Caustic Conversations

By

-

August 7, 2019

What we have come to accept as “civil” societal discourse has gotten wildly out of control. A combination of factors have contributed to this decline and it is the fault of many, not a single group. A group would escalate and then the group attacked would escalate to match. Dialogue is about winning a fight, not a conversation to spread understanding…

We have bred a culture of accepted levels of violence so long as you are “in the right.” Is it any wonder that persons mentally unstable enough to succumb to extremism take this societal que as an additional justification for their actions?

Don’t agree with an individual? Well that person is a _______, so it is actually okay to attack their character. You’re a hero for doing so even. You’re doing righteous work in the name of your ______ cause. Look at the disparity in portrayals of the KKK in left leaning media vs. Antifa, and then look at the same disparity on the right. Information is second to the message today. “Right think” has become the more important than and the enemy of free critical thinking.

Many claim to support free think, but only as a veil to push “right think” instead. It’s the correct way to think so of course free thinkers should agree, correct?

That, of course, is one of many fallacies we’ve allowed to permeate our societal conscious. Make no mistake, these fallacies are contributing to the evolution of societal violence we currently see. We quietly accept that certain unprovoked violent acts against certain labels are “ok” because said individual is a _______.

This attitude must end.

It is not the government’s job, and if we give it to them they can only fuck it up

Just as an assault weapons ban, a magazine ban, or a ban on mass murder has not curbed those events out of our culture, a ban on “wrong think” or tools that can be used against “wrong think” are a drastic threat to the civil rights of the citizenry of this nation.

The problem we are facing today is hard. It’s damn hard. The caustic conversation phenomena is rooted deeply. Combined with the magnifying power of data transfer speeds those at risk for radicalization and respond to radical stimuli have access to all of that stimuli faster than ever before. And our unwritten rule today is that in certain circumstances as long as its for “right think” purposes some violence is ok… that’s the unwritten and quietly spoken sideways of acquiescence.

“But let’s remember these people, the ones that were attacked were _______, so on a certain level it’s understandable.” It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about antifa in that box, or white supremacists with stupid tiki torches, or immigrants, or Muslims, or Jews, or name a freaking sub-group.

If you believe violence is necessitated against a group who has not directly aggressed you then I can guarantee you someone else believes the group you inhabit also is deserving of violence, and with equally as poor a justification.

Motivations

The motives and machinations of these three recent public attacks are wildly different. One was a racist xenophobe who left a rambling manifesto blaming Hispanics for the woes of the world. One was a registered voting democrat, supporter of Antifa and Elizabeth Warren, who was a vocalist of a “pornogrind” band that glorified rape and slaughter. The motive for the third is still a mystery.

So with wildly different motivations and every action they took already illegal… assault with a deadly weapon, first degree murder, reckless endangerment, terrorism… what do we do?

Be the change

We must engage ourselves personally. We must become a truly civil society so that even the extreme fringes of our spectrum of thought still feel violence is largely unwarranted. This is a cultural shift, not a legal one. It cannot be legislated, it must be a conscious individual choice.

Carry a gun…

Nothing will remove violence completely from the human condition. There will always be one, even in civil society, who will rise to the extremist stimuli and attack their neighbors. The motivation in that moment will not matter, nor will it the next time, nor the time after that. The motivation is irrelevant in the moment.

What will matter is what the people around that aggressor do in that moment. What they do to stop the violence, to protect themselves and shield the injured. Leave behind all the pseudo-moralistic arguments, of “Live by the sword, die by the sword,” and the paralleling thoughts. These are cited by those unwilling to accept the moral responsibility of their safety, they have given their lives into the hands of those who would wield the sword. They justify it by the supposed authority and oaths such people are sworn to, but they do not comprehend the limitations of oaths and people whose duties are to so many.

Carry a quality gun that you know how to use, when you cannot carry gun carry something you can. Understand how to stop the bleeding from a wound and to treat shock and other injuries. Know to the very core of your being that you and you alone are the ultimate arbiter of your safety and no rule made by man can supercede that fact.

Micro Scorpion Vs Copperhead – The Little Guys

By

Travis Pike

-

August 6, 2019

The ‘K’ designator comes from our Teutonic friends and in regards to guns it means compact. Most famously it applies to SMGs and today we are looking at two guns that are K models. They don’t have an official K designation, but they certainly fit the mold. Today are doing a Micro Scorpion Vs Copperhead debate. Both of these guns recently hit the market and both fill a niche role as small SMG style pistols. They aren’t quite rifles or SMGs, and they are a bit larger than your traditional handgun. Both are smaller versions of standard-sized models and they have a lot in common.

We are going to pick apart the differences between both guns and do an unbiased and fair Micro Scorpion Vs Copperhead rundown. The goal is to use data versus my own vague impressions as much as possible. My plan isn’t to declare a winner in our Micro Scorpion vs Copperhead contest but to provide facts about both guns.

Out of the Box

Here we are going to look at what the guns come with and how they come out of the box. The CZ Micro Scorpion comes with two 20 round magazines, a bore snake, the included brace, and a set of robust iron sights. The SIG Copperhead comes with a single 20 round magazine and SIG’s new brace. There are no included iron sights or extras.

Off the bat, the CZ does come with two magazines and iron sights, which make it ready to go out of the box. The Copperhead in this article is equipped with a Burris Fastfire 3 so it can compete on the range.

In this portion of our Micro Scorpion Vs Copperhead debate the Scorpion does provide a better value overall. It’s priced considerably less than the Copperhead as well. Online the Copperhead is going for over $1,500 dollars and the Micro Scorpion is going for around $1,100.

Micro Scorpion vs Copperhead Size Wise

The goal of both of these weapons is to be small, lightweight, and compact. So the general consensus would be smaller and lighter would be better. If you wanted bigger and heavier there are alternative options for both guns.

The CZ Micro Scorpion has the following specifications.
Barrel Length – 4.2 inches
Overall Length Brace Collapsed – 16.35 inches
Overall Length Brace Extended – 23.35 inches
Weight – 5.5 pounds
Height – 9.4 inches

The SIG Copperhead has the following specifications.
Barrel Length – 3.5 inches
Overall Length Brace Collapsed – 14.5 inches
Overall Length Brace Extended – 19 inches
Weight – 4.5 pounds
Height – 8 inches

The Sig Copperhead is the smaller, lighter weapon. It’s less bulky and more streamlined in design. It features a completely redesigned upper when compared to the original MPX. The Micro Scorpion is smaller than the original but is still a larger and heavier weapon overall.

If you were using this Micro Scorpion Vs Copperhead contest to find a more concealable gun the Copperhead wins out.

Ergonomics

Both guns feature a healthy dose of ambidextrous controls. The Copperhead is a truly ambidextrous weapon. The controls are fully ambidextrous and lefties will love it all together. The Copperhead is an excellent weapon ergonomically.

If you’ve trained with an AR 15 you’ll have no issues transitioning over to the Copperhead. Everything is basically identical.

The Scorpion features an ambidextrous safety as well as an ambidextrous magazine release. The charging handle can be swapped for left-handed use but isn’t truly ambidextrous. The bolt lock and release is not ambidextrous either.

The safety is a major pain, and I mean that literally. It digs into the trigger finger as the gun recoils and gets old fast. In fact, one of the first upgrades we saw on the aftermarket was a safety delete. As a safety, it’s a shorter throw than the Copperhead, and it’s very tactile and audible. It’s also a little painful.

Both guns are ergonomic powerhouses, and ergonomics are often a very personal decision. The Copperhead certainly scores points for its ambidextrous controls and AR familiarity. This is not one I can objectively decide in our Micro Scorpion Vs Copperhead debate.

Reloading

Starting with the weapon dry, and the bolt locked back to the rear I conducted 5 reloads, alternating between each gun as not to get more practice on one than the other. The drill ended when I fired a single shot. I used a Pocket Pal 2 to time these drills and all the drills in this article.

