Firearms

Brand Wars

When it comes to the gun world, there are few things that cause disagreements more often than brand wars. I have said before, and I continue to say that there is no such thing as a brand that is perfect for everyone. There are, in my opinion, models or even brands that are too unreliable to be good for anyone.

Grip angle

The angle of a handgun’s grip to the plane of the barrel can vary from the 55 degrees of the Luger P08, to the 18 degrees of the 1911 and Smith and Wesson’s M&P autoloaders, or even 17 degrees of the old Ruger P95. Glocks have a grip angle of 22.5 degrees. Each person will have an opinion as to which one fits their and and shooting style.

Whichever grip angle is right for you will see the pistol pointing at the target without any conscious effort on your part. Here is how to check yours:

  1. Set up a target in a safe area (even if you shot it, the bullets wouldn’t go through and hit someone or something important).
  2. Unload your pistol.
  3. Present your gun at the target as though you were going to shoot it. Get a good sight picture.
  4. Lower the gun (or holster it, if you have one).
  5. Close your eyes. Present the gun again at your target.
  6. Open your eyes. Are your sights on target?
    If they’re too high, the grip angle may be too steep.
    If they’re too low, the grip angle may be too shallow.
  7. Repeat this at least 5 times to be sure you get consistent results.

If all your pistols have about the same grip angle, you won’t have to adjust your aim when switching pistols. That is why all of my carry handguns are of the M&P line. You will get the same results if all of your carry pistols are Glocks, or Springfield, etc. As log as your grip angle is consistent, you can change handguns without a problem. If you change to a new grip angle, you can figure about 1,000 rounds to adjust to the new one. Pick a grip angle you are OK with and stick with it.

Bore Axis

Another thing that matters is bore axis. The bore axis is the distance between the top of the shooter’s gripping hand and the center of the barrel. In a pistol with a hammer, this distance can be quite large.

Note that the line of where the gripping hand is is located quite a bit below the center of the barrel. This forms a lever, with the fulcrum being where the web of the thumb grips the backstrap of the pistol, and the force being applied down the center of the barrel. This force causes two types of recoil- backwards through the barrel, and a bit of muzzle flip. The larger the bore axis, the more pronounced the muzzle flip. The greater the muzzle flip, the more time it takes to get your sights back on the target for a follow up shot. For most people, this won’t really be noticeable beyond a perceived increase in recoil. 

The bore axis for the following handguns is:

  • The 1911 has a bore axis of 1.75
  • Glock 17 Gen 4 is 1.26 inches.
  • Smith and Wesson M&P 2.0 is 1.41 inches
  • Sig 320 is 1.78″
  • Sig P226 is 1.80

As a general rule, striker fired pistols will have a lower bore axis than do pistols with a hammer, because the fire control group of a striker fired pistol takes up less room.

Grip Size

I have large hands and a pretty good grip strength. That means I can handle full powered handguns and double stack magazines. Not everyone funds this comfortable. Make sure that the grip of the firearm fits your hand. and easy way to do that is see if you can push in the magazine release with your gripping hand’s thumb without shifting your grip. If you can’t, that particular handgun may be to fat for your hand.

Another consideration is grip length. If you are gripping the handgun and your pinky finger is hanging in the breeze, maybe your hand is too large for that pistol. One solution is an extended magazine with a boot on it, like the ones they have on the Taurus Millenium.

Conclusion

There is a lot that goes into handgun design- the grip angle, the bore axis, the size and power of the cartridge, the weight of the handgun, and many other factors go into the perceived recoil, accuracy, and the speed of follow up shots. Combine that with the ergonomics, style, and skill of each shooter, and the interplay makes a virtual unlimited number of possible combinations, making a determination of the “best” pistol impossible.

If you don’t yet have a handgun, find a gun range that rents firearms. See if a gun owning friend will take you to the range and let you shoot a few of his guns. In short, don’t let someone else tell you what gun you should buy. The only things that should matter are:

  • Is it reliable enough to go bang every time you squeeze the trigger?
  • Can you reliably get multiple hits with it?
  • Does it fire a cartridge that passes the FBI test of 12-18 inches of gel penetration? (This generally means 300 or more foot pounds of energy)
  • Is it small enough to do what you want to do with it? (Carry, home defense, etc.)
  • Pick a gun maker that offers a lifetime warranty. The pistols that they sell are generally pretty reliable.
  • If you are a more experienced shooter, make sure that you can pass the 5 test with it- Draw and get 5 hits in a 5 inch circle at 5 yards in less than 5 seconds.

