Archive for October, 2010

Choosing your footwear is a important as your selection in firearms

Maybe that is a stretch for some people, but I don’t think it’s really that hard to figure out.   Everyday we get in our car to get from point A to Point B because it’s the vehicle we need, but in climates where we have to deal with major seasonal changes, it’s time to put on different tires or drive the 4×4.   The traction on the tires you use says a lot about the type of footwear to use.   You don’t want big over sized tires that can slow your car down, nor do you want to wear shoes or tactical boots that are too heavy.

All of the Original Swat boots have outstanding traction, but you have to think about comfort.   Just as I would suggest you not expect to go into a hostile situation with a Glock 19 and that’s all you need, you may want an M4 or M16A3 in tactical footwear.  Sneakers will always give you speed, but in many of my converstations with SWAT Teams, they always want boots and gloves on due to the high probabilities of dealing with broken glass and hazardous material.  You may want to consider owning atleast 3 types of footwer from original swat.

Top

My Ranch gun and configuration

If you learn how to match your ammo to the barrel twist and do some serious slow fire testing you should be able to get MOA with a 3 shot group from one of these guns.   I use the Weaver Grand Slam on another Mini 14 if I think I might have to deal with prairie dogs.   If I am going specifically to hunt these animals, I’ll take a 22-250 and plan to setup for an afternoon with a packed lunch.   I’m a big believer in having a good a pair of binoculars with me just for getting a better field of view.

 

Even though I own more  than a few combat worth AR 15 rifles,  I still got back to my trusty Ruger Mini 14 for the job it was intended to be used for.  As I was discussin previously when it came to what types of footwear to use throughout the year, It would be nice if we could take a light version of what many of us carry when we know we don’t need the standard setup.   The great thing about the Mini 14 Ranch guns is that they are light and short, and they are also already setup for optics.   I have a few of these  guns with different Weaver rifles scopes, but I think the most applicable would be a fixed power 28-30mm optic.

 

Top

Dressed down look without losing your traction

We sell a lot of tactical clothing to Military and Law Enforcement, but we have a large customer base that are CCW holders or outdoorsmen that just like haveing clothing that gives them an edge over traditional store stuff.   There has been a new nitch in the concealed carry market for white collar office concealmeant which has shown up in the gun holster arena.   There has also been a huge trend towards very small and reliable 9mm and even an extremely popular trend towards .380 caliber guns.   Our line of Eotac Style 204 pants are very pocket gun friendly and due to the wide pocket designs are easy to retrieve stowed gear and weapons.

When it comes to shoes, depending on the dress code you have with your co-workers, you should be able to keep an office look, but still keep your traction without having to wear a pair of boots.   Try training for a defensive course with dress shoes and, well, I don’t think you’ll want to drive defensive movement in something like that.   Original Swat boots has an option worth considering, the Classic 6″ M.T. 1151 will give you superior traction compared to standard dress shoes.  These are a step down from what most people consider to be a boot, the SEK9000 is probable on the other end of street work.

Top

More range time, less cleaning time

Otis gun cleaning kit I first got turned on to changing my cleaning system after I ran out of a certain type of cleaning patch for my 22lr rifle.   It really can be a royal pain in the butt when you are going from cleaning a 22lr rifle, 45acp pistol, a 30 caliber battle rifle and realizing that all you have is a bunch of 30 caliber type cleaning patches and it’s time to look around for that pair of scissors that you thought was in the kitchen and now it’s know where to be found.   If the cleaning patch isn’t cut right, you will risk jamming it in your rifle barrel and that can be a real difficult challenge.

The Otis gun cleaning system that I use is very versatile.    I admit that I do own a few bore snakes, but I’m not going to run out and pick up a bore snake for every single caliber I own.   The Otis kit I have is a universal kit that can clean most handgun and rifle calibers and is very compact and works as well as any of my cleaning rods do.   I’m sure if you had to literally scrub a bore, y ou may want a cleaning rod, but that’s a non issue for me.    The best thing about this configurtion is I only need 1 cleaning patch and depending on how you fold it, you can use it for 22LR on up to 30 caliber firearms with ease.

Top

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.

Top

5.45×39 is still cheaper than 5.56

Just a reminder to all of you that forgot about that fact that 5.45×39 ammo is still cheaper than any of the 5.56 .   I have heard a lot of good things from our customers that have picked up the Smith & Wesson 5.45×39 upper, but I’m still not sold on it’s combat worthness.   Something about the direct impingement being dirt enough and how much worse is it going to get with that type of ammo?  One defense I’d have to make of the notion that semi-auto guns jam because they are dirty is something that I have never witnessed.   I have witnessed several handgun and AR15 malfunctions due to lack of lubrication, but I don’t know how much sludge you’re really going to end up  having if you put 1000rds through a 5.45×39 DI upper.

