Gun Nuts

Last week I used Kim Rhodes’ custom Perazzi shotgun as an example of “gamer gear” because it’s a highly specialized firearm fitted to her specific needs and the shooting sport she’s competing in. It’s a magnificent tool for the task she’s asking of it, but it wouldn’t  be a terribly good choice for other shooting tasks. Along those same lines there are other bits of competition equipment that don’t work well in other environments. Take a look at an open class handgun holster used in IPSC or USPSA and it’s pretty easy to see that it would be a particularly poor choice for a police officer who has to worry about weapon retention when fighting with a combative suspect, or a member of a tactical team who has to crawl through the rafters of a building or SCUBA dive to a boat and climb on it clandestinely to get the jump on some bad guys. .

What about the guns that sit in those holsters, though? Fundamentally the competitive shooter and the defense-minded individual want about the same thing from a high-capacity polymer and steel pistol like a 2011 or a Glock 17, right? They want accuracy, durability, and above all else, reliability…but those words may carry very different meanings in their respective context. If you are a competitive shooter competing for 100 grand in a shooting sport where X count

“Hey Caleb, what’s your new carry gun?”
“Oh, it’s a single stack 9mm from Beretta.”
“A Nano?”
“No, it’s a Beretta 92FS Compact Type M. You’ve probably never heard of it.”

MAXIMUM GUN HIPSTER STATUS ACHIEVED.

I saw this quote on a thread at PF.Com this morning:

I keep hearing and reading various lubricants and finishes “penetrate into the pores of the metal.”

How the heck did this get started? Does anyone actually think their gun has pores at its surface? Just for the sake of argument, lets say it does have microscopic pores (it doesn’t). And lets say the lube/finish (usually an epoxy based finish that continues to offer “corrosion protection” after it has worn off) does penetrate said pores….that mean the lubricant needs to have nearly no surface tension and no viscosity, both of which are necessary to act as a film layer lubricant. And if said oil has such a low viscosity, it will need to have a low molecular weight, meaning it will evaporate quickly. And this argument ignores the fact that the lubricant will need to overcome the bubble pressure of those microscopic pores before penetrating them (not gonna happen).

The author of said quote is a Certified Pocket Protector Science Bro; and an expert in the whole “metal stuff” field. I on the other hand am the gun industry Jeremy Clarkson, prattling about power wh

I’ve been considering the idea of shooting competitions lately and have found a catch 22 that has my brain spinning. In the past, these events have been sold to me as great opportunities to practice self-defense techniques while putting the body under certain pressures it might experience in a real high-stress situation. At the same time, I recently had an instructor say to me, “Don’t worry about keeping your eye on the target (when reloading). This is competition, not war.” So I guess I’m a bit confused. Are we athletes, preppers, or maybe neither?

In a real life situation IDPA rules won’t apply. “Tac Irons” will be compared with “Open” divisions. One person will walk away a winner, period. As we train for speed and accuracy, yes, we will gain a tactical advantage in the use of our weapon, but we are also training to conform to the rules of IPSC, 3Gun Nation ect. Might we be training ourselves into bad habits for life? Further, we compete against numbers on a score sheet. These numbers don’t always translate into the real world. Heck, they don’t even translate from one organizat

There are better choices for concealed carry than a wheelgun. Semi-automatic pistols are easier to shoot, easier to reload, and easier to manipulate. I am a huge revolver fanboy, but I’m also honest with the fact that a round-gun is not going to be optimal for most people. But if you are going to build a defensive revolver for carry, then here are a few things you must have.

The Modern Defensive Revolver has to be a gun that you’re going to actually carry, and is actually shootable enough that you’ll train with it. So, for starters it can’t be a flyweight micro-gun. The Ruger LCRs and S&W Airweights are great guns, but they’re not in the niche of what we’re looking for here because you’re not going to take a 500 round class with a Scandium J-Frame. So the first criteria of a Modern Defensive Revolver is this:

It must be comfortable to shoot with defensive .38 Special ammo
The bottom end of guns that are comfortable to shoot with full house .38 +P loads are the all-steel small guns like the Ruger SP101 or the steel J-Frames such as a the 640 Pro Series.

