Gun & Prepping News #67

Just some gun and prepping related links that I thought interesting or useful:

• "HB 2763 and How Public Shooting Ranges Quietly Disappear"--The Truth About Guns.  How bureaucrats close down public shooting ranges without public input and a bill in Arizona intended to curb such behavior. You have to understand that there are conspiracies both large and small all throughout society to advance both small and large purposes contrary to the will of public. 
• "UK Launches Project Grayburn To Replace The SA80"--The Firearm Blog. The UK is looking for a new military rifle; or, rather, a rifle system with multiple variants for different missions and purposes. 

While further details of what the British military is seeking with Project Grayburn are yet to be publicly released, many of the major small arms manufacturers including Heckler & Koch, Beretta Defense Technologies, SIG Sauer, and FN Herstal are already positioning themselves to make strong industrial cases alongside submitting their weapons for testing. Weapons we can expect to see submitted to Grayburn include Beretta’s NARP and SAKO’s ARG, Heckler & Koch’s HK416 and HK433, FN’s next generation SCAR and SIG Sauer's MCX Spear as well as likely entries from manufacturers such as Colt Canada, LMT, Knights Armament, Glock and CZ.  

• "Unarmed But Still Dangerous"--Guns Magazine. The author begins by noting that it is a simple fact of life that there are times and places where we are not allowed to go armed or choose to not be armed. In that case, your number one self-defense tactic is to maintain situational awareness:

    Remaining relaxed yet alert about the people, places, and nuances of the things around you is arguably the number one key to a long and relatively quiet life. You can’t become so enthralled with your phone, the basketball game, or the school play in which your offspring is currently singing loudly off-key that you forget to do a periodic quick scan of your surroundings. Live life, enjoy yourself, but remember there is every chance evil is hiding in the faces around you. By staying a tiny bit wary, you’ll be one of the first to notice if the unthinkable happens.

    If so, you have given yourself more choices aside from “wild panic.”     

Your options after that are to run away or what he calls "Plan B": use an improvised weapon. Some ideas:

    There are many schools of thought on the subject, but to keep things simple, my own belief is that you should concentrate on two main types of weapons: impact and stabbing/cutting.

    There are a myriad of possibilities in your surroundings right now. Have you thought about using a full drink bottle or even a laptop computer to club a miscreant into submission? A stout flashlight doesn’t look like a weapon, but trust me, it is quite effective at putting people in a different frame of mind. There is always the old prison standby of putting batteries, rocks, or a handful of bolts in a sock and using it like a blackjack.

• More: "Less Lethal"--Guns Magazine. A look at batons, Tasers, stun guns, CS/CN gasses and pepper sprays.
• "Shotguns: Cleaning Tips for Your Shotgun"--Shooting Illustrated.  Some advice on cleaning plus this:

Although there are many products that are intended to clean, lubricate and protect (CLP is the trademarked name for this, and it is good if you can only choose one), cleaning—meaning degreasing and removing carbon fouling, protecting and lubricating—is best served by individual products specifically designed to perform these different tasks. For removing carbon, lead and degreasing metal parts, a solvent like Hoppe’s No. 9, Gun Scrubber and many others are recommended, but then a lubricant should be applied. For lubricating moving parts, a basic, high-temperature, machine-grade lubricating oil is best. And then, for the final wipe down (level 1 cleaning), a thin, protective, lubricating-but-not-too-sticky product like Ballistol (this German-engineered product can also be used on metal, rubber and leather), Rem Oil or Barricade is suggested. Finally, if your shotgun is used or stored in particularly dusty or freezing environments, a ceramic-based or dry lube product is recommended for all metal parts. (Ballistol’s ceramic GunCer product is great.) Conversely, if your shotgun is kept in humid or salty areas, use a thicker, heavier lubricant for the final wipe down.  

• An interesting piece of gear: "Devil Dog Concepts: Hard Charger. A Side Charging Conversion For AR’s"--The Truth About Guns. This device attaches to the  Picatinny rail on the top of an AR upper receiver and replaces the regular charging handle, giving you a left-side charging handle. Basically, you end up with a long U-shaped charger--one arm being the external charging handle and the other arm replacing the standard AR charging handle. It looks like you can still charge it from the rear should you desire. MSRP is  $97.30 – $102.20 depending on options, which is about what you would pay for good quality ambidextrous charging handle such as those from RISE Arms or a Raptor charging handle. 
• Speaking of gear: "The Importance of a Good Muzzle Device"--The Shooting Wire.  The article is specifically about muzzle devices for the "rifle caliber pistol" (RCP). 

    That name of game, particularly when it comes to semi-auto firearms is “gas control.” When we were using semi-autos with 20-inch barrels, as were standard on the original AR-15s, a simple flash hider/compensator, such as the ubiquitous “birdcage” design worked just fine. The split brake on the front of the XM16E1, despite being decried by troops in the jungle for catching on vines, actually worked very well. Gene Stoner and his team were smart guys.

