As the gang recovers from SHOT Show, let’s take a look at the newest offering from Taurus USA, the Taurus 327 Defender TORO. This is a 327 Federal Magnum, 6 shot revolver built on the Taurus small frame
EVERY DAY CARRY IN NORMAL STREET CLOTHES: It’s possible to carry effectively and still dress well
This week I’m starting a new series, going through my actual carry setups in various levels attire. I wanted to touch on this for a couple of reasons:
1) The folks out there in the style & fashion space that try to address concealed carry give “tips” and “advice that, while well intentioned, don’t actually hold up to the realities of a defensive confrontation.
2) Many folks in the “tactical” space either just dismiss it with “dress around the gun” cringe or don’t see any value/importance on dressing well, so the thinking is so gear centric as to be limiting to those with actual dress codes or other wardrobe requirements. I’m starting off with what’s closest to my actual everyday reality.
This is one of my more casual go-to options, and I’m still able to carry all the necessary tools. Here’s the overall breakdown:
– Sunglasses: @persol 714s
– Pistol: @glockinc 19 with a @taudevgroup Striker Control Device and a @swampfoxoptics Liberty MRO
– Holster: @darkstargear Orion with Dark Wing, Muzzle Pad and @discreetcarryconcepts MOD2.1 clips
– Pepper Spray: @pompepperspray
– Sap: @bostonleather1928 Midget
– Flashlight: @modlitesystems PLH-V2 18350 configuration with a @ravenconcealment pocket clip
– Knife: @shivworks Clinch Pick in a @keepers_concealment Clipper sheath (discontinued)
– Wallet: @grip6 with optional finger ring
– IFAK: @atlasgroupnw Ankle IFAK with @tadmed_solutions SOF-T Wide & @official_quikclot hemostatic gauze
– Polo: @calvinklein Liquid Touch slim fit polo
– Pants: @duluthtradingcompany slim fit 5-pocket firehose pants
– Belt: @slidebelt
Colt’s Bear Guns – The Kodiak and Grizzly
Colt’s revolvers are absolutely legendary. The Colt Sing Action Army is the stereotypical cowboy gun, even if it wasn’t the most sold revolver of the era. Guns like the Python both conquer branding and the revolver market. The various Snake guns are some of Colt’s most popular revolvers. The snake family was made up of seven guns total, some rarer than others. While the snake guns are fairly famous, have you ever heard of the Colt Bear guns?
The Colt Bear Guns
I recently dived deep into the Colt Viper and the Colt Boa and learned about the rarest models of the Snake guns, which led down a rabbit hole of weird Colt revolvers. All roads lead to Rome, and when it comes to rare Colt Revolvers, all threads lead to the Colt Bear guns. The Colt bear guns are two revolvers known as the Grizzly and Kodiak.
Both guns are extremely rare, but not necessarily because they couldn’t have been successful. Colt only produced very small numbers of the Kodiak and Grizzly, and they were limited-run guns. They made 2,000 Kodiaks, and a mere five hundred Grizzly revolvers were produced. Colt produced these revolvers in the early 1990s, and they seemingly disappeared from the great gun consciousness but haunt the dreams of Colt collectors.
They are distantly related to the Colt snake guns but were different enough to warrant their bear monikers.
The Kodiak
The Kodiak isn’t as rare as the Grizzly. To be fair, Colt really tried to pimp that Python look on revolvers. The Kodiak made a bit more sense for the Bear name. Bigger is better, and the Kodiak used the Anaconda design. In fact, it was more or less just an Anaconda with Magna-Porting. The Kodiak also featured a sleek and smooth unfluted cylinder.
The Kodiak came first and premiered in 1993. It was designed to be a special run of the Anacondas. The Kodiak featured a six-inch barrel and held six rounds. Ultimately, outside of a few features, it was a fairly standard anaconda. Even so, it’s highly desirable and very collectible.
The Grizzly
The rare Colt Grizzly was the .357 Magnum Bear gun. The Grizzly has some Python vibes to it, but it isn’t really Python. The Grizzly utilizes a Python barrel that is mated to a Colt King Cobra frame. The Colt King Cobra did not use the famed Python leaf hammer spring and E/I frame-type mechanics. It used the coiled spring design of the Colt Trooper and the Mk. III and Mk. V series revolvers.
The Grizzly featured a six-round round unfluted cylinder. I love the look of an unfluted cylinder, and the Grizzly wears it well. The six-inch barrels were Magnaported to reduce muzzle rise, and Magna-porting was quite popular in the 1990s. The Python barrel on the Viper frame is interesting and was likely a smooth-shooting revolver with the porting.
The Grizzly is a bit like the Boa and was essentially Colt selling a cheaper revolver at higher than Python prices for the rarity. I don’t hate them for it. They understood their branding and the Python’s success.
The Roar of the Bear
Colt has been slowly bringing the Snake guns back. People seem to really like them and appreciate them. For guys like me, it’s the only chance I’ll probably have to own a Snake gun. The real question is whether Colt will bring the Bear guns back. It seems doubtful, but it would be interesting to see them make some kind of return to the world of Colt revolvers.
Biden’s UBC Scheme
President Joe Biden, who recently called the family of one of the US Service members killed in a suicide drone strike and claimed his son was killed in Iraq (Beau died of brain cancer), has his administration looking at requiring Universal Background Checks through the very broad and likely to fail interpretation of being ‘engaged in the business of’ selling firearms.
