Social Temperature is kind of self-explanatory, but I think it warrants touching on.
The TL;DR version is that anywhere you are there is a base level of social interaction. Once you get acclimated to that, your brain can better filter out what info it can ignore and what info is worth paying attention to for potential problems.
I think this is important because a lot of people harp on “situational awareness” but don’t really delve into the details of what that process looks like. To the uninitiated, they think that can mean eyeballing everyone around you and doing a full threat evaluation. This is unrealistic and emotionally draining. Not to mention, if you eyeball the wrong person in the wrong way, it has a real probability of increasing that social friction we’re trying to avoid.
Once you’ve taken a Shivworks class where they discuss Managing Unknown Contacts or avail yourself of the resources that actually address threat recognition (Claude Werner, William Aprill, John Hearne, off the top of my head), you realize that the goal is to learn better what you can safely ignore. That frees up your processing speed for the novel stimuli that actually warrant more attention.
I got a Glock 43X a few years ago, and I have become a bigger and bigger fan of the gun every month that passes. It brings you a slim, easy-to-carry pistol with Glock reliability and capability. I often joke that the mix of a long grip and a short barrel makes it the Central A/C of handguns. It’s comfortable to carry and comfortable to shoot. I like the little gun so much that I even used it as a base for a PDW Project. The downside is the 10-round capacity, but that might be cured by the PSA Micro Dagger mags.
The Micro Dagger Mags Mean More Ammo
I wasn’t the only one who had this problem, and the market took note. Shield Arms produced some metal magazines that were capable of holding 15 rounds. I’ve used them and think they work great, but they do require you to swap your magazine release, or the magazines will eat it up. It’s a pain, and the Shield mags can be tough to find in stock. I had heard of the Micro Dagger but honestly didn’t know that it utilized Glock 43X and G48 pattern magazines, and I didn’t know they held 15 rounds either.
The next fact that took me by surprise was that they were a polymer and metal hybrid design. This polymer, metal design allows for 15 rounds of capacity but doesn’t require you to swap your magazine release. It won’t eat at your magazine release and won’t cause your gun to fall apart.
Once that all became evident, I had five of them showing up at my house before I could say nay. At 30 bucks a pop, they aren’t the cheapest option, but they also aren’t that expensive. If they worked, I’ve solved my biggest issue with the Glock 43X. If not, I still have the OEM option.
First Impressions
Lo and behold I arrived home from work to find a bundle of joy in the form of some ammo and my mags! In all my excitement I couldn’t wait to hit the range and find out if these things work. As I unwrapped them I didn’t find myself all that impressed. The magazines looked rough. There was some clear flashing left over on the mags. Full on strings of the stuff on the front of the magazine, and around the magazine latch.
I broke them open, and there were rough burrs of plastic inside the magazines. I used a file and precision knife to clean them up. I blew them out with some canned air and reassembled the magazines. Admittedly, I didn’t have a lot of hope, but I loaded each magazine and hit the range. These magazines just so happened to coincide with my PDW testing, which involved the Glock 43X. This gave me a two-for-one in testing and made my ammo go a little further.
To The Range With the Micro Dagger Mags
The Micro Dagger mags are tough to load. Getting rounds one through thirteen into the gun wasn’t bad, but rounds 14 and 15 were a thumb wrestling match. You really gotta shove and fight, but my arthritis wasn’t too bad, so I managed. With the magazines fully loaded, they could be inserted fairly easily into a Glock 43X with the slide forward. They don’t slide in as smoothly as the OEM models, but a slight thump sends them home and locks them in.
The next thing I could do was start throwing lead and throw it I did. I exercised my reloads and let those mags hit the dirt when empty. I wasn’t gentle, and I didn’t clean them. Five Micro Dagger mags of 15 rounds went flawlessly, and so did the next 60 rounds. It was in the third 60 rounds I ran into one magazine that failed to lock the slide open when the last round was fired. I know for an absolute fact that my thumb wasn’t riding the slide lock.
I marked that magazine to keep an eye on it. In the next 60 rounds, I ran into that issue again, but it was a different magazine. This time, my thumb could have been riding the slide lock, but I don’t think so. I marked that mag as well. Afterward, I loaded all five magazines, one round each, and fired them. I repeated the test over and over. It wasn’t a consistent problem, but it did occur with my two marked magazines every so often. The other three were problem-free.
Worth the Squeeze?
The Micro Dagger mags seem to be an interesting conundrum. They are rough, and I think cleaning them up helped a fair bit. They had no problems feeding, but the occasional failure to lock the slide back is interesting. I’m going to file a bit around the front of the feed lips to see if there is a burr I can remove that might be preventing the follower from reaching the top spot.
For me, they work and I won’t feel shy about carrying them. I do suggest you do your own testing with the Micro Dagger mags and make sure yours work well. I’m not confident enough to blindly trust them, but they can be a seemingly awesome option as long as you do your homework.
Whether it’s Brioni, Boresight, Bentley, or Breitling, there’s always going to be a high-dollar option that begs the question, “Is it worth it?”
The answer, as with many things, is “it depends.” Entry-level buyers are less likely to appreciate the quality and performance offered by higher-dollar offerings right out of the gate, but they can still have decided benefits.
Buying Clothes That Offer the Best Value
Unlike custom guns or luxury Swiss watches, clothing tends not to have the same resale value. This is something that a savvy consumer can leverage to their advantage.
If someone gave you the chance to buy a Knights SR15 or Chambers 1911 for 20 cents on the dollar, the only question you’d be asking is “Do you want that in hundreds or twenties?”
Even if dress clothes aren’t on your radar, stuff like Red Wings & Duluth can still be had at a pretty steep discount if you buy second-hand. This gives you the option of keeping the same budget for clothing but maintaining a better cost-per-wear ratio.
Most dudes hate shopping and doubly so hate shopping for clothing. So why not do it in a way that helps reduce the need to go more frequently?