    However, as the barrels got shorter and the noisy end got closer to the shooter’s face other options were explored. Keep in mind, for a relatively small caliber, the .223/5.56mm has a sharp report. Though a simple AR-15 birdcage flash hider might have worked, even with the short 16 and 14.5 inch barreled M4s, when the length drops down to sub 1 foot barrels, we need something out front to push the gas away from the shooter’s face and to help reduce the flash.     

The author goes on to discuss the XM177E2 Flash Hider, Spike’s Tactical Barking Spider, and Primary Weapons Systems CQB.  I have a Kaw Valley Precision linear compensator on my .300 BLK pistol which I like, but they also make them for other calibers. 

• "SilencerCo Glock 43x Threaded Barrel"--The Truth About Guns.  Short take:

It’s a simple part, so I won’t belabor the point. It’s a barrel, with threads. SilencerCo doesn’t use the same polygonal rifling Glock does, so shooting cast reloads aren’t going to be a problem.  

• ".380 Auto ballistic test, updated"--Range Hot.  Test guns were a Bersa Thunder .380 with a barrel length of 3.54″ and a Diamondback 380 with a barrel length of 2.8″ in order to have results with a couple barrel lengths that would probably be common in most .380 concealed carry pistols. Test were in bare gel and gel with 3 layers of clothing. The good quality defensive ammo all seemed to have good expansion. Penetration was borderline acceptable, generally coming in at the 10 or 11 inch mark, except for Hydrashok which was in excess of 13 inches. As the author notes, the data he collected indicates that with modern defensive ammunition, it is a viable defensive pistol. 
• Related: ".380 Auto pistol vs carbine"--Range Hot. This was a follow up test to the one above, but shooting the ammo through a Hi-Point carbine with a 16.5″ barrel. Velocity was appreciably higher, resulting in a bit more expansion, which made penetration a wash versus those fired from a pistol. But the expansion was truly impressive for most of the loads; nevertheless, there were a few rounds which performed substantially worse out of the carbine. 
• "Hybrid IWB Holsters – No More?"--Tactical Wire.  An excerpt:

    I reached out to a marketing professional who works for a large holster company. He mentioned “a confluence of events that caused the precipitous drop in sales for hybrid IWBs.”

     Among these was the rise in popularity of “appendix” (front of the hip) carry. That calls for synthetics with outboard stabilization devices (“wings” or “claws”). A number of people hide large “double-stack poly pistols adorned with huge (flashlights) and (optics)” in those holsters.

    No less an authority than Caleb Giddings of Taurus recently made a social media post about that very issue. Carrying his personally-owned, slightly modified Taurus TX9 duty-size pistol in a Galco Summer Comfort IWB on the strong side, he said he’d forgotten how comfortable that carry mode was – when he compared it to front-of-the-hip carry.

    My source noted that a number of “influencers” had expressed extreme dislike of hybrid IWB holsters, some alleging they were “dangerous.” If the “shield” of leather behind the upper part of the gun folded over, there was some fear it’d get into the trigger guard. I didn’t test every type of gun against every permutation of hybrid IWB holster – I didn’t have access – but when I tested against what I carried, it wasn’t an issue. 

• And for open carry: "Safariland Retention Holster Options: When Overkill is Just Right"--Breach Bang Clear.  
• "Holosun LS321G IR/Visible Laser and Illuminator"--The Truth About Guns. Something that might interest those of you using night vision gear. 
• "Browning BAR Mk 4 DBM Hunter: Full Review"--Guns & Ammo.  The BAR has long been a solid choice for a semi-auto hunting rifle with a wide selection of caliber choices including some long-action cartridges like the .30-06 or .300 Win Mag, although the particular model tested in this review was .308 and the Browning website only lists .308 as an option. This newest version apparently offers two major changes over earlier models: a barrel that screws into the receiver (it previously had been clamped according to the article) and a 10-round detachable box magazine. 
• "Smith & Wesson 327 TRR8, A Fast Shooting Wheelgun"--The Loadout Room (2024).  This is still listed on the S&W website so I assume it is still available. This is an 8-round .357 Magnum. What makes it truly special, though, is that it comes with Picatinny rail sections that can be screwed on below the muzzle and along the top of pistol. So, if you want a rail (or both) you can attach them; and if you don't, you can take them off. It seems a neat solution and it would instantly make S&W's revolvers more useful if it expanded this option to other models. Nevertheless, if you wanted a revolver for your "nightstand" gun, this looks like it would be a good choice because you could attach a weapon light and/or an optic to it. 
• "Coyote Hunting 101"--NRA Women.  Advice on appropriate rifle calibers, other useful gear, and, most importantly, when and how to hunt the critters. That said, I don't hunt coyotes. Most of the time, at least where I live, they are very wary of people, so if I see them, it is generally at a distance. However, I surprised one years ago when I walked up to the edge of a deep gully filled with tumble weed. I heard rustling down in the weed but couldn't see anything. I raised my rifle to my shoulder and clicked off the safety when suddenly a coyote jumped up on the other side of the gully and we stared at each other for few moments, I debating whether to shoot it and it probably wondering what I was going to do. Then it turned and raced off into the sage brush. When I reported what happened to my father, he was shocked I hadn't shot it and asked why. "Because I'm not a rancher," I replied. 
• "To Oil or not to Oil"--Everyday Commentary.  A discussion of the benefits of oiling micarta knife handles, what oils to use, and how to do it. The author comments:

