Gov. Murphy of New Jersey Wants to Tax Gun Owners More

March 11, 2019

Governor Phil Murphy does not believe the $2.00 tax for New Jersey citizens to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed rights is enough. Murphy is proposing an increase to $50 per individual license in order to ‘increase revenue for law enforcement efforts to stop illegal guns from out of state’.

“It’s actually cheaper to get a permit to purchase a handgun, two bucks, than it is to get a dog license in many of our communities,” Murphy said. – News 12 New Jersey

I hate to break it down this way for you, Phil. But the citizen exercising his or her Second Amendment right should be less expensive than the privilege of a dog license.

Now everyone agrees with the plan, even among Murphy’s party. It’s seen as grandstanding and showboating “look at me take on ‘gun violence’ so strongly.”

“I think we’ve done a lot with gun reform in the state,” said Sen. Steve Sweeney. “We are the most progressive state in the nation when it comes to gun reform and just to check a box to say you did something, I don’t think that’s necessary.”

The slide of anti-gun states and their continued squeeze of gun owners continues apace.

Criminals who don’t pay the $2.00, won’t pay the $50.00, and who use their illicitly gotten weaponry for criminal activity have their opinion of the proposed rule change summarized as “not giving a f*** about this law either.”

Adding the $50.00 onto an already arduous process for lawful ownership is simply taxing a right out of existence. An elected officiate believes it should be a privilege to defend yourself with arms should the need arise and so Murphy is proposing further steps to make that a reality.

Get these guys into the electoral unemployment line.

The Bare Necessities of a Defensive Carbine

Keith Finch

March 8, 2019

Because I know you’re humming it already… here you go. (Edited: because someone did not enjoy my play on words)

You have chosen a shoulder fired carbine as your personal defensive tool. This is primarily for your home but extends in scope to the vehicle/cruiser. In specific circumstances this could be an ‘on body’ carry, but that is not the focus of this discussion.

The topic at hand is building up a defensive carbine. Outline the purchase priority in order to maximize your dollars spent and minimize spending overlap.

Twice spent money on items like triggers, sights, slings, handguards, and other ancillary equipment. Items you are able to change and are likely to change on any specific firearm as you want to upgrade new personal gear.

These changes, if and when made, must enhance the carbine in its intended role. The litmus test, how much did an item improve the gun in performing its overall role? This is a game of financial diminishing returns, be warned. However, the only one you need to justify the cost too is yourself and if it passes the ‘in role improvement’ consideration it can be justified.

Minimalist Loadout

A minimalist set up covers the basic requirements with little cost into force multiplicative equipment.

While both the Dakota Tactical MP5 and IWI X95 are exceptional firearms in the role of a defensive carbine, they are not ready out of the box.

Minimalist defensive carbine with a light Galil ACE — IWI’s Galil ACE PSB in 5.56 with Streamlight TLR-7

Even in its most basic configuration a defensive carbine needs to cover two critical capabilities.

All light target engagement
All light target identification

Most out of the box rifles cannot do either one. Even my beloved SCAR and M16 lack this capability. In low or no light they do nothing to aid the user in target assessment and engagement.

In a low light or no light scenario getting on a set of iron sights and using them effectively is… well it sucks. Putting the small dark front post in the small dark circle of the rear sight and across the dark obscure target and hope for the best.

The answer, in the minimalist case, is night sights. Yes, just like on your pistol.

The IWI Galil comes with night sights making it a phenomenal choice in this regard. Adding a night sight is an inexpensive modification, in most cases, to carbine systems. The night sights correct the sight acquisition deficiency.

The second component is adding a light of sufficient brightness and proper throw to positively identify what you may or may not be shooting at.

The Streamlight TLR-7 selected here is traditionally a handgun light. However after being told “No, seriously try it. You’re gonna like it.” by Tom, head of IWI’s training program, I’ve come to enjoy the little 500 lumen single cell as a very capable carbine light. It’s fantastic for social distances (50m and closer) with capabilities outward towards 100m depending on environmental factors.

But the long and short of this stubby little carbine is that a single added item, the TLR-7, completes the Galil’s identify and engage capability within the critical 50 meter envelope regardless of light level.

For most AR platforms adding the night sight will be well under $100 invested if you want it to be. The TLR-7 is another $100 or so.

A Weapon Mounted Light (WML) gives you positive target ID capability without sacrificing control of your carbine. Night sights give you drastically increased ability to take a shot in low and no light without needing to engage your light to get target contrast.

Those are absolute baseline capabilities with a weapon being utilized in a defensive roll.

Firearm Policies That (Don’t) Work

DRGO

March 8, 2019

(from rand.org)

[Ed: Here’s another example of the horrendous “research” we encounter every week. Thanks to DRGO writer Dr. Thomas E. Gift who pointed it out and gave us his read on it, which is incorporated here.]

“Firearm Policies That Work” just came out February 25 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The authors are April Zeoli, a new name from the Michigan State University’s School of Criminal Justice and Daniel Webster, an old hand at anti-gun research from the Center for Gun Research and Policy at Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health. Which is where Zeoli did her graduate work. Both the title and the Bloomberg source in particular tell us what to expect.

And that’s what we get, from the very first paragraph. Our total “gun deaths” rank second only to Brazil in the world. Of course, our per capita rate is much more respectable, ranking midway in the world, since we are Earth’s third most populous nation. (We won’t bother to mention the problems of incomplete reporting of the number of shootings in much of the less developed world. And comparing these human costs to the benefits in lives saved and injuries prevented by defensive gun uses just does not fit the one-track thinking of such “experts”.)

Not yet out of the first paragraph, they go on to say that “laws restricting access to firearms for individuals at high risk of the future commission of violence, based on their previous behaviors, may reduce firearm-related injuries and deaths. . . thus, there remain opportunities for enactment and implementation of these laws . . .” Is that too obvious? The paper’s agenda is to reinforce the idea that more laws “may” reduce shooting casualties, and we should take every opportunity to pass them. “May” is the weasel word that reveals their own awareness that more laws won’t necessarily do that—and we well know that with 20,000+ plus gun laws already in place, the evidence shows that more laws can’t.

They get something right in pointing out that past behavior is the only useful indicator of future behavior, meaning violence for this discussion. Listing studies that demonstrate that’s true for firearm use adds nothing substantial, but implies there is something special about violent men using firearms that they couldn’t accomplish otherwise.

Be alert to their reference to “case control studies”, too. In these, rather than examine real-world changes in trends of the possibly dependent variable (e.g., shooting deaths, violent crime, etc.), researchers choose and shape control comparisons to fit the study topic. You know what it means when researchers get to make up their own control sets, right?

