M16's for Iraq

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,162878,00.html

What ? !!! Why would we want the Iraqi Army to have a weapon they have to clean when they have used idiot-proof weapons for the past 30+ years. These are not soldiers used to cleaning their weapon once to ten times a day, let alone once a month. Ak47's are basically soldier proof. I am sure some of the older, abused ones should be replaced, but M16/M4's? WHY?

I see this as a political move set to benefit the various AR platform makers and 5.56 ammo makers more then the Iraqi Army. The Iraqi's need to learn a completely different style of combat with an M16 over the AK. The Ak is a full auto weapon while the M16 is not. The M16 is good in the hands of well trained American Troops since our troops are taught to aim and not "pray and spray."

After the amount of AK's and the tons upon tons of 7.62x39 ammo that we purchased for the Iraqi Army and police in the past 5 years.

BATF again

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0227abrk-gilbertatf0227.html

Apparently, the BATF has raided yet another gun shop. I have yet to see their reasoning behind the raid other then the standard "suspected violations." The BATF has raided several legitimate gun shops and taken, then destroyed, all the guns from the shop. Thing is, on several of these raids, the BATF has been wrong or the supposed violations with minimal. The BATF has even lost a few lawsuits from their raids and has not yet returned collections of guns.

It does help that the BATF is basically unregulated.

Don't want one in the house

Was chatting with a co-worker who told me today, "I don't care if you own a gun or anyone else does, but I will never, ever, ever have one in my house." I tried to get a reason why, but the answer was nonsensical. It basically came down to, she had never fired one, didn't understand them, and was afraid of them.

I tried all my usual explanations...It's a tool, I will teach you, I will take you shooting, etc. But, she was too nervous about them to agree to anything. I pointed out the rash of break ins and other crime lately and that having something other then a cell phone is almost a necessity these days.

I will keep working on her and hope I can convert her to the right side.

Pro and Con

In the past couple of days, two bills have come up in the Arizona legislator:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0225college-guns0225-ON.html
and
http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/48leg/2r/bills/hb2833p.pdf

One is pro-2nd Amendment and the other is aimed at curbing gun rights. One makes sense and the other preys on fears of the uneducated.

Read for yourself...

Trash ruins it for us all

Not too long ago I blogged about how dumpers "trash" shooting areas and it makes shooters look bad. http://news.ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=742250

This is the kind of crap that gets shooting spots closed and laws changed. When the dumping of stuff gets so bad it ends up in in an Associated Press piece, this means we are about 5 minutes from being bent over. The AP is not only a local, but a National and International news organization. That means anyone in the world can look at an AP subscribers news website and be able to pull up with information. Add to this that KTAR is one of the biggest news-talk radio stations in Arizona and this stuff will end up being brought up at the next state legislator meeting.

Why???

Smith and Wesson not has their Outfitter series of "smaller" full power revolvers. The Outfitter series are carry versions of very high powered pistol cartridges, for example: 460 S&W, 454 Casull, and even the monster 500 S&W. These are 5 shot guns and weigh in at about 54 1/2 ounces. That's over 3 pounds of metal, add in the bullet and you go to almost 4 pounds. It's only got a 2.75 inch barrel.

My thoughts are, who the hell would want to carry this beast around and even worse... shoot it? The 454 Casull, 460 and 500 S&W's make the 44 Mag look like a pip-squeak and trying to shoot the 44 Mag in a short barrel gun is simply no fun. Popping off a full power 500 S&W in one of these sounds down right painful.

For a hike in lion territory, maybe..otherwise, no thanks.

Profits or Greed?

I went with my brother today to a few gun shops. It turns out he's decided on a Springfield xD in 9 mm, Service model (4 inch barrel). He can order the gun through Davidson's Gallery of Guns for $464 bucks, including shipping, tax, and handling, to be delivered to a local gun store. That same gun store has the gun, in stock, for $489. A place a few miles down had the same gun for $519. Another store had it for $469. I then went to Bass Pro and the gun was $549.

One would figure Bass Pro would have the best price, but .

It was also odd, my brother wanted the vented version of the xD, but not one of the shops I mentioned had it and two of them said there was no such thing.....but Davidson's shows it for sale.

