Weird stuff on youtube these days

I have been having fun watching the YouTube videos and information.   There is a lot of copy written stuff and I’ve been trying to avoid watching firearm instructional videos and gunsmithing stuff just because I’m in the minority that thinks that is stealing.  I have been buying  handguns that I’m not really fond of, but since they are fairly popular I have been enjoying looking up amatuer videos from other gun owners talk about the guns they own and being their own gun video writers.   Some of the stuff is pathetically bad and the inability to pronounce words like Kimber and are acting like they know something I don’t know.  It’s KIMBER not KIMBALL.

There have been some interested changes to the previous Kimber Guardian Angel and there is now the Kimber Pepper Blaster II out that they gives the ASP Pepper Sprays some real competition.   I think any type of pepper spray is a must even if you are carrying a firearm.   If you read some of these gun forums and discussion about carrying firearms into the woods or in bear Country, you will be just as safe carrying mace with you as you are in carrying a  44 magnum.   I have had numerous conversations with game commission workers about bear contact and they have actually had to put black bears down, they recommended that bear sprays and pepper sprays will do as much keep a bear off you as firing a gun.   The only real issue is range.

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Under cover work with a Carbine

I as getting a little board with doing concealed carry method testing with holsters and various types of tactical pants this week and since it’s been so fricking cold out, I decided to do something new.   I have a few friends that do under cover work and I have sold them some of the Eotac Style 101 vests.   I originally thought that both of these guys were nuts because these vests are the most tactical looking vests out there.   The 4 AR15 magazine pockets are a dead giveaway if someone didn’t already figure out you were’t fly fishing.   I was amazed at what these guys actually did with the vests.

There are several tactical vests out there that are all out assault vests.  You can basically attach a couple hand grenades to them and your good to go.  These vests usually have a handgun holster on them and to me that pretty much makes it an outwear vest.   The Style 101 s from Eotac are not really heavy unless you really put heavy items in them.   Even though these are tactical vests, you can easily wear them under your heavy winter clothing and it will not really add much weight or keep in body heat anymore than what you are already wearing.   You can wear this under a regual winter jacket and I have even seen small M4 Carbines along with these vests doing under cover work inside your average winter coat.

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Elastic waistbands, it doesn’t feel right without it anymore

I just put in an order for several new Galco holsters that I’m going to try to work with a few regual jeans I own because I recently hurt my side with a kydex holster on a pair of jeans that were suppose to be for CCW but I found them to royally suck because they didn’t have an elastic waistband.   I’m half wondering if this 5.11 tactical jean has been discontinued because I see them being sold at clearance levels of under $20.   I’m still testing out various type of tactical clothing from Tru-Spec and Blackhawk, but I’m a little overwhelmed with what I have being tested out right now.   I had to give up on IWB holsters for these 5.11 pants because they just don’t cut it.   I will be trying a Don Hume Jit holster and see if that works.

I had good luck with the Eotac 502 jeans because they had an elastic waistband, but I actually had issues with the Woolrich Elite tactical pants that were almost identical looking.  The waistband on the Woolrich 44909 seemed to be thicker and my IWB holster from JS holsters had trouble clipping onto the belt due to the thickness….weird.   I personally like the idea of having less tactical pockets on jeans because jeans really can’t be tactical looking if you want them to be CCW.  Most guys are going to want the straight leg pants and a more washed look to them.   I really have limited ways of carrying in the summer because every time I have to walk out of the door at this time of year I have to wear layers of clothing or a heavy jacket and it’s hard to really test out shirts.

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.380 guns be realistic about what you are carrying

I think this past year may have been the year of the .380 pistol.   I don’t know exactly why everyone went with the .380 this year, but it was popular and considering the run on the ammunition and it’s lack of availability,  I think I should have purchased some stock in .380 and not just gold.   I recently attended a Taurus firearm event where the TCP .380 was being shown.   When I think of .380 guns I believe that up until this year, I could only think of the Sig Sauer 230 and the Sig 232 and the Walther PPK.  I have enough friends that like the look of the PPK but were not a fan of the gun due to the hammer bite.   If you have big hands that gun is most likely not for you.

