THE RUGER LC-9

     About a year ago my local Arms Dealer was touting how great of a gun that he had in the Sturm Ruger LCP with Veridian Laser.  Took me a few months but I finally decided to buy one.  He had no LCPs in stock that day so I settled on the LC-9 which is the same as the LCP except that it is a little larger and is chambered in 9mm vs the .380 (Hence the LC-9 I am figuring).  It came with a Green Veridian laser.  I have had this pistol for about 5 months and it is not my gun of choice.

First I will address the laser.  The laser is either in the "ON" or Off" position steady beam or blinking beam to give someone an epileptic seizure.  There is no grip switch or anything to turn the laser on or off while sneaking up on someone that shouldn't be in your house, or turning it on to engage a target.  The ingenious thing about it is the holster provided with the LC-9 has a metal strip in it and with a magnetic switch that turns the laser off once it enters the provided holster.  Also if purchasing a belt holster for this weapon you have to get a holster made for the LC-9.

(Notice strip on left side of holster)

As I already stated the laser is a green Veridian laser.  It is a very strong and bright beam vs an average red laser.  However the intensity of the beam comes with a cost.  The batteries run out real quick and they are expensive VS CR2032 and other batteries.  Another cost to this laser is night vision.  If you use this laser at night, you might as well use a white lens flash light too.  It will rob your night vision instantly.  Then there is a fact that I like to bring up in a laser conversation.  I personally do not like a visible laser.  I have used the ILS (Invisible laser system on the M-4 and the PAQ-4 on the M-4 and Car-15)  Its a great system when going against an enemy with no night vision capabilities.  However once a Laser can be seen like the Veridian here it works both ways they have a target designated by a laser.

After the laser I have to get to magazine capacity.  The mag cap is 7 Rounds and one in the chamber for 8.  Again I have a problem with this.  If I want to carry a pistol with 8 rounds that is easily concealable, why don't I just carry an M-1911 based pistol. 

The trigger cannot be squeezed to drop the hammer unless the magazine is in it.  Also this pistol is single action only.

I have to go back to an earlier post about grip as far as the 8 fundamentals of pistol Marksmanship.  Grip is at a disadvantage here.  Admittedly I got a big meathook for a hand.  I just cannot get a good grip on this pistol and when I fire I can feel the pistol rotating in my hand.  To actually see and compare the effect that this has I took the LC-9, an M-9, and a SIG 229R and fired 7 rounds out of each at 10 yards at a 3 inch dot.  Below are the results.  With the LC-9 I was all over the place and this comes from the twisting in my hand while firing. (Only one in the black)

Next I fired the M-9.  A double stack magazine weapon which in my case  results in a better grip.  Though I did have 2 rounds high here they are basically in line with the other shots and no twisting of the weapon.

Here is the SIG 229 again a much better shot group vs the LC-9.

Personally I am not very happy with this pistol however in a pinch I guess it would be able to be utilized in self / family protection.  Also it might be an excellent choice for people with small hands or more flexibility in there fingers.  Also while surfing the internet and items in Shotgun News everything seems pretty critical of the pistol.

I do believe there is one saving grace to the pistol it fits in any pocket nicely and doesn't pattern as a pistol but looks like a wallet or a note pad.

The P-38: Owning some history

A few years ago a tragedy befell a friend of mine.  Mike’s Aunt had passed and he was the recipient of her estate because she had no children.  In years past Mike told me about his uncle’s captured P-38 and Nazi battle flag.  Once Mike and his wife and Linda started going through his aunt’s house he came upon the P-38 and the battle flag.  

     I have never been squeamish about Nazi items.  Having been to Germany, England, France and Czechoslovakia I have visited many museums here and there with examples of Nazi items and they have never bothered me.  While holding that flag it started to freak me out like I could feel the evil from the flag.  I gave him the flag back real quick.

     Mike then handed me the P-38.  This P-38 was taken from a German Officer that Mike’s uncle captured during the battle of the bulge.  He also took his boots which the officer was more apprehensive about surrendering vs the surrendering of his pistol.  He then asked me to take it and shoot it and tell him what I thought of it.  I then took it home, took it apart, reassembled it and shot it.

     I was very impressed by the piece of history that I was encharged with.  Upon getting home with said weapon I played with it for a bit and figured out how to take it apart.  According to mike his uncle had only put a few rounds through it, and kept it clean and oiled.  This was very evident during disassembly and from my judgement it looked like there was less than 500 rounds through this 60+ year old weapon.  There was hardly any receiver wear on the bluing, very little holster wear, and the parts looked like they just came from the factory.

     Surprisingly the operating system of the P-38 is basically a scaled down version of the beretta M-9/92 operating system. it also utilizes a breach block as the locking system.  Sights are a blade front and dovetail rear sight and can be fired either double or single action.  When I took it on the range I fired from 15 yards and was able to shoot a approximately a 3 inch group on a 6 inch dot.  I must also state because of the age of the weapon I utilized a 110g bullet.

After returning this pistol to Mike I wanted one!!!! Before returning it to mike I had texted him some pics of his pistol on my wall with other members of my collection.  The actual reason was that I was building him a presentation case for the pistol and was biding for time to finish under the cover that I was stealing it.

