Have just returned from the range.  It’s cold and windy.  I thought I might test fire a couple of magazines worth from the Sterling Type II 9mm carbine from Century Arms.    Two hundred and fifty rounds later my hands and face were cold but you couldn’t get the smile off my face with a belt-sander.   That gun is a freaking hoot!   It’s all steel so it naturally has some weight to it, around nine pounds.   The heavy recoil spring along with the mass take up most all the energy the 9×19mm round can generate.  Long story short, if you decide to purchase one of these guns go ahead and order a case of ammunition while you are at it.   You’ll need it.  

 Next step, figure out a way to affix a Picatinny rail to the top of the receiver.  A red dot optic would be icing on the cake.

http://www.centuryarms.biz/products.asp?cat=54&pg=5

Initial impressions are that most everyone hates the Sands Convention Center.  The SHOT Show is so big it has to be spread out over numerous halls and even downstair into the “basement” or what some are calling “purgitory”.   For years we came to view the Las Vegas Convention Center as the true home of the SHOT Show.  People don’t like change and this has been a tough pill to swallow.  Still it’s better than Orlando.

Despite it all tens of thousands are in attendance exercising free enterprise coupled with the God given right to pursue happiness, even while going armed.   It is inspriring to see so many ’good folks’ under one roof.     

Regarding firearms training, particularly prepartion for mortal combat, there are innumerable techniques or methods being taught.  Many students of the gun will ask how they can tell whether this technique or that is “tactical” or “realistic”.   That is a valid question and one that shooters should be asking.   Are there valid Litmus Tests for shooting techniques or tactics?

One test you can apply to any technique is what I call “The Light Test”.  That is, do you need ample light to perform this technique?  If the answer is ‘yes’ then you need to scurtinize that method much closer.   

According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Statistics, greater than 50 percent of police officers killed feloniously in the line of duty were murdered between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.   Yes, I know it’s not always dark at 6 p.m.  Sometimes it gets dark earlier, sometimes later.  

The vast majority of our firearms training is conducted outdoors in ample daylight.  However, at least half of the recorded murders of cops happened during hours of low light or darkness.    

As an example, I know of one firearms training school that teaches their students during a stoppage to visually examine their gun to determine what problem they have encountered.  If the stoppage is “X” they will perform one technique.  If it is “Y” they will perform another or “Z” for yet another.   The point is they must have ample light to visually inspect the weapon first.   I would contend that ample light is not something that can be counted on in every mortal combat scenario. 

Methods and techniques that work well in the light of day are often found wanting when the sun has gone to bed or you are indoors.   You don’t have to be a smart ass to be critical.   Consider your current training or future instruction and apply “The Light Test”.   Keep shooting straight and shooting safe.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave with OBL for the last half-decade, you’ll know that most every major manufacturer of Stoner-style rifles has been working on a Gas Piston operated version as an option to the standard Direct Gas Impingement.  There is a bit of a civil war going on in the shooting ranks as some have embraced the piston design while others think it’s nothing more than “New Improved Tide“.  

 To be fair, the gas piston system has many merits and it is not simply a new way to sell an old product.  Gas Impingement guns get dirty faster and as such run into reliability issues.   This is after hundreds upon hundreds of rounds fired, not fifty.  Yes, clean, lubriated guns are an imperative, but in an operational environment you can’t always tear apart your rifle for a thorough scrub down.  Those who’ve run AR’s seriousy have experienced baked-on carbon so thick it has to be scraped off with metal tools. 

On the other hand, the gas piston guns have had their own growing pains.  The operating or push rods have a tendancy to cause “carrier tilt”, tilting the bolt carrier in the buffer tube during cycling.   Most makers have now redesigned the bolt carriers for their piston guns with beefed up rear ends and solid contact surfaces for the op rod.   The barrel nut has also been a weak point on many guns as the op rod is imparting motion to an area that previously experienced very little.

Unfortunately, those looking for a gas piston AR have been hit with some sticker shock.  Many gas piston guns cost 25 to 30 percent more than their gas impingement counter-parts.     

There are two smaller companies making reliable and affordable gas piston operated guns.  These are Stag Arms and CMMG. The Stag Arms Model 8 retails for around $1100 and the CMMG version has a sticker price of only $999. 

Last week on the range I witnessed a first, at least for me, a ruptured chamber on an M9 Beretta.   While coaching a student on the line I was standing just to the right and rear of him, perhaps three feet back.  I noticed that he had a stoppage.  “Tap, Rack.” I called out over the sound of adjacent gunfire.  I watched as he tapped the magazine base, racked the slide and reacquired his target.  “Bang!”  The weapon fired and I saw smoke escape from the chamber area.

Looking at the weapon I could clearly see a open crack, a rupture about 3/4 of an inch long on the chamber area of the M9 barrel on the right side of the gun.  The weapon had failed to eject the empty brass and was locked up tight.  As we were in the middle of a training session the pistol was removed from the line and the shooter given a loaner gun to finish the course of fire.

When all had settled down a bit I was able to talk with a Line Safety Officer who happened  be watching what went on.  He didn’t see the gun rupture but noticed the shooter that was immediately to the right of my guy jump as if in pain.  We asked him if something had hit him and comfirmed it had.  No blood, but he was struck by a small piece of metal from the ruptured chamber.  The piece of fragmentation had flown right past my face and stuck the kid standing behind me.   Of course it could just have easily hit me.  Yes, I was wearing shatter resistant, wrap-around shooting glasses. 

