All posts in Shooting Supplies

Upgrades and improvements

Pistol Grips

Some of the guns we see that people often swap out the grips for are Sig Sauer factory grips.   While some people may like this, many find them to be a little slippery and could use something that helps keep the hands tight during firing.  Hogue Grips come in fingerless and fingered grips.  These grips will help fill in the space between your fingers and make you feel like you’re holding a pair of brass knuckles.   I’ve done many tests where I took 2 of the same handguns to the range and let novice shooters try both, I asked them which gun they preferred and they almost always preferred one over the other.   After they decide, I tell them it’s the same gun, just different grips and the cost of the upgrade is under $25.   Sometimes using the gun you have and making a small tweak is all you need to improve your shooting skills and confidence.

Sometimes we find our preferences as far as the look and reliability of a firearm for duty carry or self defense.   The reality of finding a firearm for an operator that works for them is customization and pistol grips can be the key.   No handgun or rifle will fit everyone.   There are plenty of firearm manufacturers that are putting out combat reliable firearms, but with handguns, gun grip is extremely important.   There is a lot of BS that comes from from training instructors and the gun boards about which firearm is the BEST, but the one that works the best for you is the one that fits you.  Rifle stocks can be meastured by measuring from the inside of your elbow to your trigger finger, but pistol grips are a little bit different.

 

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Cleaning revolvers is easier with a boresnake

I remember the first firearm I ever cleaned was a Marlin bolt action 22LR rifle.  To clean the gun, all you had to do was pull the bolt out the back by depressing a button and pulling it back.   You could look down the chamber and see all of the fouling and know how dirty it was.   Using Hoppes cleaning solvent on a wet patch would produce a dark black gun patch on the other end when pushed through with a cleaning rod.   After you did that a few times, I’d run a cleaning brush a few times and then run a dry patch until it ran clean.

Revolvers and some semi-auto guns like the M1 Garand or the M14 and Mini 14 can be tricky and need to be cleaned from the muzzle if you are using a cleaning rod, well a few decades ago a new innovative way of cleaning these firearms was invented.   The Hoppes boresnakes are the simplist way to speed up the process and to put dangerous wear on your barrel by using a cleaning rod.   The Hoppes Boresnake is caliber specific so you may want to pick up a few for various calibers.  There are also rifle and pistol versions.

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gun cleaning on the road

I’m fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel and witness some hard core firearms training events.   I think it should be part of everyones training to know approximately how long people should go before doing gun maintenance because the reality hits you that you may be wasting your time if you are cleaning it too much.   There are many times when an instructor will just say that it’s time to lubricate your firearm, but not break it down.   I’ve heard from many of my fellow instructors that 80% of gun cleaning is unnecessary.   According to some posts I’ve read, some say that it can actually cause more wear and damge than not cleaning.

If you are shooting a precision rifle, cleaning the barrel is of the utmost importance, but we have to realize that even though our AR15 rifles or handguns may be accurate, if we are taking real defensive or tactical training, we gotta treat them like the combat weapons that they are meant to be.   That way we have a good idea how long they can go so we can gain their trust.  When we are choosing gun cleaning supplies we should also look into the portability of the items we are brining and if we are just risking ruining our range bag because the bottles are not meant to be carried around.   Otis gun cleaning kits are probable your only real option in this category of gun cleaning unless you assemble your own.

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Gun holsters, concealed carry, accessories and Carbine upgrades

We carry a  lot of gun accessories and gun holsters and we are always eager to hear back from our customers about which products they like the most.   We have trimmed our inventory several times after getting feedback and reviews from our customers and we are very happy with the products we are selling.   Firearms are much better made than even just 20yrs ago due to superior technological changes in the production and manufacturing of synthetic materials and product consistancy.   Many rifle scopes and tactical optics are being made with etched glass and not mounted.  This has a huge impace on the life and durability of an optic.  I remember the tactical scopes I saw at gun shows in the 1990’s that cost $40.   I have since broken every optic that ever was mounted on a firearm that cost under $150.   I guess I do more shooting that the average gun guy, but why waste the money inexpensive tactical gear or rifle optics.

A good hunting scope can be had in the $200 price range and there isn’t always a need to have to spend a grand or more.   Get good Leupold rifle scope mounts and use loctite to on the screws for added reliability.   If you are looking for tactical gear or a tactical rifle scope, then you’re really going to  have to cough up the money and spend the cash.   There are many applications for tactical rifle optics, zero magnification like the Eotech combat optic, or low magnification with a added magnifier on your Eotech or go with low magnification medium range optics like the Trijicon ACOG.   Long range shooting means finding the right reticle that applies to the type of shooting you want to do.

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When the world turns upside down

My biggest  pet peeve when it comes to certain types of holster manufacturers is that I do not like to have anything covering my spare magazines while they are in a mag holder, but many of the mag holders I use to use did not fair very well for CCW or for real training.    My first experience with a magazine holder that failed was on a long road trip where I had to put the seat back to sleep and woke up with someone sitting behind me that was holding my spare mag.  I decided to ditch the magazine holder I was using and go with the Blackhawk double and single stack magazine holders.   They have a build in magazine retention design so even if you are hanging upside down, they won’t come loose, but have just enough retention to do this and easily come out if and when you need to reload.

 

 

Like many in the gun community, we’ve all got a starting point for training or experience.   One of those starting points usually involves make poor mistakes on the carrying methods or for choosing gun holsters or gear that awas inappropriate.   I have been happy with the holsters that I have been wearing in recent years, but I only rarely run into situations where I break a holster and there is a shortage and I have to find  alternative gun holsters or another firearm combination to carry.

