Improve your proficiency, modify your firearms

Many people don’t realize until after they spend the day at the range that many of their shooting skills can depend on how well they can adapt to a firearm.  Some firearms can be very hard to get proficient with and that’s not your fault.  One of the biggest reasons the AR15 has become so widely accepted is because is much easier to adapt to.  Now that so many police departments and agencies have been allowed to modify their firearms, gun accessories have become more versatile every year.  The new Magpul MOE is a new generation and though process in developing and adapting your Carbine.

The biggest trend these days is a trend towards having a light carbine.  Realistically speaking the Magpul accessories for the AR15 rarely add much weight, it’s usually the quad rails or barrel selections that do this.  The MOE eliminates some of these problems but you will have to figure out what size rails you will want to attach.  Like all attachments to firearms, you really want to loctite everything down once you are sure your placements are correct.  It’s always good to get a stock adjustment tool fo easier adjustments and tweaking.

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Run on gun holsters as well as other firearm parts

There have been many products on our website that have been sold out for months and getting them back in here anytime soon isn’t going to happen. There are a few distributors we have had to stop dealing with and become direct dealers because the wait periods were so long.  Spikes Tactical and Don Hume gear and accessories have been so hard to get and this has to be the first time I have ever heard of there being a run on gun holsters.   Leather gun holsters tend to look really nice and have a very different appeal.  Many of them are extremely comfortable to wear especially the Kingtuk holsters.

We are a stocking Desantis gun holster dealer and they have many products that are similar to the Crossbreed and Galco holsters.  Our product lines tend to match up with whatever Galco holsters are the most popular.  From inside the waist holsters, tuckable gun holsters, shoulder holsters and ankle holsters. There are some really good reviews you can google or even watch on Youtube if you want to see product comparisons, recently we discovered that Galco holsters have a very unique appeal because you can tell the difference in style between Desantis holsters, Don Hume and Galco.

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Blackhawk lightweight tactical pants are a hit

Sometimes when new stuff comes out we just sit back and let our customers tell us if it’s a good product.  Now that several of our tactical pants competitors have fizzled out we’re looking for tactical clothing that is made our customers don’t complain about.   I will admit that these tactical pants have a different fit to them and when I move in them they do not seem as comfortable as the Tru Spec and Eotac pants that I am use to.  But to each his own when it comes to fit and comfort.  Material makes a big differences to me in certain climates and although I have worn 100% cotton ripstop pants for 7yrs. The Tru Spec and Blackhawk Poly Cotton blend do not really bother me at all.

Some people want to get away from the 5.11 tactical pants that they have been wearing and right now there is so much out there to keep against 5.11 tactical clothing.  I see a few companies have attempted to design their own tactical pants but those are really just cheap range pants or better yet, yardwork tactical apparel.  We’re still waiting to  find out about all of the manufacturing changes that are taking place and hoping we don’t have any distruptions in product lines again.  TruSpec seems to be very aggressive in getting their products on the market with month long tactical pants and tactical polo promotions.  Next fall we will be on board for some nice outer wear promos.

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What people are saying about the differences in material

When we first got into the tactical clothing business Woolrich Elite Series was the first company to come out that was different than 5.11 tactical.   The 5.11 pants and shorts we were wearing were a poly cotton ripstop material and not cut very well.   I have some of the 5.11 covert carry jeans and they are just downright lame as far as design and fit.  The Woolrich Elite jeans were a good idea but the colors and fit were not very good.  To date the only concealed carry jean that we sold that got a good response were the Eotac 205 jeans and we are sadly not going to see those again.

The cotton canvas pants seem to be liked because of the comfort of the material but when people want lightweight pants, it’s either 100% cotton ripstop or it’s going to be a poly cotton blend.   We had an electrician come in here and say that the TruSpec tactical pants we sold were not approved for his job and only the 100% cotton ripstop pants were due to fire safety.  Both pants may look the same but they are not the same when it comes to moisture resistance and comfort although I find the TruSpec pants to be best fit for me for the poly cotton blend.

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Colt 1991A1 and Chip McCormick magazines range day

I have worn out more 1911  magazines than any other gun magazine and I guess it’s no surprise that I put a lot of 45acp down range.   My 45acp magazines get put to use and I have learned from experience to rotate through all of my 1911 magazines and replace the springs about the same time I replace my recoil springs.  All of this can depend on how many magazines you use for the most part.    I would always recommend that you have atleast 3 gun magazines for every handgun you own because not only does this spread out the gun magazine wear, it’s about what  you will most likely need if you are doing any type of competition shooting.

I have a Colt 1991A1 that has seen more action than any other sidearm and I refuse to do any major changes to it as long as the gun runs.  The gun fits my hand very well and I have had good luck with the proven Chip McCormick magazines that I have used for IDPA competition and for CCW.   I love my 1911s for competition shooting but I’m still searching for a 45acp gun that I can carry all the time.  Some of the shorter 1911 guns seem to be to much too much maintenance and I really don’t like the idea of carrying a firearm where I have to do a countdown to when it it needs to have its guts cleaned out.

