‘Time’ is not on your side

By

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February 8, 2024

How Guns Brought America the Tyranny Its Founders Feared

In March 2023, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser sent out a distress signal: “Protect Hawaii and our peaceful culture from tyranny of guns.” The Supreme Court’s Bruen decision had made it legal to carry firearms outside the home in all 50 states, and laws were pending to apply the ruling to Hawaii. “So, guns are coming,” warned the authors: to churches, schools, shopping malls and restaurants. Between “this dystopian future” and Hawaii’s peaceful traditions there were few remaining options. – Time Essay

Time Magazine, a location I once and on certain subjects still do consider an authority and source for quality information has fallen here. Like NPR, Time authors and editors refuse to acknowledge a fundamental human truth.

Violence is useful.

Violence has value. Violence is and has always been a method, for good, ill, and indifferent, of getting wants and necessities. Violence is just as much a tool of the developed world as the primitive corners. Violence is the only thing that ultimately backs law. The Force of Law is violence.

Progressive, usually highly affluent and first-world, spaces like to pretend that the worlds choice are not backed by violence. Even as we are re-stone-aging Houthi’s and other Iranian proxies in the Middle East and sending a stream of weapons to Ukraine to grind away Putin’s warfighting capacity to something NATO need not concern themselves with, progressive spaces seem to disassociate that reality from the local scaled variations of the same reality. Realities that have always been. Realities that still are, even if we all pretend to be nice about these things because we are ‘cultured’ or ‘democratic’. This dismisses the full availability for someone to go counter culture to the democratic choice, to change their minds, to not play by the rules, and to do so violently if they want.

It is a choice and it was available long before the invention of the firearm.

Guns have not brought tyranny to the United States, Time. Guns are merely the current simplest method to project a level of force. What we see thanks to technology, is all the places and ways that force is and always has been projected. Some of those ways upset us greatly because we like to pretend we are ‘beyond’ them.

The oversimplification to ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ of things like race, economics, religion, culture, and violence as a tool in society have regressed us. The selective marginalization by oversimplification various topics in the name of ‘equity’ or ‘inclusivity’ continue to highlight that if we do not respect the complexity of the issues we make things worse, not better. Our intentions of bettering things do not matter much if the resultant state is worse.

The Time essay specifically calls out Hawaii’s fear of a “dystopian future” now that the tyranny of the freedom to buy and carry a firearm has been thrust upon them but…

Hawaii Murder/Homicide Rate 1979-2018

It’s almost like Hawaii was following the national trends on violent crime, to include homicide, along with everywhere else before Bruen. Everywhere else includes places where carry has been normal for decades. It is highly unlikely this will change very much after Bruen, because that isn’t how legal carry and legal restrictions work on violent crime. When adjusted for the fact that Hawaii, while a state, is also a lower population island, all of this makes sense. They are a smaller population and have isolation factors and economy factors that help to maintain their below national average violent crime rates that nonetheless parallel the national trends in scale.

Remember, the ability to carry a firearm and the legal right you hold to do so isn’t to ‘fight’ violent crime. That is actually the job of the elected government and law enforcement, to promote conditions that disincentive violent crime through a combination or minimizing its value and maximizing its penalty. You do not have a seatbelt and an airbag in your vehicle to prevent car accidents, you have them for when an accident occurs. The same logic applies to the carry of a firearm, it is emergency equipment for a specific emergency but other factors drive the violent crime rates.

Well are carriers themselves a separate problem? This headline might lead you to believe so.

More Than 2,500 Non-Self Defense Deaths Involving Concealed Carry Killers Since 2007, Latest Violence Policy Center Research Shows

Except if you do the math… that is 147 deaths per year over those 17 years. A license, as we well know from accident and homicide statistics with vehicles, is not a guarantee of good/non-reckless behavior or to be free from danger. In this case it works out to about 0.6-1.1% of unjustified homicides in a given year (likely a more stable average of about 0.7-0.9% as they are likely to scale and trend with the national homicide rates of the year) were committed by a licensed to carry individual. Meaning 99% of the problem is not with licensed concealed carriers.

To put this into further perspective, for every unjustifiable homicide by a licensed individual (as if 100:1 unjustifiable homicides by unlicensed individuals already didn’t make this comparison absurd) there are between 10 and 14 justifiable uses of force defensively, according to the Gun Violence Archive, per homicide.

