Facebook Instagram Twitter Youtube
Advertisement

Is Slow Smooth and is Smooth Fast?

By
Travis Pike
-

Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. That little motto, phrase, or whatever has been kicking around for decades. I first heard it when it came to room clearing, but that never made sense to me because we were pressed to move fast and keep the momentum. I had not thought about it for a long time until I joined some firearms groups on Facebook. It seemingly pops up everywhere in these low-information groups, and this got me thinking, is slow smooth, and is smooth fast? 

The idea behind the phrase is that doing something well is faster and more effective than using speed for speed’s sake. A slightly slower draw is better than fumbling a fast draw. That’s the idea, and it seems sound. However, I’ve been thinking about all the times I’ve made gains in my firearm’s proficiency, and I don’t think I was ever going slow, but to be fair, I wasn’t always smooth either. 

I certainly used to believe in that old motto, then I purchased a shot timer. I learned that what feels fast and what is fast are two different things. 

Is Smooth Fast? Is Slow Smooth? 

The saying, slow is smooth, and smooth is fast, is just one take on a number of ways to say the same thing. Doc Holiday once said, “Take your time in a hurry” when asked how to win a fight.

Caesar used to say, “Hasten slowly,” These are both similar sayings, but are they accurate in the world of defensive or competitive gun usage? To a degree, I think they are, but I also think the saying has been watered down and used incorrectly to justify going slow. 

Saying slow is smooth and smooth is fast because you suck at drawing your handgun is an easy excuse. Just because you start slow doesn’t mean you should remain slow. Believe it or not, when you start applying a time standard and trying to work against that standard, you likely won’t be quick. 

That’s okay. If you are always smooth, you aren’t learning anything. Smoothness comes with repetition. You start by going fast and sloppy, and eventually, in training, you’ll get better. You’ll figure out your grip, you’ll get faster at finding your sights, and getting the cover garment high and out of the way. 

Standards 

Is smooth, fast? No, smooth isn’t fast, but fast done correctly becomes smooth. One of the big reasons a timer is so valuable for training is that you are constantly judged. When fast and sloppy eventually becomes fast and smooth, you can move to adjusting the time limit. Now you have to go faster, and going faster means you’ll be a little sloppy again. 

Train to a standard, then tighten that standard

Yet again, fast and sloppy will become fast and smooth when done otherwise correctly. The term progressive overload is one familiar to anyone who lifts weights. You’ll get stronger by lifting more weight. It will be harder, but eventually, it won’t be. The same goes for being fast. No weightlifter has ever said lightweight is heavyweight. That doesn’t mean slow is smooth and smooth is fast should be completely done away with. It should just be examined in the proper context. 

Smooth Is Fast…In Context 

When is it fast? When it comes to the time you spend training then, smooth is slow, and smooth is fast. If you do 100 dry fire strokes a day, you can either speed through them in five minutes, not paying attention to form, trigger press, or stance. Or you can take 15 minutes and ensure every trigger pull is perfect. 

If you purchased an hour of range time and shoot all your ammo up in 20 minutes and achieved nothing, then maybe slowing down and following a training plan would make more sense. It’s not about slowing down your individual actions necessarily, but slowing down and ensuring you’re achieving something with your training. 

I hate absolutes, and there can certainly be a time when slow individual actions apply. If you are a new shooter going slow is smart from a safety perspective. Having a mental checklist of how to properly clear a gun and walking through it isn’t a bad idea. Neither is a mental checklist of how to grip your gun or load it. 

While it’s ‘slow’ against a timer, it’s likely fast for you as a new shooter. If you come to the table with zero experience, then slow and fast are relative. 

Recently I tooled around with an ankle holster. I’ve never seriously used one, so I watched videos, read articles, and drawing and firing for me was quite slow. Although I didn’t try and stay slow and I began moving faster and admittedly got sloppier. 

Starting fast and becoming smooth by moving correctly is much more efficient than going slow, and staying slow because it has more pleasant results or more accurate ones. Sure, you might suck at going fast at first, but if you keep practicing and training, your fast will become smooth. 

Halo Point, Microsoft, and Bad Branding

By
Travis Pike
-

Today we are diving into the depths of my ammo collection. Among several weird rounds, like a 9mm SMAW spotting rifle round and some Bolo shotgun shells, sits a box of Liberty Halo Point ammunition. I’ve never used Liberty Ammunition, and while I think the rounds are neat, I’ve seen their performance in ballistic gel and have remained unimpressed. 

Why do I own a box of Liberty Ammo, then? Well, because the name and box art captured me, but not in the traditional way. I used to rent bad horror and sci-fi movies based on their awesome box art, but the Halo Point rounds were different. By now, you’ve seen the photo of the Halo Point ammo yourself. 

I was drawn to it because I instantly knew it wouldn’t be around for long. Microsoft was not going to stand for this for long, and I grabbed a box from my FFL and tucked it away, nearly forgetting about it. I recently saw a post discussing Liberty Ammunition in general, and it reminded me of the Halo Point ammo I purchased in 2013. 

Halo Point – What Were They Thinking? 

Liberty Ammunition produces some crazy rounds specifically for the United States military. Supposedly these crazy armor-piercing loads are effective at that task. Eventually, they branched out into the civilian self-defense market with their ultra-lightweight, lead-free hollow points. Or, as they called it, Halo Points. The 9mm projectiles weigh a mere 50 grains. 

