SS109: The how to guide to shooting ourselves in the foot.

 Once upon a time from the 60s to the early 80s we had AR-15s with 1:10 twist barrels and 5.56x45mm NATO M-193 ammo with jacketed lead core bullets.  Then in 1974 at the Brandenburg Gate in East Berlin the guards were observed with a new type of rifle with a stolen Ford Flash Suppressor.  Further research found that the rifle was actually a redesigned AK-47 that fired a 5.45x 39 mm round vs the 7.62 x 39 mm round.  This round contained a Tungsten or steel penetrator.  Then Came the mid 80s when the US military started fielding the M-16A2 with round hand guards, 3 round burst, a Heavy Barrel (HB) with 1:7 twist which shot a new 5.56x45mm NATO M-855 bullet that was 62 gr and had a tungsten penetrator also.

With the introduction of this new round it was found that the M-855was tearing through the older ceramic ballistic vests and many more of the common Police vests which were made to stop .357 magnum and 9mm rounds.  With necessity being the mother of invention the level III and IIIa vests were born.  I would like to note that some of the shootings with the M-855 were from training casualties and a high amount from criminal conduct.  Also through other research I found this round will penetrate a 3mm steel plate at 600 yards.  3mm is about half the thickness of your 5.56 bullet.

After the military fielded this weapon the civilian market had to catch up and made the appropriate changes.  Over the years the AR platform weapon has been offered to the civilian populace in a 1:10 twist just for firing .223 rounds and M-193 5.56 NATO (55gr) a 1:9 compromise to fire all 5.56/223 rounds and the 1:7 twist to fire the M-855.

The above picture shows a civilian legal carbine that has a 16 inch barrel and folds down to not less than 26 inches.  Anything less is Considered a Short Barreled Rifle (SBR) and though is legal to own before you can take it home you must submit a form to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobaco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE)  You will also have to submit a $200 tax payment, wait 6 months and you get a tax stamp and you can then take your SBR home.  On a personal note, I think with the current pistol and rifle laws and background checks in place that anyone that can pass these and are able to buy a pistol or a rifle should be able to buy an SBR or Suppressed weapon without any additional paperwork.

Again over the years since 90s in my opinion one of the stupidest devices came out, the AR Pistol.  (I did get this picture from the Guns america website and I do shop there a lot)  Here in the above example basically what you have is an AR with a shortened barrel and no buttstock.  When I first saw this my first thought was yay the Non-standard Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) has been repealed.  Then it was explained to me that this was pistol and that mounting a buttstock was illegal.  So what they did here was bend the law and just made it scream, without actually breaking it.

Then Starship Troopers came out and Big weird looking pistols ensued.

Then in 2013 in an item from Shotgun News I saw the above rifle and again thought YAY the NFA has been repealed.  After reading the article again I was wrong.  What looks like a stock is actually an arm brace that encompasses the forearm and stabilizes the weapon while firing.  Right away I started thinking damn they're really making the law scream with this.  I can use this as a stock and no one would be the wiser.  Then in 2014 i fell out of my chair that the BATFE actually ok'd the use of the firearm brace as a shoulder stock.  I was thinking it will only be a few days, before they figure out what they did.  Also with what the BATFE said and with what the Manufacturers were doing someone should see that the SBR Tax Laws and a lot of the NFA is antiquated and needs to be repealled.  Now to me this was the kicker and a bit stupid to me.  Like putting you hand in a tigers cage and slapping it.  Shot gun news ran an article "Building Your Own Faux SBR"  Pour salt in the wound.  Mess with a good thing etc.

With all of this background here comes the SS109 travesty. 

     1.  In the sense of the round being armor penetrating 

         

          a.  To me in a military sense armor being on a Tank, APC, Humvee, Stryker etc a 5.56 round 

               will not penetrate

          b.  Normal patrolmen are not wearing level III or higher vests and yes this round can penetrate 

               theses vests

     2.  Within the NFA and other gun laws there is regulation banning armor piercing ammunition for 

          pistols to the civilian populace

        

           a.  I don't think that the law-abiding Civilian populace is the problem.

           b.  What the problem is is the criminal.  

           c.  Also the problem being the Government supplying other nations with Guns, and ammo it 

              then a portion goes on the black market and comes right back here.  Proof of this is NYC, 

              Chicago and Los Angeles

    3.  If you are going to bend a law until it screams you gotta ensure there is no way the regulators 

         can do the same thing back to you.

       a.  Just looking at the above we as a gun owning public shot ourselves in the foot biting and 

            taking more more and more till we had a rope and hung ourselves.

       b.  Consequently The BATFE has reversed its decision on the Arm Brace and now the Ammo 

            which by the letter of the law is correct.