Further on, we learn that “the odds of intimate partner homicide were higher among violent male intimate partners who had access to a firearm . . .” Does that mean that access to a gun promotes homicide? They might like us to think so. But it also can mean that more violent males who would murder are more likely to get and use guns. Or that when a gun is present there’s more chance of a shooting than when a gun is not available (a tautology). Association is not causative, which the word “odds” implies. (See our “Reading ‘Gun Violence’ Research Critically” here if such manipulations interest you, with its companion article here.)

They like states that also prohibit gun ownership for histories of misdemeanor violence convictions. But they have to admit that “[e]vidence of the relationship of misdemeanor violence firearm prohibitions with nonpartner violence is mixed” at best.

They tout adding dating partners to the roster of restraining order-eligible parties, and denying firearms along with those orders. Yet their own numbers show that when this “broader group of high-risk individuals are prohibited from firearm access” there is actually a slightly higher rate of intimate partner homicide, with an insignificant improvement from the calculated baseline rate. “Mixed” evidence, indeed.

Throughout the paper, research comparing one state to another, or somehow calculating the effects of a law after it is enacted, is proffered as definitive. (For example, here.) But the only meaningful control for an intervention is the change in trend of the study variable in the same place before and after the intervention. Otherwise, it is comparing apples with oranges. And even then the problem of confounding, sometimes unknown variables can exist during the same time period that are more likely causes of change than the studied variable may be. Just because associations are seen does not prove they are primary cause and effect.

A final swipe is taken at the substantial body of research that clearly shows that expanding concealed carry is not even associated with greater homicide or violent crime rates. John Lott has done yeoman’s work for years on this, and the most recent (contradicting their claim) and excellent study of nationwide trends came from DRGO author Mark Hamill, MD.

So round and round and round we go, where we stop nobody knows.

—Thomas E. Gift, MD is a child and adolescent psychiatrist practicing in Rochester, New York, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical School, and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

All DRGO articles by Thomas E. Gift, MD

— DRGO Editor Robert B. Young, MD is a psychiatrist practicing in Pittsford, NY, an associate clinical professor at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

All DRGO articles by Robert B. Young, MD

The Deacons for Defense and Justice

DRGO

March 7, 2019

[Ed: This is the inspiring true story of men who took up arms to defend their families, communities and movement during the 1960’s Civil Rights conflicts. It reminds us why firearms must be in the people’s hands when authoritarian government would maintain its monopoly of arms. DRGO friend Philip Smith, President of the National African-American Gun Association, originally published this in its latest member newsletter.]

The Deacons for Defense and Justice was an armed African-American self-defense group founded in November 1964, during the civil rights era in the United States, in the mill town of Jonesboro, Louisiana. On February 21, 1965—the day of Malcolm X‘s assassination—the first affiliated chapter was founded in Bogalusa, Louisiana , followed by a total of 20 other chapters in this state, Mississippi and Alabama. It was intended to protect civil rights activists and their families. They were threatened both by white vigilantes and discriminatory treatment by police under Jim Crow laws. The Bogalusa chapter gained attention during the summer of 1965 in its violent struggles with the Ku Klux Klan .

Founding of The Deacons for Defense

African Americans were harassed and attacked by white KKK vigilantes in the mill town of Jonesboro, Louisiana in 1964, also burning down five churches, their Masonic hall and a Baptist center. Given the threat, Earnest “Chilly Willy” Thomas and Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick founded the Deacons for Defense in November 1964 to protect civil rights workers, their families and the black community against the local KKK. Most of the Deacons were veterans with combat experience from the Korean War and World War II.

In 1964, during Freedom Summer and a period of extensive voter education and organizing for registration, especially in Mississippi, the Congress of Racial Equality established a Freedom House in Jonesboro. It became a target of the Klan who resented white activists staying there. Because of repeated attacks on the Freedom House, as well as the church burnings, the Black community decided to organize to defend it. Thomas was one of the first volunteers to guard the house. According to historian Lance Hill, “Thomas was eager to work with CORE, but he had reservations about the nonviolent terms imposed by the young activists.”

Thomas, who had military training, quickly emerged as the leader of this budding defense organization. He was joined by Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick, a civil rights activist and member of SCLC, who had been ordained that year as a minister in the Pentecostal Church of God in Christ .

During the day, the men concealed their guns. At night they carried them openly, as was allowed by the law, to discourage Klan activity at the site and in the black community. In early 1965, Black students were picketing the local high school in Jonesboro for integration. They were confronted by hostile police ready to use fire trucks with hoses against them. A car carrying four Deacons arrived. In view of the police, these men loaded their shotguns. The police ordered the fire truck to withdraw. This was the first time in the 20th century, as Hill observes, that “an armed black organization had successfully used weapons to defend a lawful protest against an attack by law enforcement.” Hill also wrote: “In Jonesboro, the Deacons made history when they compelled Louisiana governor John McKeithen to intervene in the city’s civil rights crisis and require a compromise with city leaders — the first capitulation to the civil rights movement by a Deep South governor.”

After traveling 300 miles to Bogalusa, in southeast Louisiana, on February 21, 1965, Kirkpatrick, Thomas and a CORE member worked with local leaders to organize the first affiliated Deacons chapter. Black activists in the company mill town were being attacked by the local and powerful Ku Klux Klan. Although the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had been passed, blacks were making little progress toward integration of public facilities in the city or registering to vote. Activists Robert “Bob” Hicks (1929-2010), Charles Sims, and A. Z. Young , workers at the Crown-Zellerbach plant (Georgia-Pacific after 1985, later acquired by another), led this new chapter of the Deacons for Defense.

In the summer of 1965, they campaigned for integration and came into regular conflict with the Klan in the city. The state police established a base there in the spring in expectation of violence after the Deacons organized. Before the summer, the first black deputy sheriff of the local Washington Parish was assassinated by whites.

The militant Deacons’ confrontation with the Klan in Bogalusa through the summer of 1965 was planned to gain federal government intervention. “In July 1965, escalating hostilities between the Deacons and the Klan in Bogalusa provoked the federal government to use Reconstruction-era laws to order local police departments to protect civil rights workers.”

The Deacons also initiated a regional organizing campaign, founding a total of 21 formal chapters and 46 affiliates in other cities.

Members of The Deacons for Defense

The Deacons had a relationship with other civil rights groups that practiced non-violence. Such support by the Deacons allowed the NAACP and CORE to formally observe their traditional parameters of non-violence.

The Deacons were instrumental in other campaigns led by the Civil Rights Movement. Activist James Meredith organized the June 1966 March Against Fear, to go from Memphis, Tennessee , to Jackson, Mississippi. He wanted a low-key affair, but was shot and wounded early in the march. Other major civil rights leaders and organizations recruited hundreds and then thousands of marchers in order to continue Meredith’s effort.