I started searching for a P-38 at the local gun shows and shops.  Also surfing on-line through various C&R shops until I got an E-mail notice from J&G sales (jgsales.com) on their new items and there it was.  $500+ and it was mine.

Of course I had to compare it to Mikes.

Above is Mike's P-38, and below is mine from J&G Sales.  The only differences that I could find was the hammers are different, and the grip coloration are different.  The captured pistol is in better shape as far as wear on the parts.  Other than the importation information inscribed on the front of the pistol grip on the J&G sales pistol they have all the same markings.  A minor difference should be noted.  On the slide there are 3 proof marks. First is a german eagle over a 165, then a german eagle over a swastika then on the right is another eagle over another 165.  The difference below instead of 165 the numbers are 88.

One other thing that made me quite happy was the fact that the pistol that I bought had matching numbers on the Barrell, Slide and Receiver.  I could have picked up one at a gun show a lot sooner but the pistol had 3 different serial numbers, or basically parts from 3 different weapons.

I have taken this pistol out and shot it a few times.  Starting with 110g bullets and working to 124gr Hydrashoks.  However I have not been able to replicate a 3 inch shot group at 15 yards with 100gr ball.  The best I have been able to do is 4 with an average of 4.5.

NEW TACTICS BEING EMPLOYED BY ISRAEL AGAINST HAMAS

As we have all heard Hamas terrorists are hiding behind everything, Hospitals, Mosques, Churches, Civilian homes etc.  To get the Hamas terrorists the israelis are deploying a simple but effective plan. They yell out Hey Abdul.  5-10 terrorists come out of the wood work and get popped by the Israelis.

Hamas has tried to counter this by coming up with their own counter plan by yelling Reuben is that you?

The Israelis immediately countered this by yelling back Yes its me Reuben is that you Abdul, and again 5-10 hamas terrorists pop out saying yes it is I.  Then they get capped by the Israelis.

BACK TO THE BASICS: RECOVERY

In the past posts of back to the basics I have been discussing the 8 fundamentals of marksmanship.  Previously I covered:

Stance
Grip
Sight alignment
Sight Picture
Trigger squeeze
Breathing
Follow Through

Today we are at  #8 Recovery.  What I will cover here in recovery is Immediate action, remedial action and magazine changes

Your firing away at the range, or at a burglar and your weapon stops firing.  You squeeze the trigger again and nothing.  Your pistol looks like this:

You have had a misfire so as the word means you have to pull immediate action.  The key to immediate action is the word SPORTS

Slap up on the magazine
Pull back on the slide
Observe if a round comes out
Release the slide so it goes forward and picks up another round
Tap the slide to ensure it is seated forward properly
Squeeze the trigger and get back in the fight or hitting your paper terrorist

You have done SPORTS and squeezed the trigger and again misfire nothing happens now we have to go to remedial action.  If in a "Situation" you may have to transition to another sidearm.  If you are at the range go through SPORTS till the "O".  Pick up the round and look at the primer (The usually silver circle on the back of the round)  If it is dented it means that the round has not gone off and that the primer is or weapon is bad.  I would like to note that this is not always the case.  I had an Automag III that I couldn't fire military .30 carbine through and the primers were dented, however if I put them in my 30 cal carbine they would fire.  If I used commercial .30 carbine it wasn't a problem.  If there is no dent then more than likely you have a broken firing pin.  Other reasons for a misfire or non-fire are double feeds, failure to extract and failure to feed.

Next I will cover magazine changes.  Your blasting away, your pistol stops firing and looks like this:

You have ran out of ammo, so you have to do a magazine change.  Engage the magazine release, slide your non firing had down the pistol grip ensuring the magazine has fallen free.  Bring your non firing hand to your chest down to your belt buckle and slide to your non firing side till you hit your magazine pouch, pull a mag out (Have them arranged so that when rotated up the magazine will go right into the magazine well of the pistol), load the magazine into the magazine well hit the slide catch and re-engage.

Just to summarize this posting we have covered the final Fundamental of pistol marksmanship and covered Immediate action, Remedial Action, and Magazine changes.

BACK TO THE BASICS: FOLLOW THROUGH

     In previous posts I covered 6 other principles of Pistol Marksmanship.  They are as follows:

1. Stance
2. Grip
3. Sight Alignment
4. Sight Picture
5. Trigger squeeze
6. Breathing

     Today I would like to take a little bit of time and talk about Follow Through.  First what is Follow Through.  Follow Through is the act of after firing at a target that immediately after the weapon goes through the cycle of operation the firer immediately brings the weapon back down to bear on the target so it may be re-engaged if the need be.

     One might argue that A. I shot him with a 44 he aint getting up or B. My pocket cannon will do the trick.  This might be a legitimate argument to some people but historically it has proven to be negated.  I will bring to light two examples where follow through was critical.

