The Winchester Model 1911 SL – The Widow Maker
When I say Model 1911, I know what you’re thinking. You picture that hunk of steel designed by John Browning that throws 230-grain hardball rounds at the enemies of democracy. The single stack wonder that’s made by damn near every gun company these days. The back-to-back World War champion. Today, when I say 1911, I want you to erase that for your mind. Instead, I want you to picture the Winchester Model 1911, a semi-auto shotgun that gained the name the Widow Maker.
The year was predictably 1911. Winchester peered through its catalog and noticed they were missing something. They had no semi-auto shotgun. Winchester made their name with their lever-action rifles, and in 1897 produced the first slide action shotgun. John Browning fought tooth and nail to get Winchester to pay him to create a slide action shotgun, and when they finally relented, the weapon became a massive success.
Winchester knew that shotguns were popular. At the time, they offered ado it all options for hunters in a time when hunting wasn’t just a hobby. People could potentially starve if they didn’t bring home something dead and tasty. Remington and Browning had automatic shotguns. In fact, Browning designed the famed A5 with Winchester in mind, but they had a breakup that led to the famed Sour Grapes letter written in 1903.
The Winchester Model 1911 SL Enters The Game
Winchester needed a semi-auto shotgun, and with Browning taking his design to the Belgians, they turned to another gun designer, Thomas Crossley Johnson. In 1911 Winchester was quite far behind the times. Browning designed the A5 in 1898, and he got a very valuable patent on the gun. Winchester took a decade to produce a shotgun that functioned reliably that didn’t infringe on John Browning’s patent.
Guess what part of that patent included? A charging handle on the bolt of the shotgun. This allowed the weapon to be cycled rather easily and ergonomically. How exactly would you cycle a weapon without a charging hand on the bolt? Well, Winchester certainly found a way with the Model 1911 SL.
To chamber a cartridge, the shooter had to grip the barrel and push it down to chamber a round. A portion of the barrel was checkered, and the user gripped this portion of the gun and pulled with one hand while they pressed forward with another hand. The Winchester Model 1911 SL utilized a long recoil system where the barrel and bolt move rearward together for a short portion of travel, so cocking it via the barrel is entirely possible.
Into the Market
Winchester released the Model 1911 SL to the commercial market in 1911. They released various models in 12 gauge, 16 gauge, 20 gauge, and 28 gauge. The weapon had a barrel length between 26 and 28 inches, and the weapons varied in weight, but the 12 gauge model weighed about eight pounds. Magazine capacity was capped at five rounds.
It seems pretty standard, albeit heavy for a gun of this age, so what was the problem? We know long recoil works just fine for shotgun operation, although it’s fallen out of fashion in the last few decades. The problem came from a mixture of silly design and human nature.
That barrel cocking system created problems. In optimum conditions, the users loaded the magazine, set the weapon on safe, and then cocked around into the chamber. The Model 1911 SL should always be handled with two hands, but people can be stupid. Some users would set the stock against the ground to cock the weapon and could very easily have the weapon pointing right at their face as they did so.
Additionally, shotgun shells at the time were paper shells. They would get wet, swell and when users went to unload the gun, they had difficulty doing so. They didn’t have the leverage of a charging handle, and the checkered barrel likely didn’t help much with jammed shell. So the user would hold the stock against the ground for extra leverage and essentially mortar the gun. Keep in mind these weren’t drop-safe guns either. Thus the Model 1911 SL became known as the widowmaker.
But Wait, There’s More
Browning also had patents on using metal recoil rings. So Winchester went with a fibrous set of recoil rings. These rings wore out quickly and broke often. When they did break, recoil would become excessive and reportedly crack the stock after too many shots.
Also, even if the gun worked fine 100% of the time and the user followed safe procedures in using the weapon, its use was limited. Using it to shoot trap or skeet, or birds wasn’t an option. It doesn’t take much to get a shotgun barrel hot, and once the barrel gets hot, who wants to handle it to work the action?