Calling it a Halo Point isn’t that big of a deal, necessarily. It’s a play on words, and Halo is traditionally associated with something circular, and the hollow point portion looks different than most. It makes sense for branding reasons to differentiate your already very different round. 

Where it goes off the rails is with the imagery and the text. It’s clearly referencing the video game Halo and the Microsoft series that defined the Xbox series of game consoles. Just look at the font, focus on the O. It’s not inspired, and it’s not a coincidence. Liberty Ammunition is clearly referencing or using the video game Halo. 

So What Happened? 

Halo Point and Microsoft seemed to cross paths when an episode of Discovery Channel’s Dual Survival showed a box of Halo Point ammo. That brought attention to the ammunition and branding. Microsoft certainly didn’t partner with Liberty Ammunition to produce the rounds. 

Liberty Ammunition remained tight-lipped at the time, but Microsoft responded to the small controversy. Microsoft responded in a Kotaku article with the following: 

“Microsoft does not have a licensing agreement with Liberty Ammunition, or any gun or weapons manufacturer, and the company does not have permission to use “Halo” branding on any of its products,” the Microsoft representative told me. “When we discovered the unauthorized use last fall, Microsoft contacted Liberty Ammunition to demand removal of all “Halo” branding from its products and advertising, to which Liberty Ammunition agreed.” 

A cease and desist seemed to end the production of Halo Point ammo and branding.

Halo Point Today 

Halo Point branding is gone, but Liberty Ammunition still produces the exact same load as their Civil Defense branding. I can’t understand what they were trying to do or what they thought would happen. It’s still a bit of interesting history and certainly a head-scratcher as far as I’m concerned. My ammo box will likely never be worth much more than the ammo’s price, but it’s a solid conversation starter. 

DIY Portable Target Stands

By
P.E. Fitch
-

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.
I spy a target stand in the corner, shooting in one of my old spots out West.

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.

2A Case Study: Iran

By
Keith Finch
-
iranian citizens fire back on government forces during riots, they use weapons they've likely taken from the police

Iran has been in heated protests for 67 Days at this point. It started with the killing of Mahsa Amini by Iran’s ‘Morality Police’ which is always a giant bucket of red flags. We’ve seen efforts of promoting state enforced morality from both sides of our political spectrum here in the US, but our nuttiest tryhards are the mainstay cops in Iran.

Amini had been arrested for refusing to wear a hijab, a head covering worn by Muslim women to conceal their hair. The precise circumstances of Amini’s death are unclear. The Iranian government maintains that she died of a heart attack while in coma at a hospital in the capital city of Tehran, but protesters and critics argue that she was in a coma as a result of beatings and torture endured while in police custody.

They then escalated against protesters by voting to sentence 15,000 of them to death as ‘an example’ of what protesting against the government will result in. The equivalent of their national legislative body voted to execute 15,000 people. They were going to kill half again more people in one go than our average annual homicide number.

Last night government forces in Iran were continuing to suppress dissent with live fire into the protesting crowds. Heavy weapons on vehicles have been brought in and many are dead. The citizens protesting their governments indiscriminate killing by the ‘morality police’ are being indiscriminately killed by the morality police and government forces.

They are being forced to fight back against this with weapons they had to take from those same government forces.

Because of the 2nd Amendment, the likelihood that our government is ever able to approach within shouting distance of this level of tyrannical insanity with either party at the helm is unlikely. It is imperative we maintain the full strength of the 2nd Amendment to continue that assurance.

To recap, the government of a sovereign state in 2022 ordered the deaths of 5,000 more people than are murdered in the United States each year. In one action the government of Iran ordered thousands killed to get them inline with the slaying of woman refusing to put on a scarf. Comparatively in the US in the last 22 years only 85 people at the most per year were killed for capital crimes, in 2022 it is has been only 3 people. 5,000 times more people were sentenced to death by Iran for the act of protesting than for all US Capital punishments delivered this year.

We maintain that balance and respect through the impossibility that the government could successfully prosecute such an act against the people on that scale. The government here is far from perfect, but it is a damnably fine order of magnitude better than other allegedly modern states. We keep it that way by our vigilance to our rights.

The recent UVA and Colorado attacks will come with renewed calls for a national assault weapons ban, the president has already done so with both. This is likely to remain bluster as the House flipped to Republican control and the Senate split evenly or with only a single vote majority. But they will try, they will leverage whatever bloody shirt they feel that they can in order to get another gun control win and try to fortify their 2024 election chances. The Democrats, and therefore gun controllers, dodged a political cannonball this cycle thanks to irate and fatigued voters tired of the meme that a substantial portion of the Republican party has too long held onto. We need to keep riding Bruen to victory after victory in the courts.

The world is teaching us two very dark lessons today. In Ukraine we see the danger of foreign threats, in Iran we see the danger on domestic ones. Our reasonably peaceable society continues to be so at the behest of our readiness to become violent at need. The random attacks, the criminal back and forth, the senseless and juvenile outbursts that cause loss of life cannot be curbed by another gun law, but we can absolutely open ourselves up to the threats we see abroad.

