The boys are back, concluding their cliffhanger from last week to answer the question: why is your EDC weird? Let’s be real, there are a lot of people out there on the internet posting completely implausible concealed carry rigs, and we’re here to roast it.
Ten Things The Military Taught Me
As a young man looking to join the military, I, as many do, sought out advice from friends and relatives who served. I did my best to consult with someone from each branch. One recurring piece of guidance I received was to find a specialty that would translate into civilian life. As most 21-year-old kids do, I ignored that advice and decided to become a Small Arms Repairer in the National Guard. Looking back on nearly 10 years of service (and counting) I began to reflect on the lessons I learned as a young man. Here are 10 things my time in the military taught me.
1. Be flexible.
Life happens, s–t hits the fan, and the general human tendency is not to help their fellow man. We must allow for a certain amount of deviation in our plans. Whether it’s a company commander who doesn’t share the same priorities as you do or the clerk at the gas station who clearly doesn’t understand you are running five minutes late. We must allow for flexibility in our plans and do our best to plan for the unknown.
2. Have compassion for your fellow man.
Coming from a “perform perfectly or your buddies could get killed” background, this lesson is counterintuitive to the military mindset. We as military members are often told to embrace the suck, to drive on, and to deal with our personal problems on our own time. As a leader of young men and women, I had to learn to show a certain level of understanding to the personal issues of my soldiers. It has been my job to develop these young men and women both professionally and personally. Demonstrating the ability to show compassion and empathy shows that you are not some preprogrammed robot with all the answers. We are all humans. We are all fighting our own battles.
3. Be tough on those you care about.
Set up your no s–t rules and stick to them. There is a phrase that was burned into my memory from an old school (and slightly crusty) Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO). He used to say, “firm, fair, and consistent.” Set your rules, enforce then equally among all, and, most importantly, be consistent in your punishment (or praise). I always thought he was just a hard headed old man who was set in his ways. Then I became a father. Oh boy, nothing can prepare you for that day. As I pondered allowing my son to take a bath in the dog dish because my efforts in thwarting his plan have been futile until this point, I remembered the words that genius (and, looking back, not so crusty) old man told me. Firm. Fair. Consistent.
4. Leadership is learned.
We have all seen it. The ‘roided out E6 who got promoted based on his physical fitness test scores but can barely read the warning labels on the tub of pre-workout he guzzles. He can’t participate in a conversation without referencing making soldiers do push-ups or “back in my day”. We all know this NCO and we all hated this NCO. What these personality types lack is not the ability to lead, it’s proper mentorship. We must seek out the positive traits of those around us that we look up to and learn to emulate them in our every-day life. Self-reflection is not an instinctual trait humans possess, it is one of the most important we must learn.
5. Seek results, not excuses.
This is one of my biggest pet-peeves. It is far too common for me to ask why a task wasn’t completed and be confronted with all the reasons why it was impossible. I think of myself as a fair and understanding man. I am slow to anger and realize that life happens sometimes, but what I have learned during my time in service is that sometimes we just have to roll with the punches and complete the mission. Not everything in our lives goes as planned (see rule #1), but we still need to achieve positive results in the face of major difficulties. We must drive on. I think Nike said it the best. “Just do it.”
6. Take responsibility for your actions.
I personally believe that one of the hardest skills any man or woman has to learn is to take responsibility. As children we are protected from harm. Our parents who love and care about us make sure nothing bad happens in our lives, to the best of their ability. Then one day we become teenagers. As we grow into our teens, we are afforded more freedom. We drive ourselves to school, to work, to a friend’s house. We are responsible for our own grades and making it to work on time. There is no longer that guiding hand always pushing us towards the light, but its still there to keep us from the dark. Then we turn 18, move out, and have bills to pay. We are pushed into a cruel dog-eat-dog world and were barely even adults.
The easy solution is to start to place blame. I got fired because my boss didn’t like me. My girlfriend left me because she’s psycho. These excuses are the easy button, the painless way out. The hard route is to accept that our problems are a direct result of our previous actions and the actions of others combined, but we are the common denominator. The day we finally figure this out, we truly ascend into adulthood. We can finally begin to grow.
7. Action beats inaction.
Far too many times I see young leaders afraid to make a decision. Maybe they have never had to be in charge before, never looked around a room to see all eyes staring back, anxious to see your next move. It can be overwhelming the first time you realize you’re someone people look up to. Natural instinct (and muscle memory) tells you to pick up the phone, send a text to your leader, and wait for further instruction.
I am here to tell you that, as a leader of leaders, we want you to make mistakes. It is okay to be wrong, it is okay to make a bad call. This is how we learn. At the end of the day, if you considered the health of those around you and nobody got hurt, we can probably still sort out the mess. At least you did something, at least you acted. That in itself is the right decision. Make mistakes where they can be fixed so you make fewer where they cannot.
8. Take the time to develop those around you.
Flash back to that ‘roided out E6. Now imagine being his co-worker instead his subordinate. Frustrating, right. Always having to cover down on their tasks, always picking up the broken pieces to still make mission. Saying to yourself, “I wish somebody took the time to train you.” Well guess what? If you are not training those around you then you are part of the problem.
We tend to get so wrapped up in getting to a job well done that we forget to take a minute to point out training opportunities. Take that extra second, minute, hour. Train those around you because one day they may be your boss. That is a lesson we tend to learn the hard way.
9. Live the core values you expect from those around you.
This is one that infuriates me to my core; I see leaders scolding their subordinates for infractions they themselves habitually commit. Sadly, this seems to have become commonplace. I equate this to having a complete disrespect for the men and women working for you. Nothing kills morale faster. Nothing hurts cohesion more. Talk is cheap, live the values you preach. Lead by example. This is how you gain the respect of those around you.
And finally,
10. Respect is earned.
I am going to tell you all a little secret. If you have to tell someone that they have to respect you, they don’t. There is a certain amount of respect that rank or title holds, but having men follow you to their certain demise is true respect. It is trust, it is loyalty, it is knowing that the person out front did the risk-reward ratio and what happens in the next few minutes is for the greater good. This is no easy task, earning the respect of those around you is hard. It requires making the tough choices, it requires doing things the hard way because it is what’s morally right. True respect is something you have to fight yourself and all your lazy tendencies for. We do it because it is hard. Respect is earned, not given.
Two Reasons Why Your Factory Glock Trigger May Not Be Resetting
Before we get started, below are the different types of connectors we will be talking about.
I have seen both of these issues multiple times from customers at my full time position.
Reason One: Dislodging the Trigger Spring from on Top of the Cruciform
FYSA: This is going to be only for the Gen 5 users as the trigger and connector assembly are different from the S style spring of previous Gens.
During cleaning operators will oftentimes use a nylon brush to clean the inside of their Glock. While this is a great way of removing carbon you have to be careful to not dislodge other things. Remember on the Beretta M9? Operators will sometimes lose their trigger spring during cleaning. This same thing can happen with the trigger spring assembly on the Glock Gen 5. This assembly now has a lip that seats on top of the cruciform on the trigger. If operators get a little overzealous when cleaning they can push that lip off of the cruciform easily. To reseat that piece you will need to totally disassemble the Glock and reassemble the trigger.
If you want to see for yourself how easy it is, strip the slide, at this time the gun should be fired which makes the spring easier to push off, then take a punch and gently push on that lip, this will then dislodge it. When reassembling it you will see that this assembly is a bit more simple than the previous gens to put back together. Just ensure that that lip is over the cruciform so you don’t have to do this all over again.
Steph Fact: My favorite cleaning tool ever is the nylon toothbrush that Brownells sells and is heavy within the military cleaning tools.
Reason Two: Broken Connector Spring
Specifically on the Gen 4 (the Gen 5 connector is different) platforms or the Standard “S” connector spring, the leg that is connecting the spring to the cruciform on the trigger can break. When working on this Glock before even noticing the broken spring, I was able to reset the trigger but it wasn’t consistent. Out of the four times after putting the Glock together and racking it, it would reset once out of the four times. That being said, it can be missed so just be sure to inspect for that leg properly attached to the cruciform on the trigger.
Maintain Responsibly.
