Category Archives: Weapons

Weapons

A Brief Over-View of Beretta’s 90 Series pistols.

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92FS

92FS & 96FS.   Standard Beretta 92/96 series. 3 dot sights.  This is the classic.  Used in every movie ever made through the 80’s.  Used by Law Enforcement around the world during that time.  It’s a great looking handgun.  Solid.  Accurate.  Reliable.  Shooting it is like driving a Cadillac.  Much like the Cadillac’s of the 80’s, which were overly large, heavy, and under-powered.  Yes, we make holsters for this.

M9

M9 Commercial.  Same as Military issue.  Uses dot-bar sights, but otherwise identical to the 92FS.  Used by just about everyone in the US Military who has no choice of what pistols they are issued.  Those who have the option tend to roll with the SIG P226 or a 1911 (Looking at you, MARSOC) or really whatever they feel like at the time as long as it’s not the M9.  Still, the M9 is a great pistol and will always be a great pistol.  Yes, we have holsters for this.

M9A1

M9A1.  railed version of the M9 with checkering.  Notice the straight and flat forward edge of the Trigger guard.  You can see this was built to not just have the option of a light mount, but to actually run with a light mounted to it.  I think they had the X300 specifically in mind when they designed this gun.  Yes, we have holsters for this.

92A1

92A1/96A1.  Railed version of the 92, but with a dovetailed front sight post, internal recoil buffers in the 96 version, no checkering like the M9A1, and note the rounded trigger guard.  The rail is Picatinny and not the normal universal rail.  This rail is bigger than the normal rail, which requires a completely different mold which we’ve not made yet.  Beretta made this gun different from everything else, not because these changes made for a better pistol, but because Beretta doesn’t like you, or concepts like “compatibility”.  NO, we do not have holsters for this at this time.

90-Two

90-Two.  Rounded trigger guard, new grips, and note the new slide profile.  Sights are dovetailed, there is an internal recoil buffer, and note that the rails come with a removable Rail Cover over them.    No, we do not have anything for this one, and we don’t need to as Beretta has killed off this gun.  Probably the best of the 90 Series guns Beretta has made.  And it’s a great looking and feeling gun too.  But it didn’t sell very well, because Beretta doesn’t know how to market their tactical guns.  That, and they gave it the worst name they could have possibly given it.  How do you say that?  “Ninety Two”.  Just like their other gun, the “Ninety Two”.  Brilliant.

 

Weapons

If you are going to fight, Kalash!

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Okay, now lets talk AK-47’s for a minute. Fellow I work with has one and it is the best AK build that I’ve ever seen. Simple and Elegant.

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Take a look at this.  This was built at a Rifle Dynamics Build Class.  Battlecomp at the front, Krinkov Front Sight and Gas Block.  I believe the Foregrip and Pistol Grip are US PALM.  Ultimak Rail.  T1 Micro.  Krebs Safety.  Rifle Dynamics AR Stock Adapter.  And I think that’s a Bravo Company stock.  Mag-Well Funnel, from – I’m not sure where.

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Overall, this build is very light weight and handles like a sports car.  The T1 Co-Witnesses with the Rifle Sights.

The Texture of the grip surfaces is very aggressive.  Your hands lock into place and there is no slipping.  This coupled with the fast handling, make this gun a very surefooted beast when going from target to target.

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The Krebs safety lever really make this gun a step above.  The lever is smooth and polished, making the operation easier than on most every other AK I’ve ever felt. The finger shelf allow the trigger finger to easily sweep the safety on or off.  Thanks to the Mag Well, the reloads are faster than the average bear.  These things combine to make this AK the easiest handling and most natural combat rifle I’ve dealt with that is not a custom built AR.
I can’t get over how light, and how precise this Kalash feels.  The Trigger is excellent and there is no recoil thanks to the excellent Battlecomp muzzle brake.

All it needs is a Slipstream Treatment and it would be perfect.

