Archive for November, 2010

Ruger 10/22 range day and scope options

I’m brainstorming with this blog post so give me some of your advice if you have any on what to put on my Ruger 10/22 rifle.   This is a standard 10/22 and not a tricked out barrel or trigger.   I purchased all of my 22lr for new shooters to learn on and didn’t want to get too fancy with optics in the beginning.   After picking up a Marlin Model 980 bolt action and having the rear sight replaced with an adjustable elevation like the standard 10/22,  I haven’t had the urge to buy another optic for this gun.   Many bolt actions are capable of shooting quarter size groups at 100yds with the right kind of ammo, but even though my bolt action has that capability, I still wanted it for novice introduction to firearms.

My ruger 10/22 was a training gun, but after recently doing some aggressive testing between the two, there was no comparison in accuracy.   The bolt action was shooting dime size groups at 50ft and the Ruger was shooting 2 inch groups with the same ammo.   I’m thinking about picking up a rifle scope for this gun that is either a fixed power or a red dot.   I have a Butler Creek 25 round magazine that I have yet to test out, but it could be a good close quarters combat training tool for wiping out soda cans and other carbonated reactive targets.   I had an Eotech 552 on a Ruger Mini 14 and had fun with it, but went back to a 3-9x40mm scope because it just seemed more practical.

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Magpul DVD review

I am almost all the way through the entire Magpul DVD collection.    After several years of being on the firing range as a student and an instructor, I have often been asked if I know about any good DVDs for training.   I started out watching The Art of the tactical Carbine Volume I over a year ago and finished off Volume II about 6 months ago.   I thought the volume of info and the length of the DVDs to be very well worth the amount of money I spent, I was really impressed with how much time there was.    I would recommend these DVDs to beginners even though I do not think they are novice level training.  There are some basics in this, but the application of advanced basics is in there.

The Magpul Aerial Platform DVD was in my opinion more for the History Channel than it was for the gun owner, but I would get this one last over the other three Volumes.     The Art of the dynamic handgun is by far the best bang for the buck.   Clint Smith has some very well produced DVDS but they were expensive and I thought they could have been more informative.   I give them to family members that are new to firearms, but the Magpul dvds were in my opinion a step up.   I haven’t been to Thunder Ranch, but I intend to do so some day due to it’s great reputation, but I think The folks at Magpul owe me some more defensive training DVDs.

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5.11 tactical jeans review pt 1

I finally did my rounds and checked out a few local 5.11 dealers to see what they had in stock.    Something I always find annoying about stopping in these places is how much of a mess the clothing usually is.   I always have to dig around for my sizes and rarely do any of these gun shops or police and security stores keep there crap together.   The other thing that I find annoying is that so many of them clear out certain styles of clothing during the year like there is a non-season for polos and jeans.   Some of these tactical clothing manufacturers are running huge shortages and various products are out of stock for 6-9 months at a time.   I actually noticed many of the gun shops in my neck of the woods stopped selling 5.11 tactical pants because it was too much of a headache for them to deal with.

It was time to restock my tactical pants inventory and I’m not prone to sticking to only one manufacturer.   I have worn 5.11 tactical pants, Eotac, Woolrich Elite and even SigTac.   Each tactical clothing company and tactical gear manufacturer has it’s pros and cons,  but I’d give Eotac and Woolrich Elite the edge on quality control.     I am comparing the Eotac 205 concealed carry jeans to the 5.11 jeans and there is no comparison.   I feel a difference in the movement of each jean, but I really don’t think I feel restricted in any way.   They are both well made, but there are huge differences in the designs.   The Eotac jeans are very similar to the Woolrich Elite Discreet MKII pants, but they are definitely not the same.   The 5.11 jeans are what I’d call more for deep concealment.   There are internal pockets that can hold a j-frame revolver or a small semi-auto and a few spare magazines.   I find the pockets to be a  little too deep and don’t really like the fact the guns are practically inside the pants.   I tried putting a Sig 239 in the pockets with spare magazines and it was extremely uncomfortable when sitting down, so I would have to say you need something smaller than that.

