Gun Control Doesn’t Work – It’s Science

By

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April 1, 2022

If there is no other video on Gun Control you take the time to watch, watch this one from Reason.

Why?

Because it took a looks at a study that studied nearly 28,000 studies on gun control and determined… it’s bunk. The laws trying to control firearms are effectively useless. Why? ‘Gun Violence’ in its nebulous definition is an overall statistically rare event. It is also a complex event. Various motives, methodologies, means, and desired outcomes are fall under this broad category and that makes trying to build simple policies to complex issues nearly impossible.

Out of the 28,000 studies only 123, that’s .4% had data methodology that RAND found solid enough to even look at as being useful. In that sampling they didn’t even find the proper amount of random error for or against gun control policies (5%).

What do I mean? I mean that in deep and meaningful data analysis we should be seeing 5% data correlation both for and against gun control that is absolutely randomly generated nonsense. They didn’t.

What’s more intriguing is the near total lack of negative results being shown as significant in the data. The results were worse in the suspect studies.

The conclusion is obvious, data suggesting Gun Control is harmful is willfully suppressed by the researchers because we should at least be getting about a 5% random amount that says it is harmful. We aren’t there was one, one result that suggested harm. Based on the data there should have been roughly 36 to hit the statistical average for random results. There was only one.

Now the news isn’t all pro-gun glory.

Why?

There is no conclusive evidence saying firearms are particularly beneficial either. Why? For the same reasons. Lack of data, too few trackable incidents with definable variables, sheer amount of other random factors in the trackable incidents.

What do I mean?

Say you have two home invasions, one where the home owner is harmed or killed and the other where the home owner drives off or kills the intruder. Both home owners are gun owners. That is one negative result and one positive result. But the positive result came from a prepared and practiced gun owner who happened to be carrying their firearm like they usually do, while the negative result came from someone who just bought the gun and locked it in a gun safe.

Now take and change any of the variables around, we can drastically change how the positive or negative results were arrived at without actually changing the result from one good and one bad. There’s the problem. All the data on how the result was achieved is what matters. That vast series of variables, decisions, and successful and unsuccessful actions between the two opposing parties in the fight are what achieved the result. The gun was a single inanimate variable. There are plenty of scenario variations where the gun played no part, but the study would conclude either gun owner plus positive result or gun owner plus negative result in its crude use of the data.

So whether or not Gun Control is beneficial is not scientifically supported in any way. All of our available data is neutral or majority inconclusive/insufficient on the subject. So in the absence of strong substantiated correlations and causations on the subject, Gun Control becomes entirely moralistic in arguments for its implementation while the same people disregard its real world negative societal impacts. The argument becomes a debate based upon someone’s ascribed rhetoric, not on science. How they personally view weapons and their proper use shape their policy position, not data. The data we have is scarce and largely inconclusive.

So in the absence of being able to say we can move the needle when the odds are against it, do we try gun control and accept the negative effects as moralistically justified? I personally say no. We don’t. We do not compromise and make criminals out of people on the off chance we might catch and prevent a small indeterminant portion of negative outcomes. To hold such a purview you must either be ignorant of or disregard positive outcomes of pro-gun policy and/or be ignorant of or disregard the negative outcomes of gun control.

Guns alone don’t make us safer. Guns alone don’t make our lives more dangerous. They’re just guns, inanimate metal, plastic, and wood. The presence of an oven doesn’t make you more or less safe, the existence one in ones home, doesn’t tilt the needle one way or another. An oven’s safe use and routine maintenance will very likely prevent a fire or other dangerous event while its careless use and neglect increases the likelihood of a negative event. But the oven itself is just a thing. More data needed.

TL;DR or don’t have the time to watch,

Out of nearly 28,000 studies on Gun Control, well over 99.6% of them were built on bullshit data.

Of the 123 studies that had data methodologies solid enough to pay attention to, no positive or negative efficacy could be found from gun control policies. Policies didn’t do anything. Lack of policy existence didn’t do anything either. Anyone saying otherwise is citing one of the flawed and rejected studies. Politicians and gun control advocates were most likely to cite the most flawed studies in their rhetoric.

Additionally, looking at the data, there was a lack of negative results that should have been there, which suggests studies suppressed negative results to reach the conclusions they wanted.

Politicians and politically motivated researchers lying? Imagine that.

Because the internet said so

By

Keith Finch

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April 1, 2022

I keep the mix here on GAT and Gunday as diverse as possible between political garbage we have to act on, the reviews on products, services, and training I know you want to read, and the fun stuff that can burn 10 to 15 minutes of your and my day away. Getting to weekend-o-clock can be rough.

Because it is Friday, and I am taking a break from traditional April 1st shenanigans due to the absurdities of modern existence, I instead present to you the lighthearted fun of Brandon Herrera making a gun because the internet said so.

From his achieves of Cursed Gun Images arose an abomination that looked… well.. like it would probably work.

A PCC type AK rifle fed from Thompson magazines.

So he and his team built it. Hit play on the video and enjoy. Seriously, it’s Friday. Relax if you can. Gunday Brunch is coming Sunday and I think we’re in the end of our final return to winter here in the northern states. Although this could be still end up being, “False Spring 4, Hahaha April Fools” I am optimistic the weather is turning favorable.

In other news

I’ll be heading out to Sig’s Freedom Days and you can too. Sig started doing separate range events during SHOT a few years back because, well, they make a lot of products to try and cram into the traditional range space well. Freedom days feels like more of a state fair, but with machine guns.

There better be elephant ears. That delicious cinnamon infused goodness belongs everywhere they can possibly be.

But Sig’s shift to more of a combined destination event is interesting. It is taking the merits of SHOT and NRAAM, one being industry focused and with lots of ranges and the other being public accessible, and combining them to focus on their product lineup. There is certainly enough to see as they touch on every aspect of shooting. Trainers, handguns, rifles, precision rifles, belt-fed machineguns, ammunition, and optics. When you have so many other competing vendors at a gathering show it splits the focus.

Here, everyone who likes Sig can relax and enjoy the Sigs, current and new alike, industry or just because you want to buy a ticket. It isn’t cheap, but it isn’t exactly expensive either compared to renting a few hours on an indoor range, renting their guns and buying their ammo can easily break $100 regardless of the range. For $80 bucks and travel (it’s in Phoenix, so AZ residents are the lucky local crowd) can shoot 10 stages of choice on pistols, rifles, shotguns from Mossberg, and get extra stage tickets and machinegun spots for extra, $160 total gets you 15 stages and a limited machinegun slot. Considering the average rental is $10-20 just to pick a single gun at IndoorRangeRUsInc and this event is the manufacturer able to answer questions and direct you to the exact product combination you’re looking for, not bad.

I’ll probably write up a separate item for Sig Days later, but today it is merely an addendum on Friday entertainment.

The Skinny On Cell Phone Shot Timers

By

Travis Pike

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April 1, 2022

A large part of the gun culture likes to toss out the old “Show me your B8.” This references the B8 target and various shooting drills, most likely the 10-10-10 drill. Sure B8s and 10-10-10 drills are great, but I can typically judge a shooter’s seriousness about getting better by the presence of a shot timer. Shot timers provide objective information that allows you to grow your skills. They are valuable to shooters but seemingly expensive for what they do. This leads a lot of shooters to phone shot timers.

Phone shot timers come in the form of a number of various apps that present a free or close to free option for shooters to train and improve. Boom seems like a very affordable way to introduce a shot timer into your world. So if phone shot timers are so great, why do regular shot timers still exist?

Well, it’s because phone shot timers kind of suck.

Why Phone Shot Timers Suck

Phone shot timers might not seem that far fetched, but a lot of these apps have to work with hardware not designed to be shot timers. It’s a wonder they work at all. Phone shot timers suck largely based on the hardware around them. Phones don’t do a good job of consistently picking up gunshots. They are designed for voice, not gunfire.

