All posts by MadOgre

Training, Weapons

The Glock 23 in School

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The MAG-40 class is a subject unto its self.  And will be.  My thoughts at the moment are about the Glock 23 .40 caliber pistol that is on my hip right now, and was with me through the course.  Riding of course, in my Sharkhide rig from Adams Holsters, which was asked about all the time through the course.  Sharp looking rig, good rig, and it worked great through the class.

I will make this point as clear as I can.  The Crusader Modified Glock 23 RTF2 performed flawlessly. It shot point of aim, point of impact when I did my job right.  The gun was digesting some horrid ammunition.  I did what I had sworn that I would never do… I used steel cased ammo for the class.  500 rounds of Tulammo, 180 grains.  Let me tell you, this stuff is complete crap.  I could feel the differences in pressure from one shot to the next.  Some rounds felt like 10mm loads, others felt like they were damn near squibs. But it was cheap. 14 bucks a box, so I snagged it.  I am impressed with the Glock in that it shot all of that very well.  I had zero malfunctions of any sort.  Period.

I do believe that my groups could have been better with some better ammo, but I can’t make any excuses.  Just before the course, Gundoc gave my Glock a Trigger Job, which caused me some stumble at first – all the sudden I had a different trigger than I was used to!  But I quickly adapted to the new pull and I was well pleased with the result.  The same weight, but it was crisper and there is no over-travel.  Very nice.  Using this combination, I shot a 298 out of 300.  I’ll take that. I’ll happily take that.  I wanted 300.  I wanted it bad.  But the shots I dropped, high and left, were not the fault of the gun or the ammunition.  Those were my mistakes and I’ll own those.

I’ve taken other guns to other courses and sometimes I come away unhappy with the gun or pleased, depending on things.  I was less than satisfied with Beretta and CZ in some shoots… HK and SIG has pleased me… and now this Glock has pleased me a great deal.  I am very confident with this pistol and I am more and more impressed with it.

I think I’d like to change up the Warren Tacticals.  I like the straight 8 configuration, but I wish the front sight had a white ring around the tritium insert.  There was a couple instances where I lost the front sight post…. totally my fault, but I think some more visibility would have been a help.

Other pistols in the course I observed had some issues.  I observed a couple XD’s with light primer strikes, and one that had a trigger return spring that failed and the shooter, Gail Pepin, had to change to another weapon.  Kimber’s had some issues after the first day… one just didn’t want to run.  Others had failures to eject.  S&W M&P’s ran gun, only a couple failures to feed a couple times.  I saw no failures with any of the Glocks on the range.  Now, my Glock did give me some trouble with failing to lock back on an empty mag.  Reason being, Gundoc also gave me an extended slide release and my Ogreish thumb kept riding it.  This didn’t slow me down though and my mag changes were just fine.  It’s easy to count 6 Shots when you only load 6 rounds n the magazine every time.

The solid reputation for accuracy and reliability of Glock handguns is well earned.

If I was going to take the MAG-40 class again, I think I would bring a 4″ revolver.

 

Crusader

A customer’s Crusader Broadsword

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You’ve seen this photo posted before here… now there is the customer’s review.

Read it here.

We have been increasingly concerned about the Duracoat finishes.  The problem is that Duracoat can take up to 8 weeks to fully cure.  After that time, the finish is very strong, very tough… but until it’s fully cured and hardened, the finish can be easily marred.  This doesn’t reflect on Duracoat to people looking at the gun, it reflects on Crusader Weaponry and we don’t like that.  No one wants a gun that is going to take 2 months before they can go out and get rough with it.  That’s just not working for us.  We are considering dropping Duracoat and going exclusively with Cerakote.  Cerakote is a bit more expensive, but it cures very quickly, days not weeks, and it gives a much stronger finish.  The down side is that it doesn’t offer the wide array of colors that Duracoat offers.  I can live with that, but some customers might want something Cerakote can’t do.

Training

Learning from a master.

14 Comments

In the training class with Massad Ayoob, I am impressed with just what a Pioneer he has been.  He will use a phrase that he coined back in the 80’s…. And I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve heard it since by other trainers. To help his lectures, he will show old videos… No one before him was talking about this stuff… And everyone since has taken from it.  
It was Mas that did the pioneering work on what happens when one is in a stress situation…. He actually put science behind it.  I studied his book when I was a much younger and faster person, and I have heard all this since from others… But its all stuff that Mas pioneered first.   A very remarkable man. 
I’d dare say that Massad Ayoob is right up there with Jeff Cooper in Trainer Icons.

Training

Some guys shouldn’t have guns.

16 Comments

A friend of mine has a little brother who was is interested in shooting so he was brought along for enjoyment and learning… Little Brother is not so Little.  He’s pretty much a grown adult.  He just didn’t learn anything and almost killed someone because of it. This wasn’t an Accident.  This was his Negligence. Pure negligence and it almost killed my friend.

He was informed that he needed to get some formal and professional training.  He refused.  He doesn’t need it.

This was a couple years ago.   Recently the same thing happened.  Little Brother “Had an Accident” again… and again, almost killed someone.

An “Accident” is when a Child wets the bed.  When a gun goes off unintentionally, that’s a Negligent Discharge which is a result of Negligence.   So now we have a Strike Two.  We have a situation where once again Negligence – his negligence almost took a life.  But it wasn’t his fault, it was just an accident, and again he refuses to accept that he needs formal training.  When you almost kill people TWICE because of the same thing – this takes a step beyond negligence.  This is  Willful Disregard for the Safety and Lives of Others.  This makes one a Dangerous Jackass.  And to refuse to accept responsibility – I’m sorry… Your Done.  You should not have any firearms.  You are an ignorant and arrogant child that shouldn’t even be allowed to handle guns under Adult Supervision.  I’d even say that you shouldn’t even be allowed in a Training Class – unless you are fully accepting that YOU are the problem.  No – don’t blame the gun.  The gun didn’t Malf.  If you were squared away and followed the Gun Safety Rules – Malf or not – you wouldn’t have almost killed a guy – again.