The ultimate law of the world is and always shall remain the ability to bring force to bear, we must work to continue the trend that those with the ability to bring force will first use reason. The best way to maintain that ‘reason first’ approach is to not monopolize legitimate force. The state will always protect the state first. The state being for you now is no guarantee of any future positive efforts. You must always treat the state with the theory in mind of ‘what in this policy can be used against me?’ and then vote and comment to shape the policy accordingly. That is among the largest failings in our current electorate is too much popular voting and not enough critical voting. It won’t be one party good and the other bad, it must be both parties beholden to the constituency or it will be the state crushing the population when it becomes convenient to do so. Anything the state does to a group you happen to disagree with, and thus agree with the state’s actions, they can and will do to you when you end up being that group, so be sure you don’t mind the actions.

Everything is on sale or going to be this week too, just as a point of interest.

Ruger’s Rugged Workhorse

By
V. Caldwell
-
The Ruger P 85 gets respect but no much love!

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

  • Winchester 115 gr. Silvertip:         1155 fps                   3.25 inch
  • Winchester 124 grain Defender +P: 1199 fps                   1.9 inch
  • Hornady 124 grain XTP +P:            1166 fps                    2.7 inch
  • Federal 124 grain American Eagle:  1108 fps                    2.8 inch
  • Federal 124 grain Hydra Shock:        1110 fps                  2.6 inch
  • Buffalo Bore 147 gr. Outdoorsman:    987 fps                     2.9 inch

This is a rugged handgun often found for a pittance.
Homely but rugged the Ruger P85 9mm is a workhorse pistol.
Ruger’s P85 is among the last pistols designed with a swinging link to unlock the action.
The P85 field strips easily.

Ask the Armorer: Why is There Wear/Pitting on my AR-15 Buffer?

By
Anna Martinez
-

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

A worn and burred up carrier.

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.

The Wheeler Professional Gunsmithing File Kit from Gunmagwarehouse includes both rounded and flat files. Obviously you don’t need to go that large and a couple of files can suffice.

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.

Block II – The Best M4?

By
Keith Finch
-

As an armorer I love going down these developmental rabbit holes on why programs came to the forefront and what they all entailed.

The M4A1 SOCOM Block II wasn’t just a freefloated rail on the guns. Daniel Defense, although making a near correct Block II, doesn’t actually since Colt made the guts of the SOCOM guns. Josh, Henry and their guest Jeff Gurwitch get into that.

For those who don’t want to sit through the very entertaining 40 minutes of excellent information, here’s a short take until you do.

The Block II and later the URG-I were attempts by SOCOM to maximize the performance of the M4 for special forces use. The SF groups are obviously operating (pun intended) at a higher level of weapons proficiency than your typical soldier or Marine, even those in ground forces elements.

They had great success by offering improved optics, improved ancillaries, improved ammunition, and the improved uppers to cover down on the configurable nature. They had shooters who could use these at their full performance envelope.

That is one of the reasons the standard M4A1 hasn’t followed the full URG-I update force wide. Most shooters cannot shoot to the enhanced performance envelope because they cannot shoot to the standard one. The standard one is quite good, but since SOCOM was maxing it out, and needing these rifles to do more with less, investing in the SOCOM inventory made sense.

What we received was what would become the foundation for the General Purpose Carbine, a gun that could do a good bit of everything.

Hit play and learn.

Gunday Brunch 77: Choose Your Sources Wisely

By
David R
-

Today’s topics: Don’t take self-defense advice from a Power Ranger, we’re never running out of bullets, and birds aren’t real.

Ask the Armorer: Do I Need to Care About My AR-15 Selector Spring?

By
Anna Martinez
-

Quick Answer: Yes, you should care.
Longer Answer:

The main job of the selector spring is to give the selector detent the correct amount of tension to pop into each divot within the actual selector. Essentially allowing the selector to both move and seat.

The selector spring has a tendency to bend and break over time. It can also be bent during an install that has a lack of knowledge or care. Just like most things on the AR, the spring can can corrode and rust as well.

A bent selector spring can cause the selector to essentially bind up, causing it to be harder to move. The worst case scenario? And it has been seen..the selector spring breaks in two. If the selector spring breaks in half there will be no tension on the selector and nothing to stop the selector from just freely spinning. Almost as if you installed the pistol grip and firing group without the spring, and we have all done it…

Another super weird and rare occasion, the broken spring can wiggle it’s way past the detent and fall into your trigger group, locking everything up. (sounds impossible I know)

So how do you ensure that this doesn’t happen?

Proper Install

The selector spring is placed inside a hole inside the pistol grip and the selector detent is placed into the receiver with pointed tip towards the selector. To install the selector spring place the selector on semi and hold it there. Ensure that you don’t bend the selector spring as you are tightening the pistol grip on. To do this, place the pistol grip with the spring inside onto the receiver. While watching the spring ensure that it is straight up and down and lined up with the detent hole, then press down on the grip to close the gap between the receiver and the grip. Then tighten the grip screw.

A lot of people like to tighten the grip screw without pushing the grip entirely down first. Basically tightening the grip does as the screw is being tightened. This way isn’t the best method because it is more likely that the spring will bend as you are tightening.

Pro Tip: Placing the screw into the hole inside the grip before installing the grip helps.

