Gun laws suck at… well… existing

By

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August 3, 2023

Concealed carry insurance is up — Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

San Jose’s gun law leaves officers unclear on enforcement approach

Look, my opinions and commentary stray from ‘journalism’ in the strictest sense pretty often. This is my blog space. I’m the head of publication. It is my prerogative to go on a bit of a rant about things that get under my skin here and there between sending the normal stream of content, happenings, reviews, and so forth.

This is one of those things.

San Jose, like many US jurisdictions are doing, passed another bullshit feel good law that the cops don’t know what to do with. This isn’t the low hanging take of “AlL GuN LawS R INfRingmenTz!” it is the legitimate problem of most of the nonsense ‘do something’ measures that are passed by councils and legislatures in the veneer of violence prevention.

The rules are titled and meant to evoke the feeling of safety and efficacy instead of being effective, or making the community safer, or being written in a way to help law enforcement make them work at all.

The rule in question?

The Gun Harm Reduction Ordinance

This piece of genius requires, requires it demands spuriously, that gun insurance be held and a sin tax of $25 a year to support an ‘unspecified nonprofit’ to support victims of “gun harm” in the community. It demands this from ‘good’ gun owners, obviously. They won’t say the part out loud where the people paying aren’t remotely contributing to the problem enough to matter. The Gun Harm Reduction Ordinance is going to be, somehow, enabling an inspection of gun owners for holding insurance. I’m certain that this will finally get all the violence under control. The public ownership is just under insured and needs to pay a little more money…

What utter crap.

What incognitive bullshit.

What a perfect nothing burger of nonsense to waste police time, resources, and put some extra money in the pockets of an insurance company for no benefit. It’s not like they’re going to be paying out that often. So you just tax and fee a person who probably wasn’t a problem, to generate no payout from the insurance company because they weren’t the problem so no payout, to maybe tap into the charity pile of money, that will be paying their staff with a bunch of that money, who were still not part of the problem.

Brilliant.

I’m certain the as-of-yet unidentified charitable organization will be entirely above board and have consistent oversight by the governing body of San Jose. No reason to worry at all.

Again, how is this supposed to work? Not even ‘reduce crime’ or ‘gun violence in the community’… just… work?

Pay $59.23 a month, and $25 a year to “charity”, for insurance as a responsible gun owner in case the police ask for your proof of insurance and then… what? Does the insurance pay out if your gun gets stolen and used in a crime? Wouldn’t that create another avenue for insurance fraud? What are the criteria for pay out? Does the owner get compensated for the lost firearm and the victim get a payout? Why would this matter if the lawful owner is the one that commits the violent crime? If it does payout if the owner commits a crime, a terrible plan, would we just require all criminals to carry crime insurance? That seems like a swell plan.

Really top notch and well reasoned problem solving here. Insure the criminals against their crimes. Certainly feels like they’re just calling all gun owners, estimated at up to 60% of US adults now, criminals… but I’m sure that’s coincidence for the grounded and well meaning lordship of San Jose.

So back to the original question. How good is a law the cops can’t figure out how to enforce? How good is that law if LEOs are left scratching their heads at how to check insurance paperwork instead of preventative measures the community?

The Revenant Corps IMP – A G10 Slasher

By

Travis Pike

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August 3, 2023

A little while back, we reviewed a Sharpie with a G10 stabby tip for discreet self-defense. A little company called Revenant Corps created and appreciated our review. Enough so they sent me a few more knives to take for a spin. One is known as the IMP, and IMP stands for Impale Maim and Puncture, which describes this shiv quite well. Specifically, it’s the IMP with a hook, and the hook is at the bottom of the grip for aided retention.

Much like the Sharpie, the IMP is made entirely from G10. This makes it undetectable when it comes to dealing with metal detectors. This doesn’t mean breaking the law because that’s a great way to find yourself behind some very metal bars, for a very long time, possibly with a very high fine. That being said, there are plenty of places that might have metal detectors and have no force of law regarding carrying weapons. G10 is great for that.

It’s also super lightweight, making it lighter to carry than a metal weapon. With a fixed blade sticker, the IMP is lighter and easier to tote when carried daily. G10 is quite tough and makes a good stabber, and while it can slice, it’s really all about the sticking and impalement.

Breaking Down the IMP

The handle of the IMP is just long enough to fill your hand and be entirely enclosed by your hand. The IMP’s handle is wrapped with hemp twine and done so quite tightly. That hemp is then epoxied and hardened. It forms a dense material that adds texture to the IMP. It’s rough and sticking, which helps ensure the blade doesn’t move in your hand. Even with wet or sweaty hands, the IMP stays put.

This model has the hook, and there is a nonhook version as well. The hook makes it easy to draw from a sheath and helps retain the weapon when doing something like an ice pick grip. The hook is fairly handy but does add some slight bulk. Not a big deal in my usage. I do prefer the hook, especially when it comes time to draw the knife.

The sheath system is also nonmetallic and made from rigid polymer. The sheath has a pocket hook and a status line. It can be worn tight to the body, and the static line makes it really easy to mount it wherever you want it along your belt line. The really lightweight nature of the G10 knife ensures it doesn’t rotate, even though it’s fairly long.

If you pocket carry the IMP, you have a hook to catch on your pocket as you draw the knife. Alternatively, you can tie the static line to your belt and allow it to pull the sheath off as it leaves your pocket. The only problem there is when you draw, you have to pull the sheathed knife out quite far before the blade is ready for professional poking.

The IMP In Action

The blade of the IMP is an odd shape. I’m not exactly sure how to describe it. The blade is somewhat triangular-shaped. The design gives the IMP a more rigid design that allows it to be quite durable and more capable of penetrating when used. The blade itself is quite pointy, and while it has a rudimentary slashing edge, it’s certainly more for shiv work than cutting an apple open.