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Trigger locks are worthless, gun safes are practical

I must have a pile of trigger locks in my  house that all came mandatory with various firearms that I have purchased.   There is absolutely no logic in having firearms with locks on them.  I have seen plenty of video demonstrations where firearms can still go off even if a trigger lock is installed.  Will a trigger lock prevent your firearm from being stolen?  Absolutely not.   Will it keep a loaded gun in a safe position so that a child finding it will not be able to shoot it?  Possible not.    I do  not think we need laws making it mandatory to lock up your firearms, but common sense says we should.  I know there are people in some situations where they may want quick access to a firearm, but modern gunvault gun safes are so fast that you can access a firearm in less than 2 seconds.   If you factor in the 2 second rule for CCW engagements, waking up, getting out of bed, and getting your gun from a gun safe in less than 10 seconds is very reasonable.

I am a strong believer in taking young children to a firing range even if they are not old enough to fire guns.  It may be a good idea to make sure they know that Mom and Dad have real guns and that the guns that they can play with are toy guns and let them see the difference.    Give your trigger locks to your kids for locking up their bikes, but do yourself a favor and research the various GunVault gun safes that are out now.   They are very impressive and can help keep your wife’s jewelry locked up and out of sight also.  The Gunvault gun safes that are being used for firearms can easily be bolt to hard to get to locations and be used for jewelry.

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Bans on gun stocks and accessories

I feel sorry for some of the people that are gun owners and are presently stepping into the word of AR15, AK or Mini 14 ownership for the first time and live in anti-gun States.  I have had some really bizarre conversations with friends in California and New Jersey that had to take AR15 or FAL gun magazines and have blocks welded into them so they couldn’t take more than 10rds.  To some people these sounds like a good thing, but the real problem is  you are taking something that is functional at a certain operating system and potentially messing the whole thing up.  Magazine capacity restrictions are like putting smaller gas tanks on cars to keep people from speeding.   The other problems that many in New Jersey or California and other States run into are gun accessories like flash hiders or folding stocks, these are all usually banned.

I find the whole issue about bans on gun accessories like bayonets and folding stocks to basically be about people trying to put band aids on your kids body parts where there is no bleeding expecting to stop another person from beating him or her up.    Nobody wants to talk about how most gun crime is from the drug trade which basically is a self inflicted problem due to our Federal Government getting involved.    Gun accessories like, bayonets, flash hiders, folding stocks,  collapsing rifle stocks have no bearing on reducing crime and putting people who are a threat to society in jail for long periods of time would have more impact on reducing crime than making law abiding citizens block 20rd magazines so they can only hold 10.

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Speed loaders and training courses

I was fortunate to attend a sniper competition a few years ago where I must have learned more about combat than every before.   About 40 students were attending this training competition even and given the rules for attending the match.   Everyone was told to arrive with unloaded firearms, but to keep all of their gear in the cars and attend a safety briefing.    Well, one of the  best events for this competition/training even occurred in the first 30 seconds after the safety briefing.   Everyone was asked if they understood all of the safety rules and when everyone said yes, it began.    The Instructor explained the first stage of the shooting event.   Everyone was told to grab their gear from their car and immediately return to the firing line, unload the gear and engage the targets.   The attendees gave us a big smile while the students/competitors did an “Oh, Shit!”

I sat and watched every student run back to their car which was about 15-30yds behind the firing line, I noticed varying types of rifle cases and rifle bags, some shooters showed up with loaded magazines and others had to manually load the guns, as soon as they were ready to shoot, they engaged the targets.   I believe they had 6 minutes to take down all of the targets from 100-200yds.   The variations in time to engage the enemy targets varied by several minutes.   Anyone that had a M4 Carbine or 30rd magazine that didn’t have loaded gun magazines or didn’t have a speed loader, was the last to engage the targets.   I saw only 2 people out of 40 engage the targets in the first 5 minutes.   Maglula speed loaders are must for anyone serious about using a carbine for self defense, unless  you have the military style loaders.

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Road trips and cleaning firearms

I was never one to jump on the bandwagon that it should  be necessary for someone in the military to break their M16 down every day and clean it.   I always thought that if the gun needed that much attention, they really should think about a new design.   The real reason the military does this for many soldiers is basically to keep everyone occupied and give them something to do.   I don’t think even an M16 needs to be cleaned more than 2 or 3 times a week, even in dirty conditions.   I’m sure that it some situations you are better off keeping  your chamber hatch closed and not opening to clean it when the air is full of sand and will just attach itself to the gun lube on your  bolt.   We sell a lot of Otis gun cleaning kits to the military for a reason though.   Everything you could want to clean a pistol or rifle is in a small compact case.

