Brass knuckle gun grips!!!

I got stories to tell you about the things my Grandfather use carry that are now all illegal to carry,  everything from night sticks to brass knuckles.   I wish I would have been able to get a hold of them before his Estate sold everything, but I don’t  think my parents would have let a 14yr old keep those.   I recently watched a Gabe Suarez video about the AK rifle and there was a short segment about fighting with the AK.   I have found the AK to have several sharp areas that can cut or hurt the operator if they don’t watch their movement.   The good thing about that is you also have a nice sharp a rough stick to beat a bad guy with if you ever happen to be in the nightmare situation where you run out of ammo.

When it comes to handguns, they always retain the weight that they have and can be used as a striking weapon, but pistol whipping is probable not a very good tactic to train with.   Hogue grips are on all of my primary CCW guns except one and I don’t think that will ever change.   Having an improved retention over you firearm is important because anyone trained to know how the body moves is going to be able to take the gun away from you if you aren’t paying attention to retaining it.  When I trained with my primary fighting pistol, for combat, when the gun runs dry it can be used as a tool to poke and smash.   If need be it has more weight than most hammers if that doesn’t give you a sense of what an empty gun is capable of doing.

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Yes it does make a difference

Hogue Pistol GripsI recentely mention the need for rifle operators to consider customizing their rifles to their liking.   Every rifle stock and pistol grip should be modified to fit the user, there is no such thing as one length or universal pistol grip.    I have modified many of my Carbines to a SAW type grip just because I expect to be the one shooting them, but as I have found out from bringing new shooters to the range, they aren’t comfortable for small hands.   The same goes for handguns.

We are starting to see more and more handgun manufacturers putting out handguns with changeable backstraps.   This is a good idea and will give a firearm some versatility, but if you really want to make a change to the feel of the gun, I’d highly recommend Hogue Pistol Grips.  The real difference that I ask people to think about is if they want finger grips or fingerless.   Glock came out with a finger groove grip on there more modern designs.   Some people complain about cramping with the finger grooves, but this is something that you can adjust to once you get use to it.    Hogue grips are in my opinion a must on all Sig Sauer firearms.   I love Sig Sauer, but there factory grips seem to be the most slippery and ever since I switched to Hogue,  it almost feels like the gun is holding my hand.

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Sometimes CCW can be as simple as simple can be

Trying to find the right kind of flashlight to carry while that won’t take up much pocket space and still allows me to wear the least amount of layers of clothing is what Summer CCW should be all about.   As the weather warms up around here, it becomes harder and harder to carry a firearms in any way other than IWB or pocket carry.     One issue that I run into when pocket carrying is that since I’m left handed, my keys go in the left pocket normally, but when I pocket carry, my gun goes in that same pocket, well not at the same time, but it can get confusing if I’m not consistent about which gun I am going to carry.   Jumping back and forth between modes of carry isn’t a good idea unless you do it enough to know that you constantly have to adapt.

I have been moving away from trying to mount all of my gear on the belt line because I’ve found that people do brush up against you and having knives and flashlights on you usually is a heads up that you are a cop.   I recently got that question from a friend I had not seen in a long time and I had to say no, I wasn’t and then was in the awkward position of trying to explain when I carry a flashlight like I do.    There are some really cool Streamlight flashlights that will fit into a pocket, but be warned, you better be careful that you aren’t turning them on unknowingly killing battery life and switch life.   Sometimes the best thing to do is do the simplest things, like put a small flashlight on a key chain and keep your gun in the other pocket.

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Issues with carrying pocket CCW

I really hate to have to bring up some of these discussions because you don’t want to volunteer bad behavior stories to the anti-gun crowd, but I’m also not a fan of drunk drivers and people that talk on their cell phones while driving.  My first experience in witnessing stupid CCW holders was when I met a guy that got his first CCW gun and it was a desert eagle 44 magnum.    Do I really need to explain this one to you?   I don’t know any police departments that would allow a cop to carry something like that in a urban environment and I’d have to question the level of training someone had before they thought to deploy a gun in that caliber.   I think there would be more times that I would second guess taking a shot because I would be afraid the bullet was going to end up in the next city over.