Review: Springfield Armory’s Garrison
For most of my life, about three quarters of it, I have deployed a steel frame .45 with a five inch barrel as my carry gun. When the city or county decided I should carry something else I did, but most of the time I carried a cocked and locked 1911 .45. On my own time it was always a 1911, although I admit a Commander .45 has become a favorite.
Over the years the Government Model has become less common. Various tactical models and rail guns are offered. With the Government Model at 38 ounces, a 40 to 43 ounce rail gun becomes a drag on the belt. The Government Model is controllable and handles well. The balance is excellent. There is no handgun faster to an accurate first shot than a properly carried cocked and locked 1911, in my humble opinion.
There are a very few affordable but quality 1911 pistols. It seems that the reliable types are over a thousand dollars, then there are the cheap cast frame 1911s that I would never bet my life on.
Let’s look at Springfield’s recent introduction of an affordable quality 1911.
The Springfield Garrison offers all I need in a defensive 1911 handguns: good sights, a speed safety, and a good trigger. The pistol doesn’t have night sights, a light rail, an ambidextrous safety, and other extra features some may not need.
The Springfield isn’t ‘cheap’ but at eight hundred dollars it is affordable. Specifications and tolerances of a quality handgun demand hand fitting. Hand fit and precise machine work are exhibited by the Springfield Garrison. The pistol features a hot salt blue finish. While not as durable as some modern finishes, it is a rich deep impressive finish. For a few dollars more a stainless steel version is available.
While I like the look of my blued pistol the stainless pistol probably makes more sense in a service grade handgun. The forged steel frame and slide are well finished. I like the hard fit of the barrel. The fit of the barrel bushing is snug, but not too tight for easy disassembly. The locking lugs are snug in the slide.
The slide lock safety is tight with a positive indent, no mushiness to be found. The slide lock and magazine release are positive in operation. The pistol features slim line grips. If you replace the grips you will need standard length screws and bushings as well. I like the slim line grips, they take a little getting used to. Those with larger hands may need standard grips.
The pistol features Novak style three dot sights. The Novak is the standard by which all other pistol sights are judged. Trigger compression is a smooth 6.5 pounds and tight with modest take-up, no creep, and no backlash. Reset is rapid. A sharp reset is as important in combat shooting as a smooth compression. Thankfully the pistols scroll markings are not billboard types but tastefully done. Disassembly revealed no internal tool marks and good fit. Lateral play in the slide was almost non-existent. Overall this is a nice package. The proof is in the firing.
The pistol has visited the range several times and never failed to feed, chamber, fire, or eject. Function is good and recoil is modest. While a steel frame 1911 is pleasant to use and fire, Springfield seems to have addressed recoil with a proper weight recoil spring as well. When firing the pistol slim line grips are no drawback and offer a good firing grip. However, some with larger hands may require standard size grips to ease this. If so, be certain to order standard length grip screw bushings and screws as well as mentioned earlier.
The three dot outline sights are well designed for rapid acquisition. They are also suited to precision shooting at ranges past 15 yards. In rapid fire take aim, press the trigger, then control the pistol in recoil as the trigger resets, align the sights, and get a hit. The cadence of fire is controlled not by how quickly you may pull the trigger but how quickly you are able to realign the sights after firing. While I have fired a good number of cast lead bullet handloads, I have also used a good supply of factory FMJ ammunition. These included Winchester’s 230 grain FM loading. This load burns clean and offers good practical accuracy.
Firing for accuracy from a solid bench rest at 25 yards provided good results. I used the Winchester 230 grain FMJ and Browning’s 230 grain X Bullet. The X bullet is a well designed hollow point loading that uses a combination of Winchester’s famous crease fold design, first used in the Silvertip, and an X block inside the hollow point sump that helps ensure expansion. Accuracy is service grade at the least, with the FMJ load averaging 2.65 inches for a five shot group and the Browning loading 2.5 inches. The pistol is accurate enough for most any personal defense chore.
I used the Jeffrey Custom Leather Professional holster for most of my range work. This is a first class holster with a well designed tunnel loop for belt attachment, a tension screw, and a reinforced holstering welt. This holster rides close to the body. While useful for range work this holster concealed well under a light garment. This holster rides high and offers a sharp draw.
For general purpose concealed carry when driving or riding I like the DeSantis Sky Cop cross draw. A cross draw with a proper design that offers a sharp draw is rare. The Sky Cop is among the best modern holsters and a good companion for concealed carry use. A reinforced holstering mouth and tunnel belt loop make for good utility.
The Springfield Garrison is good pistol, well made of good material. It has a consensus of good features and should prove to be an effective personal defense handgun.
Go “Baby” Go – Gun’s of the Ukraine War
We are three weeks into the war that is arguably the most neer peer conflict so far of the 21st Century, one that take into account the advances brought about by GWOT. GWOT though, was always going to be an insurgent hunt. It was not in either case, Afghanistan or Iraq, anything approaching a peer conflict. Both militaries were drastically overmatched by the US, even had we not progressed past 2001 tech.
Russia and Ukraine are showing a different and very interesting disparity. In this case the “scrappy underdog” of Ukraine is showing up to the fight in a serious way. They’re troops are using tricked out rifles set up for serious work as we define it here in the states. Optics, suppressors, lights, and lasers.
The Russians… not so much. Even troops with AK-12’s are running them slick. There’s a famous picture now of a poor Russian with a Mosin-Nagant, a Mosin. It’s in Brandon’s video, hit play if you haven’t.
But real darling of the small arms eyes has been… a bullpup
The Vulcan and Vulcan-M are colloquially known as the Malyuk, which means “baby”. They’re operational name is Vulcan, a modernized AK series, Ukraine developed domestically, that can run all the modern optics, lights, and lasers. It’s most striking feature is obviously it is one of a few modern bullpups. Ukraine also uses a specialized X95 Tavor.
The bullpup is a controversial rifle type in shooter circles, still. It is either loved, tolerated with respect, or hated with a passion, it isn’t as full spectrum as the AR and AK platforms. When France, one of the most modern militaries, decided to retire the FAMAS for the HK416F it was seen as the end of the bullpup by many, that despite Israel, Australia, Austria, and the UK retaining them. A story went viral several months ago stating the IDF was dropping the Tavor, it wasn’t but anti-bullpupians harolled it as another sign that the reverse rifle they so despise was continuing its slow demise.
By contrast, one of the finalists for the NGSW (though not the crowd favorite), is a bullpup.
“Baby” Vulcan
The baby name, by best guess, is from its prototype phase and it just stuck.
The rifle itself internally is all AK74 or AK47 by caliber, I believe there is a 5.56 too.
What I don’t know, especially on the most modern variants, is what the controls do specifically. The charging handle and ejection port are obvious, as is the trigger. The suppressor interface and rail interfaces are equally self explanatory. Where it gets murky is in the magazine interface controls and the safety/fire control selectors.
The example above, which looks to match reddit image above that, is a 5.45 that takes AK74 magazines. What isn’t clear is how they are accomplishing rock-in or have converted these to a variant of straight pull. It is equally unclear if the switch at the rear is a safety and fire selector, or just a fire selector between semi and full and the button further up is the safety, push-thru style like the AUG. I’m also not sure what the trigger behind the trigger is, but my gut is telling me that is the magazine release.
Anyway.
It’s cool. It’s a modern bullpup on a modern battlefield. And the Ukrainian SF boys are using it to collect all the AK-12’s.
Ohio Goes Constitutional Carry
On Monday, Gov. Mike DeWine added Ohio to the Constitutional Carry states of the nation. The law change, that will take place June 12th and marks the most significant upgrade to Ohio’s firearm policy in decades, has been met with the usual blood in the streets declarations and ‘how dare they have no background checks or training!’
It’s the usual tripes that sound dangerous on the surface but fail to hold much relevance when you start digging a little bit. Permits aren’t going away, they are just no longer required. Anyone who bought the firearm they are carrying from a dealer or in a state that requires private handgun transfers to be background checked were background checked. Felons carry without a permit or background check all the time, they don’t care, they just try not to get caught and if they do… oh well.
Let’s address a few of these.