Or sometimes they do too good of a job and pick up echoes of gunshots. It’s incredibly frustrating to fire a drill, and feel like you went fast, see you made good hits, and the timer does not record your string of fire. I’ve felt a well of frustration grow inside of me several times, trying to use a phone shot timer and having it fail.

I’m pretty frugal, so I avoided buying a shot timer for quite some time and tried to use phone shot timers extensively. I’ve tried various apps and never found myself fully satisfied. I ended up breaking down and buying a Pocket Pro 2 for a reason.

That being said, there are ways to use phone shot timers effectively and efficiently. They can never replace a true shot timer, especially if you intend to shoot matches. However, these timers can be used as a stop-gap for a shot timer.

Two That Work

If you type shot timer into the app store or play store, you’ll find a bevy of different timers. In my experiment, I’ve found two that work better than most. When I say better, I don’t mean they detect shots better, prevent echoes, or replace a shot timer. By better, I mean they offer a number of options, are stable, easy to use, and quite clean in appearance.

My favorite is the “IPSC Shot Timer,” and the second is one just called “Splits.” These two apps don’t crash, are easy to use, and have a multitude of settings that make them easier to use. I like the IPSC Shot Timer more due to its cleaner appearance. The setup makes it easy to adjust start times, random delays and features multiple modes. You can adjust the beep volume easily and even calibrate the system if you want to use it with live fire.

The Best Way To Use a Phone Shot Timer

First and foremost, get away from the idea of the device detecting shots. That won’t be our main goal in using phone shot timers. If it picks up the shots, then great, but if not, our method of use is fairly frustration-free. What we are going to rely on are the par timer and the random delay functions.

Both of my suggested shot timers have a par mode. If you’re reading this, you are likely not too familiar with par times and their functions. Most drills have an assigned par time. A par time is the maximum amount of time allowed to complete the drill. For example, with the El Presidente drill, you have ten seconds to complete the drill.

With phone shot timers, you can set the par time to say 10 seconds. At the beginning of the drill, you’ll hear the initial beep, and ten seconds later, you’ll hear a second beep signifying the end of the drill. By programming a par time into your phone shot timer, you can still work within the par times of drills and observe if you pass or fail the drill.

You can also take the same par time and reduce it. If you can beat the El Presidente faster than ten seconds, then go to 8 seconds or 7.5 seconds. The IPSC Shot timer allows you to increase or reduce times by tenths of a second. This way, you can increase your speed and track your performance.

Sure, you won’t have your time down to the tenth or hundredth of a second, but you can still measure and track performance within time boundaries. You can use this for dry fire drills, draws, and so on and so forth.

Training Smart

A free app sounds a lot more appealing than a hundred-dollar timer, and phone shot timers can be valuable pieces of gear. Heck, I still use one for dry fire practice because my real shot timer’s beep is so damn loud it annoys everyone in the house. On a trip recently, I used the app to get some dry fire practice at my hotel.

Phone shot timers can be used easily and effectively. They aren’t as good as your standard shot timer but can be quite useful and work well for training purposes. If you train smart, you’ll find the right way to use your phone shot timer.

The AMA Goes Full Woke

By

DRGO

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April 1, 2022

(from ifamnews.com)

Health “equity” or health for all? The wokerati, such as the American Medical Association, would like us to think that it takes the first to achieve the second. In 54 pages of more-than-usually mind-numbing social “sciences” verbology, the AMA has published Advancing Health Equity: A Guide to Language, Narrative and Concepts.

To begin with: “By health inequities, we mean gaps that are ‘unjust, avoidable, unnecessary and unfair.’” No, we don’t want those, and like many of the unwashed I believed that closing those gaps meant policing ourselves as we practice, refusing to allow our personal prejudices to affect our clinical decision-making. For example, like the Florida pediatrician who fired the 9-year-old because he didn’t like the family’s attitudes about guns.

That’s not what they’re talking about. The AMA’s method begins with pointing out how “messages” become “stories” and get fixed into “narratives”. This is not about relying on objective scientific research to assess the appropriateness of investigation and treatment of illness for each patient we see, taking into account “race” only to the extent that data shows differential risks and responses, and “culture” in deciding how to understand and inform patients best.

The treatment for our sick profession begins with adopting a new “equity-focused, person-first language.” Well, we could. Dorland’s 33^rd edition contains over 36,000 entries, which most physicians actually learned. (My father, a physician, once told me he’s glad he got into and through medical school and post-graduate training—but that he’d never do it again. I agree.)

For example, “complying” with directions is now a sign of imposed domination, so “non-compliance” has become “non-adherence” which somehow means something nicer.

But the AMA says we can no longer refer to “vulnerable”, “marginalized”, “underserved”, “underprivileged”, “disadvantaged”, “high-risk”, “at-risk” people or groups. Apparently these are all blaming, along with “the obese/homeless/disabled/handicapped/victims”, “cases or subjects”, , even “individuals”. “People with” is always good, and “survivors” hasn’t yet been cancelled. There are no more “minorities”, “ethnic” or “racial” groups, but “people from/who are”. We may no longer “target/tackle/aim at/combat” disease, because these bespeak violence. If you don’t use PPE, it’s because of your “limited access”, and if you don’t seek healthcare” it’s not your responsibility to yourself, you are “under-resourced.” Evidently, my spell-checker is reactionary since it hasn’t highlighted any of these obsolete words for replacement.

Of course, “black” is now necessarily “Black” and “Caucasian” has become “white.” Much previously lauded, “cultural competence” is now deficient compared to “humility” or “safety.” You were never “disadvantaged”—you were in fact “excluded”, presumably by us. There are no such things anymore as “inequalities” or even “disparities”—these are pure “inequities.” Likewise, as we have already become aware, “equality” must be replaced by “equity”, a word of little meaning for bears of little brain (A.A. Milne).

Congratulations, you’re not an “ex-con” or “released felon”; you are a proud “formerly incarcerated returning citizen.” There is no more “fairness” in the world, just “social justice.” “Latinx” is a new general term for anyone of Hispanic descent. For what it’s worth, I have yet to meet a “Latino” who doesn’t reject it. Of course, “illegal immigrant”, as accurate as it may be, must be elided into “undocumented immigrant.” I’m sure that if should become an “undocumented driver” the police will gladly feed, house and pay my airfare to anywhere in the U.S. I like.

There is no such thing anymore as “Indians”; they are “Native”, “indigenous” (now with their own, not undeserved, holiday in October) or, thankfully still, “American Indians”. As an aside, photography has lost the simple relationship between “master” (controlling) and “slave” (controlled) flash units, which must apparently all be emancipated. I suppose that my African-American colleague who complained about “slaving away” at work committed some kind of doubled sin but fortunately for her, she didn’t realize it. Anyway, there was never such a condition as “slave”—everyone was “enslaved”.

“Race-based” medicine hasn’t been practiced during my career (late 1970’s on), but never mind it’s now “race-conscious” if at all. Of course, there is never to be a bland statement about a patient’s “sex” or “gender” based on observation or assumption; one can only talk about “sex assigned at birth” or “gender identity.”

“Minority” is now a pejorative, because “less than” is an insult and someone else was responsible for marginalizing or even “minoritizing” them. You’re not “underrepresented”, you’ve been “marginalized” and “excluded.” You’re not “vulnerable” in any way, you’re “oppressed.” And using “white” or “black” as adjectives? Forbidden from now on, you’ll just have to come up with something more precise.

Once the new vocabulary is integrated into our “messaging”, we have to ask questions in new ways. It’s no longer about how individuals can either help themselves or how professionals can help them. We must think and ask how “social change” and “collective action” can “confront health inequity”, how we must end “root causes of inequality” (thought that was supposed to be “inequity”), even how to “democratize land use” and end “disinvestment, relining, predatory lending” and targeted “hazardous waste”. But will I have any time left to inquire about symptoms and discuss medical treatment options?