The GVA’s reporting, for clarity, when compared to studies on DGU’s from other sources, only report ~1,100-2,100 DGUs (that they can verify through reporting to be fair, to the GVA) vs the low end estimates of 55,000–88,000 annual occurrences of defensive gun use from sources like NCVS and NSDS.

So that means the roughly 10:1 positive ratio we can extrapolate and verify with the GVA data is likely undercounting by a factor of 40 to 50 the number of DGUs. Now those DGUs aren’t all by licensed to carry individuals either, but if we apply the national average of 8.4% of adults to the factor of 40 to 50 (which is still undercounting because we should probably do it by gun owning households/adults and not the population at large) we still get the a factor of roughly 3 to 5 times undercounted DGUs by the GVA to licensed carriers resulting in a 30:1 to 50:1 positive firearm efficacy.

Again, this is me speaking off the cuff with very raw data that is loosely bracketed.

But Time, you’re off here and the data exists to show that. You just do not want to hear it. You do not want to hear it because violence as useful, violence as a tool, does not fit the worldview you wish to see and it is a common and very human tactic to ignore the things we do not wish to acknowledge to try and ‘will’ the world into our preferred view of it. The problem with that is there are roughly 8 billion wills on the planet and only a tiny fraction of them align so flawlessly with your own (or mine) that it would not eventually generate conflict.

Violence is, always has been, and always will be a solution to advancing and resolving conflicts. How preferable that solution is can be debated, but we must remember that our preferences are under no obligation to align with others.

The Carcano and Kennedy

By

Travis Pike

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February 7, 2024

One of the most historically important moments in modern history comes from Dallas, Texas, at 12:30 CST on November 22nd, 1963. The assassination of John F. Kennedy has been torn apart and sewn back together over and over again. It’s been dissected, researched, and fictionalized. It’s the subject of conspiracy theories and even memehood. One part of the assassination that isn’t disputed is the rifle. The Carcano Model 38 Infantry rifle certainly doesn’t appear to be a rifle used to change the world.

The Carcano Model 38 Infantry Carbine

The original Carcano was introduced in 1891 as the world moved to bolt-action battle rifles instead of single-shot carbines. The rifle is an Italian design and was created by Salvator Carcano. From 1891 to just after World War 2, some form of Carcano served with the Italian military and police forces. The Carcano Model 38 Infantry Carbine was one of the more modern Carcanos.

The rifle is often called the 91/38, meaning it has the same overall design as the 1891 rifle, but this particular variant was created in 1938. This bolt-action rifle served as the main rifle of the Italian armed forces in World War Two. It chambered the 6.5x52mm cartridge and fired from an internal box magazine fed by En Bloc clips.

The Carcano series is often viewed rather poorly by modern shooters. While the rifle did have its issues, it wasn’t nearly as bad as many make it out to be. The Carcano utilized a rimless round way back in 1891 and was the first infantry rifle to chamber the 6.5 mm cartridge. Using En-bloc clips was fairly clever and held a mighty six rounds of ammunition.

The Carcano series of rifles was well known for being quite reliable and very simple. P.O. Ackley tried to blow one up and break the action and reportedly just couldn’t do it. The 6.5mm cartridge offered lower recoil, lightweight ammo, and a fast-moving cartridge. They were very robust rifles and were well suited for the infantry forces. The accuracy wasn’t stellar, but it was pretty standard for an infantry rifle of the time period. The problem came from its ammo.

The Problem with The Carcano

The problem with the Carcano comes from the ammo. The 6.5x52mm round is a fine idea, but it’s limited by its use of a round bullet. The lack of a Spitzer-style bullet affected its overall performance. A round bullet is less stable and tends to tumble. That’s great for hitting a threat but gives it poorer performance when compared to a Spitzer-style bullet.

The Carcano rifle was also met with issues due to the quality of the ammo the Italian forces were loading up. They were loaded with different powder consistencies, which wouldn’t be an issue if you had a division loaded entirely with one powder type.

However, the main problem was that an individual soldier would often be equipped with a grab bag of ammo, and a single six-round clip would have ammunition from different lots intermixed.

This resulted in poor accuracy and performance. The Italian military noted that the rifles had performance issues at both close and long ranges. The Italian military sought to replace the round with a 7.35mm Spitzer-style projectile, but the massive scale of World War 1 made replacing the 6.5mm cartridge a non-starter.