You might say, well, the gun wasn’t designed for that type of sport. It’s for deer hunting! Well, Winchester released Trap and Bird models of the Model 1911, so it clearly was designed for sport shooting.
Still, the gun remained in production for fourteen years, and over 80,000 were produced. It was nowhere near as successful as the A5 or Winchester’s own Model 1897. However, it’s an interesting story and an interesting gun. Now I have gotta go watch Gunbroker and try to find one.
Frugal Food – Squirrel Pot Pie
(Author’s note – I initially started writing this article pre-pandemic in Feb 2020. It then fell down into the cracks of my e-files and never got finished. Little did I know how the pandemic shortages were going to shake out and how much some of this advice was needed)
We live in a sanitized world when it comes to food. Meat is largely blood free and plastic wrapped into sterile slabs. Veggies are scrubbed free of dirt, pre-washed, and sometimes sprayed with chemicals. They are often even pre-chopped and frozen for convenience. We live in a completely different culinary world compared to our ancestors. We have lost a lot of flavor and skill over the years as well.
This was brought home to me recently through the experience of an acquaintance of mine. This person was given some game meat to try (not by me). It was squirrel.
I know, right? I’ve been trying to learn to hunt squirrel, but don’t have any of my own yet, and this non-hunting person was just handed some.
The recipient gets “points” in my mind for at least accepting the game meat, that is true. Though it was probably more out of courtesy than true relish if truth be told. Nonetheless the gift was accepted with good grace. In the ensuing weeks I kept asking if my friend had tried the squirrel yet. The answer was always no.
Finally after much cajoling, the deed was accomplished and I asked for a report. They didn’t care for it. And that in itself is okay, but the main complaint was that the meat still had bones in it and there were flecks of fur that had to be washed off of the frozen meat.
I tried to hide my derision, but – Really? You do know that meat comes from animals, right? And hair/feathers/scales is what covers those animals? Are you really so delicate that you can’t stand to wash a few stray strands of fur off your meat as you defrost it? Are you really that divorced from the reality of where your food comes from? It made me shake my head.
Nope Foods
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the world’s most adventurous eater. I was extremely picky as a child, but I’ve gotten much better over time. I still have some “nope foods” though. For instance, I like a good crab cake if someone else gets all the meat out first, but some crabs are just too much work to bother with whole. And sucking out the “mustard” or whatever that is? No thanks. Same with stuff like raw oysters. Snot on the half-shell is not my thing.
I guess where I’m going with my point is that if there is a further economic collapse, lots of people are going to have to change what they think is acceptable to eat (including me). It’s that or starve. It used to be that even tiny bits of protein – wherever they could be found – were carefully hoarded by our ancestors and used in many creative ethnic dishes. Nowadays many of us have lost that mindset of frugal use of scarce resources and now turn up our noses at perfectly good protein sources just because it’s not a plastic wrapped organic chicken breast.
Homemade Stock
How many people these days boil down their leftover meat bones to make stock and soup? In this world of chicken nuggets and pre-frozen meat slabs do people even know what bones are anymore? Extracting every last bit of marrow, protein and collagen out of an animal carcass is a time-honored culinary tradition. But for many people these days it’s too much work. They’d rather buy a screw cap carton of broth at the grocery store. That’s a habit we may be forced to unlearn. I hope it’s not because of complete economic catastrophe, but things aren’t looking very good at the moment. Nonetheless, it never hurts to learn new frugal cooking habits. Plus, the favor is better when you make it yourself.
I personally am a huge fan of cooking down that Thanksgiving turkey carcass to make quarts of a delicious broth and resultant soup. The same goes with the Christmas hambone. Bones do not go to waste in my house. But not everyone lives their life like that.
Squirrel Pot Pie!
My friend still had another bag of squirrel left that hadn’t defrosted, and he didn’t want it. So guess who was the grateful hand-me-down recipient?