Again I want to state here that I do not support the NFA, or any rulings on ammunition, because the only people that it effects is the law abiding citizen.  Though its nice to shoot the SS-109/M-855 and be like our nations military, there are other alternatives out there.  There are 62 gr and higher lead core .223/5.56 rounds out there.  There might be some head pressure differences but in my experience  I can't tell the difference between a 55 gr vs 62 gr when firing other than DOPE and using the right barrel.

Gun Control Again Doesn't Work

I got these Statistics in an e-mail.  I have actually been to most of the places noted.  Please Note Switzerland.

Places NOT to go....................

 

 

 

This is FASCINATING !!WORLD MURDER STATISTICS

 

From the World Health Organization
The latest Murder Statistics for the world:
Murders per 100,000 citizens per year.

 

Honduras 91.6 (WOW!!)
El Salvador 69.2
Cote d'lvoire 56.9
Jamaica 52.2
Venezuela 45.1
Belize 41.4
US Virgin Islands 39.2
Guatemala 38.5
Saint Kitts and Nevis 38.2
Zambia 38.0
Uganda 36.3
Malawi 36.0
Lesotho 35.2
Trinidad and Tobago 35.2
Colombia 33.4
South Africa 31.8
Congo 30.8
Central African Republic 29.3
Bahamas 27.4
Puerto Rico 26.2
Saint Lucia 25.2
Dominican Republic 25.0
Tanzania 24.5
Sudan 24.2
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 22.9
Ethiopia 22.5
Guinea 22.5
Dominica 22.1
Burundi 21.7
Democratic Republic of the Congo 21.7
Panama 21.6
Brazil 21.0
Equatorial Guinea 20.7
Guinea-Bissau 20.2
Kenya 20.1
Kyrgyzstan 20.1
Cameroon 19.7
Montserrat 19.7
Greenland 19.2
Angola 19.0
Guyana 18.6
Burkina Faso 18.0
Eritrea 17.8
Namibia 17.2
Rwanda 17.1
Mexico 16.9
Chad 15.8
Ghana 15.7
Ecuador 15.2
North Korea 15.2
Benin 15.1
Sierra Leone 14.9
Mauritania 14.7
Botswana 14.5
Zimbabwe 14.3
Gabon 13.8
Nicaragua 13.6
French Guiana 13.3
Papua New Guinea 13.0
Swaziland 12.9
Bermuda 12.3
Comoros 12.2
Nigeria 12.2
Cape Verde 11.6
Grenada 11.5
Paraguay 11.5
Barbados 11.3
Togo 10.9
Gambia 10.8
Peru 10.8
Myanmar 10.2
Russia 10.2
Liberia 10.1
Costa Rica 10.0
Nauru 9.8
Bolivia 8.9
Mozambique 8.8
Kazakhstan 8.8
Senegal 8.7
Turks and Caicos Islands 8.7
Mongolia 8.7
British Virgin Islands 8.6
Cayman Islands 8.4
Seychelles 8.3
Madagascar 8.1
Indonesia 8.1
Mali 8.0
Pakistan 7.8
Moldova 7.5
Kiribati 7.3
Guadeloupe 7.0
Haiti 6.9
Timor-Leste 6.9
Anguilla 6.8
Antigua and Barbuda 6.8
Lithuania 6.6
Uruguay 5.9
Philippines 5.4
Ukraine 5.2
Estonia 5.2
Cuba 5.0
Belarus 4.9
Thailand 4.8
Suriname 4.6
Laos 4.6
Georgia 4.3
Martinique 4.2And .........
The United States 4.2 !!!!!

 

ALL (109) of the countries above America, HAVE 100% gun bans.

 

It might be of interest to note that SWITZERLAND is not shown on this list, because it has...NO MURDER OCCURRENCE!

 

However, SWITZERLAND'S law requires that  EVERYONE:
1. Own a gun.
2. Maintain Marksman qualifications ... regularly.

 

Did you learn anything from this??

I think the message is - loud and clear...

 

GUN bans and restrictions...   

 

DO NOT work!

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.