This is how NOT to do it. Often this is how the selector spring will look if the installer is not paying attention. They will then press the grip down to tighten, causing the spring to break. Ensure that the spring is STRAIGHT and not angled when installing.

Proper Care

Putting a lubricant onto the spring and detent before install helps with three things. One, it acts as a glue to keep the detent in place in teh receiver ensuring it doesn’t fall out as you are installing everything. Two, it actually helps with the movement of your selector. Remember, lube the friction points. That detent seating inside the selector holes is a friction point, putting a bit of lube between those surfaces will help the selector move easier and more crisp. Three, prevents rust.

The types of lube we used in the Army for this? LSA-T or CLP. LSA-T is a type of white lubricant and the Teflon makes it almost a greasy substance. This will keep it intact. For a quick fix, throw some CLP down the detent and selector spring hole.

Here I am using LSA without Teflon. This is a little more runny than the LSA-T but will still work. Just apply a dab to the detent and the spring to help with corrosion and movement of the selector.

Annual Checks

In the Army we had to do annual checks on each weapon. This included both gauging and servicing. During the service portion we would loosen the pistol grip to check to make sure that the selector spring isn’t bent and that is isn’t rusted. If it was rusted we would either replace it or just throw some CLP or LSA-T on. If it was bent we would replace. It takes 30 seconds and can prevent your gun going down.

SWAT Fitness – Take OCSO SWAT Fitness Test (Florida Version)

By
Travis Pike
-
Courtesy ClickOrlando

I love digging into the various police qualification shoots used around the country and trying them out. It’s a fun way to spend some time on the range and see how various state, local, and federal law enforcement officers shoot. What I’ve never tried is a police fitness test. I’ve never sought one out, and it never occurred to me to see what physical fitness standards police forces do or do not have. 

I was mindlessly thumbing through social media when I ran across the Orange County sheriff’s Office page. (This is the Florida Orange County, and not the California one that stole the name from us.) The post was a video with a member of the SWAT team breaking down the fitness standards to become a SWAT deputy. 

As someone losing the fight with Taco Bell, I try to work out and work out often. After seeing the fitness test, I decided it looked easy enough and would give it a try. 

The OCSO SWAT Fitness Test 

When I say easy, I don’t necessarily mean easy physically. I mean easy logistically. The equipment required is too tough. You need a pullup bar, a 20-pound bag of sand, and at least four hundred meters to run. Don’t forget some ground for pushups and situps. The sandbag can be improvised and made fairly easily with a little duct tape and the same type of sandbags you use to protect your home from flooding. 

I had all that already on hand. Admittedly my sandbag is 25 pounds, but what’s five pounds…right? The test is compromised of four rounds of the following: 

400-meter run with 20 lb sandbag

5 Strict Pullups

10 Hand Release Pushups 

15 Unassisted Situps

You have to complete those four rounds in 14 minutes and 30 seconds. To make sure we all understand what these terms mean, let’s break it down. The SWAT Fitness test uses specific language for a reason. 

Strict Pullups – Come to a dead hang prior to every pullup. No kipping or Crossfit pullups.’ Straight up til your chin is over the bar and straight down. 

Hand Release Pushups – Every time you get to the bottom, lift your hands slightly off the floor and drive them down again to lift yourself. 

Unassisted Situps – You do not have an anchor to use when sitting up. It’s just you and your abs. 

Taking the OCSO SWAT Fitness Test 

There is no break between exercises, so I want everything positioned to where I can end the run and begin the exercises. Why waste time when time isn’t on your side? Using yards instead of meters hurt my Freedom-soaked brain. With a little math, I figured out it’s essentially a quarter of a mile. A quarter mile is 402 meters. 

I already have a quarter mile mapped out, so no big deal. I grabbed my 25-pound sandbag and hit the pavement. Four rounds went by fairly slowly, and admittedly, I could have prepped myself better. I did this almost spontaneously and should have memorized the exercises. I had to stop twice to double-check the order and amount of reps. 

Courtesy Foster City SWAT

For my overweight, work-in-progress self, I finished my first SWAT Fitness test with an embarrassing amount of time over the allotted time and felt pretty dead. I failed but rested and refit. I memorized the exercises and even printed a card with the exercises and reps listed and left it attached to the pullup bar. I figured that would be faster than opening my phone, putting the pin in, going to screenshots, etc. 

I moved my pullup bar to the shade because it was quite toasty on my first go-round. A day later, I ran the test again and shaved off more than a minute, but I still didn’t pass. That’s fine with me because now I have a goal to work towards and keep after. 

Short and Sweet 

The SWAT fitness test is short and sweet but quite demanding. I appreciate the easy logistics of the operation. It should be noted that it is a test but could be an effective workout when you are tight on time. Get off the range and give it a try. 

Winchester’s Model 94

By
V. Caldwell
-
This old gun isn’t a .30-30 at all but a 32 Winchester Special.