Some people shouldn’t have guns.

 

Automotive

Riding.

7 Comments

image

The new helmet came in from LeatherUp.com. It’s a Scorpion. It is lighter and quieter than my last helmet, and fits better too. It’s a good upgrade from the one that literally saved my life.   This wasn’t the first time a helmet saved me.  These things are important and I just can’t understand why a guy would want to ride without one.  A rider is 16 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured than a driver… Safety first.
I know the risks, and I am cautious.  But bad things can happen. Like a stray five gallon bucket hitting me in the head.  Guys, if anything happens to me… Know that I was enjoying doing something that loved. And that isn’t a bad way to go.  Because of my health… I can’t do a lot of what I used to do… But I can still ride.
I would still like to trade my Honda Magna for a Sport Bike… Because I need more peg-clearance.  Not to go faster… But to slow down less.
Any takers?

Government

Remember September 11th.

9 Comments

There are many images of September 11th… The images of the wounds we suffered as a Nation.  However, this is the image that I’ve selected.  It shows quite simply, that we will endure.  We will not forget.  We will not forgive.  And we will become stronger after our wounds heal.

As much of a disaster that September 11th was, the Obama Administration has been far worse for us.  Some days I read the news and I think “Screw this… I’ll move my family to Argentina.”  Because I look at these reports of the TSA raping our Constitutional Rights… and people put up with it.  Our money for “Stimulus” to create jobs – in China… and people put up with it.  Big Sis pointing her hateful, spiteful, ignorant, fat finger at us and saying that We The People are suspect… and people put up with it. This isn’t the same country that I swore an Oath to Defend. Makes me want to pack up and ship off.

And then I look at this photo… and I’m reminded that we will endure this too.  We’ll take back our Government next year.  We’ll fix this FUBAR country and set things right.  I pray to God that next year the Obama Administration will be ridden out of Washington DC on rails.

Crusader, Weapons

Crusader Weaponry is Awesome

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These are some of our Broadswords.  SR-25 Type .308 rifles and carbines that give Precision Accuracy with Reliability, these will go toe to toe against rifle systems that cost twice as much… and then spank them.  These guns shoot like you are shooting a 556 weapon… and our 556 weapons shoot so soft you think your shooting a rifle with a .22LR kit in it except they don’t jam.

Our Slipstream is also being used on Robots in the War Zone… it makes every mechanical system it’s applied to run better.

Crusader

Save the Boron for your Laundry.

13 Comments

You know, I hate it when this happens… Got an email from a fellow who’s not alone out there in his quest for a Reliable Weapon:

Surfing through youtube and I came across MadOgre’s video which led me to your video about the permanent slipstream treatment. Very interested in your product.  But first let me give you a brief history of me trying to smooth out my BCG.  I bought a Daniel Defense bcg, great product, but I wanted to make it even better by plating it with nickel boron.  So I sent in my bcg to a company in Michigan in which they plated the bolt carrier, pivot pin and bolt.  They did a great job…but after a couple of hundred rounds through the rifle the bcg started changing colors, almost as if the burnt powder just cooked itself onto the hot bolt and stayed like that permenantly.  Shot a few more hundred round afterwards cleaned my bolt and it seem to have somewhat of a pink-ish or copper spots on the bolt in some areas now.  I contacted the company and they said the color change is normal but not the pink spots and they advised me to send it back.  The companies customer service is great, but i’m done with the company’s cheap work and want my bolt to be completely slippery and clean up to be a breeze.  I need to soak and scrub the heck out of my bcg with a bronze brush. I was hoping to just wipe it off with a towel seeing how its nickel boron plated, but that’s a no go. Well my questions, or wants are, can slipstream permanent coating make my bcg slippery like the POF bcg (which uses NP3 coating and is super slippery) and will cleaning my bcg be a breeze?  Basically can slipstream deliver.  Thank you for your time.

It’s really too bad that people out there are treating their guns with Boron.  To me, this makes about as much sense as rubbing a bar of soap on your gun parts.  Yeah, that’s fine, and that can work for awhile.  But it’s less than ideal.

Crusader Weaponry’s permanent Slipstream treatment, the ST-1 and ST-2, has been independently tested by a third part to last twice as long as other permanent lubrication treatments… detergent based or otherwise.

Note about my Jibe: Borax is the commercial name for a detergent that uses a Boron Compound in their soap.  Boron also has a lot of other industrial uses… none of which are really Lubrication.  Anti-Fungal agent for fiberglass… sure.  Coating your Bolt Carrier Group in your battle rifle… not so much.  Whatever.  Use whatever you like.  It’s your life… and maybe others.

Training

Why do YOU need training?

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I got a smart-ass email from someone who thinks they know more than they do.

“I thought you were a Trainer. Why do YOU need training?  Not as good you wish you were?”

You know, that’s a good question.  Most of the serious trainers that know never miss a chance to continue their own education. I dare say the best trainers never stop learning themselves.  When you stop learning yourself, you stagnate. Your instruction stagnates.  There are some of those trainers out there who think they are so all that, that they wouldn’t dare lower themselves to be a student again.  That arrogance isn’t a good thing, not for them and not for their students.  Their only remaining value is having a “Name” and students can then brag that they trained with them… because the actual value of that training stagnates with the trainer.  I could name names, but I don’t want to start any fights or flame wars or foster any animosity.  I’ll just say this, the best in the business know that they need to continually sharpen their swords.  Those that don’t, they know who they are.  The day I decide to stop learning, that’s the day I stop teaching too.