I fired up my Instant pot, cooked down that meat, and then made squirrel pot pie! The carrots, peas and potatoes where ones I had dehydrated and stored last summer – just to see if it would work. It DID work, and the results were outstanding! Even better than I had hoped. With homemade scratch crust made with real butter, it was fantastic! And though not “completely” free, it was pretty darn close.
Since then I have repeated the pot pie exercise with scraps of leftover domestic rabbit and the results were equally delicious. Entire meals can be created out of leftovers and scraps – even if you have to deal with some bones and a little fur or feathers along the way. In the current economy if you are throwing away food scraps and leftovers you might as well be flushing money down the toilet.
With the ongoing supply issues and looming possibility of even worse fuel prices exacerbating the mess, we all should be looking at more frugal and creative ways to deal with our supply of proteins. Turning up your nose at a little bone and fur may no longer be an option.
My Battle Belt Loadout
When it comes to sources to feed reloads to a pistol or rifle, there are many different options on the market today. The sheer amount of battle belts, plate carriers, and chest rigs on the current market can make a beginner’s (or anyones) head spin. I am frequently asked about my preferred method of feed, and I have to admit, I love loading off of a battle belt. The battle belt is easy to use, allows for quick reloads, and makes you look pretty operator.
Editor’s Note: Rule Number 1. Look Cool.
Blue Alpha Gear
My current battle belt chassis is a Blue Alpha Gear’s 1.75 inch standard range belt. This belt is a two piece system, the inner belt is a low profile rigid belt with loop velcro on the outside. This belt is meant to feed through the belt loops on your pants and can be used as a stand alone belt for concealed carry. The outer belt is a rigid belt with hook velcro on the inside and a simple cobra buckle.
I have to say, I absolutely love this belt. It adds the right amount of rigidity to keep your gear from sagging but not enough to cause hot spots on your hips when fully loaded. . The build quality is awesome, in three years of use I have zero issues to report.
Customer Service
One often overlooked aspect of any gear item is the customer support to back the product. During a shooting competition, I somehow lost my buckle and the elastic bit that holds the belt “tail”. While there are many places to source a new buckle, I decided to contact Blue Alpha Gear about purchasing a replacement. I figured if I ordered it from them it would be the right piece the first time.
I first contacted their customer support by email around 8:00 PM thinking they would contact me within a few business days. Well, I was wrong. Just three and a half hours, at 11:25 PM I received an email from their customer service department. I was simply amazed at the speed of reply especially when I contacted them outside regular business hours.
Over the next few days I exchanged emails with the customer service department giving them all the pertinent information. Finally, roughly a week and a half later, I had a new buckle half in hand. I have to say, I was impressed with all aspects of their customer service department. The speed of reply, the professionalism, and the end result were all on par with the best I’ve received from any company.
Esstac Kywi Pouches
For magazine pouches, I really like Esstac’s Kywi pouch. I have extensive use with both pistol and rifle pouches and have experienced zero issues. The pouch consists of a nylon pouch with a kydex insert. The pouches attach to your belt/plate carrier/chest rig via molle. I will say, sometimes the inserts are tight and magazines don’t like to seat all the way down. To counteract this, apply heat and simply reform the insert. Don’t worry, Esstac has an instructional video.
Tactical Tailor Dump Pouch
I never thought that I needed a dump pouch until I had one. Now, I don’t know how I got by without one. When it comes to a dump pouch, the concept is very simple. It is a bag that hangs open and you put stuff inside it. There are a ton on the market, I personally purchased the Tactical Tailor fight light roll up dump pouch based on affordability.
You can spend upwards of $90 on a bag that hangs at your side. Some have extra features such as a rigid mouth that stays open and a flap that covers the top so your “stuff” doesn’t fall out. I decided to keep it simple. The Tactical Tailor pouch is a bag, it hangs open, attaches via molle, and has a draw string to close. This is all that I required, and it performs perfectly for my uses. It can even roll up and stow relatively flat but let’s face it, nobody rolls their dump pouch.