I personally find using rifle cleaning rods to be easier and for some reason I feel like I am getting a thorough cleaning.   Bore snakes work very well, but I have found them to become real messy to use if they are being used often.   You have to put them back in the clear case they came with and sometimes I feel it’s easier and cleaner to toss out dirty cleaning patches instead of putting the filthy boresnake back in it’s patch.   Bore snakes are easy to clean if you want to toss them in a wash machine, but this isn’t practical if you are on a road trip.   Otis gun cleaning kits, depending on which you purchase, should have just about every tool and brush you need to clean your firearm.   I did jam a patch in a rifle once and i did have to resort to using a cleaning rod to unjam it, but after I got the right method for “taking a pinch on the patch” and not using too much of it for a smaller caliber, I got the job done.   Otis has plenty of videos you can watch before you buy a cleaning kit if you think the kits are a little overwhelming.

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5.45×39 upper receiver options

I recently got to witness the Smith & Wesson 5.45×39 in action a zombie shoot competition.   This upper has been on the market for a few years, but in all honesty I don’t know anyone that has actually put one to hard use.   I always thought that the direct impingement design didn’t lend itself very well to Russian ammo.  Many AR15 jam up and do not work very well with Wolf ammo and from my experience there are more FTF when mixing Russian ammo with American guns.    Not only do many of these guns fail to fire, the ammo is ditier and can cause failures to extract.  Sure you can always get around some of these issues by constantly cleaning,  but I wouldn’t expect my AR15 to be combat reliable with Russian ammo, especially when the round count gets up there.   We’ve sold a great many upper receivers in the 2010 and the Smith & Wesson 5.45×39 is the number one seller.

Smith & Wesson 556 guns were one of the best made guns in 2009 and many of my fellow firearms instructors will testify to this.   Even though there are still some issues with the DI type guns, the guns being made today are superior to the AR15 DI guns from 10yrs ago.   LWRCI has their own short stroke piston upper receivers in 5.45×39 , but from what I have seen in the firearms market, I don’t jump on the bandwagon with new guns until they’ve been out in the field for several years.   I saw changes to firearms from Rugers LCP and LCR  and even the Springfield XD guns were all slightly modified after being out for only a year.   Let the feedback from the end user determine which guns are better unless you want to be the beta tester.

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Buying used guns that have hardly been used

I recently jumped into the world of Glock ownership.   It is a used Glock 19 which is a Generation 2.   I got it fora about $400 out the door and even though it has a little bit of holster wear.   The barrel looks like it has less than 500rds through it.   It’s funny how many times I’ve picked up a new firearm from a gun shop that had a few dents or dings on it but the internal parts were hardly worn.   I’m sure 90% of the lever action and bolt action firearms you see in the used section have the same history, but you should always inspect the internal workings before purchasing.   I’ve seen excessive wear on firearms due to lack of cleaning and lubrication and although the guns haven’t jammed, they had less than 1000rds through them and look really beat up.

There are great deals on used Sig Sauer pistols, Glock firearms and Beretta 92FS types.   These guns were standard issue for most of our LEOs in the last two decades and many are switching over to other types of autos.   Smith & Wesson and Springfield Armory have put out there own handguns that have taken a bite out of the Glock stronghold, but I won’t pick a winner  yet.   I prefer to have atleast a paddle holster for each handgun I own and gun holsters for concealed carry if I am expecting to carry it at some point.   The only handguns I don’t have holsters for are a Ruger Single Six and a Ruger MKII pistol.   These are primarily plinking guns and not going to be carried.

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Matching guns to gun cases

I am a strong believer in marking all of your gear, not just because you need to have your name on it, but it’s a good to keep your stuff well organized so you don’t run into an “aw shit” moment when you didn’t pack up something vital for your daily events.  I just spent a weekend hanging out with someone that locked up all of his guns, but didn’t keep all of the keys together and couldn’t open up one of the gun cases.   I suggest people have a range bag to keep tools and range magazines in and then a good tactical vest.   The reason I suggest these is it’s best to really keep putting everything in the same place and know that every time you go to the range, items A and B are always with you, and then bring whichever gun or ammunition you need.

I always match the rifle case to the gun and leave the magazines or the bare minimum of 3-5 of them inside the case pockets.   Sight in tools are always in my tactical vest along with ear plugs, shooting glasses and even a small bottle of bug spray.   I wear my Eotac Style 101 vest under some of my hunting jackets just because it’s a little bit of an overkill for hunting, but it has everything I need in it.   I keep field dressing gloves, tactical gloves and elbow pads in this, also.

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