I have seen far too many gun store employees try to sell people guns that are obviously not right for them. For example, selling a small woman a tiny pink colored .357 magnum. Don’t let someone else tell you what you like and what you need. You are the only one who can determine that. Others can only guide you there, but at the end of the day, it is your decision to make.

By Divemedic, ago

10mm Research

In my continuing research of 10mm defense loads: Let me start this post by pointing out that pistols are a compromise, in that they all suck for self defense. We carry them because it is easier and gets you fewer sideways looks than does carrying a long gun. Better the handgun on your hip than the firearm at home in the safe.

The current 10mm that I have is a full sized M&P10mm and I am unlikely to carry it. I find that I don’t even carry any of my full sized handguns on a regular basis. What I find myself carrying most often is a J frame .38 or a Shield Plus in 9mm. Still, buying and shooting guns is fun, so what the hell?

Even though I won’t carry it much, I always keep plenty of magazines and ammo on hand for every firearm. Five magazines for every pistol is the minimum I am comfortable with. For ammo, the minimum is 500 rounds for semi auto handguns, 100 rounds for revolvers, and 1000 rounds for semi-auto rifles of “war shots” that I like to keep on hand. That doesn’t count whatever range ammo that I have.

Of course I am going to research this, because it’s what I do. See the months of research I did before going with solar as a backup power system.

In looking at defensive ammo, the most important criteria is that it functions well in my firearm. It needs to go bang every time I intend it to. I will accept no more than one failure for every 500 rounds. (That’s why I no longer carry and have sold most of my 1911’s. They jam far too often. See this post here about the suckage that was my experiment with that platform.) Going along with that, the ammo must also be somewhat accurate for my handgun. That means passing a 5×5 test- I have to be able to put 5 rounds into a 5 inch circle at 5 yards in 5 seconds or less while drawing from a holster. I would rather hit with a .22 than miss with a .44.

The next criteria is that it has solid performance. There is no point in reinventing the wheel- I use the FBI criteria that states a bullet should penetrate between 12 and 18 inches of ballistic gelatin and a bullet that expands to at least 1.5 times its diameter. With handguns being poor performers, I want to maximize what performance I *do* get, so I try to only buy and stock ammo that meets this standard. I expected that my research will find more full power 10mm that goes beyond the 18 inches than falls short.

In 1983, Whit Collins, John Adams, Irving Stone, and Jeff Cooper worked with Norma AB to design the 10mm Automatic cartridge. Their goal was to create the a handgun cartridge that fired a heavier and larger caliber bullet than the 9mm Luger at a higher velocity and magazine capacity than the .45 ACP. This would create a handgun cartridge that combined the best of both platforms.

They did this by cutting a .30 Remington case down and loading it with .40 caliber bullets from the .38-40 Winchester. they not only achieved that objective but exceeded it by a healthy margin. The original 10mm Auto load shot a 200 grain projectile at 1,200 feet per second for 640 ft-lbs of muzzle energy, which was a significant step up in performance compared to the 9mm Luger and the .45 ACP. The new round nearly doubled the energy of the 9mm Parabellum and off the shelf .45 ACP ammunition.

Dornaus & Dixon Enterprises worked in parallel with Jeff Cooper and the rest of the 10mm Auto team to build a handgun designed specifically to shoot the new cartridge: the Bren Ten pistol. Similar in appearance to the CZ-75, Sonny Crockett in the television show Miami Vice helped make the Bren Ten famous. For this reason, demand for the pistol and the cartridge exploded in the mid-1980s. Unfortunately, the Bren Ten was rushed into production and the pistol’s reputation suffered due to early issues with reliability, quality control, and a shortage of magazines. The company was never quite able to regain its footing after those initial missteps and declared bankruptcy in 1986 after only making 1500 of the pistols. Shortly after the passing of the Bren Ten, Colt rolled out a Model 1911 modified to use the cartridge that they named the Delta Elite. 

Then came a fateful day in US law enforcement. The 10mm Auto piqued the interest of the FBI during their search for a more powerful service round in the aftermath of the disastrous 1986 shootout with two bank robbers in Miami.