In fact, while most knives offer a more versatile tool-like design, the IMP is just for stabbing things. It’s a self-defense tool, something to give you an edge. Or, rather, a point. Drawing the IMP can be done very quickly from a multitude of positions. Grabbing it and stabbing with it takes no time at all.

The handle is naturally ergonomic. As mentioned, the hook helps with retention. The grip is small and grippy. Plus, there is a natural index point near the tip of the blade. It locks in tight and won’t slip your grip when stabbing and poking. The IMP is little but mean and acts as a great last-ditch tool for self-defense. Plus, your local freedom-hating venue can’t do much to prevent G10 from being carried IWB as you move and groove.

FPC’s Release On 5th Circuit Decision

By

Keith Finch

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August 2, 2023

Firearms formerly known as pistols with their much less dangerous and totally way less concealable rifle counterpart. [/sarc]

NEW ORLEANS, LA (August 1, 2023) – Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and FPC Action Foundation (FPCAF) announced that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in Mock v. Garland, finding that FPC and FPCAF are likely to win on the merits of their lawsuit challenging ATF’s pistol brace rule. The Fifth Circuit also remanded the lawsuit back to the district court with instructions to reconsider the other preliminary injunction factors within 60 days. The opinion can be viewed at FPCLegal.org.

“The ATF incorrectly maintains that the Final Rule is merely interpretive, not legislative, and thus not subject to the logical-outgrowth test,” writes Judge Smith in the Court’s opinion. “The Final Rule affects individual rights, speaks with the force of law, and significantly implicates private interests. Thus, it is legislative in character. Then, because the Final Rule bears almost no resemblance in manner or kind to the Proposed Rule, the Final Rule fails the logical-outgrowth test and violates the APA.”

The Court goes on to state: “To ensure relative stability, we MAINTAIN the preliminary injunction pending appeal that the motions panel issued on May 23, 2023, as clarified by this merits panel on May 26, 2023. This court’s injunction will expire 60 days from the date of this decision, or once the district court rules on a preliminary injunction, whichever occurs first. We direct the district court to rule within 60 days.”

“Said in its simplest terms, the Fifth Circuit just indicated that the Plaintiffs–Firearms Policy Coalition, Maxim Defense, and FPC’s individual members–are likely to defeat ATF’s pistol brace rule when the merits of this case are finally heard,” said Cody J. Wisniewski, FPCAF’s General Counsel and FPC’s counsel in this case. “This is a huge win for peaceable gun owners across the nation, a huge win for FPC’s members, and yet another massive defeat for ATF and this administration’s gun control agenda.”

Individuals who would like to Join the FPC Grassroots Army and support important pro-rights lawsuits and programs can sign up at JoinFPC.org. Individuals and organizations wanting to support charitable efforts in support of the restoration of Second Amendment and other natural rights can also make a tax-deductible donation to the FPC Action Foundation. For more on FPC’s lawsuits and other pro-Second Amendment initiatives, visit FPCLegal.org and follow FPC on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.

Firearms Policy Coalition (firearmspolicy.org), a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization, exists to create a world of maximal human liberty, defend constitutional rights, advance individual liberty, and restore freedom. FPC’s efforts are focused on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and adjacent issues including freedom of speech, due process, unlawful searches and seizures, separation of powers, asset forfeitures, privacy, encryption, and limited government. The FPC team are next-generation advocates working to achieve the Organization’s strategic objectives through litigation, research, scholarly publications, amicus briefing, legislative and regulatory action, grassroots activism, education, outreach, and other programs.

5th Circuit Hands ATF Another L – Pistol Braces

By

Keith Finch

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August 2, 2023

From Reuters,

A U.S. regulation restricting ownership of gun accessories known as pistol braces is likely illegal, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, a victory for a gun rights group challenging the rule.

A 2-1 panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives finalized the rule in January without giving the public a meaningful chance to comment on it. That made it invalid under the federal Administrative Procedure Act, the panel found.

Based perhaps on the ATFs own haste to publish the rule, which if you’ll recall the put up for comment and then withdrew early when it got savagely panned by commentary, the published rule that went into effect back in January and added just over 200,000 SBRs to the NFA Registrar out of an estimated 5,000,000 to 15,000,000 is probably illegal.

Even before considering the arguments under the 2A and ADA, or any other avenue of legal attack the brace rule was wide open for, the ATF may have run afoul by simply not opening a second comment period on the revised rule.

Bump stocks, frames, and braces oh my. ATF rule making, at the behest of the administrations, to appease emoting demanding moms and mayors continues their string of well earned losses.

It is increasingly evident that gun control ‘wins’ are nothing more than courts not wanting to conflict with their local rule makers when they can easily just let it be decided by a higher court and it isn’t their problem anymore.

The court did not immediately block enforcement of the rule, instead sending the case back to U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth, Texas. O’Connor will have to decide whether to issue an order blocking enforcement while the case goes forward, and if so, whether that order will apply nationwide or only to the plaintiffs in the case.

Bloke on the Range and 9-Hole take the rifle that should’ve been the M14 to the range.

By

Keith Finch

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August 1, 2023

I’m going to continue the dismantling of M14 mythos a bit more from Sunday.

I am also going to acknowledge that we probably, given our national pension for weirdness and choices, would’ve ended up with an inch pattern FAL instead of metric… because America.

That wouldn’t have been the end of the world by any means, the Brits did well with their L1A1s but it was funny to hear of ground forces picking up the Argentinian metric ones with the giggle switches during the Falkland Islands campaign.

Anyway, the FAL should have been the NATO service weapon. The M14 and G3 were spawned out of weird politicking more than practicality if you look at the history of both. But the FAL remains in a more competitive state of operative obsolescence than the M14 does, which I will happily declare to be truly obsolete.

