Guns

Deal Alert

I have no technical problem with Glocks. They are well functioning firearms, and Gaston’s invention changed the way pistols are made and marketed. I own several. With that being said, I don’t like shooting or carrying them as much as I do other handguns. It isn’t a quality problem. They just don’t feel right in my hand.

My preferred handgun is the Smith and Wesson M&P series. I own them in multiple models and calibers: M&P, the M&P 2.0, the Shield, Shield EZ, and the Shield Plus. I have them in .380, 9mm, .40S&W, .357Sig, and .45ACP. I’ve even been considering a 10mm. Still, I think that Smith & Wesson hit it out of the park for concealed carry when they came out with the Shield Plus. I own several or three of them.

I did a review of a Performance Center Shield Plus about a year and a half ago. Smith and Wesson hit a home run with this handgun. It may very well be the ultimate concealed carry handgun. A micro compact 9mm holding 10, or 13 rounds, and it is the same size as 8 shot 9mms. Smith and Wesson also sells magazines for the Shield Plus that hold 15 rounds. The only real issue is that the pistol with a microdot installed isn’t always convenient for EDC. It won’t fit in my Vaultek Slide, and I had to have a Milt Sparks holster custom made to fit it. For that reason, I also have a couple without the microdot sight on them. The Shield Plus comes in a few versions.

If those prices aren’t low enough, Smith and Wesson is offering a $50 rebate for every Shield pistol sold during November and December. A new quality EDC handgun for $350? Yes, please. (I just got one with the microdot slide cut for $400, after the rebate. I paid for it with a cashback credit card, so that cuts the price down even more.)

Disclaimer: I don’t advertise, and receive nothing for my reviews or articles. 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 that you can’t get. I only post these things because I think that my readers would be interested.

By Divemedic, ago

Warning

Prioritize ammo if you haven’t. You have to wonder if this is a coincidence or not.

EDITED to add:

By Divemedic, ago

Looking

Looking at my next rifle upgrade. I am thinking about an AR10 with this scope on it. I would like to be able to hit a 10″ circle consistently from 500 yards or more with factory ammo. My last AR10 project resulted in what I call a lightweight skirmish rifle. This rifle shoots 4″ groups at 100 yards with factory ammo.

This time I want something that can get reliable, accurate hits from distance while still being something that you can carry in the field. I need to double the accuracy with this new build, meaning 2″ groups at 100 yards, to get 10″ at 500 yards.

Opinions? Thoughts?

By Divemedic, ago

Fear

Below is a sign that governments know that an armed population is far more difficult to defeat. They are afraid of their citizens until a greater threat presents itself.

The truth is that an armed populace can’t be enslaved or subjugated. The most that an enemy can do is try to wipe them out- and whether that enemy is an outside force or their own government, an armed people is a formidable foe.

By Divemedic, ago

LAPD Only Ones

LAPD has sent out a memo notifying officers that they can no longer carry any handgun magazines with a capacity of more than 18 rounds, on or off duty.

It seems to be an oddly specific number, until you remember that the LAPD has been armed with the FN 509 MRD-LE for over a year and a half now, a pistol which is being sold by FN for LEO use only. The FN 509 is considered by California to be safe for cops to own by the state, but not for the subjects that they rule over. The FN 509 can accept FN’s 24 round magazines, which is where I think that this memo came from.

The handgun is being restricted by FN to Law Enforcement only, but the only differences that I can see with this handgun and the FN 509 MRD are that the LE version has a flat trigger face, the LE handgun ships with 17 round magazines, while the “normal” version’s magazine capacity is only 15 rounds, 10 in CA.

I also want to note that LAPD uses the Speer G2 ammo as their duty ammo. I have blogged on that ammo before, it’s quality stuff. (They used to use Winchester SXT)

By Divemedic, ago

Science for Sale

Johns Hopkins, which used to do good work, but is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Bloomberg, has come out in favor of microstamping.

They aren’t very bright. Microstamping is useless without firearm registration, so we know that is what is next, should they even get this technology (off site PDF alert) to be passed. However, the problems don’t stop there.
  • No manufacturer has ever manufactured a firearm with microstamping. Why? A reliable way of doing it hasn’t been invented yet.
  • All you need to thwart it is a nailfile applied to the end of the firing pin.
  • As a bonus, a murderer could just scatter brass casings that he picked up from the firing range around the crime scene
  • What if the gun used was stolen?
  • What if that gun has a replacement firing pin?

That doesn’t stop the medical people at Johns Hopkins from attempting to push for things in a field where they have no experience whatsoever. They just whore out their credentials to whomever is willing to pay.

The paper touts California’s law, passed in 2007, that requires new models of handgun sold to be equipped with this unicorn technology. They don’t mention that the law was found to be unconstitutional.

Then they attempt to make it into a racial issue by claiming this:

One analysis of major U.S. cities found that law enforcement makes an arrest in only
35% of firearm homicides and 21% of firearm assaults when the victim was Black or Hispanic/Latino compared to 53% and 37% respectively when the victim was white.

You know why that is? Because in white neighborhoods, “firearm homicides” are usually solved when the cops arrive to find the shooter still standing over the decedent’s body with the gun still in his hand. Many of them are also legal self defense shootings. Contrast that with black neighborhoods, where the majority of homicides where a firearm was the means employed involve disputes over gang territory, drug deals, or simple drive by shootings. When police arrive, no one claims to have seen a thing.

A large portion of these unsolved shootings are perpetrated by guns that were recently trafficked and diverted into the illegal market.

Criminals steal guns and then use them to commit crimes? I’m shocked. Hey, explain to me how microstamping will in any way help in solving a crime involving a stolen firearm.

For example, an analysis of five years of data from the ATF found that more than 40% (528,855) of crime guns recovered by police and traced were used in a crime within three years of their initial retail sale at a licensed dealer.

Again, misleading. Used in crime? What crime? Theft? What about the guns recovered by police and not traced? This is a carefully worded statement, intended to mislead the reader.

No, this is where the conclusion leads them:

Microstamping should deter gun dealers and owners from selling or transferring their gun to someone who might commit a crime because microstamping evidence should lead law enforcement to the person who initially purchased the gun from a retail seller.

Of course, no criminal will be smart enough to replace the firing pin.

Doctors at Johns Hopkins: What does Michael Bloomberg’s dick taste like?

By Divemedic, ago