The FBI liked the 10mm and originally wanted to switch to that platform, but the fact that they had a lot of limp wristed agents who were recoil sensitive, they wanted something with less recoil. The FBI test report on the cartridge was apparently labeled:

CAUTION: Velocities, pressures and recoil are extreme, vary greatly, and damage weapons with extended use. Control for multiple shots extremely difficult.

They downloaded the 10mm to reduce power by about 30% and issued a request for handgun makers to bid on a new cartridge/handgun combination for FBI use. This loading became known as the “10mm FBI load.” This load was several hundred feet per second slower than the original 10mm Auto, but the FBI was still satisfied with its penetration and terminal performance.  The winner of this competition would get a lucrative contract to supply most of US law enforcement.

Enter Smith and Wesson. They developed a cartridge that was shorter than the 10mm and met the FBI standard, and the .40 S&W was born. Derisively, it is said that S&W in this case stands for “Short and Weak.” Many of the advantages of the powerful 10mm cartridge disappeared with this downloaded cartridge. Instead of getting all of the combined advantages of the 9mm and .45ACP, you got none of them. That’s why the .40S&W has largely fallen out of favor- there is no advantage of having it.

To be completely honest, I own several .40S&W pistols, but I can’t remember the last time I carried or even shot one of them. Less capacity and slower bullets than a 9mm, lighter bullets than a .45ACP. What’s nice is that I can swap a barrel and change my S&W40 to .357Sig or 9mm.

I don’t want to simply buy 10mm ammo that is loaded to 40 caliber specs. If I wanted to do that, I would just carry one of my 40 calibers. I was looking for an ammo manufacturer that was loading ammo that really took advantage of the 10mm cartridge. After some searching, I like Underwood ammo as well as Fenix ammunition. Both of them are loading to the full 10mm capabilities. Buffalo Bore does as well, but their bullets are overpenetrating and seem better for large animals than for self defense.

Fenix makes one self defense loading for 10mm, and that is a 180 grain JHP moving along at 1250 feet per second, giving us a muzzle energy of 624 foot pounds. They are currently out of stock, so let’s look at our next contestant.

Underwood has quite a few loadings for 10mm. I selected the Tools & Targets YouTube channel because the guy clearly loves his 10mm and does a decent job in testing the bullets he looks at. The loadings that I am most interested in:

200 grain XTP moving along at 1250 feet per second with 694 ft/lb of energy. This round got 1100 fps out of that 4.6 inch barrel, delivering 537 ft/lb. The bullet penetrated 24 inches. That velocity isn’t great, but it’s the overpenetration that concerns me. Any energy that the bullet has when it leaves the backside of your target is wasted energy.

180 grain XTP at 1300 feet per second and 676 ft/lb. This channel saw the ammo come in right at 1242 fps for 616 ft/lb from a 4.6 inch barrel. He got a full 16 inches of penetration with the bullets retaining 150-179 grains of their mass, even though they expanded to more than .640 inches in diameter. Impressive performance.

155 grain XTP at 1500 feet per second and 775 ft/lb. The guy in this video found that it hit 1500 fps from a 4.6 inch barrel, just like the box claimed. That means it was right about 800 foot pounds of energy. The bullet gave 12.5″ to 13″ of penetration, with or without the clothing barrier.

135 grain JHP at 1600 feet per second and 768 ft/lb. The guy here got an average of about 1450 feet per second out of a 4.6 inch barrel. The wound cavity looks great, but it is only penetrating to 12.25″ and I just don’t see me wanting to use this one. I think the combination of slower than advertised speed along with the Nosler hollow point means suboptimal performance.

Overall, it looks like I will be selecting the Underwood 180 grain XTP for our initial reliability testing. I will order some, and once the reflex sight comes in, we will take a couple of hundred rounds to the range and see how it works. At $1.25 a round, it is actually cheaper than Gold Dots ($1.75) or Hornady Critical Duty ammo ($1.50). I just ordered 500 rounds for testing. If that round doesn’t work out, I will try the 155gr loading.

The 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. I only post these things because I think that my readers would be interested.

By Divemedic, ago

Guns and Tasers

One of the questions we hear all of the time is “Why don’t you just carry a Taser? You don’t need a gun unless you want to kill someone.”