LWRC has recently put an AR15 upper that I am seriously considering to optain, as a matter of fact, Rogue Elite has just signed off on the papers to become a parts dealer for LWRC.   If you think having a piston driven gun means the gun is more reliable, well, I think you’ll get some pretty headed debates, but if you make the decision to pick  up any of the AR15 complete upper receievers that are piston driven, you will defanitely notice your gun is easy to clean and won’t take up 1/4 as much as you use to.   If you are a serious shooter, I would think that is worth spending the extra money for a piston conversion kit or a new piston upper.

Top

Is the gas piston a new thing?

I remember the first time I pulled the trigger on an AR15 rifle I thought it was the rich boy gun.   Back in the 1990s there was a mentality on the State Game ranges I use to dwell on where a certain level of snotty attitudes went with the expensive firearms.   Since just about everyone and there dog owns a 5.56 AR 15 now,  I don’t really look at it that way anymore.  The new trend in 5.56 calibers is to move away from the direct impingement and towards a gas piston driven gun.   There are plenty of people that can honestly claim that their AR15s don’t give them problems, but now that I know more about firearms, this is because they are maintaining their firearms properly.

Alth0ugh you can get the job done with a DI gun, I really have to say the that biggest reason I would want the United States Military to change to an H&K 416 style weapon is so our troops don’t have to break down their guns every day and do as much maintanace.    If we all drove a car that got 75 miles to the gallon, but needed an oil change every 500 miles, I think we get annoyed at how much time we are spending changing the oil filter or dropping it off to get done every month.  The beauty of market we are in is that piston conversion kits are being made for many of the DI guns and for a few hundred bucks we can convert everything over.

Top

Finding the right combination for carrying

I have to admit that I was not into the AR15 style rifles for more than half of my shooting experiences.   When I first started out shooting firearms, it was with shotguns and 22 caliber rifles.   In the early 1990’s a lot of surplus firearms from the failed Communist Countries came here and could be had for only a few hundred bucks.   At that point, shooting a pie plate was all I really wanted to hit at 100yds and I didn’t see the need to spend $700-$1000 on a gun of a more expensive caliber to do basically the same thing.   There were plenty of SKS, Mosin Nagants, 7.62×54 semi-autos and AK variants for under $400.   As i gained more shooting experience, I learned the limitations of each firearm and graduated to the M4 Carbine as a favorite configuration.

When I was first introduced into the tactical clothing industry, I looked at all of the tactical shirts, tactical pants, tactical vests and jackets in a similiar fashion.    I didn’t think I needed all of those pockets and sometimes, the vests made me think I’m more likely to loose my car keys in one of those.   Well, as I gained more experience in the tactical world, I found some tactical clothing quite useful, I’m not talking about just the combat style tactical pants ect. but just pants with wide hand pockets so I can get mace or a firearm in and out without snagging.  I’ve used a few tactical vests that I though were an overkill for my purposes, and found a favorite which is not as heavy and can actually be worn under a jacket which can conceal it.   I strongly suggest looking into the Eotac tactical clothing, after all they are backed by the same company that owns Bushmaster, Remington, DPMS, Marlin firearm ect.

Top

Another word about the Eotac Field Jacket

We’ve done several Law Enforcement or Military Conventions in recent months and we got to meet some of our customers up front.   One of the first things our customers asked us were “when are the black and navy blue pants coming in?”.    There have been several tactical clothing companies stepping into the market in the last 5yrs, but only 4 or 5 really seem to have held their ground.   I won’t claim that one is the best and everyone sucks because it’s mostly about preference.   Some people prefer Glocks over Sigs and for most applications, there really isn’t a difference in durability and reliability.

The same goes for some of the top apparel lines.   Proper, 5.11 Tactical, Woolrich Elite and Eotac make a lot of good products, but some do have products that stand out and are unique.    I have to admit that I have heard a l ot of complaints from 5.11 tactical customers due to production changes once the company go so big, but this time I’ll just discuss one product.   The Eotac Field Jacket looks like the Woolrich Elite Series Algerian Jacket, which in itself, looks like the Original Algerian Jacket.   The Eotac Field Jacket, which is known as the Style 502, is the best tactical jacket. Although the Woolrich Elite jacket is well made, it looks like a first generation run compared to the Eotac jacket.

Top

Outwear and concealment options

The Seasons ar changing in most of North America and it’s time to think about how we are going to be able to conceal our firearms as the weather patterns change.  The hard part months like October is you never know if it’s going to be 75F or 40F because there are so many fluctuations at this time of year.   You may wake up to frost on the ground and need a warm layer of clothing, but still need to take it off later in the afternoon.   The Eotac 501 half zip sweatshirt is not only warm and comfortable, it is a concealed carry friendly surface layer.   The size vent flaps open up to access gear like your CCW Glock, spare magazines, Surefire G2 or even just  your cell phone.

The problem with putting layers of clothing on is that you are potentially burying your gear.  Now that a boom in gun permits have been being issued around the Country, there has also been a shift in the types of weapons people are chosing for everyday purposes and the demand for CCW apparel.  Rogue Elite is carrying some of the top tier concealed carry vests, tactical pants, tactical shirts and CCW friendly outwear like the Eotac Field Vest, and Field Jacket.

Top
1 2 3 4 5 Page 3 of 5