Micarta is definitely one of my favorite, if not my single favorite, handle materials on a knife.  The process of oiling it makes it smoother and nicer to look at without compromising its grip.  And, I think that truly appreciating your stuff, you have to make it your own.  Oiling the handles is an easy way to do that.  Plus, if you are dude like me, you probably need a bit of moisturizer.  Especially right now in the winter time.   

• For those of you that travel or work overseas, but also good advice for "bug out" bags: "How to Pack a Go Bag"--Harvard Global Support Services.  The article explains that "[a] 'go bag'” is an easy-to-carry bag that holds everything you need if you have to leave in a hurry or in an emergency. Think of it like a small backpack or duffle bag with your essentials." And, when packing such bag:

Strike a balance between being well prepared and having a go bag that’s easy to maintain and carry. Exactly what you pack depends on you and your location (e.g., weather; cash-based economy; availability of food, water, and medicine).

It then has what appears to be a fairly complete checklist of items. 

• "DO IT YOURSELF !! Building a 3500-Watt Portable Battery Bank Solar Power Unit."--Jack Lawson.  
• "Prepping spring garden beds quickly and easily for planting"--Creative Vegetable Gardener. The author's first recommendation is to set up a permanent garden design if you haven't done so and install a no-till garden:

     I don’t recommend tilling because it can create more weeds by bringing seeds to the surface. The soil structure in your garden is also a complex web of bacteria and fungi that serves your plants better if it stays intact. And, wrestling with a tiller can be a lot of work.

    I’m all for simple and easy in my garden. That’s why I always install permanent beds and paths in my gardens.

[snip]

    Establishing permanent beds often means building wooden raised beds, but there are plenty of other options. What matters most is that you’re garden beds and paths are staying in the same place for many years in a row so you’re not changing the layout over and over every season.

 Also:

One of the best ways to cut down on the time it takes to prepare your spring garden for planting is to keep it weed-free. And the best way to keep those weeds at bay to make sure your garden beds and paths are mulched all year round. 

•  "A Fresh Start: Easy Ways To Prepare Your Garden for Spring"--Lucerne Farms. An excerpt:

The simplest method to prepare gardens for spring is to get rid of old growths and unwanted materials. Start by clearing away the remnants of winter. Remove fallen leaves, debris, and any dead plant material that may have accumulated. This not only improves the aesthetic appeal of your garden but also helps prevent the harboring of pests and diseases.

•  "Growing potatoes organically: when and how to plant, hill and harvest"--A Way To Garden. Probably time to order the seed potatoes. An excerpt:

Q. When is the right time to plant—is there a cue in nature to remind us, or a soil temperature or calendar date we’re looking for?

A. At the earliest, I recommend planting two to three weeks before your average last frost date. Seed potatoes can rot if planted too early in cold water-logged soil.  If your potatoes do get a heavy frost after they emerge, they will put up new shoots, but every time they die back they will produce a smaller and later harvest.

I like to wait for the soil to warm up a little at which point they emerge quickly and grow steadily without stress.  Late March to early May is a good time to plant potatoes in the northern states.  In the warmer areas of the South they can be planted in late fall or early winter.

Where I farm the local point of reference is to plant your potatoes when the snow is almost melted off the mountain.  Whether it’s the first dandelions blooming or a particular bug emerging; if you talk to gardeners where you live they will probably have a local reference, too. 

• "Government's secret plans for apocalyptic events included total takeover or shut down of citizens' communication networks."  Although I haven't read the specifics of the laws or orders that are referenced in this article, I've read plenty of material dealing with government continuity plans. The ostensible purpose of such laws/orders will be to ensure that the government has access to sufficient communication resources following a nuclear attack or nationwide disaster necessary for waging a war or coordinating rescue or assistance. But continuity of government really is more about continuing the government and maintaining its power and authority than it is about saving civilians, and I expect such authority over communications would also be used to prevent the spread of unauthorized or disfavored news or information. 

Interesting Epstein Op-Ed

A couple days ago, the New York Post editorial board published an op-ed entitled "The biggest ‘hidden secret’ exposed in the Epstein doc dump," which argues that the biggest hidden secret was that there was no hidden secret. They write:

    Cross your fingers that the latest vast dump of Jeffrey Epstein documents marks the beginning of the end of the overhyped hysteria.

