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UPDATE: Comment on the ATF Ghost Gun Rule. Don’t let them arbitrarily redefine frame/receiver

By
Keith Finch
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UPDATE: The ATF has opened comments on the Rule Change Here. Be sure to click through and leave a comment. Be respectful, write your own. Copy/Paste or profane comments can and will be discarded by the ATF.

TheReload.com has a 107 page pdf that appears to be the current draft proposal of the ATF’s response to Biden’s requirement that they “do something” about Ghost Guns.

Read the whole draft – click this text.

In short, it appears they are drastically expanding the definition of what is a “frame or receiver” by saying, ‘well… in 1968 guns kinda usually had one receiver, so this whole notion that Glock and Sigs and AR’s have working parts housed in two receivers is blowing our minds a little…’

Under the GCA and implementing regulations, the term “firearm” includes:
“(A) any weapon (including a starter gun) which will or is designed to or may readily be
converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive.” 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(3); 27
CFR 478.11 (emphasis added). Although weapon parts kits in their unassembled,
incomplete, and/or unfinished state or configuration generally will not expel a projectile
by the action of an explosive at the time of sale or distribution, weapon parts kits that are
designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an
explosive are “firearms” under the GCA. – Proposed Definition Change.

No, seriously. Page 5 and 6 of the draft is basically just saying that under older firearm designs picking the receiver was easier. They go onto say that the old regulations were “never meant to be exhaustive” so they can make up new ones. It then goes into how “newer” firearms like the AR-15 (whose origin starts a decade prior to the GCA so there is no reason they should have missed that development) don’t have parts that necessarily fit the definition of receiver but the regulatory bodies picked the part that best “fit” the definition of frame or receiver, usually the part that help many of the fire control components. But one part was designated the receiver and controlled as ‘the firearm’ under law.

It then goes on to highlight just how easy it is to make a unserialized receiver, which is legal to do, but that is now “untraceable” … which makes sense too, considering it was home built. They made it themselves, trace over. PG 11, 12, and 13 cover this.

The line I’m dying over is, “An accurate firearm description is necessary to trace a firearm…” yet when I gave an exact definitive description and serial number to law enforcement after a theft it was completely lost in the reporting by the time the second officer involved (that I interacted with) was talking to me to confirm. “Accurate” was clearly not a priority in that reporting.

ATF traces firearms found by law enforcement at a crime scene by first contacting the licensed manufacturer or importer marked on the frame or receiver who maintains permanent records of their manufacture or importation and disposition. Using the information obtained from those required records, ATF then contacts each licensed dealer or other licensee who recorded their receipt and disposition to locate the first unlicensed purchaser to help find the perpetrator or otherwise solve the crime.–PG 13

How many crimes are we confused on? Felon in possession is not predicated on a firearm having a serial number, it is that a working firearm was in the possession of the felon. Similar goes for homicide or aggravated assault/assault with a deadly weapon, how many of these are hanging out there as cold cases because a serial number dead ended an investigation?

Page 12 quotes the number of found “PMF’s” (Privately Made Firearms) that have been reported as being found in conjunction with crimes (23,906) but not one has been listed as having stalled an investigation, including the 325 connected to homicide/attempted homicide.

Isn’t that what we are worried about, that serial numbers missing are going to stump law enforcement? Doesn’t seem like they are very stumped if they’ve found so many of them in connection to crimes.

Then it goes into FFL A&D records, commonly known as ‘Bound Books’ these are the federally auditable inventory of an FFL, and PMF’s not having serial numbers means the rules are even more vague on whether or not a firearm can go into their book. They can, but no serial numbers are traditionally associated with much older guns (it happens, serial numbers were more about inventory tracking than criminal tracking) while these PMF’s are new production.

Serial numbers are required (and an 07/02 FFL) if someone or some company want to commercially build firearm inventory for sale. But selling a personal non-serialized firearm that wasn’t built for profit is kind of a *shrug* “nobody is really sure, do the best you can” *shrug again* situation when it comes to record keeping.

And so on and so forth…

Anyway, I have no verification the draft is authentic. It looks authentic. We saw this prior to the bump-stock public comment period and that draft was spot-on. So I’m guessing this is more of the same, it may even be a “testing the waters” type of “leak” *wink* to get public comment going prior to the actual DRAFT draft being publicly commented upon in an official sense.

I don’t know… but man do they love themselves some trace reports, by this reading.

Building a “Foodscape”

By
Dr LateBloomer
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Pandemic Garden, Phase 2

Over the last few years I’ve started appreciating my little suburban plot of clay and rock as something other than a problem that I have to pay someone to mow every summer.

Besides the garden that I’ve written about ad nauseum, I’ve started looking at this 1/3-acre slopey hunk of former cow pasture as an opportunity to not only expand my efforts at self-sufficiency, but also as a blank canvas upon which I could (finally) plan some much needed landscaping.

But – I also have to live within the confines of appearances for the neighbors’ sake and the HOA’s limitations on things like livestock. I therefore can’t just slap up a chicken coop and an orchard and say I’m self-sufficient. I have to make it all look nice and purposely landscaped (or at least make an effort). They aren’t super strict here, but they do want to keep out things like cars up on blocks and appliances on the porch, so there are a few rules.

I decided to combine all those needs into a single goal. What I want to create is a “foodscape”. I want less useless grass (although the dandelions are useful and tasty) and more “food that is also eye-pleasing”. Or is that “shrubbery that also feeds me”? Either way, that’s what I’ve decided I want to work toward. When the next economic crisis comes I want to be able to “shop” for groceries in my own yard. That’s the goal at least.

I’ve already got the vegetable plot organized and in fact I doubled the size from last year. (Pandemic Garden, Phase 2) But I want more options for fruits and I want to grow more outside herbs. The goal for landscaping is thus to plant ONLY things that are edible. It’s not turning out to be as difficult as I originally suspected.

I already have my indoor kitchen herb pots, but I’m looking into expanding  to the outside as well. Hopefully I’ll be able to just take cuttings from what I already have and not have to buy anything.

I’m also looking into trying to grow a small patch of grain – just for giggles. I bought a seed packet of buckwheat which has pink flowers and am going to try it in a raised bed. If it truly does produce pretty flowers the neighbors will never know that I’m really growing an edible seed/grain for survival purposes – shhhh.

An edible seed/grain and pretty too?

Fruit-wise I already have my accidental apple tree that I planted 20-odd years ago, but I wanted additional fruit options that could be grown in the less-than-desirable location that I have.

My flowering crabapple that started bearing actual apples.

Most fruit trees take years to bear well. While they say that the two best times to plant a tree are “twenty years ago and today”, I was looking for something that I could hopefully enjoy before I retire.

Barring planting another apple tree – or other traditional fruits such as pear or cherry – I started looking at my options. Armed with my seed company catalogs and the internet I dived into a search.

My house is situated such that all locations except the very front get sufficient sun, so for my search purposes the three main considerations were time frame, hills/slopes, and clay/rocky soil. 

Raspberries/Blackberries did fit into my parameters but honestly I hate them. I do not enjoy all those little seeds and the texture bothers me – not to mention all the thorns – so that was a no.

Elderberries were a possibility – especially from a “medicinal” perspective – but there has been recent guidance that they aren’t acidic enough to can safely, so that was another no for my purposes. Unless I learn to make wine, that is. Hmmm… Elderberry wine for barter??

After much study and searching I finally settled on Blueberries, Strawberries, and Saskatoon Serviceberries.

In explaining my choices I should mention that my heirloom lilac bushes were planted in the ground 20 years ago after literally hours of hacking at the hillside with a pickaxe and digging bar. Although I can still be a helluva woman sometimes, I’m frankly getting too old for that crap.          

Recalling all of that past labor, dwarf and semi-dwarf bush varieties that I could grow in large half-barrels were ultimately my choice and saving grace. Hello, containers and modern plant breeding! My joints thank you!

The blueberries went into three half barrels on one side of the new deck, and the Saskatoons went into two half barrels on the opposite side. The strawberries are currently divided into four large pots on the deck, but I hope to gradually get those moved to their own garden raised bed in time for next year. We shall see. For now they are decorative and accessible for breakfast.

Blueberries coming out of dormancy from bare root stock.
Deck strawberries accessible for breakfast.
Saskatoon/Serviceberries adding to the foodscape effort.

I still have a few choices under consideration for later – things that are a little more off the beaten path – like lingonberries and pawpaws, but I think I’ve bitten off more than enough to chew for this year already. Foodscaping will be an ongoing process for the next several years, so I’ve got time to keep looking and planning. But I think I’m off to a good start!

Obviously your choices may be different, depending on your environment and area of the country you live in. What might grow well in Appalachia would likely wither in the desert southwest.  Plants that prefer well-drained soils would struggle in heavy clay. That’s why doing your research is an important first step in planning your own foodscape.

There are lots of creative options depending on the space and climate you have available. Don’t be afraid to read-up and try – even on a postage stamp patio or apartment balcony. You’d be surprised at the edible landscape you can produce if you put some effort and research into it. I‘ll keep you posted on mine!