Expensive bullets

One of the raging debates for hunters is what maker/type of bullet for your particular hunting cartridge. Some people want the baddest, fastest, newest, most sophisticated bullet on the market --which also tends to be the most expensive. Winchester Failsafe, Nosler, Barnes, Hornady super-duper bullets with 100% weight retention and nuclear tips (not really) seem to be "must haves" to take down a deer or an elk.

Seems to me, that people were taking these animals for hundreds of years with round lead balls, minie balls, round nose lead bullets, and fmj's without too many problems. Now, I agree, if you are a hunter, you should use the right bullet to humanely put the animal down and FMJ bullets are not the bullet construction of choice. But my question is, do deer really know the difference or drop any faster with a Winchester Failsafe over a 40 year old Remington CoreLokt? I don't think so.

Bullets with a higher sectional density, explosive tip, hollow points, and fragmented bullets all have their place, but do you really need to spend $35 on a box of 20 rounds to take a deer or turkey when the $14 ones will do the job just fine? Marketing at it's best... you must have the newest model to be any good.

Gun Snobs

I am a member of multiple gun boards and in all those boards there is a group of people I call "gun snobs." These are the people who think any gun under a certain dollar amount must be crap. They think that just because it costs less then 600 bucks, it is automatically junk. These people think Taurus and CZ weapons are junk. Ian Hogg and John Weeks both called the CZ75 the finest combat pistol in the world. Jeff Cooper raved about the CZ75 over and over. These same people think that Hi Point pistols, being both very cheap in cost and ugly as sin are considered by those that actually have owned and used then to be 100% reliable.

The three tiers that most gun snobs use are:
1) Hk, Sig, S&W (some), Kimber, Glock, Beretta, Kahr, Para Ord, Colt, etc
2) Ruger, CZ, Taurus, Springfield, Beretta, Browning, S&W (some), etc
3) Hi Point, Rossi, Bersa, Charter Arms, etc

There is nothing wrong with Ruger or Beretta, except that they aren't expensive. Rugers are considered to be 100% reliable and built like a tank. The Springfield Xd is probably the best selling pistol of the last year, but tell a gun snob and he will laugh and tell you it is a crappy copy of the Glock, which it is not.

My three tiers are
1) Good, expensive guns--Korth, Kahr, Para Ord, Kimber, HK, Browning, Colt, etc
2) Good inexpensive guns--Hi Point, Ruger, Beretta, CZ, Glock, Springfield, S&W, Taurus, Rossi, Charter Arms, etc
3) Junk guns--Davis, Sundance, Lorcin, etc

Mugging

A friend of mine delivers pizzas or extra cash. One of his co-workers was mugged last week. Apparently, as the guy was getting into his car, after delivering a pizza, he was jumped by a group of guys and had he crap kicked out of him. Now, several of the drivers want to get CCW licenses and start to Carry. Under many circumstances, I would think this was a good thing, but my friend is under the impression that carrying a gun would have prevented this incident. Carrying a gun does not have the ability to prevent all crimes.

If the driver was, in fact, jumped, then the driver would not likely have had the chance to pull his gun, or more likely would have tried to pull his gun and had it wrestled away from him. Who knows what might have happened next. If there is distance between you and the bad guy, the gun will be handy, but unless you are Jackie Chan, if a group of people are already beating your butt, it's unlikely your own gun will be of any value.

Situational awareness is a term the military uses for knowing where you are and what is around you. I am sure the pizza driver broke all sorts of self-preservation rules, such as: Maybe he was on his cell phone and not paying attention to those around him, didn't lock his car doors immediately upon entering the vehicle, or had the cash still in his hand as he was walking back to the car, etc. Watch your back, look around, and see what's out there. Chatting on a cell phone or texting is a huge distraction...don't do t until you are safely locked away in your vehicle.

Guns in National parks

Republicans in Congress are trying to push a bill through that would allow guns to be carried and accessible in National Parks. One of the co-sponsors of the bill is Presidential hopeful John McCain. Seems to me that since the 2nd Amendment is a guaranteed "right" then the ban on carrying guns in National Parks is unconstitutional, since by definition, National Parks are the land of the people. It also seems odd that Senator McCain, often a signer of anti-gun laws, would co-sponsor this pro-gun bill at a time when even Republicans are saying McCain isn't a real Republican. Seems that this is a safe way to support a Republican party plank, 2nd Ad, without ticking off the anti's too much.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330888,00.html

One day, I would just love to see a politician do something for the right reason rather then a political one. When that day comes, Social Security and tax laws will get fixed, too.