    Yes, the millions of pages contained some fine gossip, and a bit of genuine scandal: A once-top official in Britain’s Labour party is now facing jail for taking bribes from Epstein; all the details on how the elites work offer some fascinating insights — and the likes of Casey Wasserman likely deserve a few hits to their reputations.

    But no sign of the giant pedophile/honeytrap blackmail operation that many once anticipated.  

This is just a more verbose version of "don't believe your lying eyes". Everyday I go to the daily news brief at Anonymous Conservative and see emails pulled from the Epstein files that appear to be discussing trafficking in children and women. Is there an open discussion in these emails of what went on? Would you be able to type "honeytrap" into the search bar and get thousands of results? Of course not. The matters are discussed in a sort of code using insider terms. 

Modern Ruins: Eco-Village Built In Wales

 The following are from a Daily Mail article entitled "Flagship eco-village backed by King Charles's charity now resembles 'apocalyptic film' after being abandoned for more than a decade." The article relates that "[a]lmost 300 houses were built on a former oil refinery site in Llandarcy, near Neath, South Wales under plans to turn industrial land into a thriving new village," but shortly after a visit from King Charles in 2013, work on the project ceased and most of the properties have sat vacant since. 

Other than the discoloring on the buildings, it doesn't look too bad from overhead; but when you view things from the ground, it takes on more of an abandoned vibe.

VIDEO: Evolution of Army Standing Shooting Stances and Holds

Although the bulk of the video discusses the evolution on Army doctrine on shooting stances while the host was serving, he does begin with WWII doctrine and the famous (or infamous) "chicken wing". But this is more than just a history because the video discusses why certain stances and holds fell out of favor and what are appropriate stances or holds now.

I do have to comment a bit on the "chicken wing" that is so often ridiculed by people that have never shot a rifle with appreciable recoil. The chicken wing, as the video discusses, give the best shoulder pocket into which to fit the stock. It works well with the older one-piece military wood stocks or similar stocks on hunting rifles. While I never used the most extreme version of the chicken wing--with the elbow actually higher than the shoulder--putting your elbow out a bit seems to work well with controlling recoil on bolt action hunting rifles. I think it is one of those topics where people knock the stance without really understanding how it came to be and why it was used. 

For more on the "chicken wing" see "The Tactical Chicken Wing" at the Mag Life blog and "Chicken Wings and Getting Your Arm Shot Off" at Everyday Marksman. 

 

 VIDEO: "From the M16 to M4 to the M7. History and evolution of the Army's shooting stance and grip."
Modern Tactical Shooting (22 min.)

Shooting From, Into, And Around Vehicles

My father had a videotape titled "Bullets And Their Affects" [sic]. This was a copy that my dad had made or gotten from somewhere, so I didn't have the original packaging or anything so I'm not sure who made it or when it was made, other than I would guess it was probably right around 1980 based on the clothes and hair styles. 

    A sizable portion of the video was testing the penetration of various calibers and styles of bullets against vehicles. This is not a subject the serious armed defender should dismiss. As many authors that have written about shooting in, from, or around cars have noted, we spend a substantial amount of the lives outside our homes and workplaces in or around vehicles. So, even if we are not going to be shooting our AR through the windshield to stop a fleeing vehicle as one famous video showed a state trooper doing, there is actually a good chance that if we are involved in an armed confrontation it may find us either in our vehicle or around vehicles (e.g., a parking lot).  
 
    The cars used in the videotape were a couple of the large, heavily built American made sedans typical of the 1970s. The producer of the video would set up cardboard silhouette targets just inside a door and then tried out various pistol calibers of different types (standard FMJ or round-nose lead, hollow-point--generally Super-Vel but sometimes others--and a smattering of specialized rounds like so-called "armor piercing" rounds or Glazer safety-rounds). Surprisingly (or maybe not considering how heavily built the cars of that time were), most handgun rounds would not penetrate the doors at all, and with some the penetration was so minimal--perhaps a bit of jacket--that it would have inflicted no real wound. You essentially needed something like .357 Magnum or .44 Magnum. Buckshot was also incapable of penetrating the doors on those old cars, but a standard rifled slug easily punched through one door and then exited through the other. Rifle calibers--even the .223--would do the same unless they hit something with particularly thick layers of steel like a pillar or other part of the frame.  
 
    I would note that even if individual pistol bullets did not penetrate a car door, when he tested some submachine guns, they were quite capable of chewing through the door even if the particular round had performed poorly in the earlier tests. 
 
    If he had made the video ten years later and used Honda or Toyota vehicles with the aluminum side-panels, the results would have been different with probably most anything going through the doors. But with automobile safety more paramount than gas-mileage, auto makers have abandoned the aluminum and gone back to steel bodies. I don't think that the sheet metal used in modern cars is as thick as on those older cars, but there is probably more stuff in the doors--electric motors to run the windows and additional interior bracing--such that I'm not sure how modern car doors would stand up when compared to the 1970's behemoths. 