I find myself just a little more sympathetic to the recommendations about how to discuss societal problems, despite no time for it. Societal solutions do ultimately have to be informed by who they affect and how, not just by dollars and cents. Wedge politics make bad policies. “Citizen” is a much more meaningful position in our polity than “consumer”, and each one matters. But all blame does not land outside the individual’s actions when they could have been otherwise. Economics does matter, individually and societally, as a prime correlate of health opportunity. Minimizing the value, and maximizing the faults, of any group damages all and especially the hope for mutual comprehension. In this context, check “Table 5: Contrasting Conventional . . . Phrasing with Equity Focused Language . . .” Each of the supposedly outmoded statements on the left are in fact true. The up-to-date phrasing on the right incorporates so much social causation that one could miss the point that treating what’s wrong is what the individual patient wants and needs. Let’s address the sociology of poor health but not in the exam room.

You also may (or may not) enjoy “Part 3: Glossary of key terms.” “Cis-“, “cis-gender”, “colorblind” come in for particular criticism, and that’s just the C’s. For another take, read Matthew Iglesias’ “The AMA’s “Advancing Health Equity” plan leaves out everything that matters” from SlowBoring.com. He’s even less complementary to the AMA than I am, faithful member that I am for other reasons. Daniel Greenfield hits even harder in “Equity in Medicine is Racist and Lethal”.

Yes, “critical thinking” means “Think keenly. Listen deeply. Act intentionally. Reflect frequently”—for our patients’ sakes. Beyond that, get involved as much as you wish—outside of your privileged medical practice.

This is the latest, and one of the best, examples of why only about 1 in 5 physicians in the United States maintains membership in the vaunted American Medical Association, the supposed voice representing over a million America’s physicians. It isn’t and it doesn’t.

.

— DRGO Editor Robert B. Young, MD is a psychiatrist practicing in Pittsford, NY, an associate clinical professor at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

All DRGO articles by Robert B. Young, MD

MORE Weird Guns of the Ukraine War

By

Keith Finch

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March 31, 2022

From vintage submachine guns to water cooled belt-feds, all the stops have been pulled out to assist in repelling the Russian invasion of Ukraine which is not going to hot for Russia right now.

Or rather it is in Chernobyl, really hot. Like seven buses of troops with radiation sickness hot and rumors they are abandoning their hold on the place. Now it doesn’t appear to be terrible radiation sickness but it does fly in the face of Russia’s report that everything was fine and they were handling the power plant with care.

Add to that the small nibbling counter-offensives that the Ukrainian forces keep pulling off to push back the Russians and their renewed efforts at peace talks this week start to make sense. This war has not gone Russia’s way, period. A much smaller power held off a much larger, one considered a super-power still militarily. They prevented Russia from achieving their military goals of quick regime change in Ukraine.

Now the question is really, how bad does this get for Russia? How much crow do they eat for this in order to start playing on the world stage again? What steps do they take to start consolidating a reputable power and financial base again? Russia is going to have a much more difficult time existing as a bigger grumpier North Korea, but that is one path they could take. Effective isolation. But I don’t see that standing up like it does in North Korea. Russia has too many neighbors, is too internationally connected, and cannot establish the same narrative of propagandist bullshit effectively enough to make it stand up. Regardless of Putin’s at home popularity, the game now is to somehow make this not a total loss in the eyes of the Russian people. I don’t know how you do that. The longer they stay the more likely Ukraine is to still join the EU and NATO. The more Ukrainian success against Russian forces the less likely they are to let stand Crimea and Donetsk Oblast.

I originally thought that would be Russia’s realistic military gain was hit Kyiv and demand those regions independence (aka Russian sympathetic buffers) and once agreed to Russia could go home and make the US Military’s history of long and subjectively effective long occupations in foreign regions look foolish, at least as a propaganda card. Now I think those goals are effectively off the table. Crimea might not change hands back but Donetsk Oblast might, Crimea even might. This might take total Russian withdrawal in the region to start reconnecting economics.

Anyway, enough GeoPolitical hot takes from a dude with a keyboard, enjoy the oddball guns video Brandon posted.

How to be a good customer

By

Keith Finch

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March 30, 2022

I want to address something I see in the space disturbingly frequently. That is aggressive and confrontational attitudes from customers who are upset for something that they are failing at. Not a failure of the product, a failing or misunderstanding of the user.

That is not an attack on all customers who hit up a customer service line and are upset, many have legitimate concerns they need to address. This is not a denial that companies ever get things wrong, egregiously sometimes. It highlights an attitude some customers have where they are seemingly more interested in being righteously mad than solving the problem they have with a product.

These are the customers who the customer service people dread, because they will lie and abuse, they will rant and insult, they will get on their “righteous” high horse of customerhood and be the big mad at the person trying to assist them.

Anyone who has worked customer service knows that, “the customer is always right” is among the most error filled five words ever uttered by mankind. Now, this does not mean the customer doesn’t have a legitimate problem or that you, a customer service agent of some manner, may have to use a platitude of some form that just brings the customer closure. I am pointing out that some of the angriest customers are often horrifically wrong in the placement of their ire and cannot fathom their own contributions to their current problem.

Now, I have tried my utmost not to be this customer. I believe I have failed, especially when dealing with my internet service provider and their frustrating politeness. That required polite script takes so absurdly long to get through, their scripts that make a phone call that could have been 5 to 15 minutes of troubleshooting quadruple in duration. I don’t need to be thanked nine times on the call to fix your service for being a customer, once is fine. So I am guilty as well.

That said, if you’re looking for help, below is not a format to go about getting that help. This is the format to get you labelled a Ken/Karen/Kevin nightmare customer, it gets you shittalked once the call is done or you leave promising, “to take your business elsewhere!” and everyone choruses, “Good. You’re too stupid to shop here.”

[PRODUCT] is a great product in theory but I’m less than satisfied. The [Part of PRODUCT] is great, but the [other part of PRODUCT] is bogus. My [Firearm] still prints no matter what I do. Extremely disappointed in terms of concealment and comfort. I’m a smaller guy what but don’t even think I could conceal tuck a sub compact. Videos and Adverts were definitely misleading.

This is a cry for help disguised as a bad review. We, customers, need to stop doing that.

We need to ask for help. The fuddboomer trend of being abysmally wrong about how something works and mad about it is beyond tired. It needs to die. If something isn’t working as designed and advertised, our first steps should be check the user manual, the FAQs, and finally get in touch with those with experience in its use. Finally, especially with worn items, it might not be a fit for you. That happens. Understand that if hundreds or thousands of people like a product, and are very satisfied with the product, and you are not, this makes you the exception and not the rule.

Now just because you are the exception does not make you wrong, necessarily. But it doesn’t make you right either.

Here we have the classic example of, “I am why dumb warning labels exist.”

I want you to ponder with me a moment on what caused this person’s laser to be “blown apart on the second round.” Give it a good ole’ thinking in your noggin’. Rattle it around just a little.

…

Do you think you have it?

The context clues are all there.

He put a ported barrel into a non-ported slide.

This turned the interior of his slide into a weird three sided gas trap, with the fourth direction (down) now being the path of least resistance. So the gas vents up through the ports (as designed), hits the interior of the slide meant for regular barrels, diverts around the barrel, covers the guide rod and spring in hot carbon infused goodness, and then vents out the open spaces in the pistols dust cover… the dust cover that on a Glock G19 Gen5 is still made of nice durable, but flexible, polymer. Polymer that wasn’t designed to flex so quickly catching the gas discharge of a ported barrel inside of a non-ported slide.

This unintended and undesigned for flex could, and did, absolutely wreck a more sensitive electronic device attached to the dust cover.

Now, there were two options for this customer,

a. Admit fault, that your poor choices and failure to rudimentarily consider the basic physics of how guns and porting works wrecked your gun’s laser (and could have wrecked your gun).

b. Blame the point of sale and demand a disclaimer to do your basic thinking for you and try to shame the point of sale into fixing your mistake or harming their reputation.

They chose b.

My favorite part of the review, “Lucky for me CT is sending me a new laser under warranty.”