     During a terrorist take down in the Republic of Mozambique the terrorists were wearing body armor.  The Counter Terrorism force initially upon engaging the enemy fired center mass on the targets which did not go down at that time.  A Rhodesian armed with a pistol immediately changed his tactics to doing a double tap center mass and one shot to the head.  Currently this type of drill is still utilized and referred to as "Mozambique Drill"

     I'm sure a lot of readers here saw the movie "Black Hawk Down"  about the failed raid in Somalia by US Forces.  The Somalis chew a local herb, which basically makes them stoned and unfeeling of pain.  On more than one occasion during this battle these guys would still keep advancing after being shot in the torso multiple times with 5.56mm.  Again back to the head shot.

     Some years ago I witnessed a person that was messed up out of his gord on PCP.  The guy was not the biggest but when he was under that stuff it took 4 of us to restrain him and he did break restraints, both wrists, and an ankle.  He was willing and able to keep going.  Think if I shot him center mass do you think he would have stopped?

     Here is my final scenario to follow through.  Your nervous, somebody just broke into your house, you see the guy, you shoot and miss.  It has and will happen, you have to immediately re-engage your target.  If he falls then go up to him, poke him in the eye and if he moves shoot him again.

     I have given a few examples of the importance of follow through.  I can not stress enough its importance especially in a home defense situation.

   

BACK TO THE BASICS: BREATHING

     First off I would like to start todays post by wishing everyone a happy 4th of July.  I hope everyone has a safe and fun filled holiday.

     In previous posts I have been covering the fundamentals of pistol marksmanship with:

1. Stance
2. Grip
3. Sight Alignment
4. Sight Picture
5. Trigger squeeze

     Now we are here at #6 Breathing.  In my training in various shooting schools and training one of 2 thoughts have been driven in me.  The first being before squeezing the trigger exhale and during the natural pause between exhaling and inhaling squeeze off your round.  The other being that exhaling takes time in a stress situation and breathing being a muscle movement does not make a stable firing platform.  So just stop breathing and fire.  I also wanted to verify this so I gave a shout out to fellow gun slingers to make sure that I wasn't making anything up in my old age and basically with the answers that I received my train of thought was verified.

     With the above paragraph in mind I decided I was going to prove or reinforce the above.  So my plan was to create a stress environment for myself (To mimic what the body is doing in a situation where you might have to pull your weapon and engage a hostile) and test out the different breathing techniques both good and bad.  We have been getting thunderstorms in the afternoons here in Southwest Virginia. Which I hate being out doors while one is approaching, so I decided to do my testing while one was approaching.  Also stressing me out was getting it done before the rain came so I would not ruin my camera and then just as an extra precaution I walked a 50 yard circle briskly before firing.  All 10 shots for each iteration were fired with a SIG 229R at 8 yards (24 ft).  Position 3-4 were utilized in double action.  (From a chest ready position to a firing position.  This is so you don't fixate on your sights while moving) at a 3 inch dot.

     This first picture was while I was breathing.  Though if I was shooting at a person at 8 yards I would have killed them. An increase in Range may have resulted in misses.

This photo is of a shot group that was accomplished when I saw a lightning, or heard thunder I would take a shot.  Exhaling as i went from Position 3 to 4.  One thing that I noticed was again under stress I could feel and see my heart rate translating to the pistol and I felt my stress build as i was squeezing the trigger.

In this picture when I got to position 4 I stopped breathing and fired.  I again fired with the lightning and thunder to simulate a target popup or presentation.  There was a pretty good consistency but I still could feel stress in myself, and some heart rate translation to the sights.

Here is something that came to me while I was doing this test.  There is a natural pause when you are breathing in also vs breathing out.  Though I never heard about utilizing it I decided to put it to the test.  Again I fired with lightning and thunder, under stress and as I went from position 3-4 breathed in.  I actually felt calmer with  no heart rate translation.  I didn't believe this result so I tried it 3 more times and the result was the same each time, no throws and a tight consistent group.  This is the first one that I shot I had my front sight on the 10 in the later times I aimed at the 12, 3 and 9 0'clock positions with the same result.

In my humble opinion it seems to be better during a stressful situation before you squeeze the trigger take a breath first as you are going from position 3 to 4.

BACK TO THE BASICS: TRIGGER SQUEEZE

      Its been a while since I posted, but you know stuff happens, get over it, I'm educating you some more so feel lucky!

     As far as the 8 fundamentals of pistol Marksmanship we have already covered:
1.  Stance
2.  Grip
3.  Sight Alignment
4.  Sight Picture

(Drum roll) and here we are at #5 Trigger squeeze.

     A good description of trigger squeeze is as follows:

     Placing the upper portion of the pad of the the firing finger on the trigger squeeze back utilizing the entire upper portion of the firing index finger bending at the knuckle.  Squeezing back with consistency of force not jerking or adding additional pressure as you squeeze straight back until the weapon fires.  That about does it.

     I could sit here talk about and demonstrate it, have you dry fire etc, and many people will still have problems.  Since you are taking the time to read this I will share a training technique that I have utilized for years for myself and others to get trigger squeeze down.

     The first step is utilizing your non firing thumb give a thumbs up sign.  Next with a #2 pencil part that is shaped with 6 sides (Hexagon) tape (preferred) or rubber band it to your non firing thumb with a flat side out and a flat side to your thumb.