While both guns feature intuitive controls I found myself much faster with the CZ Micro Scorpion. On average I could reload the Scorpion in about 2.3 seconds. The Copperhead took on average of 2.7 seconds.

There are a few reasons. The first is my overall size makes it more difficult for me to handle the much smaller gun. I feel a bit gorilla-like when I’m hunched over the gun. Second, the charging handle and short brace length of the Copperhead means I have to move my head away from the sights to reach and activate the AR-style charging handle.

With the Scorpion, I can keep my sights on target and my body behind the gun as I reach for the forward placed charging handle. The first shot on target was quicker with the Scorpion. Getting the magazine in the gun was not much difference between the two weapons.

Fixing a Malfunction

I set up a complicated malfunction with a brass case stuck in the chamber. To complete the drill I’d remove the magazine, clear the chamber, reload and fire a round to end the drill. Here, the Scorpion again won once more.

The time difference was 4.5 seconds for the Scorpion and the Copperhead took me right around 6 seconds. The Scorpion’s forward charging handle was another major benefit in getting the gun back in action. The Scorpion also has a much bigger ejection port so it’s easier to fish that piece of brass out of the chamber.

Shootability

Let’s cover how the guns shoot and handle. First and foremost, they are both reliable weapons and I’ve never experienced a malfunction with either. Both weapons are similar in design and both are made for close quarter’s combat. Neither is made for long-range shooting, but both are accurate well beyond normal handgun ranges.

You can easily engage man-sized targets out to 25 yards and beyond. I’ve used both guns out to 75 yards and landed chest and torso shots on target. Standard accuracy tests are not necessary for these guns as far as I’m concerned. Instead, I wanted to do something more practical.

I went to the 25-yard line and fired 5 rounds in 5 seconds and I repeated the test four times alternating firearms. From there I measured the groups. The Micro Scorpion produced slightly smaller groups. At 25 yards the Scorpion produced roughly a 2-inch group for 4 of the tests. The Copperhead produced a 2.5-inch group on average.

I moved to the fifteen-yard line and repeated the test with 3 shots in 3 seconds. The groups shrunk for the Scorpion to 1.75 and the Copperhead was still roughly 2.5 inches.

Recoil

Recoil between the weapons is about even. Keep in mind the Scorpion is much bigger and features a wider brace and heavier weight. The Copperhead’s lower weight and smaller brace do not mean an increase in recoil.

The Copperhead’s gas piston system results in less recoil than the CZ Scorpion’s blowback system. The blowback system results in a big bolt flying backward. Even so, it’s not painful or hard to control in absolutely any way. The sights hardly come off target.

Muzzle rise is very mild. Extremely mild, even when rapid firing. Both guns are easy to control. The Micro Scorpion offers a longer handguard, but I tend to grip both weapons by the magazine well.

While technically it’s a tie the Copperhead is an underdog and I’d say the Copperhead has less recoil when you consider how small and light it is. Both weapons in our Micro Scorpion Vs Copperhead article are very easy to control.

Trigger

Without a doubt, the Copperhead has a shorter, and lighter trigger pull with a shorter reset. The CZ Micro Scorpion isn’t a bad trigger, but its somewhat long and spongy. We can keep this nice and short and anyone who does their own Micro Scorpion Vs Copperhead comparison will find it out for themselves.

Who Wins?

As I said earlier I’m not trying to declare a winner necessarily in this Micro Scorpion Vs Copperhead debate. There is no clear winner, and both guns have their strengths and weaknesses. Overall, I’m better with the Scorpion shooting wise. The smaller and lighter Copperhead does have some very clear merit when you are looking for a K Model SMG wannabe.

El Paso, Dayton, and Gilroy

By

Keith Finch

-

August 5, 2019

Two mass shootings over the weekend followed on the heels of the Gilroy, California attack leaving a total of 32 dead and several dozen wounded between the three. The internet is on fire with the blame game and President Trump is a central target, as is the NRA and the typical list of “gun-lover boogiemen” and congress and… and… and the list goes on.

All three of the shooters have been lumped into a “white supremacist” Trump supporters pot however, the three have differences as noted in the Secret Service’s MAPS report. The motives of two are still unknown, but one has an attributed manifesto.

What do we know?

It’s different in all three cases.

Gilroy

The attack on the Garlic Festival in Gilroy, California is the oldest of the three incidents and we know the most. Three people were killed, including a six year old and a highschooler. The attacker cut his way through a perimeter fence to gain access.

The gunman who killed three people and injured 13 others at a garlic festival in Gilroy fatally shot himself after exchanging gunfire with police officers, the authorities said on Friday, updating previous accounts in which they said the officers had killed him.

In a press conference Tuesday afternoon, FBI Special Agent in Charge Craig Fair said investigators had no reason to believe the shooter was targeting any particular characteristics Sunday. They were still reviewing his social media and digital media forensics, among other pieces of information.

So in summary…

Motive: Unknown, witness reports saying he claimed he was, “just angry” or some variation. Weapon used was an AK or SKS, I’ve been shown third hand conjecture on both. Either would be illegal in California if the magazine could be changed, which a witness said was done in front of them. A picture of police around an underfolder model AK has made rounds online but I have no confirmation if it is the Gilroy rifle purchased in Nevada.

Dayton

The attack in Dayton, Ohio killed nine and wounded many more, 37 treated is the last number reported from trample injuries and gunshot wounds. The shooter attacked a popular nightlife location with an AR. He fired, at minimum, 41 rounds in the incident. Officers who engaged him fired nearly twice that number with 48 .45 ACP, 16 .223, and 1 12ga spent shells recovered from officer weapons.

As I’ve noted in the past AR’s are prevalent and inexpensive, if everything here is of the same expense level as the lower and optic its only about $600, the cost of a new Glock or Sig pistol. Cost is a huge driver in acquisition.

Among the dead was the shooter’s own sister. Motive remains unknown at this time, speculation is around the theory that the Dayton shooter is a copycat with the fascination typical of copycats for other serial and mass killers. A political motivation is not a top contender for reasoning. No demands or manifesto has been attributed to Dayton, which happened several hours after El Paso. The El Paso shooting itself, sans motive, may have been a triggering factor.

El Paso

Unlike the other two shootings, El Paso has been attributed to a political motivation. The shooter who killed twenty and wounded dozens posted a manifesto that held racist, xenophobic, and eco-facist/eco-terrorist views. He blamed environmental problems on Hispanics and appears to have deliberately targeted them during the attack. The El Paso shooter is a copycat of the New Zealand attack and the manifesto attributed to the shooter specifically cites his praise for the Christchurch terrorist.

The El Paso shooter used an AK to attack the Wal-Mart and shopping center that was packed with back to school shoppers.

In El Paso, Gilroy, and Dayton responses to the shootings on the ground were swift and decisive. The Dayton shooter was engaged and killed in under a minute. The Gilroy shooter was fired upon and commited suicide, a common response to force arriving against an active killer.

In El Paso, citizens stepped up into the emergency and the most visible face has been Glendon Oakley.

Oakley was there, concealed carrying, and when the shots started ringing out he acted decisively to save lives. Carrying kids to safety and getting them into the hands of responding law enforcement. His example is an exemplary

The shooter in El Paso was apprehended and is being held on Capital Murder charges.

The Fallout

The communities of Gilroy, El Paso, and Dayton are going to necessitate a serious recovery time period, the attacks have left them shaken.

Political

The anti-gun voices have never been louder and those normally seen as pro-gun are… well…

From Congressman Crenshaw’s Facebook Page

Support for Red Flag laws, the pre-due process firearm confiscation orders already legal in several states, is receiving mass national attention. As is the TAPS Act which reads like something out of minority report and has an equally broad capacity for abuse.

While better data and criminal predictive modeling is a valuable tool for safety and security within the United States, anything that looks to remotely circumvent due process must be looked at with the highest scrutiny and modified to protect the civil rights of the people.