Coyote Tactical Solutions STOMP
I have had this particular IFAK in hand for less than 24 hours, but without any field use I have fallen in love. The STOMP is a tear away IFAK held to it’s base by a plastic buckle and velcro. This design is simple and used by many top manufacturers. It works well and is very user friendly.
Where this particular IFAK really shines is in the user’s ability to mount essential supplies in any configuration. The IFAK has 1/2 inch molle slots and holes around the outside to feed shock cord (included) through. I really like being able to organize my items in a way that makes finding everything easy for me to find, this IFAK knocks it out of the park.
I found that for certain items, such as my chest decompression needle and medical tape, weren’t held well by shock cord. For these items, I used 1/2 inch wide strips of double sided velcro to attach the items. The end result was a well organized and very user friendly IFAK.
G-Code Holster
Simple, quality, effective. I really don’t have much to say about the G-Code OSL holster. I have used this holster for a couple years now and have had absolutely zero issues with it. It is a quality product, it has all the features I look for and none of the gimmicks. I mounted this holster on G-Code’s duty mount.
Downfalls of a two belt system
During November, I participated in a four day shooting competition that required a battle belt. The weather was, to put it politely, horrible. Rain, snow, wind, and cold. I quickly found out that a two belt system was less than ideal when wearing thick wet weather or cold weather bottoms. I could only pull my outerwear up to the bottom of my inner belt or I could not engage the velcro.
After my cold and wet range experiences, I began searching for a solution. Part of me wanted to build an entirely new battle belt but that would be very expensive. I finally settled on the HSGI micro grip belt panel.
The micro grip belt panel is a neoprene belt liner that attaches to the inner velcro of the outer belt, essentially cutting out the need for an inner belt. So far this has worked very well. The belt doesn’t move around and retains the comfort found with the original design. Buyer beware: HSGI makes two versions of this belt liner, one with hook lining and one with loop lining, be sure you purchase the correct liner for your belt!
Velcro One Wrap
Recently I have changed my pouch attachment system from malice clips or Esstac belt loops to strips of velcro one wrap. This allows me to swap out pouches without having to remove every pouch on the belt or reweave molle straps. It also allows me more velcro engagement when mating the inner and outer belt. I have only been testing this system for about a month now but so far, I really enjoy it.
Looking Forward
I have spent several years putting together this battle belt, but as with anything in life, I am expecting some evolution. Our gear ultimately needs to fit the mission set that we operate under. Also, with cool new gear comes cool new Instagram stories, and as I’ve said before, looking cool is half the battle. If it’s not on the ‘gram then did it even happen?
Thanks for reading and operate on my friends!
The AK-12 – AKA Ukrainian Tax Free Loot Drops
The AK-12 kits are very very sparse here in the states. Considering the current state of… well… that region of the world, the likelihood we see more AK-12 parts here stateside in the near future is… suspect.
Brandon takes on the AK-12, because of course he has one.
Putin may be acting up but the AK-12 is still cool, it’s just a gun. The counterpart to our M4A1, the AK-12 started out as a much more ambitious project with a plethora of forward looking improvements. What came out of it was an improved AK-74. Nicely improved but not as ambitiously done as the earlier project.
Why?
Like the M4A1 compared to the URG-I variants, the general issue rifle needed some updates. But, not all the ones included in the original for all the associated costs made the final. This is the same reason we don’t see the US Forces all schlepping SCAR 16s or URG-I variants. The M4 was, is, and shall continue to be a very good rifle. Are there things that can be done better? Yes, Block II and URG-I rifles perform better than the rack grade M4A1’s. But those improvements are marginal and require a good shooter to really take advantage of.
This is what I suspect happened to the AK-12, they got what they really needed and shelved some of the more ambitious options that wouldn’t pull their weight. Many of the ergonomic changes from the venerable AK models were simplified or dropped, which undoubtedly cut parts costs and simplified fielding the new rifles to current troops.
Is it the future if the AK?
