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 failthequalification, 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.
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.”
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.
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.
The new rules slide by slide
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.
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
COWABUNGAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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.
Laser cut patch from PatchPanel.
It’s like a belt, but for Operators
Tubes Cummerbund. You must purchase a tubes adapter. There are several on the market, I went with First Spear’s.
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 typically run medical in this pouch, but you can also use it for admin supplies as well.
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
Esstac sells the Kywi 5.56 pouches in Shorty, Midlength, and Tall. While on my belt I opt for the Shorty’s, here I prefer the Midlength.
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
Strap cutter not pictured. It’s a strap cutter though.
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.
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.”
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
Oh, we got guns…
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,
FromTheGunCounter on IG
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
Author and MarcShotFirst doing fun gun stuff
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.
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.
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.
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.
Benelli, Firearm, Gun, Shotgun, Weapon
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.
[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”.
Are you looking for another nutritious snack to stick in your hunting coat pockets this year? Are you sick to death of jerky and want something a little sweeter to balance out other salty snacks? Are you appalled at the price of such snacks in the grocery store or are looking for fewer additives and preservatives? Why not make your own fruit leather?
I made several batches of home dehydrated fruit leather this year and was ridiculously pleased with the results. One batch was even made out of foraged fruit I gathered on the family property, so it was essentially “free”. If you have picky kids you can even slip some judiciously selected veggies into your “fruit” leather and they will never know the difference. (I’ll give you an example below)
I have a couple dehydrating cookbooks, so that is where I got my recipes to start with, but there are some good internet links with how-tos as well. Trust me, it isn’t hard.
Though not all recipes call for it, I have found that the big trick with fruit leather is that you need to have enough pectin in your purée to allow it all to stick together and not get crumbly as it dries. Some fruits have enough of their own pectin, but not all do. Thus, I tend to use my homemade applesauce as an additive/binder and it works really well. Plus, those apples come from a tree in my yard and are also “free”. I really like free.
Another trick I’ve been told about is to use maple syrup or honey if you need to sweeten your leather. Apparently cane sugar might cause cracking as it dries, whereas the other two do not. If you keep your own bees or tap your own maples that’s another arguably “free” ingredient – though the labor involved makes it a daunting task for the rest of us and it’s easier to just buy it.
The first of the two examples I talked about was done with foraged autumn olive berries. I’ve talked about those before. The main drawback is that they have a fairly large pit, so I cook them down and run them through a hand crank food mill to get the pits out before I move on to the jam or fruit leather stage.
Foraged Autumn Olive BerriesFruit leather fresh off the dehydrator tray.
The second of the two examples was an experiment that turned into a pleasant surprise. It was made with – are you ready – pineapple juice and zucchini! I got the idea from a canning recipe which uses diced zucchini and pineapple juice to make “mock pineapple” for use in desserts.
I don’t make a lot of pineapple desserts, but like many gardeners I did have an abundance of zucchini last summer, so I decided to try the same principle to make fruit leather.
First, I peeled and seeded the Zukes and then grated them into a Dutch oven on the stove. I added enough 100% pineapple juice to cover it, then simmered it for about an hour until the zucchini was falling apart and becoming one with the juice. Then I used an immersion blender to purée the whole thing, added a little applesauce for pectin and poured it onto the dehydrator trays.
It turned out fantastic! There is only pineapple flavor and zero detectable zucchini. This is essentially vegetable candy – and your children (or your spouse) will never know. There is no reason you couldn’t sneak some cooked, puréed carrots into your berry mixture too for a little extra nutrient punch, though I haven’t tried that yet. I’ve got some U-pick blueberries in the basement freezer that need to be used, so I may try that next.
Pineapple-zucchini fruit leather.
If you don’t have a dehydrator, you “can” do this in the oven if your temps will go low enough. (Mine won’t) But after all my exhortations about food storage why do you not already have a dehydrator? It will pay for itself inside of six months, I promise.
So there’s some ideas for you to play with while it’s still boring, dark semi-winter. You can use all kinds of fruit to make the leather. I prefer to use u-pick, foraged, or otherwise free or low cost fruit, but you can even use grocery store frozen fruit if you want, which is a real help in the wintertime. The leather freezes really well, so you don’t have to wait until the last week before hunting season to give this a try. Then you can pull this sweeter snack from the freezer to go with your jerky for turkey season. You’re welcome.
