Category Archives: Weapons

Weapons

No Glock November

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It started as a challenge. A gauntlet thrown. No Glocks for the Month of November, just Beretta, and specifically, just the Beretta 92FS, which I just happen to have.  I can’t give the details, or any better explanation… but I have my reasons.

I came into the Beretta 92FS which was owned by my Brother, which was owned by my Friend, which was owned by evidently a Cop according to Beretta.  But all that is not important.  The important bit is the challenge its self.  The fact that the Beretta is “Too Big” and “Too Heavy” and it has the Safety in the wrong place and it’s just wrong to Carry and that you can’t do it.  Well, yeah, I can, and I am.  In fact, it’s mostly Open Carried when not at work, which is no big thing out here in my part of the world.  Lots of guys Open Carry around here.  And since the Election, the numbers of Open Carry that I’ve seen has gone through the roof.

Back to the Beretta.  I got it well used.  Thanks to another friend at Beretta, I’ve changed the locking block, springs, and the grips back to OEM.  This required the grinding of the Grip Screws as they were too long and locked the magazine in tight like it was bolted in… because it was.  So I had to shorten them.  This took all of 4 Minutes.  The thicker rubber grips were just a touch too thick for my hands. With the OEM’s back on, I like it much better.  Fits my hand and points better for me.  I am digging the gun.  It’s a good 92, and according to Beretta it’s a Law Enforcement gun that came from the factory with Night Sights.

So now that everything is ready for duty, I’m going to pack nothing but this Beretta for the rest of the month.  No 23’s, no 22’s, no 17’s… Not even an M&P, and no 1911’s. Just Beretta, and just this 92FS.
All carry and all pistol shooting is Beretta.  This is going to be a challenge because I am so used to the Glocks.  My G23 in my Adams Holsters Sharkhide rig has been a part of me.  I am no stranger to the 92.  I had one before, years ago.  I sold it and got a CZ-97B, and that turned into another gun that I don’t remember… Springfield maybe.  Yeah, that’s what it was.  But I had a nice 92 that I had picked up almost brand new.  To be honest… as much as I liked it… I wasn’t that good with it.  Well, I’m a much better handgunner now, so I’m not bothered with going from crisp single action like triggers to this DA/SA style.

Another challenge was thrown and accepted.  Next month, it’s SIG.

Weapons

Remington Buys TAPCO

13 Comments

Just read that Remington has acquired TAPCO.  That’s interesting.  Because as much as Remington has turned MARLIN into a major SNAFU, they have been doing very well the Tactical stuff.  Bushmaster and DPMS – for all their flaws – has been made better by Big Green.  AAC, the guys that make some serious use Suppressors has had some more attention as well.   Remington is putting a huge amount of effort into the Tactical Category.  I find this very interesting.   And now TAPCO.  Well, if anything, Remington can’t screw up TAPCO, makers of cheap crap to hang off your AR.  Sure, some of it isn’t bad I guess, functional, and does what it is supposed to do.

I still find the MARLIN, H&R, New England Arms purchase to be most curious.  Remington wanted to get into the Lever Action business and has just about completely ruined Marlin because of it.  But then again, Marlin was on a downhill slope to begin with.  But I still find it funny that Remington is still having Marlin make their Savage Clones, and New England is still importing their Chinese made 870 knock-offs.  I don’t get this.  Did Remington really need to get into the Cheap Gun market?  Or did they need to get into the Lever Market?

I tell you what though, Remington needs to get back into the Hunting market.  That’s what built Big Green into Big Green.  The Tactical Market has far too many competitors and Remington is gambling big time on the possibility of future Military Contracts.  And while they are concentrating on Fighting Guns, the Hunting Gun market is slipping out of their grasp.

If I was going to buy a hunting rifle right now – whatever caliber – I’d be looking at Sako A7’s, Tikka, or Browning.  The T3’s have come a long way and are consistently impressive with their accuracy.  Browning rifles have never disappointed,  in fact, their X-Bolt rifles are a top choice.  I’ve not seen one that looked like it was the last rifle slapped together on a Friday evening.  I’ve not seen one that couldn’t shoot.  They are building them right.