The next 90 Second Gun Review is up, today we’re reviewing the Colt Sporting Rifle, one of my favorite ARs ever. For the record, if you buy an entry level AR and it’s not this rifle, you’re wrong.

Several people have asked for a full size shot of the GP100 Match Champion from yesterday’s post. Click the image for the full resolution (desktop worthy) piece.

Speaking of IDPA flashlight techniques, here’s how I’ll be rolling at the upcoming Indoor Nationals. I use a Crimson Trace Railmaster light as a handheld light because it allows me to get a really positive master grip on the pistol.

Reloads with this grip are simple with a semi-auto pistol, just roll the light deeper into your hand. They’re a little more complicated with a speedloader, I need to shift the grip a little to make it work right.

Remember when DHS put that bid out to buy a bunch of ammo and the internet lost their collective mind? Even though the ammo shortage was not a conspiracy, that didn’t stop my Facebook Paranoia and Nonsense News Feed from being chock full of links to dubious sites about how DHS was buyin’ up all the boolits so they could put us in FEMA camps or something. Thankfully, that’s mostly died down and the people who believe it have gone back to catching rabbits and making tin-foil underoos to protect themselves from the government’s cancer rays (because prostate cancer is a government conspiracy).

That was until the increasingly irrelevant Drudge Report put a link up to a FedBizOps RFP from the US Postal Service to buy more ammo. I didn’t know anything about it, until I got this email today.

Caleb,
I hope you’ll share this link with your fans (link redacted because it’s awful – ed) about how the Post Office is purchasing ammo for SWAT Teams. Becaue the post office has employees

Let’s talk about shooting sport rules! A recent thread on PF.com brought up the IDPA Flashlight rules. As all IDPA-related posts do, it eventually became a discussion of said rules, rather than how to train for victory within the rules. Tam followed this up with a post pointing out that her literal EDC gun is not IDPA legal, and that the average IDPA gun is a lot more “racegun” than EDC gun.

Here’s why discussions like this start whenever IDPA rules come up. IDPA as it was founded was intended to bring “practicality” back to the shooting game, requiring the use of concealment and “real-world” firearms. As it has grown, the rulebook has changed and been interpreted; however one thing has always remained constant: IDPA hates an equipment race. Now, we turn our attention to modern IDPA, which is quite a different sport i

Top: Consecutive serial number GP100 Match Champions
Top Middle: LCR-22 for NPE/BUG
Center Right: 4 inch GP100 with Hogue stocks for stuff
Center Left: Six inch Security Six with Mustang stocks for Bianchi Cup/Bullseye
Bottom left: GP100 Wiley Clapp with CTC Lasergrips for carry
Bottom right: Six inch Security Six with Pachy stocks for things.
Bottom: 5.5 inch Vaquero so I can relieve my childhood.

Finally time to get shooting the new Ruger GP100 Match Champions. We have two guns with consecutive serial numbers 814 and 815, respectively. The first thing to do is take the guns to the range and determine POA/POI and which is the most accurate. The second part of that goal is to make sure they’re reliable after receiving a CNG Custom action job.

Whenever I do an initial test of a match gun, I’m going to be looking for a few things that I can’t find in dry fire. Obviously accuracy and reliability are two key factors, but other little things – how I interact with the sights, any issues with the stocks during recoil, sticky extraction, etc. A quick rundown on the guns:

• Fixed Novak rear sights, fixed front green fiber optic
• Action polish and tune to a ~10 lb trigger pull
• Both guns have point of impact that’s slightly to the right of point of aim, 814 was about 1 inch at 20 yards, 815 was 2-3 inches.
• Both guns have sights regulated for 158 grain bullets at a moderate velocity.
• 814 was more accurate than 815.
• 815 had intermittent sticky e

This is one of the best videos I’ve ever seen about guns in video games; hitting all the high points of the Desert Eagle and its appearance in a host of video games over the decades. I do actually want a Desert Eagle, in .357 Magnum of course. Because buying more than one caliber is silly. For our gaming friends, what do you think the most iconic video game handgun is?

