Law enforcement personnel stand outside Robb Elementary School following a shooting, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills) via CNN
In an attack all to reminiscent of the Sandy Hook attack in 2012, it appears that an 18 year old student of the district attacked the elementary school with a handgun, and possible a rifle, leaving a teacher and eighteen students dead.
Robb Elementary was turned into a killing ground… by a high schooler.
There is an unknown number of injured at this time but two were reported critical evacuated from the school.
Officers at the school shot and killed the 18 year old assailant, Salvador Ramos, after being reportedly fired upon. Two officers were reported struck by gunfire.
The attacker is reported to have shot his grandmother, who was airlifted to the hospital, before continuing on to attack the school.
No motive is known at this time and there are no other suspects.
The calls for “action” have already begun…
It’s also so… predictable… I am tired of writing about dead kids because some older kid couldn’t figure life out and decided mass homicide was the solution. I’m equally tired of the shrill nonsense being peddled as the solution by people who couldn’t understand less about violence yet are in the seats to win political favors by running their fucking mouths.
Biden, Harris, Clinton… they’ve all started. They will all use Robb Elementary and Tops to call for more useless garbage legislation that cannot move the morality of this nation by one iota while failing to acknowledge any of this nations leadership culpability in fomenting an environment of vileness, deceit, and pettiness that breeds despair.
I don’t know a thing about this kid’s motive, or internet profiles, online presence, or any of the rest. But I know high schoolers shouldn’t be spending their ‘invincible’ years entering adulthood believing for a single second that their absolution is found in a bloodbath. Why? This doesn’t just happen because modern handguns were invented over a century ago and have been sold everywhere since. What combination of attention, negative influence, and just the dark temptation of absolute evil do we have to cut off to make this act horrific to all again. Not most, not everyone who is grieving and horrified, all. Everyone. What instills a rekindling in the value of life over the selfishness of a gory death in a perverted parody of “glory” through infamy?
I don’t know.
Just as bad as the idiots calling for absurdly useless gun control solutions are the conspiratards. The folks accusing this directly on some deep cover CIA bullshit spun up by the barely coherent President and his equally laughable staff of buffoons. All because they wanted to “pass gun control” or “win the midterms” or some other facet that makes you forget that these folks all play for team Washington in the end, they just wear red or blue and pander to their pet base.
It all supposes one idiotic presumption. That no one has the free agency to just do this. They do. Everyone, everywhere, every single day has an astonishing amount of free agency to do as they please. They choose not to. That is the terrifying part of free will and one thing that cannot be legislated away. You can’t make evil go away by making it illegal.
Making something illegal doesn’t stop it.
It never has.
It never will.
So why cling to gun control?
Because it is easier than admitting that we’ve fucked up, collectively, all of us, every single man and woman who has been in a position of influence has been letting this slide into higher stress, depression, despair, and divisiveness and we’ve been doing it to win and virtue signal our pet projects at the expense of our kids. Look at the world this kid went through high school in, lockdowns, riots, pandemic, and teetering on the edge of a world war round 3. The adults, especially those 50+ (so nearly every politician in a high seat), fucked that up.
Tim and is MAC crew are discussing one of the topics that has been most misunderstood in the NGSW program. The caliber change.
Is 5.56 dead?
Short answer: not even close.
What we have done, and I have mentioned it here before, is we maxed out 5.56’s performance. We’ve squeezed it for what it can give us. It has served us well, and will continue to do so for many years to come, but if we wanted to change our performance envelope we needed to change calibers.
Leaving Behind
We needed to leave the physics package of light weight rounds in brass cases behind. Even with the high(er) BC’s of 77’s, rounds we only had so much distance of high efficacy terminal effects in a 5.56 diameter 77gr. More mass gives us more options and we know that recoil on a 124gr or a 147gr projectile are more than ‘shootable’ by most.
One of the biggest draws of the 5.56 NATO rifles are very low recoil impulses. However modern battle rifles don’t have absurd recoil, just more. We are be leaving behind that light pleasant recoil for something more stout.
The focus of that stouter recoiling system though are going to be in the hands of MOS groups who are shooting focused, ones who are more familiar with the mechanics of shooting and less recoil adverse. The XM5 still doesn’t recoil like a 12 gauge or a grenade launcher.
Ammunition capacity and the logistics we’ve been used to are also changing. We’re gaining a great deal of effective range and improved terminal effects but we are losing the 210rd standard loadout we’ve been used to supplying for decades.
We’ve been heavily into the theory of “more bullets equals more effective” but recent changes have pushed that into a happy medium. Specifically the Marine Corps. choice of the M27 and some doctrinal shifts are emphasizing accuracy of fire above extreme volume of fire. The XM5 and the XM250 can fit neatly into that school of use.
Gains
Effective range.
Terminal effects.
Armor defeat.
None of those are small things but none in a vacuum are game changers either. We are, at the end of the day, talking about the second smallest weapon system in the US general arsenal for combat power, the individually issued weapon. Only the sidearm being smaller and less influential. The overall combat power of any given force is going to be in the efficacy of its combined arms employment. When in doubt, use high explosives.
But the small arms evolution that 6.8 and 6.5 increasingly represent are the next step on the optimization ladder and one that probably marks the last stage in cartridge and propellant small arms. That stage being hyper optimization of case, propellant, and projectile efficacy.
Who knows what development is going to break next in small arms. It could be energy propelled hyper velocity solids (most likely in my opinion) or laser guns, phasers, and plasma rifles in the 40W range. I don’t know. I do know that our current optimization wouldn’t have made sense without the new case technology SIG is playing with that is allowing higher pressure loads.
I do want to see what the case tech can do for legacy loads like 5.56 NATO. Can we get 11.5 and 12.5 guns pushing 77gr rounds at 3,000fps? That would be cool. Could we see 300BLK guns pushing 125gr at 2700 FPS? That would also be cool. If this is cost effective to load, in that we don’t shift rounds more than 25% in cost and preferably far under that, we could see very wide adoption and later legacy calibers all receiving boost in efficacy. The make or break on this making mainstream is going to be cost of adoption.
Just like polymer cases (when they work) if this makes each shot 400+% more expensive it goes nowhere, I don’t care if we get an extra 350fps.
Since the introduction of the Murata, the first indigenously produced Japanese service rifle adopted in 1880 as the “Meiji Type 13 Murata,” the Japanese military has utilized a unique variety of domestically-made weapons. Unfortunately, the naming conventions have also led to confusion in many cases. In the case of the Type 13 Murata, it referred to the adoption date – the year 13 in the Meiji period according to the Japanese calendar. In the 20th century, the Japanese developed several small arms that were undoubtedly distinctive. Yet, due to questionable designs and later during World War II, to the use of subpar materials, Japanese small arms were primarily seen as inferior to their Western counterparts. It was only after the defeat of the Empire of Japan that its military finally adopted what could be seen as a rifle that rivaled contemporary designs of the era. That weapon was the Howa Type 64.
Howa Type 64 AR
The Origin of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force
Following the Second World War, the Japanese, as a defeated nation, were not allowed to maintain a large military presence. However, in 1954, with rising tensions in Europe and Asia during the Cold War, Japanese leaders began to consider the nation’s self-defense. The United States had served as occupiers after the war and as the island nation’s de facto protectors.
As more U.S. occupation troops were moved during the Korean War (1950-53), which left Japan virtually defenseless and vulnerable, the government in Tokyo sought to address Article 9 of the 1947 constitution. It had called upon the Japanese to forever renounce war as an instrument for settling international disputes. Still, it also declared that Japan would never again maintain “land, sea, or air forces or another war potential.” Key to this was the wording – as politicians and lawmakers will also find loopholes.
JGSDF soldiers in olive drab BDUs prepare to fire M31 HEAT rifle grenades from the Howa Type 64 during training. (Public domain)
In July 1954, Japan’s National Security Board was reorganized as the “Defense Agency”. The National Security Force was transformed into the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF). It was a de facto post-war Japanese Army in everything but name. The Coastal Safety Force was also reorganized as the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), while the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) was established as a new branch of the JSDF. For the record, the Japanese military is now equipped with everything from F-35 fighters to heavy tanks. Fortunately for the United States, the island nation that was once among its greatest enemies is now among its closest allies in the Far East.
