Gun Nuts

I don’t normally comment on articles written elsewhere, but there’s an article on Cracked I read over the weekend that actually depressed me. It’s called 5 Manly Things That Are Going Away Forever, and it discusses how cultural changes are eliminating some of the things that are traditionally considered bastions of “manliness.”

What depressed me wasn’t that these things are going away, but rather author’s gleeful, nearly hopeful tone that they will go away. All these evil, un-PC things like loud cars, red meat, and eewwwww icky war heroes. It’s about there that you realize that the author really wants these things to go away, and though he tries to hide it behind a veil of jokes, you can really tell that he views all of these things as “bad.”

Now, we can discuss at length whether or not the author is right or not that those things are going away. I don’t necessarily think he is, but that’s not really what we’re talking about with this article, or h

This year at SHOTShow, some manufacturers were still questioning how to appeal to the “new shooter” (aka not-yet-a-gun-geek) while others were already hitting it out of the park. Enter, W by Winchester Amunition. They cought my attention at Media Day at he Range, where Rob Pincus was offering something of a Pepsi Challenge. This was a brilliant way of presenting a product that might otherwise blend into the background.

Many shooters go to the range and shoot whatever “range” ammo they have there. This is unfortunate because there are so many differences between that stuff and they self defense rounds they load into their gun as they leave the range. Nervous beginners often ask how different the experience will be if they have to pull the trigger with the good stuff. Winchester obviously heard this concern and did something about it.

“W” is a line of traing and defense ammo that has been engineered to feel exactly the same. This allows the new shooter to have one less worry on their minds. The boxes are marked with a “

The SPS Pantera and Lionheart LH9. Range reports coming soon!

Everyone is buzzing about Facebook’s non-statement on people using FB and Instagram to post pictures of guns for sale. Moms Demand Mayoral Action is claiming victory, the Brady Campaign is declaring a loss, the NRA and NSSF have published statements, and gun owners can’t seem to decide whether to spike the football or boycott Facebook. Here’s the actual important text from Facebook:

Today, we are introducing a series of new educational and enforcement efforts for people discussing the private sale of regulated items:

• Any time we receive a report on Facebook about a post promoting the private sale of a commonly regulated item, we will send a message to that person reminding him or her to comply with relevant laws and regulations. We will also limit access to that post to people over the age of 18.
• We will require Pages that are primarily used by people to promote the private sale of commonly regulated goods or services to include language that clearly reminds people of the importance of understanding and complying with relevant laws and regulations, and limit access to people over the age of 18 or older if required by applicable law.
• We will provide special in-app education on Instagram for those who search for sales or promotions of firearms.
• We will

In Thursday’s Tactical Wire (03/06/2014) Tiger McKee is talking about mastering the revolver trigger. It’s a very good article, so I’ve linked it. However, there’s one thing Tiger says that I just don’t get, and I want someone to explain this to me:

You should not be walking ’round inside your home in the middle of the night with the hammer cocked. However, having said that, there have been and will be situations when the solution is to fire in single-action so it is something that should be practiced. (emphasis added)

WHEN? Seriously, this is something that drives me nuts, because every person who says that I shouldn’t bob the hammers on my guns brings this up. But no one has ever presented a situation where using the SA function on a defensive revolver is a better idea than practicing with the DA function.

So, let’s see when you’d want to use the SA function: you have to make a tight, precision

Photo courtesy IDPA

At National level IDPA matches, following the awards banquet those that have won plaques trophies get their photos taken. Everyone always does the same super “I won, let’s stand here and gaze upon my plaque” face. I don’t.

For those of you that clicked the jump, congratulations! You’re going to read the meat of the post, which is where I talk about something even more important: fun. I like shooting IDPA. I like the people I get to see at major IDPA matches. I honestly think that’s why IDPA’s growth is outpacing everyone except for 3-Gun, because it’s fun. There is just enough of an element of silliness in the scenario stages that you can relax and have fun with it.

When I was 8 years old, I played pretend. I shot at communists, Indians, train robbers, played war with my friends, and generally had a grand old time. Now that I’m just an overgrown 8 year old with a credit card and a gun, I still play pretend.

This image displays one of the neat features on the LH9 – the glare reducing pattern that runs down the top of the slide of the gun, as well as the excellent Novak rear sights.

School of thought number 1: “This gun is always the best and if you buy anything other than this gun you’re dumb and stupid.
School of thought number 2: “What works for me is best and you have no right to tell me that things are better than my choices because I’m a beautiful individual snowflake.”

As it turns out, both of those schools of thought are stupid. First, we’ll address school 1. This operates on the premise that all situations are roughly identical. It takes the concept of “this gear is generally better” and takes it to the extreme. It’s how you end up with toolbags saying “All guns should be Glocks and all Glocks should be Glock 19s.” It’s a close minded way to recommend gear to people, because let’s be honest, people are different. I have different sized hands than you, and different levels of strength, vision, etc.

