Divemedic

Apex Trigger

In comments, Hank asks:

As a newbie with a number of pieces including a stock M&P 9 Shield 2.0, curious about your Apex preference. Can you go into some depth about the reasoning for that choice one day? What might the CCW neophyte gain by the switch? Thanks!

That’s a great question. I own a few different brands of handguns, but the one I own more of than any other is Smith and Wesson. Beginning with my very first handgun (you never forget your first), a model 59, I have bought dozens of handguns from this manufacturer. I had a few examples of the third generation S&Ws. I stopped buying them for awhile when the company went rogue, then returned to the brand when the began producing the M&P line. The M&P autoloading pistols are, in my opinion, the best that Smith and Wesson has ever made.

But they aren’t perfect. For that reason, there are modifications that I make to every handgun of any brand.

The first thing that I have done to every handgun I have ever purchased is put better sights on it. I have tried a fair few: XS DXT sights, with their large front post allow for a quick sight picture at the expense of a little accuracy, or even the TFO night sights from TruGlo, which have fiber optic for daytime use and Tritium for night time, and the latest, microdot sights.

My favorite microdot sight is currently the Holosun 507k in green. I like the green because I find that I get faster acquisition with it. I have been putting microdots on my handguns since 2019, when I bought a Performance Center Shield Plus because I foolishly thought that I would be able to volunteer for Florida’s Guardian program.

The next modification (going back to at least 2012) that I make is particular to Smith and Wesson M&Ps: an Apex Action Enhancement Kit. This doesn’t apply to the Performance Center, nor to the Shield Plus. I find both of those examples have a decent trigger. Don’t get me wrong, the M&P 2.0 has a much better trigger than the 1.0, but it still needs work. The M&P triggers are by no means the worst triggers I have ever felt. That distinction goes to the Taurus Millennium, because it feels like the trigger is dragging an iron plate across a gravel parking lot. Still, I don’t really like the M&P trigger, as it feels sloppy and gritty at the same time. It just isn’t smooth enough for me.

The Forward Set Trigger kit that I put in this pistol is nice. It comes with springs, trigger, sear, and other parts that allow you to smooth out the trigger pull and set your pull weight. I currently have my pull weight on the 10mm set at about 4 pounds. The new trigger also has a nice, smooth feel with a crisp break.

Installing it is a breeze- just follow the company’s instructional YouTube video, and as long as you have a proper set of tools, it’s a breeze. Essential is a good set of punches, a pistol armorer’s block, a sight pusher tool, and a good set of quality screwdrivers, you can do all of this yourself.

So that is what I generally do to make my handguns feel right for me. Don’t get me wrong, most of the handguns I have owned are perfectly fine right out of the box, but through trial and error, I have found what works for me. You may have a different experience.

The disclaimer: I don’t advertise, and receive nothing for my reviews or articles. I don’t think that I ever will. I have no relationship with any products, companies, or vendors that I review here, other than being a customer. If I ever *DO* have a financial interest, I will disclose it. Otherwise, I pay what you would pay. No discounts or other incentives here. I only post these things because I think that my readers would be interested.

By Divemedic, ago

Nuclear Pot Pie

I think everyone knows the story of the Cuban missile crisis. In October of 1962, JFK learned that the Soviets had put nuclear missiles in Cuba. This especially frightened him, because he spent so much time at his Mother’s house in West Palm Beach that in 1960, the US government installed a Presidential Emergency Facility on Peanut Island, Dubbed Detachment Hotel. It was a 1500 square foot bomb shelter, designed to house the President and his family in the event of a nuclear war.

We came so close to nuclear war that the decision of one man is all that stood between the world and a full nuclear exchange. Captain Savitsky, the commander of the Soviet B-59 submarine had loaded and armed a nuclear torpedo on October 27, 1962. That night, he had surfaced the boat to charge his batteries, and was surrounded by US forces demanding that he surrender. Believing that he was under attack, he ordered a crash dive and the firing of the nuclear weapon. The only reason it didn’t happen was that he couldn’t dive fast enough. That’s how close we came.