Weapons

The Greatest Gun In The History Of The World

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What is the Greatest Gun in the entire History of The World?

Before we can ask that question, let’s quantify “The Greatest”.  Most of the time people will refer to the Greatest as the Most Influential.  Or the Originator of some function that is thought to be important.  Or longest service. Or the most cloned and copied.  Or whatever metric puts their favorite at the top.  So what makes a gun “Great” here for this discussion?   Let’s make the criteria based on some points… Not in any order of importance:
Ergonomics:  How it fits the User and other Users.  The ease of use of the controls.
Accuracy:  Consider both Actual Accuracy, which is accuracy from a machine rest or bench rest, and Practical Accuracy which is what one can get from the gun in field conditions.  These are two separate things.
Utility:  How many uses it can be applied to, or be adapted to other uses.
Power:  Consider both the power of the individual round and capacity of the rounds in the magazine.
Range:  Not Max Range – but it’s actual practical effective range, and combine that with the Accuracy factor and you see just what you can do with the gun and how far away.

Now lets look at the guns, taking in these metrics, apply them to the INDIVIDUAL GUN and not Genealogy or History of the gun.  So for example don’t look at the MG42 and then say the Maxim is the Greatest because the MG42 was built off design evolution from the Maxim… or whatever you want to objectify as great.  If you want to quantify the Maxim on it’s own, the MG42 takes those traits and improves on them.  Lighter, less maintenance, less support required, greater reliability, etc. So based on individual merit, the MG42 is certainly the greater gun.

My knee jerk reaction would be to go with something like the Colt 1911 Government Model Pistol.  But that’s Nostalgia talking and not looking at the actual metrics set forth for the individual gun.  The Utility and Power factors point the needle to the Remington 870.  While it’s certainly adaptable for length of pull and using different shells gives you great utility, it’s limitations in Ergonomics and Range and other factors really hamstring the old girl.  Shame… Because it’s probably my favorite single firearm.  But we are not talking about Favorites.  Remember that.  We’re talking Objectively.  Which brings me to my conclusion that I can’t even being to believe that I’m about to reach here…

The Greatest Gun In The History Of The World:

The AR-15.

Just look at the results of a Google Image Search of “AR-15 Rifle“.  So many variations it boggles the mind, all built off that wonderful AR Lower Receiver.  The AR-15 can be configured and reconfigured to be The Right Tool For The Job for just about any situation that calls for a Firearm.  By pulling two pins you can change it from one caliber to the next, with rounds from .22 LR, to .50BMG, to freaking Arrows… yes, there is a Crossbow Upper for it.  You can use it as an SMG or Pistol Caliber Carbine, Main Battle Rifle, or Hunting Rifle.  There is a Muzzle Loader upper for it.  I’ve even seen a Single Shot Shotgun option for it.  You can change the parts to change the Ergos to make the gun feel great for just about any shooter.  Right handed, left handed, Ambi, it doesn’t matter.  You can put a Silencer on it and make it quieter.  You can put a Loudener on it and make it louder.  (No, seriously, someone made that.)  You can use it for Home Defense, Plinking, Competition, Hunting, Law Enforcement, and Military Actions.

The AR-15 Rifle is the Greatest Gun in The History Of The World.

 

Weapons

Shooting fast

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There is a tidal movement to shooting pistols as quickly as possible.   Instructors and wannabe “Know It Alls” are using 9mm to accomplish this.  More bullets, smaller and lighter… rapid fire.  This movement was very slow at first.  Then The Art Of The Dynamic Handgun video came out.  Haley and Costa rocking those M&P’s like they were SMG’s looked cool.  Then all the sudden everyone wanted to shoot like that.  Who wouldn’t?  Those guys look like rock stars doing it.
Some instructors I know have been teaching that stuff for some time, but MagPul videos really did open the flood gates.
I understand the arguments and theory surrounding the use of 9mm and shooting fast… and that’s all fine and well.  I can shoot that way myself if I want to… Even with a .40.  However, I find myself moving more and more to bigger and harder hitting rounds.  Slower fire but well aimed.  Heavier for caliber load selections, bigger bullets, make the shots count.  Shooting the 9mm’s the other day… 9mm Just doesn’t do it for me.  Oh, I know all about the Modern Ammo.  You know what?  That Modern Ammo is really good in bigger calibers too.