According to in a 1999 article, activist Stokely Carmichael encouraged having the Deacons provide security for the remainder of the march. After some debate, many civil rights leaders agreed, including Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Umoja wrote, “Finally, though expressing reservations, King conceded to Carmichael’s proposals to maintain unity in the march and the movement. The involvement and association of the Deacons with the march signified a shift in the civil rights movement, which had been popularly projected as a ‘nonviolent movement.”‘

FBI investigation begins in 1965

In February 1965, after an article in The New York Times about the Deacons in Jonesboro, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover became interested in the group. His office sent a memo to its Louisiana field offices: “Because of the potential for violence indicated, you are instructed to immediately initiate an investigation of the DDJ [Deacons for Defense and Justice].” As was eventually exposed in the late 1970s, the FBI established the COINTELPRO program, through which its agents were involved in many illegal activities against organizations that Hoover deemed “a threat to the American way”.

The Bureau ultimately produced more than 1,500 pages of comprehensive and relatively accurate records on the Deacons and their activities, largely through numerous informants close to or who had infiltrated the organization. Members of the Deacons were repeatedly questioned and intimidated by F.B.I. agents.

Harvie Johnson (the last surviving original member of The Deacons for Defense and Justice) was interviewed by two agents during this period. He said they asked only how the Deacons obtained their weapons, never questioning him about the Klan activity or police actions they were responding to.

VIDEO ON DEACONS OF DEFENSE CLICK BELOW:

Most histories of the Civil Rights Movement tend to overlook such organizations as the Deacons.

There were are several reasons for this: First, the dominant ideology of the Movement was one of non-violence unless they were attacked.

Second, threats to the lives of Deacons’ members required them to maintain secrecy to avoid terrorist attacks. In addition, they recruited only mature male members, in contrast to other more informal self-defense efforts, in which women and teenagers sometimes played a role. Finally, the organization was relatively short-lived, fading by 1968. In that period, there was a national shift in attention to the issues of Blacks in the North and the rise of the Black Power movement in 1966. The Deacons were overshadowed by The Black Panther Party, which became noted for its militancy.

All DRGO articles by Robert B. Young, MD

The Simtek Sensor – Security Of the Future

Travis Pike

March 7, 2019

Firearm security comes in many different ways. The old stand by has been a big chunk of metal with a door that we call a safe. It works for sure, but can we make it better? Simtek says we can. Their new security sensor is designed to make storing guns safer and more secure overall.

A Modern Answer to an Age-Old Question

The Simtek Sensor looks like it was ripped from the chest of Tony Stark. As a sensor, it is designed to alert you via text message whenever it senses motion or light. Simply said if you place it in a safe it will detect when the door is opened or when there is movement.

It’s a small modern design. Lightweight makes it easily be attached to a wall of any kind via any hardware store method. It comes with two 3M attachment strips. One for the Simtek sensor and one for the antenna.

It runs on a single CR123a battery or you can recharge the unit with a micro usb cable that’s included. The system has an internal lithium ion battery that is designed to last for months.

The Simtek is capable of detecting any motion in a 15″ X 15″ room. This is the standard room size for most houses and apartments.

Using the Simtek

Setting everything up took about ten seconds. Plug the battery in, put the antenna together and place the Sensor where you want it to be. Download the app, scan the QR code on the back and go through a 2 minute set up process.

Gun safes are already pretty safe places to store firearms. I found an additional use for the Simtek sensor.

As a writer in the firearm’s industry, I have lots of stuff in my office. This includes knives, ammunition, tools, gun parts, cleaning chemicals and more. I have a workbench dedicated to gun building where parts may get stored. From dangerous stuff like endmills and hammers to the mundane 80 lower jigs. In that same office closet is a safe full of guns.

I have a pretty strong lock on my office door and it stays locked, as does the closet. Locks are great but this works as a second active layer of defense to give me peace of mind. If I’m not home no one should be in my office. If someone opens the door I’ll know.

How Do I Know?

The Simtek is likely one of the best tools not only to keep thieves away from your dangerous tools, but to keep kids away too. The Simtek adds another layer of security and serves as an active alert should a little one go snooping.

Of course the best defense against gun accidents is proper safety training, but we build defense in layers. Proper safety training, a safe, and then a Simtek.

To test the Simtek sensor I set it up in the same cabinet where my son’s snacks sit. With Valentines day just recently over a school party left him flush with candy. I figured I could set up the sensor to catch him in the act of stealing candy without permission.

I tried it myself a few times, opening the cabinet and sticking my hand in. The text message isn’t immediate, it took approximately 10 seconds. Not much time in the grand scheme of things.

I set it up and waited. Counting on the sweet tooth of a 7 year old. On the times he had permission I got to see how responsive the system was. I could be working out, writing, mowing and the text would come in immediately after he’s asked.

That was until a few mornings ago I caught him in the act. I was getting ready in my bathroom and he was supposed to be dressed for school. My morning symphony of violent gangster rap was interrupted by a text message and push alert from the Simtek app.

That little turd was in the candy cabinet. I snuck into the kitchen in time to see him throwing the wrapper away. His hands as red as a communist. He was caught and he knew it.

The App

The Simtek Sensor works hand in hand with an app that allows you to review previous alerts, as well as their location down to the lat and long.

The App also displays the battery strength and signal strength. It’s handy for keeping an eye on the system and making sure it’s working.

Lastly the system can monitor more than one Simtek sensor and you can wire multiple units together into one device. You can also add different users so multiple people will get these alerts.

Simtek Security

The Simtek sensor works over cellular based line and not Wifi. Cellular systems are more secure and less reliant on an easily corruptible signal. This does mean monitoring will cost 4 dollars a month per sensor, so factor that in. 4 bucks is a couple of energy drinks and its hardly something to notice 4 bucks a month out of your budget.

From my perspective the system is all about the safety and security of my family and my firearms. However that’s really limiting the potential of this device.

It can be easily used to track luggage, watch out in garages, storage, or anywhere else you need an extra eye. The Simtek sensor is an affordable and easy to use means of further securing your home. Remember defense is always done in layers.

How Accurate are The ‘Shorties’?

Keith Finch

March 6, 2019

We love comparing the merits and limits of various systems. However there is still a tumultuous amount of myth that gets thrown into the fact pile when it comes to a firearm’s properties.

One myth I hear to this very day is that “shorter guns are less accurate.” Not the case. It’s a gross misrepresentative understatement of the more complicated series of influences that govern practical accuracy.

9-Hole Reviews takes on the myth in their practical accuracy drill. They return one of the best performances in the drill’s history. It’s a telling tale on a few points.

