Tag: guns

Lasergrips

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As noted, the pistols we shot over the weekend were equipped with Crimson Trace Lasergrips that, if I understood correctly, were sighted in personally by Todd Jarrett for about 12 yards. The laser emitter is located on the right side grip, about half an inch below the centerline of the bore, so the point of aim and the point of impact are not necessarily the same. As a training aid, the laser allows you to see just how much movement you have while aiming. Todd demonstrated this in the classroom by putting the dot from his pistol on the wall about 10 yards from where he was standing.

I didn’t think a human being could be that still. I know I can’t.

On Sunday in the shoot house he had us, three at a time, doing drills on targets while the rest watched. One of the things he wanted us to notice was how high the dot went when a pistol was fired – regardless of whether that pistol was chambered in .45 or 9mm. As you can see in this photo, my .45 comes up quite a bit at full buck. The other thing he wanted us to notice was how far down it comes during recovery. When the pistol is held properly, the dot simply returns to the original point of aim. (He showed us that with a couple of full mags, rapid fire.) Held improperly the dot is all over the target, moving in big loops. This is something you can’t really notice with iron sights only.

Going through the shoot house, a couple of the targets were so close that using the sights was practically redundant, but on the second trip through there were two “long shots” – bad guys behind no-shoots – at about 12 yards. I decided to use the laser, rather than the front sight. I deliberately put the red dot on the left shoulder of a target and touched off a round. A hole appeared where the dot had been.

And I did that three more times in quick succession.

Crimson Trace gave us t-shirts with their logo on it, and this un-PC marketing blurb:

Helping Bad-Guys Make Informed Decisions
To that I would like to add: Helping Put Rounds On Target, FAST.

Flying with a Firearm

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Until this trip, I’d never checked a firearm while flying. It was an interesting experience. I took my Kimber Ultra CDP II and my Comp-Tac Minotaur holster. I’ve modified the Kimber slightly. At Chris Byrne’s suggestion I’ve added a stainless S&A mag guide with an arched mainspring housing, and replaced the original checkered Double-Diamond grips with a smooth set of Cocobolo grips cut for the magwell from Hogue. I packed these in the original Kimber plastic container along with the factory 7-round and one Chip McCormick 8-round magazine. To meet the “original packaging” requirement, I dug through my reloading bench and found a 20-round box that originally contained Cor-Bon 45ACP+P loads, and put 20 of my handloads in it, then locked the box with two sturdy Masterlocks.

The guy at the Phoenix Delta counter was pleased that I’d followed the rules, gave the pistol a cursory glance to ensure the magazine well was empty, and sent me on my way to the TSA guys and their X-ray machine. They did not ask to see the pistol.

On the way back, the ladies at the Norfolk Delta counter ooh’d and ahhh’d. “That’s pretty!” one of them said. “I really need to learn to shoot,” said another.

As Tam once put it, I love being in American-occupied America.

The TSA guy in Norfolk wanted to look at the gun. Again, all he did was check to ensure the magazine well was empty and the magazines were unloaded. “Nobody ever checks the chamber,” I commented. “We’re not allowed to touch the gun,” he replied, “but when I put it through the X-ray machine, I’ll be able to see if there’s a round in the chamber.”

As I noted below, I made the flight from Atlanta to Phoenix, but my bag didn’t. It’s an uncomfortable feeling knowing that your luggage – with a lot of expensive stuff in it – might not be showing up as scheduled. This further reinforces my resolve to drive where I need to go if at all possible.

“Green” Ammunition

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I’ve posted once before on the subject of “green” ammunition. It seems the U.S. Army wanted to switch to a non-lead projectile due to the incredibly high volume of ammunition fired during training contaminating their ranges, so they chose a tungsten/nickel/cobalt alloy – lead free! Unfortunately in laboratory tests where tiny grains of the alloy were surgically placed into rats, this produced a fast-moving cancer in 100% of the rats in pretty short order.