More like the present, it doesn’t do anything current tech here hasn’t been doing for a hot minute and a few things, like the handguard, are done rather sloppily. I would run a Magpul handguard instead.
I do run a Magpul handguard instead, and the railed gas tube is more rigid and resilient than the rail on the handguard.
In short several ready updates added, several left out for… reasons?
Whatever, they’re tax free in Ukraine right now.
Gunday Brunch 42: The Best Cold War Movie
Well since Cold War 2.0 or World War 3 seems to be all the rage, the boys thought it would be fun to talk about what the best Cold War movie is and why it’s the Hunt for Red October
Biden – The Least Credible President on Firearms
Reason has among the most biting of lines I have ever read to describe our President’s understanding of firearms.
President Joe Biden so frequently and willfully tells lies about firearms that, if he were a podcaster talking about anything other than guns, aging rockers would trip over their walkers in a rush to sever even the most tenuous ties to him...
At this point I can only ascribe it to total and utter ignorance, because a willful and remotely well crafted lie would land better than these claims. They can’t keep the lies straight because they don’t comprehend what they are lying about.
Mr. “You Couldn’t Buy Cannons”, when you absolutely could and they cost less than a good wig, Biden is genuinely the least credible President on firearms in my lifetime. Perhaps ever. Even President Obama seemed to keep a discreet distance from the topic, but not Joe. Joe Biden dived right in to the Maximum Fuddlore pond with the double barrel shotgun line back during the Obama administration and he hasn’t let up since. Trying to feign credibility and losing it with each mention.
Nobody should take this man’s opinion seriously on firearms. On this topic he should be treated with the disdain normally reserved for flat-earthers on astronomy on planetary physics.
Of course, we live in an age of misinformation and disinformation and probably should expect nothing better from the White House. But Biden proposes to impose ever-tougher rules based on his repetitive malarkey, illustrating the problem of governments wielding their vast regulatory apparatus based on misunderstandings and malice.
Why are firearms the topic we are absolutely, unequivocally hell bent on allowing the absolute most ill-informed and idiotic imbeciles create binding policy upon and put people in prison for?
“Congress needs to do its part too: pass universal background checks, ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, close loopholes, and keep out of the hands of domestic abusers — weapons, repeal the liability shield for gun manufacturers,” Biden huffed last week in New York. “Imagine had we had a liability — they’re the only industry in America that is exempted from being able to be sued by the public. The only one.”
That is a blatantly false statement, it isn’t even true from the traditional ‘certain point of view’ that politicians favor in order to be technically kinda correct if you think about it. Gun manufacturers can absolutely be sued for any of the common things any other industrial industry can be sued for. If their product is dangerous to operate, releases a hazardous chemical, doesn’t work as explicitly in operation advertised, etc. The only thing they have a specific protection against is suit for the criminal misuse of their product, the same way Ford or Toyota is not at fault if someone deliberately runs over somebody else with their car. Except the firearm industry needed special legislated protections because of people like Biden, people who will use civil liability as a weapon to crush industries they disagree with.
Such protection is also not unique to the firearms industry. For example, as we’ve been reminded over the past year, the pharmaceutical industry enjoys some protection against liability over vaccines. Congress also implemented limits on liability for the general aviation industry.
Industries have enjoyed the legal protections from liabilities in their various related fields and those protections are structured to prevent frivolous lawsuits upon grounds the industry cannot control for. Companies across all industries continue to be liable for the factors they can control, firearms included.
That very fact is why the Remington lawsuit was recently settled the way it was, because that legal action targeted the advertising of the Bushmaster brand. They are responsible for their ads, that is among the reasons every single alcohol ad ends with some variation of ‘Drink Responsibly’ in order to separate behaviors where alcohol was a contributing factor from the maker encouraging any behavior.
“Congress has passed a number of laws that protect a variety of business sectors from lawsuits in certain situations, so the situation is not unique to the gun industry,” PolitiFact pointed out in 2015 as it ruled Clinton’s accusations against the firearms industry “false.”