Today’s video is from Blount County, Tennessee. This happened in February of this year, and it is a video of a guy who was pulled over for DUI. You can see from the video that he was swerving all over the road, so a deputy initiated a traffic stop. He refused to get out of the car, claiming that the stop was only because he is black.

Once backup arrived, he continued to refuse to the point that a Taser was deployed several times. In the course of this, the primary deputy was shocked with the Taser. She stepped back, and with her out of the way, the suspect shot and killed the Deputy holding the Taser before getting away.

You can watch the video here, where it is cued up to the last Taser deployment. Because it contains a shooting with a fatality, Youtube will not allow it to be embedded.

Note that the Taser was being actively used and the critter managed to reach a firearm, shoot one deputy in the head and the other in the leg. This is the prime reason why Tasers are useless as self defense weapons. Carry a gun. Don’t bet your life on less lethal tools.

The fine young aspiring rapper who killed the cop was eventually caught after a massive manhunt and is now facing the death penalty. When he was arrested, he told the cop who was taking him to jail, “You black. You allowin’ this?” He is a convicted felon with a long history of committing violent crimes. As a result, he can’t legally possess a firearm or ammunition, but he does anyhow. Why? It’s his culture.

For too many blacks, it isn’t about right and wrong. It’s about race. If you are black, you can do no wrong. If you are white, you are evil. For them, it is a race war.

Look at the Change.org petition for him.

The charge is 1st Degree Murder, premeditated. There is an entire community of citizens that believe this charge is fueled by racism and hate…

It is unclear why Officers Eggers refuses this request of K9 and acts upon the excessive force of multiple taser deployments. Leading up to a firearm being discharged. He acted in self-defense, maybe even a state of shock and cannot be tried for first-degree murder/premeditated murder.

He is on video shooting two cops and killing one of them. It isn’t self defense. He was illegally carrying a firearm because he is a violent criminal.

He isn’t, as the petition claims, an upstanding member of the community. At 42 years old, he had already been in prison multiple times for aggravated assault, domestic violence, and a multitude of other violent crimes.

By Divemedic, ago

Good Questions

Some good questions to my security post of this morning, so let’s take a look:

  • I’m curious as to what you use as a training load equivalent?

I don’t for the higher powered 45 loads. How I address this, is nearly every pistol (as opposed to revolver) that I have is a S&W M&P: I have M&P40s, M&P9s, M&P45s, a Shield 380EZ, several Shield pluses, as well as Shields in 9mm, .380, .40S&W, and .45ACP. I also have a few Glock 19s and 19 clones, but I rarely shoot them and can’t remember ever carrying one.

Having the same models as carry pieces simplifies the manual of arms, makes repairs easy as they all look the same on the inside, and makes switching firearms and calibers smoother and easier. I know that full power loads don’t shoot the same, but it’s close enough for what I am doing here. I can still do A-zone shots quickly and effectively out to 15 or 20 yards with little effort, and that is all I am concerned with.

  • IDK if I’d go to a full size .45 tho, a single stack 9mm is very svelte, easy to carry, and similar capacity. A subcompact .40 a bit thicker, but smaller than the .45 and similar power/effect.
  • Open carry is legal in Florida on your own property. But wear a light cover garment anyway; they don’t need to know until it’s time for them to know, and you’re still “legal” if you step into the street.
  • It wouldn’t hurt to have a Glock 19-26 ish type pistol concealed appendix ish.

All handguns are a tradeoff. They have low power, not as much firepower as a long gun like an AR-10 or an AR-15, and not as much punch as say, a shotgun. We carry handguns because we aren’t sure whether or not we will need one, but it is useful to have one just in case. When I am at home, I have more freedom to carry a large handgun, hence the double stack .45.

One firearm on me at a time is all I need, especially when at home. All I need is something to bridge the gap that exists between me and a long gun. Remember, you carry a handgun in case you might be in a gun fight. If you KNOW you will be in a gun fight, endeavor to not be there. If that is impossible, bring a long gun, and bring a friend with a long gun, if possible.

When working on my property but outside, I just wear a baggy t-shirt and pull it over my OWB holster (a DeSantis Speed Scabbard that I used to use back when I was an IDPA competitor. A funny story about that below the divider)

When I am away from home, I avoid areas where I am likely to need a firearm, but just in case, I carry a pistol or revolver that is easy to carry and easy to conceal. Think a Smith and Wesson Shield, Shield plus, or J frame revolver. My EDC is usually a Shield plus (they hold 13 rounds of 9mm), or a J frame .38 loaded with wadcutters.

