Monthly Archives: July 2016

Weapons

Remington R51 Do-Over

9 Comments

Remington_R51_RightSide

I was asked what I thought about the Remington R51 Re-Release.

Look… I wanted to like the R51.  I really did.  I think it looks cool, and I like the idea of an all metal single stacked 9mm, that’s not a 1911, Kahr, or SIG P225… just for the sake of variety.  I really wanted to like it.  But a couple things gave me pause.  One, is the Pederson Hesitation Lock system it uses… which is… just not that good.  Then Remington made a very limited invitation only special pre-release introduction for certain Gun Media guys with a history of liking everything that comes their way.    Okay, that’s fine… They wanted good impressions to get out there.  Sure.  Every Gun Company wants that.   But the warning lights started flashing when shortly there after at the Media Day at the Range, the day before SHOT SHOW that year – The Remington R51 was suspiciously absent.

Warning Klaxons sounded in my head when at the Remington Booth, Remington Employees were physically blocking people from getting to where the R51 was on display.   They stood around the display like defensive Musk Ox surrounding their young.

Remington Reps protecting the R51 at SHOT SHOW.
Remington Reps protecting the R51 at SHOT SHOW.

They wanted Dealers to order them… they just didn’t want anyone to actually touch it.  But I did.  I went around behind them, went behind a counter, and got in to where it was hanging on the wall, behind the Remington People.  I could tell from the expressions on their faces when they saw me – that they were pissed.

When I handled the gun… I liked the size and weight just fine.  But the action felt like it was broken inside.  That hesitation lock felt like it was going to be a Jam Maker.  The Grip Safety was awkward as it pivoted backwards from normal, it had sharp edges of the frame exposed when the safety was depressed.
I warned people to avoid being an early adopter of the R51.
Turns out I was right, and all the pistols I had warned people about – all got recalled.  The gun was a bigger pile of crap than I had expected it to be.

Remington_R51_LeftSide

Now, fast forward and Big Green is releasing the gun again.  All the work to rebuild the gun, all the new engineering and testing… should have been done before it was released to begin with.   It should have been tested – thoroughly – before it was released.    This was Remington’s fault, resting squarely on the shoulders of Remington.  But Remington pointed their fingers at Para USA, in Charlotte, NC…. where the R51 was being produced.   This wasn’t a quality control issue… this was a DESIGN ISSUE.   And guys at Para were saying “This isn’t right”.  Turns out that the guys at Para were right as well.  Because to fix the gun, Remington didn’t have to tight QC on the production line… they had to re-engineer  the bloody handgun.  Proving that it was indeed, a design issue.

Maybe the gun is now “fixed”.  But the first people to test it and say it’s fine – are some of the first people that said it was good to go the first time.   I have a bit of a problem with that.   When asked by a friend what my initial thoughts were about the new again R51… my knee-jerk reaction was “I’d rather have a Bersa.”

So my advice is the same as before.  Avoid being an Early Adopter of these R51 2.0’s.

Uprising

Kassarine Lost: Part 5

5 Comments

Tun-43-250

As soon as the Captain was far enough away, Sergeant Weston leaned over to Lt Clayton and said softly, “Why do you act the nutter when the Captain is about?”

Philip Clayton grinned, “He thinks I’m mad, so he doesn’t give me any administrative jobs.   And it’s a grand sport!   Now hand me my clothes, I am freezing my nipples off.”

Sergeant Weston grabbed the small bundle of pants, shirt, and a jacket, and tossed them to the Lieutenant who started dressing as quickly as he could as he was just starting to shiver.   A few minutes later Trucks One and Two fired up their engines.  Weston fired up Anvil and Lt Clayton jumped in, pulling a woolen cap down over his ears.    Continue reading Kassarine Lost: Part 5 →

Weapons

THE GUNS OF: HEAT

6 Comments

heat

The movie HEAT is notorious.  It had a huge effect across the USA.  Because of this movie, cops are now wearing heavier levels of body armor and carry rifles more often than shotguns in many departments around the country.  This is because the bad guys saw this movie too… and decided to do it like that did.  Especially 2 fellows who held up a Bank Of America in LA.  This flick also had an effect on Hollywood.  Since then many movie makers have strived for more realistic gun fight scenes.  The reason is because HEAT has the best gun battle in it.  Ask any group of gun nuts about celluloid fire fights, and HEAT will always come up.  Always.  Enough has been said about he movie by me and every other critic out there, so I’ll just do what I do and talk about the guns.

ColtOfficers

Continue reading THE GUNS OF: HEAT →

Weapons

The IWI TAVOR

4 Comments

IWI-Tavor-SAR-Lead

It came out the Terrorist in the Baton Rouge police ambush used an IWI Tavor rifle.  Some words were thrown out by some media sources.  “Assault Rifle”, “High Powered”, “Sniper Rifle”.
It’s not an assault rifle.  Sure, it’s similar to the weapon used by the Israeli Defense Forces… But it is not a select fire weapon.  The TAVOR doesn’t have a Shoulder Thing That Goes Up. It does not have a Bayonet Lug. It doesn’t have a Heat Shield. It doesn’t have an Adjustable Stock.  So by all definitions, it’s not an assault rifle.

