Monthly Archives: June 2013

Weapons

Way back in 1911…

39 Comments

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.

Government

Policy

17 Comments

I was paid a great compliment last Monday, after the Defensive Handgun course, by one of my Students.  And it was one that stuck with me.
He said my course should be the State’s Concealed Handgun training.
Wow.  That’s awesome.
Then I thought, all of my philosophies should be State Policy.  Within the boundaries of the Constitution of course.

Training

Sheepdogs or Wolfhounds.

32 Comments

The term Sheepdog is often used by people in the Gun Community and has been for some years.  However I am not sure its accurate.  Sheepdogs may fight off wolves and coyotes, but they also help herd them… At least the working dog types do.  Some live their lives as Sheep.  Raised with them.  Stay with them.  Generally act and even look like them.  There is no one breed of Sheepdog, as its a generic term.  But over all, the term lacks accuracy for our purposes here.
Wolfhounds on the other hand…
Few breeds can be called Wolfhounds and all have the same traits.  They were all bred specifically to act as Protectors, Guardians, and some were even bred specifically to hunt Wolves.  Such as the Irish Wolfhound.  Originally called a Warhound by the early Irish, the struck fear in the Romans who encountered them. After the Romans were sent packing, the breed was refund to the Wolf Hunter we know of today.
Wolfhounds don’t try to herd sheep.  In today’s country, such a task is useless.  Over half of this nation doesn’t want to watch out for Wolves.  They think the Wolves will be nice if they are nice to them.  They are truly Sheep.  They can’t read and comprehend History.  History shows us that when Wolves have an easy meal, they well come back.  Wolfhounds naturally understand this.  We are a breed apart.  We can’t educate the Sheep.  We can’t be responsible for them.  We can only be responsible for our own families, and ignore the rest, let them live their lives as they wish.
The Wolfhounds don’t expect anyone else to fight the Wolves for them.  We train ourselves to protect those we love.  We may train together, may fight together, but we will fight on our own if needs be.
The Wolfhound can’t help but to be this way as its his nature. Its our nature. 
We are Wolfhounds.
We were born Wolfhounds, and we will die Wolfhounds.  We can’t think like Sheep.  And we can’t tolerate Wolves.

Automotive

2013 Chevy Equinox 2LT V6 FWD

12 Comments

As some of you know, I’ve taken off the motorcycle helmet and enjoyed the luxury of a four wheeled cage.  The requirements of my cage were complicated.  I needed to pull a trailer not just across country, but over the Rocky Mountains.  It had to have enough room inside to help in a move across country.  Clothes and “Stuff” for 3 people going One Way.   So I was thinking, “Truck” with such things as “Big” and “Four by Four”.  Then I took into consideration that once I reach my destination, those requirements were no longer required.  With a new career change and a new area of operation, I would have a whole new set of requirements.  Fuel Economy.  No need for all wheel drive, because it rarely every snows here in the winter.  Long Range Comfort.  The ability to get up and haul ass was wanted as well.  Throw in the requirement of being able to stow some large rifle cases when needed and my vehicle selection options started fall off the table.   I didn’t need four wheel drive anymore.  So no truck…  but I needed more room than a 2013 Camaro, which was a consideration.  Also, I hate getting pulled over, so I wanted something that would be “Road Stealth”.  Meaning a cop’s eyes just glaze over it as I slide past at 10 over.

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You guys remember my previous considerations.  And this one is a bit different.  The Equinox was the winner.  Smooth, good power delivery, and in the 2LT trim package, well appointed with the features I wanted.  This vehicle was purchased from Gus Paulos in West Valley, Utah.  If you are thinking about a Chevy – That’s the place to go.  The General Manager this a Rock Star, and you can tell him George, The Mad Ogre, Hill sent you.  They went out of the way to get the Trailer Hitch installed for me late on a Friday Evening…  Two Thumbs Up.  They did a great job.

Remote everything.  Even remote lift gate opening, which is a feature I didn’t really care about but now that I have it, will insist all future vehicles have.  XM, Sat, Blue Tooth, all that.  Back Up Camera, which is amazing now that I’ve gotten used to it.  Touch screen to control all of the tech.   Driving across country, I played Larry Correia’s SPELLBOUND book through Audible on my phone, through the stereo via Blue Tooth.  We also listened to STARSHIP TROOPERS, and a book called RED SHIRTS by the same author as Old Man’s War.  Great books, btw.  Made the drive across our vast nation very enjoyable.  The ride quality, comfort, and smooth ride, made the long trip easy… even pulling a trailer.  The 300 + Horse V-6 Engine was never labored in it’s task.  MPG were a consistent, 20 MPG’s while pulling the High Drag trailer.  And with the smallish 18 gallon fuel tank, stops to refuel were more frequent than I’d like.   However once that trailer was disconnected, something happened.