Read between the lines here, “It is a more profitable use of CT’s time to just send you a laser to shut you up than spend the effort to tell you this is your fault.” Every customer service person in any industry has seen this or done this. Shut a wrong customer up because it was easier too just give them the thing than continue to be correct. Unfortunately this is negative reinforcement and can have negative consequences for future interactions. Be annoying and screechy enough and you get what you want especially when you are not in the right.

Ignorance is no defense from breaking the law.

We should apply this logic to the laws of physics too.

I, user/customer, did something dumb, I broke the thing. I should expect to pay for the thing and express gratitude if the company and supporting staff can ease that pain, offset the cost, or defer the cost entirely. I have a handful of companies who have earned my patronage for life because of small acts I should have, and was prepared to, pay for that they then went out of there way to support me instead.

That is the shift in attitude that we must all continue to engender. That is the point of this post, or rant, or PSA as you may see it. The attitude to accept when things are our fault and we need help, instead of taking the offrontary attitude that somehow our failing or ill-fitment is a direct attack against us personally by a company and that the company needs to put in the effort to ‘make it right’.

Sometimes companies screw up. They should own that. Sometimes we do too. We should own that.

We learn more and we grow learning from our errors and asking questions. Asking for help is asking to be better. Making the decision to go with another good or service because the one in question isn’t a good fit for you is equally making you better. The attitude of ‘it didn’t work for me but may for you’ in a product or service.

What this is hard to balance against is fandom culture. They like the thing because it is their thing and ascribe it quality that it objectively doesn’t possess because of it. This can also relate to the false positive association of the absence of negative results.

That last sentence is a ton of large words jumbled together so let me clarify. Just because the thing, your thing, has not done something bad, or wrong, or hasn’t broken in your use, doesn’t mean someone else’s hasn’t. This is one of those circumstances where the company is the entity needing to step up, their failed within the parameters of use as directed.

We’re looking at subjective failures vs. objective failures. Something broke within its scope of use, instead of breaking or failure outside its scope of use. We, as customers, need to work on increasing our self-awareness on identifying which is which. Your internet service streaming constantly at the speed you pay for and at the capacity of the devices you own and have on that network without (reasonable, like weather outage) interruption is an expected standard. The internet working without you plugging all the components in properly and following the install directions is not an expected standard. The providing company is responsible for the former. The company is not responsible for your comprehension of the latter, only its reasonable explanation and provision of direction. Customer service will spend their time helping both customers but they are truly only liable for the service, they customer experience is part of the latter.

But being a good customer, knowing you might be making errors and working to fix them with customer service people instead of fermenting hostility,

Review: ‘Gunfighters, Highwaymen and Vigilantes: Violence on the Frontier’ by Roger D. McGrath

By

DRGO

-

March 30, 2022

[Ed: Dr. Faria’s review, first published February 28 on HaciendaPub.com, discloses the reality that was more the Mild West than the Wild West. Lightly edited for DRGO.]

There is a serious misconception of the Old West that needs correcting. That is the notion of an uncivilized Wild West, where antisocial and violent behavior was the norm, and where citizens were afraid to leave their homes, afraid of rampant crime and in fear for their lives. This savage perspective turns out to be incorrect—false assumptions of the Old West based on sensationalist press, the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show of the 1880s and ‘90s, and subsequently cowboy shows and Hollywood movies. Bands of working cowboys and good citizens did not go about town in their leisure time challenging, outdrawing, and shooting each other in a systematized orgy of violence and gunfights as portrayed in the movies.

Bad men and violent outlaws did kill each other, but almost always left the good people of the towns alone. The famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral in 1881 in Tombstone, Arizona, in which Wyatt Earp, and his brothers, Virgil and Morgan, with Doc Holliday, killed three of the outlaw “Cowboys,” became a celebrated incident not only because of the unique circumstances but also because brother lawmen killed brother outlaws in a historic shootout. Even then it was newsworthy and certainly not a daily occurrence.

In his book, Gunfighters, Highwaymen and Vigilantes: Violence on the Frontier, historian Roger D. McGrath corrects the historic record with substantive scholarship. After studying the Sierra Nevada frontier towns of Aurora and Bodie, McGrath found that those mining towns, where audacious young men and gunmen roamed freely packing either Colt Navy .36 six shot pistols in Aurora or Colt double action “lightning” or “peacekeeper” revolvers in Bodie, were peaceful towns, except for the quarrels in the carousing and gambling saloons. Otherwise, both towns carried on well, and everyone not interested in whoring, drinking, and gun fighting were left alone.

True, the homicide rate was high among those carousing and looking for fights in the saloons, but in the rest of the populace, the old, the ladies, and those not willing to pick fights, homicides were rare. Likewise, robbery, burglary, and rape were rare. Murder was confined to the “drunkards upholding their honor.” The homicide rate for Aurora and Bodie were 64 and 116 per 100,000, respectively, compared to Washington, D.C., at 72 per year in the 1990s. Likewise, the burglary and robbery rates were 6 and 84 per 100,000, respectively, for Bodie; compared to 2,661 and 1,140, respectively, for New York City in 1980. The townspeople, although they might have carried guns, respected each other, and townspeople did not even bother to lock their doors at night. Similar observations have been made by other researchers studying the supposedly violent and crime-ridden Lincoln County, New Mexico; the Kansas towns of Dodge City and Wichita in the 1870s; and the Texas frontier towns from 1875 to 1890.

Returning to the issue of the possible confiscation of American firearms in the current era, consider the practical obstacles, not to mention the constitutional protection. Trying to blame, register, ban, and confiscate (one step usually follows the other) over 300 million firearms owned by Americans would bring about a tinder box situation, at least an order of magnitude worse than Prohibition, for Americans obey just and moral laws but not capricious or tyrannical laws, and a veritable police state would be required to enforce the draconian gun laws that would be necessary to carry that out.

Thus, politicians who sadly continue to use the latest tragedy (and the emotionalism and the passions elicited in its wake) to push for the usual round of gun control—while ignoring the accumulated objective research published in the social sciences and the criminological literature—are not sincerely lamenting the deaths of the innocent or sympathizing with their families, but attempting to score political points, political points at the expense of the victims or good citizens. They are also further polarizing America and tearing apart the fabric of this great nation by using emotionalism rather than common sense to bolster their unwise, political actions.

Let’s stop demonizing guns and end the shootings by incarcerating the criminals and identifying and healing the mentally ill, for much work needs to be done in the psychiatric and mental health arenas and in the task of reducing violence. Sensationalizing violence day after day by the press, the electronic media and the internet—heaped upon impressionable individuals subject to our increasingly dumbed down, popular culture and public education—is having a malevolent effect that needs to stop.

.

— Miguel A. Faria, Jr, MD is a retired professor of Neurosurgery and Medical History at Mercer University School of Medicine. He founded Hacienda Publishing and is Associate Editor in Chief in Neuropsychiatry and World Affairs of Surgical Neurology International. He served on the CDC’s Injury Research Grant Review Committee. His latest book is America, Guns, and Freedom: A Journey Into Politics and the Public Health & Gun Control Movements (2019).

All DRGO articles by Miguel A. Faria, Jr., MD

The Marine Corps ARQ – Breaking Down the New Rifle Qual

By

Travis Pike

-

March 29, 2022

The Marine Corps takes a lot of pride in the fact that every Marine, regardless of MOS has to qualify yearly with a rifle. An infantryman and an admin Marine have to pass the same qualification every year. Annual Rifle Training, or ART, has been around since the early 1900s, and it’s ancient. It’s not realistic, not combat-relevant, and kind of silly in the face of modern training. The Marine Corps recognized that and has now replaced the ART with the ARQ.

What the hell’s the ARQ?

ARQ stands for Annual Rifle Qualification. The ARQ promises to place more of an emphasis on realistic qualification standards with modern equipment. Marines will still engage from various ranges and will still qualify out to 500 yards.