Here is the short version. If you buy any gun and later decide to sell it for any reason you become ‘engaged in the business of selling firearms’. Under this interpretation you are now a professional salesperson of anything you choose to sell at any time that is your private property and therein lies the absurdity of the overreach. But the Biden Admin appears to be trying the old ‘but guns…’ defense of their plan and using his groundbreaking BSCA act to claim all gun transfers that are a ‘sale’ are required to go through a check.
The hilarious part here is that there exists an easy loophole, one that adds to the irony in that it was pioneered by marijuana. The requirement would likely only stand for sales, not gifts. So if you just so happened to buy a ballcap from someone for $1,100 and they gave you a BCM AR-15 as a thank you gift for buying the ball cap that would not be the sale of a firearm. Expensive ball cap, but who am I to tell you what to do with your money or what people can give as a gift?
In short, the Biden administration can get bent on this idea the same way portions laws and policies nationwide are getting the gavel when they stray outside the lanes of actual crime and actual consequence.
Keep an eye on this one folks, but I think this rule will error code and crash like that self driving Tesla did the other day.
PDW’s – They’re just good
Jack, Caleb, and myself have spoken on Gunday Brunch about why PCC PDWs, and the MP5 as the poster child, are still a viable option. Under certain circumstances they are actually the most desirable option given certain performance requirements.
Josh and Henry over at 9-Hole (Subscribe, I do) go through a range talk where the reiterate the data we chatted about on Gunday. The 9mm (or most pistol calibers) PDW offers significant ease of function and performance gains for most users over handguns. We are not kidding whenever we reiterate that handguns are hard to shoot, and usually the smaller the handgun the harder it is to shoot.
PDW types, especially the MP5, are among the most pleasant firearms to learn to shoot. The MP5 was the platform I first learned outside the military. It was an excellent exposure and solidified my opinion on the validity of PCC PDW into the roles.
These often have the shortest learning curve to highest efficacy on target in the most users. This ease of use and increased control can be applied to other high quality small PCCs like the Scorpion, MPX, EPC, and Rat Dog. It overall takes less training and less recurring training to maintain a high degree of capability with a PDW PCC.
While we should strive to keep training and continue to take training that promotes thinking efficiently while running a gun, we don’t always get to balance that time with the rest of life in the ratio we would prefer. Because we might have a true limit on the training time, picking a home defense option that remains easily effective in hand for us is not a small consideration or to be dismissed as too easy an option. PCC divisions of the shooting sports are way easier to hit GM rank in than traditional handguns and that should be illustrative that we take PCC PDW type guns seriously as the objectively easier options to operate.
A PDW with 50 rounds of 124+P JHPs that the user can accurately place anywhere at will and at speed at distances inside 25 yards > a compact handgun with 12-17 rounds where distances beyond 10 yards become a challenge and induce a greater miss probability.
Now that is, of course, the pure ease of use efficacy equation. Carryability is still and forever will be in favor of small handguns. But we don’t live in worlds where carried is our only option all the time, the circumstances of our lives vary greatly and what we can manage within them is worth putting detailed thought and planning into instead of selecting one option for all situations on about one sentence worth of critical analysis.
The Colt Boa – The Forgotten Snake Gun
Colt’s Snake Guns are mostly defined by the Python. Amongst the brilliance of the Snake Guns, the Python has always been the standout revolver. Colt made a total of seven snake guns. The Colt snake revolvers are all prized by collectors, but some are a bit more rare than others. The Python tends to be the Marsha of Colt snake guns, but it’s far from the rarest. In fact, the rarest of the snake guns is a little gun known as the Boa.
I’m not sure why Colt picked the various names for their snake guns. Anaconda makes sense because it’s the .44 Magnum variant. Other than that, it’s almost random. The name Boa makes a little sense, especially when you compare it to the Python. It’s easy to see why it’s named the Boa when compared to the Python. To adequately explain why the name makes sense, we have to dive deep into the elusive and rare Colt Boa.
So What’s the Boa
The Colt Boa is a six-shot, double-action, .357 Magnum revolver. Which is basically the same descriptor as the Python, but hold on. Colt always priced the Pythons high. It was their flagship revolver, their premium grade option. It was priced out of the hands of most people and certainly outside of the world of law enforcement.
Colt made the Trooper models for law enforcement. Around the time of the Boa Colt had the Trooper MK V. The Trooper MK V chased those law enforcement contracts. Colt wanted to offer a lower-price snake gun that could be a defensive or duty gun. It couldn’t be too plain, so they decided to cross-breed the Trooper MK V with the Colt Python.
Colt used the Trooper MK V action and frame. This meant it was a mass-produced action that utilized a coil spring and machined parts. The Python used a hand-tuned and fitted action that more or less stuck to Colt’s 1890 design. It required extensive hand fitting and hand polishing. The Trooper was quicker and easier to put together and, therefore, cheaper.
To give it the Snake Gun edge and to relate it to the Python, Colt gave it the full lug barrel and the famed vent ribbing. The Boa also got the famed, rich, blued finish that was used on the Python.
Naming the Boa the Boa makes sense in relation to the Python. There isn’t a big difference between Pythons and Boas in nature. Pythons have an additional bone in their head and a few extra teeth.
Why Is It So Rare?
