This will always necessitate our remembering how to be violent in our own defense.
But it is my hope that, when taken in its full measure, these 100 years will be dramatically improved from the 20th century. That 2025 will show dramatic progress from 1925, 1950, 1975, and even 2000. That 2050 will show more progress still. It is my hope that we get over our juvenile illusions of not needing violence in our toolkit, but that we continue to strive for a world ever more peaceful than the day before.
We have a tremendous amount of work to do.
The series of global and regional catastrophes, as well as the shallow and stupid efforts of the political elements, have set up 2020 to 2030 as a challenging decade. We are discontent, more divided, and more distrustful of institutions who have failed us spectacularly time and time again. But I do wholeheartedly believe that we haven’t arrested our positive momentum, not even close, and if we could just continue to fight through our own egos to keep reason as our guide, even if those we are reasoning with aren’t reasoning so well, we will see a tremendous century in the grand scale.
The world is still a dangerous place, gone is the myth that it will ever not be. But it can be a less dangerous place and we can be ready for the dangers.
That must be good enough.
ArcFlash EMG-02: Shooting The Future
Is there anything more sci-fi, cyberpunk, or space-gun than a Gauss Rifle? Ok so it’s not a rifle, but the EMG-02 fits the form factor, and despite current tech limitations, it’s cool as hell, and the development we’ve seen in these products over the last few years is astounding.
The newest model from ArcFlash is the EMG-02, which has improved from the previous iteration both in performance, and user-friendliness. Using an off-the-shelf drill battery, having a massive capacitor that doubles as something of a stock, and overall better balancing make it much more accessible as a weapon. It’s more powerful, while still not quite reaching modern service-caliber pistol capability, but it’s not difficult to imagine that in another decade or so, this thing will be launching magnetically stabilized projectiles of sufficient mass and velocity to be relied upon in a hunting, or self-defense scenario.
Check out the video, and be sure to watch to the end to see how it handles improvised ammunition!
Why HK ‘Hates’ the US Market Space
James Williamson and 1911 Syndicate crew go into why H&Ks product lines here in the US are… thin.
The answer is the combination of US and German regulations on the import/export of “military” weaponry. The Germans are VERY sensitive about selling commercial weapons that are similar to their military rifles. We in the US want the military rifles, semi-auto, but we want them to remain the MP7, G36, or 433, and not come in a neutered format like the SL8.
In short, H&K has a hand tied by the ATF and the German government and making an importable variant is insanely expensive. You have to submit it for approval and await both import and export approval from the ATF and German government. The Germans are meticulous about the paperwork and justifications for selling their select-fire systems or their non-commercialized inventory.
The US had a similar series with the AWB guns and making certain that the commercial and military weapons were indeed very different. Colt, most famously perhaps, used different trigger pins and a very different semi-auto bolt carrier in their rifles for a long time to differentiate the commercial rifles and the select-fire assault rifles.
So listen to James, HK doesn’t hate us. Not really. But they can only do what they can do, they aren’t the only company experiencing these setbacks and covering rough terrain in the pursuit of getting product into our consumer hands. The ATF can literally, at will, just decide that a gun that was good isn’t anymore, and does. The same goes for imported parts, which can be declared a firearm… just because.
Mountain Man Medical And Their Free Online Course
I love free stuff. Who doesn’t? In the firearms and tactics world, the best information does have a price point because it takes a lot of trial, effort, study, research, and work to develop modern tactics, techniques, and weapon handling. That’s real work, and the creator certainly deserves to be paid to teach you that work. With that in mind, sometimes a company is gracious enough to provide information for free. Mountain Man Medical has released its Emergency Trauma Response training for free online.
This is brought to you in coordination with ConcealedCarry.com, and Riley Bowman pops up surprisingly enough to introduce the course, and we see him in a few reenactments worth noting. This course does require you to sign up and walk through the purchase aspect, but once that’s done, the entire 105-minute course is completely free and certainly worth watching.
As a disclaimer, this kind, of course, doesn’t necessarily replace hands-on training. It does, however, establish a good baseline for emergency medical treatment. The course is a great refresher, good introductory course, and solid overall course, from the content to the presentation.
The Mountain Man Medical Emergency Trauma Response Training
The Mountain Man Medical course is headed by Brian McLaughlin. Brian was a green side Corpsman with the United States Navy. Meaning he was tasked to keep grunts from getting killed. He was also an EMT and ER Technician, and he is our primary instructor throughout the course.
There is a lot to love about this course information-wise, but before I dig into that, let’s talk about the presentation and organization because that is equally impressive. The footage is filmed in crystal clear high definition that’s well lit and easy to see. The sound is great, and the presentation is always easy to understand.
The organization of the course is also impressive. Instead of just giving you a single one-hour and 45-minute video, the course is broken down into small segments. Each covers a specific subject and is as long or as short as it needs to be. There are 14 segments total that vary in length.
None of the segments are super long, and this makes the course easily digestible, especially when you’re a busy person. The longest section is 17 minutes, and the shortest (outside of the conclusion) is three minutes long.
The organization of the Mountain Man Medical course is ingenious. I’m a busy person, and I’m betting most reading this are as well. Being able to jump in, watch a single lesson and bounce to whatever else I have to do is very convenient. If it was a 105-minute video, I’d be jumping around everywhere to see where I left off. That’s not the case here.
The Medical Content
The Mountain Man Tactical Emergency Trauma Response class starts from the outside and works its way in. What do I mean by that? Well, the class is organized in a realistic manner. It starts with what you should be doing prior to any emergency. You establish a mindset, the gear, and then move into the medical content.
The gear advice is spot on with recommendations for tourniquets, chest seals, and where and how many medical kits are good to have. The man knows his stuff in the gear world. He also goes on to show he knows a fair bit about medicine as well.
Mountain Man Tactical sticks to the MARCH acronym and uses that as its lesson guide. MARCH standard for
Massive Hemorrhage
Airway
Respirations
Circulation
Hypothermia and Head Trauma
Reassessment
From there, the lesson goes into Other injury types, a deeper section on tourniquets, and then your role as a medic. After each lesson, there will be a short quiz covering what you just learned to better reinforce the core lessons of the section. It’s clearly established at the beginning that hands-on training is superior, and this course won’t make you a doctor.
Getting Traumatic
The free Mountain Man Medical course is a great way to familiarize yourself with these concepts, and since it’s free, it’s time better spent than mindlessly browsing Reddit. I’d certainly suggest giving it a listen, and check out Mountain Man Medical. Their website and products are organized by the MARCH acronym as well, and that’s fairly convenient, and they have kits as well.
For a mere two dollars, you can do a Range Medicine class, and I plan to tackle that next. They also have a schedule of live events worth checking out for that invaluable hands-on training.
Gun Control Is Racist, Per Democrats.
Anyone with a marginal education in the history of US law, will recognize that many of the gun control laws enacted since the civil war (and before) have been direct, overt efforts to keep people of color disarmed. The “Slave Codes” of the pre-war south and the fact that Native Americans weren’t covered by the Bill of Rights until 1924 are only the most overt, and perhaps easier to look at through this lens because of their seeming remoteness from today. But from Jim Crowe laws after the Civil War, to the California Mulford Act banning Open Carry in the 1960s, there are numerous more modern examples, and the evidence points to an obvious conclusion: Gun control is racist, and always has been.
The Anti-gun lobby, and the largely Democrat legislators who follow it have mostly avoided this issue, likely suspecting how poorly linking your cause to centuries of the suppression of natural rights of people based on race goes over with their constituents. Side-stepping the racism inherent in gun control seems to have gone out of vogue though, and with impressive speed.