There is no civil right to “feeling safe” and there never can nor will be. There are civil rights to your person and property being unjustly attacked and seized. There are civil rights that allow you to take steps to protect yourself and your family. As we speak the masses are crying out to “feel safe” in their communities and the government will happily respond by taking rights.

A push on gun control.

These attacks are too close together and too public to let cooler heads take the reins this time. Despite evidence that should level the emotions, no one wants to be told they’re being emotional when people died so publically. Anyone who does so will be vilified.

From HeyJackass, today’s stats out of Chicago.

Neil deGrasse Tyson was attacked on social media for calling perspective to the deaths, a little early perhaps and his tone came off as callous, however that does not change the fact that the public and shocking nature of these three attacks don’t change their actual place in the deadly threat hierarchy of the nation as a whole.

Tyson has apologized for the post but not the information.

We need to use all the information, the real information to formulate effective defenses against violence in all its forms.

Most importantly we need to shift our perspective back to seeing our neighbors as neighbors and not enemies, those who disagree with you politically are not your enemy and shouldn’t be treated as such. They just disagree. We have cultivated a culture of “acceptable” violence as long as you think aren’t a wrong thinker.

There’s evidence floating around that the Dayton killer was a Democrat. That doesn’t matter! The fact that he, at 1am, chose to go on a killing spree that included familicide does matter. The fact that a soft entertainment target was hit so hard does matter.

The reactions of police, ems, and citizens responding to the injured and threats at all these three tragedies and saved lives. That matters!

The tidal wave on this one is just beginning.

Building a Deeper Pantry

By

Dr LateBloomer

-

August 5, 2019

Can we have a show of hands here as to who really, really needs to make a run to the grocery store today? How many times a month do you buy groceries? Or do you stop by the store three times a week every time you need any little thing? Does your cupboard usually have a can of tuna, a jar of peanut butter, and a can of ravioli that expired in 2007? Are you even able to locate your can opener?

If that is what you’re pantry looks like, let me ask you a question. What would you do if there were torrential storms tonight that flooded your route to the grocery store and knocked out your power for a week? What would you eat? If there was a boil water advisory due to the flooding, but your stove is electric, how are you going to do that?

In our modern and convenient world full of creature comforts there are people who have not ever thought about, let alone planned for, these possibilities. The news photos of wiped out bottled water shelves two days before a hurricane tell us that most people only think about these things in the final hours before disaster strikes. The memes about bread, milk, and toilet paper before a winter storm are legion. It’s all a joke until “disaster” doesn’t give you any warning.

The general public seems to think of “preppers” as slightly nutty, paranoid fanatics planning for the end of the world. But the reality is that there are many and varied reasons why you should do at least “some” pre-planning too. You don’t have to believe in the Zombie Apocalypse in order to build up your food supply a little.

I’ve heard this idea called a “deep pantry”. We’re not talking about storing grain for 30 years and grinding your own wheat flour. (I’m not on board with that yet either.) We’re talking about having some non-perishable shelf food put by in case something bad happens. Our grandparents and great-grandparents took this idea for granted. They didn’t have 24-hour grocery stores and fast food on every corner. If they wanted supper they had to make it themselves from what was on the shelf in their homes. The folks who lived through the Great Depression are slowly dying off, but they have a great deal still to teach us in this regard.

The “something bad” doesn’t have to be weather-related or civil unrest or even a stock market crash. It can be more individual/ personal – like sudden illness or job loss – anything that interferes with your ability to purchase food or get to the store. Having a cushion of even a month or two’s worth of food put aside can give you peace of mind.

You don’t have to break your budget or build a bomb shelter to start doing this either. You can start as small as picking up an extra can or two of tuna or baked beans the next time you are at the store. If you regularly eat fast food or buy speciality coffees, try cutting out a couple of those a week and spending that money on several bags of rice or noodle mixes. Those foil packet mixes have a lot of sodium and are more expensive that buying bulk rice or noodles, but if you are not much of a cook, then the prepackaged flavors give you variety, almost instant prep, and with some canned meat and a small can of vegetables can give you a decent nutritious meal that is shelf stable. Even ramen can be dressed up that way.

Try to mix it up when you make these purchases. Make sure you have canned meats/fish, fruits, vegetables, and grains. Don’t forget the dairy for a Vit D and calcium source. Canned evaporated milk or powdered milk in envelopes works very well. I have used both, and while they don’t taste as good as fresh milk, they work fine in your coffee, and in recipes. Save an old quart peanut butter jar to mix up your powdered or evaporated milk in.

Don’t forget salt, spices, and comfort flavors like maybe taco mix or ranch mix for your longer term supplies. Being able to have different flavors and food to look forward to can do a great deal for morale in an emergency or a family crisis.

And don’t forget to start thinking about water storage. Consider picking up a few gallons of bottled water at a time, or buying a few camping jugs to fill up with tap water to store and rotate. (Or save and reuse other jugs like cheapskate me.) Remember those empty shelves of bottled water I talked about before? You won’t need to face that and pay exorbitant prices if you’ve already planned ahead.

Once you start getting a small surplus of food to store you need to think about the actual storage. Heat, moisture, and light tend to degrade stored food. Choose a location for storage which is dry, darkish, and avoids temperature extremes. For some people underbed storage boxes on wheels are an excellent solution. Other people need metal cans to protect against rodents. Take a good look around your house or apartment and see if there are nooks and crannies where storage boxes might fit. You’d be surprised.

Why not just buy a few cases of MRE’s you might ask? That’s fine too if you have the money and don’t mind limited menu options for weeks on end. But MRE’s aren’t cheap, and are beyond the budget of a lot of people – especially if they are stretching just to have a few extra cans a week in their cart. And we’re really just talking “deeper pantry” right now, not full-on “Bug-out” supplies. One step at a time.

The advantage to regular grocery store food is that though it won’t store well for decades, if something is getting a little dated, you can just rotate it out into your usual cooking routine and replace it with a fresh can or pouch. With grocery store food you can also eat what you like and aren’t limited to what the Department of Defense contracted for in 2007. But, if you don’t cook when times are good, you probably won’t cook when times are bad. Or if the situation is such that you CAN’T cook, then MRE’s are a good option. Options are always a good thing.

Speaking of options, commercial food isn’t your only one if you are a gardener or are interested in other forms of food preservation. That’s another area where our great-grandparents still have something to teach us. This is where I am personally right now – learning about dehydration and home canning. So look for more on this as I go along on the “never stop learning” curve.

In the meantime if you are one of those Mother Hubbard types, you know where you need to start.

ProTac 90: Pocket Light

By

Keith Finch

-

August 5, 2019

Everyone stop what you’re doing and check your pocket, desk, and immediate area. Find you flashlight please. Don’t have one? Shame. Phones don’t count. I’m talking your useful, ready, easy to get at EDC flashlight. If you don’t have one… shame.

Now go please correct that. The Streamlight ProTac 90 might be the way. It’s $40. As a man who’s neighborhood has lost power I believe… 6 times this month, it is a little more than a “just being prepared” consideration.

Those from a veteran background will probably recognize the enormous unwieldy “moonbeam” lamp on the left, the MX991/U that has been issued since the Vietnam War. On the right is the ProTac 90, the result of Streamlight’s engineers playing with a shrink ray in their lab. Adding an LED emitter and multicell power capability didn’t hurt either.

Why a 90 degree light?

Simple, what was true on the large light is true on the smaller. The design is very easy to clip your shirt, pants, or gear and go hands off to accomplish any given task. The flat base also makes it easy to set on any flat surface and cast light as needed. The design won’t roll away if set on its side to provide light. It’s very good at staying where you put it, a trait round lights lack.

Unlike the massive predecessor however the ProTac 90 can also fit in your pocket. It makes for an easily portable everyday tool instead of a cumbersome space hogging burden. It retains all the advantages of the larger light, adds several new ones, and the only thing it didn’t come with was the fragile and easily lost lens covers of the MX911/U.