Colt originally designed the gun to be a catalog item but apparently changed their mind. Instead, they limited the run to a mere 1200 units. They were all sold through a single distributor. Colt produced 600 models of guns with 4-inch barrels and 600 models with 6-inch barrels. The guns were snatched up quickly as they were known to be collector’s items right off the jump.
Colt sold the guns with felt-lined wood boxes to really complete the rarity package. Serials start with BOA0001 and go to BOA1200. Out of curiosity, I looked up some online auctions. A Colt Boa went for an insane $41,125 dollars at the Rock Island Auction.
The Weirdly Awesome M1923 Thompson
One of America’s most famous firearms is the Thompson SMG. The weapon was used by gangsters and cops as well as soldiers and Marines. It starred in numerous films, and men like Machine Gun Kelly obtained their names from their use of the weapon. Its distinct profile and design put it up there with the AK and AR in terms of fame. Most people may not recognize the differences between the M1921, the M1928, and later military variants. However, I’m willing to bet most gun guys and gals have no recollection of the M1923 Thompson Heavy Submachine Gun.
The M1923 Thompson – The Heavy SMG
The term heavy submachine gun isn’t one we hear. Sure, a heavy machine gun typically refers to a gun that has to be fired from a tripod or vehicle and weighs in excess of 100 pounds. The ten-pound Thompson SMG already seems pretty heavy. The heavy portion more or less refers to the gun’s purpose and caliber rather than the weapon’s weight. Although, it was likely pretty freaking heavy.
Thompson made a bunch of weird variants in a few odd calibers. The M1923 Thompson stands out due to its intended purpose. Thompson wanted to compete with the M1918 BAR and offered the US Army a squad support support weapon using the Thompson SMG design. It bears mentioning that the M1923 was not an official name by any means.
It’s one assigned by collectors and enthusiasts mainly because the M1923 was never a normal catalog item, and it was created in 1923. Models have been stamped with 21LB markings. 21 refers to the original M1921 and LB for long barrel. As one would imagine, the .45 ACP round couldn’t compete with the power, range, and punch of the .30-06.
Instead, Thompson used a short-lived cartridge known as the .45 Remington-Thompson. This cartridge fired a 250-grain .45 caliber projectile at 1,450 feet per second. The standard .45 ACP moved at 835 feet per second. For comparison, the .45 Remington-Thompson moved with the same weight and speed as a .44 Magnum.
The Heavy SMG
The .45 Remington-Thompson was pretty impressive for an SMG. Imagine firing a full auto .44 Magnum. It would likely do well against thin vehicles and barriers. It certainly had more range than the .45 ACP. Still, even the power of a .44 Magnum isn’t quite up there with the .30-06 cartridge.
The M1923 Thompson was much smaller and lighter than the M1918. At 12.6 pounds, it was heavier than a standard Thomspon but lighter than the 19-pound M1918A1. The M1923 had a 14.5-inch barrel, and there was even an option for a bipod attachment. Models with vertical and horizontal foregrips existed. In fact, it was the first Thompson to have a horizontal foregrip.
Thompson marketed it as a squad support weapon, but no one bought into it. If you needed a BAR, then a hyped-up SMG wasn’t going to do the same work as a BAR. What the M1923 Thompson appeared to attempt was to bridge the gap between BAR and Thompson SMG. This is something that the assault rifle would finally do decades later.
The M1923 Thompson wasn’t an assault rifle but can be best viewed as a short detour toward their development, similar to the M1 Carbine. It wasn’t quite there, but the idea was already floating in the ether. Only five of these were ever made, and one actually found its way to a Rock Island Armory auction, where I learned about it.
The M1923 Thompson SMG wasn’t a success, but could you imagine holding onto a full-auto .44 Magnum? It would have been an interesting weapon, even if it wasn’t quite useful.
The ‘Friend Rifle’ Updated
I’ve written and we’ve spoken on topic of the ‘Friend Rifle’ before. The Friend Rifle or ‘Loaner’ is a concept I place high value on, nearly as much as being able to offer my hearth and home to a friend who needs a bed in town.
I want a friend who needs a rifle to have a rifle, a good one, ready to be used. In that mindset and after a few recent conversations I decided to make a change to the loaner as I had it previously.
“Keith, why would you revert to an ACOG?”
I’m glad you asked, hypothetical inquisitor. I often extoll the virtues of the LPVO. I believe it to be a superior optic system and with far greater capability than a dot or a fixed magnification sight. They come in many varieties with feature and data rich layouts for a shooter to use… and that makes them complicated.
Too complicated? No, but there is a learning curve. That learning curve is processing time that whoever I hand this rifle to will have to spend familiarizing themselves with it in order to utilize it. This rifle, the ‘Loaner’, is supposed to be ready to use. Hand off and go. Handing someone an LPVO equipped rifle would be like loaning them a manual transmission diesel vehicle, fine if they know what they’re doing but a lot more hinderance if they do not.
In an ideal world I would be handing this to a friend familiar with shooting and familiar with LPVOs. But a friend and I were having a discussion about his rifle at home and I very quickly realized an error in my earlier thought process. I should not hold any expectation that the person I hand the ‘Friend Rifle’ to has the experience to use an LPVO, even if they are an otherwise proficient shooter. The LPVO is useful, but it is complex enough to cause problems and be hinderance more than help to an LPVO inexperienced user.