Instead of ignoring the racist roots and remnants in these laws, they seem to have embraced them, with NY and CA both referencing them as justification for current attempts at skirting Bruen and other recent right-affirming SCOTUS decisions. Somehow this hasn’t struck them as a negative, and in their desperation, they’d started saying the quiet part out loud.
Hopefully this does two things:
- Wakes up the electorate to the reality of putting heavy restrictions and paywalls on enumerated rights
- Turns some of their supporters against them, because of the incongruity of touting yourself as “The Resistance” while oppressing minorities.
Of course cognitive dissonance is the national pastime these days, so the impact may be small, but it’s good to see the anti-rights crowd is running out of untainted arguments, and currently tearing out the kitchen sink, prepping to throw it too.
Dr. Edeen Tells Texas to Keep Its Children Well
[Ed: DRGO’s Dr. John Edeen delivered this testimony on June 23 to the Texas legislature’s Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety strongly advocating effective school protection of our children, which is DRGO’s long-held position.]
Thank you, Chairman White, for inviting me to give my testimony today. My name is John Edeen, MD. I am a pediatric orthopedic surgeon who has practiced in San Antonio for almost 25 years. I am a Navy veteran and a firearms instructor certified by the NRA, Massad Ayoob Group and Rangemaster. I am also the Membership Director for Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership. (www.drgo.us).
The events of May 24, 2022, at Robb Elementary, hold a personal connection. Eva Mireles, one of the two teachers murdered that day, was the sister of my medical assistants in my orthopedic practice. In addition, one of the surviving children was surgically treated by one of the pediatric trauma surgeons that night. I was the on call orthopedic surgeon for the Children’s Hospital that night.
Ed Monk (Last Resort Firearms Training), LTC, USA, Ret., former law enforcement and high school teacher has studied and analyzed all the active shooter events since the UT Clock Tower Shooting in 1966. He has simply broken down each of these shootings and planning should consider two factors: MATH + TIME. On average, one person is shot every 10 seconds. The numbers are worse in the first minute and do not account for a single person being shot multiple times:
TIME in minutes 1 2 3 4 5 6
Average casualties 6 12 18 24 30 36
Adjusted casualties 12 19 24 29 33 36
When someone walks into a room and starts shooting, when do you want it to stop? 10 minutes? 8 minutes? 5 minutes? 3 minutes? Or RIGHT NOW? You need a plan to make it happen.
IF there is an armed person in place, 1-9 victims. IF you wait for 911-police response 30+ victims.
J. Eric Dietz, PhD of Purdue University did a computer modeling study of active shooter response in schools. He looked at 4 scenarios:
1. No access control or any type of security within the school
2. Concealed carry individuals (5-10% of work force) present within school
3. Assigned School Resource Officer
4. Assigned Resource Officer and concealed carry individuals (5-10%)
He did 50 runs of each proposed scenario and found that decreased response time = decreased casualties:
- No access control/security Highest casualties
- Concealed carry 5% 6.8 % decreased casualties, 5.4% decreased response times,
” 10% 10.6% decreased casualties, 16.8% decreased response time
3. Resource Officer only 66.4% decreased casualties, 59.5% decreased response time
4. Resource Officer + CC 5% 69.9% decreased casualties, 59.7% decreased response time
Resource Officer + CC 10% 70.2% decreased casualties, 62.7% decreased response time.
The answer is having armed, trained and willing people in place at the time the active shooter chooses to attack. Gun free zones are like shooting fish in a barrel for the active shooter.
Ed Monk recommends these steps be taken to mitigate the effect of an active shooter in a school:
- Completely change response plans from passive (call 911 and wait on someone to travel here and save us) to active (we will stop him).
- Develop response plans focused on immediate counterattack- fighting and stopping the active shooter within the first 30 seconds, well before the first ambulance or law enforcement officer arrives.
- Train, resource and practice the counterattack response.
- Wargame the plan against real, evil, thinking, motivated attacker.
- Base the plan on the attacker and start locations most likely for their school.
- Base the plan on the End State= the number of victims.
- Take responsibility for the victim count.
- Teach staff and students their 3 options of response (Fight, Flee, Barricade).
- Give staff & students permission to make their own decisions
- Give staff & students permission and encouragement to fight
- Encourage fighting immediately: teach staff & students how to fight
- If legal, have enough armed staff members spaced out so that at least one is likely to hear or see the first shot of the attack
- If not legal, change the law.
We do not have to reinvent the wheel. In Ohio, FASTER (Faculty, Administrator, Safety Training & Emergency Response) has 3000 school volunteers, in 300 school districts in 20 states over the past 10 years. They have also established a program in Colorado and are working on Arizona and Florida. The training begins with a one-day foundation class to assess baseline skill level and requires a concealed handgun license. Those who are accepted participate in a three-day Level 1 course which covers the history of active shooters, mindset and adversary tactics. There is a shooting instruction component and qualification test that exceeds that of the Ohio State Police Standard. They also get training on shooting while moving, use of barricades and room entry tactics. They do training in Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) and learn to stop hemorrhage and manage airways until EMS arrives and is allowed into the scene. On the last day they do realistic force on force scenarios. Level 2 training builds on Level 2. Level 3 training takes place in the schools with first responders (medics & police).
In a recent conversation with Jim Irvine, one of the founders of the FASTER program, he pointed out some added benefits of the collaboration between school administrators and law enforcement. A double homicide in a convenience store was solved when the juvenile murders were identified by the video when reviewed by school staff. Also, competition between school staff and law enforcement during joint training has improved pistol marksmanship on both sides. (www.fastersaveslives.org).
In conclusion, armed response time is the most important factor once an active shooter event in a school occurs. Some schools in Texas have already gotten the message and have armed volunteer teachers and staff. All need to. The days of planning to call 911 and wait for police to respond should have been over since Columbine in 1996. The lessons have not been learned. How many more Sandy Hooks, Marjorie Stoneman Douglases, Santa Fe High Schools and Robb Elementary Schools do we need before we protect our most valuable asset with armed personnel that have a chance to disrupt and deter the active shooter in the school?
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—Dr. John Edeen is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon in San Antonio, TX and is active in seeking the right to carry for qualified hospital staff. He is DRGO’s Membership Director.
All DRGO articles by John Edeen, MD
The Last Coach Guns -The Savage 311 and the NYPD
How long do you think double barrel shotguns served with police forces? The first successful pump gun was the Winchester 1897, which came out before sliced bread. What if I told you it was the mid to late 1990s? You might say, well, it was probably a backwater Sheriff’s department with four employees. What if I told you I’m talking about the NYPD? Yep, one of the world’s biggest, most expensive police forces in the world issued and qualified with the classic Savage 311.
I could say Savage-Stevens 311. Savage purchased Stevens in 1920. They continued to make their boxlock shotguns under several names. Most of the world seems content to call them the Savage 311. This shotgun was a robust, working man’s gun that was popular. They last forever. I have a Springfield marked variant from 1975, and it still goes bang without issue.
The NYPD famously issued the Ithaca 37 shotguns with patrol units, ESU, and of course, the Stakeout Squad. Their detectives and Narcotics division cops carried the Savage 311 for decades beyond the adoption of the repeating shotgun. Specifically for serving high-risk warrants. Their specific models featured 18.25-inch barrels and bead sights, so they are as simple as they get.