No Training
That’s a bold assumption when there is a thriving private instruction market, but perhaps if there is ‘No Training’ you should take steps to make quality training publically available and as close to free as you can manage? Wouldn’t that be the responsible solution instead of throwing up additional blocks to safe handling?
No? You just don’t like guns then, gotcha.
Why solve problems? You’d have to stop complaining about them then.
Also the standards for concealed carry classes nationwide are a joke if you believe the grant proficiency. Hell, the Ohio law enforcement qualification standard is absurdly easy. I have friends in OLE and they can take just about anyone and get them to pass the standard with a couple hours of practice… and the reverse of that is on the job LE often fail the qualification, and must retake it multiple times…
So if we aren’t holding our armed professionals to solid standards, allowing multiple redo’s, make-ups, and waivers, why are we concerned about the public who have a right to carry arms but no professional liability?
The public’s liability, with or without training, is the same. It doesn’t change. Don’t murder, don’t attempt to murder, don’t threaten, and don’t negligently injure. That’s it. With or without a license. With or without a record. With or without a gun, that covers the public’s responsible for liabilities.
No Background Checks
This one is laughable, what is that NICS check stopping? NICS is so blaise that the only way they make it feel effective is by quoting the initial denial number, so everyone in gets put into a delay status or a deny status. They don’t like then quoting the proceeds, transfers complete, denial overturned, and actual transfer stats. They also do an abysmal job following up on attempted purchases by felons because they don’t consider most of those attempts to be of major concern. If it isn’t major concern this person tried to get a firearm, why can’t they have a firearm?
Background checks won’t stop a motivated non-felon. It won’t stop a felon who just ignores the rule. It punishes people with felony records who are supposedly reformed and safe to enter society again by denying them rights. You, Joe/Jane Public McStrawman, have no idea if the people next to you have records of anything, including drunk or reckless driving. You will still hop in your car trusting everyone around you to be licensed, or more importantly drive safely. We need to normalize this attitude with firearms as well. Trust them to get it right, encourage proper education and training, improve access to both of the latter to further encourage the former.
Go Ohio
So, despite my genetically ingrained geographic animosity against the region known as Ohio, actually far more accurately the Buckeyes of Ohio State (Go Spartans AND Wolverines). Good job and well dones are owed to the Ohio assembly and Governor in helping to continue to normalize firearms owners also being able to carry their firearms.
AZ Senator Mansplains the 2A – Tells Victims to Stay Home
A few days ago in Arizona a female citizen testifying before the state senate judiciary committee received the Mansplaining of the Decade.
The recipient of this appalling condescension was a representative of the DC Project, a national women’s gun rights group. This delegate, herself a victim of sexual assault and domestic abuse, was testifying before the committee and explaining why she carries a firearm to protect herself. The committee was at the time considering a bill which would expand areas where concealed carry permit holders can lawfully carry concealed firearms, to include certain public establishments and events.
An Arizona state senator named Lupe Contreras proceeded to make some extremely ignorant and – dare I say – “privileged” comments in reply. Senator Contreras stated that he is a gun-owner/hunter and “proud democrat” (here comes the inevitable “but”) …
Direct Video Quote:
“I don’t need to have my gun on me at all times to feel safe – I don’t. I don’t run around, walk around, and drive around worried about somebody’s going to shoot me or somebody’s going to hurt me, or somebody’s going to do whatever. Why even walk around at that point. Stay home behind closed doors.” (Video jump)
“So I mean, I do understand that, yeah, it is a right that we have. But some people just don’t have that right, and some people just shouldn’t have that right.”
The video is available directly at the DC project YouTube page, and also at the DC project FB page and pinned post.
Did you go watch it? If not, go back and do it. Listen to the words straight from the horse’s caboose.
Talk about the mansplaining of the decade! Well yippee for you, Sen. Contreras that you don’t personally feel unsafe in public spaces.
Good for you that you are a man, and as such much less likely to be a victim of sexual violence (or you know, “whatever”).
Hooray, that you have not ever been the victim of random violence in public spaces.
Yippee for you, that you have never experienced domestic abuse at the hands of someone you loved and trusted.
And yay for you, that you are high enough on the socioeconomic ladder to have become a state legislator, such that you enjoy the security of the state in your workplace and likely live in a low crime neighborhood.
Too bad that many women in your state have not been so lucky.
In lounging upon your own “privilege” – sir – you have denigrated and dismissed the real life experiences of your female constituents in general, and that of this female gun rights advocate in particular. To. Her. Face. No less.
So, rather than being empowered by the Constitution to embrace their own ability to protect themselves, your female constituents should just “stay home”, should they? They shouldn’t feel free and safe enough in your state to “run around, walk around or drive around” under the protection of their own personal firearm? Rather than stepping out into public spaces with confidence, carrying the means to protect themselves, the victims of assault, rape, and attempted murder in your state should remain “behind closed doors” ? Is that really what you just said? You REALLY went on record with that?
You may be a lawyer but you, Sen Contreras, have no understanding of what a ”right” really is, and you are certainly no Constitutional scholar. You are also certainly no representative of the female half of your constituency. Your condescension and ignorance speaks for itself. I hope your constituents ensure that such arrogance and privilege do not go unanswered. Frankly, I hope you are voted out and never hold public office again.
Readers should feel free to light up this chucklehead’s senate phone and inbox if they feel so inclined. And support the DC Project while you’re at it.
AIWB Now IDPA OK!
The International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) is the governing body of a shooting sport that simulates self-defense scenarios and real life encounters. It was founded in 1996 as a response to the desires of shooters worldwide. The organization now boasts membership of more than 25,000, including members in 70 foreign countries.
And they have just added one of the most sought after changes into their competitive ruleset, appendix carry.
Appendix carry, often abbreviated AIWB (Appendix Inside the Waistband), is a popular carry method advocated by many knowledgeable trainers and shooters within the defensive shooting sphere. But IDPA was for a very long time resistant to the practice due to a perceived lack of safety in the method.
“You’ll shoot your junk off.”
This was the popular chorus of the untried masses who had never ventured to try the method. Those of us who have and just find it the lesser of the two in comfort acknowledge that it is arguably the fastest method and most secure on the body for the firearm. It does require careful holstering, as does all holstering though so that isn’t a new concept. We’ve just grown used to OWB secure retention holsters-type being deemed safe.
Several other updates were integrated into the ruleset, including some capacity updates and a PCC10 as an optional subdivision of PCC. What this means is that IDPA is closing back on their initial mission, of being a game that emphasized more concealed carry oriented and home defense oriented shooting styles still in a competitive environment.
It was strange that they disallowed several of the popular and well vetted systems for awhile.
What does this change?
Not much overall, it gives matches a little more flexibility to allow competitors to play the game. People wanting to run their AIWB carry gun are no longer required to run a different rig to shoot with it in competition, forcing themselves to practice a different draw. PCC shooters can also run PCC10 which can force reloads and manipulations or be restrictive state friendly as applicable.
It’s always a positive when you see these sports evolve with their members. IDPA is helping advance the discipline with this move and give shooters an avenue to improve.
The (Not So) Essential JPC 2.0 Upgrades
Plate carrier set up is a daunting task. Just when you think you have everything set up where you want it, you see an Instagram post of a cooler rig. These are the issues us modern day warriors and citizens face. Those Vietnam Soldiers had it so easy, one size and you’ll like it! (this is a joke, please don’t cancel me). These were the struggles I faced after purchasing my Crye Precision JPC 2.0.
Who are you? Who Who, Who Who
No plate carrier set up is complete without a sick patch. The JPC is no different. While I typically try to source my products from companies in the US, our brothers to the North make an awesome patch. I have been purchasing my identification patches from Patch Panel for the last several years and I really like their product. They are laser cut, extremely customizable, and very high quality.
It’s like a belt, but for Operators
Next on the list is the Spiritus Systems Molle Tubes Cummerbund. A few years ago I got my first cummerbund with First Spear’s tubes. I love the ease of donning and doffing using a tubes set up and Spiritus Systems did an amazing job integrating this system into their high quality cummerbund. The side straps are very rigid, they include shock cord for lacing the ends, and they even give you the male tube ends. Unfortunately, the male ends aren’t useful in this application. In order to use the Spiritus Systems cummerbund on the JPC 2.0, you must purchase a male tubes adapter.