I don’t want this to get too into the weeds on the M14 since I’m sharing a FAL video, however the control scheme on the 14/M1A is what pushes it over the brink for me. It just cannot be run as efficiently as any other 20th or 21st Century fighting rifle it is competing against. It’s stacking inefficiencies and problematic accuracy maintenance ultimately shelf it. It isn’t that it doesn’t work, or doesn’t shoot, or falls apart like a budget build AR that never saw a torque wrench, it just remains the worst of the best of the mid 20th century battle rifles and we need to stop carrying water for it just because it was nostalgically adequate.

The Marshall – Montana Knife Company

By

Travis Pike

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August 1, 2023

I love small American businesses. The American dream is only a dream if you sit around thinking about it. Businesses like Montana Knife Company seize the American Dream and make it a reality. In the world of knives, guns, and tactical gear, the way an American company succeeds is by making products better than the competition. Montana Knife Company, of MKC for short, recently sent me their Marshall fieldcraft knife, and it’s easy to see why they’ve been successful.

Who Is Montana Knife Company

Montana Knife Company, or MKC, is predictably located in Montana and helmed by Josh Smith, a master bladesmith who grew up in Montana. Reading the guy’s resume might make you feel bad for yourself. He started making knives at 11, and by 15, he became the youngest person ever to pass the Journeyman blade smith test at Blade Show. At 19, he became the youngest Master Smith.

Needless to say, the guy knows his craft. He makes a variety of knives aimed at outdoor use, culinary use, and skinning game. These are ruggedly made handcrafted knives. A glance at his website shows he can barely keep knives in stock, and demand is certainly high amongst serious outdoor’s folks.

What’s the Marshall

The Marshall Bushcraft Knife is named after the Bob Marshall Wilderness area in Montana. This bushcraft blade is the biggest, widest, and thickest knife produced by the Montana Knife Company. It’s a big boy that’s 12 ⅝ inches long, with a blade length of 7 ⅝ inches. The Marshall has a thick .170 spine, but the knife isn’t overly weighty at 9.8 ounces.

The Marshall features a clip-point tip and a massive belly. The blade is made from 52100 carbon steel. I’m not familiar with this steel, but a quick Duck, Duck, Go search later.

I learned that 52100 was steel invented in 1905 for bearings. The steel turns out to be a pretty solid compromise of edge retention, sharpness, and toughness. It’s carbon steel, so it does require some maintenance and can rust if ignored or the finish fails.

The blade is parkerized for a tough finish. The grips are flat-sided G10 panels which have become the standard for serious-use knives. The handle has a finger guard and groove that adds a layer of protection and control to the knife.

I have a burgeoning interest in bushcraft, so the Marshall was right up my alley.

The Marshall In Action

I plan to hit a bushcraft class eventually, but work has been a bit nuts for me. Until then, I happen to live in the middle of nowhere and have plenty of space to reach out and chop stuff. With the Marshall in hand, I hit the field…err…the woods by my house anyway.

What do knives do? They cut, so I got to cutting. This includes boxes from Midway and Brownells, as well as a jug full of water that was just fun to slice. The Marshall comes out of the box crazy sharp. Holy crap, is it a sharp knife. It takes nothing more than the weight of the blade to cut through paper.

It cut through boxes, rope, plastic, and a bevy of vines and small limbs with ease. I took it chopping and cleared out a small patch of stubborn brush. It’s no machete, but it has a similar design to that of a bowie knife. This allows it to chop rather efficiently and slam and cut as it’s swung.

At the same time, the Marshall can be fairly easy to control. It slices easily, and the finger groove makes it pretty easy to control the knife back and forth. You can easily peel an onion or orange.

The big spine is perfectly flat and offers 90-degree angles. It’s perfect for batoning, and I was able to split small logs with the knife and another heavier log with ease. It sliced through fairly easily and would make a nice pile of firewood, given a chance. The 90-degree angles also make it handy for striking flint rods to create fire.

Gripping the Marshall

The Marshall’s G10 grip is hand-filling and rounded. It’s not overly textured, so it won’t cause pain or hotspots. It’s textured enough for a nonslip grip for normal working tasks. The Marshall grip design keeps the knife from twisting in the hand while working, which means you can safely do hard work without worrying about losing control of your very sharp knife. It’s a smart design and keeps things easy and comfy for long-term work.

The Sheath

The Marshall comes with a modern polymer sheath with a fairly modular design. You can choose to wear it vertically or horizontally. The clip can be adjusted for height and can be reversed for left or right-handed use. I adjusted the retention easily, and overall, it’s a rock-solid sheath design.

Big Nice, Big Potential

The Marshall is a big knife, and it might not qualify as a Bowie knife, buts it’s pretty close. The Marshall offers a dynamic design that lends itself well to versatility and comfort. It’s a working bushcraft knife that mixes modern design with traditional features that have always worked. Montana Knife Company makes an outstanding knife, and I don’t doubt the rest of their catalog is just as well made. Check them out here.

Executive Branch asks Judicial to do the Legislature’s job… still

By

Keith Finch

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July 31, 2023

The Biden Administration asked SCOTUS to hold the ATF’s Frame & Receiver Rule in place and the motion was granted. This was not an unexpected decision after the 5th circuit vacated the rule but it is still one that keeps the rule in place while the courts sort it out instead of suspending it the way we would prefer.

The case is still likely to result in a victory, like that with bump stocks and other regulatory decisions that should rightly have been legislation, but in the meantime 80% type firearms without serial numbers are still off the table.

Despite the written definitions in legislation, not subsequent ATF interpretation, the ATF said ‘well not legally but yes’ when it came to what they then in the same rule titled Privately Made Firearms or PMFs.