The Savage 311 Benefits
In a time where the pump action ruled and typically carried four to five rounds, why would anyone choose a double barrel shotgun? I’ve thought of a few benefits the Savage 311 could offer. I’m not saying these are the reason why the NYPD adopted the gun, just benefits.
These double barrel guns were fairly easy to take apart and stashed in a fairly small bag without gathering attention. They could be taken down with ease and put together prior to getting involved in social work.
Two barrels did mean you could use a wide variety of ammo without difficulty. You could even run a slug in one barrel and buckshot in another. The Savage 311 guns were also very robust and reliable. So were plenty of pump shotguns of the era.
The Sad Truth
In researching this article, I found a few interesting things. First was an old post from Pat Rogers. He stated they were used for so long that because the NYPD higher-ups didn’t think that the Detectives could efficiently use a pump action shotgun. In Tales From The Stakeout Squad, Jim Cirillo also seems to believe detectives couldn’t operate a shotgun.
Jim tells the story of two detectives who borrowed two Ithaca 37s. They couldn’t figure out how to unload the guns, so they went to a field and fired them.
Jim would later state, “That’s why when we were training detectives, we used to train them with double barrel shotguns, they were so much simpler for them to use.”
It seems like the NYPD didn’t do much to train their detectives on the proper use of a proper shotgun. I don’t believe NYPD detectives were stupid. I believe they were poorly trained. If you aren’t trained in how to use a weapon, how could you expect to use it? Supposedly the NYPD required an LT to take out the Savage 311 shotguns, so they were rarely used.
The Last Coach Guns
One of the few photos that seem to exist regarding NYPD detectives using these guns comes from Massad Ayoob and his book Stressfire 2. He has a line of detectives wearing eyes and ears training with the old Savage 311 shotguns. Double barrel shotguns will always be cool, but they were most certainly used well past their sell-by date. Even so, a shotgun is a fairly simple weapon, and in gunfights, it’s rare that the scattergun has to bark more than a few times.
Much like the Model 10 revolver, the NYPD held onto the Savage 311 shotguns for a long time. It’s a shame New York and the NYPD hate guns so much. I’d love to pick up one of these old double barrels on the secondary market. We live in the age of the carbine and have for decades, so it’s surprising to see that the old coach gun stuck around for so long.
The Memphis Shooting is Another Government Failure
A city brought to a standstill, Memphis was paralyzed by a roving shooter yesterday until he was finally arrested late that night. The 19 year old killed four and severely injured at three people, over several hours, as he live streamed his attacks and aired his list of grievances on Facebook live. This isn’t the first spree killing or mass killing where Social Media has been used as the tool to share the violence with the world, the Christchurch shooting is probably the most famous.
What is perhaps the most frustrating aspect, beyond the deaths and the disruptions, is that the shooter should still be in prison right now. The 19 year old was charged with attempted first degree murder and several other severe charges back in 2020. That series of violent offenses and the subsequent charges resulted in an aggravated assault conviction and a three year prison sentence.
But only 11 months of the sentence was served, and yesterday he took a full auto modified Glock, probably with one of the imported switches that have become popular and are highly illegal to install if you are not a manufacturer, and did this.
So lets recap.
A convicted violent felon, age 19, got their hands on an illegally automatic Glock pistol, after being released from prison having served less than 1/3 of their sentence, and shot at least seven people, killing four, and was streaming it to the world. The shooter had shot four people, starting at 1 a.m. with the slaying of a 24 year old man in his own driveway, before authorities were onto him after the AutoZone attack.
The shooter took a break after his first killing, he began shooting again at about 4:30 p.m., killing a man in his car and shooting a woman in the leg at two separate locations.
It wasn’t until 6 p.m. when the shooter live streamed his attack at AutoZone (shown above) resulting in a critical injury, that authorities got a bead on his activities. The shooter continued the video stream talking to the camera while driving and filming shooting at victims with the automatically modified Glock. He carjacked on two separate occasions, killed one of the drivers in the street, and continued his reckless and carefree rampage until being captured late Wednesday night.
“If Mr. Kelly served his full three-year sentence, he would still be in prison today and four of our fellow citizens would still be alive,” the Memphis mayor said.
Once again we see that rules are only as effective as a society’s ability to enforce them in a swift and judicious manner. A single young man, who couldn’t be bothered to give a damn about anyone but himself, who publicly displayed his brutalities and lack of concern exhibitionist style, brought Memphis to a halt and took the lives of four people. All because the justice system couldn’t be bothered to keep him in prison until 2024 when his sentence, for a much lesser charge compared to the originals he was on trial for, was complete.
But I’m sure someone will propose a gun control law that would ‘fix’ this instead.
Don’t Trust The Veteran About Guns
In an unplanned second in what is looking to become a fairly regular series, we have a follow up to Don’t Trust The Old Gun Guy. Don’t Trust The Veteran About Guns. Not all veterans are created equal. They have wildly different service experiences, wildly variable job responsibilities, and vastly different levels of competence within them.
Veteran doesn’t equate to a weapons expert, a use of force expert, or a valid perspective to comment upon domestic safety concerns. It can be a foundational background that furthers those knowledge bases, but it in no way confers them.
And that’s where we get word vomit like this,
Assault gun ban, Biden and verbal blunders
Just as I was starting to write this column, I heard about the Uvalde, Texas school shooting which killed 19 little children and two adults.
This left me angry
Yes, senseless death tends to do that.
and my anger is directed more towards the politicians and other enablers than it is towards the shooter.
Okay, pause. Why are we again borrowing culpability from the actual murderer? The monster who decided and carried out the massacre, why are we more mad at the uninvolved? In what world are we assigning them the task of predicting and interceding on every bad event ever?
This issue, just like everything these days, will be politicized with each party blaming the other which is their substitute for doing something to fix the problem.
Welcome to politics, if they can get credit for being mad about something instead of doing something they will. Useful idiots fuel this fire.
I am familiar with assault weapons as a result of my wartime service
Here.
We.
Go.
The false expertise fallacy, Veteran edition.
I’ve gone into detail here and others have gone into detail elsewhere about the fact that “assault weapons,” aka service rifles, are the second weakest weapon in the hands and care of US Troops for conducting combined arms warfare. Only the sidearm is less potent. But it is the most effective personal defense weapon design to be used in conjunction with combined arms.
but there is absolutely no valid reason why such weapons are permitted in our civilian society.
Ahhh, valid reason. So this is entirely your subjective opinion, based upon faulty biased data, because it makes you the big sad and you cannot rationalize all the valid reasons people own personal rifles, including literally millions of veterans who disagree with you and hold the same ‘expert voice’ card you do.
It is a fact that such weapons were outlawed at one time
Eh, you don’t understand how the grandfathering and annoying neutered versions of the same guns existed from 94-04 worked do you? Nope, I thought not.
but the prohibition expired during the GW Bush administration and when in control neither political party has acted on renewing it.
It was reviewed and found to be entirely ineffective at stopping mass killings (evidence Columbine) or influencing the general homicide rate. So maybe that was the reason?
It is disgusting that these politicians take contributions from the National Rifle Association and then perpetuate the wishes of the NRA.
Now do pharmaceuticals, energy, oh and simply lobbying for lobbying. No?
The Supreme Court did not help when they issued a decision on a case called Heller v Washington, DC in which they interpreted the second amendment to mean other than what it literally states which is that the right to keep and bear arms should be permitted to “ a well regulated militia.”
Permitted to? Is that “…the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” meant when it literally states the people? I must’ve misread that. If only there were a place we could look it up, or another court decision where SCOTUS clarified it like Bruen. Just because you’re mad about it doesn’t make them wrong, you right, or anywhere in between, it just means the decision upset you.