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Tactical Clothing is mostly about preference

I just got off the phone with a customer that asked me if we sold clothing that was “true to size” i informed him in the last 7yrs of selling tactical apparel, that I can’t answer that question because the times that I did, it was usually a customer looking for an answer so that if the clothing didn’t fit, he’d blame me for tell him that it would fit him.  We’ve sold many Wilderness belts over the years and although we never get complaints about how the belts hold up, there are so many sizing issues with these belts that even The Wilderness has a disclaimer on the end of their order processing about not taking back returns.

The differences between Blackhawk, Tru Spec, 5.11 tactical, Woolrich Elite and even the rare inventory of Eotac clothing that is floating around can sometimes have more to do with quality control than original design differences.  We’ve pruned much of our tactical clothing product lines and discontinued much of what got too many complaints about.  The differences in fit between such things as tactical polos is considerable and we’ve always been a big fan of the Woolrich Elite  product lines although tru-spec has gained some ground with us.

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Where to shoot?

There are some really good gun clubs out there but finding them is a hard thing.  Now that this whole Zombie apocalypse thing is going on, it’s actually a great way to find out where all of the cool ranges are.   Concealed Carry is a growing and more widely accepted thing unfortunately due to the changes we’ve seen in society certain people in society, namely small business owners are becoming the targets of crime.  Crime has always existed but certain crimes are on the rise.  Competition is a great way to train and I would actually highly recommend playing paintball.   Teaching people the importance of movement and cover and concealment are things that you learn in a basic game of capture the flag.

There are indoor ranges and outdoor ranges and range rules can vary dramatically.  While I would never want to bash a gun club, many gun club listings don’t give you all of the details but the best places are usually found out about by word of mouth.  Word of mouth is how some gun clubs really want to be found out by because they might not want to advertise where they are due to some States Political climates.   Some indoor pistol ranges are not very good for Carbine use and some outdoor ranges have very restrictive rules on magazine capacities.

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Is your gun holster going to get you killed?

I remember hearing all of the stories about how AR15 rifle jam and that they need to be cleaned.  Well all of this is true but the complaining seems to be exaggerated.   All firearms will eventually go down if they are not cleaned or maintained which in my opinion is a better term, but some may last longer than others.    I have seem ammunition malfunctions occur in rifles where just the slightest burr on the bullet can cause a feeding problem and taking your gun apart or clearing the malfunction can be difficult.   The same type of thing can occur with any mechanical device, ever get your shoe on your foot all wrong and have trouble getting your socks pulled up?  Mechanical parts will eventually cease up or jam up at some point.

Gun holsters have become far more complicated anymore and with everyone and their dog putting on sights, laser or just night sights, you can end up needing a different holster unless you’re brave enough to tweak the holster yourself.  Recently we had a tactical team show up at our store and pick up some of the Blackhawk Serpa holsters we sell and asked them what they were seeing in the Law Enforcement Community after all of the recent  hoopla.  I already knew the answer to this but I sometimes like to test out the customers we have and find  out what their opinions were of this mechanical device.  The answer was, it’s a mechanical device and it can fail.

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Hunting rifles, handguns and assault rifle cases and that’s the easy part

There are so many variations and configurations of just something like an M4 Carbine that you would be amazed at how hard it can be to put a gun in a case once you add on a different optic or flashlight.  I have modified some of my M4 Carbines 2-3 times and always ended up finding out the gun wouldn’t fit right when I came about 4 inches away from zipping up the gun cases I used.  I have several M4 Carbines and it’s always nice to just close up the adjustable stock, but different barrel lengths can mean needing a different gun case.

Measure your overall length for long guns before you buy a gun case online.  People tend to forget about over all length when they order Allen gun cases from us and sometimes have to exchange the sizes.  Gun cases are a royal pain in the butt to ship and we often have to add on shipping charges because once you get to certain size gun case you really can’t fold the case over again or risk damaging the formation of the material.  The Allen assault rifle cases are in a good price range and if that’s all you need in a gun case, their products are well made in that price range.

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Soft gun cases with versatility and for a decent price

Everytime I walk out of a gun shop with a new long gun I try to make sure that I have  soft gun case available if I have to take several guns to and from the range.  There have been times I’ve packed things wrong and a few times ended up putting dents in areas that I shouldn’t have.  Not everyone can afford to spend $100 on a customized gun case although some firearms really demand this.  If you want to pack up your pistols and don’t want to have to put too much thought into which size gun bag to get.  Just spend $8 on a bulldog gun case and you’re all done.

Not every trip to the ranges demands and SKB gun case with multiple pouches or accessories.  When I pack up my handguns or better yet, when I’m only bringing one or two handguns these Bulldog gun cases like the pistol rug, hardly burn a hole in your pocket and give  you enough protection for reasonable bouncing around. You might even be able to pick up the bulldog cell phone case for you.  Bulldog also  has a molded pistol case which can give you even more protection.

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