The PMF has been demonized as a “growing menace” to law enforcement, becoming the new boogieman that will out gun our brave LEOs. But even if we disregard the fact that PMFs are functionally identical to serialized firearms and therefore, at most, match parity with LEOs who have a sidearm and patrol rifle, we then have to contend with the fact that by the ATF’s own records only 37,980 PMFs we recovered in the last 5 years we have reported data on (2017-2021). True that 19,273 were recovered just in 2021 and that is way up from 2017, but if we compare it to the ‘threat’ posed by Glock alone (255,055 guns in the same time period) it begins to look silly.

Oh, serial numbers still aren’t magical crime preventing GPS devices… they’re just numbers.

So the rule has a vacating stay until August 4th and will remain in effect while DoJ and ATF scramble to defend what is logistically indefensible. There is no world where this change shouldn’t have been handled by the legislature. This is stacking up to be another in a continuing lineup of regulatory agencies going to far in their scope of work, often because it is politically inconvenient for Congress to do their jobs.

Who Is Wiley Clapp?

By

Travis Pike

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July 31, 2023

Who is Wiley Clapp? I’ve seen the name attached to Ruger revolvers and Colt Commanders. I had no idea who or what a Wiley Clapp was. This isn’t meant to be any form of disrespect, there are lots of things I don’t know, but I do like learning. I wanted to uncover who Wiley Clapp is. Why is his name attached to a certain handguns?

Wiley Clapp – The Man

It turns out Wiley Clapp was pretty instrumental in the gun world. He was a very prolific gun writer. I seemed to have just missed him and most of his work as I got into guns and gun magazines. Wiley Clapp wrote for and, as of 2022, still writes for Shooting Illustrated. After learning a bit about the man, I’m sad to have missed his work as I grew up. Shooting Illustrated wasn’t stocked at the local grocery store I got my magazines.

Wiley Clapp has been a gun writer for decades now. Beyond writing for magazines, he has written numerous firearms books, including being a coauthor of numerous publications. This includes guides on Concealed Carry, Law Enforcement Tactics, and the Gun Digest Book of 9mm Handguns. I’m reading the latter, and Mr. Clapp is a quick witt and master wordsmith. His portion on the origin of 9mm and its naming convention is informative and charming, and witty.

That’s not something I would expect from a history lesson on ammunition. The man could make a reloading manual interesting to read.

Outside of talking the talk, Mr. Clapp walked the walk in numerous ways. We are essentially working backward through his career. Writing was a big part of it, but he did more than write. He competed in numerous shooting sports, including NRA Outdoor and Gallery, Police Combat, and Internationa Silhouette.

Wiley was, without a doubt, a man who knew his guns. He possesses an encyclopedia-like knowledge of firearms, but he seemed most interested in handguns.

A Life of Service

Outside of being a gun writer, which is clearly a very important job in society, Wiley Clapp lived a life of service. He graduated from the Virginia Military Institute and became an officer in the United States Marine Corps. Wiley was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, Seventh Marine Regiment. He became a platoon commander and led an infantry platoon in Vietnam. He even voluntarily extended his tour of duty and became the company commander of an infantry platoon.

After leaving the Marine Corps, Wiley Clapp became a police officer with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. He served in law enforcement for 17 years before retiring. From there, he became a gun writer and expert whose name is scribbled on several guns.

The Guns of Wiley Clapp

Throughout a lifetime of shooting firearms, writing about firearms, and carrying one in uniform, the man learned a thing or two, as we’d all imagine. He writes that he grew up in California. He remarks it was at a time when you could still shoot a .22 in the orange groves. It’s not unusual for gun companies to consult with those knowledgeable. Well, at least for good gun companies to do so.

What’s interesting is that Wiley is consistent in terms of his opinions on guns. That’s certainly helped shape the Wiley Clapp editions of articular handguns. In reading Mr. Clapp’s work, you’ll come across several mentions of different guns and configurations.

In the Gun Digest Book of the 9mm, he compares the .38 Super to the 9mm. He mentions he owns a 9mm M1911, which he seems to be favorable of. It’s no surprise he worked with Colt to produce an M1911 Commander-sized handgun in 9mm. In his book Handguns ’89, he speaks favorably of the Ruger SP101 and GP100, and Ruger sells a Wiley Clapp model of the GP100 that’s quite popular.

Now, if you are like me and weren’t sure what Wiley Clapp meant when it was attached to a particular model of firearm, you’re a bit more educated on why. Wiley Clapp was a Marine, a dedicated police officer, and gun writer with an encyclopedic amount of knowledge on firearms. Seems like the perfect person to have some input on firearms.

Gunday Brunch 111: We hate the M14 and you should too

By

Keith Finch

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July 30, 2023

Guys let’s be honest. The M14 was the worst 308 battle rifle and the only reason people still love it is because they don’t know anything about shooting.

Three Things You Should Never Do To A New Shooter

By

Travis Pike

-

July 29, 2023

Getting new gun owners to the range is a public service and a means to preserve our rights. Court battles, giving money to gun rights orgs, and demonstrations all help, but creating new shooters is the easiest way to preserve rights and improve public safety in regard to firearms. Sadly, some parts of the gun community do this in the dumbest way possible. I’m leaving out an expletive, but you should know it’s that dumb. There are three behaviors and habits I think we should ditch to ensure we are doing our best for every new shooter we take to the range.

Using Guns They Can’t Handle

I bet a lot of us were victims of this. Friends, dads, uncles, and whoever else thinks it’s hilarious to hand an inexperienced shooter a harsh recoiling weapon and to watch them get hurt. They might say its to just ‘make them jump’ or hide it by saying ‘it treats them respect’, no. No training, no preparation for the recoil, just hand them the gun and sit back and laugh. This is not only dumb but dangerous.