Oops.

As I understand it, the Pentagon has dropped that idea for the moment.

The ammunition we shot this weekend at Blackwater is also “green” but it contains no tungsten, nickel or cobalt. It is sintered copper and tin. Sintering is a process by which powdered metals are bonded together under carefully controlled heat and pressure conditions. By controlling the process, the final physical characteristics of the sintered metal can be manipulated. Sintering is being used in industry for everything from piston engine connecting rods to decorative gee-gaws. Now they’re using it in projectiles.

And they work.

I shot several hundred rounds of International Cartridge Corporation’s 155 grain .45ACP Green Elite TR non-toxic frangible flatpoint (loaded to 1,150fps) through my Para Tac-S this weekend without a single failure of any kind. I popped 8″ steel plates with it from 35 yards, and I did full magazine dumps on a steel plate from a distance of about three feet without anything splashing back on me but some dust. I didn’t have to worry about pieces of jacket coming back and sticking me (which has happened at distances considerably farther than three feet), nor did I need to worry about lead exposure.

In addition to their training ammunition, ICC also makes a line of Duty ammunition. It’s still frangible, but by controlling the sintering process it is not as delicate as the training ammo (which, as far as Robb Allen and I could tell, blew up on impact with the plywood interior walls of the shoot house without penetrating.) The duty ammo is the same weight and velocity as their training ammo, but it performs entirely differently. The bullet design is a hollow point, and the forward section of the bullet is designed to fragment, much like the “prefragmented” ammo we’ve all heard of. The base of the bullet remains intact for deep penetration but if the bullet strikes a hard surface it disintegrates like an frangible should, reducing the possibility of hitting a bystander. They even manufacture pistol ammo capable of defeating a Level II vest, that still performs as though it never hit the vest at all. (But not in .45 ACP. Not enough velocity, I’d imagine.)

This is all very tacticool, and I appreciate the need for such ammunition, especially at places like indoor ranges and Blackwater where so many rounds are fired in a very short period of time. However, I’m more than a little disturbed by the fact that California has outlawed lead projectiles for hunting, that the Violence Policy Center is going hard after lead as a pollutant on public shooting ranges, and, according to the rep, California’s law is going to migrate to Arizona.

This stuff is not (at present) available as a component. The bullets are, as you might imagine, brittle. If improperly crimped, the bullet can break just as if it were ceramic, so they don’t sell anything but loaded ammunition. I would imagine the same is true for other manufacturers of similar technology – the physics of sintered metal technology makes the bullets rather fragile (though they stand up to being dropped on concrete with no evidence of damage.)

If “Green” ammunition gets a good running start at the legislatures, then handloading is in trouble. I don’t have a problem with new and better technologies, but I do have a problem with legislatures destroying old ones.

Report from Blackwater

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I could tell you what’s going on here, but then I’d have to kill you. . .

No, really. This morning at about 0900 we were picked up by the Blackhawk bus


and taken to their Norfolk facility for a show-n-tell.


These guys are the suppliers to the low-drag/high-speed set. The corporate philosophy is “do it right, then charge what it costs plus enough to make a living.” This is American capitalism at its best, from my point of view. They gave each of us a box of swag worth enough to surprise the hell out of me. For example, we each got a gun belt, two holsters, two mag pouches, and shooting gloves. And there was more. I very much like the SERPA holster for the 1911. Positive retention, belt slide or paddle. A lot of thought obviously went into the design. Very, very cool.

Blackhawk carries clothing, literally from helmets to socks and everything in between, knives, breaching tools, and every kind of accessory you can think of. For example, these:

are not knives. No, according to Tam, these are “Klingon marital aids.”

These guys carry EVERYTHING!