Most of us get some type of training before we carry a concealed handgun. Some of us have institutional training that is valuable for safety purposes. Many of us have the NRA basic handgun course, along with the state specific concealed carry handgun class.
Conversely the majority carrying a knife have no training, maybe something from the Boy Scouts. It is true the handgun is a specialized tool, It is used for defense. The knife is used for many more chores during the day. You don’t blast open a box or letter with a .38 spl.
Some, however, carry a purpose designed defense knife with little to no idea of how to properly deploy the tool. A half trained shooter- and that is the majority- is better trained with a firearm than most folks are with an edged weapon. Yet many think they are capable with the knife.
I am hoping to persuade you to see the reality of the knife. It is best used as a force multiplier and a less than lethal weapon, emphasis on used as in your mindset of use. Legally a knife is a knife. If you do need a knife, understand its limitations. The knife isn’t instantly effective by any means and that is a shortcoming.
If the aggressor has a knife you need to avoid contact if possible. If you are not armed with a firearm, feet don’t fail me now is a good response. It may be a good response even if superiorly armed.
Getting into a knife fight will result in both parties being cut. One may be cut fatally. It is virtually impossible to both block a knife strike and strike back at the same time. There are schools that teach the knife, if you have plenty of time, but I would strongly advise you get a good grounding in martial arts instead of trying to specialize in the knife.
The knife is an important tool a fraction of the times when the open hand or firearm are used, according to extensive research. The knife may be a good force multiplier. As I told my daughter long ago, as she was getting her green belt, if you can box you can use a knife. My uncle is in the boxing hall of fame and I grew up learning about boxing.
A person may use a large knife as a blunt striker in a non lethal manner. If the attacker is bent on assault, a quick thrust and withdraw with an open blade may change their mind. It is called showing them their blood. Hit the threat and get the arm back before he can grab it. It can have a psychological stop effect, even without causing a substantial injury. A minor injury may work where the treat of injury did not.
A boxer or martial artist with an edged weapon may show the aggressor what a rag doll looks like after a bad day even without specialized knife training. Just add the knife to the fist. As for my daughter, I felt it would be good for her to learn the knife. After weeks of work and learning she remained a novice. That is a higher level than most of the gun carriers who also carry a knife. But she knows some things.
I have worked with a good friend who has considered the knife at length. We agree the knife is the best tool for weapons retention.
More on that later.
While he stresses learning the five striking fists, the various grips of the knife, he says, are less important as it never comes up. People just don’t use the knife for defense often, or it is vastly under reported.
I answered a lot of calls and heard about the rest. Among the very few actions that actually took place that could be called a knife attack, one left me with a scar that gives my face character. I have quite a service history in a violent area of the country. Not just my opinion, the FBI and state stats say so.
When I first became a peace officer, we had a better class of bad men. They would take a ball bat and cap the knee of a fellow who didn’t pay his gambling bill. Today it is AKs and dopers. The UZI fell out of favor some time ago. Knives are used by women for the most part to take out a particularly bad actor, although I have seen a cast iron frying pan used to permanently end the career of an abuser. If the attacker is using the open hand, and is larger and more skilled, the knife may be an answer.
No one in their right mind wants to be cut. The problem is, with the wide spread use of drugs and common mental illnesses, many assailants are not in their right mind.
A trained shooter has an advantage over a less trained shooter. The greater the distance the greater the trained shooter’s advantage. At very close range luck and aggression may trump training. Both combatants will probably be shot multiple times before the bullets take effect.
A knife fight with both individuals armed with an edged weapon is rare. Two men in close quarters with knives is simple butchery. It is almost impossible to block a knife thrust with the open hand. If you have time to quickly doff your covering garment and wrap it around your arm you may have time to run! Not that this is really going to stop a big blade, a chopper.
A fixed blade knife is much more effective than a folding knife. The reach, stability, and durability are superior. Few of us carry a fixed blade. In some jurisdictions there are restrictions on fixed blade carry. A knife may be dangerous and lethal, but effective use is limited. In most cases a blunt action instrument is more immediately effective. A blackjack or a sap solved a lot of problems without permanent effect. Again, minor injury causing desired effect.
As for myself, I was trained on the PR 24 baton. In an age when we were expected to subdue violent individuals without the use of gas or tasers, the PR 24 was among the greatest instruments I ever had the honor to be trained on extensively.