Back to TAPCO.  Why would Remington need to buy TAPCO?  I would have thought Remington would have rather swallowed up MAGPUL, considering that they are already using a lot of MAGPUL stuff in their BushyPanthers.  The MOE line is almost as universal as “A2” Furniture.   Are they going to stop using MAGPUL now and go TAPCO Intrafuse?  That would be a mistake, but if they own the brand, they are going to want to pimp it as much as possible.  And I’ll be honest, I’d rather not have anything TAPCO on any of my AR’s.

So why TAPCO?

What does TAPCO do in the Tactical Market that no one else is really doing?  AR SWAG?  No… Shotgun shit?  Cheap ass stocks for your Mini-14 and SKS?  No.   You know what comes to my mind when I first think of TAPCO?

AK-47’s.  They are the Go To Guys for your AK parts.  Their stocks are industry standards, and if you want a Trigger then you have to get the TAPCO G3 trigger.  The only company really doing anything else for your Kalish is US PALM, but they are small potatoes compared to TAPCO’s market penetration into the AK sector.

Does this mean that REMINGTON might get into the AK business?  Well, yeah, they just did.  But are we going to see an R-47 rifle?   Hmmm…

Weapons

Dear Remington.

7 Comments

Please make a few versions of the Model Seven in 6.5 Creedmore.   I see you can get them in .260, which is cool, but the 6.5 Creedmore (which does the same thing) is actually getting market traction where the .260 is pretty much a commercial flop.  IE – You clowns woudn’t even chamber your own R-25 Rifle in it!  Come on!  Well, the 6.5 is the commercial winner.
CDL and BDL versions would be great, and they need to be done.  But also a few more slightly different.
An SPS Varmint style stocked 16″ threaded Heavy Barrel for one.
A version of the Predator without camo, and with ATACS or Mulitcam.
A Synthetic Scout configuration with iron sights.

Offer these same variants in .308 as well.  Thank you.

I really like the little Model Sevens.  They just may be the sweetest bolt action rifles on the planet.  The problem that they have is that Remington really doesn’t know how to market them and most Gunners don’t even know what they are or consider them to be guns for Chicks and Kids.  This is unfortunate as the gun community is seriously overlooking what is potentially the best option for those looking a compact lightweight rifle.

I might be Geeking out a bit on the 6.5 Creedmore, but i’m thinking it just might be the best cartridge out there for serious use (Killing Things) in a Short Action.  And the Model Seven would be the ideal fit for it.

Weapons

Rethinking the AR-15 for Home Defense.

83 Comments

I’ve totally sidelined all my “Combat Rifles” for Home Defense use.  Specifically the 5.56mm guns.  See, the AR-15 does great for Home Defense in many aspects.  They are easy to use, have precision accuracy, and have a great capacity.  They should be perfect for Home Defense, right?
Not really.
The AR-15 has one dramatic problem.  They are hella loud.  The High pressure, Supersonic Crack, of the AR-15’s Report is severely damaging to human ears.  Even Ogre ears.
Last time I took one of my boys out shooting, I provided him with Ear Pro and Eye Pro.  We were having fun shooting, and he’s a good Shooter.  Well he loaded up an AR-15 and forgot to put his Ear Pro back in after taking them out for some unknown reason.  (No, that’s his reason… “I don’t know”.) I wasn’t looking as I was loading a magazine and normally he is a cautious shooter and does it right.  Well, he cracked off a shot.  Now, we were outside, well away from structures that would reflect sound waves.  But the rifle was still so loud that it hurt his ears pretty badly.  2 Weeks later, he still had signs that his hearing took some damage.  Unfortunately with Hearing, there is nothing you can do.  What’s done is done.

Imagine how this could have gone down if we were in an Indoor shooting range.  He could have been made deaf from the AR’s blast.