     Now utilizing your trigger finger using your trigger finger squeeze back on the pencil.  When you squeeze back it should come straight back towards you.  For the amazing Hulks out there "DO NOT BREAK YOUR THUMB"

     If it doesn't come straight back adjust your firing finger in small increments opposite of the direction that your finger went.  Once it comes back straight memorize the feeling on your firing finger where it is contact with the pencil.   This will help you place your finger in the right place on the trigger.

     Now this device is not a one time thing.  I use this to practice my finger placement, and the constant pressure required to pull the trigger and keep the gun on target.  Some might argue that this can be accomplished with dry firing.  However I would argue that this technique actually isolates and improves your trigger squeeze.

Have a great day and I will attempt my next post next week.

Back To The Basics: Sight Alignment and Sight Picture

In previous posts I have talked about The Eight Principles of Pistol Marksmanship and covered Stance and Grip.  In todays post I will talk about Sight Alignment (#3) and Sight Picture (4)

First off for today on Sight alignment we use a weaver stance and grip and aim at our target as close to possible of our natural point of aim.

With the red Horizontal line as our alignment line align the blade or post of the front sight in-between  the dovetail of the rear sight.  Again this is easier done with a target at your eye level as pictured below.

In the above picture these shots were taken at 10 yards with a Taurus 24/7 .45 cal.  The 10 ring or gut was at eye level with me at my firing position and the head shots were above me by about 2 feet.  The hits in the 10 ring are pretty consistent for double taps, with one dropped from the 10 ring.  Only 2 rounds made it to the 20 ring the others were offset to the left and down.  This is consistent with bad sight alignment.

Next is sight picture

First we will attempt to see if you are cross dominant or firing side dominant.  Take your firing hand and make an OK signal with the thumb and index finger and put it to the tip of your nose with both eyes open now focus on something in the distance and bring your ok sign out so that the subject of your staring is in the circle.  Now close one eye.  If the object jumps out of the circle that is your dominate eye.  If it doesn't jump that is your weak eye.

Now if it is your right eye and you are right handed or left eye and and are left handed there is no problem.  However if you are right handed and Left eye dominate or left handed and right eye dominate Just ease the weapon to that side when aiming.

We need to look at the sights and keep both eyes open.  If we close the non firing eye we lose about 90 degrees of vision.  That 90 degrees could hold somebody that needs our attention.

If we look at the above picture.  The Front sight blade/post should be crisp, The clear oval is the target This should appear out of focus and might have a fuzzy halo around it.  The two parts of the dove tail should have the same appearance that the target has.  Out of focus and a has Halo around them.  During periods of instruction I can never stress Front Sight enough.  If you stare it down you will hit your target.

AR-15 Series Weapons Bolt Gas Rings: To stagger or not to stagger

A Friend of mine John Fabriele on Google+ posted this over the weekend.  I had noticed the gas rings on it were not staggered and mentioned this on the post.  Then a Thomas stocker said that they do not have to be staggered.  So with some free time I decided to put it to a test.  Also John had mentioned about oiling the gas rings, and I wanted to see how this would work as well, and also I had surmised that the CLP might cause a carbon build up in that area with the impinged gases.

The first weapon I used was a Bushmaster XM-15 with M-855 A-2 Ammo

With the initial 30 rd Magazine before Firing I put the opening of the gas rings together, carefully placed it in the weapon and fired.  I had no problems.  I took the weapon apart and carefully took the bolt out of the carrier and the openings were now staggered.

I repeated the procedure again aligning the openings, another 30 rounds no problem.  Again the rings were staggered when I took it apart.

I repeated the procedure for a third time.  This time I had 3 failures to extract, then the weapon fired fine.

My next three magazines I had the rings staggered and no problems except for a dud with a dented primer.

The Next three magazines were with CLP on the gas rings.  No problems shooting, and once finished I field stripped the weapon and no evident problems could be seen,  However I did notice that there was not very much CLP evident on rings.

I attempted this again with a Bushmaster Carbon and M-855 A-2 Ammo

I fired the same amount of mags as I did with the XM-15

With aligning the openings I only had 1 Failure to extract on the second magazine.  The rest fired flawlessly.  No problems what so ever.  Each time after firing a magazine the openings were staggered.

Fired 3 mags with rings staggered no problems

Fired 3 mags with CLP on the rings and same as the XM-15 no build up and I found very little evidence of the oil.

I would surmise here that if I was giving advice to someone I would recommend staggering the rings.    3 Rounds out of 90 on the first weapon, and 1 out of 90 on the second, and basically the weapon staggered them any ways.  I also need to add here I put the opening to the top of the bolt.

Back To The Basics: Grip

Pictured above is an example of a good grip when utilizing the Isosceles Stance.

1.  With the firing hand make a "U" shape and place it around the pistol grip of the weapon.

2.  The weapon is aligned with the firing arm so recoil is transferred right down the arm to the shoulder.

3.  The non firing hand is placed in front of the firing hand on the non-firing side of the grip and wraps around over the firing hand.

4.  Wrist and hand are kept straight so that recoil comes straight down the arm to the shoulders.

With both hands on the weapon this gives a very stable weapons platform and plays into the natural way our bodies move and operate.