Illumination

The Streamlight’s output maxes out 300 lumens with a candella of 5,400. It makes for a serviceable tactical light and its angle allows for a very easy two hand modified grip on a pistol while running the light. I’ll do more on this in a later article discussing pistol/light use, Travis has a bit on this though that’s already up.

The ProTac 90 has Streamlight’s Ten Tap programmable functionality which, in this instance, I find more of a boon than a bother. A pocket light like the 90 is a utility light first and a tactical light second, having the function on hand to switch between the two so the light acts how you need it too is phenomenally useful. I still don’t care for the strobe setting (1) but high only (2) and low/high(3) are what make the ProTac 90 such an exceptional utility light.

In its native ‘low’ setting it will shine 40 lumens at 700 candella for 14 hours. On ‘high’ it gets a respectable 1.75 hours at 300 lumens off of a single CR123 cell.

Speaking of that…

ProTac 90 Power Source

The ProTac is not limited to using CR123’s. The system will run off of AA cell batteries too at a reduced maximum output. If you need power you can cannibalize a TV remote, game controller, or any of a myriad household devices that have a AA and not a CR123. The CR123 being a “tactical” battery they don’t float around in the quantities AA’s do. I don’t think I’ve seen anything except certain cameras use them outside that tactical sphere.

On a AA lithium cell the light will run at 125 lumens for 5.5 hours, 3.5 on an alkaline cell. On low the lumen output is still 40 like with the CR123 but the run time is 8.25 hours on an alkaline cell and will run 15 hours, one longer than the CR123, on a lithium.

Depending on what you are utilizing the light for primarily you may choose to run AA lithiums for the extended run time.

Durability

Durable aluminum construction and o-ring seals give the ProTac 90 an IPX7 rating. It is waterproof with a 1m/30 minute submersion rating.

There are different levels of “waterproof” and it is important to know your gear and its limitations. The ProTac 90 is going to be just fine in the rain or if it falls in a puddle or pond. It is not rated for a dive so don’t grab your air tank and go looking for sunken treasure but you’re not going to short it out if the sky opens up onto you.

Drop rating is listed at 2 meters onto a hard surface. So any of your typical drops, from a workbench, your hands, a cabinet, down through your engine compartment, none of those are going to decommission this light. Launching it skyward in a hail mary pass… you might get lucky, you might not.

Final

Simple. If you don’t have an EDC light, get one. The ProTac 90 is waterproof, 300 lumens, multi-cell compatible, programmable for use, and will clip to you or hang on any flat surface. For $40.

Meopta USA Sport Optics Introduces New Carbon Fiber Tripod

By

Keith Finch

-

August 3, 2019

Meopta Carbon Fiber Tripod and MeoPro HD 80 Spotting Scope

TAMPA, FL, August 2, 2019 – Meopta USA Sport Optics is pleased to introduce the Meopta Carbon Fiber Tripod. This lightweight, extremely durable tripod is ideal for hunters who need a rugged, easily portable, and highly stable tripod in the field. The Carbon Fiber Tripod comes standard with a ball head, pan-tilt head, universal smartphone adapter, and premium carrying case.

The Meopta Carbon Fiber Tripod is designed for spotting scopes of all makes and models as well as binoculars with the use of a standard tripod adapter. The fluid heads deliver smooth, vibration-free movement making it easier to glass vast areas. The phone adapter works with all brands of smartphones and can be attached to the tripod to take quality photos and videos in the field.

“Efficient and effective glassing is crucial on many hunts, and we want to offer our customers a rugged, lightweight, highly stable tripod at a great price,” said Randy Garrison, Director of Meopta USA Sport Optics. “With the Meopta Carbon Fiber Tripod, our customers have the convenience of getting all their optical equipment in one place and the confidence of knowing we stand behind the performance.”

Weighing just 4 lbs., the Meopta Carbon Fiber Tripod folds to 18 inches for easy carrying and comes with a stylish premium nylon carrying case. The maximum total rise with center riser extended is 70 inches, and there is a center hook on which to hang extra weight, such as a backpack, for additional stability if desired. The kit also comes with four quick-release (QR) plates (two for each head) to speed deployment in the field, and one leg of the tripod is detachable for use as a monopod.

Meopta is offering a special package deal which includes the Meopta MeoPro HD 80 Spotting Scope (straight or angled) and Carbon Fiber Tripod. This kit will retail for $1,699 vs. $1,599 for the HD 80 Spotting Scope alone, creating a $200 value for the consumer.

Retail Pricing:

Meopta Carbon Fiber Tripod: $299.95

Meopta Carbon Fiber Tripod and MeoPro HD 80 Spotting Scope Kit: $1,699.95

About Meopta

Meopta has been producing high-end European optics for over 85 years. Meopta is a leading manufacturer & partner to many of the world’s finest optical brands. Meopta conceives, develops and manufactures precision optical and electro/optical systems for semiconductor, medical, aerospace and military industries as well as for consumer markets.

For more information regarding Meopta, please visit www.meoptasportsoptics.com.

CARRYING THE SPRINGFIELD 911

By

The Armory Life

-

August 2, 2019

When it comes to concealed carry a lot of us are forced to choose a handgun based on where we think we might be able to carry it. The problem with this is that you should not let your firearm dictate how it will be carried, you should dictate how you can most effectively carry your firearm. That is where a pistol like the Springfield Armory 911 comes into the picture. With its firm handling, the stout power of modern hollow-points, and its compact size, you get to decide the best way to carry a firearm based on your preferences and needs. Let’s take a look at four easy ways you can carry the Springfield 911.

Outside-the-Waistband (OWB) Hip Carry

With the warmer weather that summer brings, many of us want to get outside and be more adventurous. Whether you are hiking, camping, doing yard work, or running simple errands, the easiest position for most individuals to draw from is their dominant hip. Good shooting mechanics can be practiced from this position and transfer over to many other positions of concealed or open carry. If you wish to remain concealed, a simple light coat or long T-shirt can easily cover this position while still allowing for it to be easy to draw from if the need were to arise.

Ankle Carry

Another spot that you should consider carrying that frequently gets overlooked is the ankle carry. Many firearms are immediately disqualified from this conversation because of their size, but the Springfield 911 can accomplish this position with ease. If you hold an occupation that requires you to be more buttoned-up with tucked in clothing, and you are not confident drawing from underneath a tight garment, this could be an easy solution. With the flush-fit six round magazine in your Springfield 911, those around you will be none the wiser that you are carrying.

Inside-the-Waistband (IWB) Small-of-the-Back Carry

If you are one of those people who dislike it when your pistol is gnawing on the point of your hip or unpleasantly poking you in the groin during appendix carry, then IWB Small-of-the-Back carry could be perfect for you. With the natural curvature of our spine and the crease of our body’s buttocks, most people have more room about their waist to carry small-of-the-back as opposed to other areas along their waistline.

Read the rest

Legislating “Gun Safety”

By

DRGO

-

August 2, 2019

(from 13wham.com)

I am extremely upset over Democrat moves they label as “gun safety” regulations and laws that have minimal or NO effect on the killing of American children.

Why do voters not ask: “Would this proposed legislation have prevented the Columbine event or the Sandy Hook shooting or the Parkland school shooting or the Colorado theater shooting?” The rhetoric, laws and regulations being argued about today would have prevented none of these massacres.

People who do crazy things with firearms do not care one iota about any law now on the books or any being proposed.

How do people not recognize that every mass shooting in the USA but one since 1992 has occurred in a supposed “gun free zone”. The perpetrators obtained firearms legally (passing background checks), bought them illegally, stole them from someone else, or possessed them illegally at the time of the shooting.

Laws do not affect the behavior of those who have decided to act illegally.

I am a retired Board Certified pediatrician with 35 grandkids and 5 great-grandkids, and I care enormously about the safety of all of those children, as well as the children of all Americans. It is very clear to me that the ONLY way my family members will be safe in any school, shop or restaurant is for someone there to be armed and to stop attackers before they damage the lives and well-being of those in that place.