The big stick would be effective against edged tools, as an individual armed with hedge trimmers once learned. The trimmers were a weapon of opportunity, and a lethal one. While I do not subscribe to spending a lot of time in training to use the knife, the utmost respect for an edged weapon at close range must be maintained. As an example an attacker may quickly close distance and cut you before you may draw your sidearm. How fast is that 9mm carried under your shirt in a tuckable holster? A couple of seconds to draw on a good day? That is a lifetime when a fellow the size of a tree is coming at you with a Pakistani made folder with a four inch blade. That isn’t the time to draw the Benchmade, but to get off the X, move to a better position, and shoot. Knives are lethal.
If you use the knife everyday in opening packages or boxes at work you may have a deft handling engrained in muscle. You need to learn to quickly deploy the knife if you carry a knife for defense, just like drawing a pistol. More than one tough guy has drawn his knife and dropped it. (Guns too.)
Learn to quickly apply the proper grip and thumb the knife open. Few, if any, knives allow simply twisting the wrist to open the knife. This movement may be used along with the thumb motion in opening the knife. Some knives have a section on the blade, such as the Emerson Wave, that makes for rapid opening if jammed against the pocket or belt. If you carry a knife you must put some time into training, don’t get me wrong, but there is only so much training time. Learning to draw the firearm and get a sure hit is most important, as an example. Learning the speed load is much less important. Training time is precious and must be rationed.
If the knife is your primary tool you should learn the different grips used to hold the knife. Choosing a knife with a good balance of abrasion and adhesion in the handle and a bit of jimping on the top of the blade is important. Smooth is classy and nice looking, but not something you need in a personal defense knife and blade combination.
Blade material is important in a long term camp knife. In a personal defense knife thick and sharp is important.
The first grip is the forward or cave man grip. The knife is held with the point jutting out between the thumb and forefinger.
The Saber grip is probably the best overall grip for most of us to learn quickly. In this grip the knife is more forward in a natural grip than the forward grip and the thumb is against the top of the blade. This allows greater leverage in a stabbing movement.
The reverse or icepick type grip is controversial. If you see an opponent using the reverse grip maybe they know what they are about and maybe they have seen some cool photos on the web.
The reverse grip is used with the handle firmly in place and the blade jutting out the bottom of the hand edge forward. This is a great slashing grip. The reverse grip could potentially deliver a deadly slash if the knife were used in an uppercut type blow. If the assailant has his arms around you the reverse grip may also be used as a hammer grip. In this way it is versatile. However there are drawbacks to the reverse grip. One is that a trained martial artist, or someone strong enough and lucky, may come from above with sufficient leverage and strength to drive the knife back into the user’s body. Then there is the draw and orientation. With a fixed blade knife drawing into the reverse grip is simple enough. The folder takes some delicate maneuver to move it into the reverse grip.
All of this takes time and effort. The greatest advantage of the knife and the role the knife should be slanted toward in personal defense, is weapons retention. This is where your training, knife selection, and how you wear the knife should be oriented.
Most gun grabs are rearward originating in the case of uniformed officers and soldiers. Folks may not have a clearly defined reason for the attack other than to obtain control of a firearm. This gun grab tactic has been observed being practiced in prison grounds even, criminals can drill too.
The one hand goes to the gun and the other goes around the victims neck. If done properly the victim’s feet may be brought up if not off the ground to the heels. This is a very difficult type of assault to defend against. If the attacker has a firm grip on the neck the victim may soon lose consciousness.
You must move quickly. While there are other techniques such as the Lindell method, the use of an edge weapon to counter a gun grab is I believe the best answer. This drill evens the odds against a large powerful aggressor. When the gun grab attack occurs, the right hand goes to the gun grabber’s hand and traps it on the gun. The left hand (reverse the drill for a left handed shooter) draws the knife and slashes across the assailants forearm. It doesn’t take much blade length to open the arm up. Since grabbing your gun is a lethal attack, you respond with a high level of defense. If the gun grab is centered on the gun and the assailants other arm is also on the gun or around the waist modify the drill, perhaps striking the hand on the gun as you pivot to take the gun grabber off balance. This is a relatively simple drill that involves learning to draw the knife and apply the blade quickly. It doesn’t take a great deal of dexterity to strike a stationary arm about the victim’s body.