The Kennedy Rifle

Lee Harvey Oswald ordered his 91/38 Carcano rifle from Kelin’s Sporting Goods of Chicago for the princely sum of 19.95 with a 4X telescopic sight attached to the rifle. Kelin’s advertised the rifle as a 6.5 Italian Carbine, and that was seemingly enough to Oswald. In an attempt to be clever, he used the name Alek Hiddell to order the rifle. This was before the era of FFLs, and it was mail-ordered right to his home.

The original ad showed a slightly shorter Caracano M91 TS. The Caracano TS had a 17.7-inch barrel versus the Carcano 91/38’s 20.9-inch barrel. Oswald didn’t seem to mind the difference. The scope was reportedly a cheap Japanese 4X optic. The objective lens was a meager 18mms, and the scope was mounted by Kelin’s but imported by Ordnance Optics. The rifle had sling swivels and even had a sling.

Oswald must have zeroed the rifle well because as well all now know he was capable of making the shots that killed President Kennedy. The Carcano wouldn’t be anyone’s first choice, but it’s clearly a rifle that could be used by a skilled shooter.

These days, you don’t hear much about the Carcano rifles, but they can be had for a very low price. I would go as far as to call them the modern Mosin in terms of price, so grab one now if you have any interest because, like the Mosin, prices will only go up.

Mother of Oxford School Shooter Found Guilty

By

Keith Finch

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February 6, 2024

Screenshot 2024-02-06 at 1.53.50 PM — Image of Crumbley via CNN, she was found guilty of 4 manslaughter counts

Jennifer Crumbley Found Guilty on 4 Counts of Manslaughter – Setting Precedent on Liability Rules

In a national precedent setting case that could establish liability rules henceforth, Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty on the man slaughter charges stemming from the mass shooting committed by her son.

Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the teenager who killed four students at an Oxford, Michigan, high school in 2021, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in a trial that stood as a test of the limits of who’s responsible for a school shooting.

Jennifer Crumbley was convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter, a charge that comes with a maximum punishment of up to 15 years in prison for each count. –CNN

She is scheduled to be sentenced on April 9th and could face up to 60 years in prison total for her lack of control over her minor son’s firearm.

This case answers the long held question on if parents of shooters can be held liable for the actions of their children. The answer, at least in a case with these egregious circumstances, is yes. Those persons who hold legal control over firearms will now likely have to establish clear and concise delineation that no access to their firearms was permitted and that prudent steps were in place to prevent that access in the event of criminal misuse of the firearm.

That precedent aligns with new legislation going into effect in Michigan on February 13th that lays out liability and supervisory mandates for gun owners who will be around minors and if those minors could access the firearm(s).

An Ode To Beretta’s Tip-up Guns

By

Travis Pike

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February 6, 2024

I never thought there would be a year when the old tip-up-style barrels would be making such waves. It’s the end of 2023, and we’ve seen a rise in the number of tip-up guns. Beretta released a few new models, or at least a few new SKUs involving different finishes and the new covert series. Girsan released some copies of the old Cheetah models in .380 with tip-up barrels. My favorite was Langdon Tactical making good on an April Fool’s joke of creating an optics-ready 3032 Tomcat.

Sadly, in the midst of all this good news, there was some bad news. Even though Beretta threw some force behind the Tip-Up guns, they’ve decided to discontinue the series. They announced that 2023 would be the last year of the tip-up guns. Why? Well, to be fair, they are outclassed by the modern era of pocket pistols. Plus, the modern world of concealed carry pistols is dominated by micro-compacts.

I’m a fan of the tip-up guns. I own four of them. I have two Tomcats, a Bobcat and a Minx. While I love the guns, and I’d love to see the idea explored and perfected, it’s admittedly a tough sale.

The History of the Tip-Up Guns

Beretta has a long history of producing micro-sized handguns, starting in the early 1900s. Guns like the M1915 would inspire their creation, and the M1934 and M1935 established the small gun design of the Beretta. In 1952, Beretta produced the first Tip-Up design, the Beretta 950, which came in .25 ACP and .22 Short. The .25 ACP was known as the Jetfire, and the .22 Short was called the Minx.

These little pistols were aimed at being concealable and pocket-sized. The tip-up barrel design offered a few advantages. If you’ve ever handled one of these little guns, the slides are incredibly small and tough to operate with your hands. Allow your hands to get a little sweaty, and operating these slides becomes pretty tough.

The barrel pops up and makes the chamber easy to access. A user could manually load a round in the chamber without ever operating the slide. The tip-up design necessitates a blowback action and eliminates the ability to mount an extractor. The cases are ejected purely by blowback operation.