But why did the Soviets put nuclear weapons in Cuba? That’s the part of the story that the Americans have never really liked talking about. The Jupiter missile was a nuclear armed, medium range ballistic missile. With a range of 1700 hundred miles, this missile could deliver a 3.75 megaton nuclear warhead within 1000 feet of its aiming point. Almost, as they say, only counts in atom bombs, hand grenades, and horseshoes.

In 1961 and 1962, the US put 15 of these missiles in Turkey, near the town of Izmir, just 1300 miles from Moscow and 45 missiles were located in Italy. This put 60 nuclear missiles just 15 minutes’ flight time from Moscow. Launch detection satellites were still 6 years into the future, so these missiles would be detonating all over the Soviets’ command and control systems before anyone knew the attack was coming.

The Soviets did the only reasonable thing from their point of view- in May of 1962, they reciprocated by putting their own missiles within the same distance of Washington, DC in Cuba. That is what led us to the brink of nuclear war in the fall of 1962.

The resolution of the entire thing included an agreement for the US to remove the missiles from Italy and Turkey. Part of the deal included the Soviets agreeing to keep the existence and removal of the Jupiter missiles a secret from the US public. The operation to remove them was called Operation Pot Pie. The missiles were pulled out of Turkey, but the US still maintains a stockpile of as many as 50 nuclear weapons in Turkey to this day.

The US government has a long history of bumbling through the world, screwing up, but then making the other nation’s reaction to the screw up look like aggression. Name nearly any warlike event of the past century, and it is likely that actions taken by the US government precipitated them. Sometimes it was just inept bungling, sometimes it was deliberate provocation, but our government’s own poor actions resulted in Americans getting killed. A sampling:

By Divemedic, ago

Don’t Let Your Guard Down

I spent years telling everyone who would listen, and some who wouldn’t, that the US was being subjected to an attempted coup. I pointed out that Antifa and BLM were carrying out attacks and ambushes like they were receiving professional training, equipment, and funding. This Central Florida cell is a prime example. The entire thing was following the CIA insurgency manual. Many people thought I was nuts. They told me that my tinfoil hat was too tight. One prominent blogger publicly laughed at me.

Now seeing all of the things that DOGE is turning up, it turns out that I was right. Our own government was trying to toss out legitimate elected officials and take over. They were using our own tax dollars to do it.

Don’t think that it’s over. Trump has given us a brief respite, but they will start up again. Soon. Perhaps as soon as the run up to next year’s elections.

By Divemedic, ago

Your Rights are Just an Obstacle

This is the story about how cops will try to lie to gain entry to your house. As an example, I am going to use the story of Stephanie Rapkin, a woman who lived in Shorewood, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. She was 64 years old at the time of these events. She was on her way home in 2020 when BLM decided to stage a protest in front of her house. They were blocking traffic and wouldn’t allow her to get to her house. She got in a confrontation with a 17 year old protester and wound up spitting in his face. The confrontation was caught on film. She then went inside of her home. Police were called. She was arrested then released due to COVID restrictions.

This is what BLM and their willing accomplices do- they provoke a confrontation while filming it. Then the cops come over and arrest you. That’s exactly what happened here. Never open your door or speak to police, they aren’t there with your best interests in mind. This continued the next day, when BLM decided to protest directly in front of her house. This is how the press characterized it:

peaceful protesters showed up on the sidewalk of Rapkin’s home to denounce the actions she took the day prior. The woman came out of her home and again started arguing with the demonstrators. That exchange led to her slapping and shoving one of the protestors.

