Finger Position, Triggers, & Accuracy

March 31, 2024

I’m guilty of it. I’m guilty of telling people the amount of finger they put on the trigger matters; in fact, I used to think it mattered a lot. The problem was that I never really went out and tried it myself. By the time I considered myself a decent shooter, I had forgotten the importance of the trigger finger. I remember the classic graph someone made that said if you’re using too much trigger finger your rounds will hit here. If you use too little trigger finger, your shots will hit here. Does finger position matter?

Remember those diagnostic targets that were popular a decade or two ago? They advised the same thing. The question is, does it matter? Does it really? To what degree does it matter, and is it universal or maybe applies more to one weapon and one task than all of them? Before we go out and find out, I have a theory. I’m betting with a handgun within 25 yards. It doesn’t matter at all. I grabbed the Sig Sauer P365 I carry everyday and a few boxes of ammo, and went to the range.

Finger Position — Too Little & Too Much

I started with a simple printed Sage Dynamics target at a mere ten yards. I began with too little finger on the trigger and fired a simple three round group. My finger was on the trigger only enough to pull it. Not bad, fairly typical. I repeated the process with way too much trigger finger, literally as much as I could put through the triggerguard. I fired my three round group and it was near identical to the first group.

Finally, as a control group, I fired three rounds with what I figured was the perfect grip. Again, the groups were identical. I seriously have a problem keeping one round tight to the first two. I’m not sure why, but with each group, I dropped a round a good bit away from the main two rounds. That’s a major annoyance for me personally, but it’s not tied to my finger position.

I backed off to 25 yards and used a steel gong. I repeated the three-round test, with my finger position in the too little, too much, and just right positions. The end result was the same. I landed all three shots on target without any issues. Even at 25 yards, there isn’t a variable that is big enough to cause a miss. So, does finger position matter, specifically with a handgun?

No, but yes.

Let Me Explain

My finger position doesn’t matter for overall accuracy. Regardless of where it is, I can still hit the target and generate the same accuracy. When it comes down to our accuracy testing, there isn’t a problem. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to use just the right finger position. You don’t have to be incredibly specific, but you should be somewhat specific.

I did a little more than accuracy testing slow fire. I ran a few Bill Drills and 10-10-10s and discovered there are some limiting factors with improper finger position.

Too little finger on the trigger means you are going to lose control of your trigger and it will slip off the trigger. When it slips off the trigger your firing cadence goes to hell. Then you have to find the trigger again and get back on target and resume firing. You’re losing fractions of a second and risking speed.

Too much trigger finger, especially on a small gun, is just uncomfortable. Too much trigger will find your finger rubbing on your support hand in a not-so-comfy manner. Plus, it might catch on your support hand and prevent you from fully pulling the trigger or allowing the trigger to fully reset.

Finger position matters a little. When it comes to accuracy, the most important thing is grip. A strong, consistent grip is what allows you to shoot accurately and consistently. You can pull the trigger any which way but loose and still shoot accurately, as long as your grip is steady.

Outside of Handguns

When it comes to precision rifles, I’d assume the trigger finger position matters a good bit more than with handguns. I’m no precision shooter, but I did some research and found plenty of precision shooters with accolades advising of proper finger position. To the degree it matter I can’t rightly say. I’m willing to bet it is more about consistency than the measurement of position. It just turns out pulling with the pad of your finger is the easiest way to be consistent.

Overall, if you want to shoot accurately, worry less about your trigger finger position and more about your grip. However, make sure the trigger finger can consistently pull the trigger without unintended interruption. It’s that simple.

“The AR-15 isn’t a military weapon…”

Keith Finch

March 31, 2024

M4withtango6t — Ooga Booga Booga - Assault Rifles, apparently

Okay folks, I’ve had it.

The saying always goes something like “The AR-15 isn’t a military weapon, the M4/M16 are totally different.”

Really?

They are totally different? So when the US Air Force purchased select-fire AR-15’s they weren’t military weapons? The US Army adapted those into (eventually, after a snag and snafu or two) the Technical Data Package for the M16A1, and in that instant it became a totally different gun?

It magically materialized mystical military might when the ‘M’ designation got tossed on the front of it, eh?

Stop. No More.

The M16 and M4 are AR-15s. They are just specific AR-15s.

M16 Vs. AR-15

It is astonishing to me how many groups online, especially veteran groups full of people who carried these professionally, will shout at the top of their caps lock about how the M16 is totally different than the AR-15. Vastly different. Not even remotely the same. Leagues and leagues apart. Two totally separate machines that bear only surface deep resemblance.

Now if we were talking about the M1 Garand and the M14 you could be onto something. But the M16 and most commercial AR-15’s have nearly universal parts interchangeability. How is that so if they are totally different?

In instances where the parts are not interchangeable, this was usually done for one of two reasons. Reason one, the part is proprietary and looks to enhance a function through its departure from the conventional design. The KAC E3 Bolt for their SR-15’s for example. Reason two is that the company is leaping through hoops of flaming pedantism to separate their product just enough from a ‘military model’ to satisfy some arbitrary rule emplaced upon them by government busybodies, while not altering the fundamental mechanics of the firearm. An example would be the Heckler & Koch SL8, which is just an HK G36 dressed like a dork because a dork makes the export people happy.

I blame the industry’s ‘Modern Sporting Rifle’ phase. Where we went so out of our way to show that these normal firearms are.. well.. normal.. that we avoided certain terms like the plague. We hid so snugly in our “Wellll ACHuaalllllyyy…” rabbit holes that we got lost within.

This is compounded by the fact that people pontificating upon the vast gulf of difference in ARs and M.. Rs? should not be doing so. They don’t know. These same folks will proudly and confidently enter Ye Olde Local Gunstore, grab literally any brand of cheap AR-15 off the wall, and then proudly proclaim how it is “exactly what I carried in _______.”

Bro, that is an ATI. The receiver is plastic and the barrel is steel in mostly a notional sense.

You can get a near 1:1 copy of your issued rifle, from a company that actually makes that issued rifle, using nearly all of the same exact parts. But it isn’t $569.

What did they change so it isn’t a “weapon of war” anymore?

Well, nothing that makes it any less useful. Just some stuff to make the folks in D.C. smugly happy they did something.

Differences

Difference one, lack of auto or burst components. These are a small selection of springs, a lever, and slightly different trigger group parts that allow the gun to fire in full auto safely. Yes, safely. You can totally turn your semi-auto AR-15 into a “fully auto” bullet hose with “a file” like the rumors say, but that is literally breaking the safe function of the rifle and is hellaciously not safe to do. Screw the illegality of it, you’re risking an unsealed detonation of 50,000 psi right next to your face because the auto/burst components aren’t there to safely regulate the automatic setting. Don’t do that. It’s dumb.

Difference two, because the M4 uses a 14.5-inch barrel, per its specification, this consumer facing model must have a “permanently” (not removable by hand or simply a wrench and torque) attached muzzle to make the arbitrary ‘safe’ length of 16 inches. This is to comply with the National Firearms Act.