A militia is an organization like the National Guard but the court interpreted it to be any person.
Must be that pesky ‘the people‘ part.
And who is the Militia?
“I ask, Who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people, except a few public officers. But I cannot say who will be the militia of the future day.” – George Mason, Virginia Ratification.
Since this day the US has adopted a standing military, professionalized it, and brought an increasing number of people into the legal fold as full citizens of the US. They never at any point closed away selective service or declared citizens were no longer part of the Militia. So if anything, we’re just bigger and better than ever baby. Sorry about your reading comprehension.
And, of course the States have laws, which are supposedly within the federal law but are, in fact, less regulatory.
Huh? What? That… they are under Federal law and a State cannot loosen federal law, they can only go further restrictive if there is regulation. Like allowing or disallowing NFA items. States cannot declare you don’t need a NICS check for a Federal transaction, the Federal government can say what counts in place of one though.
Our useless politicians have not only done nothing about assault weapons but are not even able to legislate tough background checks.
*Sigh* This UBC garbage again? Alright hotshot, what are we missing in the prohibitive person category that will not prosecute innocent people, jail innocent people, and otherwise have a drastically bigger negative impact while failing to stop the next mass shooter who has no disqualifying background…
Interestingly, I had planned to write about the Parkland, Florida School shooting so I will still go ahead with that since it further highlights incompetence at both Federal and local levels.
Oh, we’re highlighting incompetence alright… carry on.
The year was 2018, the date was February 14 and the place was Marjorie
Stoneham High School in Parkland, Broward County, Florida.
Broward has just covered themselves in glory since then too…
On that day, Nicholas Cruz ,age 18,
19.
used his assault weapon to kill 17 people and wound 17 others.
That he did.
Broward County had hired a new Superintendent of Schools whose name was Robert Runcie. He was African American and came from the Chicago School System, which was one of the worst in America.
I hope this has relevance?
Nicholas Cruz was the perfect example of a ticking time bomb whose “red flag” behavior said loud and clear that he was a sure bet to initiate some sort of horrible, violent event.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office received widespread criticism for its handling of the police response, both for not following up on multiple warnings about Cruz despite a lengthy record of threatening behavior and for staying outside the school instead of immediately confronting him.[9] This led to the resignations of several police officers who responded to the scene, and the removal of Sheriff Scott Israel.[9] A commission appointed by then-Governor Scott to investigate the shooting condemned the police inaction and urged school districts across the state to adopt greater measures of security. – Summary of aftermath of police action.
Prior to the arrival of Runcie,
Oh, we’re blaming Runcie. Why did we point out he is Black?
a person like Cruz when at the point of no return
As determined by who?
would have been turned over to the police and probably end up in jail.
Probably not. Evidence says not a great chance of this.
But Runcie was not happy with the fact that the number of disciplinary cases among minorities were far in excess of their numbers in the population so he instituted a new policy called “the Promise Program”
Which is consistent with policies across the nation right now on the equity train, lets not pretend Runcie’s policy is special or surprising.
Under the new program the unruly students would remain in the school system and not be referred to police.
Again, normal in many spots nationwide. Also Cruz was expelled in 2017.
So Cruz remained in the school system while his behavior became more and more dangerous.
But not at the School, he was placed in alternative education as nearly all such cases are. The priority in schools is to try and educate through and around any of a myriad of learning and behavioral problems hoping both that the children will mellow and mature into adulthood and not hamper them if when they do.
This program is completely normal and par for the course in public education and in most circumstances it benefits the student who does make it to contributive adulthood.
On Jan. 5, 2018 a woman contacted an FBI “tip line” about Cruz which, included specific information about his plan “ to shoot up a school”
The FBI completely ignored the tip, which, if acted upon, would have prevented the shooting.
Maybe. The “he was on our radar” meme is a meme for the reason. Do you know how many reports these systems are flooded with and the amount that never escalate to actionable needing intervention?
A lot. It is a lot.
They later paid 127 million dollars to a group of survivors who had filed a lawsuit against them.
As they should, they did fail to do anything.
On the day of the shooting the Broward County Sheriff’s office failed to respond properly and a school resource officer who was armed hid while Cruz killed 17 people.
Yep, they failed utterly too. Maybe since the Feds and State/Local can’t be trusted to ensure reasonable safety we should think about doing it ourselves?
Just a thought.
In October 2021 Cruz pleaded guilty but then had to go on trial for the “penalty” determination, which would be execution or life without parole.
Yes, this is how the justice system works. Sentencing hearings.
Believe it or not but this trial is scheduled to take four months and is overseen by a Judge who has been called “incompetent”
So has every one of the presidents in my lifetime by their detractors, that means literally nothing. It’s like saying someone called him a big doodoo head. Besides, this is sentencing. He is guilty. He plead guilty. It is just the sentence now, since death penalties require appeals and so forth.
As of now, it has been four years and three months since this tragedy and still not over.
You mean the sentencing? No, that isn’t. Welcome, again, to the justice system. What is your point here? Did you want him summarily executed upon conviction?
On another subject I am asking the same question as I believe is being asked by President Biden’s staff members and that is “ How do we get Joe Biden to keep his mouth shut at times when he is unscripted and without his teleprompter?”
Retire him like someone his age normally is.
On three occasions in the last eight months Biden has been asked publicly about our position on defending Taiwan in the event of an invasion by China.
What? Why are we on Taiwan now? What is this oh Veteran expert? I thought my publication was flying by the seat of our pants but this is a trip.
I believe that they keep asking since they cannot believe his reply, which in each case has been that we have a commitment to defend Taiwan militarily, which is not true.
Is it? Is it also strategically the right move with our additional concerns beyond the Taiwanese people, the Japanese and Australians who we do absolutely have obligations to defend.
Here we have the President of the United States speaking in public to the whole world and making a statement on a critical matter that is completely incorrect.
Like his repeated comments on firearms?
In each case his staff members have had to correct him by pointing out that we do not have a commitment that he says we have.
But don’t correct the obvious errors on firearms.
In an interview with George Stepanopoulos, Biden said that our commitment to defend Taiwan is the same as that which we have with NATO, which is completely false.
Again, why did we pivot to Taiwan from assault weapons?
That gets me to thinking about the next hairbrained idea of our President and that is his approval of a “Disinformation Governance Board” which would be part of the Department of Homeland Security and reminds many logical thinking people of the George Orwell classic “1984.”
So assault weapon bad. Biden bad too. Neat.
So we have 17 Intelligence Agencies and a National Security Agency and now we need another similar Agency which would be headed by a woman who Politico said “had a record” which was completely unbalanced politically.
I mean, yes. But we said that about Chipman accurately too and I’d have a hunch you’d like him. Assault weapon bad!
And by the way — one last comment on Taiwan which is that no prior President has stated that we have a commitment to do what Biden says we have and they have completely avoided even suggesting what he says loud and clear but false.
Maybe he needs his private disinformation department.
Maybe you do too, bud.
Wow that was… certainly words.
I read that and reacted as I read and… just… wow…
So yeah, don’t just trust a ‘Veteran’ as that isn’t all that high a bar to clear, has a wide variety of jobs within its title coverage, has a wide variety of experience, expertise, and education levels within those jobs, and any number of other factors that render a given opinion as just that.