The ARQ will be split into three days. The first day is known as the Holds day. This day will prepare Marines for the qualification. They will zero and confirm their zeroes. Shoot the drills required in the ARQ, and then practice at ranges from 15 to 500 yards. They’ll learn their holds, visually see the range, and become more accustomed to their rifles and optics.

Day two will be the pre-qual, which allows Marines to shoot the entire course of fire. Here is the last chance they have to make corrections and ensure they have a plan to approach the next day. Day three is the qual day where they shoot the course of fire for score.

On qual day, they will start at 500 yards and work their way to the 15-yard line. The old qual ended at the 500. Beginning at the 500 better simulates an actual advance. Marines locate, close with, and destroy the enemy. Starting at 500 and moving forward will simulate that. Marines will go from the 500 to the 300, then the 200, then the 100, and finally the 25, where they will move to the 15-yard line.

The Course of Fire

Marines will also be forced to think about how they will approach each range and course of fire. There isn’t one way to do it correctly. At some ranges, they’ll be allowed to choose their position and the ability to use a rest for supported fire.

At 500 yards, Marines will move from the standing to prone and engage with five rounds in 45 seconds. They’ll repeat this drill eight times.

At 300 yards, the Marines will fire controlled pairs in 15 seconds. They’ll repeat this drill eight times. The ARQ allows Marines to choose between the standing, kneeling, or prone position. While the lower positions offer more support, they’ll take more time to assume and eat up precious time.

At the 200-yard lines, Marines will have to shoot around barricades but can approach the barricade in the best way they see fit. They can choose between a standing or kneeling position and choose to use a portion of the barricade as cover. Marines will have to fire controlled pairs in 10 seconds and repeat the drill seven times.

At 200 yards, Marines will also deal with moving targets. They can stand or kneel, and they have to engage the targets with two rounds in eight seconds for seven total runs.

At 100 yards, the ARQ keeps using barricades and forces Marines to fire two rounds in eight seconds for seven iterations. Marines can kneel or stand and use the barricade for support. They also shoot movers once more with two rounds in eight seconds for seven repetitions.

The Drills

At 25 yards, the Marines fire in the standing only and utilize rifle drills. The first drill is headshots, and they’ll fire six headshots at 25 yards.

Next is the failure to stop drill. This is two rounds to the chest and one round to the head. They’ll repeat this drill four times.

The third ARQ drill requires Marines to shoot a box drill. A box drill spans two targets and requires the Marine to shoot two rounds into the chest of each target, then fire a headshot on each target. Marines will do four of these.

Finally, they’ll move from the 25-yard line to the 15-yard line firing a failure to stop drill as they move. They’ll repeat the final drill twice.

New Rules and New Equipment

The new ARQ will force Marines to shoot in full gear and ditch the parade sling and loop sling stabilization. Marines will be allowed to use their rifles the same way they’d use them in combat and on LFAM field ranges. This means they can use bipods, use their magazine as a monopod, and their assault pack as a low rifle support.

The new targets will require Marines to hit the head or chest to score points. These are known as destroy targets. Hitting black is no longer ‘good enough.’ Marines will need to kill the target, and anything less doesn’t count. The Destroy target will be used at every range, with no more silhouette, dog, or circle targets.

Movers are the only other target. They are 12 inch wide targets that the Marine only needs to hit the target to score.

Scoring is split into Destroys and Drills. Much like the PFT, the different events are scored. You can get a 100% on your destroys, but if you don’t get the minimum drills, you will fail. Shooters will need to score high in both the targets destroyed and successful drills to become an expert.

Making Marines More Lethal

Any training done by Marines should be done with the intention to make them more lethal. I think the ARQ does just that and is a needed wake-up for the Marine Corps’ rifle qualification. The Basic School and Boot Camp will still use the traditional Table 1 and Table 2 qual, but beyond that, the Fleet Marine Force will use the ARQ.

I’m a little bummed I’ll never get to try it out, but I’m glad to see the Marine Corps working to make Marines more lethal.

New 8.6 BLK Barrels from Faxon Firearms

By

David Reeder

-

March 29, 2022

Faxon Firearms has collaborated with Q to build the highest quality 8.6 BLK barrels for Remington 700 and AR10 platforms.

It should come as no surprise that Faxon Firearms is developing barrels compatible with the new 8.6 Blackout ammunition. After all, the Ohio-based manufacturer has always been at the forefront of barrel development.

Now they’ve combined Faxon Firearms barrel expertise with the science and innovation of Q to come up with an extraordinary and formidable package.

Here is everything you need to know about the new 8.6 Blackout round, how it compares to 300 Blackout, and the radical new barrel design by Faxon Firearms.

What is 8.6 Blackout?

The 8.6 BLK round was imagined and developed by Q. Like the 300 Blackout, the 8.6 Blackout was designed primarily for suppressed shooting, but there are supersonic loads in development as well.

The easiest thing to do might be to imagine 8.6 BLK as the 300 BLK’s big brother – but as far more than just a simple upgrade.

8.6 BLK Features

Fits AR-10 Sized Rifles
338 Subsonic Load Based around the 300 grain Sierra Match King
Similar to 338 Federal; however, the case was shortened to work reliably with gas guns without modification to mags.
Uses Standard 308 Mags
Low-Pressure Cartridge
Utilizes a shortened 6.5 Creedmoor case for the use of subsonic and high BC projectiles
Current Ammo Companies in Development: Gorilla, Hornady, Black Hills, and Discreet Ballistics
Designed Around a 12″ barrel

Faxon Firearms has previously shown several 8.6 Blackout loads with a 300-grain bullet and a 210 grain Barnes TTSX bullet. These loads are still in development but should become commercially available in the foreseeable future.

How is Faxon Firearms Involved?

Faxon Firearms has been privileged to work with Q on developing the best possible barrels to support this revolutionary new round. The team at Faxon Firearms is in the development of their own 8.6 BLK barrels for both the AR-10 and Remington model 700 platforms.

Faxon Barrels for the 8.6 BLK

Faxon Firearms will be offering 1:3 twist barrels chambered in 8.6 Blackout for Remington 700 platforms and AR-10 pattern rifles. The barrels for both platforms will be available in 8″, 12″, and 16″ length options.

Faxon Firearms 8.6 BLK barrel Details

1:3 twist rate
Better stabilization on long and heavy subsonic rounds
Better expansion of the projectiles
Re-allocates the energy from the sound and flash to the rotation of the bullet
.875 gas block journal for AR10
DPMS Gen 1 Pattern

Remage style barrels from Faxon will use a Remage style nut with a standard AR-15 armorers castle nut wrench. The nut is included.

Why is the 1:3 Twist Rate Important?

Faxon Firearms is manufacturing the barrels for these 8.6 Blackout loads. These barrels are not by any means your standard rifle barrel. Designing and manufacturing them can be challenging, but Faxon Firearms has confidently stepped up to the plate. To properly stabilize the long and heavy 300-grain subsonic projectiles, the 8.6 blackout barrels must have a 1:3 twist rate. That means the round is making one full rotation every three inches of barrel length.

This helps the 8.6 caliber cartridge re-imagine energy on target.

Faxon Firearms’ Barrels are slated to launch around late June or early July of 2022. The ammunition will also launch right around the same time. For more information on the 8.6 blackout project and to be notified about the availability of Faxon barrels, proceed to the Faxon Firearms 8.6 BLK page. It is dedicated to the Q collaboration.

Connect with Faxon on social:
Facebook.com/FaxonFirearms/

Instagram.com/FaxonFirearms/

Twitter.com/faxon_firearms/

3D Printed .50 Cal?

By

Keith Finch

-

March 28, 2022

Yes.

Not firing, but yes. The AK-50 V3 is currently in 3D printed prototype for real world interactive testing. There is nothing like building the parts out to scale to get things fit right (or at least close) and make sure there aren’t any snags, usually literally, on part fitment.