In every single other respect, that is your M4. Except it is new and hasn’t been dropped repeatedly, stacked, lost, found, left in a port-a-potty, left on a mountain, cleaned excessively because staff had nothing better for troops to do, and so forth.

You can also build out a better rifle than the M4, one that uses higher quality materials, higher quality coatings, is better attuned to commercially available ammunition, better accuracy because you can use a floated barrel, and many many many other personalizations that can enhance how this very simple and effective personal firearm fits into your life.

“But, Keith… War..”

Shut it. Stop. The AR-15 is a personal weapon and we haven’t fought wars with only personal weapons since… ever. Siege engines are in their 28th century. We’ve had siege artillery for about 24 centuries. Even when the personal weapon is the primary method of injury it is using those personal weapons in some manner of coordinated formation that facilitate the conduct of warfare. The AR-15s physical existence does not make it a weapon of war, its use in warfare by regular and irregular forces conducting their operations does.

The use in warfare does not in any way, shape, or form make something unsuitable for use by an individual not participating in a war. The AR-15 is so good as an individual rifle because it is… a good rifle. It is well designed, light, reliable, and simple to learn and use. Well designed, reliable, and simple to use are traits we desire out of every one of our tools, if at all possible. Phones, cars, computers, ladders, DIY furniture items, all of these that are worth the money you spend on them share those same traits with the AR-15.

So… Enough

2024 we stop the mind numbing madness of the M4 being this ‘wholly different machine’ (yet somehow with all interchangeable parts) from the AR-15. It’s an AR. The M16 is an AR. The Military uses ARs and so do we.

We have more of them and a lot of ours are nicer.

Rise of the Zombie Guns

Travis Pike

March 30, 2024

You ever have one of those days where you open up the internet and ready what has to be the dumbest thing you’ll read that day? Typically it’s a Twitter hot take, but this time it came from the mouth, or well, desk of an elected government official. A government official making $174,000 dollars to represent the great state of Florida. His name was Maxwell Alejandro Frost and he’s introduced a bill focused on closing the Zombie Guns Loophole.

Frost represents Florida’s 10th Congressional District, is a Democrat, and has worked as the national organizing director of March For Our Lives. He’s worked on numerous Democratic campaigns and received over a million dollars from Ponzi-scheme enthusiast Sam Bankman-Fried and his associated Super-PAC.

The Rise of the Zombie Guns

Yep, first it was ghost guns, now it’s zombie guns, and apparently a loophole. Of course, anything gun grabbers dislike becomes a loophole because it’s a war of vocabulary rather than actually just using any form of factual and logical arguments. If you, like me, are quite confused about what a zombie gun is, could be, or how we can close a supposed loophole.

Frost defines it for us: “zombie gun is exactly what it sounds like – it’s a gun that should not be living, it shouldn’t be able to operate, it shouldn’t be in use, and it shouldn’t be able to harm or claim another life – but it does,”

According to Representative Frost, the zombie gun loophole is a loophole that allows “gun disposal companies to only destroy one part of a gun before reselling the remaining parts as a kit that could be used in the next act of gun violence that devastates a community.” I didn’t realize there were gun disposal companies. He later clarifies via his website that:

…government agencies across the country are unknowingly fueling a secondary gun market when they send retired, seized, and surrendered guns to gun disposal companies that destroy one small part of the gun and resell the rest. In most cases, purchasers are even able to avoid the most basic requirements, such as a background check.

Oh Wait, Zombie Guns Still Don’t Make Sense

Oh, so he’s talking about companies who agree to destroy seized guns in states that mandate that and actually destroy the serialized portion of the firearm. They destroy the frame or receiver of the firearm but sell the pieces from the gun on the secondary market. Make no doubt about it. Like most anti-gun politicians, Mr. Frost knows nothing about guns. A lawmaker should know that the frame or receiver is the firearm. These companies are destroying the firearm.

The second part, regarding background checks, is laughable. Do I need a background check to buy grip screws for my gun? What about a magazine follower? He continues to elaborate by saying:

“Closing the loophole that has allowed gun destruction companies to collect taxpayer dollars for only destroying one part of the gun and not the whole thing is undoubtedly contributing to the gun violence we are seeing in our communities today. I refuse to see another life taken or another family devastated because of gun violence. We need to destroy zombie guns now.”

Education Optional

Knowledge of firearm laws would help Representative Frost immensely. If he had a little bit of an education on this, he’d know the companies are destroying the gun. That ‘one part’ of the gun is the portion considered the gun. In most cases, all of these parts can be found elsewhere and purchased as parts. Closing this supposed loophole won’t have any effect on gun violence.

The effect will just be shutting down a fairly small stream of niche parts being sold on the aftermarket. The press releases and several co-sponsors state that this bill will be effective in stopping gun violence. Do they, at any time, point to a single time when a zombie gun has ever been used in a crime?

Nope

Do I believe that Representative Maxwell Frost believes this will stop any gun violence? No, I don’t think so. It’s a vanity bill. A bill that targets a very niche thing that will get Frost media attention. I live in Florida, and I’ve never heard of this guy til now, so it’s working. Sadly, he picked one of the dumbest things he possibly could to be a vanity bill.

Is all press good press? Maybe, but man, oh man, I wouldn’t want my name on this bill. Do I think it will pass? Not a chance, but I’m betting Frost thinks the same way and he can get a double dose of fame when the bill fails and he can complain about zombie guns again. Good gosh, maybe they can target werewolf guns next. You know, those guns that become more dangerous under a full moon.

Canik TTI Combat: First Impressions

P.E. Fitch

March 30, 2024

At SHOT Show 2024, Canik unveiled the new 9mm Canik TTI Combat, a gun designed and produced from a collaborative effort with TTI (Taran Tactical Innovations). This isn’t a full-on review, but I wanted to share my first impressions of the gun because the first batches are arriving from Turkey and starting to ship to dealers. I’m far from ready to pen my official review, but I picked mine up a few days ago. The next day, I had the chance to not only zero the dot but also put some rounds through it. This gun was certainly one of the most attention-grabbing items at the Century Arms booth this year.

^{The Canik TTI Combat on display at the Century Arms SHOT Show 2024 booth.^}

Canik TTI Combat

All Canik handguns including the new TTI Combat 9mm are based on a simplified version of the Walther P99’s proven semi-auto striker-fired action. In fact, Walther itself still uses a very similar P99 action, as seen in both the Walther PPQ and the Walther PDP. And although I had some issues spring up with my steel frame Rival-S after the initial review, I still very much enjoy this pistol and think it makes a fine shooter. (These issues had more to do with the challenge of taking a polymer-frame based design and translating them into the production of a metal-framed pistol. As far as I know they’re past that learning curve, because I’m still seeing the Rival-S showing up at matches or other shooting events).