Biden really has no excuse at this late date to be repeating long-since debunked claims about the firearms industry. Unfortunately, he’s also a serial bullshitter about the parameters of Second Amendment protections.
He blatantly used the vaunted “deer aren’t wearing kevlar” line about assault weapons and hundred round magazines during the State of the Union. I don’t think even the most pro-ban everything gun controller wants to play that line any longer, but he did it.
- It isn’t about deer, Joe. See exhibit Ukraine. The Russians are wearing kevlar and plates.
- “Kevlar” doesn’t stop rifle rounds anyway and any of your Secret Service could tell you that. The colloquial term Kevlar refers overwhelmingly to soft armors which are only sufficient to stop lower velocity threats than 5.56.
- Game laws in all jurisdictions already limit hunting capacities and calibers so stop using the second amendment is for hunting only, you absolute boob of a human. Pretend competence well enough for 2 seconds of your life and say you want to ban them for a reason the rifle actually makes a modicum of sense towards, and that you are afraid of them. I can genuinely appreciate honest stupidity, it is at least honest, an irrational fear of something is a condition I can rationally understand for fear is a survival trait. This asinine imbecilic quadrupling down on all things wrong with every attempt of gun control policy is just tired at this point.
So enough! This garbage has been spewed for 18 years and become more and more shrill in the retelling. Ascribing mythical powers to simple machines and blatantly ignoring any evidence that suggests your policy is a pipe dream that relies on total compliance of the criminally and insanely noncompliant.
Gun control’s success relies upon the compliance of the noncompliant, how stupid is that?
“When the amendment was passed, it didn’t say anybody can own a gun and any kind of gun and any kind of weapon,” Biden insisted with regard to the Second Amendment during the same speech last week. “You couldn’t buy a cannon in — when the — this — this amendment was passed. And so, no reason why you should be able to buy certain assault weapons.”
You absolutely an unquestionably could by a cannon
Once again, that’s just not true.
“There were no federal laws about the type of gun you could own, and no states limited the kind of gun you could own” when the Bill of Rights was implemented, the Independence Institute’s David Kopel told the Washington Post last summer after an earlier iteration of Biden’s “cannon” claim.
“In fact, you do not have to look far in the Constitution to see that private individuals could own cannons,” the Post’s Glenn Kessler noted, pointing to letters of marque and reprisal which commissioned private warships to act on behalf of the United States. “Individuals who were given these waivers and owned warships obviously also obtained cannons for use in battle.”
You not only could have a cannon, you could have a warship and the Government would pay you to harass enemy shipping. This would be like sailing the African coast today in a mock freighter waiting to sink pirates and then getting a check from the Government for each confirmed, or a contract rate to patrol the waterway. This is absolutely something that is in the realm of modern security contracting.
“Biden has already been fact-checked on this claim — and it’s been deemed false,” Kessler added. “We have no idea where he conjured up this notion about a ban on cannon ownership in the early days of the Republic, but he needs to stop making this claim.”
Every false claim the President lays in this regard further erodes an already atrocious credibility rating. The President of the United States cannot be held to the most basic standards of historical accuracy on a constitutional issue, why should he be taken seriously on any issue.
These falsehoods matter because they’re repeated by a powerful government official who uses them to argue for changes in law and further restrictions on human activity. Either he’s too profoundly thick to learn new information, or else motivated by malice and unconcerned by the truth, but either way he shouldn’t be threatening to use the armed power of the state against people based on nonsense.
MK12 Speed Run 2 – Optics Matter
In a video I posted up yesterday from Josh and Henry’s 9-Hole channel, the pair took the MK12 in a classic configuration to the range on a speed run of their practical accuracy course.
These runs are to showcase what a well put together system can accomplish under time pressure and how the whole kit put together can aid, or hinder, a shooter engaging at various ranges. It can also assist in showing the practical limits of system and shooter based upon putting all the factors into place and under time.