Where to shoot...

I live in Phoenix, Arizona metro area. It's freakin' hot here 7 months of the year, only hot for 3 more, and quite nice for the other two months. Going shooting is often a chore. There is an indoor range near, as well as an outdoor one within 15 miles. The Phoenix area has one world class range, and two more good ones, and a couple more just average outdoor ranges. The problem is, this is a freakin huge city, second only to L.A. is land mass. The really good range is a 45 to 70 minute drive for me, depending on traffic. All the ranges stay pretty busy and none of them are cheap.

This leads me to the next option for shooting: Plinking. In order to plink here, you have to drive outside of city limits. There used to be a really great place to shoot not more then 17 miles from me, in actuality, just behind the mountain of one of the outdoor ranges. This was a great local, with shooting on both sides of a dirt road. Unfortunately, people trashed the areas and a few bodies were dumped out there. D.P.S. decided to close the area, much to the discern of many shooters. Other areas were closed within a few years of that, leading to longer and longer drives to get further and further out in the desert.

At this point, we have to drive about 30 miles out of Phoenix to an area known as Four Peaks. There is barely cell service in this area and no gas stations for 15 miles or more. It is the literal term for B.F.E. I have been out to this area 3 times in the last 2 months. The first two times were fun and en eventful. The last time was not so good. There are several dirt bike/quad paths leading off in a dozen directions. The shooting areas are up against hills. Some of these areas are great, with large amounts of space to put up targets and cans and shoot rifles from decent distances. Some areas are quite small with no real space to back up. The last time I was there, it looked like dump trucks had hauled trash out there. Some areas were overflowing with crap. Dryers, dishwashing machines, refrigerators, tv's computers, you name it.. you probably might have found it there.

While I highly doubt shooters did the dumping, they sure took advantage of the targets. This makes shooters look bad. All this crap is a reason our earlier spots were closed. Illegal dumping is bad for all parties and the enviorment.

Gun Shop with a 'tude

Well, finally went into that gun shop I mentioned a few days ago. Nice little shop. Decent selection and decent prices. I was a little surprised by there setup. They had three display cases with Glocks laid out all fancy and another two display cases with all the other brands all tightly packed. Now, don't get me wrong, When we were talking about guns, the sales guy kept pushing me towards the Glock case to see a new dark earth model they got. I kept looking at a Para Ordnance. It's strange that he pushed me over and over towards the Glock case when he was carrying a Sig. They must have gotten a killer deal on Glocks and were trying to make their profit as fast as possible. They were pleasant enough, but their ammo prices were a little crazy. I will probably end up back there, though, as they are close to my house and always looking for a good deal. Maybe their next deal will be something I would want to buy...

Safeties

The problem with gun safeties is: the manufacturers of the guns. There is nothing inherently wrong with a gun safety. The idea behind safeties has been around for years and year and years. The 1911 is a 100 year old design and has three safeties in it's modern form: grip safety, a firing pin disconnect and a manual flip safety. It also has a sear disconnect and a half-cock. The grip safety, the Springfield XD people will hate me for this, is an outdated concept. The idea behind multiple safeties is a good thing, but I cannot understand why a grip safety would be used in a modernly designed weapon. I suppose it's an additional feature to keep children, with their small hands from being able to being able to cover the grip safety and still reach the trigger.

The other safety I hate is the trigger safety. This has become ubiquitous on modern polymer pistols. Glock even calls theirs "Safe Action." What a load of crap. Any safety that is automatically disconnected by depressing the trigger is not a safety. There are a dozen modern techniques fro keeping the trigger from moving, the sear and firing pin locked, but a trigger safety should never have been one of them.

As for other safeties, I whole-heartedly state that any weapon not directly to be used for self-defense be properly stored in a safe, locked box, and use an internal lock (if built in), a trigger block, or a cable lock. Any and all of these should be used to prevent those who should not have access tot he weapon from being able to get to and use that weapon. I would never use an internal lock or cable lock on a self defense weapon, such as one specifically placed in my night table, as the small keys are just too hard to use under stressful situations.