Smith & Wesson 325PD Review

By
Caleb Giddings
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In the early to mid-2000s, everyone was screaming for lighter carry guns. For a number of reasons, Smith & Wesson decided it would be awesome to offer some of their very popular L-frame and N-frame models with scandium frames and titanium cylinders, resulting in wrist destroying magnums like the 329PD, chambered in .44 Magnum. Of course, the Smith N-frame lineup also includes the legendary 625, the .45 ACP moonclip revolver. It was only natural to make a scandium framed, titanium cylindered version of that, resulting in the gun you see today, the Smith & Wesson 325PD.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the flyweight N-frames were not as big a hit as Smith would have hoped, and the 2.5 inch model of 325 was only produced for two years. The four inch gun soldiered on for another year after that, before being dropped. The idea of lightweight, large frame revolvers would make a brief return in 2009 with Smith & Wesson’s Nightguard series, which were largely similar to the PD guns, but dropped the Ti cylinder in favor of a more cost effective steel cylinder.

In its short production run, the Smith & Wesson 325PD developed a reputation, best put into words by a friend of mine as a “kinetic bullet puller.” The reason for this is factory .45 ACP ammunition frequently isn’t crimped very tightly, so the recoil of a 230 grain bullet at 900 FPS could, depending on the brand of ammo selected, cause violent enough recoil that the bullets in the chambers would be pulled slightly from their case mouths. Still, even knowing that, I’ve always wanted one of these guns, so when I was browsing Gunbroker while tipsy, I put down a bid that I never expected I’d win.

Then I won.

Smith & Wesson 325PD left side

What I like
Uh, durr, it’s a .45 ACP moonclip revolver that weighs less than a volleyball. This gun is cool just from the viewpoint of a gun enthusiast. It represents a whole bunch of things that don’t make any sense, but were done “just because we can.” It’s like the Ariel Atom V8 – yes, there’s a reason for it, but that reason appears to “why not?” Of course, the first question anyone asks about this gun is “how’s the recoil?” Which is fair question, because it weighs just 22 ounces unloaded. That means that a full load of 230 grain cartridges increases the weight by 20% right there.

Truth be told, recoil really isn’t that bad. Yes, you notice it, and no, I wouldn’t want to shoot an entire 1,000 round class with full house ammo, but you know what? It’s really not that bad. It’s not at all like shooting a similarly designed j-frame, because the large stocks and size of the gun give you more revolver to hold on to. More meat on the gun = better recoil control. Where this gun really comes alive is with lower pressure loads. I tested the Smith & Wesson 325PD extensively with Federal Gold Medal Match 185 grain semi-wadcutters along with some PNW Arms 185 grain minor PF ammo I had laying around from Bianchi Cup two years ago. With loads in the 130-140 power factor range, it was actually quite a lot of fun to shoot. Again, you definitely notice the recoil; but with those minor loads, recoil in the 325PD feels about the same as full house .45s do through a 4 inch 625.

Smith & Wesson 325PD 6 shot group

It’s also quite accurate. That’s a six shot group, fired with the 185 grain semi-wadcutters at a distance of 10 yards. I know, 10 yard groups are kind of dumb, but I was at the end of my ammo and wanted to see if I could keep all the shots in the 2-inch dot at 10 yards. Success…and I wouldn’t worry about that little guy at the bottom.

The specs
Here’s the gun nut stuff. The sights are good, but not great for precision shooting. They feature a big fiber optic pipe up front and a shallow v-notch in the rear. They are very fast, and very easy to pick up when shooting the gun quickly at ranges inside 7 yards. For accuracy work, I found I had to spend a bit more time than I’d like making sure they were lined up.

The trigger is actually pretty good, a little heavier than I’d like, but smoother than the factory trigger was on my 929. I’ll still probably get an action job on this gun, just because the Apex guys are sorcelators and do amazing work. Plus, I’d like to get the enormous target hammer bobbed off this thing, which is a feature that doesn’t make a hell of a lot of sense on a carry gun like this. But because I know someone will ask, the DA trigger pull on the Smith & Wesson 325PD is about 10 pounds, and the SA is a very nice 4 pounds. Not that I’ve shot a single round out of this gun in single action, because that’s really not what it’s for.

Smith & Wesson 325PD muzzle

What is it for?

If I was going to be all dramatic, I’d say this is a serious gun for self-defense; but the truth is that it’s not. It’s actually kind of a silly gun, because it’s the size of a Glock 19, but it’s harder to shoot, holds less rounds, and is harder to reload. If it was a dog it’d lick the windows and bark at shadows, and that’s really okay. It is absolutely the best scandium framed, titanium cylindered, 2.5 inch barreled .45 ACP moonclip revolver ever made; however it’s also the only one of those ever made. That’s alright. It would absolutely make a great carry gun for someone who wanted to invest the time and effort into mastering the trigger pull, the recoil, and the reloads.

Smith & Wesson 325PD cylinder detail

Guns like this really have two markets. The first is for people like me: serious revolver enthusiasts who are actually interested in a defensive revolver chambered in a serious duty cartridge that quite literally weighs less than an NBA basketball. The second market is for people who enjoy things that are interesting simply at their face value, people who say “wow, a scandium .45 revolver? That’s neat, I should totally get one.”

It is neat. It’s also a great gun, a fantastic shooter that I’d be willing to bet my life on if I needed to. As the market for revolvers has shrunk in recent years while the overall CCW market has exploded, guns like the amazing, confusing, and ultimately wonderful Smith & Wesson 325PD will likely be regarded as curiosities of days gone by.

How to Shotgun, with JJ

By
BullShooters
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There are a surprising number of top-notch carbine and pistol shooters who don’t know how to shoot a shotgun at all. And if you don’t know how, what often happens is you try to shoot it just like an AR. And if you do this, you’ll suck with the shotgun and naturally prefer the carbine. Many of these guys are apt to then concede “Well, I’m just not a shotgun guy, ” and what happens is they rarely shoot them.

But if shooters will open their minds, forget what they’ve learned about rifle shooting and learn how to shoot a shotgun so as to gain its advantages, they’ll find it’s superior for close range and/or moving targets due to its intuitive speed, downrange power and deadly accuracy thanks to its larger margin for error.

And if you’ll master a shotgun to the point where you can hit flying targets with ease, then you’ll be able to hit stationary targets without even thinking about it. 

In his video, JJ is not saying that wingshooting techniques should be used for defensive and tactical shotgunning. But if you learn how to wingshoot–to hit flying targets out of the air merely by looking at them, mounting the gun and pulling the trigger–you’ll develop an intuitive feel for the shotgun that will make you scary-deadly with it in any discipline. Here’s how.

Confessions of an Outdoor Slacker Mom

By
Dr LateBloomer
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What follows is a reworking of a personal blog post I made back in 2013. Probably only ten people ever read it. I was just getting started at the time and was mostly writing for my own satisfaction. But now on a re-read I think some young mothers of today could use some reassurance that there is always someone who is doing a worse job than you at keeping it all together with children in the outdoors — namely me.

For context, I was referring to an article I had just read by Julie Golob, a woman who I greatly admire, and who I’m sure is a much better mother and outdoorswoman than I ever was. Her article about taking her two small (at the time) children along on an Elk hunt caused me to reminisce about my own struggles with children in the outdoors back in the mid-to-late 1990’s.

________________

I just recently read a post from Julie Golob about taking her two small children on an Elk hunting trip, and it brought back all kinds of (albeit hazy) memories of my own child-rearing. Preschoolers/infants on an Elk hunt? Seriously? More power to Julie, but holy cow, I must be a slacker mom. There is no way on gawd’s green earth that I’d have been able to manage that when my children were small.

That’s not to say that my then-husband and I didn’t attempt small camping trips with our brood of three, but I mostly remember trying to keep a toddler from falling into the fire, and preventing another child from poking his sister’s eye out with a stick. There may have been some dirt-eating in there somewhere too, it’s a little hazy. But Elk hunting? Not so much. 

All the STUFF.

There wasn’t any healthy food or organically balanced diets for my children on these trips. (Well, dirt is organic, isn’t it?) We were on a single-income grad school budget at the time, so in addition to eating dirt, there were whatever hot dogs I could find for less than a dollar a pack. What’s a few preservatives and pig testicles amongst family, right? Hotdogs did involve sharp sticks though … and fire… so that was about all the adventure I could handle with three children. I was a slacker mom and I freely admit it.

Eggs for breakfast over the campfire? Umm… no, here have a pop-tart. Mommy needs some coffee and we need to heat water, so Daddy’s gonna light the picnic table on fire with his backpacker stove if you want to watch.

There was also not much “sleeping” going on in those sleeping bags. Listen, there’s a reason that the whole “family bed” trend never took off in our family. Two large people and three small people all sleeping together in the same tent is not my idea of a peaceful night’s rest. 

As most people know, toddlers sleep “clock-wise” (or sometimes counter-clockwise, depending upon their orientation to the earth’s magnetic field). Which means that even if everyone goes to sleep in a  straight row, someone is going to wake up with a small person’s pee-diaper in their face.

Which brings me to the whole camping/potty conundrum. Julie mentioned the Luggable Loo, which absolutely must be a gift from the potty-gods to camping mothers. But that wasn’t even on the radar in my day. My then-husband had a penchant for camping in the national forest, which meant of course no facilities. This was a fine arrangement for dad and son, but mother and daughters had some challenges to overcome. 