There are a few articles of clothing that I view as disposable: Undershirts, white dress shirts, and t-shirts/henleys being at the top of that list. Mostly because they tend to show wear & discolor so rapidly that I can’t justify spending a bunch of money on them since I generally have to replace that stuff yearly, regardless of how high quality it may be, in part because my body chemistry is such that I just tarnish the hell out of white fabrics.
The point is that it helps to know what to look out for so that when those hidden gems cross your path, you know what to jump on.
I recently wrote a two-part article on the Judge Home Defender patterns and whether it’s acceptable to use with buckshot. The original Judge and even the 6-inch version were lacking when it came to proper patterns for buckshot. I never liked the Judge, but I was willing to try the Home Defender. A reader pointed out that I should test the Home Defender against a smoothbore .410 shotgun, so I did just that with a load of .410 buckshot to see which was better.
.410 Buckshot Testing Parameters
Mossberg recently expanded the 590 series to include both 20 gauge and .410 bore guns. Mossberg happily sent me one of the .410 variants, and with its short barrel and cylinder choke, I figured it would work well as a testing standard. I also went with a Remington Home Defense .410 load. It’s a 3-inch buckshot load with five pellets of 000 buckshot.
This is one of my favorite loads of buckshot and is perfect for home defense. Its five meaty pellets give you more than half the lead of your average 12-gauge option. My target would be a slightly smaller IPSC A-zone on a plain piece of printer paper. I patterned five times from each gun at 10 yards and took pictures of both the best and worst patterns.
Patterning .410 Buckshot
The results were somewhat surprising. The best pattern came from the Mossberg 590, but the worst one also came from the Mossberg 590. I’m not sure what happened.
It must have been a freak occurrence because only two pellets hit the paper and were spread way far apart.
I’m betting something was wrong with how it was loaded from the factory because it was a freak occurrence. The second worst pattern is to put three pellets into one hole and two on the sides.
With that said, take a peek at how the Judge Home Defender patterned .410 buckshot. The worst pattern was still inside the IPSC A-Zone rectangle. It’s really not a bad pattern for a rifled barrel.
The 590’s might be slightly better, but the Home Defender is perfectly acceptable for home defense.
Velocity Matters
To be a pistol, it has to have a rifled barrel. Rifling plays weirdly with shot and that was often thought to be the reason the Judge series of revolvers always had such terrible patterns. However, I do know that velocity affects shot dispersal.
Too much velocity can create a wider pattern. A 1,600-feet-per-second buckshot load will spread faster than a 1,200-feet-per-second load. Even with something like the Flitecontrol wad of the Versatite wad, it isn’t immune to this problem.
If too much velocity can be a problem, then maybe too little velocity can be an issue. Shotguns aren’t sensitive to velocity like rifles. But if you trim the barrel down to 3 inches, I imagine there is a considerable velocity difference. Mixing rifling with a lack of velocity likely affects the patterns.
The longer barrel of the Home Defender is still rifled, but it’s long enough to get some excellent velocity out of your shotshells. When it comes to .410 buckshot, we can see this new Judge has the ability to create an acceptable pattern at home defense ranges, even when compared to a standard smoothbore shotgun.
Caleb puts on a great course. He’s entertaining and engaging and presents the material in a way that’s super approachable and relatable.
This isn’t a comprehensive 2-day trauma class. Instead, Caleb just gets down to the essential nuts & bolts of what you need to know to treat wounds from a violent encounter.
It’s detailed without being clinical, and Caleb is very adept at forcing you to think about what you’re doing instead of just responding on autopilot.
This 1-day, classroom-only version of the material is well worth the time, whether it’s your first medical class or you need a refresher because it’s been a while.
About Lone Star Medics
From the Website:
“Winning the fight is just the beginning; especially if you’ve sustained injuries. This course is specifically designed to teach the legally armed civilian or the armed professional, how to identify and treat immediate life-threatening injuries as a result of a violent attack. Most EMS agencies’ policies for responding to violent calls or events require all responding units to stage at a safe location, far enough away from danger so that the police can secure the scene first. During that time you will need to employ the tactical medical skills learned in this course in order to increase your chances of survival.
Throughout this course, students will learn via hands-on skills practice, scenario-based training, and minimal lectures. Scenarios will be conducted using inert training aids such as “blue guns” or SIRT training pistols. Likewise, each student will be exposed to several different tactical medicine manufacturers’ products to use in class. This helps students become educated consumers and allows for unbiased opinions on which medical gear best suits their needs.
Some of the subjects covered in class
Medical and legal issues
Principles of Tactical Medicine
Manual Patient Drags & Carries
Patient Assessment Techniques
Hemorrhage Control Techniques
Tourniquets
Pressure Dressings
Hemostatic Agents/Adjuncts
Identify and treat penetrating chest trauma
Identify and treat for shock
Active killer and mass casualty considerations
Medical equipment selection and carry techniques for Every Day Carry (EDC)
There was a meme floating around the gunosphere regarding getting a free box of obscure ammo and using that as an excuse to purchase a gun. The punch line is that you can never find another box of that ammo, so you sell the gun for a loss. I’m in that meme, and I don’t like it! It’s completely true. My local gun store gave me a box of .32 S&W. Not .32 S&W Long, but the original .32 S&W. I had a box and needed a gun, and what do you know, I stumbled across the Iver Johnson 55-SA. Little did I know that his gun and caliber would charm me to no end.
Iver Johnson is an interesting company or was. They are all but a name these days. Iver Johnson used to be a bicycle and arms company. They really had some synergy going back in the old days. In terms of firearms, the Iver Johnson brand became well-known for its affordable double-action revolvers. A gun like the Safety Automatic, which was a revolver, and the Iver Johnson Safety Hammerless. These were small, pocket-sized double-action revolvers that were known for their affordability.
In the 1970s, the Iver Johnson brand was still pumping over revolvers. They stuck to somewhat obscure calibers, like .32 S&W and .38 S&W. They also produced a number of rimfire revolvers. Iver Johnson stuck to their reputation for affordable firearms, and 55-SA was no different. These came in both .38 S&W and .32 S&W and were available with a black or nickel finish. To be clear, the Iver Johnson 55-SA can fire both the .32 S&W and .32 S&W Long.