The basics of The grip with the isosceles stance grip can be used with the weaver stance, 

In addition while grasping the weapon you will grasp your hands and pull away from them causing an Isometric response.  Personally I find this uncomfortable and not very stable.  I find that I have tendency to start shaking while doing this.

In conclusion as an experienced shooter again for comfort and stability I would recommend the isosceles stance and Grip.

Back to the basics: Stance

This is the inaugural part of a multi part post.  I think it is imperative as shooters, Marksmen, and others that we go back to the basics and fine tune our selves, get rid of bad habits and tweak our Good habits so they become stronger.  In this I review the 8 Fundamentals of pistol marksmanship, and a couple of additionals that I think every shooter should observe.

If you are a novice instead of calling your right and left sides I will refer to them as Firing or Non-firing sides so that If you are Left Handed (Mutant) I don't have to explain everything as right handed or left handed

For Todays post I will start off with Stance.  If we think it about stance it is the basics of the weapon platform.  The A-10 a Weapons Platform, a M-1 Abrams Tank a weapons platform, a battle ship a weapons platform, YOU a weapons platform.  A weapons platform must be stable and have the ability to take recoil.  I have seen a few different stances in my life time but what is most prevalent to me is The Weaver Stance, The Isosceles Stance, and a combination of the Two Stance.

The first stance I will cover is the Weaver Stance.

Basically in the above picture the shooter stands so that his non-firing side is facing the target, The firing arm is locked and his non firing arm is bent at the elbowBoth hands grip the pistol and both hands pull against each other.

When I first started shooting I used this stance.  Reasons being that this stance was what I had grown up seeing on TV.

The PROs of this stance is that it offers a smaller silhouette to an intruder in your house, it offers camouflage in dark and low light conditions.

The CONs to this stance are Movement is hindered.  We walk with our hips turned towards our direction of movement, with this stance you have to adjust your body to move and stop.  (Coming in and out of your firing stance)  There is a tendency when shooting since the firing arm is taking the recoil to twist into that direction and thus your hits are to the side of the firing arm.  If you are wearing Body armor, on most types that I have used the plate does not protect the sides, so thus you are defeating your Body armor with out a shot being fired.  When in this stance our area of engagement is from about 10degrees towards the extreme of our non firing side to about 3:00 of our firing side.

Personally I do not like the Weaver Stance, I find it un-natural, uncomfortable, and does not make sense to me as a whole.

The next stance that I will cover is the Isosceles stance.

Basically in the above pictures The pistol is gripped with both hands, Chest and body are facing the target, Both arms locked, Shooter is bent forward at the waist, Knees bent slightly, the firing foot is about 6 inches behind non firing foot, legs spread about shoulder width apart.

The pros for this position is that it basically mirrors our natural body position. We can walk and stop easily from this position.  Recoil of the weapon comes straight back down the arms, to the sides of the back (Lats) to the buttocks and down the legs to the ground. If wearing body armor the armor is facing the target/ adversary.  The body van swing 90+ degrees left and 90+ degrees right of front.

This stance is adjustable for the best natural point of aim and recoil absorption stance using the following techniques:  Get in stance, Aim at target, Close eyes swing pistol left and right about 10 degrees each way and stop when you think you are on target where you were aiming before.  When you open your eyes and you are off target adjust your firing foot back or forward to adjust the sights back on target.  (Do not worry if you are low or high of target with this) try to memorize you feet and body position.  Next put your arms on someone else's shoulders.  Try to push them just by adjusting where your firing foot is.  Onec you can move them you are good.

The CONs of this stance is that it offers a larger target to your intruder or adversary.

Personally I use the Isosceles stance.  I think it makes me a better weapons platform.


I have seen people also accomplish this by using an Isosceles type stance on the lower body and shooting weaver with the upper.  Again this tries to counter unstably with stability and from what I have seen doesn't.

YE OLDE GUN SHOP

     This is Franklin Outdoors located in Rocky Mount Va.  This establishment has been in existence since 2007.  The owners are Sean and Tricia and Jeff helps them run the store along with their indentured servants (Children) Brittney and Steve.  I had met Sean and Tricia right after they had bought the store (Nee Franklin Rod and Gun) and at that point did not have their Federal Firearms License yet.  At that point just from the conversation my instincts told me these people were alright and here 7 years later I am still going there.

     We have a few arms dealers and big box stores in the area and I like to go inside and browse because I am always looking for that special gun.  However I just do not get the same experience when I go into them as I do when I go into Franklin outdoors.  A few examples are as follows:

     If someone is at Franklin outdoors they will make a sale.  Normally they are closed on Tuesdays which I do forget periodically and have gone there and found the door locked and after a few words that I should not be using I realize that it is Tuesday.  Other times I needed stuff was in the area Sean was waiting for deliveries from UPS and FedEx and he took care of me.  We had another place here where you never knew if they were going to be there or not.  An example was after eating lunch I and a few guys were walking from the BBQ Joint on the corner to the Arms Dealer and she was locking up.  There was myself and a group of 4 behind me, and she told us she had to get to the bank.  That place closed.