School shooting, again

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23111245/

I wish someone could give me a valid reason why shooting have been happening for the past 25 years in the frequency that they have when something of this nature was virtually unheard of prior to the 1980's. Sure, there were a occasional incidents in the 1960's, but nothing compared to the tragedies occurring now.

Personally, I think many of these people are influenced by the media. Many people disagree with this idea. My idea stems from the violence of video games, movies and music in this generations music. There is not a night on television that doesn't have a NCIS, CSI, or any other cop show on where murders happen and get investigated. Not a week goes by that a violent movie isn't released...Rambo, 300, Saw 1, The Fog, etc, etc, etc. You can't argue that today's television is far more violent then even the worst WW2 or western tv show from the 50's or 60's. Music, especially rap, has it's demons; talking about "bustin a cap" in someone for doing them wrong, or killing cops, or whatever.

The sad part is that all these school shootings do is ruin lives and alienate law abiding citizens who own guns. It's hard to defend your 2nd Amendment right to a woman grieving for a lost child. Emotion, especially in the heat of things will usually side over logic.

1997...

I was cleaning out my closet and ran into a magazine (read kind, not reload kind) in the wrong stack. Of course, this old gun magazine had to be moved to the keeper stack. On occasion I start flipping through these old magazines in boredom and look for something interesting that's changed. I was flipping through the pages and was chuckling at some of the things I saw. We always talk about how things used to be better, cheaper, or more simple.

Well, in 1997 this was partially true. We were 3 years into the Clinton AWB and prices for standard capacity gun magazines (the reloading kind, not the reading kind) were crazzzzyyy. Factory Glock magazines, now 20 bucks or less, were $79.99 at KY Imports and other places. Ruger P-series 15 round 9mm magazines were $39.99. Of course, 10 round factory magazines were still $20. And most shocking fir a Beretta 92,,used $39.99.used !

I have a bad feeling that if the newly proposed AWB becomes law, even these horrible prices will look good.

Gun Shops with a 'tude

There are gunshops you walk into and you know within a few moments whether of not you will get a straight answer or a sales pitch. You will know within seconds if the sales gun/owner gives a rats ass about his customers or thinks his customers (you) are a nuisance to his day.

Yesterday, I called a local gun shop that I found on the Internet. I have not seen this place before, but I know the area it is in very well. So, in my mind, "COOL !! New place to haunt." The reason I was looking online for gun stores, was that I was trying to find a local place with a S&W M&P Compact in 9 mm for a friend. I called the shop and a gun answers in a rush. I ask about his inventory of that weapon and it's cost.

The reply I got was, "Umm, yeah. I think we have one. As for the price, I don't really know. Go to our website and do a search for it."

His websites "search" is actually Davidson's Gallery of Guns. So, the price listed was the distributor price for customers to order a gun to be sent to his store. Needless, to say, I was already at that site. I also know that Davidson's is not the only dealer out there and most gun shops order from a number of them at the best price. Soooo, often times a gun shop will have a gun at a lower price then the distributor price is.

First strike on this gun store. My friend and I will visit this place on Monday. I only offer two strikes to be out... But, they do get a second chance.

Goin' shootin'

A few days ago a friend asked me if I was interested in going out to the desert and going shooting. This entails driving thirty miles outside of Phoenix and heading pretty far off the main road. We are all set for a group of about 10 of us to go out this coming Saturday. Two of my friends do not own guns and would be firing mine. I advised them to buy ammo in specific calibers. They went to a couple of stores. I get a call back stating they didn't want to go because ammo was so expensive. This irked me since they would have had no issue going if they were shooting my ammo.

My brother and other two friends want to go, but are only bringing a box of pistol ammo each. That should take them about 20 minutes, tops, to shoot off. I have no idea what they are planning for the other 90 minutes we will probably be out there for.

As for the other invitees, who knows what they are planning. Invite 10 and you are lucky to get 4 or 5 people who want to go.

