Archive for November, 2011

All of those .380 pistols might help you keep your clothes on

I started out carrying a 1911 a very, very long time ago and at the time, the last thing I wanted to have to worry about was getting more clothes to wear just so they could accommodate my firearm.  You’d think it wouldn’t be that much of a problem, unless you’ve already got experience in carrying a gun.   Many Cops were paddle holsters, or Desantis pancake style holsters which work very well for medium or full size semi-auto guns.    Most individuals in that line of work aren’t looking for small and concealable, they are carrying what they have been issued or what they are best at using.

Recently we had a customer tell us that he hates elastic waistband pants, but this is the first time I’ve ever heard a customer that was CCW a firearm say that.   If you understand how often tactical pants have varying sizing and fit differences from brand to brand.  You’ll have to try them on to find out if they fit.   Everyone does not come in even sizes and when you put a firearm IWB you’ll have even more troubles if you aren’t wearing pants with an elastic waistband.

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More great stuff coming from Panteao Productions

We all know how well the Magpul Art of the Tactical Carbine and related DVDS have done and I have heard very little criticism about the training information that was put forward.  I do want to state that I have not fallen into the mindset of glorifying all of the firearms instructors with DVD’s just because they sold a lot.  There are plenty of Celebrity firearms instructors that I don’t too much credit into because I can find the information and competency in other venues.  I have to say that spending $50 on a DVD these days is kind of high, but considering that there is so much information that deducted from the price of traveling and training.

Travis Haley has parted with Magpul but from all accounts it was strictly business and I guess time to move on.   We have several sources tell us there will be much more coming from Travis Haley via Make Ready firearm instructional dvds give the working man or women a source for getting training and info from some of the best sources.  There is a lot to firearms  that has nothing to do with pulling the trigger and hitting the target.   Maintaining a firearm and diagnosing a problem quickly is something that all shooters need to know.   There are many different ways to do the same thing, but many times, the environments and positions change so you will have to have the mindset of adapting.

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Blackhawk Serpa holsters for the 1911?

I admit that I do like the Blackhawk Serpa holsters and it is mostly in comparison to the thumb snap holsters that use to hold so much of the holster market.  Most Police in this neck of the woods use Safariland locking holsters or some other Safariland holster.    The biggest pet peeve of mine with the traditional thumbreak holster is snapping it back on when hoslter.  I’ve had them wear out on me and end up not being worth relying on and ended up just cutting them off.   I’ve had guns fall out of holsters so I do know there is a time and a place to lock them in.

When it comes to 1911 handguns, I am not a big fan of retention holsters.   As a matter of fact, there is enough of a debate about putting manual safeties on firearms that having a manual firearm safety on a gun and Blackhawk Serpa Holsters for a firearm is 2 more things you need to do other than pull the trigger on a sidearm.   The 1911 is a great firearm, but one more mechanical device to disengage?   Some guns are meant for certain things, and I would not recommend that for anyone who is CCW a 1911.

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Gun Parts and AR15 accessorizing

Those statements can give some people a stroke, but once you’ve been there and done that, you hopefully have arrived at a happy medium.   Put me down as someone that was not a big fan of the AR15 design because I never understood why a gun was designed without worrying about how much maintenance it needed.   Don’t tell me that Eugene Stoner knew the gun was designed to do what it is doing today.  There was basically a disaster in place when the guns were first fielded and not until recently have the vast majority of AR15 owners realized that the direct impingement gun needs to be generously lubricated at all times to be functional.

There have been many improvements over the internal workings of the firearm from barrels, chamber chroming, gun magazines, improvements on ammunition and even changes to barrel twist have all gun us to where the M4 carbine is today.   The next major improvement with the M4 Carbine and M16 family of firearms is a lighter carbine like replacing your AR15 upper receivers without the compromises in durability.  That is something that has still been unproven with some of the newer lightweight uppers because of the time they have been out, but only time and testing will tell.

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Something new and different, will it work for you?

I remember a long time ago whenever I thought about an AR15, it was always the AR15 A2 model and always a 20inch barrel.   The Bushmaster XM15E2 was probable the most widely used AR15 in competition shoots at my gun club.   Most Cops had A2 M16 and then everything changed in the early part of the decade.   Now it’s hard to find anyone with a 20inch barrel on their gun because the M4 Carbine 14 inche barrels have gotten so well made and are so much more accurate than before, that you don’t sacrifice much of anything.

Stock accessories have gotten a bit out of control at times  and my eyes just buggout whenever somebody tells me about so new company or tricked out gadget that they found.   For me and most of my best shooting and LEO friends, the Magpul gun stock accessories and the new Magpul MOE are all we need.  The new angled fore grips are a better idea and don’t get in the way or protrude like many of the foregrips in the past.   Magpul does have a reputation have holding up to Military and LEO use so it’s worth the money.