Breaking Down the 55-SA
These guns were well known for their affordability. We really don’t understand how good we have it. Back in the 1970s, handguns were expensive. When you adjust their cost with inflation, a barebones S&W costs nearly a thousand dollars. You can get an M&P for less than $600 today. Plus, there were nowhere near as many affordable firearm brands. Guns like the 55-SA were important to those with only a little cash to spend.
The little 55-SA was outdated in the mid-70s. It used a double-action design but lacked a side-ejecting cylinder. Instead, the gun had a loading gate like a single-action revolver. The gun is very simple, with a trench rear sight and a ramping front sight. Cheap plastic grips occupy the rear of the gun. The nickel finish is cheap and just waiting to start flecking. In fact, this model is in quite nice shape compared to other guns on the market.
The Iver Johnson 55-SA delivers a double action pull and gives you a nice big hammer to cock if you prefer the single action pull. In fact, you just might because the hammer in its downward position blocks the use of the rear trench sight. You can see the big ramping front sight, but no trench is present.
The gun has a 2.5-inch barrel and a rather small frame. Its grip is awkward and feels far from ergonomic, but it works. Iver Johnson chose to go with a huge trigger guard for one reason or another. It seems a bit large for a gun meant to be small. Finally, you can remove the cylinder and use the removable rod to punch out spent cartridges.
To The Range
That one box of .32 S&W Short waited for me, and so did some MagTech .32 S&W Long. The little gun holds five rounds of .32 S&W Short, and loading is easy enough. I was slightly nervous. It’s an old gun designed to be cheap, but it also looks and feels like it is in excellent condition. It just so happened to be love at first shot.
The little .32 S&W cartridge handles a lot like a rimfire pistol. It barely moves, and the little bark barely registers. The .32 S&W Short is no man-stopper. I wouldn’t trust it for self-defense, but I guess it was better than a sharp stick and harsh language. The .32 S&W Long didn’t throw much more recoil but would be the natural option for self-defense if this gun was your only choice. The old .32 S&W Long can just make it deep enough to matter with an FMJ load.
The 55-SA has a long, heavy double-action trigger, but it’s pretty smooth. It won’t win awards, but I can easily hit a 10-inch gong at 15 yards. The hammer blocking the rear sight causes the most issues, and single action makes shooting the gun accurately much easier.
I only fired 50 rounds of .32 S&W and 50 rounds of .32 S&W Long, but they all fired reliably. The little gun barked with each and every shot, and a ding from steel followed most of them.
The Little Iver Johnson
The Iver Johnson 55-SA provided folks on a budget with a somewhat compact option. Back in the 1970s, it likely rode in the glove box or in the nightstands of tons of people. Rarely shot, but it was always appreciated for the piece of mind it brought.
If you’re already part of the training circuit, you probably have your packing list dialed in. However, if you are new to training, learning how to gear up for a class is important. Over the course of my training career (as a student) I’ve developed some best practices and tips that I thought I’d share.
Gear Up for a Class: A Primer
I start by talking about inert training gear because I genuinely feel it’s essential for anyone who carries defensive tools. The only way to truly know if your choices work is to test them against resisting opposition. Dummy guns, training knives, and inert OC allow you to do this safely and repeatedly.
If it’s financially doable, having a dedicated training pistol is useful. Not only does it reduce wear and tear on your carry gun, but in the unlikely event that you do experience a mechanical failure, you’ve got a backup on hand so that you don’t miss out on the class.
Speaking of missing out, bringing food so that you don’t have to run by a drive-thru will allow you to get more facetime with the instructor. There’s a big difference between “war stories” used to build up the instructor’s ego and professional anecdotes that are relevant to the course material. That being said, I’ve never really experienced the former. All the “back in the day” or “no shit, there I was” stories I’ve been present for have been applicable on some level.
Being able to refer back to the material covered has been invaluable for me, so I’ll always recommend having a notebook and taking as much video as the instructor is cool with.
Plan for inclement weather. There’s nothing noble about suffering. The more uncomfortable you are, the more distracted you’ll be, and the less material you’ll be able to absorb. “Toughing it out” is grossly overrated, especially when you’re paying to be there. So, take the appropriate steps to ensure you’re suitably warm, dry, etc.
It’s always a good idea to have “training clothes,” the same way you have a training gun. This allows you to go closer to 100% without risking damage to your street clothes.
For our third installment of the PDW Project, we are examining chassis systems that attach to a firearm. These kits include options like the Roni systems, the KPOS, the RT 20/20, and even the Flux Raider, to a small degree. My test sample today is an RT 20/20 attached to a Glock 43X. I’ve also added a red dot with Recover Tactical’s red dot mount. The RT 20/20 setup appears to be the best of the affordable systems, but does it compare to something like the more expensive Flux Defense Raider?
Benefits of Chassis Systems
Chassis Sytems allow you to use a weapon you already have. This prevents you from needing to purchase a secondary weapon to act as a PDW. Some systems even allow you to quickly attach the gun to the chassis and rock and roll on the fly. These systems are everywhere and are available for a wide variety of firearms, so finding one isn’t tough.
Chassis systems can be very compact and often feature folding stocks or braces that shrink the system to a very manageable size. In addition, chassis systems typically allow you to mount all manner of lights, optics, and accessories onto the system for enhanced usefulness in a variety of situations. Most of the optic mounts allow for a non-reciprocating optic, which makes it easier to track the red dot and land shots even faster.
Downsides to Chassis Systems
The first big downside is that as soon as the gun is removed from the chassis system, it loses zero. Not entirely, but the zero shifts cause, in my experience, only one of these systems will hold a true zero with the weapon removed from the chassis, and that’s the Flux system.
Even if the gun remains unremoved, there are often problems with having a consistent zero. These chassis systems are made from polymer and often feature a ton of flex. If you apply pressure, the optic can move and make the reticle shift several inches depending on how much pressure is applied when shooting versus when the system is zeroed.