    My point here is that vehicles are not monolithic objects providing uniform cover and concealment, but it can vary depending on the part of the car and even as to the make and model year of the vehicle. One author writing about this subject suggested:

The 17-year-old Honda Civic parked in my driveway (laugh it up, jerks, it still runs like a top after 250,000 miles) is probably not a great choice for stopping any type of projectile, be it a bullet or an errant corn dog. A semi built like a tank, on the other hand, will shrug off everything from firearms to a herd of cattle. ...

This is hyperbole, of course: the sheet steel used for the semi-tractor is probably no thicker than that used on the 1998 Civic, so the semi won't be shrugging off bullets and the Civic won't be destroyed by a corn dog. But the engine of the semi is much (much!) larger than that of the Civic, and the frame will be much heavier; so, in that sense, the semi will provide a much larger area of cover ("hard cover" for my European and Australian readers) than the Civic. But as a very good article from Redbeard Tactical explains:

... Vehicles are composed out of cover and concealment. The parts that can cover you are either to small to really fire from them without forcing you into some weird shooting stance or just prevent any [kind] of movement. Therefore we shouldn[']t talk about what vehicles “count as”. We should talk about the fact that concealment is better than nothing and that fire and maneuver always wins. Use the vehicle as concealment and shoot from it in either standing, kneeling or prone, get your head down while manipulating your rifle or communicating, move from one side of the vehicle to the other so you are a small target popping up at long distances just to fire at the enemy and dissapearing [sic] after that. Of course the vehicle will get pounded with bullets, but that[']s why you always employ fire and movement. 

The article covers quite a bit about fighting from inside or around vehicles beyond just the cover ("hard cover") versus concealment ("soft cover") issue, including shooting out of a vehicle, vehicle tactics (e.g., how to respond to an ambush), and some equipment considerations. Some other thoughts from the author on shooting from the vehicle:

When mounted you will have to fire out of the vehicle in most stages except defensive close range situations. Those that are able to fire will fire. Those that arent will disembark. Now there is a lot of talk on bullet deflection shifting your hits. Yes there is bullet deflection, but what is your first reaction when getting ambushed from the front? Opening the door, leaning out of the car and getting the perfect shooting position? I dont think so. You will either return a volley of fire through the window or just dive and disembark. Also a good volley of bullets, fired right after contact at longer ranges will propably suppress your enemy and absolutely punch a hole into the window that allows for precise shots. So your mounted shooting shouldnt be focused on range ballistics, you are simply losing time bylistening to some semi-autistic breakdown. “Your first shots will propably not hit, so suppress and shoot through the hole you just created” will do more for you than an one hour refferate on ballistics. Opening the door and firing through the gap? May work in some situations, I rather move or even drop out fast and move behind the vehicle, even shooting from prone supported is at the side of the vehicle is an better option as the enemy will propably concentrate fire on the car.

Rich Nable, in his article "Shooting From Vehicles: Basic Techniques" at Personal Defense Network, also provides a good introduction from shooting from inside a vehicle in response to a threat outside the vehicle. 

    While we mostly think of shooting from a vehicle in response to an attack or some kind, what about under other circumstances? Although I can't vouch for the writer's experience, this comment seems to offer some sound tips on the subject: 

    The difficulty isn’t shooting, it’s hitting the target.

    Here’s the thing, the point of shooting from a vehicle is that the vehicle moves in ways that cause the targets to become exposed. A shooter in a vehicle can rapidly threaten to obviate the cover of a potential target, forcing the target to try and dash to a different position or stay in a compromised or exposed one. The more often this happens, the more chances for a good shot at the target while it is out of cover.

    Dashing from cover to cover uses movement to lower the chances of getting hit, but if the shooter is already moving, the movement of the target is relatively less significant a factor.

    What this means is that, while you’ll have significantly more difficulty taking aimed shots at long ranges from a moving vehicle, you’ll get a lot more ‘easy’ shots at closer ranges.

This comment, of course, is more for combat applications and doesn't address the question of whether you should shoot from a moving vehicle. In his article "Tactical considerations for shooting while driving," at Police One, Mike Wood discusses some of the downsides and potential problems to shooting from a moving vehicle. While his article is intended for police officers, his points apply to anyone who, for some reason, may be attempting to stop a fleeing vehicle. Risks he addresses include losing control of the vehicle or unintentionally striking someone because you don't have full control of the vehicle, the possibility of injuring someone from stray rounds or ricochets, or injury or death that could result if the suspect loses control of his/her vehicle. He also addresses tactical considerations that might militate against shooting from your moving vehicle.