 Two lessons:  #1 Guns are machines made by man and even duty quality firearms can and will break.  Have a back up plan.  #2 Always protect your eyes, even if you aren’t the one doing the shooting.  The smallest piece of metal can cause severe damage to your eye.    Shatterproof, safety glasses are cheap compared to eye surgery or blindess.    

Magazine pouches are for the storage of magazines, not candy bars, dip, cigarettes, or anything else, only magazines.  Sounds pretty simple doesn’t it?  If I’d seen  this rule abused only once I might have thought it a fluke but, having witnessed it on numerous occasions I thought the situation warranted attention.

When you are a full-time firearms instructor you see a lot of “interesting” behavior and find out that there are ways to foul a firearm that you never dreamed about.   During training one of our students had a major malfuntion with his M4.   Immediate action (Tap/Rack) would not fix it.   He had just run dry and conducted combat reload.  The first round from the magazine chambered partially but hung up.  

After the weapon was removed from the firing line the armorer punched a yellow foam earplug from the chamber.  The kid had stuck an extra set in his mag pouch to keep from losing them.   The ear plug stuck on the mag lips and fouled the rifle very well.

 Just today we had two M9 pistols go down on the range with chamber blockage.   The first one had half of a rubber ear plug stuck in the chamber.  Same situation, ear plugs stored in magazine pouch.    Not thirty minutes later another pistol went down during a reload.  This time the young man conducted remedial action to clear the obstruction.  When he cleared it I saw something small and black fall to the ground.   Upon closer inspection I discovered it was a sunflower seed (in shell).   “Do you have sunflower seeds in your pocket?” I asked the troop.   “Yeah, in my cargo pocket.”  He had been carrying a couple of loaded, spare magazines in his cargo pocket surrounded by sunflower seeds.  

Lesson learned:  Magazine pouches are for MAGAZINES only!   Fortunately the previous incidents occurred during training not armed combat.  The results could have been tragic instead of mildly amuzing.

Remington has just announced a .410 shotshell load designed specifically to take advantage of the Taurus Judge Revolver.   Released under their new “Ultimate Home Defense” line of ammunition, this new .410 Shotshell is loaded with four 00 buckshot pellets driven at 1300 fps from the factory test barrels.  The shell is 2 1/2 inches, no 3 inch shells will be offered. 

Initial trials show that the load speads rapidly.   Fired from five yards the four 00 buck pellets spread out over ten to twelve inches.  This is an up close and personal load, but so is the Judge.   Rather than loading some kind of bird shot for personal defense the new Remington load seems to be a much better fit.   If you’re taking the Judge on snake patrol the bird shot will serve you well.  

Whether you live in the northeast, southeast, mid-west, or the mountains, you are subject sudden, expected interruptions in power and all public utilities.  The question you need to ask yourself is, “Could my family survive comfortably for three days without power or the ability to go to the grocery store?”  

I’m friends with a married couple that eat out nearly every night.   They have the disposable income and several times a week they pick a place to dine out.   That’s fine.  However, they rarely have more food in their house other than coffee and ketchup.  If they were suddenly trapped at home due to a natural or manmade disaster they would be reduced to eating tea bags and Taco Bell sause packets.

Don’t fool yourself with “it can’t happen here” thinking.   Take the time to check your cupboard and pantry.  Do you have enough canned or dried food to get you through the first 72 hours of a disaster?  How about water?  Keep in mind that normal requirements are 1 gallon per person per day.   From a personal standpoint we keep a couple of cases of jugged water all the time.   Every few months I’ll rotate one out and replace it.  

If you have medicine requirements keep enough on hand for two weeks.   In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina every public pharmacy in the greater New Orleans area was looted during the first 24 hours.  Many of them were also burned.   Yes, patients and staff were held at gun point while vermin looted the pharmacy in a N.O. hospital.  It tooks months to restore order and get hospital and public pharmacies running as normal.

Can you defend your food and water?   It does no good to stockpile food, water, and medicine if the first crackhead with a pistol can come along and take it from you.  911 won’t do you any good.  The police will be tied up dealing with disaster recovery and other civil unrest.  Again don’t delude yourself thinking you’ll get a gun if you need it.  The good citizens of Los Angeles flocked to gun stores when the L.A. Riots began only to be turned away.  California has a restrictive waiting period and the first knee jerk reaction of many local governments during a crisis is to ”forbid” the sale of guns and ammunition.     

Prepare or don’t the choice is up to you.  Make an informed choice.  Victim or Victor, which do you choose?

A couple weeks ago a story was reported in the local newspaper about an negligent shooting. The newspaper used the term “accident” but it was actually “negligent”.  There is a difference. According to the police report, an armed security guard was conducting target practice with his duty gun out in the woods.  He thought because he could not see anyone around that it was a safe place to do so. 

Nearly a half-mile away, one of the rounds the guard fired struck a construction worker as he was working on the roof of a new apartment complex.  Fortunately, the bullet struck the man in the leg.  The projectile lodged itself just below the skin.  The worker will make a full recovery.  Things would have been different if the round had struck the worker’s face or head.  Charges against the security guard are pending.   Possible penalties include loss of his job, loss of firearm privledges, a hefty fine, and perhaps jail time. 

First off, one of the top five gun safety rules is be sure of your target and what is behind it.   This guy violated that rule.  Maybe not intentionally, but he was no doubt negligent.  Keep this in mind, you own every round you fire.   Each projectile that leaves the barrel of the gun in your hand is your responsibility.  This rule is not just for the range, it applies to the entire world around you.   Fail do so at your own peril.   Shoot smart and shoot safe.  

Improving your drawstroke is easy if you practice a simple 4 step process.  Follow the link for a demonstration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSC6JLu7UhI