     Usually If I am looking for a specific firearm I can go see Sean and say hey man I need a Government style 45.  Sean then looks it up and tells me the prices which are 99% of the time really good he then orders and in a few days he has it and I fill out the paper work and Im walking out the store with a brand new Government .45.  Also once miraculously I didn't see a pistol I wanted in his case.  Started looking on line came back a few days later he had a slightly used one and actually saved me $300.  Or if he can't get it he will handle an internet/ Shotgun magazine sale.

     If you go in there and have a question there is always somebody in there willing to help you out.  One of my pet peeves with businesses is the phone.  I hate waiting for service when the rep is on the phone and I am standing there with cash in my hand.  It has happened to me (Cough Blackwater Cough) at another local Arms dealer and I got mad and walked out.  I have never had that problem at Franklin Outdoors and in fact many times Sean has stopped his conversation on the phone and asked me what I needed when he has been there alone.

     Also everything in the store is for sale (Unless deposit taken etc)  He almost sold me Tricias rifle one time.  I just hate when you go into a store and see something you like on the rack and you get Its not for sale what about that not for sale.

     The best part of the store is the conversation.  From Tricia detailing the gruesome story of someone getting shot through their man land and making me squirm (You should have seen the look in her eyes and her expression) to Guns to politics.  It is always interesting at Franklin Outdoors.  The customers are what makes this place so great.

I just feel if you are going to give your money to someone it might as well be someone you like.

SCAM FYI: SHOTGUN NEWS SUBSCRIBERS

  Yesterday I got the mail and went through it and opened one envelope and had a bill for my Shotgun News subscription.  So right away I pulled out the check book and started writing the check and then stopped.  The first thing that came to mind was that I am pretty sure that I just renewed my subscription.  I then looked at the front of my most recent Shotgun News and sure enough my subscription runs out 20 Nov 16.  Also the amount on the bill was a bit high.  I do not remember paying $119.85 for one year.  I get a 3 year subscription and I had remembered it was a pretty good price.

Above is the bill that I received in the mail.  A one year subscription through Shotgun news is $34.95 for 36 issues.  I also called Shotgun news to verify that this was indeed a scam and they confirmed that it was.  I tried calling the number on the bill multiple times and never got an answer.  If you receive this bill notify your District Attorney or States Attorneys office.

JFK: Shot by Frangible Ammunition

Let us start off in a review.  In November the REELZ channel ran a documentary that was a compilation of 2 books (Fatal Error by Bonner Menninger and JFK: The Smoking gun by Colin McLarin) that took a theory presented by "Ballistics Expert"  Howard Donahue who was on a test team of shooters in the 80s on trying to prove or dis-porove that Oswald was the lone gun man.  By the way he was the only one to duplicate the shots Oswald took on his second attempt.

His theory states that Secret Service Agent George Hickey was sitting on the folded down roof of the trail car that was following behind Kennedy's limo, and after Oswald shot Kennedy in the back of the neck the car sped up to follow Kennedy's limo SSA Hickey then fell back and fired an AR-15 which then shot Kennedy in the back of the head and killed him.  (See my post already disproving this dated Dec. 16, 2013 SSA hickey killed JFK...... I don't think so.)  Also in this theory it states that George Hickey had Frangible ammunition in the rifle that he killed Kennedy with.  That is why the round broke apart after entering President Kennedy's skull.  This is where my post today will continue examining the Frangible ammunition theory.

If you do not know what Frangible ammunition is, in a nut shell here is the explanation:

From notes and attendance to various schools I have learned the following:

This round was invented utilizing porcelain for the bullet part of the cartridge.  This round was a short range training round to be utilized in "Close Quarter Combat", "SWAT" Operations, and Military Operations on Urban Terrain live fire training.  The reason for the porcelain was to prevent ricochets, and also when it hit a steel target it would then crumble into powder.  Where as the A071 M-193 5.56 x 45 mm round of the day would splatter when hitting a steel target.  Thus possibly injuring shooters.

Above to the left is A071 M-193 5.56 for the M-16A1 with 1x12 barrel and to the right is 

A059 M-855(Currently used) with steel penetrator and used in M-16a2 and M-4 weapons with 1x7 twist barrels

At first this porcelain round was working wonders as far as training went.  It did not harm the Steel targets, it was easier on shooting houses, and these could be used forever.  However a training accident involving a soldier being hit occurred. When the hit individual was taken to the hospital the bullet did not show up on the x-ray and basically the surgeon had to poke and hope to find the round.  To fix this copper was added to the porcelain mix.  With this further instances of accidental shootings the bullets showed up like Neon on X-rays.