An opinion. One that shouldn’t be given any weight of experience or expertise. One that should be cataloged as a mildly interesting if unweighted datapoint that this gentleman doesn’t like ‘assault weapons’ for farcical reasons, doesn’t like Biden because Biden is old and sounds dumb, doesn’t see strategic value in defending Taiwan against China should it become a concern, and thinks that sentencing in the justice system is slow and doesn’t like a judge overseeing one case on it.
In other news water remains wet and composed of hydrogen, oxygen, and rando particulate bits suspended in it.
Every Day Carry Isn’t
The term “Everyday Carry” gets bandied about quite a bit in the corners of the internet where self-defense is discussed.
The phrase implies items that one would carry with them every single day.
Well here’s the challenge: I’m not doing the exact same thing or going to the exact same places every single day. Therefore, since mission drives the gear train (to steal a phrase from the late Pat Rogers), what I’m doing and where I’m going might influence my choice of defensive tools.
This is my EDC.
More accurately, these are the elements from which I select my EDC on a given day.
– Boresight Glock 19 Gen 5 w/ Swampfox Liberty & an Overwatch PolyDAT in a PHLster Enigma w/ a Dark Star Gear Orion
– Ruger LCR 22 w/ Eagle Secret Service grips in either the Enigma w/ DSG Apollo or a Mika pocket holster
– KelTec P32 w/ a Pachmyer grip sleeve in a Mika pocket holster
The selection is dictated by a combination of risk profile and and the level of discretion required.
The G19 is obviously the most optimal setup, but the hardest to truly conceal, especially in lighter weight or more tailored clothing. The P32 is my “I’m virtually guaranteed not to need a gun” gun. The LCR is the one that ends up in the rotation most often these days. It’s a good balance of performance and discretion for my needs most of the time. The pocket is slightly more accessible, the deep carry Enigma is lightly more undetectable.
KNIVES:
– Joe Watson CT-P
– Gen 1 Shivworks Clinch Pick “China Pick”
– Shivworks Push Dagger
– Special Circumstances Maleficus G10
– Zulu Bravo Dart G10 (not pictured)
I generally don’t carry a knife. If I AM it’s typically because I’m going someplace where I either can’t or really shouldn’t be carrying a gun, but still want to have a lethal force option available. I’ve been exposed to enough of the Shivworks/IA Combatives curriculum that I know how ugly and complicated it can get.
MEDICAL:
– 3rd Gen SOF-T Wide
– Celox Combat Gauze
– Wilderness Tactical #8 pouch
(Not Pictured)
– Mini H&H Compression Bandage
– FrogPro Ankle IFAK
The medical is pretty self-explanatory. I personally feel like TQs are a little over-emphasized in the private sector for the wrong reasons. I suspect their prominence in LE/MIL is because the presence of body armor reduced the number of penetrating injuries to the torso, so you see a much higher concentration of limb trauma. Not to say that TQs are bad to have, but I think the justification for them is drawing from a skewed data set.
LIGHT:
– Cloud Defensive MCH High Output
– Surefire Stiletto Pro
I’ll carry a light if I’m out in the afternoon or evening. It’s not an essential for me (outside of hurricane season) since I mainly exist in the cities & suburbs, and there’s virtually no instance where total darkness is a reality.
INTERMEDIATE FORCE:
– POM Industries OC
– Boston Leather M1dg3t (trying to avoid getting zukked)
– Shivworks Top Popper
POM is the 100% essential for me. It’s the thing I’ll literally never leave the house without (short of getting on an airplane). This and good verbal agility/social skills are doing to address 90+% of the social friction I’m going to encounter.
Saps are legal in Texas, and have the benefit of being the only tool I’m aware of that can modulate between deadly and less lethal force depending on how they’re applied. Impact weapons also have the added benefit of being the easiest to improvise effectively. Having some purpose build force options that don’t overtly look like defensive tools are also hugely beneficial.
SUPPORT GEAR:
– K’roo Indian River Jack (or other small knife for admin tasks)
– My Bad 20 & Fk Off Fiver
– Wallet
– Car key w/ Trunk Monkey Designs key fob
– Sunglasses (usually Persol 714s)
– Watch (Always analog. Usually mechanical)
The small pocket knives were called “pocket jewelry” in one of Tamara Keel’s recent articles, and she’s absolutely right. I like gear that’s aesthetically pleasing as well as functional if at all possible. All the other support gear is pretty much just to make life easier.
What Would a Modern Light Rifle Look Like? – A Thought Experiment
To dig into this subject, we have to dig into the definition of a light rifle. Admittedly it’s not as cut and dry as an assault rifle, or submachine gun, or semi-auto carbine. The only real popular light rifle is the M1 Carbine. The M1 Carbine completely exemplifies what a light rifle should be.
Light being in the name tells you it should be small, light, and handy. It should be a semi-automatic platform that’s magazine fed. The round it fires would be between a pistol and intermediate cartridge round. It will have a longer range than a handgun but a much shorter range than a rifle.
The light rifle concept died as the assault rifle became a thing. The military didn’t need an M1 Carbine in the face of the M16. To be fair, we don’t need a light rifle in the face of our massive amount of 5.56 AR-15s. However, I do think a modern variant would offer advantages to your average civilian user and thinks it’s also a fun thought experiment.
The Modern Light Rifle
First, we should ditch the 16-inch barrel. In fact, let’s just get rid of the entire NFA and call it a day…. If only. A light rifle should be an SBR or even a braced pistol if you don’t want to go the tax stamp route. The overall length should be something in the realm of 30 to 32 inches or so. It’s best for it to be a very short platform for close-quarter use.
The gun should also be easy to accessorize with a modern AR-15 handguard. This type of platform could benefit from some form of magnified optic, and a 2X or 3X prism or a red dot paired with a magnifier would be perfect. The new Vortex 3X micro prism, in particular, would be a great option to keep things lightweight. Additionally, for defensive use, you should be able to add a light to the platform.
What caliber should it chamber? That’s the real question. Something that sits between a pistol and intermediate rifle round. The current crop of ammo out there doesn’t provide a ton of options. The two that stick out most are the 5.7x28mm and 4.6x30mm. These are traditionally PDW calibers, but since PDWs are select fire, they can be light rifle calibers.
Another attractive option would be the 7.5 BRNO or the .22 TCM, but neither of those currently comes in a semi-auto rifle format that I know of. What we see with these calibers is a rifle-like bullet design and a flat shooting nature out to 150 yards or so.
Since the PDW calibers are more common, I would say they would need a projectile redesign. These were initially made for armor penetration. If we can ditch that and design a projectile that yaws inside the body, we’d have something quite capable.
Purpose and Role
The light rifle has a number of benefits over a traditional 5.56 carbine or even short-barreled rifle. The most significant being a much lighter recoil and a much less muzzle rise, especially in super short platforms. A 5.56 AR with an 8-inch barrel isn’t pleasant, but a 5.7 or 4.6 from an 8-inch barrel is quite nice and very soft shooting.
You can squeeze off half a dozen rounds super fast, and the gun barely rises. This kind of control can be ultra-valuable for close-range home defense purposes. Tag that in with the fact most of these platforms weigh less than six pounds, and you get a weapon that is easy to use with one hand if necessary. I don’t mean just handle but maintain and fire with one hand.
Outside of home defense, the light rifle could be a handy little gun for a number of purposes. You could tag predators with it easily and head shotting a coyote isn’t out of the realm of possibility. The extra range these rounds offer can be taken advantage of for a number of purposes.
Modern Light Rifle Platforms
Three platforms stick out to me that would make great modern light rifles. First is the Diamondback DBx57. This 3-pound gun uses the 5.7x38mm round and is ultra-thin, light, and smooth. It’s a fun shooter and very capable.
