CCW and thinking ahead
The Boy Scout motto is BE PREPARED. When we accept our responsibilities in carrying a firearm, one thing we have to be aware of is making sure that we are concealing our weapons and not overdoing it. There are a few placed in the Country where you may be fined if anyone spots your concealed firearm, and although I think the vast majority of criminals aren’t looking for citizens with guns, it’s best to not advertise it. I’ve found that over the years of carrying duty size weapons on the job and CCW are different for me. I’m not too comfortable carrying double stack spare magazines around all day.
Something to consider while carrying a CCW gun is, it is good to always have a backup magazine available, but don’t go overboard in carrying gun magazines. Statistics show that most gun fights occur with shots fired being in the single digits. Knowing how to retreat from a gun fight is more important than carrying tons of ammo and expecting to stand your ground.
The Mini 14 was hands down the gun that was hit the hardest by the AWB in the 1990’s. Ruger is now making 20rd and 30rd magazines available to the public and those magazines were going for close to $100 at one point in the later 1990s’. There is nothing wrong with having magazines for firearms that are not the best, sometimes it’s better to rotate through cheap magazines and practice malfunction drills or just toss them when they were out. You don’t want to use your carry mags all the time because if you are shooting through hundreds of rounds of ammo using the same mags that you use for your daily carry, you may find out at the wrong time that the springs need to be replaced. I picked up a good supply of Mil-Spec 1911 7rd magazines that I rotate through my guns and save the Wilsons Combat Magazines for the serious shooting. When the mil-spec mags start jamming too much, I just toss them.
Every time I get asked a question about which firearm or accessory someone needs I follow up with the question “For what?” I have seen plenty of well trained concealed carry owners walk around with a 5 shot j-frame and none of them feel under gunned. The reality is that in some nightmare situation, you’ll never be full prepared, and sometimes we just have to be practical when we are CCW every day. For most practical purposes, I’d recommend keeping a spare magazine in your gun safe in your home, or keep one in your car if you don’t think you can comfortable carry a backup. When most of us are out and about, the ammunition you have on you is all you’re going to be able to fight with, but keeping something near your car and easily accessible in your home is a good idea.
Back when the 1994 assault weapons ban was into effect there were more headaches in the gun world due to the fact that factory handgun magazines were so expensive. People cut corners with other brands and had issues. When it comes to owning a handgun, especially an auto, I highly recommend having atleast 3 magazines. Not only can guns malfunction, but magazines do wear out and break at some points and its always good to have some extra comfort if one goes down. Most of the time it’s the floor plates that come loose and a loaded mag will just dump rounds on the ground. I’ve seen it happen with rifles and handguns. If you ever run a Carbine course, you’re defanitely going to want to have atleast 3 mags for your pistol, too.
Modern firearms are pretty much superior to everything that was designed a generation ago. Some people get stuck in the past and might think that a P51 Mustang is equal to an F117 Stealth fighter and then everyone just smiles at grandpa and listens to his stories. Manufacturing has become superior to what it was 20yrs ago in many ways, but the rifles and handguns of WWII just don’t hold up to what is getting kicked out in Modern Military terms.
1 was a Colt 1991A1 and It came with 2 Colt 7rd magazines. I shot about about 500rds through it and I had an occasional malfunction. The problem I kept having was the slide would close on an empty chamber. I did some reading and found that it was most likely the magazine slide stop tab was bending and wasn’t full engaging the slide stop. A pair of needle nose plyers fixed that for a few hundred rounds more then the problem came back. I found out about 
We’ve all heard about how the 1911 isn’t as reliable as a Glock, but firearm reliability has increased for just about every semi-auto that is in production these days. Guns that were made 50-80yrs ago are manufactured better, magazines have become more reliable and ammunition is far more reliable now than it was even 30yrs ago. When using a semi-auto, we have to think about the purpose for it and what we think we need in a certain situation. I love the people that think they are going to fight off 50 bad guys with there Glock, but the reality is that if you think you are going into that bad of a situation, bring a rifle.
There area a lot of good upgrades one can do to a firearm, a fighting rifle should be customized to fit an operator. Advanced Technology makes some quick and easy upgrades for your shotgun or carbine that can give you better grip or balance. Shotgun shell holders on the buttstock or riding side saddle is a practical tactical upgrade you can do on your remington 870. The fiberforce stock for the MAK90 is a way to legally get around some firearm bans and are a big step up compared to the stupid thumbhole stocks. Attach a rifle sling that fits yoru purpose from Blue Force Gear, they come in 1 point, 2 point and 3 point attachements. Minor firearm modifications make need to be done to attache rifle slings, but do some research on various rifle sling configurations to see what works for you.
The title pretty much says it. The 1911 has been around for a long time now, but the reality is the guns and the magazines have improved since 1911. Sure machining and accuracy has improved for all firearms, but even to this day I still see guys with 1911 malfunctions regardless of the type of gun. Whenever I see these malfunctions I always ask what kind of ammo they use and what magazines. Most 1911s are even to this day still designed for ball ammo. Check with your manufacturer on what kind of ammo your 1911 will tolerate so you don’t make a fool out of yourself during training. I see it happen every year when new shooters show up at a class.
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