Chassis Systems In Action
Like before, I took the RT 20/20-equipped Glock 43X, ran several drills, and tested for accuracy. I wanted to measure its ability to increase my accuracy and control, as well as how fast it could be deployed and put into action.
Deployment
The deployment drill tests my ability to get the gun from the bag and up and on target with one shot fired. I used the Vertx ReadyPack and started with an empty chamber. If I carried this PDW, I would do so with an empty chamber since I have nothing to protect the trigger. With the weapon ready and the bag over a single shoulder, I started.
I was able to deploy the system in 6.5 seconds on average. I got as fast as six seconds, but never much slower than 6.5. It’s fairly quick, but it would be faster if I could start with a round-chambered. The system flies out of the bag, making it easy to get on target quickly. A red dot is an absolute must-have.
Control
To test my ability to control the chassis system as a PDW, I shot a modified Bill Drill. I started at 15 yards instead of seven and used an IPSC A-zone as my target. While I can shoot the gun fast, controlling the recoil and shooting accurately is tough. The flex between the brace and the chassis frame moves the system, which throws off my zero. I can get the six shots fired in less than two seconds, but I can’t guarantee where they will be.
Accuracy
Accuracy is a real mixed bag with the RT 20/20. As long as I apply no rearward pressure and mitigate recoil, I can easily hit targets at 25 and 50 yards. However, if I try to shoot a little faster than slow and control recoil, the accuracy is everywhere. It can be very accurate, but the flex is too much to use combatively. Maybe I need to zero with all the flex taken out and have it locked down.
The Flux Defense Raider is one system that isn’t affected by this issue. They’ve mastered this PDW-type chassis, and it’s capable of excellent accuracy, in my experience.
Chassis Pistol Overall
My experience with the RT 20/20 reflects the same experience I’ve had with most chassis systems. It works, mostly, but I don’t think it’s the best option to take to a gunfight. My experience with these systems includes all the big names. The only one I would trust my life to is the Flux Defense system. I think the chassis systems have great potential, but only Flux has managed to pull one off that works well.
Mike Green has spent a bunch of time overseas, in plain clothes. He worked in environments where being armed was somewhere on the spectrum between unusual and unacceptable. Sounds a lot like the civilian context. And that’s the main reason I signed up for this class.
This isn’t SFAS. Nobody’s yelling at you or making you do push-ups, and it’s not designed to turn you into a steely-eyed gunfighter. The curriculum is based on the same material that Mike uses to get diplomatic staff and other OCONUS State Department-type folks to a capable level with a handgun, should the need arise.
Mike also draws from his overseas experience to discuss the mechanics of concealment. I liked that his block on gear selection focuses as much on clothing and how to wear it correctly as it does on gun and holster choice.
Day 1 aggressively focused on the gritty details of shooting mechanics and demonstrations of what matters when and why. Every single exercise is shot from concealment. This is an even more challenging prospect when you’re wearing three layers to deal with the sub-30-degree temperatures and wet weather. This culminated with a practical exercise in the form of a USPSA stage.
Day 2 built off of Day 1’s foundation and started incorporating more complexity in terms of movement, positional shooting, and support hand manipulations. What’s interesting is that all of the “skill tests” that are used are rooted heavily in competition shooting.
On Sunday, Mike Jones and his Garand Thumb team dropped their XM7 review.
It is as close as we can get to the military rifle and ammunition. The properly loaded bi-metal cases and a round ‘close’ to one we could see in use—solid copper. The EPR projectiles of the M855A1, M80A1, and M(whatever this gets designated) are under wraps and unobtainium at this point.
But, like other commercial ammunitions to military equivalents we can still get good data and extrapolate.
The ammunition has always been the coolest part of the NGSW program—in my opinion—since the case allows the user to play with pressures we haven’t been able to with brass or soft steel.
Mike mentions that the XM7 is now the M7. However, I haven’t seen any official US DoD literature confirming the full adoption. It is being more widely fielded and displayed. I’ve even seen units local with the Guard.
Official fielding is listed as 1st Bat, 506th of the 101st Airborne, but I have heard rumors that it’s being unboxed and fielded with other units, too. Rollouts are often chaotic.
But it is looking like the 7 and the 250 are sticking around. We will see if the USMC shifts to the 7, or a variant thereof, and the 250 in the upcoming months and years. The Marines thus far seem comfortable with the 5.56 M27. However, the shift for them would be much less jarring as the M27 and the M7 are much closer in weight and size. Currently, the option remains open, but the Marines like their H&K.
During the era of full-caliber military battle rifles, no other standard-issue military rifle had iron sights like the M1 Garand. Even though the M1 Garand’s primary purpose was to serve as an infantryman’s rifle with a real-world 3-6 MOA accuracy potential, its sights were still fully adjustable, more precise than they needed to be and maybe even overbuilt. That’s why I think they’re so wonderful.
Considering the M1’s overall build quality, smoothness, semi-automatic action, and relatively comfortable furniture, I already consider it the Cadillac of World War II rifles. Then factor in its sights and their functionality, and they’re easily the cherry on top. The entire rear sight assembly is fully adjustable for both windage and elevation, while the front blade can also be drifted laterally for windage. This allows any rifleman to precisely adjust their rifle’s mechanical zero with a given load.
Considering how imprecise military weapons are, I’ve always found the M1’s sights fascinating. Are they perhaps a little over the top on a standard military rifle? Probably. But this is America and we’re dealing with one of the most American rifles ever to be fielded. In America, we do things because we can.
When I was younger, I also learned the basis of centerfire rifle shooting on my old WWII-era M1 Garand—which could be a story unto itself. It certainly ties into my fondness for the M1’s sights, too.
In practice, it’s no different than zeroing a riflescope to a particular rifle and cartridge and then locking the turrets to their zero setting after that initial adjustment.