In the case of the new Canik TTI Combat, it takes after the Canik METE series. Everything about the new TTI Combat has been spec’d out by Taran Tactical Innovations themselves and this gun is also the first Canik factory handgun to ship with a compensator along with a spiral fluted ported barrel. I plan on shooting/reviewing this gun with Canik’s Mecanik MO3 reflex sight: this is their big window, competition-focused reflex sight with a 6 MOA dot. The Canik TTI Combat on display at the Century Booth [pictured above] also had the Mecanik MO3 mounted. The MO3 itself also intrigued me because I don’t see or hear much about these in general.

Canik TTI Combat Details

The Canik TTI Combat’s unique slide serrations and lightening cuts along with the combination of bronze Cerakote contrasted with black polymer frame makes the TTI Combat stand out. It’s outfitted with a very nice trigger and compared to the METE’s moderate default grip texture, the TTI Combat’s is considerably more aggressive. Lastly, the standard iron sights are fantastic and provide the shooter an awesome sight picture. The rear sight is plain with horizontal serrations and wide square notch while the front sight is tall and comes equipped with a green fiber optic insert. I fell in love with this sight picture and almost felt bad having to mount the dot, but it’s 2024.

For optics, the Canik TTI Combat’s slide is cut the exact same way as the Canik METE slide is, so it can take a Trijicon RMR-CC directly on the metal. Like the METE it includes the standardized Shield RMSc plates. Last but not least, it does include a thin plate with the Trijicon RMR/SRO footprint which is the pattern that matters to me the most, especially because that’s what the MO3 uses.

Mecanik MO3 Reflex Sight — A view through the fairly-new (launched last year) Mecanik MO3 reflex sight. It has a roundish window similar to the Trijicon SRO but has a 6 MOA dot and cat ears instead.

TTI Combat Downrange

My single range session (so far) consisted of zeroing the Mecanik MO3 at 10 yards and confirming zero at 25 yards. With the zero confirmed, I shot the Canik TTI Combat off the bench along with both my handloads and factory loads next to my Labradar chronograph in order to get muzzle velocities and some groups. Once I finished gathering this data ahead of the official review, I also had some fun. I did what came naturally and shot some NRA B-8 targets at 25 yards. I shot 40 rounds for practice and warm up and then shot two 10-round strings at two separate targets for score, for fun and to see what capabilities my handloads gave me.

With my “standard” 115-grain 9mm load that consists of Berry’s 115-grain plated bullet over 4.5-grains of Hodgdon HP38, I shot a 97-1X. I shot the second target with a new load I’ve been working up that consists of 5.2-grains of Alliant Blue Dot under a 147-grain Berry’s plated RN bullet. I shot a 97-5X with a very annoying and disappointing “flyer.” But I’ll take both scores especially considering how new I am to both that red-dot and pistol combination. I know my pistol handloads won’t win any matches on the 50-yard line at Camp Perry but the confidence from knowing they can nail a B-8 at 25-yards is crucial for my purposes in cranking out these handloads.

Looking Forward

Shooting two fairly high scores (for me) with the TTI Combat on its first day out certainly gave me a great impression of the gun, especially with its easy trigger, aggressive grip and excellent iron sights that stand out. Furthermore, having never handled any Mecanik reflex sight, my initial good impression of the SHOT Show floor is still true after mounting it and shooting it 150 rounds in. I’m really looking forward to putting this pistol through its paces. In a rush to get out to the range, I also forgot to wipe down and lube prior to shooting, but the pistol didn’t seem to mind.

Thoughts on The Civilian PDW

Travis Pike

March 29, 2024

AE172B04-7E0F-45C9-A894-28A74C8C0F7B — Flux Defense

I’ve recently taken a renewed interest in the idea of a civilian PDW. The term PDW, or Personal Defense Weapon, has evolved over time. At first, it was a class of firearms that sat somewhere between a rifle and a submachine gun, a notable example being the P90. The Russians were the first to say let’s just make a super short rifle with the AKS-74U, but America has caught up to them. Guns like the SIG Rattler in 300 Blackout redefined the military PDW. In my opinion, the civilian PDW is a bit different, and I’ve been chewing on the idea since SHOT 2024.

Ever since the nationwide brace ban injunction, we’ve seen a new rise in braced firearms. The new P365 Raider from Flux Defense, aka the Panty Raider, is what piqued my interest in the idea. At SHOT, we saw the release of the MP7 from Tommy Built Tactical, a Rock-based MP7 lookalike from PSA, and even a dress-up kit from FarrowTech for the KelTec CP33 that kinda filled that same roll.

These and others, fill that Civilian PDW role and got me thinking about the usefulness of a civilian PDW, what the parameters of one should be, and how would you carry, deploy, and utilise the weapon. With this all in mind, I wanted to explore the concept in a series of articles, starting with this article that lays the general groundwork for the concept.

Putting In The Research

This isn’t an original idea, and I certainly didn’t come up with it. In doing my research, I found it’s been around in a few different forms for quite some time. Arguably, the concept of a truck gun isn’t too far from this idea. YouTuber Brass Facts has a video that I watched during my research. If you’re interested in the concept, watch his video. He lays out some great reasoning, suggestions, and more.

I started with the initial concept of the PDW, which was started by NATO. The idea of a weapon that sits between a pistol and a rifle made sense. It should be small and compact but capable, easy to shoot, and reliable. For the civilian market, it would also need to be concealable for daily carry.

With this loose set of rules, I was able to come up with a few different genres of potential civilian PDWs. My plan with this series is to explore each of these categories with a series of tests that will involve accuracy, speed, ease of carry, deployment, and overall ease of use.

Potential PDWs

I’ve broken down potential PDWs into four categories.

Braced Pistols

By braced pistols I mean kits that are enveloped or engulfed by braces. This genre is mostly dominated by the Flux Raider series and the RT 20/20. I am not including the Roni kits or similiar apparatus. While those are fine for plinking and fun I don’t thing they are fantastic for serious use.

Subguns

Subguns are technically and legally pistols, but I’m separating them for clarity’s sake. These are guns like the CZ Scorpion are pistol-caliber weapons that mimic SMGs. The smallest models, sometimes known as the K models, are candidates for a civilian PDW.

Quick Attach Pistol Systems

An underrated but practical option is a quick-attach brace or stock design that can be attached to your handgun in seconds. This type of system has very limited options, but hopefully, we’ll have more than one to test. It’s pretty far from the civilian PDW but it might be capable.

Folding Rifles

Everyone knows what I mean when I say folding rifle. There are only really two, and that’s the KelTec Sub 2000 and the S&W FPC. These offer a rifle option for a PDW.

Carrying & Testing

I won’t be using a super tactical or specialty bag. I aim to use a fairly standard-looking bag. It can be tactical in some ways but should appear plain and not overly large. I have a few in mind. We plan to get this series kicked off in the next few weeks, so stay tuned and drop in to see where we’ve landed on the civilian PDW.

