All posts tagged Rifle Magazines

Customization of Firearms, fun, but necessary

Even since the AR15 got shortened down to the M4 Carbine, many in the Military and Law Enforcement have realized that there are ways to improve upon the design for the operators advantage.  No longer is an individual issued a rifle and forced to adjust to the stock length.  I have several World War II Vets and Korean War Vets that have told me that they actually hated shooting the M1 Garand and the BAR rifles.  All of those individuals were  under 5’6″ and it was pretty obvious to me as to why they didn’t like it.  They claimed that they couldn’t hit a darn thing with it, but anyone that is a firearm instructor knows that this is probable true.

Nobody starts a 7yr old kid out with a full size bolt action rifle and expects them to shoulder it, now that we have the M4 Carbine in service the stocks are adjustable.   Not just body size, but the types of things you may be wearing like a vest, armor ect can affect LOP.  Magpul Stocks and Accessories are our number one selling stock accessories and and everything from trigger guards to gun grips can be customized.  Body sizes and preferences mean a world of a difference for an operator to become proficient.

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Philadelphia Mob’s it’s only a matter of time

Today I was listening to a local talk radio host who had a local reporter on and they were talking about the Flash Mob stuff that was going on there.   In some people’s minds these incidences are not racial, but that is absolutely absurd.   We’ve had at least 3 mob incidences against young white males or old white men and it’s always black on white.   In some camps of our society, racism only applies to things that a white man can do and not the other way around.  Racism exists in all societies and cultures but only those living in the world that Political correctness has created think it only exists when a victim is black.

One of the callers challenged the local news writer about what the news article would be if a gun owner shot one or more of these individuals when they were committing the crime.   The news reporter basically said it at this point it would say something about a “gun owner defends against a mob” I’m paraphrasing, but I thing it was bullshit.  We know that if a gun owner shot one of these individuals and reloaded with using spare gun magazines that it would be excessive or bull  shit that someone that trained to shoot shot 5 or 6 of the criminals and it was unfair that someone would do that against un armed youth.   Considering the ages groups of some of these Flash mobs it would probable not sound justified if a 65yr old man shot 11yr-19yr olders, but the reality is it may well be if things keep up like this.

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Magazines that aren’t flush fitting

I have never really liked the feel of having a pistol magazine protrude out of the bottom of the gun unless it is because the gun grip is too small for me.  I’ve seen a few of my friends do this on their Glocks, namely the Glock 26 because it is such a small gun.   I did put an extension on a Sig 239 which is the  only gun I currently own that has this.   The first gun that I owned was a Colt 1991A1 and it only came with one pistol magazine.   It was a Colt magazine which i thought would be the best gun magazine to have, but that turned out to not be true.   After having a few problems with the slide stop not catching, I found out the magazine tab was bending and causing the issue.

I believe it was at a gun show that I picked up 2 Wilson Combat magazines and my Colt 1991A1 ran flawlessly with ball ammo.  The gun magazines really ran well with hollow point ammunition but I found the gun to be too picky with hollow point ammo that I pretty much gave up on worrying about it.   If you look at the velocity that a 45acp is flying at, I don’t think you’ll have massive over penetration issues compared to 9mm ball.   Wilson combat magazines have varying base pads and from my experience this is mostly a concern for competition shooters.   If the magazine drops free I don’t need to worry about gripping it and pulling it out for a fast reload.

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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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10rd magazines and living behind enemy lines

I guess we are all living behind enemy lines if you consider what we’ve been dealing with since the 2008 election.   I recently go around to reading some of the bull shit that is listed in the Obamacare bill and it’s loaded with nothing more than crap.   We have a bunch a lunatics in Washington DC that are trying to say that a vending machine operator has to list how many calories for each individual item they are selling.  This is all brought to  you by the people that are afraid to call Islamic terrorism what it is and want an average American Citizen to not be allowed to own a firearm that holds more than 10rd of ammunition in it.

We have a diverse group for our customer base.  We  have the concealed carry apparel crowd and we have many, many Government employees and private contractors.   Our customers that live in California and New Jersey tend to be more restricted in the gun accessories product line and when it comes to selling gun magazines, we’ve been selling a lot of t he Promag magazines to them.   The Mini 14 is a very popular firearm in California because the gun doesn’t have to be modified from the Factory configuration, but it still shoots the .223 or 5.56 ammunition that the AR15 does.

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The AWB is over, so buy Factory Mags

When I stopped and thought about writing this, I couldn’t believe how many years it has been since the AWB has expired.  It feels like it was just yesterday that I could get Glock or Sig Sauer magazines without having to spend $60-$90 for them.   Factory magazines are still more expensive than some of the other magazines out there, but they are always the best option for handguns.   There are plenty of decent manufacturers for AK or AR15 rifles, and most problems I have seen with AK mags can be fixed with a simple file to the tab on the mag wells.    I recently picked up a couple Glocks and XD handguns because I wanted to bring something to the next class I teach that wasn’t a Beretta, Sig Sauer or 1911.   Some people just have issues shooting 45acp and I didn’t own anything other than a Sig 220 and a 1911.

I have found the Springfield Armory XD 45acp to be the most comfortable 45acp gun to shoot that was not a steel gun.  I find the Glock 21 to be too bulky especially for my female students.   The factory gun magazines for my Glocks are less expensive than  Sig Factory magazines, but I have never had to replace anything on my Sigs other the springs.   Wolff Gun springs work very well in all of my rifle and pistols and I have stockpiles of them so that if I notice any slowness in cycling, I can just swap them out.   Rotating your gun magazines is a good way of making sure you don’t wear out the same magazine, because it’s a pain in the neck when you are trying to determine if the magazine is bad or if a shooter is limp wristing a firearm during a training session.