IT’S NOT A FANNY PACK
I always thought dangler pouches would be uncomfortable until I purchased my first. Now, I don’t have a plate carrier without one. Dangler pouches allow you to add a quick-to-access pouch without creating extra bulk. I opted for Whiskey Two Four’s Bag 03. This pouch has loop velcro on the outside for attaching patches or other gear. It also has a velcro lined inside so that you can add any gear organization loops that you see fit. The pouch has quality zippers and stitching and comes in a variety of colors to match whatever plate carrier you run.
My Mag Pouches Are No Joke
Just like on my battle belt set up, I opt for Esstac’s Kywi pouches on my plate carrier. Esstac’s 5.56 mid length front panel works the same as their regular magazine pouches, using kydex inserts for magazine retention. The front panel also has a hook backing and buckles for attaching to your plate carrier. This front panel works flawlessly on the JPC 2.0 and I love it how it creates a low profile feel to an already low profile plate carrier. There isn’t much else to say about the Kywi pouches; they are just awesome.
SOP dependent Gear
Unfortunately, sometimes we also have to add SOP related items to our plate carriers. In my case, I have to have the ability to run side plates. Total buzzkill. Since I typically don’t put side plates in my carrier, I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a pouch I don’t use. I opted for cheap USMC issue side plate pouches off ebay, I think I paid $12 for the set and they were in brand new condition. I also run a military surplus strap cutter on my cummerbund.
A Battle Hardened Warrior
When I set out to create a solid JPC 2.0 loadout, my goals were to keep it light, slim, and functional. This set up meets all of these requirements and at a price point most of us can still afford. While this set up has mostly been used for LARPing in my mom’s basement, I plan to test it extensively this summer in the field (not code for my mom’s basement). If there are any updates on gear, I will update the article as required. Until then, stay deadly friends.
A Rifle Behind Every Blade of Grass – What Sayeth Cleveland.com?
This oft attributed but unsubstantiated quote attributed to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (Japanese Imperial Navy, WWII) goes thus, “You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass.”
Cleveland.com posted the following recently,
Gun proliferation possible under Second Amendment wouldn’t deter foreign foe, but could bolster civilian insurgency, experts say
There’s a subscription wall to the whole text of that article, but let’s tackle the assertion and the retraction in the article title.
Assertion: Gun proliferation possible under Second Amendment wouldn’t deter foreign foe
In short, I agree, it wouldn’t deter a foreign foe.
Why?
We see deterrence fail when it should succeed all the time. Everything from speed limit violations, to gas station robberies, to invading sovereign nations, deterrence isn’t a sure thing by any means. Deterrence requires the deterring party and the party or parties being deterred to be on the same risk analysis math sheet.
A well armed America is a known quantity, we’ve had a patently absurd (by worldwide standards) ratio of civilian armament in our nation for a very long time. We are the only nation with a better than 1:1 ratio of arms per capita, Every single living and breathing person.
Addressing the military age male, female, and selected otherwise population that would be compelled to serve and support repelling an invading force, we have several guns for literally everyone in that demographic. We might have a proper fighting rifle for everyone in that category, or we’re getting close. We would fairly easily be able to support the percentage of the population actively fighting, instead of 20,000 AKs handed out in Kyiv it would just be ammo being distributed to everyone with the 20,000,000 AR’s. Far logistically easier to take inventories of ammo orders than rifles and ammo and delays in individual/small unit drills. It’s the minuteman theory still. Everyone shows up with a common enough rifle, in this case just about anything in 5.56 NATO or 7.62 NATO would be fine. Even 5.45×39, 7.62×39, or .300BLK could probably be supported at some level, so long as lines of logistics and local pooling were established. AR’s and rifles in 5.56 would be king though… of rifles, HME and standoff explosives would be the real heroes against the invaders, ask us how we know?
If any nation, considering all of that, decided to give it a go anyway then our vast small arms inventories did not deter them. The local militia/insurgent resistance has in some way, shape, or form been calculated into their ops plan militarily, just like the vast and variable terrain and large, dispersed population. They thought about it and decided to send it anyway. We are seeing in Ukraine right now where pre-war calculations of results can be in error.
Let’s scale the logistics
The whole nation of Ukraine is the largest standalone European nation, since Russia stretches the breadth of Asia too, and is only 86.7% of the area of Texas.
Texas is only 7.07% of the United States total space, about 8.5% if you just include the contiguous 48 states. Now, conquering or subduing a population and/or achieving military goals doesn’t require total control of the landmass, but you do have to project troops through the landmass in order to take and hold vital territory, and must do so before the enemy force (us) can implement some sort of supported countermeasure. We also literally built the highway system to support the aforementioned countermeasures.
Just as people here fail to understand just how close Europe is to itself, its old and densely packed, those of foreign origin conversely don’t understand how big the USA is. Big and dispersed, we live very spread out by comparison to other high population nations. The two chief candidates who could ever reasonably mount this invasive attack, China and Russia, are not as dispersed and would have difficulty coming to terms with the terrain.
We have space to maneuver, lots of it. Even if we were forced to absorb a troop incursion of some depth, we can. Ground forces have some absurd mileage they have to take and any moderate population center they skip is a direct threat to their logistics behind the main advance.
The United States could functionally move its capital and defense control west to one of many major cities, or one of the prepared defensive sites, and the invader would have to penetrate to attack it again, and again, and again. Conversely, depending upon the axis of attack, they have to penetrate the whole depth of our country or an allied nation and then get to the command and control center. The United States is also one of the best at operating in a decentralized command environment where smaller ‘units’ of command and control could operate independently and in support. Local bases, law enforcement, and governance would organize the militias, like we’ve seen in Ukraine, and fighting would continue to occur along the whole vulnerable axis of whatever incursion.
In an invasion, were an enemy to be incredibly successful in damaging federal level command and control, you could reasonably see state and regional command and control continue to operate aggressively against the enemy.
So no, anyone who invades anyway clearly wasn’t deterred by this… buuuut,
Retraction: But could bolster civilian insurgency
That is entirely one of the critical foundational points of the 2nd Amendment. It is both deterrent and response.
If it doesn’t prevent invasion, it places extreme pressure on the invading force by raising a hilariously absurdly large force of light infantry in very short order. The terrain is vast, the population is ludicrously well armed, and you would still be facing the best armed and equipped professional force in the world.
Imagine the sheer nerve, or stupidity, of trying to take on the best armed, trained, and funded force on the planet. Who constantly leads developments in warfighting tech, who are constantly practicing joint maneuver warfare on the very terrain you are trying to take, whose military is dispersed both nationally and internationally, whose individual carrier battle group’s combat power outstrip most nation’s ability to project power in total, and whose single most limiting factor in their response has been the morality and strategy of limiting escalation.
Imagine giving that force the permission to go completely weapons free with everything short of a nuke, knowing that they’ll park a submarine or two just to clock your nation back to the stone age since nukes would still be on the table at any time. That force will undoubtedly, even while fighting you on the home front, retain a massive military capability to open a front in your backyard too, and they will unleash the largest inventory of precision guided munitions in the world to do it.
The US launched AGM-114 Hellfires at dudes on scooters, and you just gave them weapons free on your entire uniformed military force? Damn.
Oh, then roll in the rest of NATO who will gladly start shooting you in support of the United States’ Operation: ‘You Done Fucked Up Now’. So enjoy Germany, the UK, France, Canada, Poland, and the rest of the gang all gladly going equally weapons free, unless you somehow successfully factored handling all of those forces into your calculation too. Considering what Russia is struggling with in Ukraine, I doubt anyone can handle that many fires on that many fronts. Russia has significantly damaged their ability to project power in the modernized world.
The reality is nobody can realistically project military might against the United States directly, that won’t always stop someone from trying but they cannot succeed.
The question is how badly they fail.
“But, Keith! We got kicked out of Afghanistan and the Taliban took right back over.”
Yep, and the Afghan and Iraq wars were both marked by political exercises in restraint and limited escalation. In neither case did we just crush the folks we were there to crush and leave, which was well within our power. We made tons of mistakes in both conflicts, but they were usually political ones that negatively impacted the military and not military mistakes in the prosecution of the actual warfighting.