Cold War Innovation towards the Howa Type 64
As Japan was nearly “demilitarized” following the Second World War, the small National Security Board and, later, the JGSDF had relied mainly on surplus American-made small arms. Infantry squads were larger equipped with the World War II-era American M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle. In a twist of irony, the weapon played no small role in bringing the defeat of the Empire of Japan.
However, by 1960, the weapon was showing its age. The United States military had recently adopted the M14 – the last battle rifle to be developed and produced at the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Mass. Yet, even by that time, Japan had been a nation of innovators, and it hadn’t shown any desire to adopt what was essentially an evolved M1 Garand.
An undated photo of JGSDF soldiers training with the Howa Type 64. While largely removed from service, the weapon was still used in training exercises in the late 1990s. (Japan Ministry of Defense Photo)
Development
Instead, Japan’s Defense Agency opted to produce a new domestically designed and manufactured primary battle rifle. Fortunately, the designers didn’t look at pre-war designs. Instead, under the direction of General Kenzo Iwashita, Howa Heavy Industries began the development of a gas-operated, selective-fire rifle chambered for the 7.62x51mm NATO round.
Howa, which was based in Kiyosu, Aichi, Japan, was a machinery manufacturer that was founded in 1907. It had produced everything from construction equipment to power tools to civilian and military firearms.
The rifle was accepted into service with the JSDF in 1964 as the Howa Type 64. The naming convention changed after the war, because the Emperor of Japan lost “god-like” status in Japan. Also, the modern Japanese essentially adopted the western calendar. Yet, instead of the Western-style “Model,” the Japanese stuck with “Type” for designating military hardware.
A Battle Rifle
Whereas the assault rifles of the era used intermediate cartridges, the Howa Type 64 was chambered for high-caliber rifle cartridges. Yet, when compared to the M14 rifle, the Type 64 was superior in practical accuracy.
The Howa Type 64 also shared some design similarities with the Belgian-made FN FAL, including a straight-line box magazine. At the same time, the trigger assembly was attached to an angled, ergonomic pistol grip. At 9.7 pounds and 39 inches in length, the Japanese primary battle rifle was neither heavy or light. Rate-of-fire on full auto was around 500 rounds per minute, and it had an effective range of approximately 400 meters.
Japanese Air Self-Defense Force ground personnel training in Iraq with the Howa Type 64 sometime prior to 2008. It was likely one of the few times the domestically-made battle rifles were used outside of Japan. (Japan Ministry of Defense Photo)
One significant issue with the weapon’s design was that it was meant to be used with rounds that held less powder to account for the generally smaller stature of the typical Japanese soldier. As a result, the Howa Type 64 could fire the base 7.62x52mm NATO cartridge but not the “standard-load” 7.62mmm round without risk to the internal mechanical components.
One unique aspect of the Type 64 was its selector switch and how it is labeled: first ア (アンゼンソウチ/安全装置/Safety device (Safe)), then タ (タンシャ/単射/Semi), and finally レ (レンシャ/連射/Auto). Together, they spell アタレ (Atare); atare in Japanese means “Hit the target.”
Production/Use
Around 230,000 Type 64 Battle Rifles were produced, and manufacturing finally ended in 1988 when the JGSDF began to adopt the more advanced Howa Type 89. What is notable about the weapon is that it was never employed in any significant combat role, and due to Japan’s strict anti-hardware export laws, the Howa Type 64 has never been exported.
Its sole operators have been the JGSDF and Japan Coast Guard, while Special Assault Teams of the National Police Agency have also Its sole operators have been the JGSDF and Japan Coast Guard, while Special Assault Teams of the National Police Agency have also employed the rifle.
In January 2007, it was reported that the JGSDF’s Ōita Prefecture garrison had encountered supply problems when they could not account for thirty Howa Type 64s that had been lost. Despite a massive search that involved 95,000 soldiers, the rifles were never recovered.
The Howa Type 64 in the Pop Culture
As the weapon can’t be exported, the Howa Type 64 has largely only appeared in Japanese-made movies and T.V. shows. It was first seen in the 1968 film Destroy All Monsters, the ninth entry in the Toho-produced Godzilla film series. The Type 64 was subsequently seen in several Godzilla films.
The first appearance of the Howa Type 64 was in the 1968 film Destroy all Monsters. It was overshadowed for sure by the monsters, which included Godzilla.
Though the Type 64 has been largely removed from service, it has continued to show up in more recent Godzilla films, including 2002’s Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla.
The rifle also appeared in the 1979 film G.I. Samurai, a story of a group of modern-day JGSDF and JMSDF personnel who are accidentally transported back in time. The personnel are sent to the Warring States period of the 15th to 17th centuries in Japan. Based on a novel by Ryo Hammura, the film starred Sonny Chiba, one of the era’s top male Japanese actors.
The only problem with taking the Type 64 back in time is that you’d likely run out of ammunition. But as noted, some of the soldiers still had a bayonet as a backup in G.I. Samurai.
Western Films with the Howa Type 64
The only time the Type 64 was in a “Western” production was in The Man in the High Castle. As the series’ first season is in 1962, it would have been a earlier, but perhaps it was developed sooner. The Howa Type 64 was seen carried by Imperial Japanese Army soldiers and Special Naval Landing Force infantry units of the Imperial Japanese Navy as a replacement for the Arisaka bolt-action rifles.
The Type 64 was seen carried in the Amazon alternative history drama The Man in the High Castle. It was rarely fired however, likely because they were Airsoft replicas.
As noted by the Internet Movie Firearms Database (IMFDB), it could be designated the Type 37. The 37th year of Emperor Hirohito’s reign was 1962. It was also suggested it might be chambered for 6.5x50mm Arisaka as the 7.62x51mm NATO would have never existed!
Since the Howa Type 64 was never exported, the rifles carried by the various Japanese soldiers are probably Airsoft replicas. These replicas are made by S&T Armament, a Hong Kong-based Airsoft manufacturer.
Howa Type 64 Compilation in Movies, TV & Animation on YouTube:
About the Author:
Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based freelance writer who regularly covers firearms related topics and military history. As a reporter, his work has appeared in dozens of magazines, newspapers, and websites. Among those are Homeland Security Today, Armchair General, Military Heritage, Mag Life, Newsweek, The Federalist, AmmoLand, Breach-Bang-Clear, Newsweek, RECOILweb, Wired, and many others. He has collected military small arms and military helmets most of his life, and just recently navigated his first NFA transfer to buy his first machine gun. He is co-author of the book A Gallery of Military Headdress, which was published in February 2019. It is his third book on the topic of military hats and helmets.
Every time Magpul releases a product, the gun industry must take notice, and parts of it sigh. They’d wish Magpul would stop. Magpul went from a company that made devices to make grip and rip your magazine easier to an industry giant. They make magazines, stocks, and handguards and, in general, have mastered the art of polymer in the world of guns. Polymer seems to be their main thing, but that doesn’t mean that soft goods can’t be in the bag. Magpul dived into the sling world with the same versatility and ingenuity they’ve approached everything else and delivered the Magpul MS1 sling.
The Magpul MS1 is another option in a fleet of modern tactical two-point slings that are begging for space on your rifle. The modern tactical two-point is the go-to these days, and slings from Arbor Arms, Blue Force Gear, VTAC, and obviously Magpul. It can be tough to find a niche in such a crowded market, but Magpul seemingly found a way.
The MS1 and Modularity
How modular can a sling be? It’s some fabric and a little polymer. I’m certainly not creative enough to understand how easily a sling can be modified and adapted to various platforms. I have to give it up to Magpul. They went above and beyond by producing a versatile and effective sling system.
The MS1 forms the basis of Magpul’s sling system. It’s the base unit that can be adapted, evolved, and transformed into the sling you need it to be. The MS1 can be converted into the MS3 or MS4 by swapping a few parts and pieces to make the sling whatever you need it to become. While the MS1 occupies that tactical two-point space, the MS3, and MS4 allow you to convert the sling from a two-point to a one-point with minimal issue.
The ability to swap pieces of furniture to change the sling from one thing to another is handy, but how does the MS1 perform as just a two-point sling?
What’s In a Name?
The MS1 gains its name from the MS1 slider. The MS1 slider comes standard on the base level sling and allows you to almost instantly change the size of the sling. You can tighten it or loosen it with ease. Just push or pull the slider to make the change you need or want. This isn’t the first rapid adjust sling, but it’s seemingly the first to do away with the pull tab soldier in place of a polymer flush fit device that stands no choice of snagging.