To the left is a 9x19mm Frangible round and to the right is a 5.56x45mm round

With that all said and done I will get to the show.  The narrator of the show, Bonner Menninger, and Colin McLarin all stated the Frangible ammunition theory.  This really bothered me for a number of reasons.  First off the Nomenclature for Frangible 5.56mm ammunition in the military is:  AA40 Ctg 5.56mm Short Range Training Frangible.  The reason I know this is from my previous life.  As far as I am concerned and have knowledge of from 1990 to 2003 the military didn't have any go to war frangible ammunition.  If you were shooting someone you were doing it with A071 M193 or A059 M-855 or a variant there of.  So my question here why would the Secret Service use a Short Range Training Round?  The Max effective range for the frangible 5.56 that I have from personal notes is 200 meters which is about half of that of regular rounds.  Another thing that bothered me is the shattering of the round.  First off Frangible usually does not shatter unless it hits steel.  I have seen Frange go through 4x4s 2x6s etc and come out whole.  This could be achieved by so many other ways and will take these on in a later post.  One of these I will cover now and that is the Dum Dum round.  It is a flattened round with an X cut in the head.  It was utilized at the Attica Prison riots and a few other police incursions in the 60s.  Also this round was banned for military use in the Geneva and Hague conventions.

The frangible theory really bothered me.  For some reason it just kept gnawing at me and I kept wondering if in fact Frangible ammo could have even been around at that time.  For some reason a date in the 70s kept popping into my head for when it was first offered.  I then dug up some notes that I had and they showed 1972.    I looked it up on the internet and a few references showed 1974.  Either way this is 9 and 11 years after JFKs assassination that frangible ammunition came to be.

I will conclude this post with the following Synopsis.  This is the second fact that I have taken from JFK: The Smoking Gun, and I am not a professional reporter or investigator but for the second time I have blown a presented fact out of the water.  I think people need to check their facts before getting the check for their book.

(This is an FYI and has nothing to do with this post other than to educate.)  Pictured here is a latter design of Frangible ammunition which has better range due to the metal jacket over the frangible bullet.  This is what is referred to as "The New Green" ammo and has a max effective range in the area between 300-400 meters.  I have not tested it for accuracy or even shot it yet.  I have 200 rounds which I will be testing for accuracy later and posting.

A Bad Congress + H.J. Res 59 = a Loss of Gun Rights.

Let me start this post with a review of the way I am pretty sure the way our government should work.

Every 10 years a census is taken in the United States to see how many people live here in the USA.  Also from this census population densities are added up and Congressional Districts are added or omitted.

Elections are then held to to elect Representatives for these Congressional Districts and speak the mind of the people in the way of drawing up bills representative of the thoughts, wants, needs and desires of the Congressional District conveyed to the Congressman and that do not go against the Constitution but re-enforce it.

Elections are also held to elect senators.  From what I remember from various social studies classes in from Grammar School to College is that in the congress the voice of the people are heard by the amount of people are in a district.  Senators meanwhile adhere to a rule of 2 senators per state giving each state at this point an equal vote on a specific point or bill.  In this a Senator looks at the amount of congressional districts in their home state that voted for said bill, and the senator being a Representative for the people of his state should vote the way the majority of the districts in their state voted.

Then when it passes the Legislative branch of our government it then goes to the Executive Branch, is reviewed and signed into law by The President of the United States.

The past several months the News Media has been Running snippets about the weakness of Congress,  The current congress is the worst congress in history and etc.  Actually at the time I thought it was the best congress yet.  Most importantly to me they protected my right to bear arms!  They have voted and passed legislation and then sent it to the Senate in which the problem occurs with our government.  It is turned down or voted out by the senators whose states presented the legislation to begin with.  At this point I could support this congress and every congressman.  They were sticking to the ideals of their Districts and themselves and most of all protecting the rights of We The People!  The problem was the Senate (Not passing and voting as a party not as a representative.) and the President (Threatening Vetos if he did not get his way.)  This is where the problem with our government laid.

I live here in the Virginia Fifth Congressional District.  My Congressman is Robert Hurt.  Occasionally I go to his web site and give my view on various subjects of interest to my self and others in this district that I have talked to.  The reason I do this is to exercise the right and duty to talk to my congressman and let him know what the people want in his district.  If no one tells him their feelings and views how can he represent us?  Also every now and then I receive an E-mail from Congressman Hurt (Roberts Round-up) telling me what he has done in Washington and who has visited him since his last letter.  Also being a veteran I receive periodic letters from Robert on the things that he is doing to help Veterans.

In December the Bipartisan Budget agreement was passed.  In this budget a cut to Cost Of Living Adjustments (COLA) to Military Retirees under a specific age was brought about to save the government money.  When I first saw this on the news I thought to myself who voted for this and was pretty confident that Congressman Hurt did not vote for it.  Then on Dec 18 2013 I got the below  message from Roberts Round up

Bipartisan Budget Agreement

Dear Friend,

I am pleased to report that last week, for the first time in five years, Congress agreed upon a federal budget. The House of Representatives passed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 by a vote count of 332-94.

Fifth District Virginians know that we need to put an end to the reckless government spending in Washington that has brought us to a $17 trillion debt. Since coming to Congress, addressing the crippling national deficit and debt has been my top priority. While we have successfully implemented some spending reforms, such as eliminating earmarks and reducing spending for two consecutive years for the first time in nearly 60 years, we have not been able to make additional progress on our deficits and debt because of the Senate's failure to even attempt passing a budget in recent years.