This weekend registration opened for Brownells Lady 3-Gun Pro-Am Challenge. It is the first major match that has been limited to women only. The match is planned for the weekend of October 31, 2014 in Covington Georgia. Registration is only open to 200 women and within 12 overnight hours, well over half the spots had already been filled.

Some might ask why women would need their own major match, when coed matches, with female divisions abound? Why should female shooters not shoot along side the fellas and see where they stand in comparison? My response to these inquisitive folks would be that they must consider the whole picture when it comes to women and guns. The organizers of the Brownells Lady 3-Gun Challenge have created an enticing competitive shooting event. It will allow professionals and beginners to shoot side by side. While some might assume that this would turn into an intimidating situation for those new to the sport, it actually becomes an exciting opportunity.

In an interview last week with Match Director Lisa Marie Judy, I found out that not only would self

This is…actually a pretty good gun. The big advantage to this over all other .380 BUG pistols is that it’s a Glock. That means all the controls are in the same place they are on a Glock 19.

Why is it that whenever someone does an advertisement supporting carry, the image is always some soup-sandwich dude with a Taurus in a flappy nylon sausage sack of a holster? Seriously, that is probably the worst holster I’ve ever seen, and for people who are serious about carry it’s kind of insulting for NAGR to represent us with that image.

I understand that not everyone is going to carry a Glock in a Raven holster, or a Colt 1911 in a sweat leather holster. But I just can’t imagine the pitch meeting that resulted in this ad. Here’s how I imagine you end up with that holster. The scene is with a dude walking into a gun store…

Dude: Sir, give me your finest holster for concealment!
Gun Store Employee: Okay, that’ll be $80.
Dude: Give me your five dollar-ist holster!

It’s just awful. The holster is actually a bad design, it’s not just ugly. It has the added bonus of being dangerous! First, look at the distance the butt is out from the body. That means where the holster attaches to the guy’s not-a-gun belt is weak, allowing

One of the things I really like to see is major firearms manufacturers sell spare parts directly to you. Beretta has added a comprehensive spare parts section to their website, including some common upgrades that shooters do their 90-Series pistols. Here’s the full page

Why is this important? Because when a company starts selling spare parts, they’re saying to they understand that some of their consumers are serious shooters who will actually shoot their guns enough to warrant the spare parts. That’s a good start, but Beretta takes it a step further by actively embracing the competition/defensive community with some of the parts they’re selling. Here are three examples:

• Steel trigger and “D” hammer spring – One of the most common mods to Berettas by serious shooters

CNN has “discovered” that the gun industry is marketing to women, acts like this is a surprise and/or new thing.

What do you think about the Beretta Nano? And more importantly, what gun do you want us to review next?

Here’s me doing a sub 2.50 second reload from concealment in dry fire.

This is actually a completely pointless accomplishment; a vanity drill. It’s the dry fire equivalent of bro-curls in the squat rack. Yes, it’s cool to be able to manipulate the gun quickly, but you’ll notice that I’m not doing anything other than the reload itself.

A much better drill, and the drill I prefer to train on in dryfire is the Reload-2 drill. I’ll use a specific target point for this drill, and on the buzzer initiate the reload, then dry fire two trigger presses at the target. This forces me to actually establish a proper master grip and get a decent sight picture. Obviously, the par times for that are going to be longer, and there’s more that can go wrong on a Reload-2 dry fire drill.

That’s not to say that vanity drills aren’t fun. Just like there’s a time and place for shoulders and arms day, there is a place for vanity drills like straight reloads or one shot from the holster. Morale is an important part of training, and sometimes it’s fun to do a silly bro-drill and feel good. Because it does feel