If the proverbial nation pushes beyond the ‘it would be worse to escalate’ line the US consistently and faithfully observes they get annihilated. The US doesn’t care about the cost or what it is going to take to build back after at that point, military victory takes the priority. The modern US Military has been used around the concept of measured response, that in no way means the US Military is incapable of prosecuting total war.
That line is why we’re just giving Ukraine ammo to shoot at Russia and not actively obliterating their warfighting capability. Russia could and perhaps would ‘Spoil Sport‘ and trigger a MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) response, even if we kept it non-nuclear. Were even a small percentage of weapons to land on targets (or anywhere) the results would suck much worse than the conventional combat casualties thus far.
The American Insurgency Would be Legion
Let’s put this into perspective.
We. Do. This. For. Fun.
There is no other nation on the face of this earth that has any idea, any remotely accurate concept that they can convey to their leadership, of how much Americans like to shoot. We love to shoot. There are entire weird subsets of the internet dedicated to, in some cases very seriously, planning for this to happen.
The recreational, competitive, and veteran communities, even the milsim airsoft/paintball crowd are far more easy bake militia than most of the world enjoys. Do you think gamers couldn’t figure out most of the remote weapon systems we’re developing and have deployed, run drones or remote missile systems and the like? Do you think your inner city criminal elements aren’t a ready made, and equipped, underground or that they won’t fight for their homes too? Invasion changes perspectives. There are a lot of people who you might think wouldn’t step up who would, and will, when reality comes crashing in and the shield of the developed world’s niceties vanished. It happened in Ukraine. It would happen here.
Look at how we can riot when a single cop does something wrong. You think we can’t turn that on, and up to 11, if a foreign nation was landing troops? Imagine every city, state, and small town in the US motivated to get someone the hell out of our house.
We have two decades of recent insurgency warfare experience. We have 20+ Million AR-15’s alone. If even 5% of those folks are worth more than a fart in the wind when it comes to operating as light infantry, that’s 2+ Million extra organizable small unit troops. Many will come self equipped to a very acceptable level, easing logistics. That doesn’t even consider the 5% of the population at large that may take up arms and also be usable. Consider also that roughly 1% of the population is serving professionally in the armed forces (active, reserve, or guard) and another 2 to 4% are still military serving age veterans. The US has an immense core of on-call talent that would vulcanize from whatever their first-world modernized responsibilities are into warfighting.
We have a deep veteran and shooter skill pool that could throw together efficient militias, like efforts we are seeing in Ukraine, to support the mobility and missions of the Armed Forces. The Green Berets would be helping places like LA, Houston, and Chicago turn into death traps for any conventional forces invading.
So, say we get about 5% of the total population organized as militia and supporting elements (which I personally believe is low). 4.5+ million Americans in the fight and supporting it in addition to the uniformed forces. So totaling somewhere about 8-12 million people resisting an invading force at the forward points. Which nation has a conventional armed force, mostly of conscripts, able to take and hold against that? Consider the average hastily trained militia man or woman under the capable small unit leaders seeded around the US will perform at or above the conscripts, have the motivation to defend their home, and have a solid domestic logistics situation that would be incredibly hard to severely damage. When all of our transportation network goes wartime and semi’s are running food, fuel, and ammo pretty much exclusively?
AmmozonPrime!
How do I know this? How do I know the foreigners cannot comprehend the magnitude of this task, even if it doesn’t deter them from it?
I deal with overseas firearm companies on the regular. The people who are in the absolute best position to know and understand the demand and attitudes in the US, because they directly supply it, and I find they constantly underestimate it.
That demand blows their minds. You can take someone out of CZ, or Beretta, or IWI and take them to any run of the mill, small town, or mom and pop gun store and their reaction is likely to be, “This must be the Cabela’s or BassPro I have heard so much about…” and our response is “Nah, this is just one of for that serve a couple small towns.”
One of the most common friction points between US and overseas compartments of firearm companies is that the foreign component cannot properly fathom the demands of the market.
The world doesn’t know how much we like shooting. This fundamentally doesn’t land in their minds. The world doesn’t comprehend how the blend of GunCulture2.0 and the attitudes of Gen X, Y, and Z trend towards armed independent and resistant actions, in enough of the population, to make us the insurgency nightmare of all insurgency nightmares. More resources, over more space, over more people, supporting the best equipped conventional military in the world.
It. Would. SUCK. To invade the US. It could be nothing but a nightmare.
I don’t care if we just got rocketed by Iran and we haven’t really responded. I don’t care that our Commander in Chief is a barely upright imbecile who makes us look weak. Nobody with a prayer of a clue towards finding of the actual clue wants to land here to fuck around and find out.
Conclusion
No, the overt armedness of America won’t prevent an invasion anymore than the overt armedness of a police officer prevents someone from taking on that police officer or trying to get their gun.
But it is in the risk/reward calculation.
Someone would have to project an absurdly heavy military force into the US and be willing to get chewed up and annihilated in the process to even have a chance of achieving some type military gain in our space. The only gain available is the shoving match conflicts like Crimea and Taiwan where the bet is, or will be, that major forces won’t go to the mat for someone on the preiferary. That is Putin’s gamble in Ukraine and it will be China’s in Taiwan. This concept is that the United States, or any select larger world power, will not expend more blood for a smaller nation than that smaller nation would or has to spend and that we do not require it not to change hands. The power change may be inconvenient, but if it is stomachable we are less likely to commit substantial military combat power.
Compare that to 9/11 response conflicts, when the US got attacked directly and we stomped two countries. The casualty count will go up against a more modernized force but nobody on the planet can take the shots we can land. Their option is what the Taliban did, basically annoy us until we got bored and went home then topple the completely ineffectual regime that won’t stand up for itself.
So the Cleveland.com headline assertion is technically correct, which they would assure us is the best kind of correct, but functionally incorrect in that it misunderstands the purpose of the 2nd Amendment.
The 2nd Amendment isn’t just a deterrent. It is a response.
What Are The Best 3-Gun Pistols?
3-gun competition is an intimidating sport to get started in. Three different firearms, dozens of magazines, pouches, shell caddies: Trying to pick the best piece of equipment for every category can get overwhelming fast.
Trying to find the right handgun is often the most difficult piece of the puzzle; everyone more or less agrees on an AR for the rifle portion, and your choice of shotgun is unlikely to make-or-break your match, but it’s hard to recover from a poor performance with your 3-gun pistol. For that reason, it’s important to find one that’s not just a good fit for the sport, but also for you.
Luckily, at least in America, there is a large variety of firearms stores both brick and mortar and online, so once you actually decide what you want, it will be easy to find one for sale.
What Makes a Good 3-Gun Pistol?
The ideal 3-gun pistol is basically the antithesis of the ideal carry pistol; instead of small, lightweight, and easy to conceal, you want big, relatively heavy, and easy to run fast. A good 3-gun pistol should have a full-size frame, providing maximum surface area for grip. A full-size frame means full-size magazines as well, which can be the difference between reloading once during a stage or reloading twice or more. Fewer reloads mean less time spent on the stage, and that’s what 3-gun is all about.
Another consideration is sight radius. Sight radius is essentially the distance between your front and rear sight. A longer sight radius typically translates into more precise aiming; the greater the distance between your sights, the more visible misalignment will be, making it easier to line up a perfect shot. Since a lot of 3-gun divisions prohibit red dot optics on pistols, a longer sight radius can be an advantage, especially on stages that require highly precise or long-distance shots.
3-gun competitions are all about speed, and so a big consideration in a good 3-Gun pistol is recoil impulse. The less your muzzle is flipping with every shot, the faster you can reacquire your sights and get back on target. For this reason, some competitors opt for heavier guns with big steel frames; all that weight soaks up the recoil, letting them focus more on their sights and trigger press and less on recoil control.
However, heavier guns can often be slower out of the holster and to transition between targets, especially for newer competitors who are used to shooting polymer-framed guns. Ultimately, the balance between weight and recoil comes down to personal preference; there are world-class shooters on both sides of the issue.