The Winchester 1894 has every element of a desirable American rifle. A sense of history, emotional attachment, and excellent power and performance cannot be faulted. The will take game save your hide and serve without maintenance for many decades. People with similar interests end up with similar rifles. These interests include shooting, hunting, and accumulating firearms. We are drawn to the display cases as aboriginals to a ceremonial fire. A man staring into that case may appear to be motionless and doing as close to nothing as possible, but nothing could be further from the truth. As my friends Tanner, Trey, Kevin and Morris watch this with daily attention their customers are deep in thought. Finally- perhaps after a number of trips to the shop they will ask to see something from the case. More often than not in today’s economy the piece is laid away for weeks or even months. After all we all have more guns than we need and less than we want. Some windfall may result in an early acquisition or perhaps the inevitable harrowing of the shelves that occurs at tax time or during the general election will speed the process up. Finally the lay away ticket is marked paid in full and the paper work is completed and the new addition taken home. This is as close to pregnancy and childbirth as a man may come.

One of my rifles was recently brought home after just such as stay. The rifle is a Winchester Model 1894.  The Winchester 1894 is the brainchild of John Moses Browning. He was an extraordinary individual and inventor. The lever action rifle was nothing new but the Model ’94 owes little to previous rifles. Certain rifles in the blue steel and walnut age still call to us. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police had a long association with the Winchester rifle. By a trick of fate the Winchester was used by shore patrols in England in the dark days of World War Two when any good firearm was worth its weight in gold. The Canada Rangers patrolled the Pacific slopes with the ’94. The rifle was used by both the good and the bad. In my memory is a case in which a night clerk at a motel took out a bad actor that was attempting to rob the clerk. The night clerk owned one rifle, a Winchester 1894 .30-30 WCF and he took it to work with him and kept it in a corner. The man he shot and killed through a car door was the primary suspect in an ambush of a peace officer. The majority of my memories are of deer taken with the Winchester 1894 by more hunters than I could name. Like many of you the Winchester 1894 was my first center fire rifle.

None of us are immortal but John Moses Browning’s memory and his guns seem to be. There have always been and will continue to be more cheap guns than good guns. A few firearms have become firmly respected trappings, reaching legendary status.  The Winchester 1894 combined the popular lever action with a high powered smokeless powder cartridge. The Winchester 1894 harkens back to a time when blue steel and walnut ruled. The Winchester 1866 and Winchester 1873 may have been in action earlier but the ’94 enjoyed a long life in the West and elsewhere. The .30-30 WCF lever action rifle was still in use in police work, particularly with highway patrol officers, well into the 1990s and perhaps beyond. The LAPD issued Winchester 1894 rifles during the Watts riots. While the shorter Model ’92 action had greater leverage for its short fat pistol caliber cartridges the Model 94 fired a .30 caliber center fire cartridge with much greater range and accuracy. If  you have ever attempted to sight a .44-40 rifle in for 175 yards then you know exactly what I am speaking of. The 1894 rifle is still in production but it stalled for a while with a hitch in production in 2006 when the Winchester plant in New Haven Connecticut closed. At that point some seven million rifles had been produced.  

Advantages of the Model 1894

The Model 1873’s toggle action worked well enough but was not particularly robust, one reason the military never issued the rifle. Scouts used the rifle and appreciated its firepower. The new lever action rifle by Browning used a single operating bar in contrast to the dual sliding rods of the Model 1892. The rifle also had a greater margin for safety due to a new firing pin design. The rifle was smooth and capable but not as fast as the previous rifles. It was more for long range deliberate fire than the earlier rifles.  While many rifles were produced with longer barrels and special stocks the 20 inch barrel carbine was the most common 1894 rifle.  The new .30-30 WCF cartridge pushed a 160 grain bullet to some 1970 fps. No more did the western hunter have to memorize hold over or hope for the best. The new cartridge shot amazingly flat .  While the .44-40 was credited with killing more men good and bad than any other caliber in the old west the .30-30 put more game on the table. The rifle was particularly praised in the far reaches of the continent such as Alaska for faultless reliability. 

My first center fire rifle was a thirty thirty and a Winchester. We just called the Winchester a thirty thirty as we called the Colt 1911 a .45. Very few other types were seen. The Winchester 1894 suffered indignity in 1964 with production changes that were not as severe as those of the Winchester Model 70, and these changes were meant to cheapen production. Pre ’64 rifles such as the one illustrated are treasured for this reason. The modern Miroku produced rifles are at least as accurate as reliable, however. The new gun also features a washer to tighten the action, the original action was plenty tight. When firing the rifle off hand, remember, do not push the lever down but forward for fast and efficient operation. 

Accurate, powerful and with modest recoil, the 1894 Winchester Special is a great all around woods gun. Modern ammunition technology has made the rifle even better. Hornady introduced the LeverRevolution line of cartridges some years ago. The lever action rifle had previously not been compatible with pointed bullets. The nose of the spitzer type bullet set on the primer of the cartridge ahead and could result in a detonation under the forces of recoil. Flat nose bullets were used in lever action rifles for safety purposes. ( A few enterprising souls handloaded hot spitzer loads for the .30-30 and loaded one in the chamber and a single round in the tubular magazine.)  Hornady’s LeveRevolution bullet features a polymer tip on top of a pointed bullet. This ingenious design allows the use of ballistically superior loads. The LeverRevolution line breaks a solid 2,250 fps with a 160 grain bullet. I cannot do this with a handload. With quality handloads the Winchester will often print a two inch 3 shot group at 100 yards and about two and one half inches with most factory loads.  There is nothing wrong with the hard hitting fast expanding 150 grain loads.