M1 Garand Background
The M1 Garand was designed by John Cantius Garand, a French-Canadian engineer who worked at the Springfield Armory arsenal. The M1 Garand’s semi-automatic action uses a long-stroke piston mechanism and holds 8 .30-06 cartridges that are loaded with en-bloc clips into its internal magazine. After cycling the 8th round, the rifle also ejects the empty en-bloc clip, famously making that distinctive pinging sound that has become a meme unto itself.
Garand’s prototype for a semi-automatic military rifle was based on an earlier semi-automatic French design, the Mlle. 1917. If Mr. Garand and his team had their way, the M1 rifle would have held ten rounds of the sleeker, shorter, and more efficient .276 Pedersen (7x51mm) experimental rifle cartridge (.277 Fury vs 7.62mm NATO anyone?).
Instead of a 7mm bore rifle, the conservative-minded powers stipulated that the M1 Garand remain chambered for the .30-06 cartridge, which was flush in the government’s inventory.
The Sighting System
The M1 Garand’s front and rear sights consist of a rear aperture and a guarded front blade. The rear sight is guarded by pair of distinctive circular knobs on either side that turn to adjust the rear sight’s windage and elevation adjustments. These knobs have a click value of 1 MOA per click, fairly precise for an infantry rifle of the era.
The front blade is also protected by a pair of ears that curve out, and the entire assembly slides laterally on a dovetail across the front sight base, which is part of the rifle’s gas tube. The front sight itself is secured by a 3/16″ Allen screw. On the rear, the receiver itself even has etched-in hashmarks to measure windage movement against the rear sight assembly.
The M1’s sight picture itself is easily recognizable; it’s practically the same sight picture of any standard iron-sighted AR-15 pattern firearm. Once properly zeroed and adjusted, M1 Garand sights are very intuitive to use. The shooter simply looks through the rear aperture and their brain and eyes seemingly center the front sight itself through the aperture.
As long as the sights are properly zeroed and the shooter knows how many clicks to dial for their distance, one physically doesn’t need to do much besides center the front sight in the middle of the aperture. This is what makes this sight picture so wonderful and superior to most others. It’s worth pointing out that classic AR-15 pattern iron sights borrow their sight picture from the M1, too.
Sight Adjustments
The real magic in these military rifle sights comes from how adjustable they are. Besides the rear windage and elevation knobs’ click value of 1 MOA, the fact that the front sight itself slides on a separate dovetail gives the rifleman a more refined chance to zero their specific Garand to the load they’re shooting.
The idea behind the front sight sliding on the dovetail is to establish a perfect mechanical zero while leaving the rear sight’s own windage properly centered. This allows the shooter to dial for windage and elevation with their rear sight only while ensuring that the rifle itself is properly indexed and zeroed. In practice, it’s no different than zeroing a riflescope to a particular rifle and cartridge and then locking the turrets to their zero setting after that initial adjustment.
Back view of the M1 Garand rear sight assemblyBack view of the M1 Garand front sight. Note the allen screw.
Zeroing the Sights
With my old WW2 Springfield M1 Garand, I learned to do this by shooting a satisfactory group (I recommend at least ten rounds) at 100 yards at a standard target, like an SR-1, which corresponds to the standard .075-inch front blade width. The standard 200-yard SR target would also work fine for a 200-yard zero. The zeroing target needs to be large enough to consistently index the front sight and have a way to easily measure vertical and lateral impacts.
Besides a smart target, having a pair of calipers on hand is also a good idea. Ideally, zeroing takes place on a calm day without wind, and prior to shooting the initial group, all of the rifle’s sights should be physically centered. The rear sight assembly needs to line up with the central hashmark, and the front sight should be centered on its dovetail.
Unfortunately, the gas blocks don’t have index marks, but one can use calipers to measure the exact width and then mark dead center behind the muzzle, underneath the Allen screw. After centering the entire system, the elevation knob is turned all the way to dead bottom and then adjusted 6-8 clicks (depending on who you ask for 100 yards). The US Army used to instruct soldiers to come up ten clicks for a 200-yard zero. After doing this and shooting that very slow, careful, and deliberate perfect 10-shot group, one can take their target and adjust accordingly.
Using Calipers
Side profile view of front sight. Notice the dovetail that is part of the M1’s gas tube.
Here’s where the calipers come in very handy. For example, suppose the mean-radius of the group was 1-inch to the right from the point of aim on the target. To fix this, one would take their calipers, measure .008 inches to the right of the original index mark, make a new marking, and then carefully drift the front sight to line up with the new marking.
One would do the same thing for the vertical adjustment, take a measurement with calipers between the mean radius and original point of aim or desired point of impact and then use the left-side knob to dial the appropriate distance.
It’s important to keep in mind how many clicks from dead bottom one started shooting at, be it 8, 10, or 12 clicks. With that number in mind, keep track of how many additional clicks it took to get the elevation lined up correctly and add those two numbers.
For example, on my old Garand using Greek HXP M2 Surplus 30-06 at 100 yards, that number was seventeen clicks from base. With my front sight physically drifted in place, I knew I could always reset to my mechanical zero with the rear sight by centering the sight and clicking up seventeen times from dead bottom. If I needed to dial for more elevation, I would work off this number. Understanding total clicks from base for your load is crucial and worth writing down.
Guidelines for a Battlesight Zero
I know that everything I just described would be more pertinent to any target or precision rifle. The US Military was also aware of this and also had guidelines for a battlesight zero with an elevation of 1.82 inches above the point of aim at 25 meters. This zero would cover the M1 Garand’s maximum point-blank range out to 250 meters. It’s not too different than the AR-15’s 50/200m zero or the like.
The Takeaway
My old WW2 Springfield Armory 1944 M1 Garand during one such match where I was learning how to shoot in 2012.
Americans love this rifle for many reasons. These days, M1 Garands are loved and revered as symbols of American military prestige and our country’s triumph over the Axis powers during the Second World War. In the middle of the war, General George S. Patton called it “the greatest battle implement ever devised.”
