Category Archives: Weapons

Letter to Springfield Armory

Dear Springfield.  How are you doing?  I missed you at SHOT SHOW, but I ran into your man Robby L at the Media Range Day.  Great guy.  He still does the bulk of his shooting with a 1911… Wouldn’t it be a good idea to transition him to an XDM full time and maybe make a Signature Edition XDM based on his customizations?  I think it would be a great idea.  Didn’t see it in the Catalog I just downloaded, so, you know… Just sayin… Think it would be a great idea.

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More on the 1911

ToddG from Pistol-Training.com knocked it out of the park. This is well said.
I look at the 1911 much like Muscle Car. You can buy faster modern cars, but they just don’t have the class and style that a classic muscle car has.
As much as I love my G23RTF2, it doesn’t evoke the romance and the passion that my 1911’s inspire.
The 1911 is for the Aficionado and the Professional. It’s not for the rank and file foot-soldier. Yes, there is an Elitist aspect to it.

12 Gauge is too much gun?

A lot of shooters are going to the 20 gauge for home defense. And thats fine. It’s a shotgun and it’s not a .410, so that’s a good thing. What I find troubling though is that many of these shooters are doing it because they think 12 gauge is too much gun for them… that they cant handle the 12.

This is unfortunate. I took my 11 year old son out shooting, and he rocked one of my Remington 870 Tactical shotguns. He had no problem cycling the action, handling the recoil… He had no problem with a 12 gauge. Sure, he is the Son Of The Ogre… and he walks with large steps… but he’s still an 11 year old kid.

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NC Alcohol Bureau’s 1911’s

NC Alcohol Bureau has to ditch their unreliable weapons.
This is an interesting article and needs to be read.  To see what these guns are, take a look here.  As you guys know, I am a huge fan of the 1911.  It is a romance kind of thing.  I can’t help myself.  However I am also a huge fan of the Glock, because, well, Glocks take away doubt.  Doubt about reliability.  Doubt about reliabilty can really put a sour taste in my mouth about any gun.
As much as I love the 1911, one company has caused more than one raised eyebrow for me.  And that company is Kimber.  About two years ago I started seeing some Quality Control issues with Kimber.  Some of them minor details, others glaringly obvious factory fumbles.  I had to send two guns back to the factory that had just arrived.  In my Defensive Pistol training classes, I had a couple Kimbers come through that didn’t want to run… one in particular, a full sized SIS, just about refused to function altogether.  That thing jammed like a jazz band.

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Gimmicks

In the Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade we see a lot of Gimmicks.  Some of them look like gimmicks but are actually quite handy for certain specific tasks…  while others look like they could be handy, but are actually really useless.  The king of useless has to be the most persistent one.

I first heard of this guy way back in the very early days of “The Firing Line”.  This gimmick was laughed off the board pretty quickly.  He’s popped up now and again, here and there over the years… insisting that he has the true light and knowledge.

I don’t know his name, but I’ll call him “Finger Shelf Guy.”  He emailed me asking for a link and I was nice to him, saying that this is counter to what I teach so I can’t do that.  The guy bows out and I don’t hear from him again for a week.  Then all the sudden he shows up on WETHEARMED with an all new video about how great the finger shelf is and how everyone else is wrong.  Here’s the thread.  Enjoy.

S&W Bodyguard .380

S&W Bodyguard .380

It’s been some time since my last article for Concealed Carry Magazine. I’ve been meaning to write one sooner, but to be perfectly honest, most of the new concealable handguns that have been coming out have just not sparked much of an interest in me. I’ve been bored with most of the options out there and no one wanted another Compact 1911 article. Most of this time off I’ve been packing SIG C3’s and 229’s and all year I’ve been packing a G23-RTF2 and that has all been from Mark Walter’s bad
influence on me.

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Hello Glock Talk

Shout-out to Glock Talk. Howdy fellas. Thanks for the hits.  Just so you know…
On my hip right now is a Glock 23 RTF2 modified with Warren Tactical night sights, 3.5# Disconnecter and the NY1 Spring, riding in a Sharkhide custom holster from Adams Holsters. Carry loads are Winchester PDX1 JHPs. Backing that up are two G22 mags, one loaded with more PDX1’s and the other with 135 grain Cor Bon’s… namely because I ran out of PDX1’s because I’ve a bad habit of killing prairie dogs with my carry loads.
So, thanks for the kind words. They are appreciated. Cheers!

Why I hate the M-16/AR-15 Rifle

Why I hate the M-16/AR-15 Rifle and variants.


When joined the Army and was issued my first M-16, I thought it was the deadliest rifle ever invented. It was the blackest, most evil looking thing ever. It was pure badass. I was in love… sure, I had jams here and there but that was due to the dirty blank ammunition, right? I cleaned my rifle to the point of “surgical instrument clean” and lubed it exactingly according to the gospel of my Drill Sergeants. When I went to fire it with live rounds and found that I would get an occasional jam. Well, this is because it was an old rifle used by hundreds of raw ignorant recruits like myself. Right?

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Why a Crusader Weaponry AR?

Why buy a Crusader Weaponry rifle? I get asked this from time to time. If I had to give a short answer, “Because they are awesome”. But it just doesn’t quite encompass the total story behind it.

Keep your eyes on the rifle, guys. (Photo by Oleg Volk)

It starts out with the head of Crusader, Joe, aka “Gundoc” on WeTheArmed.com. He’s a guy that knows just how important it is to a warrior that his weapon be both utterly reliable and accurate. Joe comes background with the US Marines and Blackwater. He’s been there. He is soft spoken, because his work can speak for its self. Joe selects the best parts available, then he reworks them and finishes them. Even the smallest parts. They customer can select his/her major components. Handguards, Stocks, Sights, Barrel Length. The lubrication treatment is applied. Then the weapon is assembled and tested.

The permanent lubrication treatment has been tested against Fail-Zero.  Our treatment lasted twice as long in independence 3rd party testing.

If the customer wants a custom finish applied to the gun, Joe is a certified Master Refinisher from Lauer Weaponry the guys who make Duracoat. There are other guys that say they can do Duracoat, hobbiests… Joe is one of the professionals and the only one in the State of Utah. So there you have it. Crusader doesn’t just throw parts together like other guys do. The result is a gun that looks awesome, that is made to order, that runs slick and fast, that is accurate and reliable. These are the best AR-15 rifles money can buy.

The rifle, look at the rifle... thx Oleg

So what do I do with Crusader?  I’m Crusader’s Senior Trainer.  I will teach you how to get the most out of your rifle, to push it and you to the limits.  For 2011, I am offering a special deal.  A Tactical Carbine course for only a hundred bucks with the purchase of any Crusader AR-15 rifle.   That is a day of training for roughly the cost of a 250 round bulk pack of Ultra Max ammo.  That deal can not be beaten.

Oh, wait.  Yeah.  I can beat that.  With the purchase of Crusader Broadsword rifle (our SR-25 Type) I am throwing in a Free Pass to any Tactical Carbine course.  You buy the rifle and you get the course for free.  No, we are not padding the cost of the rifle.  I’m throwing it in on my own dime.  Get your rifle, come get the training.

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention.  Crusader has teamed up with BattleComp and we are putting these things on our guns unless you specify something different.  It makes a .308 gun shoot like a 5.56 gun, and makes a 5.56 feel like you are shooting a .22LR.  These are great additions to your rifle and worth the upgrade.

Photos by Oleg Volk.