It’s not rocket science to know that when seconds count, law enforcement is minutes away.

I learned many years ago to evaluate medical literature. The recent “study” reported by the American Academy of Pediatrics should have embarrassed those who authored it as well as those who allowed it to be published. It is stacked with “statistics” that are intended to mislead and misinform the general public. It should be regarded only as a political statement by a group of supposed professionals intending to promote an agenda that is not based on facts.

None of those who desire to disarm American citizens and neuter the Second Amendment EVER talk about the millions of times every year that firearm owners stop violent criminal events. News outlets are not interest in reporting that “Nancy Williams was not beaten and robbed today because she outgunned her assailant.” The great number of defensive uses of firearms is reported in unpublished work by the Centers for Disease Control in 1996-98 that is ignored by all those who are intent on disarming Americans

It is unfortunate that most people who want to ban modern semi-automatic weapons have no clue that the main difference between those and “Dad’s hunting rifle” is appearance. I am confident that many of those seeking restrictions in the name of “gun safety” have no idea about the differences between a revolver and a semiautomatic pistol, between a lever action and a semiautomatic rifle, or between a semiautomatic rifle and a machine gun.

I also wonder at how the world’s memory has faded about what occurred in Germany before Adolf Hitler began slaughtering millions of people. The Weimar Republic required gun registration, and Hitler outlawed citizen ownership before he began his mass killing rampage. He said “The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subjugated races to possess arms.”

Not only does the Second Amendment protect our right to the means with which to protect ourselves from criminals and tyrants, without it the First Amendment codifying the right to public dissent has not a leg to stand on!

Any proposed “public gun safety” legislation needs to ensure that people can protect themselves and each other from attackers, whether they use firearms or other weapons. The proposals currently being promoted will have affect only law-abiding citizens who choose to be armed for good reasons, including to protect themselves and others from those to whom gun control laws are meaningless.

.

—Cris McBride, M.D. is retired from a busy practice in rural Arizona. He purchased his first firearm at age 11 from a Sears catalog for $12. Dr. McBride is adamant about shooting for fun and self defense, and to prevent a tyrannical government from taking away our God-given rights.

All DRGO articles by Cris McBride, MD

Springfield’s TRP Operator 10mm

By

Travis Pike

-

August 2, 2019

Anytime I write about 1911s I get a lot of flak. They just aren’t my favorite guns for self-defense, home defense, or anything else besides range days. The Springfield TRP Operator Long slide in 10mm, however, is a bit different. It’s not a traditional 1911 frame gun. It’s more or less a pistol designed for the outdoors, for dealing with dangerous animals, or for hunting them. This 10mm Long slide is a powerhouse of a gun designed to maximize both power and accuracy from one gun.

This gun is chock full of features and these features lean it more towards that role as a hunting or outdoors pistol. The first clue is the awesome Trijicon adjustable rear sight. It’s fully adjustable for both windage and elevation. It’s also a night sight which is an excellent touch. The pistol’s long barrel offers a much longer sight radius.

The Springfield TRP Operator pushes the sight radius to its limits by pushing the rear sight so far back it’s hanging off by about a millimeter. That extra inch of the barrel also contributes to sight radius of course. The 6-inch barrel can lend between 50 to 100 FPS more to a projectile as well. Not significant, but as Tim Allen says, “More Power!” Long Slide 10mms are quite common in the 1911 realm for a big reason.

The 10mm is a flat shooting cartridge with very little drop even out to 100 yards. Combine that with a long sight radius, the extra inch of velocity, and the 1911’s famed trigger and you have an excellent platform for long-range pistoleros. The Springfield TRP Operator is a high-end 1911 production gun that combines all the right features to produce an amazing long-range pistol.

The TRP Operator Ergonomics

The trigger, sight radius, and caliber are all important features for a long-range handgun, but so is how the gun handles. Ergonomically the gun is a 1911 so it’s hard to screw it up. The grip angle and design is very comfortable, and the grips are outstanding. They are VZ G10 grips. The front and back of the grip also feature Springfield’s Octo Grip. The 10mm is meant to be powerful and you’ll want a tight grip. The Springfield TRP offers you the features necessary to obtain that grip.

The TRP Operator comes with ambidextrous safeties and an extended beavertail which I greatly adore. The 10mm is designed to be a heavy shooting cartridge and the beavertail helps you maintain control over the gun. Pack in some powerful Buffalo Bore or Underwood ammo and you’ll be getting some excellent ballistics as well as control over the weapon.

The grip is thin and svelte as a single stack should be and is comfortable in the hand. It makes a good two-hand grip possible and comfortable to obtain. The front and rear slide are both serrated, and the slide moves as if you placed it on ball bearings. The 1911 has always been an ergonomic design and this gun takes these ergonomics and improves them slightly to better suit the 10mm round.

The biggest issue with the gun is its long slide. This makes the gun feel like the barrel is dipping. It’s off-balance compared to most 1911s. This makes it feel somewhat odd and does require you to compensate for it.

Accuracy

The TRP Operator is designed for accuracy, every little bit of it. The long slide and the match-grade, stainless barrel, the adjustable sights as well as the 1911’s trigger. It all contributes to the overall accuracy of this weapon. It’s exceptionally accurate and very easy to shoot. With a two-handed, unsupported grip I backed off to 75 yards and created a group the size of my hand on a torso sized target.

The TRP Operator is just easy to shoot accurately. The 10mm as a round is flat shooting out to a hundred yards even from a handgun. This pistol is excellent for hunting. You want accuracy like this to ensure you kill your prey quickly and humanely with proper shot placement.

Reliability

Out of 420 rounds, I’ve experienced one failure to extract due to a bulged cartridge of ammo. That’s it, and as far as I know, that has to be an ammo issue. I don’t think a gun’s reliability can be tied to bulging cases. The gun shoots, extracts and ejects smoothly and consistently. I used mostly tamer target loads but mixed in some 180 grain Buffalo Bore into the mix to try how it handles with more powerful rounds.

Fun Factor?

The gun itself is a ton of fun. It shoots straight and it’s so satisfying to reach out well beyond my comfort zone of effective handgun range. This is an all-steel gun that weighs a hefty 45 ounces and it eats recoil up. Even the full-powered 10mm loads felt soft and easy shooting. The gun is quite fun, and it satisfies its role as a hunting handgun, or general outdoors tool very well. Now, if there was some kind of brace made for it….

U.S. District Judge: “…semi-automatic assault rifles are essentially indistinguishable from M-16s”

By

Keith Finch

-

August 1, 2019

And with that U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton of Santa Ana was the first federal judge to rule on the state’s controversial law. She argued that “assault weapons” are “incredibly effective killing machines” and are not commonly used or necessary for self-defense.

Except when they are… but ignore that and the mass ownership.

The court case will next likely head to the Ninth Circuit and then, if still contested, will be referred to SCOTUS.

The Opinion on “Semi-Automatic Rifles”

“Because the Court concludes that semi-automatic assault rifles are essentially indistinguishable from M-16s, which Heller noted could be banned pursuant to longstanding prohibitions on dangerous and unusual weapons, the Court need not reach the question of whether semi-automatic rifles are excluded from the Second Amendment because they are not in common use for lawful purposes like self-defense,” Staton said.

Interesting, that seems to be… well… wrong. The most popular rifle in the United States is… stay with me here… the most popular because it is commonly used for… wait for it… lawful purposes! Like self-defense! The most commonly cited reason for buying firearms in recent decades. “…essentially indistinguishable…” Except for, you know, the selecti-fire hardware in M16’s.

“Semi-automatic rifles with non-fixed magazines, along with the other enumerated features, are incredibly effective killing machines, and the Attorney General’s evidence strongly suggests that such weapons are disproportionately used in mass shootings and that, when they are used, more people are injured and killed,” she said.

I won’t argue against the fact that the popularity and proliferation of the AR-15 has increased its appearance in mass violence incidents. However, to assume that it is because the AR-15 and similar platforms are substantially deadlier, instead of being low cost and prevalent, seems like a leap.