I don’t know if Takho is pronounced taco, but I’m going with it until someone tells me otherwise. Takho is a Ukrainian ammunition company that produces various rifle, pistol, and shotgun rounds. Today we are looking at a shotgun load, but one unlike any other. I’ve seen mini shells be 1.75 inches, and mini shells measure 2.5 inches, but I’ve never seen 2-inch shells. The Takho mini sluggers represent an interesting new load for shotgun nerds like me.
Traditionally 2.5-inch shells work extremely well in pump and even semi-auto guns. 1.75-inch shells will work with adapters or with specific guns but typically won’t cycle. Can these 2-inch mini sluggers be both fairly short and reliable? Well, only one way to find out. I ordered a case of 250 right before the Ukraine-Russian war popped off. I feel a little bad because, well, they probably need them more than I do right now.
Mini Sluggers – The Specifics
These mini sluggers are 2 inches long and fire a ¾ ounce slug. The velocity isn’t listed, and I can’t even seem to find it listed for this exact load on the Takho website. The max range is listed at 45 meters, which is fairly short for a slug. Unlike other mini shells, these do have a specific use, and they are designed for Practical Shotgun competition.
You know how a lot of practical shooting sports devolve into ways to get a slight advantage? If I had to guess, Practical Shotgun is fairly popular in Europe or Eastern Europe. A shotgun’s recoil and low capacity work against it. Decreasing recoil and your need to reload makes it a lot easier to win. So, why not shorten the shells?
These mini sluggers are designed explicitly for this kind of competition and certainly seem like a legal way to cheat the system. The big issue would be reliability. Do they run? Well, that’s what we intend to find out!
Are Two Inches Enough?
That’s the big question, right? For competition shooting, sure. These slugs don’t need to kill a deer or take down a bad guy. They just need to punch paper or maybe hit steel. In that realm, it’s more about accuracy than anything else. In terms of accuracy, I produced pretty good groups inside of 50 yards with my Benelli SuperNova.
The ghost ring sights are an exceptional slug sighting system that made it pretty easy to zero the gun to the slug’s path. At 25 yards, I destroyed the A zone of an ISPC target with a nice tight group. At 50 yards, accuracy got a little wonkier, but still acceptable. I landed five shots into the target, and technically all are in the head…but two would be technical hits that just broke the paper.
Still, the max range is 45 meters, which is 49 yards, so I was at the max range of the mini sluggers.
What About Defensive Function?
The added capacity can make rounds like these appealing. Admittedly the 2-inch rounds seem to allow you to add an extra two rounds into the tube of your shotgun. Extra rounds in a low-capacity platform are always nice. However, these ¾ ounce slugs are likely moving pretty slow. Sadly there isn’t a listed speed for these rounds, and the recoil is what I describe as cute.
It’s very late, and light recoil is not always a bad thing. For defensive use, I’m sure they’d ring someone’s bell, but they appear to be both light and slow. The Federal slugs are 1-ounce slugs at 1,200 feet per second, and they have significantly more recoil and are likely the better option if you feel compelled to use mini shells for defensive use.
I’d only ever use the 2.5-inch shells for defensive use, but that would be in a pinch. I still prefer my 2.75 inch Federal FliteControl rounds above any mini shell or mini slugger. These mini slugs would probably be pretty decent for killing pests and smaller predators like coyotes on the hunting side. For deer, I’d still want a proper slug, not mini sluggers.
Do They Cycle?
I’ve saved what everyone wants to know for the last part of this article. Yes, the mini sluggers function… mostly. They work fine in a pump-action gun as long as the shell lifter is solid and not skeletonized. In a Mossberg 500 or 500 clone, they can get stuck in a skeletonized shell lifter.
In my Benelli SuperNova, they ran without complaint. I cycled through 50 rounds in various positions. Including low and high ready, at the hip, and cycled the action slow and gently and fast and hard. They all fed perfectly and without complaint.
I tossed a few mini sluggers in my Benelli M4, and predictably they didn’t exactly do very well. They didn’t generate enough gas for the little gun to cycle. They turned the Benelli M4 into a straight-pull bolt action gun.
Takho’s Rounds
Takho makes various shotgun loads of various lengths, and I’d love to see more make it to the states. These little guys are interesting, and I’d like to see a faster, harder-hitting slug in the 2-inch variety as well as some 2-inch buckshot. It would make interesting fodder for my shotgun lust. Chest out the mini sluggers at Prinz Technology. They didn’t send these rounds, I purchased them myself, but they do host some neat foreign shotgun loads.