The TCP was a little finicky about the ammo it ate, but I have shot several of the Rohrbaugh R9 pistols and they were also very picky about the ammo they ate.   When  you get down to those small semi-auto guns, you better put the range time in to know the limitations of the guns.   You won’t get a pocket pistol that will run for hundreds of rounds without needing to change springs or be lubricated.   Rotating your gun magazines is a must for smaller semi-autos. The .380 is also a very mild round and I witnessed first hand the lack of energy it had when shooting steel plates.  I watched a recent video where I heard 4 shots fired, one miss, 3 hits and the metal plate only fell one time.  Be realistic about the guns you are carrying and and why.

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Woolrich Elite outwear

Woolrich has been around for a very long time, I have been to up State Woolrich inc. and seen the history of the product line and I was impressed that they were stepping into the tactical clothing market.   It has been almost 6yrs now and they are holding there own.   Each of us have our own tastes in the fit and finish and most of our customers have been happy with the product line.   There is more than enough competition out there from 5.11 tactical, Tru-Spec and Blackhawk, but I still have a bunch of the early style of Woolrich products that came out 4yrs ago and all of them have been washed and worn and are still in one piece.
The Style 44424 discreet vests is made of a 100% cotton rip stop and yes, it is one of those vests that some people claim is a shoot me first vest, but I don’t think that wearing a vest is a dead giveaway that you are carrying.   I think there are certain age groups and body builds where vests are appropriate and if you are a competition shooter you will know that this is exactly what you will want for IDPA competitions.   Unfortunately Woolrich Elite vests have been discontinued in some colors that we considered popular like the sage color, but hopefully at some point they will bring them back because so many people are still asking for them.   I would not recommend carrying a firearm in the front pockets, but considering on the size and weight of the gun you may be able to get away with it.  I strongly recommend wearing this vest if you carry a Beretta 92FS or Glock 17 or any large size auto or revolver.

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IWB carry for a 1911

I have always thought that carrying a full size auto meant carrying the gun in a paddle holster or a shoulder holster, but that like many other conclusions has changed.   I have never been afraid to just carrying one firearm and not have to worry about carrying backup magazines although I’m not going to tell you that  you need to do the same.  With the prevalence of people carrying cell phones on their belts, you do have to be careful about where you are placing  your spare gun magazines.   There have been times where I have noticed that certain types of shirts and sweatshirts and even some jackets will ride up too high on my waist when I am trying to retrieve my cell phone.

If I am going to an environment where deep concealed carry methods need to be employed,  sometimes we may have to stick to just one gun and avoid carrying spare magazines on the waist.   I have thrown spare magazines for my Colt 1911 in a pocket, usually my Wilson Combat magazines but I have found all too many times that my 5.11, Woolrich Elite or Eotac pants will eventually work a bullet out of the gun magazine and that’s not a good thing.   I think the only other deep cover option I would consider would be a ankle holster that could carry spare magazines for an auto.   The good thing about the 1911 design is it’s slick thin design.

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Bitter cold, but wet weather CCW

Up here in the Northeast we are getting wacked with an early December.   I’ve been juggling between heavy winter coats and an Eotac 501 half zip sweat shirt.    I have found that wearing a good base layer, T-shirt and a sweat shirt of some sort, usually is good enough to get me through the day.   If I have to worry about covering my head and it’s below 30F I always take my Han Solo Hoth winter jacket.    It works for it’s intended purpose, but I personally don’t like wearing heavy jackets in the winter and carrying a firearm.   The heavy winter jackets don’t breath very well and there have been multiple times I have done my Christmas shopping in this configuration and was dying from the heat once I was in a shopping mall for more than an hour.

I have notice there has been some turmoil with Woolrich Elite products but they came out with several new products this past year that impressed me.  The most impressive item I saw was the Woolrich Elite Parka.   This was one of our number one selling Christmas items and they did a good job designing it.   This Parka is a Waterproof layer you can wear over your clothing and it will breath better than a heavy winter jacket that is water proof.   I don’t like the idea of carrying firearms in out wear, but I can carry my flashlight and spare magazines when I’m wearing this.   In Fall or Spring weather this jacket can be folded up into a glove compartment and be used for those Fall or Spring showers that come out of no where.