Outside of the quick-adjust pull tab, the MS1 allows you to manipulate the size of the sling overall from 48 to 60 inches total. You can size the sling for your body type, or deal with or without armor. It’s fairly handy and also very simple and easy to set up. I took five minutes total to manipulate the sling to fit my unarmored self and my rifle of choice.
Running and Gunning with the MS1
The Magpul MS1 and its MS1 slider make rapid adjustments quick and easy. You can easily manipulate the slider and grow or shrink the sling at will. When properly adjusted, the sling can do several things. When the slider is tightened down to the max, the user can go hands-free if necessary and also manipulate the weapon in a tightened, better-supported position. Like a good 2-point should.
When you tighten the sling down, it adds tension, and that tension translates into a better-supported position for taking shots. That little extra tension makes it easy to stabilize the weapon and build a supported position for accurate shots.
The sling needs to be adjusted for your size and shape to do this properly. Without doing so, you’ll find the tension too little or too much. Manipulating the MS1 in size doesn’t take much effort, and sizing it just right takes hardly any extra time.
If you run the MS1 loose, you gain maximum maneuverability with the ability to switch shoulders, change positions, and more without the sling impeding you. Going loosey-goosey makes it much easier to move your gun as you see fit without losing retention. You can still drop the gun without actually dropping the gun.
Grabbing the slider and shoving it back and forward takes very little effort. You can do so with gloves and without looking. The MS1 slider is massive and provides a nice, easy means to grip and rip the sling as you see fit. Magpul designed the MS1 slider to add or subtract ten inches total from its action.
Size and Support
The 1.25-inch webbing provides more than enough comfort for the average shooter armed with the average rifle. If you feel it’s not comfy enough, the addition of a pad is possible. While fairly wide the sling weighs only 6 ounces. It’s a fairly lightweight setup and simple to use. There are no hanging straps or tails looking to get tangled up in your gear or the world around you.
One of the things that Magpul has consistently proven is the strength of its designs. A lot of that design influence comes from actual users, shooters, and veterans with decades of experience, and it shows. The MS1 sling provides you with all the adjustability, durability, and versatility you need without breaking the bank. For less than 50 bucks, you can add a helluva sling to your rifle or shotgun setup.
Heritage Manufacturing offers single action revolvers similar in style to Ruger’s Single Six, the Colt Scout, and many other single action rimfire revolvers. The Heritage revolvers are very affordable and never seem to give trouble. There isn’t a lot of stress on a rimfire handgun and non ferrous metals work perfectly well in this revolver. While GAT offers the best in tactical reviews sometimes you just gotta have fun.
The Heritage Barkeep is a short barrel birdshead grip pistol that is nothing but a lot of fun. This revolver is simply a bobbed barrel version of the famous Rough Rider .22. The Rough Rider Barkeep is similar to cut down single action revolvers popular in the Old West. Most were custom jobs until Colt finally offered the Sheriff’s Model. I would imagine based on research there were ten or twelve cut down revolvers for every factory short barrel Colt. Heritage revolvers give quite a few shooters a start in collecting. Collecting different variants of a handgun for the pure fun of it is a good thing. Don’t expect modern guns to appreciate much, if at all, but expect to enjoy the pursuit.
The Heritage Boot is also a short barrel birdshead grip handgun. This one takes the act to an extreme. The barrel is only one inch long and doesn’t have a front sight. Boot guns were often worn in the boot in a special holster or a simple rawhide thong type attachment. They were usually derringers but sometimes short barrel small bore revolvers. The Heritage Boot will probably never see service in this role but it is true to the theme. Like all Heritage Rough Rider handguns the Boot features a single action lockwork, must be loaded one at a time through a loading gate, and the spent cartridges are ejected in the same manner, one at a time. The hammer is cocked for each shot and the trigger does only one thing it releases the hammer. It does not cock and drop the hammer, hence the term single action. Unlike practically every other single action revolver the Heritage revolvers feature a manual safety. Due to the short barrel there is no ejector rod. A wooden handled tool is supplied to butt out spent cases.
The boot will be offered with engraved wood, gray pearl, and black wood grips. Other options are available from Heritage as custom grip options. These options are affordable and this is an easy gun to upgrade. The grip feels good in the hand. The firing grip is easily cupped in the hand. There is nothing quite like a single action revolver’s hand fit. The single action .22 will make for many pleasant hours of handling and shooting. Recoil isn’t a consideration. There is a simple groove in the top strap for sighting. Accuracy potential isn’t very high. I got about what I expected.
I began firing the Boot with Winchester Wildcat ammunition. I stood facing a man sized 7 yard target. With past experience with rimfire single action revolvers I knew the drill would not be to take my time and press the trigger slowly but to bring the gun up and snap shoot. I did so and found six shots in less than three inches in a group on paper. Next I fired a few groups slowing down to aim down the sight groove. It isn’t difficult to put six shots into two and one half inches. This isn’t very practical. The Boot is at its best in fast shooting, simply pointing the pistol and breaking a shot. It is just a stunt really. Just fun shooting. The best value of the Boot seems to be with shot shell loads. I tested the piece with both CCI and Winchester birdshot. Winchester patterned a bit better. Either load would shred an average reptile at ten feet or so. The Boot, then, has a specialized role that is useful. The Boot is simply a fun gun. I suppose it would do for defense against reptiles or as a fishing gun. Its real value is in fun shooting and playing cowboy.
Velocity—
I had a question concerning velocity with the 1 inch barrel. I was quite surprised to find that Winchester Super X 37 grain hollow points clocked 914 fps. That isn’t much different from a 4 5/8 inch barrel revolver. However CCI Stingers were at 780 fps. The Stinger is a great rifle load among the best for popping pests. The slower burning powder of the Stinger which is needed to ensure high velocity from the rifle didn’t do well in the Boot revolver. That’s ok as the piece is just for fun. Although it may see duty as a back pocket gun when I am whacking weeds with a machete or walking in snake country. I know if you see them they aren’t dangerous, it is the one you don’t see that get you. Just the same- the boot is a comfort and while highly specialized it is very inexpensive as well.
Fort Worth, Texas (May 23, 2022) – Owners of the popular Springfield Armory® SA-35™ 9mm and Ruger® LCP® MAX .380 Auto pistols can now upgrade their factory sights with XS night sights for improved performance, day or night.
XS’ R3D with green front sight is now available for the Springfield SA-35, and the DXT2 Big Dot with orange or yellow front sight is available for the Ruger LCP MAX .380. These self-illuminating night sights enable faster and more accurate target acquisition in high-stress, self-defense situations, giving you an advantage when every fraction of a second counts.
R3D for Springfield SA-35
Featuring a 3-dot notch and post sight picture, the R3D green front sight is equipped with XS’ proprietary Glow Dot technology. Not only does the Glow Dot absorb ambient light and glow in low light, it also absorbs light from the tritium center which continually charges the dot making it glow brighter than the rear tritium dots which drives focus to the front sight.
The R3D offers a high-contrast sight picture in bright and low light settings. The rear notch is 15% wider than the front sight, allowing more light around the front blade for faster indexing and more accurate alignment. The rear sight is blacked out to reduce glare and keep focus on the front sight and the threat downrange. It also has a rear sight ledge for one-handed slide manipulation.
DXT2 Big Dot for Ruger LCP MAX .380
The DXT2 is XS’ second-generation Big Dot sight, delivering ultra-fast target acquisition in any light thanks to its industry-leading large front sight with Glow Dot and tritium center. Available with an orange or yellow front sight, the Glow Dot is visible even before the tritium can be seen. This glow, in addition to the large dot size, improves speed and accuracy while shooting on the move. Its V-notch rear sight with vertical white stripe and tritium inset facilitates a dot-the-‘i’ sight picture that is fast and instinctive in high-stress situations.
“Our night sights with XS’ proprietary Glow Dot technology offer gun owners distinct advantages in high-stress, self-defense situations,” said Addison Monroe, Marketing Manager, XS Sights. “The purpose-driven designs deliver excellent contrast to drive focus to the front sight for fast
and accurate target acquisition when every fraction of a second counts.”
All XS Sights are backed by a 10-year, No Questions Asked Warranty and XS’s 30-Day Satisfaction Guarantee.