I receive daily advertisements for AR-15’s and they can be purchased, at the bottom end of the quality scale, for under $400. Price of entry into an AR is lower and easier on an economics scale than it has ever been. And that price is free if someone just takes one that someone else bought for lawful purposes.

“I respect the 2nd Amendment but…”

“To be sure, Plaintiffs may have legitimate interests in possessing semi-automatic rifles within the AWCA’s scope,” she concluded. “However, California has permissibly weighed those interests against the weapons’ propensity for being used for mass violence and concluded that the weapons’ lawful value is drastically outweighed by the danger they pose to California citizens.”

Anti-Gunner Translate: We don’t like these guns and are going to fabricate every reason we can to try and uphold our ban. We will say they are unusual, unusually dangerous, and only used for crime and mass murder. We will ignore any and all evidence to the contrary. We do not believe in the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and believe the monopoly on force and power should be in the hands of the government, who would never abuse it. Ever. We promise.

We can hope the 9th Circuit does their due diligence and renders a constitutional and sane opinion. Because if the most popular rifle in the U.S. isn’t in common use and cannot therefore be protected, what can?

The only coherent argument from anti-gun forces is that they believe all firearms should be banned. It has been and always shall be the only conclusion to their interim efforts. Anyone who claims otherwise is either naive, uninformed, or lying.

The SIG Copperhead – Small and Venomous

By

Travis Pike

-

August 1, 2019

In some German/Swiss lab, a mad man whispered quietly…. Make it smaller. Clearly, he knew that small guns were in and big guns were out. While Duke Nukem would be disappointed a good portion of the gun community seems to be in love with short rifles, shotguns, and big pistols that want to be SMGs. Look at the rise of SBRs everywhere, or AR pistol braces bringing AR pistols to the mainstream. Hell, even the Army bought a compact SMG. Let’s not forget that the SMG wannabe crowd is also getting a little smaller. First, we had the CZ Micro Scorpion and now we have the SIG Copperhead.

The SIG Copperhed is the K model to the K model MPX. SIG introduced the 4.5-inch MPX as the K model and that mad scientist said to make it smaller. That gave us the new Copperhead, although that German/Swiss scientist was likely an American at SIG USA. Contrary to popular belief the Copperhead was not SIG’s entry into the Army SMG contest, but a product made for the civilian market.

What is the Copperhead?

The Copperhead is actually supposed to be the cheaper MPX model. It retails for $1,579.99 while the MPX K model with a brace goes for 1829.99. It’s also the smallest SMG wannabe currently on the market when you consider the brace. The SIG Copperhead has a 3.5-inch barrel with a fixed muzzle device. Also, the upper and handguard are monolithic to reduce length a hair more as well.

The Copperhead also features SIG’s new PCB brace. The pivoting Contour Brace can rotate left and right to make using the brace wrapped around your arm easier and more comfortable. This brace setup is a very short PDW style collapsing system. The bars fit flush across the upper receiver and the package is 14.5 inches long with the brace collapsed fully. The PCB is my favorite brace in terms of comfort and it allows me to shoot in multiple positions much easier than older braces.

The Copperhead also sports the Rattler grip, and if you aren’t familiar it’s a much slimmer and thinner grip designed to be snag-free. It’s quite thin, and has a slight awkward feel but nothing you’ll notice once you start slinging lead.

It comes with a single 20 round magazine and I will say 30 round magazines look goofy in it. They look too long for such a little gun. Lancer makes the magazines and they are very well made, but man are they expensive. I wish we could have gotten at least one more with this gun. The gun also doesn’t come with sights of any kind, and that’s a gripe too. $1,579.99 is a lot of money and a set of sights should be included.

The top optics rail does leave room for your own optic and I went with my often abused, but beloved Burris Fastfire 3.

When the Lead Meets the AR 500

I was quite excited to get some range time with this little fella and I hit the range with a bag full of Remington UMC 9mm and some ill intentions for paper and steel popper targets. The magazine loads easily and because it’s transparent it appears as if the magazine is only half loaded when it’s fully loaded. It’s odd when you keep loading because the magazine looks half full and realize it’s full.

Control-wise the SIG Copperhead mimics the AR 15. It’s completely ambidextrous and uses an AR-style charging handle as well. The brace can be pulled into action without the need to press a release. It’s well suited for concealment in a laptop bag.

Unlike most PCCs and SMG wannabes, the Copperhead is short-stroke gas piston system. The plus side is this allows the gun to be much smaller and lighter than blowback options. It does not require the heavy-duty bolt blowback guns have. This also decreases recoil since that bolt isn’t flying back and delivering more rearward momentum.

This makes the gun very pleasant and very controllable. The barrel has an attached flash hider that’s quite effective and likely necessary if you start throwing some 124 grain NATO loads through the gun.

The magazine well is rather wide and this makes funneling a magazine into the weapon easy breezy. It’s an intuitive setup and well laid out for quick and easy mag swaps. Better yet the ergonomics are excellent all around. They are all easy to reach and to control and they allow you to easily manipulate your weapon regardless of your positioning. Plus I guess it makes wrong handers happy.

Throwing Lead

Once I got the brace deployed and properly sighted I was ringing steel like I was beating a drum. Sure it’s only a 3.5-inch barrel, in a very compact package, but sight radius doesn’t matter when you have a red dot. If I wanted to punch a paper target in the head 20 times I damn sure could, at 25, 35, and 50 yards like someone was paying me to.

It’s a very accurate gun, and the lack of much recoil makes it very easy to control. If I open up to just hitting the torso of a target I can back off to a 100 yards and land shots in the chest area. The trigger is one of the best triggers I’ve run into on PCC style rifles and handguns. It’s crisp and light with a very short pull overall. You get a positive and short reset.

One of my favorite drills is snap drills. Hold the weapon at the low ready and engage with one round to a vital area as fast as you can. My Pocket Pal 2 acts as a timer. It’s a simple, but important drill. I started at 25 yards and aimed for under a second on chest shots. It took me a little practice, but it’s doable.

A Gun For All

The PCB is a hard plastic that comes together to conceal the velcro strap. This allows it to have a very clean look and snag-free design. It also makes it comfortable to shoulder or to use as a cheek rest. It’s a very short gun and I feel like a troll trying to shoulder it. I can, but it’s not as comfortable as a regular braced AR.

The gun eats brass cased ammo like nobody’s business and ammo is cheap enough that I haven’t put much steel-cased through. That being said it ate steel case too when I put it to the test. That terrible Winchester American Forged crap fed perfectly fine. It also fed a variety of JHPs without issue. These JHPs are a bit of a grab bag of random ammo I’ve collected over the years. They do include Ranger, Speer, and SIG ammo as well.

Is the Copperhead for You?

This is a teeny tiny gun, but for smaller people who may have issues with other weapons, this could be an answer to them. It’s very light and the small size would make it easy for petite people or even older folks who can’t handle heavier weapons.

At only 4.5 pounds it’s quite manageable. Add in the low recoil and you have a winner for home defense for smaller people. It’s designed to be concealed and compact so it may be a great weapon for road trips when you want something a little easier to shoot than a handgun.

For me, it’s a fun plinker. It’s a gun I could carry in a laptop case if I was inclined to do so. It’s a fun shooter and sometimes that’s all I need a gun to be. It’s more than a handgun, less than a rifle and fulfills a small niche for those needing the smallest defensive firearm that’s bigger and better than a pistol.

Governor Cuomo Signs More Gun Control for New York

By

Keith Finch

-

July 31, 2019

Screen Shot 2019-07-31 at 12.58.35 PM — Via MyTwinTiers

More gun control… that should work.

Governor Andrew Cuomo this week signed more gun control into being for New York.

On Monday the governor signed an extension to the 3 day waiting period from 3 days to 30 days. Ostensibly this to give more time for the police to run background checks. A NICS check takes a few minutes, at most the system will kick back a result from an investigator in a few business days. Even adding a check of local systems this is not a overly long process.