Old Slabsides

P.E. Fitch

March 29, 2024

I recently reviewed the Tisas 1911A1 ASF single-stack .45-caliber M1911A1 pistol elsewhere which naturally entailed live-fire. The Tisas 1911A1 ASF is neat because it’s a modern replica based on the most common Second World War M1911A1 military pistol, the variant produced in Syracuse, New York at Remington-Rand.

M1911A1 Pistol

While Remington-Rand is tangentially related to the original Remington Arms Company of Ilion, New York, Remington-Rand’s core business was the manufacturing of typewriters. During WW2, they took on a government contract to produce M1911A1 pistols for the war effort. Out of the five different manufacturing concerns that made such guns (Colt, Ithaca Gun Company, Singer, Union Switch & Signal and Remington-Rand), Remington-Rand by far produced the most units from 1943 through the war’s end. As such, Tisas modeled the 1911A1 ASF on this commonly produced Remington-Rand variant. Besides the profile of the grip-safety, they did a very good job. Assembled parts fit well, slide-to-frame fit is very reasonable with only a bit of rattling, and the manganese phosphate (parkerized) finish.

There’s very few things that aren’t faithful to the original pistols made during the war. One is the omission of the original style steel firing pin for a more modern [and safer] titanium unit. The other is that the supplied magazines are different in the witness hole pattern and follower shape. Of course these magazines are also modern production items from Mec-Gar. For a gun that has a list price of $479 MSRP, it’s really not bad for the money at all. And unlike other Tisas M1911A1 catalog offerings, this handgun is parkerized instead of Cerakoted. Not only does it look right and feel right, but I think it helps in reliability. When it comes to certain critical dimensions and the differing thicknesses between surface treatments, things can get funny. Historical underpinnings aside, this might be the Turkish gunmaker’s best USGI style 1911.

NO EXPECTATIONS

This post isn’t about the Tisas per-se. Honestly, when I took on the assignment to do the main review elsewhere, I was primarily interested in the gun’s historical angle. Initially, I was indifferent at the notion of shooting yet another plain-jane pistol with crappy USGI sights and basic features. Including the lack of ambidextrous safeties. After all, this isn’t the first M1911A1 clone I’ve shot, and it probably won’t be the last.

I’ll confess that I pulled up to my gun club with no expectations. I actually ended up enjoying the review and had some fun shooting and running a vanilla 1911, even with the grip-safety burrowed into the back of my hand and rubbed my skin off in that spot. I even ran it under a shot timer for a couple of runs and managed to shoot .21 splits with 230-grain ball ammo (power factor 190.44) on some Bill Drills.

THE EPIPHANY

Again, showing up to shoot a plane-jane with bad sights and a standard 16-lb recoil spring that favors reliability over smoothness, made me feel somewhat ambivalent about it. Nonetheless I applied the finer details on handgun shooting that I picked up from Hunter Freeland while shooting this review. Freeland is a talented shooter and the way he drove his Staccato-P left an impression on me. Since I was shooting a 1911, this was subconsciously on my mind.

After all, what is a Staccato, but a modernized 1911 with double the capacity?

So as I’m mindfully going over the various skills from his course in drawing, gripping, prepping and shooting this 1911 for the review, it hits me: The true beauty of this 113-year old design. The core elements of the 1911 really do make for a wonderful shooting pistol. The 1911 draws well, presents well and points well. The proportion between the size of the trigger guard and the rest of the fronstrap is conducive to an excellent support-hand grip. And the trigger–oh man, even the basic GI trigger on this pistol is hard to complain about. In spite of the fact that it has the shorter A1 style trigger shoe, it consistently breaks at 4.5-lbs and has such a lovely reset.

Without her “make-up” and extra add-ons in the way of extended beavertails, ambi-safeties, magwells, better stocks, etc, the 1911’s true beauty and utility shined through and made itself known in a way I had never before seen. But it’s not something I’d have been able to pick up until reaching a certain level of experience. Even though this plainjane gun leaves much to be desired in almost every category such as sights, capacity, on-board features, tuning, etc, I also began to look at it in a different light after recognizing the gun for its basic virtues.

STATING THE OBVIOUS

I suppose you can summarize this whole post by simply saying “shooter of the new generation discovers what the geezers have known since the dawn of time.” But in all seriousness, it’s cool to see from my modern perspective how an ancient design can clearly show all the underpinnings needed in a performance pistol.

Happy March 29th!

HUSH LITTLE RIMFIRE

Linas Cernauskas

March 28, 2024

Unless you have a Nagant revolver or figured out a way to seal the escaping gases between the cylinder gap, a suppressor on a revolver won’t help you much. Sure, you’ll reduce the sound signature but only about one to two decibels. A better way to reduce your sound signature is by finding some subsonic rimfire ammo to work it. Aguila and CCI offer ammo to help bring your rimfire revolver bark down to suppressor levels I tried three of them to see what would work for me and my nine-shot, 4.75-inch barreled Heritage Rough Rider.

Aguila Super Colibri

This 20-grain lead bullet cartridge was hands down the quietest of the three, but it also had the lowest velocity of just 590 feet per second (fps). There is also no felt recoil at all, and it is just a blast to shoot. It is a perfect cartridge for small-game hunting, target shooting or getting someone new behind the gun.

Aguila Sniper Subsonic

This other load from Aguila is recommended for use in barrels longer than 20 inches. Of the three, it is the heaviest at 60 grains and the quickest at 950 fps. It was quieter than a regular .22 LR, but definitely not as quiet as the Super Colibri. I did get some keyholing with this load, which wasn’t surprising, as it needed a longer barrel to help stabilize the bullet.

CCI Quiet-22 Segmented HP

This CCI load was the Goldilocks cartridge for me with a bullet weight of 40 grains and a velocity of 710 fps. The bullet is designed to separate into three equal parts upon impact. As far as noise level, it was quieter than the Sniper Subsonic, but not as quiet as the Super Colibri. I find this load the best for taking care of pests and varmints around the home.

Wrap Up

I would suggest the trying out the Sniper Subsonic load if you plan to use the Heritage Rancher Carbine or a 16-inch barreled Rough Rider. The other two loads are perfect for discreet target shooting, taking small game, pest/varmint control or teaching someone new to shoot. Either way, the combination of these loads and the Rough Rider made for a fun time at the range.

The Nomenclature of Handgun Sizes

Travis Pike

March 28, 2024

The firearms industry and standardization are not good friends. For some reason, choosing one pattern for anything is often terrifying. It’s why we still have a dozen different optics cuts. One thing the industry has more or less standardized on is handgun sizes. We seem to have settled into a comfortable area for the various handgun sizes, so I figured I’d break it down for new shooters and give them an explanation of these more or less accepted sizes.

Digging Into Handgun Sizes

There are seven major handgun sizes that are more or less reserved for automatic handguns. Revolvers are a bit of their own world, of various sizes, for various purposes. We’ll cover automatics today and revolvers in another article. These sizes aren’t quite universal but are as close as we can get in the firearm industry.