After the Blackhawk visit, we traveled to “Moyockistan” to Blackwater‘s facility, and were given the air-conditioned bus tour of the 8,000 acre facility. (Well, not all of it, but I’ve never seen so many shooting ranges and shoot houses in one place in my life!) It is Disneyworld for gun nuts. We got to see the interior of a shoot house, and got a glimpse of Blackwater’s armory.


Yes, that’s a gatling.

No, we didn’t get to shoot it.

Yet.

After lunch we had our introduction to the other sponsors of this bash, Para-USA, Crimson Trace, and International Cartridge Corp. We also got introduced to our guns. I’m shooting the Para PXT LDA Tac-S, a Commander-sized 1911 equipped with Para’s Light Double Action trigger, but much more than that. This pistol is also equipped with a fiber-optic front sight, adjustable rear sight, and Crimson Trace lasergrips! Overall, it’s finished in “Coyote Brown” duracoat, and looks very nice. But on top of that, the pistols we are shooting for this event were custom finished for us:


To be honest with you, I was not all that enamored with the idea of the Light Double Action trigger. I normally shoot a Kimber Classic Stainless full-sized Government model 1911, and it has, IMHO, the finest factory trigger I have ever pulled. The idea of a long trigger pull before a 1911 went “BANG!” just didn’t do it for me.

Now that I’ve shot it, I’ve got to say I like it. A lot. I might not use it as a competition pistol, but it has definite attraction as a carry piece. They tell us that these guns will be offered to us for purchase, but they haven’t told us for how much yet.

I’m wondering how I’m going to explain this purchase to my wife . . .

We finally got on the range about 4:00, and I personally was able to put about 120 rounds downrange before we knocked off about 6:00. Tomorrow is supposed to be pretty much all shooting. I think I’m going to find out how well shooting gloves work at preventing sores and blisters.

I’ll have more information to post on the ammo we’re using tomorrow. We’re shooting “green” frangible ammo – sintered copper and tin, 155 grain flatpoints at an advertised 1,150 fps. They hit where the sights are set, I’ll give them that. And they do disintegrate on impact with steel!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go back upstairs and rejoin the conversation still going on.

OK, What’s This?

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OK, What’s This?

A screencap from a Reuter’s video story of a Georgian TV reporter getting shot on camera (she took what appears to be a minor wound to an arm, so I don’t think she was actually shot, but might very well have been shot at:


That looks like a scoped, suppressed AK-47? Note that he’s carrying something else across his back. Nice ninja-disguise, too. I suppose Russian Army troops really need to conceal their identities because this is an undercover invasion, right?

Answer in the comments: It’s a VSS Vintorez. Chambered for 9×39 subsonic. I’d never heard of it.

Now That’s Service!

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I received my M1 Carbine from the CMP a couple of weeks ago, and I noted then that the serial number on the Certificate of Authenticity didn’t seem right to me. According to the information I could find, the serial number the CMP thought the rifle carried would have made the receiver a Saginaw, but it (and the barrel) were clearly marked “IBM CORP.” So I fired off an email noting that I thought they’d misread the second digit of the S/N as a “6” rather than an “8”, where the “8” would have made it a 1943 production IBM unit.

I just received a new receipt and a new Certificate of Authenticity in the mail with the correct serial number. That’s pretty good service!

THIS Was Interesting

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THIS Was Interesting

National Public Radio’s Weekend America show tomorrow will have a segment I wanted to listen to. Here’s the blurb for it that I received via email this morning:

In This Week’s Show, We…

… Shoot a Gun.
Weekend America Correspondent Sean Cole is terrified of guns. The only thing that scares him more than guns is the idea of falling asleep with one beside him. This weekend, Sean goes to the shooting range for the first time.

Actually, he went some time ago, but the segment airs this weekend. But there’s more to it than that. At their website, this is the blurb:

This weekend in Manchester, N.H., you can shoot a machine gun for $25. If you don’t have your own, you can rent one. And actually you can do that any day of the week in Manchester. Weekend America’s Sean Cole was recently invited up to one of those ranges by his friend Nick, who called the trip a “man-cation.” Unfortunately, Sean is what was referred to on the playground as a “girl.”