A short barrel is accurate
Muzzle velocity is what suffers greatest detriment
Good optics vastly increase a shooters ability to address targets

The reasons a shooter may be less accurate with a shorter carbine are the same reasons a heavier rifle is often more accurate in any given shooters hands than a lighter one. Match guns for service rifle competition are weighted down to 14+lbs, the heavier rifle mitigates excess movement.

Guns with 14.5″ and 16″ barrels usually sport equally advantageous ergos helping to stabilize the shooter/weapon interface. The same factors lending to the perception that long guns are “more accurate” have led to the adoption of the longer freefloat handguards, better stocks, and better triggers.

Accuracy is about reducing the influencing factors that create variances between the shots. Minimize all the other motions and you maximize the repeatable accuracy.

This plays out in the accuracy test. When the short rifle is stabilized its accuracy is on par with longer rifles. The greatest observable difference is in the terminal ballistics. The M193 (55gr ball) has significantly less observable impact on the steel plates. The 20″ barreled M16 produced more energetic hits but the 10.5″ completed the course in 24 rounds compared to the M16’s 25 with ACOG and 21 with iron sights. The iron sight run was also a much slower rate of target engagement.

In short, accuracy is a culmination effort. Shooter skill in specific application combined with the quality of rifle, ammunition, anniclary gear, and physical conditions.

STREAMLIGHT® INTRODUCES TLR-VIR® TACTICAL ILLUMINATOR

Keith Finch

March 5, 2019

Low-Profile Light Features Three Functions, Adjustable Eye-Safe IR Aiming Laser

EAGLEVILLE, PA, March 5, 2019 – Streamlight^®, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance lighting and weapon light/laser sighting devices, introduced the TLR-VIR^® II, a lightweight, compact rail-mounted tactical light with a high intensity white LED, an integrated infrared (IR) LED illuminator, and Class 1 “Eye Safe” IR aiming laser with windage and elevation adjustment controls. The new light securely fits all long guns with MIL-STD-1913 rails and M17/M18 pistols.

The TLR-VIR II enables users to easily toggle easily between bright light and the IR illuminator/laser. This feature allows military and law enforcement personnel to remain in a proper firing position when making the transition from IR mode to white light, and vice versa. The light features a three-position mode rear selector switch, including IR illumination/IR laser, Safe Off (to prevent accidental turn-on), and visible illumination, that enables users to keep hands away from the muzzle during mode selection.

“The TLR-VIR II gives soldiers and first responders the ultimate in tactical lighting flexibility,” said Streamlight President Ray Sharrah. “With its high intensity white light and a long-running IR illuminator and Eye Safe IR laser for optimizing night vision, it’s an essential tool for those deploying with weapon lights.”

The new light, which is powered by a single CR123A lithium battery, uses the latest in LED technology for ultra-bright visible light, providing 5,000 candela, 300 lumens and a 1.5 hour run time. For IR lighting, the TLR-VIR II uses an 850-nanometer LED emitter with 600mW/sr radiant intensity, providing optimum illumination when using night vision equipment; it delivers a run time of 12 hours. Its IR aiming laser has fully adjustable windage and elevation settings.

The TLR-VIR II has an ambidextrous momentary/steady on-off switch. Like other TLR^® models, the light has a rail clamp that can be easily attached and tightened with one hand, without the use of tools. The IR illumination/laser mode selection also features a tactile indicator on the light housing for switching modes with ease.

The TLR-VIR II is constructed from machined aircraft aluminum, with an anodized finish body and a high-impact, chemically resistant polymer black switch housing. The compact light weighs only 3.82 ounces and measures 3.30 inches long and 1.40 inches high. It uses a high temperature, shock-mounted, impact-resistant Borofloat glass lens. It is available in black and coyote.

Featuring extensively live-fire tested construction, the TLR-VIR II has an IPX7 rated design for waterproof operation to 1 meter for 30 minutes. It has an MSRP of $600.00.

About Streamlight

Based in Eagleville, PA, Streamlight, Inc. has more than 45 years of experience making tough, durable, long-lasting flashlights designed to serve the specialized needs of professionals and consumers alike. Since 1973, the company has designed, manufactured and marketed high-performance flashlights, and today offers a broad array of lights, lanterns, weapon light/laser sighting devices, and scene lighting solutions for professional law enforcement, military, firefighting, industrial, automotive, and outdoor applications. Streamlight is an ISO 9001:2015 certified company. For additional information, please call 800-523-7488, visit streamlight.com or connect with us on facebook.com/streamlight;twitter.com/Streamlight; instagram.com/streamlightinc; https://www.linkedin.com/company/streamlight-inc.; andyoutube.com/streamlighttv.

Glock MOS – Tupperware… with a Scope

Travis Pike

March 5, 2019

I’ve learned never to be a first line adopter of a gun, a video game console, or really any new piece of tech. I like to wait until all the bugs are ironed out. That’s how I felt with red dots on handguns. I wasn’t sure if the hype was worth the investment, the time to relearn how to sight in, or the extra cost associated with a red dot on a handgun.

Then the Glock MOS system premiered.

I didn’t want to spend money on an optic and milling a slide to accommodate said optic and then not really like or see the point of a combative red dot handgun. The Glock MOS offered me a pre-milled slide with interchangeable plates that would allow me to attach over a dozen different optics. I still waited and played squirrel in the road until I found a deal I couldn’t pass up. A combination Glcok 17 MOS and a Burris Fastfire for basically the price of a Gen 5 Glock 17.

I snatched it up, rushed home to install the optic and immediately stripped the top screw that held the plate on. The screws Glock includes are garbage. I stripped it with the provided wrench just trying to loosen the top plate. Luckily we got it out and I ordered aftermarket Glock MOS screws which were much higher quality immediately for a grand total of 6 bucks.

Also the included sights are garbage, as all Glock OEM sights are. Sadly, the rear sight was pushed far enough to the left it was nearly hanging off the side. It’s an annoying detail but they were soon replaced anyway. I got the Fastfire 3 installed onto my Glock MOS and was happy to hit the range.

Inside the Glock MOS

The Glock comes with 4 different plates that mount to the milled slide. You have to match the plate to your optic and several optics are compatible with the plates. This includes optics from Burris, Trijicon, Meopta, Docter, Vortex, and more. Interchanging the plates is easy and you should certainly Loc Tite them down once installed.

The MOS system does offer more points of failure compared to a purpose built milled slide, and does hold the optic higher. If I was a police officer or soldier I would get a purpose milled slide for duty use. For me, this worked.

The Fast Fire (not pictured) installed easily enough. The rear iron sight sits behind the optic but is too short to cowitness, so you’ll need suppressor height sights to do that.

Other than that this is a standard Gen 4 Glock 17. Complete with terrible finger grooves, slide biting slide, weird grip angle, ultra small slide lock, and all. As you can tell not a huge fan of the ergonomics. They work, and their problems won’t cause you to miss your target. That’s all you.