Full Size

Full size is the duty-sized handgun variant. They are typically defined by a barrel length between 4 to 5 inches. These guns are typically around 5.5 inches tall and hold anywhere from 15 to 20+ rounds of ammunition when chambered in a caliber like 9mm. They tend to be doublestack firearms in the modern era. They are a popular choice for duty carry, competition, home defense, and concealed carry, with those who go a little hardcore with it.

Compact

Compact can be deceptive in its name. I’ll admit, it was the first time I saw a gun described as compact. I thought it was a bit of a bad description. Compact guns tend to have barrel lengths that are 3.7 to 4 inches or so. The height is about five inches max, and they also tend to have doublestack magazines. These guns are often considered the perfect jack-of-all-trades handgun size.

A new type of compact in the form of guns like the P365XL and the Hellcat Pro has introduced a thinner-than-average compact option as well. They are well suited for concealed carry, duty, and home defense.

Subcompact

Subcompact guns typically have a barrel length between 3.1 to 3.5 inches and tend to be 4.17 inches tall. These smaller firearms can come in both single-stack designs and doublestack designs. Most of the time, the subcompact handgun sizes are smaller versions of duty-sized and compact firearms like the Glock 26 and SIG P224.

Most companies also defined their single-stack 9mm handguns as subcompacts. Guns like the Walther PPS and Glock 43 tend to be thinner but roughly the same size in terms of length and height as their doublestack alternatives.

Micro Compact

Micro compact brings us a relatively new set of handgun sizes. These guns came about in 2018, and they were started by the premier of the SIG P365. A micro-compact tends to have a barrel length of about 3 inches and a height below 4.5 inches, depending on the magazine length. The defining feature of these firearms is their 1 to 1.1-inch wide grips with the ability to hold at least 10 rounds in a flush-fit magazine. These guns are typically reserved for concealed carry.

Competition / Long Slide / L

When we reach the bigger-than-duty size length, we start to see a mix of terms used to describe the guns. The two most popular are competition and long slide, with L often being the marker of a Long slide variant. These guns feature barrels that are typically 5.25 to 6 inches long, but they can be longer on occasion. This section of handgun sizes makes use of full-sized frames, so the height is still around 5.5 inches. These tend to be guns used for competition and hunting but are also somewhat common duty and home defense options.

X / Carry

Handgun sizes are always evolving, and one of the newer options is the X or Carry Models. Glock and SIG started the theme. Glock has the most famous model in the form of the Glock 19X, but SIG also has the P320 Carry, and the Arex Delta X is another X model. These guns combine a compact-sized slide and barrel length with a full-length grip module. They are popular for reasons unknown to me, but they tend to fill the same genre of firearms as compacts and are popular as jack-of-all-trades guns.

Pocket Pistol

The smallest of automatics are known as pocket pistols. These firearms are named because they very easily drop into your pocket. They often have single-stack magazines and feature a capacity of six to seven rounds. These guns have barrel lengths between 2.5 to 2.8 inches. They tend to be in calibers like .380 ACP and .22 LR, but .32 ACP and .25 ACP are not unheard of.

Handguns Sizes & You

In this online age, more and more people are shopping online. I often find that online descriptions are somewhat lacking. Some people may be looking for something that’s more akin to a micro compact and think the gun-size compact will fit their needs. Hopefully, this will give you a quick reference to handgun sizes and their uses.

EDC BARREL UPGRADES

Linas Cernauskas

March 27, 2024

One of the most American things you can do is to take something you own and make it personable to you. We do it to our houses, cars, trucks and even firearms. It’s an American tradition to take something stock, tinker with it, and make it yours and one-of-a-kind. Then we show it off to our friends and family with a “look what I did” grin on our faces.

BARREL UPGRADES

One of the easiest upgrades to do to your handgun is replacing your barrel. If you know how to field strip your pistol, chances are, you know how to replace your barrel. A typical aftermarket barrel will improve your accuracy by about 10% to 20%. And with the improved accuracy, you can also add some flair to your handgun. Most of the barrels are offered in various colors, threaded/non-threaded, different styles of thread protectors and several different designs of being fluted.

We’ll look at barrels for two very common and popular platforms, the Sig Sauer P365 and Glock 19. For the P365 variant, Lone Wolf has several new offerings, and Ballistic Advantage also has new offerings for the Glock platform.

Ballistic Advantage

Located In Florida, Ballistic Advantage started making barrels for ARs, eventually teaming up with Aero Precision and offering various AR barrels and receivers. New for them are Glock barrels for the Model 17, 19, 26 and 34. Some of the barrels are offered for Gen 3-5 Glocks, non-fluted, spiral fluted or QPQ Bomber fluted. All barrels are threaded and offered in various colors (iridescent, light gray, copper, gold and black). They also offer two types of thread protectors—the standard and Skull Crusher version (offered in the same colors as their barrels).

The barrels themselves have a SAAMI spec chamber, hood chamfered on three sides, and a unique cam slot positioning. They feature a 1-in-10-inch-twist rate, button rifling and 1/2×28 threaded muzzle. What does this all mean? As Ballistic Advantage calls it, “match grade performance, duty grade reliability.”

I chose the G19 Gen 3 barrel in PVD copper with spiral flutes and their Skull Crusher thread protector in the same finish. The host gun was a Lone Wolf’s 80% Freedom Wolf lower and Zev Technologies OZ9c slide with a Trijicon RMR on it. Installation of the barrel was easy breezy, and I was off to send lead downrange.

I have put almost 500 rounds through the barrel with it showing minimum wear. Shooting off-hand, I did feel that accuracy was improved. As for the looks department, I feel the addition of the Ballistic Advantage copper barrel has improved this G19 clone by 1,000%. Check out all of their Glock barrels and variations at ballisticadvantage.com.

Lone Wolf Arms

Located in Idaho, Lone Wolf Arms for years has been offering various aftermarket parts for Glocks, even recently offering their newest handgun, the Dusk19. Recently, they branched out and offered barrels and slides for Sig Sauer P365 and P365XL under their Dawn line. The barrels are offered in threaded or non-threaded and in ORB, black, FDE and Graphite Gray finishes.

All of the barrels are made from 416 stainless steel with Lone Wolf’s Dawn profile and finished in PVD. The hood pocket and profile facets help reduce the bearing surface for faster cycling and coating wear resistance. The thread barrels all have a 1/2×28 threaded muzzle.

I chose the Dawn365 in the ORB finish, which is dark copper and bronze in color. The host gun was a Wilson Combat WCP365 with a Trijicon RMRc on it. Installation of the barrel was also quick and easy, and I immediately appreciated the new look of the pistol.

The Dawn365 barrel also had almost 500 rounds through it, showing almost no wear. Accuracy, I felt, was also improved. I can’t express enough how much I like the look of the WCP365 with the Dawn365 OB barrel in it. It is a looker. Check out Lone Wolf Dawn products at lonewolfdist.com.