Another consideration, albeit a less important one, is aftermarket support. As new competitors transition into seasoned ones, it’s common for them to find things about their firearms and equipment that could be improved. When this happens, it’s convenient for there to be an aftermarket that offers solutions.
Not loving the grip on your Glock? There are hundreds of stipplers all over the country that can alter the shape or texture. On the other hand, if you’re running a CZ, your options are basically to change out the grip panels or learn to live with it. The same goes for triggers, sights, safeties, etc.
Of course, there are a million little factors that go into this decision, and they’re not the same for everyone. Some shooters want specific sights, or a particular trigger feel. The above-mentioned are the biggest consideration though, so now let’s take a look at some of the best 3-gun pistols on the market.
Is The Glock 34 The Best Pistol For 3-Gun?
Of course, there was going to be a Glock. It’s impossible to talk about the best pistol for anything without Glock being in the conversation. Glock made their name as the go-to pistol for law enforcement and concealed carry, but they occupy a sizable space in the competition market as well. Renowned for their unyielding reliability and supported by what is probably the largest aftermarket in the industry, it’s hard to go wrong with a Glock.
For 3-gun, we’re partial to the Glock 34. Unlike other shooting sports, most 3-gun competitions don’t have a power factor, so it makes sense to go with 9mm for minimal recoil and maximum capacity. It shares the same frame as the venerable Glock 17, offering a full-size grip with or without finger grooves, depending on which generation you select.
The 5.31″ barrel will wring every last bit of velocity from your ammo, which might not sound important for a competition, but you’ll be glad for it the first time you come up against a stubborn steel popper target. The extended slide and barrel also stretch out the sight radius.
That said, it’s hardly the perfect competition gun right out of the box. As a polymer-framed gun, the Glock 34 is a fair bit lighter than other competition pistols. This means less fatigue on the user’s arms, especially during long matches, but it also means more muzzle flip. While the Glock 34’s recoil is certainly manageable, many heavier competition guns do shoot flatter.
The Glock 34’s 5-pound trigger is appropriate for carry but less than optimal for competition. The basic plastic sights also leave a lot to be desired, and many shooters find the boxy grip and thick trigger guard unpleasant. Luckily, there is a remedy for that.
Glock pistols come with aftermarket support the likes of which other guns can only dream of. There are remedies aplenty for each of the issues mentioned above if you’re willing to fork out the cash for them.
The Glock 34 is one of the more economical pistols for 3-Gun, with a street price of around $700. However, once you start upgrading, it’s easy to spend that much again on triggers, sights, and frame work, not to mention extended magazine catches, match-grade barrels, etc.
By the time you finish customizing your Glock 34, you may find that for the same amount of money, you could have bought a much more expensive pistol.
There are certain advantages to going the Glock route, though. Starting with a stock Glock allows you to get into the sport immediately, rather than saving up cash for a high-dollar gun. Competing with an out-of-the-box Glock will help you to get a feel for the gun, the sport, and your shooting style before laying out too much money.
After some experience, you can begin customizing your pistol piece by piece, investing where it will count without wasting any money on upgrades you didn’t need. This can be a great option for those looking to save a few bucks while still having a capable pistol.
Alternatively, if you’re sure you know exactly what you’re looking for, there are plenty of custom gunsmiths out there that will rebuild a Glock from the ground up. This gives you a great deal of control over the final product, allowing you to dictate nearly every aspect of the pistol. A custom Glock build will cost a pretty penny though, especially from a prestigious builder.
But the aftermarket isn’t just limited to triggers and sights. Part of what makes the Glock 34 such an economical choice is the vast array of support gear. Nearly every holster manufacturer in existence supports Glock pistols, making it easy to find a decent competition holster for $50, sometimes less. The same goes for magazines; Magpul extended models start at under $20. The same capacity magazine for a 2011 can cost $100 or more.
In sum, the Glock 34 is a great option for an up-and-coming competitor looking to get into the sport without laying out too much cash, or an experienced one looking for ultimate customization. A vast aftermarket provides both cheap accessories and every upgrade you could ever need. Before buying, though, it’s worth considering the total amount you plan to spend, and whether one of our other recommendations may meet your needs better.
The CZ Shadow 2 Is A Great Contender
CZ’s popular Shadow 2 pistol is widely considered to be one of the best values in competition shooting. It’s especially popular in USPSA production class, but it’s well-suited to 3-Gun competition as well.
The Shadow 2 is similar in overall dimensions to the Glock 34. The barrel is a bit shorter, at 4.89″, as is the sight radius, but it’s close enough that even excellent marksmen would find little difference. The full-size all-steel frame offers a generous amount of grip, making it suitable for even the largest hands. It’s much more contoured than a Glock, and a fair bit thinner as well, especially with the stock low-profile grip panels. Aggressive checkering on the front and rear backstraps minimize slippage, especially when your hands are slick with sweat or rain.
The Shadow 2 weighs in at a whopping 46.5 ounces, over a pound heavier than the Glock 34. As we mentioned earlier, this weight can be a double-edged sword, but it does mean that the Shadow 2 recoils significantly less. Combined with the high-visibility fiber-optic front sight, this makes for extremely easy sight tracking while firing, even for a novice.
It’s also available in both DA/SA and SAO versions. Single Action Only is our choice for 3-Gun because of the consistent, lightweight trigger, but it largely comes down to personal preference. In either model, the trigger is excellent, one of the best available in a production pistol.
At around $1300, it’s nearly twice as expensive as a stock Glock 34. However, once you account for the cost of any upgrades you may need for the Glock, the price starts to look a whole lot more competitive.
Unfortunately, where the CZ suffers is in the aftermarket. While there are some upgrades available for a crisper trigger or shorter reset, there is not nearly as much customization available as there is for some other firearms. Since the frame is made of steel, there’s not much that can be done with it besides changing out the grip panels; at the end of the day, either you like the way it feels, or you don’t.
The Shadow 2 is particularly well-suited to Tactical or Limited divisions, where optics and compensators are generally prohibited, and magazines are often capped at 140mm. Here, the Shadow 2’s extra weight and low recoil will shine, while polymer guns like the Glock 34 may be more challenging.
If you decide you want to dip your feet into Open or Unlimited division shooting, you may find the Shadow 2 limiting. While optic-ready models and aftermarket optic cuts are available, you’ll have to get creative when mounting a compensator, and it certainly won’t be cheap. In this class, Glock shooters can use compensators and tuned springs to reduce their recoil, minimizing the advantage of the Shadow 2’s weight. Of course, division rules can vary between matches, so it’s worth checking if your local match allows compensators in any division.
Since the Shadow 2 is such a popular competition pistol, there is a good selection of holsters available, many close in price to Glock holsters. Magazines are generally a bit more expensive though. While standard 17-round magazines are comparable in price to Glock mags, to reach the 21-round or 27-round capacity of extended Glock magazines, you’ll need to purchase an aftermarket baseplate in addition to the magazine itself. This can often add up to $50 a magazine by the time it’s all said and done.
For those who want a competitive pistol out of the box or simply don’t want to tinker with their gun, the CZ Shadow 2 is an excellent choice. Its low recoil makes it easy to run fast, and the aftermarket is strong enough that you won’t have any trouble finding a holster or magazines. If you plan on sticking to limited or tactical divisions, you really can’t go wrong with a Shadow 2. Still, it’s a larger up-front investment than a Glock, though not as expensive as the next gun on our list.
IS The Staccato XL At The Point Of Diminishing Returns?
It’s impossible to talk about competitive shooting without discussing the 2011.
We chose the Staccato XL, but really, this could be any quality 2011. At $3399, the Staccato XL is one of the more economical competition 2011s; custom models can often top $6,000. It’s a tough-to-swallow price tag, but the 2011 platform offers a plethora of advantages other handguns simply can’t match.
2011s tend to push everything to the extreme. The XL has the longest barrel out of any of the guns on our list at 5.4″. It also has the lightest trigger at just 2.5 pounds, which is further enhanced by the straight-pull design. Having the trigger travel directly backward rather than pivot around an axis helps to minimize wobble during the trigger press. While it’s not the heaviest gun on our list, weighing in at 38 ounces, it packs plenty of weight to tame the recoil of a 9mm.