Simplicity itself
The solution was simple, simplify the optic suite. Reduce the learning curve in so that I can hand this to a user and only worry about having them learn the controls on the rifle, not the controls and the complexity of optic’s mathematics. Even with common proficiently experienced AR-15 shooters, I am more likely to be near someone with experience on red dots and ACOGs than any of the myriad LPVOs now on market. LPVOs are new comparatively, at least for wide market acceptance.
The ACOG hasn’t changed in function much since 1987. The red dot hasn’t either, but the rifle is trying to balance simplicity with as full functionality as can be offered. The full capability and effective range of the rifle should be as available as feasible. That lead me back to the Trijicon ACOG, specifically the TA50 which is a newer offering.
The most popular and well known ACOG is the TA31, used widely in GWOT and evolved from the TA01 by adding the fiber optic illumination to the system. The specific reticles to match rounds and barrels made them widely standard issue. The US Marines had two, the RCOA4 and RCOM4, for their two service rifles and the US Army had the M150.
The 2nd generation of ACOGs improves on two of the principle weak points of the first, their size and their eye relief. The size reduction allows the LPVOs to do their thing distinctly separate and these smaller sights are not trying to compete in their functionality sandbox. Gen 2 ACOGs and other micro-prisms are their own niche, a combination of solid state reticle benefits with fixed magnification while being no (or minimally) larger and heavier than a red dot, also plenty bright.
Why the TA50?
‘Loaner’ was specifically chosen and built up for low maintenance and high functionality. The TA50 supports that.
The LWRCi M6IC-SPR is moderately weighted, has ambidextrous mirrored controls, I added a 2-stage trigger and Surefire muzzle and light. That 2-stage trigger is easily learned, the rifle can be suppressed with one of my cans, and the combination of accessories results in a quickly learned and capable package for nearly any use. The gas piston system will keep it cleaner and have it run a little longer and harder than a DI system can in a pinch. I can expect a lot out of Loaner, even if the rifle is neglected due to circumstances by the operator.
I needed the optic to match that grab-and-go durable capability. It needed to be intuitive to the user and able to take advantage of the range offered by the rifle.
The TA50 delivers that. In detail, it has stages of operability as a user goes through the learning curve. The horseshoe and dot are simple and intuitive and then more of the optic makes sense as you learn the layers of data.
An LPVO could cause confusion by having too much going on with magnification adjustments, brightness, and reticle complexity. Complexity will lock up a user, they’ll be overwhelmed with running the optic and either not shoot or not shoot effectively.
The TA50 is less likely to cause confusion, if the user reverts to the lowest level of understanding of ‘put circle dot on target’ it isn’t counterproductive. In addition the ACOG has nothing to touch, nothing needs adjusting on the TA50 once it is zeroed. No on/off. No brightness dial. No magnification erector control. I eliminate all of the active decisions that require an experienced user to make them effectively. You just look through it.
Speaking of that, look through and you’ll see this. This is specifically the TA50-C-400348.
At its most basic level of understanding, a user can intuitively infer they should put that dot on the target. If its under red, its dead. This point and shoot simplicity will take the user from 3 to about 200 yards with just a little corrective training for optical offset at close distances. Instructing the 300 yard hold and 400 yard hold from there is very simple, and we haven’t yet left the illuminated portion of the reticle. If the user is already familiar with optical/bore offset the learning curve is effectively zero from muzzle to 200 yards effective.
The user hasn’t had to touch, adjust, manipulate, or use any of their controls focused mental energy on the optic. It can all be used on the rifle. Simplified mental processes = shorter learning curve and better retention of information.
Despite the simplicity the user still has an optic that will let them have an advantage against targets at the further end of the rifle’s effective range, taking shots from improbable into the realm of reasonable. You have reference points in the scope out to 800 yards. You can make a strong guess on wind. With the 3x helping the eye the chances are far higher than a 2 MOA dot just hovering in space unaided. The 3x over red illumination is also not particularly jarring when using Bindon aiming/occluded eye shooting, so those close shots remain simple too.
Simplicity matters
In this use case, for this rifle, the simplicity of the system in use is a crucial factor. By the definition of it being loaned for use at need, training time is likely to be limited and need for competent function soonest is the priority. I could be loaning the rifle for a class, and that is great, but it could be for something far more serious and it needs to be ready for that standard of hand off.
This rifle, zeroed, can be handed to anyone. Setup requires properly configuring it, left or right handed, is simply moving the rear sling point to the appropriate side and checking the sizing of sling and stock position. The instructions on the optic start at “put the dot on the target”, then “here are your close distance hold overs”, and ends at the advanced level of “these are approximate 18-20″ shoulder widths at correspondingly long distances to estimate a range and give you a point of aim for the range,”
By removing the need (or any function at all) to dial in magnification or brightness, to not have to teach/learn a reticle that scales accurately at one magnification setting, to not teach/learn a more nuanced FFP reticle that gives the user a lot of data, and by giving the user one repeatable sight picture to look at that can be used comfortably across most of the rifles effective range, the TA50 does the one thing that friend probably needs when they are in need of this rifle.
It keeps their problem simpler.
Judge Benitez Declares CA Ammo Background Check Law Unconstitutional
On Tuesday January 30, 2024 Federal Judge Roger Benitez issued an injunction preventing the California Attorney General, Rob Bonta or any of his agents from enforcing the Golden State’s current unconstitutional ammunition purchasing restrictions.