 

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Practical and tactical should go hand in hand

Although I am a big fan of battle rifles and prefer to carry a gun bigger than an M4, if I gotta carry ammo on my person and it’s not being carried in the trunk of my car, I’ll gladly take the smaller caliber.    The M1 Garand is a great and powerful weapon, but combat is at a much faster pace and being able to suppress a target with small arms is as important as neutralizing it.  If you are a weekend warrior and are considering taking a Carbine Class, even though your training will take place in the Course, you should do research on gear and accessories before you walk in the door.

 

I always try to sit in on training courses whenever I can although I wish I had the time to actually take more classes.   I’ve written on several occassions that one of my greatest joys of watching classes is watching all of the gear fall off or fail a student and watching their slow evolution of losing gear along the way.   Theirs nothing wrong with being a tactical accessory junky, but if you have to carry an M4 all day like i’ve had to, you’ll quickly learn that lightweight, means a happy person.  There seems to be a big craze getting tactical gear with the quad rails even though most people don’t need them, and then having to go out and get rail covers, when a simple stock would have lightend the gun by a few pounds.

 

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Radio Shack and EverReady

We all remember when we saw the sales at Radio Shack and Dad or Grandpa went out and picked up some new doo dad to tinker with.    I remember the flashlights that I always though were the most powerful were the big long D flashlights that could basically be used as a baseball bat if you were dealing with a home invasion.   Now everyone knows that those flashlights worked well for that time period, but you can get the same brightness from CR123 batteries and have 1/10 of the weight and bulk.   I think my biggest problem with modern flashlight technology is that the flashlights are getting easier and easier to misplace and lose.

Flashlights these days are virtually bullet proof and most are water proof.   The Streamlight flashlights are something I keep in the tool box, in the car and carry from time to time, especially when going to a mall or park late at night.  The PolyTac is my primary lightweight go to white light.  I would not recommend going with the smallest thing you can get your hands on because losing a $200 flashlight is going to be pretty painful.  Although I do keep some weapons mounted lights,  it’s always good to tote around something that isn’t attached to a gun.

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Looking for Zombie killing options

Do search for gun clubs and shooting ranges in your State to find out if anyone is holding a Zombie shoot.   They usually occur in the September to October months.   Having some good tactical clothing that will securely hold your gear.   The Eotac Style 201 pants are my favorite because they hold 6- 30rd PMAGS and they are easy to run in.   Tactical vests like the Style 101 are not heavy and don’t make you feel like you are wearing a flak jacket.   There is a time and a place for different types of tactical vests, but mobility is important.  You may want to try getting your magazines loaded up with all of your gear and then try running 100yds with it and see what it feels like and if stuff starts to fly out of your pockets.   Mobility is extremely important.

There seems to be a new craze in competition shooting in recent years.   I’ve seen more high school boys coming home from class with Zombie survival guides, the recent 28 Days later type movies and the doomsday virus outbreaks.    I guess IDPA has lost some traction to the present generation, but I’ve attended a few Zombie survival competitions and they were very good training events.   The best thing about it was the amount of tactical gear that I watched fail, and the number of really novice mistakes people made.   Out of the 5 stages I attended, there was 1 stage that we saw about 18 firearms go down.   About half of those were AK variants and they were mostly magazine related.  Some guys never knew how hard it was to do a tactical reload on an AK if there was a round in the chamber and a fully loaded 30rd magazine.  People found out what happens after firing off the 1st round and the magazine falls out.

 

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Non weapon mounted flashlights

I highly recommend the Section 8 Tactical ultimate retention device.   These work extremely well with 20-25mm flashlights.   When I first got a hold of one, it took me a little while to get use to the idea of using them, but after an incident that changed my life, the $16 I spent was worth it.   Being able to point a light in a different direction than a gun is extremely important in some situations, especially in your own home.   There are are endless scenarios that play out when discussion these topics, but I’ve actually live a few of my own and I am confident that I have the right tools.

Lanyards are in my opinion an old school way of carry a flashlight.   If it works for you than good for ya.   I put lanyards on some flashlights just so they are harder to loose.   Now that so many flashlights have gotten so small, yet powerful, losing that $250, 80 Lumen flashlight has gotten easier and easier.   I have some weapon mounted flashlights that are rock soldid and I don’t think I will ever change that, but when it comes to using handguns, I’m not a big fan of putting lights on them.   Maybe once Streamlight flashlights technology gets to the point where the flashlight projects from the guide rod and doesn’t inhibit the use of your usual CCW holster or make your gun bulkier, then I’ll change my mind.

 

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Rifle optics and gun cases

rifle casesI believe in having a holster for every handgun and a rifle case for every rifle.    When people are putting $1000 Trijicon ACOGs on their rifles they are considered to be tough for combat, but sometimes things get slammed around in cars and unwanted dents and dings occur.   SKB rifle cases are on the  heavy side, but if you have a bigger sized vehicle, these are very easy to stow in and get out and it’s sturdy enough to not worry about damage if you have to bury it with other gear.   You may even be able to keep most of the rifle magazines and accessories in the case as well as some othe range gear.    Drag bags are another great rifle case, but they may be a bit of an overkill when it comes to using them for something as small as a Carbine.

It is always good to think ahead of yourself when you are selecting a firearm.   Sometimes people get into situations with their tactical gear that seemed pretty obvious, but somehow it was missed.   I have never had a major problem with my rifle scopes, probable because I already owned so many rifle cases, but I have had problems with fitting my Carbines into soft rifle cases because of the flashlights or rifle optics I was using.   If it was too much of a headache, I just took my hunting rifle cases and used those for the short term.   Sometimes when you are accessorizing the heck out of your guns, the last thing you are thinking about is how to pack it all up and transport it without having to take everything off the rails.   Many of the soft tactical rifle cases may be too tight at the top of the case and you are risking damaging a mount or breaking the zipper.

 

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