About XS Sights XS Sights is known for making the fastest sights in any light. For more than 25 years, the XS team has created some of the most innovative sights on the market today for pistols, rifles and shotguns. Whether used for personal defense or hunting, these sights are designed and built to be the absolute best for their specific purpose. American Made. Texas Proud. 2A Strong.
Look, this one goes off the rails pretty quick. Mostly because the original topic is so ridiculous there’s no way for us to take it seriously for longer than like 5 minutes.
Cory Booker and friends want to win some cheap “We’re helping!” points with their gun control fawning constituents so they yeeted this abomination of a bill into the Senate so they can cry and yell about obstructionist Republicans who don’t care about people when this travesty never even leaves committee,
It’s just… awful. And not in like an evil genius manipulating the strings of power type awful. It’s really just that godawful dumb. Make the FBI run an FFL type continuous renewal (because all this is a making everyone an FFL, with none of the perks) on everyone. 100 Million+ licensees and a license for each gun. So somewhere between 400 and 600 million licenses that I am sure they have time to keep track of.
Oh, and that would be a firearms registry and that is illegal.
Oh, and your rule about purchasers needing to be 21 just got struck down in 9th Circuit so that’s problematic too.
Oh, and this would absolutely crush minority, poor, and disadvantaged communities who couldn’t afford to or be bothered to keep their firearm licenses updated since they seem to have so much trouble with free government IDs. But I’m sure we’d sweep all those convictions over into the ‘shh, quiet on all that’ corner like we do with most ineffectual gun control that targets minority communities and results in more convictions for nonviolent offenses and more associated convictions for firearm possession and just spirals to keep them down.
But trimming the books of the garbage laws would open you to attack from the demand moms who demand things shrilly and cut off your Bloombergian gun control war chests of campaign funds, so we won’t do that. Why would we? We can just write inane garbage like this to prove ‘we’ care about violence in our communities.
There is next to nothing more infuriating than well meaning morons with the authority to help you for your own good.
The classic full size CZ is a great service gun and arguably the best buy in steel frame 9mm handguns. Best buy not meaning cheap but meaning it costs less than pistols that don’t perform to its level. The pistol has been cloned extensively. Some of the copies are made to sell cheaply and corners have been cut, usually in terms of fit and finish. Then guns like the Sphinx offer a totally upgraded version. The original is still the pistol to beat in terms of reliability and value.
The compact P-01 is a great pistol, a handgun with a monolithic slide and a light rail. But I believe the most overlooked CZ 75 is the CZ 75D variant and it is among the best choices for concealed carry. If you favor a solid feeling old school handgun then the CZ delivers while also delivering solid modern performance.
Ceska Zbrojovka’s CZ 75 is a double action first shot pistol. The original featured a selective double action style with a manual safety that allows placing the pistol on safe with the hammer to the rear. Once you have fired the pistol in the DA mode and engaged in movement you may simply place the pistol on safe. No need to decock the pistol.
Police agencies found that it was more important to have a pistol with simple administrative handling and asked CZ for a decocker version. The CZ 75 D is the result. This pistol also features a loaded chamber indicator. The result was and is one of the finest of all concealed carry pistols. The compact version features an aluminum frame. This isn’t a difficult handgun to wear constantly yet recoil isn’t sharp. There is enough weight to make the 9mm a controllable cartridge to fire and use.
Like all CZ 75 handguns the double action first shot trigger is long, but smooth. The single action trigger is tight and controllable. The pistol features reversed slide rails. The slide runs inside the frame rails. Contact between the long bearing surfaces is good. The result is a pistol with high accuracy potential. The bore axis is also lower than most double action first shot pistols. The slide rides low and while an advantage in recoil control and accuracy the slide is more difficult to rack than some pistols, less to grab onto.
The pistol is 7.24 inches long, 1.38 inch wide, and weighs 27.5 ounces. The 3.7 inch barrel is long enough to develop good velocity with 9mm loadings. On the Lyman electronic trigger gauge the pistol broke 10.5 pounds in double action. The single action press is a smooth 4.5 pounds. When firing the pistol the double action press is used to perhaps seven yards depending on the skill of the user. A DA first shot gun may be left in the same mode of readiness without lowering the hammer, applying a safety, or otherwise any other action to make the pistol ready to fire. After the first DA shot the slide cocks the hammer and the pistol is ready for single action fire.
I used a quantity of Federal American Eagle and also Federal Syntech ammunition to proof the pistol. Results have been good. The trigger is smooth and the CZ handles well. An important addition to the handgun are HiViz sights.
These sights make for a much better sight picture, and with the tritium front sight true 24 hour capability. These sights are not difficult to install and make for greater hit potential. The pistol shoots well, practically as well as the full size CZ 75. Control isn’t quite as good in a pistol that is lighter than the steel frame CZ but the firing grip is comfortable as the CZ 75 D handle is well shaped for most hands.
Accuracy is good to outstanding. With most practice loads including the American Eagle loading the pistol will group five shots into four inches or less at 25 yards. I fired from a solid benchrest firing position to achieve these results. I also fired the Federal 124 grain HST for groups. This load put five rounds into a solid 2.5 inch group. This is good accuracy for any compact 9mm. I find the CZ 75 D a great all around carry gun. Function and reliability are CZ grade. Some of the CZ pistols have a NATO number and have been extensively tested. This pistol carries on in this tradition.
Washington, D.C. — After another series of deadly mass shootings across the country, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Chair of the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism, Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today reintroduced the Federal Firearm Licensing Act, legislation that would require individuals to obtain a firearm license from the Department of Justice (DOJ) before purchasing or receiving a firearm.
Yep. I’m sure that will work. Terrorists would never ignore a licensing law, nobody under the age of 21 has ever gotten their hands on a gun, and background checks catch people without disqualifying backgrounds. FBI NICS never makes mistakes ever, law enforcement certainly don’t have a rolling history of having ‘known’ about problematic individuals, who later committed atrocities, but they couldn’t be bothered to deny them in NICS. It’s perfect.
In other news, the sky is now confirmed to have been maize in color the whole time. All folks who claim to see blue are just wrong, sorry.
This bill really is a whole sack of stupid.
Applications directly to the DoJ for a firearm ownership license, five year renewal timeframe. Mandatory, absurdly easy, time wasting training to make sure fewer people renew because it is a pain in the ass. FBI oversight, like they have that kind of time on their hands and a sufficient resource pool. I’m sure they have the bandwidth for 100 million new licensees though. It’ll be fine.
Oh and how are we fixing background checks? DOUBLE BACKGROUND CHECKS! Twice the hassle, same information both times.
Terrorists, your game is through. Now you have to answer to… the 4473 and NICS, but like… again. Two times.
Let’s get into this soup sandwich from Booker’s Senate site,
Several studies have shown that licensing laws reduce gun violence in states that have enacted them. According to the Giffords Law Center, Connecticut saw its gun homicide and gun suicide rates decrease by 28 and 33 percent, respectively, after passing a state licensing law. In contrast, after Missouri repealed its firearm licensing law, the state saw a 47 percent increase in its gun homicide rate and 24 percent increase in its gun suicide rate. Licensing laws also enjoy strong support from Americans, with 77% backing the measure according to a Quinnipiac survey from 2019.
So many red flags on the field.
Lets start with ‘several studies‘ show. Of course he references the Gifford’s Law Center and its impeccably impartial data [/sarc].
Remember when RAND found that nearly ALL studies on Gun Control were totally baseless for forming policy conclusions? GAT Daily and Pepperidge Farms remember.
So yeah, please disregard those studies unless you can prove they are one of the 0.4% with sound methodology, Senator. You won’t. But I’m still going to be a voice of skepticism and say I’d put my money on your studies not making the cut.
Next claim, ‘Connecticut saw a 28% drop in homicides and 33% in suicides…’
Connecticut seems to be following the national trends so it seems highly unlikely that your ‘license’ law did much and we can chalk the positive results up to positive social trends.
Then we throw Missouri under the bus, completely disregarding its different socio-economic status and placing it 1:1 with Connecticut. Political science is fun, isn’t it? No controlling for variables, just get a number and make it about the thing you want.
Finally, the 77% backing by the US Population in a Quinnipiac survey… from 2019.
I wonder why he didn’t talk about 2021 or 2022?
Where is that 77%, Cory? This is starting to feel like that ‘girlfriend from another school’ folks would make up to sound cool. We are also well aware that support for any proposal is as easy as manipulating the language in a binary survey, especially to those ignorant of policy as it stands.