I like to say that the Glock is a high five and guns from SIG, HK, and CZ are handshakes.

Bang Bang Time

This isn’t an article on red dots as a concept but its a review the Glock MOS system and the Glock 17 it’s built into. Outside of the Glock’s rough ergonomics the gun runs and that’s a big reason why Glock is so successful as a company.

Their guns freakin’ work and work well. After owning the gun for nearly a year now its been used for all sorts of tasks. This includes as a carbine, a braced pistol, and to test a wide variety of magazines and ammunition. The slide was even tossed onto a Polymer80 Glock frame a friend made for testing and it all worked.

Steel, aluminum, brass, and even zinc cased ammo has been through this gun. It’s one of my major go tos for part swapping and experimenting when reviewing parts.

When the optic is properly loc-tited it doesn’t move. I did read that the Glock screws included with the gun are too short. These short screws cause the optics to come loose. I wish I hadn’t tossed them out in the first place to test the stock options. My aftermarket screws are slightly longer and are a very solid fit.

Trigger and Recoil

Glock’s triggers are great duty gun triggers. The trigger has a very positive reset and short travel. It’s not perfect, and I did replace my trigger shoe with a Suarez International model. Same pull and weight, just a smoother overall trigger.

The trigger is consistent, and something can be said for that. With the addition of an optic, I could really back off and ring steel for an incredible distance with little practice. The dot moves quite a bit but this forces you to really exercise proper fundamentals. Plus it’s easier to see smaller targets with the dot than a front sight.

The Glock 17 is a full sized 9mm gun so recoil is pleasant and plenty controllable. The optic obviously reciprocates with the slide but it is very easy to get back on target. Shoot, find the dot, shoot again. With practice you can develop a fast sight picture and trigger pull. Combined with the gun;s low recoil and you can play the song of your people without missing a note.

Accuracy Is King

Without a doubt, after some practice, the dot was the more accurate option. At close and extended ranges I produced smaller groups with the red dot than the iron sights. The Glock MOS combined with the Burris Fastfire 3 has been a winning combination. I’m currently messing around with the NC Star VISM Flipdot so you’ll see it mounted here.

I found the Glock MOS to be plenty stable with aftermarket screws and the optic never moved once Loc-Tited properly. The design isn’t perfect and the optic is a little higher than most. However, this is a much more affordable option than a milled slide.

There are some trade-offs, but I can’t see those trade-offs being worth the 150 dollar mill job, along with the wait, and hope the guy is good with his tools. The MOS system offers shooters a reliable and easy way to add an optic to their gun without spending much more than your average Glock.

The Glock MOS series has moved on to the Gen 5 series of guns now, which I feel ergonomically are much more superior. However, the Gen 4 price difference may make a big difference for some. The Gen Glock MOS system is wel ldesign and functional. I have some minor gripes but a Glock is a Glock and gun is easy to use, reliable, accurate, and infinitely modular.

AVOID PEEKING

A Girl and a Gun

March 1, 2019

Many shooters peek at the target while they’re shooting. This is a bad habit that can be difficult to break. In this video, AG & AG’s Director of Training, Tatiana Whitlock, explains why:

Sometimes peeking is an exaggerated movement over the sights
and sometimes it is a tiny shift. Either way, peeking adds time to your ability
to quickly recover your sight alignment and get your next shot on target. It
also shifts your mental focus away from your fundamentals of grip, stance,
trigger press, etc. (your emphasis) to the target.

The target is a great way to evaluate what modifications you
need to make to hone in your groupings; however, it’s not an intermittent gauge
while you’re conducting your course of fire.

Finish your course of fire with solid fundamentals, and your
target will be there to review afterwards.

SOURCE ARTICLE: https://www.agirlandagun.org/avoid-peeking/

Real Avid Tools Make Maintaining Your Firearms Easier

Scott Smith

February 28, 2019

One of the most innovative companies to come along in a many years is Real Avid. Real Avid has put a modern more user friendly spin on firearms maintenance and field care. Back in 2012 I was first introduced their tools. It seemed Real Avid had but a handful of items, now they have dozens of tools to take care of your AR, AK, Glock, 1911, shotgun and most any other firearm. Real Avid was gracious enough to get us preproduction samples allowing The GunMag readers to have the first look at a few items.

At the 2019 SHOT Show Real Avid introduced their largest tool kit to date; AR15 Master Armorer’s Kit. This kit will give you virtually everything you need to maintain your AR style rifle or build your own custom AR. When I say everything, I mean everything from cleaning picks to a torque wrench to properly tighten the castle and barrel nuts.

Let’s take a look at the kit. First off is the carrying case. Unlike many kits on the market that come in a “case” that lasts about as long as the first use, Real Avid ships this kit in a case built to keep your tools properly stored for years to come. This kit was designed for the anal retentive with ach tool having its own spot. Tools lock into its spot and save for tossing the kit, they stay in place. I feared everything would a shambles when I knocked it off my desk chair. Thankfully all the tools were still in place.

Back in November 2, 2018 GAT Daliy did a review of major items in this kit: Master Bench Bloc, Master Armorer’s Wrench and Pin Punch Kit. These tools are all on my bench and get used regularly. The Handguard removal tool makes removing and installing M4/AR15 GI style forearms easy as opening a bottle of pop. The pick set gets into all the nooks and crannies to thoroughly clean your AR.

The most unique item in the kit is the Lug-Lok Vise Block. This block fits into the barrel chamber to give you a solid base to remove/replace barrel nut work on the upper receiver without stressing the pivot pins or indexing pin on the barrel. I have seen bad things happen when you over torque these points. Note to use the Lug-Lok, the receiver extension must be removed.

Other handy tools include Pivot Pin Tool and lock, a safety flag, front sight tool and Smart Vise Block. This block is unique because it can be tensioned to fit mag wells to reduce shake when working on the upper receiver or installing new optics. You can invert it to make installing a pistol grip or work on the lower receiver easier. Whoever you give this $249.99 gift to will think of you every time they use it, especially when it makes working on their AR easier.

Not everyone owns an AR, perish the thought; but if you are reading this odds are you own more than one firearm. That means you need a tool kit specifically designed for firearms. Yes you can have Allen wrenches and numerous screwdrivers from big box stores but they are not firearms specific. Most Allen sets do not fit the nuts on scopes and various firearms. The screwdrivers you find at big box stores are not designed for screws used in on scopes and firearms. Not to damage these screws you need properly designed tools. The tools found in Avid’s Real Driver 90 are built for working on firearms not cars or around the house.