Competition Electronics Chronograph  15 feet  

Velocity

  • Hornady 150 grain JSP: 2254 fps
  • Hornady 160 grain LeveRevolution: 2250 fps
  • Winchester 150 grain Super X: 2224 fps
  • Priv Parizan 150 grain: 2111 fps
The 1894 is a long lived and useful rifle.
This modern rifle is beautifully made.
Be certain to install fiber optic sights for all around use.
Hornady offers excellent .30-30 loads
The .30-30 combines the virtues of good power with low recoil.

The Winchester is still a fine survival rifle you should have on hand. A tip- add TruGlo fiber optic sights. The improvement is vast.

Sailor Sells Machine Guns – Kind Of…

By
Travis Pike
-

Petty Officer 1st Class Patrick Tate Adamiak was recently convicted for attempting to sell a charcuterie board of fun but effectively prohibited weapons. This sailor was found in possession of nearly twenty-five machine guns after selling eight in an undercover ATF sting. A search warrant uncovered the 25 additional machine guns as well as two grenade launchers, two anti-tank missile launchers, and five improvised explosive devices. 

That sounds pretty salacious and makes you think, is this guy selling military weaponry? Where else do you get machine guns? Well, it’s a little bit more in-depth than that. Adamiak ran Black Dog Arsenal, a company that specialized in parts for guns, not complete guns. Black Dog Arsenal seemed to be in the business of selling historic firearms parts and pieces, including receivers. 

A properly cut machine gun

The initial investigation was launched, and the informant ordered some products from Black Dog Arsenal. The products included machine gun receivers, specifically an RPD and PPSH 41. What’s important to know is that these receivers had been cut with some form of saw, but by law, to demill a machine gun receiver, it needs at least three cuts in the receiver with a quarter inch of material removed. 

Adamiak should have known that and admittedly did break the law. Not that I support any laws prohibiting free people from owning firearms, including machine guns. However, it’s not as salacious as the headlines are making it seem. 

Adamiak Found Guilty 

A Federal Jury did find Adamiak guilty of the following charges of three counts of receiving and possessing an unregistered destructive device, one count of receiving and possessing an unregistered firearm, and one count of unlawful possession and transfer of a machine gun. 

The presence of grenade launchers and missile launchers is interesting. He was convicted of three counts of unregistered destructive devices. Were these something like an RPG-7 that had also not been properly demilled? It seems unlikely they were LAW or AT4 spent tubes to score a conviction. The grenade launcher means nothing since my Yugo SKS technically has a grenade launcher. 

Inert RPG7s are fairly common and legal to own

Were the destructive device charges related to the IEDs found during the initial search? It seems like after selling eight machine guns and possessing 25 machine guns. He would have been convicted of more than one count of possession of a machine gun. 

Adamiak certainly made some dumb decisions and actions. He did violate the law, but he wasn’t selling machine guns to terrorists. He was selling what are effectively hunks of metal. The headlines made it sound like the ATF shut down a criminal mastermind, but in reality, they shut down a guy who sold parts on Gunbroker. Next, they’ll bust me for my AR 15 kits. 

I’m glad the ATF is focusing on this and not on recovering the rifles they allowed to walk into the hands of Mexican cartels.

DeSantis’ New Introductions

By
V. Caldwell
-
Compared to the Speed Scabbard, left, the Vengeance is a much more advanced design. Note the reinforced holstering welt of the Vengeance.

I realized long ago how important quality leather is. When wearing a handgun for most of the day you cannot afford cheap gear. The holster must hold the pistol in the correct position for presentation from the holster, ride close to the body for concealed carry, and offer a good draw angle than doesn’t over stretch the wrist. If there is a better concealed carry holster than the DeSantis Speed Scabbard I have not seen it. If you are able to conceal the holster with a covering garment the Speed Scabbard is a great choice. Recently DeSantis developed a considerable upgrade on the Speed Scabbard. The geometry is different and while you see a similarity in quality and workmanship the Vengeance isn’t a modified Speed Scabbard. With a light bearing holster you must start with a clean slate. You may still order the original Speed Scabbard  while the Vengeance is available for Glocks with a mounted combat light.

The Vengeance™ Scabbard, #201, is an untraditional open-top pancake-style OWB holster. It is made of native US full grain steerhide and features three belt slots for multiple carry positions. Its adjustable tension device allows for a custom retention level.  The wraparound band at the top of the holster provides additional strength and aids in re-holstering. It’s now available for many popular weapons and light combinations.

I ordered my example for the long serving Glock 19X 9mm. The Inforce combat light proved a good fit. Remember that the holster is a loose fit if  you do not use a combat light so order another handgun holster if you don’t normally deploy the pistol with a combat light mounted. The combination is secure. I like the fit and the pistol rides securely while the presentation is sharp, very fast with practice. The stitching is excellent and the leather top grade as expected from DeSantis. I experimented with the draw angle- there are three belt loops- and with the tension screw until I had the perfect set up.