“In our nation, gun violence has become eerily routine and we’ve done little to stop the horrific mass shootings that devastate the lives of victims and their loved ones,” said Sen. Booker. “Accepting this shameful status quo will continue to lead to deadly consequences. We need to adopt proven, common-sense measures that will address the scourge of gun violence and make our communities safer.”
What are we accepting beyond the unchangeable? You cannot enforce sanity. You cannot enforce utopia. Why are we still lying to the public about, ‘bad things don’t happen if they are against the rules.’
What is proven? What is ‘common sense’ about this policy? What expert or study are you citing that has been peer reviewed and taken apart to find the flaws, Cory? Which one? Another of the nearly 28,000 studies that failed academic scrutiny at better that 99 times out of 100? 99.6% useless and could not draw a reasonable conclusion.
“This bill moves us in the right direction and is based on a simple concept – if you need a license to drive a car, you should need one to buy and possess a gun,” continued Sen. Booker. “Firearm licensing laws have broad public support and have been shown to reduce gun violence in states that have enacted them, including in my home state of New Jersey. This is the moment to enact ambitious legislation – as a nation, we must rise to it, or we are fated to witness the deadly scenes of this past weekend and years past over again.”
It is a simple concept that is blatantly illegal and violates the Constitution. Also, who do we think this will negatively influence the most? If you said the ‘African American and other poor and/or minority communities’, you’d be correct. Exacerbate the racial and economic criminal disparity by inventing more crimes? Cory Booker is your guy.
“The United States stands alone in our failure to protect our citizens from gun violence. While many states, including New Jersey, have commonsense gun laws, the need for federal licensing standards has long been clear,” said Sen. Menendez. “The Federal Firearms Licensing Act would put in place a certification process that includes firearm safety training and a thorough criminal background and identity check requiring the licensee be 21 years of age. We have a moral obligation to prevent these senseless massacres in our schools, supermarkets, places of worship and shopping malls that are tearing communities and families apart. It is my hope that my Republican colleagues will once-and-for-all recognize the urgency of action and join us in passing this legislation before more lives are senselessly lost to gun violence.”
Ah, Senator Menendez. Thank you for joining us with your asinine assertions. Let me point to a few reasons why you are wrong.
Bataclan in 2015, Paris France, killed 130 people (and then the 7 attackers). So it turns out violence is not unique to the United States, weird.
Oh, and one more. Just a single word.
Ukraine.
So I hope that your Republican, and Democrat, colleagues tell you and Cory to pound sand.
“This legislation will save lives and protect communities across the United States from the devastating impact of gun violence,” said Sen. Blumenthal. “As shown by the success in Connecticut, simple, common sense standards like licensing laws requiring the completion of a background check and firearm safety certification work. I’m proud to join Senators Booker and Menendez in this effort to address our nation’s gun violence epidemic.”
Senator Blumenthal, welcome to the nonsense. What astounding success in Connecticut? Sure the homicide rate is below average but it tracks with the national trend. You’re also in a state with a much higher than median average income. No? That would be ist-ish or phobic to imply? Connecticut residents earning, on average, 21% more than the national average, could that have something to do with lower rates of violence or no? Economic stability isn’t a substantial social factor in determining likelihood of use of violence as a currency, right?
Here’s the three points of stupid.
In order to obtain a federal firearm license, the bill would require the following:
Certification that the individual completed firearm safety training, which must include a written test and hands-on training to ensure safe use and accuracy.
Completion of a criminal history background check.
Submission of fingerprints, proof of identity, and verification that the individual is at least 21-years-old.
So pretty much exactly what we’ve had piecemeal around the nation for concealed carry permits for decades and states are increasingly dropping that requirement because the licensure was just a pain, a waste of state time and resources, and a violation of the state resident’s civil right to be armed.
The federal firearm license must be renewed every five years at which point the applicant will have to go through a background check and undergo firearm safety training again.
Cool, more hassle to get those numbers down. Especially among the poor and minorities. Good ole class warfare and you’re even saying this is for their own good, fantastic.
The bill contains a mechanism for the DOJ to revoke the license if the individual poses a danger to themselves or to others.
Woohoo! Red flag laws at last. I’m sure since personal protective orders have never failed to protect their subject or been used against someone maliciously and slanderously that this will work out just fine.
It would require the Federal Bureau of Investigation to regularly conduct checks to ensure that individuals are in compliance with federal license requirements and keeps in place requirements that all people purchasing firearms from a federal firearms licensee undergo a background check.
Double. BACKGROUND. CHECKS.
Double the safety. Double the double. Double mint gum?
And of course an enormous bureaucratic oversight burden on the FBI.
The Army National Guard Sniper Association has been an organization that have preached competition and lived by that word. Many NG Sniper teams around the country often show up to matches such as Mammoth, NRL/PRS matches, and precision gas gun matches. They also push other National Guard Soldiers to grow their their marksmanship programs and compete through the Army.
“Military Units face training hurdles annually. We fill these training gaps by paying entry fees for snipers who want to shoot civilian competitions nation-wide. After years of instructing snipers, we’ve realized that getting one’s butt kicked in competition is the best training around. We understand the man in the arena and want to help.”-ANGSA
The Match
Description from Practiscore,
Match starts: July 01, 2022 @ 6:00 AM · Match ends: July 01, 2022 @ 2:00 PM
Location: 6205 Harper Rd Little Rock, Arkansas 72206
GWOT War Stories is an annual fundraiser for ANGSA. This will be a Military Style Sniper Competition using courses of fire to reenact real sniper engagements from the Global War on Terror . It is limited to .308 (long gun) and 9mm (pistol). Match will be 9 to 10 stages, and between 80 to 100 rounds of .308 and 30 to 50 rounds of pistol. Lunch and drinks will be provided. There will be trophies for the top 3 shooters, and category winners. Match fee is 100 dollars for all competitors which is paid through practiscore upon sign up. Sign in and open zero range is from 7:00am to 7:30am before the match, safety brief starts at 730am, with rounds down range by 8:00am.
“We spent the day developing courses of fire for GWOT War Stories. Each COF will follow a soldier through a particular engagement in Afghanistan or Iraq. Shooters will learn about that Unit’s rotation and shoot each engagement for points in the process. These stories were taken from a book called “Hunters: US Soldiers in the Global War on Terror” by Mylo S. Afong. We think the shooters will enjoy this match and learn something about Sniper history as well.”-ANGSA
From the Author: Coming from the Minnesota guard being a Small Arms Repairer I supported the sniper teams often. They were some of the most humble dudes I knew and worked really hard to reinvigorate both their states marksmanship team and their long gun maintenance procedures. The Cav Scouts and Sniper teams are the main reason I even started long range shooting and now have such a passion for it. These dudes were willing to teach yet also learn from a 20 year old female wanting to help them out. This organization and guys are near and dear to my heart and the fact that they are working so hard to compete and hold matches is very important. Not many military guys are interested in diving into the civilian shooting world so it’s very important to support and promote events like this.
A U.S. appeals court ruled last Wednesday (not yesterday) that California’s ban on the sale of semiautomatic weapons to adults under 21 is unconstitutional.
Those of us who know, say “…duh” but that hasn’t stopped any other low neuron attempt at curbing “gun violence” out of the west coast so why would bumping the age to 21 strike anyone as a problem?
In a 2-1 ruling, a three judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wednesday the law violates the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms and a San Diego judge should have blocked what it called “an almost total ban on semiautomatic centerfire rifles” for young adults. “America would not exist without the heroism of the young adults who fought and died in our revolutionary army,” Judge Ryan Nelson wrote. “Today we reaffirm that our Constitution still protects the right that enabled their sacrifice: the right of young adults to keep and bear arms.”
Simply put, it is a right. It is a human right. The restrictions placed upon that right up to today have not in any meaningful way hindered the negative effects of that right as slayings, including mass killings, continue to occur with or without ‘dangerous’ semi-automatic firearms being denied to young adults.
There continues to be no such thing as a safe firearm in the hands of a dangerous person and vice versa, there is no particularly dangerous firearm in the hands of a safe and responsible citizen. The risk a firearm, any firearm, in the hands of the average citizen is low. In the hands of a motivated killer the risk is high. Alcohol continues to be twice as lethal as all firearm causes combined, with an estimated 95,000 alcohol related deaths against the 45,000 firearm related (homicide, suicide, and accidental).