Ammunition Legislation Background
Originally set forth in California’s 2016 Proposition 63, these ammunition buying restrictions changed how law abiding Californians could purchase ammunition when they took effect in 2019. In order to make this as simple as possible to understand, residents of the Golden State have had to not only apply for a special license to purchase ammunition, but purchase ammunition only through CA DOJ licensed vendors in face-to-face transactions. Besides that, each transaction includes its own background check, regardless of quantity. Furthermore, these laws banned California residents from purchasing ammunition from Internet or mail-order outlets as these are entities that the State Of California cannot obviously regulate. Ditto for California residents physically purchasing ammunition in another state and transporting it home. Suffice to say, over the past few years, the State Of California has been aggressively curtailing the ability of its residents to freely purchase ammunition as a gun-control scheme.
Rhode v. Bonta
Rhode v. Bonta is the court case in question from Benitez’ recent injunction, in which decorated Olympian shooter Kim Rhode is the lead plaintiff. According to the CRPA, the California Rifle And Pistol Association, Rhode v. Bonta has been challenging these draconian restrictions for nearly 8 years now. As with many other Second Amendment related cases around the country, the 2022 Supreme Court Bruen decision caused the 9th Circuit Court Of Appeals to “hand back” Rhode v. Bonta to Benitez’ lower court in order to be reevaluated in light of Bruen. As such, Judge Benitez immediately found that California’s excessive background checks are in direct violation of the Second Amendment. He also declared that California’s prohibition of its residences taking home lawfully purchased out-of-state ammunition violates the US Constitution’s Commerce Clause.
AG Bonta Attempts To Stay Decision
In its modern history, the State Of California has never been friendly to the Second Amendment. It goes without saying that the powers that be aren’t happy about Judge Benitez’ injunction and immediately denounced it. It didn’t take long before the attorney general asked the court for a stay of the injunction which Benitez denied.
What It Means For California Gun Owners
Because Judge Benitez ruled the aforementioned California regulations unconstitutional, California gun owners would do well to stock up and take advantage of any online ammunition deals until a higher court either overrules Judge Benitez or says otherwise.
Please read this for a better detailed breakdown and explanation of Judge Benitez’ January 30th ruling.
The Tanker Models of the M1 Garand
Right off the bat, I’m kind of lying to you. There was never a Tanker model of the M1 Garand. The Tanker moniker for shorter, smaller Garand carbines is a misnomer and is used by commercial companies. The tankers in the M1 Garand era were already armed with guns like the M1 Carbine and M3 Submachine guns. They also had the main gun, coax .50 cal, and the rest of the freaking tank. Tankers didn’t need a short M1, but plenty of other troops did.
Most notably, the idea of a shortened M1 Garand was attached to paratroopers and for jungle warfare. If you’ve never held an M1 Garand, it might be tough to imagine how large and heavy a rifle it can be. The M1 Garand had a 24-inch barrel with an overall length of 43.5 inches. It weighed nearly ten pounds. Compared to a modern AR-15 carbine, it might as well have been a Kentucky-long rifle.
The M1 Garand was way ahead of its time, but World War 2 proved it needed to be trimmed down a bit. There were three efforts to produce a Garand Carbine. The most famous is the T26, but it was one of three rifles designed to provide a more compact Garand.
The M1 Garand Carbines
The M1 Carbine was great, and so were the M3 and the BAR, but they all had their flaws. The carbines didn’t offer the same range or penetration as the M1 Garand. They weren’t full-powered rifles and were compromised. The BAR was bigger and heavier than the M1 Garand. A shorter, lighter M1 Garand would be invaluable for paratroopers. Anyone who has watched Band of Brothers (or a YouTube video of Airborne training) realizes that jumps don’t always go as planned. Big weapons were tricky to tote when you’re jumping from a plane.
Across the world, the Pacific War raged on. The jungles of the island campaign were tight, close in, and brutal. The M1 Garand made jungle warfare tough, and the Pacific Warfare Board saw the same flaws with the M3 and M1 Carbine and thought a short M1 Garand was the answer. This led to three different prototypes of the M1 Garand.
The M1E5 Garand Carbine
The first Garand Carbine was the M1E5. The M1E5 was the most radical of the M1 Garand Carbines. John Garand and Springfield Armory went to work to produce a shorter, lighter, more paratrooper-friendly rifle. The resulting weapon was the M1E5 with an 18-inch barrel and an under-folding stock. The weapon was designated a carbine and used a specially made 18-inch barrel and not a shortened M1 Garand barrel.
The rifle has a shorter handguard and op-rod. The rifle was 37.5 inches long overall and weighed eight pounds and six ounces. The M1E5 was taken to Aberdeen Proving Grounds and tested. Testing found accuracy was on par with the standard M1 at 300 yards. Recoil, muzzle rise, and muzzle flash were declared excessive, and a pistol grip was suggested. A rather dinky one was added.
Further testing continued to show the rifle was unpleasant to fire, and its advantages did not make up for its disadvantages. The M1E5 was shelved to work on other, higher-priority projects.
The PWB Garand
While Springfield Armory may have shelved the concept, the Pacific Warfare Board still saw the value of a shorter M1 Garand. It’s entirely likely that the PWB didn’t even know that Springfield Armory had already experimented with a similar platform.
