The running man… Carbine fighting
Most handguns blow holes in targets, a good .223 Carbine with a fragmenting bullet is going to tear up a BG. I strongly suggest putting a white light on any carbine just incase you need it to identify a target. Many of the people we see on the training courses always think that handguns are for home defense and never really thought too much about keeping a Carbine available. You may have some problems finding a safe to lock up your rifle, but there are things you can do to keep it away from children and still have quick access. One of the most common things we still see with new operators is dropped gear. Guys show up with holsters for sidearms that don’t retain the firearms, and spare pistol mags end up sitting somewhere in midrange after a quick running scenario. The first time I wore a pair of Style 201 pants, I loaded up 6-30rd AR mags and ran around the neighborhood. I wanted to see if the lightweight material secured the mags in place. I was blown away at how well they were secured and I didn’t feel lop sided if I ran. The Style 201 pants are now available in Digital camo and coming later this fall they will be available in the new Direct Action A-Tacs pattern.
I’ve discussed this topic several times before, but I’ve seen more examples of gear that failed and operators that had a teachable moment. Its no surprise that Rogue Elite sponsors a few firearms instructors and training groups. We are supplying our Instructors with Eotac Style 202, Style 203 and Style 201 tactical pants. Since we’re well into the warm weather season, most of our Instructors and Operators are working with the Style 201 Operator grade pants. I have to admit that I am more inclined to attend Carbine courses over Pistol courses. I guess you should consider the Rogue Elite Team to think a Carbine is a better thing to fight with than a handgun. To quote Clint Smith, “A handgun is to be used so you can fight your way back to your rifle”. If you take a serious look at the survival rate of handgun victims vs rifle uses, there is considerable evidence to suggest that you may want to seriously consider upgrading your home defense weapon to a shotgun or a carbine. Bad guys showing up on PCP or pumped up on crack aren’t going to be concerned 9mm bullets unless you get a really good shot.
Nothing beats a good brick and mortar store that stocks tactical clothing, but there aren’t too many of those out there. Makes sure you do some research on clothing sizing and look at the sizing guides closely. To avoid wasting money on shipping and return shipping charges, you may want to break out a tape measure and measure yourself. Comparing one clothing line to another is a no, no, since not everyone follows the same standards. The Eotac tactical pants have an elastic wasteband which will give you some flexibility in waist sizing. Keep in mind that when you measure yourself, you should be measuring with the gun inside your waist if you carry IWB. We have a great many of sizing issues when people order The Wilderness belts. These tactical belts are hands down the best configuration for carrying firearms around, but the sizing can be tricky.
There is much to debate when it comes to discussing the effectiveness of the 5.56 round. When it was originally deployed in the M16A1, the military had issues with the reliability of the gun, but I have heard not one complaint from any Vietnam vet about the lethality of the round. That was when the military was using a 20inch barrel with a 55gr bullet travelling well over 3000fps. The bullet is extremely violent at that velocity. The lethality of the round was greatly diminished when the military started using shorter length barrels and the 62gr SCBT also known as SS109 or M855. Although it is only 6grs heavier, the bullet is so well balanced that it basically zips straight through a target and the terminal ballistics are not very good below 2800fps which is practically what an M4 shoots it at near the muzzle.
There is a point where people have to learn to realize that there are a great many firearms manufacturers out there that are making suberb firearms. I’ve heard people claim that a certain firearm was superior in reliability over another. Well, that is true to some degree, but I’d have to say there are some firearms that are in the top tier category and the durability and reliablity differences may vary in extreme circumstances. Take a Glock 17 and put it up against a Sig 226 and you’ll see what I mean. I’m sure the Glock will reguire less lubrication, but there won’t be much difference in 98% of circumstances.
One problem that any hunter already knew was using too much magnification meant slow target acquisition, especially at close ranges. Field of view is even more important in combat than in hunting. In Combat you may be looking at a bad guys face with your reticle right on him, but 6ft to his right is a guy with his sights right on you that you can’t see. I’d have to say that I belive that 3x-4x is probable the best of both worlds. Trijicon knew that even an optic with zero magnification like the Eotech had an edge in some situations so now they have Trijicon ECOS which has a red dot optic which sits on top of the scope. This will eliminate the problem of magnification in close quarters situations.
This week I got an email from an ammunition manufacturer that made me smile. He was selling Russian 7.62×39 ammo for $209 per 100rds. I haven’t seen that price since before the Obama election. It seems that a bad economy and high unemployment is having an impact on the consumption of ammo buying. I didn’t get caught up in the panic buying because in my opinion, I never thought that 1000rds of any kind of rifle or pistol ammunition should cost as much of the frickin gun. I remember the days of $79 Wolf ammo and IMHO we are going to go back to that as long as there is not another major upheaval.
Russian ammo may save you money compared to shooting domestic 556 ammo, but be careful that you clean your guns after each range session. I saw more malfunctions at traininig ranges and gun clubs in the last 2yrs than I have ever seen before. Since nobody wanted to put 1000rds down range that cost $500 or more + the cost of the training course which could have cost from $150-$300 depending on what you were going for. When you are considering saving money by buying dirtier or less expensive ammo, you should consider that you may have to clean your gun more often and that you will have more malfunctions. I’ve seen plenty of the AR15 crowd show up at competition shoots with guns that had not been cleaned recently or they were not lubricated properly. I remember people getting in debates about DI AR15 reliability 12yrs ago and it amazes me to this day that people that go out and buy an Ar15 think that they do not need more lubrication than other semi-autos.
We’ve been selling Woolrich Elite clothing since the beginning and have seen the changes in the tactical pants market over the last 5 years. One thing we have noticed is the tactical pants sales change like the seasons do. Our customer base knows that certain types of clothing just can’t be worth in hot climates, but for working in other environments, lightweight material just won’t hold up to the heavy use, and won’t shrink as much. We get a lot of people calling or emailing us about whether or not the clothing shrinks, and they answer to that is not as bad as some of the other apparel companies that have been on the market for almost 10yrs. We still don’t understand why some of these companies haven’t cleaned up their quality control.
For those of us living in the part of the Country where we get all 4 Seasons of weather, our concealment options usually will change atleast 2 times a year. There are enormous numbers of ways you can conceal a weapon, but for those of us that carry full size weapons, the warmer the weather the fewer the options. I carry a full size Beretta 92F while at work and one of my favorite ways of carrying this firearm is in a Fobus paddle holster. For only about $20, I’ve gotten more than my moneys worth and have never broken the holster. I’d have to say that if I was rolling around in the dirt I would defanitely prefer to have a Serpa holster.