    There are quite a number of articles out there on shooting around, from, into, or at vehicles. A selection:

• "Self Defense with a Firearm Inside Your Car" by Sara Ahrens at Range365.  This article provides a good overview of the whole topic including ways to avoid having to use your firearm, methods of carrying your concealed carry weapon, and using the vehicle for cover and concealment, with a few videos included to better flesh out some of the topics.
• "Tactical Shooting: Firing From a Vehicle." This Guns & Ammo video is hosted by Kyle Lamb and Richard Nance. This video demonstrates some techniques for shooting a carbine from inside a vehicle at a contact to one side (the passenger side in the video) and then shooting from outside the vehicle while using the vehicle as cover or concealment.
• If you prefer reading to watching, Kyle Lamb's article "Rifle Tips for Fighting Around a Car" at Firearm News covers the same ground.
• "The Truth About Shooting a Short Barreled Rifle From Inside A Vehicle?" This video from Mike Seeklander is also about using a carbine from inside a vehicle and adds quite a bit information to the prior article and video.
• Another video on using carbines around a vehicle: "How to Survive a Gunfight in a Car" (Part 1) (Part 2)--Tactical Rifleman.
• Another video from Tactical Rifleman: "Combat Shooting around Vehicle | Cover points & Shooting Techniques | Tactical Rifleman." 
• "Shield From Shooters: Using Cars As Cover" from American Outdoor Guide discusses using a vehicle as cover and is illustrated with a few videos, including a couple from Paul Harrell on the subject. 
• "Using A Vehicle For Cover In A Gunfight." This article from The Armory Life delves a little deeper into the topic.
• "Self-Defense Behind the Wheel of Your Car" by W.H. "Chip" Gross, NRA Family. Although the title suggests it is an overview of the subject, it actually focuses on shooting through glass and the deflection you can expect shooting through the windshield.
• "Shooting at Moving Vehicles." The narrator of this video discusses when a police officer might want to take a shot or refrain from taking a shot at a moving vehicle.
• "15-14 - Shooting at Vehicle Tires." This is a guidance from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department which outlines why shooting at the tires of a suspect's vehicle is generally a bad idea and probably won't stop the vehicle.
• "Mythbusting: Shooting A Tire." However, if you do decide to shoot out a tire, this article reports the results of tests using 9mm, .223, and 00 Buckshot on tires. All three will effectively deflate a passenger car tire with a shot through the tread. However, when shooting through the sidewall, the 9 mm took much longer to deflate the tire than the other two options.
• Finally, a few articles on carrying or keeping firearms inside your vehicle:
• "Handbook: Carrying a Firearm in your Vehicle"--Shooting Illustrated.
• "Driving With Guns: How To"--NRA Family.
• "Storing Firearms In Your Vehicle Responsibly"--NSSF.  An overview of a few lockbox options.

Mississippi Man Who Twice Set Fire To LDS Church Sentenced To 30 Years

 From WLOX: "Wiggins man sentenced to 30 years in prison for setting church on fire." 

    On Tuesday, 37-year-old Stefan Day Rowold was sentenced to 30 years in prison after vandalizing and setting fire to a church in Wiggins.

    Rowold’s sentence comes after a jury found him guilty of six counts of federal arson and civil rights charges following a trial in September 2025.

[snip]

    On July 5 and July 7 of 2024, Rowold vandalized and set fire to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on Hall Street in Wiggins. Evidence shown during the trial proved that Rowold did it because he disagreed with what he believed were the church’s religious views.

    Rowold confessed to police that he broke into the church building and graffitied hateful messages on the walls before starting a fire in the middle of a multipurpose room. To kindle the flames, he used paintings, hymnals, and more. Rowold also confessed that after he learned his first fire failed to burn the building down, he broke in two days later to finish the job, setting a second fire against a wall inside the church. 

Weekend Reading #42

 Longer and more involved reading:

• Be sure to check out Jon Low's most recent newsletter at Defensive Pistolcraft. There is a lot of good stuff to check out, but I think this is a good lesson for everyone:

     Do not be overly concerned with your pistol.  The surgeon is not known by his scalpel.  He has no favorite scalpel.  He has a skill; any scalpel will do.  (I have seen a tracheotomy performed with a steak knife grabbed off a dinner table.)  Similarly, you should concentrate on honing your skill, any pistol will do.  A person will become comfortable with anything he practices.  Sentimental or personal preferences have no place in combat.  

     You may not have a pistol; any knife will do.  What is the best way to hold a knife?  The way you are holding it in the fight.  Don’t change grips.  Don’t throw your knife.  Lead with the knife, as a fencer, with your other hand covering your carotid arteries in your neck (thanks to Sensei Cat Fitzgerald).  

     You may not have a knife; a pen will do.  

     You may not have any weapon; your hands will do.  Concentrate the strength of two of your hands against one of his hands or one of his fingers and continue to twist; don’t stop when something breaks.  Stomp on his foot over the arch, the small bones in the foot are easily broken (and he may be wearing steel toed shoes).  Gouge his eyes, if the enemy is wearing glasses or goggles, gouge up and under the glasses.  A blood choke will incapacitate a person in 8 seconds (often much less than 8 seconds).  (An air choke is ineffective because a person can hold his breath for a minute or more.)  Bite!  Bite hard, break the bone, and get to the marrow.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, ASK!  Keep fighting.  If you maintain a combat mindset, you can win.   