Among my favorite types of carry is the inside the waistband holster. DeSantis recently introduced the Infiltrator Air in the Pegasus line up. The Infiltrator®”AIR” IWB holster is adjustable for both height and cant. Its holster component is adjustable precision-molded Kydex® and the back component is all synthetic and “breathable” material. It comes with “C” Clips. Optional “J” clips are available. The holster uses a hard Kydex shell for rigidity. The Kydex shell is rigidly affixed to the holster backing. The backing is a breathable soft comfortable component. The belt clips go over and under the belt taking a good bite of the belt for security. If you take a close look at the holster the muzzle of the handgun may be angled out for a fast draw without binding. The holster retains tension on the handgun by maintaining a hold on the pistol’s long bearing surfaces and the trigger guard. I have used the holster with the Glock 19X. Also, since the holster features an open bottom, I have used the full length Bul Axe, a Glock 17 clone, with good results. The Infiltrator Air allows the concealed carry handgun shooter to keep the pistol concealed with a minimum of covering garments, even a T shirt, and to do so with some comfort. DeSantis holsters build on many decades of experience including large government contracts. These holster serve a real need.

Note double stitching and reinforced holstering welt.
The Infiltrator Air may be the most comfortable inside the waistband holster yet designed.
The Vengeance easily carried the Glock 19X and combat light.
The DeSantis Infiltrator Air features a good balance of speed and retention and also a well designed comfortable backing.

On UVA – The Shooting and Response

By
Keith Finch
-
white house response to UVA shooting
White House response to UVA shooting

As I look further at the shooting on the UVA campus that has garnered media attention and triggered the firearms debate afresh, I am noticing several peripheral items.

The shooting itself seems to have likely been triggered by a bullying, disagreement, or other direct social trigger. The people shot were seen as directly offensive to the shooter. The shooter was under investigation from the school for failure to disclose a misdemeanor, related to illegal carry of a weapon. The shooter was originally on the football team for a season, the three dead and two wounded were current players. It is possible that was a source of strife too.

The shooter was at risk of being kicked out of school, went on a class trip, was returning from the trip with football players and he was no longer one, and then three were shot and killed. The charges brought against the shooter are telling as well, second degree murder. First is premediated, a planned attack or prepared attack. If evidence existed that the shooter had planned to get into this confrontation, it would be first degree murder. Second degree murder is without premeditation, no evidence must exist that the shooter intended an attack specifically or in general against these three but suddenly decided to kill them and wound two others. This charge is often used in situations where someone overreacted in response to something.

The charges suggest this was not a planned killing, it was in response to something that happened right there at the bus as the trip was returning. It suggests a conflict arose and came to a head there, when the shooter pulled a handgun. If evidence is found that this was the shooter’s intent, the charges will likely be upgraded. But at this juncture this seems to have been homicide in reaction, overreaction, to something the players initiated with the shooter. We have nothing on the specifics of what the trigger was, nor who ‘started’ it or history between the shooter, a former player, and the players killed and wounded.

White House Reaction

Predictably inept.

“This is sad, thoughts and prayers. This is why we should ban assault weapons by the way, because an adult concealed a handgun on a college campus and then shot three people under circumstances that appear to be overreactive and not premeditated.”

It’s a low party line response, unsurprising, and honestly expected of this administration at this point.

Campus Reaction

UVA apparently was on top of the event rather quickly. Issuing the guidance to stay indoors and RUN. HIDE. FIGHT. This is the STOP, DROP, and ROLL of shooters on campus.

The issue comes with follow on communication. Students hid with phones off, lights out, locked behind barricaded doors and under covers for hours upon hours. Ineffectually, and as it turned out needlessly, panicking about a killer who had long fled after the shooting at the bus. He was not hunting door to door, he was not randomly firing across the campus at anyone who moved, he killed and fled.

The reports are indicating that the hide reaction seems to be actively paralyzing folks who are waiting directions on what to do next from the mobile communications network of the campus instead of exercising any free agency to improve their own safety. Students certainly wouldn’t be encouraged to own a firearm and be ready to repel an intruder, with or without campus warning. Students wouldn’t be encouraged to be aware of surroundings, keep an eye out, report on a suspect who was known to the occupants of the bus he rode back with his class it seems, and could therefore be described accurately down to name, date of birth, if he did or did not live on campus, etc.

None of that appears to have happened. Just a RUN. HIDE. FIGHT. warning issued until the arrest was made. The campus, from reports like ABC, appears not to have been alerted so much as paralyzed by the notice. That should be a highly concerning reaction to emergency planners who need to encourage more proactive reactions, like leaving if it is safe to do so.

Especially if you are a student, the stories of these reactions should get your personal wheels turning on what to do in order to get to safety. The campus is giving you a little useful information, but it could be old, it could be in error but their best effort, it could be an accident. How are you going to make yourself safe if your safety comes into much greater than average danger. Are you going to cower in a closet for 12 hours paralyzed or are you going to be more proactive?

What are you going to do. The campus cannot for you. The cops cannot for you. You must be ready to exercise some agency on your own behalf and get you and yours to safety.

Campus Carry

Regardless of UVA’s policies, which are listed here, the shooter was carrying a concealed firearm. Legally or illegally is rather irrelevant, he had the pistol. The policy did not physically prohibit the firearm from entering the space, there was no control to do so. This is the reality of public spaces like university campuses, they are uncontrolled space.

Policies prohibiting possession, rather than misuse, are entirely ineffective and days of success without an incident cannot be attributed to the policy. The behavior of the students, guests, and faculty determine that. You could just as easily put into place a policy that states misuse of weapons is unacceptable with equal or greater success. Law and policy are only as effective as they are enforceable. These prohibitions are not enforceable. They are, at best, actionable after the fact, exactly the way a misuse policy would be. They have no additional actual control, they are a request for a behavior standard they cannot effectively enforce.