A young lady lost her life when some idiots handed her a magnum-powered revolver. The recoil spun the gun backward towards her head, and she pulled the trigger again by accident as the gun twisted in her hands, killing herself.

That’s an extreme example but a real one. Handing someone a powerful rifle, handgun, or shotgun before they are ready for it is dumb, and whoever does it is dumb. It turns people away from shooting and makes the shooting community look like jerks. Causing a new shooter pain and embarrassment is a surefire way to keep them away from the range and leave a bad taste for gun owners in their mouth.

Having Tough Shooting Standards

Let’s be clear. All shooters should face and deal with tough standards when it comes to dealing with safety. Safety is always our number one priority, and that should be established immediately and enforced regularly. That’s not what I mean when I say tough standards. I love teaching firearms, and I commonly teach a fairly basic safety course in my community. Kids and adults both attend, and I’ve noticed an odd trend.

I hear stories about how someone else tried to teach them, and they couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn! They were everywhere. They hated it, etc. I’ve also seen adults putting pressure on their kids in these safety classes during the live fire portion that I tactfully put an end to. People get this crazy idea that new shooters should be able to hit small targets with ease and can’t seem to understand why a new shooter can’t do that.

This creates frustration in new shooters. When I teach new shooters, I use a great big target devoid of numbers and scores. Just try to hit the big piece of paper. New shooters should be relaxed and safe, not trying to hit B8 targets at fifteen yards with a 9mm.

Showing Off Your Skills

There is a big difference between demonstrating a method, technique, etc., and just showing off. When you take a new shooter to the range, the focus should be on their ability to shoot. This seems to be most common when one person is teaching their significant other how to shoot. The natural inclination to show off a bit comes into play.

This photo is not a direct example. This is a good shot at an event. But it looks close to what a range chud will do to impress instead of instruct while they’re at a square range at 10 yards. Seen it. Many have.

Ignore it. Make the day about them, give them the attention and the range time. Make it something that’s not about you and the gun. Typically when I teach the basics, there is not much shooting I need to do. I can show a lot of the basics of grip, stance, etc., with a blue gun before we step up to the firing line. At the firing line, I may fire a round or two to show how it comes together and what one can achieve, but that’s it. Demo, then get them shooting.

After that, coach, inspire, educate, etc. Bring the non-gun to the firing line. That way, you don’t have to pass the gun back and forth, and it’s always in their hands. A new shooter not only doesn’t care about your Bill drill time, but they also don’t even know what that is.

Make a New Shooter

Protest, write your representatives, send money to gun organizations, and take a new shooter to the range. That’s how you preserve the second amendment and the freedom we hold so dear. A properly instructed new shooter is a safe shooter and a potential freedom defender. That’s a valuable resource, so don’t waste it being dumb.

What the Doughboy Really Carried In World War One

By

Travis Pike

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July 29, 2023

Imagine you’re a twenty to-year-old 2nd L.T. in the U.S. Army. You joined the American Expeditionary Force in Europe in 1917. The Great War is raging on. You have an infantry platoon to lead, so what weapons have the army issued you? That’s an easy answer. You’re clearly armed with a Springfield M1903 and an M1911, right? Maybe, but in reality, the armament of the American doughboy was not toting M103s and M1911s into combat.

The American military wasn’t ready for World War 1. In fact, that’s a trope that’s so often repeated. America is ready for the last war. It’s why the push to Bagdad utilized soft-skin humvees and why troops in Vietnam were still carrying WW2-era weapons.

When we entered World War 1, there simply weren’t enough M1903 and M1911s to go around. The U.S. Army had to supplement the massive force they had recently built with alternatives. While the M1903 and M1911 were the official weapons of the U.S. Army, they were the minority of weapons issued. So what handgun and rifle armed doughboys in World War 1?

The Doughboy Rifle – The Enfield M1917

The Brits were fighting in the war for years before Americans entered the fray. They needed rifles, so they contracted with Winchester, Remington, and Eddystone to produce an Enfield variant known as the P14. This would be a .303 caliber rifle designed to help arm the British military in a time of crisis.

When the United States entered the war, they had less than a million Springfield M1903s. In their efforts to arm their doughboys, they turned to Remington, Winchester, and Eddystone. These companies were already tooled up to make those P14s and could produce P14s faster than they could transition to producing Springfield M1903s.

The Americans didn’t use the .303 cartridge but used the All-American, horse killing, shoulder thumping, freedom spreading .30-06. That was a slight modification they had to make, and they were up and running. Springfield produced the M1903 rifles, and everyone else began producing what became known as the U.S. Rifle Caliber. 30 Model of 1917, or M1917 for short.

They did eliminate the volley sights of the p14 and ensured it worked with U.S. made 5 round stripper clips. Slight modifications included lightening the weapon a bit, and the rifle used the sword-like M1917 bayonet. The M1917 armed about 75% of American Doughboys, including one Alvin York.

Sergeant York used the rifle when he earned the Medal of Honor after capturing 35 machine guns, killing 25 enemy soldiers, and capturing 132 prisoners. It worked well and was the rifle that won the war.

The Fighting Pistol

Whenever someone likes to throw in the two World War claim in regard to the M1911, I love to point to them the Colt and Smith models of the M1917 revolvers. Much like the Springfield M1903, the U.S. did not have enough M1911s to go to combat. The pistol was fairly new, and getting trained gunsmiths and the machinery up to make them wasn’t viable on such short notice.

Colt and S&W could produce revolvers, and that’s exactly what they did. The War Department wanted these revolvers to use .45 Colt to simplify logistics. Doughboys could keep the adopted ammo but on a different platform. This hadn’t been done before, and the lack of a pronounced rim proved to be a challenge. Daniel B. Wesson of S&W developed the half-moon clips to make ejection easy. They allowed Colt to use the half-moon clip design for free.