When it comes to pocket carrying, there are now CCW pants that will help retain your firearm if you are laying down or need to lean back.   I’ve seen guns fall out of holsters and they can fall out of pockets.   I’ve lost pistol magazines because the mag holders didn’t work in horizontal positions.  Don Hume holsters have a front pocket holster that is added security and will help keep pocket lint out of many parts of a gun.   There is always a learning curve when it comes to CCW and you’ll find out real fast which clothing builds up lint faster.   Holsters can help keep a gun reliable and prevent you from having to strip the gun down all the time because it’s getting cluttered with things that should not  be in there.

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Are there still reasons to carry binoculars?

I’ve questioned whether or not it was worth packing up my binoculars for range trips from time to time, and now that most of my rifles have some level of magnification, I really don’t have to guess if I’m hitting my target anymore.   Shoot N C targets help, but sometimes even magnification doesn’t help you in those regards.   I learned my lesson the hard way when I took a 6.5x50mm Zeiss Conquest scope to a 500yd rifle range and thought that I was going to have a fun day shooting because I wouldn’t need to do as many target changes since I had high magnification on my rifle.   Does anyone know what a mirage is?   When that hot sun starts beating down, you might as well have zero magnification because you won’t see you’re holes on paper beyond 200yds even with high magnification.

The real reason to still pack a pair of binoculars in your hunting or shooting bag is for target identification and field of view.   If you are using a rifle to identify targets you may be violating some of the basic firearms safety rules of not pointing a firearm at anything you don’t want to destroy.  I have had very good experience with Nikon binoculars and their rifle scopes are top notch.   The 7×35 Nikon Action are still my favorite because they don’t cost very much, aren’t very big and still give a good field of view.   There are better binoculars, but I have always had a hard time spending more on a scope than the actual rifle costs, some people don’t have that issue, but I do.

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Eotac pants shortage ? Whats going on?

I don’t think I can tell you I know what is going on, but I hope there is some salvation with the Eotac apparel.   Between the shortages in cotton and fabric materials and a bad economic it’s been hard to predict what will happen.   Our biggest sellers have been the Eotac lightweight pants because even though they may look like many other tactical pants, the pocket designs are the best designed pants for what I like.   The Woolrich Elite style 4441 are very close in design, but the draw back that I have seen was with the ID or wallet pocket.  You can shove a 20 oz water bottle in the back pocket, but try getting a wallet in and out of the ID pocket and you’ll know what I mean.   I guess I’m very old fashion and still haul a lot of business cards with me and I’m not looking to change that.   Tactical pants still gotta fit my car keys, gun and wallet for me to like them.

The style 203 pants have been hard to get almost since Eotac first emerged.   We waited for months to get the black pants in, but they never arrived and we heard rumors there was a production issue with them.   Since then we’ve been getting phone calls wonder if they were coming in and now we’ve been told that something else may be going on with these tactical pants.   Only time will tell if the production issue gets resolved, but we have the last of Eotac style 201, Style 202, Style 203 tactical pants that Eotac made.   I’ve seen a few clothing companies fold up this year because getting material has been so hard.   Finding denim material  was even harder to find.   Keep an eye here if some good news becomes available because we know there will be something announced soon.

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Myths about gloves and firearms

I don’t think I will ever really get use to wearing gloves  because there are just too many situations that you can get yourself in that you’ll really wish you could just take the glove off and use your hands, the problem with that, is that there are going to be times you wish you did have gloves on.   I’ve been wearing Original Swat boots for about  7 months now and even though I can feel it at the end of the day when I take them off, and I know that wearing a pair of sneakers at work gives my feet and legs a break, working in rough terrain or broken glass ect. will make you glad you have something thick between your feet and the ground.  There are always extreme circumstances in the Law Enforcement community and knowing how to be versatile and adapt is what is important,   you may want to have a pair of warm gloves for extremely cold weather, but have something light to protect you from heat.

Even in the hot summer months it’s wise to be toting a pair of gloves in your range bag or tactical vest because there will be situations where you will have to pick up something hot or rough and if it grosses you out enough, just toss the gloves away and buy another pair later.   A well thought out tactical vest should easily fit a pair of gloves in it without taking up much room.   I have a Woolrich Elite Style 4903 tactical vest that has Vickers tactical gloves, Blackhawk elbow and knee pads in them for the what ifs as well as gun parts, batteries, and ammo.   I think all glove will take getting use to but keeping it simple and not over doing it with Soviet style winter gloves that can only fit in the trigger guard of  an AK is unnecessary.   We’ve had almost zero complaints about durability with these gloves and rarely sizing issues if you measure your hand properly before buying them.