Hundreds of their thousands of students could be carrying weapons and if done correctly the campus will never know. There is absolutely an active rate of violation of this prohibition, that is an inescapable fact and I would expect it to have started in earnest after Virginia Tech. The likely trend is that more folks have become noncompliant, not less.

Conclusions

I believe that gun control happy politicos have made a mistake in trying to politicize this shooting. They saw campus and thought they had better bait than they did. What they have instead is an adult who did something that would be completely legal and permissible all over this nation, and is done so all over this nation, who then did something highly illegal reflexively after a trigger event and is now facing three second degree murder charges and two attempted charges.

The shooter may end up looking like a partially sympathetic figure depending upon what the investigation reveals, he also may not. But the killing was not random.

The call to ban assault weapons is an absurd and politically charged response that further erodes confidence in the rule of law and good order.

The reactions of campus and authorities appears to have been well directed, however the aftermath is exposing a serious flaw in mass information system. We are triggering panicked overresponses in undertrained people who are then waiting for step-by-step directions, updates, and so forth in order to remain ‘safe’ during the event.

We know from other emergency events, fire especially, that directions must be clear, concise, and constant. Even then there will be people who ignore them, overreact to them, or react unexpectedly. In an event like a shooter loose on campus the directions must be equally as clear, concise, and constant. Using a mass information system, information must flow. If the information flowing may alert the suspect unduly to act, then no information must flow. But I personally do not like that argument nor the concept of using disinformation, like a shelter warning for a storm, in place to try and corral a suspect.

The aftermath is showing that many of our ‘drills’ are causing anxiety more than preparedness, which means it is time to rethink those drills. This is far from the only place this drill fatigue can be seen to have ill effects, but it is one of the more crucial.

The 25 ACP – The Worst Carry Caliber

By
Travis Pike
-

“Son, you don’t want that thing. It’s a 25 ACP. It’ll just piss someone off. It’s weaker than a  .22LR.” Those were the words, or thereabouts the words, of a gun store clerk while I browsed a Raven MP-25. Admittedly the Raven is a fairly craptastic gun, but I have a thing for Saturday Night Specials. Today we aren’t talking about Ravens, but we are talking about the .25 ACP. 

John Browning invented the round. In 1905 Browning and FN released both the .25 ACP and the FN M1905 at the same time. The idea was simple, let’s make a gun as small as possible but also reliable. In 1905 they had the .22LR, but rimfire rounds aren’t known for their reliability. These days they aren’t bad, but in 1905 I’m betting the .22LR was a little less reliable. 

Browning and FN wanted a caliber that allowed you to have an ultra-small pistol but provided the reliability of a centerfire cartridge. This is what led us to the .25 ACP. A few years prior, Browning released the .32 ACP, but apparently, that round just wasn’t small enough. The .25 ACP and M1905 became the first of the Baby Brownings. In 2022 the 25 ACP isn’t a very popular choice for anything beyond collecting, but is it unfairly maligned? 

The 25 ACP By the Numbers 

Is the 25 ACP as bad as everyone makes it out to be? Is it really worse than the .22LR? The round uses projectiles that fall between 35 and 50 grains and moves at velocities between 900 feet per second and 750 feet per second. That’s the definition of anemic. In terms of energy, we are looking at 65 foot-pounds. For comparison, your average 9mm packs about 350 foot-pounds of energy. 

When it comes to self-defense, the most important thing to remember is penetration. Handguns, in general, just poke small holes in bad guys. What they need to be capable of doing is penetrating deep enough to reach something vital. The established standard for competent penetration is 12 inches of properly calibrated ballistic gel. 

If a round can penetrate at least 12 inches, it is highly likely to be capable of reaching something vital and shutting down the bad guy. Here is where we see some potential issues. To even get close to reaching the minimum depth, you have to use FMJs. Hollow-point designs just can’t reach the minimum required depth. 

Most 50-grain FMJ loads can reach that depth, but even then, it’s inconsistent. Greg Ellifritz gathered data from 1800 shootings and broke them down by caliber. This data showed that in 35% of cases, the .25 ACP did not incapacitate the bad guy regardless of how many hits landed.

What’s The Point? 

It is not a very capable round. It can reach the minimum depth necessary, but only inconsistently. It’s also an expensive caliber. 9mm and even 380 ACP are cheaper than the little 25. So what’s the point in 2022? 

25 ACP doesn’t make it too deep into Ballistic Gel

Admittedly there isn’t much of one. If you needed a very small handgun, then the 25 ACP would work well in that role. The little caliber has very little recoil and can be much smaller than the tiniest of .380s. However, no one is making that handgun. You might be able to find a vintage Baby Browning, but I wouldn’t recommend an antique for concealed carry. 

Interestingly enough, the little round is still produced and isn’t exactly uncommon as a cartridge. Sure, it’s not a top seller, but someone has to be buying it. It would be interesting to see a modern 25 ACP pocket pistol, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. 

1...131132133...420Page 132 of 420
© All rights reserved © 2023 GAT Daily. Designed by GAT Marketing