Revolver, Smith & Wesson US M1917. AF*69017M.

S&W took their famed Triple Lock revolver and converted it to .45 ACP. Colt went with the M1909 revolver originally chambered in .45 Colt and converted it to .45 ACP. S&W’s model had a rim machined into the cylinder that allowed the cartridge to headspace on the case mouth. The Colt M1907 required the half-moon clips to fire.

Two-thirds of doughboys who toted a pistol toted an M1907. The M1911 was a minority in the trenches. In fact, the M1907 also served in WW2 and in Vietnam with tunnel rats.

The Truth About World War 1

Our perceptions of the weapons used in World War 1 are often wrong. This comes down to nearly every weapon. Yep, the M1897 was used as a trench gun, but so were several other shotguns, including the better-designed Model 12. Two M1917 weapons won the war. Well, maybe not the war, but they armed the doughboys more often than our general perception.

This Dumb Gun the Stevens 9478

By

Travis Pike

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July 28, 2023

I have this weird compunction about dumb guns. I have to give them a home. Especially if they are cheap and seemingly safe to fire. That’s how I walked away with this oddball Stevens 9478. As you can guess, this is not a factory configuration. I stumbled across it at an auction, and no one wanted it…well, I mean, I did. One hundred fifty bucks later, it was mine and now has a great home amongst all my other dumb guns.

I have so many silly guns I might make this a monthly feature. But for now, let’s focus on the pirate gun, which is the affectionate nickname I’ve given to this very special Stevens 9478.

The Stevens 9478 – A Basic Blaster

The Stevens 9478 started life as one of the most basic shotguns out there. It’s a simple, hammer-fired, single-shot shotgun. It’s well suited for shotgun tasks, like trap, small and medium game hunting, and similar common tasks. The Stevens 9478 exemplifies a bare-bones shotgun, and it was made to be affordable. This variant is in 20 gauge, but Stevens made them in various calibers.

The Stevens 9478 shotgun is fairly unremarkable. To me, the best feature is the barrel release. It sits in front of the trigger guard and is really easy to access and open the gun. The quasi-case hardened finish isn’t exactly bad to look at, either. It’s plain but functional.

After an Appointment at Bubba’s Trailer

Bubba took the Stevens 9478 to the cleaners here. Honestly, he didn’t do a terrible job. The barrel has been chopped to 18.25 inches and looks fairly nice No burs or telltale signs of a crappy cut. It’s not perfect, but it works. There is no choke, and if Bubba threaded it for chokes, I’d be blown away.

The stock has been chopped too. It’s a bird’s head-style pistol grip that’s all wood and reminiscent of the Shockwave grip. It’s fairly long and quite comfortable. I’ll give the guy credit. It’s a good chop that’s been finished over. The guy added a metal plate to the grip and tossed it on a sling swivel.

To top it all off, Bubba removed the factory trigger guard and put on some giant custom trigger guard on the gun that encapsulates not only the trigger but the barrel unlocking device. This makes it surprisingly easy to press inward and to open the action with a single hand. It’s wisely thought out and honestly impressive. It looks like he tried to add a bead to the barrel, but it’s since fallen off.

At the Range

The Bubba Blaster (which might replace the name Pirate Gun) is fun to shoot. A short little 20 gauge isn’t exactly tough to handle, and the recoil is fairly mild, depending on the load you utilize. Some full-powered buckshot loads might feel a bit much, but not by much. Birdshot is a ton of fun to shoot, and it can even be done with one hand. Turning clay pigeons into dust is a literal and figurative blast.

Aiming the gun down the barrel is pretty easy at close range, and the spread is quite wide. The lack of a choke and sawn-off barrel doesn’t exactly make it a tight patterning shotgun.

What’s the purpose? Well, it certainly has less purpose than it did in its original configuration. It’s short and light, which might make it great as a pest gun when riding an ATV. Other than that, it’s not particularly great for anything else. I could certainly remove most Florida predators with ease.

The Bubba Balster (name officially changed) is a fun gun that’s largely useless. That’s okay. It joins a veritable army of useless and dumb firearms that sit in my gun safe. Watch this space for more of Bubba’s hot takes, weird guns, and other obscure weirdos that occupy my interest.

Knife Maintenance

By

V. Caldwell

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July 28, 2023

The Columbia River Knife & Tool Provoke features an innovative lock. While robust it demands occasional maintenance.

A knife is our oldest tool. A fixed blade knife is most rugged, and when we pick a knife for rugged chores such as camping, cutting food, and opening packages a fixed blade is best. Introducing a mechanism into the edge tool makes things complicated. A spring was used in some folding knives. All folding knives have some type of bearing surface. A back lock, mid lock, liner lock or other type of lock is used. Knives are assembled with rivets screws and dovetailed fit. Modern knives are designed for easy maintenance, disassembly, and tightening when needed. If cared for they will last generations. That is the key. Lets look at some of the best ways to maintain the edged tool.

A failure would be a serious calamity when you really need a knife far from home. A flea market knife used for opening boxes and cutting tape is easily discarded and replaced. I engage in periodic maintenance of all my better class of knives. If a blade edge is neglected it is difficult to restore. Once corrosion sets in a blade may pit. Stainless is just that stain-less not stain proof. Keep the edge clean and wipe away bits of material from cutting chores. Keep a light coat of oil on the knife during storage. Tighten the folder’s handles or scales and keep the pivot points lubricated. But don’t lubricate the lock!

Be certain to wipe the blade down prior to sharpening.