Compared to the rifles that both America’s peers and enemies fielded during the conflict, the M1 was arguably superior. It wasn’t just that it held a few extra cartridges compared to other full-size rifles and had a quick-cycling semi-automatic action, but it also had those superlative sights.
Even compared to other rifles that had more mechanical accuracy, such as the Swiss K-31, Swedish M96, Finnish Mosins, etc., the M1 standard sights still had a higher degree of sophistication.
Standing the Test of Time
Except for perhaps No.4 Lee-Enfields, Eddystone M1917s, Springfield 1903-A3 rifles, and M1 Carbines, most other rifles of the era had the more archaic post-and-tangent sight arrangement. But even this group of Allied rifles with rear peep-sights didn’t have sighting systems as user friendly as the M1 Garand did.
Tangent sights altogether are generally slower and require more care to properly align. Besides that, most tangent sights are mounted forward of a rifle’s receiver, which lengthens the sight radius, which affects a rifle’s degree of precision. Even during the Cold War, the M1 Garand’s sights still bested the sights found on most western 7.62mm NATO infantry rifles, as these weren’t as sophisticated.
The M14 is the sole glaring exception, as that rifle uses the exact same style of iron sights. Frankly, military battle rifles probably don’t need this level of adjustability anyway. But again, we’re talking about America’s rifle here. From the Cold War on, perhaps the M16-A2 sights would be the runner-up to the M1’s as these could be nearly as adjustable.
They always say that American military rifles, as a whole, tend to resemble target rifles more than anything, and maybe it’s true. We love having it our way in the United States.
Further Reading
Not related to the M1’s sights, but a fun read about post-war M1 Garands made by IHC.
In the spirit of continuing that humbling experience, a friend of mine privately called out my lackadaisical handling of my pistol. I went back and realized that I made this mistake on more than one occasion, so I felt compelled to correct this and show what “right” looks like.
Darryl Bolke likes to say that he can tell everything he needs to know about someone by how they administratively handle their firearms. Well I failed this test on several occasions.
I also got several questions on how exactly I have this pocket holster set up, and wanted to give y’all a closer look at exactly how I have it configured. I’ve got both the RCS Shields and these holsters in the Amazon Store linked below if you want to pick one up and try it out for yourselves.
I’ve tried several kinds of ammunition through this Colt, including factory-loaded 230-grain Fiocchi and PMC Bronze. All in-spec ammunition has worked fine, and like any 1911, the magazines used are a big factor. I like to use my old Wilson Combat 47D 8-rounders that I rebuilt with Tripp Spring Kits. I lost one round but gained dependable reliability.
For matches, I’ve been using Wilson Combat 8-round ETMs and the lone Chip McCormick Shooting Star that came with the pistol when I first borrowed it. These are a vast improvement over the original 8-round Wilson 47Ds from 2 decades ago.
At 860 FPS, the 230-grain Fiocchi tends to be slightly warmer than average (something I’ve noticed when reviewing other .45 ACP 1911s). Even with its double recoil spring set-up, this factory ball ammo feels flippy during firing. It goes without saying that tuning a 1911 is an art and science that depends on not only the gun, a chosen load (that feeds and prints well), and a recoil spring to regulate the reciprocating motion of the slide.
Factory ammunition is designed to work reliably in a wide variety of firearms in that chambering. But that doesn’t mean that a factory load will perform optimally in a given gun. Accuracy is one thing, but the ability to recover and deliver faster-aimed splits is another, especially when things get competitive.
The Classic 200-grain Sporting Load
Out of interest, enjoyment, discovery, and to get more from this Colt Competition Series, which was obviously built around modern action-pistol sports, I gravitated towards handloading one of the most classic sporting 1911 recipes out there. Specifically, a 200-grain lead semi-wadcutter based on the H&G #68 mold over 4.2 grains of Hodgdon Clays, a flaky shotgun powder that works wonderfully in .45 ACP loads.
With how long the 1911 has been around, there are no doubt countless tried and true recipes. My decision to load this one is informed by my participation in action pistol sports. In short, this load is safe for IDPA, IPSC, and USPSA and makes a major power factor easily—without the disruptive muzzle jolt of the heavier 230-grain factory ball rounds.
Besides, given how the Colt Competition Series 1911 is set up, these are the shooting disciplines the gun was designed around. In addition to that Steel Challenge match I participated in, I have every intention of shooting USPSA single-stack major with this pistol before I need to return it.
A close-up of .45 ACP rounds being loaded in my Dillon XL750 PressHodgdon Clays and 200-grain SNS SWC .45-caliber bullets
When reviewing the Tisas 1911A1 ASF this past March, I also cycled another batch of these handloads when putting the pistol through its paces. The Labradar showed muzzle velocities in the 860 range. With a 200-grain bullet, this translates to 170-172 power factor, (just above the minimum of 165 PF to make major).
These handloads are not only more pleasant to shoot, but with their semi wadcutter profile, they punch very crisp holes on paper targets and cardboard. Those clean holes are not only very satisfying, but they also make scoring considerably easier.
W231 Propellant
For what it’s worth, I’ve had no issues feeding these handloads across different .45-caliber pistols. In fact, I was shooting Bill Drills with that Tisas during its original review. This isn’t my first time loading this same style of 200-grain SWCs. I’ve used W231 propellant in the past. W231 is another tried-and-true powder for loading .45 ACP. However, when shooting non-coated lead bullets with this propellant, the results tend to be smokier.
While it’s cool in an old-timey way, if shooting indoor matches, it becomes a nuisance, too. Clays makes less smoke than W231, and in the before-times it was fairly affordable too. Clays is made in Canada, but the facility that manufactures it stopped producing it after the war in Ukraine began in 2022. There is no telling when it is coming back.
As a bulkier flake powder, I was concerned about how precisely it would meter through the power drop in my Dillon XL750 press. While some charges are a tenth of a grain under or over, with the drop set at 4.2 grains, I’m not concerned. Considering that action-pistol shooting is relatively imprecise, I’m not concerned about accuracy deviations from that tenth of a grain either. Benchrest, this is not.