Also, be sure to check out the infographic on how to tell someone is carrying concealed (using the tips in it aren't just for spotting someone else carrying, but to also correcting deficiencies in how you carry); the training tips for those that use glasses, both with and without your prescription lenses; the links to In Extremis Communications; and the explanation on why you should strike to perform certain actions and wear certain equipment at the same location all the time--when a confrontation goes down, you don't want to have to be trying to remember where your concealed gun is located or how to draw and present it. 

• Greg Elifritz has a new weekend knowledge dump at Active Response Training.  A really good selection of links this week (and I'm not just saying that because he linked to a post of mine--BTW, Thanks! to Greg). I haven't had time to listen to it yet, but his first link is to a podcast by Michael Bane discussing contacts with insurrectionists--something that will probably become more common as the year wears on. Other notable links: "I've Got Two Guns" discussing why you should have a copy of your main concealed carry pistol to use for training and practice (meaning that your carry pistol should not be shot a lot)--I haven't done this for pistols, but I've said the same thing about magazines, that you shouldn't be using your training magazines that you dump on the ground or floor as your carry mags; a review of polling data about support (or lack thereof) for gun control; an article on "The Decision Cycle"; and an article debunking the meme that murder rates are declining because of better trauma care. There's more, so check out the whole thing. 
• "How to Prepare for Civil Unrest?"--Armormax. The author summarizes: "This comprehensive guide will walk you through everything you need to know about preparing for civil unrest, covering risk assessment, home fortification, emergency supplies, self-defense, evacuation planning, communication, legal considerations, mental preparedness, and long-term resilience. Use the following sections to ensure you and your family stay safe no matter what happens."
• "Inside Minneapolis’s ICE Watch Network"--City Journal. Again, a summary from the author:

    In Minneapolis, one key organizer of these activities is “Defend the 612.” The group, the membership of which apparently included Renee Good, oversees a massive network of Signal chats dedicated to monitoring and protesting ICE activity. It has become the beating heart of the city’s resistance to federal immigration enforcement. (The group’s name refers to the Minneapolis area code.)

    City Journal reviewed Defend the 612’s trainings, entered its Signal network, and traced its organizational support. Our reporting reveals that members and related officials have encouraged protesters to impede law enforcement; pushed civilians toward legally and physically risky confrontations; and helped mobilize a counterprotest that turned violent.

    The group’s growth threatens to stoke the city’s already-raging fire. 

Filling the Holes In Your Preparedness Plan

In "Are There Holes In Your Preparedness Plan?" Jackie Clay-Atkinson writes about common mistakes or things that preppers can easily overlook, like not storing foods that your family will eat, forgetting to stock up on foods for pets or livestock, and that you need to be self-reliant once you eat through your food stocks.

 

The bare fact remains: Once you eat up your food in your 36-hour pack, then from your storage pantry, you must have some way to replenish it or you’ll starve. Period. Any steps you take toward family preparedness are great but the more steps you take, the easier hard times will be for you and your family. The more self-reliant you can become, the less outside upheavals will disturb you. If you are ready for one type of emergency, you’re pretty much ready for whatever comes along.

She also discusses preps to keep on your person, a bug out kit, prepping your vehicle for bugging out, and self-reliance tips. I liked her comments about how she and her family made use of an evacuation trailer:

    In Montana, a forest fire would have been our biggest emergency requiring evacuation. I had a big pantry full of food, but I knew I couldn’t possibly take it all if we needed to flee a roaring fire. So we bought a mid-sized fixer-upper travel trailer for $500 and spent a month tearing out rotted flooring, replacing cupboards, and fixing it up so it was ready to roll. We invested many hours of labor, but only spent about $100 in materials. When retrofitted, there were shelves to hold tins of bulk food supplies, which I filled from the pantry in the house. These were the basics: flours, cornmeal, beans, rice, baking powder, salt, masa harina, and dehydrated foods. The little pantry only took up floor space of 1×4 feet, floor to ceiling, but held a lot of food. I stocked up on tins of dehydrated foods along with some canned food that I kept in the cupboards.

    We also stocked the closets with extra clothes, bedding, a hatchet, water buckets, propane bottles, hand saws, hammers, crescent wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, rechargeable flashlights and batteries, a weather radio, rope, firestarters, candles, and more. Everything that could be of interest to mice was stored in tins or in other mouse-proof containers.

    The trailer came with a propane fridge and a small propane stove (which had an oven), so we could keep food cold and cook tasty meals with ease. The trailer had a double bed as well as a futon so it easily could sleep three.

    In the summer, we filled the water tank and had 75 gallons of fresh water at all times. This had to be drained in the fall so it wouldn’t freeze. In place of the toilet that came with the trailer, we used a bucket with a toilet seat on it filled with cedar chips to absorb dampness and kill odors. The bucket was lined with a plastic bag for ease of cleaning.