One Other Change

The WCP365 unfortunately came with Sig’s standard mag release, which I felt was too low profile. I switched mine out with a Tyrant’s P365 Extended Mag Release, offered in black or gold. The new release fits all models of the P365 and is made of 17-4 stainless steel. The grooves help for a more positive engagement of the release, and it just feels and looks so much better. Tyrant couldn’t have said it better with, “…this extended magazine release isn’t just an upgrade—it’s a necessity.” Check out their mag release and other products at tyrantcnc.com.

An Examination Of The Guns of Haiti

Travis Pike

March 27, 2024

The country of Haiti has recently been at the forefront of news media. The situation has escalated into violent gangs roaming the streets and ousting police and military forces. These gangs are heavily armed, and the most prominent leader is reportedly a cannibal named BBQ. (The name BBQ is not related to cannibalism, and it comes from a family member’s business.) The news media has given extensive coverage to the situation on the ground, and plenty of photos of armed gang members have circled the world.

These gangs are calling on Haiti’s president, Ariel Henry, to resign. Henry met that request on March 11th, and efforts to create an interim government are currently underway. I have nearly zero knowledge of Haitian politics, so I certainly won’t offer my take on that situation. However, I am fairly knowledgeable about firearms, and the guns of the Haitian crisis have been interesting to see.

The Guns of Haiti

Haiti lacks any infrastructure to produce firearms, and there are no firearm manufacturing facilities in the country. Where did all the guns come from? Many will quickly blame the United States and classify it as a policy failure. Bear in mind they are already breaking several laws, including international laws, to smuggle these weapons into Haiti. How one more law would stop this practice seems to be up for debate.

There is certainly a degree of smuggled weapons. The aforementioned cannibal leader, Jimmy ‘BBQ’ Cherizier, is carrying some kind of PDW-style AR rifle. This seems to be an American-made rifle, likely an illegally smuggled rifle. However, the majority of the rifles I see in the hands of these gang members appear to be taken from the Haitian police and military forces.

A number of the anti-gun pieces on this subject show photos of Haitians wielding a variety of rifles and even belt-fed machine guns, but those aren’t coming from the United States. These are rifles issued to the police officers and soldiers in Haiti. Over and over, I see these articles blaming the United States while the photos they use to illustrate appear to be stolen firearms.

While I don’t deny smuggling happens. The United States has stopped numerous smugglers and seized numerous weapons. However, the guns being used by these gangs appear to be coming from the Haitian government. Whether it’s corruption or theft remains undecided.

Putting an Eye On the Guns of Haiti

The leader of the G9 Family gang, Jimmy ‘BBQ’ Cherizier, wields a short PDW-type AR, much like Bin Laden wielded that famed AKS-74U. It looks to be a 7.5-inch AR with a PDW stock. The rifle utilizes a Magpul AFG grip and a red dot and sling I can’t identify. He’s seen using two ETS magazines that are clamped together with the magazine’s integral clamping device, which now makes them clone-correct for a Haiti warlord build. His gun is the one that stands out the most.

Other weapons likely smuggled from the United States are various AK-type pistols. These guns lack stock and come in numerous sizes. This includes the famed Dracos, as well as some N-PAP designs. I even saw one with a brace adapter but no brace.

There have also been a few AR-15s that appear to be fairly standard rifles. The Haitian military does have M4s in their armory, so some could be stolen, or they could have been smuggled to the country. I think some of these are smuggled because of the lack of sights, non-standard rails, and non-standard stocks.

A few Glocks have popped up, but those are so eponymous its tough to say if they are imported or taken from the military and police.

Stolen Military and Police Firearms

One of the more interesting pictures shows a gang member wielding a shorty G3 rifle with a red dot and a folding stock. It’s crazy short for a .308, but that’s also been a weapon we’ve seen soldiers of the Haitian military utilize. I don’t think .308 offers great short-barrel ballistics, but here we are.

Another rifle that is becoming more and more common amongst the gang members in the IWI Galil. The Hatiain National Police are armed with a variety of Israeli-made weapons, including the Galil, as well as the Negev, which was seen in the hands of gang members as well.

There have also been some M16A2s, which are also part of the armories of police and military forces in Haiti. The same goes for M14 rifles, which have also been seen in the hands of gang members.

The guns we see in the hands of the gangs are mostly the same guns we see in police and military hands. The Galil is the most common, but the M14, M4, shorty G3s, and M16A2s have popped up in police hands. One of the most interesting pictures shows a Haitian police officer wielding an M1 Garand.

A Failed State

Haiti has always been a bit unstable. The current crisis has been in effect since 2018 but escalated very quickly. The mish-mash of small arms comes from several sources, often given as aid. There is no way to know how the situation will end, but as of now, it seems like a lot of Haitian military and police weapons are on the streets.

Terminator & Lasers

Travis Pike

March 26, 2024

The Terminator film is one of the best science fiction movies ever. It’s a thriller, or maybe a horror with elements of action. Imagine a killer robot programmed to pursue and kill you. It can’t be reasoned with any more than your toaster can be reasoned with. It comes at you, and the next thing you know, there is a laser on your chest, and some guy dressed like a homeless person is carrying an Ithaca 37 and telling you to run.

Terminator isn’t a gun film per se, but it did have some pretty cool guns for a 1980s film. One of the famed scenes is our Terminator heading to Alamo Gun Shop to arm up for his pursuit against Sarah Connor. When he’s turned down for a plasma rifle in 40 watt range he settle for Earth’s standard lead throwers. This includes an AR-180, a SPAS-12, an Uzi, and the famed AMT Hardballer Long Slide with the massive laser riding above the slide.

Lasers on guns might seem normal now, but in 1984, no one had really seen something like that. It seems ingenious to use the sight for aiming: just put the laser where you want to shoot, and a bullet will appear. You never have to worry about sight picture or focus; just point and shoot. While I have no definite way to prove it, I bet Terminator would help sell more lasers for guns than any other influence.

Keep in mind that in 1984, the laser attached to the Terminator’s AMT was a one-off design. It didn’t exist on the market. People likely wanted something they couldn’t really get until years later. Where did the laser come from? Well, that’s a bit of an interesting story.

A Terminator & A Laser

Lasers on handguns were new in 1984 and very rare. Only one existed, and they didn’t mount it to a 1911. Laser Products Corporation was the first company to produce a weapon-mounted aiming solution. The original device, the LPC Model 7, was designed to be mounted on a Colt Trooper. It replaced the front and rear sight and sat along the top of the gun.

The LPC Model 7 featured a set of iron sights across the top as well. This system required a massive battery that fit the grip of the Colt Trooper and extended the grip a fair bit. These were big devices with tape switch that activated the laser when the weapon was gripped. The LPC Model 7 was a helium-neon laser and was ruggedized for recoil.

This all comes into play because Laser Products Corporation began making other systems. This includes laser sights for the shotguns that were carried by the police standing guard at the 1984 Olympics. (These same shotgun laser devices would be shown in the Arnold movie Commando as well.) A movie propmaster saw the lasers, and something clicked. He reached out to Laser Products Corporation.