I’ve loaded nearly 965 rounds of .45 ACP with Clays and those 200-grain SWCs to date. And after sending approximately 150-175 rounds downrage between this Colt and that Tisas, I am fully confident in this “staple” recipe and my ability to craft these with my equipment.
Colt Competition Series 1911: Off The Bench And Freestyle
My best two targets of the session.
For the sake of this article, I took this Colt out the other morning to shoot some NRA B-8 targets at 25 yards with the above-mentioned sporting handload. I don’t claim to be the best pistol shooter, but I’m happy with my results. Especially considering how long it had been since I critically shot a 1911 like this.
While shooting, the most challenging aspect was having to be as precise as possible with a center hold instead of that six o’clock hold preferred by serious bullseye shooters. Not all targets are scored, but these targets show enough of a pattern to tell a story. The left-sided bias of my groups is indicative of a different level of support hand grip tension that I keep playing around with. In the end, dots certainly make life easier too.
While neither of these freestyle NRA B8s are scored, at least they prove the handloads or the pistol isn’t the issue.
Besides two-handed freestyle shooting, I have another friend who is very good at shooting pistols from a bench rest. They shot a 5-shot group with my handloads to see what the gun and ammo combination is capable of without the human element:
5 rounds at a 7/8″ black paster, 25 yards from rest. Even though 5 rounds isn’t a big group, this is still impressive considering this is bulk ammo reloaded from range brass on a progressive press. Notice how windage doesn’t seem to be an issue here either. These SNS Casting bullets seem to do well regardless of caliber or firearm. Maybe it has something to do with the softer lead alloy fully engaging the rifling?
Colt Competition Series 1911: The Takeaway
Colt is one of the most storied gunmakers in existence, starting with Sam Colt’s original 19th-century revolvers. When it comes to 1911 pistols, Colt’s name is symbiotic with the pistols themselves. And with such a lengthy history, fluctuations and ups and downs are inevitable.
It’s true that some vintages of Colt’s 1911s have been more desirable than others. Although the Colt Competition 1911 featured in this article predates the recent acquisition by CZ Group, this specific pistol is indicative of the brand’s comeback-making 1911s. These blued Competition Series models retail for just under $1,000. At that price, they’re not perfect, but it would be hard for me to complain about the gun’s accuracy and reliability.
For a production pistol at this pricing tier made by Colt, it’s pretty damn good. Just about the only thing the gun in this article needs is a nice trigger job. That would take it to the next level.
In my recent test of the Judge Home Defender, I lamented the fact that Federal had seemingly discontinued their .410 handgun line of ammo. I had a few of the old shells lying around, and in testing, it proved to provide the tightest pattern possible with the Judge Home Defender. A month later, I’m in a gun store, and what do I see? A box of Federal .410 handgun, but not just an old box left over from yesteryear. The box bears the modern graphic design and styling of modern Federal ammo.
Breaking Down The New Federal .410 Handgun Ammo
I bought a box or two, or well, most of it the shop had. From there, I peeped at Federal’s website and found the four loads of the new .410 handgun lineup. The loads include both 2.5 and 3-inch shells and come in both No. 4 shot, No. 4 buckshot, and 000 buckshot.
The 2.5-inch No. 4 Shot load holds 59 pellets, and I don’t see this as a capable self-defense round against two-legged vermin. Against snakes and other small critters? Sure, but don’t use any birdshot load for real self-defense.
The No. 4 Buckshot load is a 3-inch option that holds nine pellets of buckshot. This load is okay, but Number 4 buckshot isn’t always a reliable penetrator. Sometimes it goes deep enough, but sometimes it absolutely sucks. For pests or wild dogs and coyotes, it’s fine, but it wouldn’t be my first choice.
The final two loads are 000 buckshot options with both a 2.5 and 3-inch option. The 2.5-inch option gives you four pellets, and the 3-inch option gives you five pellets. The load reportedly moves at 775 feet per second. This is the load I would use in my Judge Home Defender and was the only load available at this gun store.
To The Range
I grabbed the Home Defender, which has been growing on me more and more, and grabbed a couple of targets to pattern the load. I dropped the five shells in and patterned the load at ten yards. You can color me impressed. The five pellets were patterned into a group the size of my palm. Every single round fired patterned into that predictably sized group.
Out of the fifteen yards, the pattern remained locked into a target’s head. At 20 yards, the rounds remained in the torso of an FBI Q target. It’s not a bad pattern at all. The pattern centered on my optic’s zero without any issues and remained consistent with its point of impact.
Each press of the trigger throws five .35 caliber rounds, equivalent to five 9mm rounds fired at once. For such a small and handy little gun, that’s quite a lot of lead for one pull of the trigger. The recoil was stouter than most other buckshot loads, but it’s still just a.410. It’s controllable, and placing two shots on target in under two seconds is easy enough. Two quick presses, and you’ve put a 1911’s worth of 9mm on target.
The .410 handgun load does throw some gas out the sides of the Home Defender. It’s more than most buckshot loads, but still not enough to be painful. It’s enough to be noticeable. Not a big deal. I was happy to report that they extracted and ejected with ease. Some .410 loads aren’t designed for a revolver cylinder, so they swell and make ejection difficult. That’s not an issue with the Federal .410 handgun load.
The Right Load
If I were to turn my Judge Home Defender into my home defense weapon, they would be loaded with the Federal .410 handgun rounds. They offer a lot of firepower, low recoil, easy ejection, and great patterns. There isn’t a lot to dislike. The .410 handgun lineup is back and perfect for the Home Defender.
One of the long-term projects I’ve been meaning to write about is the .45-caliber Colt Competition Series 1911 on loan from a friend. I’ve been dry-firing and taking this 1911 to the range intermittently since 2022–including the only Steel Challenge match I’ve ever shot.
Colt Competition Series Overview
The Colt Competition Series is one of Hartford’s re-invigorated single-stack product families that made a comeback around 2017 or so when Colt started bringing back the more desirable [read: classic] Series 70 ignition system. This style of ignition is desirable not only because it’s what John Moses Browning originally designed his pistols to use but also because that’s what most 1911s have always used.