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Tactical pants for fence jumpers

We’re going to go out on our soap box today and make the statement that if you’re tactical clothing manufacturer is not making pants with gusseted crotches, you’re going to be out of business in the very near future.   I remember when pants first started coming out like that and how much chuckling went on in the offices while sales reps were getting trained about the fact we all had to learn about the crotch area on the Blackhawk, Eotac and 5.11 pants.   While there are plenty of nice looking and nice fitting pants, they won’t work in the real world of fence jumping and Operator work.

It’s this time of the year where we run out of catalogs and listen to all of the hoopla about about what is going to be coming out around SHOT Show, but we never know for sure until later in the year.   As much as the tactical pants market has been flooded, there is plenty of room for fit adjustments and improvements on existing designs.   After all, everyone is basically just copying 5.11 tactical, right?   5.11 Tactical started it all and they still maintain the better part of it, but being that we’re dealing with a niche market, how big is the niche?

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Promag Magzines for the M1 Carbine and Mini 14

I never got on the M1 carbine bandwagon even though I know that it’s a fine gun.   There are are lots of bull shit stories about the firearm, but the biggest drawbacks about it are that the gun is designed for ball ammunition.  I  know there are claims about hollow point ammunition working in them, but I would not use this firearm with defensive ammunition in a defensive situation.  Just like it’s much famed 1911 WWII family member, it was designed for a specific task and it did the job well.   Many 1911 firearms have problems with ammunition and it’s all about the throat on the guns.   There are newer 1911s that resolve this issue, but it does exist.

When all of those WWII surplus guns started drying up in the 1980s and 1990s it was getting harder and harder to find decent magazines.  We sell a very good amount of M1 Carbine Promag magazines for the M1 carbine and they are available in 15rd and 30rd capacities.  When you use the 15rd magazines you’ll probable get a better balanced firearms, kind of like 20rd magazines on an AR15.   The M1 Carbine can be a more effective firearm in some situations compared to a handgun, but be realistic about the ammunition that you are feeding them.  There are also good reports about the Promag magazines for the Mini 14 and Mini 30.

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Why does the industry think Concealed Carry Pants need tons of pockets?

That really is one of those big questions that doesn’t get answered by the big clothing makers because they don’t really want to answer it.   Concealed Carry pants are really from most people that ask about the stuff we sell, all about being able to wear them at work and pocket carry.   It often amazes me that what is marketed by a few companies always has supposedly hidden leg pockets with tabs that flap in the wind when you walk and tell everyone you have a pocket there.   Was Michael Jacksons famous leather jacket a ccw coat?   Probable according to what we’ve seen show up here.

What everyone really wants is something with big hand pockets and if it has extra pockets, they should be shapped to look like normal pockets.  To date, the only real pant that we have sold that wasn’t in the tactical pants category are the new Woolrich Elite Series Chinos.   Other than that everyone else has something that we would consider to be tactical.  If the rear wallet pocket has big pockets around it, it looks like rock climbing gear.   It’s all about what you want, but if you want CCW pants, you’ll have a hard time finding it in the tactical clothing world.

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Blowout pants report

There seems to be a shift in the tactical pants market now to going for the gusseted crotch on all of the new tactical pants.  While this is old news to some people certain tactical clothing companies have been really slow at keeping up with what’s  new.   While several clothing makers are looking to get out of China for making apparel,  we are hoping that 2012 means making better clothing without crazy skyrocketing prices.   We’ve been selling Woolrich Elite Series Tactical clothing for several years and got hit with a few price increase recently, but compared to some clothing makers, not all that bad.

Trying to find a good  pair of pants for less than $40 dollars pretty much means shopping on Ebay, Tru-Spec, 5.11 tactical or Woolrich Elite.   While there are always preferences to consider when people tell you which tactical pants are best for them.   We have known for a very long time that the patns going for under $30 are not going to last unless they are discontinued or clearance items.  The best deal in recent months were the Woolrich Elite Style 444904 pants which were a very sturdy cotton canvas material that were identical to to the 44429 pant but with a lower ankle pocket.   They were a little heavy for some people’s tastes but they  did not shrink like some of the competitors did.

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Concealed Carry and potential injuries

When I look at all of the holsters that we carry and all of the ways someone can carry a gun, it’s almost endless, but there are the most popular ways of carry them and some really bad ways of carrying.  If you are carrying and your not that comfortable with the position of the holster, you really should try carrying to see if you can adapt or just completely overhaul the weapons that you carrying.   IWB is in my opinion the best way to conceal a firearm.   Something many people don’t think about is that when you are in public places people can brush up against you and if you are carrying a Blackhawk Serpa or paddle holster under a shirt, people will figure out what is going on.

I’ve seen a lot of fancy ways to carry and the small of the back is to this day, the one I strongly advice against.   If you are carrying in this manor in a car there is a serious chance you can have spinal injuries if you are in a car accident.   Desantis holsters are a bit different from Galco holsters and Don Hume holsters, but there are differences in holsters designs and the angles that they made in.  For some people they like the idea of having a roto tilt holster or angled forward or back, there is no wrong chose in these regards but being able to pull a firearm during a close up fight is something to consider and how much injury can you sustain if you fell on your firearm.  The small of the back is more of a liability in these regards than any other mode.

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