Imagine in an emergency situation in the home… Bad Guy makes a threat.  You suddenly grab your AR and let him have it.  5, 6, 12 rounds into the Goblin.  Inside your house.  Now you and your wife and all your kids are all completely deaf thanks to the AR-15 and thanks to the Pain In The Ass and Expensive Restrictions on Suppressors.  Sure, the Goblin is no longer a threat… but now all of you are going to suffer from this the rest of your lives.
Sure, a Home Defense Shotgun is Loud – but it’s not that sharp, eardrum shattering crack of a 5.56mm Carbine.  Hell, even my .45-70 Thumper isn’t that loud.  Even pistol caliber carbines are a great option compared to the AR-15.
Another bad choice for HD duty is the .357 Magnum.  An ungodly loud handgun that is unpleasant to fire with earpro in an indoor range… Devastating to your hearing when fired indoors unprotected.

The best weapon ever invented for Home Defense remains the Tactical Shotgun.  Probably the most effective and least damaging to one’s hearing for weapons running Un-Suppressed.   And you can get a good shotgun for a few hundred bucks.  Or you could use that Thousand Dollar AR, with that 800 Dollar Can and that 200 Dollar Tax Stamp… Couple Hundred bucks vs A Couple Grand.  You chose.  But ask yourself this… Is that 2 Grand worth of rifle going to do a better job of home defense than the Shotgun?

 

Weapons

Rethinking the Novak Sights.

2 Comments

Nov 30th 1999, I posted a thought on TheFiringLine.com that I titled “Rethinking the Novak Sights”.
You can check out that thread here.  It’s an interesting read.  And some of the ideas that were put out there are only starting to really catch on.  But more on that in a moment.

Back then the Novaks were taking the gun community by storm and these things were being installed on everything.  I even remember seeing a Remington 870 with a Novak Rear Sight installed.   Much like today, I think it’s popularity was due to the fact that while it wasn’t actually any better, the Novaks looked new and cool and to show that you were Switched On, you had to have them.  Such things are still going on in the firearms community today, but probably even more so as the Internet has become universal and pop culture spreads through it faster than the Zombie Virus.

The problem that I mentioned in the original post wasn’t ever really addressed for years.  Novaks continued their Cool Guy swagger through the gun industry even still.  The M&P Pistols, still essentially brand new, came out with Novak Style sights… or Ramp Sights as some call them.   Some guys would cut a flat face on the Ramp portion to try to solve the problem… taking a more expensive sight and then cutting on it to try to help improve the poor design.  Some guys went back to the normal flat faced sights made popular by Trijicon, as found on Glocks and other pistols.  These are better than Ramp Sights by far, but are still less than Ideal.

Rob Pincus though… he’s actually done something that addresses the issue of One Hand Manipulation.  After all these years – the problem has been solved.

The CLAW.

 

Outstanding. Problem solved. I like the wide notch rear sight, I like the fact that it can hook solid and lets you jack that slide with authority. BRAVO.
I am going to be ordering these sights as soon as I can free up some funds. I have 3 Glocks I want these on.

Back to the odd fixes… Skateboard Tape on your gun. Back at the time of that original posting, I had only heard of people using SBT on their guns, normally around the Grip. This guy that mentioned the tape actually on the slide. I have since seen it a few times… but more recently I am seeing it more and more on guns. The concept of adding grip has really taken off. I’ve seen SBT on the sides, top, and at the front of the slides on just about every sort of serious use pistol. I’ve even seen it on some less than serious guns… such as a Hi-Point. I’ve never put any on my guns, but I am considering trying it on my Glock 23.

Weapons

Enter The Beretta

35 Comments


Beretta’s have been passe and over played for a long time now… Since the first Mel Gibson Lethal Weapon movie.  Robocop packed a Beretta.  The Grammaton Clerics of “Equilibrium” packed them.  The Matrix was probably the last of the big Beretta Block Busters.

The Original 92. Note the Safety Position.

And people kinda got tired of seeing them.  So they pretty much disappeared from the Big Screen.  Replaced by Stainless finished Glocks quite often.