The 950 series were single-action, hammer fire guns. The original had no safety, but later, a 950BS model integrated a frame-mounted safety into the design. While they predated the 92 series, most people will be familiar with the open slide and exposed barrel design that screams Beretta. The 950BS was produced until 2003.

The New Generation of Tip-Up Guns

The Beretta Cheetah series could be seen as an advancement of the Beretta Tip-ups. They are blowback-operated guns chambered in .32 ACP and .380 ACP. There are several models of the 80 series, and the model 86 featured the tip-up barrel design. It was only available in .380 ACP.

In 1984, Beretta introduced the 21A, which would known as the Bobcat. The Bobcat is a little different than the 950 series. It’s a DA/SA gun and chambers the .22LR cartridge. It maintains the overall design of the 950 in terms of tip-up barrel and general operation.

In 1996, Beretta upped the ante to the .32 ACP with the Beretta 3032, aka the Tomcat. This might be the most effective and prominent of the tip-up guns and the only one I’d carry for self-defense. Like the 21A, it used a DA/SA design, a safety, and a tip-up barrel design.

Thoughts On The Tip-Up Guns

I adore the tip-up guns, and I like shooting them. They are neat and certainly novel. I own several of them for a reason. Still, if you asked me, should I get the Beretta 21A or 3032 before they are fully out of production? I would pause and have to ask questions. If it’s for collecting and owning a neat pistol before it’s gone? Sure.

If you ask me, should I buy a tip-up gun for self-defense? I’d say no. What about for plinking? No, not unless you don’t mind being a little frustrated. Of the four I own, my favorite is the Minx in .22 Short. The .22 Short is a blast to shoot, downright cute, and surprisingly reliable.

The 21A is one of the most maintenance-heavy, ammo-picky, and use-picky guns I’ve ever owned. Ammo pickiness is a pretty normal affair with .22LR pistols, but this one is really picky. It’s Velocitors or Punch, or nothing. Even then, it doesn’t always run reliably. If your hand is too high, it gets a bit of slide bite, which interrupts the function of the pistol. If you hold the gun too tight, it affects the function of the pistol. When the fun fails to extract, it requires a good two minutes to fix.

There were some weird ones along the way (Invaluable)

The 3032 is much more reliable. However, it does have some nasty slide bite to it. It will cut you across the hand nicely. Oh, and it’s ammo-picky, but in a different way. If you use ammo that exceeds 129 foot-pounds (IE, the good stuff), you can crack the frame. Plus, the recoil is surprisingly sharp.

Not For Everyone

The Tip-up guns aren’t for everyone. At least know what you are getting into if you get into one. They are novel and neat, especially if you appreciate micro-sized DA/SA guns like I do. I’m not surprised they are on the way out, but I’m sad to see them go. Now, I just need to get my slide sent to Langdon to attach an optic.

Fix-It Sticks Are A Lifesaver

By

P.E. Fitch

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February 6, 2024

At some point last autumn, I found myself inundated with all manner of riflescopes, mounts and reflex sights. Some I bought for personal use and others were things I was/am reviewing. It got to a point where mounting and installing these things across various rifles and handguns with the supplied Torx wrenches wasn’t cutting it any more. Not only because using small little wrenches can be cumbersome, but also because there is no way to properly gauge how much torque a mounting screw receives from a tiny hand wrench. So I found myself rummaging through the aisles of one of the local big box outdoors store next to the shelf with all the scope rings and mounts and I decided to take a chance on the most basic general purpose Fix-It Sticks optics mounting tool kit.

At the time of my purchase, I wasn’t terribly familiar with Fix-It Sticks or their products other than hearing about them in passing. Although this set was not the cheapest option on those shelves, I took a chance on it solely based on the kit’s form factor. The entirety of this basic tool set fits in small carrying case I can best describe as being slightly wider and taller than the typical smartphone. At most, the width of the tool kit is maybe twice or three times as wide as that contemporary phone. This kit is extremely portable and easy to stow in any range kit or case when going shooting. The basic Fix-It Sticks set that I purchased includes the Fix-It Sticks All-In-One Torque Driver, a three-way T-handle with 1/4 inch hex sockets, a 1/2 inch socket with 1/4 inch adapter and fifteen different 1/4 inch tool bits. Among the included bits are both Torx and Allen with sizes relevant to most gun owners.