Comparison

I just received the most recent Gun Tests Magazine (February edition). There was a comparison between three 330 Acp autoloaders. The contestants were the Bersas Firestorm $307 bucks), the Walther PPK ($556 bucks) and the oddball of the group, the Hi Point Model CF380 ($135 bucks).

To me, this comparison was a little outrageous. How can you compare a 135 dollar pistol to one four times its price, like the PPK at $556? This is like comparing a Chevy Caliber to a Chevy Corvette. While both vehicles will get you where you want to go, one is much classier and offers more bells and whistles.

With all that said, the inexpensive Hi Point didn't do all that badly, in comparison. It was 100% reliable and accuracy was just slightly over that of the other two weapons.

Partial list of U.S. Military sidearms

I was skimming the Internet out of boredom and found a few links with lists of U.S. Military weapons of all shapes and forms. As usual, Wikipedia has the easiest to view and best laid out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_individual_weapons_of_the_U.S._Armed_Forces

In active service (all branches)
M9 (Beretta 92F/FS; Pistol ('Personal Defense Weapon'), 9x19mm Parabellum)
M11 (SIG Sauer P228; Pistol, 9x19mm NATO)
In active service (some branches, secondary or limited roles)
Kimber ICQB (M1911A1 variant developed for MCSOCOM Det-1)
MEU(SOC) Pistol (.45ACP) (M1911A1 modified by USMC armorers for MEU(SOC). Replacement will be made by Kimber.)
Sig P229R DAK (.40 S&W) (USCG)
Mk 23 Mod 0 (Heckler & Koch Mark 23; Pistol, .45 ACP) (special forces)
Heckler & Koch USP Tactical (special forces; often preferred over the Mark 23 pistol)
Glock 19 (Official Sidearm to Air Force Pilots)
Mk 24 Mod 0 (SIG/Sauer P226; Pistol, 9x19mm Parabellum) (Navy SEALs and other special forces)
M9A1 (Beretta 92FS w/ accessory rail; Pistol, 9x19mm Parabellum) (Limited purchase by USMC)
M1911A1 (Colt Model 1911A1; Pistol, .45 ACP) (some special forces groups and USMC Force Recon)
High Standard HDM (Suppressed Pistol, .22 LR) (Navy SEALs and USMC Force Recon)
Heckler & Koch P9S (HK; Suppressed Pistol, 9x19mm Parabellum) (only used by Navy SEALs)
Heckler & Koch P11 ZUB (Underwater weapon) (Navy SEALs)

Some of these surprised me. I was not aware that the Glock 19 was standard pilot issue. I was also surprised by the variety of Sig's in service. Seems like Sig may have lost the big contract back in 1984, but they are making up for it. I was also a bit amused by the numbers of 1911's and other 45 auto's found in this list and who uses them. If all these Spec Ops guys are being issues 45 acp's over 9mm, this should be a serious sign to the people in charge that the 9mm just wasn't/isn't the way to go.

Bottle necked pistol cartridges

For a number of years bottle necked pistol cartridges were frowned upon by just about everyone. I have no idea why. It makes sense to use them since most rifle cartridges are bottle necked to improve ballistics of the bullet over that of a straight walled case. It should then follow the same logic for auto-pistol cartridges.

Among the first automatic pistol cartridges were bottlenecks. The smaller bullet over the case size is a well known factor for improving feeding, as well as the aforementioned power increase. The 7.65x25 Borchardt was created for the Borchardt Pistol in 1893. This cartridge was the basis for the 30 Mauser (7.63 x 25mm) used in the C96 "Broomhandle" Mauser introduced just two years later. This cartridge is the basis of the almost identical 7.62 x 25mm Tokarev used in the TT33 Tokarev pistol, CZ 52 pistol, and a ton of machine pistols and submachine guns.

Another pair of important bottle neck pistol rounds are the 30 Luger (7.65x 21 mm) and 8 mm Nambu. The 30 Luger was created in 1898 and later used in a number of pistol including the famous Luger (Parabellum) pistol. The 8mm Nambu was the standard Japanese pistol round of World War 2.

Over the next 40 years, not too many bottle necked pistol rounds were adopted by major firms and survived. Tons of wildcats were created and a few achieved a loyal cult following, such as: 38-45 Clerke, 357 Automag, 41 Jurras Mag Pistol, and others. The Soviets came up with the 5.45 x 18 mm, but it has not apparently too popular with the troops due to it being underpowered and adopted in a bad weapon.