Yes, I know all about Ballistic Gel Penetration comparisons.  However that isn’t the whole picture when it comes to wound trauma and terminal ballistics.  It’s not the whole picture when it comes to barrier penetration and deflection.  Those Gel numbers are engineered, people.  The results are just what the ammo companies want you to see.  To get those numbers some loads are hopped and the others are neutered.  Some rounds open more and others slower so those penetration numbers look great in the gel tests.  Again – these Gel results are engineered to show just those results.  Why?  To sell ammo of course.  “See, our 9mm is just as good as the rest.”

Porsche does the same with their sports cars.  Boxster, Caymen, 911.  The Caymen being detuned to fall perfectly in between the two other cars… when it has all the potential to beat the 911.  But that’s another story.

I remember an incident where 9mm pistols were being fired at a windshield… the bullets were glancing off.  One round of .45 Auto, fired by a steady hand penetrated that windshield and ended the situation.  There are also incidents of 9mm failing to really even jostle a maniac when it impacted.  FBI Miami Dade, anyone?  Bank of American LA, anyone?  The search for Magic Bullets is now as it has always been, an attempt to find a Unicorn.  Don’t glue a paper cone on the head of a goat and tell me that’s its a Unicorn.  I’m not buying it.  Not even if you run a whole herd of them past me as fast as possible.  They still look like goats with paper cones on their heads.

As far as “Fast” goes, fast is good.  But fast follow up shots are not as important in a gun fight as the first round.  That first shot is the most important shot you will take in any engagement.  It needs to be made fast.  But not at the sacrifice of accuracy.  Shot Placement remains critical.  Using a smaller round that can be fired at a higher cadence, if that’s your beat, that’s fine.  I’m more Heavy Metal than Techno.  I’d rather have slower heavier beats.  See, I hear so many guys say, yeah but I’m more accurate with 9mm.  I call bullshit.  I’ve seen many guys who advocate shooting as fast as possible… cant keep a group.  Why?  Because they are losing the front sight and jerking that trigger like a 14 year old with a Playboy… They are giving up the Fundamentals in favor of Rapid.

Bullets hitting tissue is a rather predictable science.  The only variables are the vector through the anatomy and the barriers the projectile have to penetrate before hitting that anatomy.  The bullets all pretty much have the same effect.  Displacing fluid (like rocks hitting water) and tearing and pulverizing the permanent wound channel.  Bigger heavier rocks displace more fluid.  That’s just a fact.  Try it out at your closest body of water.  That water gets displaced and then it comes back.  In water, you have some cavitation effect briefly and what is left is the permanent wound channel that allows blood to flow out.  The bigger the whole, and the more torn up that wound channel is, the more blood is going to flow out.  That’s just a fact.  And ask any hunter, the more blood you have flowing out, the less you have to track that deer.  You put that wound channel vectoring through a heart, or CNS… Winner Winner Venison Dinner.  That is meat on the table.  For a defensive situation, that’s a Resolved Problem.

But then there is another problem.  The fact of the matter is that no matter what school of thought you have – you remain legally liable for each and every round you fire.   So I’m going to slow it down a notch.  Fire a bigger and heavier bullet.  And make sure those rounds go where I want them to go.

I know a few guys that can fire super fast, with accuracy.  A few.  And I’m not saying they should change… because that is working for them.  But I’m just not feeling it myself using small calibers.  I’m following Sun Tzu here.  “Hit first, and hit so hard your enemy can’t hit back.