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Is the FAL a good DMR rifle?

I’ve always been a little stumped on why the FAL doesn’t show up on firing ranges as much as it should because I have had extensive experience with DSarms and they have been outstanding.   I did have a lesson learned about using loctite on screws with my FAL and after several thousand rounds later nothing came loose.    There are more accurate FALs and M1A rifles than mine, but 2 MOA means 10 inch groups at 500yds with Portugese surplus ammo and I’m not really sure why I would need to get any better than that for even hunting.   If I know my distance my FAL is still a darn good deer rifle if I could hunt with it here in New York State.   The return of the 7.62 caliber to active military service as a DMR role has given the AR10 and similar style rifles a new life.   I am looking at the LWRCI Repr although still dealing with some sticker shock.

The only draw back I feel I have with the FAL is the heavy trigger.   Maybe I could get it worked down a few pounds but with a good scope I have never missed my targets.   Unbeknownst to me, Larry Vickers is also a fan of the FAL and I recently read a nice read about his take on the FAL.   I haven’t had the need to always use Vickers gloves when shooting, but it’s actually something that I have been working more into my training when taking on a DMR role.     Loading 7.62 bullets into a magazine with gloves on is easier than doing it with smaller pistol caliber or 5.56 gloves so my desire to constantly take them off when loading magazines doesn’t kick in.   I prefer the mid length vickers gloves because they give added protection against burns on the wrist from hot barrels ect.

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Complicating a firearm with buttons and switches?

The era of the over done M4 Carbine seems to be coming to an end, and I have already seen a transition towards the lighter weight Carbines.   When the M4 initially came out, it was suppose to be a lighter weight and smaller weapon to be wielded on the battle field, but many of the ones that I have seen on civilian firing ranges were about the same weight as an M1 Garand.   I have not had very good experience with using pressure switches on flashlights, not only have I seen them fail, like all other wired accessories, but they do open you up to the possibility of snagging on more things.   Something like that would get messed up in a wooded area and in close hallways ect. you can get it caught on just about anything that hangs out.

There is no real advice I can give about what to put on your firearm, all I can tell you to do is to think about the environment you are using it in and think about what “could happen” in that environment.   Streamlight flashlights have worked very well for me, I recently got some negative feedback from a fellow operator about the switches they have on the flashlights now, but I have avoided using pressure switches.   The Streamlight Scorpion I have on my M4 Carbines is located in such a position that I can reach it with my thumb and turn it on and off with ease.

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.308 rifle cleaning on the move

The tactical world is loaded with tons of doodads and accessories that are very well thought out, but sometimes it takes as much time to learn how to use them as it probable took to create the device.    Experience is what we learn from and we get it an many ways.   If you have ever had to pack a backpack and go on a week or longer hike, you’ll know the importance of packing “only what you need to survive” which is a line I stole from Spaceballs the movie.   It’s funny that I have actually seen people go on camping trips with things that plug in and need electricity, and those are the people you’ll probable never see on a camping trip again.   My Boy Scout Troop usually had 2 or 3 campers a year, the new guys, do something like that and the City slicker attitudes usually mean a short stint in the Boy Scouts of America.

When it comes to carrying a firearm like a DMR or Sniper rifle, adding weight to something that is already heavy is not something you are going to want to do.   If you could remove 1 or 2 lbs of weight from a rifle, you can add on the weight of the ammo that replaces it.  I don’t know a single shooter that wouldn’t rather carry more ammo than carry more gun.  There are cleaning systems like boresnakes that are fast and easy, but for serious cleaning, you are going to like the Otis gun cleaning kits for the sniper or DMR.  This gun cleaning kit is meant for a .308 rifle, bolt action or semi-auto, it doesn’t matter.    I’m sure there are people that think they need a cleaning rod for bolt guns, maybe some guns need it, but how the heck do you carry a cleaning rod into the field?

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