The new 30 day delay is in place of the three day federal delay triggered when a check goes to further review by a NICS investigator. From personal experience I can recall one instance in four years where a check came back denied after the federal transfer, and low and behold there is a system in place for that too that gives local authorities name, address, etc. of the prohibited person.

But wait… there’s more!

Cuomo then went on to ban the manufacture, sale, transport and possession of firearms and major components of such weapons that are undetectable by a metal detector, including 3D printed guns.

“3D guns and improperly stored firearms pose an enormous risk to our children and today we’re addressing both dangers head-on to keep our families safe,” Governor Cuomo said. “These measures continue New York’s legacy of enacting the strongest gun laws in the nation by helping keep firearms out of the hands of children and by acknowledging and addressing technological advancements like 3D printed guns.”

That’s right Andrew, technology bad and I’m certain your law will help oh so much. I’m confident banning possession of such ‘dangerous’ items like plastic frames and receivers, especially without serial numbers, instead of addressing and criminalizing deadly behaviors is the way to go. Prohibition has such a stellar track record.

That’s not all folks!

New York has also increased criminal penalties for improperly storing a firearm in accordance to their rules. Accidental firearms deaths have long been lumped into the “gun violence” category despite accidents being well… accidents. Negligence is not an act violence, it is one of stupidity.

Despite it being, apparently a national problem of some scope, the CDC doesn’t even list preventing firearm injuries as a leading cause nor do they even list firearm deaths in unintentional child injury reporting. In one study graphic I found, unintentional firearms injury rated 8th among cause of death with 16 incidents in 2011 for 4-9 year olds.

The firearm unintentional death rate for children in the US is something that bares constant and continuing improvement upon but it is far from an epidemic. The rate of kids 0-12 accidently dying due to a firearm is .09/100,000. Age group 13-17 isn’t much higher at .15/100,000

Accidental firearm death only ranked 8th in one age bracket and didn’t make top 10 in any other.

On the scale of worrisome causes of death… I feel we can make more progress on other higher numbers.

New York once again making a mountain out of a molehill in the name of political points.

Keeping Guns from Kids

By

DRGO

-

July 31, 2019

(from slate.com)

When you live alone and own a gun, you don’t worry about where it is. You could hide it in the cereal box, for all it matters—and the only thing to be concerned with is to make sure it can’t be found by a home invader. Every place is safe, as you keep it easily accessible to you.

On the other hand, when you have a family, the issue can take a different turn. Granted, you may be able to keep your spouse safe from danger—or even teach them how to use the gun—but when it comes to children, it’s not that easy.

Small children cannot handle guns, and out of curiosity, they will put themselves in danger—which could sometimes lead to a tragedy. This can be quite concerning, considering that over 1/3 of American children live in homes where there is at least one firearm.

So, how do you keep loved ones safe from your own guns? Whether you have a single handgun or an arsenal, how do you ensure that those guns do not end up in tiny little hands?

The Safest Way to Store a Gun

If you have a gun in your home, be sure you respect certain safety rules. There are other approaches, but for maximal security, these are three golden rules for storing a gun:

Keep it locked in its unloaded state. This can be in a safe, a cabinet, a gun vault, or even a storage case.
Keep the ammunition locked in a separate place from the gun—but close enough to access in the event of an emergency.
Keep the keys or combinations to the storage places either on you or hidden safely away from the reach of children.

If you can follow these three rules, there should never be issues concerning unmonitored gun tragedies. Ideally, you should buy one of the best fireproof gun safes you can, to ensure that it cannot be accessed by anyone who has no business there.

Why Should You Safely Store Your Gun?

The answer to this should be obvious, but too many people don’t think this matters. Believing accidents “won’t happen to me” is too easy and common. Children are curious—as you already knew from prying your kid away from the electric outlet for the tenth time. If they come across a loaded gun, not only that can they hurt themselves, but they can injure other people as well.

Plus, teens can be highly emotional, and can act impulsively. In the United States, guns are the leading method of suicide—and about 60% of shooting deaths in 2016 were teenage suicides.

This problem does not only apply to teenagers. People who are depressed, regardless of age, are more likely to commit suicide. If someone in your household is depressed or has had suicidal thoughts, please: secure all your firearms, or even remove them from your home.

Even if you do not have children, you still should be very careful. After all, you are going to receive guests at some point—and some of them might be children. Accidents happen when curious children roam around the house and stumble across a loaded gun. So secure your firearms whether you live alone in or not. Even if a burglar is the only other human to enter your home, it’s worth disappointing him by keeping your armory well hidden and locked up.

Keeping Kids Safe in Other Homes

Child safety is not only a concern in your own home. Be attentive about other’s homes as well. You could try to keep your child away from houses that have guns—but that’s unrealistic and you can’t know for sure anyway.

When your child visits friends or family, you can ask whether they have firearms and how they are secured. It might feel slightly awkward, but it should be understood because it is about your child’s safety.

Final Thoughts

The surest way to keep weapons safe from your less able loved ones is under lock and key. Children are unpredictable and creative. They will find anything anywhere at some point. Especially in that cereal box!

.

—Jay Chambers is a Texas business owner, archer, shooter and survivalist. He believes in free speech, resiliency and self-sufficiency in an increasingly unpredictable world.

All DRGO articles by Jay Chambers

Armor Piercing Ammo

By

Keith Finch

-

July 31, 2019

“Armor piercing ammo” is a phrase thrown about by the poorly informed with rabid abandon when the media types are looking to make something sound scarier.

‘Capable of firing armor piercing rounds!’ is one such misnomer. If an armor piercing round is made in “X” caliber or chambering and any firearm is in “X” caliber or chambering, then yes, it is “capable” of firing armor piercing rounds. But you need to have those rounds, and they are expensive. Also not nearly as useful as one might surmise from the fear spoken of in mass media. AP can punch through hardened steel. Cool. But unless you’re taking on something made of hardened steel it’s a probably a wasted expense.

The same with API, Armor Piercing Incendiary, a round which is designed to ignite whatever is behind the original hardened barrier. Fuel, ammunition, sensitive equipment, etc. All those items are the most likely targets of an API round. Not a guy with a plate carrier on.

Armor piercing ammo is meant for and is most effective against equipment. Personnel are a secondary target and aren’t that much more at risk from an AP round than a conventional one. Both ammunition types are lethal.

When the Media says ‘Armor Piercing’

They mean rifle ammo.

Any rifle ammo, except .22 lr, they like .22’s

They either lack understanding of personal body armor, or are projecting willfully misleading information. In either case its problematic towards developing an understanding of a round type that can defeat armor vs. one that is armor piercing by design.

Media reports that cite AP as a capability are referencing the fact that standard soft armor, rated level II or IIIA under current designations (likely redesignated P1 and P2 under new armor regulations), do not stop rifle rounds. They are rated for handgun rounds. Cops wear the far more mobile and less burdensome handgun rated armor because, statistically speaking, that’s the threat they are going to encounter by many orders of magnitude.

If a rifle threat is known or suspected, hard armor of level III or IV can be used in a supplemental vest, often known as a plate carrier. These plates protect a 10×12 (medium plate) space on the chest and back to lower the chance a rifle round hits the heart and lungs. Level IV plates are even rated to a certain degree against armor penetrating rounds (M2 AP 30-06) for a manufacturer stated number of strikes. “Multi-hit capable” is the usual nomenclature.

Understanding Armor and Armor Penetration

The concept of armor is nothing new, we’re talking millenia old. Weapon designed-> armor designed->weapon to defeat ->armor to beat weapon… and so on. Today’s iterations are centered on handgun, rifle, shrapnel, and knife threats. All dependant on the level of protection that makes sense vs. the mobility trade off and the threat environment.

There is always a weapon that will beat the armor or a way that the armor will be ineffective (IE: head shot) at stopping the threat. Equally there is a level of armor that, despite a threat, does not make sense to equip against due to the unlikely nature of the threat or the mobility decrease that comes with using the armor. We can look at how plate carriers changed during OEF/OIF/GWOT to see that the conclusion has become, in most circumstances, mobility is more important.