As we have been fixated (as a nation) on the war in Ukraine for the past two weeks, the mundane trudge of legal developments can often go less than noticed.
One of those was a big win for the National Rifle Association as New York Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen blocked the New York Attorney General’s attempt to dissolve the organization.
Like it , hate it, or indifferent overall, the NRA has been a legislative momentum power house pushing several critical pieces of 2A legislation and defending against encroachments. The alleged actions of its highest executives and the infighting that has occured behind sometimes thinly closed doors put the NRA, as beneficial an organization, in jeopardy.
However Letitia James, the New York Attorney General and known rabid anti-gunner, went to far and instead of limiting the scope of her suit to the individuals who could be replaced heading the NRA she instead attacked the organization. That would require her proving that the organization, not individuals in its management, were deliberately using funding inappropriately and that the membership was okay with this because that is secretly what they wanted all along, to give Wayne Lapierre shiny toys and the “good life.”
As it turns out, no. That is not what the rank and file of the NRA want, they want to fund the training and pro-2A legislative efforts that are the NRA’s core missions. So the Attorney General got told, “The Complaint does not allege that any financial misconduct benefited the NRA, or that the NRA exists primarily to carry out such activity, or that the NRA is incapable of continuing its legitimate activities on behalf of its millions of members. In short, the Complaint does not allege the type of public harm that is the legal linchpin for imposing the ‘corporate death penalty.’ “
So the most devastating thing that could have happened to the NRA and setting back gun rights both legislatively and socially, as the NY AG would delight in, didn’t occur.
Constitutional Carry
Constitutional carry, sometimes called permit-less carry, is advancing in Ohio, Indiana, and Alabama. This would add three more states that recognize that if you are able to legally own a gun then you are legally able to carry a gun.
The normal chorus of, “Dangerous!” “Blood in the streets!” “Untrained!!!” and the like have all proven to be a non-issue. Firearms owners who are safe, are safe and often take instruction without government mandate or prompting. Those who are dangerous are still dangerous with a permit from a state mandated basics course. It is like expecting the presence of a driver’s license to stop vehicle accidents. They don’t and the do not prevent the unlicensed from driving if they so feel the need or desire. The moment the convenience and gain from breaking the law outweighs the projected consequences, the law is broken.
Firearms safety is a developed discipline and cannot reasonably be mandated by the government without the government also providing the access to quality instruction, in a public education setting perhaps.
The government, and society as a whole, would have a stronger basis for demanding a higher level of societal proficiency in that case. Firearms would be seen as a societal discipline. Instead we have a loud and aggressive segment of society who vilifies the general discipline and makes up rather confusing and contrarian rules, conditions, and licensures for its exercise.
NFA
While the eFile system for From 4’s seems to finally be running (mostly) and this should help improve transfer times, not all is well in the NFA ATF land.
Reports of a mass rejection of ATF Form 1’s, the application to make an NFA item and add it to the registry, circulated and then an update was pushed out by ATF.
It seems like they are, at the least, trying to catalog anywhere “kits” are sold for silencers so they can later hammer them later if they suddenly decide how much finished tube counts as a silencer has changed.
Because.. you know.. reasons…
The ATF does not require these things when assembling an SBR or SBS, why a silencer?
Why are silencers still NFA items at all? Do we have any evidence of them being particularly useful for crime backed up by criminal manufacture or misuse en masse? Because we’ve had silencers for over a century. They are not regulated in many locales abroad with overall much stricter firearm regulation than here in the United States, and yet now we are going to make it harder for people to comply with the law when it is already a burden?
How is making it more difficult to comply with Form 1 rules going to increase compliance? How is this effort preventing violent and inexcusable use of weapons by criminal elements?
Or are we just concerned that these are so easy to make that harassing people who want to both self assemble and comply with the NFA is the solution and that somehow, someway, it will prevent the non-compliant from doing so if they deem these a necessary tool for their criminality…
Yeah, seems really dumb when you break it down.
We also haven’t seen the final verbiage on frames, receivers, and braces yet. So that’s fun.
Gavrilo Princip had bad luck. He was born a poor Serb in western Bosnia in 1894. I imagine his life was hard and not one many would want. While poor, Princip was not stupid, and he loathed to see his country under Austrian rule. Like many Bosnians, he desired to have a country for Bosnians, by Bosnians. He joined numerous political groups and attempted to fight in the First Balkan War. He wasn’t pleased when the Austrian military governor declared a state of emergency in Bosnia and dissolved the parliament, and imposed martial law. I doubt Princip knew that he and an FN Model 1910 would start a meat grinder of a war.