The second is either the Banshee in 5.7 or the FourSix from CMMG. I’m partial to the FourSix and its mini direct impingement design, but radial delayed blowback is also nice. Both of these guns fit the role just right and are plenty capable. If you want your own you could make one with a lower, a CMMG barrel and bolt, and a 80% lower jig.
Finally, the classic PS90 is a great option. The P90 was a PDW design, and the PS90 is a rifle variant with a 16-inch barrel. Even with the longer barrel, it’s still super short and handy. Plus, as an SBR, it’s the smallest of these platforms.
Just a Thought Experiment
I’m not saying you should rush out and trade in your carbines for these boutique guns. In fact, with the cost of their ammo, that’s a really silly proposition. I do think they offer some advantages versus the carbine but admittedly aren’t as versatile ballistically as a 5.56. I would love to see more development in this niche, but it’s just that, niche. I’ll stick to loving my FourSix, though, and hoping to see more ammo and gun developments in these calibers.
The Z40: A Colt and CZ Partnership
CZ of all companies bought Colt. That’s big news and likely to be a welcome change. CZ is a modern company with modern ideas, and Colt is stuck in 1980. Hopefully, that breathes some new life into the classic American company. This isn’t the first time CZ and COlt have had dealings, and if this was a comedic revenge film, I could see why CZ would eventually buy Colt. CZ and Colt came together in the mid-1990s to produce a pistol known as the Colt Z40.
The Forgotten Colt Z40
In the mid to late 1990s, Colt bungled two modern handgun designs. The Colt Double Eagle was a failure of an attempt to produce a DA/SA 1911. Colt purchased a design from Reed Knight and Eugene Stoner, named it the Colt 2000, and then ruined a good design. Colt was in dire financial straits, which is a pattern Colt has repeated for centuries now.
They wanted to bring a new pistol to market but didn’t have the money to develop it. Colt ended up looking at a little company called CZ. CZ in the mid-1990s wasn’t the CZ of today. They had a reputation for producing good firearms but weren’t known and weren’t household names like Colt.
Colt wanted a new handgun and felt that CZ could build one. They would import it, and CZ would design and build it. Colt had only a few requirements. First, make it a 40 S&W. Second, make it look externally like a 1911, and third, make it double-action only.
CZ said okay and went to work.
Inside the Colt Z40
CZ turned out the Z40, which is an interesting amalgamation of features. In was the 90s, so 40 S&W was the hot round. 45 ACP was going out the door, the 10mm was apparently too hot, and 9mm was still seen as lacking, and I’m using this term ironically, ‘stopping power.’
This was a full-sized duty pistol with a 4.37-inch barrel that weighed 31.9 ounces. It’s 80% 1911 and 20% CZ 75. The overall length was 8.07 inches, and the width was 1.40 inches. The slide was steel, and the frame was aluminum alloy. Voltech Anderle designed the shape of the gun, and interior mechanism work was done by Radek Hauerland.
Capacity topped out at ten rounds because the AWB was in full effect, although 12 round magazines existed down.
The frame most certainly looks like a 1911. It has that government look all over it. The slide came from a CZ 75-type pistol, and the combination makes an interesting-looking pistol. There is no safety, and the DAO action was the relied upon safety mechanism.
Reportedly the pistol was fairly nice. The DAO trigger was about 13 pounds or so, but people were likely a little more used to that due to the time period. The ergonomics of the 1911 frame combined with the CZ operating system meant the ergonomics and reliability both scored high.
So why did Colt only ever import 100 of them?
Colt Ruined It
Smart gun technology is the answer. Colt, and well, most of the big firms were experimenting with smart guns and mixing electronics into guns. COlt modified a number of their revolvers and Z40 pistols into ‘smart’ guns, and the gun-buying public hated the idea. We still do now, and for good reason.
Everyone then began associating the Colt Z40 with smart guns, and they languished. Colt walked away from the deal with CZ, and CZ was likely not very stoked. This is where their revenge story starts, and it ends with them buying Colt. Admittedly I made that up, but I’d like to think one Czech executive fist pumped when it happened.
Later on, CZ would make the gun as the CZ 40B, but it was DA/SA, with a safety or decocker depending on what you wanted. I should also mention the DWX.
CZ also purchased Dan Wesson, and Dan Wesson produces the DWX, which is another CZ/1911 hybrid. This gun features a CZ 75 frame with a 1911 slide, so it’s a bit of a reverse of the Z40. It’s neat how things come, go, and come around again.
Now that Colt is owned by CZ maybe we’ll see the Z40 make a retro run. Probably not, but maybe a 9mm version? Odder things have happened.
The Best Magnified Optics
I wrote a piece awhile back covering some of my favorite RDS optics, and the reasons why I use them in various roles. I like trying everyone’s way to build the mouse trap to see if someone has unlocked a feature that really is worth adding.
In red dots, that’s rare, building a red dot is formulaic at this point.
But in magnified optics, considering the two focal planes, multitude of lenses, and variety of reticles you can combine to make them, the formula is far from set.
With that in mind, we will look at a few and where they go in the optical hierarchy. I’m going to cover a range of price options, capabilities, and where I believe fit most comfortably in finding a rifle to partner with.
If I don’t mention an optic you happen to like from a quality name, Kahles for example (I haven’t shot with them, ever), I won’t comment beyond that I know certain people like the sights and they’re people whose opinion I would trust in this space.
1. The Vortex Razor HD Gen III 1-10x
We’ll start with the optic I believe sets the current standard for what an LPVO can do, the Razor III 1-10x.
Vortex, seeing their competition filling the 1-8x field with strong offerings, leaped that whole space entirely and set about making a 1-10x that would be able to drop into the place of their Razor II-E 1-6x and provide a dramatically improved feature set. When I say drop in place I do mean literally, the intention was to be able to pick an identical optic mount in 34mm, instead of 30mm, and put the Razor III where the Razor II was.
The length of the optic didn’t change. The weight of the optic didn’t change. The eye relief changed by a small margin. The optic housing layout changed by a small margin with the control surfaces moving forward along the main tube. The maximum field of view remained the same (listed as improving by .8′) while the minimum at maximum magnification is only 9′ smaller for the 4x extra magnification power.
In practical terms, Vortex succeeded. Placing the Razor III with its ocular lens where the Razor II’s was prior would likely place it appropriately. The mount may end up one or two slots off, with another one to adjust for the difference in eye relief. The scope will occupy the same real estate as its predecessor, unlikely to disrupt any other ancillary gear you have placed on the rifle. Lights, sling mounts, lasers, etc. are probably just fine where they were.
Vortex saved some sharp end folk and their armorers a lot of headache with this.
With this swap (or purchase) the user gains,
- Four Extra Magnification
- The rifle optic now sees as far as an early GWOT sniper scope or standard binoculars
- Front Focal Plane Translucent Reticle
- Reticle is now always scaled to the target image
- Reticle has several additional measurable data points for ranging and a BDC relevant for 5.56 NATO, 7.62 NATO, and likely 6.5 and 6.8 rounds
- Reticle center is translucent and allows a target image to be seen through it, improving sight picture
- Daylight/RDS Bright Illumination
- The translucent reticle illuminates brightly, something other FFP LPVOs have not been able to achieve
- The brightness matches excellent SFP offerings, like their own Razor II-E, and allows the Razor III to offer that full functionality
- MRAD or MOA Options
- In addition to the drop in place functionality for their own Razor II’s, the Vortex design team considered it as an upgrade for several legacy systems
- The MOA variant can be used as a simple upgrade for systems previously running an ACOG TA31, TA11, or Elcan SpecterDR 1-4x or 1.5-6x
- The MRAD variant can be used as a simple upgrade for more precision systems running Leupold Mk4 2.5-8x MR/T or 3.5-10x LR/T optics
The major limitation on the Razor III remains its price tag, Amazon has both variants at $2499. But for that price you get the LPVO with the greatest magnification range and one of the best reticle systems, with the best FFP illumination system, available on the market. It is the LPVO standard setting for the commercial market that successfully spans both the FFP and SFP roles. This optical flexibility allows the rifle and its user to be more flexible in their roles as well.