It’s chambered in 5.56mm – which is .22 Caliber.  5.56mm Nato is based on the .223 Remington cartridge.   (Note the first two numbers after the decimal point is “22”) The .223 Remington was designed as a Varmint round.  Varmints as being small critters like Rabbits and Squirrels.   On many boxes of .223 ammunition, you’ll see images of small rodent type animals.  Not Big Game.  Not even a small White Tail Deer.   So it’s not a “High Powered” rifle.  Not even close.

What made the Tavor so deadly was the Man Behind the Trigger. Who was trained in the use of firearms, yes… But the man had EVIL intent.  This is the difference between the the Good Guys and the Bad Guys.

What he used as his tool is not important. In France, we saw the tool was a truck. In Boston, we saw the tools were Pressure Cookers. The tool doesn’t matter. It’s how it’s used.

In both cases – Extreme Hate was the catalyst for Evil thoughts to be turned into extreme actions and Evil was carried out.  The Tool doesn’t matter, where he got the tool, doesn’t matter. What matters is that it started with Hate.

Hate is where fingers should be pointed.

Weapons

Build or Buy?

7 Comments

I get asked this a lot.  Do I build my new AR, or do I buy my new AR?   That’s a good question.   First, let’s talk about the economics of it:

This guy, I don’t know this guy. But he makes a lot of sense.  If you are buying a rifle in that 1000 or Less price range.
Or what you do is spend a bit more out of the gate and buy a rifle that is closer to your ideal of the final configuration you want.  There’s a lot of rifles out there in the 1500 range that come pretty much done out of the box.   Or even less.  I’ve seen some very good builds that are complete and good to go for about 1200.

Unless you are wanting a lot of specialized aftermarket stuff with spiky bits or excessive milling for either weight or cosmetic purposes… stuff that isn’t available OEM from anyone… Then building makes sense money wise.

Or you just want a Cheap Out build.  And you are going to be shopping for low cost parts.   Then in that case, you are going to end up with a Cheap Rifle.  I can’t tell you how many times guys have shown me their Cheap Out Build and then they blow sunshine at me that it’s Custom.   No, it’s not Custom.  It’s a Cheap Out Build you put together on your coffee table.   That’s not impressive, so don’t expect me to act impressed.  And don’t get mad at me for not being impressed.  Anyone can order those same parts from Brownells and Midway USA.   A Cheap Out Build though, can get you into an AR for the same or less than most entry level AR’s.  I’ve seen some Cheap Out Builds that were about 400 bucks that were actually solid AR’s.  So if you do it RIGHT, you can really have something.  The problem though is too often, it’s not done right and the result is just another cheap AR.

Another reason to build your AR is that you BUILD your AR.  You might need some help or borrow some tools or even buy some tools… But the end result is your own rifle you put together yourself.  There’s a lot of satisfaction in that.  And if that’s your goal, and you are happy with the rifle – Awesome.   That’s all that matters.  That’s all that’s important.  Because at this point in the AR Market – NO ONE CARES.  Do your own thing, be your own man.   You only need to impress yourself.

The 3 Things to Splurge on:
1.  The Barrel.
2.  The Trigger.
3.  The Optic.
Spare no expense on these items.  Expensive BCG’s are over rated.  Expensive fore grips and stocks, are over rated.  Back Up Iron Sights, unless you are going to run Iron Sights, are over rated.

Gear

Put this in your Kit: Sunjack 14W Solar Charger.

4 Comments

20160714_123633 (1)
In my Church, I’m the Goto Guy for Emergency Preparation.  Officially.   It’s my job in the church to know and teach this stuff.  CNET even reached out to me for information about EP and what they need to keep their Tech going in the case something bad happened… like their power went out.  Or they had to go outside.

I wish I had this before CNET talked to me… Because I’d have just said “Get a Sunjack”.

Continue reading Put this in your Kit: Sunjack 14W Solar Charger. →

Weapons

AR’s in California

21 Comments

The Bullet Button “Reloaded” – Inventor Offers New (Likely) Compliant Offering

Okay, now I love the “let’s find a work around” problem solving to California’s asinine new laws.  But at some point you just gotta say screw this and just move to a different weapon platform that doesn’t have these compliance issues.   That point for me was at the 2 minute mark of the Bullet Button Reloaded product video.  Disassembling your gun so you can reload… no… Just no.   California doesn’t want you have an AR – Fine.  Sell it to someone in Nevada, Arizona, or Utah.    Or don’t.  Keep it.  Bury it in an oil bath so it’s forever protected from the elements, and then some day when the Liberals all die and you guys can FINALLY vote in someone with both cerebral hemispheres fully functional…. Estimated in the year 2055… Then you can pull that AR-15 out and shoot it like Eugene Stoner intended.

Continue reading AR’s in California →