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Look at that read out.  That’s an average for 50 Miles.  Not just a down hill with a tail wind situation.  And I was cruising at a set 60 MPH.  31.4 Average, with a top average of 35… in a V-6 SUV with no hybrid stuff going on.  I don’t care who you are, that’s damn good.  (I’ve had motorcycles that didn’t get that good of mileage!)  And since where I’m at, 55 MPH is the top speed anywhere, these numbers are suiting me just fine.  To get these numbers, the engine is not down tuned, or leaned out.  It’s got power.  When you romp on it, you feel all those ponies start bucking and you move out.  When you do that though, hold on.  Torque Steer comes into effect big time, and you are going to have to fight that.  But when you do, and you get used to it, you can get solid launches and roll on passing power.  I find that the car is never lacking on power.  And all of this is with the AC blasting.  Because I found that I really love a cold AC.

Handling is good.  It’s no sports car, being a Cross-Ute.  But it’s no slouch either.  It handles far better than any truck I’ve ever driven, or larger SUV.  And it handles better than the peers in it’s category.

I like the looks of it.  It’s a clean design.  Aerodynamically, it’s slippery.  To the eye, if find it an attractive little Crossover SUV.  I love the look of the interior.  It’s got fantastic cloth seats, well vented so you don’t feel sweaty when it gets hot out and the AC hasn’t wound up yet.  Looking at any detail or area of the car, it’s just good looking. Handsome, but with out any raw sex appeal of a sportier vehicle that will make a cop look at you with scrutiny.  And come on, I’m a Motorcyclist, if I wanted raw performance and sex appeal, I’d jump on two wheels instead of four.

It’s easy to park.  Being as smallish as it is for an SUV, I can park it anywhere without being cramped.  It’s turning radius isn’t the best out there, but it’s better than most.  Really it does nothing outstanding but then again it does everything well.  It’s very Competent.  Consistently Competent.  Because those vehicles that do some things spectacularly well, do other things shockingly poorly.  This car just does everything well.  Price on this vehicle was 31,000 dollars.  Which puts it much less than other considerations with this vehicles features.  Such as the Jeep.  I see no reason for another 10-20 thousand just to have a badge that says Jeep. And realistically, I’m never going to go Rock Crawling again, so I just don’t care about the Trail Rated thing.  If I need something Trail Rated, I’ll use an ATV.  Value-wise, I think the EQ has been a home run.

The only vehicle I’d put against the EQ would be the Ford Edge… Another great looking Cross-Ute.  However the Edge isn’t going to give you the MPG returns the EQ can give you.   After getting to know the EQ, I’ve come to love it.  It’s probably the smartest vehicle I’ve ever had.

Crusader

Slipstream vs Froglube

14 Comments

The problem with Frog Lube is that when you get right down to it, it’s an oil.  An Organic Compound at that.
Oils, no matter how slick as snot they are… no matter how good they are… will burn out.  Organics burn out quicker than synthetics. They just do.  Because they are organic.  The phrase “Cooking off” literally applies here.  Synthetics resist cooking off much better.
However the synthetic oils used in Slipstream are not the lubricant.  The fact that they are slick is great… bonus.  And in the SLIPSTREAM STYX, we take advantage of the anti-corrosion properties of the oils.  But either way the oils are only the CARRIER for the actual Lubricant.  The actual lubricant is a Nano Particle.
Metal, even ferous metal is not hydroscopic.  Some guys claims that their lube soaks in, is fictitious. It’s not going to “Absorb” or “Soak” into the metal.  It can work into the microscopic imperfections…. but you still have microscopic imperfections filled with oil.
Slipstream’s Nano Particles cover those imperfections… a microscopic chip and seal, if you will.  It’s gives the lowest coefficient of friction known to science.
And it doesn’t cook out.  It becomes part of the metal.  In fact, it creates a surface harder than the substrate.  Harder.  Slicker.  Wont cook off.  You would literally melt the gun before you would cook out or burn out Slipstream.  You might cook off the carrier oil… but the actual lubricant remains.

This is actually the downside to Slipstream.   The more you use it, the less you need, until you just don’t need anymore.  I’ve not lubed by Glock in 2 years… 3 years.  So then you stop buying it.

And I’ll put STYX against Frog Lube for corrosion protection. Any day.

FACT:  Slipstream kicks Froglube in the face until it’s retarded. 

Now, this is going to raise some hackles. I know that. And that’s why I post things like that… A. Because I like Slipstream. And B. Because Slipstream is better. For you guys that are Froglube Advocates… and that’s fine if you are… I have a question for you. Watch this first:

Okay, It gets sticky and gummy… so when that happens you are going to heat it up again and put more on. That just doesn’t sound like a winning plan to me. This is another reason Slipstream wins. When the oil is gone in Slipstream, the Lube is still there. And it doesn’t get sticky. Ever. I don’t want my gun getting sticky inside. Ever. I want my lube to be slick all the time. But that’s just me. You can be different.

Uncategorized

Data Tapping

8 Comments

There is a lot of fuss over the government eavesdropping on calls and emails. As if this was all something new.
We knew about this 15 years ago.  Wired Magazine covered this when the program was called “Carnivor”.  And even then it was old hat.
If you are just now getting worried about this… you’re late to the game.

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/