Fortunately, I had been able to pick up some skill in that arena over the years and was able to pass some of that on to the girls. But “teaching” the skills required to pee-while-female in the weeds takes time and practice. I don’t think peeing into your own socks is a thing that men and boys generally worry about. But if you’re planning on camping rough with young daughters – pack extra socks.

Honestly, even when we were able to score an actual tent site in an actual national park campground, the vault potties presented their own challenges. Seriously – consider the size of the gaping black void that exists in your average vault toilet. Then consider the size of the average 3 year old’s behind. 

If as a pre-schooler, you “fall into” the potty at home you might get a little wet, but you’re not actually going to go anywhere. But the yawning abyss of that national park potty? Holy Mother of Macaroni! Why in the world would your child “want” to put her bare bum up there and expose it to the ravening jaws of gawd-knows-what just waiting down there to grab her? The end result is a whole family of constipated children with bellyaches by the time you get home. 

Then, there are the other problems that are not sticks and campfires and constipation – namely wildlife that are NOT elk. My other camping memories are hazy, but this one stands out in its stark clarity – mostly because of my terror. 

We were packing up the truck after an overnight (or maybe two nights?) at a campground in a national recreation area. My toddler daughter was — well– “toddling” along with me as we carried gear from the tenting field, through the wooded path back to the truck. We dumped off the stuff and headed back for another load, and said toddler got gradually about 10-15 yards ahead of me on the trail, waving her ga-ga as she went (ga-ga is what she called the former cloth diaper/spit cloth that served as her comfort item). 

As I glanced down the path, I noticed that there was a big tree limb across the the trail that had not been there on our trip out a few minutes previously. Then the “limb” moved! And in that heart-stopping moment I realized that my BABY was closer to it, than she was to me! Heart in my throat, I yelled to her and reached out my arms, but I knew I would not reach her before she reached the snake. 

Perhaps it was the potty-gods who intervened and wafted the scent of her diaper to that creature or perhaps it was the waving of the ga-ga that sent the reptile on its way, but it began to move off the trail and into the woods before my daughter got to the spot it had occupied. I grabbed her and swept her up in my arms and it took about 10 minutes to make my heart rate go back to normal.

Now, my rational logical mind knows that this was probably only a big black rat snake that was completely harmless to anything but field mice. A “Real Outdoorsmom (TM)” would have taken the opportunity to instruct the toddler in the finer points of snake habitat and species identification, but I was a slacker, and my “Mother Eve” instincts would have none of that. There was “SNAKE-kind” near my baby, and I was not okay with that. Besides, I don’t speak parseltongue – I’m really more of a Hufflepuff kinda gal.

The writer as a young mother, camping with two of the eventual three offspring in the mid-1990’s

Thankfully that was the only true bad experience I’ve had while camping with small children. Or maybe I just don’t remember much else through the haze of exhaustion and sleeping with clock-wise toddlers. But the point is that this is “all” we were doing – camping. I cannot imagine also packing hunting gear along with the diapers and spit cloths and nursing pads, and pop-tarts, AND trying to keep the diaper-smell from permeating my scent-blocking camo. Kudos to Julie though for finding some mommy-time in the great outdoors. She is my new hero.

Despite being a slacker mom for all these years, I’m trying to make up for it now. I just recently took my 21-year old daughter to Babes With Bullets camp, and will be taking my 17 year old daughter shortly. But they can at least wipe their own noses and carry their own pop-tarts now. And thankfully, nobody’s afraid of the potty anymore.

Rush24 2.0 By 5.11 Tactical

By
Travis Pike
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The Rush series of backpacks from 5.11 has been around for basically ever. At least as long as I’ve been in the writing. 5.11 Tactical decided the Rush series needed an update. If SHOT 2021 occurred, we’d have seen the new Rush 2.0 in full display. But alas, no such event occurred, so guess what? 5.11 Tactical happily sent me the Rush24 2.0, and I’ve been putting miles, trips, and more with it strapped across my back.

What’s New With the Rush24 2.0

The original Rush series started in 2007, and they’ve been quite popular. Over the last 14 years, the Rush series has seen plenty of use, and 5.11 Tactical has gotten plenty of user feedback on the design. Apparently, over a million of these packs have been sold. 5.11 Tactical was smart enough not to change a successful design entirely but to make minor improvements along the way.

The Rush 2.0 series comes in the exact three sizes as the old Rush series. We got the Rush12, Rush24, and Rush72. The changes include adding a padded laptop pocket to give the daily EDC market a tech option. It’s quite large and accommodates up to a 15-inch laptop.

5.11 Tactical added a concealed carry pocket on the front of the bag. It blends in enough that I didn’t notice it the first few times I went over the backpack. It’s behind the front pocket and sealed with hoop and loop.

5.11 stretched the fleece-lined media and eyeglass pocket to be a bit bigger. They also relocated the hydration pouch for easier access.

The Rush24 2.0 – Construction and Design

The Rush24 2.0 is the middle child of the Rush series and fits between being an EDC pack and a hiking pack. In military speak, it’s an assault pack. A pack you can load down with 24 to 48 hours worth of gear and hit the field. That being said, it can serve in a multitude of roles.

 

We got military and police use covered, and the Rush series remains popular for EDC. The Rush24 2.0 can be used as a bug-out bag or in the hands of wildland firefighters on a stake camp. It’s the right size to be whatever you need it to be. It holds 37 liters of your stuff among a ton of pouches and pockets.

I mean a literal ton; maybe I haven’t found them all yet. The Rush24 is made from 1050D nylon construction. It’s a tough, water-resistant material that keeps the pack lightweight. 5.11 Tactical didn’t skimp on the zippers either and went with quality YKK zippers.

The rear of the pack features four reinforced pads, and the straps are thick. Like dummy thicc.

Pockets, Pouches, and Beyond

You have a front pocket with tons of little internal pouches for organizing gear. Lots of admin room here to squeeze in pens, pencils, small lights, notebooks, calculators, and whatever other nerd stuff you need.

Above the front pocket is a smaller pocket that’s actually two small pockets. Inside these two small pockets are a pouch and a mesh pocket. I found these perfect for phone chargers, cables, etc.

Both sides pack a moderate-sized pouch. It’s big enough for decent-sized water bottles, or multiple AR magazines, tools, or more. These pockets make things well suited for quick and immediate access. For me, I want a flashlight and a medkit in these pockets for easy access.

In the main pouch, we have the laptop pouch as well as plenty of space for gear. I packed in my Grey Man panel, a full Cloud Defensive ammo bag, 4 loaded AR 15 magazines, a water bottle, and even some weights to get the pack to 40 pounds for a ruck. On the opposite side of the spectrum, I packed enough clothes and toiletries for two people and 48 hours of travel, as well as a laptop and tablet.

The main flap packs multiple mesh pockets to accommodate small goodies you might want quick access to. At the very back is your hydration pouch. I love that it’s separate from the rest of the pack. I can fix and remove it without having to remove anything from my pack.

Don’t forget plenty of MOLLE to add on more pouches if necessary.

The Concealed Carry Pouch

I don’t like off-body carry. I want my gun on my hip. However, if that’s your jam, the pocket is both hidden and easily accessible. I missed it at first. It’s between the front pouch and the main pouch and sealed with hook and loop.

The hook and loop keep it concealed, but all you have to do is grip and rip to open the pocket and gain access to it. Accessing the Rush24 concealed carry pouch is quick enough and takes nothing more than a caveman’s brain to activate. Inside is plenty of hook and loop for a holster attachment. Carrying off body doesn’t mean skimping on the holster; you still need to protect the trigger.

If you are like me, this pouch is convenient just for hiding stuff you might want quick access to. I can stash spare mags, a tourniquet, a fixed blade, and a wide variety of other parts and pieces.

Rucking Away

Lots of pockets, quality construction, and modern design mean nothing if the backpack fits poorly. Luckily it doesn’t. I’ve gotten into rucking for extra exercise, and a good bag is a must. I’ve worn the Rush24 on multiple humps ranging from 2 to 5 miles with 25 to 40 pounds of goodies packed in it.

Sometimes I go with a plate carrier and sometimes just the pack. The Rush24 works well in both situations. Without the carrier, those back pads are heavenly. They keep the pack oriented well and allow air to travel between my body and the pack. Those dummy thicc straps the Rush24 packs are quite comfortable and do not dig into my shoulder and cause pain. Thick and wide is the way to go for backpack straps.

At rest points, plopping it down and accessing my must-haves it easy. I can grab my water bottle from a side pouch and take a swig, and if it was necessary, snatch out a medkit. The front pouches would make it easy to organize little gear that’s fun on hikes like a phone for pictures, headphones, battery packs, etc. For a sweaty dude like me, I keep a cooling towel on hand.

The Rush24 2.0 and I have been hitting the ground running for over a month now. It’s been accessorized, filled up, emptied, and changed over and over again. 5.11 Tactical designed the Rush24 to be easily used for a wide variety of tasks. It can be used in duty roles, EDC roles, camping, hiking, and even going to school.

Check it out, and it even comes in a wide variety of colors.

Self-Defense Accessories for Traveling

By
Sponsored
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Source: SolidMaks/Shutterstock.com

Safety is a huge concern for travelers, especially when visiting new places.  You’re not aware of the unsafe areas in unfamiliar locations, and you don’t know the crime patterns. That’s why it’s incredibly important to have some type of self-defense weapon or tool in case you run into trouble. Just make sure you research the area that you’re traveling to so you can see if the weapon you want to carry is legal. Here are some self-defense weapons that are disguised as everyday items you can carry while traveling.