Fix-It Sticks Rifle & Optics Toolkit With All-In-One Torque Driver Overview

After buying it and taking the kit home, I had no idea what to expect and was even somewhat skeptical of the most crucial element in the tool kit, the Fix-It Sticks All-In-One Torque driver itself. This was the first time I saw any torquing tool that didn’t look like a ratchet with a twisting handle where one has to pre-set the torque setting by twisting to the right spot. The All-In-One doesn’t work that way, however and in fact works quite seamlessly because the unit itself has all of its torque values starting at 0 inch pounds all the way to 65 inch pounds (more than enough for general purpose torquing of mounts, bases, screws and rings) marked along intervals on the upper part. The uppermost part of this torque driver has a 1/4 inch hex adapter while the lowermost part which accepts 1/4 inch bits and spins semi-independently from the main part of the torque driver. The premise of the tool is fairly simple and to use it, one only needs to drive all fasteners until they’re snug. Once snug, one simply turns and twists the driver with the T-handle until the desired level of torque is applied. The bottom part that holds the bit that indicates the current torque when the proper amount of tension is applied to the tool. When the driver is “resting” with no tension whatsoever, this marking returns to and rests at 0. I find it to be a very smooth way of torquing things and I appreciate that I never have to preset the tool to my desired torque setting. Instead one only has to keep twisting until the indicator lines up with the amount of torque they require.

The three-way T-handle is nice too because all three ends accept any 1/4 inch bit or 1/4 inch adapter, and the All-In-One torque driver can be used on either short side or the long side depending on how much leverage is needed to tighten something properly. The fifteen different included tool bits consist of [Torx] T10, T15, T20, T25; [Hex] 3/32″, 5/64″, 1/8″, 5/32″, 3/16″, 2.5mm, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, P1 (Phillips), Slotted 5mm (Flathead). They show every indication of being of high quality and first glance look a little nicer than your typical 1/4 inch bits found in most hardware store tool sets. I mostly use the T10 and T15s with my applications, and they provide a snug fit and purchase when inserted to the screw’s cavity. The entire tool kit is stored in an organized plastic chassis that makes space for every bit and part. The outer nylon and zippered pouch that I previously described as being twice or three times wider than the typical phone also provides some extra space so you can throw in other bits or wrenches or miscallaneous items. Personally, I keep extra screws for pistol dots, the Holosun tool and the little 3/32″ wrench used for Leupold Mk 5 HD turrets.

Fix-It Sticks Rifle & Optics Toolkit With All-In-One Torque Driver Feedback

While I’m very grateful that Fix-It Sticks offers this basic tool kit that makes my life easier, this particular set is not the end-all be-all. It’s a general purpose kit and such should be considered a jack-of-all trades-master-of-some. My only real concern using it thus far is when it comes to mounting Holosun optics to pistols (direct experience with the HS507COMP and the regular HS407/507 that also share the Trijicon RMR footprint). The diameter of the torque driver is somewhat wide, so I had to use an extended bit holder in order to be able to line up the bit straightly over either T10 screw. This is due to the top edge of the protective lens hood on these Holosun units sitting fairly close to either screw hole. Besides this challenge with Holosun dots, I’ve not had any other issues mounting other optics or bases. Even so, it’s unrealistic for a general purpose kit to magically worth with every single permutation of guns, mounts and their optics. If I had any feedback for Fix-It Sticks, it would be to also include a bit-holding extension, if anything due to the popularity of RMR footprint based open-emitter Holosun products on the market today.

The Takeaway

After using my set of Fix-It Sticks on a nearly weekly basis to replace, install and switch around optics and their mounts, I’ve realized how indispensable this tool kit is. And not just for me but to the modern shooter in general. Although this kit costs more than similar products, the fit and finish of the kit is apparent and it’s very hard to beat its hyper portability and the way it’s organized. It solves a lot of headaches and certainly helps me out as a reviewer that handles guns and optics on a frequent basis. I’m glad I took a chance on it.

STYLISH & STRAPPED: How to Carry Concealed In Dapper, Stylish, Business Attire

By

The Suited Shootist

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February 5, 2024

Back when I launched The Suited Shootist blog I was working in a job that had a specific dress code. I was regularly wearing slacks, jackets, and tucked in shirts. Even now that I no longer have those professional requirements, I still regularly go placed where dressing like this is either appropriate or expected.

As you’d imagine, it can be challenging to conceal the type of handgun that most of us would prefer to have for defense (compact, double stack, semi auto).