Well, Beretta came back big time in TAKEN 2.  A long extended Chase Scene featuring Beretta 92FS‘s, 90-Two, and Storm Pistols.   And they looked awesome on the Silver Screen.

Yeah, still looks awesome.

But is this a good thing?  I mean, isn’t the Beretta old school 80’s?

We all know the US Army just purchased a freaking ton of them, making it the handgun for the US Military for at least another 5 years.  Probably longer.  Why?  Because the 92FS is a very high quality pistol with reliability like the Sun Rise.   They are super smooth, consistent, accurate, soft shooting, and extremely safe handguns.  I will argue they have the safest of actions of any semi-auto handguns.   Yet, when they are run properly, they are just as fast as anything else.

The Classic…

The other handgun that US Military uses is the SIG P226 and the 228… Which are very good indeed, but during the Handgun Trials, the Beretta did indeed outperform the SIG’s.  You can argue that all you want, but the Beretta won it.  And if you were on the selection board, you would have given the Beretta the nod too.  I think what makes the 92 so good is what makes it so distinctive… That open slide.  A common upgrade to many handguns is to open up the ejection port.  I’ve never heard of anyone wanting to open up the 92 anymore.  Clear ejection.  Any gunk getting in there gets blown back out too.  The feed geometry is ideal.  It’s almost a straight shot in from the magazine into the chamber.  Unlike a 1911 or other guns which makes the cartridge have to do some gymnastics to get loaded.    And then there is the locking block.  Under the barrel there is a winged wedge-like block.  This is what locks and unlocks the action, allowing the 92 to be naturally and inherently smooth… Probably the smoothest action of any locked breach handgun.

Is that an Elite II?

The classic 92FS is also a very good looking handgun.  It looks cool.  There is something wrong with you if you can’t appreciate the lines and curves of the 92… It just looks like what a handheld weapon should look like.  And I think the newest version of the 92 looks awesome.

If there is any downside to the 92, it’s the size.  The 92 is indeed a large handgun.  But then again, it’s supposed to be.  It was designed to be a Full Sized, Duty Sidearm.  For the guys out there packing only a handgun in their Fight against Evil, the Beretta was comforting, it had some heft, sure, but it also had something few other handguns had… a huge capacity. 15 Rounds!  Back then, that was amazing.  Now, 15 isn’t a huge capacity… but then again, I’ve not seen a guy that can shrug off 15 rounds of well placed 9mm hits.  A big gun is a comfortable gun for shooting… felt recoil… accuracy… They are just easier to go the distance with than a small gun.

Look at the swept lines… Sexy!

Beretta is the oldest company on the planet.  They know how to make a good product.  Sure, they have had a few flops… Such as the 9000 model.  But overall, you can’t beat Beretta’s track record.

We’ve seen a marked upswing in Beretta sales locally.  They are coming back in popularity, so expect to see more of them in the Media and Cinema.

Weapons

Zero Distance

11 Comments

I think I am going to Re-Zero all of my Long Range Arms for 300 Yards. Take your favorite Killing Guns, get out your favorite Ballistic Calculator and really look at your Trajectories. Between your 0 yard and your normal 100 or 200 yard zero range, look at the highest point in the arc to that range. Now change your zero range and push it out to 300 yards. Really not much effective difference there is it? Now take a look at the trajectory between your zero to 400 yards at both 100 or 200 compared to a 300 yard zero. Here’s what I’m seeing. I hold on the Kill Zone regardless of range. No more of this “Hold on the top of it’s back” BS. At most, even with a gun that drops a lot, such as a .308 or .30-06, I might hold at the top of the kill zone – but I’m still aiming for Kill Zone and hitting in Kill Zone. This works out especially well with the Magnums and their flatter trajectories. The old stand by of 100 yard zeroes is still needed for some guns, but for your Hunting guns, it doesn’t make any sense. And that wild ass guess of “Two Inches High at 100” is starting to kinda do the same thing, but without actually knowing what your gun is doing. So next time I go out to zero, I’ll start at 100 to know where I am at, then push it out and actually zero at 300.