  • Have you made realistic plans for the “temporary” removal of your firearms after a “Good Shoot”?

I have caches of firearms. I have guns in safes. I’m not opening or revealing either to the cops.

I have a Tshirt that says “DeSantis, Concealment Perfected” on it that I bought some years ago. One of my wife’s coworkers saw me while I was wearing it out with her and some coworkers at an event. She told me that seeing DeSantis’ name on a shirt was a trigger for her because he was an evil fascist. I told her not to worry, that the shirt had absolutely nothing to do with the Governor, it was a brand of holsters that I liked carrying my pistols in, “and in fact I am carrying a handgun in one of their holsters now.”

She practically ran out of the venue and hasn’t spoken to my wife since. My wife says that she didn’t like the woman anyhow, but that saying what I said was hunting over bait, even if it was funny.

By Divemedic, ago

How Much Ammo?

Once you pick your flavor of ammo as we did earlier this week, how much of it should we have on hand? Some people say that the most handgun ammunition that you need on hand is 250 or 500 rounds. That’s ridiculous. I have more than that in any given caliber.

For starters, there are two types of ammo: range ammo and war shots. PewPew Tactical recommends 500 rounds as a starting point, with 150 of those rounds being war shots. I still think that’s low. So what do I consider to be a good amount of ammo?

For range ammo, I buy in bulk because it’s cheaper, meaning in 1,000 round cases. If I find a good deal, I snap it up. That’s how I scored 9mm FMJ for 15 cents a round back in January of 2020, when I got 2,000 rounds for $300. Of course, that was pre-COVID. Good luck getting 9mm at that price now.

For starters, .22lr comes in bricks of 500 rounds. I own a few .22 firearms, both pistols and rifles. You will seldom see me with less than a couple of thousand rounds of .22 lying about. Of course, there is really no such thing as a “war shot” with .22lr. A brick of .22 will cost you about $30 at today’s prices, making it the cheapest way to shoot. It’s also great for squirrels and rats. That’s why I keep a bunch on hand.

When it comes to range ammo, I try to stock a minimum of 500 rounds per caliber. For the high use calibers of 9mm and .45, I find that 1,000 rounds on hand is a minimum.

For defensive handguns, we need to consider war shots. For semi-autos, I try to keep a minimum of 500 war shots per handgun. For revolvers, 150 war shots per handgun. So if I have a pair of 9mm handguns, that’s 1,000 rounds.

When we get into 5.56mm and 7.62x51mm, we get into a whole different ballgame. For the AR, all I stock in 5.56mm is Green Tips. I don’t do different war shots and range ammo, because I want my war shots to perform identically to my range ammo. For that reason, I try to keep a minimum of 5,000 rounds on hand of 5.56mm.

Likewise for the 7.62x51mm, but my round count there is lower simply because it is more expensive and takes up more room. So I want my minimum there to be no less than 2,500 rounds. With the 7.62, I look for nothing but the 147 grain. That way, every round is similar in performance to every other round.

For shotguns, all I have are 12 gauges. I stock 250 defense rounds in buckshot and slug, and 250 rounds of #7 shot (for hunting).

Toss in a few smoke grenades and a couple of pepper grenades, and the fire marshal’s office will shit themselves if they ever find out about that stash.

So as you can see, that means a lot of ammo on hand. We are talking about more than 20,000 rounds of ammo. I didn’t get there by buying it all at once. I just buy ammo on a regular schedule, buy a case at a time when I do buy, and try to get more than I shoot. Eventually, you get a decent stockpile.

By Divemedic, ago

Mailbag: Magazine Questions

Oldvet50 asks:

How long can you safely store a loaded mag before the spring weakens and causes misfires?

The answer to that depends on the magazine manufacturer. Cheaper magazine manufacturers, especially ones with polymer feed lips, are more prone to failure. Not of the spring, but of the magazine itself. Scorpion had a well documented issue with that. It turns out that the factory Scorpion magazines would dry out when left in a dehumidified safe for long periods. That’s why the Scorpion PMAG is a better choice than the factory one.

With a quality magazine, the answer to that is decades. Magpul themselves claim that they have had magazines fully loaded for eight years, and they still function.