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The New Kimber Guardian

The new Kimber Guardian Angel pepper spray is no longer called the Life-Act or Guardian Angel.   We’re now on the 3rd installment of the device and I agree with all of the modifications.   My initial response to the device was that it was expensive, but then I realized that it actually lasts longer than any of the bottle sprays I own and it points easier, and has a trigger.   The original design fit my hands fine, but for anyone with smaller hands, it was a little too big and it had a slippery plastic feel to it.   I have several friends that have taken grip tape that skateboarders use on theirs and it worked well, but why didn’t Kimber do something like this?

The new Kimber device is called the Kimber Pepper Blaster II.   This is a radically new pepper spray design that is still a 2 shot device but it will look at feel like a small firearm and this actually comes with sights.   The previous design was used with a funky hand hold that was very goofy and somewhat unrealistically deployed.   Why not just put sights on the gun?  Well, now they did, and the only thing I can think of that would be a drawback would be that it might snag where the previous design fit very well into a pocket.   My Eotac Style 205 jeans and the Style 204 canvas designs had a side pocket that I could keep the guns in and they always pointed down and never would snag.

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Optics that hold zero

There are a great many  things that I have learned over the years about what is a combat worthy firearm and what is a hobby type of firearm.   I have seen such huge variations in AR 15 rifles that I really can’t say that some manufacturers of direct impingement firearms are less reliable that gas piston guns.   There are some variations in the older design that have machine their parts so well that they really do run on less lubrication and have run in some tests off thousands and thousands of rounds with out failure.   I will say that gas piston guns will run cleaner, but are they more reliable than a high end AR15?   I don’t think most of us will really ever know the answer to that because there are always variables in how a firearm is maintained and in what climate and conditions it is subjected to.

If I had to issue handguns and rifles to relatives, I’d probable go with a gun that is easy to clean and easy to shoot, if I want a gun for myself, I’ll take the guns that work the best for me.   I know I put more effort into making sure every rifle I own has the right parts staked and loctited down.   I have broken a few Tasco and Simmons optics, but I have never had Leupold rifle scopes, Zeiss or Trijicon optic fail on me.   There are faulty mounts and scope rings out there, but even the less expensive ones will work if you use Loctite on them and don’t over torque them.   Over torque screws on firearms can mean broken screws and I have learned that the hard way with a DSArms SA58.   The FAL is not a very good gun for using optics, but it can work if you lock everything into place.  Cleaning the guns with this scope mounts is difficult, but the FAL can be made into a good DMR gun.

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Gun storage, gun safes and gun cases

I mentioned a few days ago that the ideal way of locking up all of your firearms and ammunition is to create a fireproof room in your home that you can just walk into.   I know several gun collectors that have done this and if they would have gone out and purchase gun safes they probable would have had to remove a few walls in there house just to get the safes in, not to mention how much destruction they might have caused trying to move one around the house.   I believe my one friend had 3 gun safes that would today, cost close to $10,000, but I don’t think he would have done that again.   Security systems are much better designed and you can keep various sections of your home under active lock downs while it’s free to roam in other areas.

One thing that hasn’t changed very much is the reality that guns usually get damaged during transport and many people don’t  have the right gun cases matching up to the rifles.  I had issues with several of my Uncle Mike’s assault rifle cases not working very well with some of my M4 Carbines when they had anything more than a rifle scope on them.   The Uncle Mike’s gun cases are very good, but if you have lasers or flashlights on them, you may need another fatter type of gun case.  There have been times where I have taken 7-10 rifles to a gun club and that was an enlightening time for me.   After I put my most expensive rifles in the better gun cases like the SKB gun cases, I ended up just having gun socks for shotguns and 22 rifles.  I think gun socks are good for the money, but the Allen Endura gun cases offer a little more protection.

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