Even if you can conceal it effectively, access is generally slowed because you’re having to clear a tucked in cover garment. So I’ve started playing with options that, while might not be quite as ballistically effective, are more accessible and can be brought to bear faster. Here’s the overall breakdown:

– Pistol: KelTec P32

– Holster: Ramora Pocket Holster mounted to a MDTS Pocket Shield made by Raven Concealment

– Pepper Spray: POM Industries

– Flashlight: Modlite Systems PHL-V2 18350 configuration with an RCS pocket clip

– Tourniquet: Tactical Medical Solutions SOF-T Wide

– Shirt & Jacket: Canali (through Poshmark for about 20 cents on the dollar)

– Pants: Dockers

How Bond Got the PPK

By

Travis Pike

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February 5, 2024

James Bond is forever intertwined with Walther. To this day, Walther firearms occupy the Bond films. The most popular is the Walther PPK. However, that hasn’t stopped the P5 and P99 from occupying Bond’s hands. How did a British secret agent end up with a German handgun? Maybe it’s because the British arms industry sucks? Or perhaps it was because Bond’s creator, Ian Fleming, was willing to take some advice.

Bond’s First Gun – A Spaghetti Blaster

Bond’s first gun can be traced back to Ian Fleming’s service in the Naval Intelligence Division. Fleming’s own service was fairly interesting, and it’s easy to see why he was capable of creating such a memorable character. Ian Fleming carried a Beretta 418 during his service and described Bond’s first gun as very flat .25 Beretta. It’s described as having the grip panels removed, and the barrel is threaded for a suppressor.

Ian Fleming didn’t have a ton of firearm experience, so it makes sense that he just inserted the gun he knew into his novels. James Bond was a covert agent, and the Beretta would be small and concealable. It served as his gun of choice for the first five novels. It was in Dr. No that Bond was issued the Walther PPK.

How the PPK Came To Be

A fan of the Bond books named George Boothroyd wrote Ian Fleming a number of letters and criticized the use of the Beretta. He called it a lady’s gun. The .25 ACP is a bit anemic and is notoriously a poor penetrator. Boothroyd initially advised Fleming that Bond should carry a revolver, but Fleming insisted on a semi-auto.

The two men settled on a Walther PPK in 7.65 Browning, aka the .32 ACP. It bears mentioning that in the Dr. No novel, Bond gets both a Walther and S&W Centennial. In the film, Dr. No Bond is only issued the PPK, which gets name-dropped in the film.

The Walther PPK fits well with James Bond. The PPK is sleek and slim, and it has a stylish look to it that certainly lends itself well to the James Bond style and motif. It became a prominent part of the Bond character and has remained cemented in Bond’s legacy.

Introducing Geoffrey Boothroyd

Geoffrey Boothroyd is often referred to as a fan or maybe a firearm enthusiast. His knowledge is often undersold, and in reality, Geoffrey Boothroyd was a true firearms expert. He wrote several firearms reference manuals. His first book was published in 1961, and his final book was published in 2004.

The man knew his stuff. Beyond the Walther PPK, Boothroyd often advised Fleming on weapons in general. From bad guy’s guys to how suppressors work. Ian Fleming created a character named Major Boothroyd, who is described as a firearms expert. Major Boothroyd is the proper name for Bond’s armorer, who goes by the code name Q.

Forever Intertwined

Bond and the PPK have become forever intertwined. The PPK is as much a part of Bond’s lore as a shaken martini. It’s interesting to think it was because some gun nut was mildly annoyed enough to write a letter to Ian Fleming to complain. These days, we just do that on the internet, which is probably why Extraction 2 features 0 Condor plate carriers. At least Boothroyd eventually got to become Q, and I’m just some guy still ranting on the internet.

Gunday Brunch 135: The Taurus 327 Defender TORO

By

Keith Finch

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February 4, 2024

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

By

The Suited Shootist

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February 3, 2024

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

By

Travis Pike

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February 3, 2024

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

By

Keith Finch

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February 2, 2024

230922162918-01-joe-biden-gun-safety-092223 — President Joe Biden speaks as Rep. Maxwell Frost and Vice President Kamala Harris listen during a Rose Garden event on gun safety at the White House on September 22, 2023 in Washington, DC. Image via CNN

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

By

Keith Finch

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February 2, 2024

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

By

Travis Pike

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February 2, 2024

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

By

Travis Pike

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February 1, 2024

royal Danish museum.jpeg — (Royal Danish Museum)

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

By

Keith Finch

-

February 1, 2024

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.