Training

MAG-40 After Action Report

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Let me first start off by saying that it was a tremendous honor to have been asked to help out as one of the Staff at this year’s SLC MAG-40 Class.

Last year I took the course as a Student.  This year, I was one of the Instructors, along with Joe, my partner with Crusader Weaponry and the Gun Dudes. The experience was very different.  In one hand, it was easy, as we didn’t try to take notes on everything said and worry about the final exams. On the other hand, there was some performance anxiety as all week we coached the students on the firing line, trying to help them improve their shooting.  On the last day, we all shot the Qualifier to show the students how its done and that we can do just what we say.  No Stress, right?

I came to the range with a knee that was larger in diameter than my thigh. It was rather painful.  By Saturday, it was mostly under control, so I decided to shoot the course of fire to include the kneeling portion.  To add to the pressure, Massad Ayoob was next to me on my left.   I shot great, right up to the point where we kneel.
You’ve heard the term “blinded by pain”? It felt like I was tazered in my knees, with the current going up my spine and out my eyes.  To say the least, I found this to by somewhat distracting.  This opened my group and let a couple rounds escape.  At the 15 yard line my group tightened back up, but the damage was done and I finished down two points.  298. Same as my score last year:

If it wasn’t for my knees, I know I’d have done a 300.
Joe gained some points from his score last year, as did all the Gun Dudes.  Tom tied me, shooting a 298 as well.  Not to be competitive or anything, Tom… but congratulations on shooting your best while I was at my worst.  😉  Just kidding, man.  And well done at the GSSF Match on Sunday.  I heard you did very well there!  Good job!  It needs to be said that all of the Gun Dudes are good Shooters and they did very well indeed.


The students then took the line and shot very well… Shooting 295’s to 298’s.  I’m quite proud of them.

The best thing though this week was just spending time with our friends, the Gun Dudes, and the other Pod Casters.  The dinner at Rodizio Grill.  One of them, who I’ll be linking up shortly was Trevor Furlotte who came down from Canada for the course.  He was the only guy to shoot a solid 300 btw.

Anyways, he and Jason from Tactical Solutions had never been to a Rodizio before, and Rodizio did not disappoint.  Waiting for a table, Trevor was looking at the menu.  “This sounds good”.  He said a couple times, as he was trying to decide what he was going to have.  “No, they’ll bring it to you… all of it.”  We tried to explain.  “You mean, like Appetizers?”  He asked.  “No… just wait.  And buckle up.”
At the Table the Server started going over things and our brave Canadian said “Just shut up and bring on the Meat!”
And they did.  It was a hurricane of meat… A Meaticane.  Trevor’s eyes were the size of X-Rings.   Jason, having never been there either was staggered as well.    We feasted…. Gorged ourselves on grilled meats of all varieties.   The Bacon Wrapped Turkey was a favorite as well as the Tenderloin.  As the gluttony started to slow down, Chaz was set up as a Birthday Boy and the Gouchos with the swords of meat all came over and sang Rodizios version of Happy Birthday to the beats of a Bongo Drum.  Chaz, had to get up and start dancing to the music… it was so funny that Gun Dude’s Carl started laughing so hard he had meat coming out his nose like a Meat Grinder.
It was a great evening.  The next morning Joe said “What a great bunch of guys to get the Meat Sweats with.”  A statement that was almost as funny as Chaz’s dance.

Some observations:

1.  Massad Ayoob is still a scary good shot, a Gentleman and a Scholar… albeit a salty one.
2.  There were some problems with some of the guns on the range.  An XD was giving one shooter fits, but I think it was ammo related as he did have a Squib Load that required disassembly and a punch to get the projectile out of the bore.  All three 1911’s had the full spectrum of problems.  One was simple occasional failures to fully chamber, another was Gun Dude’s Carl, who’s filthy Springfield XD required complete take down and cleaning to get back into a working form.  Now, I’m not a 1911 Hater, I’m just objective.  The problem I believe is the trend to make a 1911 too goram tight.  A little loser in the tolerances and they seem to be less finicky.  For example, my old Springer GI.  Runs great.  Any number of Kimbers I’ve seen, much tighter, and they jam like jazz bands.  Take that for what you will.  Either way, I shoot my 1911’s for fun, my Glocks for more serious use.

None of the Glocks had any problems.  Say what you will about the Glock’s look or Grip Angle, but the gun simply works.
3.  We tested out some ammo from a new outfit called Freedom Munitions.  We had some Ball and HP to try out.  It all  shot very well.  The Hollowpoint .40 I tried… Shot a water bottle with it and then dug out the bullet.  It expanded very well.  Accuracy with this ammo, well, the best groups I got all week were with this ammo.  It felt very consistent. I will be buying more.  They have some very good pricing as well, so look into these guys.