The M1 carbine wasn’t cutting it in the jungle, and the Garand was too damn big. Thus, they took the M1 Garand and trimmed six inches off its barrel length to create an 18-inch barrel. The PWB also had a vertical foregrip fit to likely deal with the lack of a long handguard. The Chief of the PWB ordered an Army ordnance unit to produce 150 Garand carbines. Unlike the M1E5, the PWB rifle participated in field testing in the Pacific.
The rifle was evaluated by infantrymen and platoon leaders. The idea was solid, but the grunts found the rifle unwieldy. In fact, they described it as “totally unsuitable for a combat weapon.” The muzzle flash was described as a flash bulb going off in the dark. The PWB Garand Carbine was sent to Springfield Armory. The armorers found the PWB rifle to be crude, as you’d imagine a well-used, modified in-the-war rifle would be.
The T26
The T26 was the Garand, best known as the Tanker Garand. The armorers at Springfield Armory developed this M1 Garand off of the PWB Rifle and called it the T26. The T26 used the same M1 stock and lacked a handguard or vertical grip entirely.
Testing showed that the T26 Garand Carbine resulted in a higher muzzle flash, blast, and recoil. It was also less reliable than the standard M1 Garand. Even with those issues, an order for 15,000 was placed for Paratroopers. However, it was canceled after Japan’s surrender.
Short and Sweet
The Tanker M1 Garands were never made for tankers. It’s funny how that name got attached to them. These rifles are just Garand Carbines and were designed for combat that benefited from shorter rifles. However, it doesn’t seem like a Garand carbine was meant to be, and we never saw any large-scale use. You can buy your own, but it’s a pretty penny to do so.
I LOVE BEING WRONG: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Failure
For many people “wrong” is one of the worst things they could be. It’s right up there “mean to puppies” or “rude to waitstaff”
Most of the time, being “right” is SO important, that it can cause people to blow right past an opportunity to actually achieve their desired outcome.
Think of that.
The irony that being so fixated on being “right” that it can actually cause you to lose.
Personally, I’ve found being wrong to prove amazingly beneficial! In every single instance where I discovered I was wrong about something, it opened the door for me to progress and improve.
Shooting, Jits, Relationships, you name it. Each time I was proven wrong was a net gain for me. Nobody foreclosed on my house. My wife didn’t leave me. The dogs didn’t run away. Nothing bad happened.
So give it a shot! Be open to the idea that you may be wrong. You might be surprised at what you gain!
2024 – Gun Violence by the Numbers, So Far
Gavin Newsom’s California is leading the year in both mass shootings (5) and it is arguable for mass murders (6 dead in the only non-familicide incident).
I wonder again about the efficacy of California style gun control that the nation should embrace.
There have been four mass murders so far this year. Two in Illinois, another gun control poster child where this violence is supposedly banned enough, and one in Texas make up the other three. The California incident was the only one in which domestic violence/familicide was not the root. Six bodies have been found dumped by a roadside, it is unknown if they were shot on the scene or at another location and dumped.
The most lethal incident, Illinois, with 8 dead and 1 injury has the offender as a prior felon in possession of a handgun. He killed several members of his family and shot a man in the leg who was unloading groceries nearby, after fleeing to Texas he killed himself before he could be taken into police custody.
So where are all the events not being stopped by the lack of gun regulations? Where are these extreme events being so permitted but their disallowance in California, New York, and Illinois has stopped them?
It seems to me as if the rule, no matter how allegedly permissive or restrictive a respective politico declares it, holds no more weight than a violator is willing to grant it. Therefore, none.
Background checks, capacity bans, permit lists, permitted gun lists, waiting periods, all of it California has and yet they have the most mass shootings and one of the clear worst killings this year thus far, how? How is Illinois with their FOID cards the deadliest state for mass murders 29 days into the year? How? It is against the law?
It is almost as if the socio-economic calculus cannot be so simply defined as making murder extra illegal or trying to ban a certain bullet count from the hands of murders. Weird.
Carry on, gun control. Carry on… I guess. Each time the rule fails it just proves the points again.
The Five Best Semi-Auto Shotguns
As a fan of shotguns, I started my shotgun journey with a pump gun. The more I shoot and train, the more I began to appreciate semi-auto shotguns. They’ve grown by leaps and bounds, and the prices have lowered as quality improved. Semi-auto shotguns are currently the best representation of the modern shotgun.
Why Go Semi-Auto
A semi-auto shotgun offers numerous benefits over a pump action design. Chiefly, the ability to fire very quick follow-up shots. Outside of throwing a round for every pull of the trigger, the repeating claymore eats a chunk of the felt recoil, making the gun much easier to control and much easier to shoot for smaller shooters. Semi-auto shotguns don’t require two hands to operate either.
So, with that in mind, what’s the current crop of semi-autos that deserve your attention? I’ve gathered five semi-auto shotguns that represent the best semi-auto shotguns on the market. These guns are in no particular order, and you’d be well served by any of them.
Beretta 1301
The Beretta 1301 is probably the most famous semi-auto shotgun on the market. Beretta hit the market hard with the 1301 and delivered a fast cycling 12 gauge shotgun. The famed BLINK gas system cycles the shotguns 33% faster than other semi-autos, according to Beretta. The BLINK system also offers excellent reliability and the capability of cycling a multitude of rounds.