Princip and a group of comrades aimed to assassinate the Archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand. Their actual plan involved a grenade thrown at the Archduke’s car, but the ten-second fuse and smart thinking by the driver allowed the Archduke to avoid the grenade, and the car behind them was damaged.
The Archduke fled. Later that day, the Archduke wished to visit the victims of the attack in the hospital, but his driver made a wrong turn. Fate brought together Princip, the Archduke and his wife, and the Browning design FN Model 1910.
Princip fired two rounds and landed a fatal shot on both the Archduke and his wife, Sophia. Before he could fire a third, the gun was wrestled from his hand, he took a cyanide pill, but it failed to kill him. Shortly after the July Ultimatum was issued, the First World War exploded and forever changed the world.
The FN Model 1910
John Browning had a long and fruitful relationship with Fabrique Nationale of Belgium. Heck, these days, the modern Browning company is owned by FN. Browning’s fruitful relationship with Fn produced many different products, culminating in guns like the Auto 5, and ultimately he lent his expertise to the Hi-Power but did not finish the design.
Between the A5 and the Hi-Power, he produced numerous small pistols, one being the FN Model 1910 that Princip wielded. The FN Model 1910 came in two calibers, the 380 ACP and the 32 ACP. John Browning designed these two calibers on top of the FN Model 1910.
Browning designed the Model 1910 to be a compact pistol. Something a gentleman could carry in his vest pocket, or a detective could conceal without wrinkling his suit. The little gun featured a short 3.5-inch barrel with an overall length of 6.02 inches. The little pistol was all metal and weighed a little over 20 ounces.
The Model 1910 carried only six rounds in 380 ACP and weighed twice as much as the more modern Ruger LCP with the same capacity. Browning made his name on hammer-fired guns. Both the M1911 and Hi-Power use a hammer. However, Browning was a smart man and recognized the benefits of a striker-fired design. In fact, he intended the Hi-Power to be striker-fired.
The FN Model 1910 featured a striker-fired system, and the lack of a hammer does make the firearm easier to conceal and less likely to snag. Princip certainly didn’t have an issue drawing and firing two fatal rounds onto two targets under stress.
Inside and Out
The FN Model 1910 utilized a few other Browning favorites. This includes a grip safety, as well as a very small and dinky manual thumb safety. The manual thumb safety could also be used to hold the slide open. However, even the slightest bit of movement tends to send the slide home. The slide will not lock back when the last round is fired and can only be manually locked open by the user. A third safety was the magazine safety. The weapon will not fire if the magazine is removed.
Magazine removal is very European, and a small tab at the bottom of the pistol grip releases the magazine. This is known as a heel magazine release and has fallen out of favor in recent times. Speed reloads weren’t a part of the normal manual of arms at the time, so the simplicity of the magazine release was worth it to most arm manufacturers.
Browning tossed a direct blowback system in the pistol. This was a very common system for small pistols at the time. It was cheap, worked, and was reliable. Blowback guns do require some means to delay the opening of the bolt and slide. The FN Model 1910 uses a stiff spring situated around the barrel. This makes it slightly tougher to rack but ensures a safe and reliable function.
Recoil with the 32 ACP version is fairly mild and soft. Even a blowback system wouldn’t create much recoil for a metal frame 32 ACP. The 380 ACP is fairly snappy, and that’s a downside of a blowback weapon.
Princip’s Pistol
Princip wielded a 380 ACP variant of the pistol. The sights on these guns are small and contemporary for the time. Yet, it didn’t stop the assassin from hitting his mark. The FN Model 1910 and its longer barreled cousin, the Model 1922, became somewhat popular with assassins.
In 1932 the president of France, Paul Doumer, was assassinated by a Russian named Paul Gorguloff with a 32 ACP variant of the Model 1910. Huey Long, aka the Kingfish, a governor of Lousiana, was killed by a Model 1910 in 1935. Dutch resistance member Hannie Schaft assassinated a Dutch policeman and Nazi collaborator with the Model 1922 variant of M1910.
Why the Model 1910 is so popular among assassins is unknown to me. It is small and concealable, capable, reliable, and produced widely across Europe. It’s certainly seen success in that endeavor. It’s an interesting pistol, and it’s amazing how much one little 380 ACP can change the world.