Training

I may or may not have been wrong.

2 Comments

When I posted about the one thing to practice… I could have been wrong.
Most of the problems people have with reloading isn’t getting the mag into the gun… It’s just getting the mag. 
It’s more of an equipment management issue than a Shooting Skill issue.
At today’s MAG-40 class, the main issue was aiming.  Keeping your Target Loc

Crusader, Weapons

The One Rifle.

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On YouTube I watched a video by a fellow named James Yeager about how there is no such thing as One Rifle for everything.  He calls it a myth. 
I call Bullshit on that.
History is full of instances where a man has just one rifle and did everything with it, just fine.  Survived to tell the tale.  James Yeager is free to express his own opinions, but he is not free to his own Facts.  US History, be it Frontier History, Western Expansion, Wild West, Military History… what ever kind of history you want to call it.  Only in our Modern Email Era do we enjoy having more than one rifle for different purposes. 
In this Modern Era, the late Colonel Jeff Cooper considered a One Rifle concept and called it the “Scout”.  His Scout Rifle Concept is a proven winner.  Steyr manufactured their Scout with Jeff’s blessing and assistance.  And it pretty much did what was promised.  Now Ruger and Savage are making Factory Scout Rifles with pretty good success.
Any one of these would make for a fine “One Rifle” solution. 
Historically, the One Rifle has been a Winchester Lever Action in .30-30, .32 Special or the like.  Today a good solid and smooth cycling Lever Action is truly a thing of joy.  There are few things you can’t do with a .30-30.  I’ve even killed an Elk with one at 200 yards, and I’m sure I’m not the only person in history to have done so.
Today’s Rifleman though is packing an AR.  The Black Rifle has gone mainstream… and for many new shooters, the AR is The One.  The AR-15 might be kind of light for a One Rifle, but an AR-10 type rifle gives you some considerable advantages in terminal performance on big game.
After some consideration, I’m thinking a new One Rifle is more than doable.    Let’s do that AR platform in .308.  Let’s hit it with a light weight, 16″ True Polygonal Rifled Barrel, and let’s give it some lightweight furniture with an adjustable stock.   Simple, Clean, and effective in most any situation.  Give it an adjustable 1-4 power optic.  Give it a tough finish, resistant to abrasion and corrosion. 
Contact CrusaderWeaponry.com to order you a Crusader One Rifle.

Uncategorized

Armed American Radio problem

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I don’t know if you guys caught this last Sunday night.  But about 5 minutes into Hour 2, we had a Technical Glitch.  The feed to the studio where Mark Walters and Rob Pincus dropped.  They could hear the Producer, Shawnto, in Dallas, but no one could hear them.
Take a listen.

I heard the worry in Shawnto’s voice and knew he was having a bugger of a time, so called in.  Listen to the relief in Shawn’s voice when he hears me.  Well, we covered the rest of the segment together and then Shawn rolls some archived stuff until they got the Feed back online.

This is Live Radio.  This stuff can happen when you run a live show.  Other Gun Rights type talk shows are pre-recorded.  Not Armed American Radio.  This makes AAR a lot more fun.

Automotive

Monday’s Motorcycle: ICON

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This is how you sell your company’s brand:

I know M is already thinking about an Adventure Bike. And I’ve been thinking going that round too. My Enduro just gave me a taste, and I want more… I want the whole buffet. But that’s for another post. This wasn’t a post about the bikes… but about the Gear.
I dig the Icon brand stuff. It’s good stuff and not nearly as expensive as some of the other options out there. These Dual Sport helmets are what’s interesting me. Full face protection, dirt bike aggression. I like to look. I want one.