There are many methods and tools for sharpening. I use the Work Sharp guided field sharpener. As a result my sharpening skills are much better. While my uncle Heyward was a master of the stone I am not. My knives are just as sharp as his. A caution- you would never wax your vehicle without first cleaning. By the same token never sharpen a blade without first carefully cleaning. Otherwise you are simply rubbing material into the blade and perhaps gouging the steel. Sharpening restores a dull or even damaged edge. Knives make poor crowbars. A broken point may be reshaped but best not to break it in the first place. Sharpening removes a bit of metal from the blade producing a bevel. The Work Sharp sharpening tool offers a 20 degree sharpening surface and a 25 degree honing surface. Manual sharpening should be a few steps removed from the stone but I seldom use an electric sharpener. You may be surprised how seldom a knife needs sharpening. A home steak knife or kitchen tool may be sharpened perhaps twice a year, a camp knife after a camping trip and some use. Honing is maintaining the edge and is a less difficult process used more often. I would not like to count the times some of my camp knives have been sharpened. They are still useful but blade geometry eventually changes. When a blade has been neglected clean first then begin sharpening with the coarsest surface and proceed to the finest surface. The Work Sharp device features a fine and coarse diamond plate, ceramic rod and a leather strop. This will fit all types of sharpening styles. More injuries are the result of a dull knife stubbing and stopping short causing the hand to run forward on the blade than are caused by a sharp knife!

A field kit should include a good knife and a sharpening kit. This knife has been used a great deal and sharpened more often than most.

In survival gear I have no room for nostalgia deploying the most modern proven gear. Just the same a hobby is collecting used quality folders from flea markets and yard sales. Some such as the Solingen folder were good finds. Be wary, however, as there are Pakistani and Chinese copies that look real but the metal quality isn’t good. It isn’t a pursuit I recommend unless you have good steel to rely on and use the chaff for a hobby. That said I have learned a great deal about knife maintenance cleaning and restoration. Folding knives much be serviced occasionally whether you use them or not. This means the pocket folder you rely for defense or emergency must be cleaned. Debris in the mechanism could impede folding. It is possible a tangle of thread could prevent the knife from opening. This is why I recommend a robust design such as the CRKT M16 as a folder. As a camp knife a fixed blade is the best choice. As I was writing I opened my CRKT M16 and checked the un-sharpened blade surface. Sure enough there was plenty of grainy grit present.

The CRKT is a modern knife with good features. Note the deep belly for cutting. This type of edge demands care in honing.

The folding knife much open close and lock correctly. A simple wipe down occasionally is recommended. Some use gun cleaner of the penetrating aerosol type, a friend uses a computer air duster. At some point you may need to partially disassemble the knife. Most knives have hex screws that allow disassembly. Search for grit and debris that may affect function. Since the lock works by friction don’t lubricated the lock mating surfaces. Pivot pins should be lubricated. Detritus affects function. Usually the scales don’t pick up much debris but it is a good idea to wipe them down and remove accumulated dust. This is all that is needed in the normal course of use. Depending on how much you use the knife torx screws eventually work loose. These should be tightened. I check my primary carry knives every month or so. Most of these knives use Torx screws either #6 or #8 so tools are not difficult to locate. This is simple enough hardware store gear. Take care of the edged tool and our oldest tool will serve well with little attention.

The Vermont Fish Hunt Season

By

Travis Pike

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July 27, 2023

I’ve hunted, I’ve fished, but I’ve never combined the two. I vaguely remember the sport of shooting fish with bows becoming somewhat popular in the late 1990s, but even that has trickled out. Yet, I recently discovered that the Great State of Vermont had had a hunting fish season for just about forever. From March 25th to May 25th, it’s open season in Vermont for fishermen to grab their mohaska and hit the rivers armed and ready to fish hunt.

Hunting fish with firearms is as odd as it sounds. The rules are pretty slack in some regards. There is no minimum caliber or weapon type. You can use a handgun, shotgun, or rifle. You can use rimfire, FMJs, or hollow points. On the flip side, they are fairly strict with the fish your can shoot. The season allows the Vermonters to hunt the following fish, pike, pickerel, carp, suckers, mullet, bowfin, shad, and carp.

The typical game conservation rules come into effect. You can only bag five fish, and they must be at least 20 inches long. You best be good at estimation before you pull the trigger on that ugly carp staring at you.

Tactics of the Fish Hunt

The tactics of the fish hunt are surprisingly interesting. To me, I just figured you shot a fish, but it turns out that’s for amateurs. If you shoot a fish, it just kind of explodes. This might be caliber dependent, and while rimfire is allowed, I doubt it does a great job of penetrating water deep enough to hit a fish. It turns out the tactic is to shoot right in front of the fish. This creates a concussion effect that kills the fish and allows it to float to the top.

This hunting coincides with the mating season, which brings fish to shallow waters to breed. A tactic used by many fish hunters on the great Vermont fish hunt is to use a fairly high-powered weapon to shoot near a female fish. Optimistically this results in the death of the female fish and a male or two looking to breed.

During the fish hunt months, these magnum-powered anglers will climb into trees overlooking the water, forming a sort of fish blind. Others will ride shotgun in a boat, literally, and some just walk the shores looking for potential prey. Anything close to the water seems to be the better hunting area. This combination of fishing and hunting seems to blend the tactics of both.

The On The Ground Reality

The fish hunt is not popular with regulators. In fact, in 1969, Vermont banned it. However, this upset so many in the state the next year they don’t not only reinstated the season but expanded it to include more fish. Opponents of the fish hunt often cite numerous reasons why it’s a bad idea, including:

Bullet Ricochets Off The Water

Overkilling of Fish Due to Concussion

Disrupting Spring Marsh Ecosystem

Interruption of numerous bird species during nesting season

It’s remained controversial, but it’s not that popular. The culture amongst Vermont outdoorsmen seems to largely ignore the sport. Many may try it once or twice, but it’s not a common thing by any means. In fact, it’s likely to die out if left alone. What seems to occur is that some rumble of prohibition will rear its head, and boom, it’s got all this attention once again with a vocal group of people defending it.