Shortly after, police arrived at Rapkin’s residence and attempted to arrest her. At that time Rapkin kneed an officer in the groin before she was placed in the cop car. Rapkin is (still alive and) now facing criminal charges for battery, disorderly conduct, resisting an officer and battery to law enforcement,

The cops spent the next 30 minutes knocking on her door, but she didn’t answer. Good for her. Eventually, the cops decided that she wasn’t opening the door because she was probably committing suicide, even though there was no evidence that this was the case. They used this pretext to kick down her door, enter her home, search her home, and arrest her. Rapkin, who is an attorney, pointed out to them that they were illegally in her home without a warrant, but they arrested her for disorderly conduct anyway, claiming that they were there to check on her welfare and didn’t need a warrant due to exigent circumstances. During the arrest, she kicked one of the cops in the balls. Good for her.

The left had what they wanted. They claimed that Rapkin had attacked while BLM was “peacefully protesting.” Her case went to trial, and she was convicted of misdemeanor disorderly conduct and was sentenced to 60 days in jail. The leftist press claimed that the majority of Americans agreed with BLM and pushed to have her disbarred. They got their wish, but not in the way that they intended.

The police were caught on camera before they entered the home, discussing how they were going to arrest her on sight, and discussing how to find a pretext to enter her home. Rapkin sued them, and the discussions about circumventing her rights were enough to prove that the cops knowingly violated Rapkin’s constitutional rights, thus removing their qualified immunity. The case was settled out of court for $760,000.

Ms. Rapkin is now disbarred, but not by discipline. She stopped paying dues because she retired. As they say, take the money and run. She is now nearly 70 years old. It’s cases like this that caused me to put Milwaukee in Zone 3:

Zone three cities are areas where violence has has taken place with little to no attempt at mitigating response from local authorities. Additionally, police and/or prosecutors are likely to bring the full weight of the law down upon those who attempt to defend themselves from these actors, or those who speak out against them.

Don’t think that, just because Trump won the election, that the cops, officials, and communists in Milwaukee have simply given up or decided to follow the law. No, they are simply biding their time until they can attack again. Stay out of Milwaukee. I wonder what the loss of USAID slush fund money has done to the movement?

Here is a lawyer’s perspective on this case:

By Divemedic, ago

The Real Problem

Why does the EU/UK need the US to be involved in the Ukraine affair? All you have to do is look at the numbers.

  • The EU has a population that is 50% larger than the US- 518 million, compared to our 340 million. (UK 68 million, EU 450 million).
  • The GDP of the UK/EU is $20.5 Trillion, compared to the US $27.2 Trillion.
  • The UK/EU spends $394 Billion (UK $68.3 Billion, EU $326 Billion) on defense. That is 1.9% of its GDP.
  • The UK/EU spends $1.2 trillion on medical care and $4.5 trillion on welfare benefits. That’s a total of $5.7 trillion, or more than a quarter of their GDP. That’s why they can’t afford a military, but that’s OK, the US will supply that, am I right?
  • The US spends $1 trillion on defense, or 3.7% of its GDP, with a fifth of that going to support the defense of Europe. A third of the money spent on Europe’s defense comes from the US, with the other 2/3s coming from the 32 countries of Europe.

While all of this is going on, while Europe is demanding that we the United States do something to stop Russia, they are busy buying Russian oil. So much oil that the Russians have received more European money over the past three years than has Ukraine.

Europe has been spending their money on free healthcare, vacations, and baubles because they can afford to. The US is taking care of the defense budget. That’s what Trump has been complaining about- the nations of Europe are, like teenagers, spending all of their money on music and fast food because the US is acting like parents, and taking care of the groceries and home expenses.

Now tell me why American money needs to go to Europe, why Americans have to enter a war and die, all so Europe can continue partying like it’s a Frat party funded by Europe and the US.

It’s time for that to end. There is no reason why the nations of Europe can’t take care of Russia. The US has a bigger problem to deal with- China. The thing is, what is going to be needed to deal with the Chinese threat isn’t going to be the same as needed for Russia.

Russia only has 8 surface warships in service that are less than 25 years old and larger than 1,000 tons, and they are all Frigates. The remainder of their surface Navy is more than 25 years old, in drydock, or a Corvette (similar to a Coast Guard cutter).