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Some words about Promag

I’m old enough to remember how much of a nightmare it was to find “standard’ capacity magazines for handguns in the late 1900s when the impact of the AWB was in full affect.   I use to buy semi-auto handguns based on how much the magazines cost and ended up sticking with 1911 handguns and Berettta 92FS firearms.   The Beretta 92FS is still a favorite 9mm of mine, but I have other guns that I prefer for myself.   While I was using my Beretta as a standard CCW gun, I only had 3 standard capacity magazines for it and one of my friends who was moving and getting married was selling his, I only ended up buying his gun magazines off of him.

I have had several Promag magazines from AR15 to 1911s and Beretta 92.   I would say that they are all manufactured from different times and quality varies, but the reliability has been fairly good.  I would not consider them for primary carry, but they are good range magazines.  I have a few friends that use them as primaries, but I would do thorough testing with them and consider having to use a pair of pliers if you have any issues.  I have had very good results from the Promag gun magazines that are made for the Mini 14 and Mini 30.   The 5rd magazines that Ruger ships their guns with are flush fitting and in many States the 20rd and 30rd are illegal, but the 10rd magazines make the Mini 14 a better defensive weapon in these States.  There aren’t very many other options for anything other than 5rd Ruger magazines.

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NAA Guardian, pocket gun options

Many of my shooting buddies have been CCW for 1-2 decades longer than I have.    I have watched the evolution of weapons they have carried over the years and they have all ended up carrying guns and calibers that I would never have wanted to carry before.   In my opinion it was always about how much damage the bullet could do, followed by reliability, and finally durability.   I was always turned off by some of the pocket semi-autos that I cam across because the recoil tended to be pretty nasty.   I am not afraid of shooting 50 BMG rifles, but I don’t like shooting too much recoil in a handgun.   I know an individual that actually has developed nerve damage from shooting too many heavy handguns and if it hurts after I shoot it, I don’t want to carry it as a CCW gun.

My first adventure into CCW was with a friend that had 20yrs more experience than I did.   He showed me he had evolved to the NAA guardian .380 pistol and that in his opinion, it was the only gun he could carry at work with any level of comfort.  My only issue with some pocket guns is that they are so small that I can’t feel them, and I like to know I can feel the gun on me at all times.   The real issue I have noticed with NAA Guardians is that you have to really pay attention to the round counts you have put through your gun and how many you put through your NAA Guardian gun magazines and rotate out the springs before you have any issues.   The NAA Guardian is strictly a CCW gun and will handle some of the hotter loads for the .380 compared to some of the Kel-Tec counterparts.   I was fortunate enough to test out some of the Rohrbaugh R9 pistols next to the NAA Guardian and the only thing the R9 had over the NAA Guardian was the trigger pull.

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Deer Hunting in Vermont with a semi-auto

Last year I had the fortunate experience to actually hunt in a State that allowed the use of a semi-auto rifle.    In Pennsylvania we are retricted to bolt actions and lever actions, but I often wanted to take one of my Ruger Mini 14 rifles out to that part of the Country and use it for it’s best purposes.   The Ruger Ranch rifle is a great lightweight hunting Carbine that isn’t bulky and can easily and comfortable hold 5rds in the magazine.   I’ve done enough hunting in the rest of the Country to know that when you really get out there, you really have to be aware of your own safety and having the right kind of ammo with you means that that little .223 Carbine is capable of killing anything from a prairie dog to a black bear.   I have seen pictures of black bear being taken with M4 Carbines in other parts of the Country with Black Hills 77gr, most were taken under 75yds, but that still gives you a realistic view what the caliber is capable of.

There were issues with finding reliable 20rd and 30rd magazines for the Sturm Ruger Carbine, but now that the 1994 AWB is over, even Ruger is selling them for their guns to the open public, but getting back to hunting, the 5rd magazines are more practical because shooting from a rest or cover is easier with a less protruding gun magazine.   I would suggest that with the popular 1-9 twist rate on the Mini 14, you try the Seirra 60gr HP for varmint and go with a 75gr A-max for deer or bear.   Remember that effective range is going to deminish with the heavier bullets and I would not suggest anything over 200yds unless you have a longer barrel bolt action.

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Rotate your ammo and rotate your mags

There are various stages of CCW experience, those that have made the mistakes, those that have witnessed the mistakes and those that are doomed to see both.  Although a gun owner may be observing all of the firearm safetey rules there are still many things to keep in consideration when CCW a firearm.   Even though a gun hasn’t been fired, if it is being carried it will fill up lint or the gun can become dry.  I have carried guns through out the summer months and found out that I’ve rusted out screws or pitted firearms.  Clean your CCW guns for reliability sake, but also for protection.

It is extremely important for you to rotate your carry ammo.  Many reloaders know the importance of having the proper bullet crimp to prevent bullet setback, but this is something that is inevitable going to occur if you keep closing the slide on the same bullet.  Even if you are not shooting up your ammo, rotate the ammo in your gun magazines to make sure you are not slamming the same first round.  Defensive ammo can be expensive and I realize that you aren’t going to want to shoot it all up after a couple times of cleaning  your ammo.  If you rotate just an 8rd magazine full of defensive ammo, you should be able to dissassemble and clean the gun safetly about 24 times with the same magazine.

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