Why Carrying a Disguised Non-Lethal Self-Defense Weapon May Be a Better Choice

Having a non-lethal routine item is perfect for traveling because you can improvise when needed for self-defense. However, don’t conceal your self-defense weapon from customs or security in airports.

If you’re traveling by air, the only way that you can carry many self-defense weapons is in your checked luggage. That’s not going to help you at all if you’re assaulted and your weapon is in your suitcase locked away. That’s why non-lethal disguised self-defense weapons are perfect for carrying when traveling by car, bus, train, or by airplane.

There are also state and local laws to worry about when carrying some weapons such as firearms, Tasers, knives, and pepper spray. You can get into trouble if you’re carrying a firearm in a state that has severe gun laws, even if you’re just traveling through the area. 

Per the TSA (Transportation Security Administration), you’re allowed to check the following weapons in your luggage when flying:

  • Stun Gun
  • Pepper Spray
  • Knives
  • Kubaton
  • Tactical Glove
  • Taser
  • Tactical Flashlight

Airports let you carry the following self-defense items in your carry-on bag:

  • Tactical Pen
  • Umbrella
  • Tactical Chain
  • Steel Wrist Bracelet
  • Magazine (rolled up)

Common Hidden Non-Lethal Self-Defense Weapons That Are Legal to Carry in Most States

A disguised non-lethal self-defense weapon helps you get the element of surprise if someone tries to attack you. Since they’re hidden or look like ordinary items, no one suspects what you’re carrying. Here are some of the best non-lethal weapons to carry when traveling:

  • Tactical Pen Light

The durable tactical penlight was designed for the multi-tasking sportsman and professionals but is carried by many people for self-defense. This combo doubles as a pen and light. You can use it to blind an assailant in a pinch. Crafted from Type II Military Spec Anodized Aluminum, these pens are essentially indestructible. They slip discreetly in a pocket or purse for safekeeping.

  • Tactical Handheld Flashlight

Today’s innovative tactical flashlights aren’t the ones your dad kept around the house. They’re brighter and more durable than household flashlights made of plastic. Many come with a USB rechargeable cord, and some you can use to charge your smartphone. The ability to charge your phone may come in handy if you need to call 911. You can use the light to blind and distract threats so you can escape. They come in a variety of sizes, and you can use larger ones as an impact weapon if you must stand your ground and fight someone. 

If you buy one with a strobe function, you can temporarily disable an attacker and get away.

  • Pepper or OC Spray

Pepper spray, sometimes referred to as OC spray, comes hidden in a variety of objects such as a keychain or defense baton. It comes in stream, foam, or spray, and the spray is the best choice for maximum coverage and effect. You can spray an attacker and disable them because pepper spray works on the respiratory system and causes pain. It disables an assailant longer than foam or spray because the spray makes it hard to breathe as well. If you have a pepper spray baton, you can use it as an impact weapon too. 

  • Self-Defense Keychains

Self-defense keychains have risen in popularity over the years. Some are shaped like cats with pointed ears and two open eye holes to put your fingers through. They can do some serious damage if you rake and claw at someone attacking you. Even Walmart sells these keychains now.

Self-defense keychains come in many forms, with some shaped like a baton that you can use to hit someone.  Just be careful because state and local laws on self-defense weapons change regularly, including keychains. For instance, the state of Texas declared some self-defense keychains like the cat ones illegal until recently. There were hefty fines and even jail time associated with these. Do your research before you travel with any self-defense weapon.

  • Taser Cell Phone

Manufacturers of self-defense tools can be quite creative with designs, and the stun gun or Taser cell phone charger or case is quite innovative. They work just like ordinary Tasers and stun guns, only cleverly disguised. Anyone trying to get the jump on you is going to be sorry.

These Tasers disable an attacker enough that you can get away. Most Tasers and stun guns are made to throw down, and then you run to the nearest safe location.

  • Tactical Pen

The tactical pen is like the tactical penlight. Police officers report that often the most important tool you can carry with you is whatever happens to be in your hand when things go bad.  The tactical pen writes like any other pen but can change quickly into a safety tool or weapon to use in hand-to-hand combat. These pens have a rugged design that you can use in wet or dry weather, and you can even use them as a window punch if necessary.

  • Knife

A knife is one of the easiest weapons to hide either on you or in a purse or bag. A folding knife is probably the best weapon to carry as you can pull one out quickly to defend yourself if you must fight off an assailant. However, many states have various laws about knives, such as how long the blade is, so check the area you are traveling to and make sure your weapon is legal.

Source: Nor Gal/Shutterstock.com

These are just a few great self-defense tools and weapons to carry when traveling. Tools disguised as everyday items give you the element of surprise if you find yourself in a bad situation when traveling. Now you can take that trip and worry less about threats in an area you’re not familiar with. 

Gun Control: Aiming at the Wrong Targets?

By
DRGO
-
(from blog.dataiku.com)

[Ed: The articles we post represent the authors’ opinions, not DRGO positions. Here are MarkPA’s thoughts about how data could be obtained and should be used to substantiate policies and laws affecting gun ownership and Second Amendment rights.]

With all the numerous gun control laws and further proposals, it strikes me that there is no clear target, except guns. If epidemiologists want to characterize “gun violence” as an epidemic, then why are they not trying to capture the “genome” (underlying causes) of the “disease”?  For every other public health challenge, this is the place to begin.  But not for gun laws.  We might wonder why.

First, the broad brush.  Deaths and injuries by gunshot are broadly classified as:

1. suicides = 2/3

2. homicides = 1/3

3. accidents = negligible

These are the gross proportions, but there is not much detailed drill-down published.  We can drill down on COVID-19 and for virtually every subject of public health inquiry.  Except for guns.

We have a pretty good sense that gunshot suicides being mostly elderly males; females of any age rarely choose guns.  Strangely, inner-city dwellers from minority races and ethnicities don’t tend to suicide by gun.  We ought to have the detailed breakdowns of suicides by ZIP code, sex, age, occupation, marital status, military service, and importantly, method (gunshot, asphyxiation, over-dose, etc.) etc.  In what ways do gunshot suicides resemble/differ from non-gunshot suicides?

If we understood such details we might craft more finely-tuned public policy.  For example, a waiting period for sales to youthful males might be more salient than for females.  Drugs usable for suicide might be dispensed in much smaller quantities.  We have no idea what innovative ideas might be worthwhile considering without data to support target strategies. Nor can we tell whether a sensible strategy couldn’t possibly work without clearly understanding its range of consequences.

Our heartstrings are pulled by advertisements/anecdotes of children killing themselves by gun.  Yet, we have no data.  (It can be hard to distinguish motives—accident or suicide—when children kill themselves by gunshot.) Without good data we cannot provide guidance forpublic policy or advise parents.

Gathering this data would not be expensive.  There are 22,000 gunshot suicides per year and about as many by other means.  Most of the information is already recorded on death certificates.  Collecting, codifying and recording data on probably cause for three years and observing changes across time would be a start.  If we find “hot spots” we can make investigate further.

For example, suppose the data confirms that large numbers of gunshot suicides are by elderly males in rural areas.  We might reasonably assume that these are associated with agricultural occupations or the shooting sports and assume long-term gun ownership.  Waiting periods would serve no useful purpose for this demographic.  If there are few young women who suicide by gunshot, we might make follow-up inquiries to see what fraction of these bought/rented/borrowed a gun shortly before they took their lives.  Some gun ranges adopt a house policy of not renting a gun to a customer who comes to the range alone.  Really detailed data about suicides could tell us which policies are pointless and which might actually save some lives without eroding general gun rights.

Homicides are the other major category.  We already have plenty of data indicating that the overwhelming majority are concentrated in inner-city precincts and are associated with criminals/gangs/drugs.  Yet, there are many more intertwined issues in these cases.  First, while we always know the object of a homicide, we often don’t know the actor.  It’s unusual that a perpetrator confesses or is convicted at trial.  Therefore, the quality of our demographic data on the killers is necessarily limited.  Nevertheless, if the demographics of suspects conforms to the demographics of confessed/convicted killers in like cases, then tabulating suspect data might be useful as well.

Information regarding the victims is valuable.  Conventional wisdom is that battered women are often killed by gunshot.  Is this true?  How many battered women die at the hand of their significant others by gunshot vs. strangulation vs. stabbing vs. blunt-force trauma vs. overdose?  Was the perpetrator was an intimate partner, her drug-dealer, a jealous ex-?

Victims do not always die.  What were those means— gunshot, strangulation, stabbing, blunt-force trauma, overdose?  What can the victim tell us about the motivation?  Even if the victim is not willing to name the perpetrator, nevertheless she could reveal the motivation (romantic rivalry, past-due account receivable).

The kind of data available should be comparable to that for deaths.  There are roughly 11,000 gunshot homicides each year.  There may be another 4,000 non-gunshot homicides by comparison so, say, 15,000 homicides per year.  There may be 3 times as many gunshot batteries not resulting in death.  Police reports have a great deal of data on the victim and circumstances.  Over time, they will develop data on many perpetrators.

