CCW vs Cop holsters

There is a reason that Cops want locking holster, statistics show that many police get shot by their own guns, and I’m sure there are unknown statistics on the number of times Cops have had guns fall out of holsters.   I recently read a review by an LAPD Officer that sheered an entire gun and holster off of his side while the paddle and belt kept part of it in place.   Anything that can happen will happen and probable already did happen.   I remember when Youtube first got popular there were several people bashing Fobus holsters on how easy it was to rip the guns off of people by tearing the holster.   Truth is, it can happen, but it doesn’t happen that often.   When it comes to CCW, most of the time you won’t be dealing with snagging firearms unless you go to retrieve them and they get caught on a shirt or a jacket.

Level I holsters are for, in my humble opinion, all about speed.    A nice IWB holster for concealed carry should keep the trigger protected and be as comfortable and easy to retrieve as the operator desires.  When it comes to level II Serpa holsters, I think this is a smart thing to consider for anyone in an open carry situation.   Yes the bad guy may know how to release  Blackhawk holsters, but your average bad guy probable doesn’t know how to clear a malfunction or do speed loads either.   If you are that concerned about the gun being taken from you, then don’t open carry.   I believe that the Serpa holster is the best way to carry a secondary firearm also.   The Blackhawk Level III holster is best left for law enforcement and people that are in high risk situations.

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Fit, feel and durability go hand in hand

I have and still own many firearms, all of them have a place in my heart and are good for something.   It’s really too  bad I didn’t know that knowing what your good at doing is what life is all about, and not everyone does very much research into finding it.   When so many of us were part of the herd and teachers all taught us the same thing, in the same way, it was all about getting an A, B, C, D or an F.   Some people are good at math, others are not, some are into History and others are not.   There is no such thing as a do it all weapon, but there is something about being versatile and knowing what you are good at doing and then doing it well.   This becomes more important in life, especially once we are out of school.   Too many people think that just getting good grades in School means you are going to get a good job, getting good grades doesn’t even mean you’re intelligent.  Try looking at the PHD crowd  running the Country, what works in a classroom doesn’t always work in the real world.

 

 

I have only been familiar with Larry Vicker’s Signature gloves for about 4yrs, but only really 2 yrs of working with them.  I was one that was use to using the gloves I used for hunting which were the fingerless gloves.   These hunting gloves looked kinda like tactical gloves, but they did not last even 2 range sessions.   Loading AR15 magazines with anything that isn’t tough enough in the thumb area is going to wreck your gloves real fast.   The mid length gloves are more to my taste because I do like the extra wrist protection from flying brass and hot barrels.  Both gloves are what I would consider to be medium weight gloves and in honesty, I’m not familiar with that many other types of gloves, I’ve never gotten a complaint about them not holding up.   These can do most of the jobs that require you to need gloves.   If you want to do it all bring a couple types of gloves, if you want to do most of it with one, try these.

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What’s up with those cotton prices?

We got several warnings from some of the apparel companies we’ve been selling that prices are going to go up on all of the clothing that we are selling.  This is entirely up to the fact that cotton demand has exceeded production capabilities and there has been a shortage of cotton.   We knew something was wrong last year when one of our clothing manufacturers didn’t have any of it’s lightweight clothing available when Spring came and nothing showed up for Summer.   Now that we have a large number of deployed Military and private Contractors being deployed over seas in  hot climates, there is a large demand for lightweight tactical clothing.  Unfortunately we couldn’t name one company that makes all of the best lightweight clothing because each has it’s own good and bad points.   I’m still not happy that the Eotac Style 301 shorts stopped being made last year because I do not like the shorter inseam 302.

I have had some of the 5.11 tac lite pro shorts, but they are too tactical looking for most of my Summer adventures.   I think it was smart to make them a cotton polyester variant especially since Cotton prices have gone up, it’s probable going to be more common to see synthetic materials blend into clothing.   You sure can’t beat the 100% cotton ripstop tactical pants from Eotac though.   We get a lot of requests from guys in Iraq and Afghanistan that love the Style 203 pants because the pocket designs and the fit is superior to the similarly looking pants from 5.11 tactical pants.   I remember being at a trade show last year and some of the guys were joking about how hard it was to tell what clothing company made various pants because they all looked the same. The truth is, they don’t all feel the same.

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Did the M14 replace the Garand?

That is a sure thing, and in my opinion it was a big step forward for semi-autos.  It really is too bad the gun was not fielded during the Korean War because it would have made a difference for the USGI.   As much as the Garand was a useful weapon to the American Rifleman, it was quickly out dated in the battle field and from what I have personally witnessed, is not very versatile when it comes to being used by different soldiers.   Many Vets that I have spoken to did not think the gun was fun to shoot and couldn’t hit anything at 100yds with it.   I’ve seen that type of shooting before, it’s called “fear of recoil”.

When the M14 was first issued, it pretty much did in the M1 Garand and the BAR, but modern warfare made the riflemen’s  usual combat engagements take place at well under 400yds.   Most engagements that I know of from personal stories took place at under 100yds.   The M1 Carbine still was very practical for soldiers until the M4 Carbine came out, now many enthusiasts in California and New Jersey can use the Promag magazines that are 10rds and from what many of our customers have said they worked very well for this old relic.   If it were not for the limited availability and reliability of M1 Carbine ammo, I think the gun would be more popular.

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Tactics and gear for the DMR

I guess I’m an old man if I can remember a time before gun forums, but now that Twitter and Blogging has seemed to surpass the usefulness of those discussion forums, modern technology and accessories are sometimes hard to figure out until they’ve actually been fielded for some time.  I’m just starting to realize the importance of having some of the handguards, rifle stocks, and optics that I presently have on some of my AR15 rifles because now that I’m getting more time on the range, I realize that what I am using is really the best configuration for close up fighting.