Once it becomes news, we see more people trying it and the sport growing for at least a season. If Vermont really wanted the fish hunt gone, its best bet would be to just shut up about it and let people forget on their own.

The Vermont Fish Hunt is certainly an interesting season. It further establishes that Vermont just might be the bizarro, snow-covered version of Florida.

Did we really pass 400 mass shooting in July?

By

Keith Finch

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July 27, 2023

CNN and several others are carrying the the story that the United States has breached a crucial and terrifying milestone early this year, 400 ‘mass shootings‘ in only 203 days.

Is that bad?

It sounds bad.

That’s bad, right?

Yes, it is. But like most headlines, it doesn’t communicate much (any) nuance. It just bludgeons you in the face with the item the writer wants you to ruminate on and none of the surrounding data, especially contextual data. We’re not that far ahead from the three prior years at this point in time, and 2020’s violence ramped up late compared to the violent curves we saw in 2021 and 2022. 2020 was a notable anomaly while 21 and 22 followed 20’s ‘new normal’ numbers in a less compressed way.

Context

If we look at trends and compare them to recent years we see that 2023 is continuing the “new normal” summer violence curve volume set by the lockdown and the riots. People continue to be discontent and certain segments of the population for various reasons are expressing that very violently. However if we look at more data from more than just the wildly overbroad definition of ‘mass shooting’ we do see some signs of progress back.

Will we likely still have a 600+ mass shooting year? Probably. Could we crest 2021’s peak of 690? Maybe, but we also might trend out in the fall.

But if we look at localized barometers, like Chicago, we see more promise than the doom of the headlines suggests.

2023 is looking slightly but notably better than the previous three years with homicides in July, a bad month historically, down by 5% from 2022 and drifting closer to the average of 360. July is only projected to be roughly 7.5% over average where it was 32.7% above in 2021.

This, baring another negative global scale impact on good order (like shutting down massive portions of the legitimate economy and rage baiting social pain points), hopefully signals a continued cooling off that those tensions. Other cities and states are reporting better than last year violent crime numbers while certain segments are still seeing spikes.

Realities Collide

The question is: Does the number of ‘mass shootings’ going up matter if injuries and homicides are coming back down?

Yes, but not from the banner waving gun control idiots. It matters in how we see and track both triggering pressure break and retaliatory action. The various socio-economic segments have wildly variable trigger points that do result in a similar retaliation, violence.

We are seeing several rather painful realities clashing in 2023 and if you compare things like violent criminal events against economics and socio-political diatribes, we see patterns emerge. In a macabre way it’s like weather prediction, you can see the pre-violence indicators flare up but that doesn’t give you the tools to fix the conditions or influence them in a timely manner. It doesn’t even predict an actual event, just the conditions that might trigger one.

We have any number of social pressure points that are creating hot spots in todays climate. It is overwhelmingly socially triggered large scale violence we are talking about. Whether criminal retribution, insult retribution, family stress, or radicalized retributive violence, it is overwhelmingly a social event and not a monetary one.

‘Mass shootings’ spiked 46.2% in 2020, and reaching 400 events in 239 days instead of barely passing 400 on the 356 day mark in 2019. 2019 was also the worst year of the previous 4, with 2016, 2017, and 2018 under 400 incidents. Both 2017 and 2018 didn’t reach 350 incidents. 2018’s 336 incidents to 2021’s 690 represented a 105% swing upwards in just three years.

We are, if indicators remain as they are, looking at a small decrease in overall deaths for the year over year. What we are fighting this year more than the previous two is people are back outside in spades and the ones that have been pissed off over X, Y, or Z motive are mobile with the rest while the world at large is chilling a little bit.

Pressures and tolerances are also continuing to shift, new hot spots are forming as old ones cool which may offset the tempers that are cooling. The burn out from previous years is fighting the heightened mobility of people and grudges are still being settled as new ones are formed. Example: The drive-by shooting is at an all time favorite position, in recent memory, as a method for dealing with problem individuals or groups for [insert reason]. Many of the ‘mass shootings’ listed in the elevated total are drive by attacks for criminal or social retaliation.

Mass murders look to be tracking the same, or unfortunately higher in occurrences than last year, but with only one incident so far in excess of 10 dead (11) in California and only 4 incidents with 10 or more dead and injured combined, casualties may end up tracking in the same direction as mass shootings with a lower number and some progress made back towards the 2010’s rates.

The long way home

But the reality is… we are in a new normal, we are hotter tempered and shorter fused with a dimmer outlook than ten years ago. It is a time of many discontent points and those are going to take some big socio-economic wins and realityto settle into the collective consciousness to offset and cool peoples’ heels. The points of contention are hot, misunderstanding the other side is leveraged for political capitol, and in many instances the people in charge are so catastrophically ignorant or couldn’t care less as long as their pet project gets its paycheck.

Law enforcement is a down profession right now and civility towards one another is treated as a polite joke many instances with the giving or taking of offense. Behaviors are excused or comically over reviled, punishments vary wildly, speed and consistency in justice is seen as absent, plenty of stupid events are still crimes that arguably should not be. None of these circumstances or prevailing attitudes supports the general welfare of the nation. The millennial adult outlook is a bleak one.

Leaders are not inspiring confidence, they are seen either as grifters or incompetent. They aren’t taking the public attitudes and concerns and then finding responsible solutions in logical policy, they are using the shortcuts that sound best to the vague opinions from the public that will earn them their sweet sweet electability points for the next popularity contest we call elections.

The whole of the 20’s is likely to be a rough one, but the later half may bring us back to some 2010’s levels if we can tame back our wilder societal impulses of incivility, campy rhetoric, and overly inflammatory hyperbole because it fits our pet narrative about the more complex realities.

The year marches onward.