Can a 5.56 rifle realistically make hits at 1100 yards? Yes. Stephanie here recently did so. But it isn’t an easy or fast thing to accomplish, the legs on a 5.56 are pretty tired by 700 and you’re stumbling across the finish line by 1100.
Given the need to rapidly engage, what are the hard limits of a rifle/optic combination and what are the factors that most positively influence that combination. I know people who have connected to a target at 700 and 800 yards with a red dot, but in what are the equivalent of laboratory conditions where they slowly tweaked things until they got it right. Guess a hold, hit or miss, adjust.
The MK12 with a far more modernized optic than the MK4 Leupolds give the shooter more information more quickly in order to accomplish their tasks faster and more efficiently. The other major change the was removing the suppressor. Based upon the course of fire’s requirements, namely the required rate of fire, the environmental effects caused by the silencer to the optic had them omit the silencer for the run.
Net detractive effect, groups were going to open up a little. Josh & Henry know this and have tested this. Net gain, no miraging at the muzzle for the longer shots as the can got hot. The overall effect was that for the trade up in signature at the shooting point, the rapidity of effect on target was tremendous.
This goes back to knowing the shot process and choosing the gear that is going to best improve your ability to efficiently move through the steps of the shot process. The shooter assess the effects and make the determination to shoot again or transition as the steps in the course were cleared, or under more serious circumstance transition from most immediate threats to least immediate in order.
Picking you optic, and the rifle it sits upon, is about knowing your most likely required shot processes and building out capability from most likely to least likely. This is why red dots and SFP LPVOs are the most useful for most users, they’re addressing close rapid shots as their most likely necessity. We can make rifles today that cover down on a lot of asked for capability really well, but firearms continue to be specialists. There will always be caliber/firearm combos that do the one task really well but are limited to that role while others do many things fairly well and usually in an effective enough manner that it meets or exceeds the bare minimum performance.
There is another point of context, are you optimizing (the specialist role) or are you meeting or exceeding multiple requirements? Rifle trials and gear selection are almost universally built around the meet or exceed format. They have a minimum and a goal for performance in category after category so the system will do all of the items asked. Military requests get extremely detailed in this regard. Police requests can too. They usually need everything spelled out so that in the event of a failure of some manner it can be addressed that a capability was specified and a correction can be made or liability can be leveled as the case may warrant.
Anyway, a good showcase of capability upgrades we’ve managed through the GWOT era.
Revising American History for the Sake of Gun Control
Like it or not, firearms and civilian gun ownership have been part of American history from the inception of American culture and have become as American as mom and apple pie. And it should remain so for lawful citizens. Not that my assertion based on historical reality would be accepted by some undaunted public health researchers, as will be briefly recounted.
One researcher, an Emory University professor and Bancroft Prize winner, Michael A. Bellesiles, faked data to “prove” in his now discredited book Arming America: The Origins of a Natural Gun Culture (2000) that gun ownership in early America was fiction. Bellesiles contended that guns were uncommon in the civilian population during the colonial and early periods of the Republic and that guns were rare during those early periods. Consequently, most Americans were not proficient with guns. Bellesiles argued, citing non-existent probate court records, that widespread firearm use came for the civilian population only after the U.S. Civil War, and that became possible only because of the mass production of cheap guns with greater accuracy.
Only one of those contentions was correct; that mass production decreased the cost of firearms while increasing quality and accuracy. The rest was fabricated mendacity. His conclusions were wishful thinking, tailor-made for the liberal intelligentsia, who received his book with great élan, and enthusiastically supported and acclaimed his historic works. Yet, his conclusions, going against well-known facts of American history, were preposterous for anyone with even a modicum of historical knowledge. How could early Americans survive the wilderness without possessing firearms and not be proficient in their use? How could colonists in the frontier, subject to Indian raids all the time, protect their families? How could the colonial militia be ready at a moment’s notice not only to fight Indian raids but also to join the British army in fighting in the French and Indian War (1756-1763), as Colonel George Washington and his militia did to fulfill their duty?