The Terminator Gets His Laser

A mount and laser for a semi-auto handgun didn’t exist at this time period. Laser Products Corporation agreed to build a laser for the AMT Hardballer. Ed Reynolds, the cofounder of Laser Products Corporation, got to work. According to Ed:

“A company called Hemdale [Film Corporation] came along and said, ‘We’ll give you the gun, and you put the laser on it,'” Reynolds recalls. “They provided the AMT HARDBALLER .45 LONG SLIDE. Our Colt Trooper .357 had the same laser configuration, so I took one of those and created a housing for it. I took a standard, off-the-shelf gun mount for a scope, modified that, and we had a product. The only thing I got out of it was the advertising, a hat, a t-shirt, and a sweatshirt.”

Ed’s custom gun didn’t have room for a battery pack. Instead, the battery and laser connected via a wire. They hid the wire in the Terminator’s jacket throughout the film. They built a second non-working model without a wire and without a battery. Ed attached the laser to the gun via a scope mount, and the system utilized a button the Terminator had to activate with his left hand.

It took 10,000 volts to fire up the laser and get it running for the film. All of the scenes in the movie with the laser being used are the actual laser. There were no special effects. It was the actual laser on screen.

Future of Laser Products Corporation

That little company, Laser Products Corporation, well, they became a little company you might have heard of. Laser Products calls themselves SureFire these days. SureFire still makes lasers, but their focus is mostly on lights, with a healthy obsession for suppressors and muzzle devices as well. They’ve come a long way from Terminator, and that Terminator likely helped sell a lot of lasers.

MANTIS BLACKBEARD: RAPID DRY FIRE AR

Linas Cernauskas

March 26, 2024

Want to improve your shooting? Dry fire! What is dry fire exactly? Well, it is shooting your firearm without any ammunition in the chamber. Dry fire enhances your trigger control and your sight acquisition. It works, but it can be a pain with ARs. With ARs you have to run the charging handle. It can lead to improper muscle memory. However, Mantis Blackbeard has changed the dry fire game.

Mantis Blackbeard

Dry-fire practice with your AR has just gotten so much better, also. The Mantis Blackbeard is an auto-resetting trigger that does not involve replacing your trigger. This is a drop-in bolt carrier group and magazine that will work with your current trigger. It will have the same weight, break and reset. There’s no need to run the charging handle after each trigger pull. Plus, it will work with both direct impingement and piston-driven ARs.

Blackbeard allows you to take up to 10 shots per second, quickly resetting the hammer between each shot. The magazine battery pack is good for 100,000 shots per charge and has a battery level indicator on it. The Blackbeard bolt carrier is offered with an optional laser that allows you to see where your shots go.

Rapid Dry Fire

It took less than two minutes to break open a Bravo AR, remove the bolt carrier group, drop in the Blackbeard (make sure the trigger hammer is down), close it up and insert the battery magazine in place. I then had a chance to really feel the trigger without any live ammo. Much to my wife’s disdain, I started doing home clearing drills. There is an audible “click” after each trigger pull, but I was surprised how quickly the trigger reset itself.

Blackbeard is a great system that requires no modifications to your AR. It is available without a laser or with a red, green or infrared laser. I plan on using Mantis’ Laser Academy with Blackbeard that adds practice modes and targets, which require movement, timing and scoring for a much-improved training session. Do yourself a favor and go get a Blackbeard. You won’t regret it. Find yours at mantisx.com.

The Guns of Starship Troopers

Travis Pike

March 25, 2024

The unprecedented success of Helldivers 2 has reawakened the popularity of the film Starship Troopers. Sadly, it’s also reawakened a group of people who think they have IQs because they remark, “It’s a satire….” and then complain about media literacy. Yeah, we all know it’s satire, but that doesn’t make it not cool. Outside of the fart sniffers, we’ve also seen a weird group of folks say the bugs are the good guy.

Regardless, the 1997 film Starship Troopers is likely a core memory for many millennial males, not just because of the co-ed shower scene but because it’s a fun action flick. While it’s supposedly based on the book by Robert Heinlen, it’s a bit of a stretch to find much in common between the two stories.

There are some, but one of the biggest differences is the weaponry. The book had power armor and the common use of nuclear weapons, but the movie had the Morita Mk 1 Rifle. Today, we are going to tackle the guns of the film Starship Troopers.

The Guns of Starship Troopers

Like most 1990s sci-fi action flicks, Starship Troopers used real guns, but they were dressed up to be sci-fi-infused. The film isn’t necessarily famous for its gun handling, but throughout the film, over 300,000 blanks were used. There is a fair bit of gunplay, and one thing the film got right was the commonality of one weapon platform rather than several.

In the film Starship Troopers, the main rifle is the Morita Mk 1. It’s the most common weapon platform we see. The Morita Mk 1 Rifle is a full auto assault rifle in a bullpup format. It has a carry handle that seemingly provides both a front and rear sight. In the film, they are seemingly fired almost exclusively in full auto. The full auto fire rips the limbs off of bugs.

When the gun runs dry or when close-quarter combat demands it, the user can swap to a bottom-mounted shotgun. This pump action design is used by our hero, Rico, as he takes literal chunks out of the bug when he’s cornered during the initial invasion.

Throughout the movie, we see two other variants of the Morita. Next, we see a Morita Mk 1 Sniper rifle, which is identical to the rifle variant, but it features a fairly large, almost comically sized scope. We only see the weapon used once by one soldier.

We have a Morita carbine used by Jean Rasczak and most officers of the Federation. The leader of Rasczak’s Roughnecks carries a shorter version of the Morita and uses it quite a bit. It’s not uncommon for leadership billets to carry shorter, lighter rifles. The Morita Carbine and rifle have the same relationship as the M4 and M16. The carbine version lacks the shotgun attachment.

The Real Morita Carbine

The Morita Mk 1 Carbine is a custom shell built around the AC-556. The AC-556 is the select fire assault rifle variant of the Ruger Mini-14. The shell is composed of the old-school Muzzlelite Bullpup stock kits that were around for Ruger rifles.

They seemed to cut the Muzzlelite kit in half about mid-way through the carry handle. They then extended the shell of the gun to make it a bit bigger. The barrels are tipped with M60 flash suppressors.

The shotguns mounted to the rifles are Ithaca 37s. If you look closely, there are two triggers: one for the shotgun and one for the rifle. The magazines also have a sleeve mounted to make them look a little more futuristic.

Even though the film is tongue-in-cheek satire, the use of one gun as the rifle, carbine, and sniper rifle was clever. It is realistic for a military force. The guns themselves are a bit comically oversized, but it works for the cheesy nature of the movie. It’s easy to see why the film has a cult following, and if you have some time to spare, give it a watch and check out the Morita Mk 1 in action.