This is also the easiest avenue to try new combinations and layouts in the real world. It is often referred to as rapid prototyping. Do the thing, print it. See a change you want to make, change it, print it. Repeat until satisfactory. Material sciences are well known at this point so picking things like aluminums and steels isn’t so much an issue, making sure the dimensions on the parts interact properly is. Also putting something together that can interact with real world 3rd party parts has merit for compatibility. Need to test a source for grips? Put a grip on your prototype. Need to test and see if there is enough clearance for M-LOK? Put M-LOK accessories in the slots, they’re proper dimension.

None of these parts are meant to exist in their load bearing format. They won’t take firing pressure, they may not survive manual operation of real parts without cracking even. But the rapid prototyping reduces the amount of machining redos needed to put together a final technical data package on a firearm. Print it in real space. Make changes. Re-print. Make final revisions and send it to be made in a firing configuration.

I love that Brandon is continuing to do this online. Nobody understands what this takes in turn around, and revisions, and time. The time is everything, because time is money. Diverting time that is securing your continued revenue stream for known and stable products and services to run prototyping is hard. None of that time and money could make a single cent back.

I remember a recent post from a friend, where a small upstart little company thought they could bring a gun to market and made several promises that didn’t end up being kept in the projects final form… This company is well regarded in the industry but they, like the naive little go getters they were at the time, didn’t know what building a rifle from scratch meant… and their neighbors, who did know, smiled with that, “Oh, you’re going to learn kids.” attitude.

That knowing company’s rifle is still on the market doing well, and the small upstart doesn’t do firearms. IYKYK.

The Swampfox Saber – Prism Perfected.

By

Travis Pike

-

March 28, 2022

I love prism-style optics. Maybe it’s because of my formative years as a Jarhead, and maybe it’s because I like simple things. Who knows? A little company called Swampfox makes a few different prism optics, and I own and use the Blade and Trihawk quite a bit. When Swampfox Mike reached out and asked if I wanted to take the Saber for a spin, I jumped up and down at the opportunity.

The Saber was revealed at SHOT 2022, and it’s the first 5X prism from Swampfox. The Saber isn’t afraid of being a big optic or providing a handful of power to the end-user. This big chunky optic certainly isn’t the lightest or smallest on the market, but the Saber embraces that size and uses it to the best of its ability.

Design and Specs

What do I mean by that? Well, that size ensures you have a nice big sight picture. With the 5X magnification, you still get a massive 30.9-foot field of view at 100 yards. That makes the Saber a best in class in regards to field of view. Other 5X prism optics like the Steiner T536 and M536 give you about 20 feet. The Spitfire HD Gen 2 5X prism scope from Vortex only grants you 23.3 feet at 100 yards.

That’s downright insane. It’s a huge, vivid field of view. This kind of field of view makes it easy to spot targets and even easier to track targets. The Trihawk boasts a similarly large field of view, and I’ve used it to watch does through fields this hunting season without needing to move much to follow them through the optic.

The Saber does weigh 24.7 ounces without a battery. The optic is 5.74 inches long, with a 36mm objective lens. It’s a big optic, but the field of view couldn’t be done with a smaller optic, so keep that in mind. The eye relief is surprisingly good for a prism at 2.56 inches.

Five power magnification is a bit much. Even for occluded shooting, the 5X mag leaves something to be desired. To make up for that, Swampfox added two points to attach a mini red dot, specifically those mini optics in Shield RMSc footprints. These ports are located at the left and right of the optic. I’ve mounted my 507K to the optic.

The Reticle

The reticle comes in both a BDC and MOA format. I used the MOA format, and it’s a bit more versatile for a variety of firearms. There is a crazy amount of drop on the reticle, and you get 40 MOA worth of hash marks to compensate for ballistic drop. 40 MOA is an absolute ton of drop on most rifles. On a 308 or a 5.56, you are looking at an insane amount of drop.

For those calibers, that seems silly. That much ballistic drop gives you 800ish yards for 5.56. That’s silly, but it’s not so silly on rounds that drop a fair bit faster, like the 7.62 x 39mm and 300 Blackout. That makes it fairly easy to engage at long distances with those calibers accurately.

Light It Up

The Saber uses a partially illuminated reticle as well. The illuminated portion is a huge three-quarter circle with an illuminated cross in the center. This big reticle can be used for closer ranges. Not CQB distances, but within 50 yards to 100 yards or so, you can rapidly put lead on a big target quite quickly. It’s tough to say take a snapshot at these ranges, but that’s essentially how you use this massive reticle.

Big moving targets, potentially shooting at you. With a properly zeroed rifle, the big illuminated reticle makes it easy to get some shots on target. If those targets are moving rapidly and potentially shooting at you, the reticle is simple to get accurate enough return fire. I don’t have a guy shooting at me, but against a timer, in the standing, with a man-sized IPSC steel target, I could ring and ding it very quickly with the big illuminated reticle.

That reticle packs ten settings, 2 of which are night-vision compatible. The reticle is bright enough to be easily seen during the day. I took it out on a clear, bright day in Florida at noon and used it in the open. Even in this high brightness environment, the reticle sat noticeably illuminated. It meets my threshold for being daylight bright, and my threshold due to my environment is quite high.

At the Range

The optic includes everything you need to get ready. You get the battery, an optic cover, the tools to attach the optic, and the tools to zero the optic. It’s fairly simple, and I mounted it to my Aero M16A4. The turrets are recessed and require a flat head tool to make adjustments.

Zeroing took no time at all. I got the thing spun up in six shots total. The adjustments are .5 MOA per click and are damn exact. I zeroed at 50 yards, did the math, and was able to adjust with a three-round initial group and a measurement from there to zero.

I zeroed my offset Holosun 507K at 25 yards. I’ve never used an offset dot, so it was a new experience. It was an interesting experience, to say the least. However, it got zeroed.

The reticle is crisp and clear. It’s not super small like the Vortex Spitfire’s reticle. It’s large, in charge, and easy to use. The 5X magnification gets you nice and close to the target, and even at 100 yards hitting tiny 4-inch sized gongs isn’t tough in a supported position.

Using the red dot requires a slight cant of the rifle. When done, you can quickly engage the target with rapid succession and do so within 50 yards or so, depending on target size. It doesn’t feel awkward to spin the rifle and engage. I like the position of the red dot on the side of the optic.

Long Range Clarity

I only have a 100-yard range, so I can’t really stretch the legs of the optic. However, I did pop the optic off of the rifle and take it for a walk. I have some premeasured locations along dirt roads out to a quarter-mile.

At a quarter-mile, I could see a green street sign and the white lettering. I can’t exactly read it, but I can see the different colors and tell what they are with some distinction. I could pick up plenty of details from the sight picture. Seeing and telling apart trees, rocks, the road, and vehicles was easy. It’s rock-solid in the clarity department.

The Swampfox Saber is a well-made optic that doesn’t replicate what other optics have done before. It’s an optic that innovates and does so at a price point of 389 dollars. That’s tough to beat. It’s not released just yet, but keep your eyes out. I imagine it’s coming soon.

Pendleton Whisky: Straight from the American West

By

Anna Martinez

-

March 28, 2022

“Live boldly, Taste the moment, & Let’er Buck.”

The name comes from the Pendleton Round-Up, one of the oldest and most prestigious rodeos in the West, and it’s also the official whisky of Professional Bull Riders (PBR) and Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). You may also recognize Pendleton from scenes at Dutton Ranch on Yellowstone.