And most astounding of all, how could the celebrated event in American history we now refer to as Patriot’s Day (April 19, 1775) have taken place without availability and familiarity with firearms? How could the minutemen (summoned by Paul Revere in his famous ride, warning the countryside, “The British are coming!”) assemble so quickly and with their muskets fire “the shot heard around the world” on that day? Why would the American patriots prevent the British army’s attempt to disarm them and seize the arm depots at Concord, while passing by Lexington in the Colony of Massachusetts? How could they harass the Redcoats all the way back to Boston?
This preposterous attempt at historical revisionism was truly audacious; only an anti-gun “scholar” with a supreme capacity for arrogance and hubris would have attempted such mendacity, but such dishonesty was only an illogical extension of the politicized, dishonest gun research that we have been exposing all along.
So, it didn’t take long for true scholars to prove that Bellesiles’ “scholarship” was fraudulent and his conclusions fabricated, his book a bag of lies conceived to reach the preordained conclusions that the American gun culture was a relatively new phenomenon, the result of a tragic civil war and an overabundance of cheap mass-produced weapons. His mendacity cost him his reputation, his coveted Bancroft Prize, and his professorial position at Emory University—sadly also the alma mater for my post-doctoral neurosurgical training.
Modern liberals (socialists) lie and what they don’t know they make up— whether in the media, the popular culture, or academia. That is how low the common denominator has been brought down — in learning as well as morality!
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— Miguel A. Faria, Jr, MD is a retired professor of Neurosurgery and Medical History at Mercer University School of Medicine. He founded Hacienda Publishing and is Associate Editor in Chief in Neuropsychiatry and World Affairs of Surgical Neurology International. He served on the CDC’s Injury Research Grant Review Committee. His latest book is America, Guns, and Freedom: A Journey Into Politics and the Public Health & Gun Control Movements (2019).
All DRGO articles by Miguel A. Faria, Jr., MD
Ukrainian President – “I Don’t Need a Ride, I Need Ammo.” Ammo, Inc. – “We got you, Fam!”
Ammo, Inc. is a worldwide leader in ammunition production with contracts spanning the space. They’re developing a few mad-lad science projects currently, but their latest claim to fame is the supply of Ukraine. President Zelensky’s plea for ammo, not a ride, resonated deeply in the hearts of many of the American people because regardless of what you may feel about some of the politics in the greater sphere of the region, or opinions on US direct action involvement, we can appreciate a man fighting for his home against a known ambitious and aggressive player on the world stage.
Via Yahoo Finance,
AMMO, Inc. (Nasdaq: POWW) (“AMMO” or the “Company”), a leading vertically integrated producer of high-performance ammunition and components and operator of GunBroker.com, the largest online marketplace serving the firearms and shooting sports industries, today announced that it heard Ukraine’s President Zelensky’s plea for ammunition and would like to help. Ammo Inc. is offering to donate 1 million rounds of ammunition to the Armed Forced of Ukraine in support of their fight for independence and freedom.
Ammo Inc. will formally offer to manufacture ammunition to donate to the Ukraine Armed Forces as they fight for their country’s continued independence.
Fred Wagenhals, CEO of Ammo Inc., said “Ammo Inc., and we as Americans stand firmly in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence, as we stand for freedom and democracy everywhere. While we fervently hope for a quick and peaceful resolution to the crisis and that diplomacy will win the day, we condemn the Russian aggression and its threat to Ukraine’s territorial integrity and freedom. We recognize that events are unfolding rapidly on the ground in Ukraine, and we are prepared to move quickly as possible to support Ukraine as it continues to defend itself and its freedom.”
With Ammo Inc’s resource pool they are in a tremendously good position to make good on the request and get the supply their quickly. ‘Bullets don’t fly without supply’ is usually a truism of the various military logistic corps, however in this case it is beginning all the way at the manufacturing base and rolling forward to the frontline of the conflict.
We, as many around the world, hope to see a swift end to the war in Ukraine and a return to their sovereign status. But today the bullets still fly.