How many of these perpetrators prove to be “pillars of the community?  How many were previously convicted of domestic violence, other violent crimes, drug dealing, drug/alcohol misuse?  We might discover that “Joe Six-Pack” doesn’t perpetrate as many homicides or batteries as we imagine. Mining the available information could be highly illuminating in considering criminal law and even gun laws.

The weight of the data will certainly underline illegal drug dealing and use as central issues.  Would we really want to mount a War on Guns to complement our success in the War on Drugs?  Or should we begin listening more respectfully to critics of the latter who point to how Switzerland and Portugal are using less conventional but effective approaches to drug use?

Finally, accidents.  The total number of gunshot accidents has been plummeting in recent decades. It’s now so low that it’s approaching the X-axis, meaning that further improvement can only be minimal (and increasingly difficult).  The rate of accidents is now negligible, while during the same time the civilian inventory of arms has soared to 400 million. The number of accidents is, counterintuitively, inversely related to number of guns! The reason for this is probably that gun owners are most keenly interested in reducing accidents; after all, they and their family members are those most at risk and in greatest control of their firearms.  Perhaps unlike suicides and homicides, the interests of gun owners are entirely aligned with popular public health concerns.

There are so few accidents that we should also research non-fatal woundings.  Who dies, who is injured?  Is the problem immaturity or lack of training?  Is it carelessness?  Is it situational, at hunting venues or shooting ranges?  During gun administration (loading, cleaning, unloading)?  Revolvers or semi-autos?  Long-guns or handguns?  Even non-lethal firearm accidents may be so rare that they can’t realistically be reduced.  But when they occur, there must be illuminating data such as the user’s age, storage practices, gun-safety education or lack thereof.

If detailed data drives decisions in other areas of our public live and economy, why do we not have detailed data regarding gun mortality and morbidity?  The Centers for Disease Control gathers enormous volumes of data on numerous causes affecting public health.  Why not details about gunshot morbidity and mortality?

Most of the useful data should be available from death certificates, police reports and hospital admission records.  Demographic data (such as sex, age, ZIP-code, occupation) should be relatively easy to collect.  Other data, such as from police reports or hospital admission records, would require more research.  Sampling techniques can make it possible to draw reliable inferences from relatively modest amounts of more expensive-to-acquire data.  Once we know where to look, drilling down to individual cases would be doable and illuminating.

We are continually reminded that “gun violence” is epidemic, seemingly second only to COVID-19.  If “gun violence” is a crisis then it’s wort understanding in detail.  With all the cries for more research, why have nationally available data like these not already been published?  Perhaps because they already know what it would show?  Researchers focused on limiting gun rights publish what they decide the public needs to know. The real data on gun violence wouldn’t support their agenda. And the CDC almost certainly knows that such is the case.

This Congress is going to debate gun control laws which will surely lead to laws that infringe on “the right of the people to keep and bear arms”, to a degree unprecedented by previous acts.  Shouldn’t we, the People, insist that what Congress does be based on facts and thorough, reliable data alongside respect for our Constitutional rights?

Shouldn’t we call a halt before they “create a nation of lawbreakers” [Ed: Ayn Rand] and spend billions on enforcement of unconstitutional restrictions?  Before they trigger a potential civil war?

—‘MarkPA’  is trained in economics, a life-long gun owner, NRA Instructor and Massad Ayoob graduate. He is inspired by our inalienable rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” and holds that having the means to defend oneself and one’s community is vital to securing them.

All DRGO articles by ‘MarkPA’  

PCC Drills With The EPC Defensive and Competitive

By
Travis Pike
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It’s been almost a decade of PCC supremacy. People love PCCs, and I’m one of them. Ever since I got my EPC, I’ve realized there are no dedicated PCC drills. The PCC differs from the rifle and the pistol, and I was curious what PCC drills could be handy to fellow PCC enthusiasts. 

As someone who wants to try USPSA PCC, I started watching videos and examined what those competitors faced. I kept that in mind, as well as the typical combat-oriented drills people know and love. I also tried to keep the logistics light to make it easy for everyone to get some training in. 

What I came up with was some original drills, as well as a combination of both pistol and rifle drills that are proven winners. PCCs fall somewhere in between a pistol and rifle, and it tends to benefit from drills designed for both. 

Near and Far, Big and Small 

Inside of 50 yards pistol caliber carbines rule. Heck, out to 100 yards a 9mm rifle does okay. At close range, the guns are quite precise and ultra-easy to shoot and handle. PCC drills should address the strengths and weaknesses of the platform. One of the first things I noticed in USPSA is the wide variety of targets they engage, and at the various ranges, they engage them. 

You’ll need both precision and speed to compete. Being precise and fast is an applicable skill set for most firearm disciplines. With that in mind, the Near and Far drill calls for targets at a variety of ranges. Some near you, some far from you. Range conditions can make this tough to do, so instead of mixing up ranges, grab a large and small target. 

I use steel targets. I have a 4-inch gong and a 10-inch gong that work perfectly. 

Start in the low ready,  20 yards from the targets. Engage the close target (the bigger one) with three rounds. Then transition to the far target (the small one) and hit the target once. Set a par time to 5 seconds. 

A miss is a failure, as is going over 5 seconds. It’s a generous time, and in the first run, I scored an almost 4 second run with the EPC. Feel free to adjust the time to kick your own ass. 

Viking Tactics 1-5 Drill 

The VTAC 1-5 Drill does not fall into the typical set of PCC drills. It was designed around the standard carbine and challenges you to shoot a target way more than once or twice. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the double-tap and assess mindset. You’ll need three targets, preferably man-sized set up five yards from the shooter. 

Start at the low ready with a magazine with 15 rounds loaded. At the buzzer, fire one shot into target 1, two shots into target 2, three shots into target 3, then transition back to target two and fire four shots, finish by firing five shots on target one. 

If you can score under 5 seconds, you are doing pretty good. 3.5 seconds is smoking it. You’ll want chest shots, A Zone, especially if you are going for USPSA wins. This drill helps you learn transitions, control over the weapon, and how to work the trigger. 

El Presidente Drill (PCC Drills Edition) 

El Presidente is Jeff Cooper’s famed pistol drill, but over time it’s been adopted for various platforms. For our PCC edition, we are going to bring the range to 20 yards. You’ll need two magazines, each loaded with six rounds, and a means to hold a spare magazine. We need three man-sized targets. 

You’ll start with your back to the targets, rifle in the low ready. At the buzzer, you turn and fire two rounds into each target. Reload when empty and fire two rounds into each target once more. Ten seconds in the original time for a handgun. With a PCC, we should be able to get well under ten seconds, right? 

My EPC is topped with a VG6 PCC muzzle device that acts as both a brake and a compensator. This reduces felt recoil and muzzle rise significantly and makes this drill quick. Plus, the third point of contact with my shoulder against the stock makes it too easy. So we have to shorten the time. 

Let’s say 7 seconds with zero misses is a pass. 

Reload Reload Reload 

Reloads are the key to the successful employment of any magazine-fed weapon. When a gun runs dry, you want to reload and get it back into action. In USPSA, reloading skills are important, and you want a few PCC drills that focus on reloads. So with that in mind, let’s work reloads. This PCC drill will require 15 rounds of ammunition, at least three magazines, but four is best. 

You’ll load three of your four or two of your three magazines as randomly as one person can. A better method is to have a partner load it. To do it by yourself, I recommend watching Letterkenny and grabbing 1 to 3 rounds at a time and alternating magazines until all 15 are gone. The purpose is to make you reload tough to predict. 

Range and target are the shooter’s discretion. Put your empty magazine into the gun and lock the bolt to the rear. A timer is optional but highly encouraged for measuring performance. At the buzzer, reload and empty the magazine into your target. 

With the EPC, reloads are rather quick. The flared magazines well, massive magazine release button, and last round bolt hold open make reloads quick and intuitive. 

Repeat the same action over and over until you’ve run each magazine dry. You’ll build your skills to reload without making your reloads predictable. 

The Kasarda Drill 

Remote brutality was an interesting take on competition shooting from InRange Tv’s Karl Kasarda. Since Covid killed their shooting competition, Karl released an at-home version of the competition. The contest is over, but the drill itself is still rather fun. 

I’ll let Karl explain it. 

What you’ll need:

A kettlebell, rock, backpack, or another item you can throw around weighing 20 kg (44 lbs). In the instructions, this item will be referred to as the kettlebell.

A metal target

A rifle

A timer

Fault line indicators

Setup:

There are two boxes marked on the ground, A and B, with a distance of 15 meters

The target is approximately 50 meters from the center point of the two boxes

Shooter starts standing in Box A or Box B, with the rifle fully loaded, on safe, held at low ready.

The kettlebell is in the same box with the shooter on the ground.

How to perform the stage:

At the buzzer, the shooter will go prone next to the kettlebell and acquire one hit on the target.

The shooter will put the safety on, ground the rifle and get up. The shooter will take the kettlebell and throw it towards the other box.

Grab the rifle, go prone next to the kettlebell and acquire one hit on the target.

The shooter will continue in the same manner until the kettlebell crosses the fault line of the opposite box.

Shooter goes prone next to the kettlebell in the box and acquires one hit on the target.