Sure, all handguns are less ideal than rifles or shotguns… but some are better than others.  I’ll take my .40 calibers with my 180 grain loads.  I’ll take my .45’s with 230 grain loads (when I used to prefer 185’s) 

I think instead of drilling so much on Balance of Speed and Accuracy drills…   I think more emphasis should be on the drills from the holster to the target from a Buzzer.  Because that shot… that first shot right there is the key.  You have to be fast on that shot.  Before the threat can shoot you back or get to you with a knife, or cut the throat of a hostage or whatever reason you have that justifies the use of deadly force.  I want to make the most of that first shot.   I’m not looking at Gun Fight Averages here.  Because most gun fights are 1 point something average or 2 point something.  You know what they all have in common?  That first shot.

Make the most of it.

Weapons

The best defensive handguns in the world

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1.  Glock 23. .40 cal.
2.  Caracal C .40 cal.
3.  S&W M&P .40 Sub Compact.
4.  Springfield XDM 3.8 Compact .40 cal.
5.  Glock 19. 9mm.
6.  S&W M&P Sub Compact 9mm.
7.  Caracal C 9mm.
8.  Glock 29 10mm.
9.  Glock 30 .45 Auto.
10.  Springfield XDM 3.8 Compact 9mm.

This list is going raise a few eyebrows. There are many popular guns that are absent. But this isn’t my tipping the hat to the popular. If I was to do that, then this list would have SIG’s, 1911’s, H&K… You know… the guns that are out dated, with cult like followings, premium pricing, and shortcomings for defensive use.
I’m looking at the best options for today and tomorrow. Feel free to disagree.
You’ll notice that I favor .40 cal over 9mm. I also favor the midsized options.

Weapons

The Haley Skimmer Trigger

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If you are a Glock Enthusiast like I am, you probably raised an eyebrow at the Haley Skimmer Trigger from GlockTriggers.com.   Here’s Haley talking about it:

Now here’s my take on this…  Haley is spot on.  This is a great carry trigger system.  I’ve read several comments that said that this trigger disables a safety, specifically the firing pin block.  This is untrue.

You can see in this picture, a new firing pin block.  It’s the small silver plunger near my little grey colored punch.  If you are familiar with the inner workings of a Glock Pistol, you will see that it looks just like a factory OEM part.  All the parts in the Haley Kit are in fact OEM.  So what are you buying?

Well, for one thing you are buying a lot of physical labor and carefully engineered geometry.  Everything that moves is highly polished.  By hand.  Actually, it’s everything that can be polished is polished.  I talked to Jeff at GlockTriggers.com about this.  “You can’t be doing all these triggers by hand… you gotta be using a tumbler.”
“Well the secret is Don.”
“Dawn, the soap?”
“No, Don, my guy that does the expert polishing by hand.”
Had a great conversation with Jeff.  Solid guy.  If anyone has any question about anything from GlockTriggers.com, you can contact them.  Jeff would be happy to explain anything for you.

Back to the polishing.  If it’s metal, it’s polished.  The springs are polished.  All these parts come in the kit, all are OEM Parts, polished in a way exactly like the stock OEM parts are not.  This removes any grit in the action.  There is also a change that removes all the take up slack.  The result is a much shorter, smoother, and crisper trigger than factory stock.  And since these parts are OEM, they are still approved for use by most Police Departments that require only OEM parts.
I know a lot of gunsmiths can do great trigger jobs in Glocks, and you can get great aftermarket parts from our friends at Lone Wolf.  But these don’t address that initial take up, and do things like smooth out the lifting of the firing pin block.  The Skimmer Trigger is an easy to install trigger upgrade that is safe for EDC use.  It was designed for EDC use.  There are other triggers that are a bit more oriented to Competition or such… and that’s great.  But for a Police Officer or Sheriff’s Deputy, or dedicated concealed carry person… You want the Skimmer Trigger.

Can’t leave well enough alone.