The XL comes out of the box with a fiber optic front and adjustable rear sight, similar to the CZ Shadow 2. The elongated sight radius makes the most of these and lends itself well to accurate shots, even at extended ranges.
It also features a well-textured polymer grip and integrated magwell. Most 2011s are startlingly easy to reload, on account of the highly tapered design of the magazine. With the addition of the magwell, it’s hard to screw up a reload.
The XL itself comes with few options from the factory, but there is a whole host of accessories and upgrades on the aftermarket. Different triggers, grips, sights, safeties: There’s almost no part of this gun that can’t be replaced with a third-party model. As with all things 2011 though, expect to pay a premium.
On the other hand, custom manufacturers such as Atlas offer completely bespoke 2011s. These models can cost twice as much as a Staccato XL, sometimes more, but they offer the end-user complete control over the build. Everything from the magwell to the sights is configurable, often with a mind-boggling number of options.
In some cases, these custom manufacturers can even tune a 2011 for maximum performance with a specific ammunition load, trading versatility for absolute maximum recoil reduction. Such guns are ideal for Open or Unlimited division; they often have red dots mounted to the frame so that they don’t reciprocate during firing, and usually feature a large compensator. You’d be hard-pressed to stretch any firearm to the extremes of performance found in 2011s.
However, excellence comes at a cost, and it’s not just measured in dollar signs. 2011s have a reputation for being finicky, and for good reason. Magazines in particular have been a weak point for the platform; they often cost $100 or more, and even then, require meticulous cleaning and tuning for peak reliability.
Similarly, many 2011s don’t tolerate the same abuses Glocks and CZs will. They operate best when well lubricated and can malfunction if run dry. Maintenance is imperative with these pistols, so users will need to get very comfortable working on their firearm unless they want to have it checked over by a gunsmith every few thousand rounds.
For those willing to put down three grand or more on a pistol, it may be a non-issue, but 2011s suffer from a dearth of options for holsters and accessories compared to our other two recommended firearms. Holsters can be tricky to find even for production models, and if you elect for a custom 2011, you may be forced to commission a custom holster as well. Similarly, many general-purpose mag pouches struggle to retain 2011 magazines due to their aggressive taper.
At the end of the day, 2011s like the Staccato XL are the go-to platform for top competitors for a reason. They require more attention than the other firearms listed here, but for those who want the best possible performance and aren’t afraid to throw down a sizable chunk of change, the 2011 is the obvious choice.
Honorable Mention
While it’s not the best in any category, the Sig Sauer P320 Legion X5 deserves a mention. It’s not the heaviest or the lightest, not the cheapest or the most expensive, but its jack-of-all-trades nature makes it a solid choice.
At around $1000, the X5 sits somewhere between Glock and CZ in terms of price. It comes with a fiber optic front sight out of the box, like the Shadow 2, but uses a striker-fired action like the Glock. The trigger isn’t quite as nice as the CZ or a well-tuned aftermarket Glock trigger, but it’s certainly serviceable.
It also includes a removable magwell for faster reloads. It’s a polymer-framed pistol but features tungsten inserts to bring the weight in line with steel-framed guns.
Sigs P320 series does have a robust aftermarket, but most of it is geared more towards standard P320s rather than the X5. Still, there’s enough out there that users typically have at least a few choices when looking for upgrades.
Being a Sig Sauer, magazines aren’t exactly cheap, but they aren’t as expensive as 2011 mags either. Factory 21-round magazines are available though, so you won’t have to rely on aftermarket baseplates.
If you like striker-fired guns but are looking for a more out-of-the-box solution than a Glock, a Legion X5 might be a good option, especially if you already own other P320s.
Wrap Up
There you have it; a 3-Gun pistol for every budget and experience level.
For competitors who want a cheaper entry-level pistol or a gun they can customize to their heart’s content, the Glock 34 gets our recommendation.
Not a fan of tinkering? Want to just pick up a pistol and shoot? CZ has you covered with the Shadow 2.
Or, if you’re really getting tired of having money in your bank account and willing to put in the maintenance time, a 2011 will reward you with the best shooting experience of your life.
The Tokarev USA TX3 12HD – A Retro Riot 12 Gauge Gun
New shotguns out of Turkey are a dime a dozen. A lot of them are rather gimmicky. Bullpup semi-autos, pump shotguns with carry handles, and just other weird stuff. Turkish shotguns are a staple of the budget bin market. Some suck, some don’t. As a shotgun nerd, I hadn’t seen many that appeal to me enough to purchase and test until SHOT 2022, when I ran into SDS Imports and Tokarev USA. They had a set of guns known formally as the TX3 12HD, aka the Retro Riot Guns.
The Tokarev USA TX3 12HD at SHOT and their bayonet-equipped goodness immediately caught my eye, and I sent a few rounds down range. Immediately I was impressed, got a card, and contacted the crew at Tokarev USA. They were happy to send out one of their retro riot guns and a +1 extension for the little fella.
The TX3 12HD At First Glance
What do we have here? It’s a 12 gauge, pump-action shotgun that feeds from a tubular magazine. Not too fancy. What caught my eye was the solid foundation of a pump gun combined with a number of neat features that mix new and old to make a sweet little pump action. The retro features include wooden furniture made from Turkish walnut and a heat shield. A bayonet kit promises to be available soon to make it the trench gun of your dreams.
Modern features include a short and sweet length of pull of about 13 inches. Additionally, we have ghost ring sights, as well as an optic rail, and the front sight is a high visibility green fiber optic. From the factory, the gun has a five-round magazine tube, and it can fit a +1 extension, which I did to maximize capacity.
Barrel length is 18.5 inches with Beretta chokes, and the chamber taps out at 3-inches. It comes together to make one pretty but rather standard shotgun. Not everything needs to break new ground, and for the budget price of less than three bills, it’s feature-filled and forms a capable little shotgun.
At The Range
I brought out a wide variety of buckshot, birdshot, and various slugs. This includes mini shells, mini slugs, high-end tactical buckshot, and the cheapest crap I can scrounge up with a healthy dose of Academy’s own Monarch birdshot. I don’t suffer fools with a pump-action shotgun, and it needs to work with a multitude of loads. Mini shells are the only exception. I don’t care if they work or not, but I like to find out. I did just that with the TX3 12HD.
Of the various buckshot types, which include Federal FliteControl all the way down to this cheap Rio buckshot I bought for 2 dollars a box during the Trump slump. The Rio buckshot was unsurprisingly the only load that resulted in a failure. One out of dozens of rounds failed to properly feed from the tube. I’ve had this load, and this issue occurred with Mossberg and Remington shotguns as well. The cheap, soft plastic hull seems to be the issue.
Other than that, the standard length buck, bird, and slugs gave me zero issues. On the mini shell side, I used 1.75 inch and 2-inch shells. Surprisingly these worked well. The 2-inch shells worked 100% of the time. The 1.75-inch shells barely hiccuped, and one out of ten fed wrong in the TX3 12HD. I worked the action in multiple positions, worked it slowly and fast, and the mini shells seemed to feed fine. Enough to trust for defensive use?
No, but enough to have fun with.
Slinging Lead
The shotgun worked extremely well for a couple of hundred rounds fired in a single afternoon. Since then, I’ve used it for testing ammo and training purposes, and it hasn’t hiccuped. I need a pump gun to be reliable. The TX3 12HD most certainly is.
In terms of accuracy, it is a shotgun, but accuracy matters with modern buckshot like FliteControl and slugs. With that in mind, the ghost ring sights provided a nice, accurate sight picture that allowed me to engage at various distances with ease out to 50 and 100 yards. At 100 yards, I found it easy to ring an IPSC steel target over and over. At 50 yards, I rang a gong time after time without difficulty.
The TX3 12HD spits lead like an absolute champ in that regard. The high visibility front sight is plenty easy to see, and the rear ghost ring is easy to adjust. Sadly, they did not use Loc-Tite to tighten the optics plate, and some of the recoil shook it loose. I added my own thread locker and tightened it down.
One of the bigger surprises to me was how smooth the action felt. This thing is slick and sweet. The pump on the TX3 12HD glides rearward and forward without much resistance. The pump also goes back far enough to overlap the receiver, and this makes the pump pull a little shorter and easier to work.