Shooter will continue back towards the first box in the same manner and continue this until the 180 second par time expires.

Important:

The kettlebell needs to be thrown underhand with one or two hands. The shooter may not spin or shot put it.

Scoring:

• Remove 10 seconds from the 180 par time for each hit made from the A or B Boxes after the first one.

• Hits from between the boxes do not count towards the final score; they only allow the shooter to move forwards.

This gets your blood pumping and your heart racing. It challenges you to shoot when shaky and to put a little physicality into your shooting. Since you aren’t competing in the contest, feel free to lower the weight if 44 pounds is too much to handle. Also, feel free to increase the weight. As far as PCC drills go, this will help you get you jacked and adrenalized. 

PCC Drills For All 

Since I got my EPC, I’ve been getting lots of practice in. My intent is to try the USPSA PCC games soon, and my goal for my first few matches is to just not embarrass myself. Not only have I been watching a ton of videos of champs making runs, but I’ve been trying to replicate some of the things I see in the forms of various drills. At the same time, I’m still focused on the defensive aspect of rifle shooting. Hopefully, you fine folks have a few new PCC drills to improve your skills with. 

SIG SAUER Unveils U.S. Army Best Ranger Competition M17 Trophy Pistols

By
Keith Finch
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NEWINGTON, N.H., (April 15, 2021) – SIG SAUER is honored to announce the creation of the U.S. Army Best Ranger Competition M17 Trophy Pistols for the upcoming 2021 Best Ranger Competition being held at Fort Benning, Georgia, April 16-18, 2021.  The custom M17 pistols were designed and built by SIG Custom Works and beginning this year, the custom M17 pistols will be presented as the official Best Ranger Competition Trophy pistols to the two-man team that earns the Best Ranger title annually. 

M17 best ranger P320

The U.S. Army Best Ranger Competition is a grueling competition that identifies the best, two-man U.S. Army Ranger buddy team on a course that is designed to place extreme demand on each team’s physical, mental, technical and tactical skills.  The competition is open to all Ranger-coded positions within the U.S. Army and each year competitors from across the globe come to compete with the hopes of earning the prestigious Best Ranger title. 

“The Best Ranger Competition is the ultimate physical challenge that puts any operational and traditional skills to test, under extreme circumstances, for sixty straight hours of punishing, non-stop, endurance competition,” said Jason St. John, Director, Government Products, SIG SAUER, Inc. and Sergeant First Class (Retired), U.S. Army Ranger.  “It’s an incredible honor for SIG SAUER to be afforded this opportunity to present this custom M17 pistol as the official trophy pistol of this prestigious competition to recognize the elite Ranger competitors and their sacrifice.”

The unique distinguishing features of the SIG Custom Works, U.S. Army Best Ranger Competition M17 Trophy Pistols are:

  • M17 Pistol: The official sidearm of the U.S. Army with a custom black nitron engraved slide and black AXG metal grip and a gold trigger.
  • Right Slide Engraving: Best Ranger Competition (to include competition year)
  • Left Side Engraving: Rangers Lead The Way
  • Sight Plate: Engraved with Best Ranger competition logo (to include the name of competition winner)
  • Pistol Grips: Black G10 Grips with a Ranger Tab Medallion inset

The U.S. Army Best Ranger Competition M17 Trophy Pistols will be presented, for the first time as the official trophy pistol, at the 2021 competition trophy presentation on Monday, April 19, 2021.

About SIG SAUER, Inc.
SIG SAUER, Inc. is a leading provider and manufacturer of firearms, electro-optics, ammunition, airguns, suppressors, and training. For over 250 years SIG SAUER, Inc. has evolved, and thrived, by blending American ingenuity, German engineering, and Swiss precision.  Today, SIG SAUER is synonymous with industry-leading quality and innovation which has made it the brand of choice amongst the U.S. Military, the global defense community, law enforcement, competitive shooters, hunters, and responsible citizens.  Additionally, SIG SAUER is the premier provider of elite firearms instruction and tactical training at the SIG SAUER Academy.  Headquartered in Newington, New Hampshire, SIG SAUER has over 2,300 employees across nine locations.  For more information about the company and product line visit: sigsauer.com.

Counting by Sixes -The Wheelgun

By
Dr LateBloomer
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The Book of Faces recently reminded me that it has been six years since I decided to try shooting IDPA with a revolver instead of a semi-auto.

Like most of the new things I decide to learn, revolver was a progression, rather than a wild hair.

It started with a ladies 3-Gun match several years ago. The stage had a bonus points “stage gun” which happened to be a revolver. The stage began with the shooter seated inside an old minivan, pistol holstered on the belt with rifle and shotgun staged elsewhere out of reach. At the signal the shooter was required to grab the previously staged and loaded revolver out of a bucket in the minivan, engage a target positioned outside one of the open windows, then return the revolver to the bucket and complete the rest of the stage.

I had never handled a revolver before in my life. But I completed the drill without incident and proceeded with the remainder of the stage.

If you want to watch that stage, here is a video. You’ll see the staged revolver in the very beginning, inside the car. This is a screen shot.

The stage revolver is circled.

At that time I was also signed up for IDPA BUG Nationals, during which I planned to shoot my Glock 42. But that previous match experience made me fear that I might encounter another staged revolver, so I decided to ask for help.

I consulted with a friend from my local gun club. He happened to be a retired police officer who also happened to have been department armorer in the days BEFORE they switched over from revolver to Glock. He graciously met me a few times at the range with a few of his old reliable wheelguns to give me a couple blocks of instruction.

That was a fascinating bit of experience. Although there was a trigger pull and a bang, the rest of the handling required new motor skills. The trigger pull was longer and stiffer, but with hammer back you could do more precision work. The reloading required the opposite hand from what I was used to and yet more motor skills.

A few weeks after these introductory meet-ups I happened to spy a used revolver in the case at my local gun shop while I was looking for something else. After a flurry of texts back and forth with my friend, I walked out of the shop with a new-to-me S&W 686SSR!

As things went along in my learning curve that same friend coached me through swapping out the grip on the gun and also texted me through installing a fiber optic front sight.

I finally decided to try shooting my new learning project in IDPA. But that meant I needed a new holster and more reloaders and belt holders to carry them in. Fortunately I had a discount card from Safariland and put it to good use. 

Participating in shooting sports with a revolver is not just about the bang, it’s mostly about the brain. It’s also about accuracy and making every shot count. Unlike the semiauto guys who had eight or ten rounds in each magazine to take those IDPA targets down – I had six. There was no room for making up a bad shot and there is no “fast reload” with a revolver – unless your name is Jerry Miculek that is.

Revolver reloads are much slower and more awkward than with a semiauto. That meant that IDPA “tactical” reloads were exceptionally painful due to needing to catch the unspent rounds in your other hand and pocket them, rather than just retaining a partial magazine.

The really big brain-stretcher for me was needing to calculate round counts and targets in multiples of six rather than ten. It became especially important if there were disappearing targets involved. For instance, if my sixth round  was expended in dropping falling steel – which activated a moving target which would be hidden by the end of its path – then a reload would waste enough time that I would not be able to engage the mover before it disappeared. That would cost me points. So I had to figure out another way within the rules to make sure I had expended six rounds and was reloaded BEFORE activating that steel. 

Bear in mind that I was never “good” at this, and I never tried it beyond my local club matches. But I was safe and accurate and I had a good fun brain strain with friends in the fresh air. After a couple seasons there were a handful of other guys at the club who decided to try their wheelguns for matches too. They apparently saw that I was having fun and stretching my skills rather than concentrating solely on my time and score. Who knew that I could be an “ambassador”? 

Granted, I’ll never earn any prizes for my “just learn and have fun” attitude, but that’s the way I’m wired. I admire those who win matches while using revolvers, but I accept that I will never be among them. It is enough for me to challenge myself and learn something in the process.

It’s been a couple of years since then. Last year’s club competition was a lost cause due to the pandemic and the prior couple years had me mostly sidelined from matches due to hand/wrist issues and surgery. But this year I’m feeling pretty good and hopefully can get back out there with my pet revolver. I’ve got a carefully hoarded sash of .38 special and  I’m looking forward to “counting by sixes” again!

Blue Force Gear Vickers Combat Application Sling: The Military Adoption

By
Anna Martinez
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The rifle sling has come a long way in our history. In the late 17th Century, European forces were starting to add sling swivels to their rifles and slings as their daily equipment. Why? Well..

“A sturdy length of canvas webbing that allowed for some adjustment in length was issued to make transporting the rifle easier. And, while it made marching easier it also made other work for the private soldier.” (Rocketto, Pronematch.com)

To carry their rifle easier of course!

Not much has changed since the M1 carbine sling.
https://www.rjmilitaria.com/the-m1-carbine-a-brief-history/

Here are the days that shooters are actually using their sling to “do work”.

“Doing Work” with a rifle encompasses much more than just shooting a rifle. An optimized sling allows you perform many tasks outside of shooting while still improving marksmanship and safety.-Blue Force Gear

Today companies within the industry have pushed past the use of just parading a rifle and created both slings and sling mounting points that truly employ the sling to its full capabilities. The Berry Compliant Patented Blue Force Gear (BFG) Vickers Combat Application Sling provides improvements in retention to the body, marksmanship positions, and quick detach options, or in other words, the 3 Points of Sling Optimization.