Now, a lot of you guys know that i’m a Tinkerer on some things.  Glock Triggers is one thing I like to play around with.  I changed some things around to try out.  I put in a Ghost 3.5 pound Disconnector, and an 8 pound spring (which actually makes the pull feel lighter).  So now this Glock’s trigger is super smooth, with no take up, with a super light and crisp pull.  Glock Perfection, Perfected.  But I would not recommend this combination to anyone that wasn’t a serious and dedicated Glock shooter.

 

Weapons

Way back in 1911…

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The old man closed his eyes and tilted his head back, remembering. “Back when I was a young man we used to shoot guns made out of metal.”

The 1911 platform remains a top selling gun design to this day. The entire gun industry has a 1911 sub-culture. Complete with it’s own language and economy and border security. I mean, if you want to join the 1911 Culture, you got to know your way around. You got to know who the big names are, know those families, know where to go for certain things. Most of the big families can build you a fine 1911, but if you just want certain things… Magazines… Wilson Combat. High Cap bodies… STI. And everyone has rabid family loyalties that remind me of Middle Age Europe. “We fight for House NIGHTHAWK!!!!” *clattering of armor and swords amid the shouts*

The one thing that I shake my head at is the continued push by these great houses to sell these Sub-Compact (in the 1911 world we call them ‘Ultra’) 1911 guns with 3″ barrels. It’s extremely rare that any of these guns fire reliably. If you have one, good for you. But I’ve never seen one that could finish an IDPA Match or a Shooting Class. And most Trainers that I’ve talked to about it haven’t either. I think Rob Pincus was The First Heretic to speak out against these, much to the shock and horror of everyone who heard him.  But he was right.  He’s the Martin Luther of Defensive Pistols.   These pistols just don’t work as a whole.  And it’s the very rare Ultra that does… so rare in fact… that the owners must spend much time petting their Unicorns and playing shuffle board with Big Feet… because I don’t think they are spending as much time on the range with those Ultra’s as they say they do.   If sitting on your couch playing Xbox is “Range Time”, then we’re done conversating.   Ultra’s just suck.  The only one’s I found to shoot reliably are the original Detonics Combat Masters, and even then, that was a less common encounter.  And by Original I mean from within the first 3 factories to wear a variation of the Detonics name.

It has occurred to me thought that this rise of the Ultra is not a push by the gun companies… but by the demand of the Consumer.  The Peoples Republic of Shooters are shaking the gates of the Great Houses demanding wine, cake, and cheeses, and more varieties of Ultra Compact 1911’s.  They don’t want the full sized 5″ 1911 for concealed carry anymore.    They want something smaller and lighter and less effective… because they have forgotten, or in fact never learned, why it is we carry a gun in the first place.   I don’t understand many things in life.  Such as why some people don’t like Bacon.  Why pop culture calls that girl, Justin something, an artist.  Or why someone preparing for a fight will prepare around ineffective or unreliable weapons.  (ineffective such as .32 and smaller calibers.  .380 Auto is the minimum, but it’s better than harsh language)

Then it occurred to me that they are not making ready for a fight.  Not just any fight, mind you. But a fight for their lives and the lives of their loved ones.  Packing a “cool gun” is just for that’s own sake alone and not for the sake of lives.  It’s for the sake of Cool.   A 1400 dollar custom Ultra… I’m not going to say any names…

KIMBER

Might be expensive… and might be as beautiful as Hellen of Troy… But it was made to be only that.  Beautiful and Expensive.  This reminds me of a song from “A Funny Think Happened On The Way To The Forum” which considering the name of the show, I find humorously ironic.   “You’re Lovely, all you are is Lovely.”   This is a gun that is not made for saving your life.  It’s made to be Lovely, and nothing more.   Like a trophy Wife or Girlfriend or Personal Assistant… it’s something to show off and make you look good.   And that’s fine if you are showing off cars or girls… but in my mind, showing off something like a Kimber Ultra Duper Cool Carry, you spent a ton of cash for shows that me that you have a lot of money to waste on something superficial and useless.