The New Hampshire shoot is a machine gun shoot to benefit the New Hampshire GOP. Very anti-PC. Twenty-five dollars lets you shoot an Uzi. I wonder if Mark Steyn will be attending?

The Sean Cole story is currently available as streaming RealMedia here.

Cole didn’t react like Emily Yoffe did, though I am not surprised. This is the second piece on guns and shooting (that I’m aware of) that Weekend America has done. The last one was surprisingly positive. This one was surprisingly not negative.

And Heller wasn’t mentioned once.

Make ‘Em Mad

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Make ‘Em Mad

Well, that’s what I recommended.

I had an interesting referral today, a link from a gunboard, Calguns.net. “Librarian” linked to the most recent überpost, quoting that line:

Our job, then, is not to “Frighten the White People,” it’s to make them MAD. It’s to make them “pro-freedom, pro-individual, pro-principles.” It’s to educate them.

But the topic of the thread was what I found interesting. The thread is entitled “Anybody else getting tired of this?” As of this writing it’s six pages long. Here’s the first post:

I’m getting a little tired of seeing this crap. Read this guys description

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie…Item=106726648

I understand where the guys coming from and it bugs me too. But I’m also tired if how they word things. I feel like I’m being quarantined

I think I’m mostly bothered by some of the cool stuff I cant buy

When I’m all growed up and become President…

The gunbroker link is to the sale of a 6″ S&W Model 29 revolver. Here’s the part the thread originator objects to. (Sorry for the ALLCAPS):

ATTENTION: IF YOU RESIDE IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, DO NOT BID ON THIS AUCTION. YOUR BID WILL NOT BE HONORED.

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, ADAMS GUN EMPORIUM, LLC HAS CEASED DELIVERY OF ALL FIREARMS, FIREARMS PARTS AND AMMUNITION TO ALL POLICE DEPARTMENTS, POLICE OFFICERS AND RESIDENTS OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA. UNTIL SUCH TIME AS THE RESIDENTS OF, WHAT HAS BECOME THE PEOPLES REPUBLIK of KALIFORNIA, BECOME ANGRY ENOUGH, AND GROW ENOUGH COURAGE, TO REMOVE FROM OFFICE THE SOCIALIST POLITICIANS WHO PASSED SECTIONS 12072(F)(1) & 12083(C)(1) OF THE CALIFORNIA PENAL CODE INTO LAW AND THE GOVERNATOR WHO ALLOWED IT TO BECOME LAW, I SHALL NOT HONOR ANY FURTHER BIDS FROM THE RESIDENTS OF THE PEOPLES REPUBLIK of KALIFORNIA. THIS SHALL ALSO APPLY TO CURIO & RELICS (03) FIREARMS AND LICENSEES. NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE.

I BELIEVE THAT THESE LAWS VIOLATE THE COMMERCE CLAUSE AND ARE CLEARLY UNCONSTITUTIONAL, AND I REFUSE TO BE KALIFORNIKATED BY YOUR SOCIALIST POLITICAL HACKS. DON’T LIKE MY ATTITUDE, THEN GET BUSY THIS ELECTION AND VOTE THE BUMS OUT’A OFFICE WHO VOTED FOR THIS ABOMINABLE SET OF LAWS, AND MAKE SURE THEIR SUCCESSORS KNOW EXACTLY WHY THEY GOT ELECTED. THEN INSIST THAT THEY REPEAL THESE ABOMINABLY UNCONSTITUTIONAL LAWS BEFORE IT BECOMES NECESSARY FOR THE GOOD CITIZENS OF CALIFORNIA TO DO SO BY FORCE OF ARMS.

It would appear that this FFL is serious. And someone else the Brady Campaign should be in fear of.

Read the thread. I’m not sure this is actually constructive, but it sure pissed some people off.