Defeating modern armor comes by combining a dense enough substance with enough speed to defeat the barrier. A technique we can trace back to the middle ages Bodkin arrow tip.

“Armor Penetrating” is relative.

AP or API is specifically an anti-vehicle/anti-material designate. The target is armored vehicles and materials.

Dependant upon the level of personal armor being worn a round may or may not be stopped. It will depend upon the rating of the armor. So a rifle round is not tailored to defeat pistol rated armor, but it will. That does not make the rifle round AP. If the round is designed from the ground up to defeat a level of armored threat it is AP. If in it’s design layout it can defeat a certain level of armor or protection then it is ‘capable of armor penetration’ but wasn’t designed to pierce armor as a principal design consideration.

Semantics? Perhaps in the general scale it does not matter if a design was purpose built to defeat a protection if it can do so, however from the point of “The Narrative” it matters highly.

When a round is being portrayed as a ‘cop killer’ bullet or hyper dangerous in some other manner, “weapon of mass destruction” is the favorite right now, it matters. When commercially long standing rounds, like 30-06, have power factors substantially higher than those calibers being maligned and possess the same “armor penetrating” capability of not being a handgun round it makes for too easy a narrational slope. Leading to the suggestion that the only way to be safe from “armor piercing ammo” is to ban all ammo… and guns.

Thanks to the InRange crew for the video on real AP and API.

Mossberg 500 Makeover

By

Dr LateBloomer

-

July 31, 2019

BFFEDB30-723C-4201-AB55-8CDC23900F15 — Tah Daaaaaah!

Remember last month when I bought a pawnshop shotgun with the intent of turning it into a home defense/tactical gun?

Well, after much soaking and cleaning and parts replacing, she is ready for the range and hopefully ready to take a class!

This has been a really interesting project. I’ve had shotguns for six or eight years (mostly semiauto), but I’ve never tried to do the type of deep disassembly and cleaning that a used pump gun makeover required. It’s been an education and an exercise in compromise – balancing function, appearance, and budget.

The “Before” photo fresh from the pawn shop.

As the photos in the first article attested, this gun was DIRTY. Like, literally crumbs of crud falling out of it dirty. This was not a safe queen and was likely used hard for turkey or waterfowl or both. But the price I paid for it ($110 out-the-door) made it worth some effort at clean-up.

The trigger group, bolt, and other internals cleaned up very nicely. There was some wear, but no obvious rust, so that was a win.

The magazine tube required some compromise. I could hear the spring scraping around in there and wanted to get it out for inspection. However, I soon discovered that it wasn’t age/corrosion that kept me from getting the magazine tube off, it was the fact the Mossberg apparently uses/used some form of Loctite in the assembly of my 30-year old gun which necessitates special measures like a heat gun and strap wrenches for removal. The interwebs also warned that it was possible to damage the tube in the process of removal.

Though I had friends who generously offered tools and assistance, I opted to try just cleaning it out first. I used a 12 gauge bore mop soaked in Hoppes and ran it up inside the magazine a few time from the follower end and again with a smaller mop from the top end, down through the center of the spring, hoping to dissolve crud that might be clinging to the spring and magazine walls. After a few repetitions with wet and dry mops and big patches wrapped around the mops, I did the same procedure with gun oil.

It all moves and sounds much better now, so I’m leaving well enough alone. Feel free to tell me I’m wrong, I’m a learner after all. But this was a compromise, and I opted for good-enough function rather than risking damage. If it becomes a problem in the future then my hand will be forced and I’ll deal with it then.

My next big decision was whether to just repaint the existing stock and forend, or replace them with Magpul components. After some deliberation and budgeting I decided to spring for the Magpuls. I got a great deal on the stock on Amazon, and the forend came from Brownells – along with a mount for a flashlight.

The advantage to the Magpul stock is that it has spacers for adjusting the length of pull (an ongoing issue for me), and I also like the ergonomics of the grip. The installation was easy-peasy.

The advantage to the Magpul forend for me is that it allows me to attach a light. The original forend had no such ability. The Magpul additionally, is contoured such that there is a bit of a grip stop at the end. With my short arms I am unlikely to overreach and endanger my fingers, but a tactile endpoint is still good to have.

I tossed around the idea of a foregrip with an integral light, but it was pricey. I already own three Surefire flashlights so I opted for just a Magpul mount for one of my existing handheld lights. I’m not a Tammy Tactical, but a few of the classes I’ve looked at use a light, so I wanted to have something I could use for a class. Installation of the light mount was not so easy-peasy, but still accomplished by a non-expert, non-mechanically inclined pediatrician.

This gun came from the pawnshop with a 26-inch barrel, so I needed a tactical-length replacement. I found a Mossberg factory barrel in 18.5 inches with a matte finish at my local Sportsman’s Warehouse for about a hundred bucks. That price seemed about average and I avoided shipping costs by buying it locally.

Although I hadn’t originally planned to, I ended up replacing the slide assembly on this gun, too. While messing with trying to remove the original foregrip I realized how rattly and loose it all was. It may have been mechanically fine, but since I was replacing the forend anyway, I decided to go all new, since there is a lot of wear and tear on those pieces. If the pump mechanism goes bad in an emergency you’ve got a one shot gun, so I replaced it with Mossberg factory parts from MidwayUSA.

That jacked up my cost of the makeover even further, but I still came in under what it would have cost me to buy and equip a new tactical shotgun. I easily rationalized these expenses because I sold two handguns (that I didn’t like and rarely shot) to the same pawn shop from which I bought the Mossberg. That gave me over $300 more to play with without budgetary guilt. Gotta love guilt-free gun purchases!

I’m planning on getting a sling and a fiber optic sight for this project as well, but I’m still shopping around for those. If anybody has any suggestions, I’m happy to hear them.

After dropping a few F-bombs and questioning the virtuous parentage of a few of the parts – especially the trigger assembly – I finally managed complete reassembly. I ran some dummy rounds through my project to verify function and then took my new/old gun to the range for a test shoot.

I felt like my rounds while struggling to get the last of the assembly done.

Range testing is always a better measure of the build because farting around in your living room with dummy rounds can only tell you so much. The first thing that the range test of a box of birdshot and some 00 Buck taught me is that my Benellis – with their lovely recoil-reducing stocks – have heretofore sheltered me from the true recoil of a 12 gauge.

It was brisk. I could handle it, but I’m going to have to work on making sure I don’t develop a flinch. I’ll have to see if there is such a thing as lower recoil defensive shotgun ammo. I was just using what I had lying around leftover from 3-Gun for right now. Granted, I was blasting off six rounds at a time as fast as I could cycle the gun to make sure it worked well, but still. A multi-day class may be a bad idea without lower recoil ammo.

The other thing that range testing showed me is that I need to move the flashlight mount somewhere ELSE. I originally mounted it on the front bottom left side of the slide, thinking this would be easiest access. The purple and tender knuckle on my left hand that developed after the first 6 rounds slammed the flashlight into my hand proved that this location was not going to work. Suffice to say the flashlight and mount were removed post-haste before the testing continued.

Over all though, I am pleased. The gun cycled the thirty or so rounds I put through it flawlessly. The magazine fed smoothly and the extraction and ejection were fine. For a thirty year old gun, she’s still got it.

As you may have noticed from the photos, I decided not to refinish the receiver and magazine tube (at least not yet). I’m leaving the rattle can camo job that was done by the previous owner as a nod to the pawnshop origin of the gun. The FDE furniture blends quite well with it anyway, and I figure if anyone comments, then I have an opening to tell my make-over story.

I would wholeheartedly recommend a project like this to anyone. Though some may argue that it’s easier to just buy a new gun for what the parts cost me, I would reply that not only have I made this gun truly “mine” by this process, but that the associated education in the mechanics of the pump gun was priceless.