If you want a 1911, DON’T get one with less than a 4″ barrel.  Just don’t.  You can have and enjoy a 1911… that’s fine.  But going below a 4″ barrel you are taking risks and forgetting the actual purpose of having a gun on you in the first place.     Of the current production 1911 builders, I’m down to 2 choices.  SIG and SPRINGFIELD ARMORY.  Going above that into the Semi Custom or Custom category, I’ll take an STI or NIGHTHAWK.   Those are my choices.  You can choose what you want.  I’ve forged my opinions at the foundry of Range Time.  On Live Fire Ranges where I have taken classes and have taught classes and have seen every example of 1911’s common in North America.  I’ve seen all of them fail at some point.  But some are more failure prone than others.  These names I’ve mentioned… these Great Houses of 1911’ness… have failed the least that I’ve seen.

I was most pleased that in my last Defensive Pistol class that I taught, in West Virginia it was… there was not a single 1911 of any stripe at the range.  SIG’s, Glocks, M&P’s.  And you know what the problem child gun of the day was?  SIG.  A 229.  Interesting that.  Could it be that the SIG is the latest Metal Gun to show it’s age?  No, not hardly.  But I’m just putting it out there that the 1911 is getting long in the tooth and coming around full circle.

What do I mean by that?

Back in the day, it was just known that 1911’s, brand new out of the box, wouldn’t run right.  Kimber actually, with the Kimber Custom model broke that mold… as they were putting out 1911’s that worked quite well as far as 1911’s go, right out of the box.  This causes a stir because you could buy a new 1911 from Kimber, and actually go shoot it instead of sending it straight to a gunsmith for them to rebuild so it will work.  (The Age of COLT was at an end at that time)
And now it’s seemingly perfectly acceptable to sell 1911’s again that don’t function well out of the box.  I’m not talking about a mere “break in” period.  I’m talking about guns that just don’t want to be reliable.  If these 1911’s were teenagers, they would have nose rings and ear gauges.

Weapons

Remember that old Daewoo Pistol?

14 Comments

LH9C

Some time ago, Daewoo was importing a great little pistol into the US.  Then for whatever reason, it was abandoned.  Leaving all Daewoo pistols in the US orphaned.

I remember shooting one once and was very impressed.  It was a great handgun.  I liked it.  The owner smiled and said I couldn’t buy it.  I had offered him the 500 cash I had on hand, but he wouldn’t sell.  At the time, I really wanted one myself.  I believe I was living in Hanover County Virginia at the time.  And that was a long time ago.  Long after Daewoo stopped sending those guns to US Dealers.

Well, I have rediscovered these guns.  They are now Lionhart Industries pistols.  Here at work we have a couple in our vault and I’ve checked them out.  They are ever better than I remembered them to be.  And for some reason smaller and lighter than I remembered, but essentially they are that neat little Daewoo that I wanted so many years ago.

Check them out here… http://www.lionheartindustries.com/ 

 

Weapons

3D Printing

12 Comments

My sons and I were discussing current events today and the subject of Printable Guns came up.  Along with other topics such as how most new tech is driven by the porn industry….
So, were talking about the 3D printers will one day combine printing circuits which will allow you to print a drone, and the controller for it.  And print your own robot…. And once the porn industry gets a hold of it, you can take creeper pics of some hot chick you saw, then go home and print her as a Lovebot to molest… Or download a celebrity. 
Back to the gun issue.  ITAR shutting down the plan for a 3D printable gun is the government building sandcastles in front of the coming tide.  It’s futile.  The cat is out of the bag.  And since schematics and detailed plans are already out there for most any type gun… The only issue is one of material science.  And instead of printing a gun, print molds to make guns out of better materials.
Colt started out with a wood carved revolver… Now look at it all.  I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next.