The damage is done by compression and decompression of the spring. The more cycles that a spring goes through, the more it weakens it. I wouldn’t worry, however. It takes thousands of cycles to wear out a spring. Still, I think of magazines as consumable items, which is why I have so many of them.

SmileyFtW asks:

Why the waste of space with the foam? Load the cans tight for maximum capacity I would think. Same stuff in one can; label the can and move on. If one can is to be an assortment, say so on the can and ID the contents so it is obvious to what each one is

That was actually what I was doing up until now. What I got was cans that either contained a bunch of different mags in the same can, or the can wasn’t full. Example. Let’s say that I have a bunch of Smith and Wesson magazines:

  • 12 magazines for a Shield 9mm
  • 8 magazines for a Shield 40S&W
  • 6 magazines for a Shield Plus
  • 30 magazines for an M&P9 9mm
  • 12 magazines for an M&P9C 9mm compact
  • 12 Magazines for an M&P40 .40S&W

That’s 80 magazines. They will likely fit into one caliber can, but they aren’t cross compatible. The worst part is that some will fit in the handgun, but not function. For example, an M&P9 magazine will fit in the M&P40, but you don’t want to attempt to fire it like that. So with this system, good luck finding the right magazine in a hurry.

Another reason for padding them is preventing damage. One of the biggest reasons for malfunctions in a quality handgun (that isn’t a 1911) is a damaged magazine. My carry guns are life saving equipment, as far as I am concerned. The number one quality that I need in a carry gun is reliability. I need to know that it will go ‘bang’ every time I squeeze the trigger. Since quality handgun magazines cost anywhere from $35 to $60 each, having 100 magazines is a significant investment. By padding my magazines, I am protecting them and my investment. I lower the chances of malfunction which will, at best cost me some range time and money replacing it, and at worst will cause a malfunction during a firefight.

That’s also why I number my magazines. I know which ones have malfunctions. Note that number 2 and 5 are both missing in this picture. It’s because they are currently loaded and ‘in use’ by one of my handguns.

It’s a simple numbering system. If it starts with a 9, it’s a magazine that will fit the S&W9. If it ends in a “c” it’s for the M&P9C. This makes sense in my mind, because the compact can accept the full sized mags (but not vice-versa). The magazine numbers that start with a ‘G’ are for the Glock 19. (That’s the only model of Glock that I have, thanks to Project Gaston)

A similar code works, with the M&PShield Plus mag numbers all starting with ‘P’, the 45 magazines starting with ’45’, etc. I have a spreadsheet* that I use to track magazines, ammo, firearms, and firearm spare parts.

*I also keep a list of spare parts on hand: springs, firing pins, sights, and other fiddly bits. That’s why I have so many M&Ps: common spares, and the best spare part is simply having a spare pistol. Not only that, but I also know how to detail strip and troubleshoot the M&P series very well, which simplifies repairs. The Glock is easy to do the same with, but I generally don’t like the way that the Glock fits my hand. I’m still learning all of the ins and outs of the AR system.

By Divemedic, ago

SB Tactical Gets Pwned

A company that makes pistol braces gets its customer database breached. There are four possibilities here:

  1. ATF was doing a little illegal sneak and peek so they know whose dogs to shoot
  2. ATF had one of their partner informants do it for them
  3. A freelance SJW is planning on outing everyone
  4. Criminals are just doing what they do

I am betting that the incident is either 2, above. Some lefty is going to anonymously notify the ATF that they have a list of lawbreaking owners of SBRs. Since the new rule outlawing unregistered pistol braces was published today, you have 120 days to register your (now) SBR or become a felon. Isn’t that a sweet little coincidence?

The miscreants got away with each user’s credit card number, expiration date, CCV code, cardholder name, address, phone number, and email address. If you have ever done business with SB tactical, you should consider all of that information as being compromised and in the possession of people who mean to steal your money, your life, or your freedom.

We know that the feds are now enlisting people in the private sector to do their unconstitutional dirty work. It can’t be too much longer before the informers are everywhere and people become vzyali.

On a side note, as of today I will no longer be in possession of a pistol brace equipped firearm. I am not registering shit.

By Divemedic, ago

Dry Firing

One of the people who comments here made the comment that no shooter should ever dry fire a firearm. I would say that if you are not making dry fire a part of your training regimen, you are missing out on an important training tool that will make your trigger control much better.