Note: These 3 points are going to be made with combat techniques in mind. Yet, everyone should be able to relate to these points including rendering aid.

Taken from the current Army Rifle and Carbine manual TC 3-22.9 showing proper carry positions.
  • 1. An OPTIMIZED COMBAT SLING has the ability to retain the weapon to my body SAFELY AND SECURELY when my hands are off the gun.
    • We obtain this through the use of the “Front Sling” position where the sling runs over the top of the inserted magazine, trapping the weapon against the body. This can also be accomplished with no magazine inserted. You can tighten the sling close to your body. This can also be accomplished with no magazine inserted.
    • This is accomplished with proper sizing and mounting of the sling.
    • Having this ability means we can move around with our hands off the weapon, without the weapon bouncing all over the place and being potentially unsafe as well as impeding mobility
  • 2. An optimized combat sling has the ability to MAKE A NON-STABLE FIRING PLATFORM, A MORE STABLE ONE.
    • The Blue Force Gear Vicker’s Combat Application Sling accomplishes this with a patented adjustment mechanism to lengthen and tighten the sling –
    • When the weapon is “on target” from the standing, kneeling or prone firing positions, an optimized sling will allow the shooter to quickly tighten it to reduce the wobble area of the sight system. Essentially making a 5th point of contact on the shooter’s body –
    • This can only happen with a properly sized and adjusted sling matched to both the shooter and the weapon system.  If while in the “on target” position, and the sling is synched down as tight as it will go, and the sling is loose then it will not properly demonstrate this point.
  • 3. An optimized Sling has a quick detach capability. In the front of the weapon, or in the rear of the weapon… preferably both.
    • This point is due to combat lessons learned concerning providing both SAFE and RAPID buddy aid to a casualty. The only aid we can render to a casualty that still has a loaded weapon attached to them is to potentially put a tourniquet on. After that, all other TCCC steps require the weapon to be removed. Doing this creates both unsafe and extremely inefficient circumstances. With quick detach capability the weapon can be removed from the wearer both safely and efficiently.

The large reason that the Vickers Sling meets all of these sling optimization points is due to the Quick Adjuster- Contrasting Pull Tab

https://www.blueforcegear.com/vickers-sling

The patented Quick Adjuster is what allows this sling to go from transporting to fighting with one hand and one pull. The simplicity of the design allows new shooters to adjust their sling with ease and not have to worry about it loosening until pulled. The contrasting color for the tab allows the shooter to find it with ease due to it not blending in with the sling. It is truly a genius design that works.

Types of Vickers Slings

https://www.blueforcegear.com/vickers-combat-applications-sling-m249-saw-sling.html

The Vickers Combat Application Sling has become so trusted on both the civilian and military side that Blue Force Gear is now making it for other weapon platforms including the AK, M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, and the M240 Series Machine Gun.

It also comes in non-padded, padded, and one inch design which features a slimmer and lighter profile than the standard 1.25″

The One sling, with a slimmer one inch design if the user chooses a lighter profile vickers sling.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BQijTzkgMH3/

Connection Hardware

There are many different ways to connect the sling to your rifle. Whether you want a 2 point quick detach, a 2 point standard slung through, or a 2 point that can go to a 1 point for getting in and out of vehicles, Blue Force Gear has it.

https://www.blueforcegear.com/slings/sling-hardware.html

The Specs

Fits:

  • 1.25″ webbing on both ends secured with included tri-glides
  • Webbing can be looped through sling swivels or loops or combined with available sling hardware
  • Fits standard M4 carbines and other carbines and rifles
  • Can be mounted upside down (Adjuster to the rear) on traditional bolt action rifles and shotguns for a “muzzle up” carry Military Applications

Sizing:

Vickers Sling™

  • 1.25″ sling webbing
  • Overall length is adjustable to accommodate different sized weapons, with or without body armor
  • Maximum Sling Length – 54” with the Adjuster tightened / 64” fully extended

Padded Vickers Sling™

  • 1.25″ sling webbing
  • 2.00″ tubular webbing with closed cell foam padding
  • Overall length is adjustable to accommodate different sized weapons, with or without body armor
  • Maximum Sling Length – 57” with the Adjuster tightened / 67” fully extended

Built With:

  • Invista solution dyed CORDURA® webbing
  • Patented Quick Adjuster with Contrasting Pull Tab
  • Nylon hardware : glass reinforced DuPont Zytel® Nylon
  • Metal hardware : Anodized machined aluminum adjuster, phosphate steel tri-glides

The Problems Within our Military and the Vickers Sling Solution

Note: These opinions are my own and do not represent the opinions of the United States Military, or subdivision of, as an organization.

The Vickers sling has been widely adopted through our military with the first Vickers sling being adopted in 2011 by the United States Marine Corps. After the full Marine Corps adoption, the Navy Seabees, Air Force Security Forces, multiple National Guard entities, and many other high tier units have since adopted the Vickers Combat Application sling.

However some are still behind the curve. The black webbing two point sling is still being used widely across the Armed Forces. When looking at that sling compared to the leather parade sling in the 18th century, is there really a difference? Not so much.

Civil Unrest

Seen above, Soldiers using the black webbing issued sling in which they do not have their weapons slung.
https://www.foxcarolina.com/the-vaccine-rollout-and-civil-unrest-is-keeping-the-national-guard-busy-after-an-unprecedented/article_ebee01e0-8d06-5f23-9904-8be548ef686b.amp.html

This problem was recently seen by the public during the activation of the Army National Guard across the country in response to civil unrest. Soldiers were using the black webbing slings with rifles slung behind their backs, loosely flailing around, some were even using paracord due to equipment and logistical issues. In a situation with soldiers standing side by side rifles cannot be loosely slung. In a situation with aggressors trying to take weapons away, the rifles should not be slung behind the back. This started the fight to reach those units that have not yet changed their sling from the centuries old design.

Above is a video showing a Soldier shooting the Army IWQ with the standard issue black sling, used only as something to get in his way while moving from positions and reloading.

Marksmanship

Not only is weapon safety a primary concern for our military, so is weapons handling. The Army now has a new individual weapons qualification involving barricades. This will be used for both the M4A1 and M249, meaning both types of vickers slings are needed. The current black webbing sling does nothing to help the shooter create a stabilized position both on and off the barricade. The Vickers Combat Application Sling showed its worth within the first 5 minutes of being in new Soldiers hands. Instantly we saw the Soldiers working the adjustable tab like they’ve been doing it for years. They were handling the weapons safely while both hands were in use by tightening it to their body. They were also learning quickly when to tighten and loosen while on the barricade.

Impressions from the Soldiers

Both experienced and inexperienced Soldiers were given this sling to qualify on the current Army Individual Weapons Qualification and below is what they had to say..

Inexperienced shooters:

“They (the shooters) had no idea that a sling could change their stability so much. While they definitely needed more time to train with the piece of equipment there was a noticeable shift in their confidence while both carrying the weapon (in a safe hang position) and in shooting having the ability to utilize the sling as a 5th point of contact during the kneeling and standing barrier shooting positions.”

Experienced shooters:

“Most of the experienced shooters have had some sort experience with other tension adjustable slings. Every single one of them were impressed by the BFG Vickers sling that was presented. The increased width of the sling, while it seems small, is a major advantage of this sling. The robust adjustor strap is far better than anything any of us have seen on the market. It is big enough to grab from any position and slide into the placement the shooter desires. The other major advantage we noticed on this sling is that there are no mechanical parts that can fail. Many of us have used competitor’s slings and while they are also better than a standard issued sling they do have undesirable traits such as mechanical mechanisms that can fail and/or leave an extremely long and bothersome tail that can cause an unmeasurable amount of issues while in use.”

Note: When taking different positions with the sling use a sharpie to mark a line for the tension of each position, prone, kneeling, and standing. (Learned in Sentinel Concepts Shooting on the Move course)

A Marine shooting with the BFG Vickers Sling using it as an added point of stability.

All eyes are on our Military right now and standards are going up for safety within our weapons handling and marksmanship abilities. The sling is the foundation of those abilities and it is time to ensure that our soldiers have the equipment they need to do their jobs efficiently and effectively.

Where to Buy

Note: If you are a government entity be sure to contact the proper customer service team listed here for any information on purchasing and NSN listings

Individual Purchase

How to easy install on a SOPMOD Clone without QD (the set up a lot of Military are running)

GunMag Warehouse Launches Training Division

By
Keith Finch
-
GunMag Training

Carrying a gun is (or should be) a gestalt of conditions, not just a mastery of marksmanship. It’s as much about being a good human being, controlling emotions, and practicing compassion as it is honing weapon manipulation skills and practicing situational awareness. A responsible armed citizen doesn’t need to be a Tier One Ninja, but does need to be ready for the hard part.

And the hardest part of any defensive shoot occurs prior to and after the trigger press. 

GunMag Warehouse is proud to announce the launch of GunMag Training. 

GunMag Training

GMT will be the instructional arm of GMW. It will be led by Daniel Shaw, formerly of Shaw Strategies and the USMC. Additional cadre members will be announced in coming months.  

GMT’s mission will be to prepare those who carry a gun for such difficulties, and to promote a well-trained, reasoned, and humanistic armed citizenry. 