Recoil-wise, it’s like every other shotgun. It’s not bad with proper technique. One thing that could make it easier to mitigate recoil is some form of checkering on the pump. It’s smooth, and you gotta exercise those fingers to get a good grip.
Retro Riot Ready
The Tokarev USA TX3 12HD turned out to be a very competent shotgun. It’s well made and reliable with a few modern features that make it stand out. Sure it’s just another pump-action shotgun, but it looks damn nice and does come optics ready. Little things make a big difference when you look at the price of the gun. At around 250ish, this is a tough deal to beat.
Gunday Brunch 43: Why are Knife People So Weird
In this episode, the boys take a detour down to the depths of knife people weirdness, and Jack tells a story about a guy severing a tendon in his hand
The Shotgun Belt Reload – A Tactical Shotgun Reload
If you’re a fan of shotguns, you realize the low capacity of a tube-fed gun means lots of reloading. If you don’t like shotguns, you gleefully point out their low capacity. Either way, reloading is important. Most shotgun fans rock and roll with some form of side-saddle, which is a great piece of gear. However, what happens when the side saddle runs dry? Well, then we turn to the shotgun belt reload.
The shotgun belt reload uses bandoliers, the two-shot polymer Safariland belt mounts, and similar devices. 3-gunners know all about reloading from the belt and use specialized shell caddies. Those are great for 3-gun but offer poor retention for any kind of serious tactical application. The shotgun belt reload works with high-end bandolier belts like the Wilderness tactical belt and cheap bandoliers you can get from Walmart for five bucks.
Today we’ll cover reloading from the belt to reload rounds into the tube and to port reload for an emergency empty situation. I’m a fan of combining the Safariland two shell shotshell holders. You can wear a ton of these and wear them in a variety of different positions on your belt, or just carry an extra one or two to top off your shotgun.
The shotgun belt reload can be slow and feel clumsy if you are doing it wrong. It can be tough to juggle multiple shotgun shells and position them to be easily fed into the tube or into the ejection port. However, with a little practice and a little now how you’ll be good to go.
Shoot Two, Load Two
Keeping the shotgun topped off can be tricky. Optimistically you don’t ever want the tube to be completely empty in a gunfight. The tube-type magazine makes it easy to feed the gun constantly and keep it topped off. One rule of thumb with the shotgun is to shoot two, load two if you can.
My technique lives and breathes this philosophy. The shotgun belt reload can be tuned to draw one or two shells at a time. With this technique, you can draw two shells and load them into the tube without having to juggle the shells to get them into position.
This shotgun belt reload technique is for tube reloads, and we’ll do port reloads next. First, understand that the first step feels awkward. You’ll essentially turn your hand upside down. Your pointer finger and thumb will be facing the deck, with your knuckles will be pointing towards your dominant hand and gun.
Your pointer finger and thumb will form a claw that will grip the shells around the rim tightly and draw both or one. As you draw, rotate your finger and thumb upwards, so the rims of the shells face you. Now insert the outside round into your loading port and use your thumb to press the round into the tube magazine.
Now push the second round into the loading port and use your thumb to load that round into the tube.
The Trick With the Shotgun Belt Reload
The trick to the shotgun belt reload is a good firm grip as you remove the shells from the belt. Once the retention gives, it’s like letting go of a tug of war rope mid-match. A loose grip might send a shell flying out of your hand. If this does occur, let the shell fly and load the other round still in your hand.
Also, when you draw the rounds, position the outside round close to the outside of your fingers. To close to your palm makes it tricky to load.
Port reloads
Port reloads occur when you never get a chance to shoot two, load two. If you run the gun dry, you might need to conduct an emergency load where you slam a round into the port of the weapon and close the action. The shotgun belt reload is perfectly acceptable to the two forms of port reloads.
The first is over the top. That means you go over the top of the receiver and drop a shell into the action. To conduct a port reload from the belt, use a beer can style grip with your thumb facing upwards.
The shotgun shell’s rim should face your thumb. Now go over the top and drop the shell into the port and reload the gun.
For an under the gun reload, you want to draw one shell from the shotgun belt with the same technique you used to reload the tube. Orient your thumb and pointer finger downward and grab it with your claw.
Once you draw the shell, position it between your pointer finger and pinky as you go from the bet to port. Once aligned with the pinky and pointer, you can drop it into the gun with very little difficulty.
Shotgun Reloading
The shotgun belt reload isn’t an easy thing to master. It’s tougher than jamming a magazine in a rifle or handgun, but once practiced becomes a smooth move. Practice, gain speed, and you’ll be kicking butt and reloading like an absolute champ.
Response to Biden’s State of the Union Address
[Ed: Written by Tim Andrews, originally published by SCOPE-NY Briefings March 7.]
Biden said, “And we’ll do everything in my power to crack down on gun trafficking, of ghost guns that you can buy online, assemble at home — no serial numbers, can’t be traced.”
Response: What’s he waiting for? There are plenty of laws already on the books prohibiting illegal gun trafficking. Guns must have enough metal to be detected by airport metal detectors. With the exception of some antique guns, it’s illegal to sell a gun without serial numbers.
The problem is that Federal gun laws are rarely enforced and are often plea-bargained away.
Biden said, “I ask Congress to pass proven measures to reduce gun violence. Pass universal background checks. Why should anyone on the terrorist list be able to purchase a weapon? Why? Why?”
Response: Why? Because everyone on the terrorist watch list is not a terrorist or a criminal. The most famous example was Senator Ted Kennedy who was on the terrorist list. Gun purchasers are required to pass an FBI background check and the terrorist watch list is not part of the criteria and, given its inaccuracies, it shouldn’t be.
Biden said, “And folks, ban assault weapons with high-capacity magazines that hold up to a hundred rounds. You think the deer are wearing Kevlar vests?”
Response: Ban assault weapons? If the current tragedy in Ukraine teaches us anything it’s the importance of the Second Amendment. The government of Ukraine is arming their population; news reports have said, “they’re handing out Kalashnikovs like candy.” A firearm is ultimately the last line of defense of freedom and liberties against foreign or domestic enemies, just ask a Ukrainian citizen. We don’t need a law banning so-called assault weapons. If anything, we need a law mandating every citizen own one.
Biden’s reference to deer hunting exposes either his ignorance or he’s simply a liar. There is no documentation that would suggest the founders intended the Second Amendment to guarantee a right to a firearm for hunting game. James Madison proposed the amendment because he clearly feared a tyrannical government. It’s criminal that the president who took an oath to protect and defend the constitution could be so dishonest and misrepresent it so.
The founders had not just returned from hunting, they had just freed a nation
Biden said, “Look; repeal the liability shield that makes gun manufacturers the only industry in America that can’t be sued. The only one.”
Response: Another Biden lie. Gun manufacturers are subject to the same product liability laws as any other product manufacturer. If a person is injured or killed as a result of a gun having a manufactured defect, they do have the right to sue the gun manufacturer.
Biden is misrepresenting what he really wants to do. The purpose is to drive manufacturers out of the retail gun business. His plan is to pass a law where crime victims could sue manufacturers of firearms whose guns were used in a crime. Apply this law to the auto industry and a victim of a drunk driver could sue Ford if the perpetrator drove one of their vehicles.
Biden said, “Imagine had we done that with the tobacco manufacturers.”
Response: Another misrepresentation and deception. Because the tobacco industry lied and hid data regarding the dangers of smoking, they were successfully sued. Just as any product manufacturer, gun and auto manufacturers can be sued if they lie and deceive regarding the sale of a defective product or one that causes diseases.
Biden said, “These laws don’t infringe on the Second Amendment. They save lives.”
Response: Mr. President, you dishonor your office, because you have long been a habitual liar, which continues with your proposals that violate the Constitution that you swore to protect and defend.
There is no question that crime is out of control but it has more to do with Democrat D.A.’s who refuse to prosecute dangerous criminals, bail reform, illegal immigration (about which you refuse to do anything) and other Democrat policies. History has proven passing gun laws restricting law-abiding citizens and leaving criminals free to roam our streets will give us exactly what we have today, more and more crime.
And don’t forget, Biden’s party has spent two years chanting, “Defund the police”.
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