Yellowstone: Season 4 Episode 10
https://productplacementblog.com/tv-series/pendleton-whisky-and-deep-river-snacks-in-yellowstone-s04e10-grass-on-the-streets-and-weeds-on-the-rooftops-2022/

Brand Background

Pendleton® Whisky is a premium whisky born in the Great American West and steeped in True Western Tradition. Over the years, the collection of whiskies has grown in popularity across the United States and Canada, reaching consumers far beyond its territory of origin with four popular expressions: Pendleton Whisky, Pendleton 1910, Pendleton Midnight and Pendleton Directors’ Reserve. Born in the iconic American Western town of Pendleton, Oregon and taking its name from one of the most revered rodeos in the world, the Pendleton Round-Up, Pendleton Whisky is a modern celebration of a century old tradition. Pendleton Whisky is crafted to achieve a premium taste and aroma profile. With precise barrel-aging in hearty American Oak and finished with the finest glacier-fed spring water from Oregon’s highest peak, Mt. Hood, Pendleton Whisky is known for its smooth, rich taste, and complex flavor that whisky enthusiasts and cowboys have come to love for years.

https://traveloregon.com/things-to-do/events/culture-heritage-events/the-road-to-the-pendleton-round-up/

The Bottles

Original – Pendleton® Whisky, an oak barrel-aged whisky distilled in Canada, delivers an uncommonly smooth taste and rich, complex flavor.

1910– Pendleton® 1910 is a rare 100% rye whisky distilled in Canada and is oak-barrel aged a minimum of 12 years. Featuring round, rich notes of tobacco, charred oak and butterscotch with a spicy rye kick and peppery heat, Pendleton® 1910 Rye Whisky is rounded out by the smoothness of maple and sweet cherry to provide a weighty and balanced, yet complex, flavor profile.

Midnight– Pendleton Midnight thrills the senses with a complex taste and exceptionally smooth finish. To add complexity and fruit forward characteristics, a portion of the Pendleton Midnight blend is aged for over six years in American brandy barrels.

Directors Reserve- A special, limited-edition release that honors the Pendleton Round-Up Directors. Aged for 20 years, it’s clear the wait was worth it from the first sip. Pure, glacier-fed spring water from Mt. Hood allows the unadorned, warm notes of oak, cinnamon, and rye to shine through

Where to Buy

Pendleton Whisky can be purchased through ReserveBar, Drizly, Minibar, Bottle Haus, and at most local liquor stores across the country.

Fertilizer for the Survival Garden

By

Dr LateBloomer

-

March 25, 2022

In case you are planning on growing a survival/pandemic/inflation garden this year (and I hope you are), you should be aware of the rapid rise in the costs of fertilizer on a global scale.

Apparently the US has previously imported a lot of our commercial fertilizer, “but Russia”. That will hopefully change soon in favor of more domestic production. But, like domestic energy production, these things take time to ramp up.

While all this may not seem like a big deal to you personally, be assured that what is a big deal to farmers and food producers will eventually impact you too. When fertilizer costs double, food prices go up as well. So not only is there general economic inflation going on, combined with skyrocketing fuel prices, food prices will continue to experience upward pressures of their own related to the availability and cost of nitrogen fertilizers for the foreseeable future. So once again I am beating the “grow your own” drum.

In case you don’t have livestock to provide you with manure fertilizer for your survival garden, here are a few tips for increasing soil fertility without having to rely upon expensive commercial fertilizer.

“Other” Animal Manure

While many of us don’t keep our own chickens or goats in the backyard due to zoning and HOA restrictions, and while cat/dog manure is NOT safe to use on food crops, some us do keep animals as pets which can provide safe manure. Some of those pet manures are rabbit, guinea pig, hamster, and gerbil. Being in the rodent family and thus omnivorous to herbivorous, these mammals produce poop which is pelletized and not so high in nitrogen as to “burn” plants when applied to the garden. It can be applied directly, without being composted first to age it, but some people prefer to compost it anyway, given that it is so mixed up with bedding when it is discarded. If it seems you are pouring money into little pets for your kids and all you get out of it is poop, you might as well put that to use in feeding your veggies and thus your family.

Compost

Behind manure, compost is at the top of the heap when it comes to increasing soil fertility for free. Using kitchen scraps, lawn clippings, and shredded bills/junk mail costs nothing. It’s stuff you would have thrown away (and paid your garbage service to remove, so technically this actually saves you money) The only thing it costs is time.

Microbes don’t do their magic overnight, so this is something that needs to be planned for long term. There are a variety of different ways to compost, including using worms – called vermicomposting. You can go cheap and just have a pile in the back of the garden, or you can go for pricey tumblers or other commercial schemes. You will have to decide which method suits your needs and your space. There are good resources for composting all over the internet, but I’ve included a couple to get you started.

Shredded junk mail or outdated textbooks compost very well!

Urine

Human urine is another free resource that most people overlook and/or the “ick” factor keeps them away. The reality is that absent some serious infection or heavy duty medication use, urine is sterile when it leaves the body (except for normal skin bacteria it may pick up on the way out) and completely safe to use on your food crops. It is a great collection of water, electrolytes/minerals, and nitrogen in the form of urea – all things that plants need for good growth. Urine is usually used in diluted form and for obvious reasons should not be used immediately before picking produce. You can use urine to jump start your compost as well. I’ve included a couple internet resources for this as well, but there are many more out there. Don’t flush away this valuable source of garden fertility.

One way to disguise what is really in that collection jug in the bathroom.

Dave’s Fetid Swamp Water

Dave’s recipe for compost tea is another great and free source of fertilizer which I had not heard about until this year. It uses waste plants, weeds, etc from your garden and yard, but doesn’t take as long as traditional composting. It’s basically composting in water – letting stuff rot right in a covered bucket or barrel, while extracting nutrients from weeds and garden waste. You end up with a stinky “compost tea” which can then be diluted and used on your crops throughout the season. Did mention this was free? I’ve included a link to the page. I’m definitely giving this a whirl this season. I think I’ll try it in an old cat litter bucket, since it already has a lid.

Crop Rotation

A time honored method for restoring soil fertility is crop rotation. While this is a long term approach and is not something your can just sprinkle on mid-season to boost your tomatoes, it is a worthy contender in your long term survival garden plans. If you have a smallish garden space like I do, then you need to be especially careful not to exhaust your soil by planting the same thing in the same space over and over. Not only does this deplete nutrients, it also encourages plant specific pests. This is another good reason to keep a garden journal so you can keep track of what went where year to year.

This year I am planting snap peas in the tubs where my tomatoes were last year. Peas, like other legumes are nitrogen fixers which take nitrogen from the air and return it to the soil via nodes on their roots. If you leave the roots in the soil when the crop is finished, you’ve left some new nitrogen for next year’s crops. Then since peas are a spring crop, I’m planning to succession crop with dwarf corn in those containers after the peas are done. In addition to the peas, I’m planting lentils where last year’s peppers were. Are you confused yet? See? This is why I need a garden journal.

“Green manures”/cover crops

Large scale farmers often use “cover crops” in the off season to protect the soil from erosion and to add back some nutrients. These are also often called “green manure”. Nitrogen fixers like clover and alfalfa are planted after a crop like corn has been harvested. It is allowed to grow over the winter and then it is plowed back into the soil in the spring without being harvested, in order to return nutrients to the soil. Other cover crops include buckwheat, oats, hairy vetch, and rye.

There are backyard gardeners who are slowly adopting this approach even with small plots. Open/bare soil is vulnerable soil, so current research says to keep it covered and “occupied” with something even in the winter/off season. I’m looking into that for this fall.

Go Forth and Grow

Now that I’ve overloaded you with fertility ideas, it’s time to do your own planning and see what strategies will be a good fit for you. It seems like a lot of work, but if you do all this carefully and thoughtfully you can get very good yields out of very small spaces all while maintaining and enriching your soil in the process. And because you won’t be buying commercial fertilizer and you will be eating your own produce, your wallet won’t be screaming either.

BREAKING: ATF Declares FRTs (Forced Reset Triggers) Machineguns

By

Keith Finch

-

March 24, 2022

This correspondence was sent to FFL’s today,

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) recently examined devices commonly known as “forced reset triggers” (FRTs) and has determined that some of them are “firearms” and “machineguns” as defined in the National Firearms Act (NFA), and “machineguns” as defined in the Gun Control Act (GCA).