A hunting license requirement in the state remains intact, so not a total win, but it was nice to see courts curb the slow creep against the right to keep and bear arms in a meaningful way in California, where it is already so viciously and absurdly eroded to no positive effect. If California’s laws really worked they wouldn’t be 1 for 1 with Texas on shootings involving multiple victims. I’m not calling them ‘Mass Shootings’ unless they fit the MAPS criteria from now on. It is utterly ridiculous for us to say mass shooting for a retaliatory drive by with criminal on criminal intent and a politically motivated act of terrorism, just as it is absurd we label suicides ‘gun violence’ instead of self harm. All in the name of pumping a stat to make it scarier.
But a little good news in a week of bad with Buffalo looming.
In this piece, we’re going to walk through the benefits of why the ACSS Reticles make sense in red dot sights.
Over the last several years, red dot sights have gotten smaller, more affordable, and a lot more capable.
One of those innovations is in reticles: what used to be a choice between red, green, and the addition of a circle has now expanded into more useful options. Here, we’ll talk about the general purpose of the ACSS style of reticles, and then its applications to both long guns and handguns in the context of practical, defensive, and competition shooting.
The ACSS Reticle
The ACSS family of reticles take the common red dot sight and update it for a lot more user-friendly functionality for high-pressure circumstances.
In a typical red dot, there’s a dot in the middle for targeting. ACSS reticles replace this with a chevron, or triangle with the point facing up. In and of itself, this might not make a ton of difference at close range but can be useful for longer range shots.
Additionally, ACSS reticles have a circle that rests just on the outside of the field of view. This might look sort of similar to the circles inside of some Eotech sights, but the purpose here is to not use the circle for targeting as such. Instead, the circle of the ACSS reticle is meant for guiding you to the chevron.
Let me explain a bit.
Ideally, as soon as you bring up the gun to your line of sight, you’ll see the chevron and put it on the target directly. But, under stressful circumstances such as shooting in a competition or self-defense, you might well be fairly far off target and need a way to get back on quickly. This is where the circle comes in. If you’ve ever pulled up a handgun and had to search for the dot in the optic window you will understand.
Under normal circumstances, you won’t see much of the circle at all. If, however, you do see it, it’s a signal to correct your aim. If you can see the bottom of the circle, for example, you need to bring the muzzle down. Similarly, if you see the right side of the circle, bring the muzzle to the left. With a little practice, this aiming system becomes fast and intuitive, making the ACSS Reticle Red Dot Sights great for high-pressure shooting of all kinds.
ACSS Reticles on Long Guns
On a long gun the deceptively simple ACSS CQB reticle can be a powerful tool. The reticle consists of the chevron and circle of the whole ACSS family but has three additional dots.
At close range, the chevron is your point of aim, and impact, for rifle rounds and shotgun slugs. Under 25 meters, the circle also gives you some clue as to the size of a standard buckshot pattern on a shotgun. So far, so good for a close-range optic like the Holosun Paralow HS503G.
Longer ranges are where the ACSS Reticle Red Dot Sights get clever. If you zero the optic properly, the tip of the chevron is your zero for 100 yards and should work just fine under that range for defensive shooting. By the time you get to the bottom ‘wings’ of the chevron, you ought to be on target for 300m. This sweet spot, of 0-300m means that, to put shots on a man-sized target, all you have to do is put the chevron in center mass and press the trigger.
For longer shots, though, the dots below the chevron represent marks for 400, 500, and 600m respectively: thus, with a little bit of training and some luck or a good call with the wind, you ought to be able to engage targets out to respectable ranges with this simple red dot, which makes it a great option for defensive guns.
ACSS Reticle Red Dot Sights on Handguns
Handgun shooting is, of course, a fair bit different than shooting a rifle. Generally, folks are shooting handguns at close range, and sometimes in defense of their own life, which is, to say the least, an extremely stressful situation. In these kinds of situations, the more simple ACSS Vulcan reticle is extremely useful, and we’d consider it a good option for any handgun with a compatible slide cutout.
In those close quarters situations, the ACSS Vulcan reticle like you’ll see on the Holosun HS507C-X2 will have just the chevron and circle. The short version here is that the circle guides you into the chevron. Aiming with the Vulcan is quick, easy, and refined to an actual point which is what makes it great for handguns.
For practical pistol shooting under most circumstances, we’d recommend putting the ACSS Reticle red dot sight on a gun that has pre-made cutouts for it. At under about 25m, all you have to do is put the chevron on center mass and press the trigger. You can use the chevron the same way as you can on a rifle or shotgun, the bottom of the chevron can be used to make shots at substantially longer ranges if you’re confident in your pistol shooting abilities.
Applications and Final Thoughts on ACSS Reticles Red Dot Sights
Overall, we think the optics that come with ACSS reticles offer some compelling propositions. In long guns, the ability to shoot well out to 600 yards on a single unmagnified reticle is great. With that said, it might also make sense to pair these optics with a flip-down magnifier to help you see and engage at long-distance targets. Thus, you’d get the best of both worlds, with short range speed and some long-range precision.
In pistols, we think that the ACSS Vulcan can help get on target quickly, and the chevron’s relatively large size makes it easy to use under stress. We’d also strongly consider one of the “pistol” optics as a secondary, or offset, sight in addition to a magnified scope on an AR10 build or something similar.
Overall, the family of ACSS reticle red dot sights promise interesting capabilities beyond traditional red-dot optics.
As a craft beer sipping, flannel-wearing, bearded, CZ-loving dude, I think I have to embrace the fact that I’m a gun hipster. I’ll cry into my Sturgill Simpson records in just a bit, but before I crack open my expensive, artisan, locally crafted sour, I wanted to list the most hipster guns on the market. It’d be fairly easy to dive into the history of firearms to make this list.
Tossing on the S&W Model 1940 Light Rifle or the Russian PSM would be easy. SO I made rules, and those rules are that the gun has to be in production or have been in production recently enough that I can find it on Guns America. It needs to be an available firearm, and with that in mind, let’s put on our patent leather shooting gloves and embrace the Top 5 hipster guns.
CZ-75
The CZ series of firearms has slowly broken into the American firearms mainstream, but they are still the king of hipster guns. CZ presents a contrarian option for a firearm in a world of polymer-framed, striker-fired pistols. The classic CZ-75 offers you a metal-framed DA/SA pistol with a fascinating design and interesting history.
It’s a Czech gun, designed behind the iron curtain and hit with a secret patent. One of the oddest ideas came from the SIG P210: the slide rides inside the frame rails.
This shrinks the slide and lowers the bore axis. It’s an odd but low-recoiling design. CZ pistols are brilliantly made and offer you a very competent pistol.
At the same time, the odd design makes it an easy pick for armed hipsters. It defies the norm without offering you a compromised weapon. Hell, I haven’t even mentioned how amazing the grip design is…
Benelli M3
The Benelli M2 and M4 get all the love and everyone kinda just glosses over the Benelli M3. Benelli is the semi-auto shotgun company to watch, and they know exactly what they are doing. It’s sad to see the M3, one of the most versatile shotguns ever, get ignored. Well, ignored by everyone but hipsters.
The Benelli M3 delivers a semi-auto shotgun that can convert to pump action with the twist of a ring.
This allows the shotgun to fire basically any load out there, from buckshot to less-lethal loads and more. This setup should be a massive success, but it never gets mentioned in a conversation rotating around the 1301, the M2, and M4.
The Benelli M3 falls into the hipster guns category of being better, more intuitive, and underrated compared to its more popular brethren. It’s a finally made, inertia-driven gun that just rules.
BRN-180
Oh, you want a 5.56 caliber rifle, so just get an AR. Oh wait, you are a hipster who wants a 5.56 caliber rifle. The AR 15 is your bane. It’s too popular, but man, you want the accessorization, the affordable magazines, the common cartridge, so what do you do?
Well, you go to Brownells and order a BRN-180.
The BRN-180 mimics Armalite’s other, less popular rifle, the AR-18/180. Brownells built the uppers and redesigned them to work with standard AR lowers.
They’ve also produced dedicated BRN-180 lowers that work with AR components. The BRN 180 offers you all the advantages of the AR-15 without having to be a normie with a AR-15.