Furthermore, serious 1911 enthusiasts claim that other systems like the Series 80s or Swartz don’t provide the same smoothness in trigger presses due to their extra parts. It’s a combination of tradition and perception, and honestly, yours truly is also on that bandwagon. After all, there’s something to be said for the “original recipe” which is still in use a century later.
Colt Competition Series 1911 next to a vintage 1960 Colt Gold Cup. This is an earlier 2022 photo, when the Competition Series Colt wasn’t quite as broken-in. If memory serves correct, the mechanical accuracy was on-par with that of that vintage Gold Cup (another gun I need to write about).
Digging Deeper
Colt Competition Series models are available in either carbon or stainless steel. It’s chambered for three classic and popular sporting cartridges: .45 ACP, .38 Super, and 9mm Luger. There are varying trim levels with elements like adjustable target “Bo-Mar” style sights, front slide serrations, and checkering on the frame. All are outfitted with a Colt “National Match” barrel and fiber optic front sights.
Base models include standard Novak-style sights. Additionally, base-level slides have only rear serrations, coarse, with the top of the slide rounded in the classic 1911 profile. The flats are nice and polished, and the blued finish gives off that deep Colt blue sheen. Though the rounds aren’t polished, they’re not coarse, either.
Ejection ports are lowered and flared, which is also very typical of modern 1911s. It also goes without saying that as modern manufactured pistols, the entire Competition series makes use of upswept beavertail grip safeties, flat mainspring housings, and ring hammers. The base models, like military USGI 1911s, do not have any checkering.
This base model, Colt Competition 1911, does not have a full-length guide rod. Instead, it has the classic USGI length shorter guide rod along with the classic barrel bushing and recoil spring plug at the muzzle. It’s not loose, but it’s also not stiff enough that a bushing wrench is needed. These guns include a set of nested recoil springs, where a smaller diameter spring is nestled inside of a larger spring.
Unlike classic government frames, all frames in this product family do appear to have a subtle, gentle undercut below the trigger guard. I don’t mind it at all. The entire product family also includes “sporty” G10 stocks in differing patterns, depending on trim level. The gun I’m writing about has the basic Colt-branded G10 stocks that its owner dyed black.
The Back Story With This Colt
The specimen featured in this article is the base model chambered in .45 ACP and built on a blued carbon steel frame with a blued carbon steel slide. It’s also fair to point out that my buddy who loaned this gun to me switched out a few components immediately after he purchased it. This included adding a pair of EGW extended thumb safeties, a 10-8 Performance flat-faced trigger assembly, a 10-8 Performance Gen2 1911 slide-stop, and a set of 10-8 Performance iron sights (front fiber-optic, rear serrated, plain with U-notch).
My entire experience shooting this gun since Day 1 includes all of these parts, and not necessarily the Colt Competition in its bone-stock configurations. As a left-handed shooter, I appreciate the ambi-safety from the get-go. Likewise, I find the sight picture from these 10-8 Performance sights superior to the factory sight picture (especially in terms of a better rear sight).
While I can’t speak for the other more expensive models in this specific product family, this base model .45-caliber steel frame single-stack gun makes for a decent all-around general-purpose 1911 suitable for most everything one would use a 1911 to accomplish. Measured with a digital trigger scale, ten trigger pulls broke to an average of 3 lbs, 14 oz—just a hair under four pounds.
The way its trigger breaks is very typical for a production gun. So, even at its weight, it requires some level of deliberateness, but not so much that it would rob the shooter of precision. Therefore, it’s suitable for defense, target shooting, training, and recreation without its single-action trigger turning into a liability. Its flat face is nice, too.
And My Thoughts So Far
This specimen has easily seen 500 rounds at the very least (if not more). Though 500 rounds isn’t a comprehensive number, this Colt has been one of the more reliable 1911s I’ve shot since I started writing about shooting. The pistol has had no problem generally cycling factory 230-grain ball ammo, my own 230-grain ball handloads, or my 200-grain LSWC handloads.
Even during this sole Steel Challenge match, which entailed shooting the gun as fast and as hard as I could, the gun didn’t struggle at all. Between that match and the several range sessions I’ve shot with it, this pistol has been holding up its end of the bargain. And for a name-brand 1911 pistol that retails for less than $1,000, it’s not bad at all.
The only stoppages I’ve had were due to a magazine with known issues and the occasional pesky improperly sized hand-loaded cartridge that sneaks into the range ammo box. Otherwise, with proper lubrication and quality magazines, I trust this Colt to shoot my next match with confidence.
When my friend first loaned me this pistol, it was basically like-new with a very marginal round count–maybe a few magazines, if that. Overall, the gun was extremely stiff across all major areas: slide-to-frame, thumb-safeties, and trigger. It was very obvious that the gun needed firing in order for all of its parts to better meld together.
With new 1911s being the creatures they are, I also wouldn’t be surprised if these aftermarket additions added to the overall stiffness. I noticed the 10-8 drop-in trigger certainly slides around better now than when I first started shooting the pistol in 2022. Overall, I’m pleased with the manner in which this 1911 is laid out.
The 10-8 Performance Sights
The 10-8 Performance Sights on this Colt Competition Series are a critical part of the equation, if not the single most important aspect. These sights provide the shooter with an excellent sight picture. Even though I prefer a deep square rear notch, the U-notch of the rear sight isn’t disagreeable at all.
Most importantly, the front sight is regulated to hit dead-center at 25 yards out of a government-size 5-inch barreled 1911. Be it factory 230-grain factory loads or even my own 200-grain SWC loads, all print pretty much dead-on at 25 yards to where the fiber optic insert specifically corresponds.
For general purpose shooting and self-defense, the center-hold is fine. For pure target work, a six o’clock hold would be preferable but this pistol shoots well enough that hitting the black on a B-8 target isn’t a hindrance either.