The Beretta 1301’s gas system is the real star of the show. It helps keep the gun lightweight, makes cycling quick, and cuts recoil, all the while using a self-cleaning system. A good gas system is great to have, but so are good ergonomics. The Beretta 1301 has nice, large controls, especially with the bolt release. The 1301 also comes in a few different configurations, including a standard stock, pistol grip, and stock setup.
The Beretta 1301 comes optics-ready and has a set of ghost ring iron sights. It’s begging for a red dot, though, and red dots on shotguns are a fantastic combination. The Beretta 1301 is a fantastic setup, and a trip to Aridus Industries allows you to equip the Magpul SGA stock and the Zhukov handguard with M-LOK slots. With the 1301, you get that Beretta quality and reliability you expect, and you know what, you deserve it.
Mossberg 940 Series
America isn’t far beyond the land of spaghetti blasters. Mossberg previously had the Mossberg 930 series, which was a fine shotgun but was far from perfect. The new 940 series revamped the 930 series into more reliable, more modern, and genuinely better guns. The Mossberg 940 series comes in hard with not only a great price but no fear of dealing with 922R.
The Mossberg 940 Pro series covers everything you can use a shotgun for. They have bird guns, snow goose models, 3-gun options, turkey and deer hunting guns, and, of course, the 940 Tactical. The newer Tactical and Turkey models offer you red dot compatibility not with a rail but with a direct mounting platform. It’s identical to a pistol-style mount, which brings the optic low enough to co-witness with your front high-visibility bead.
The 940 design utilizes a stock with an adjustable LOP that allows you to use various inserts for adjustments. This lets you tailor the LOP from 12.5 to 14.25 inches. We also get massive controls that are quick and easy to use, a huge loading port, and more. The 940 series is a feature-filled, reliable, and very capable gun that makes me proud to be an American!
Benelli M4
Back to the Spaghetti blasters with the king of combat shotguns. It might be almost 25 years old at this point, but as far as semi-automatic shotguns go, it’s the most proven gun. In faraway places like Fallujah, it made terrorists into plant food. The Benelli M4 delivers gas-operated goodness in one of the most reliable shotgun systems in the world through the ARGO system.
Benelli produced a very capable autoloader that can run dirty, clean, and anywhere in between. They will run until they break, and 25 years ago, that was a huge deal. It was a semi-auto shotgun shooters could trust and appreciate. The ARGO system reduces recoil and makes the gun super easy to control and use. It’s got solid iron sights and comes optics ready with a nice rail system.
The Benelli M4 gives us a system that can handle a wide swath of rounds, induing low recoil buckshot and even the oddball 2.5-inch loads from Nobel Sport. The Benelli M4 has solid ergonomics but is dated compared to today’s modern shotguns. It’s also fairly expensive and comes from Pizza-land with a neutered five-round tube and fixed stock.
Savage Renegauge
Poor Savage doesn’t get the respect they deserve. People always associate them with budget-priced bolt action rifles, but they’ve expanded far beyond the Axis. The Renegauge, for example, offers a fantastic, premium-grade semi-auto shotgun series. The Renegauge’s D.R.I.V system helps reduce recoil from powerful rounds, and the rotating bolt system ensures awesome extraction in any environment.
The Renegauge started life as a hunting shotgun aimed at sportsmen. It succeeded and slowly developed into a 3-gun shotgun and now into a tactical model. The Renegauge guns are featured filled and come with task-appropriate sights, light high viz beads, or ghost rings, depending on the model. They can be optic’s ready with the addition of a rail.
The Security and 3-Gun models come with huge controls that bring it into the modern era. The Renegauge features an adjustable LOP via inserts, a huge handguard, and an aggressive stock design. You can do things like add cheek risers, and the M-LOK magazine clamp makes it easy to add a light and sling. The Renegauge is one of the most underrated guns on this list!
Beretta A300 Ultima Patrol
Another semi-auto tactical shotgun, another Beretta. The goal of the Beretta A300 Ultima Patrol was to provide shotgun enthusiasts with a sub-1000-dollar shotgun in the form of the A300 Ultima Patrol. This isn’t just a crappy alternative to the 1301, but dang near a competitor.
It might lack the BLINK system, but it keeps a proven gas-operated system that will handle everything from reduced recoil Flitecontrol to full-powered magnum loads. The A300 Ultima Patrol comes with a ton of features. Up front, we get an M-LOK magazine clamp and M-LOK slots on the handguard. This takes us to the nice oversized controls that are well-placed and easy to access.
Across the top, we have an optic rail, as well as low-profile ghost ring iron sights. Beretta even pre-installed a section of hook to add your own elastic side saddle. Oh, and the stock can be adjusted via spacers to adjust the LOP for your needs. The Ultima Patrol is soft shooting, easy handling, and perfect for both home defense and duty use on a budget.
Slinging Lead
I like to think we have a great mix on this list. We’ve got two Italian stallions and two American workhorses. Then we have an Italian design but an American-made mutt that’s proven to be quite capable. The semi-auto shotgun market has never been better, and if you want a good gun, you have plenty of choices. Hopefully, we’ve helped narrow your options down!
STREAMLIGHT® UPGRADES TLR® RM LIGHTS WITH NEW HPL FACE CAP
EAGLEVILLE, PA, January 29, 2024 – Streamlight® Inc., a leading provider of high-performance lighting and weapon light/laser sighting devices, introduced upgraded models of its TLR® RM 1 and TLR® RM 2 series of lights, each now featuring an HPL (High Performance, High Lumen) face cap for a super-bright beam of up to 1,000 lumens and an extended reach of up to 22,000 candela.