Plus, Brownells made a really nice rifle. It’s low recoiling, comes in various barrel lengths, and even comes in 300 Blackout. Plus, you can sing my little Armalite while rolling your own cigarette with your homegrown tobacco.
Chiappa Rhino
Revolvers are inherently a little hipsterish these days and are no longer the realm of that cool old guy. Of all the hipster guns I could choose, I feel the Chiappa Rhino is the most hipster of the revolvers. This Italian design does a lot of things differently than most revolvers.
First, they align the barrel with the bottom cylinder. This lowers the bore axis and effectively eliminates muzzle flip, even in magnum calibers.
The cylinder is hexagonal, and the hammer isn’t actually a hammer and is a cocking device. It keeps getting weirder too.
The larger variants feature accessory rails to mount red dots and flashlights, which take the Rhino right into the world of tactical handguns while still being a six-shooter.
Heritage Rancher
Finally, last but not least, the Heritage Rancher brings you another revolver…but it’s not a handgun. This is a revolving rifle. Heritage took the Rough Rider and lengthened the barrel, added a stock, and called it a day. Kind of anyway.
Revolving rifles are always oddballs, and the Heritage Rancher gives you an affordable option for the oddball in all of us.
As far as hipster guns go, it crosses a number of paths. It’s a revolver, it’s a rifle, it’s a rimfire, and it’s a budget-worthy carbine.
It’s probably the least efficient rimfire rifle out there. Heck, you can’t even use a traditional rifle grip with the gun, and you’ll get blasts of gas in the face all the time. It kind of sucks, but it also kind of rules.
Hipster Guns and You
What’s your favorite hipster gun? Do you have a specific one you prefer? I feel like I could go on and on about hipster guns, but I think I’ve made my point. Hipster guns are those that do something different just for the sake of it, and I can always appreciate that.
From the recent SIG FREEDOM DAYs event, a prism fixed power optic and an LPVO
Which optic should you mount on your carbine?
“tHe 1 U WilL TraIN WiTh!” -Unhelpful Internet Keyboard Warrior/Commentator, paraphrased
Navigating the modern optical types, and why you might put them onto a carbine, is one of the most repeatedly voiced questions in this industry. Second perhaps only to, “Is this a good handgun for personal protection?”
Building what the US Army is now calling ‘Fire Control’ into your rifle’s equipment list is not a one size fits all proposition. You probably have a default base option if you’ve done this before. You probably also have a default recommendation if you’ve been asked this a few times. My personal default optic is a quality SFP LPVO. I don’t particularly care whose name is on it if it gives me a clean point of aim, but if pressed I’ll say SIG, Vortex, and Steiner.
My default recommendation, which differs from default personal choice, always tends towards, “Try a red dot first.” The $200-ish red dot game in 2022 is strong and the top tier models are still affordable in scale. If the response is, “I’d really like a LPVO.” well then get an LPVO, you can always change it later. Optics are becoming the pricier cousin of holsters, you start to collect them as you try different things. Slower than holsters true due to the price and higher likelihood you find something earlier in the search that you like, but I still have a larger pile of optics than rifles.
One of the most problematic selections you have to make as the shooter/operator/10 level user is defining your intended role and the effective range of the firearm. If you’re an Agency, the use role is probably officially defined. We aren’t building and saying its effective range, we are defining your effective range.
Is this a 3-Gun rifle? A precision rifle? A CQB/Home protection gun? A duty rifle that will carry legal defensive use/use of force implications? Is it meant to cover down on any or all of those roles? Is your rifle a specialist or an all purpose gun?
In short…
What do you need your rifle to do best, fastest, and first?
Many things work, but some will work better for what you are asking the carbine to do.
These aren’t always easy questions. The reason they aren’t easy is the rifle you’re setting up is likely very capable of serving many of the listed roles. You see no reason not to cover all of the possible roles that you can, especially if its as simple as selecting an optic.
For the most part, if done properly with some practical training to back it, it is that simple. The difference between piss poor performance and passable proficiency is a far shorter time period than people think, but it isn’t a 0:00 time investiture and it cannot be substituted with equipment purchase.
Enough on training, back to selecting an optic.
After defining what you need your rifle to do best, fastest, and first, you get into the list of what would you like your rifle to do in addition to what you need it to do. Your optics are your most influential addition for exploiting your rifle’s full capabilities.
The trouble with choice (and tribbles)
Selection of an optic is not helped by the fact that every optic manufacturer is invested in telling you that their optic is the best optic for all the best reasons at being the best optically.
Via Amazon. Look at the laser!! NEW FIT MUCH BETTER!
I’d love to say quality speaks for itself, but it doesn’t. Not always. Sometimes people just like the pretty pictures.
The S&B Short Dot that started the fighting gun LPVO path in earnest, after Gothic Serpent/Black Hawk Down, wasn’t commercially well known… at all. It was a combat grade optic by Schmidt & Bender, but they didn’t add the short-dot to a market that they were supplying with hunting scopes and they didn’t bother with the optic for a long time after fulfilling the contract and updates from Delta. Compounding that, the timeframe where the scope could’ve been sold was stymied by the Clinton AWB so there were far fewer commercially circulating rifles to even advertise towards. At the time not spending to talk about the Short Dot made sense, he market was small and the optic was niche and then the market was choked by legislation.
Original Short Dots were 1.1-4x, the newest is a 1-8x
Quality on its own doesn’t speak at all, it merely exists. Users speak, so the quality item has to get into user hands and those users have to articulate the reasons they like it. A product also has to fulfill enough requirements for a purchaser to choose it. Those requirements will include cost per unit in most cases, especially for agency/group purchases on defined budgets.
Your heart may say KAC, HK, or FN, running a sweet Geissele trigger, with an ATACR or Razor III, and a MAWL and KIJI, and a Modlite/Cloud Defensive WML, andan offset RMR/ACRO P-2, a n d with your favorite rifle suppressor and…
So the heart says spend $10,000.00.
But your agency (or significant other) says keep it around $2,000 if you want to live. So prudence says something like a Z-15 with a PRO, or Duty, or P4Xi, a TLR RM2 light, add a moderate cost suppressor of quality. If there’s budget enough left over for the suppressor that is. Also you Chief or admin might still be on that ridiculous “too militant” schtick and you might have to contend with that.
So you can’t always get what you want. Is this ‘meets requirements’ rifle boasting the absurdly nice performance of the exquisite rifle and optical dream suite that you’d like?
No.
Will it probably serve your needs?
Yep.
Which is why we go back to asking what we need, then what we want, and finally where would our money be best spent?
You’ve got two choices for 2022
Aimpoint CompM5 RDSFront Focal Plane Razor Gen III 1-10 and an offset HRS
Red Dot or LPVO.
Realistically, based upon performance and needs, those are it. Two distinct optics for two distinct range roles.
Red Dot
See. This guy gets it.
Have a new rifle? Put a dot on it. Done. Right?
Which dot? That actually matters less and less the longer we let RDS technology develop and optimize. We are neatly topped up in quality red dot options from any of about a dozen places, and passable quality from triple that many. I recall days when the answer was an Aimpoint CompM2, EOTech 500 series, or a Bushnell TRS-25… and that was it. The market had nothing else to offer.
What does a red dot do?
The red dot provides a precisely aligned aiming point that does not occlude the target. It does this with an LED (or a laser in the case of holographics) projected against a coated lens in alignment with the tube housing. Holographic emitter tech allows holosights to be more precise than the LED types, at the expensive of battery life, but those gains are marginal since the optic is on a 1.5-4 MOA accurate rifle to begin with.
Without getting into the extreme minutiae details of coatings, interrupted emission, parallax, etc. the red dot acts as a permanently aligned ‘iron sight’ on the rifle. This also removes interference with seeing all around the target. It offers a precise aiming point, and that point is much more indicative of any given rifle’s accuracy than a front sight post is. Recall that an AR front sight tends to be 13-18 MOA coverage and completely occludes everything below it. After about 150 yards the sight post appears larger than the target.
The red dot is aiming made easy, but not is not seeing made easy. Aid in seeing is why optics like the ACOG succeeded. That aid in seeing is now accomplished with the LPVOs or magnifiers too. Magnification has its place.
But the aid in aiming on a red dot remains both constant and forgiving of a users body position.
As goofy an image as that officer above is, it does illustrate a strength of the dot optics. That position, while horribly unstable, has a usable sight picture. All sorts of variations of oddball positions can still produce a useable sight picture with a red dot.