If you do not want to strip firearms screws you need bits that truly fit the screws. When I say fit, they need to be squared not tapered to the tool end like wood working/mechanics tools. Square blades fill the entire screw slot to reduce the odds of stripping the head and evenly applying pressure to the entire screw head. This ensures that you apply even pressure to the entire surface area, helping prolong the life of the screws and screw holes. The same is true for Philip’s head screws. They too are generally flat at the bottom of the screw, a pointed it will slip and strip the head.

While you can buy Allen wrench sets, most are not small enough for the screws and bolts that secure scope bases and adjustment screws. I have discussed many mini red dot scopes when I cannot zero them because I forgot the OEM wrench.

To ensure you keep the screw blade in the slot, Real Avid has a “force assist” which is another driver to fit into the handle. This will allow you to get extra torque on stubborn screws. If you need a smaller driver handle tool bits will fit this grip. The button in the handle of the main driver is a light to illuminate your immediate work area. I found this to be most useful at the range where lighting is not optimal for field repairs and adjustments. The Real Driver 90 is worth every penny of its $99.99 MSRP because it will save time and aggravation.

Real Avid’s tools generally come in a secure case, while their Glock Tool folds like a pocket knife. Instead of a cutting blade the four blades are tools. There is a punch, front sight driver, flat blade driver and .050” Allen wrench. The 3/16” magnetic hex wrench fits front sight nuts, while the Allen wrench tightens most aftermarket rear sights; the flat blade removes the locking block and works on adjustable rear sights while the punch is to remove pins.

Real Glock Tool literally is a complete tool kit for a Glock in your pocket. I cannot count the number of times this $24.99 tool would have come in handy to help fellow shooters at a match or just plinking at the range. Just saving one loose front sight when it is loose will cover the cost of this tool.

Since using Real Avid’s Pistol and Rifle Tools, I have been a fan. They are worth every penny and are tools I use regularly. You will find them to be some of the best and most innovative in the industry.

Oppressive antigun measures do not promote public safety

DRGO

February 28, 2019

(from theregister.co.uk)

[Ed: This piece is excerpted from a much longer, and well worth reading, seven-part series first published by our colleagues at The Arbalest Quarrel on February 6, 2019.]

Oppressive antigun measures do not promote public safety

Removal of guns from society won’t promote public safety. It never has; never will. (See . . .“The Failed Experiment, Gun Control and Public Safety in Canada, Australia, England and Wales,” Public Policy Sources (Number 71, November 2003), by Gary A. Mauser.) And, if, perchance, someone could prove, by argument, it did, it would never be worth the price of sacrificing our sacred rights and liberties. But, they can’t prove that draconian gun control measures will ever make the individual or . . . society as whole . . . any safer.

[Many a]ntigun politicians . . . probably [know that], but pretend otherwise. It fits the[ir] narrative . . . [even though]. . . the statistical evidence patchy at best. So antigun proponents squash debate, offering simplistic slogans in lieu of facts; in lieu of sound reasoning. . . . Many Americans want to believe the[ir] lies. Cognitive dissonance and confirmation bias kicks in to assist the gun grabbers’ false messaging.

Antigun zealots reduce discussion to two simple, basic declarations, one the corollary of the other: arms expansion endangers the public; arms reduction promotes public safety. Americans hear the message often. Through vehement exhortation and constant repetition the gun grabbers imprint their message on the public psyche.

The clarion call for mass arms reduction demands submission to governmental authority. Antigun proponents impel the public to rebel against their own best interests: to abandon a sacred right. They promise societal tranquility and serenity, if Americans but heed their call.

They [also] crush dissent. A sacred right for them is an object of scorn, emblematic of a “gun culture.

Antigun measures target average law-abiding citizens, not the violent criminal

Millions of law-abiding, rational Americans cherish the fundamental, unalienable right of the people to keep and bear arms [and to] exercise that right. These citizens don’t cause gun violence. If they did, Americans would see carnage on a scale beyond that unleashed by psychopaths, terrorists, drug cartel members, and garden-variety criminals, living among us.

Antigun politicians should deal with these violent elements. They don’t.

Hundreds of antigun federal and State Statutes, and many more local codes, rules, regulations, and procedures have done little to curb gun violence. . . [S]uch measures target millions of average, law-abiding, rational Americans, who don’t commit gun violence. Antigun measures do significantly less to target the fringe element of society, that do commit gun violence.

The idea that fewer firearms in the hands of everyone will reduce gun violence is erroneous. [But f]or many people, the argument has an aura of plausibility, as so many wrong theories do. Consider instances of violent crime in the EU, and in Mexico and Central American Countries. The citizenry of these Nations has suffered, notwithstanding strict regulation of firearms.

And, no matter how many restrictive gun measures exist, it is never enough.

Antigun politicians call for ever more restrictive gun legislation. They direct antigun legislation [at] the law-abiding, rational American citizen. They maintain the pretense that once no law-abiding, rational American citizen has access to firearms, every law-abiding, rational American will be the better for it; will be safe and secure.

It is the mass of citizenry that antigun politicians seek to control; even if they state it is the criminal, the sociopath, the lunatic they seek to constrain and restrain. The extent and nature of antigun legislation bears this out. . . They seek to control the citizenry because they are distrustful of it.

This distrust in the Nation’s citizenry, in whom ultimate authority and power resides, consistent with the will of the founders of a free Republic, the founders of an indestructible Constitution, is endemic among those who espouse a collectivist agenda, reflected in totalitarian societies that have forever espoused strong Government control over . . . the citizenry. Societies structured on the precepts of Socialism, Communism, and Fascism exemplify this. Despite the subtle differences in economic and political ideology of these various totalitarian systems, they are all grounded on the notion of Collectivism—consisting of a set of precepts, completely at odds with those that define Individualism.

It was through application of the latter set of precepts, those grounded on Individualism, not the former, those grounded on Collectivism, that our founders drafted a Constitution upon which our Nation was founded and on which a great Nation has long stood. The new radical Left in this Country, . . . seeks to turn on its head all that our founders have accomplished.

Of the enumerated fundamental, unalienable rights, Leftist politicians know, the one etched in the Second Amendment is most difficult to dislodge. But these politicians are tenacious.

Leftists abhor the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution, more so than any other elemental right set forth in the Bill of Rights, because [it] constitutes the greatest threat to their accumulation of power and their ability to maintain power over the American people.

The three antigun planks

Although gun laws enacted by Congress, State Legislatures, and subordinate bodies of the States, are numerous and complex, the strategy undergirding them is simple. That strategy has three primary planks. Each Governmental measure falls into one or more planks, and Leftist, antigun politicians . . . often pursue all three planks simultaneously. These three planks are as follows:

One, continually expand the domain of banned firearms, ammunition, and firearms’ components and paraphernalia.