Then, in 1994 a bottle necked round was created that took the world by storm, for a few years. The 357 Sig was claimed to be equal to the 357 Magnum in performance. It was not, but it was close enough to gain a loyal following. It's "mythic" abilities have faded over time, as has it's popularity, but weapons that fire this gun and the ammo itself still sell well enough. The U.S. Secret Service uses the Sig 229 and this round as standard issue.

After that, the powers that be, in the weapons industry, learned that bottle necked autopistol cartridges have a real place, a real purpose and actually work as well or better then straight-walled cases. After the 357 Sig came a slew of new bottlenecks... 25 NAA, 32 NAA, 400 Corbon, 5.7x28 mm, 17 Mach II, and the 17 HMR to name a few.

I have long been a fan of the 7.62x25mm Tokarev. I own a CZ52 and love popping off a ton of rounds from her. 85/86 grain bullets coming out of the barrel at 1500 to 1650 fps. Now, a few bullet makers are making hollow points for this caliber. Must make a big mushroom!

New laws

Arizona state lawmakers are currently working to "fix" laws that allow illegal immigrants to own and carry firearms so that they cannot "get" the weapons.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/108062

Umm.. Hello..? If they are illegal immigrants, they have already broken our laws to get into this country. Do ya really think that another law on the books is going to stop these criminals from getting a firearms through illegal channels?

Somehow, I think writing laws that say the same thing that Federal laws already say is a little ridiculous. We need to stop pussy-footing around with these people. How is that a person doing 76 in a 65mph zone gets worse treatment then a person here illegally? The speeder has to pay the fine...what do illegals get...?.a ticket which they never pay. This isn't fishing..there should be no catch and release program.

Gyrojet

As I was typing yesterdays blog, I thought to myself, "Oh yeah...I have an idea for another post."

Back in 1944 the Germans were attempting to create 20mm spin stabilized rockets. Whether or not Robert Mainhardt and Art Blehl new about this, they created a company that eventually made a handheld Gyrojet launcher. In 1965 they announced that their company had "perfected" the technology and was producing both pistols and carbines that fired 13 mm Gyrojets, each about 1.5 inches long. The mini-rockets didn't come out of the barrel going all that fast, but reached their maximum speed somewhere around 200 feet. At the muzzle, the rocket was traveling about one-quarter the speed of a 45 acp...less then 200 fps.

The Gyrojet concept was great, but the actuality of it left a little to be desired. The rocket had very little stopping power up to about 25 to 30 feet and was inaccurate. Some sources state you could actually put your finger over the end of the barrel and stop the rocket.

The pistol was also about 250 bucks, so quite expensive for its time. The gun, though, was very light, about half the weight of a 1911 Government model. This was due to the fact that the barrel for the weapon was thin and aluminum was used in many areas instead of steel. There was little need for a thick barrel since the pressures involved were far less then a standard pistol cartridge.

As I said, the concept was great. Many Sci-Fi games, books, and movies picked up the concept and ran with it.

Dardick and the Trounds

One of the coolest pistols I have ever found is the Dardick 1100 and1500. According to Ian Hogg in Pistols of the World, Dardick came up with the idea for this unique pistol in 1949 and announced it 1954. The gun used a triangular shaped cartridge and normally fired a 38 caliber bullet. The pistol was only produced until 1962 and was ugly as sin, but it had some cool features. It had a magazine built into its grip, but fed trounds into a revolver-like apparatus. It had a long, double action trigger pull.

The trounds cases were made of plastic or aluminum. A stripper clip was used to load the trounds into the weapon.

There were "tround adapters" that allowed the pistol to use standard 38 special, 38 S&W Long, 9 mm Para, and even 22 LR rounds (with interchangeable barrels).

The Model 1100 had a 3 inch barrel and the model 1500 had a 5 inch barrel. They even offered an adapter and shoulder stock to convert the Model 1500 into a carbine. The gun held 11 to 15 trounds of ammo. The model 1500 cost 100 bucks at a time when the Colt Trooper could be had for 75 bucks. It was an expensive gun.

In any case, it was an interesting gun.