Sight alignment? The red dot sight is always aligned. Exempting a hard enough impact to move the optic, the optic will remain in alignment to the barrel and the flight path of the round. Variations on the flight path can be compensated for and trained into a red dot user, but comfortably generalizing a red dot allows for a point-of-aim = point-of-impact system. That is within a few inches of vertical spread, on almost any rifle, in any caliber, in any mount from a co-witnessed one to the tall UNITY types, with a 50yard/meter zero. It is a gross oversimplification, but its a field expedient one that hits that ‘close enough to be useable’ category. When in doubt, zero at 50 and drive on.
POA=POI: An AR-15 with a 50 yard zero, firing a typical 55gr round, with the optic 2.7″ above the bore (39mm, lower 1/3 type mounts).
The rifle would be hitting the target 2.7″ low with the muzzle touching the target. It would impact 1.25″ low at 25 yards. Going further, point of aim at 50 yards (zero). It would then strike the target about 1″ above the point of aim at 75 yards. It will reach the highest point of its flight at around 150 yards, striking at 2.3″ above the point of aim.
The total spread on my my quick example, put into a ballistic app, is 5″ of vertical travel from muzzle, to apex, to 280 yards where it is back inline with the muzzle 2.7″ below the point of aim.
Now if we additionally use the best practice of zeroing with the bottom edge of the dot, the red dot’s size works in our favor. A 2 MOA red dot at 75 yards is about 1.5″ of coverage, so a rounds impact is still within the dot’s coverage as it continues to rise. At 150 yards the dot is covering 3″ of space and the impact is only 2.3″ high, still covered inside of the dot. Until we reach that 200-300 yard (or meter) moderate range zone where the other environmental effects really start to come into play too, like wind and odd angles, the red dot remains a very simple and thus very easy to train aiming solution.
Magnify it?
Seen on a Scalarworks mount and paired with an EOTech Magnified, the Vortex SPARC Solar on an LWRCi M6 PSD
Nearly as simple as the red dot itself, adding a magnifier to a rifle is a simple solution to the simple yet serious problem of being able to target identify and justify a shot. It also aids in things like zeroing even if you don’t keep the magnifier on the rifle permanently. Our eyes are really good (unless they aren’t, curse you age and genetics) at distinguishing details to about 50 yards. Which means the red dot is really good to about 50 yards, unassisted.
Past that distance we need an increasingly specific set of variables to justify taking a shot, magnifying our sight picture can give us that and strapping a magnifier of 3-6x in place behind the dot can be the simple solution that gives us enough information to make the shoot/no shoot decision.
Remember that a red dot on a rifle is not its range limiter, you and your eyeballs are. If it is a shot you are going to have to justify, you need the information to do that. This is why lights and optics are crucial pieces of equipment. A magnifier may make the difference between, “He was about 80 yards away and I saw something in his hands…” and “He was about 80 yards away and I saw the pistol in his hand. He raised it to shoot again so I fired and stopped him.”
Don’t think an 80 yard shot is “realistic”, do a rough wall to wall walking measurement of any major chain store. Wal-Mart, Home Depot, wherever really. There are public spaces, especially for law enforcement, where a long shot might be necessary.
Magnifiers are good options, understanding what they do for you gives you more options.
A red dot topped firearm with a room filling flashlight is a hard combination to top for home defense, or CQB, or any use space where 25 yards is the long shot. But rifles can grant effective close solutions without giving up anything, hence longer distance zeros and equipment to take advantage of them.
If you live in a serious, no exceptions, no ‘everywhere except this one spot’ world where a rifle only needs to hit something inside 50 yards very quickly, a dot on its own will cover you.
LPVO
Supreme rulers of the optical world for 2022.
Or it certainly feels that way online, doesn’t it? Unless you’re going for a specific niche or clone, if you aren’t running an LPVO now you’re well… not as cool as you could be if your scope did the zoomy thing instead of just the glowing thing.
Why is that?
The short answer is an LPVO is very good at what it does, and what it does is grant a user full range of effect on their rifles while not giving up that 1x CQB shooting. The LPVO has been instrumental in allowing shooters to actually take advantage of the fact their rifle is capable of fairly precise shots at 200, 300, even 500 yards.
A challenge to the user on how easy close distance shooting was makes the ACOG, as exceptional a sight as that is in totality, and other prism optics being increasingly relegated into niche or clone roles. Prism sights have steep adaptive curves for close distance shooting, especially above 3x magnification. A 4x and 1x joint sight picture between two eyes is difficult to reconcile, you can do it on an ACOG but it is still a disjointed information input. The Bindon Aiming Concept (BAC) was a good solution for its time, but we don’t need to do it anymore.
The LPVO vastly simplifies that information input, we can see 1x and 1x with only minor distortions instead of 1x/3-5x. We can reconcile that sight picture much more quickly, and if we need magnification we have as much or as little as we want for a shot on demand. The newest offerings are often 8x or 10x top level magnification. We’re topping patrol and service rifles with optics that meet or exceed what a sniper might have used in years past.
The March F “Shorty” is highly representative of the direction LPVO’s are moving. Mounted in a ScalarWorks ring originally designed for the Aimpoint PRO
In 2022, with the LPVOs getting smaller, lighter, clearer, and increasingly more affordable, they are becoming a much more viable standard option for a carbine than we’ve ever had.
Things lost
You do lose two things going to an LPVO. The forgiving eye relief on a red dot and its small profile. Red dots today add very little weight to a rifle, especially the micro variants. Even the chonkiest of red dot sights is only about 12 oz in weight and maybe 6 inches of rail space taken.
An LPVO and mount are going to add about a pound and a half, no real way around that fact. They also have an eye box you have to get your eyeball into to find a sight picture.
They are more complicated and less durable. The far greater number of lenses, moving parts, and complexity make the LPVO a more susceptible optic than a red dot to problems. Less durable does not equate to “fragile” necessarily, but there is no way to make a magnifying scope body as durable to damage and environmental intrusion as a red dot is or an ACOG is. Not easily. Look at the MRO or the Aimpoint CompM5, then compare that to the VCOG. The VCOG being the only comparably durable LPVO. It takes a lot to harden a variable optic. I don’t know if the new Vortex XM157 is to the VCOG standard, I know the Tango 6T and Razor II/III’s in service are not. They’re durable but not to the level of the ACOGs or Red Dots. They can’t be, they are vastly different in construction complexity.
So the durability question gets balanced against the capability question. Do you need an optic waterproof to 66ft or do you need it to be able to be rained on and the resist mud? Those are levels of intrusion durability but one is less durable.
Things gained
There are perks, clearly. The magnification from 1-(up to)10x being the most obvious.
Additionally the LPVO is a solid state optic, its reticle is physical and not projected. This sight works with eyes that have issues with red dot flare, commonly astigmatism, they can also work well with more serious eye issues. This sight works if the battery is dead too. The reticle doesn’t go away if you forgot to swap your battery, you just might lose the bright dot or contrasting center of the reticle but not the whole reticle vanishing.
Reticle assistance is an assets the user gains too, reticles that help center quick shots at 1x and have more detail for aiding holdovers and hold offs for wind or moving targets are easy to add. The challenge is in scaling it properly to not be too much or too little to aid the shooter. It is easy to clutter a reticle.
Reticle design can vary wildly between the second and first focal plane scopes too, and a user can select which fits their need.
Second focal plane LPVOs are aided by their brighter sight pictures, easier and brighter illumination with better battery life, and simple reticle designs. It’s easiest to think of these optics like red dots with a variable magnifier included.
Front focal plane LPVOs can have much more complex and properly scaled Mil/Mil or MOA/MOA reticles that can aid shot placement at distance. The reticle scales with the target image so ranging, holds, and placement will always be to scale in a front focal optic build. The additional complexity and lenses in these do make for a darker sight picture and usually poorer illumination. The only true exception I have found to that thus far is the Razor III by Vortex, it has very nice illumination and glass.
Click the question above for an explanation, already went down that path.
Which do you pick?
Try both. Find a friend, or a class, or a range where you can mess with both of them in propercontext.
Proper context meaning one where it is properly mounted, eye relieved, batteries in, and everything able to be tried in its working format. A bunch of people get turned off certain gear because they aren’t handed it in a working condition to actually try instead of just stare at.
So, like most things, go shoot with them and find out.