The Razor III is my current standard for what a ‘perfect’ general purpose rifle optic should offer.
2. The Sig Sauer Tango6T S-VPS 1-6x (also the Razor HD Gen II-E mentioned above)
When I stated above that there is no formula set for LPVOs, due to the available variations, that isn’t quite the case. Just as a myriad of red dot designs are basically Aimpoint T1/T2 clones, the formula for a stable LPVO goes thus: 1-6x, 30mm tube, 24mm objective lens, SFP, daylight bright illumination via fiber optic w/ wire reticle, simple usable reticle at 6x.
This is the Squad-Variable Power Scope, chosen by SOCOM to join the Razor II’s (with a nearly identical build), and I favor it more than the DVO or SDM optics that also made the military cut. Those Front Focal Plane optics have their place and roles but are more specialized in their spots atop general issue M4A1’s and M110A1’s respectively.
The S-VPS offers the user the following,
- Formulaic Effective Range Magnification
- The S-VPS offers the preferred 1-2x magnification for every 100 yards of effective range that most rifles have in any major caliber
- Even for short barreled rifles or low velocity systems like .300BLK or 7.62×39 this will be highly usable effect
- SFP Clarity and Illumination
- Due to the fewer lenses required to make a Second Focal Plane Optic the sight picture is brighter and clearer in general
- The wire reticle, as opposed to etch glass, is able to be constructed very robustly
- Using fiber optic cable and an LED the center aiming point of the wire reticle can be illuminated far brighter and with more energy efficiency that front focal illumination off of an etched glass reticle
- The BDC, while tuned to a specific round at 6x, is not the primary feature of the optic and doesn’t take up an unreasonable amount of internal space in the sight picture
- A Red Dot +
- The S-VPS can be treated like a red dot + variable magnifier in most senses of use focusing its effectiveness on precision within the flatter trajectory of the bullet flight
- The M855A1 BDC reticle in the S-VPS, like the earlier JM-1, is accurate to trajectory at 6x magnification for longer shots out of the M4A1 or other 14.5″ barreled 5.56 NATO rifles and will give useable holds for most calibers in most popular barrel lengths
- The clarity and simplicity of the system showcase that the LPVO can be run in close as well as at distance
The S-VPS showcases one of the finest examples of a simple well executed LPVO that retains the majority of the advantages present in a red dot. The price for one, or a similar Razor II-E, are in a far more agreeable $1100 to $1400 range.
That makes putting one on onto a rifle a great deal more manageable and giving you a great deal more spend efficiency. The excellent precision and ranging capabilities of FFP offerings are omitted, but in their place is a robust simplicity supporting the shots you will take far more often.
3. Primary Arms Compact PLx
The review on this 1-8x is recent enough that I will simply link it here.
To summarize however, the PLXc exhibits some of the best qualities available in a modern LPVO optic with excellent glass, field of view, and reticle design. This while both smaller in size and lighter in weight than most competing offerings. These specifications are wrapped into an otherwise very standard 30mm main housing and 24mm objective lens, keeping mount compatibility very high.
To summarize,
- 1-8x Front Focal Plane
- The magnification range allows it to cover the effective ranges of all intermediate and battle rifle calibers
- FFP keeps target ranging information and BDC consistent
- Detailed etched glass reticle system
- ACSS Reticle System
- The ACSS Developed by Primary Arms incorporates a center Chevron with a Horseshoe surrounding, this combination allows the user to bracket and shoot at a target quickly through the full magnification range and with or without the contrasting illumination on under most circumstances
- The Chevron gives a true fine aiming point, something a dot can struggle to and a crosshair can sometimes occlude
- 3 Reticle offerings with a generalized BDC in Yards, Meters, or a Mil-Grid reticle for precision work
- Size and Weight in Common Profile
- At 16.95oz. and 9.28in. long it is about 8% shorter and 21% lighter than the Razor II or III, with its magnification range in the middle
- Lighter weight, especially while retaining or enhancing what previous optics have offered, make the Compact PLx formidable
- 30mm optic body and 24mm objective lens make the optic compatible with most two ring one piece mounts and accessories
About the only thing I caution on, as I noted in the review, is the limit to the Compact PLx’s illumination. If you require a red dot bright center reticle look at the previous two or the following suggestion. They sell for $1499 at present.
4. Dot + Magnifier
If you believed this was going to be all LPVO’s, not so fast.
The RDS remains one of the best solutions for any firearm, including a carbine, to put a durable and reliable optic on top. Red dots are often paired with magnified optics as a backup, an offset/second zero, or a system to be utilized with passive aiming and night vision devices.
But what to do if you need magnification and it is your primary optic?
Easy, add a magnifier.
While the magnifier solution does not offer all the added flexibility of the LPVO, and it honestly was one I didn’t like very much until I shot with it enough, I favored the ACOG, it does offer a significant portion of those advantages.
A flip-to-side (or up, or down, or wherever out of the way) magnifier turns your 1x reflexive system into a 1x/3x, or 5x or 6x if you get the newer magnifiers from EOTech or Aimpoint, giving on demand magnification. My personal preference for these remains the 3x options. That 1x also keeps the forgiving eye positioning of the red dot, something the LPVOs and prisms do not.
Sticking with a red dot suggests that you are prioritizing speed. The red dot is still the fastest option for an aligned sight picture. LPVOs and anything with a restricted eyebox, including these magnifiers, will remain have presentation speed and position limits.
The FTS+QD magnifier option remains a strong one for sighting a carbine.
- Simple
- The Red Dot is simple, reliable, and proven optical system, that simplicity is carried into the magnifier too
- No complicated scaled reticles or focal planes to worry about (these are effectively front focal plane), simply choose whether you want a 1x or a greater than 1x target image
- Certain reticles will offer basic holds if desired
- Robust
- The simplicity in the construction of both the dot and the magnifier allow them to be made very durably
- If one or the other component breaks it is simpler to replace or repair, the likelier component to fail is the magnifier and if it does it can be removed without taking the rifle out of action at all
- On Demand
- The Flip-to-Side and Quick Detach features that are included with the magnifier, I would avoid magnifiers without these features, make using or not using, removing, and adding the magnifier onto the rifle all very simple
- This simplicity allows the user flexibility on their rifle
- You may use the magnifier all the time at the range but remove it at home for the home defense gun
- You may be shooting using NODs and the magnifier is interfering, even flipped, so just QD it and stow it
- Cost
- The cost of a premium tier red dot and magnifier combination only touches the middle tier of the quality LPVOs
- The two parts be acquired separately to space out costs
- More budget friendly and reasonably durable options exist much cheaper in the dot + magnifier options than in LPVOs
The Dot +Magnifier remains a flexible option with many advantages for most rifles and rifle users, the only limitations are the rudimentary on magnification range and reticle design. Cost for the highest end combinations top out at around $1500.