It isn’t just me who says that. The shooting instructors at the Sig Sauer academy recommend it:

“The key to shooting is manipulating that trigger to the rear without adding movement to that front sight,” says SIG SAUER Academy instructor Allison Glassick. “That’s the secret to shooting.”

For beginners, the blast and recoil of a live round often causes a natural human reaction to flinch or anticipate the shot which can disrupt their grip and trigger manipulation. But taking away those live fire distractions and working through some drills with an empty handgun can pay dividends when it’s time to head to the range.

“The bang inevitably will disrupt my senses and my ability to focus in on what’s important—that slow, deliberate process of pulling the trigger from front to rear while managing that sight alignment,” says SIG SAUER Academy instructor Justin Christopher. “The best possible way to train your body how to do this is without any bullets in the gun.”

Even the people at the US Concealed Carry Association recommend it, as long as it is done in a safe manner. When I dry fire, I make sure that there is no live ammunition in the same room. That way, you are less likely to have an ND (I learned that one the hard way- I once shot my dresser when dry firing) because you aren’t tempted to load and then pull a trigger on a loaded firearm. From the USCCA, dry fire safety rules:

1 No interruptions! Turn the ringer off the phone and make sure the front door is locked. If you are interrupted, start again from the beginning rather than picking up where you think you left off.

2 Unload your gun.

3 Check that the gun is unloaded. Use both your eyes and your fingertips. Lock the action open and then run your pinky into the empty chamber to be sure it’s really empty. If you have a revolver, run your finger across each hole in the cylinder. Count the empty holes to be sure you touched them all.

4 Remove all ammunition. Get it out of the room and out of sight. I even go so far as to lock the door to the room where the ammunition is kept so that it takes several deliberate steps to get the ammunition back together with the gun.

5 Choose a safe backstop. A backstop is anything that will reliably stop a bullet from the most powerful load that your gun is capable of firing. Never dry-fire without a solid backstop.

6 Place a target in front of your backstop. To avoid a “just one more” mishap, do not dry-fire directly at anything that will remain in the room. Use a target that will be taken down when you are done.

7 Double-check that the gun is still unloaded.

8 Mental shift to practice. Say to yourself, “This is practice. I have checked and double-checked the gun. Ammunition is not present. This is only practice.” Say it out loud, and if you find yourself wondering if it’s really true, go back and check again.

9 Dry fire. Ten to 15 minutes is as much dry-fire practice as most people can safely handle. If your mind begins to wander, stop immediately. That’s a sign that you are not paying attention to what you are doing — an important red flag.

10 Take the target down immediately — before leaving the room and before reloading the gun. Never leave the target up after you are done practicing. As you take the target down, say aloud, “Practice is over. No more dry fire. Practice is over.” This helps you make the important mental shift back to the real world and prevents the infamous “just one more” mishap.

11 Put your gun in the safe or if you are unwilling to lock your defense gun away for an hour or two, at least get yourself out of the practice room. Stay out of that area until your conditioning to pull the trigger there has been replaced by conscious thought.

12 Reload out loud. When do you reload the gun, say aloud, “This gun is loaded. It will fire if I pull the trigger. This gun is loaded.” Say it three times and say it out loud. This allows you to think, speak and hear that the gun is no longer in dry-fire condition.

If you want to do it on the cheap, balance a coin on your front sight. Pull the trigger without losing the coin. It’s a good way to learn to pull the trigger without moving your point of aim. Once you see the improvement, you can try a training system like MantisX.

Once you are proficient with dry fire from a prepared stance, you can advance to trying it while drawing.

In summary, dry fire is an important part of my firearms training. Maybe you should make it a part of yours.

By Divemedic, ago

It Gets Worse

On the Brevard county deputy ND homicide. He pointed the gun at the other deputy and pulled the trigger. When it didn’t go bang, he racked the slide and did it again. The second time he pulled the trigger, the pistol functioned as designed.

One thing that makes it worse is what the Sheriff got from the entire event:

he still believed the firearm was unloaded but should have known the magazine containing ammunition was possibly in the firearm by the weight of the gun,

Just like the Baldwin shooting, the shooter in this case deserves to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I would also suggest that the entire Sheriff’s department be forced to undergo a 4 hour firearm safety refresher course. This incident is a sure sign that training is lacking and attention to firearm safety is not being taken seriously.

By Divemedic, ago