The popular TLR RM 1 and TLR RM 2 models, both also available with red or green lasers, have been upgraded with the new face cap to provide improved beam distance when mounted to long guns.
“The addition of the HPL face cap to these models results in high lumen lights that also deliver a powerful beam with extensive range and solid peripheral coverage,” said Streamlight President and Chief Executive Officer Ray Sharrah. “Their ability to put more light on a target at a distance makes them powerful tools for law enforcement professionals, military personnel, hunting and shooting enthusiasts and others when operating under low-light conditions. And the models with integrated red and green aiming lasers help to improve focusing on targets before taking any action.”
Packaged as a system, each rail mounted light features independently operating push-button and remote pressure switches that provide momentary or constant on operation; the kit provides everything users need to mount to long guns. The lights are also available in light-only models.
The laser models include a three-position mode selector to switch between LED only, LED/Laser or Laser only modes. The face cap on all the lights offers a ‘safe-off’ feature to prevent unintentional activation.
The upgraded models are designed to quickly and securely attach to any long gun with a MIL Standard 1913 or NATO Rail, without the need for hands in front of the muzzle. The lights offer highly accurate sight repeatability when remounting. Each light includes a key kit to securely fit onto a broad array of weapons.
All models feature a white power LED and include a custom TIR optic that produces a concentrated beam with optimum peripheral illumination. The TLR RM 1 Laser and TLR RM 2 Laser also feature a 640-660nm red laser, while the TLR RM 1 Laser-G and the TLR RM 2 Laser-G use a 510-530nm green laser. The TLR RM 1 and TLR RM 1 Laser models offer 500 lumens, 11,000 candela and a beam distance of 210 meters, while the TLR RM 2 and TLR RM 2 Laser models deliver 1,000 lumens, 22,000 candela and a 297-meter beam distance. All the lights also include a user-programmable strobe feature.
The TLR RM 1 and TLR RM 1 Laser models each use one (1) 3-volt CR123A lithium battery, measure 3.64 inches in length, and range in weight from 3.02 ounces to 3.24 ounces. The TLR RM 2 and TLR RM 2 Laser models each include two (2) 3-volt CR123A lithium batteries, are 4.97 inches long, and range in weight from 4.68 ounces to 5.11 ounces. All six models feature 1.5 hours of continuous run time and three hours on strobe. In laser mode, the TLR RM 1 Laser and TLR RM 2 Laser run for 60 hours, while the TLR RM 1 Laser-G and TLR RM 2 Laser-G run for 11 hours.
The lights are constructed with durable anodized machined aircraft aluminum with an impact resistant BOROFLOAT® glass lens. The laser versions are IPX4-rated for water-resistant operation, while the non-laser versions are IPX7-rated for waterproof use.
The HPL face cap can be purchased separately to fit existing TLR rail mount models.
About Streamlight
Based in Eagleville, PA, Streamlight, Inc. is marking 50 years of manufacturing high-quality, durable flashlights designed to serve the specialized needs of professionals and consumers alike. Since 1973, the company has designed, manufactured and marketed high-performance flashlights, and today offers a broad array of lights, lanterns, weapon light/laser sighting devices, and scene lighting solutions for professional law enforcement, military, firefighting, industrial, automotive, and outdoor applications. Streamlight is an ISO 9001:2015 certified company. For additional information, please call 800-523-7488, visit streamlight.com or connect with us on facebook.com/streamlight; twitter.com/Streamlight; instagram.com/streamlightinc; linkedin.com/company/streamlight-inc./; and youtube.com/streamlighttv.
The Matador Arms MAT-9 and MAT-9K
Matador Arms have always been pistol caliber carbine people in one way or another. I first discovered the company through their MAG-X blocks, which converted a MIL-SPEC AR lower to various pistol magazine formats. Over the years, the company grew and evolved, and this year is the first time they’ve released an entire firearm. These are large format pistols that fire 9mm and got by the name MAT-9 and MAT-9K.
The MAT-9 and MAT-9K – A New Type of Subgun
The MAT-9 and MAT-9K dances the AR-15 jig in their use of an upper and lower receiver design. The guns do not have a receiver extension or buffer and buffer spring like a normal AR platform. This ‘bufferless’ design results in very compact platforms that can utilize folding braces or stocks if you seek out a tax stamp. The MAT-9K features an uber-short five-inch barrel, and the standard MAT-9 uses an eight-inch barrel.
These are straight blowback-operated firearms and use Glock pattern magazines. The setup uses a buffer contained in the upper receiver, and the charging handle is pushed to the front of the gun, where it rides over the top of the barrel. The charging handle is reversible for left or right-handed shooters.
When we get to the lower receiver, we get fully ambidextrous controls that are very compact but super easy to reach and use. I had the gun in hand, and it was absolutely fantastic. My fingers grubbed their way to each control with absolute ease. They are AR-like and very functional. The gun does feature a last-round bolt hold open for those quick reloads.
The upper and lower are billet designs that look fantastic. I’m really excited about these little subguns. I think a folding 1913 brace and the MAT-9K would be a fantastic and fun little gun. The price isn’t too steep for a novel design. The complete gun will run $999.99.