After years of Senate unwillingness to act on budget policy, I am encouraged by the fact that we have stopped the pattern of handing over our congressional budgetary authority to the executive branch and exercised our constitutional duty to establish the spending priorities for our great nation. This budget plan reduces our long-term deficit without raising taxes. We have exchanged one-time cuts for long-term spending reforms that are not only good deficit reduction policy, but will also secure our military readiness by giving our troops the resources they need to defend our nation.

This budget plan is not a solution to our debt crisis, but it is a step in the right direction. I look forward to continuing to fight for true spending reform and for policies that will balance our budget and guarantee a brighter future for all Virginians and Americans.

If you need any additional information, please visit my website athurt.house.gov or call my Washington office: (202) 225-4711, Charlottesville office: (434) 973-9631, Danville office: (434) 791-2596, or Farmville office: (434) 395-0120.

After receiving this message I immediately went to Robert's website and simply asked the following;

Mr Hurt with everything that you have presented to veterans of the 5th district on helping/ watching out for Veterans did you really vote for this bill?

I then received the following via e-mail on Dec 26th 2013:

Dear Mr. Ulman:

Thank you for your recent communication concerning H. J. Res. 59, the Bipartisan Budget Act, and its impact on our nation's veterans.  I appreciate your taking the time to express your thoughts on this important matter.  It is a privilege to represent you and to serve as a voice for the citizens of Virginia's Fifth District.

Fifth District Virginians know that we need to put an end to the reckless government spending in Washington that has brought us to a $17 trillion debt.  After years of Senate unwillingness to act on budget policy, I am encouraged by the fact that we have stopped the pattern of handing over our congressional budgetary authority to the executive branch and exercised our constitutional duty to establish the spending priorities for our great nation.  We have exchanged one-time cuts for long-term spending reforms that will secure our military readiness by giving our troops the resources they need to defend our nation.  While not everything in the budget agreement is as I would have drafted it, it was imperative that Congress act to pass a budget to alleviate the pressure that sequestration imposed on our military.  

I share your concerns about the provision in the Bipartisan Budget Act that would affect veterans' future retirement cost of living adjustments, and I am committed to identifying alternative budget reforms.  I will work with my colleagues to ensure that no veterans are impacted by these changes before they take effect in 2016.  

I hope you will stay connected to our office with updates on the latest news, legislation, and other useful information, by signing up for our e-newsletter on our website, hurt.house.gov. Thank you again for your communication and please do not hesitate to contact our office with any future questions or comments.

Sincerely,
Robert Hurt
Member of Congress

Now one may come to the conclusion that I am just a whining Chicken Little.  The sky is falling the sky is falling.  But There is one statement in this letter that bothers me the most:

While not everything in the budget agreement is as I would have drafted it, it was imperative that Congress act to pass a budget to alleviate the pressure that sequestration imposed on our military.

(I do have to ask this now "Why in the hell did he vote for it to begin with????)  

I only have to ask what will be taken away next in the name of a budget or anything else.  If the Democrats next year present a bill that has gun control measures like those imposed in California and New York will he vote for it just to get a budget?  Will Congressman Hurt sell our rights for a budget?  Sadly I think so he already sold out his personal values on the Bi-partisan Budget Agreement.

I know quite a few ways money can be raised / saved.  If the congress wants to make reductions and get rid of the deficit then if they are taking away from Military Retirees why not join us and take away from yourselves.  Make the retirement for congress and the senate 20 years at 1/2 pay incremented to 30 years at 75%,  Pay caps for Senators and congressmen of lets say $4,000 a month for a junior congressman / Senator to $10,000 a month for a senior congressman and senator would be helpful too.  There are many more ways, just think about it.

I have not talked with other congressman from Virginia or anywhere else but I am thinking that they all have kicked their morals and ideals to the side with the results of the vote and are now whipped dogs and are just doing what Mr Obama and the Senate Democrats want them to do.  I also think they shot themselves in the foot, since most military that I am or have been in contact with are Republicans.  I urge each and every person that feels the way that I do to hold your congressman accountable for this.  I for one have to side with the news media this time and say that this is the worst Congress ever and I look forward now to a loss of our rights.

I have invited Congressman Hurt to look at this post and comment.

Belly Band Holsters

I own one of these types of holsters and I like it a lot.   I have worn it under a cummerbund while wearing a Tuxedo, under loose T-shirts or shirts, and while running. I purchased mine from the Sportsman’s Guide (sportmansguide.com) and from what I remember at a decent price.




I usually carry a large frame semi-automatic or a revolver on one side and an extra mag or cartridges on the other side. The band has two places sewn in to accommodate 2 pistols and 2 magazines if you are so inclined to carry so much fire power.




There are some draw backs to this type of holster. The shortcomings as I have seen them are listed below:


1.     There is no thumb-break or restraining strap. This would help retain the weapon inside the holster better.




2.     The holster is very flexible. When using a small frame pistol the holster tends to accordion around the pistol (Especially during periods of excessive activity) and have personally had the pistol fall out. Thus the reason for large frame pistols and revolvers.




3.      The magazine partitions are not sewn on the bottom. This is not a problem with a doublestack magazine but if you are carrying an M-1911 style 45 with single stack magazine the magazine will work its way down and fall out of the bottom.






Like I said at the start I like the holster and use it.   It is not perfect but it is functional.