These particular FRTs are being marketed as replacement triggers for AR-type firearms. Unlike traditional triggers and binary triggers (sometimes referred to generally as “FRTs”), the subject FRTs do not require shooters to pull and then subsequently release the trigger to fire a second shot. Instead, these FRTs utilize the firing cycle to eliminate the need for the shooter to release the trigger before a second shot is fired. By contrast, some after-market triggers have similar components but also incorporate a disconnector or similar feature to ensure that the trigger must be released before a second shot may be fired and may not be machineguns.

Both the NFA and GCA regulate machineguns. “Machinegun” is defined under 26 U.S.C. § 5845(b) and 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(23) as—

Any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. The term shall also include the frame or receiver of any such weapon, any part designed and intended solely and exclusively, or combination of parts designed and intended, for use in converting a weapon into a machinegun, and any combination of parts from which a machinegun can be assembled if such parts are in the possession or under the control of a person. (Emphasis added.)

ATF’s examination found that some FRT devices allow a firearm to automatically expel more than one shot with a single, continuous pull of the trigger. For this reason, ATF has concluded that FRTs that function in this way are a combination of parts designed and intended for use in converting a weapon into a machinegun, and hence, ATF has classified these devices as a “machinegun” as defined by the NFA and GCA.

Accordingly, ATF’s position is that any FRT that allows a firearm to automatically expel more than one shot with a single, continuous pull of the trigger is a “machinegun”, and is accordingly subject to the GCA prohibitions regarding the possession, transfer, and transport of machineguns under 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(o) and 922(a)(4). They are also subject to registration, transfer, taxation, and possession restrictions under the NFA. See 26 U.S.C. §§ 5841, 5861; 27 CFR 479.101.

Under 26 U.S.C. § 5871, any person who violates or fails to comply with the provisions of the NFA may be fined up to $10,000 per violation and is subject to imprisonment for a term of up to ten years. Further, pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 5872, any machinegun possessed or transferred in violation of the NFA is subject to seizure and forfeiture. Under 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(2), any person who violates § 922(o) may be sent to prison for up to 10 years and fined up to $250,000 per person or $500,000 per organization.

Based on ATF’s determination that the FRTs that function as described above are “machineguns” under the NFA and GCA, ATF intends to take appropriate remedial action with respect to sellers and possessors of these devices. Current possessors of these devices are encouraged to contact ATF for further guidance on how they may divest possession. If you are uncertain whether the device you possess is a machinegun as defined by the GCA and NFA, please contact your local ATF Field Office. You may consult the local ATF Office’s webpage for office contact information.

Our reaction

Review: Dan Wesson Vigil

By

V. Caldwell

-

March 24, 2022

I have carried some variation of the 1911 for decades. Not an old Colt I have modified, or an inexpensive piece of iron mongery, but the dead level best 1911 I can afford. I don’t carry a 1911 because it is expected of me, or because of its legendary status, but because it performs best for me of any big bore handgun.

There is a great deal of revisionist history concerning the .45 ACP. A generation ago someone vomited up a hoax involving a secret test in which unknown persons shot drugged goats. Seriously, and lap dog fanboys ate it up. Well, some did. Then there were so called stopping power studies with bankrupt methodology, if the incidents stated occurred at all which I very seriously doubt. The .45 ACP is a better cartridge than the small bores. This is physics. The .45 ACP is chosen based on proven wound potential and personal experience and testing. The .45 ACP operates at low pressure and offers limited muzzle flash, usually the muzzle signature is just a few sparks. Accuracy can be excellent in the right firearm.

The 1911 may be modified into a number of configurations and work well. A Commander size is common. The pistol illustrated is a CCO or Commanding Officer type. This is the Commander size slide with 4 ¼ inch barrel mated to the Officer’s Model frame. This makes for excellent handling and good concealment.

The Dan Wesson Vigil is a high quality pistol, but affordable compared to a number of high end 1911 handguns. This is an attractive handgun. The slide is finished in a dark black coating. The barrel and barrel bushing are stainless.

As you can see the pistol retains the original 1911 barrel bushing and locking lugs. The muzzle is nicely crowned. The pistol’s aluminum frame is anodized. The finish is even and properly applied.

Dan Wesson states there are no MIM parts in the Vigil, all to the good. The guide rod and recoil spring assembly are standard 1911, there is no full length guide rod. The purpose of the CCO type is to provide a pistol that is easily concealed by dint of the short Officer’s Model type grip frame but which offers good accuracy potential by maintaining a Commander size slide and barrel. Magazines are shorter but the modern magazines hold seven rounds of .45 ACP, the old standard.

The rear sight is dovetailed in place with striations on the face. The front post is also dovetailed in place. There is a self luminous tritium insert in the front sight. A white ring surrounds the tritium. This is a very fast set up to pick up when you are shooting fast and need to quickly acquire the target. The rear sight is the modern wedge type allowing racking the slide on a boot heel if needed. Among the best features is a checkered front strap. You really need this on a 1911. 25 lines per square inch seems ideal. The mainspring is also nicely checkered. The grips are attractive and provide a good balance of adhesion and abrasion.

The safety is a speed safety type but not ambidextrous. The slide lock and magazine release are not extended, ideal for a carry gun. The beavertail grip safety is properly designed to lead the hand into the firing grip. The grip safety’s design is best for those of us that adopt the thumbs forward grip. With some grip safety designs the hand forms a cup and the grip safety is released. That will not occur with the Dan Wesson grip safety type. The trigger action is smooth and consistent with minimal take up, no creep, and no backlash. Trigger compression is 4.5 pounds. This is ideal for a carry gun.

Carrying the pistol is easy enough, the Vigil CCO is light and offers a flat profile. For carry under a light covering garment a strong side belt holster is all that is needed. For use inside the trouser an inside the waistband holster will allow the holster to be concealed beneath a pulled out sport shirt. That makes for excellent all around concealment. Among the best all around holsters in my holster trunk (no box or drawer would hold them!) I have a DeSantis Sky Cop crossdraw. This holster has been among the most useful and versatile holsters I have used. The crossdraw allows a seated user to make a sharp draw. You do not need a specialized driving holster when you have the Sky Cop.

Firing the pistol for combat ability I drew and fired at man sized targets at 5, 7, and 10 yards. Hit potential is excellent. The pistol is brilliantly fast on target. Control is good. Aim, fire, allow the trigger to reset as the pistol recoils, and take another shot. The cadence of fire is never set by how quickly you can pull the trigger, but by how quickly you are able to regain the sight picture.

The Vigil is properly sighted for the six o’clock hold. I fired a good mix of ball ammunition, primarily the Remington UMC 230 grain FMJ loading. This load burns clean, is affordable, and offers good accuracy potential. I would not hesitate to defend myself with 230 grain hardball. When hiking and carrying one of my 1911 handguns I often carry hardball as it will handle man or beast well. Recoil isn’t unpleasant. I may add a couple of Wilson Combat eight round Officer’s Model magazines at a later date.

Bench rest accuracy is probably the least relevant test of a defensive handgun. Just the same, such testing is interesting. I fired the pistol by resting it in the MTM Caseguard K Zone rest. This rest is an easy set up for rifles and by removing the rear section of the K Zone rest you may use it as a handgun rest. I fired two five shot groups at 25 yards. The Remington 230 grain UMC load put five shots into 2.25 inches, the Remington 185 grain Golden Saber put five rounds into 1.9 inches. This dog will run! That is exceptional accuracy for a full size 1911 much less a CCO type. The Dan Wesson Vigil is a treasured carry gun I bet my life on.

Last MSRP was $1249.

Specifications
Caliber	.45ACP
Capacity	7 Rounds
Frame Material	Forged Aluminum
Slide Finish	Black Duty Finish
Grips	Wood
Overall Length	7.9 in
Barrel Length	4.25 in
Width	1.45 in
Weight	29.5 oz
Trigger Mech	Single Action
Front Sight	Fixed Night Sight
Rear Sight	Tactical Night Sight
Safety	Ambi thumb safety, grip safety
California Compliant	No