Weapons

The SIG ACP

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SIG sent me one of their ACP units. This Video gives some of my impressions. On YouTube there was one comment worth note.
“For that weight you could get a Kel-Tec Sub 2000…and WAY MORE ACCURACY AND VELOCITY.”
Probably one of the most astute observations ever made on YouTube. He has a good point. However the ACP remains much more compact. The SUB2000 is about the same size when folded, and that makes it easy to pack around, but then when deployed, it’s pretty much as long as a standard carbine. The ACP remains the same size packing and engaging. It also uses a gun that you are familiar with… one of your own pistols… With a Trigger Pull that is far superior to the KT’s. And as far as I know, you can’t get the SUB 2000 in .357 SIG, 10mm, .45 Auto, .400 Corbon, .45 Super, .460 Roland… or any of the myriad of other cartridges you can rock and roll with in the ACP.
When I brought the ACP to work, the general consensus was that while it is “Cool” it’s actual usefulness remains limited… because it doesn’t have a Shoulder Stock. Now, you can jump through the hoops and get your Class III Approval and get a Shoulder Stock for your SIG ACP… Then you have an actual Pistol Caliber SBR… Fullfilling the promise of SIG’s name the “Adaptive Carbine Platform”. With out it… Shooting from the Sling is helpful and does stabilize the shot, it’s no where nearly as solid as a simple shoulder stock.
Also, for you Gaming Nerds out there, we’ve come up with a D20 Rule for you guys. For every 2 Inches of Rails your gun has, you get a +1 to your Hit and Damage. So the SIG ACP will give you about a +5 to your basic gun. IRL, the ACP is just making your gun bigger, more uncomfortable, heavier, and less convenient to carry because I’ve yet to see anyone make a Holster for this beast.
Like I said before, in the video… The SIG ACP does has it’s applications. I also mentioned that it would be cool for riding a Motorcycle. I’ve proved that theory TRUE. I rode into town on my ZX-11 (Knees doing slightly better and I’m on some really good painkillers) with the SIG ACP, as shown, slung. Packing a Handgun, I would have to either open my jacket to get to the Shoulder Rig or get up under my jacket to get to a pistol in a Belt Holster. The ACP, slung at the side allows for rather easy engagement as all I had to do was reach down, grab it, and bring it up to target. Not that I actually tried aiming it while on a moving motorcycle… I don’t live THAT far out in the boonies. In the video I mentioned my KTM and rolling the ACP up in the mountains. Uh… that would be a poor choice. The ACP bouncing around banging it’s sharp edges on you. Not fun.
Overall, I like it and it has it’s place, but I am going to send this thing back to SIG.

Government

The State of Utah continues to Screw Up

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The State of Utah can really irk me something fierce.

They instituted a Coyote Bounty to reduce the number of Predators that have been tearing up the population of Utah’s Big Game species.  50 Bucks for a pair of years.  That’s good.  But then Utah requires not just the Ears, but the Jaw, and GPS Coordinates of the where the Coyote was taken.  And you can’t take more than one in the same location.  You have to fill out forms… Its pretty much a mess and it makes it not worth pursuing Coyotes.  Many hunters have pretty much given up on it thanks to the over-regulation and making it more of a pain in the ass to deal with.  So they took a great program that could have done some good… and ruined it.

Then the State has sold out the Uintah Basin by approving a Pipeline to take water from Flaming Gorge to feed Denver.  This is going to drop the Gorge by an estimated 20 feet.  This pretty much is going to ruin all the best fishing spots.  Thanks a lot, Utah.  The Flaming Gorge is a travel destination for people coming from all across the country – and Utah just decided to sell it out.  Never mind the businesses that depend on people coming to the Gorge… Screw those guys.

And this last one… this one pisses me off almost as much the the Flaming Gorge pipeline…  And this is the US Forest Service that did it, not the State of Utah, but the State didn’t do anything to stop it.
My brother and I went to a Ghost Town location.  A place called Bullionville.  It was a Mine that went under back in the 20’s.  It had a number of cabins and such.  In the 30’s it was revived again that’s to the use of the CCC that came in, used the location, fixed it up even.  I’ve seen photos of the location, the buildings, and cars and trucks at the location.  It’s a piece of Utah’s history.  Or it was.
My brother and I found the location to the spot.  Nothing there.  You can see though, where it was, where the buildings were, where the ponds were.  But there’s nothing left.  I was told the US Forest Service tore it all down and out.  Destroying a piece of Utah’s History.  Thanks a lot US Forest Service.

Weapons

Packing the M9

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Last weekend I ended up with my friend Mike Kupari’s old Beretta 92FS.  This is the same gun that the US Army just bought another 100,000 of.  I’ve been packing it since I got it, which is about the same time Beretta made the announcement.

The Beretta is a huge pistol for 9mm.  The grip frame is massive and the magazine capacity is less than it should be for a gun of this size.  Only 15 rounds when other guns with smaller grips are able to pack in 18 or so.  But this isn’t a big deal to me.  The gun has a lot of character.  It’s easy to shoot well with.  And it’s not too heavy.  It carries well enough in the good Pancake style holster I have for it.  But it can print thanks to the Beretta’s slide mounted safety.

Overall, I really like it.  I do prefer packing a full sized handgun, or a Mid Size, compared to the popular Sub-Compact options.

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