5. Steiner P4Xi
The Steiner’s spec list is not cutting edge anymore. In actuality, it is pretty much what S&B offered Delta when they made the short dot back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. It’s two decades old.
But the great thing about that feature set is it’s really good for nearly any carbine. A red dot feature inside a 1-4x scope with a simple BDC. Most of what the SVP-S and Razor II-E offer, but a little smaller, a little lighter weight, and significantly lighter on the wallet for excellent glass.
The P4Xi is an ideal entry optic if you’re entering the LPVO market for the first time. Top quality construction and feature set under $900. You can put it into a mount and onto a rifle for right about $1000, making it line up nicely in the rule of 1:1 spending on the less expensive duty quality rifles when paring them with optics.
If I needed to put together a rifle package on-the-cheap, with as much flexibility as as I can offer the user, the P4Xi would be the optic. Even if a user ends up wanting more magnification, reticle type, focal plane, etc. in the future, the P4Xi will undoubtedly cover down on most of the end user’s immediate requirements.
- Simple
- SFP
- 30mm main tube
- Bright Illumination
- Simple BDC
- Cost
- Under four figure buy-in to an excellent quality LPVO
- Less expensive options tend to further compromise on glass quality, internals quality, and aspects that can negatively influence durability
Honorable Mentions
The ACOG
The GWOT OG of nigh-indestructible scopes, the ACOG remains a popular and affordable (compared to many LPVOs) way to get an absurdly resistant and capable optic with some magnification behind it.
The Gen2 options, like the TA44 and TA50, are as small as red dots and offer the non-battery illumination, solid reticle, magnification, and construction.
While I’ll say LPVOs offer a far more flexible sight, it is difficult to outmatch the ACOG for simple and durable.
The EOTech VUDU
Now the VUDU is a line, and I was underwhelmed by the 1-6x offering. It felt like more of a working and commercially available proof of concept than a serious optic.
The FFP optic with the classic reticle layout (circle and “dot” center) was cool to do, but the uncapped and unlocked turrets beside the limited illumination hampered it keeping up with other 1-6’s
The 1-8x offering fixed many of these concerns. They capped the turrets, went SFP, and produced a strong contender for the SFP optic space. The only reason it didn’t make it into a ranked slot is the illumination control. The three button system they use is functional, but not as quick or as intuitive as the locking illumination design on the S-VPS.
Their new 1-10x looks very promising as well, I have not shot with it yet but I liked the production model features, especially the capped windage turret and locking elevation decisions, for something that can easily support the DMR/Urban Precision role also. The reticle offerings reflect this.
The magnified optic field is substantive and deepening with quality options coming out from manufacturers rapidly. These are just good starting points on the search.
A Visit To Big Tex Ordnance’s Headquarters
Big Tex Ordnance has Ike! He’s a good man and thorough. I like Ike. Everybody likes Ike. And you’ll like Ike too. Visit Big Tex Ordnance [today].
[Editor’s Note: I too like Ike. Chris is alright. Chris actually reads these. Hi, Chris!]
And so I did. Recently, I drove over to Conroe, Texas where Big Tex Ordnance has their new flagship retail store and indoor range facility. Big Tex Ordnance is perhaps best known as an online-focused firearms industry retailer that deals in a wide variety of high-end firearms, gear and accessories.
Their signature move is to include pocket sized US Constitutions and themed stickers with each order they mail out. Moreover, if BTO isn’t actually the fastest outfit when it comes to shipping out customer purchases, it is most certainly in the running for the top contender. And while Ike wouldn’t directly admit this to me, he’s probably a stakeholder in the Topo Chico mineral water operation based in northern Mexico across the border from Texas. In short, BTO is a small outfit ran by a handful of very hardworking guys and gals. It was their level of customer service that got them a strong online following and loyal customer base, but they also stock the sort of stuff that a connoisseur might appreciate.
Who is Ike? Ike is the entrepreneur who started his own business, and at a relatively young age. The first steps of his BTO journey began circa 2014 after selling off his old Ford F-150 pickup truck to buy some equipment to Cerakote guns on the side. After making some money from this initial entrepreneurial endeavor, he eventually sold his Cerakoting gear and used those proceeds to buy a small amount of retail merchandise, which he began selling online.
He ran his first retail operation out of the back of a shed and eventually, that shed turned into a tiny warehouse. From that warehouse, Ike and his team recently expanded into their first brick and mortar shop that also happens to have a full size indoor gun range. Ike and his brother had been frequenting this particular indoor range for years and when the old owner was ready to retire, he offered BTO the chance to buy the business and take over.
[Editor’s Note: I still think they missed a golden opportunity to name the range Big Tex Indoors and keep Big Tex Outdoors as the general business name.]
That’s exactly what BTO did; they had their grand opening a little more than a year ago. BTO’s new headquarters has a classroom area, two twenty yard indoor pistol range partitions, and an additional 100 yard indoor rifle range, in addition to its general retail area and gun-rental counter.
Inside the shooting areas, the counters opposite from shooting stalls have thoughtfully tethered magazine loading gadgets that anyone is welcome to use while they are there shooting. I mention this because this is the first time I have ever seen an indoor range do this. Equally thoughtful is the fact that customers can find lead removing soap to rinse their hands when they are finished shooting in the restrooms.
Ike told me that with this latest and most drastic expansion yet, one of BTO’s goals was to turn their new headquarters into a regional training destination. BTO has been making efforts to host classes with nationally recognizable trainers and firearms instructors at this new facility. Becoming a training destination in Conroe is yet another way that BTO is trying to bring more value to the firearms community. After all, firearms are serious implements that can have lasting if not deadly consequences and everyone wins when training opportunities are easier to come by—especially in underserved geographical areas.
The first time I walked into Big Tex Ordnance’s brick and mortar store, I could not help but to notice how well stocked the entire shop is. Counters, walls, and display cases bristle with firearms like fruit trees in an orchard right before the harvest.
Besides the sheer amount of inventory, BTO also covers their bases quite well across firearms categories: by brand, category, price or style. To say that they had something for everyone at the shop is an understatement, especially for the size of their shop. I wouldn’t hesitate to say that their “menu” is better curated than that of a typical big box store that does put some emphasis on its gun counter.
Considering we’re on this side of the 2020 Covid pandemic, where we saw supply chain interruptions on practically everything, it is worth mentioning that some gun shops still have empty spaces on their walls or display counters. While I am aware that the ammo supply is starting to recover from these events and supply can be seen on most store shelves again nearly to pre-pandemic levels, BTO is ahead of the curve as the storefront sits chock full with all types of ammunition. They even have cases of overflow ammunition stacked like bricks along side part of the store by the range area. Some could say that these extra cases make the shop look cluttered, but after going through this most recent shortage, extra inventory is a welcome sight to me.
I ordered a Surefire X-300-U B thousand lumen weapon mounted light from Big Tex Ordnance some time back in late 2020 after I bought my Beretta 92X Performance. I had never met Ike, nor had I ever been to Conroe, and at the time I was living in the American West, so the fact that my light arrived from the eastern portion of Texas to the mountains as quickly as it did frankly surprised me. (Especially because this happened at the same time most everyone else was experiencing major shipping delays during the pandemic). Expecting to hear about some sophisticated algorithm or other serious technological tool, I asked Ike what the secret to their scary quick shipping is. He just told me as a matter of fact that shipping was just something his team highly prioritized as they are always striving to do better. If you happen to be visiting the southeastern part of Texas near Houston, be sure to drop by and say hello to the friendly folks at BTO, you’ll be glad you did.