Unfortunately, school of thought 2 has come into existence as a negative reaction to school 1. This is where people will justify buying shitty gear because “it works for me” and use that as j

A little while ago I got ticked off about annoying gunstore lawyers, people who have no real understanding of the laws or jurisprudence governing the use of force in self defense who nevertheless feel compelled to “share” their ignorant suppositions anyway. In the comments on that article Andrew Branca, author of The Law of Self Defense and proprietor of the Law of Self Defense blog contacted me and offered to send me his book for a review. I liked the book quite a bit and I’ve given a copy to some folks I know who were looking for good legal guidance.

Late last week John Murphy of FPF Training told me he was hosting Andrew for one of his seminars and there was a last minute opening. A part of my brain (the part that thought buying Apple and Google stock 15 years ago was a stupid idea) said “You’ve read the book. What could you possibly get out of attending the seminar that wasn’t in the book?” The rest of my brain thankfully overruled the m

Pros: It’s awesome, it’s a single stack 9mm, and it rules face.
Cons: It’s impossible to find, and magazines cost eleventy-billion dollars when you can find them.

In a great post at Modern Service Weapons, Hilton talks about his path away from the 1911.

It is easy to get caught up in the mystique and history of the 1911, but the design is over 100 years old, and we have learned a few things about designing and manufacturing since then.
…
However, if training, shooting, and performance is your primary goal and you lack the resources, time, patience, or knowledge to keep after a 1911, then be realistic and choose something more modern.

It’s interesting whenever people discuss topics like this, because it reminds me that no matter how seriously we take our training, whether it be for competition or self-defense, that we sometimes forget that “fun” is an important part of it. If you’re burned out on 1911s, you’re quite likely to view shooting them as a chore, and make excuses to not go to the range and train. I’ve felt that way, where shooting was a chore and not something I enjoyed. A big part of what’s gotten me revitalized in shootin

Yesterday, my good friend Richard Mann put up a very thought-provoking post called “Where have all the great gun writers gone” in which he examined the current state of gun writing and its lack of great writers such as Jeff Cooper, Jack O’Connor, and Elmer Keith, to name a few. I agree with Richard; I grew up in the sport reading those same writers, and they were a huge inspiration in my getting into writing. I said as much on Richard’s facebook page. My comment was immediately followed up with this:

John Wydra
Being in my sixties I am well acquainted with most of the writers you mentioned. I feel the internet has diluted the quality. Quite a few of these young welps have actually disparaged the writing of those men. Yes what they wrote those many years ago still hold true today. But some of these internet warriors feel they have the new answers due to the change of tactics and equipment. Kicking dirt on the faces of those that preceded them. While these new writers lack experience as well as respect for those gun writers of long ago. Their lack of experience hasn’t slowed their opinionated writings.

My first thought was, “Well, that didn’t tak

Isn’t dry fire training a great option for winters like these, when the range is an iced over highway away, and ammo is still so hard to find anyway? Too many people don’t value the usefulness of dry firing. I imagine this is due to most people’s understand of the definition of “dry firing,” the inability of the shooter to judge if they are practicing correctly, or the spreading of the syndrome I have recently termed, “Dry Fire Training Boredom.” To combat all three of these issues, and probably a few others, Laserlyte now offers a new training target option, Plinking Cans.

If you saw my reviews of Laserlyte’s first target system TLB-1 and Reaction Tyme target system TLB-RT, then you are aware, that I began utterly dissatisfied but was then highly impressed by each of these two devices, respectively. With the two brilliant Re

So you have a friend who wants to get their first gun. Maybe they grew up around firearms, maybe they want to start hunting, maybe they want to get into competition shooting, maybe they want to get their concealed carry permit, but regardless they have turned to you. What do you do? Getting someone new to the shooting community properly introduced to the responsibility of being a safe and considerate gun owner is fairly straight forward, but it’s also important to ensure that your friend is getting the proper education so that they can help us set the example of responsible gun ownership.

The first, and probably most important thing you can do, is get them professional training. Fortunately, at this point you don’t need some super black-ops guy or a Grand Distinguished Maester NRUSDPA competitor, but you do need someone who is a good teacher. This if an oft-overlooked skill that trainers need to have, especially when working with new students. A good training company will teach a new shooter safe gun handling, proper techniques, and some basics about responsible firearms ownership and will do it in a way that makes the stu

You, me, everyone. We’ll never be as awesome as this photo.

tThe high desert is haunted.

Don’t take my word for it though. Talk to anyone whose spent a significant amount of time in any high desert terrain, and they’ll tell you about all the strange things they’ve seen.

I grew up in the Mojave desert in Southern California, in a little town you’ve never heard of. Sure, it was in LA County, and when people ask that’s where I say I’m from, because explaining that I’m from a town called Lake Los Angeles, which has no lake and is 2 hours from LA causes most people’s eyes to glaze over. But my backyard was 500 miles of desert, and one of my favorite childhood activities was to simply go out in the desert with my friends and explore.

Sitting under a juniper tree in the early morning waiting for coyotes to come in, you can feel the oldness of the desert around you. Sounds carry for miles, and looking out at the land in front of you causes you to realize that this place was here long before we were, and will be here long before we’re gone.

One of my favorite books is The Lon