Two, continually expand the domain of individuals who cannot lawfully own or possess firearms, ammunition, and firearms’ components and paraphernalia.

Three, . . . make the exercise [of the right to keep and bear arms] so onerous, so pernicious, so expensive, that few of these individuals will wish to continue to do so.

Through it all, there may be a silver lining for those of us who cherish the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. . . .

[T]he Conservative wing on the United States Supreme Court will [we believe] continue to review antigun laws that impermissibly impinge on and infringe the Second Amendment, and . . . strike down unconstitutional laws, rules, regulations, codes, and procedures. The U.S. Supreme Court has done remarkably well with the issuance of favorable rulings in the seminal Heller and McDonald cases. While reluctant to take up any Second Amendment case since then until very recently, the fact that the high Court has now voted, finally, to hear a straightforward Second Amendment case, in the decade since Heller and McDonald, this may very well augur a good sign for things to come, apropos of preservation of our sacred Bill of Rights. . . (See our article, posted recently, titled, “U.S Supreme Court To Hear New York Gun Case; Mainstream Media Visibly Worried.”)

We must let Republicans in Congress and in State Government [and] the President know, too, that . . . preserving and strengthening the Second Amendment is . . . critical to the safeguarding of a Free Republic, and the safeguarding of our Nation’s Constitution, and the safeguarding of our Country’s core values, history, and traditions .

All DRGO articles by Robert B. Young, MD

Meopta USA Sport Optics Introduces Straight-Body MeoPro HD 80 Spotting Scope

Keith Finch

February 27, 2019

TAMPA, FL, February 27, 2019 – Meopta USA Sport Optics is pleased to introduce a straight-body model of its award-winning MeoPro HD 80 spotting scope. Originally available in angled-body only, the MeoPro HD 80 spotting scopes feature a one-piece design with a fixed 20x – 60x eyepiece. The large 80mm fluoride objective lens delivers maximum light transmission and razor-sharp resolution in low light while eliminating color fringing, making it easy for hunters to assess game at long distances.

The MeoPro HD 80 has a rugged, fully-armored magnesium alloy body, and Centric-Drive™ mid-body focus control that is easy and fast to use, even with gloves on. MeoBright™ ion-assisted multi-coatings eliminate glare and reflections while delivering exceptional color fidelity. Meopta’s MeoDrop™ hydrophobic lens coating ensures the highest level of visual clarity in the field, easily repelling rain, snow, skin oils and dirt while the MeoShield™ anti-abrasion lens coating protects external lens surfaces from scratches.

“We are excited to finally offer our customers a choice between angled and straight body in our MeoPro HD 80 spotting scope,” said Randy Garrison, Director of Meopta USA Sport Optics. “The MeoPro HD 80 is a high-performance spotter that has been a big seller for us. Hunters, optics experts, guides and outfitters quickly recognized the exceptional value of this optic when we introduced the first model, and we continue to deliver European-quality optics at great price points across all of our lines.”

Meopta’s MeoPro HD 80 spotting scopes are nitrogen purged, waterproof, fogproof and shockproof. The MeoPro HD 80 is available separately or as part of a kit that contains the new Meopta Carbon Fiber Tripod with ball head and pan-tilt head, universal smartphone adapter and premium carrying case, in addition to the spotting scope.

Retail Pricing:

MeoPro HD 80 Spotting Scope (Straight or Angled): $1,599.95

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

Specifications:

Objective Lens (mm): 80mm fluoride lens

Eyepiece: Integrated 20x-60x eyepiece with twist-up eyecup

Body type: Straight

Lens Coatings: MeoBright, MeoDrop, MeoShield

Close Focus (ft): 26.2 ft

Focus control: CentricDrive, oversized, mid-body

Chassis material: Magnesium alloy

Armor: Full rubber armor

Tripod Collar: Rotating, integrated tripod foot (no adapter required)

Tripod Thread: ¼ – 20

Waterproof: yes

Nitrogen Purged: yes

Shockproof: yes

Exit Pupil (mm): Min – 1.4mm, Max – 4.05mm

Dioptric Compensation: +/- 5

Eye Relief (in): 0.73 in

FOV (degrees): Min – 2.06º, Max – 1.26º

FOV ft. @1000 yds. Min – 107.9 ft. Max – 66 ft.

Apparent FOV (degrees): Min – 40º, Max – 65º

Twilight Transmission (%): 87

Length w/eyepiece (in): 15.2 in

Weight (oz): 68 oz

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.

Shotgun 101 – She’s All About the Shuck-Shuck

Dr LateBloomer

February 27, 2019

When it comes to firearms, usually I am in the position of learner not teacher, but I had my very own adventure in mentorship last weekend. I took my adult daughter to the shotgun field for a +ONE day.

For those who haven’t heard of it, the +ONE Movement is a mentorship initiative launched by the National Shooting Sports Foundation. This goes hand-in-glove with the websites letsgoshooting.org and letsgohunting.org, and is aimed at increasing the ranks of shooters and hunters by having experienced folks bring another person (plus one) into the ranks.

Both of my daughters learned 9mm handgun several years ago under the tutelage of Babes With Bullets Camp, but neither one had ever handled or shot a shotgun before. (I’ve only been doing it myself for 3 or 4 years). This daughter (the forestry major) had expressed an interest in starting to learn hunting with me, so we ventured out together on a recent Saturday afternoon.

I brought four of my shotguns to the range for her to try.

A Benelli 828U 12 gauge

A Benelli ETHOS 12 gauge

My late father’s now vintage Remington 870 Wingmaster 20 gauge

A Mossberg 500 20 gauge Bantam/Youth that I found at a pawnshop

After refreshing her on the Four Rules of Gun Safety and how they applied to shotguns versus pistols, I introduced her to each style of shotgun in turn. We started with my over and under Benelli, then progressed to the pump guns, up to the semiauto.

This girl (she may be 27, but she will always be my little girl) was all about the shuck-shuck. You should have seen the grin when she racked that first pump gun!

As we worked our way through my guns, she “liked” my Benelli 828U, and she appreciated the heritage of her grandfather’s gun, but racking that Mossberg became her new mission.

The way she explained the pump preference to me was that unlike the OU or the semiauto, when she racked a new shell with the pump she KNEW she was ready to go. She also liked that on the 500 the safety was on the tang for thumb operation. It seemed more natural to her.

That is also my personal preference. For me, I don’t want to be fumbling around with my trigger finger, looking for the safety. I don’t want to do ANYTHING with my trigger finger except index it straight, or pull the trigger. A thumb-operated safety allows for that.

The youth stock Mossberg fit her comfortably, and that’s the gun she stuck with the rest of the time we were on the range. It was a cold Saturday with temps in the 30’s, so we had the shotgun field all to ourselves for two whole hours. She just kept asking for more shells and we kept setting up more clays on stands.