They have one nuclear attack submarine that was built this century, the rest are cold war relics. The only attack submarines they have that are less than 25 years old are diesels.

That’s OK for shallow water operations, but they are no longer a blue water navy. They can’t protect SLOCs, nor can they project power. The Russian navy is not really a force projecting service any longer.

I am not saying that the US has no business interests in Europe, because that is false. The US has business interests in every nation in the world. That isn’t the same thing as a vital national interest. Our military doesn’t exist to make sure that no business venture in the world has risks. No American should die just so some businessman somewhere doesn’t lose money. The US military isn’t here to provide a risk free business environment for all of the nations of the earth.

It’s time that we stop being Uncle Sugar, the World Police, and stop borrowing money that we don’t have to provide security to Europe while they enjoy all of the fruits of our labor, our blood, and our treasure.

By Divemedic, ago

Cost to Add Caliber

As an example for what it costs to add a new caliber:

  • Handgun: including tax, BG check, etc: $655.90
  • Optic: Free, it was a rebate
  • New Apex Trigger (I put an Apex on every M&P): $190
  • 5 more magazines: $213.24
  • 500 rounds of ammo: $626

Total cost to add a new caliber: $1,685.14

I figure it will cost more than three times that amount to add a 300 blackout with an integral suppressor to the stable. Man, shooting is expensive.

By Divemedic, ago

Ammo

I have a wide variety of ammo, mostly because I am not picky. My biggest requirement is that it function well with the firearms that I am going to be using it in.

The only ammo I standardize is rifle ammo. In 5.56mm, I am buying 62 grain green tips. I have optimized my rifles for that. In 7.62 mm, I am shooting 149 grain, but I also have some 168gr BTHP as well.

For handgun, there is a wide variety. Still, here are the main cartridges that I have in stock, and this is largely what I am carrying:

CaliberBulletVelocity (fps)Power (ft/lb)
.38Spl125gr 950250
.357Mag125gr 1400544
.357Sig125gr 1350506
.380ACP90gr950180
9mm124gr1110339
9mm subsonic135gr JHP1010306
9mm subsonic145gr RNL1000322
.40S&W165gr 1045400
.45ACP185gr970386
.45ACP230gr+P975464
10mm*180gr1250624

Note that when more than one bullet is listed in a given caliber, the heavier one is the one that I use in firearms with longer barrels. The lighter bullet is for shorter firearms. For example, that 135gr 9mm bullet makes best use of the longer barrel from a PDC like my Scorpion EVO and its 8 inch barrel. You can tell that I am a fan of the 125grain loading. I also stock subsonic 9mm for using with a suppressor.

However, I also have odds and ends of ammo that I have tested and you will see some odd stuff like 184 rounds of this, or 20 rounds of that. (The 20 rounds is rat shot for the .38Spl)

*For reference, I included the 500 rounds of 10mm that I bought to test. Once I get sights, magazines, and I am sure that this ammo functions well with this handgun, this one will be ready for use.

My wife likes to use the 380 for handguns, but her home defense gun is that EVO, and I don’t blame her. It’s easy to use, recoil is great, and with the 30 round magazines, it gives you a decided advantage against an assailant.

My EDC is either the 38 snubbie, or my Shield Plus in 9mm. My house handgun is a full sized M&P45, and its loaded with the 230gr +p’s.

I may add that 10mm to the mix at some point. The numbers are impressive. I am looking at a company called Underwood that appears to be loading defense ammo to its full potential. The S&W10 is nice because it is the same sized as the 45, and uses the same holsters.

Here is Garand Thumb reviewing the Underwood loadings for the 10mm. I like this video, because it is more entertaining than a dry lecture on the benefits of a cartridge, even if he does take some liberties with strict range safety.

I have never bought or fired Underwood’s ammo before and I know nothing about them, other than their website and the above video. I have to admit that 15 rounds of 180 grains moving at 1300 feet per second is interesting.

By Divemedic, ago