GunMag Training

Because of GMT’s atypical approach, students will gain more than a high level of technical proficiency.

GunMag Training courses will address such things as: 

• Life safety as it relates to the armed citizen and the use of force

• Contextual safety beyond the traditional four rules

• Effective weapon handling

• Mental and emotional preparation prior to an Event

• Pragmatic expectation of what happens after an Event

• Awareness of positional and locational engagement 

• Practical understanding of the spherical environment

• Practical understanding of the public environment

• Practicable marksmanship on demand not command 

Shaw, a retired Marine infantry leader and combat veteran, will pull from his extensive military career and a lifetime of experience to combine tactical acumen with the moral ethos appropriate to carrying a firearm. 

Courses will begin almost immediately with firearms training classes in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and others in Ohio (including Shaw’s seventh year teaching at the Ohio Tactical Officers Association Training Conference). Additional classes and locations will be announced soon.

Learn more at GunMag Training (https://training.gunmagwarehouse.com/). 

About GMW/GMT

Founded in 2012, GunMag Warehouse has become the predominant gun magazine and accessory destination for new and veteran gun enthusiasts alike. Follow us: @gunmagwarehouse on Twitter; /gunmagwarehouse/ on Facebook. Connect on IG, @gunmagwarehouse. And be sure to follow our blog, The Mag Life. 

Military-Style Fitness: Get in Shape

By
Sponsored
-
Source: jack_photo/Shutterstock.com

Physical fitness, otherwise known as PT in the military, is an integral part of military boot camps, police academies, and other similar organizations. You’ve probably heard of people losing significant amounts of weight in boot camp. Well, there’s a reason for that. Military PT for boot camp can be intense but offers a great way to stay in shape.

Military style fitness training has evolved over the years to meet the tactical requirements of the contemporary soldier. Military tactics have changed significantly over the last several decades. PT programs for Special Forces are even more rigorous. Here are some different ways to get in shape military style.

The Basics of Physical Training

There are two primary goals for PT: muscle strength and muscle endurance. For the best results, you should work out three days a week at the very least. Begin by warming up, and then do some dynamic stretching. Dynamic stretching allows your body to perform a full range of motion over time. 

After your workout is complete, you should end it with static stretching and a cool-down. The same is true with cardiovascular training, a form of working out that burns stored energy. Static stretching improves your flexibility.

Proper nutrition is also a critically important element of getting in shape. It’s essential to get plenty of sleep too. These components create the ultimate workout program.

The Deadlift

The deadlift is one of the best military exercises to do at home. It requires specific fitness gear such as a weighted bar or kettlebells. It can be performed using a heavy bag if you don’t have this equipment. 

This exercise strengthens your glutes, shoulders, back muscles, and hamstrings. Lift the kettlebells or bag up to your chin while keeping your back straight and your legs apart. A 2:1:2 tempo is ideal, meaning that it should take approximately two seconds to lift the kettlebell, one second to hold it up at your chin, and then two seconds to bring the weight back down to the floor. Do sets of 10 for as many repetitions possible.

Push-Ups

The mighty push-up is an exercise that so many of us love to hate—especially those in the military or police academy, where you’ll do a lot of them when one of your fellow recruits messes up. They are an excellent exercise to instill resilience and discipline. This exercise works the shoulder muscles, upper abdomen, and chest, as well as the triceps. 

Push-ups are another good exercise to do at home. When you push up, make sure that your back is straight and that the distance of your hands is the same width as your shoulders.  Maintain a 1:1:1 tempo, meaning it should take you one second to push yourself into an arms-extended position, remain there for a second, and then take one second lowering yourself. Do as many sets as you can of 10 repetitions.

Source: wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock.com

The Plank

The plank is another common exercise used to instill resilience and discipline. It helps you control your core muscles by strengthening your back, shoulders, and abdominal muscles. These muscles have the critical duty of protecting your spine. Keep your back straight when doing the plank. To begin with, use a hold time of 10 seconds, and then you can increase the time as you grow stronger.

Squats

The squat is a popular strength training exercise for many people who routinely train vigorously. It strengthens your hamstrings and thighs. You can do it while holding weights or without. Don’t attempt to squat with weights if this exercise is new to you—and having a spotter is a good idea.

To a tempo of 2:1:2, keep your back straight as you squat. It should take you two seconds to lower yourself, and then stay down for another second. Take two seconds to rise to a standing position again.

Crunches or Sit-Ups

Everyone remembers sit-ups from gym class in middle and high school. They are great for strengthening the abdominal muscles. You begin crunches by lying on your back with your knees raised and your feet flat on the floor. Sit-ups can also be done with your legs straight out in front of you instead of bending your knees, but this way is not as popular as the bent knee position.

From your position lying down, raise and lift your upper body quickly, touching your elbows to your knees and then lying back down. Sit-ups have a few variations, such as leaning to the left, right, or bicycle crunches. Do as many sets of five to 10 repetitions that you can daily for the best results.

Reverse Lunges

Reverse lunges strengthen your calves, thighs, and glutes. This exercise is the reverse of regular lunges and, as you perform it, keep your back very straight. The tempo to maintain is 1:1:1. Take one second to lunge backward and down, remain down for one second, and then take another one to rise back up to standing.

Source: Paul Aiken/Shutterstock.com

Running

Running is an incredible endurance building exercise. Many people like to run outside and consider it their time alone to de-stress. If you decide to run outside, make sure you wear supportive footwear for the terrain you’re running on and a hat with a brim to shield you from the sun. If you’re new to running, start with a short distance and then gradually build it up as your endurance increases.

Routine exercise provides many health benefits besides helping you lose or maintain weight. It adds years to your life and reduces your risk of cancer, as well as strengthening your body’s muscles. 

Military-style exercises are obviously effective, as you can see the results people in the military or police academy get after starting a military-style fitness regimen. Build your physical stamina and body strength for more confidence and a happier life overall.

Words Have Meaning – Headlines… Again

By
Keith Finch
-

‘One student dead, officer injured…’ ‘Another horrific act of gun violence…’

What do those statements bring to mind?

If you answered, ‘A deranged or troubled student/gunman killed a student and then shot an officer who was responding to the scene, in another example of the United States’ continuing out of control gun violence epidemic,’ congratulations, that is exactly what that headline is meant to make you envision. It even vaguely resembles the truth… from a certain point of view.

If you answered that a student with a gun holed himself up in the bathroom, shot at the cops who entered the bathroom, injured one officer, and was then killed by the police returning fire… well, you actually read the story and have a grasp of what happened.

The police responded to a call of someone at the school with a gun. It turned out to be a student and the student barricaded themselves in a restroom. Police made the decision to enter the bathroom and the student shot at them, injuring one. Officers fired back, the student died.

Is it tragic the student was killed? Yes, I doubt to the highest degree the young man was an ‘evil extremist’ or ‘deserved’ to die in a gunfight with police. But the thing about getting into a gunfight with police, which you get into by shooting at police or making the police believe you are going to shoot at them, is that the risk of death is much higher than not shooting at the police.

Cops want everyone to walk clear of an incident uninjured, but their priorities start with their safety and then bystander safety. Suspect safety comes a very different and distant last on their priority list, because the person or people who are the active threat get to be last on that list. Letting that threat hurt or be in significant position to hurt an officer, victim, or bystander is not something LE is going to willing allow in order to not harm the actively threatening individual(s). They would be woefully negligent of their own safety and the communities safety if the did not stack their priorities in that manner, it simply cannot happen that way and sometimes that means things end in injury or death when we don’t want them too. Were an officer to act otherwise and it result in other injuries or deaths they would be woefully negligent, probably criminally negligent, in the performance of their duties.

Back to the headline

So divesting ourselves from a tragic situation all on its own, without embellishment in the slightest, of a troubled student bringing a firearm to the school, and dying after shooting at responding officers after injuring one officer. Why do we need…

‘Another horrific act of gun violence’: 1 student dead, officer injured in high school shooting…

… as a headline where everything stated is ‘true’ in a technical sense but cloaks the facts of the story, that the student who died was the aggressor and directly opposed to the officer who was injured? Why would a journalist write it this way and deliberately misconstrue the event, knowing most consumers do not read beyond that headline?

Why not,

Tragedy in high school: Student killed in gunfire exchange with police after firing from a bathroom at responding officers, one officer injured.

Would that not be accurate, representative of the event, and convey the tragic nature of the occurrence?

But… it places blame upon the student, the one who brought a gun to school in the first place, and students taking culpability for their actions hurts the narrative.

A student, a kid, is always going to be a sympathetic character in a narrative like this. Even if the attack was malicious and deliberate, which does not appear to be the case here, a young person will always garner a measure of humanism and sympathy that adults do not. The student could have been bullied, had a tragic home life, or any number of other factors that make a violent outburst more understandable. We are genetically geared to protect our young, feeling sympathy for them is a core element of humanity. This is true even if the harmful element is the child themselves, even if it is one mature enough to make such harmful decisions in cognizance.

But a “suicide by cop” narrative, which this may be, or some other tragic but limited scope event does not advance the “epidemic” gun violence narrative… so gun control shills massage the headline. Not to provide more context and accuracy, but to obfuscate and generate an inaccurate but useful emotional response.

Gun control thrives in ignorance.

Headlines like this play upon that ignorance and fuel it.

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