TACTICAL WALLS MODWALL

Linas Cernauskas

March 25, 2024

I don’t have any little ones running around at home. OK, I do, but they have four legs. I am almost always at home, and besides carrying at home I like to have shotguns and rifles ready throughout the house. I always felt bad about tucking them into a corner or hiding them on a high shelf. This is where Tactical Walls’ ModWall Patriot Pack comes into play. It allows you to proudly display your wares, while at the same time keeping them at the ready.

ModWall Install & Setup

I was surprised at how easy the install was. All you need is a stud finder and a level. The panels are 22-by-48-by-0.5 inches, so you want to find a wall with ample space. The panels are set up for studs that are 16 inches apart, with 12 screws for each panel. I found getting the bottom panel done first was the easy route. I screwed in one of the middle screws so I could adjust the panel to make sure everything was leveled. After that, just screw in the remaining 11, set the other panel on top, check the level and screw it in.

The set up for the accessories was easy and quick; just follow the instructions. The Patriot Pack came with two AR-15 hangers (left and right), two double-stack pistol hangers (left and right), two flashlight hangers, a large shelf (perfect for storing mags), a vest hanger, helmet hanger and two ModWall Hide-A-Mags (super strong magnets that will hold anything you ask of them). All the accessories are easily moved around on the panels so you can change your configuration to your liking.

Tactical Walls Extras

Tactical Walls offers extra accessories for the ModWall at a great price. You can add on horizontal racks (to show off your unique builds), AR-10 hangers, AK hangers, QLS holster mounts, mag racks, a tactical belt mount, multi-rifle hangers, multi-pistol hangers, revolver hangers and much more. You get the idea.

The ModWall is going to be great to have at my home. I really enjoy looking at some of my gear throughout the day. It is also comforting to know that I have several defensive options at the ready if the need arises. For example, if a coyote gets too close to one of my little ones, I can grab the 300 Blackout pistol off the ModWall and take care of business. The unit also adds to the aesthetics and comfort of my office.

If you don’t have a lot of wall real estate, Tactical Walls also offers a MidMOD Rifle Display Package and ModWall AirMod, to mount your favorite rifle. Give them a look, as they have something for everyone. For more information, visit tacticalwalls.com.

Patterning the Judge Home Defender Part 2 – Normal Buckshot

Travis Pike

March 24, 2024

We shot a wallet’s worth of money in the last Home Defender article, and we are doing it one more time. This time, I grabbed the Home Defender and a few boxes of normal .410. By Normal .410, I mean .410, which is designed for smooth-bore shotguns. It’s the common loads of various buckshot options I’ve found cruising around a variety of outdoor stores. I’ve spent anywhere from $1.50 a round to $3 a round. Sadly, this stuff is more expensive than a good 12-gauge buckshot.

For testing purposes, I patterned each load five times at ten yards. My target is a slightly reduced A-zone IPSC target. The Taurus Home Defender’s rifled barrel tends to play oddly with the patterns of buckshot. From the three-inch barrel,normal buckshot used to create chaos and throw huge, unpredictable patterns. In my opinion, normal buckshot from a Judge was useless. Will that change with the Home Defender?

Normal Buckshot and the Home Defender

Winchester Super X – 2.5-Inch – 3 Pellet 000

This Winchester Super X is one of the most common loads on the market for .410 Buckshot. I was able to find it pretty easily, even at big box stores. Sadly, I also paid close to $3 a round for the stuff. I found both 2.5 and 3-inch varieties. The pattern was over seven inches wide, with two of the three pellets landing outside of our A-zone. That’s not necessarily a great pattern by any means. This wouldn’t be a load I trusted with the Home Defender.

Winchester Super X – 3-Inch – 5 Pellet 000

The same load as above, but now expanded to 3-inches with two extra pellets. This is the better load overall, with a lot more lead per trigger pull. It also seems to pattern much better as a 3-inch round. The patterns were consistent, and the pellets remained inside the A-zone. There was only a little extra recoil compared to the 2.5-inch load. This is clearly the better load for the Hoem Defender. I’m not sure why it works better, but I’m beginning to think the 3-inch chamber works better with 3-inch buckshot. The pattern was about six inches wide on average.

Remington Home Defense – 3-Inch – 5 Pellet 000

One of my all-time favorite .410 home defense loads, is back on the market, and I purchased five boxes as soon as I could. The Remington Home Defense load is packed full of lead, and five 000 pellets is no joke. Four of the five pellets landed within the A zone target and the spread was typically between six and half to seven inches. The pattern typically strung horizontally as you see here.

They remained almost always on target. The recoil was a little sharper than most but still light enough to shoot fast. Of the standard buckshot loads for the Judge Home Defender, this is my favorite. It gives you a nice bang for your buck and plenty of threat-stopping potential. The pattern isn’t perfect, but it is consistent and fine for home defense ranges.

Aguila .410 Buckshot – 2.5 inch – 4 pellets 00

This Aguila buckshot load is another one of the more common loads, and it tends to be fairly affordable for 25-round boxes. The rounds delivered a surprisingly nice performance. The 00 pellets are good enough, and you get four of them. They tended to have a flyer, but it was fairly well contained and landed close to the pattern and always within the A zone. Recoil was very low, and the affordability and availability make this a solid load for defensive use.

Sellier & Bellot Buckshot – 3-Inch – 4 Pellets 00 Buckshot

Sellier & Bellot was a very basic buckshot load and a cheapish one. It’s going to cost you roughly 75 cents per round on a good day. The load looks fine, a bit basic, but workable. It maintains a pattern within 7 inches or so and remains in the A-zone. There is more vertical stringing than horizontal. It’s not bad for a more budget-friendly buckshot load. The recoil is a little stout but still very controllable. It’s not a terrible choice for the Home Defender.

American Tactical BB Buckshot – 12 Pellets BB

I bought this stuff cause it was cheap, and it’s about useless in the Judge Home Defender. To be fair, it would be pretty useless for a self-defense load anyway. Still, I had it on hand and wanted to give it a spin. Between three to six of the 12 pellets landed as desired, and the rest was unaccounted for. It’s a garbage load. I don’t see a purpose for this load with the Home Defender or even a standard shotgun.

Testing Concluded

I think the 3-inch long shells are the best bang for your money when it comes to normal .410 loads. I’d imagine the gap between the chamber and the barrel creates an issue with 2.5-inch loads. It’s a theory, but there are some holes to poke. The Aguila load was a nice surprise overall for a 2.5-inch load. I would still prefer a 3-inch load for the extra lead anyway.

The Judge Home Defender does seem to pattern better than the old 3-inch Judges. The patterns are tighter and a bit more employable for defensive use with the right ammo. I would love to see an 18-inch barrel version with pistol grip, or maybe as long as the barrel needs to be to be a ‘firearm.’ A smooth-bore, .410 revolver would be an interesting option with low recoil, one-handed possible operation, and no reliance on somewhat finicky .410 semi-auto actions.

The longer barrel on the Home Defender clearly makes a difference. I’m becoming more and more of a fan of the Home Defender the more I use it. It seems a little less silly and more of a viable option for some niche use cases.