I was actually thankful for our solitude. I didn’t want her to feel any pressure at all from well-meaning strangers. We took our time, she got to try a new skill at her own pace, and we didn’t have an “audience”. Because we were alone I also let her shoot from a seated position as if she were at the base of a tree, hunting squirrels.

The girl shot almost 75 shells on her first time out before her arms started getting tired. I was so proud of her! I checked in with her by text the next day and she said she wasn’t even too sore. That’s my girl …

Next time maybe we’ll work on some flying clays, but I need to get her to an actual shotgun instructor now too. I don’t want to let too many of my own bad habits get ingrained in her and I don’t know how to “fix” things like little aiming issues with shotguns.

I’ll leave the rest to the professionals, but it was an auspicious beginning that I hope will be the start of great adventures for her in the future. She’s even got her hunter safety course all lined up already! Judging by the grin, I think we’ve got a permanent +ONE.

Why? LPVO or Red Dot: Sage Dynamics

Keith Finch

February 26, 2019

The Low Power Variable Optic (LPVO) is coming into its own in the shooting community in force at the moment and the questions keep rolling in as to… why?

Why do I need this high priced LPVO optic compared to a red dot or fixed power sight? Even in the affordable optics categories lower cost LPVOs are 2x-3x the cost of a dot.

Do I need this?

Aaron Cowan over with Sage Dynamics takes an objective look at some of the information surrounding this question. (Yes he says LVPO not LPVO, we’re a dyslexic bunch and we talk a LOT for a living, same same)

But incase you don’t want to watch the video (shame on you) this gist of it centers on a few points

An LPVO can do everything a red dot sight can to nearly the same efficiency a red dot can. The only thing the red dot excels at functionally is the issue of eye relief.
A red dot cannot do everything an LPVO can, especially when it comes to target observation at any significant distance. You can hit a static target at distance with irons, a red dot, or an LPVO, but only the magnified optic will give you the ability to discern detail. After about 50 yards positive identification with the unaided eye gets harder and harder without extra information.
Mission requirement is a very important point. If the rifle you are equipping is not meant to push outside a short distance defensive envelope, a red dot serves your needs just fine. If you want the rifle, even SBR, to have enhanced capability beyond the unaided vision distances a LPVO is a better option

For a quick run down out of my personal inventory:

My SCAR 16: My go to all purpose rifle runs an ACOG. I’m favoring my training bias on this one but the TA31 gives me greater vision over distance while I can still shoot CQ with the Bindon Aiming Concept, BAC is a learned skill just like mastering a DA/SA trigger but it is still my preference.
My LWRCi PSD: My “EDC” rifle is an SBR running a TA44 1.5X ACOG, it’s essentially a red dot +. The TA44 gives a small advantage at slightly greater distances over red dots but is functionally still in the shorter distance envelope. I’ve been equally happy running an Aimpoint CompM5 in that role too. Close distances set up.
My SCAR 17: Running a LPVO/MPVO US Optics B-10 the advantages on detail observation at all distance beyond 50 meters are substantial. Detail becomes key in a shoot no shoot whether you are engaging a threat or picking your shot on a game animal. The only real trade offs are weight and hands off control.

Jase Winner @ SHOT Show 2019

Keith Finch

February 26, 2019

What’s up Party Peeps!? Jase here and this is my SHOT Show 2019 report.

SHOT Show was… an experience (a really awesome experience I might add). There was a lot to see and a even more going on. Thousands of products and tens of thousands of people. There was seriously so much going on that if you looked at any one thing too closely, or for too long, you missed a bunch of other stuff because there are only so many hours in a day. Prioritizing your to do/ to see/ to meet list is a real thing. In order to really break down SHOT Show and try to understand/explain what all went on I’ve broken it down into three parts.

The products.

The people.

And the experiences.

So here we go, SHOT Show through the eyes of a 15 year old shooter.

THE PRODUCTS

Guns, gear, and random stuff. From the useful to the straight outrageous it was all there packed into the Sands Convention Center. I saw a lot of really cool stuff, a bunch of just stuff, and even a few pieces of “What the heck is that?” stuff. But realistically the single best part about the products was getting to “play with” all of the items I had seen online or heard about from friends.

Take the Walther Q5 SF, Bill Blowers of Tap-Rack-Tactical (check him out if you want to be a better shooter, or just better at life) has been plastering the Interwebs about this gun like it’s the best thing since sliced bread. Well when I finally got to hold it and feel the gun, trigger, etc… BAM! Suddenly I understood and now I’m totally hooked on it because it’s a pretty fantastic pistol.

Nighthawk’s pistols were another one of those companies that I had heard much about but not really experienced (dumping a magazine of ammo after class with Steve Fisher doesn’t really count, especially if I didn’t know it was a Nighthawk). It was nice to spend a couple of days talking to the Nighthawk crew and checking out the hardware. Ergonomics, form, function and overall awesomeness of the slides and triggers… Yep, you know I’m a Nighthawk fan now!

Knights Armament Rifles, I knew who they were but didn’t understand how great a weapon system their SR15 was until my new buddy Ash Hess broke it all down for me. I’m definitely a fan of that ambidextrous life, so KAC had me. They were ambi, balanced, and built for hard use. They were beautiful.

UNITY Hot Button & UNITY 2.26” FAST Mounts, these WILL be on my Tac rifle sooner or later… The HOT Button is genius, it’s one of those simple items that make you ask why it wasn’t developed sooner. The 2.26” high mounts are awesome and the In-Line Magnifier mount is super slick.

I’ve got an Aimpoint PRO waiting for a FAST mount and am saving up for my Magnifier for the In-Line mount. Mr. Josh was an excellent source of info at the UNITY/TNVC booth and definitely sold me on all three products (which wasn’t hard to do when I already sold myself lol). When it comes to UNITY & TNVC… Josh and Chip are definitely my go to guys!

Aimpoint optics (ACRO-P1…Want, want want!), Marlin Rifles (an 1894 in .357/ .38 with Midwest Rail is in my future… probably the distant future, but my future non the less!), B.E. Meyers MAWL (How cool is it that I got a guided tour of the MAWL from my good friend Chuck Pressberg!), Vertx Gamut bag and tourist jeans (in depth look at the products brought to you by Mr. Ron at Vertx), Victory First V43 & V17 slides(and lots of quality convo time with Mr. Matt), ect.

All of these things I had seen on the internet but hadn’t really gotten to feel and understand and work through the products. SHOT Show gave me that opportunity. You know what else SHOT Show gave me, a really long and very expensive shopping list for the next year, but that just gives me something to work towards I guess. (OK seriously, who needs their lawn cut, wood chopped or pool cleaned… anyone need a kidney?)

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