    This trailer could be hooked to our truck at a moment’s notice and we were off to safety. We could live out of our trailer for months! (We also had a stock trailer so we could evacuate our livestock as well, in case you were wondering).

    Fortunately, this trailer was never needed as an evacuation home. But it sure did come in handy when we moved to Minnesota. We camped in it for the first winter, spring, and summer we lived on our new raw-land homestead.

Those comments reminded me of the book, Locusts on the Horizon, which posits a prepper strategy of living in trailers or RVs over being anchored in place by a home. The idea was that in an economic collapse, you could easily move around to where you could find work; or pull up stakes and get out of Dodge in the event of social unrest or a disaster. 

    In any event, the article (more a booklet) has a lot of information--to much for me to summarize--so be sure to check it out. 

"Fry The Brain" Available In PDF

 Fry The Brain is a book on guerilla urban sniping. Or rather, it is THE book on guerilla urban sniping. Not just about where to set up or how to take a shot, but how to avoid getting caught. And it examines some case studies, including sniping undertaken by the IRA and similar groups in Northern Ireland. In any event, the book is now available to download as a PDF at Wyoming Survival. It is also available from Amazon, although strangely the hardcover edition is much less expensive than the soft-cover version. 

    The article "On Urban Snipers And Their Reach In Modern Conflicts" also discusses urban sniping in Northern Ireland. A selection from the article:

    The PIRA (Provisional Irish Republican Army), a group labeled as a terrorist organization by numerous governments, ran a tight urban-clandestine sniping campaign for decades until the fighting was called off, (and Sinn Fein and Gerry Adams became legitimate in the late 1990s). PIRA, frankly was an innovator in modern terrorism tactics, and its urban sniping was considered paramount; it is not without reason why many terrorist groups imitate the tactics of PIRA. And this is not just limited to urban guerrilla sniping. They are responsible for the TTPs (tactics, techniques, procedures) of hijackings, bomb making, and other such violent acts in a modern context. In 1993, in South Armagh, Northern Ireland, British soldiers simply stopped doing their jobs after a PIRA sniper crew completed a string of successful attacks in the area. One Royal Scots platoon was reprimanded because they falsified information about vehicles passing through their assigned checkpoint; the soldiers matter-of-factly did not want to man their checkpoint since it was likely PIRA snipers would engage them. Checkpoints, with their highly visible and predictable nature tend to become a given target for guerrilla sniper attacks—enemy soldiers are often exposed and display the same patterns day after day.

    A notable way that PIRA cashed in on sniping-fear in Northern Ireland was to place [signs] that read “Sniper at Work” depicting the silhouette of a man with a rifle. According to a 2006 British military report, these signs along with media hype, aggrandized sniper fears and inherently affected British troops’ morale and performance — like in 1993 in South Armagh. Similarly, some insurgent factions in Iraq record their actual urban sniping operations and disseminate them through various media for propaganda purposes. They believe that broadcasting their footage generates fear and demoralizes Americans and other occupying Westerners.

And some other related articles: 

• "The Employment of Sniper in Modern Battlefield" (PDF) by Erdem Barışık and Gökhan Baltacıoğlu, Journal of Military and Information Science (2014).
• "Russian Urban Tactics: Lessons from the Battle for Grozny" (PDF) by Lester W. Grau, Institute for National Strategic Studies. Pay particular attention to the section on smoke and white phosphorus. 

Could You Abort A Trigger Pull?

In "Can You Stop a Trigger Pull?" Sensible Self Defense did some experiments to determine how fast people actually pull a trigger once they start the pull. The answer is about 0.02 to 0.03 seconds if the trigger is all of the way forward, but only .015 if the trigger was staged with a slight pressure on it. This was fairly consistent among all participants no matter their skill level. Why this matters, the article explains, is because "[r]esearch has shown that most people can stop an action that they had just started but have not completed in 200 – 250 milliseconds," and any shorter than that probably cannot be stopped once initiated. Looking at the times above, that means that it is unlikely that you would physically be able to stop a trigger pull even if the trigger was all of the way forward, and impossible if the trigger was staged. 

 

    What is the implication for the armed citizen? If you are committed to firing a shot and have started to pull the trigger, the speed with which you can pull the trigger likely precludes stopping that action. In 2000 and again in 2009, Bill Lewinski and others studied how fast someone can turn and how fast someone can stop shooting (reference 2 & 3). In the 2000 study they found that the average time for someone to turn in scenarios where the threat was firing at a fictional “police officer” was 0.0300 seconds from one starting position and 0.0900 seconds from another. If the threat turns in the instant you pull the trigger, the trigger pull speed when combined with turning speed (particularly the speed of a young, athletic person) could easily result in shooting the threat in the back.

    Given that at any given moment in our lives today we are probably being video recorded, that video recording may show the threat turning away as you fire making it look like you are intentionally shooting them in the back when they are no longer a threat. Knowing trigger pull speeds and the speed in which someone can turn could be very useful information for the defense in case of criminal charges.