I remember all of the squabbling I got on a firearm forum for wanting to put a rifle scope on a DSA FAL rifle.   Many use to think  that putting “glass” on a battle rifle was a bad idea.    Now that the M14 has been resurrected as the DMR rifle, putting glass on a battle rifle seems like the best purpose.  Trijicon ACOGs have shown up on many of the former scopeless battle rifles and that 2 MOA rifle can be very effective out to 800 meters if the shooter is up to it.   I have found that for most purposes, I really don’t need more than 3x magnification, but for longer ranges, the M14 or FAL is capable and worthy of more magnification.

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Magazine pouches, fobus vs Blackhawk

I have had a lot of experience using nylon gun holsters and I really can’t say anything bad about them except for the thumb break stile holsters.   I’m not a big fan of holsters with straps on them and I presently only prefer the Blackhawk Serpa holsters for locking and firearm retention.   My Fobus holsters have always served me well and I believe I may own one holster for every medium and large frame auto in my collection.  Fobus makes a nice paddle holster, but I have had experience with the magazine holders and I am not a big fan.

I have quite a few nylon magazine holders and they are very good and keep the magazines where I want them, I do not like to use the nylon magazine holders for CCW and after a short stint at using the Fobus holsters magazine holders, I found out that there is a limit to how many paddle style holsters I can wear comfortable.   I do not recommend the fobus paddle magazine holders because you will feel it dig into you if you have to roll around.  The Blackhawk single and double stack magazines are the best because they actually have tension and mags won’t fly out easy and they aren’t covered like a nylon magazine holder is.

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Paddle holsters and CCW

This is an area that can cause much debate in the CCW world because if you are concealing a firearm in a paddle holster you are almost always going to have to wear a vest or a long coat, not all environments can tolerate a jacket, and most jackets are either not going to be long enough or they will make you sweat, just in for concealing a firearm in this manor.  I really like the Blackhawk Serpa holsters, but they do extend a little further out on the body that something like a Don Hume Jit holster which is flat up against a belt.

Firearm retention in a holster is important for LEO and people carrying open carry, but not so much for CCW.  Yes you may get in a scuffle and have a firearm fly out of a  holster, but the Blackhawk holsters make get a little difficult to release if you are not in a good position, there are always methods and tactics that people should train with and trying a  holster out in an adverse position is something  you should try doing.  Try pulling the firearm laying on  your side, or in the seated position and you’ll know what I mean.   If you are sitting down, you’ll realize how odd it will feel and how high you’ll have to left your shoulder to clear it.

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Don’t expect a do it all gadget on your firearms

I saw a recent night fighting test where they basically showed how night sights become useless as soon as a flashlight gets turned on and the glowing dots won’t help you in low light conditions depending on your flashlight gun techniques.   The whole flashlight thing on handguns is a debate in itself because there are so many things to consider.   There are flashlight retention devices like the Section 8 Tactical ultimate retention device that have helped improve grip and freeing up your hand to open doors or do magazine changes, but it is true that it’s not as steady as a flashlight mounted on the firearm.

Night sights are nice, but who would get into a shoot out in their home without turning on a light or using a flashlight?   One thing to consider are Crimson Trace Laser grips for home defense because not only can you tell depth of a target in low light you can also get better cover and still know where your gun is pointed.   There are some really good defensive training DVD’s coming out an Massad Ayoob will be going over using laser grips in home situations.   I highly recommend using lasers on home firearms as well as flashlights, I think those are far more practical and advantageous than using night sights.

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Ruger Mini 30…what’s the point of having one of these?

That’s a far out dated question is  my opinion.   Sure you can get an SKS or an AK for less money and higher capacities, but for the most part, the AK and SKS are not very friendly to mounting rifle optics and given it’s tradition scope ring mounts, you can mount a nice Leupold rifle scope on the gun and get more out of it than you would from a surplus Com-block rifle.   Can I also say that the gun is lighter and has a better trigger?   There are certain products that we sell that are sold to many of our customers in California and New Jersey and can’t use gun magazines that usually are standard issue.

I got an incredible deal on a used Ruger Mini 30 for just about $200 from a disgruntled owner that tried to make the gun into something that it wasn’t.   Promag magazines makes a reliable 10rd magazine that worked for me.  I have no interest in trying to make this gun take 30rd magazines.   There are now domestically manufactured brass hunting rounds for the 7.62×39 and I wouldn’t hesitate to tell someone to consider one of these Ruger puppies for yard work.  I also wouldn’t hesitate to consider reloading for your Mini 30 because you should  be able to get your gun to pretty close to MOA with the right ammo.

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Fast holsters for self defense

Not everyone is going to win the IDPA National competition this  year, nor should we expect it, but there are several thousand people that are above average and stand out.    Not everyone that carries a firearm is training 2 times a week and ready for whatever fate is going to pop out of the bushes.   I don’t teach gun slinging when I’m teaching a class, but I expect people to be safe when using a firearm, and allow them to figure out how fast they need to be.   In all of the hostile confrontations I witnessed, there was never a need for a fast draw, you either slowly pulled the gun when the BG wasn’t looking or you ran for cover and moved.   Gun slinging can mean that both individuals shoot each other.

I do believe that one thing that gets over looked when people decide to choose a holster is at what angle and location can they draw a firearm fastest.   Gun depth in a holster is a big deal because once you start concealing a firearm under a shirt, if you can’t get your hands on it easily you’re not going to get it out quick enough.   My fastest and favorite is the Don Hume holsters called the Jit holster.   These ride a little high, aren’t locked in, and my hands and many of my students agree, that it is easy to grab.   IWB can be tricky because everyone thinks its just about hiding the gun, they forget that it’s also about how to get it out.

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